Archive for February 2011

Yesterday's Nails + Blogger Meetup!

Monday, February 28, 2011

Hello Readers!
Yesterday I had the great pleasure of meeting and hanging out with Jana from Jeweled Tips and I had an absolute blast! It was so fun to meet another blogger and shop for polish together. I don't know if you can related, but sometimes when I'm shopping for nail polish and eagerly rummaging through stock, I get the weirdest looks as though I'm kinda nutty. But since there was two of us, I felt like saying "Hah! See? There's more lacquerheads out there!I'm not the only one."
So what did I wear to this fun polish play date?
Color Club Untamed Luxury from last fall's collection. It's a greenish-teal base with teal glitter. I used three coats, and was quite satisfied at how opaque it was. However, as dazzling as polish was it really dried to a super gritty finish. Even worse was that it ate top coat like crazy- in my pictures I have two coats of Gelous as well as two coats of Barielle No Chip Speed Dry but even that still wasn't enough for a super smooth glassy finish!

Well what exactly did we do on our play date?
We found lacquer goodies at Forever 21 (shamelessly sitting on the floor to sift through their bins of polish), CosmoProf (where I found an OPI Russian Navy Suede on clearance and Jana caved on China Glaze Tronica backups and OPI Mrs. O'Leary's BBQ) and Ulta, where we got Ulta Bombshell and other fun finds. Jana being the awesome person she is, also brought me Color Club's new Alter Ego Keep it Undercover Collection, so now I have tons of stuff to show you!
I had so much fun, and I can't wait to hang out with her again!

Do you have someone with whom to shop makeup items and polishes?

Kose Softymo Super Clean Tissue

Friday, February 25, 2011

Good afternoon folks!
Throughout the day, I tend to get a very oily t-zone when I'm active (like blowdrying hair, shopping for groceries, etc). Through the use of Urban Decay De-Slick In a Tube, I can usually control it but there's times when I accidentally leave De-Slick at home or need to remove excess oil before I put it on.

Enter, blotting sheets. I've already reviewed the Boscia ones and today I wanted to talk about the Kose ones. Kose's Super Clean Tissue comes in a packet with 60 sheets. I was so happy when I won an auction for them on eBay and ended up paying less than $3 (including shipping!).

These are just plain awesome. They're thicker than any other blotting sheet I've tried, and quite large in size. They absorb way more than any sort of film I've used before and are really good at leaving my makeup untouched.

Here's a size comparison next to trusty Mr. George

I've actually found that one sheet is more than enough for my oily nose, I'll sometimes cut them in half to get more use out of them They're a grey color that turn black when they touch oil. For some reason, I find this really neat rather than disgusting. I get sort of grossed out when I use blotting sheets that turn clear and oily when I'm done.

A used sheet. Look how black it gets!

The one drawback that I can think of is that the packaging isn't a pop-up dispenser. Sometimes it's tricky to get just one sheet out when they're stacked together.

Do you use blotting sheets at all? What do you use?

Product featured was purchased by me, for my use.

Cracking Open Urban Decay Primer Potion

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Hello Readers!
So it's that time of year again. You know, the time of year when I *think* I've finished up my tube of Urban Decay Primer Potion, and it's time to crack it open and see how much is really left. Now last March I opened this tube (XL sized) so it's been about a year.
For the last two weeks, it's been harder and harder to get get any primer out of the oddly shaped container, so yesterday I figured it was time to cut it open. I used a steak knife and cut it across the middle, making sure not to get any plastic debris into the primer. Then I just scooped it into these handy clamshell jars that I had purchased from TKB Trading.
It filled three 1/2 little jars, each the size of quarter! Isn't that amazing? Ugh, this packaging of UDPP is just ridiculous. I know that there's a 'Pro' sized squeeze tube, but when I ordered one the packaging leaked a bit and it was all dried out. I'm not exactly keen to repeat that experience again.
Now, why did I separate it into three jars instead of cramming it into one? Well last time around that I did this, every time I opened the jar (as well as the air trapped inside) dried the container of primer out very quickly and I didn't even finish my one big primer pot. This time, I'm going to use one jar at a time which will hopefully let me use all of it.

