LVX — Chambord (Nail Lacquer) Swatch & Review

2016-03-072017-05-22 fivezero3 Comments

Collection: LVX 2013 Summer

In my bid to post more swatches from brands I don’t blog about as often, here’s a polish from LVX, a brand I hadn’t heard of until I spotted a mass of them at Winners last spring.

There is a more detailed summary on my first post about LVX, here in my review of Deco.

LVX Haulage at Winners (March 2014), Nail Lacquers in Deco and Chambord — LVX Haulage at Winners (March 2014), Nail Lacquers in Deco & Chambord

Chambord (030), which is from the same collection as the aforementioned Deco, is a supremely creamy, rich plum with a slightly bluer undertone than its name would suggest. Nevertheless, it still reads neutral enough that I feel both warm- and cool-toned skin would have little problem flaunting it! The shade is on the deeper side of medium, and has a wonderful intensity. The pigmentation of the two LVX shades I have tried is really lovely.

Chambord liqueur bottle — A bottle of Chambord, a French liqueur first produced in 1982 (surprisingly modern!). It is “an infusion of red and black raspberries, Madagascar vanilla and XO cognac“. Image: chambordchannel.com

Essie Nail Polish in In the Lobby, swatch

Essie — In the Lobby (Nail Polish) Swatch & Review

2016-03-042017-05-22 fivezero10 Comments

Collection: Essie 2015 Fall

I recently hauled some Essies, mostly from the Spring 2016 collection. Two, however, are from Essie’s Fall 2015 collection, so now I have all six shades from that set! I loved one of the creams from that collection, With the Band, so I decided that I needed the other two creams, too: Color Binge and In the Lobby.

Essie Nail Polish Haulage from Toronto Barber & Beauty Supply, February 2016 — Creams, wonderful creams!
Essie Nail Polishes in Color Binge, Sunshine State of Mind, High Class Affair, Off Tropic, Poolside Service, & In the Lobby

In the Lobby (935), is described by Essie as an “exotic cinnamon plum”. I’m not sure I entirely see the brown/orange tones that “cinnamon” suggests: this looks like a really clean plum to me. It goes on a smidge deeper than it looks in the bottle, making it an incredibly deep, dark, and luscious blackberry plum. It’s also just light and bright enough that it doesn’t look blackened the way some vampy plums and purples do. This is a stunning vampy cream!

Throwback Thursday! MAC — Lady Minx (Nail Lacquer) Swatch & Review

2016-01-282017-06-28 fivezero19 Comments

Collection: MAC Winter 2004 (?)

I’ve had this polish since 2007 or so, but mine is in the newer Nail Lacquer formulation, which is when MAC started using the tall, sloped cylinder bottle design that they still use in the revamped Studio Nail Lacquer line.

The shade, Lady Minx, was actually (probably, unless it was a repromote) introduced back around Winter 2004:

From Advice Sisters:

M·A·C Cosmetics is known for their cutting-edge colors that are the darlings of fashionistas. If you want to try something a bit out of the box without going way out, Nail Lacquer $9.00 in Cream formula “Molasses” will coat your fingers and toes with super-glossy brown polish that looks nearly black. “Lady Minx” is a deep, perfect party red. For the less avant-garde, “Fluid” is a deep, coppery frost” and “Air De Pink” a barely-there peachy-pink sheer.

Their description—possibly MAC’s own—of Lady Minx is a bit off, however! I wouldn’t describe it as a red at all! (Unless the original Lady Minx was a different color from the later edition.)

Lady Minx is an intense plum-toned fuchsia cream. It is a cool-toned shade, but I feel that there’s just enough purple in there to look flattering even on my yellow-toned skin.

Lady Minx makes a great handbag color, too. Mulberry Alexa Clutch in Plum.
Image: lyst.co.uk

Essie Nail Polish in Bahama Mama, swatch

Throwback Thursday! Essie — Bahama Mama (Nail Polish) Swatch & Review

2015-12-032017-07-12 fivezero19 Comments

Collection: Essie 2007 Summer, It’s Better in the Bahamas

Today’s Throwback Thursday polish is one of only two shades from Essie’s 2007 Summer collection (the other is Island Hopping) that remains in the core collection.

Essie describes Bahama Mama (609) as a “warm, rich, creamy deep plum”. It’s a very rich shade, but I’d say it’s just a tad too light to be vampy. It brightens up well in bright sun, too. This deep raisin-toned plum cream doesn’t particularly evoke the Bahamas for me, but I guess I haven’t been there, either.

I suppose any and all colors are present during the Bahamas’ annual Junkanoo Carnival, which takes place every Boxing Day (that’s the day after Christmas)!

Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival 2013, Photo by Michael Glass — Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival 2013. Photo by Michael Glass.
Image: fest300.com

Essie Nail Polish in Angora Cardi, swatch

Essie — Angora Cardi (Nail Polish) Swatch & Review

2015-11-232017-07-12 fivezero15 Comments

Collection: Essie 2009 Fall, Cuddle with Color

Today’s polish is from a Fall 2009 collection, so it almost works for Throwback Thursday, but not quite (I’ve arbitrarily decided that Throwback polishes have to be seven years old).

Angora Cardi (700) is described by Essie as a “creamy, deep dusty rose”. It’s a midtone mauve, which is nicely balanced between red, violet and taupe. I think of it as a subdued raisin.

Mauve is actually named for the mallow flower, Malva (mauve in French). The flower itself simply appears to be a light purple, but the reason we now think of mauve as a more subdued shade is that mauve dye, originally named Tyrian purple, faded easily, and that color became associated with the word mauve.

“Wilde Malve”. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons. Image: wikipedia.org

OPI Nail Lacquer in I'm in the Moon for Love, swatch

OPI — I’m In the Moon for Love (Nail Lacquer) Swatch & Review

2015-11-022017-07-13 fivezero8 Comments

Collection: OPI 2015 Winter, Starlight

I can hardly believe that it’s November, already! How has 2015 gone by so quickly? Surely, it’s time to pull out all the jewel-toned and vampy colors in preparation for winter. It’s a little tough to get into the moon—I mean mood—as it’s still going to be a bit warm in my city, this week. It’s not properly cold until I have to pull out my wool coat and tall boots!

Nevertheless, I know some of you guys want the summery oranges gone until Groundhog Day at the very earliest, so I recently picked up a polish from OPI’s Winter collection at Winners: I’m in the Moon for Love (HR G35). It’s a medium-deep reddish plum shimmer with a soft amethyst glow.

Essie — Merino Cool (Nail Polish) Swatch & Review

2015-10-202017-07-13 fivezero19 Comments

Collection: Essie 2010 Fall

Merino Cool (730) is described by Essie as a “sensuous autumn mulberry”, which really doesn’t give this shade enough credit! It’s a deeper midtoned heathery plum cream with heavy doses of grey, brown—so, taupe—and purple. Its dusty quality makes it perfect for fall sweater weather.