The Time Has Come...

I have been contemplating writing this post for a while now, and I can't put it off any longer. I have been blogging for a long time, si...

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Zoya - Jem & Yara

Hi folks! Today I have two polishes from the Zoya Fall 2011 collection Smoke and Mirrors.

Jem is a dark red-toned purple with metallic dark pink shimmer and some subtle gold bits. This color is phenomenal. I put this akin to Valerie from last year's holiday collection, which I loved but for some reason didn't look great on me. This one hits the nail on the head. It GLOWS and BURNS and is just fricken' fabulous. This is three coats.

Yara is a really dope color, medium olive green with fabulous yellow gold flakey speckles. It makes me think of a dinosaur egg! (P.S. is it just me or is Zoya reaching these days for names? no offense to anyone out there named Yara ;) haha.) I love the smokey yet bright quality of this polish. This is two coats. It's not particularly shiny so a topcoat would bring out more glam for this one.

I will be reviewing the rest of the Smoke and Mirrors collection soon so keep your eyes peeled loves ♥

Products provided for review.

Monday, September 12, 2011

BB Couture Swatches

Here are a few more BB Couture nail polish swatches for ya :) I might've shown one or two of these before but these are better swatches.

Erotic Night is a deep wine red jelly with hidden shimmer. This is three coats. It had some dragging due to the watery formula but ended up looking rather sexy and vampy so I will forgive it.

Pocahontas is a pale malt chocolate brown with white/silver glitter flakes and sparse black glitter. This one has grown on me a lot, I love it. The glitter combo reminds me of salt and pepper. Two coats.

Juliet is a muted medium rosey pink with really subtle shimmer and sparse black glitter. This is two coats. I know a few folks who don't care for this one but I really like it.

Eve is one of my favorite BB Coutures of all time. It's a swampy uber dark olive green that flashes metallic brown and has tons of green and gold glitter. Really unique and fantastic! Three coats.

Hope you enjoyed these! Have a great week, everyone :)

Some of the products shown were provided for review.

Urban Decay 15th Anniversary Palette: Swatches & Review

I don't usually do makeup reviews, but this one is pretty special so I decided to share it with you all. The Urban Decay folks came out with a limited edition palette for their 15th Anniversary including 15 brand new, never before seen eyeshadows. I am a sucker for packaging and this one is probably the cutest palette I've ever seen from UD which is saying something, as their packaging is out of this world all the time.
The palette rests in a velvet box for safe keeping, and itself is housed by a mirrored lid with cut out filigree designs on the sides. The UD on the front has a jewel-like appearance which I thought was gorgeous. The mirrored front collects fingerprints and dust like a magnet, but it also has a mirror inside the lid which is really useful because it's so large.

I mainly bought this palette because all the shadows are new and UD re-uses shadows to death so I was excited to see these. I've used a shadow from this palette almost every day since I bought it!

First column, pictured above: Midnight Rodeo is a copper taupe with silver glitter pieces (the fallout from this one is not as bad as Midnight Cowboy but just barely). Midnight 15 is a silvery pearl taupe, gorgeous. Vanilla is a nice yellowy white gold that is a fabulous highlight color. Flow is a nice light pearly peach. Chase is a vivid bronze that is really gorgeous and soft.

2nd column, pictured above: Tainted is a barely shimmery lavender pink. Junkshow is a magenta pink with a slight blue flash, really beautiful though I doubt I'll be wearing this one much. Omen is a medium lavender shade with a blue flash, gorgeous. Evidence is a metallic navy shade with a bit of that electric blue flash. Deep End is a peacock teal with the most pigmentation I've ever seen on a shadow!

3rd column, pictured above: Deeper is probably my favorite shade from the entire palette, a neutral with POW, a golden brown bronze. MIA is a gorgeous medium brown with awesome pigmentation. Ace is a gunmetal shade that leans a bit brown on me, which I adore--this is one of the standouts from this palette for sure. Blackout is a standard matte black, but the pigmentation on this one is lacking and it applies patchy. Half Truth is a shimmery purple with a greyed out finish.

I am happy to own this palette, it houses a fantastic range of shades and they all work really well together. They blend easily and with the exception of Blackout, have remarkable pigmentation. I got this at Sephora for $55. You should still be able to find it online and in select stores. I promise if I do more makeup reviews in the future to get better at color swatches haha ;)

Sunday, September 11, 2011

OPI Miss Universe collection: Swatches & Review

OPI came out with four nail polishes in anticipation of the MISS UNIVERSE® pageant that is being held tomorrow September 12 in Brazil. I can't think of a better pairing than these two brands, they're both all about showcasing beauty ;)

Congeniality is my Middle Name is a dark berry shimmer with microglitter (that really translates as straight shimmer) in purple and magenta. This is darker indoors, but outside in the sun it really glimmers. Two coats.

