Mrs Mia Wallace - LE "Pulp Fiction" polish from Urban Decay

"Trying to forget something as intriguing as this would be an exercise in futility."

Hello ladies! After a long hiatus I have a very special polish to share with you today - "Mrs Mia Wallace" by Urban Decay.  This Limited Edition polish was part of their collection celebrating the 20th anniversary of Tarantino's legendary "Pulp Fiction" (20 years! Bloody hell that makes me feel old!).  Not only was this an iconic movie, but it was a pivotal moment in the history of nail polish...the blackened vampy red (Chanel Rouge Noir, or Vamp as it was called at that time) worn by Uma Thurman's character Mrs Mia Wallace sparked a trend that continues to this day and earned Chanel over $1m in its first year of sale.  In 2000 it was still in the top 5 biggest selling nail polishes of all time. You can read more about the Chanel "Vamp" trilogy of polishes here and on Wikipedia. 



Mrs Mia Wallace - LE Urban Decay

It's been a long time since I was this excited by a single polish.  I first saw it on the lovely Ommorphia's blog and went straight to the shops the very next morning to grab a bottle.  I was lucky - I got the last bottle (and in the sale too! *swoon*).  Pictured here I'm wearing two coats with Essie 'Good to Go' on top.



Mrs Mia Wallace...and the sad sad stained cuticles (sorry)

I'm a big fan of the movie, and I'm old enough to remember when it came out (although I wasn't old enough to legally see it I hasten to add).  Back then I was unaware of the impact that this film had on the nail polish trends of the time, but now realise I inadvertently jumped on that bandwagon too...Reading about Rouge Noir brought back my memories of the very first nail polish that I can remember falling in love with.  It was a shade called "Cruella" (by the Body Shop?). It was a dark burgundy/oxblood crelly that looked to me like congealed blood on my fingernails.  I adored it, and spent a lot of my teenage years wearing that shade.  My mum hated it with a passion, so of course that made me love it all the more.  I now realise that it was a Rouge Noir knock-off.  Enough reminiscing...onto the polish of the day!

"Mrs Mia Wallace" (MMW) is an intriguing shade, and interestingly bears little resemblance to Rouge Noir.  It is a blood red shimmer with ultrafine gold and bronze particles that give it an stunningly intense fire and depth that you can see here.  The gold is quite apparent in the bottle, but not at all on the nail (and in this case I think that's a good thing).  The shimmer serves to give a warm tone to the cold leaning red, and gives it that 'lit from within' finish.  Interestingly, in indirect light/shade this polish looks more to me like an oxblood crelly, which is what Rouge Noir is, and then the light hits it and you get the amazing glow.  UD have packed a lot of complexity into this one little bottle.

I'm also completely in love the packaging too...the cap comes with the little Day of the Dead skull icon that Urban Decay have on all their polishes and the box is a delight - inside the box on a blood red background is printed an excerpt from Samuel L Jackson's famous speech from the movie...The whole thing just screams cool and has obviously been made with a lot of love.  Hats off to UD for a triumph of marketing!  I would have bought this shade just for the polish, but these extra touches make this feel really special.

The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides....

But...and there's always a but isn't there?  I must admit that I found the formula to be pretty crappy on this polish.  On some nails it flowed as smooth as butter, but on others I had a strange lumpy effect with the first coat that was tricky to even out.  There were also little bubbles at the 'set down' point near the cuticle that I couldn't get rid of.  But by far the biggest problem was how much of a stainer this is! My cuticles look like I've been doing some axe-murdering in-between coats.  Even with pure acetone and my nifty cleanup brush, and even going over them twice, I just couldn't remove all the staining.  In future I will have to me much more careful with the application to minimise the amount of cleanup needed, because even though it was a b*tch to apply this is a shade I can tell I'll be wearing often.

This is my first Urban Decay polish.  I know that this is meant to be a very trendy brand, but honestly this is what I think of when I hear the name...

