Blue Drug Store Nail Polish & Konad Coupon!!!

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I'll get to the more interesting thing first: a really great Konad coupon! WowSoCool contacted me last night to let me know that through August, they're doing a 30% off code, wowsocool1, with the only limit being that the Build Your Own kit (those are already pretty heavily discounted). So it looks like there's no minimum order for the 30%, but it gets even better... Once you have a $20 order (I'm assuming after the discount, since that's how it usually works), shipping is free in the U.S. That's a pretty dang good deal. As you may have guessed, I'm good for plates, but it's likely I'll try more Konad regular nail polishes (which will be $3.50-ish there after the code - that's officially cheapo to me) and go for more Princess polishes. It's the best Konad deal I've heard of.

If I had any idea I'd like Konad as much as I do, I would have had the good sense to add labels for plate numbers and pattern descriptions for you (like "Tip Plate," "Flowers," "Vines," etc.), so you could find things, but I didn't, and now I've been Konaddicted for so long and have so much here, the prospect of going through all the Konad posts to add labels would be a gargantuan project. Worse yet, I've been remiss in adding pictures to NailGal for months, which are so well organized and searchable (thank you, Cat!!!). Here, as of late, I've been doing my best to use the plate number and some verbal description of the pattern in each post, so a search for "Konad plate flowers" should yield decent results now. The other option for looking at plates is to look at the images on WowSoCool and search NailGal's Nail Art category for the plate number you're interested in. In any case, with the plates being $4.90 with this code, August is going to be a good time to load up on them - I doubt they'll get cheaper. The Coraline sets are still there, too, both of them, and those are a novelty that I'd wager will be gone soon, and they're cool as heck!

With how the votes for going with theme weeks have been going, I've jumped the gun and am doing a Drug Store Week since I started Sunday that way, but I mentioned I'd break a theme for something noteworthy... I get a lot of emails asking me about Konad plates and polishes, likely the most common questions, so I think either later today or tomorrow, depending on time, maybe both depending on quantity, I'll go through my pictures and do a Best of Konad According to Me to show you my personal favorites.

So that's the Konad code! I'm not affiliated with WowSoCool, nor do I profit in any way from the use of any codes I publish here, I'm just a huge fan... I think Konad is the coolest thing I've encountered since nail polish itself, expanding any stash exponentially, and the folks at WowSoCool have always filled every order I've placed perfectly and within hours (before they knew I had a blog - if a company does it because they know I have a blog, it doesn't count...).

On to nail polish! I mentioned I'm doing a drug store theme this week. Today's aren't the easiest to find, they're dumb luck, but I really liked both. Both were two-coaters, applied well, and cool colors. They're different brands, so I'll tell you about each in general and specifically about the color pictured.

First up is today's Nails of the Day, Wet n Wild Craze in Nocturnal (with a little Fauxnad heart pattern, in an uncharacteristically understated way, in a Revlon Chrome on the ring fingers). Nocturnal is a blue black creme. I've heard it described as a jelly, and in my pics, taken in absolutely blazing sunlight, I see why. However, that jelly look only shows in glaring direct light, not in normal light, so I call it a creme. I got it, despite my previous expression in disdain at "is it blue, is it black" shades, because this one is absolutely devoid of shimmer, making it unique for me. It's not just one more blue black with a subtle shimmer, it's a creme (or arguably, jelly). In general, the WnW Crazes I've used are excellent - they're opaque in two coats, very well pigmented, and in cool colors (I left the pink behind, so it doesn't count!). Also, they're $1.89, that's dang cheap, certainly cheap enough to roll the dice on whether I'll like it. The down side is this one had some wonky bristles on the brush that I'm otherwise content with, and since I hold the bottle in the hand I'm polishing, the bottle shape is not the most practical for me (not a problem for most). Here she is, my best attempt at pictures with my eyes watering from the bright sun.

Nocturnal is a nice break from the more summery nail polished I've been wearing. Which lead us to today's other blue drug store nail polish...

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Blue Me Away! is the other (with the exclamation point being part of the name). This one is from the display of 25+ colors, a tabletop display, that have silver lids. Some of these, possibly all, are repromotes (my beloved Emerald City is there with a silver cap). For me, Xtreme Wears are one of the most hit-or-miss DS lines out there. Some can take four coats and still not be opaque, some can take two and be perfect. These are closer to $4, so I only get them if I really, really like a color enough to find out which is the case. Also, I'm not a fan of the brush on these. The actual brush is fine, but the stem on the brush is really long, just a little bit longer than is comfortable for me to use. Blue Me Away!, however, was such a perfect sky blue creme that I went for it, and I was pleased and surprised that after two coats, it was opaque and even (rare for a creme!). I added the flower garden pattern from Konad plate M74 using White Konad Princess Nail Polish (which is the same as Special Nail Polish, it seems, but cheaper per ml in the Princess bottle). The result was just what I hoped for, cheery, summery, a little 1960's.

