Spring 2009
Essie North Fork Collection – I’m Smitten!
 It’s been a long time since I’ve been so over the moon about an Essie polish let alone a whole collection but when my eyes landed on the North Fork collection I actually shrieked. You can ask the boyfriend, he had to hear it and suffer through me holding bottles in his face saying, “Can you believe these are Essies? Can you? LOVE THEM!” Of course, as much as he tries to care and be involved in what I do, he doesn’t get it like you all do.
It’s not like Essie hasn’t stepped out of her conservative niche and given us some amazing colors, she has. Hello Starry Starry Night, Dominica Green and Summer 08 Neons. It’s just been a while. Well Ms. Essie, color me wowed. I seriously can’t compliment you enough on these gorgeous, sandwashed shades. |
The North Fork shades are the perfect beachy accompaniment to lazy days at the shore. Every single one makes me long for boating season even though I detest sailing. I like to think of the ‘rents sailboat as a floating condo. A great retreat until we get a powerboat of our own.
Anywho, back to the polishes. Each of these tranquil variations of blue is a winner in its own right. They are all shown with two coats and applied like a dream with the exception of Shelter Island which gave me a bit of trouble and required thee coats.
Greenport is a muted, creamy aquamarine. It’s not a traditional creme in that the finish is uber-glossy like a jelly even though the lacquer is way pigmented. Very unique indeed.
Sag Harbor is LOVE. OK not really but it’s a swoon-worthy color. It’s like dove gray and powder blue had a baby. This is totally random but it reminds me of a t-shirt I have from a bar at my fave summer destination, Put-In-Bay. It’s a purposely weathered blue and Sag Harbor is a perfect match. The shimmer in this one is subtle, adding just a hint of sparkly sheen.
Shelter Island is as blue as the sky on a hot, cloudless June day. It’s a bit more vibrant on the nail than in the bottle but not neon. Like I mentioned above, this was my problem child in terms of application. It has the same texture and feel as Greenport but for some reason it kept dragging at my cuticles even though I waited a few minutes between coats. Odd.
The Essie North Fork collection will be available beginning in April 2009 at Essie.com and fine spas, salons and beauty destinations worldwide. Polishes retail for $9/ea US, $11/ea CDN.
What do you think kids? Are you feeling these blues?
MAC Sugarsweet Preview
 Coming to a MAC counter near you, The Sugarsweet Collection.
Temptation is everywhere – luscious, whipped-cream decadent, deliciously decorative frosting colours and sugared almond combinations. Like peering through the window of a Parisian patisserie, you’ll want to become one of each! Have fun with a new Red Velvet recipe Shadestick. Tricolour Lipglass is like a mille feuille of layered lip gloss colours, each gives way to the next in a triple-layered pearl-swirl of prettiness; add extra-yum to Eye Shadow; Perfect Topping Mineralize Skinfinish is the ultimate cake walk. We could eat you up. |
So after seeing that minty green polish on the Chanel runways last week, I found out that MAC has a version of their own. The best part… no waiting til Fall!
Peppermint Patti – Creamy mint green
Seasonal Peach – Creamy pale peachy pink
The Sugarsweet Collection launches on Thursday March 19th though it will appear online tomorrow. Nail Lacquers retail for $11.00.
So who’s planning to pick up Peppermint Patti? I can’t wait to get my mitts on it. The Tricolour Lipglass sounds cool too. I love me a MAC Lipglass!
Essie North Folk Collection Sneak Preview
No offense to Essie but it’s rare that I see promo pics of a new collection and get uber-excited but within minutes of setting sight on the new North Folk collection, I had already IMd with two of my fellow beauty bloggers to rave. I’m just not the target Essie demo, I prefer my polishes crazy, bold and vampy. So with the exception of last summer’s brights and winter’s few vamps, I haven’t been riding the Essie train of late. However color me on board now!
There’s something about these soft seaside blues that make me yearn for boating weather, sailing with the fam on Lake Erie.
Within the soft palette of hues that floated down this season’s runways, one color stood out among the rest…. blue. Dreamy blues reminiscent of bright open skies and deep welcoming waters lead essie founder Essie Weingarten to create The North Fork Collection – named for the quaint vacation villages perched around the waters of Long Island’s East End .
“The new nail colors remind me of the most beautiful blues that surround The North Fork,†says Weingarten. “Tranquil yet playful, the colors cross over in fashion and in nature.â€
The nail colors in The North Fork Collection capture the essence of blue. The fashion-or azure fingertips lounging under the sun.
Greenport, Sag Harbor and Shelter Island , each named after areas around The North Fork and Long Island Sound, are an homage to the beauty of nature.
GREENPORT – Dreamy aquamarine paradise
SAG HARBOR — Cool silver blue
SHELTER ISLAND – Sky blue radiance
The North Fork Collection is a limited-edition collection, available beginning April 2009 at www.essie.com and fine spas, salons and beauty destinations worldwide. SRP $9.00 USD, $11 Canada .
