Spring 2013 Trend : The White Polish

Several magazines reported the white polish trend earlier this year and I must say, I liked what I saw. It looked fresh and clean but with an edge and I just had to dabble my hands in it! And so happens that I somehow end up with two practically identical white polishes and one lovely white 'glitter' this month. Here they are:

Left to right: OPI Alpine Snow, OPI Lights of Emerald City (From their Oz: The Great and Powerful line), and Ciate Snow Virgin 010.

OPI Lights of Emerald City just looks so good in the bottle, it's so dreamy because of the square white (glitter?) flakes suspended in the clear liquid with smaller square (again, glitter?) flakes that glow like oil slick when the light hits them. It evokes an image of an afternoon in a snow-covered village where it's still fairly bright outside but all the lights are on.

Here's a macro shot of OPI LoEC with flash:

OPI LoEC is best for layering. It is a pain in the ass to work with, though, as it's very goopy and the white square flakes are hard to pick up. I had to use different technique to apply it: I'd put a blob on my nails and maneuver the flakes around to get an aesthetically pleasant random look.

I layered this polish over Jessica's Cloud Mine in the picture. Here's how Cloud Mine looks on its own (1 coat):

And here's one coat of OPI Lights of Emerald City over Cloud Mine:

Tedious application aside, I do love the result! Sometimes your first instinct is to get as much white square flakes as you can on your nails but it actually looks better applied sparsely.

On to the white polishes:

I love the white polish trend! It just looks so...clean, like a good start, as Spring should be! They are really identical in terms of look but I must say I like OPI better. The formula as well as the brush are better than Ciate, it spreads more easily and if you've gotten the hang of it, you can get a smooth and opaque finish in a single coat (I have 2 coats on in the picture, though).

Ciate on the other hand, is a disappointment. The formula is less thick but what makes it worse is the brush. It looks like it can't decide whether it wants to be the round or the panoramic type and ends up somewhere in between, resulting in uneven and clumsy application. It took 3 coats to get it even and opaque in the picture. Oh, and you know the little black bow that looks so cute especially in the ad? I hate it. It looks cheap and poorly made in real life, and what's worse is, it is attached to the cap instead of the bottle so it becomes a nuisance when you're applying the polish as you have to be careful not to let the ribbon touch your wet nails.

I'm gonna end this post by showcasing all the polishes used in this post:

I Heart Taupe: Chanel Safari's Dupe

I love taupe eye shadows, it's versatile and neutral enough for work and casual wear yet still has the twist to keep it interesting. I have two eye shadows that I use in heavy rotation for daily look and one of them is Safari by Chanel. It's a beautiful taupe color with slight shimmer, enough to add depth to the eye lid yet still subtle.

Recently I bought an eye shadow from Bobbi Brown called Heather Mauve (what a pretty name btw!) and when I compared it to Safari they were THIS close to being identical twins. I'd say they're like 98% similar. Take a look at the photos below:

If BB Heather Mauve looks a bit darker than Chanel Safari, it's because I was a bit heavy-handed when swatching it. It is really almost the perfect dupe, honestly you wouldn't be able to tell in real life. Here's the macro shot:

Here's how they look in the pan:

It looks more different in the pan than when swatched. I just don't understand the name 'Heather Mauve' when I really don't see the mauve in the color. Now, I can no longer find the Heather Mauve color on Bobbi Brown's website but they do have a shade called 'Heather', not sure if it's the same one only with different name.

Here are some looks I did with both eye shadows, I use the following for each look:

Look #1 (Bobbi Brown Heather Mauve)
- Base: Urban Decay Primer Potion (Original)
- Base color: Dior 1-couleur eye shadow in 516 Nude Luminescence
- Lid + Crease: Bobbi Brown Heather Mauve
- Outer corner: Chanel 75 Magic Night
- Eye liner: Burberry Eye Definer in Midnight Plum No. 05

Look #2 (Chanel Safari)
- Base: Urban Decay Primer Potion (Original)
- Base color: Dior 1-couleur eye shadow in 516 Nude Luminescence
- Lid + Crease: Chanel 45 Safari
- Outer corner: Chanel 75 Magic Night
- Eye liner: Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Electric

All looks feature Diorshow New Look mascara in 090 Black.

Bobbi Brown's eye shadows cost SGD34 while I don't have the latest Chanel's price at hand but I'm sure it's somewhere around SGD44.

Until next time!