Gingerbread and things

I had originally planned to post photos of Hyatt hotel's Gingerbread Lane around Christmas and then have a 2012 recap post, but holiday fun and XCOM sorta got in the way. So! I'm merging the two (but mostly it's gingerbread and a paragraph at the end)

The Hyatt in downtown Vancouver does a Gingerbread Lane every year around Christmas, where they display gingerbread houses made by various clubs/schools/professionals for voting to raise money for Make-A-Wish. It's a chance to see some really creative takes on a classic gingerbread house.

Wizard of Oz gingerbread! The Emerald City is covered in green rock sugar. Auntie Em's gingerbread house was perched on top of a spinning tornado!

UP gingerbread house, complete with Carl, Russell, and Dug :>

The Nutcracker in gingerbread. I really loved the painted panels on the sides.

The idea of this one was Santa's theme park, with a ferris wheel, cotton candy, and my favourite, a Santa roller coaster.

This one was one of my favourites. It stood out for being a little more traditional in that it uses just gingerbread and less fondant/sugar decorations but the level of detail and intricate piping really amazed me! The display could be rotated to see four equally-detailed holiday scenes.

2012 went by in a flash. I didn't post as many reviews/FOTDs as I would have liked, partly because my facial eczema had a bad year, but I hope you enjoyed all my nail posts! :> Next year I hope I can post more consistently and with a wider variety of beauty (and non-beauty) content. Please have a safe and happy new year. See you in 2013!

Snowflake nails

China Glaze Kinetic Candy  •  (ring finger) Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Blue-Away  •  white acrylic ink  

I think all the holiday/winter-inspired nails popping up on my Pinterest and Tumblr finally inspired me. Vancouver recently had its first real snow of the season, and coincidentally, my very first freehand nail art features snowflakes :>

I have a soft spot for icy blues, so I did it over China Glaze Kinetic Candy for most fingers, and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Blue-Away on the ring finger. The two are fairly close, but Blue-Away is a brighter and more vivid blue, while Kinetic Candy has a tinge of grey to it. I used white acrylic ink for the snowflakes but white polish works fine too, as long as it is fairly opaque.

I like the index fingernail the best for the extra-dainty snowflake on the lower corner. It's much more fool-resistant to have 2-3 partially-showing snowflakes than to attempt to paint on a full one (see: pinky finger) and lets more of that lovely base colour come through.

Confession time: I only did my right hand, left hand is snowflake-less. All it took was one shaky line on my fingernail and I thought, LOL NOPE. I always admired nail artists for their amazing freehand nail art but now I have to give extra respect to those that paint on both hands. I definitely need to practice.

I really love how these turned out; it is shockingly easy to do but the results are quite nice, I think! Although it is pretty simple, I can post a quick picture tutorial if anyone is interested.

Swatching my nail polish collection

By swatching, don't mean painting my nails for posting, but painting swatches onto display items to refer back to. Since all my polishes are tucked away in a drawer, it's hard to see what I have at a glance. Because polishes can look different applied vs in the bottle, it's not just as simple as pulling a bottle out and looking at it, either. Some arguments for swatching:

• make it easy to keep track of a hoard collection that is growing terrifyingly quickly
• make it easy to compare polishes for dupes/future combinations
• test nail art combinations without sacrificing my own natural nails
• admire all the shiny colours

My first attempt was swatching polishes onto strips of tape and sticking them into a blank notebook. This actually isn't a terrible idea, but I felt it was difficult to plan for future polishes. My green polishes might only need a page now, but what about a year or two from now? How many blank pages should I leave for future greens before I start a blues page? Plus, I could swatch my greens in order of hue now, but what about when I get a shade that fits right in between two that were already swatched? Seriously, these kind of thoughts drove me crazy.

After a few days of research (i.e. Googling), I found prettier alternatives in nail display sticks and wheels. I've noticed many nail bloggers use nail wheels (nails arranged around a plastic circle) instead, but again the fact that the positions of each swatch relative to each other are fixed bothered me. The inner circle also doesn't give you much room to label each swatch; I've seen it done successfully but many others keep a numbering system which seems inconvenient. However, nail wheels probably store way easier since they lay flat and can be stacked. The nail sticks are like the ones you see at some salons or Sally's: they are long enough to label and most importantly, they can be arranged and rearranged to my heart's content. Sold!

