Depend Fall 2010

Fall is definitely here in Sweden. Outside my bedroom window the maples are turning yellow, orange and red. Combined with the still green it makes for the most beautiful season I know. Unfortunately, the sun has fled into its usual fall absence. So when I shot my photos of the Depend fall collection this morning, the weather was gloomy, and left a greyish cast over the colors. But here they are anyway.

The purples.

The icky frosts.

The re-releases. 161 is your typical warm, deep coral pink neon, not orange like it seems in this photo.

And last but certainly not least: my favourites.

Let us look at them all together, sorted by number- which is the only labeling Depends have.

Many colors to choose from- a definite forte of Depend collections. There is usually something for everyone.

14. 161
15. 171
16. 202
17. 203
18. 204
1. 205
2. 206
3. 207
4. 208
5. 209
6. 210

All these are at three coats except the re-released 171, which is a solid one-coater. With some of these you may get away with two coats if your nails aren't too long, but personally I'm a sucker for depth in shimmers and tend to apply that third coat just because.

And now on to some closeups...

202. A vivid medium purple with fine silver shimmer that still isn't frosty.

204. Blackened midnight blue and one of my favourites. Hardly unique, but still oh so pretty.

And for your amusement or dismay, the icky frosts again: 206, 207 and 208. They all have that hopeless frosty, brush-strokey silver shimmer. 206 is a grey base, 207 is a minty green and 208 is a warm brown base, which really looks disgusting with the silver frost. Think of it as Misa Earthward's really uptight right-wing conservative granny. There's actually another shade with the same frost shimmer: the warm, rosy purple 203 (17 in the wheel photo). It's that granny's almost as conservative sister.

209. Red sheer jelly base filled with fleck shimmer in cooler colors, which makes this shade an overall red toned purple.

210. Hold on to your hats here: I think this may actually be a wearable yellow shimmer! My fellow Swedish colleague Anne from Nailtastic showed us this one the other day.

Overall I think this collection has a few nice ones, but others are so terrible I'm beginning to fear for the people by some sometimes referred to as color fairies. Are they sane? Why the hell would anyone want a sheer-ish light minty green frost?! In this collection we get no less than four lacquers of the particular finish we all love to hate so much. I don't know what's wrong with the trend interpretators, but they must be blind. Let's hope that 2011 will be a frost free year.

That being said, I really really like 209. It's actually a bit complex, which is a feature I think we're not exactly spoiled with when it comes to Swedish brands of nail color. The downside is that it's sheer, but it may be a great layering color. Have to try that some day.

Depend is a brand that usually follows the trends and interprets them, but sometimes they manage to put out something unique. Since I'm not a huge consumer of yellow polishes I can't tell for sure, but I feel that 210 may actually be a little different for a yellow shimmer, both in color and finish. The ways of 209 we may have seen before, but I do feel the color is unique. At least I don't have a polish like this one. 204, the blackened blue, isn't unique, but it's pretty. If I had, for example, Essie's Midnight Cami, I would be interested in comparing them. I'm sure I have something like it somewhere, but if you're in Scandinavia and don't then go pick it up! And speaking of Essie, I'm a huge fan of throwing in a neon or two in a fall collection. Damn right we need to brighten up our gloomy fall days.

Swedish word of the day:
höst -noun fall
It's here.

OPI Damone Roberts 1968

Thanks to my lovely fellow Wicked Vixen Ange, I, the Swede living far, far away from Los Angeles or New York, managed to get ahold of a bottle of the infamous special edition Damone Roberts 1968 by OPI.

I admit it. I had to ask my friends what sex Damone Roberts is, I couldn't really tell. I wonder if that is good or bad, or just tells the most about yours truly and her lack of intelligence? Maybe a little hesitation is just what Mr. Roberts is going for?

However, this is about Damone Roberts' special creation, the mint green that is supposed to send our minds back in time to the poppin' 60's. And you know what? I like it!



These photos have been slightly color corrected. Shown is three coats, and I did thick ones and unfortunately because of that gained a few bubbles, but apart from that, the formula is actually rather nice for being a pastel polish. I'm not used to working with them, so I am very grateful!

