My Pretty Priti - #209 Alister Stella Gray Rose

Today's NOTD is exceptional in that, after five minutes I didn't want to take it off.

Priti - #209 Alister Stella Gray Rose

Alister Stella Gray Rose is a nail polish created by Priti NYC An absolutely gorgeous shade, it's one of the first four Priti polishes I ever purchased.  It was also the one I was drooling over the most, partly because it was especially designed for Stella McCarthy's F/W 2011 Paris Fashion Week showing.   It is a soft, work-friendly coral pink that leans more pink on my skintone -- wow, am I that yellow? (J/k)

Anyways, Priti also collaborated with McCarthy to create a shade for Spring/Summer 2012 Paris Fashion Week:

#137  Sweet Pea

And here's her Spring/Summer 2012 Paris Fashion Week show:

I'm not a huge fan of sheers so I'm not sure how sold I am on it yet but I'm definitely a fan of Priti after trying Alister Stella Gray Rose.  Formula was not too thick to be difficult to work with and I reached an acceptable opacity after 3 coats.

The only downside to this polish is that it is on the pricier side, $12.50 USD per bottle but it makes up in a decent formula and gorgeous color payoff.  But for me, this is a polish I would definitely want a backup bottle of.  Not to mention the color online actually matched what I received.  Shipping was fast -- I placed my order on Tuesday and had them on Friday -- and they do have a "clearance" section where bottles are half off.  The color line itself is pretty work-appropriate and I don't regret choosing to buy Priti over Rescue Beauty Lounge this time around.

In addition to this shade, I also ordered #511 - Dusty Miller, #559 - Coffee Bush, and # #593 - Lamb's Ear, with the latter two being part of their new 2012 Pre-Spring collection.  I'll have photos up on the other three as soon as I can bring myself to take off Alister Stella...hopefully sooner, but probably later.

XOXO

A Candy That Won't Give You Cavities...

...except maybe in your pocketbook!

I went to one of the local beauty supply stores near my mom's house a few weeks ago and finally took serious notice of their Orly display.  It's not terribly unique; a lot of the colors are very Mom and Auntie colors -- light pink, nude/creams, bright reds, and pastels -- so I wasn't really that interested but I had been walking around aimlessly looking for China Glaze Trendsetter but they were sold out.  Not wanting to leave the store empty-handed, I searched around and found Rock Candy, an Orly color that was on my short list.  It was about $3 cheaper than the Orlys at Ulta so I snapped it up and took it home. 

It sort of reminds me of the reformulated Sally Hansen polish, Hidden Treasure.  You can see it on ThePolishAholic's website here.  I don't own it so I can't really make comparisons over whether or not they are dupes but considering the Orly polish was waaaayyy cheaper, I won't lose sleep at night not owning it since they seem to share some attributes. 

Originally I layered it over Orly Ancient Jade.  The pictures didn't come out that great so I'm not going to put them up. :P

Today, I put it over Orly Pure Porcelain (sense a pattern with the Orlys?  Yes, they are my new favorite polish in the whole wide world!) -- every single time I try to remember Pure Porcelain, I always think of a local "gentleman's club" called Pure Platinum -- and I think it turned out rather nice.

Here is Pure Porcelain (3 coats) in the buff:

I got this on "clearance" from Ulta for $5.49.  I guess I should count myself lucky for having options in terms of where I can buy Orly because Ulta would NOT be my first choice unless the price was right.  =/

Here is Pure Porcelain with 1 coat of Rock Candy on top:

Because the lighting is so crappy in the new apartment, it's hard to capture the iridescent quality of RC but it really helps lighter shades along, I think.

I haven't tried wearing Rock Candy on it's own because I hate sheer polish but it makes a great layering polish.  I'm still obsessed with creating a "mermaid"-inspired mani so maybe I can include RC in the mix.  In the meantime, this is definitely a polish I would buy a backup of and its definitely one I want to shout about on the mountain top.  The formula is wonderful to work with and using it just to layer means I'll be able to use it for quite a while.  :)