Have you ever cut open a tube of Urban Decay Primer Potion to see what was left?

Moroccanoil Oil Treatment Review

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Hello Readers!
I don't write about hair products often, but I decided to write one on behalf of Moroccanoil, almost in its defense.
Throughout the years I've used many, MANY silicone-heavy hair products. Let's name a few: CHI Silk Infusion, Biosilk Silk Therapy, GVP Silk Remedy, The Body Shop Grapeseed Glossing Serum, Frizz Ease, Goldwell Kerasilk Instant Silk Fluid, Regis Designline Silk Drops.... the list could go on and on. I'll just come out and say it. I'm a silicone whore.
I have medium-fine straight hair and I find that this product does more for me than any other silicone product. I use the tiniest bit, not even a dime sized tiny puddle and rub my palms together. Then I run my hands through towel dried hair and proceed to blow drying and styling. Sometimes after I'm done blow drying, I add a couple drops (literally. Drops. That's how little you need) to my palms again and smooth down the flyaways. The result is super soft, shiny hair that isn't weighed down.
I really like that Moroccanoil absorbs into my hair very well, with some of the other products (namely the Biosilk Silk Therapy and Frizz Ease) it felt like the product really sat on top of the hair and coated each strand, making it feel quite greasy by the end of the day.
However, my favorite thing about Moroccanoil is the scent. Really. I may not be able to describe perfumes as eloquently as Joey from Pink Sith can but I can still appreciate the nutty, sweet wood scent that makes Moroccanoil just heavenly. I love it when throughout the day, I turn my head and catch a whiff of that amazing scent. In fact, I'll wake up with my hair draped all over my face and inhaling that fragrance right as I wake really makes for a pleasant morning. I wish they would make a perfume!
Now about the whole argan oil thing- as I'm reading reviews for Moroccanoil, most of the reviews with low marks for this product aren't because this product don't work, but complaints that Moroccanoil isn't the real deal- 100% argan oil. As I read the wording all over the package as well as the literature on the display at CosmoProf, no where does it claim to be entirely argan oil. In fact, here's what the back says:

Moroccanoil has unique quality of instant absorption into the hair, creating an instant shine and long term conditioning without leaving residue.

Why knock it for that reason alone? I would certainly love to try 100% argan oil someday, but I'm certainly very pleased with this product, I think it delivered on all three counts and that it's great for making hair soft and manageable.

Moroccanoil Oil Treatment is usually around $38 for a 3.4 oz bottle.

Have you tried Moroccanoil Oil Treatment or any other Moroccanoil products? What did you think of it, and what hair type do you have?

Product featured was purchased by me, for my own use.

CND Blueberry Whip

Monday, February 21, 2011

1x Nail Tek Foundation II, 3x Blueberry Whip
No flash, lightbox

Good evening!
Like I promised, here's my second post of the night.
Last time I was at CosmoProf, it looked like they were clearing out their CND polishes at two for the price of one. I happily snatched up an interesting creme, Blueberry Whip as well as another Effects topcoat.
The instant I saw Blueberry Whip's name, I thought that it was really fitting. This polish really reminds me of a blueberry parfait- right where the blueberry juice touches the yogurt and it's not blue but rather a melty purple. It's delicious looking.
I though that it would be streaky, considering how pale of a shade is and how close to white it is. But no, CND's formula for this creme is absolutely amazing. It's smooth and glides like cream onto the nail . It's got to be one of the easiest polishes I've ever applied.
In a way, Blueberry Whip looks almost like a lighter version of Sally Hansen Concrete, and it is really close, though a tad bit brighter. Perhaps I'll post a comparison picture later.

Flash, under lightbox

My only regret is that I didn't buy more of these. If I had known that CND made such great opaque cremes, I would have definitely purchased more shades.

What's your favorite soft pastel shade?