In another review, I read that this is the mint green for ladies with warm skintones, and I could not agree more! This is the one mint green I have tried so far that looks the best on me, and I am a neutral, warm leaning gal with yellow undertones. My photos came out cooler than the true color, hence the corrections. Also, this mint pastel is not too light, and I'm much in favour of that. I feel that it makes a strong impact even though it's a soft tone, which suits my personality (and skin) better than the really light ones we've seen a lot this spring.

I decided to rock the retro pastel style completely when I redid my mani and pedi last night, so I paired my Damone Roberts shade with the nice, slightly dusty turquoise classic For Audrey from China Glaze. They look kind of cute together... Small photo in case there are any feetophobics out there.


I am already picking up a tan... And trust me, Damone Roberts 1968 looks aweome with a tan!

Swedish word of the night:
sextioåtta -numeral sixty eight
Because Swedes still love putting words together, and our word for six is sex. ;)

A closer look: the greens stash I

Uh-oh. Now you get to see a shitload green bottles. In the first part, we'll take a look at the colors borderlining green.

All photos I'll be posting are available in somewhat bigger versions if you click them.

The teal greens. Nubar Conserve, China Glaze Watermelon Rind, and Nubar Earth. Notable is that I left out a couple that are really in the same color group, namely LA Girls Rock Star Head Banging, which is identical to Watermelon Rind, and also Color Club Rule Breaker. Why? I don't know. I am not really cool with these being labelled as greens, but the Nubars were both part of the Going Green collection, and Watermelon Rind is really close to them, so I thew them in.

The mint greens. OPI Pawlish in Bow Wow!, and H&M Dollar Green.

The impossible to photograph ones, saturated, borderlining neon. Color Club Wild Child, and China Glaze Four Leaf Clover. But you would think it's Flyin' High from this photo...

The rest? Stay tuned.

Swedish word of the day:
mättad -adjective saturated
Because.

Bella's Choice

Apparently, this is Bella's choice. Who the hell is Bella? Well, I certainly wouldn't know- I know nothing about fashion, or, at least not to the extent that I'm sure of it, or really care. My worst fear is that the name is alluding on Swedish fashion blogger Isabella Löwengrip, also known as Blondinbella, and that would be just disgusting, if you ask me, but hopefully, this is another Bella's choice.


One of my dear polishing sisters reminded me of this one the other day, it seems as those who have a hard time obtaining H&M polishes are rather keen on this one, so I thought maybe I should try it even though I'm not crazy about colors like these, and also, with the small means I have got, try a comparison to maybe be able to kill a lemming or two. You know, since I'm not in the grand states of the New World, I have a rather hard time obtaining many polishes myself, so if it's one feeling I know, it's the one of wanting something you can not get. If we are all lucky, you won't any longer be craving Bella after this. Which is even better if she's the blonde blogger. (Yes, I know it's apparent I don't like her very much.)

Bella's Choice was one of those polishes really difficult to get color accurate in photos. As usual, I tried a gazillion different camera settings to get it right, but those of you who ever tried photographing a saturated pastel knows... It is HARD. In the end, I found that direct daylight compromised the color accuracy a lot. So I went further into my bedroom, away from the window, which of course gave hell of a slow shutter speed. But I managed to get this one photo decent, and I have color corrected it a bit more in Photoshop. The color is close, but a tad darker, less glowing, in reality.

So, on to my tiny tiny bottle comparison. It consists of the only close matches I have got, and all I have gotten recently, because, frankly, I'm not really into this type of colors. The contestants are China Glaze For Audrey, Bella, and China Glaze Flyin' High from the current Up & Away collection.

Bella's Choice is slightly greener than both, more saturated than For Audrey. Maybe you, my dear readers, with the help of this comparison can come up with an even closer match? If you do, please help your polish loving sisters by leaving a comment!

I am also thinking, maybe you would be able to franken this. If you mix your For Audrey with just a couple drops of Flyin' High, and then even lesser drops of a saturated green..?

I have to say, even though this color isn't one of my regular ones, it really did cheer me up a lot when I put it on yesterday. Initially, I did a typical hit or miss glitter layering manicure, and yes, it was a miss, so I put on Bella's Choice instead. Now I feel much more inspired! I have been editing a bunch of photos, and I have a couple of more comparison themes planned up. I went through my stash late last night and found loads and loads of colors in the same range, that I thought I would show you later on.

Please let me know if you are interested in any particular comparisons! I really enjoy making them.

Swedish word of the day:
söndagsångest -noun sunday anxiety
Because it is common the day before a new week of work...