Nubar Reclaim

This one is from Nubar's 2009 Going Green Collection and its formula is FLAWLESS.  It's a strong, smooth linear holographic polish.  AND IT'S GREEN!!!  (As you can tell I'm a little behind, but there's no stopping me NOW!)

Reclaim, where have you been all my life?

Nubar Reclaim

Nubar Reclaim

This is what it looks like when the rainbow holo awesomeness isn't dancing across them - a great color even without the holo, no?

Nubar Reclaim 

And finally the gratuitous close-up shot...

Nubar Reclaim

Yeah, I might need a back-up bottle of this baby.

Newspaper Nails!

You'd be surprised what you can find when you "go down the YouTube Rabbit Hole."  I get lost in there all the time.  Doesn't really matter where I start, I always end up somewhere unexpected.  This time I started innocently with a cute puppy video, which led to a sleep pig, which led to March of the Pigs by Nine Inch Nails, which lead to marbling nails, finally resting on newspaper nails.

Go figure!

Cutenails posted this YouTube video - so easy!  I didn't have any light grey nail polish, but I decided to try it with what I did have, thinking if I liked the look, I could easily pick up a lighter grey later.

And I didn't hate it!  I think I WILL pick up that lighter grey.

Here's what it took.

Rubbing alcohol, base coat, grey polish, top coat and strips of newspaper

And here's how it looked.

Newspaper Nails! (First try - a little crooked)

It will look a lot better with slightly longer nails than I have here and definitely a lighter shade of grey.  I"ll do this one again.  So quick and easy.

Chop Chop!

Well it's that time again.  Time to chop off all my nails.  I refuse to file them and I suck at trimming them, so when they start to get too long (or if I break one) I get out my trusty old pair of big scissors and chop chop!

So today, I wore one of my all-time favorite polishes, OPI DS Extravagance, since it will be a few weeks before I can wear it again. I have a weird, I am sure totally unfounded, dislike of darker colors on my nails when they're short because it makes them look stubbier than they already look all chopped off.

OPI DS Extravagance

So, when I got home, I set about trying to find the perfect polish for my Mannequin Hands. I narrowed it down to 4 out of the 10 or 12 that I have that *could* qualify.  Sally Hansen Cafe Au Lait, Sally Hansen Without a Stitch, Clarins 225 and Rescue Beauty Lounge Grunge.

First, a look at my nails, pre-chop and post-polish.  Suddenly it all becomes clear why I can't just leave them bare.

As you can see, it's NOT a shade of orangey/yellow that is complimentary AT ALL.  And yes, with very rare exceptions, I use a base coat!  Ugh.

I tried the four I mentioned and as I look at the photo now, I realize I probably made the wrong choice, but it's late and I'm not re-doing them tonight.

R to L: RBL Grunge, Clarins 225, Sally Hansen Cafe Au Lait and Sally Hansen Without a Stitch

I can see now that Clarins 225 would probably have been the better, closest to mannequin hands, choice. But I chose RBL Grunge.

RBL Grunge

Okay, so it's time!  CHOP CHOP!!!

And Voila!

RBL Grunge

I'm probably going to try to dispel the no dark polishes on short nails notion for this growth period.  I'm probably going to fail.  But ya never know!

TTtttttttttttthat's all, Folks!

Rimmel London Lasting Finish Pro - Posh Pink, Marine Blue, Hot Cocoa and Stiletto Red

Still loving on the Rimmel Londons.  These 4 all had fantastic formulas and went on like a dream, as usual. I may have already mentioned, but I LOVE their wide brush - it's angled perfectly for smooth application.  These photos are all pre-cleanup.  As you can see, I had very little cleaning up to do.  Which is a definite plus for me.  Something else I may have mentioned...I'm LAZY! =)

First up - Posh Pink.  This is a POP of neon pink and I captured it the best I could. My photography skills leave quite a bit to be desired, but I intend to get out the booklet that came with the camera and actually read it.  One of these days.

Rimmel Posh Pink

Rimmel Posh Pink

Marine Blue is a shimmery teal -  more on the blue side than the green.

Rimmel Marine Blue

Stiletto Red is a perfect blue-based red creme. No fancy sparkles or shimmers, just a lovely, perfect red creme with great application.  And as you all know, reds are a pain to clean up.  As you can see here, pre-cleanup, I had very little to do.

Rimmel Stiletto Red

Hot Cocoa is aptly named.  If I had to chose another word to describe it, I'd say it's a toffee color. It's also a great creme with no sparkle or shimmer.

Rimmel Hot Cocoa

I still have a few more colors to review in the Rimmel London Lasting Finish Pro line that I'll get to this week, providing Tropical Storm Don doesn't do anything funky in the next day and a half.

Rimmel London Lasting Finish Pro - Rags to Riches and Wild Orchid

After all of the Butter London testing, I decided to go back to one of my favorites for a few days.  Rimmel, despite being a "drugstore" brand and under $7 in price, has a fantastic formula and a fantastic brush.  LOVE!

