L'Oreal Brit Invasion -limited edition - $6 at most drugstores - 

Last week I showed you pics of another polish from the L'Oreal "London Fall" collection, Tea and Crumpets. This polish, Brit Invasion, is the other that I picked up at that time. I picked up T&C because I'm always searching for The Perfect Nude Polish, and I keep thinking I've found nirvana, but something better always comes along. Or I hope it will... I picked up Brit Invasion simply because it looked sort of unique. Well, that and the name, but I think I've covered that before. 

Brit Invasion is a smoky plum, a la Chanel Paradoxal, China Glaze Jungle Queen and Essie Smokin' Hot, but it's got a little something extra. Namely a generous glaze of bronzey shimmer. The coverage is excellent, you'll only need two moderate coats and wear is pretty good. I think it's the epitome of Fall polishes, and since metallics are big this summer, it'll make a nice polish to wear during the transitional period that comes in August between Summer brights and Fall vamps. 

L'Oreal Tea and Crumpets - $6 at most drugstores - 

L'Oreal's new Autumn Colour Riche Nail collection, entitled London Fall, has hit the shelves, and I don't know about you, but this freakish Anglophile is doing the Arsenio Hall fist thing all up and down the drugstore aisles. I picked up two polishes from the collection, leaving the other four indignantly huffing at me from their adorable display. Don't worry girls, I'll probably be back for you later, I can't help myself. Tea and Crumpets is a creamy, fleshy beige, which sounds super boring, but there's nothing I like more than sexy nude nails. I can't wait for my nails to be ready for ovals again, this polish will look like pure sex on those bad boys. Even if T&C were less sexy, I know it will find it's way into the sentimental corner of my stash where I'll encounter it while on a purging mission and say to myself, "You can't get rid of this, it's called TEA AND CRUMPETS, you ninny!" 

The formula isn't exactly like buttah, but in three coats I got a pretty even look. I'll level with you, if it wasn't called what it is, and if it wasn't from the collection it's from, I may like it less, but I have spent a lot of money on polishes that look a heck of a lot like this, so I must really like them anyway despite what they may or may not be named. BTW, the other polish I picked up from this collection is called Brit Invasion... swatches soon. 

L'Oreal Metallic Eye Duo in Electrified - $8 at Ulta.com

Recently, I saw a piece on Nouveau Cheap about this particular eyeshadow duo, and I was intrigued. I don't remember the first release of this shadow, and I'm not sure why. I'm usually sort of down on drugstore shadow, but I do own one of these duos in Platinum and I love it, so I snapped this one up. Apparently it's a re-release of a big hit from last year. Either way, I like it a lot. One side is a antiqued platinum sort of shade, which really sort of looks like a silvery taupe that glints a tarnished sort of light from some angles. The other is a deep wine with a charcoal edge to it. The lighter shade is incredibly metallic, and the darker side a bit less so. I really like using the light shade all over the lid and slightly up above my crease, then I darken the outer corner with the plum-wine shade. It's a gorgeous combo, but honestly the lighter shade is worth the price all on it's own, in my opinion. Both shades are so smooth and apply so evenly without skipping at all. They blend well, and stay on through an entire 12 hour day without creasing when used over a good primer like Too Faced Shadow Insurance.

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Recently I found this gorgeousness at Dollar Tree in a duopack with some horrific bronzey peach sheer shimmer. Technically, I paid .50 cents for this polish, but I threw the other polish away, so let's call it a whole whopping dollar. Anyhoo, this incredibly vibrant medium-to-deep blue is amazing, and the shimmer is that sort of shimmer that is so fine but stops short of frost. Think China Glaze Frostbite, but a bit deeper. The formula on this was super watery, but it was pretty pigmented. I applied three coats and there was a bit of cuticle drag, so I let it dry quite a long time in between coats; about 5 minutes. Overall, the polish is unbelievably gorgeous and I'd consider it worth the time stopping into your local Dollar Tree to see what's what because mine had several of this shade.

Have you tried this polish? Is it an old fave? What do you think of it? Click if you'd like to see a couple more photos!

There's been some to-do lately over the L'Oreal Passport to Paradise being dupes for the Essie North Fork collection, and while some people are noticing some differences in the formula of these polishes, the similarities in the two brands' collections may turn out to be less of a coincidence than anyone thought. L'Oreal has announced it will acquire Essie, but isn't giving many details. Essie Weingarten, founder of the eponymous salon nail enamel brand has stated that she has contracted with L'Oreal to stay on board with the brand for "several years."

I can't say I'm surprised. I personally thought that eventually Essie was going to fade into the sunset. While Essie has long been one of the best-known salon nail enamels, their insistence on releasing pale pink after pale pink and an unwillingness to step outside the box has been making it easier for nailies and frugalistas everywhere to push new Essie releases to the side in favor of other brands' unique and trend-setting shades. Essie will be a recognizable name in nail polish to women everywhere for some time to come, and that will be an obvious boon to L'Oreal, but the distribution, marketing, and color selection will no doubt be revamped and broadened. The formula, which many consider streaky and or "chiptastic," may or may not change. L'Oreal is acquiring the brand, but might not do much or any fiddling with the polish formula itself. I think we're just looking at being able to find it in more places. Maybe for perhaps a lower price, but I doubt that. L'Oreal has brands with a drugstore polish presence. I think that Essie will remain a salon brand at heart but start popping up everywhere a la Orly and OPI. I, for one, and tickled pale pink about the whole thing.

Plum shimmer with holographic glitter

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