Le Metier de Beaute Summer 2011 Sneak Peek

It's a day of sneak peeks. Le Metier de Beaute Summer 2011Mediterranean Holiday  is nothing short of breathtaking. It includes Penelope Kaleidoscope Eye Kit and four new nail polish colors, The Gods and Goddesses. I'll have more details, photos, swatches and impressions in the coming days, but for now I will say that even with the already high standards and expectations from Le Metier de Beaute, the new collection is even better than I expected.

About Kate Middleton's Eyeliner (and a No More Waity Katie giveaway)

I can't help it. I'm a royal nerd and I like Kate Middleton. She has a great eye for princess-appropriate fashion, knows what's flattering on her and she's just right for the role. There's just one little thing I wish I could fix for her- the harsh eyeliner she uses on her waterline. I think something softer (and even smokier for nights out) would look better. Otherwise, she's a perfect almost-princess.

In honor of Kate Middleton and the upcoming wedding we'll have the little giveaway I promised of a brand new bottle of Butter London No More Waity, Katie limited edition nail polish (you can see swatches here). Because of postal restrictions I have to limit this one to US residents. Yes, it's a drag, I know. In order to participate please leave a comment and tell me how you feel about the royal wedding, Kate and William or a special memory you have from (watching) the Charles & Diana wedding. Or just say who's your favorite royal and why.

The giveaway will be open until Friday, so I can mail it in time for you to get the polish before the royal wedding.

Photos of Kate Middleton: Pacific Coast News via Zimbio.
Butter London No More Waity, Katie nail polish photo by me.

OPI Hong Kong Meet Me On The Star Ferry Nail Polish

This one is definitely not new- both on the market and in my collection. Meet Me On The Star Ferry was released by OPI as part of their Hong Kong collection for spring/summer 2010. I picked it a few months later when I was actually looking at fall colors and have been loving it ever since. Obviously, this is not a typical summer shade even if the actual color, as you can see in the swatch, is not as dark as it looks in the bottle. You can usually count on OPI to have something for everyone, even if it's just one nail polish from each range. Since I'm not a pink or orange person I usually pass on summer collections, but this shimmery purple was a true love.

Meet Me On The Star Ferry looks somewhat dramatic, especially on a spring or summer day. I'd save it for a night out if you work in a conservative environment (the Hong Kong collection has a couple of light pink and lavenders. And there's also Chop Sticking To My story, a rich and creamy caramel). Still, this is a fun and beautiful color in the expected OPI quality, thick wide brush that makes application quite painless for the klutzy ones (=me) and great tenacity in the face of normal household chores.

OPI Hong Kong Meet Me On The Star Ferry nail polish and the rest of the Hong Kong collection can be found online for around $5 a bottle or even less. Some Ulta locations might still have a bottle as well as nail salons.

All photos are mine.

Rescue Beauty Lounge- Recherché

Recherché was my second pick from Rescue Beauty Lounge Iconic/Ironic spring 2011 collection. It's not that I didn't admire Insouciant and Iconoclast, which I admit are the more unique of the four, but my approach to nail polish buying is to only invest in colors I know I'll wear again and again. Hence my love for Decorous and Recherché.

The latter is a wonderful dark chocolate plum. It's dark brown and purple, not very spring-like, but since Rescue Beauty is NYC-based they know exactly what they're doing. We had snow this morning, giant wet flakes. Recherché is just perfect for this weather. The color is very dark and shows its various undertones depending on the light. The full plummy effect is only visible in strong natural daylight. Most of the time it just looks like a very deep and rich brown.

Recherché is a cream formula and as opaque as it gets. I'm on my second round of this color, and what you see in the photo is just one coat (over a Deborah Lippmann base and no top coat). When I wore it earlier in the week I opted for two layers because it's smoother and takes away any application mishaps, but when redoing my nails earlier today I went with only one for the sake of quick drying. Seriously- Rescue Beauty has the fastest drying cream formula I've come across.

Recherché is not as long lasting and chip-resistant as Decorous, and as a matter of fact I experienced some peeling the very next day after my first use, but it's still a great addition to my nail polish collection. While I have various purples and browns I don't own any color that's even close to this one.

Recherché ($18) is part of Rescue Beauty Lounge Iconic/Ironic collection for spring 2011. Available for a limited time at rescuebeauty.com.

