A vegan nail polish blog. A celebration of colour and light, as well as of justice for nonhuman animals.

Posts tagged ‘taupe’

Zoya Rowan and Different Dimension Solar Flares

Zoya Rowan is a greyish taupe in Zoya’s satin matte finish. I used two coats without top coat here. 

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The formula was great, although the ridges in my nails tend to show through this finish!

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After the swatch I added a couple of accent nails in Different Dimension Solar Flares, a slightly browner taupe creme with colour-shifting magenta/pink to gold flakes. 

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I used three coats of Solar Flares, no top coat, for these photos. 

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I then added top coat to both polishes, using my new favourite top coat HK Girl by Glisten & Glow. Dries fast and works great over nail art, though it isn’t big-3 free for those who are concerned about that. 

zoya_rowan_differentdimension_solarflares_topcoat2

zoya_rowan_differentdimension_solarflares_topcoat

I also wanted to compare Rowan to Orly Faint of Heart. Here is the comparison – Zoya on my index finger, Orly on my middle finger. I used two coats plus top coat of Faint of Heart. 

zoya_rowan_orly_faintofheart_halogen

Faint of Heart is greyer, slightly darker, and when you look at it very close up, it has a ton of tiny specks of pigment in it, kind of like a much more subtle version of the Pretty and Polished Dusty Cremes finish. Again, left to right, Zoya Rowan and Orly Faint of Heart:

zoya_rowan_orly_faintofheart_flash

Reverse order, left to right, Orly Faint of Heart and Zoya Rowan:

zoya_rowan_orly_faintofheart_flash2

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Category:

Different Dimension, Orly, Zoya

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Black Dahlia Lacquer New Dawn and comparison

This pretty light rosy taupe nude shade is Black Dahlia Lacquer New Dawn. 

blackdahlialacquer_newdawn3 

It’s full of holo microglitter, turquoise glass fleck, and pink-purple-blue shifting microflakies. 

blackdahlialacquer_newdawn2 

I used two coats plus top coat. 

blackdahlialacquer_newdawn 

In the shade:

blackdahlialacquer_newdawn_shade 

I did a comparison with a couple of polishes that aren’t really that close, heheh. Index finger is Ruby White Tips Kim and ring finger is Maya Cosmetics Vintage. 

rubywhitetipskim_blackdahlianewdawn_mayavintage2 (Top to bottom: RWT Kim, BDL New Dawn, Maya Vintage, BDL New Dawn)

Kim is pinker and has very subtle scattered holo particles (not microglitter like New Dawn). Vintage is a much darker dusty rose-mauve and also has holo particles as opposed to microglitter. 

rubywhitetipskim_blackdahlianewdawn_mayavintage (Left to right: RWT Kim, BDL New Dawn, Maya Vintage, BDL New Dawn)

Edit: Laura of Ruby White Tips has commented below that she’s currently got a 20% off code good for all Ruby White Tips polishes, please scroll down to the comments for the code and link to her store if you’re interested in Kim or any of her other polishes. You can see some of her other shades that I’ve posted about before by checking out my brand Category “Ruby White Tips”. 🙂

Category:

Black Dahlia Lacquer, Maya Cosmetics, Ruby White Tips

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Echoes Polish Now You See Me and stamping

Echoes Polish is a Canadian indie that makes all vegan friendly polishes and is most well-known for their thermal polishes. Today I have Now You See Me to show you. When cold, it’s a dusty sage green colour, and it has beautiful green glass flecks throughout. Shown are three coats plus topcoat.

echoespolish_nowyouseeme

 

I had a couple of helpers while swatching 🙂 – Thor:

echoespolish_nowyouseeme_thor

 

and Seymour:echoespolish_nowyouseeme_seymour

When warm, Now You See Me changes to a taupe-beige colour, making the green glass flecks really stand out. The shade was inspired by camouflage print. Here it is in transition and fully warm:

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I decided to stamp it with a wavy stripe pattern from Hehe stamping plate Hehe-029, using China Glaze Con-fused (the green magnetic). Cold state, in the shade:

echoespolish_nowyouseeme_stamping_shade

With flash:

echoespolish_nowyouseeme_stamping

 

Mostly warm, with flash:

echoespolish_nowyouseeme_stamping2

 

 

Category:

China Glaze, Echoes Polish, Hehe stamping plates

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Il était un vernis Something to Remember

Something to Remember by Il était un vernis is a taupe-leaning purple scattered holo with pink shimmer that is hard to capture in photos. It does show in these photos, but it’s much more apparent and complex-looking in real life!

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I used two coats plus top coat. The formula was excellent, as with the other Il était un vernis shades I’ve tried so far.  

