Friday, August 7, 2009

The Nail Files - August Update

First of all, I want to get this little annoyance out of the way. I swear that I went into this open-minded. Essie is not my fave polish brand, as a lot of their colors tend to skew weirdly on my yellow skin tone and I find some of their light colors can be very streaky, but I do have a few favorites in their brand. And I know that J Crew loves Essie. After promoting Mini Shorts in their catalog and on their website, they are now actually selling 2 other shades online, and in some stores, per the website. The colors are: Eternal Optimist (spiced tea rose) and One of a Kind (poppy red kiss)

At first I was really excited – oooh, special J Crew colors. You may be wondering: where did I get the color description? From the Essie site…because both colors were part of the 6-color Spring collection. Am I the only one a little irritated by this? Am I wrong to feel a bit duped by this? The colors have been out for a while, and now they’re being hawked on the JC website. And they aren’t even the featured color all over the August catalog (which could be Mini Shorts – and oh, by the way, that has been retired – it’s no longer on the Essie site). Although, I will admit that a spiced tea rose is perfect for all the JC tea rose fans.

So given that 95% of my conversation on this blog is about JC or nail polish, I was excited to try them. Not so much anymore. If you really want to see what they look like, check out Community Nail Polish gallery – they really are a fab resource for colors IRL and I love their search function.

Next target - matte nail trend…. I’m sure you’ve all heard the buzz about matte nails for the fall. Essie has their Matte About You top coat. Orly has a matte top coat as well. OPI has an entire matte collection, taking some of their classics and reinventing them as matte. My first thought was “Sweet, I can let my nail polish get totally dull from the sunscreen buildup at the beach and I’ll be oh-so-chic and right on trend.” So I can understand the matte top coat. What I cannot get behind is the matte polish that you are supposed to use without base coat or top coat, no lotion. Seriously? Am I allowed to do dishes in the matte polish, because I don’t think hubby is going to buy the rationale that he needs to do all the dishes because it would ruin my new chic fab matte mani. Or am I just too old for this trend? I suspect that’s it. What are your thoughts?

Now, let's talk about some colors I love...

My fave polish (um, of the week) – especially for the beach – is OPI Tickle My France-y from Fall 2008. It’s a nude with some pink/gray/lilac undertones depending on light and skintone. It suits my late summer love of muted colors in prep for fall. It works with my I-swear-I-was-wearing-SPF-50-but-it-tanned-anyway skin. I honestly don’t know and seriously doubt if it would work in the dead of winter.

My other pre-beach-purchases-just-waiting-for-fall nail colors were Essie Fall 2009 Chinchilly (“granite gray”, which doesn’t even seem to be on the website) and OPI Fall 2009 Here Today Aragon-tomorrow (“wear this emerald before it says adios”). We are headed to the river next week for a few days, so I will probably wait until after that to sport the OPI Aragon shade to save my mother from having to look at it – she’s not a fan of the dark & vampy – but oh, it’s so pretty! Will definitely post that one as soon as I have it on. And I have my fab friend Sherry dispatched on a Dior polish mission today, assuming she goes to Tysons. Will report on that as well.

Now, speaking of pedis...I’m off to stick my toes in the sand.

17 comments:

dinagideon said...

Hey, Girl. You know I wear only the barest amount of nail polish (and only on my toes) but you have some awesome points in this post. I am kinda irritated that J. Crew makes those polishes sound so special. Blah...

I do like the tea rose, though, very pretty.

I love OPI nail polishes. I have three bottles of some sort of metallic/mirrorball finish in different colors and Rex just loves it when I get my nails done in those shades (the once a year right now...kids are not good for manicures).

I adore the french collection by OPI...maybe I can get a few from one of those overstock beauty supply places that are all over the web like Ave You...

The nail polish you are wearing on your toes...perfect shade, thanks for the tip.

I want to try the matte nail look, but yeah, right. This look was MADE for a 21-year old with no more commitments than to eat the frozen dinner in the fridge before it goes bad...

Have a great rest of your week at the beach!

Drewablank said...

