Crumpet Nail Tarts Brown

It has been a few weeks, but I decided I needed to jump into Crumpet Nail Tarts Pick n Mix Challenge.  This week is Book/Brown.  Today I went for brown.

Although I am not wild about this in the pictures, I loved it IRL.  It looked very sophisticated and was a perfect edgy work look.  And, although winter is here with a vengeance in Minnesota, I felt it made for a good fall look.

I started with two coats of Cupcake Polish Too Haute to Handle.  This is a pink leaning nude holo.  Kind of a rose gold.  I really love this polish, but it does call for a nude holo comparison as this is not the only one in my stash.  The Cupcake store describes this as a dark gold, but I just ain' seeing it.  Also says that it is textured, but I didn't find that true with my bottle.  Still love it!  Application was a breeze and dry time was excellent!  

Next I stamped with Loja BFF-04 and Mentality Foxy.  This image stamped beautifully!  

Look at that holo!  But even with the rainbow the stamping shows up.  Sometimes holos overwhelm stamping, but not with this combo.

You can guess how I feel about this one.  Loved it!  Check out what all the other Tarts came up with.  Thanks for looking and commenting!

Barielle Jetsetter Comparisions

Today I have some comparisons of the Barielle Jetsetter Collection.  There is a bit to get through, so I am going to jump right in.  Let's start with a comparison of the two greens in the collection.

Barielle Irish Eyes is a moss green.  It is more opaque than Gondola ride and is shown at two coats with top coat.  Gondola ride is a sage green with a thinner formula.  It is shown with three coats and top coat.  I have a lot of (what may be) similar colors so a comparison of those may be coming soon.

Here I have a comparison of Barielle Rain in Spain and Barielle Designer's Shoe from the Vibrants Collection.  They are both are two coats with top coat.  Rain in Spain's formula is slightly better than Designer's Shoe in that it is a bit thinner.  Hmmm, periwinkle comparison in the works?

I mentioned before that it seems Barielle includes a nude pink in every collection, at least the ones I have reviewed.  Here I have a comparison of three of them and an older discontinued pink.  Index is three coats of Very Bare from the Nude & Naughty Collection.  For some reason in my original swatches (which you can see HERE) I used four coats.  Either I have improved my application skills or it has thickened with time.  Middle two coats of Pillow Talk, also from the Nude & Naughty Collection.  This definitely could have used another coat as I can still see patchiness.  Ring finger is two coats of Kiss Me Kate from the Jetsetter Collection, my second favorite, only behind Belly Dance, which is on my pinkie.  Belly Dance, unfortunately, is discontinued.  I was lucky enough to find it on a blog sale and it continues to be one of my favorite pinks.  Kiss Me Kate is my favorite nude though.  All of these are definitely different, so there are no dupes here!

That's what I have for today.  Let me know if you like comparison posts and I will try to include more.  Thanks for looking and commenting!

Barielle Jetsetter Collection Swatches

Time just keeps slipping away from me!  But with the snow storm today, we are staying home and snuggling inside, trying to keep warm.  What a perfect day to post my Barielle Jetsetter Collection swatches!  Let's just jump right into it!  All swatches are two coats with top coat, unless otherwise noted.

Kiss Me Kate in Artificial Light

Kiss Me Kate with Flash

Kiss Me Kate in Artificial Light

Barielle has a lot of these nude colors, but this one is my favorite that I have tried so far!  It has a vintage pink feel to it that works so well with my skin tone.  Formula was great, self leveling and easy to apply.  Watch for a comparison post of this with Barielles other nudes coming soon so you can find one that would be perfect for you!

Rain in Spain in Artificial Light

Rain in Spain with Flash

Rain in Spain in Artificial Light

Next we have the delicate Rain in Spain.  This periwinkle blue is paler than others in my stash and, once again, has become a favorite.  The formula on this was perfect, thin but not a flooder.  

Autumn in Seoul in Artificial Light

Autumn in Seoul with Flash

Autumn in Seoul in Artificial Light

This is three coats of Autumn in Seoul, one of those coppery browns I love so much.  It was fully opaque in two coats, but felt the need add a third coat.  However, I messed it up.  I scratched....something....before it was fully set, so there are wrinkles.  This was in no way caused by the formula, which was smooth and easy, but by my itchy....something.  I just can't remember what I itched (tee hee).  In the DMPs there are some brush strokes showing, but IRL they don't show at all, just a nice metallic brown.  I admit that I am partial to these colors, so I have some similar shades.  I will do a comparison post soon!

Gondola Ride in Artificial Light

Gondola Ride with Flash

Gondola Ride in Artificial Light

Gondola Ride is the first of two greens in this collection.  I know some are not wild about green, but I happen to love it, so two in one collection is a dream come true.  Gondola ride is a lovely sage green creme that freaked my camera a bit.  The first picture is most color accurate, a light green with a slight blue tinge.  The formula was much thinner than all the others and required three coats for full coverage.  Other the thinness, the formula was good, no flooding and a good self leveler.

Irish Eyes in Artificial Light

Irish Eyes with Flash

Irish Eyes in Artificial Light

Irish Eyes is a moss green.  Once again, my camera was a freak.  The first pic is color accurate.  It is slightly darker with a yellow lean.  Another good formula, smooth and self leveling.  Tomorrow I will have a comparison of the two greens.