All photos are mine.

Rescue Beauty Lounge- Decorous

Decorous is one of the four nail polish colors in Rescue Beauty Lounge's spring 2011 Iconic/Ironic collection. I pre-ordered two of them so many weeks ago that when they finally arrived it was almost like an unexpected surprised. And a very nice one. Decorous is one of my most favorite nail colors of the season because it's very unique while maintaining an understated elegance that doesn't compete with the bold hues and patterns of spring and summer. I can wear Decorous with a bunch of chunky bracelets and bangles or a statement ring without crossing the line into circus territory.

Decorous is a chai latte color with cool toned micro shimmer that doesn't manifest as particles or frost. Instead it's an undertone- something we've seen in several other Rescue Beauty Lounge colors (like Ani). It catches and reflects the light beautifully- I tried to capture it in the swatches and failed miserably, but I hope you can see that this is not a flat beige.

The formula of this Rescue Beauty polish is excellent. Two coats give you full opacity, the color dries in minutes and is extremely hardy. What you see in the photos is after three and a half days of wearing without a top coat. The polish didn't crack or peel even after a week and only showed the expected tip wear, so that's very impressive even for Rescue Beauty.

Bottom Line: Excellent.

Decorous ($18) is a limited edition color for spring 2011 (the Iconic/Ironic collection). It's available right now at rescuebeauty.com.

All photos are mine. Cat in the background is Betty.

Rescue Beauty Lounge- Om Nail Polish

Rescue Beauty Lounge nail polish is one of my safest bets for great colors and excellent performance. I'm actually waiting for a couple of their newest shades to arrive at my door as we speak, but I thought it's as good a time as any to talk about something that didn't work for me.

There's nothing wrong with Om- it's pretty, subtle and a good choice for transition into warmer weather. The finish is creamy and very appropriate for just about every place and circumstances. I think I picked Om because it reminds me of some of my mom's favorite colors of yore- there's something nostalgic and relaxing about it. But in reality the color is warmer and peachier than it appears on the Rescue Beauty Lounge website (I hoped for something rosier), and apparently there's a reason I don't wear coral and peach nail polish. They clash horribly with my skin tone, emphasizing the green undertones and simply looking unattractive. I'm guessing Om would be very flattering for redheads and probably on most of you who are much paler than me. I tried everything - one coat (too streaky), two and three (made my hands look like a green mango). It was just not meant to be.

Bottom Line: no nirvana.

Rescue Beauty Lounge nail polish ($18) is available from rescuebeauty.com.

All photos are mine.

Butter London No More Waity, Katie Nail Polish

I'm not sure how Kate Middleton feels about the Butter London nail polish created in honor of her upcoming wedding to Prince William. First, the name of this polish, No More Waity, Katie, is not exactly empowering. I wouldn't have liked it, either. Second, Ms. Middleton is more of a low-shimmer nude colors girl when it comes to her well-manicured nails. Also, it doesn't look like she's a fan of purple when it comes to fashion choices. She wears a lot of blue, gray and black but I couldn't find even one photo of Kate Middleton in  lavender or lilac.

The color of No More Waity, Katie is a very beautiful smoky lavender. Butter London (an American company, by the way, despite their affinity for British slang and spelling) created a truly unique shade. I haven't found a duplicate or even a close approximation among my purple polishes. This specific hue actually makes my skin look alive, unlike too many corpse like lilacs. It's really that pretty and wearable. The issue, of course, is the super chunky coarse glitter Butter London decided to pour into it. The glitter's color is also a muted lilac and low in shine, so you don't get a disco ball effect on your nails, but it's still way too much, so those who work in a professional office environment would be smart not to keep Katie for weekend wear (or toes).

The glitter causes some textural issues. As Melanie noted in her Blogdorf Goodman review, one is advised to file the edges after application because the glitter makes the nail look and feel like a serrated knife. It really is that bad. Also, it's so heavy it makes polish go on quite  unevenly  (and streaky) in the first two coats. Three coats are an absolute must here. Thankfully, the formula is an instant dry, so there's no wait time between layers. Maybe that's what the name is all about...

Bottom Line: I love the color but wish the quality was a lot more royal.

