BB Couture for Men "Stud Finder"

BB Couture for Men has some of the most interesting colours on the market (in my opinion), and i tend to love them. "Stud Finder" was released in the 2009 BB Couture for Men Tools for Men collection. it is a medium chocolate brown base with fine silver shimmer. this polish is what i wished Sephora by OPI "Studs and Stilettos" had been and effectively fills that void in my nail polished heart. the formula was good, not too thick or thin and only needing two coats. i'm not a huge fan of the BB Couture brush--it's kind of stiff--but it's not intolerable. it's worth enduring for an interesting polish like "Stud Finder".

Zoya "Happi"

Zoya "Happi" (aptly named) was released in the Spring 2010 Reverie collection...one of my very favourite collections out of all nail polish brands. it's a warm, bubblegum pink shimmer with greenish-gold iridescence (not a true duochrome). it's a very likable colour but i didn't care for how it looked on my pink-toned skin. oh well, it only needed two coats and wore for 3 days with no chips before i took it off!

OPI "Affair In Times Square"

OPI's 11 year old polish "Affair In Times Square" from the Fall 2000 New York City collection is still relevant to our interests! these taupe brown-violet shades have been very popular the last few years. i found "Affair In Times Square" for sale in a nail salon near Fisherman's Wharf that i stopped into while running an unrelated errand. i knew of it because i always used to get it confused with "An Affair In Red Square".
at one point i owned China Glaze "Channelesque" but swapped it in favour of keeping OPI "Parlez-Vous OPI?". "Channelesque" was too muddy-/dirty-looking on my skin. welp, "Affair In Times Square" looks A LOT like "Channelesque", only perhaps a bit lighter...and requiring three coats. the formula was meh, a little runny with the classic black label stinkiness. i'm not keeping this polish, but i'm glad i was able to take this vintage for a ride.

Optic Lusion "Crimson King'

i know nothing about this brand. i picked up "Crimson King" (i assume named after Stephen King's fictional shapeshifting character) at a dusty supply store. it had leaked into the threads and partially evaporated. when i thinned it, the bottle was about 80% full. it's a shame, because this polish is really neat.
it's a heavily pigmented (could have pulled off one coat) olive green with violet and silver multichrome shimmer. the multichrome in this polish is not extremely pronounced, but it definitely adds extra interest. i took a bunch of photos because i was loving how it looks on my longer-than-usual nails.

shade:
sunlight:
sunlight lamp:
i wish i knew where to buy more of this brand!!!

Claire's "Yel"

i don't know what the name of this polish means! but it's very beautiful and i received it as a gift from a generous NBer. it's basically "Mermaid" with fairy dust, so i'll pretend "Yel" translates to "Fairy Mermaid". "Yel" is a sheer light aqua-blue with pink iridescence and scattered holo. it needed four coats to be opaque and then three coats of OPI Designer Series top coat to be glossy. i don't know if this polish is worth the work--i'll report back when i find out how long it wears for.

OPI Designer Series "Desire"

OPI Designer Series "Desire" is a beautiful brown holo that i was lucky to receive in a swap. i originally wanted it after seeing Scrangie's swatch, but in real life "Desire" is a lighter brown. it's still gorgeous and super prismatic. it needs 3 coats to be opaque and tends to drag if one is not careful during application. i used no base coat and the OPI Designer Series top coat. on to spam:

Nicole by OPI "It's Not Me, It's Blue"

as promised, here is the third new Nicole by OPI polish to be spotted at Target stores recently. it is a sheer, icy blue foil with a dash of pink shimmer. it needs 3 coats to be opaque but i imagine it would look nice layered over a creme. i don't think this colour is very *me* but i think it's pretty and i'm sure some people will dig it!