Midnight in Paris in Artificial Light

Midnight in Pariswith Flash

Midnight in Paris in Artificial Light

Finally, my favorite of the collection, Midnight in Paris.  The formula on this was Fabulous with a capital F!  Smooth, easy and gorgeous.  Although it has a metallic shimmer, there are little to no brush strokes, whoo hoo!  The Seche Vite top coat did cause some shrinkage at the cuticle, but that may be because I did not give the polish enough time to dry before applying it.  I feel like I have similar colors in my stash, so I will be doing another comparison with this one.

Overall, I enjoyed this collection and there are definitely a few new favorites here, Kiss Me Kate, Rain in Spain and Midnight in Paris.  Another great collection from Barielle!  All of these, plus other fabulous colors, can be found at their website HERE.  But that couldn't be all, could it?  No!  Bonus nail art!

I love this....except for the horrible shrinkage from the Seche Vite!

I started with a base of Barielle Moda Blue, a favorite from the Me Couture collection, which you can see HERE.  Then I stamped with Midnight in Paris and Messy Mansion MM12.  The difference in tone was so close that you could only see the shimmer in direct light.  At least I know it is a good stamper!

Finally I double stamped with Irish Eyes, Rain in Spain and Chez Delany Diver 002.  If I was smart, I would have put a stud in the middle, but nope.  Sometimes you can't see the obvious until you see the pictures :(

Despite the missing studs and obvious shrinkage (I think this is the worst case of shrinkage I have ever experienced) I still ended up liking this look.

So, what do you think?  Like this collection?  Which is your favorite?  Thanks so much for looking and commenting!  See you tomorrow with some comparisons!

A Return of the Double Challenge Manicures

Heellooo!  As I type that, I hear it as Robin Williams doing Mrs Doubtfire.  Cracks me up!  You may (or may not) have noticed that I have been scarce, not only here but on all the other social media sites.  I have been a busy girl!  I am back, however, with one manicure for two challenge prompts, Nail Challenge Collaborative's stripes and Crumpet Nail Tart's three dark colors.

I have mixed feelings about this one.  I love the color combo and the design, but my execution of it is a little sloppy, at best.

I am using a flash pic here because in all the others, the maroon color was showing black.  Here are the colors I used.

• Cuticle - Spa Ritual Deep - A gorgeous blue leaning grey with a purple shimmer.
• Middle - Spa Ritual Freedom - Greyed purple with a blue shimmer.
• Tips - Spa Ritual Twilight - Dark maroon shimmer

I love these colors together, the perfect fall combination.  Of course, I see all my little imperfections, the biggest being that I wish I would have put a second coat of Freedom in the middle.  Twilight could have used a second coat too, to deepen the color.  My lines....weelll, let's just not go there.

In real life, all these little mess ups just weren't noticeable and I ended up loving it!  For some reason it felt very work appropriate, like it would have gone really well with a dark grey pinstripe suit.  I look at these pics, though, and cringe.  Damn DMPs!  Oh well, I enjoyed it while it lasted :)  Thanks for looking and commenting and don't forget to check out all the other stripes and dark colors.

A Little Nail Art for a Break from Comparisons

Are you tired of comparison posts for the BLOG SALE yet?  I know I am and there is more coming, so I took a break and did some nail art!  

This is my favorite time of year.  I love October and November better than any other months of the year.  The air turns crisp and so do the leaves.  Pumpkins show up on doorsteps and in pies.  Pumpkin spice all the stuff!  Latte, creamer, cream cheese and candles.  Whatever it is, I want it.  No, I need it!  I have been on the lookout for Ben & Jerry's pumpkin ice cream, but haven't found it yet and I am on my own personal crusade for pumpkin spice oreos.  Just imagine ginger cookies (instead of chocolate) with pumpkin Double Stuff.  My mouth is watering!

Of course this means pumpkins on my nails too!  I recently (like early summer) purchased some Chocolate Vanity plates through a AIS group buy and one was almost strictly for this image.  I love Mickey in the pumpkin!

Pic from Chocolate Vanity Source

Isn't it cute!  I am sure the Pooh and Valentine images will get use also, but that pumpkin!  Love it hard!

I used the stamping decal method to reverse color the image then applied to the nail over Two coats of China Glaze Lug Your Designer Baggage.

If you are a brown polish lover, like me, this is a must have IMHO.  Rich chocolate brown filled to the brim with warm flakie goodness?  Yes please!  It applies so smoothly and makes me want to lick my fingers.  Sorry if I just grossed anyone out!

I added a funky french tip with Messy Mansion MM19, again using the decal method.  Wish I would have placed them closer to the tips, but the first one was high, so they all had to be high, right?

Despite the flaws I can so clearly see, I LOVE this!  The perfect non-scarey Halloween manicure!

What do you think?  Do you like brown polish, or are you like my sister and think it looks like something that should come out of a diaper?  Is this your favorite time of year too?  If not, what is?  Are you happy to see some nail art?

As always, thanks for looking and commenting!  You guys are what makes blogging worthwhile!  And don't forget to check out my BLOG SALE.  NEW POLISH was added just yesterday and there are a bunch of discontinued indies just waiting for new homes!

Blog Sale