Now, when I ordered my No More Waity, Katie, I actually bought two bottles. One for myself and one for a giveaway. I'll announce the contest next week (it'll have something to do with the Royal Family, I just need to figure out some details first), so stay tuned.

No More Waity, Katie  ($14) is a limited edition nail polish, available from butterlondon.com.

Top image (the two photos of Kate Middleton) were scanned by me from the Royal Wedding edition of Life Magazine.
All nail polish photos are by me, with the help of Josephine and Sophie, royal kittens.

OPI San Tan-Tonio Nail Polish Spring/Summer 2011 Texas Collection

I was pretty sure I was not interested in anything from OPI's Texas Collection for spring/summer 2011. The colors were too simple, too bright and just not my thing. I don't know why out of all the beautiful shades one can find in the Southwest landscape OPI went with these. Oh, well, maybe one day they'll come up with a Santa Fe collection. Wouldn't it be marvelous?

 But then I stopped at my local Ulta the week they got the Texas Collection and among all those blues and pinks I saw San Tan-Tonio, a surprisingly sophisticated warm beige, tan, cafe au lait or whatever you wish to call it. It came home with me.

San Tan-Tonio is a cream formula, completely opaque and comes with OPI's standard wonderful wide and thick brush. I know not everyone is into this OPI feature, but for me it's probably the easiest brush to use. San Tan-Tonio requires just two coats for a full-coverage true to the bottle look. It dries very quickly- when I started taking these pictures I realized that for once all the nails on my left hands were free of polish (my normal state is three different colors being tested on the left hand and an unrelated fourth on my right hand). I quickly slapped San Tan-Onio on, first coat before I started and a second one half way through- it dried out that fast. I didn't use a base or a top coat (bad Gaia!) and my application is far from perfect, but you can see how nice and wearable this shade is. And the quality is so good- even without the requisite protective aids it has yet to see any chips, even four days later.

OPI San Tan-Tonio ($8.50) and the rest of the Texas Spring/Summer 2011 collection are available from Ulta and select nail salons.

All photos are mine.

OPI Boris And Natasha Nail Polish

Since we're back in Winter Wonderland (it looks like about three inches of snow, maybe more), it's appropriate to revisit OPI's Russian collection from 2007. I found a lone bottle of Boris & Natasha at my local Ulta a couple of years ago and grabbed it because it was much prettier than I remembered.  Boris & Natasha is a creme formula, no shimmer that I can detect. The color is a deep burgundy plum, more red than purple when you keep it at 1-2 coats, darker as you pile it on. My photos were taken in strong natural light. at night or under low yellow lights the polish appears darker but not blackened. I'm still not sure how office friendly it is- this OPI color is quite sultry. Still, it's very pretty and fits today's winter is back mood.

Boris & Natasha was part of OPI's limited edition Russian Collection. It's still readily available online, usually under $5.

All photos are mine.

Deborah Lippmann- My Funny Valentine Nail Polish

I still have to do my nails for tonight and replace the greige shade (from StrangeBeautiful Camo library) with something a bit more Valentine's Day friendly. Looking through my nail polish drawers I found this one, My Funny Valentine, by Deborah Lippmann.

My Funny Valentine is a warm red with a simple creme finish that is not going to compete with my dress or jewelry. It's a bit retro, very feminine and like all Lippmann polishes applies well and lasts for days.

It looks like My Funny Valentine ($16) has been discontinued, though it's still available online from various sources, including Amazon, and your local Nordstrom might also have leftover bottles. Mine was a GWP.

All photos are mine.

Sephora by OPI Do I Know You? Nail Polish

I just broke another nail while tending to feline waste management, so my nails are once again a bit of a mess. As soon as I finish typing this post I'm going to take care of the situation: file, buff and polish using a color that makes everything look more... polished, I guess. Do I Know You? from Sephora By Opi is a sleeper color, a rosy beige mauve thing, classy with enough personality. It doesn't attract much attention but it complements warm skin tones and looks elegant but not boring.

I love the application of most Sephora By OPI polishes and Do I Know You? is no exception. It's not streaky, dries quickly (especially for a creme formula) and is low maintenance- just polish and go. A clear top coat every morning makes the manicure last for almost a week with only minor wear to the tips.

Now if I could only get the cats to clean after themselves.

Sephora by OPI nail polish ($9) is available from Sephora stores and online.

Photos by me.