Showing posts with label Neutrals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Neutrals. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

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?

Friday, November 11, 2011

Five Finter Friday: Bronzes/Coppers

Happy Friday, Lab Partners!

Inside, artificial light



It's time for another 5FF! Today we'll take a look at some polishes in the bronze/copper family--quintessential fall polishes. For today's line-up I selected Julep Zoe, Zoya Jinx, Sephora by OPI Rumba Romance , butter  London The Old Bill, and e.l.f. Copper. A little note on The Old Bill: I sort of cheated with this one. I had another copper picked out to try, but I'd been curious about whether The Old Bill would lean towards bronze once applied, so I threw it in the mix. Did it, in fact, show bronze on the nail? Stay tuned, dear readers. Each one of these polishes is a metallic, my favorite finish. A brief aside: for some reason I'll never quite grasp, before I tried metallics I thought I wouldn't like them. What was I thinking?! Now, moving on to today's lineup, I give you coppers and bronzes:

Inside, artificial light

Inside, with flash
Pinkie: Zoya Jinx. This is one of my favorite polishes to wear on my toes. It's a true copper that applies beautifully and streak-free, providing opacity with one coat. However, I chose to apply a second coat.

On the ring finger: Sephora by OPI Rumba Romance. I was concerned on the first coat--this polish applied with a bit of streaking and was quite sheer. On the second coat, however, it was opaque, providing a smooth bronze finish.

The middle finger: Here's where I slipped in that "questionably" bronze polish. Would it appear bronze on the nail? Almost . . . but not quite. It's distinctly a dark champagne, which isn't usually my thing, but I actually like this one--as neutrals go. It's a little darker than many champagne polishes, and the fact that it's metallic makes it more appealing to me. It applied beautifully, and was nearly opaque in one streak-free coat and completely opaque in two.


On the pointer finger: e.l.f. Copper. Rebecca from Rebecca Likes Nails recommended this one. On the first coat, I was doubting her recommendation because it looked as if Copper would be too shear for my liking. But on the second coat, it was gorgeously opaque. Lesson learned--don't doubt Rebecca

Inside, with flash
 On the thumb: Julep Zoe. This is one of the polishes I received in my first Maven box three months ago. I knew by the looks of it that I'd love it, as long as it applied well. Fortunately, it applies beautifully--entirely streak-free and opaque in one coat, although I chose to apply a second coat. As you can see, there's quite a bit of orange to this one.














So there you have it! Honestly, I like this group better than I thought I would! These polishes blend color with neutrality, making them quite versatile for any season, but particularly appropriate for fall.

What do you think of these five colors? Which one is your favorite?



Until next time, sending you lab love,

Allison