Here's basically how the nail sticks arrive, sealed in ziplock bags. There are tons of eBay sellers offering what seems to be an identical product, but for reference the one I bought from sold them in sets of 50 for $5-6 CAD and free shipping. Most also include a long bolt and nut to slip through the holes at the end of the stick to make a fan.

Extra purchases: I prefer putting my sticks on loose binder rings; I feel like it's easier to look at them this way, and I can fit more on to a ring than I can on a bolt. I've seen binder rings sold packaged up, but I bought mine individually from a university bookstore for $0.25 each. I also picked up a Sharpie for CDs/DVDs, which would help my writing not smudge as easily on the plastic sticks (especially important because I'm left-handed!)

I use the ultra fine end of the Sharpie to write the name of the polish, and the fatter end to make 2-3 dots indicating how many coats I used on the swatch.

So I made a pink unicorn with LUSH FUN

After my LUSH FUN post, a few people asked me to make other things (mostly Pokemon) but unfortunately I didn't have the colours to make them. Sorry guys, I only have pink, blue, and green! Then Tracy asked for a pink unicorn and I thought, hey I can actually do that...

My level of success is questionable but the important thing is that I did it, right? Right?? *crickets chirp*

He is a bit stumpy and awkward but I like him anyway. Actually, my favourite part of him is the tail.

(I promise a less derpy post is coming tomorrow.)

butter London All Hail The Queen

Finishing off the swatches from my butter London Coterie order is All Hail The Queen, a beige with holographic shimmer. If it wasn't for the Coterie sale, I probably never would have picked it up because I was convinced it was a near-dupe to the Orly Nite Owl I already owned and loved dearly. Happily, I was wrong.

All Hail The Queen is absolutely packed with holographic shimmer; I would already love the flattering beige base if it was all by itself, but the holographic effect makes it extra-special. I admit I'm not a big fan of holographic polishes, but in All Hail The Queen it's there just enough to add dimension (subtle enough that you can get away with wearing it in a very conservative workplace) but still wows you when you look close enough.

Orly Nite Owl (ring finger) from the Birds of a Feather collection also has a beige base that I thought would be identical to All Hail The Queen, but side-by-side you can see Nite Owl is taupe-ier and is cooler-toned, helped along by the fine silver shimmer. This was my favourite "beige with a shimmer twist" polish, but it's been replaced by All Hail The Queen; I like that it's a bit warmer and something about it is just so, so pretty and elegant. Nite Owl looks a bit thick here because I applied three coats to match the three needed for All Hail The Queen, but only two are necessary.

Close-up, with flash

Despite the differences, I still don't think it's necessary to have both. They are still very close. Nite Owl is a gorgeous polish and roughly half the price of All Hail The Queen, something to keep in mind if you're on a budget. I wish I could have photographed them in natural light though, my indoors/artificial lighting doesn't do either of them justice, not to mention it tends to make my fingers take on a lovely red lobster-iness. (Edit 12/17: I've added some marginally better photos in natural light at the bottom of the post!)

Which would you choose? Are you a fan of holographic shimmers?

Natural light!

Flash in natural light

We had some rare sunlight so I whipped out my camera ASAP to snap a few more photos. These were taken on day 3-4 of wear, so there's a bigger gap now between the polish and cuticle. Hopefully these are a better example of the closeness of Nite Owl to All Hail The Queen.

Clinique's "Service As You Like It" Comes to Vancouver

Something pretty cool has arrived at The Bay in downtown Vancouver, and I think makeup and skincare lovers will agree with me when they see Clinique's new concept, "Service as you like it". The old Clinique counter at The Bay has been redesigned to deliver a unique experience to today's savvy shoppers.

With the arrival of the internet, consumer review sites like MakeUpAlley, and countless makeup blogs (ahem), I think the kind of experience we are looking for in a beauty counter is very different from our moms and grandmothers; we are better informed and more skeptical. Where previous generations might have listened closely while an SA explains a fantastic new eyeshadow, we're already thinking, pfft, Temptalia said it's chalky crap. (Not that people don't want to listen to SAs anymore, just that we have more sources of information readily available.) The new Clinique counter is created with consumers like me in mind, who prefer to explore products on their own, while still offering the full support and customer experience of a traditional beauty counter. 

(click to enlarge)

Here's a photo from Clinique's PR so you get an idea of just how amazing the new 1000-square foot Clinique space looks. It's bright (although not as super-bright as shown here) and is set up just like the photo.