I love that OPI Tickly My France-y shade on you! It's utterly perfect with your didn't-mean-to-tan skin. ;)

I've only been getting into nail polish recently, and your words of wisdom couldn't have come at a better time! Thanks, Heidi, and enjoy the rest of your beach-y weekend! :)

Kathy said...

I am a little let down about this whole J. Crew polish thing. I do not like matte nails at all! As you said I can just spray them with sunscreen and get the same affect.

I am not usually a dark nails person, but you are turning me to the dark side! I am on the look out for something in a odd (not pinkish!) color for fall.

Zoë Moët said...

I like that lilac color on you, I bet it would look great on hands too because it's sort of understated and a little bit sheer.

sparrowsandsparkles said...

Hi Heidi! You are my go-to source for all-things-polish so I really appreciate this post! I am going to write down your picks and also the names of all the great corals I was given on my OPI post and head to the store this weekend. I never have a color on hand that is on my nails and I really should for touch ups. Have a great weekend! Enjoy that sand :)

prince snow farm said...

Love the polish...I have 2 similar OPI shades, and even with my pale skin, I wear them all winter!

Jordyn said...

I'm off to the beach for a week at the end of August and I'm going to take your suggestion for a pedi with OPI Tickle my France-y...I really love it!

HeidiG said...

Dina - the tea rose actually made me think of you - what a pretty pedi it would be! Last night at the beach. Most of the bags are packed. It has been been fun but I am ready to get home (and pick up my puppy on Monday!)

Drewablank - thank you! I love love love polish! (maybe we can go looking at some after the Tysons outing?)

Kathy - The nice thing about dark polish is that nowadays, it is available in many different levels and colors, so you can kinda dip your toe in the water if you aren't ready for full-on goth. :)

Zoe Moet - thank you! I actually have it on my fingers, too, but took the pedi pic since the bottle was downstairs, the camera & I were upstairs, and, um, I was too lazy to go down the steps. So I will vouch that it works well as a mani color too!

Sweet Tea - thank you! There is actually another dark vampy color in the OPI Espana collection you should look at - Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees - it's a dark charcoal blue gray - and I think it would be totally fab on you, when you are ready to hit the dark side. :)

monogramgirl - I love OPI's pale colors - I find them much less streaky than Essie. I would love to know which ones you use, esp since they work in winter!

Jordyn - I am loving it as a beach color. (and it wasn't too altered by the spray sunscreen effect, either!) Hope you have a great beach vacation!

Suzy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

The Essie "Spiced Tea" looks like a pretty color--but like you I prefer OPI with a shiny topcoat--not a "matte" one.
I don't even like Matte Looking Foundation on people...they look a little dead...I like more of glowing look--but that's just me!

HeidiG said...

luvallthingsjcrew - I am with you on the matte foundation. The only time I've ever seen it look good is the Eva Longoria Parker ad for Revlon's Stay Matte collection - and you know that had to be refined a bit.

Anonymous said...

still covetting that TAN of yours! smile
Funny thing is I am Portuguese--but I guess the Scottish side of me overpowers the Portuguese...I'm soooo fair!!! But I don't mind--gotta accept me for me...but I do luvee the color you get!

HeidiG said...

luvallthingsjcrew - it's funny, I don't think I have anything in my line other than boring old WASP, but my skintone certainly would indicate otherwise. :) (and this is my tan with SPF 50 and lots of shade time - can you imagine how dark I got back in childhood when we lived at the pool?)

Hey, your skin will thank you now... and later, no?

GingerSnap said...

I can't believe that J.Crew is trying to pass these polishes off as "special" when they are clearly not! And to think I almost ordered the orange shade thinking that it was the one all the models were wearing! Uh! This is irritating!

HeidiG said...

GingerSnap - I know, so annoying!! And not even this season!!

Slastena said...

I have Essi's on eof a kind, it s somewaht similar to MiniShort, but more red. I love it and have been wearing it quite often on my toes.

Dina- just like you, I only do toes. I wash my hands so often , polish does not stay on and it's such a nuisance to take it off.:))

HeidiG said...

Slastena - I bet that polish looks fantastic on you! I have no argument with the colors themselves - One of a Kind is a great polish color - it's just the oooh-j crew-special part that bugs me. :)