Dark Chocolate, Yum! Handbag and NOTD

I FINALLY switched handbags. I'd been carrying my Rebecca Minkoff Nikki in dark crinkled patent since early October, with the exception of maybe one day. Whenever it occurred to me to use one of the other myriad purses on hand, I realized it was going to rain and better to just stick with the patent leather.

Much as the Nikki is working great for me---it's my favorite hobo and now I'm thinking it might be my all-time favorite handbag style overall---I need to snap out of the rut and embrace my other beloved bags. So, I switched to one of my favorites, my tinted chocolate Chiara from Ignes.

The tinted chocolate leather is an Ignes classic. It is textured on the surface yet totally smooth, in a dark luscious brown. And, best of all, it is smooshy soft! My handbag literally smooshes into a soft, smooth pile of chocolaty goodness.

And all this goodness deserves an excellent matching nail polish. Voila! MAC "Rich Dark Delicious" from the 2009 Fall Nail Trends fit the bill perfectly.


Unfortunately, I had some issues applying "Rich Dark Delicious" although with the second coat it started looking a lot better. I did notice some weird bald places...you know, when you have plenty of polish on the nail surface but the color somehow is missing from a spot. And, by the end of the day, I did have some chipping starting on the tip of the nail and accelerating once it got going.

I didn't have issues with the other colors in this collection, so I was bummed. On the other hand, the combination with my Chiara handbag is so awesome, I will try it out again. I wonder if maybe I had some residue on the nail surface, or some other blooper!

Cobalt Coordination: Nails and Handbag

For Wednesday's NOTD (Nails of the Day) I finally wore Essie "Mesmerize," a rich, glossy deep cobalt color. I originally purchased this color at ULTA a few weeks back when I was first buying polish, inaugurating a series of equally exciting ULTA hauls! I was excited when I spotted "Mesmerize" since it seemed an excellent match with my cobalt "Carla" handbag from Ignes Handbags. Starting late in the summer, I've been toting my laptop to work each day using my Carla, and it has worked amazingly well. Thus, it was time to honor good old Carla by coordinating my polish and busting out the Essie Mesmerize.



The colors are close but might be slightly deeper than in these pictures, which were taken in my light-filled office. The light is mostly overhead florescent lighting with a dose of waning daylight coming in through the windows. I find that handbag colors generally wash out a bit in pictures when I'm doing "photoshoots" in my office.

Not currently listed on the Ignes website, the Carla was introduced last fall and was based on the Chiara style. The Chiara features studs and some drawstrings going around the top through loops, while the Carla is the same shape and style but simplified and featuring two zipper pockets on the outside, as shown above. Below, the other side of the Carla is plain. It has double rolled handles and a detachable shoulder strap.

Ignes handbags are made to order, and I chose this leather, which was in stock but not offered in the regular spring/summer leather collection, with a bright yellow fabric lining for maximum contrast. The leather is super-structured and thus ideal for carrying a heavy laptop every day. My Chiara, on the other hand, is a soft, gorgeous puddle of slouch dark chocolate leather---the leathers can make the same Ignes styles completely different from each other.

Below is the interior, showing one of the pockets (more pockets are on the other side, and all Ignes bags include key fobs.)


Below I am showing off my cobalt thumbnail and the Carla's outside zipper pockets!


I love this opaque, glossy cobalt blue polish. I anticipate slapping this on when I am not sure what to do for my nails but will be carrying my Carla and wearing a color that will go with this gorgeous and versatile shade of blue!

Nail Polish Addicts Anonymous Here I Come!

When a handbag addict decides what bag to carry based on what nail polish she is wearing, does it mean she has a new addiction to contend with? Today I have the gorgeous Essie "It's Genius" on my fingertips, and so I pulled the perfect handbag out from storage: my large Hug Me in wine pebbled glossy from Belen Echandia.



Look at that gorgeous leatha!! It's a grapey, pinkey, purpley shade of wine. I'm not sure what color the nail polish is...purple or magenta or pink....but it's a beautiful match for my beautiful bag!! And even though it was up in the eighties (Fahrenheit) today, it's the perfect summer to fall transition color, I've decided.

Summer Ain’t Over ‘Til I Say It’s Over!

I read recently that August was a transitional month from summer to fall. Well, I originally come from the Deep South where summer goes on into September, so I was a little surprised by that statement. In addition, I now live in the eastern United States where summer took a while to get cranked up and going. August has had the hottest temperatures of the summer, so summer is still going strong, I’m afraid.

Of course, I do understand the “transitional” statement---as a lover of fall fashion, I am ready to get my August and September fashion mags at the beginning of the summer. I am no lover of hot weather, and I start my fall planning in July and August. My reaction to the whole transitional thing right now is just that I am not ready to stop wearing my summer handbags and accessories. For me, September is the true transitional month.

How will we know when summer has ended, then? Is it a mere date on a calendar? Here are the new rules I am currently working out:

1. If the temperatures are still in the nineties (Fahrenheit), it’s still summer.
2. It it stays in the seventies (Fahrenheit) during the night, it’s still summer. Seventies are great during the day, but during the night, most uncomfortable.
3. If you’re going about your business buying nail polishes like crazy when suddenly you are stranded in a huge 30-minute thunderstorm that only takes a few seconds to flood everything, it’s summer, totally.
4. If you are not ready to stop wearing turquoise, aqua, orange, cobalt, bright purple, and fuchsia leather handbags, then I’m afraid it’s still summer.

Fashion seems to be cooperating with the freaky weather this year, with so many brights and neons showing up all over the place for fall. Beauty bloggers and Youtubers seem a bit surprised to be reviewing nail polish collections that contain brown, black, berries, and lively neons. Perhaps we can give the neons a go in September before getting into our customary jewel tones, browns, and grays. Maybe by October, we can welcome fall in a timely fashion. At least, those of us on the East Coast….with treasured summer handbag collections.