That's what I have for you today, Dear Reader. It got long, sorry about that. I kind of figured it was a waste to be publishing current drug store nail polishes without rendering an opinion on both the specific shade and my experience with the line, so I had to use more words that usual... Please feel free to comment with your experience with either of these lines. The more info we have to share, the more it helps someone else!

I'll try to get a Best of Konad put together for you soon. If it takes a few parts, it takes a few parts. Maybe I'll even be smart enough to remember to add a label that says "Best of Konad" so we can all find it a month from now!

That's all for now. Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Bright Milani Nail Polish & M44

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I thought I'd continue with the cheapo and easy to find theme, so I have a couple of Milanis for you. I only tried this brand for the first time about two years ago, since CVS wasn't so big in the Midwest until then. That's the only place I really see them in the Midwest. In downtown Chicago, the odd Walgreen's would have them, but that was not the norm, and I've never seen that aside from downtown in Illinois (although I haven't been to every Walgreen's in Illinois, so what do I know!).

I'll start with the good news: I like them - good color selection, usually opaque in 2-3 coats, cheap, available. I just read a bottle, and they're Big Three Free as well. No formaldehyde resin, none of the bad stuff, so they're good for ladies with allergies to formaldehyde too.

The bad news is they really, really apply like they're Big Three Free. I checked the label as a formality, largely for the formaldehyde resin - I knew right away they had to be B3F. Very thick, but kind of watery and slippery, definitely hard to control. I have two for you today, one was manageable, one was barely workable. I say this from the perspective of having a strong preference for B3F nail polish, with lots of practice with many formulas, and these were definitely harder than average to work with.

Overall, though, they're cheap with good colors, good coverage, available, so I say they're worth the hassle of tricky application.

I'll start with the weaker one, Pink Pop, a mid-tone bright pink creme. This one was the super difficult to apply one. Cremes can be trickier, so we'll just write it off to that! This is three coats with Konad Princess Nail Polish in Coral Blue on the tips, using a pattern from Konad plate M44 I don't believe I've used before. It's my Nails of the Day today, and I'm happy with it. It's rainy, so I had to use artificial light.

The next one, which I wore yesterday, I really liked. It's Milani Bolting Blue, which I may have shown you before. It's a great blue in any case, very striking, particularly, in my little opinion (whatever it's worth!) against very pale skin. It's a vivid medium blue shimmer, a real jewel tone blue. This one also required three coats, but was not nearly as hard to apply as Pink Pop. I added the two-stripe pattern from Konad plate M44 using Konad Special Nail Polish in White. The result initially reminded me of 1970's running shoes, but then the similarity to a racing car was pointed out. Either way, this one was fun! I didn't Photoshop these pictures at all, which were taken in the afternoon sun - the blue is just a bit brighter than my camera can handle when the sun hits it, I think.

Those are my bright Milanis with Konad plate M44.

I was thinking of this as I started this post, and since we haven't had a poll in a while and I'd certainly like your input on this one, I'll ask you: as I go through unpacking the stash in bits and pieces, would you like to see theme weeks? God knows I could do theme months, but I was thinking a week would provide variety. For example, drugstore week, easy-to-find week, hard-to-find week, import week, etc., just a mix of things, which I'd try to present in a way that alternated what's hard to find in the U.S. and what's easy for us to get here, now. I'd interrupt a week for a new collection or whatever the "breaking news of the day" coming out was, but thought that from a reader's perspective, it might be kind of fun to have the themes.

That's just a thought I had. If you have an opinion, please vote in the poll I'm about to place at the top of the page. If you don't, please just ignore the poll for the week, and whatever happens happens.

That's all for now, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

More Wet N Wild Nail Polish!

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I was just out and about for a few hours, and running errands was part of my little outing. I made two discoveries while I was out. First, it seems that my local convenience store carries fishing bait (WTH???), and second, I found a Wet n Wild Rock Solid color that looks very cool, about which I've heard nothing. I thought I'd show you pictures of the bottle - it looks like Claire's Magic's demure little sister to me.