You can start off by putting on a rubber band to communicate exactly the type of service to Clinique's consultants without ever saying a word. Green says you're someone that is looking to chat and get a full consultation. Pink says you'd like to browse mostly on your own and a consultant will only check in with you once in a while. White says you're in a rush and you know what you're looking for. I did find that while wearing the pink bracelet and walking around, consultants generally left me alone and only offered help if I was approaching them or made eye contact. It works!

I'd like to keep this bracelet to wear to other beauty counters! @__@

Review: LUSH FUN

Fresh from what I imagine is LUSH's Willy Wonka-esque chocolate soap factory comes FUN, the multi-purpose soap that will brighten up your bathroom and your imagination. Available in five colours, LUSH touts this as "bubble bar, shampoo, soap, and play" in one product. In a nutshell, they're delicious-smelling Play-doh alternatives that also soap up.

Pink FUN is scented with tonka absolute and benzoin resinoid (think vanilla and ice cream). Personally, I feel like it smells more like cotton candy. I think people who enjoy the smell of Snow Fairy will absolutely love this.

Blue FUN is made with lavender and chamomile oil for a relaxing scent. I do think the smell is pleasantly calming.

Green FUN is bright and fresh with the scent of lemon and lime oils. I love the smell of refreshing citrus, so this was definitely my favourite of the three I received.

Yellow FUN uses vanilla and gardenia for a creamy marzipan scent.

Red FUN is fruity and cheerful with the scent of orange and mandarin oils.

Each colour is wrapped in biodegradeable cellophane in a style that reminds me of Jolly Rancher or other cellophane-wrapped candies. Between the packaging and the Play-Doh angle, this product certainly reads as a "kids" product; I think kids would love sculpting soaps in the bath, and it might even help resistant kids be more enthusiastic about washing up. However, I do think this is also a fantastic product  for your inner kid! I have no problem imagining a grown man or woman having a relaxing bath while molding a masterpiece.

Molding aside, I like to use FUN is simply as a hand soap. I love how the smell of the soap lingers for a long time on my hands after washing; it's a nice pick-me-up. I can't use it as a shampoo because my dry scalp really needs the magic powers of LUSH Soak and Float (but that's another post). I don't take baths so I haven't tried it as a bubble bar either, although I can only imagine how fantastic and refreshing I'd smell and feel after soaking in a tub with some Green. I did use it as a body wash in the shower, and it lathers up perfectly well with the help of sodium laureth sulfate while the glycerine helps keep skin from drying out.

Bf also helped me discover another use for it:
Bf: "Hey, I like that soap."
Me: "What, that pink candy-smelling soap I put in your bathroom?"
Bf: "Yeah, it makes my bathroom smell nice!"

My bathroom at home is larger so I don't notice this, but it will lightly perfume the air of a small bathroom after use. Even with the soap sitting next to the sink, the heat and moisture from a shower will help the soap's smell pretty up your bathroom.

Adventures in Whistler

Recently, I took a weekend trip to Whistler with some friends, so here's a journal of my (non-)adventures. Whistler is a really popular spot for tourists, especially after the 2010 Winter Olympics, but Vancouverites also like to come up for a day trip or longer since it's only a two-hour drive away. (Click to enlarge pictures)

We stayed in Whistler Village, which is the main area where hotels, restaurants, shopping, and gondolas to take you up the mountains are all in walking distance. Vancouver is such a huge city that it's refreshing to be able to walk to everything in this cute village. Naturally, there's a lot of touristy shops here with things like $10,000 geodes on display. I've also noticed that very "Vancouver" stores like TNA/Aritzia, lululemon, and Roots have a strong presence here.

Whistler Mountain officially opened for snow season the weekend we arrived. This was kind of a minor detail for us, since we were there just to hang out and get away for a bit; skiing and snowboarding definitely weren't in the budget! This probably sounds weird to people living anywhere else in Canada or any non-Canadians that believe we all live in igloos, but we don't experience much snow in Vancouver, so it was nice to see snow-dusted trees and mountains closer-up.

Being a tourist destination, pretty much everything about Whistler Village is expensive, including the restaurants. We decided to save some money by going for a hotel room with a full kitchen (we'll use "full" loosely here...) and bringing along groceries to cook most of our meals. I made a rip-off of Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana for dinner one night. It's spicy, filling, and satisfying, all the things you'd want in a meal after traipsing around in the cold! My friends liked it so much, I was forced swayed into making it again for breakfast on our last day.

