Thursday, July 14, 2011

Mojaves and friends

Everytime I realise I have friends, I feel surprised. I'm one of those who constantly believe people don't like me or find me interesting enough. Then, some token of appreciation, or even love, and I'm in awe. How could this happen? Well, more often than one could believe, I become aware that I do have friends. Like Saša, the most darling Slovenian I know - we all know her by the name nihrida. I came home yesterday to this:

A package full of goodies! I was so touched, I was literally ooh-ing and aah-ing, and then some awwws to complete the image of a smiling Feline, ripping off bubble wrap - after reading the letter, of course. This was on the back of the note:

I wish I was this pretty! No one have ever flattered my looks like that before.

As if this wasn't enough, the other day I collected a huge, huge package from the post office. This is what was in it:

A better overview:

Can you believe these massive amounts of polish?! Sent from overseas. All the OPIs you see in this photo are old black label ones. But one is missing... [suspense]

The weirdest (and sweetest) thing happened a while ago. I got an email from a very friendly person. "I have some old black label OPIs that I'm not going to use anymore, do you want them?" I was in awe. Sure, I was interested, and asked what she would like in return. "Nothing." I could not believe that. But I'm also ashamed to ever be greedy, so we arranged a swap - I would never feel comfortable accepting so many polishes as a gift from anyone who spent their own hard earned money on them! Anyway, since then I have had the pleasure to exchange many nice and fun emails with Carissa - that is the name of this darling person.

So, yesterday while I was out for a bunch of hours, I was still thinking of which one to try out first. You know, sometimes when you receive so many new lacquers at once, it's just impossible to pick. Though, there was this one that was going through my mind as I walked past the train station in the afternoon, and I decided, that's the one.

Of course, I came home to Saša's package and then got in some more quandaries, but ultimately decided that I'd do one new polish on my finger nails, and pick another one for a new pedi that I desperately needed.

First, this is the one that lingered in my memory while I was pondering my decisions.




OPI Mojave Mystic Mauve, from the 1998 Painted Desert collection. Are you now in shock, dear readers? I chose an almost nude! Though, you should know, that as usual my photos do not do this polish justice. The shimmer is pale purple, and my camera have a hard time picking those hues up, but you can hint it in the sunny photo. This is three coats, and it is till a little uneven, but since this is close to a nude color, it really doesn't show. Since this is a black label OPI, the application was otherwise flawless and drying time was good.

I know that the Mojave desert is the one mostly in Nevada (and surrounding states), but I was curious and had to learn a thing or two about the Mojave tribe that it is named after. From what I understand, there are much less than 1000 individuals of the Mojave tribe alive today. I found that a little, tiny bit disturbing. It's like a people, a culture, is about to be extinct. Yes, history moves forward and backwards in an endless flood, but still.

Mojave woman and child, 1908.

Anyway, I thought, since this is a long time gone polish that shows up only occationally on the bay of all evil, I'd give you a quick reference comparison. The base reminded me of one color, the overall idea of another. And here they are:

OPI Tickle My France-y, OPI Mojave Mystic Mauve, Essie Demure Vixen.

No dupes here, as you can tell, but this will give you some idea of what the color is like (magnify the photo to avoid jpg pixel ugliness). Unfortunately, my camera snatches a lot of the purple hues away, but imagine that particular color with a light purple flash. It also takes away some of the tan of the base color. In fact, at one coat only (when it's still sheer) Mojave Mystic Mauve is a great mannequin color for the summerish suntanned alizarine.

I also mentioned that I'd pick one new color for a pedi. Stop scrolling if you hate feet, but this photo is not scary, promise! I needed something fun, so I immediately picked out Chuck from Essence, that Saša sent me. Isn't it gorgeous? You just can't beat a good creme.


Swedish word of the day:
ursprungsbefolkning -noun indigenous people
So many make me curious.

14 comments:

  1. Happy for you, lass! :o) And green with envy for OPI's Mojave!!!!!!!!! :o)))))

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  2. Wow, you have wonderful friends:) Mojave Mystic Mauve looks great on you! And I'm one of these persons, too;) I think constantly that I'm boring and have nothing interesting to say and I'm surprised if people do like me;) So you are not the only persons with this thoughts.

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  3. Wow! That's a BUNCH of polishes!
    Love Chuck! I'm a really big fan of blue polishes!

    ;***

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  4. You do have friends and we love you because you are far more interesting and wonderful than you give yourself credit for.
    The drawing our dear Sasa drew of you is almost as beautiful as you truly are!

    What lovely packages! I think mine might pale in comparison since I got busted sending polish overseas and cannot afford another of those fines. I love you, smooches!

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  5. Holy moly is that ever a package! Really like that Tickle My France-y one too, great subtle colors...

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  6. Vilka paket, förstår att du blev himla glad! Så härligt med små kärleksförklaringar :)

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  7. GREAT package week! That nude is great too. I think I would even wear it!

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  8. This post made me happy for some reason :) I usually think that either people really like me and think I'm funny or they really dislike me and think I'm annoying, and nothing in between. Haha.

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  9. You are truly easy to love and I hope you know I do. <3

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  10. Wow, vilket inlägg! Och vad många härligt lack, spännande!

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  11. There are tons of American Indians in the Southwest, a lot of them just don't live on the reservation. They are just normal members of society. I have several friends who are Indian, but their fathers (the Indian part of them) aren't in the picture and never were. The American Indian people are not going extinct. Just wanted to let you know so you weren't so upset about it.

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  12. ahhh so many polishes :)) I know how you feel, I got a package like this from a friend living in the US, when she came home to visit her parents. There are quite a few colors and brands that I can't get in Germany (and are also not sold online or just not sent outside the US) and so I was very happy when Evelyn brought them along with her, in her suitcase :))

    I also couldn't decide which one to try out first :-))
    Right now I'm doing an Excel spreadsheet with all my polishes, I have 500-700 and I will find out, how many exactly *gg*

    Do you like the brand Essence? I've tried three of their polishes, I think, but they chipped very soon on my fingers :-( Maybe if I use a sticky basecoat ... hm.

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  13. So amazing! What a haul, but what gifts! So many of the old black labels are so much fun. My shade collection of OPI goes back to the mid 90's. I tossed others, but kept most of my OPI but for some really creepy colors I hated. Now that the web is wild over polish and I see the prices for some of these once used old shades I have, I never seem to want to part with anything out of my collection. Like Caitlyn, I am also doing (finally) an Excel spreadsheet with all my polishes. I am almost scared to find out the total # I have.

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  14. I always feel like I'm uninteresting to other people as well. :S

    I want to see that Rimmel 60 Second polish on the bottom left of the 4th photo! I feel like I know which one it is, but I can't remember.

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