Barielle "A Bouquet for Ava"

Suddenly, out of the blue....Blue! Literally! I love a wide variety of colors, and I never had had a favorite color except possibly purple. Too many gorgeous colors to choose from to have a favorite! If anything, I love color combinations, with my favorites being purple and green or purple and yellow.

So, I guess maybe a month or two ago I started lemming for some serious gorgeous medium blue color for the nails. Sure, cobalt, such as in Essie Mesmerize and my cobalt handbag, was an awesome addition to my wardrobe last summer. I think Essie Aruba really captures this ideal blueness, although it's a bit dark..

For 2010, turquoise is supposed to be THE color, and I'm all for that. But there is so much more to life than turquoise and cobalt. Enter Barielle's "A Bouquet for Ava." It's a dark turquoise. Perhaps a lagoon blue? Well, I've read about lagoon blue and am still not exactly sure what that is, so let's stop blabbing and get to the matter at hand. The polish!! GOR-geous!

Let's start indoors as we do a lot of the time:

Come into the light! The afternoon sunlight, that is:

Outdoors still but in the shade:

This dark turquoise is a creme with very nice application. It reminds me of a slate blue, such as Barielle's "Slate of Affairs" from the fall 2009 Barielle collection, only with a dose of green to make a spring/summer color. Not enough green to be a teal, hence my tagging it a dark turquoise.

Barielle calls it "deep cool Caribbean blue." Who am I to challenge the creators of the color?? Caribbean blue it is! Whatever one calls it, I love this beautiful color. Well-done, Barielle! Well-done! 

Color Club Take Me To Your Chateau

 

"Take Me To Your Chateau" is a lovely pale blue, perfect this for spring's palettes. The packaging on the Color Club Pardon My French collection set proclaimed that these colors were "sheerly chic," but I reached for this pale blue first, and it has to be one of the most opaque polishes I've ever seen! 

  

The formula is good, but I had just been messing around with some polishes that have a thinner, runnier formula, so I need to use Take Me To Your Chateau with a lighter hand. I will make sure to adjust my application so I go thinner, especially since I did two coats of it.

It's really pretty indoors:

  

Here's how it stands up to direct sunlight:

  

  

 

I like this color a lot. I will interject, though, that I am discovering that my approach to nail color might be similar to my approach to lip color. I can't stand nude lips or pale pink lips---so fake and not at all natural. I tend to stick to shades close to my natural lip tone or deeper and darker. I think I am not too thrilled by super pale shades on my nails. It seems they show all the flaws in my application and just don't look right to me. That said, I am not 100% comfortable with Take Me To Your Chateau but will definitely work on a light touch since this formula is thicker than some brands and hopefully will enjoy wearing it this spring.

Now let's layer it up with its buddy in the collection, "Si Vous Please!" Look at that icy white glitter. You can see some purple glitter in there, but see how the light blue is flashing like crazy in the light??

 

I mean! Look at this glitter! So cool and proud and reserved, yet bringing its own special bling.

 

  

Above, looks like a match made in heaven!! And below, that theory was born out when I put it on the nails!!

 

 

I think the layering with the glitter is fabulous! Imagine how much nicer it will look, also, with a less gloppy looking application of the Chateau blue. The effect is really ethereal and icy, like a winter effect. Nice to wear in February and cooling and refreshing to wear in July!

Here are a couple of shots which show the glitter pieces.

 

Like pale blue opals!! I am realizing that I didn't take any shots that show the glitter on my nail on its own, and I'll have to remedy that. One can expect it to be pretty sheer, though. 

So, is everyone wearing a cool pale blue on the nails this spring? As a change of pace to all the gorgeous turquoise colors??

Kaleidoscope Him Out!!

Time to continue my series on the Kaleidoscopes from China Glaze! I had some time this past weekend to try on the rest of the ones I got recently from Victoria Nail Supply. So, here we have "Kaleidoscope Him Out." This polish is a lovely light blue, perhaps something like a robin's egg blue. First I'll show it indoors where you can see the cyrstals in it without the bling, then moving on toward the window to get some sunlight directly on it!

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

So pretty! I think this light blue is a lovely change of pace from the other colors I've shown so far, and it will certainly be very nice for a refreshing spring color....with just the right amount of holo goodness blazing out and warming things up!! As I spend a lot of time sitting in traffic and fighting my way across town to get places with the major heaps of snow all around, spring colors and blazes of holo warmth are nice thoughts right about now!!

Essie Aruba Blue

So, last Friday I went to ULTA and did not find the OPI Alice In Wonderland collection there. I did find the Orly Bloom collection and made a few selections, as well as the Essie Art of Spring (see my Neo Whimsical and Van d'Go posts). When browsing the regular shelves, I caught a glimpse of the most beautiful, metallic, dark cobalt blue: Essie Aruba Blue.

Wow!! It is kind of similar to Mesmerize but it's a metallic version of cobalt. I tried it this past weekend during my brief swatching session and snapped an indoor pic. It's luscious! It's divine! WOW!

I am not sure why it's called 'Aruba' Blue. Maybe inspired by a blue hole dive spot or something? That's why the dark blue?

For some reason, I have been craving blues. Are they suddenly popular and seeping into my subconscious mind?? At any rate, I hadn't seen Essie Aruba Blue before, and I don't know where it came from, but yay! I can't wear to wear this beauty.

My Absolute Fave Color: Bassins Bleu!

Well, I reported that I got my Hands of Hope BB Couture collection from Overall Beauty.

So, today was beautifully sunny if still a bit below freezing. Yay, swatching time! I put BB Couture Bassins Bleu on first and began snapping some pics. My camera battery died, as expected, so I reached for the additional battery. Um, it wasn't there. Oh. Uh. So, I went around searching for my battery charger.

Long story short, I couldn't find it, I was totally upset that I stood to miss the swatching time, and I was quite befuddled. I either need to stop travelling or get more organized! I finally accepted that I was not going to find anything at that moment and that I should just go organize existing pics. Peace. Zen. Clarity...I looked one more time and found the charger!

Well, while the charging started, I removed the Bassins Bleu and started working on something else. So, I have like, three pictures but I assure you I will be swatching this color during the next sunny swatch session. (ha ha, alliteration! Ssssss.)






This polish, as I reported, is thin and runny. It goes on pretty well, but the first coat can have some streaks, and you run the risk of the "bald spot" phenomenon...the polish is smooth but below the surface you have some holes in coverage.

I think, however, that two coats will do the trick as long as you take precautions for the above issues. The important thing to know is that this polish is my favorite of all time. I just decided that. It's the best. The BEST, Jerry, the BEST! (Seinfeld reference, I'm full of those.)

The color is not quite a pastel, but rather a light turquoise blue that has a very healthy dose of green....much like many gorgeous turquoise shades. It is just mesmerizingly beautiful, and holds the promise of spring and summer. Bassins Bleu is a site in Haiti consisting of a series of basins, or pools, that have waterfalls connecting the basins to one another...or something like that. Check it out: Bassin Bleu.

I've seen some posts saying this polish is green. Well, no, it's blue to me with a good dosage of green. It's a turquoise. I'll take some pics outside in the sunshine and see if I still believe that. Hee.

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!