... Unfortunately, all the cooking and cleaning I did wreaked total havoc on the fresh polish I applied the night before we left ;__;  I was really loving butter London's All Hail The Queen, too! This is the photo I took in crappy hotel lighting after realizing my mani would not survive the trip.

LUSH FUN + Quickie Holiday Preview

LUSH has rolled out a few new things for you to love, including holiday goodies and a FUN new product:

FUN is a bubble bar, shampoo, hand/body soap, and creative play all in one. Basically, it's Play-Doh that you can take into the bath. There are five colours (red, yellow, pink, green, blue) in five enticing scents to appeal to kids--actual kids or your inner kid ;) A surprise fifth function: a portion of sales will go towards LUSH's FunD, which helps provide outdoor recreational activities (i.e. fun!) to children in areas affected by the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

I received a few colours to experiment with, so stay tuned to find out what I made :>

Although LUSH has a ton of products for the holidays, this is hands-down the one I am most excited about. Let The Good Times Roll is an exfoliating cleanser that uses maize flour and corn meal to cleanse gently, and glycerin and corn oil to moisturize dry winter skin. It's supposed to smell like sweet and salty popcorn, but to me it smells more like yummy toffee, which is awesome.

I love Mr. Punch because of all the bright, holiday-ish colours in this soap, but I know a lot of other people will love it because it's made with gin! It's inspired by the "boozy fruit punches" that you tend to see around this time of year. It smells like it looks--delicious. If gin isn't your thing, there's also Spice Mountain (inspired by mulled wine) and Ponche (inspired by Mexican punch, with a real shot of tequila!)

There were way too many new products for me to photograph, from bath bombs to bubble bars and scrubs, but you can see them all on LUSH. Which product(s) are you most excited about?

butter London Wallis

If my last butter London post hasn't convinced you yet, let me introduce you to the finishing blow. Wallis is named after Wallis Simpson, an American socialite who married the former King Edward VIII. It's "former king" because a consort with two living ex-husbands was pretty scandalous at the time (it might be even now), so Edward was forced to abdicate the throne to be with her (source). A great deal of mystery and rumor surrounded her, inspiring a glimmering, metallic, dark olive-gold that basically sings fall/winter. It has a glow and a mystery to it that keep you staring. It's beautiful and really, the glow part is important to emphasize.

Application is smooth and opaque in two coats. What's especially nice is that it's also missing the streakiness that sometimes comes with metallic polishes.

There's nothing at all like it in my collection. On first glance, I thought it might be close to Rimmel Rags to Riches, but I realized I was way off after comparing swatches. Although also metallic, Rags to Riches has much less gold and is cooler-toned. I have heard whispers of a dupe in Forever XXI's Love and Beauty house brand, but otherwise it seems to be a very unique polish.

Glowing!

Conveniently, I've just found out through Nouveau Cheap that on Black Friday (November 23), butter London is offering Wallis free with any orders over $50 using the code celebrate12. (Is that the walls of your resistance I hear crumbling?)

What to do with a manicure on its last legs...

China Glaze Pelican Gray • Sinful Colors Snow Me White

Practice your dotting skills of course! (Or just remove it, I guess...)

I bought a set of nail art dotting tools a little while ago, but hadn't touched them after tucking them away to my nail polish drawer. I really hate to mess up a perfectly good application of colour with crappy nail art, so I was putting off trying them out. Looking down at my worn-down, grown-out polish one night, I finally decided to give it a shot. If it was terrible, I could take it off and not feel bad about wrecking an otherwise good mani, since I had already been wearing Pelican Gray for several days. If it was good, I could wear it for another day or two before the massive gap between the colour and cuticle drove me insane.

For my first time trying to dot my nails, I thought it turned out pretty okay! It's a bit tricky to consistently apply the same amount of pressure with the dotting tool for every dot. The dots are not very even in spacing, shape, or size when you get a chance to stare at them up close like this, but in person I could get away with it. I even received a few compliments!

Note that it isn't necessary to use a dotting tool to create dots like this. Everyday objects like toothpicks and pins work too. The round bits on the end of a bobby pin are especially well-suited to dotting. I only happened to buy the set while ordering my nail sticks since it was pretty cheap online (~$5 for five dual-ended tools, if I remember right).