Swimsuit...Nailed It! is an electric blue foil. I wasn't sold on it at first but I have come to love it! I'm rocking it as my current pedicure :) I don't have anything quite like this, which is nice. Two coats.

It's My Year is a sister of OPI's Rally Pretty Pink. This gal is more purple toned than the mauvey RPP. Purple and gold together make a beautiful pairing, one of my favorite combinations, so of course I dig this polish. This is three coats.

Crown Me Already is one bling-tastic polish. It's a combination of tiny silver glitter pieces and larger silver hexagonal pieces. It's a densely packed polish so it's totally easy to build up to opacity. This is three coats. I assume this would be lovely layered as well. (The green at the bottom of the bottle is just a reflection of some shrubbery.)

Be sure to tune in to your local broadcast of Miss Universe if you can! I'm definitely gonna watch this year, I love the interview portion! I hope you enjoyed these swatches!

Products provided for review.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Deborah Lippmann - Don't Call Me Baby

Hi everyone! Hope you're doing well :) Be sure to check out my guest post over at The Swatchaholic! In it I feature Deborah Lippmann's polish My Romance.

This polish is one of Deborah's older line, Don't Call Me Baby, layered over My Romance. It gives the classic pink polish a bit of a kick. This sheer pink reminds me of a glaze of strawberry jam with crushed up Pop-Rocks and crystals! This is two coats over My Romance.

Have a great day!

Some of the products pictured were provided for review.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

OPI Touring America: Swatches & Review Part 2

Hi everyone, I'm back with the second installment of OPI's Fall 2011 collection, Touring America. If you missed the first half, check it out here.

Are We There Yet? is a orangey melon coral crème with a subtle sprinkling of pink and gold shimmer. This one had  just an ok formula, two coats with some dragging. The shimmer is really light and easy to miss unless you're in bright sunlight. I was surprised this color was so vivid, it looks muted in the bottle.

I Brake for Manicures is a great name for a polish, haha! I need a bumper sticker that says this. This color is pretty interesting, it's a deep dark, muted eggplant purple. This is two coats.

Color to Diner For is an interesting color too, I don't think I have anything quite like it. It's a medium brick red that is very warm toned. The shimmer in this one is pretty spectacular, it's pink and gold, but it's really finely milled and catches the light really awesomely, like crystals. I think the more watery finish of the red allows the sparkle to be more center stage in this one than in the others.

My Address is "Hollywood" is a very normal color, rose medium pink with subtle shimmer. I'm not in love with this but it's rather pretty. Slight dragging, two coats.

Honk if you Love OPI is a vampy purple, more warm toned than I Brake for Manicures. It's a plummy shade and it looks purple, not black on the nail so that's a good thing for a vamp in my opinion. This is three coats.

Last is I Eat Mainely Lobster, a pink coral shade that's (I'm guessing) universally flattering. Same shimmer as the other pinks in the collection, rather shy but pretty when it flashes in the sunlight. Two coats, no dragging on this one. Fun fact about me, I hate lobster :P but I like this polish haha.

There ya have it, late enough for ya? I swear I got so backed up on collections this season. I'll be better in the winter ;)

Products provided for review.

Monday, September 5, 2011

OPI Touring America: Swatches & Review Part 1

Howdy there folks! Hope you are all doing splendidly :) I've had this collection forever and a day so I figured it was time to review it at long last haha. The OPI Fall collection is called Touring America, which is a fab theme if you ask me. I know they do "states" themed collections (like Texas, Chicago, etc.) but this really encompasses the entire country. Fall collections often become permanent colors in the OPI core collection, but I haven't heard if these will be or not. This half of the collection are the more subdued neutral-esque polishes out of the 12 and they are all crèmes.

First up is French Quarter For Your Thoughts, a slightly blue tinged pale smoke grey. I like this color a lot, it is flattering and simple yet chic. This is three coats.

Next is A-Taupe the Space Needle, which is a greenish taupe poop brown. I don't love this color, it really doesn't do much for me haha. Two coats.