Nicole by OPI "Green Up Your Act"

"Green Up Your Act" is another polish from the Nicole by OPI Fall collection that's been spotted at Target stores. it is a muted green, a sort of grey-aqua, reminiscent of last year's popular shade Essie "Sew Psyched". i never bought "Sew Psyched" because frankly i think it's kind of ugly--too grey and too light in value. i prefer "Green Up Your Act" because it is slightly more saturated and a bit darker. it's noticeably green and won't be mistaken for grey.
it's a creme formula, not especially pigmented but will be opaque in two careful coats. it's a little bit runny and i'm not a huge fan of the skinny Nicole by OPI brush, but i can't imagine the Perfect Stroke brush working any better with this polish's consistency. overall i think this polish may be a keeper unless i spot another grey-green that is more flattering on me. it's a very sophisticated-looking shade!

i also bought the third Nicole by OPI polish at Target "It's Not Me, It's Blue", so stay tuned for swatches of that next!

Elianto "Racing Green"

Elianto is a Malaysian company that manufactures a variety of beauty products. i was super lucky to receive a few Elianto Sparkling Diva polishes in a swap with a lovely girl in Singapore. they all have adorably-designed bottles. "Racing Green" is the gem of them all though, possibly the most beautiful green i've seen. i compared it to Orly "Meet Me Under the Mistletoe" a while ago and it blows Orly out of the water despite being a similar-looking polish.
"Racing Green" has a medium-dark green base and is packed with shimmering green and gold foil particles. the formula is opaque in 2 coats and dries quickly. the brush is standard-sized and easy to maneuver. i am thrilled with this polish, and you can see why:

O_O right?

Nubar "Swiss Chocolate" + Nicole by OPI "Sounds Grape to Me"

i picked up Nicole by OPI "Sounds Grape to Me" at Target a couple days ago. i hadn't seen it before and assumed it was an older Nicole by OPI because it didn't have the Perfect Stroke brush. Apparently "Sounds Grape to Me" is a new polish from the Fall 2011 collection.
"Sounds Grape to Me" has a brown jelly-ish base with red and purple foily glitter. i guess the name fits...if we're talking about red grapes. i thought this polish looked a lot like OPI "Tease-y Does It" (and i wasn't the only one!), but i bought it anyway to try layered over Nubar "Swiss Chocolate". it looks exactly the same on its own as it does layered over this brown.

the formula was fine, at least for layering. it's a pretty polish, no doubt, but it doesn't thrill me. the bottle certainly makes it look a lot prettier since there appears to be gold duochrome that doesn't make it to the nail.

Nubar "Swiss Chocolate"

Nubar "Swiss Chocolate" is from the delectable Fall/Winter 2009 Nubar Chocolate Truffles collection. "Swiss Chocolate" is a darker, bittersweet chocolate colour, possibly 75% cacao ;)
i put off wearing it because it's a more ~boring creme, but i ended up loving how it looked on me. very flattering and classy. the formula was fantastic and easy to apply. i personally love Nubar bottles, brushes, and handles. if you haven't tried Nubar, please give them a shot! you won't be disappointed.

OPI "Sapphire In the Snow" + Nfu-Oh "51"

this just in! Nfu-Oh "51" is prettier than unicorn pee!
...or at least, that's my opinion. Nfu-Oh ("en-fu-oh") is a Korean company that makes some really amazing lacquers. US residents can purchase Nfu-Oh flakies here at FabulousStreet.com.
i received this gorgeous purple jelly with rainbow flakies in a swap ages ago and wore it once alone--didn't do it justice. this time i layered it over my OPI "Sapphire In the Snow" manicure and fell in love. it's a lot like Clarins "230" only with larger rainbow particles which makes it even more gorgeous. i'll let the photos do the talking:

and an animated .gif to show all the rainbowy goodness:
so yeah, if you haven't picked this one up yet and lem Clarins "230", i highly recommend getting it before sacrificing your wallet for the unicorn pee. you might be surprised when you decide you don't need "230" anymore.

OPI Sapphire In the Snow

you may recall that i hauled this polish back in February...i am ashamed that i waited so long to wear it! i was a little bit concerned that it would look too close to black.
luckily, i was wrong! and i am oh-so in love with Sapphire In the Snow. it was distinguishable as dark purple. the formula was perfect also: not too think or thin, heavily pigmented, glossy as all get out, and easy to apply with the Pro-Wide brush. i was in the mood for a dark polish and this fit the bill perfectly. please excuse the tip wear in these photos: