Carry On: Essie Brand New Bag Collection for Fall 2011

As you may have seen (Brand New Bag: Essie Fall 2011 Collection), I snagged a couple of bottles from the Brand New Bag collection last week. I was convinced Carry On looked a lot like Zoya's Anja and resisted the urge to buy it.

As predicted, I bought it anyway.

The color is gorgeous. The formula covers in two coats, there's a nice shiny finish, it dries quickly, especially for a creme finish.

Now the question is: Are Anja and Carry On twins?

Carry On, Anja, Carry On, Anja

Carry On, Anja, Carry On, Anja (With Flash)

Answer: Yes, but they're fraternal, not identical twins.

Anja has a bit more red in it, which I think lends to a little glossier finish. You really don't see it until you're in bright light or with a flash. I could easily have left the nails painted with both colors and no one would have noticed. Do you NEED both of these in your collection? Not really. Does that stop me? Never.

While writing this post, I found a couple other siblings and maybe cousins in my collection. I'll post comparisons soon.

My Trip to the Drugstore(s)...

Hard as Hoof Nail Strengthening Cream, Nivea Sun-Kissed Radiant Skin Sunless Tanner/Lotion, Nicole by OPI in Iceberg Lotus, Let's Get Star-ted and Sea How Far You Can Go, Flower Headband from Target, Essie Carry On.

Guess who did some shopping today? Keep watching for more details on the products!

Pandora: Zoya Touch Collection

Zoya's Pandora

I've always liked the look of nude polish. There's a classic sort of elegance to the look, and obviously, it never really clashes with your ensemble. On top of that, it's much less noticeable when it chips compared to a bright red or dark purple.

Problem is, I always had a hard time finding a color that looked good on my skin. Most nude colors come off as either pink or too beige on me. Nice, but not quite the look I wanted.

Zoya has found a way to make a nude that looks nude on my pinkish skin, and I adore it. Pandora is from Zoya's Touch Collection. The Touch line is made up of three nude shades with slight differences to work with any skin tone. The polishes are a creamy polish with a slight shimmer. Minka and Shay are the other two shades. I liked that Pandora appeared to be a little pinker than the others. If I decide to order the other two, I'll post, but I had a hard time talking myself into three polishes so similar.

Applying Pandora was a breeze. The photo above shows two coats with a cop coat. The finish is fantastic and glossy, and the shimmer helps avoid the mannequin hand effect. If you struggle to find a nude shade you like, I highly recommend checking out the Touch collection.

Pet Peeve: Tacky Bra Straps

Carrie Bradshaw, look what you've done.

Six seasons and two blockbuster moves full of your fabulous fashion, and the one look every girl in the world has chosen to emulate is your signature exposed bra.

Ladies, here's what many of you seem to forget: Carrie Bradshaw is a fictional character and her signature look is created by a team of stylists who carefully craft every detail of the outfit. Every hair, eyeliner smudge and bra strap is carefully placed.

Us normal girls, we don't have that luxury. We pick out our own clothes and most of us don't have time to watch every tiny detail, and don't necessarily care to worry about it. And most of the time, that's fine.

I have zero issue with running around town in a tank top and jeans, or an off the shoulder top with capris. For my regular trip to Target, I generally don't get too concerned about the bra straps peeking from under a tank top. Even for a casual night out, I'll wear a cute top, and if my straps may show, I'll coordinate the bra to look like it belongs with the top.

There are a few rules for exposed straps:

• Make sure the straps are part of the outfit. Coordinate the color with your top or shoes or jewelry or something. You can layer several bright tanks to camouflage the fact that it's a bra strap showing, or make sure your straps are the same style as your top (spaghetti straps with a regular bra, a halter bra with a halter top, racerback with a racerback tank).
• If others can see your bra, make sure it's worth looking at. Quite possibly the grossest thing I've seen recently was an adorable white strapless babydoll-style top with--get this--a gross sports bra that was probably white at one point, but is now a gross shade of dishwater gray. The bra had frayed edges and a split in one seam, which I know because you could see it through the white top. Bottom line, there are a ton of pretty bras in this world, in all styles and colors. If you're giving away Victoria's little Secret, make it one of the good ones.
• Dress for the occasion. Carrie B. may have the ability to rock a sexy black brassiere with her slinky backless dress, but most of us can't pull it off without looking like a hussy. Even Carrie walked a fine lines, but she was on a show called Sex & the City.