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Under Ott lite:

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Again under Ott lite, showing the shimmer on the side of the bottle:

iletaitunvernis_somethingtoremember_shade

And at an extreme angle back in the sunlight, the shimmer looks to have a bit of a duochrome aspect to it:

iletaitunvernis_somethingtoremember_angle

Category:

Il était un vernis

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Glitter Gal Suede and stamped accents

Today I’m wearing Glitter Gal Suede, a great creme-based taupe brown holo.

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Two easy coats plus top coat shown here, with flash.

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Under Ott Lite:

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This is actually the second day I’m wearing this mani, and I got a couple of chipped nails on my right hand while doing some chores last night, so I decided to repaint those nails with a matching creme polish, Finger Paints Haute Taupe (2 coats although it’s almost a one-coater), and added stamping using Color Club Sugar Rays and an image from Messy Mansion MM13. With flash:

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Sugar Rays is a pale silvery taupe shimmer with pink-gold duochrome that works quite well for stamping! Under Ott Lite:

gg_suede_fp_hautetaupe_cc_sugarrays_mm13_

Edited to add: I was thinking that Haute Taupe reminded me a lot of something else I wore recently, Milani Teddy-Bare, so I did this quick comparison. Milani Teddy-Bare is on my index, FingerPaints Haute Taupe on my middle finger (Glitter Gal Suede on my ring and pinky, of course). Both were two coats – when I wore the Milani as a mani, I needed three coats and found the formula thin, but it must have had something to do with the weather or something, because that wasn’t the case when I did the comparison! Anyway, as you can see they are similar but Haute Taupe is significantly warmer toned.

milani_teddybare_fingerpaints_hautetaupe

Category:

Color Club, FingerPaints, Glitter Gal, Messy Mansion (stamping), Milani

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Kunimitsu Nail Potions Classic Tabby layered over Milani Teddy-Bare

March Fo(u)rth and conquer! Today I’ve got another cat-themed Kunimitsu polish to show you – Classic Tabby!

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This is two coats of Classic Tabby, a clear-based glitter topper, over Milani Teddy-Bare. The cat stamp on my thumb is from plate HB49 and is done with Kleancolor Black.

kunimitsu_classictabby_catstamp

I used three coats of Teddy-Bare as the base, as I found the polish to be a bit thin and runny. Here it is on its own before the topper, but note that the first two photos are the most colour accurate – it’s definitely a taupe brown, not a chocolate brown as it appears in the rest of the photos. Sorry about that, the rest of them were taken in late-afternoon sunlight whereas the two above were taken the following day around midday.

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Kunimitsu Classic Tabby contains various sizes of metallic brown, metallic burgundy, and matte black hex glitter, as well as tiny matte black bars (“hairy” glitter, very appropriate for the cat theme haha).

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I didn’t have any trouble with placing the glitter, it spread quite nicely, even the tiny bars which I was worried might all line up in the same direction, but that didn’t seem to be the case!

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Now, he isn’t technically a “classic” tabby (just stripes instead of swirls/”bull’s eye” pattern, so he’s a “mackerel tabby”), but this polish and layering combo makes me think of my handsome Wilbur:

wilbur

❤

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We do have a true classic tabby in our clowder also – beautiful Seymour is a classic tabby but with white as well:

seymour

Look at his adorable toe pads! ❤

seymour2

Category:

HB stamping plates, Kleancolor, Kunimitsu Nail Potions, Milani

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Maya Cosmetics Turbo Classy

This lovely beige/taupe/nude polish is Turbo Classy by Maya Cosmetics! It’s a creme base with plenty of subtle shimmer in it. I used two coats plus top coat here; the formula was smooth and easy to apply.

Under halogen light:
Maya Cosmetics Turbo Classy

Overcast natural light:
Maya Cosmetics Turbo Classy

With flash:
Maya Cosmetics Turbo Classy

And again with halogen light:
Maya Cosmetics Turbo Classy

Category:

Maya Cosmetics

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Ruby White Tips Batworld Collection – Sweet Faced Cornelius and Mr. Kitty

I have the final two polishes that I own from the Ruby White Tips Batworld collection to show you today!

The polish Sweet Faced Cornelius is named after this sweet little guy:

Photo credit: Batworld.org

Photo credit: Batworld.org

Cornelius, the polish, is a sheer layering jelly polish full of iridescent green shimmer, flakes/tiny shards, and holo particles. The first two photos show four coats of polish over my bare (stained!) nails.

Ruby White Tips Sweet Faced Cornelius

Ruby White Tips Sweet Faced Cornelius

The rest of the photos show one coat of Cornelius over black.

Ruby White Tips Sweet Faced Cornelius over black

The polish was thick but not difficult to work with, even when I did the four coats on its own.