Products featured were purchased by me, for my own use.

EOTD: Wet'n'Wild I'm Getting Sunburned

Good evening!

I didn't blog last night, so today I owe you two posts.

This first one is an EOTD using one of the new Wet'n'Wild trios that I haven't yet swatched for you yet, called "I'm Getting Sunburned".

The trio features a really intense 24 carat goldish-orange, a brown with sparkle and a pink pearl. I didn't really know how to use it, so I over blended to get a more bronze look.

See how it's hard for me to get a clean line near my lash line? I used that Milani Liquif'Eye liner again and even though I just sharpened it, the 'lead' is just too hard for me to manipulate. I just can't really tightline with it.

I used:

Brows: NYX Brow Shaper

Eyes: UDPP, Milani Liquif'Eye black liner, NYX Doll Eye mascara, Wet'n'Wild 'I'm Getting Sunburned'

Hmm, just wasn't a big fan of this look. I'll have to play with this trio more to see what I can really do.

China Glaze Anchors Away Collection: White Cap

Saturday, February 19, 2011

3 coats. Fairy juice! No flash, lightbox

Good evening readers!
I hope you're enjoying your weekend!
Tonight's polish is from the Anchors Away Collection. It was the first polish in the collection that immediately captured my attention- soft gold shimmer in a milky white base? Hot damn, it's like fairy jizz in a bottle. I had to have it. While waiting in line to check out, my mind raced over the numerous possibilities of layering combinations.
Like I had anticipated upon first seeing it, White Cap is really sheer and not that great of a stand alone polish. However, I found that it made a great top coat.

No flash, light box.

First I tried it on top of a beautiful royal blue- Orly La Playa. The milkiness of White Cap made this combination look quite streaky.

flash, lightbox.

I tried it on top of the other Anchors Away polish I had (see full review here) Sea Spray and fell in love. So much golden goodness, reflecting every which way you look at it.
Take another look!

No flash, lightbox

That golden microglitter reminds me of an Make Up Forever Star Powder I had at one time, I believe that it was Pearl Gold? It was white and gold and almost opalescent at the same time. Just stunning to look at.
Softer colors with a bit of white in themselves seem to work great under White Cap. I bet that some other polishes in my collection like Zoya Harley, Sally Hansen Concrete and Borghese Almondine would look fabulous!

What's your favorite layering topcoat?

Product featured was purchased by me for my own use.

OPI Crystal File Review

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Hello Reader!
I tricked you a little. I titled this post as a 'review' but it's not really because I couldn't properly use this file.
I love crystal files and last month when I lost my beloved Essie file, I panicked and went out and bought the first file I could find. That ended up being OPI's Crystal File. It was $5ish at CosmoProf.
At first glance, I thought that this file was identical to Essie's. As soon as I pulled out of the protective sleeve, I could tell it was much lighter and thinner than the Essie version. I didn't even get a chance to file my nails- I gently tested the file against one finger (not really a lot of pressure or anything, honest) and it snapped.
I was really disappointed. I used the shards of it, and it did file well (really smooth grit!) but honestly I would NOT recommend this crystal file just because it is just so darn fragile.
Yeah. No thank you. I'll be going back to Essie now.

Do you have a favorite crystal file? Have you tried one yet? (If you haven't, I strongly urge you to).
Product was purchased by me, for my own use.

Golden Rose Holographic Nail Color #108

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Outdoors, no flash

Hello Readers!
Today I have something special to show you. If you've been a long time reader of this blog, you would know that I'm an avid collector of holos. I love everything about them and could spend hours in the sun just staring at a holo painted manicure.
Recently I found out that the European brand Golden Rose made not one, but TWO lines of holos. I made a small order but had to wait more than week for some sunshine to photograph swatches.
The one I'm showing you today is from the little square bottle line, Grey 108.
Now, I have lots and lots of silver holos but nothing that's a true grey holo. 108 has cool blue tones to it too, making it somehow a very sophisticated and subdued color.

