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Saturday, June 27, 2009

Weekend Beauty- Nail Polish: Strangebeautiful Library No 2

Strangebeautiful™ offers "libraries" of nail polishes, which change every season. Each library consists of 8 polishes, which can only be bought as a set. Strangebeautiful's intent is to develop a new creative approach to nail color and position themselves more as an accessory rather than just a nail color line. The polishes are 3 Free. So far there has been two libraries, I had a chance to try on the second one, released for Spring 2009.

The bottles, rather irritatingly, have no names on them (and to me, the names of polishes are half the fun!), so I am going by the descriptions on Luckyscent with some and will make up the names for the others:

"The dull red color of a lobster shell" or one might call it brick-red. I like these kinds of muted, rusty reds. The polish was thick enough to be suffcient in two coats and applied smoothly:

"The dark dense saturated black purple inspired by the venerable J. Herbin ink company founded in 1670." More of a purple-indigo, perhaps. Again, great consistency, a 2-coater.

"The slate blue color of a uniform in an 1846 Currier print," my second favorite in the library. Somewhat reminiscent of Rescue Beauty Launge Stromy, only darker and bluer. Perfect application.

Then there were two "mustards" (term mine):

"The Brown Mustard" is ...inexplicable color-wise. I am sorry but it looks like...no, never mind. Perhaps, it just really, really clashed with my skin tone. No problems with application though.

"The Yellow Mustard"- a wonderfully original, muted yet bright (that's right) color, which did not flatter my skin tone, but which I loved nevertheless

"The Taupes" were easy for me to like. I only have about a dozen of these sorts of shades in my collection.

"The Grayer Taupe" had the mushroomy quality that I love:

"The Warmer Taupe" reminded me pleasantly of the color of baked milk:

But the best, to me, was "The Olive Green" polish. It had the muted, earthy quality, a slight gray undertone, it was like nothing else I own or have often seen in other lines.


Overall, I thought that the Library No 2 offered fairly unique, earthy and edgy shades. The polishes applied well, had great coverage, dried fast. Would it be worth it for me to splurge on a $79.00 set for just the olive, the slate and the two taupes...I am thinking about it.

Available at Luckyscent.

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19 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

You have amazing nails Marina. I'd be into the polish too if mine looked like yours! I always love the photography and image selections for all your posts.
From a lurking fan.

1:04 AM EDT  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have volume 1 of Srangebeautiful, and just love wearing those colours. I will definitely be getting volume 2 soon. From your photos, the ink and the blue look particularly amazing.

Mary

1:36 AM EDT  
Blogger Flora said...

If I had pretty hands like yours I might dare wear something like this - I like the olive!

2:01 AM EDT  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting these, Marina!

Marsha S.

8:19 AM EDT  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Since I noticed these at Luckyscent I've been drooling. Thank you so very much for taking the type to paint and assess and type! Loooooove the olive green.

lovethescents

9:10 AM EDT  
Blogger Gail S said...

I'm just not sure about the marketing on these. I do get the "library" concept, but these are not colors that will appeal to everyone and we're not all crazy enough to want all of a collection just because. At least, I'm trying hard to get away from that mentality :) For instance, the olive green is really cool, but I'm not sold on any of the others and I will not pay $79 just for the idea of the collection......maybe...

10:50 AM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Dear Anonymous,
Thank you very much! You know, my nails improved drastically since I started wearing nail polish on a regular basis. Really.

12:23 PM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Mary,
Ooh, I'd have loved to see swatches of the first library...

12:23 PM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Donna,
Nail polish makes the nails, in more ways than one :-) Not the other way wound :-)

12:24 PM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Marsha,
Glad if you liked!

12:24 PM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Samantha,
The olive one is definitely a standout in the overall interesting collection.

12:25 PM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Gail,
I absolutely agree. That olive green plus maybe the slate one...yes, btu for $79? Don't know.

12:26 PM EDT  
Anonymous Claudia0219 said...

I love the Blue, the Purple and the olive.....yikes on the yellow mustard, disturbing color on fingernails.

6:40 PM EDT  
Blogger Tammy said...

I am so not a girly-girl, but I love your weekend make-up posts, and am glad to see one again!

I had no idea that nail polish had gone so edgy, though I do occasioanlly see black nails on people.


I love the blue the best, but the olive is very nice, as well. They're all very cool!

10:25 AM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Claudia,
Yes, rather disturbing :-)

10:35 AM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Tammy,
I am glad you enjoyed! I am one of those people with black nails :-) Quite often. :-)

10:36 AM EDT  
Blogger dea said...

envy! your hands and nails look so so so great- they really accentuate the coolness of the polish.

my hands are aging faster than the rest of me and my cuticles look like shredded coconut around my nails- not pretty. and in no way do i want to call attention to them.

i've heard of people pitching in to share a library, that way everyone gets to wear the cool colors and doesn't lose too much $.

those colors are really cool. you can't get those shades just anywhere. i think it's worth it.

8:25 AM EDT  
Blogger violetnoir said...

I think they all look really lovely on your nails, M. A friend and I tested a couple of these earlier in the year, and we both liked them a lot. The colors are edgy, even unique, and the wear was excellent.

12:12 PM EDT  
Anonymous Lavanya said...

love the slate one..The olive green is lovely too, but I don't think it will 'go' with my skin tone..

4:01 PM EDT  

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