NOTD: OPI Chile O Caliente

OPI Chile O Caliente

This shade was my years-long HG pedi color, and I still love it! It's definitely one I reach for over and over during the summer.

I am still testing out Nubar Diamont as my topcoat, and it is a new love. I understand the formula was changed, then changed back. Anyone know how I can be assured I will get the oldest formula if I order?

NOTD: L'oreal Femme Noir

L'oreal Femme Noir

This is one of the shades from the new limited edition L'Oreal Midnight Muse collection (Nouveau Cheap has pics of the full display). I recently purchased it at CVS.

This is gorgeous- hopefully you can see the deep wine shimmer- love it!

I also am trying out Nubar Diamont as my topcoat- I had a brand-new bottle that was about a year old, and I heard they recently switched their formula (and switched it back?), and I got curious since I had never tried it.

I painted my nails last night before bed, and did quite a bit of paper shuffling at work today, and I have the tiniest bit of tip wear on my middle finger- that's it!

NOTD: OPI's OPI On Collins Ave

OPI's OPI On Collins Ave

Anyone watch The Batchelorette during Jillian's season? Remember the creepy foot guy, Tanner P.? Well, no one other than me probably heard him mention nail polish, but he mentioned that his favorite color was Mango Mango, which was made by L'Oreal, but has been discontinued.

Interesting fact: Mango Mango replaced Geranium. Or at least Mango Mango came out right after Geranium was discontinued and was almost identical.

These two colors have long been my mom's HG, but as you know, nail polish colors come and go. So when I saw this color released, I knew my mom would love it.

And of course, I picked up one for myself too! It looks great with a tan and applied like a dream.

I tried Nubar Diamont for the first time with this mani and so far it seems to work well. I got absolutely no shrinkage and it seemed dry to the touch just as fast as my Seche manis usually do.

NOTD: Nubar Vital (Matte) w/ Seche Vite

Nubar Vital (Matte) w/ Seche Vite

Oh, this mani was a big FAIL. I may have a rogue bottle of Nubar- the brush is almost fan-shaped and I had the worst time getting a good paint job with it. Mattes can be hard anyway, since they dry so fast, but this was impossible. After two coats, it looked terrible.

I added a coat of Seche Vite to try to salvage it, and it did help a little, but I still didn't love it.

Anyone have better luck than me with the Nubar mattes?

GDA: Nubar

I've been holding off ordering the Nubar mattes for some reason, and now I know why!

Nubar blogged today about a great deal- for a limited time, you can try V for Men Quick Dry Matte Top Coat, which makes any nubar nail lacquer quickly dry to a matte finish, for only $1 with any retail order of just $30. (I imagine you can use it on my nail polish.)

Since the 4 pack of mattes was $24.95, I added a bottle of their Diamont top coat, which is $7.49 and I am hearing works much better with Zoya polishes than Seche Vite does. And I got the V for just $1!

Shipping was $7.95.

The New Trend: Matte Nail Polish

I am all over this matte nail polish trend and placed my Zoya order today- can't wait to try them out!

It looks like quite a few of the nail polish companies are coming out with matte polishes this summer. Here's a list I found and some links to some swatches.

Nubar Mattes - July 4
OPI Mattes - July
Orly Mattes - September
Zoya Mattes - July 1 (though will be shipped now if you order)
Essie Matte About You topcoat - August