I'm absolutely delighted with my bottle of MMW, but unless they make something equally awesome I don't think that I'll be rushing back for more UD shades.  MMW has been a trip down memory lane, has reminded me of my first love, and despite the tricky formula is a stonking hot red shade to boot...really what more can a girl ask for?  If you fancy a bottle of your very own you'd best act fast, this LE won't be around for much longer.

I picked up my bottle for £9 (RRP £10) from my local Debenhams UD beauty counter.

OPI Glitter Off...update

I have just discovered an even easier way to remove a mani that uses OPI Glitter OFF...it turns out that if you stay in the shower long enough for your fingers to wrinkle that your polish slides right off!

I was unhappy to discover this because I was washing my hair and not planning to remove my polish! I stayed in the shower just a little too long trying to warm up after a long run and my mani paid the price.  On the plus side, for all those ladies that struggled removing this stuff I recommend doing it after a shower :-)

Girly Bits "Neutron Dance"

Hello lovelies! Boy do I have a treat for you today....feast your eyes on the gorgeous "Neutron Dance" by Girly Bits, part of the 80s Girl Bands collection:

Girly Bits "Neutron Dance" - artificial light

There is just so much to love with this polish, it's difficult to know where to start.  Girly Bits are such a fun indie brand, and this latest collection contains some of the most inventive polishes and polish names I've come across in a while.  "Neutron Dance" is apparently a reference to a Pointer Sisters song, but as a physicist myself it appeals to my inner geek and reminds me of this fella...

This colour almost defies description, but I'll give it a shot...Neutron Dance is a pink neon crelly jam packed with hex and square glitters in pink and gold plus teeny flecks of holo glitter.  It is definitively Da Bomb

Girly Bits "Neutron Dance" - artificial light

It was impossible to photograph, so I have a ton of swatches for you to try to show you the range of colour to expect.  In some (artificial) lights its a scrummy milky pink that reminds me of that other eighties favourite - the pink blancmange:



Scrummy milky crelly jelly

Under most lighting conditions however this presents as an eye-watering hot pink neon...Wowza!

Girly Bits "Neutron Dance" - sunlight

This is such an eye-catching polish, it is impossible to ignore.  But for such an 'in your face' shade, it still comes across as pretty rather than obnoxious.  As a child of the eighties myself, this shade perfectly encapsulates my entire childhood wardrobe....8 year old me would have gone mental for this polish, so it's little surprise that (ahem) 34 year old me thinks it's awesome too.

When I grow up...all the polish will be mine!

This is only my second Girly Bits polish (see Shift Happens - dupe test (with Max Factor Fantasy Fire) and layering with OPI Germanicure) and I'm already a big fan of this brand.  Quality is excellent, and it has a decent brush. Application of this shade was a little tricky, due to the high concentration of big glitters but nothing too difficult.  It's quite a thin base, so here I'm wearing 3 coats but you could get full opacity in two coats if you spread it thickly (it'd be harder to distribute the glitters though).  I layered it atop my customary NE base and beneath a generous layer of HK Girl topcoat to leave a relatively smooth surface.

In case you hadn't guessed by now, I highly recommend this polish.  It is quite simply, 'happy in a bottle', and isn't that exactly why we nail nerds love polish in the first place?

I picked mine up from Rainbow Connection (link in the Suppliers page) for £9.60.

Sparkly Zoya's: Final Comparison

Hello Ladies! One final post of this sparkly Zoya blogathon...I just wanted to give some quick comparison bottleshots.  I was originally concerned that Peyton, Blaze and Aurora might be fairly similar before I bought them, but as you can see from the photo below they couldn't be more different.

From L-R : Zoya Peyton, Blaze and Aurora

You can also clearly see from this shot see that the holo glitter in Aurora is much more concentrated that in the other shades, and its utterly mesmerizing on the nail.  It ranks amongst my sparkliest polishes of all (second only to the Smitten Polish 'Magic Words' collection polishes...post to come on these).  So imagine my surprise to see this fantastic comparison post by More Nail Polish comparing OPI DS polishes, Zoya's, Ozotic's and Dance Legend, showing that the Dance Legend WOW Prism polish packs in more glitter than all of them....I strongly predict there will be some DL polishes entering the stash in the near future.