Outdoors, no flash

The finish is very glossy, much like butterLondon's All Hail Mcqueen and the particle size is much smaller than China Glaze Kaleidascopes or Milani HDs. In all the pictures in this post I used three coats of lacquer over Essie First Base without any top coat.
This holo applied really well, but I noticed that it wasn't Big 3 Free- Toluene was on the ingredients.

Lightbox, flash

Now here's the best part, these holos are quite cheap. The small square bottle line costs $2.19 a bottle and the other larger, 'Golden Rose Paris Holographic Nail Color' bottles cost $3.49 each. Shipping at Golden Rose USA is free over $20! I was quite pleased when I ordered from them because they wrapped each polish in bubble wrap and packed them tightly together.
Hopefully when I get more sunshine this weekend, I'll be able to swatch the rest!
On an unrelated note, I had a fantastic day today. It was 52 degrees F out but the sun was shining and I had a really great time after school walking the dogs. It's amazing what a difference sunshine has on my mood, I'm able to bounce out of bed and go through day feeling as though there can be no setbacks in the world!

Tell me about your day! Did you get any sun in your area?

Product featured was purchased by me, for my own use.

FOTD: Fyrinnae Envy Me + R&R Lawsuit

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Hello Readers!
I'm back to posting! Sorry I was gone for the past few days, I was so busy with school that I didn't have time to blog. It actually bothered me a lot because I've been pretty consistent about posting for the last six months or more.
Today I used two really interesting shades, one of which is Fryinnae's Envy Me which is this soft sandy color with a green sheen. I decided to also use my favorite duochrome, Rock & Republic Lawsuit shadow which has that amazing green shift that I love so dearly.

I used:
Face: MUFE Full Cover, LORAC AquaPrime, Graftobian HD Glamour Creme, BECCA Loose Powder, VOV Color Song Volume Blusher in #3 Pink Red Mixing
Brows: NARS Bali shadow, NYX Brow Shaper
Lips: Smashbox Artist Gloss
Eyes: UDPP, MAC Blacktrack Fluidline, Fyrinnae Envy Me, Rock & Replubic Lawsuit, NYX Doll Eye Mascara

Have a great week!

An Old NOTD with Wet'n'Wild Morbid

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Good day to you, dear reader!

I was digging around my picture and found a picture of an old manicure that never made it to the blog. Since I'm currently burning the candle at both ends (finishing a nail display for a competition, so exhausting!) I decided to take the easy route today and post it instead of writing new material/taking new pictures.

I started out here with a coat of Essie First Base, did three coats of Wet'n'Wild Morbid (a dark frosty green-black) and sponged a bit of a LA Colors green polish that was a part of their LE Color Craze Metallics set (that Mae gave me!).

Ever since the new Wet'n'Wild FastDry polishes came out, my local Walgreens reset their wall display and I haven't seen the Craze polishes like Morbid as a part of that. That makes me think they're being discontinued (sad, sad day. I really liked the craze formula).

What's your favorite Wet'n'Wild polish? Do you like their Craze polish line?

Some of the products mentioned in this post were given to me as a gift. For details, please refer to my disclosure policy.

NARS Sin (Sinfully Gorgeous!)

Friday, February 11, 2011

Howdy, Readers!
It's the weekend, baby! I'm so happy. Not that I'll get much rest, I have so much to do this weekend!
Today's post is about a present I got for Christmas. It's another NARS item to add to my collection- Sin blush.
It's a soft mauve with golden sparkle.
Unlike my other two NARS blushes Deep Throat and Douceur, I feel as though this one is much more pigmented (not really complaining, you see- Deep Throat and Douceur are nearly impossible to mess up application wise) and a bit softer in texture.

I use a soft round blush brush to sweep a tiny bit onto my cheeks and it looks really natural. Unlike some of my other pinky or peachy blushes that I own, the cool mauve doesn't enhance any surface redness. The gold sparkle is very apparent in the pan, but it's barely noticeable on my cheeks. It's almost more of a soft gold glow.