It's called Mystic Quartz, and is either old or new (I don't have a sense of the stores here yet!). In any case, I think it looks pretty cool,. so it goes on the list to use this week. There's not really a list, just some bottles out that are intended to remind me to use them, so Mystic Quartz will get in line.

I figured while I was showing you bottle pictures of that one, I'd show you a manicure with another Wet n Wild Craze color. The metallic shades in this line are hot, and one of those, Rustic, was the second Craze I used. It's a fantastic bronze, good in two coats.

Not too shabby for a couple of $2 cheapies, huh?

That's what I have for you today, Dear Reader. Until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!

OPI I'm Not Really A Waitress

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I'm fulfilling the single longest-standing reader request I've had, which has been out there for close to a year. A reader wanted to see OPI's I'm Not Really A Waitress, and I ran into it this morning, thought of the request, so it's today's Nails of the Day.

My bottle is green-label, but before the Pro-Wide brush became a mop, so it's older. This is three coats over the new treatment regimen with a top coat in the sun. The pictures aren't 100% - the sun here is absolutely blinding, so when I take pictures outside in the morning, I can't really see what I'm doing...

That's it. Nothing earth-shattering, but maybe a nice change after a few imports lately, a nice easy-to-find shade. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Bloom Mena

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I have a great one for you today! Holy Holographic Heck, it's Bloom Mena!!! This is what prompted me to pull the trigger on ordering some Blooms, and it's gorgeous. It puts MPJ and Revvvolution to shame!

This is two coats in the sun. Not the best pictures I've ever taken, as I was on the phone while I took them, but they'll do.

That is the glory that is Bloom Mena! I emailed the manufacturer to find out if they have plans of making these available in the U.S., but don't expect to hear anything until after the weekend (assuming they answer).

That's it for now, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Bloom Billie

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I went to the post office earlier, and was happy to find a package that I've been expecting waiting for me. It's one I'd hoped to have last Friday (I'll get into that later...), but I have it now! A friend from Australia helped me get my hands on some Bloom nail polishes, and they are spectacular!

I dug into Billie first, and I'll tell you why that was first and why I wanted it for last Friday after the pics in case you don't especially care. It's a great slightly red purple shimmer which required three coats (as most do for me) to be opaque, and I love it. It's glowy! It applied beautifully, and the only down side is that I noted that the bottle is 12 ml (0.4 oz) rather than the usual 15 ml (0.5 oz).

So here are pics, and I'll tell you about the meaning of it after.

So why's this super-duper special? It's a combination of things...

I've shown you "Lucy in the Sky" colors for my mom and mentioned my dad singing that song when I was a kid... Well, that was the only time she was called Lucy, was that specific reference. Otherwise, it was Billie. She used to say that only doctors and the IRS called her Lucille, and she'd make a really silly face when doctors did it. She got "Billie" for a song that was popular on the radio when she was born (way pre-TV), called Billie Boom-Boom. Her dad would bounce her on his knee and sing Billie Boom-Boom, and the name stuck. So that's Part I.

Part II is that it's purple, which makes it perfect. My mom was a hard-working professional woman, always number one in male-dominated fields, and when she was around fifty-ish, came across the poem "Warning: When I Am An Old Woman, I Shall Wear Purple," by Jenny Joseph. She'd read it to anyone who would listen, letting out a hearty, from-the-toes laugh every time, and had an artist/calligrapher render a version that's still in my dad's house today. Here's the poem (skip it if you want!).

Warning

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple

With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.

And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves

And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.

I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired

And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells

And run my stick along the public railings

And make up for the sobriety of my youth.

I shall go out in my slippers in the rain

And pick the flowers in other people's gardens

And learn to spit

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat

And eat three pounds of sausages at a go

Or only bread and pickle for a week

And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry

And pay our rent and not swear in the street

And set a good example for the children.

We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?

So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised

When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

--Jenny Joseph

At the time, she was of the mind that purple was a color only for someone she didn't get along with so well. This poem changed that, and as she got older, she'd wear purple more, and always quote this poem, threatening to eat three pounds of sausages in a sitting and things like that. It was funny as heck. It was more than a joke to my mom, though. If she felt like wearing pajamas all day, which would drive my dad nuts, she'd simply answer him, "I'm comfy." This poem gave her the perception that age entitled her to whatever she felt like that harmed no one else, regardless of what anyone thought, and she lived it.

