ALU NYFW NOTD Challenge – Day 3
The days are getting longer people and I’m in serious need of sleep but I’m powering through New York Fashion Week like a champ. Even though my feet want to go on strike, the humidity is having its way with my hair and I can’t seem to remember what day it is, I’m having an absolute blast. I figure I can sleep when I get home so I may as well make the most of my time here and I’ve been doing just that.
Saturday was Day 3 of my NYFW experience and I was feeling the need to keep my green streak going. After rocking RBL Anne and Chanel Khaki Vert it was time for something dark and creamy. Enter Maybelline Grand In Green. But what fun is wearing just one color when you’re at Fashion Week? I pulled in GiG’s collection sibling, Gray-T Glamour for a funky but easy to replicate manicure. Check it! |
Alright so here’s the deal. Maybelline polishes have never really been on my radar. Prior to this Fashion Week collection I have purchased maybe two Maybelline colors and they were both identical shades of lime green, only with different names. The perm color range just never drew me in.
Then last Spring the pastel, candy colored polishes were released and my interest was piqued. Unfortunately, the formula was janky and dried with bubbles and pock marks on my nails. Weird, right? I even tried getting a second bottle of some colors just to see if I had a bad batch and for some reason they didn’t work on me.
Needless to say, I was skeptical when I saw that Maybelline was introducing a fashion inspired collection for fall. I mean, what good are gorgeous hues if the formula doesn’t deliver? Well thanks to a review on my pal Steph’s blog, Steph’s Closet, raving about the Gray-T Glamour formula I decided to dip my toe back in the Maybelline water. I couldn’t be happier about that decision.
Both Gray-T Glamour and Grand in Green are highly pigmented, providing excellent coverage. The polish is a bit thick and the first coat goes on unevenly but once that second coat lays down, you’re in business. Gray-T Glamour is a blue tinged gray shimmer. It’s definitely got a slate feel to it and it makes total sense to combine it with the cool, evergreen creme.
I originally thought about painting four nails on each hand with Grand in Green and applying Gray-T Glamour to my ring fingers but then inspiration hit. It’s not anything complicated but I feel it marries the two colors together. That it makes their pairing look intentional and not an afterthought. I painted my middle fingers green and applied the gray to the rest. Then using the narrow, flat Maybelline brush loaded with a minimal amount of polish, I quickly and deliberately swiped the color on an angle from the middle of the sidewall to the opposite side’s tip.
My only concern is that the polishes started to show tip wear pretty fast. I realize that I’m exposing my nails to more stressors than normal while running around NYC but tip wear in less than 24 hours makes me go hmmm. I wore the polishes with CND Stickey base coat and Air Dry top coat and the green was looking kind of beat up. I’ll definitely have to give them another go when I get home as I really like the colors.
Have any of you seen or tried the new Maybelline Fall Fashion Week Collection? Which colors are your fave? Have you had any issues with tip wear? If not, what base/top combo worked best for you?
Disclosure: Product samples were provided by Maybelline. For more info, view my Disclosure Policy
Lisa N.
Ms Meatballhead
Birdie
Spa pediccure chairs
I have ended up pitching all polishes except for the Sally Hansen all in one manicure selections. Nothing else wears like they do.
I bought both of these colors a couple of weeks ago. I have not used the green yet, but loved the gray. It applied well for me and I didn’t experience any more tip wear than with any other polish.
I just bought these two polishes last week! Perfect colors for fall in the Pacific Northwest. I wore the grey for a few days with stickey base and seche vite top, and I also had some super fast tip wear so it’s not just you.
ive used maybelline polishes before and i found them to be quite good. … keep strong for the rest of fashion week!
Maricela
I’ve purchased three of the colors, Grey-T Glamour, grand in Green, & I finally found a Pretty in Purple. I used the Grey this past weekend and topped it with Color Clubs covered in Diamonds. It looked really nice but I had tip wear by Sunday (applied Friday) so I changed it.
I saw these last week at Walgreen’s and thought of you! In the heinous store lightning at first I wondered if Grand In Green would be a possible dupe for Zulu, but it is SO not! I’ll wait until you swatch it at home before I decide if I like it or not because by this picture they’re really not impressing me, but maybe its the bad lighting and and the circumstances of running all over NYC that makes them not look so good. I was much more impressed by the Revlon Just Add Sparkle display that I also saw at Walgreens from which I picked up Rock, Star, and Galaxy. I really want Slippers too, but they didn’t have it. The Nicole by OPI Gossip Girl display had a couple of colors that look promising as well.
I got Gray-T Glamour & Pretty In Purple. I thought the formula was thick on both. Both polishes dried with bubbles and looked flat. I did use top coat on Gray-T Glamour but not Pretty In Purple. Mistake! It chipped like crazy after 12 hours of wear, 6 of which was while sleeping. I did have some tip wear with the gray but nothing as bad as the purple. I love the colors & they did dry super quick, so they have that going for them.
I love the design & the color of this manicure. It’s so chic!
I think a ruffian would be nice with these colors.
I got Gray-T Glamour, and they were out of Grand In Green. I was seriously bummed, but after actually wearing G-TG, I’m quite happy that I did not waste money (even a little) on GIG- the formula is the worst! It is really gloopy, and it chipped within hours! (!) And that is after I made adjustments- when I saw how thick the formula was, I did several thin coats on one hand, and a couple thick coats on the other, to see if one method of application would be better than the other- sadly, it did not matter. It was universally awful.
C’mon Maybelline- you have the great mascaras- let’s up the game on the nail polish, too!!!
I really like this manicure idea. It’s chic and different without being too flashy. I want to try this out with maybe some other color combinations, what other fall colors do you recommend?
I saw the green today in a CVS. I couldn’t even see that it was green until I looked at the name, so I skipped it.
I picked these up at Walgreens the other day after seeing your pics earlier in the week. There was a $1 off coupon so I figured it was worth a try. I tried the grey with Stickey base coat and CG’s Fast Forward top coat, I am on day 3 with very little to no tip wear. The brush was kinda crummy though… is there something that’s a decent dupe to this grey? It looks great with my skin tone, I can see myself wearing it a lot this fall!