Color Club Fall 2008 Dance To The Musique Collection Revisited

The first time I posted about the Dance To The Musique collection, I only posted one picture of 'skittles'- one color on each finger and one bottle in my hand. The reason I did this was not because I didn't love the collection- it was because the sun was setting and I needed to get the picture taken in the fastest way possible since I didn't feel like swatching one collection over two (or more, depending on the sun's cooperation) days.

Since is was such an incredible collection, it deserves a real post with real swatches.



After Hours. A shimmery, smoky grey. A lot of other charcoal-grey shades have a strong blue tone to them, but this one seems a lot more neutral.



Electronica. Deep sparkling purple. This color is actually purple, despite how blue it looks in my picture. Purples are just, for some reason, impossible to photograph. They always come out blue no matter what I do!! Anyway, Electronica is AMAZING. One of the best purples ever. It's deep but not too dark or black looking and it's packed with shimmer, miniature 'flakies' and even what appears to be microglitter, though there is no hint of roughness to this polish. Perfection.



Feel The Beat. A coral-copper-orange duochrome. Yes, this is a duochrome. It reminds me a little bit of Misa Bo-Jangles. It's coppery red all over the polish and at the edges it's orangey-coral. I couldn't really capture the full effect of the duochrome, but it's definitely there.


Groove Thang. Blackened vampy purple shimmer. At first, this color reminded me of an OPI- maybe a mix between Black Tie Optional and Ink or Who Are You Wearing?... It has that sort of color-changing 'beetle shell' quality to it. It is very dark, almost black, but any light hitting it brings out a purple glow on the surface of the polish. Pretty unique and ultra hot.




Slow Jam. Warm reddish brown shimmer. This color screams FALL!!!! to me. Is this what you would call 'burgundy' or is it too brown? I'm not sure. Either way, this color rocks because it's one of those 'lit from within' shades I love. It looks like it's dark on the edges and the center is brighter, almost like it's glowing.



Velvet Rope. Red shimmer. You will rarely see me get excited over a red shimmer... But, even if I am not absolutely in love with it, it is still beautiful. Velvet Rope is bold and loud and sparkly. It really stands out against my skintone and it's almost like there's a miniature neon sign above my hand with an arrow pointing down saying "LOOK AT MY NAILS". Very flashy, indeed.


Despite three of the six shades being red or almost-red, this was still one of my favorite collections of 2008. I would wear (and have worn, multiple times) every single color in this collection. Electronica is so breathtakingly beautiful you can't help but want to stare at it all the time. Sometimes I just take out the bottle to look at it! It's that good. And Groove Thang, same with that one. There must be some color-obsessed geniuses working at Color Club because they consistently release awesome and adventurous shades. Even their sheers/pale/french manicure shades rock!!

The formula on these is perfect. Even though Color Club isn't as popular as one of the 'big brands' like OPI or Essie, their formula could pass as high end any day. It's pigmented, smooth, even-textured, fast drying and long wearing. It's not too thick, not too thin, not at all runny. The bottles and brushes are great- no weird shaped bottle to knock over and no defective bristles. They do have a tendency to get stuck shut- I mean really, really stuck... I have a bottle of Yell-Oh! that I haven't been able to open for over a year. Nothing I do seems to work, I think I just have to buy another bottle. So, make sure the necks of your Color Club bottles are clean!

One of the best things about Color Club is the price. I think the average price for these online and in nail supply stores is around $2.50 each. With a quality just as good as OPI and even better than some other higher-priced brands, it's truly a bargain. Low price, high quality, amazing shades. They make nail polish accessible.

Overall, incredible collection. Fantastic sexy vampy fall shades, great formula, great price, gorgeous makeup on the model that appears on the packaging.... You can't go wrong with Color Club! I hope they continue to release fun, funky colors that appeal to everyone- not just the salon consumer but us, the hardcore nail junkies!

OPI Summer 2009 Colorcopia Collection - 20th Anniversary of OPI

Colorcopia is a special OPI collection- instead of being a set of twelve brand new colors, they have re-released the most popular or best-selling shades from classic OPI collections.

I absolutely can not think today so please don't mind my incoherent babble. I can't even remember my middle name right now, much less construct an understandable sentence! Also, another warning ahead of time: OPI picked the twelve most IMPOSSIBLE to photograph shades they could think of, so not all of these pictures are 100% color-accurate. I did the best I could, but pinks and reds do a number on my camera!

I have many thoughts about this concept, but I'll save that for last. Swatches first!





Berry Berry Broadway. Re-release from the New York City Collection (2000). A bronzed berry shimmer.




