Exceedingly Polished: November 2011

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Why I'm super bummed about Yves Saint Laurnet's Duo Terriblement Noir Manicure Couture

A set of polishes I was really looking forward to purchasing were Yves Saint Laurnet's Duo Terriblement Noir Manicure Couture, because I love black polish and especially a good matte black polish. I should also point out that YSL's packaging is superb, so I was very excited to get these in the mail.

The polishes were modeled after the refinement of a tuxedo, and are meant to be used for a matte/glossy french manicure. In short, it's a glossy black polish and a matte black polish. An incredible and in-depth review of the product is available at Fashion Polish, which is an excellent nail polish and nail art blog. Fashion Polish really liked the black matte, I, however, hated it.

The matte was not matte, it was satin. So I decided to stamp a white french manicure onto it to achieve that french maid look. It didn't work out too well. But seriously, how tiny is that bottle? Sheeeeesh.

A few things:

- it should be noted that each polish is 0.2 fluid ounces. An average bottle of polish (OPI, China Glaze, etc) is 0.5. These are tiny. And at $30 a pop for the set, that's a pricey polish.

- The brush is angled, which can be intimidating if you're a creature of habit and are used to a round, even ended brush. I didn't like it.

- I'm a busy woman, so I don't have a lot of time to wait around for a polish to dry. My usual fast drying top coat couldn't be used on the matte polish because it's glossy. The matte polish took a long time to dry.

- Once dry, it seemed more satin than matte. That was a major bummer. I want to shine a high beam on it and not see any reflection. I did with YSL's matte black. Very disappointed.

These polishes were a let down. I will stick to using my favorite glossy black and Essie's Matte About You Matte Finisher if I want to achieve a nice matte black. Super bummed!

· Yves Saint Laurent Duo Terriblement Noir Swatches and Review [Fashion Polish]

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Laquers I'm feeling this week

In order: Revlon - Beach; Sephora by OPI - Under My Trench Coat; ORLY - Cosmic FX Space Cadet; China Glaze - Awaken; Nicole by OPI - Come In From the Coal'd; China Glaze - Trendsetter