OPI Lincoln Park After Dark Suede

You may have read about the exciting news that OPI is coming up with a suede version of last fall’s  Here Today Aragon Tomorrow.  Check out the preview here.

For those of you who have been living under a rock and have not heard about the Suedes, these are actually, in “lay man’s terms”, a spin on the matte nail trend.  Check out Lincoln Park After Dark Suede on me:

OPI Lincoln Park After Dark Suede

FYI – the difference between the Suedes and Mattes, as far as OPI is concerned, is that their mattes tend to be flat while the suedes have this rich, lush feel to them.

Devoid of shine – that’s what the Suedes are all about.   Here is what OPI had to say on the tag that came with the bottle:

Suede by OPI does not wear as long as original OPI Nail Lacquer.

Do note use top coat, drying products, or hand lotion when wearing Suede.

Do an all Suede nail.  Or do a Suede nail with a matching Gloss tip.

I say DON’T BELIEVE THEM!  Haha.  Well, for one, let me give you and idea of how the Suedes, this color in particular, look like with top coat on:

OPI Lincoln Park After Dark Suede (w/ top coat)

Look at how it glows!  I love love love love the Suedes because of how interesting they look especially with top coat.  You can wear them whatever way you want regardless of what the manufacturers recommend!  I got all six of the shades in the collection, plan to buy the newest release, and wish OPI would do more!

On to my thoughts about this specific color, as usual:

OPI Lincoln Park After Dark Suede

Formula: Ok this is where I have to be honest – I did not enjoy working with the Suedes at all.  Maybe it’s just because mattes apply a lot differently in general, but I found it difficult to control the flow on the nail because of the “rich” texture of the lacquer.  I had trouble not picking up globs from the bottle.  Nothing that I wasn’t able to get used to after a while, true, but it has to be said that the combination of this lacquer’s texture and the wide brush really made it tricky to work with.  You can actually see my formula flaws especially in the first photo above (without top coat).

Application tips:

• Make sure you have enough polish on the brush.  It’s easy to even it out.
• Work fast.  These dry almost instantly (though not as fast as the other mattes out there) so make sure you have enough polish on the brush to even your application out.
• You can use base coat with these but make sure that you let your base dry completely prior to applying the color.  Otherwise you will have bald patches on the nail.

I have to say though that the drying time actually works to my advantage, especially when I need a quick color change on certain days.  I just have to practice more on applying these.

Rating:

Opacity: Opaque due to the texture.  Best with 2 coats to even out application – any more than this may result to an uneven finish.

Rating:

Removal: I have to warn you that the Suedes take a bit of effort to remove.  Not as bad as glitters, but not as easy as regular creme polish.  You would have to allow the cotton soaked in remover to stay on your nail for some time for the polish to come off without too much rubbing.  Good thing about these though is that they don’t leave nasty residue

Rating:

Color: I said this before and I’ll say it again – OPI Suedes are love.  I’m seriously considering buying back up bottles of mine.  They look interesting, are very versatile (could wear it several ways – shiny or leave as is), and come in pretty colors.  The suede version of Lincoln Park After Dark in particular is such a nice purple.  It’s a matte that’s not flat nor is it boring to look at.   It’s attention-grabbing without being over the top.

Rating:

With six Suede colors to choose from, pick a fave hue and buy one to try out!  I think these were limited edition so buy them if you still can.

BB Couture for Nails Paradise

Ok enough about the hideous pinkie from outer space and on to more nail polish.  BB Couture for Nails is one of my favorite brands – definitely in my Top 5.  They churn out so many pretty, unique colors – something that no other brand (yes, not even OPI) can do since bigger brands tend to stick to a lot of the safe colors.

Recently, BB Couture launched a collection to benefit the earthquake victims of Haiti.  I posted about the limited edition Hands of Hope Collection here.  I got 5 out of the 6 shades in the collection (kicking myself for leaving out the pink!) and I have for you today the grayish beige (or beigish gray) creme, Paradise

BB Couture for Nails Paradise

These types of colors are what I would consider nudes/neutrals with a twist.  They look great with everything.  And they’re not a nude/sheer! For those who work in conservative offices, I don’t think your boss will issue you a memo for wearing this sort of shade.

Oh here’s another weird finger form swatch.  Apparently my weird pinkie finger is less pronounced here.

BB Couture for Nails Paradise

For the review:

Formula: I’m sure you see the patches/uneven spots on my nails.  First coat is a bit streaky but the 2nd coat fixes the deal.  Was in a hurry to wear this so didn’t bother with a third coat, but I think that would have evened everything out.

Rating:

Opacity: You can get away with two if your application is better than mine.

Rating:

Removal: No problem!

Rating:

Color: Love these kinds of colors.  I’m drawn to gray and beige cremes – from the lightest to the darkest kind.  This is no exception.  My hands look clean and well-groomed and I could wear anything with this color on my nails.

Rating:

Sadly, this collection is discontinued.  However, you can check out a lot of other nail polish colors from this brand via one of my favorite etailers, Overall Beauty.  Kim, the owner, is an absolute doll – her customer service is unmatched!  And yes, she ships to anywhere in the globe!

Shades by Barielle Sweet Addiction

Barielle Sweet Addiction

Ok, so my attempt at posting the Elianto series was a FAIL.  Sorry, I have to continue that sometime soon.  I just realized that I have to retake a lot of my pics, so let’s postpone the Elianto Sparkling Diva feature for now.

Instead I am going to review a recent mani color I wore, Barielle Sweet Addiction.  For those of you not familiar with Barielle, they are actually better known as a nail/foot care brand and have a small solid collection of nail polish colors that they call Shades by Barielle.  There have been some fabulous offerings from this line, including the team up with one of the premier nail bloggers, All Lacquered Up (aka ALU), and my other favorite collection, Sugar Rush from Summer 2009 of which the featured color here on BB&B today is part of.  Speaking of ALU, here is her review and swatches of the said collection, one of my favorite summer collections ever.

On to my thoughts:

Formula: I normally love polishes that are very pigmented, but I must say that the Barielle formula takes a while to get used to.  It’s a bit thick and gloopy to control, so you can definitely see the thicker parts in the picture above.  Manageable (I am guessing a few drops of thinner might do the trick for me), so 2 bottle rating for me in this category.

Rating:

Opacity: Perfect due to the thickness.  Can actually get away with one coat.

Rating:

Removal: A bit of green residue when not careful, but not a big deal.

Rating:

Color: I actually love this kind of shade so no less than 3 bottle rating for me here.  Everything in the Sugar Rush collection is right up my alley, especially the cremes – which are very dear to my heart.  I am not going to go as far as saying that this shade is unique because it does remind me of quite a few shades from other brands like Essie Greenport, Misa Dirty Sexy Money, and Sephora by OPI Ocean Love Potion.  But I have yet to check them out side by side to see the differences.  Will definitely revisit this theory of mine.

Rating:

Barielle nail colors are definitely worth checking out, if you haven’t yet.  Too bad for Manila-based gals, Rustan’s only carries the hand/foot care line (which coincidentally I got on sale a few years ago so not sure if they were phasing out).  For US and UK based polish lovers, you can order direct from the Barielle website.  They have frequent sales and promos, plus their usual Buy 2 Get 1 Free on nail colors promo, so they turn out to be a pretty sweet deal!

Thanks for visiting BB&B!