Cancun Fiesta. Re-release from the original OPI launch in 1989! A medium blue-toned pink with very subtle shimmer. This is not a very good representation of the shade- it's more saturated and leans a little more purple in real life.




Copper Mountain Copper. Re-release from the Winter Resort Collection (1995). A rich red-mauve near-metallic shimmer. Not really what I think of when I hear 'copper' but it's still a beautiful autumn shade.




D.C. Cherry Blossom. Re-release from the 9091 Collection (1990). A saturated blue-pink creme. This color isn't the most unique but it's really hot. On the rare occasion that I do wear pink, I love these nearly-purple bright pinks.




Florentine Fuchsia. Re-release from the International Collection (1991). A medium fuchsia jelly. This is also a fairly poor representation of this shade- it's nearly impossible to photograph. It's very jelly-like: squishy looking and nearly translucent but not sheer. It's more of a berry shade but it's not like Misa Push Upon It or Zoya Moxie.





French Bordeaux. Re-release from the International Collection (2001). A warm red with slightly magenta-hued shimmer. This color is a little more brown in real life. It appears a lot more brown in the bottle, but when applied it is a brighter shade of red than expected.





Kinky In Helsinki. Re-release from the European Collection (2002). Pearly metallic fuchsia with blue-pink duochrome. I love the name of this, it was one of the first OPI polishes I ever bought just for the name. This is a really glowy shade, it looks lit from within.




Mediterranean Moonlight. Re-release from the Mediterranean Collection (1994). OPI describes this as "a light shade of gleaming caramel" but it's so not caramel. It's peach... Deep peach. It's a little more faded looking in real life.




Purple-opolis. Re-release from the Greek Isles collection (2004). A light, shimmery red-toned purple. This looks really different in sunlight and indoors. The sunlight picks up on the warm tones in the polish, but in dim light the cooler more blue purple shade comes out. Very, very pretty. Although, I'm pretty sure this is a bit different from the original release, but I can't find my bottle to compare. I need to re-organize. Ugh.




Sahara Sapphire. Re-release from the Painted Desert Collection (1998). A metallic blue pearl. This goes on with heavy brushstrokes, but they fade a little bit as the polish dries. They don't completely disappear, but they're not too bad. It has the same texture as Pike's Peek-A-Boo Purple. This almost has a hint of violet to it in certain lights. Serene looking.





Shootout At The O.K. Coral. Re-release from the American Collection (1995). A bright coral with blue/pink duochrome. This was my go-to pedicure color for years. It is very bright but not quite neon.



Venus Di Violet. Re-release from the Collezione Italiana (2001). A soft lilac pearl with blue-violet duochrome. A very unusual color!


I think it's really cool that OPI re-releases shades from long discontinued collections. I love old polishes and I love that people will have the chance to be able to buy them again for a regular price. However...


... I think they picked the most bland, boring shades they could find! Okay, there are a few old favorites of mine in this collection of re-released shades, but three reds? Three pink cremes?? Cancun Fiesta isn't really a creme, but the shimmer is so subtle that it could pass as one.

OPI has released some *incredible* unique shades in the past and I would have loved to see them as part of this collection. I feel like the colors they chose are really playing it safe. It is stated that the colors selected for this collection of re-releases were past best sellers. I believe that. These are the types of colors that tend to sell really well. That doesn't necessarily mean they're unique, but they'll most likely be very popular.

If I had to choose twelve shades to re-release in my very own Colorcopia, they would be these:

1. Rainforest
2. Jasper Jade
3. I Get A Kick Out Of Gold
4. Black Tie Optional
5. Crim-Sun
6. Amethyst Abyss
7. Mystic Moonshine
8. La Boheme
9. Affair In Times Square
10. Vampire State Building
11. Real Teal
12. Home On The O-Range

Okay, that's just one possible set I can think of- there are hundreds of combinations of 'vintage' awesome colors that could be re-released. Those are just a few long-gone favorites and impossible to obtain wishes of mine.


Overall, not a terrible collection but not terribly adventurous. I love a lot of the colors- Venus Di Violet, Kinky In Helsinki, Shootout At The O.K. Coral, Florentine Fuchsia, Sahara Sapphire- that's almost half! I can't complain too much, but I would have liked to see some of their more unique shades in this collection instead of three uninteresting reds and three easily duplicated pinks.

And, just for fun, here are some very old pictures of me wearing the original versions of a couple of these colors:


Kinky In Helsinki.



Shootout At The O.K. Coral.



What would you have rather seen in this collection? Or is it perfect the way it is?

