Sally Hansen and Rodarte - Stocking Nude

Today I've got another of the new Sally Hansen Designer Collection shades, one of the first three from Rodarte.  Their runway nail look was nude nails with metallic edges and their contribution to the collection stuck to that theme.  I was shocked by how Gold Roses looks in person.  It looks rich and coppery in the promo shot, but it's a very pink-toned rose gold in person.  Platinum Star is pretty enough, but I have so many silvers and it didn't seem like a standout.  There's also a mystery metallic in the collection, Goldie Frocks, which I didn't get either.  It seemed far too yellow.  So of the 3 (4?) Rodarte shades, I only wound up with Stocking Nude.  Nudes are always a minefield, but it looked like it had potential for me.  I had some stamping fun with it too, which is down past the swatch photos.


Stocking Nude is a pale, neutral nude cream.

I have mixed feelings about Stocking Nude.  It's definitely not my perfect nude (that would be Revlon Trade Winds) but it has a lot going for it.  At two coats, it's more opaque than many other nudes I've tried.  Its formula is also a lot thicker than the typical nude, and it tried to bubble on me.  I think I'm just having an off week(-ish) because lots of things have bubbled lately.  The neutral color also makes it pretty versatile.  Most other nudes are clearly either warm or cool, limiting the range of skin tones they'll flatter.  While Stocking Nude never looks *just right* on me, it never looks as garish as a nude that's flat-out wrong for me would.  In some lighting it even borders on dusty rose/taupe.

Speaking of lighting, I got a daylight lamp!  It was just $10 at Big Lots!  Yaaaaay!  It is so much better than incandescent that it's not even funny.  I'm still fiddling around and adjusting to it, but I think I'll get a ton of mileage out of it.  Here's one of my 'practice' shots.  What do you think?

I'm calling that practice for a reason...I need to keep trying!  I think I can do better.  Something about this highlights my Raynaud's.  Still, better than any other bulb I've tried.


I'm on a stamping kick lately, but it's held in check by my job's dress code and a bunch of glitters I'm working on swatching.  I still had three stamped accent nail manis to show off last week and I did another that would probably have been deemed acceptable at work...if anyone had even noticed.  Men.  I'm not gonna complain, not for a second.  I'll be doing something a bit daring next month (though mentioning it on the blog will probably doom it), so I hope they keep right on not noticing my nails.  Anyway...the MakeupAlley Nail Board has been doing theme weeks recently and last week was Flowers.  I was pressed for time and it had to be subtle for work, so I did neutral-on-neutral stamping with Sephora By OPI Under My Trench Coat over Stocking Nude which I was already wearing.

blue tinged cuticles courtesy of New Wave Blue *grumble*

I used the Cheeky Happy Nails plate, what else?  ...I really need to get more damn plates already!  I wasn't too sure how I felt about the result.  It's very....underpants.  Bra maybe.  Underthings of some type, for sure. I also thought the shimmer in Under My Trench Coat would show more than it did.  It's barely there in photos at all, but it was a bit more noticeable in person.

The shade names coordinate amusingly well, even if that's not why I picked them.  I got a kick out of this mani on a couple of levels, even if I didn't outright love it.  Stocking Nude might not be the perfect nude for me, but it's as good for nail art as the runway manicures suggested.

I mattified it before taking it off and...I wished I'd done it sooner!

I love it!  I'm gonna have to do this again sometime.

Bottom line: Very wearable nude even if it's not exactly matchy-matchy for my skin.  It's got a good formula and flatteringly neutral undertones.  There's no such thing as a universally flattering nude, since we're all so different, but I could see this looking good on a lot of people.  If you're dark or olive I'd avoid it, but fair and medium (warm or cool) should find it flattering.  I hope Nichole is tempted and buys it, because I'd love to see how it does on her.


I had something I was gonna write about down here, but I had to set the draft aside and that was like 10 hours ago.  It has completely slipped my mind.  Derp.  Oh well...Prabal Gurung shades tomorrow!  I also wound up getting Perfectly Poppy yesterday, so I'll be adding that to the Tracy Reese post soon. 'Til then!