Sparkle Saturday: Essence Edward

Happy Saturday, Lab Partners!

As you may remember from my post on Butter London's Tea with the Queen, it makes great underwear for showing off a glitter top coat, so here's Tea with the Queen again--only this time it's been embellished with Edward from the Essence Bella and Edward twin set. Although I love the look of Edward layered over Bella, wearing a nude polish as underwear certainly makes it easier to see Edward's square and smaller round teal and green glitter particles. And if you look closely, you might catch a holo microglitter or two.

Seeing this glitter on top of Tea with the Queen reminds me of--brace yourself--dragon eggs. Not that I've ever seen a dragon egg, but this is how I imagine them: peach with green glitter. A strange association, I know. But I'm always coming up with strange associations. Last night, I dreamed of a bracelet with a blackened purple stone, surrounded by bamboo. In my dream, I planned to fashion an entire accessory collection around the bracelet and call it Viet Nam Vamp. Obviously, someone's been watching too much Project Accessory!

So what do you think of dragon eggs aka Tea with Edward?

Hope you're having a lovely weekend. Incidentally, I'm out of town for the weekend, so my apologies if I'm unable to respond to your comments until I return home.

Until next time, sending you lab love,

Allison

Bench Work: Tea with the Queen

Hello Lab Partners,

For those of you who didn't see the answer to this weeks' Mystery Mani Monday, the polish was Finger Paints Vintage Velvet.

Now, to today's order of business . . . .

As you may recall, I'm on a perpetual search for a nude polish that doesn't make my hands look like death. Today, my quest continues with Butter London Tea with the Queen, a peachy nude.

"Tea" is about as close to my skin color as it gets, giving me somewhat of a "mannequin" hands look, which I like on some people, but usually not on me. Even though I feel my hands are somewhat invisible while wearing Tea, I don't dislike this polish. I like that it has enough peach to keep it from clashing with my skin, and if I were wanting to go with a natural look, this could very well be the polish I'd go with. In fact, because my nails tend to be stained from polish (you know how it is), I never wear clear polish, so this is as close to au naturel as I get. And the longer I wore this polish, the more I liked it! Tea would make a great base color for showing off a glitter top coat, so you can expect to see it as underwear for various glitters.

So what do you think of Tea with the Queen and my semi-mannequin hands?

Yesterday's Mystery Mani Revealed

Hello Lab Partners,

Just in case you missed the answer to yesterday's Mystery Mani Monday, the polish used was Finger Paints Vintage Velvet. Thanks to those of you who played along!

Finger Paints Vintage Velvet with Isadora Deep Red as Accent

Mystery Mani Monday: A Medium Cool Green

Hello Lab Partners,

It's time for another Mystery Mani Monday (MMM). Today, I think I might actually be able to stump you with this cool-toned, medium green. Although it's hip and modern, this smooth, soft green also has a classic feel. It reminds me of the "old days," when I was a child wearing a plush green dress for Christmas.

With Isadora Deep Red as accent.

 There's a clue hidden in the description somewhere. Please submit your guess by leaving a comment by 7 pm Pacific (10 pm Eastern) time--please note that we're closing this week's MMM a bit earlier than usual. If the name under which you comment differs from your Google Friend Connect name, please leave your GFC, as well. Those who guess correctly will receive an extra entry in our next giveaway. You're welcome to guess more than once, but only your last guess will count.  We'll post the answer both here and on our Facebook page.

With a dove added on accent nail and a coat of Nubar 2010.

Five Finger Friday: Warm Reds

Happy Friday, Lab Partners!

It's time for another 5FF, and given that it's the holiday season, I thought it might be a good time to look at some reds. Specifically, warm reds. In today's line-up: Butter London Old Blighty, No Miss Satsumo Salsa, RGB Coral, Zoya Tamsen, and Zoya Carrie Ann. You also get to see my broken nail on my index finger. :(

From L to R: Zoya Carrie Ann (on poor broken nail. Cry with me), Zoya Tamsen, RBG Coral, No Miss Satsumo Salsa

Starting with that broken index fingernail: Zoya Carrie Ann, a gorgeous, metallic one-coater. Yes, that's just one coat! Isn't it gorgeous?! Just on the warm side--not too orangey, for those of you who aren't into orange-reds.

Next, on the middle finger, one of my personal faves, Zoya Tamsen, a cream that applies super-smoothly. You're looking at two coats, but I could've gotten away with one. This warm red has a slightly brown undertone, making it lean toward brick red.