So that's why I was hoping to have a purple called Billie for last Friday, my mom's birthday. She'd love having a purple with her name. I've also never showed her to you, I don't think, so I will. This is the picture from her obituary, which was taken when she was 75. Flaming red hair and bold lipstick. That's Billie! Unfortunately, we get her picture smile here rather than a real one, but I can show you a real smile on another birthday.

I look exactly like her, so that's me in 40 years, too!

So that's the polish and the story for this afternoon, Dear Reader. To those of you who skipped it, thanks for being patient with me, and to those of you who read it, thanks for walking through this with me. Until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!

Wet N Wild Craze & Adoree

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I've been hearing how fabulous the new Wet N Wild Craze colors are, and yesterday, I went on a quest for them. I returned victorious! They were a new shelf in the regular Wet N Wild display, and the colors are indeed fabulous. And cheapo - under $2.

I only tried out one yesterday, Morbid, which went on well and was opaque in two coats. The down side to it was that its fumes gave me a mild asthma attack, which was weird.

So this $1.89 cheapo polish is what I wanted Lippmann Collection Don't Tell Mama to be. Exactly what I wanted it to be! Good news is, either way, I've got it now!

On to Adoree... This is an off brand I got a few of in late 2007. I assume they're still around. They're Big 3 Free, and have a lot of glitters. The glitters aren't opaque or terribly dense, so to use one this morning, I matched it to a correspoding base color. The base color here is Sea Turquoise (bottle in the picture), and the glitter is Capri Sea. It's one coat of the base color, two of the glitter.

The outcome of this one is that I have mermaid nails, which is always a good thing to have.

That's it for today, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Lancome Rouge Bordeaux

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

Even I had to finally say, "Enough with the pinks already!" Today I went for someothing a little different from my box of older polishes, a Lancome that is, I think, from 2007.

This is three coats of Rouge Bordeaux with the new treatment regimen.

I like it. I like Lancomes, and specifically like this color.

On a side note, the service that provides my little comments thingy changed it. Change is bad. I don't care for it, I find it harder to follow, but I can't do much about it...

That's all for today, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Hollywood Girl Pink Sparkles

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today, I have another of the cool polishes I got from Korea for you, except this morning I read the label and found an interesting little tidbit: Made in USA. So this is another made here, shipped there, and shipped back to me! The hoops we jump through for a good nail polish...

Anyhow, this one's a crazy good glitter, whatever its origins. I used three coats to make it totally opaque, and with a top coat, it's smooth. Yes, I'll likely need to sandblast it off, but today, I don't care. I sparkle! My email buddy girl was really clued into my pink phase of this summer, and this is another pink, which is great for me. I don't know what the deal is this summer, but if it's pink, I want to wear it! Here's the finished mani with my new treatment regimen.

How's that for a glitter?

Also, a big thank you to diana for her drying-drops application tips. It worked: one drop at the center of the cuticle, one at the center of the nail, with only a slight angle to the nails, and no mess. That cut a huge chunk out of the Con side of drying drops for me, so thanks, diana!

That's the update for today, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

SpaRitual Mystic & M56 & Barry M FAIL

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Ever since I swatched SpaRitual Mystic the other day, I've been thinking it would be well paired with the Gold Black Konad Princess Nail Polish, so I decided to try that out today.

Last night, I did the base of three coats of Mystic over Nu Nails finished with Diamont, then got sidetracked with something else. This morning, I went through the Konad plates, selected my old favorite tip pattern from plate M56, and did my tips in Gold Black. I finished it with another coat of Diamont. Unfortunately, I got sidetracked again, and in that time storm clouds rolled in and took away my sunlight.

I'm a little bummed at how my pictures turned out under the artificial light I had to use as a result because the Konad polish just looks black, which isn't true to life. It really does look like it does in the bottle in the second picture below - it shifts between gold and black. So I suppose you'll just have to trust me that (i) Gold Black and Mystic is a good idea, and (ii) this manicure looks a lot cooler in person than in these pictures. I took a bunch, and this light just does not want to reveal the shimmer. The shimmer is the part that's cool - it's a stark contrast of both color and finish, the pale brown creme against a black gold shimmer. I really like it. I'm frustrated that I can't show it to you! Here's the best I can do.

So that's the first half of today's topic, now on to part II: Barry M FAIL!!!