•  If you're buying a strapless dress, get a strapless bra. Victoria's Secret, Frederick's of Hollywood, Lilly of France and tons of other companies make bras that are convertible for  use with more "complicated" tops. There is a bra for nearly every neckline AND backless dresses. Not only that, but companies are now making clips, extenders, fasteners and gadgets of all kinds to make your existing bra work with more interesting necklines. There is no reason to expose the bra unless you're doing it intentionally. 
• If you insist on adding a strap to a one-shoulder or strapless dress, there are companies like Exposed Envy and even Victoria's Secret who make pretty bra straps you can buy to coordinate with your fancy attire. Pretty rhinestone or flower straps are better than a solid satin strap, and can be treated as an accessory if worn properly.

Websites to check out for great bras & straps:
http://www.exposedenvy.com/
http://www.brastrapsworldwide.com/
http://www.victoriassecret.com
http://www.fredericks.com/
http://www.maidenform.com

**I am not being paid to endorse any of these products, nor have I been sent any products to review. These are just sites I have found to have products relevant to this blog post.

Going Downtown: China Glaze Metro Collection Continued

Uptown Collection: CG in the City, Urban Night, Traffic Jam, City Siren, Brownstone, Street Chic
Downtown Collection: Skyscraper, Concrete Catwalk, Westside Warrior, Trendsetter, Loft-y Ambitions, Midtown Magic

Yesterday's post covered the Uptown portion of the China Glaze Metro collection. Today, we'll look at the Downtown half of the collection. This one is a bit more interesting and unique than the first half.

This portion of the collection is also a bit more fall-like. The colors are more muted and a little more earthy. Formulas are just as fantastic as the Uptown half, brushes are fine. A couple of mine were slightly uneven (which partially explains my messy cuticles in a few of these pictures), which is odd for China Glaze. I'm hoping it was just a fluke.

Skyscraper

Look how shiny! From the pictures I'd seen on other blogs, I expected this one to be a little more of a royal blue. I was pleasantly surprised to find out the base was a bit darker than I thought, and the finished product turns out to be a lovely sapphire blue...which happens to be my favorite color (not counting black). The pictures don't do it justice, but this shot is three coats with a top coat, and it glitters in sunlight.

Concrete Catwalk

I LOVE this gray. It's your standard China Glaze awesome creme finish, and gray, which shouldn't be interesting. I like that Concrete Catwalk is darker than most of the grays I've seen recently, and the fact that it's exactly the color of wet cement makes it a bit edgier than the rest. You could have some fun with adding a glitter if the creme isn't your thing.

Westside Warrior

I like Westside Warrior more than I thought I would. It's not the most flattering of the greens this season on my skin, but I can pull it off, especially with the right outfit. If you have a warmer skin tone, this one is for you. This picture is pretty accurate as far as the color is concerned, and it's got a great glossy finish.

Trendsetter

Trendsetter is a great polish that's about the color of Dijon mustard with little flecks of gold shimmer. It goes on like a creme, finishes like a creme, but there's this great shimmer showing through. This color looks terrible on me, but if you've got a warmer tone, you really should get this polish. I'm a little disappointed they didn't use this effect with the berry or red finishes so I could enjoy it a little more.

Loft-y Ambitions, Sunlight

Loft-y Ambitions, Indoor - Natural Light

Loft-y Ambitions really surprised me. The promo pictures made me see brick red. The bottle looks like there's a bit of a shimmer. When you put on the first coat, it's a little streaky and this cranberry red comes out of nowhere. The second coat gives you a nice, opaque finish, and the color all depends on the lighting.

Midtown Magic, Sunlight

Midtown Magic, With Flash

Midtown Magic, Indoor - Direct Sunlight

Wow. That's all that comes to mind with Midtown Magic. This is another one that looks so much duller in the pictures and even in the bottle. The base is a chocolate brown with little bits of red, orange, gold and even green shimmer disguised inside. This polish glows. Literally glows in any form of direct light. Gorgeous.

