You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘taupe’ tag.
This was a NOTD I wore earlier this week. I always manage to have a taupe to try in March. China Glaze Foie Gras (The Hunger Games Capitol Colors) is a deep, brown-purple taupe creme:
Picture taken in natural light. (I wish I had had sun for this photo, because this is definitely one of my favorite taupes!) This applied well and was very pigmented; I got full coverage in two smooth coats. Whether they’re brown or grey leaning, I’m partial to the darker taupes, and this is one of them. This shade is brown-leaning, with some purple tones, but still has a good balance of grey that keeps it in the taupe family. When a polish is named after foie gras, I can’t help but make the association, and make myself totally hungry. I love foie gras. 
This doesn’t match the color of the real thing, but I like this polish shade much better anyway. I paired it with OPI Meet Me on the Star Ferry on my toes.
<3sarah
On this last day of November, I figured I’d get one more “earth tone” in before I get started on the barrage of holiday colors. OPI The World is Not Enough (Skyfall Collection, Holiday 2012) is a cool taupe microglitter mixed with champagne and pink:
Picture taken in weak sunlight. This applied well, but the slight sheerness required me to do three coats for full coverage. I wish there had been stronger sunlight to bring out the secondary microglitter colors more! The sprinkling of pink is especially pretty. Personally I prefer the cool-leaning taupes, and this one is a very cool-toned, smoky shade, so much so that I feel like it could look almost gunmetal if not for the warmth added by the champagne microglitter. Because of all that fine, densely packed microglitter, it sparkles so much, and very delicately, as with On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. While this could be classified as a neutral, it’s far from boring! I paired it with China Glaze Swing Baby on my toes.
<3sarah
I’d like to split this month between dark, vampy colors and postseason blues and greys. Since the MLB regular season isn’t quite over yet, I’m kicking off October with Chanel Vertigo (Les Essentiels de Chanel, Fall 2012), a smoky, dark grey-brown with a subtle bronzey red shimmer:
Picture taken in sunlight. This applied very smoothly and was well-pigmented; I needed two coats for full coverage. Though technically this is a shimmer, it’s very, very subtle, so slight that it’s not even that obvious in bright light. The finish looks so pretty when the sun hits it and lights up that shimmer, but most of the time it will look like a creme. Not that I mind too much, because the base color is gorgeous. It’s such an interesting shade that’s hard to describe or pinpoint. If I wanted to define it in simple terms, I’d call it a taupe, because of the blend of grey and brown tones. However, it’s not quite like any taupe I have in my collection. I love just how dark and smoky it is; it gives a vampy vibe to a color I wouldn’t normally consider vampy. There’s something about this that says “Old Hollywood” to me; maybe I’m being influenced by the name. I paired this with Essie Rock Star Skinny on my toes.
<3sarah
Keeping with the neutral/dusty pre-spring kick I’m currently on, I definitely had to include a taupe. China Glaze Below Deck (Anchors Away, Spring 2011) is a medium, purple-toned taupe creme:
Picture taken in sunlight. This applied well and was pretty pigmented; I only needed two coats for full coverage. This is a great shade of taupe; I like its tone and depth. Even though it’s part of a spring collection, it’s not too light (I prefer the darker taupes ’cause I find them more flattering.) I also tend to favor the more purple or grey-toned taupes over the ones that lean brown. It’s not like I was lacking taupe cremes in my collection, but I was particularly interested in this one for its supposed resemblance to Channelesque. That polish came around before I really got into doing my own nails, so I’m happy to have this close match. I paired this with Essie Angora Cardi on my toes.
<3sarah
I’m wearing yet another taupe/brown polish, but this time with a unique twist. Rescue Beauty Lounge Decorous (Iconic/Ironic, Spring 2011) is a cocoa-taupe with pink and green shimmer:
Picture taken in sunlight. This applied very well; I got complete, opaque coverage in two effortless coats. I wasn’t sure whether to class this as brown or taupe, because it kind of looks like both at the same time. The color matches the name perfectly; it does look very proper and work-friendly. But this polish is far from boring; I love the addition of the subtle pink and green shimmer. Even though it’s subtle, you can definitely tell it’s there in the light. It’s not incredibly flashy, still keeping it “work appropriate,” but it’s a very pretty nuance. I paired this with OPI Shim-merry Chic on my toes.