Not bad, right? Will you be practicing your nail art skillz on your next worn-out mani?

butter London Pillar Box Red

With my nail polish collection having grown at a somewhat frightening rate, it's a little surprising that I haven't bought a proper red creme until butter London's Pillar Box Red. Whether it's lipstick, clothing, or nail polish, red exists in my mind as that super-sexy, bold femme fatale (all things which I am not) colour that I shy away from. On my nails, I'll wear deep navy that skirts on the borders of black, bright metallic green, gold glitter, and so on, but red polish is like this weird final frontier.

Of course, the fact Pillar Box Red applied so beautifully smooth and just so, well, buttery, helped distract me from my red hang-ups. This is the first butter London I've ever tried, and I can honestly say I'm in deep trouble, guys. I was in shock mid-stroke with how fantastic the formula is. The size of the brush also happens to fit the curve of my cuticle perfectly. Basically, I can never go back to a time when I could resist paying $17 CAD for a nail polish, knowing what I know now.

The tomato red quality of Pillar Box Red has a brightness that makes it look fresh and not at all moody like I had expected. Although it doesn't seem to get as much love as its sister, Come To Bed Red, comparison swatches I've seen make them look almost identical. Come To Bed Red is possibly a bit deeper, but if someone swapped my bottle, I might not even know it. I really like this colour and spent a lot of time admiring it, but I think I still couldn't shake my thing about wearing red. I couldn't feel 100% comfortable wearing it, although even bf said that it "suited my skin tone" >ω<

Do you love red polishes, or do you have some kind of hang-up about them like me?

Essie Going Incognito

There's no denying that Essie Going Incognito is a fall/winter shade. Besides the obvious dark = fall/winter thing, its deep forest green really reminded me of the spiky, dark green holly leaves you often see in Christmas decorations. I even considered layering a chunky red glitter on top to be the holly berries for a seriously Christmas-y vibe.

Since most of the greens in my collection are pretty much turquoise, Going Incognito is definitely unique to my collection. Sadly, it's just like and not love. It might not be apparent in the photo, but in person it feels like it's missing a richness that would make it really special in my books. This shade might be perfect for someone else, but it's not quite there for me.

Coming up: butter London swatches

Smitten by the UK-tastic polish names and gorgeous colours, the only thing holding me back from buying up every shade was my wallet eyeing the $17 CAD pricetag warily. Thanks to a certain Coterie sale not too long ago, I was finally able to snatch up a few butter London polishes for much less.

Because the sale was a choice of three out of six possible shades, I didn't exactly pick the colours I've been wanting the most (Slapper and Lady Muck, I'm looking at you), but it's kind of good to be pushed out of my turquoise comfort zone. All Hail The Queen is a beige beauty that is closest to my usual taste, but is packed with holographic shimmer to give it an interesting twist. Wallis is a metallic olive gold with a darkness and vibrancy that makes it perfect for fall. Pillar Box Red is actually the most out of my comfort zone, and is--believe it or not--my very first red creme.

Did you buy anything from the Coterie butter London sale? Stay tuned for swatches!

On loving LUSH BB Seaweed

After recovering from an eczema flare-up on my face, I set out in search of a mask to pamper my skin and found myself in LUSH at Metrotown. Explaining to a helpful SA that I was looking for something nourishing, we narrowed it down to Love Lettuce, Catastrophe Cosmetic, and BB Seaweed. Although all three masks are suitable for any skin type, I took home BB Seaweed for my dry and sometimes-sensitive skin.

Although a batch of BB Seaweed contains a staggering seven pounds of nourishing seaweed, this mask smells more herby and grassy than oceanic (which is not a bad thing at all). Big chunks of seaweed lurk in the pot, which make this mask extra-fun to slather on and wash off. The texture is quite thick, so there's no risk of dripping seaweed bits all over yourself.

I love this mask for being two skincare steps in one: first, ingredients such as lime tree flower extract, rosemary oil, and honey nourish and condition the skin; afterwards, I massage my face as I slooowly wash off the mask, so that the finely-ground almonds and millet flakes hiding in the mask gently exfoliate away any dry bits. The result: a fresh, soft face free of any rough patches!

Due to the lack of preservative ingredients in LUSH Fresh Face masks, they have a very short shelf life and should be kept chilled. The sticker on my BB Seaweed pot showed a "best before" date that is less than a month after its creation! I did decide to continue using it after this date and was careful of any changes in appearance, smell, or texture--especially very small, green, fuzzy bits (i.e. mold!) Many people see the short shelf life as an inconvenience, but it also motivated me to use it regularly, since I know I can't keep it tucked away forever. As with any exfoliating product I have, I used it only about once or twice a week to avoid the negative effects of over-exfoliating, and probably got at least 5-6 generous uses out of a pot. If the expiry date scares you, try splitting it with some friends or even making a girls' night-in of it.