On the ring finger is RGB Coral. There's quite a bit of orange in this one (I love it). It's another super-smooth cream that could be a one-coater. I applied two coats.

On the pink finger is No Miss Satsumo Salsa. A word about No Miss: You can purchase these polishes on the No Miss web site. I buy mine at Whole Foods Market. No Miss is a Florida-based company, so all the polishes are named after cities here in the Sunshine State. I only own a couple of these puppies. My experience with Melbourne Mint (which I featured in another 5FF) was wonderful. It applied like a dream. But would Satsumo Salsa be as impressive? Well, you're looking at one coat. One, gloriously smooth, streak-free, shimmery coat. Actually, this polish is pinker than it appears in the bottle, so once seeing it on, I really wouldn't classify it as a warm red. But it applied so perfectly that I just had to share it with you!

On the thumb, I'm wearing Butter London Old Blightly, a distinctly brown-red. It has that vintage red look that reminds me of Amelia Earhart. Maybe that's a strange association, but there you have it. You're looking at two coats, but I could have gotten away with one. Something interesting about this polish--it applies very smoothly, yet a bit unevenly. It's not that the polish streaks or drags; it's more like the color pools a bit. It's nothing major, though, so don't let me scare you away from this polish. It's still wonderful!

So which is my favorite? Oh, that's a tough decision. I love them all. But I think I'm going to give the slight nod to my old standby, Tamsen. Maybe.

How 'bout you, readers? What are your thoughts on this group of polishes?

Benchwork: Scotch Naturals Troya

Hello Lab Parnters!

Have you missed us? Things are busy this time of year, so please bear with us as with try to balance blogging life with the rest of our lives!

So, it's the holiday season--time for me to bring out my red polish! Okay, I'm not going to lie, I've been in a red polish mood ever since I put on Cult Nails Clairvoyant for a Mystery Mani Monday a couple of weeks ago. Today, I wanted to show you something a little different--it's Scotch Naturals Troya, a warm red. So what's different about it? Well, Scotch Naturals is a water-based polish line. It applies differently from the polishes you're used to--you know how you typically want your nail surface to be as clean as possible before painting (I go over them with Zoya Remove+ before applying polish)? Well, when using a water-based polish, nails need to have plenty of moisture (think oil) in them for this polish to adhere properly, so Scotch recommends buffing oil into the nails first. Do NOT strip them with remover before polishing. Also,  although Scotch Naturals polish dries quickly to the touch, it must cure overnight and the nails must be kept out of water until the polish cures.

I found this polish applied somewhat unevenly, and dried somewhat matte, similar to the look of watercolor paints. For shine, I topped Troya with Scotch Naturals On the Rocks Top Coat. The finished look was a gorgeous tomato-red.

















But how would it wear on my notoriously dry nails? I'd tried a different color of Scotch Naturals on my wretchedly dry toenails before, and the next day, it came off in my yoga class. My yoga mat was so covered in shards of polish, that I had it sticking to my skin and in my hair. Not pretty. So how would Scotch Naturals wear on my fingernails? I'll let you be the judge; here's Troya the next morning--after less than 12 hours of wear. I hadn't even left the house yet!

Water-based polish cannot be removed with regular polish remover. One option is to buy Sotch Naturals Soy Polish Remover. Another is to use rubbing alcohol, which is what I did, after soaking my nails in warm water, which makes the removal of water-based polishes easier.

I've heard of other folks having much better success with Scotch Naturals, and I believe if I kept using these polishes consistently, my nails would become less dry and water-based polish would consequently adhere better. But I don't have the patience for that, so I'll stick with traditional polishes. However, if you're truly looking for the most natural polish possible, you might want to try Scotch Naturals. At $14.99 per bottle, however, you'd have to be truly dedicated to natural alternatives. If so, you can purchase Scotch Naturals by visiting their web site, or you can visit their web site to search for retailers near you.

A final note: Scotch Naturals also has a children's polish line, called Hopscotch.

I hope you've found this post informative! Until next time, sending you lab love!

Allison

The Lab Will be Closed for the Holiday

Hello Lab Partners,

Even a lab closes for the holidays! We're taking some time off to spend with family--and to give our nails and cuticles a much-needed rest. For those of you in the U.S. celebrating Thanksgiving, we hope you have an enjoyable one.

Ace and Allison