A month ago, Barry M Cosmetics in the UK advertised a sale where they were offering 20% off and free shipping to the US. Well, I've had my eye on a few Barry M's for a some time, over a year, and ordered once a few years ago with no memorable incident, so I went for it. Here I am a month later, no Barry M's, no reply to four emails in two weeks, and a dispute opened with my bank card. So basically, what I got out of my Barry M order was ignored and the hassle of a chargeback dispute. Hours of family entertainment, huh? Since I'm having the hassle, I thought I'd pass on my experience to you so you can avoid the same. If, by some miracle, the Barry M's show up this week, I'll let you know and close the dispute, of course, but in the meantime, that's where it is. It's a disappointment, because I really wanted some of them, but if they show, I don't know if there will be an element of annoyance associated with them now. I suppose we'll just see what happens...

That's the update for today, Dear Reader! Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Dior Turquoise Diabolo

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Just for funsies today, I took the lid off of a box that was full of polish to randomly pick an oldy but goody for today. Fun now, I'll be sorry when I have random bottles of polish all over, but I can worry abut that later... In any case, I struck gold. What I found was some old Diors, and I selected Turquoise Diabolo. In needs a dark blue base, and in the same box was Lippmann Collection's Devil in a Blue Dress, so I was set!

I started with three coats of the Lippmann. I don't know if the color development folks at Lippmann just like jellies or if they're stingy on pigment, but it took three coats. As I was doing coat number two, I wished I'd chosen another base color. However, it dried fast, so it was no biggy. Then I gave it a coat of the Dior, the clouds parted, angels started singing, and all was well.

Since it was so much polish to dry, I finished it with Lippmann Collection Addicted to Speed, which dries almost too fast. It starts freezing up on the brush stroke at the free edge of my nail. Since it's $20 for the full size, I only have a mini of it that came with a little mini set, and it did the job.

Here it is as it looks in regular good light.

Here it is in full sun.

The Dior sparkly colors like this came in a bunch of colors, and they're fantastic. They look foily in normal light, and just insanely sparkly in direct light. What fun! Of course, since they're old, they're discontinued - they really shouldn't have stopped making these, though!

That's what I have for you today, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

SpaRitual Up at Noon

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I'm aware there's so much emphasis on the latest and greatest collections that sometimes I don't get to show you the cool, readily available stuff, and that's what I have for you today. I ran into a box of polishes I packed last summer, and found some really great SpaRituals in it. One thing I should mention is that I've always heard they're Big 3 Free, and that's not true of the older ones. It's true today, of the collection I showed you the other day, but I peeled a label on one of these older ones and found toluene was the first ingredient and that it also had formaldehyde resin. So if you care about that, now you know...

The color I picked is one of the super glowy ones, called Up at Noon. I've worn it before as a three-coater on its own, but with the train wreck my nails are right now, it was best that I use a white base under it today. I did two coats of white and two of Up at Noon, with Nu Nails as a base preserving what's left of my nails and, throwing caution to the wind, I used Diamont over it all. Maybe it's the straight formaldehyde that makes Diamont not dry old polishes - it worked as it always does for me over this. Here's the finished manicure.

So this is an old favorite that's around, doesn't cost big bucks, and is relatively easy to find (as easy as any SpaRitual is...). Until we meet again, love and nail polish to you!

Versace Heat Nail Lacquer in V2046 & A Cool New Blog!

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I have a really fun nail polish to show you today, one that held surprises for me. For a while, my friend L8B has posted pictures on a message board of Versace Heat Nail Lacquer inV2046, and my, how I have coveted it! I managed to get my hands on it a few weeks ago, but since it's ancient, have put off using it because of my aversion to old-school chemicals (formaldehyde, toluene, DBP), especially with my nails being a bit fragile.

Well, today is a special day. It's my mom's birthday, and she was a HUGE celebrator, so in her honor I decided to do something special and break out the Versace (obviously, I'm doing more tonight, that was just my little personal gesture...). I reluctantly hunted down an old bottle of Seche Vite to use over it, lest Diamont have some weirdo reaction, lamenting that I'd have to wrap my tips (which I don't so with Diamont) and that I'd likely have shrinkage with SV, but I really wanted to use the Versace.

All, set, I applied Nu Nails (chemical reactions be damned, I'm not staining my nails!), then the first coat of the Versace. It was more than I'd hoped for, very richly pigmented, easy to apply, smooth as silk. The noteworthy thing was that it did not stink - being used to Big 3 Free, when I smell the old-school stuff now, it literally stings my nose. I stopped, got the ancient box the Versace came in, and read the ingredients. Much to my surprise, and thanks to the fact that the European regulations are way ahead of ours, I found that it was B3F! I finished the mani, turned up my nose at Seche Vite, and topped it off with Diamont.

