Lacquer Lundi

Hi folks! I'm back and feeling much better now. Thanks to everyone for the get well sentiments.

Now, on to the pretties:

Fingerpaints - Be a Pal-ette
- purchased at Sally Beauty Supply for $4.99 CDN

Be a Pal-ette looked so darned promising in the bottle. Dark purple - fabulous. Silver, red and blue microglitter - excellent. Sheer polish that required a bajillion coats - crud.

Now don't get me wrong, the consistency and application of Be a Pal-ette was wonderful, as with all the rest of my Fingerpaint polishes. It just the lack of pigmentation, resulting in a sheer polish that is the problem. You see the results of three coats in the photo. I could have used another coat to really get pure bottle colour, but I didn't have the patience for it.

The wear on Be a Pal-ette was decent - only tipwear after seven days, but no chipping.


New York Color in a Minute - Chelsea, Lincoln Center & Fifth Avenue
- all purchased at Rexall (chain drug store) for $1.39

Wow, it is so weird to type "color" & center", instead of "colour" and "centre." Being a Canadian, British spelling is so breed into me, that using the American spelling requires a force of will!

Anyhow, after wearing Be a Pal-ette (above) for a full week, I was jonesing for some different polishes. So, I went for a skittles manicure (a manicure that features multiple colours). On thumb and pinky - Chelsea, on index and ring - Licoln Center and on middle - Fifth Avenue. I really like how these colours work together - such a strong, autumn colour scheme.

All the polishes applied very well. I used three coats for each, although with more careful application, I think I could have gotten away with two coats of both Chelsea and Licoln Center.

After four days, I had tip wear on all nails, but no chipping. Once again, NYCIAM proves to be a great polish at an excellent price.


OPI - You Don't Know Jacques
- purchased at Trade Secrets for $ 9.95 CDN

I usually like OPI polishes. However, in my neck of the woods, they are expensive - from $10-$12 per bottle, so I don't own many. I can buy two or three bottles of China Glaze or Orly for the same cash outlay. But, I have always had a soft spot for greyed-out, muted colours and You Don't Know Jacques (part of OPI's Fall/Winter 2008 France Collection) is a perfect example of a polish that fits in this category. It's an excellent neutral colour without being boring. So, I had to own this polish, despite its price tag.

I had some minor problems with application. I found the consistency of You Don't Know Jacques to be odd - kind of thick and mucous-like (I know, yum). Despite this, I was still able to get complete opacity in two coats (although my coats were fairly thick due to the previously mentioned consistency issue). This polish wore well - just minor tip wear after 2 days.