All in all, really happy with Downtown, and the whole Metro collection. I am already envisioning some great looks with existing polishes from my collection...

Uptown Girl: China Glaze Metro Collection Part 1

From Left to Right: CG in the City, Urban Night, Traffic Jam,
City Siren, Brownstone, Street Chic

As any of you Twitterers may have seen, I got the China Glaze Metro collection the other day(!!). This is a fall collection unlike the other fall collections we're seeing this year. Bright, vibrant colors that transition perfectly from hot, summery pink & purples to warm-toned green and brown...and they even added some glitter for the evening looks. If you didn't own a single bottle of polish, this would be a great starter kit. I was pleasantly surprised with this whole collection.

Today, we're starting with the Uptown portion of the Metro collection. If there was anything in this collection to be disappointed in, it would be the lack of originality. None of the colors are what I would consider new and fresh. That said, I am from the school of thinking that believes no one can have too much pink, so...I feel like these are necessary.

CG in the City

The moment I heard the name, I thought of the Sex and the City logo from the first movie. It's pretty safe to assume this one was designed with layering in mind, but I actually kind of like it on its own. The picture shows three coats and a top coat. It was really hard to capture the sparkle, but there are flecks of black, silver and a pale pink in a light gray, almost clear base.

Urban Night

Urban Night is a great purple/plum color that I think lends well to transitioning from summer to fall. Where I come from, it's not uncommon to run the heater in the morning, AC in the afternoon, and the heater again at night. This one could easily be paired with a dress or sweater.

Traffic Jam

My camera refuses to capture red and berry shades properly. This is as close as I got. Traffic Jam is an awesome hot pink/berry color. I'm not super thrilled about it, mostly because it's almost exactly like Designer Satin, which I already own. I'll do a comparison soon, so you can see what I mean.

City siren

The lighting in this one came out weird, but it actually came close to capturing the color, so I'm going with it. Another color that's awesome, but not incredibly original. I don't have another red exactly like this, but if your collection is larger than mine, you probably do. Great formula, though, and very shiny.

Brownstone

Brownstone is a burnt orange/brick/terra cotta color with a creme finish. Not a color I'd pick for my skin tone, but on the right person it has the potential to look fab. I can actually see this looking great on the right red head. That's right, gingers, we've got a color for you.

Street Chic

I had my doubts about this one when I looked at the promo pictures. Not that I thought the color looked bad, more that it may look bad on me. Turns out, this one is surprisingly neutral. I think I have a taupe shade from Orly that may be a close match. I'll have to do a comparison.

CG in the City layered over Urban Nights

If you consider just the Uptown half of the Metro collection, it comes off a little drab. Throw in a coral and a baby pink, and you have a basic starter nail polish kit. I decided to experiment a bit while I had Urban Nights on, though, and I found if you want to add a little spice to these cremes, add a layer of CG in the City and a couple coats of a glossy top coat, and you have yourself a bit of sparkle.

Overall, I was slightly underwhelmed with the colors in this half of the collection, but I love it, nonetheless.

Up in Smoke: Zoya Smoke Collection

Left to Right: Codie, Dree, Cynthia, Petra, Anja, Jana

As you saw previously, I just got my hands on Zoya's Smoke collection, and it is PRETTY. I am loving the muted colors for fall, instead of the true earth tones we've seen some years. I can actually wear every shade, including the green.

The formula is basically the same on all the polishes: creme finish, two coats, dries quickly, great shine. Standard Zoya, but worth mentioning if you've never heard it before.

Before I show you the individual photos, please ignore any brush strokes or streaks or messy cuticles. I spent a good portion of a day photographing polishes, and since these are mostly on the dark side, I saved them for last. I was getting a little sloppy. Now, without further adieu...

Jana

Petra

Codie

Anja

Cynthia

Dree

A really beautiful collection, and I promise I'll add pictures as I wear them for real and apply things properly. These pictures are all two coats and a top coat. Now, I just have to get my Mirrors collection ordered. Hurry up, payday.