Orly Cosmic FX - Lunar Eclipse with Comps

I am having a love affair with all of the Cosmic FX. I love staring at each bottle and watching all the duochromes change in the light. Here is Lunar Eclipse from the collection. It is a vibrant sapphire blue with purple/pink duochrome. I thought out of the entire range of the Cosmic FX collection that it would be most matchable to something I own already. I found a couple colors to comp to, but after the comparison, I think that Lunar Eclipse is worth having on its own.



Left to Right: Orly Lunar Eclipse, Sally Hansen HD Laser, Sinful Colors Femme Fatale


Left to right: 2 coats of Lunar Eclipse, 4 coats Sally Hansen HD Laser, 2 coats Sinful Colors Femme Fetale.


The Sally Hansen Laser is more similar to Lunar Eclipse in duochrome-ness and overall effect but lighter and doesn't apply as densely. The Sinful Femme Fatale is a closer shade match but doesn't have all the cool light catching, falling a trance, staring at your nails all day effect of Lunar Eclipse.


Bottle shot: Orly Lunar Eclipse is more pigmented and thicker in the bottle vs. SH HD Laser.



Bottle shot all three in daylight.


Thanks for looking.

Chanel Paradoxal vs. Castledew 9289


Chanel Paradoxal (Index and Middle), Castledew 9289 (Ring and Pinkie)


Chanel Paradoxal (Index and Middle), Castledew 9289 (Ring and Pinkie)

I know that everyone is always looking to dupe Chanel. For $23-25 per bottle (at retail), you could be getting 4 or more other polishes for the same price. Castledew is a Korean brand. They don't have a website that sells in the states, but I found a counter at a Korean supermarket in LA and thru third party sellers associated with Ebay. I paid $6 per bottle, but I'm sure it's less in Asia. 9289 is described on Castledew's site as "Galaxy Charcoal Brown." I could see that as accurate. It is slightly more shimmery than Paradoxal, but I found in opacity and application to be a very good dupe. The question is what's easier to find? For those in the states, the answer might be the Chanel

Orly 'Tis The Season - Christmas Holiday 2010


Meet Me Under the Mistletoe (Index and Ring fingers have Ingot UV Top Coat giving it a purple/blue tint)



Candy Cane Lane - a real Santa Claus red. Such a gorgeous vibrant red shade. Would work well for Konading.


Winter Wonderland - At first I wanted to paint this over Candy Cane Lane, but the glitter was TOO DENSE! Pictured here is two coats. Can we say :-o ?!

Three pack with free clutch

Flakies Comparison - Part 1


Being relatively new the nails, the memory of seeing my first flakie nail polish is still fresh in my mind. I remember seeing Nfu Oh! spam on MUA and then frantically googling the words "flakie" "nail polish." That is the short story I discovered Scrangie and all the other wonderful nail blogs which I now check religiously. I stared endlessly at the irregularly shaped iridescence, and I fell in love. I will be posting more photos of other flakies in my stash, but here is a start for now.

Inglot 202, Inglot 205, Nfu Oh 40, Urban Outfitters White Sparkle 2


Nubar Opulent Pearl vs. Nubar 2010
Nubar Opulent Pearl is a sheer milky white base with rainbow colored flakies. Nubar 2010 is a red/orange iridescence.

Left to right: Urban Outfitters White Sparkle 2, Nubar Opulent Pearl, Nubar 2010, Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure, Nfu Oh! 40, Inglot 202, Inglot 205

OPI Unripened - Halloween 2010







OPI Unripened is part of their Halloween launch for 2010. It's an inky blue with sapphire, turquoise and purple sparkles. There is more dimension in the bottle vs. on the nail (the rainbow of shimmer doesn't really translate on the nail like in the bottle), but I find still find it very pretty. It's a lovely, more subtle alternative to all the major, multi-dimensional sparkles that have been popping up lately, (e.g. Orly Cosmic collection).

I purchased this from Transdesign as a large bottle (doesn't seem available now), but it is also a part of the Go Goth! set also distributed for Halloween this year.