China Glaze On Safari, Native Collection for Fall 2012: Man Hunt and Purr-fect Plum

There's no point denying the inevitable. The leaves are changing and the temperatures are dropping. While fall isn't official for a few more days, I've resigned myself to the fact that my neons and brights just aren't as appealing as they were in the hotter months. For the next little while, they'll be relegated to the back of the drawer (much like the flimsy tops and summer dresses) while the vampy, darker shades get their share of the limelight (along with the cardigans, sweater dresses and wool coats). Embracing change, here's a look at one of the first fall collections that trickled in as early as July (!).

When word of the China Glaze On Safari collection got out, I knew the blue one had to be mine. Promo photos portrayed it as a gorgeous medium blue creme that I've been looking for. Thankfully, I've got some of the most awesome nail polish buddies ever and with the help of Mary from Swatch and Learn, I managed to snag the Native 6-piece set for a steal (thanks again, Mary!). I also had my eye on what looked like a Chanel Paradoxal dupe (in hopes the formula would be better than the Revlon one) and the dusty teal one, so it made more sense to get the set. All the others made for a nice bonus. I've decided to bend the rules again, and do a review of two shades per post (just so we don't take forever to get through all six!), much like how I reviewed the Hunger Games-inspired Capitol Colors Collection from earlier this year. We'll jump start the series with a Monday blue and pretty plum:

On the deck today: Purr-fect Plum and Man Hunt.

Maybelline Color Show Denim Dash

After neglecting the drugstore nail polish options, I realized that had to be rectified immediately. So here's a look at another readily available drugstore nail polish that performs well enough to deserve a place in your collection.

When news came out earlier this year that drugstore giant Maybelline was coming out with a completely modernized nail polish line, it had the budget beauty enthusiasts buzzing with excitement. Another option for the low end of the price scale? Praise the nail polish gods! But I was a bit more reticent. I wanted to see just how good the line was before getting all excited. When it finally rolled out at my local Wal-Mart, I was blown away. They sure weren't kidding about that update! Gone were the old lady colors. This was a rainbow mix of various trendy finishes that not even a finicky nail polish collector can scoff at. But my conservative side prevailed and I ended up with only two colors in my shopping cart. Predictably, this was one of them:

How could I resist a shimmery blue??

Julep Anne

I love a good purple. It's almost as good as a great nude/neutral shade that I'd reach for if I wanted a "safe" pop of color without the eyebrow raising oomph of blue. I feel it's an acceptable deviation from the traditional pinks, reds and neutrals while maintaining the edginess of a non-traditional color. How I came up with this mentality can probably be traced back to my mom and her old school sensibilities. I've mentioned her overwhelming love for red, but she never did like my penchant for blue nail polish. "It looks like you've got frostbite" is what she usually says. Black nail polish merits the "Your nails look dead" comment. White brings about "Did you play with the correction fluid again?". Now, I don't take offense at all because she's always been frank about what she thinks and really, it's hard when you get such a laugh out of all that. So when she last came to visit, I cajoled her into getting out of her comfort zone. I wanted her to try this awesome navy I had just gotten, but she wouldn't budge. I gave her free rein to choose (although I hid all the neutrals, reds and pinks) and after much harrumphing, she ended up with a bottle of purple polish. (For the curious, it was Nubar Moonshadow aka Moon Eclipse.) So when I got the Julep Maven Valentine Mystery Box and saw this pretty purple, I knew it was the one that was getting first dibs on swatching:

I'm fairly certain my mom would approve.

Nail Art Wednesday: Cupid Nails

When I first saw this design from the truly amazing Melissa over at the Daily Nail making the rounds over the interwebs, I knew I had to recreate it. But as with most designs that I take inspiration from, I like to put my own spin on things to make them similar but distinctly different. I originally wanted to use the concept with a Christmas-themed nail art design but I never got around to doing it. So, I figured that Valentine's Day was just as good a holiday to take this design for a spin! With some help from Cupid Kitty, I ended up with something simple, cute and definitely Venus approved:

Who would've thought Cupid Kitty would be such a sharp shooter?

China Glaze For Audrey

Continuing in the vein of this month's Valentine-esque colors, we'll be deviating a bit from the traditional colors. Usually, Valentine's means pink, red and white, and by now I'd think you'd have been sick of pink. See, it dawned on us that the month of love doesn't necessarily just revolve around these three colors. There are a few out there that are also associated with the holiday, albeit not as obvious and used in your average Valentine's Day decor/display. One of the colors that jumped out was a pretty shade of blue that as a box any woman would absolutely love to receive as a present any day:

Maybe the boy will take a hint when he sees this pretty blue on your nails, hmm?

CND Tutu banishes Monday blues with childhood nostalgia.