Rescue Beauty Lounge Spring/Summer 09 Preview
Prepare for glitter bombing. That’s right, Ji Baek has put her spin on glitter polishes for her Spring/Summer 09 collection. Inspired by the sparkling, heavily embellished looks from the Spring 2009 runway shows, Ji wanted to make that luxe look affordable. Instead of spending thousands of dollars on a metallic cocktail dress, you can bling your tips for a fraction of the price.
According to Ji, “I was the one who’d actually call up for those ‘price upon request’ items.” “Now I’m taking the subway, cooking at home, taking more yoga classes – with this economy, we’re all sifting our priorities.”
While the September shows of the Spring/Summer 09 lines preceded the economic meltdown in October 2008, Baek nonetheless was surprised at the excess of embellishment seen in the many collections.
“I’ve never seen so many sequins, embroideries, shimmering metallics and jewels sewn into fabrics. And price points seemed to reach all time highs, with a spangled Balenciaga dress going for $42,000 and jeweled Lanvin sandals for $2,200.”
This need for an affordable way to sparkle led Baek to create three “super-shiny glitter” nail polishes for Spring. “We have brights, bold prints and florals from past seasons. All we need to update our look is a bit of opulence on our fingers and toes.”
The polishes have much more glitter than polishes you’ve seen in the past – they sparkle like diamonds,” adds Baek, “It makes me giddy.”
These beauties make me giddy as well. You know my issue with glitter, the rough, bumpy finish. I did a quick swatch of each polish and while they are not what you’d call smooth, the glitter lays flat so all you feel is a bit of texture. I added a coat of Seche Vite and voila, texture gone.
Frugalista is gunmetal shot through with purple glitter.
In the spirit of our J.Crew to Jimmy Choo-loving First Lady, there’s Look Rich, Be Cheap – a mix of gold and purple glitter.
And for sifting through locally grown produce at the Farmer’s Market, there’s Locavore, a dazzling combination of gold, green, blue and silver glitter.
The RBL Spring/Summer 09 colors go on sale in early March. RBL mailing list subscribers will get first dibs so sign up now at RescueBeauty.com. Of course, full swatches and reviews will be posted after my trip.
Zoya Twist Collection for Spring 2009
 You kids know how into the whole gray trend I’ve been. Since last spring, I’ve told anyone who will listen about how amazingly cool gray looks on nails. Of course it didn’t really hit until last fall (look at me being ahead of the game!) and I’m pleased to see it carrying over to spring in Zoya’s newest collection, Twist.
Like I mentioned in the preview, when I look at Twist, I see a light and airy version of fall’s big trends with a cranberry splash and two traditional pinks thrown in for good measure. Berry lips were big last fall and now we’re seeing that translated to tips for spring. Both OPI and Sally Hansen included a berry creme in their collections. An interesting “twist” for sure. |
Let’s start with my obvious fave – Harley. Harley is a warm mid-tone gray shimmer. The light bronze ribbons of shimmer keep this one from being too cool for the olive skinned girls to pull off. If you haven’t tried gray yet, this is one you’ll definitely fall for.
Harley’s closest living relative is OPI “Sheer” Your Toys though SYT is a bit more blue-gray. I showed it next to Sephora by OPI Run With It! just for comparison’s sake but as you can see, they’re very different animals.
Malia is about as light as I can delve into purples with my skin tone. It’s not love at first sight but it’s a far cry better than what lavender does to me. Malia’s violet hue looks warm next to my skin even though it’s much cooler toned in the bottle. This one gave me some streakiness during application though I was able to smooth it out with very steady strokes.
Moxie is a dream to apply. Zoya’s creme formula tends to give me issues due to its thicker viscosity but Moxie flowed on perfectly. This bold berry really stands out against the other shades in this collection, making it the odd man out yet refreshingly unexpected at the same time.
Moxie isn’t the most unique girl at the party with Tracy Reese for Sally Hansen Beet Stain and OPI Miami Beet (from the upcoming South Beach collection) as convincing dupes but I can say that she applies better than the Sally Hansen and is more pigmented than the OPI.
Cassi is a salmon pink shimmer. A nice warm pink for conservative girls and pink fans alike. Two coats gave nice, even coverage.
Barbie looks exactly as the name implies, Malibu Barbie pink. It totally reminds me of the pink Barbie convertible I had as a child. Vibrant and cool-toned, there is a subtle hint of shimmer in the bottle but on the nail it’s barely apparent.
Jo is the other big winner in Twist. A total jackpot of a blue. I’d dare to call it cornflower but the subtle way it leans towards purple keeps me from doing so. Whatever you call it, it’s unique, stunning and totally unlike any polish I own. Like Gabriel Byrne said to Winona Ryder (as Jo) at the end of Little Women, “such a little name for such a person,” Zoya’s Jo is such a color.
The Zoya Twist collection is available online at Zoya.com and at salons and spas across the country. Check the salon locator on Zoya’s website to track one down.
So what do we think? What are you loving? Hating? Indifferent about?
Lisa N.
Ms Meatballhead
Birdie
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