Have you tried BB Seaweed or any other LUSH Fresh Face masks?

Ingredients: Tilia europaea (lime tree) flower extract, Viola odorata (sweet violet) leaf extract, kaolin, honey, glycerin, Prunus amygdalus dulcis (sweet almond) seed meal, Fucus gardneri (Bladderwrack seaweed) extract, Aloe barbadensis leaf juice, Panicum miliaceum (millet flakes), Olea europaea (olive) fruit oil, bentonite gel, Rosa centifolia flower, Rosa damascena extract, Pogostemon cablin (patchouli) oil, Rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaf oil, Fucus vesiculosus (seaweed) extract, citral, geraniol, benzyl benzoate, limonene, linalool, perfume

Available at LUSH (in-store only) - $6.95 CAD / 60g

A Tale of Two Turquoises

I wonder if you can tell anything from looking at a person's nail polish collection? Turquoises, of all other colours, make up the biggest proportion of my collection. Although I thought L'Oreal Club Prive might be too similar to Essie's Turquoise & Caicos to justify buying it, the allure of that gold-capped bottle won me over in the end.

Even the bottles are similar...

Happily, the difference between the two is much clearer when compared side-by-side, as Club Prive leans much more blue. Still, how would it match up to one of my most-loved turquoises?

As it turns out, pretty damn well. Club Prive has that "watery" quality I love about Turquoise & Caicos that makes it so perfect for spring. Shade-wise, it's right in between Turquoise & Caicos and China Glaze's For Audrey, two very popular polishes. In fact, it's probably usurped Turquoise & Caicos' place as my favourite turquoise.

Club Prive went perfectly with some heart-shaped nail art bits I picked up in a set from Daiso recently. At first, I applied the pieces on top of just dabs of Seche Vite before sealing the entire nail with top coat, but I lost all but one after a day of wear. I turned to sticking them on with nail glue (bad idea), which held on really well, but was incredibly stubborn and annoying to remove even with acetone.

What colour dominates your polish stash? And (against my better judgment) what is your favourite turquoise polish?

Swatches: Annabelle TwistUp Lipstick Crayons

Seems like my current obsession for crayon-like lip products like Revlon's Balm Stain goes deeper than I thought, because I was instantly drawn to the display of Annabelle TwistUp Lipstick Crayons at Shoppers. They have a lot more than shape in common, as both allow you to twist the bottom to push up more product,(rather than having to dig out your sharpener) and seem very moisturizing. I wouldn't be surprised if there are very close dupes between the two shade-wise as well.

Absolute, Bubble, Divine, Mai Tai, Mimosa, Tease

Kiss, Fizz, Kinky Pink, Breeze, Royale

TwistUps are available in 12 shades in total (I'm missing dark pink Flirtini) that seem fairly pigmented and glided on my arm very smooth and creamy, most likely with the help of shea butter in the formula. Tease and Fizz are the only two that are frosty.

Although I have more than enough lip products to last me for years, it's hard to resist the combination of colour and hydration that these crayons offer. I will probably end up buying a shade or two and compare against the Revlon Kissable Balm Stains, of course in the name of science. All for science, honest.

Speaking of swatches, I should really finish my swatches of the Revlon Super Lustrous Lipsticks...

Nails Inc Baker Street

I really loved this colour when I spied it on Liz's toes. I've seen Nails Inc around at Sephora but nothing quite caught my eye like this medium blue. I snagged it during a US trip so it was a bit cheaper ($9.50 USD to $11.50 CAD), but I wouldn't mind paying the inflated Canadian price for this stunner if I had to. The cobalt blue of Baker Street is surprisingly bright (brighter than my camera could capture) but also rich, making it a fantastic polish for fall, especially if you're not ready to start wearing moodier hues yet. It really popped against my skin tone and I received tons of compliments from strangers and friends alike. I'm rather pleased about picking up this shade, since it's very unique to my collection of blue polishes so far.

I kinda dig that Nails Inc's polish shade names seem to be inspired by streets and other locations in London, such as The Thames (a pretty dark grey, by the way). Baker Street is a real street in London, most famous for being the address of Sherlock Holmes and Watson. Much cooler than awkward puns for polish names, right?