China Glaze Fall 2008: Rodeo Diva Collection Swatches

These are unbelievable! Out of all the fall collections this year, this one is definitely my favorite, and in my humble opinion, the best. Every single color in this collection has that WOW factor, that extra something that makes you want to stare at your hands all day. Rodeo Diva is a masterpiece, plain and simple. After a few disappointing releases, China Glaze has stepped up and really delivered a gem of a collection.


Branding Iron. Fantastic glowy burgundy, shimmery and eye-catching!!


Cowgirl Up. Shimmery, sparkly, frosty purple.



Golden Spurs in sunset lighting and in bright morning sunlight. It looks very different in both of these pictures, and the real life color is right in between the two. The first picture has a bit of a yellow cast to it, but it really shows the golden shimmer. The second picture is slightly washed out, but it shows the soft, mellow tone of the polish and the depth of the shimmer.


Gussied-Up Green. Not exactly what I was expecting, but still awesome! A dark blackened forest green with shimmer. Finally, some more green!



Lasso My Heart in sunset lighting and in bright morning sunlight. The top picture is accurate color-wise, but the second picture really shows off the frost and shimmer that didn't quite show up in the sunset lighting.



Midnight Ride. Deep, dark, black eggplant. Striking!




Prize Winning Mare in bright morning sunlight and in sunset lighting. Actually, both of the pictures are accurate color-wise, as this one seems to change a little bit in different lighting. It reminds me of Dior Gold Nugget! Shiny, sparkly metallic gold. Beautiful!


Rodeo Fanatic. Breathtaking, luminous, shimmery blue. Can you believe how hot this is?!



Red Stallion. A hot, glowy, shimmery metallic red.



Side Saddle. This one changes colors a bit. It's like the lovechild of OPI Black Tie Optional and Lancome Lizzy Jagger. It's dark brownish plum, but it's also gold and brown and maybe a touch greenish in some lights!


Wagon Trail. HOLY MOLY! It's black with deep golden shimmer. It looks olive green in some lights, but it's really a black/gold fusion. Unique and utterly fabulous.



Yee Haw. Peachy pinky golden metallic. So awesomely pretty, this picture doesn't do it justice. This color GLOWS. It's just too pretty!


Aren't these fantastic? This could be one of the best collections of ALL TIME. China Glaze did an amazing job with this collection, and I can see myself wearing all of these colors all year round. None of them are strictly "fall" colors, and there's a great variety. The only thing lacking in this collection is the formula. It's difficult to apply, runny and goopy at the same time as 3-free polishes tend to be. The colors only needed two coats, but the formula was so gooey that it took a little extra work to make them look even. They also took a bit longer to dry- usually when I'm swatching, the polish is slightly dry by the time I'm done taking the picture. With these, the polish was still completely wet after 5 or 6 minutes. Nothing I can't live with, but disappointing nonetheless.

To paraphrase: Rodeo Diva PWNS!!

Misa Fall 2008 Poisoned Passion Collection Swatches

Misa Poisoned Passion collection... What can I say? They're perfect in every way. Seriously, the colors, the formula, the shimmer, the promotional images, everything! These polishes have my name written all over them. I mean, look! Blue! Green! Purple! Charcoal! These are the types of colors that I wear 90% of the time, so this collection has me ecstatic.

Enough babble, on to the good stuff.



A Sin Worth Committing. Hello! Take a look at this beauty. It's a deep, clean blue with shimmer that just explodes with brightness when the sun hits it. It's one of those lit-from-within colors. And as a sidenote, this didn't stain my fingers blue after I removed it.


Dying Love. A smoky, shimmery charcoal color. The promo pics made it seem lighter, but I like the real version better! It's sooty, almost like graphite or granite (it matches my kitchen counter, lol)


Fatal Affair. This one reminds me of Blueberry Glaze! It's a deep, dark purple base with an overlay of blue shimmer, and then you look at it in direct sunlight it also has red microshimmer! Very complex.



Forbidden Lust. Oh my. Shimmery purple!! Glowy, sparkly, vampy purple goodness.


Love Bite. The only cream of the collection. Deep yet translucent vampy burgundy. It's almost a bright magenta sort of color with one coat, and with two coats it transforms into this!


The gem of the collection.... Toxic Seduction.
I'm not sure what to say about this color. I think the picture speaks for itself. I feel happy looking at this color. I'm speechless.

The application on these was excellent. No goo, no drips, no streaks, nothing!

Usually there are one or two things I don't like about a collection, but I have no complaints here. None. This is perfect. I like every single color.

These will be available for purchase in August!

Special thanks to Misa for these polishes!