This is Get In the Expresso Lane (express + espresso?) is a deep dark cool toned brown. There seems to be a few dark browns out there for Fall this year eh (Zoya Codie, RBL Fortissimo). This was a typical OPI formula two coater.

Suzi Takes the Wheel is a slightly green rainy day grey, different from FQFYT but only slightly. I would guess you wouldn't need both per say, but rather the one that looks better on your skin tone. Three coats here.

I really don't understand the name of Uh-Oh Roll Down the Window. First off it sounds disgusting, but I don't get it, does it mean someone farted in the car on the "trip"? Does it refer to someone having a bathroom accident? Or is someone car-sick? No matter how you explain it, it's gross. I really dislike toilet humor, so this is of course too far for me, but I've only heard one person say they like the name. *shrug* This is a swampy muted army green, two coats.

My favorite of this half, Road House Blues is a deep dark indigo blue. All of these colors dry a little darker than they appear in the bottle which was interesting. This is two coats of sexxxxyness.

Stay tuned to see the second part of the collection!

Products provided for review.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Best Nail Treatments: Review & Swatches

I got the opportunity to try out a new brand a while ago and have been testing out the colors and top and base coats. Best Nail Treatments is a company started by a former owner of Poshe, the brand of one of my favorite top coats (easily found in Sally Beauty Supply). They have 54 polish colors right now, everything from crèmes to glitters to "effects" top coats.

First is my favorite of the colors I tried, by far. Pineapple Express is a neon yellow crème that is pretty easy to work with and has tremendous color payoff. This is three coats. Beware, though, this beezy stains like no other.

Next is a glitter called Midnight Star. The BNT glitters are just straight glitter pieces in clear polish, as far as I can tell. I typically do not like these type of polishes because they are gritty, hard to apply, hard to remove, and spread like the plague. I would say these are true to that pattern. This is a fine color, I just didn't like putting it on or taking it off, and there are a billion little pieces still stuck to my nail even after a hefty clean up job. Three coats here.

This is Baby Pink, a color that is meant to be used when doing a French manicure, but I used it on its own. This color is lovely, a tad thick and w/o much color, but yes nice and milky. Three coats here.

Next is Lemon Cello, which sounded delicious in my head haha. It's a light gold yellow frost, very different from anything else I own. It was pretty sheer, this is three coats.

This is another glitter that I had trouble with, Promiscuous. I honestly chose it for the name haha (funny enough, the label is spelled as "Permiscuous".) It's lovely enough, once I got it on. I just can't imagine wearing it again after all the clean up I had to do. Three coats.

This is a pretty color, Preston On the Creek, a blue with slight purple pearl shimmer. This one stained too, but it was very lovely and easy to work with. Two coats here.

Last of the colors is Brick, a red glitter with slight color in the base. This one was a tad easier to apply but not much. Three coats.

The Base Coat and Top Coat have a technology called "Air Cure" which means that they use the air to harden, without the use of uv light or fans or heat. It sounded wonderfully unique when I first heard about it, but really aren't most top coats and base coats like that? Oh well, that's marketing 101 for ya ;) The Base Coat is rubberized, like Orly's Bonder, flows easily and attaches to polish nicely. It didn't do much of anything for staining unfortunately. I use this for swatching sometimes, but it is a tad thick which is odd for a base coat, that adds to drying time.
Stock images from BNT

The Top Coat was one I was really excited to try out, boasting that it was significantly better than Seche Vite or other quick-dry top coats on the market. Unfortunately, after exhaustive (really, believe me) testing, I just couldn't get it to dry on me. It was thin and hard to apply in the first place, and it just stayed tacky and sticky even after an hour or more! I tried it and failed again when I read my friend Andrea's blog post about the brand, because she said it was the best top coat she'd ever used. I am a firm believer in different body chemistry affecting how polish wears from person to person, so I guess I just struck out with this one.

You can find them for $5.99 each on http://www.bestnailtreatments.com.

Products provided for review.

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Glitter Gal - Marine Blue & Black

I recently bought a few Glitter Gal polishes from Leah Ann on her site http://shop.llarowe.com/, so I thought I'd show you them finally haha ;)

This is 3D Holographic Marine Blue, a bright primary blue with amazing linear holographic properties. Gorgeous. One of my favorite GGs ever.

This is 3D Holographic Black, super gorgeous charcoal black with a great linear holo. Beautiful and this totally squelches my desire for OPI's original My Private Jet.

Both swatches are three coats using Gosh Fix Base Coat as a base and no top coat. :)


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