Anise Nail Polish

Anise Cosmetics is another great company that produces non-toxic nail polish (meaning free of formaldehyde, toluene and DBP). They have been cruelty-free certified by both PETA and the Leaping Bunny Organization and conform to several green and eco-friendly standards.

The colors you see here are part of the Spring/Summer 2009 collection (they do not stock older colors, for better and for worse), which like other major lines this year, are all about bright colors from neon pink to sunny yellow. While my favorites are usually the more mellow shades (today I'm wearing the rosy bronze Fake'n Bake), I must admit falling in love with Thank Heavens, the creamy pale aqua. It's fabulous on one's toes and looks surprisingly flattering against my skin. Who would have thought?

The polish goes on easily and smoothly, and while I haven't tried all the colors yet, there was no streaking with those I applied. The texture is a bit thinner than I'm used to, but the coverage is good. You'll need two to three coats to achieve the color intensity you see in the bottle and the level of shimmer varies between the colors- while Fake'n Bake is almost glittery, the gorgeous tangerine of Club Tropicana is more mellow and office-friendly.

Anise Cosmetics nail polish is sold at Whole Foods Markets, DSW Shoes stores and Annie Sez stores. The colors I got were a PR freebie.

Model: Lizzy. All photos are mine.

Nail Candy, Take 2

I had a little deja vu moment when I opened the newsletter from Sephora announcing their spring 2009 nail color collection from OPI. The title was "Nail Candy" and the bright colors are happy, bright and sweet. And very much like a cream version of the ChitChat collection Zoya introduced last summer, which was shimmery with gold undertones .

The link above goes to my post from May 2008, titled Nail Candy, and here are the color samples from both Zoya and OPI/Seophora press releases. Fun colors, for sure. I'd still stay away from painting your nails yellow. I tried it last year and wouldn't repeat it.

Zoya ChitChat Summer 2008

Sephora by OPI Spring 2009

What do you think? which ones looks better?

original image is mine

Spring 2009: Zoya Twist

As you can see, I'm not the only one in this household who thinks nail polish is fun.

Twist is the new collection from Zoya for spring 2009, and it has both traditional springy colors and a couple that are more related to what we've been wearing all winter. My current favorites are Harley, a delicate shimmering dove gray and Malia, a cream violet that's not the easiest to wear (I'm not completely sure I don't look like a corpse bride when sporting it), but is just very pretty. I love looking at Jo, the metallic sky blue, but I can't bring myself to wear it.

The happy pink ones are a too bright for my hands but would make a fabulous summer pedicure (Barbie- shimmering soft pink, Cassi- shimmering soft peach and Moxi-a red plum cream). As always, Zoya proves that a nail polish without the most harmful chemical can be of the highest quality and last for over a week (the cream ones fade slightly and are more likely to chip, but even they remain perfect for 5-6 days with top and base coat).

Zoya nail polish ($6 for one bottle) is available at many fine salons and online from artofbeauty.com. I got the sampler set as a PR freebie.

All photos are mine. Models: Lizzy, Buffy, Kosh and Giselle

Chanel Spring 2009 And One Good Perennial Lipstick

My expectations from spring makeup collections are always limited. They usually tend to be heavy on pink and other pastels which rarely agree with me. The good news about Chanel Spring 2009 Bohemian Fantasy collection is the lack of any Barbieness. It's darker than you'd expect, with the best item in the range being the deep violet nail polish and the chocolaty plum eye shadow in the Les 4 Ombres Quadra Eye Shadow (the silver gray is also very cute if less useful).

The bad news for me is how most of the colors look on my skin: Not Good.

The collection would probably look best on the cool-toned among us. Even the bold reds are geared for women with rosier complexions who can pull of pink based and beige lip colors. The blush was also too light for me and looked unnatural.

As for the items I liked, I already have very similar colors in my stash (including a violet nail polish. Zoya came out with one several seasons ago), so I don't actually need either. But that eye shadow compact is the one thing worth trying in the collection. The pigments were better than what you usually get in these Chanel quads.


The one thing I just couldn't understand was the lip palette. I looked at it, touched it, circled it, but unless I'm missing something major here, there was never ever so little actual material for so much money. If you think Serge Lutens lipsticks are atrociously priced at $75, this thing with its six tiny droplets of color (almost sample size) goes for $60. Did any of you discover a secret pocket of lip cream anywhere inside the compact?

My advice: skip the limited edition items and go for the regular collection. My latest discovery is Rouge Allure lipstick in Attitude. It's a mellow red with a dark rose base. It has more than enough personality to be considered a red, while still being daytime friendly on olive skin. It's a pretty and lively color which would serve you both in the cold months and later on this spring.

Like all Rouge Allure lipstick, it's comfortable to wear, moisturizing and wears for quite a while (unless it meets hot tea first). Definitely my favorite makeup item these days, with the added benefit of not having to hoard several before it goes away forever.

I tried to take a picture (with and without cats), but couldn't capture the exact color. You'll need to see for yourself in person, as the miserable color swatches on Chanel website are crappy (as are most of the images they use. They are rarely true to life. Someone in their marketing department needs to have a chat with the people at Sephora, Benefit Cosmetics, Nars and Bobbi Brown, to name a few companies who usually get it right).