This is truly the most incredible medium blue. I am in love - it was worth the months of pining! Here's the two-coat finished manicure. Be sure to check out the power lines from the olden days in second picture - they're still suspended from those poles rather than underground here. I think it's quaint now, but when there's a storm and I have no power, I doubt it'll be as charming...

And here's the cool little Versace insignia on the top of the bottle. You know how I love ornamented bottles!

That's the Versace. Or a Versace. She has sisters! I'll show them to you soon...

In the title, I said there's a cool new blog! Well, there is. You know that although I like to show you the latest and greatest whenever I can, I'm largely just doing my own thing here. Like showing you a random Versace and throwing caution to the wind with nail length. I recently found out there's another site doing the same - showing the latest and greatest with his own twist and doing his own thing (yes, his), all with exceptional pictures, great commentary, thoughtful color comparisons... You name it, he's got it. His knowledge of nail polish is amongst the best, and I expect his site to take off fast. I love it. If you don't know him yet, I am proud to introduce you to ybpolish! He's written a lot already, and updates often, so be sure to keep an eye on him.

That's it for now, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

SpaRitual Fall 2009 Collection: Forbidden

Good afternoon again, Dear Reader!

I had a little window of time, and took it to swatch the last three SpaRitual Forbidden Collection colors for you. Since when I showed you the first three, I mentioned that seeing the collection in its entirety really gives an impression of how cool the whole collection is, I decided that rather than just showing you Part II, I'd show you all six colors this time around so you'd get to see what I see. I'll just show you the with-the-bottle pictures so the page loads this century.

All six colors required three thin coats to be opaque and even, but applied very smoothly, evenly and overall very well. The conditions for each picture are different, so I'll just tell you what's going on in each as we go.

Of course, browns and purples are hot for this Fall, and that's evident in this collection. It can be split down the middle into the predominantly brown and not predominantly brown shades, so I thought I'd do just that. I'm showing you the pictures from the previous post as if you'd never seen them, but it's to let you see the collection as a whole. It goes together nicely for me.

I'll start with the tamer predominantly brown shades so we can end with my favorites. I called a favorite earlier, that became plural with this round of swatches... In order of depth of color for the browns, favorites for the non-browns, here they are.

First is Mystic, a taupe creme, which is exceptionally smooth and even for such a pale shade (typical of SpaRitual though). This is no top coat, but with base coat.

Second is Inner Sanctum, a light peach brown creme, which is darker on the nail than in the bottle. Also with a base but no top.

The third you haven't seen yet, and is a full manicure over Nu Nails with Diamont. It's Hush, desribed as "a warm brown creme." I think it looks like milk chocolate. It's a contender to unseat Lippmann Maneater as my favorite brown - that's why I'm test driving it.

That brings us to the not predominantly brown shades. The first is described as a "burnt orange red creme," which seems accurate, and is called Intrigue. I got a call while I did this one, and it dried super fast, and especially shiny. This is dry, no top, with base.

The fifth one you've seen, but is worth seeing again. Hypnotic is described as a "charcoal brown shimmer," and is just cool as heck - it's the one I declared a far and away favorite. It looks on the nail more like the bottle itself in the picture below, and this is a full manicure with Nu Nails and Diamont.

Last is Regal, decribed as "plum creme," which taught me not to decare a favorite based on the bottle alone. It's like Fall 2008's Solitude in that the description and general idea are not particularly noteworthy, but the color is absolutely striking. I thought this one would be a nightmare to photograph, but it really wasn't at all. I think this is one hell of a plum.

Again, the release date for these is September 2009, and the retail is $10. That's higher than it used to be. I emailed sparkling*nails on ebay (that's a link to email her) to ask her what her price will be, as I assume her costs have gone up as well, but haven't heard back. She's usually the cheapest source for SpaRitual, has amazing CS (I've bought from her for years, pre-blog), and ships internationally. The other thing is that she usually will reserve stuff in advance if you email her. When I contacted her about her prices this morning, I asked her when she'd get these and if she'd be reserving them in advance, but don't know that for certain yet either. If she says "No," I'll edit this part out... In any case, I provided her email so that if you want any colors, you can ask her to set them aside for you now you you don't have to stalk her store for them in September. She'll just email you when they're in.

That's it for today, Dear Reader. Until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!