Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Earth Update: Green Teen

Hey everyone! I was recently checking my e-mail and found that a friend of mine had sent me this link to a fabulous article! The article is all about a "Green teen" doing a bunch of green stuff, including helping to use eco-friendliness to help workers in nail salons. I was totally wowed when I read this article,we could all learn a lesson from this!

Here's the link and enjoy, comment to let me know if you find her as big a role model as I do!!! http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/13/MN1819DH0T.DTL

Have an earthy day!

Saturday, September 26, 2009

OPI Suede Collection

Hello readers and I hope you are starting off you weekend fabulously! Thank gosh it Saturday though, right? I had a serious case of what I like to call "mega-exaustion" on Friday so lucky for me, weekend break! Here's something to pump up your afternoon, OPI's new Suede collection! This is awesome! The colors are like matte shimmers, way cooler in pictures, so... check them out!

OPI Ink Suede. Just a heads up, with all of my swatches, I put the OPI original color on my middle finger for a comparison. Although it looks like a light blue in this picture, it's actually a darker more rich looking color. I think this is a fabulous suede although it's puzzling it doesn't look more like tho original. Nevertheless, a pretty shade.

OPI We'll Always Have Paris Suede. This is a beautiful soft light purple and anyone could wear this. Although it's purple, OPI kind of turned this into an almost-neutral shade. This goes with pretty much anything, which I love! Once again, there is pretty much no resemblance to the original, but that doesn't make me like it any less!

OPI You Don't Know Jacques Suede, one of the colors that looks like it's original, shiny counterpart! I liked this version of YDKJ a lot but I'm still not as head over heels with at as with the first two, sorry! The suede version is a little bit less muted and gray toned that the original.

OPI Lincoln Park After Dark Suede. This is definitely darker than We'll Always Have Paris Suede and I think I may love it a little bit more! As you can see, the original version is a gorgeous dark vampy, nothing like the suede one. I love both versions of this color to death, they are both absolutely stunning but in totally different ways.

OPI Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees Suede. This medium charcoal gray looks better, in my opinion, than the original. As you may be able to tell, with the original Suzi Skis, it looks nothing like the suede and I had some mega formula trouble including cuticle drag. Enough with the original though, the suede is way better! This would look especially nice on shorter nails!

OPI Russian Navy Suede. Last but certainly not least, this is one of the stars of the collection! This is more bright and beautiful in person, pictures don't do this justice! Once again, pretty much the only resemblance to the original is that they're both blue. But, hey, what's the big deal?! This polish still rocks!! :)

So, my overall opinion? Fabulous colors, cool finish, awesome formula! But the names... why not just make up new color names since they barely look anything like their counterpart? Now that, is seriously puzzling to me.

But that doesn't ruin my love for these totally cool polishes!! They all look great on nails and I think anyone can rock this stuff, even if the matte trend is not your thing!

On application. These are each two coats. The formula on these is slightly thick, which is nice so that there's not any pooling at the cuticles. Once again I'll say ignore the no basecoat warning!!! Just as with the OPI mattes, be sure that your basecoat is completely dry before applying. Aside from that, no issues! Also, these dry fast but not as fast as original OPI mattes. Just apply in as few strokes as possible and is it's uneven, the 2nd coat usually evens it all out in the end.

My concluding thought? I love suede!!

Coming soon: see Suede with Sece Vite topcoat! (pretty cool!)

Friday, September 18, 2009

Having a Blast with Matte About You!

Hey everyone, aren't you glad it's Friday?! Because I sure am, that's for sure! Today I have some super cool swatches with my new favorite matte top coat in the entire world! You may have seen it before but this type of thing never gets old, you ready for it? Introducing, Essie Matte About You!!!

On the left is Orange Marmalade by China Glaze with Seche Vite topcoat and on the right is Orange Marmalade with Matte About You. I decided to swatch Matte About You (cute name!) on top of a glass-fleck shimmer polish. Flakies and shimmer always look great matte! In my humble opinion, this looks awesome!! When you wear this combo and look at it up close, the shimmer, instead of bling-dazzling all over the place, looks as if it's frozen in time! Way cool. Matte about you also dries quickly so be sure to apply a thin, even coat quickly over the entire nail. If you let this topcoat dry in between strokes or take a long time to apply it, there are some extreme lumps and bumps, but it's easily prevented by moving fairly quickly. This top coat is easier to apply than the OPI mattes so it's not a daunting task, don't worry!!

If you hadn't already noticed, my swatches are a little bit different now, but its still me! I think that closer-up swatches allow you readers to get a better look at what's going on with my nails!

If you are still iffy on the whole matte trend, a matte topcoat is a great thing to have. Not only can you test out any color you want matte for the price of one polish, there's no commitment to buying a bunch of new matte shades! Seriously, this thing grows on you, it's so cool to have!