Ruby White Tips Sweet Faced Cornelius over black

It also dries almost totally smooth; no extra layers of topcoat needed here.

Ruby White Tips Sweet Faced Cornelius over black

I’m looking forward to trying this one over one of those deep green with golden flecks polishes, like China Glaze Cast a Spell; I think that will look awesome as well!

Ruby White Tips Sweet Faced Cornelius over black

The final polish I have to share is Mr. Kitty, named after this little bat who was in turn named after the feral cat who brought him to the sanctuary! Ms. Kitty is a feral cat the Batworld staff take care of, and apparently three times so far she has brought weak or injured bats to the sanctuary door, without harming them at all herself.

Photo credit: Batworld.org

Photo credit: Batworld.org

Mr. Kitty the bat next to the polish! You can see just how tiny he is, about the same size as the bottle of polish!

Photo credit: Batworld.org

Photo credit: Batworld.org

Mr. Kitty the polish is a sheer taupe based polish with pink duochrome shimmer and tiny flakes in it. It’s kind of a chameleon and looks different in different lighting! The pink/magenta shimmer sometimes leans lavender or purple, and other times shifts more to a golden/coppery, rusty brick tone.

Ott Lite photos:

Ruby White Tips Mr. Kitty

I used two thick coats over ridge filler, except on the ring finger where I used one coat over black (no ridge filler underneath, but I should have used some!).

Ruby White Tips Mr. Kitty

I found the formula to be thick (it was also very hot and humid that day, so that most certainly contributed!), but didn’t have any problems until I came to the layered accent nail. I had a little trouble applying one even layer over the black, but I added a few drops of polish thinner and then it was fine.

Ruby White Tips Mr. Kitty

I really like this one both on its own and over black!

Ruby White Tips Mr. Kitty

Sunlight photos, which tend to show off the purple/magenta aspects:

Ruby White Tips Mr. Kitty

Ruby White Tips Mr. Kitty

Oh yeah, the polish also comes with this cute little bat charm attached:

Ruby White Tips Mr. Kitty

Ruby White Tips Mr. Kitty

In partial shade:

Ruby White Tips Mr. Kitty

Category:

Ruby White Tips

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From the Vault

I still have some really old photos from when I started blogging, so I thought I would post them in a few installments!

This first one is a fall mani that I really loved! Thumb to pinkie: Finger Paints Sketchy Character, a mustard yellow frankenpolish, Kleancolor Fashionista, China Glaze Brownstone, Joe Fresh Pumpkin. The glitter gradient over everything was done with Nubar Lime Green Glitter and Orange Glitter.

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Next, Orly Wild Wisteria with China Glaze Brownstone accent:

wild_wisteria_brownstone

I’ll finish up this first vault post with swatches of the creme half of the Color Club Back to Boho collection, along with a couple of layering combos using them.

Shabby Drab:

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With Color Club Jingle Jangle overtop:

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Color Club Earthy Angel:

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Color Club New Bohemian:

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Color Club Nomadic in Nude:

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Color Club Rad Nomad:

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Color Club Red-ical Gypsy – gotta say, the stereotypical gypsy-themed polish names just make me think of cultural appropriation… This is a nice red though, and look! An appearance from my little Thor!

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With an accent of Cult Nails Hypnotize Me and Nubar V matte top coat:

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Category:

China Glaze, Color Club, Cult Nails, FingerPaints, Frankenpolish, Joe Fresh, Kleancolor, Nubar, Orly

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China Glaze Fast Track

China Glaze Fast Track is a taupey-beige nude with heavy golden shimmer flakes. It was released last spring in the Hunger Games collection.

China Glaze Fast Track

Shown are two thick coats. In the sun photos, there’s also a layer of topcoat. As evidenced by the sideways watermark, these pics were also taken using my phone, haha!

China Glaze Fast Track

I found the formula a little thick but didn’t have any problems with application.

China Glaze Fast Track

The sun photos didn’t quite catch all the tiny sparks of different colours, little flashes of orange and green, that are often reflected in the sparkle of this awesome polish!

Here it is in the shade:

China Glaze Fast Track

China Glaze Fast Track

As a bonus here is what I ended up doing to this mani after a couple of days, mainly because I didn’t want to take the time to remove Fast Track first, and then I just kept adding things, haha…

China Glaze Fast Track with

Over Fast Track is a coat of Orly Nite Owl, an opaque taupe with silver shimmer, then two layers of Glitter Gal Buckled Bronze, Nubar Petunia glitter on the tips, and Spoiled by Wet n Wild’s Trust Fund Baby over it all!

China Glaze Fast Track with

Category:

China Glaze, Glitter Gal, Nubar, Orly, Wet n Wild

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