Ruby Kisses #RNP 50

There are two things that don’t do this polish justice. First, that I don’t know its name. The only identifying label I could find on it was #RNP 50, and Google yielded nothing. Second, I was unable to capture the pretty goldy-green shimmer in it, so the pictures make it look a bit flat.

I received this as an extra in a care package from a very kind girl on Makeup Alley. It’s definitely an old polish, with that good ole ‘90’s formula and a stench of death. But’s it’s so lovely and flattering.

As best as I can make out, it walks the line between a pearly off-white and a pearly pale grey. In certain lights it can look more like one or the other, and all the while boasts gorgeous gold/green shimmer. It’s a very unobtrusive nail polish, probably boring by today’s standards, but I can’t get enough of it.

It does, however, come with its own set of problems. In addition to the overly-chemical smell (yeah, yeah I know, it’s nail polish), it takes FOREVER to dry. That’s to be expected with these old nail polishes. The trade off for that smooth creamy formula is an incredibly long dry time. I polished last night, took the pictures around two in the afternoon next day, and if I’m careless, the polish will dent. And I don’t have any high-speed top coat to help it dry. Ah well.

Now I’m off to turn the house upside down for my SPF 10000000000. It’s so hot and bright and horrible today.

HARE Polish Dauphine of Decadence & Sephora by O.P.I. Cartwheels on the Catwalk

I believe my gradient skills are becoming a little better. I tried a method I found here thanks to Imperfectly Painted and I found it a lot easier than sponging the glitter. I doubt I’ll ever get it right, but it’s good enough for me.

I haven’t got good undies for the rest of the HARE jellies yet, so I thought I’d start making a dent in the glitters. Here’s the description for Dauphine of Decadence:

“Dauphine of Decadence is a mixture of gold glitter in several sizes of hex and square glitter, with a sprinkling of pale mint green hexes as a subtle accent. This shade also features striking gold shimmer! This is in a CLEAR base.”

It goes without saying that I love this. Gold and I have been lifelong friends, and I can confidently say that the shimmer in Dauphine of Decadence has outstripped the 24k gold dust shimmer in Deborah Lippmann’s Boom Boom Pow. Hands down. In my head,anyway. There’s more depth in this glitter, and the pretty mint sequins take it way over the top (which is a good thing if you’re inspired by the French Court in the late 18th century).

Anyway, I chose Cartwheels on the Catwalk, my favorite blue, to layer under the glitter. I love the effect…pretty faded, dusty blue and glitzy gold glitter.

Life is becoming a bit easier for me; the main trouble I have lately is being unable to sleep. I also find myself missing school a lot, which was an enormous shock to me. I’d spent the last two years of my life impatient to get out of school…now all I want to do is crawl back into that familiar phase of my life.

HARE Polish Return to Nature

While I’m not feeling anywhere close to better, I had an urge to do my nails last night. My HARE polishes have been shut up in my closet since they came, so I guess I’ll start with (in my opinion) one of the prettiest ones.

Since I’m ill-equipped to describe anything more complicated than a shimmer, I’ll use the description from the HARE website:

“Return to Nature is a beige/khaki crelly (creme-jelly) with a mixture of small gold and silver glitters, plus a dusting of small white squares. This shade also features gold shimmer.”

As I’ve said before, not many handmade nail polishes catch my eye, but HARE’s seem to be the exception. They are well-made, beautifully inspired, and seem to have that extra oomph that I feel a lot of indie brands lack. They’re really top-quality, and the formula is truly amazing for a glittery jelly.

I layered one coat of Return to Nature over two coats of China Glaze Nude-the only nudey-dudey polish that I really like on myself. It’s incredibly close to my skin tone. Return to Nature dried quite quickly, but a bit satin-y, so top coat is needed.

And because my best friend loves fuchsia so very much, I gave her Party Palace, so there won’t be a swatch of that. She did a little dance of glee when I gave her the bottle. :)

So yes…a step towards normality. I’m just taking it a day at a time right now, and constantly reminding myself that I will be well again. I’m very lucky to have such a good support system-a family, a loving boyfriend and best friend, good doctors…I know I’m in good hands right now. Mental illness is an incredibly tricky thing to deal with, but I won’t let it ruin my life.

One day at a time.