Out of all the other matte topcoats I have tried, this one makes you colors the most... matte. It's not a satin topcoat or one of those other ones, no. This is true matte right here! Essie has done a wonderful job on this product and I think it deserves a special place in every polish fanatic's stash!

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Orly Once Upon a Time Collection for Fall 2009

Hey everybody, here is the review of Orly's Once Upon a Time Collection. The whole theme of this collection is fairy tales and fantasy so be prepared for some cool color names!!

Here is Prince Charming, a muddy taupe creme. When I first saw this one in the bottle, I immediately though, this is going to look awful on me. Well, shockingly, my fortune telling skills are a but rusty. This color is great, plain and simple! Super flattering, I think anyone could rock this! A chocolate milk color, but in a good way.

Next is Poison Apple, a bright red-orange creme. This is very orangey, much more than some of the other reds released recently. I thought that I wouldn't like this one either but once again I was proved wrong by Orly. I think this color would make a great pedi.
This was a pleasant surprise, gray is back, with Mirror Mirror! Mirror Mirror is a very light gray creme, like pretty cement! This gray is darker than OPI's Moon over Mumbai but lighter that China Glaze's Recycle. This is a good tone for a gray, very seasonally appropriate, and cute too!

Next, here's Happily Ever After, a fabulously elegant beet-purple with light purple shimmer. The theme of this color kind of reminds me of OPI's Overexposed in South Beach, with a little less shimmer and brightness. Nonetheless, I love this one, although it doesn't translate as well into pictures. Trust me on this one, it's cool!

Meet Pixie Dust, a light blue toned gray with flakes of fabulous silver shimmer. This color is absolutely stunning! As Scrangie said, it looks like broken glass on cement, which is just too cool! I have never seen any other color like it before, so unique and pretty. Usually I'm not a fan of shimmering grays but this gem is to die for.

This collection is beautiful! I love all of the colors even though none are super groundbreaking, they are just gorgeous to boot! Formula was good, two coats for all but Pixie Dust, which was three. None of these are shown with topcoat. I love these names of the polishes, so fun!! It's so hard to pick a favorite but Pixie Dust is slowly inching ahead in my book, but the others are right there too. Wow Orly, count me surprised! I didn't expect such cool, fall-like, and stunning shades and wow, I got them! Watch out Fall, my polish wardrobe is getting some new staples :)

Comments, questions, FAVORITE COLORS?! :)

Coming soon: Essie Matte About You

Friday, September 11, 2009

New Layout Everybody!!

Hello all and happy Friday night! If you didn't already notice, Polish Our Planet has a new look!! You all like it?! I need commentary, tell me what ya think!! It's a little different and I even need some getting used to it!! The above buttons... hmm don't really bother clicking on them, it's all a bit confusing. Aside from that, I think it's a nice change of look, agreed? Posts will continue as normal even with the new look, no worries. So... enjoy, and comment! Thanks everyone!! :)

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Essie Loves Diamonds

Here is the (finally!!) Essie Loves Diamonds collection with Judith Ripka. These are just like the traditional essies we know and love but with a twist, they're infused with diamond dust! It gives each of these polishes a tiny bit on micro-pearly shimmer, neat! Check out swatches below and commentary by yours truly.

First we have the lovely sheer, soft baby pink with a hint of sparkle. This is three coats and as you can see, there is still nail visible through it. This color is meant to be worn sheer. The itty bitty sparkles are not visible in any or my swatches, so sorry, but trust me, it looks cool in this one!! I actually think this color is quite flattering and cute, love the tone in the shade!

Next up is Heart my JR Jewels, a deep mahogany brown with a tiny bit of sparkly diamond dust. This to me is a fall brown at its best! Totally great color that could work well on any fall occasion. I am surprised at how much I am loving this color, it's just so pretty!! This is two flawless coats.


Last is Queen of Hearts, a traditional like red. My swatch is a bit too orange toned to be completely accurate but here is two coats. I didn't like this as much as the others but seriously, it's just me. I just don't go gaga over red, sorry! There is nothing wrong with the color, just not my taste. If you want a fun twist on a classic though, Queen of Hearts is your bet.

Overall, I am always up for a fun twist on polish collections and from this one, I got two shades that I will sport A LOT! Application: BEAUTIFUL!! Flawless formula, to die for! The only thing I wish I could change is... more diamond dust! I wan't the whole world to see it, I just think that this theme is so cool! Overall Essie, pretty colors, rockin' formula, cool idea! I hope to see more fun things from Essie soon!

Monday, September 7, 2009

Earth Update: Paper Bags

Generally, people use a lot more paper bags than they really need whether for packing a lunch on the go or anything else. A great way to be more eco-friendly with your paper without completely ditching paper bags forever is to reuse them!! Paper bags can be used many more than one time you know! They don't usually get ruined after one use so... reuse! Another way to be eco-friendly with your bags is to always RECYCLE them!! Reduce, reuse, recycle; it will make a world of a difference!

Have an earthy day!

Coming soon: Orly once upon a time collection and essie judith ripka colors