I used to own a bunch of tutus. Not the Halloween costume kind, but honest to goodness ones, along with the tights, leotards and ballet whathaveyous. See, my mom had me take up ballet when I was 6 but it was such a demanding activity that my grades started to slip. I enjoyed it, yes. But it got so tiring that when my very concerned parents asked if I still wanted to do it, it was an easy choice.  This is how my weekday schedule looked like: 7:30am - 3:00pm school, 3:00pm - 5:00pm academic extra curricular activities, 5:00pm - 7:30pm, even 8:00pm sometimes, ballet class. Looking back, that does seem like a pretty tough schedule for a 6 year old to keep. So by the time I got home at about 8:00pm, I would be so tired that I'd end up skipping dinner and crawl into bed. Suffice to say that I got no homework done, either. I ended up quitting when I was 10 and one step away from toe shoes level. I would have wanted to keep doing it, if only to finally get toe shoes, but I just wasn't that good (unfortunately, I lacked the flexibility required so no Black Swan here :P) and it was interfering with my academics. Besides, I'd be so tired that the prospect of more sleep seemed a better choice. No regrets, but I would definitely want my future daughter(s) to try their hand at it. Now, continuing in the vein of Valentine-esque colors, I whipped out this soft, pale pink that reminded me so much of the color of my tights:

A soft pretty pink!

Nicole by OPI City-Pretty Rose ushers in the month of Love

How is it February already? Last week, I was just playing with my über adorable niece and now the house feels so strangely quiet with just us two (three, if you count Hammie) again. It's so eerie that I've even taken to leaving the TV on for ambient noise. (Is that weird?) Anyway, things are slowly going back to normal so expect the Indulge without the Splurge posts to be back up by next week. I'll also try to mix things up a bit in an effort to diversify with various beauty products that I've accumulated over the holidays and have been dying to write a review on. Now, while that will definitely be something to look forward to, rest assured that the nail polish posts will keep rolling out as usual. For the entire month of February, I thought it would be fun to feature Valentine-esque colors all month long: pinks, reds, metallics and maybe a Tiffany blue. To get the ball rolling, I busted out one of my absolute favorite pinks:

A happy, cheerful pink to get you out of your winter rut!

Nail Art Wednesday: Black and Pink Ombre Nails

When the Spring/Summer 2012 shows took over the runways last fall, a few of the nail art designs that graced the models caught my eye. Some were gorgeous, albeit unreproducible without using gel/acrylics, like the pretty lucite and lace manicure that CND came out with to complement Joy Cioci's show. Lucky for us DIY nail art mortals, there were a handful of designs that looked easy enough to try at home. I tried my hand (pun very much intended) on the nails featured on the Jen Kao runway:

(Image Credits)

Aren't they just gorgeous?

My (humble) attempt at high fashion nails.

Nina Ultra Pro Ink-ling hints at how well it goes with white (snow).

Isn't it funny how people have so much influence on each other without anyone actually realizing just how much exactly? Oh, don't worry, I won't delve into psychology and sociology, with all the intricacies of human interactions. I'll leave that to the experts. What I'm alluding to is far more simpler than that. See, a few posts back, Liz commented that Color Club Shabby Drab would make for such a pretty pairing with white cashmere sweaters (or white knitwear in general, I guess, but that's what she said so we'll stick to that). I hadn't even thought of it that way. Silly fashion retarded me. Of course it would look amazing with white! I, then, scrambled to search my stash for any other colors that might be deemed acceptable in that same category. I thought it would be timely as, if the weather men are to be believed, we were in for a bit of snow. This is what I found:

Pretty greblurple digits are part of what makes (a white) winter (wonderland) a good thing.

OPI Mermaid's Tears are of joy and not sorrow.

After a spell of sporting vampy, dark shades, I had a hankering for pretty spring heralding colors to brighten up the dreary gray Toronto mornings. If you ask me, I prefer the white of snow to the grey of impending rain. Never mind that I used to live in a tropical island where the chance of rain on any given day was never lower than 50%. That cold, white stuff that falls from the sky is infinitely more magical than sloshing about in the damp, and huge puddles. Inspired by the new spring releases and all the lovely pops of color, I brought out a spring 2011 shade that I hadn't gotten around to wearing yet:

I definitely have spring in the brain.

Color Club Shabby Drab reminds us why cremes will always stay in style.

I don't know about you but I'm in the mood for spring. If Old Man Winter isn't going to hike up his pants and reeeeaaaally give us more snow, it would might as well be spring. When I still lived in Calgary, we didn't have our shortage of snow (although winter does go on for pretty much 2/3 of the year so there's that). But here in Toronto, we've barely seen a measly few centimetres this year! And to add insult to injury, it's been raining! I haven't even had need to bust out any of my hardcore cold weather gear. It's a really sad winter this is turning out to be. (I might bite my tongue but we'll see.) So instead of focusing on what could have been, I'm looking forward to the bright colors of spring!

Not a spring release but definitely has a spring-y feel!

Soulstice Spa Manchester wants you to embrace gray, gloomy days.

One of the few things I'm not too happy about leaving Daylight Savings Time is the early sunsets that prolong the dark of night. After a short day of gloomy, grey weather (much like today's) cut short only by more darkness, not much light does the soul no good. It really is not much wonder that depression hits people the most during the winter months. But grey doesn't always have to be bad.

