Archives: March 2009

I am very excited today because I just got some very cool new (to me) nail polishes! The brand is called Illamasqua and they are based in London, England. I feel as though my discovery of them was perfectly timed because I just booked my vacation to London for May! I am super excited because this will be my first trip to Europe! Anyway back to the polish. I have to say that I was amazed that I got these so quickly. I contacted them less than a week ago and I already got them today. I have people sending me stuff from New York (cough RBL, cough Essie) that takes two-three times as long to get here! So here is a bit about the brand.

The idea of Illamasqua was first thought of in Berlin in the 1920′s during the dark club scene. It was developed by professional theater and film make up artists and now takes a lot of inspiration from people in the alternative scene who’s form of self expression may be different from “the norm”. They have a complete line of really fabulous looking makeup comprised of rich bold colors as well as a amazing line of nail polishes. I had the pleasure of swatching three of their colors today. Pics are taken in the sun with no top coat.

I know what you’re thinking. You are thinking this looks just like Rescue Beauty Lounge No More War and you are sort of right. Hectic isn’t quite as dark and not as “olive-y” green as No More War. I want to say No More War has more orange or yellow to it and this one is slightly cooler. I have no idea what I’m talking about, it’s hard to explain but they ARE different, especially to those of us who are olive green fanatics. This one is just as lovely to me, it’s one of my very favorite colors for nail polish because it’s SO unique and edgy and yet still so chic. Hectic isn’t quite as opaque as No More War so this was three coats here.

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The Cherish collection for summer 2009 is my first experience with the Spa Ritual brand. I really like the bottle design, it’s unique and somehow very pleasing to hold. The bottle top has a “grippy” texture to it which makes the caps easy to open, especially when you have lotion slathered all over your hands. I didn’t have any application issues with these other than where mentioned below. Pics taken in sun with no top coat.

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I can’t tell you how excited I was when I first heard that Nubar was coming out with a whole collection of purples! The Cleopatra collection for spring 2009 is really an awesome collection as a whole. There were a couple that didn’t really work for me personally, but overall I am really loving this collection. There was only one that had a strange application issue and I have noted that below. Pics taken in sun with no top coat.

Sphinx Purple is one of the ones that’s a really pretty color, but just didn’t particularly work for me. I would call this a jewel toned pink/purple shimmer and it has blueish undertones. It wasn’t sheer so you could get away with two coats, but I did three anyway.

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St. Patrick’s Day came early for me! Yesterday was a pretty awful day at work, we found out that a Swiss company who has been trying to buy us out is now going to be merging with us. Since my company has such a unique culture (very laid back and entrepreneurial) and this company is very corporate and let’s just say uptight, we are all really worried the good people will leave in droves and/or we’ll get the axe or our awesome benefits will disappear…So needless to say it sucked. But then I got home and saw a package that I wasn’t expecting! I opened it up and lo and behold it was a beautiful polish from the brand Make Up Store. My friend Sminkan in Sweden sent it to me as a thank you for something I had sent her. It was so nice of her and the color is PERFECT for both St. Patty’s Day and spring! Enjoy!

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Who wants to win the entire Summer Days collection from China Glaze? If you are interested, the way to enter is to reply to this posting with anything you want! What’s your favorite color from the collection or why are you in a pissy mood today or what cool vacation are you going on or whatever you want!

Contest Rules:

• Reply to this post to enter and please remember to include your email address!

• Contest is open until March 19th at 7:00 pm, Pacific

• I will send reminder posts throughout the next week

• I will pick a winner at random on March 19th and announce the winner on the site

• This is open to International readers as well!

To see my swatches of this collection click here.

Good luck!

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