<3sarah
I didn’t get this in time to try this last year, but better late than never. China Glaze Ingrid (Vintage Vixen, Fall 2010) is a dark taupe with golden shimmer:
Picture taken in sunlight. (I actually think the light has washed out the color; it actually looks deeper than the photo depicts.) The formula was rich and pigmented, and went on smoothly in two coats. I just adore these darker taupe shades; they provide a great base for shimmers/microglitters. The golden shimmer in this one is very delicate, but it’s all over; it lights the whole look up! It really comes alive and looks so pretty in the sun. I paired this with China Glaze Swing Baby on my toes.
<3sarah
I have several yet-untried taupes to take care of this month, but I think this is the only creme. Illamasqua Stagnate (Toxic Nature, Spring 2011) is a reddish-brown medium taupe creme:
Picture taken in natural light. This applied well in two coats, but it definitely didn’t have the very richly pigmented, buttery smooth formula typical of Illamasqua polishes. For that I’m a little disappointed by it, but only because I judged it against its own brand’s high standards. As far as the shade of taupe goes, it was quite unexpected. For some reason I thought this would be a greyish taupe, but on the nail it looked more brown. I still think it’s a middling, neutral shade of taupe, but I guess it leans more towards the brown side than the grey. When I looked at it closer in the light, I saw that it was slightly red-toned. Nothing terribly exciting but it does look good. I paired this with MAC Cool Reserve on my toes.
<3sarah
I haven’t worn taupe in a while, so I thought now would be a great time to get back into it. Essie Mochacino (Retail Exclusive) is a greyed taupe with silver microglitter:
Picture taken in sunlight. It applied fine but disappointingly, the formula was a little sheer so I had to do a lot of touching up between two coats. (I probably ended up doing what amounted to to three normal coats.) For something with “mocha” in the name I thought I would get something a little browner but I’m not complaining; I like its greyed-ness. I have many taupes in a variety of shades in my collection, but what drew me to this one was the microglitter. It sets this apart from the majority of my others, which are cremes. The finish has that dense, tiny flaky sugar sparkle thing going on, very pretty indeed. I paired this with Barielle Putt-E On Me on my toes.
<3sarah
This is my last taupe of the month (and probably for a while. I’m kinda tauped out!) MAC Style Clan (A Tartan Tale, Holiday 2010) is a dark taupe with copper microglitter:
Picture taken in natural light. (Well, weak sunlight. I wish I could’ve captured the sparkle more clearly, but you can see what it looks like in the bottle. I had to choose natural light ’cause the pictures I took under artificial light were not color-accurate at all.) This applied well in two coats. I love this kind of finish; out of the light there’s just a hint of sparkle, but it’s brought out even more in the light, with a sort of trapped under the surface effect. Since the base is more creme-like than jelly-like, the microglitter just adds a nice depth to the finish (instead of looking more glass-fleck like). And there’s just something about dark taupes that I really like, probably because they’re less common. This one looks super rich, too. I paired this with Wet n Wild Rustic (Craze) on my toes.
<3sarah
I was in the mood for a taupe, but instead of reaching for a creme, I picked something with a more unique twist. MAC Earthly Harmony (Jin Soon For MAC Nail Trend, Fall/Winter 2010) is a beige-taupe with bronze microglitter:
Picture taken in natural light. This applied well in two coats. The microglitter is subtle but definitely noticeable; it adds depth to the polish. I love this shade of taupe; it’s more on the greige side. The color reminds me of a trenchcoat (and no, it’s not a dupe of Sephora by OPI Under My Trench Coat.) I paired this with OPI Charmed by a Snake on my toes.
<3sarah