Grey came back with a splash this fall season. It was considered one of the trendier shades. Mind you, we're talking full on grey and none of that "greige" (a grey/beige hybrid) or "grerple" (purple leaning greys and yes, I made that up) or any other grey with a splash of ____ hybrid. I've long been on the hunt for a light grey that doesn't make me think wet cement and I think I've finally found it.

Don't you a-grey?

Color Club New Bohemian

When I was asked by the talented Marta from Chit Chat Nails if I wanted to do a triplet post with the wonderful Carolina from Colores de Carol, how could I say no? (Subliminal message: Those links are there for a reason. You know you want to click them...) I was so excited, I felt like the luckiest girl alive! Luckier still that the polish picked for today is extra special. It's so special that it definitely deserves three times the love.

Hammie says: A warm welcome to all the lovely ladies who are here through Marta from Chit Chat Nails and through Carolina from Colores de Carol! We are most honored by your presence and we hope you enjoy your visit with us!

Hammie dice: A cálida bienvenida a todas las bellas damas que están aquí por medio de Marta de Chit Chat Nails y por medio de Carolina de Colores de Carol! Estamos muy honrados con su presencia y esperamos que disfrute de su visita con nosotros!

Pretty, isn't it?

Fingerpaints Military Green

A lot of Fall's trends this year include predictions of colors that are going to be big during the season. Some said navy and electric blue will be big, along with honest to goodness greys. (I can totally get with that!) Others said gold greens reminiscent of the widely lusted after Chanel Peridot was going to make a splash while I've noticed dusty looking colors in almost every single Fall release. When I last surveyed my stash for on trend colors, I realized that I was seriously lacking in the green department. Shame! Of course, you know I had to remedy that!

FingerPaints' answer to Fall fashion.

Nail Art Wednesday: Special Birthday Nails Part 1, Pastel Skittle Nails

In our family, October is known as the birthday month with birthday dinners every week. It's always a lot of fun, family getting together and all that. Since each celebrant usually picks a different restaurant, it's also a great way to try some place new to add to the rotation. (Or they do a party at home!)This year, we're having one more birthday to celebrate: my niece, Alena, who's turning one on the 8th!

I did a skittles manicure in honor of the birthday girl in fun bright colors. I then stamped animals from the Konad S10 stamping plate in silver and added a holographic glitter layering polish as the final touch.

What I used:

Thumb: In the Mood Devious (cold color)

Index: Nicole by OPI City-Pretty Rose

Middle: Orly Snowcone

Ring: Revlon Garden (from the Spring 2011 mini set)

Pinky: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Lemon Dash

Silver stamping polish: Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro in Pure Silver

Glitter polish: Sally Hansen New Lengths Ceramics in Silver Slightblade

More photos after the jump!

NYC In A New York Minute in Spring Street

We, here at Polished Indulgence, believe that indulging and being polished and put together doesn't have to mean spending a lot of money. There are a lot of great alternatives to high end brands and their offerings. A high price tag doesn't necessarily mean a better quality product. Half the time, you're paying for the brand. Case in point: L'Oreal Group of Companies. Their consumer line includes Garnier, L'Oreal Paris and Maybelline New York. Each has their own niche and fairly affordable prices. Then you have their luxury brands among which include Lancome, Giorgio Armani and YSL Beaute. Ever heard of the L'Oreal Infallible Loose Eyeshadow being very similar to the Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill Silk Eyeshadow? Same parent company. Now, I'm not saying they're exactly the same, but I am stressing the fact that you CAN get a similar product without breaking the bank. Huge cosmetic companies usually structure themselves so that they can appeal to both low and high price point consumers to maximize profit. So, why pay them more when you can get something similar for less?

That's exactly what NYC In A New York Minute in Spring Street is all about. It's a great cheery red orange shade that dries fast and shiny even without top coat for only a couple of bucks. How can you go wrong with that?

Just what the nail doctor ordered for dreary Fall days.

Nail Art Wednesday: Gradation Nails

Hammie just challenged my creativity. He knows I shy away from crazy nail art on my own nails, although I do love seeing them on other people."What's stopping you?", he asked. Well, I wasn't so sure what. I used to go to these art classes in the summer when I was younger. Nothing fancy, but I prided myself in being artsy. I haven't done much of anything remotely 'artsy' in the recent years so I've decided to take Hammie on. Hence the birth of Nail Art Wednesdays. I don't promise it'll be amazing, but I will have fun, do my little bit of art and hope you like it. :)
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Ombre has been a huge trend in the past seasons from hair to nails. I was never sold on the hair though, because to me it looked too much like someone had forgotten to get their roots done in a while. Not my cup of tea at all!

But I've always wanted to try the Ombre nails, also called a gradation manicure, that Lauren Conrad sported a couple months ago in this photo from Gettysburg:

I so <3 the blue!

Here's my take:

I noticed my index and middle fingernails looked too close to each other,
so I painted over it with the thumb color in the next photos. XD

Read on to find out what I used and for more photos after the jump!