The Orange Story: If There's a Drought, No Problem, I'll Head to ULTA!

Why is it that every time I'm in ULTA in the evening, just at closing time, the heavens open up unexpectedly and unleash a torrential downpour? The second week in a row that has happened.

Well, this is what I go through to get the perfect orange nail color to go with my new Belen Echandia Hold Me Maxi in glossy pebbled orange. This evening, I was actually in my second ULTA of the night for that very purpose. I stopped by the ULTA I usually go to, and didn't see the Essie "Bright Tights" from the fall collection while there but got some other nice goodies. (I was there to get a fast-drying topcoat---done!, a crystal nail file---done!, and the Essie orange.) As I was leaving, I suddenly thought of running to another ULTA to see if they had this Essie orange color. Why not? I arrived with a little less than an hour to spare at the large "main street" type shopping center, found a parking spot, then walked up to the shopping center and started down the main drag. Of course, ULTA was on the opposite end, which was no problem....at the time!

The ULTA seemed to have more nail polish on display but not necessarily more colors than my usual ULTA. One of the first colors to catch my eye, however, was an OPI orange: "My Back Pocket." Wow!! This orange seemed totally on target!! A true orange---not too red or dark, not too bright, not too melon or peach or pastel. It had not been at my usual ULTA.

I did locate the Essie "Bright Tights" (they only had one! why is this so elusive?), and I was a bit shocked at how bright and neon it was in real life. I ended up getting both, but the OPI is really the better orange of the two for my purpose.

The new OPI "My Back Pocket":


This gorgeous little leather good is a Belen Echandia Angel Purse in matching leather, a freebie I received with my Hold Me Maxi....generally costing around $200 when ordered on its own!! Below is the interior, with the trademark BE fuchsia silk lining.


Getting back to the nail polish story, lol! The OPI orange seems to go on a bit gloppy, but then, I am a nail newbie so I am not going to assume it's the polish. The brush is nice and wide, which has the potential to work well for for a noob like me. The color is spot on, though!! If I can apply this carefully, I will have my Hold Me Maxi match!!


The Essie "Bright Tights" is very, very sheer and very, very retina-scorching. This color will be great next summer when I want to do something completely neon. It really is not a good match for my BE orange, though. It's on the middle finger in the pic below, and I don't think it is showing up as searingly bright as in real life here.


I figure my orange collection is totally complete, with two creme and two shimmery polishes, which are two China Glaze colors I purchased previously, one to try to coordinate with the Hold Me Maxi, and the other to approximate my cat's gorgeous copper eyes.

Here is a previously posted pic with the China Glaze "True Love," which did not particularly clash but was definitely a darker color than my handbag.


The China Glaze "Cruising" color was my attempt to approximate my cat's copper eyes. Here she is, Gabrielle, a British blue shorthair:


The pic is a little blurry because she is always moving! But the eye color is pretty accurate. And below is my pinky finger displaying "Cruising."


I haven't yet analyzed if I made a good match, but the color is pretty.

Here is my complete 4-polish orange nail color collection, then:


Left to right, the OPI "My Back Pocket", Essie "Bright Tights", China Glaze "Free Love," and China Glaze "Cruising."




And, mattified with my Essie "Matte About You" Matte topcoat:


So, back to the story about the rain, just as I was purchasing my orange colors, the skies opened and poured out a major gullywasher. I waited in the closed store for some time, since I figured the rain shower might be one of those fleeting, sudden rainstorms that ends as abruptly as it begins. After a while, I obtained a plastic bag to put my handbag in, and clinging to the walls of the shops to stay under the puny awnings, I made my way all the way down the length of the shopping center. I figured, my hair was in a pony tail, I was wearing my Keen canvas and rubber sandals, and my clothes and makeup didn't need to stay pristine for any reason.

I was completely soaked, of course, by the time I made it to my car, and I sat in the car for quite some time waiting for the rain to abate. This same thing happened the weekend before at the other ULTA. Lesson learned: it's still summer, as I keep saying, so carry an umbrella and plastic bag for my handbag!! And if there is a drought where you are, you can fly me in and I'll go shopping at closing time at your local ULTA. It seems a guarantee for a rainstorm, at this point!

NOTD Tuesday

Today (Tuesday) I changed my bright orange nails up a bit by applying Essie's Matte About You.

Above is my bright, dark orange shiny nail polish (China Glaze "Free Love") with my Belen Echandia Hold Me Maxi in Orange Pebbled Glossy (my orange inspiration!).

Below, my mattified version after using the Essie matte topcoat!

Isn't it cool how the glossy pebbling of the leather really resembles the surface of an orange??! Wednesday I anticipate switching bags and nail colors, thinking more along the lines of lavender!!!

Look of the day!

Part of my quest to see the value for money I get from the frivolous things I buy is to track what I'm using from day to day, then divide by the price paid. And, it's fun!

Face of the Day: Prescriptives Traceless, Physicians Formula Baked Oatmeal medium on lid and dark in outer crease, Stylie Style (sp?) light blue eye pencil, L'Oreal Telescopic mascara in brown black. And don't forget the Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Sunblock!

Nails of the Day: China Glaze "Free Love" bright metallic orange.

Fragrance of the Day: A layering of Mandarin Basilic then Herba Fresca, both from Guerlain Aqua Allegoria.

Handbag of the Day: Belen Echandia (BE) Hold Me Maxi in orange pebbled glossy with fuchsia lining (with matching Angel Purse holding lip colors and nail polish).

Second handbag is Ignes Carla in cobalt as my laptop bag!

Jewelry: 100 inch freshwater pearl rope, doubled up.