Studio M Fall 2010

As promised when I showed you the display, today I have swatches of all the polishes in the Studio M fall collection for this year. Since this brand, formerly called Massini, is available only in Meijer stores, these aren't the easiest polishes to get if one doesn't live in one of the five U.S. states where Meijer has stores. (There is always swapping, though.) Unlike last year's fall collection, when all the colors were called "Fall Promo Shade", these have names. Because they are nail polish, some of the names are puzzling, but that's better than having no names at all.

First up, the two lightest shades in the group, both neutrals. There's a medium-toned cool grey creme called Not So Subtle (which maybe they meant to name Not So Subtle—Not!, because come on, it's a grey creme, no shimmer, no texture, just grey; if that's not subtle, I'm not sure what is), and a taupe creme which says Sophisticated Lad on the label (as I mentioned in the display entry, I assume they meant Sophisticated Lady and that just wouldn't fit in the space available, but maybe they're trying to subtly appeal to the male crowd, or maybe they want to reward me for buying so much of their polish by amusing me). I used three coats of both of these.





Next, there are three medium-toned cremes. Reddy for Action is a cinnamon color, not really red at all. Plum Perfection is a red violet. Get the Blues is a slightly green leaning blue. I used three coats of Reddy for Action and Plum Perfection and two coats of Get the Blues, but I probably could have gotten by just fine with two coats of all of these.







Finally, the four darks: Lost in the Forrest (yes, with two Rs), a deep green creme, Hearts on Fire, a deep red and the only shimmer in the collection, Wicked Hot, a very dark plum creme the likes of which I think I've seen quite enough of for a while, and Decidedly Devious, a blue-based black creme. I used two coats of all of these.









There's nothing screamingly unique in this collection. I bet I could find dupes for all of them in my Helmers (and I might try just to see if I'm right), but I think that's fine. If a person can't afford or just doesn't want to pay for salon brands, these Studio M polishes at $2.99 can give the look for less. I can think of Essie and OPI and Orly colors that are very close to a lot of these. As I mentioned in an earlier entry, these are made (or I guess I should say, I believe these are made but I have no proof that would stand up in court) by the same parent company that makes Color Club, so no doubt many of these have Color Club dupes as well. I don't trip across Color Club in my normal shopping rounds the way I do other brands, so I don't have that many of them. If you have any guesses about which Color Clubs match up to these, let me know in the comments. Studio M does have some colors that are all their own, the most well known of these being the loveably lumpy but oh so blingy holo glitters Slamming Red and Purple Medallion, but we'll have to look at those some other time. Is your favorite autumn shade in this collection?