Jen at The PolishAholic (one of my absolute fave bloggers) did a wonderful comparison post of Holiday polishes from several major brands, including the Zoya Ornate collection.  Check it out at this link.

One of the comparisons made on the More Nail Polish post is between Zoya Blaze and Picture Polish Monroe.  On her post these look very similar.  I have both of these so took a quick couple of comparison shots and I think they are quite different.  I think Monroe was re-released with a new formula, and I wonder whether this is why mine is so dissimilar to Blaze....

Left - PP Monroe, Right - Zoya Blaze

As you can see here, in my bottles the PP is a darker shade of red, more of a burgundy, and the Zoya is more pink leaning towards raspberry.  Both are fabulous, and not dupes.  So yes, if you like sparkly red polishes I think it's justifiable to have both.  Then again I think it's justifiable to spend more on nail polish than food, so what do I know?

Finally, I was interested in finding comparisons to Dream with Picture Polish Cosmos (which I don't own, but was considering) and found this great post from the Polished Cricket. In her post she suggests that these are quite similar, but that Dream is better and from her pics I agree.  Definitely no need for both methinks.

Until next time :)

Sparkly Zoya's: "Dream"

Hello Ladies!  Today's post is the final instalment in the sparkly Zoya blogfest :) I give you, the lovely Dream...
 

Morpheus says....buy all the polish!

Ooops, wrong Dream...Zoya Dream is from the Holiday 2013 "Zenith" collection (see collection mate Peyton).  This is a bright blue jelly base, packed with the "micro-fine diamond holographic particles" that the Zenith and Ornate collections are famous for (Ornate posts: Aurora, Blaze and Storm) and it's stunning....

Zoya Dream - artificial light

This rich blue has a real pop on the nail, and like all the other sparkly Zoyas the formula, application and wear time were all top notch.  In these swatches I have the usual two coats betwixt NE and HK girl.  In most lights this polish looks like a lovely shade of deep royal blue (above), but in bright artificial light it has slight denim tones too (below)

Zoya Dream - artificial light

I don't really own many sparkly blue polishes, but I'd say this one is definitely more impressive than Picture Polish Hope but not as cool as Smitten Polish Klaatu Barada Nikto (but then, what IS as cool as the Smitten? Answer....nothing!)



Zoya Dream - sun light

Dream is certainly a dreamy shade.....just look at that pretty colour and all those lovely sparkly bits...

Zoya Dream - artificial light

I have really loved all of the sparkly Zoya's, each is special in its own right, and there is definitely no such thing as too many sparkly polishes in my opinion.  Yes I now have several polishes with the exact same finish, but its such a winner that I really don't mind.  This has also been my first real experience of Zoya polish, which until recently wasn't easily available in the UK.  Now you can find it on Sally Magpies and TNBL (links on the suppliers pages), and for very reasonable prices too.  I've picked all of these up for similar money to OPI polishes and these have definitely been of a comparable quality.  I like the cute shaped bottles too.  Now if only they would adopt the OPI pro-wide brush....

Zoya Dream - artificial light

I bought my bottle of Dream from the Nail and Beauty Link (TNBL, link in the supplier's page) for a bargain £6 :)

Last up we'll have one more Zoya related post, which will be a wee comparison and some links and then I'll move onto something new (quite possibly the astonishingly awesome Crowstoes "9 Realms" collection which I just got  a few shades from)...

Until next time ladies, happy painting!

Sparkly Zoya's: "Peyton"

Hello ladies!  We're nearing the end of the sparkly Zoya bonanza...this is the penultimate offering, and it's a doozy!  Today we have the lovely "Peyton" from the Holiday 2013 "Zenith" collection. 

