Saturday, August 21, 2010

NOTD: Maybelline Banana Puddin': Pretty, but a PITA

I have a complicated relationship with yellow nail polish. I like how it looks like on others, but I've been too scared to actually try it out on myself. So everytime I consider picking yellow as a mani colour, my brain goes through this thought process: Wear yellow - Don't wear yellow - Wear yellow - Don't wear yellow - etc ad infinitum. Yeah as you can tell, I'm a deep thinker. :P

I decided to finally suck up the courage to actually try out a yellow, because I figured if I hated it on me, I need never look back, and I can finally stop vacillating over whether I should wear yellow or not. So I picked out a pastel yellow that didn't have too many warm tones in it - I figure it would ease me into the yellow shock I might have. And after scouring around, I found Maybelline Banana Puddin'.

Here is Banana Puddin' on me, taken outdoors in natural light. I actually think it's as pretty as pastel yellow can get, although it's definitely not everyone's cup of tea (I'm still trying to decide if it's mine or not):

Maybelline Banana Puddin

Banana Puddin' is a colour that has long been discontinued (thanks, Maybelline), and apparently it's a HTF (hard to find) colour, and a pretty coveted one at that. Apparently it's desirability stems from the fact that it's a wearable yellow for cooler skintones. Warmer yellows can often make cooler skintones appear very ruddy and red, giving a "lobster hands" effect, but unfortunately most yellows are warm, so a cool yellow is hard to find.

I do think Banana Puddin' is wearable enough for cooler skintones. Of course it's still not going to be a colour everyone will like, but if you are going to wear yellow, this is probably one of the more wearable ones around. It's also a soft pastel yellow, as opposed to neon highlighter yellow, so it doesn't draw too much attention to itself. It's a good start if you're going to be trying yellow for the first time.

Maybelline Banana Puddin

Here it is in indoor lights. You can see it's more yellow indoors.

While it's a pretty yellow, it was a total PITA to apply. Yellows in general do tend to be hard to apply though, so it was no surprise to me. Still, it's a pain when you're doing your mani, because it was sheer and streaky. These pictures show 4 coats. Yes, FOUR FREAKING COATS. If you are skilled and apply thicker coats that are even, you might get away with three, but I suspect most people are going to use four. I dinged my mani so many times while waiting for it to dry, because four not-that-thin coats is obviously going to dry slowly.

Unfortunately, my attempt to finally decide whether I liked yellow or not wasn't very successful, as even after trying Banana Puddin', I still feel ambivalent about yellow. I don't know how I feel about it, and the lousy application isn't helping. What do you think? Would you wear yellow?

17 comments:

  1. woow is total, I love it. I think I will buy more nail polish, jajj
    a kiss

    www.madame-galiash.blogspot.com

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  2. Oooh I've never tried a yellow polish before. Like you I'm a bit scared of them...but that one looks great on you! Really subtle and pretty, shame it's been discontinued though. Xxx

    Eye to The Keyhole

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  3. Wow what a lovely colour!! I think I am one of the lucky ones to get away with bright yellow polish (which I am wearing right now!) but this colour is so pastelly its a shame its not sold any more, might look out for similar ones though!

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  4. i like the yellow.. i need a pastel yellow.. pastels are a pain though... messy, and usually 4 coats.. sometimes i put white as a base.. so the color will pop more...

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  5. Have you tried Orly Lemonade? Soft, almost neutral yellow, with a not so bad formula. I get a very nice finish in three fairly easy coats. Top coat (I use Seche) makes it even smoother and helps it to dry faster.

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  6. Pretty color!

    I am hosting a giveaway on my blog with a chance to win a $40 gift certificate. Go to:
    http://glam-me-upxo.blogspot.com/2010/08/csn-stores-giveaway.html
    if you want to check it out!
    Thanks,
    Gena

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  7. I love the name! Sounds like you should be eating it, instead of painting with it. It is a nice yellow for cooler skin tones and looks good on you too.

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  8. Mmmm pudding.

    Love this colour, looks great on you!
    I do like wearing yellow but not often because like you pointed out, it is such a PITA to apply.

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  9. even if it was a PITA i would buy it if i see it... at Dollar Tree!

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  10. lovely shade but i dont think this is for me: 4 coats to apply: it's way too much, what a shame :( xx

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  11. looks lovely on your hands, but personally yellow is one of those no-no colors for me in makeup. I'd never use yellow nail paint or eyeshadow.

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  12. If its a pita, then it take all the fun out of buying, applying and wearing color, too bad :(

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  13. Actually, I am super surprised but you can totally pull it off. Normally I am terrified of yellow too, or any color for that matter, but it actually looks really good on you!

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  14. I never thought yellow will looks really cute like thise on nails >.< shd give it a try <3

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  15. I have this and haven't worn it yet. It's so pretty, it's worth the application issues. Kinda.

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  16. Love it! :)
    Pale yellow matches my skintone pretty well, gotta try this out!

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