Tag: beauty

“It’s Alive!” – Reviving Rose Baby by Chanel

Katie JonesLeave a comment

We all thought it couldn’t be done… but I have successfully brought Rose Baby (64) back to life.

You have to understand, this polish assumed mythical status when I found it amongst my mom’s beauty items back in middle school. Chanel polish? So fancy!

Unfortunately, we had a problem. Rose Baby was stuck closed… and I mean stuck. No matter how we twisted and pried and prayed it would not open. You can still see the scars from the tools we used in our attempts.

I was stuck looking at the polish trapped inside the bottle like a child looking in the window at a pet store. I held on to Rose Baby in the hopes that one day I’d get it open and be able to use it.

Fast forward to over ten years later… and today was the day.

I’d just opened up my new vortex mixer from Amazon and went in to my polish boxes to find those in need of some TLC. With my OPI polish thinner, nail polish remover, and vortex mixer at the ready I went to work. Mermaid in the Shade got a good refresh and so did Pink Diamond by Essie. Now both wearable again at long last!

Then, I saw it. Rose Baby. I figured I might as well try.

Out came the slip joint pliers from my college toolbox and all of my willpower. As I got to work, I soon started to hear the distinctive cracks of dried polish breaking. It took a while and some wiggling (I like to think my baby muscles from pilates helped), but I got it open!

As you can see, the neck of the bottle was CAKED in dried polish. That explains it. (Looks like my mom didn’t put the bottle away nicely that last time she used it over 20 years ago!)

It needed emergency care to say the least. I carefully removed the brush, getting as much of the gloopy polish to stay in the bottle as I could, and started to clean.

I used nail polish remover to gently wipe up as much dried polish as I could, and then used a mechanical pencil to pick away the more stuck on bits. Thankfully, it worked just fine.

Next step was to revive the viscous polish and hopefully get it wearable again. This was the easy part, but I was nervous nonetheless. I worked in some drops of thinner bit by bit with the vortex mixer and 15-20 drops of thinner later it came back to life.

Borrowed the top cap from another polish so you can get the full effect : )

This 2001 polish was well loved, and now I hope I can get a few more wears out of it over the next 24 years. I’ll save my first manicure with Rose Baby for a special occasion, but you can take a look at the swatch I made (along with my other Chanel polishes) below… can you tell I bought Frisson to fill the Rose Baby shaped hole in my heart?

Want a Rose Baby polish of your own? That’ll set you back $50+ on eBay – I’m glad I got this bottle open!

Thanks for following along,

Katie

NOTD: River Styx (Mooncat)

Katie Jones3 Comments

Before I get to the swatches, allow me to wax poetic for a bit.

I miss going to Sephora in the late 2000s…

Sure, it’s still fun, but there was something magical about going there as a preteen. Laughing at the scandalous Too Faced eyeshadow names, smelling perfumes and dousing yourself with your favorite, and checking out the latest nail polish collection.

The Sephora by OPI line was a collaboration between the two companies that came to an end in 2013. Information online is a bit scarce, but I have fond memories of seeing the polishes in store and picking up a few.

right image from Orange County Register / left image from Women’s Wear Daily

My far and away favorite polish from Sephora by OPI, which (as far as I’ve been able to discern) landed in stores for the Summer 2009 release, is Mermaid to Order. In fact, one of my eyeshadow mainstays at the time was an Urban Decay shade that basically matched… middle school was quite an interesting time in my makeup journey. I still own this polish but it’s a bit gloopy and in need of some TLC at the moment.

All of this to say… I grabbed a few polishes while Mooncat was running their Lunar Sale a few weeks ago and the second I saw River Styx I knew I had to get it. While it’s not an exact dupe, it has the spirit of Mermaid to Order, and in the shade they’re nearly twins!

Here’s a closer look…

Mooncat does special effect polish really well and I love the handful of colors I have from them. I also picked up their Getting Even Nail Primer and it’s worked beautifully so far (this is a two-day old mani!).

River Styx is a glowing turquoise that has already gotten a few compliments out in the wild! It’s going to be a great summer color for my collection.

When the Sephora by OPI Collection was being discontinued and the remaining polishes were on mega-sale I snagged a few more. I vividly remember being on my laptop at 2am, watching Skins and ordering Sephora by OPI polishes – isn’t it funny the things you commit to memory? Maybe I’ll swatch those polishes someday…

Until next time,

Katie