I’ve been posting a lot of brand shiny new things lately (and with more on the way!), so I think today will instead be vintage madness day! Note that this will not be a frequent occasion, and possibly will never be repeated; I don’t have that many vintage polishes, and this is by far the most entertaining one, or at least the oldest. I do have a few other older Urban Decay polishes, but not quite this old.
Urban Decay Mildew. This is circa their very early days, when they were selling at Hot Topic — which is where I got this after reading about the brand in some goth magazine or another. Propaganda, maybe? — and still used brown paperboard for their boxes and brushed aluminum for their tubes. Yeah, I have a couple of vintage lipsticks, too. Scary!
It took probably the equivalent of a full dropper of polish thinner to actually render this usable, and in the couple of days since, it’s gone right back to gooey again. That’s okay, I still have more thinner. :) Mildew is a vaguely metallic, yellow-toned green, more reminiscent of moss or mold than mildew. It’s hard to say whether the high tendency to show brushstrokes is a result of the formula or just the age. This polish is probably around fifteen years old. This is two coats of polish and a quick-dry topcoat. Incidentally, Mildew smells awful. It’s been stinking up my polish boxes for months.
The accent nail is Daring Digits Why So Serious, and I’m sure, if you are familiar with The Joker, you can accurately derive the inspiration. It’s a somewhat thick purple polish with variously sized green glitter and the odd red sparkle. It covered evenly in two coats.
I enjoyed wearing this bizarre blast from the past. The day after I put it on, I went to see Dark Knight Rises, and giggled quietly at myself. It’s interesting; the bottle is about half-empty, so clearly I must have used it somewhat (though I understand evaporation happens and all that), but I don’t actually remember ever wearing this when I was younger. I must have, and yet.
Here you can somewhat see the mini-bottle of Why So Serious. I should consider actually planning superhero/villain-themed manicures, rather than stumbling into them with the grace of a bison. Considering that I’ve worked on and off in comic shops for almost as long as I’ve had this polish (since 1999!), it would seem to be a theme I’d feel comfortable with.
Oh, man. I’ve just had a brilliant idea for Aquaman nails. I’ll keep that one on the burner for later. Heh.
Daring Digits has an etsy shop where you can buy Why So Serious and other variously geekly and non-geekly polishes. As for the ancient Urban Decay — perhaps try ebay? Or elder goths of your acquaintance? A time machine? Good luck! :D
Vanitas Rex 