Back in Business

With a vengeance! After spending the last few weeks listening to environmental health science lectures on my IPod and genuinely trying to do some good work at the office, I kicked off the impending New Year with Essie nailpolishes on sale for $2.00 at Duane Reade. Got them in Decadent Diva, a wonderfully deep, metallic purple and Alligator Purse, a crisp red-orange.

Other than the ridiculous great price for otherwise $7.95 nail polishes, I picked these two up because I may have finally understood the value of good nail polish. After the NYC version of Decadent Diva ($0.99) chipped within 24 hours, I was also starting to reconsider my various Brucci buys as well ($1.29). Brucci is cheap and reliable with a decent top coat, but I missed some of the scrumptious colors and finishes of past manicures. I was especially craving Alligator Purse.

So it was fate that it happened to be one of the colors on sale, and I had to go for it. I feel good for having bought a few higher quality nail polishes so cheap, and if I notice enough of a difference in how long they last, I may consider investing in better ones in the future.

I know I sound like I'm 12 and trying to figure out how best to spend my allowance money. It's still something like that, sadly, but in many ways, I like the challenge! Hopefully I'll have more cheap thrills to share soon.

More Nail Time

It seems that the color has been migrating from my face to my finger nails. I'm officially "into" nail polish more than I ever have been. Maybe it's because I love rich colors, and the fall actually allows you to experiment more with them than any other season.

My current pick - Sephora's Pure Plum nail polish. It is a deep, wine-eggplant color. And I mean eggplant. If you layer on enough coats, it can almost look black. I do wish it had a tad bit more purple to it because it borders on burgundy.

Next purple to try - OPI's We'll Always Have Paris (coffee-purple), Louvre Me Louvre Me Not (royal purple), and Yes...I Can Can (jewel eggplant) from the amazing Fall/Winter French Collection (San like some grey polishes from it - read here).

Of course, I'm also a cheapie, and found a bunch of similar shades from Brucci for about $1 (including some cool jewel greens/blues).

Fall Nail Polish

So, nail polish is something I'm not very into. There are a few shades I've mentioned here before, including Essie's Alligator Purse, which is great for fall. But after some beauty magazine page-turning and Sania's review of nail shades that are tres Grey Chic, I was intrigued.

Being drugstore queen, I've find my own cheaper version that incorporates my latest current color mania - purple. Brucci Nail Hardener in Daniella's Curve, #413 (who knew Brucci was a South African company??) is a muted, deep lavender with no muddy taupe/brown undertones and a creme finish. I like to think of it as "Calvin Klein purple" - sophisticated and yet sharp.

There are definitely more colors like this out there, but usually harder to find unless you buy them at salons. I also found that this one had just a few more drops of purple in it than usual, which I prefer.

Perfect ease-into-fall shade, and totally work appropriate. It's also the cheaper alternative to Sephora by OPI's On Stage (grey plum) & Call Your Mother (lavender putty) shades.

~$2.00 @ Drugstores