I really wish they would put more into coming out with more colors though. Hear that Rimmel?  MORE COLORS PLEASE!

Here's a start, though - I know Rags to Riches is brand new for the fall and I *think* Wild Orchid might be new as well because I hadn't seen it until I picked up RtR.

Rags to Riches is a great metallic mossy green with silver shimmer.  The formula is smooth and easy, and it's a two-coater (shown here with 2 coats and no topcoat.)  Probably going to be one of my go-to polishes this fall.

Rimmel Rags to Riches

Wild Orchid is a smooth creme that is a one-coater.  I am pretty much a serial two-coater, though, so my pic is with 2 coats and no topcoat, though I'll probably add one and wear it for a few days. It's a light purple/dark lavender - what I think OPI Funky Dunky would be if it were about 3 shades lighter.  It's certainly a lighter/different purple than I normally wear, but I'm an equal opportunity purple lover, so it's definitely a keeper.

Rimmel Wild Orchid

Rimmel Wild Orchid

Stay tuned for more Rimmel reviews...

Butter London Nail Polish Reviews

UPDATE:  Well I've had the pleasure of buying and receiving a lot more Butter London polishes since I wrote this post (And thankfully I've gotten better at photographing the polishes!) and the brand continues to grow and improve and has actually become one of my favorites! Check out these posts:

butter LONDON Royal Navy

butter LONDON Blowing Raspberries

butter LONDON Lillibet's Jubilee

butter LONDON Trout Pout, Yummy Mummy and Teddy Girl

butter LONDON Queen Vic

butter LONDON British Racing Green



Some thoughts on Butter London polish.  Overall, it's not a bad brand.  The 3-free, not tested on animals attributes are certainly a plus, as are some of the colors.  My problem with Butter London is the inconsistency of the formulas from one color to the other.  I've noticed bottle imperfections, too, but other than that possibly being an indicator of quality control in general, that doesn't really bother me.

For instance, the cremes generally have decent application while the glitters and other "special" polishes (like Chancer) have such horrible application that I doubt I will ever use them again.  Chancer was extremely gloppy and thick and hard to apply and just got worse with each coat, even when drying completely between coats.

Butter London Chancer

Butter London Chancer 

Not sure if you can tell how gloppy it is in the photos, but it was so bad, I didn't bother doing cleanup, OR the other hand.  In the first photo, I've compared Chancer to China Glaze Ruby Pumps.  They both have the same shimmer, but the Butter London base is a slightly darker red than the China Glaze.  The main difference is the formula and application.  No comparison.

Marrow, on the other hand, has a smooth application.  It is slightly thicker than most, almost making it a one-coater, but it applies well.  It's a deep, vampy purple (or even blurple) creme with a slight hint of silver micro-shimmer, that dried a bit darker than the bottle indicates.

Butter London Marrow

I decided to try the No More Waity Katie with it.  I've seen so many gorgeous photos of it used over Zoya Caitlin and figured it would go well over Marrow.  In theory, it does.  In reality, however, the formula is so gloppy and thick and uneven, it's not really worth it.

Butter London No More Waity Katie

It's really too bad that such a gorgeous color, which would have made a great layering polish or stand-alone polish, is just horrible in application.

To be fair to Butter London, I swatched a few more with NO application or formula problems.

Butter London All Hail the Queen

Butter London All Hail the Queen

All Hail the Queen has a fantastic application and it's really a lovely color.  Some call it a holo, but if it is, it's not a strong holo.  Though I haven't really worn it in full sun.  I'll have to test that out. To me, the shimmer makes it a very interesting, if not truly holographic, color.  This one is a keeper.

Butter London Queen Vic

Queen Vic, a creme, is a deep mulberry/cranberry/raspberry color. It's not what I would call a unique color and while the application isn't as bad as NMWK or Chancer, it is a little on the thick side and slightly difficult to work with.

Butter London Snog

This polish looks to be more of a fuchsia in the bottle but on the nail is a darker, more red-toned pink than fuchsia. I'll definitely need to get more full sun photos of this one as it's a hard color to capture for someone like me who is "photographically challenged."  The formula/application is great on this creme.

Butter London Toff

Toff is one of the new Autumn/Winter 2011 colors. I would describe this as a dark dusty mauve or a darker rose pink with very definite and noticable brown undertones. Color is great. The formula was acceptable, but not great.  There was some cuticle drag and it's a bit on the thick side - again, making it almost a one-coater but without the best application.

Butter London Pearly Queen

Butter London Pearly Queen

Pearly Queen had good application and formula. And the color was actually quite surprising.  I really didn't expect to like the color as much as I did. It's definitely a pearl, but the brush strokes, while definitely there, as with most pearls, weren't the worst I've seen. It's not your 80s pearl, for sure. The surprising part for me was that it was opaque in 2 coats.  I really expected it to be a sheer.  It has good shimmer and the color is a sandy pearl/white with a pale pink flash.  Without natural light, it's almost a pale cement color, but it comes alive in the sun where you can see the pink flash.