Catrice 220 Lost In Mud

It's snowing again, but it is windy too, so as I look outside my window it is snowing completely sideways.
Originally this polish was supposed to be a small gift for a friend who was dreaming of Jacques. We looked and looked for it in all the usual shops, but it was nowhere to be found. This seemed like a fairly similar colour, but then one of the shops in Amsterdam had a whole bucket of Jacques. So she got that and I kept this one. In the bottle the colours are actually quite close, I'll do a comparison some other time.
Lost In Mud has a pleasant formula, it needed two coats, and it dries quickly. As for the colour I am still not sold. Hopefully in time I will warm up to the whole range of taupe brown colours. I should probably try layering something on top and see if I like it.

OPI You Don't Know Jacques

Last week I managed to walk into a door (again), and basically snapped my nails off. They are the shortest they've been in years, I feel almost naked without them. I don't like my nails when they are so short for two reasons - the polish, any polish, chips very quickly, like within a day and a half, and the tip wear shows really fast. It also seems that when my nails are very short I need to be very neat in terms of application, otherwise every imperfection shows.
So I'm going to go through the backlog of swatches that I haven't posted before. Plus there will be no sun around here for weeks to come, so it's fine.

I don't know about you, but I'm undecided about Jacques. On the one hand it's a very classic shade, on the other I find is so dreary! Yet another taupe brown, and I'm not sure if this shade goes well with my skin tone well. I was rather worried when I started to put Jacques on. First coat was extremely patchy, I thought it would never be even. Second coat was better, but here I'm wearing three coats to even out all the patches. Also this polish dries much darker than it looks in the bottle. In terms of wear, it lasted a couple of days on my nails, kind of average.

China Glaze Ingrid

Well, what can I say about this polish?! It is one of those "what was I thinking?" polishes. I got it months and months ago, last winter and haven't worn it as a full manicure yet. I was seduced by beautiful swatches online, even though I am rather indifferent to taupe brown polishes. To me they are just boring.
Ingrid looks exactly like the colour of the pine tree bark when there is no sun out. It becomes slightly more interesting when there is sun, as you can see the golden shimmer in the polish. Another good thing is that Ingrid is completely opaque in just two coats. Other than that it is just an ok polish, I don't love it, but I don't hate it either.

Orly Prince Charming

Hello everyone! It is finally hot and sunny again! The summer is back on! Today I have for you a polish that I borrowed form a friend of mine. Prince Charming is a taupe brown polish. It kind of looks similar to Chanel's Particuliere, but they are not dupes. I love the name, but in my mind it doesn't really correspond with this colour. The polish itself is fine, though it needed three coats to get rid of bald spots and make it even. The wear was also very decent, around three days. Another thing I like is how it changes the colour depending on the light, from clearly brown to a more taupe with a hing of grey. I must say that it once again made me realize that colours like this are not my thing at all, but I'm sure a lot of people like it.


Also the place where we live seem to attract all sorts of creatures (and occasionally, people). Not only do we have neighbours who keep chickens that sometimes sneak into our garden, but we are also feeding another neighbour's cat while she's away. You can imagine my surprise when the cat food attracted a very determined hedgehog, who munched its way through a whole plate of it.

Chanel 505 Particuliere

Hey guys! The last couple of days were spent in total idleness, being a national holiday here and all. Lots of carrot cake and watching movies till 3 am. Oh and of course my HDD broke down taking 40+ polish swatches with it that I was planning to post. Great, just great.
Ok, on to the polish. I’m sure you all have seen this a hundred times, but I thought I’d show it anyway. Particuliere is an interesting polish, at times it sort of looks taupe, sometimes more gray, or brown, or beige. Very complex. The formula is also butter-y smooth, and perfect with just two thin coats. I don’t think I quite *get* this polish, though. Sure, it’s supposed to be a neutral, but if I want to wear something neutral I would go for milky white or the palest pink, or even something sheer. I guess on my freakishly pale skin it just is too brown, but it must be stunning on tanned skin.

Comparison: Chanel Paradoxal & Barry M Dusky Mauve

I have been looking forward to comparing these two polishes ever since I was given the opportunity to try Paradox. Both are two coats, but can you tell which one is which?

Well, the polish on the index and ring finger is Paradoxal, middle and pinkie finger is Dusky Mauve. In general I can't make them apart. To me they not only look identical, but the formula is very, very close as well.

Chanel 509 Paradoxal

This is one of the first polishes I used from the polishes I was given to try :) And how could I not?! It is gorgeous, truly stunning! You all know what it is, it's a little big grey, it's a little bit purple perfection in two coats. The wear is okay I guess, I got a few minor chips after a few days. I must say to my eye Barry M's Dusky Mauve looks really close, and I will do a comparison as soon as I can.


On a completely different note, I've been painting Easter eggs all day yesterday with my family. It's my favorite thing! Plus all my eggs end up being a varying shades of green (my favorite color). But now my fingers and nails are the most unmentionable color with a mixture of green, blue and red!

Nails Inc Jermyn Street

I have a teeny tiny Jermyn Street polish from Nails Inc. that was given to me some time ago. It's a taupe creme that applies really rather well. Two coats are plenty to make it opaque. When it comes to the color, I'm rather undecided. It is kind of boring and mud-like. Incidentally, the name bugs me slightly. Had to Google to see what Jermyn street was all about.

Barry M Dausky Mauve

Wow! I'm in awe of this color. I don't have anything similar to this taupe beauty! Dusky Mauve is this purple, brown, gray mix with pink shimmer in it. It goes on fine in 2 coats, but for my liking three coats of this polish look better.
Below are the swatches in the sunlight, natural light and with a flash. It's a slight pity that in natural light you can't really see any shimmer, it just looks mud-like.