Polishes from Priti NYC, Zoya, OCC, and China Glaze
First picture: Priti NYC shades Baby’s Tears, Pincushion Protea, Canterbury Bells
Second picture, from left to right: Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics shades Suspiria, Captain Howdy, Cruising
Third picture, from left to right: Zoya winter 2012 PixieDust collection shades Chyna, Nyx, London, Vespa, Godiva, Dahlia
Fourth picture, from left to right: China Glaze Tranzitions shades Altered Reality, Shape Shifter, Split Perso-Nail-Ity and Fast Forward Top Coat
And now let’s look at some shades that may already be gone from your local drugstore—and, unfortunately, maybe were never even there at all—but that you should certainly track down online. Or, in the case of China Glaze’s Tranzitions collection, avoid altogether.
Beginning with the good, Priti NYC is a somewhat under-the-radar brand that I don’t think has reached maximum name recognition yet, but it should. The polishes are a bit on the pricey side, but the brand comes out with about four or five different collections a year, with about four polishes per collection, and the shades are always feminine, even if they’re super-bright. Baby’s Tears, an olive green from the brand’s Summer 2011 collection, and bright royal blue Pincushion Protea and coral pink Canterbury Bells from the Fiesta Mexicana Resort 2012 collection are excellent pedicure picks, I think, and absolutely worth ordering from Priti NYC’s website. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the polishes stocked in drugstores in our area, but the website—with its huge range of shades, which the brand calls “flowers”—is well stocked indeed.
Similarly worth ordering online, or popping into a Sephora store for, are Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics’ polishes, which are almost always one-coaters on me—they’re intensely pigmented and never exactly what you would expect. Being the movie nerd that I am, I was extremely excited for the brand’s fall/winter 2012 collection Heroine, based off horror movie heroines—Suspiria is a really intense neon purple shade, and Captain Howdy is a murky pea green. And I would also recommend Cruising, from the brand’s fall 2011 Pretty Boy collection, because it’s not only a seriously pretty metallic gold, but because it’s a bit chunkier in texture than your normal foil shades, meaning it’s a bit more eye-catching. OCC is known for being a little weird, but the polishes are really lovely, and are some of the best quality I’ve ever encountered.
And finally on the good side, Zoya’s winter 2012 PixieDust collection, their first line of textured nail polishes that dry to a sugary, matte finish; these polishes are permanent, I believe, but because the brand is coming out with a summer collection of PixieDust shades, if you want to add these to your collection, swipe them at Ulta or online as soon as you can. The shades are cranberry red Chyna, black Nyx, golden beige London, silvery grey Vespa, light cornflower blue Godiva, and greyish green Dahlia.
How about what you should avoid? Well, the worst polish collection I’ve encountered so far this spring is China Glaze’s Tranzitions, launched back in January with six shades, three of which I received for review: Altered Reality, a metallic teal; Shape Shifter, a greyish navy; and Split Perso-Nail-Ity, a light pink. The shades are supposed to change color when used with any top coat, but China Glaze recommends their own Fast Forward Top Coat. But even when using that product, jeez, this collection was a challenge to use: the polish is thick, clumpy, and takes forever to dry; the shade change isn’t that dramatic (Altered Reality becomes a mint green, Shape Shifter a purplish blue, and Split Perso-Nail-Ity a deeper berry), and Fast Forward leaks and bleeds everywhere. The top coat has a runny, thin consistency, and once it comes into the contact with the nail polish, the pigments in the polish start changing color and stain the brush itself. So these were just exceptionally tricky to apply, and for this kind of gimmick, I didn’t think they were worth the effort. They’re essentially a novelty item, and I don’t really consider them must-haves for anyone.
AVAILABILITY: $13.50 each for Priti NYC polishes at PritiNYC.com; $10 each for Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics polishes at OCCMakeup.com, Sephora.com, and Sephora stores; $9 each for Zoya PixieDust polishes or $54 for a sampler of all six shades at Zoya.com, and polishes are also available individually at Ulta stores; about $7 or $8 each for China Glaze Tranzitions shades at Ulta and Sally Beauty Supply stores.
EDITORIAL NOTE: The products featured in this post were provided to Chesapeake Family’s About Face blog by the manufacturer or their public relations company for review, except for Sally Hansen shades Azure, Firefly, and Moonstone, which were purchased by Roxana Hadadi for review. Chesapeake Family’s About Face blog posts are inspired by personal experience and opinion, and are not paid for or influenced by the manufacturer, PR company, or any other organization unless mentioned.
Photos by Roxana Hadadi.
In middle school, Roxana Hadadi was a cosmetics-scorning tomboy; in high school, a glitter eye shadow- and black nail polish-loving trend kid; in college, obsessively committed to dying her hair unruly colors that upset her mom. Now a bit older and a bit more mature, she’s trying to figure out what hair, body and cosmetics products will work for her, you and your family in About Face, Chesapeake Family’s new beauty blog — and she’ll leave the sparkle makeup and neon highlights in the past. Roxana also writes movie reviews for Chesapeake Family’s Popcorn Parents blog.