Zoya "Peyton" - artificial light

Of all the holiday collection Zoya holos, Peyton is the one that I'd actually class as a 'holiday' shade.  It's a scrummy dark cranberry jelly, packed with the same 'micro-fine holographic diamond' particles that Zoya used in its hugely popular "Ornate" collection from the previous year (Ornate posts: Aurora, Blaze and Storm).  This shade is utterly fabulous on the nail, deep and complex it's not as flashy as some of the other holos, instead it has a rich depth of fire that's mesmerising and no less pretty.

Zoya "Peyton" - artificial light

As per usual, this is two coats of colour sandwiched between NE base and SV topcoat. Application, formula and wear-time all excellent and removal is easy peasy which is always a nice surprise from a glittery polish.  The finish on all these polishes is naturally nice and glossy, but I always add topcoat to extend weartime (especially since I sit typing on a computer all day long, my tips take a battering so I need all the help I can get!)

Zoya "Peyton" - artificial light

What I love about this shade is that its a real in-betweener....it's too pink to be a red, and too red to be a pink, it's just a perfect balance of the two.  After my final individual post (on Zoya Dream, also from the Zenith collection) I have one last post planned to show you a side-by -side of Peyton, Blaze and Aurora so you can see the comparison of the tonal range.

I bought from the Nail and Beauty Link (link in the supplier's page) for a Christmas miracle price of £6....Like the 'Ornate' collection shades, I think the 'Zeniths' will also stay on Zoya's catalogue for a long time to come.  They hit the jackpot with this jelly/holo particle formula combo...here's hoping the holiday 2014 collection will have more! (Zoya, if you are reading this...think PURPLE!) :)

Next up is the final sparkly Zoya in my stash....the mesmerizing 'Dream'....until then ladies :)

Sparkly Zoya's: "Storm"

Hello Ladies!  The sparkly-themed Zoya posts continue....this time with the final polish I own from the "Ornate" collection - the lovely "Storm"...Storm is a true black jelly with the same micro-fine diamond holographic particle finish found in collection mates Aurora and Blaze.  The depth of this polish is fabulous, it's a galaxy in a bottle. 


Zoya Storm - artificial light

I've been looking for a true black (not a crumby charcoal-y black) holo for a looooong time. There are many out there, but I want the one.  My mind was finally made up by this fantastic post from Jen at the PolishAholic...in it she compares Zoya 'Storm', A England 'Bridal Veil', Butter London 'The Black Knight' and Girly Bits 'Into the Night' (scroll to the bottom of her post to find the swatch).  For my money, "Storm" is the clear winner from this bunch....Also checkout this great comparison on Globe & Nail of Storm with "Starry Night" by Picture Polish.  It shows that while the particles are similar, Storm is a much truer black base.  That's right ladies, I've done the legwork so you don't have to...ain't I kind? Seriously though, I give big props to all those lovely blogger gals out there that have made my shopping easier (and my bank balance significantly less....).

Zoya Storm - artificial light

As with its collection-mates I have nothing but praise for the quality, wear-time and formula on this.  It's fantastic and I'm so pleased to finally be able to add it to my stash.  This is what I had hoped to find in OPI's "My Private Jet" (which was controversially reformulated, see this archive post from the PolishAddict) but sadly I got the crappy reformulated version, which just looks like speckly charcoal with virtually no holo at all.  The disappointment with 'MPJ' is what started my long-term lemming for the true black sparkle-fest polish that is finally satisfied by Storm :)

Zoya Storm - artificial light

In all these swatches I'm wearing my habitual two coats of colour with a single coat each of NE and HK girl topcoat.  I bought my bottle from the Nail and Beauty Link (link in the supplier's page) for a bargain £6.

Zoya Storm - artificial light

So what about you ladies? Have you got a polish lemming that you've been chasing down all these years?  For me there's nothing quite like that feeling of swiping on the first stripe and thinking 'Yes!! this is exactly what I was looking for!"

That rounds out my "Ornate" collection polishes...next up will be a couple from the more recent "Zenith" collection: Peyton and Dream...

Until then :)