Since I've had this blush, I find myself reaching for it at least once a week. It's been getting a lot of wear! Not that I'll hit pan anytime soon, NARS blushes are just so big. What a great present, eh?

Also featured in this FOTD:
Brows: NARS Bali shadow
Eyes: UDPP, NARS All About Eve duo (left side), Shiro Link shadow, MAC Blacktrack Fluidline
Face: Graftobian HD Glamour Creme, Hard Candy Glamoflauge Concealer, MUFE Full Cover Concealer, NARS Sin blush, BECCA Loose Powder
Lips: Revlon Colorburst Lipstick in Mauve

Do you own Sin? Do you have another NARS blush that you really love?

Product featured in this post was given to me as a gift. Please refer to my disclosure policy for details.

Borghese Stellare Notte

Thursday, February 10, 2011

No flash, lightbox.

Good Evening!
About a month ago, Walgreens was having a wicked clearance on a few Borghese polishes and I picked one up called Stellare Notte. It caught my eye in the fluorescent aisle because I distinctly saw duochrome shimmer flashing at me out of the bottle. Sold!
Once I got it home though, it sat in my untried drawer until today. After trying another one of Borghese's shades (remember Almondine and that awful, terrible brush?) I put off wearing it.
My curiosity couldn't handle it though. Today I busted out this interesting dark beauty.
The application was fantastic, and the brush in this particular bottle was a bit better. No bad bristles but the cut on the brush was quite jagged and rough, like a piranha had chomped on it.

Flash, lightbox. See how that shows off the teal?

Stellare Notte has a blackened base, but the shimmer doesn't shift the way I typically see duochromes do. It's more like there's purple and teal shimmer coexisting in one polish, but you see one of the colors better depending on the lighting instead of a huge shift that depends on the angle at which you look at it. (Does that make any sense?)

No flash, lightbox. Purple! Glorious purple!

Anyways, it's really beautiful. If you like dark, sultry, seductive polishes that provide a wink of purple and teal- this is your lacquer. Not bad for a $2 score, eh?

All pictures were taken with 1x Essie First Base, 3x Stellare Notte, 1x CND Super Shiney.

Have you tried Borghese Stellare Notte? What's your favorite dark polish?

You Know You're Just Gelous

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Good Evening, folks!
Today, I'm going to rave about nail product that has single handedly changed the way I wear nail polish.
First, you need to know a bit about my previous manicure history. To sum it up:

Nail polish doesn't last on me at all.

The longest I've had a polish last was about... two days. It was butter London All Hail McQueen. I think something about the super glass-like formula makes it work for me but even during the second day, I experienced a lot of tip wear. Usually, I chip a mani within a couple hours. I don't even think I do anything extreme! I'm not scrubbing dishes or trying to scrape off sidewalks with my bare hands or anything.

Enter Gelous.
The greatest topcoat/base ever. I've used a lot of top coats and base coats, let's name a few- Seche Vite, Seche Clear, Seche Base, CND Stickey, CND Air Dry, Orly Top 2 Bottom, MAC Overclear, SpaRitual Multitasker, Deborah Lippman On A Clear Day.... and more. You get the point.
So with all the combinations of top coat and base coat, I still haven't been able to achieve a long lasting mani. I tried Gelous for the first time last month, it was about $5 at Sally Beauty. It's made by the brand American Classics which makes a whole line of polish treatments, but the one with the green cap is the one you want.
With Gelous on top of my color, I'm able to extend a mani to about three whole days without tipwear or chips, but I can push four days if I really wanted to.
I was able to extend this mani (my China Glaze Zombie Zest over Savvy Garland mani, shown here), and this is what it looked like after four full days of wear.

Considering that this is how my nails usually look within less than a day of wearing them, I think that's pretty amazing!
The only drawback is that Gelous isn't a fast dry coat. To remedy this, I apply Sally Hansen Insta Dri immediately on top of it. Base coat, three layers of color, Gelous and Insta Dri. That sounds like a lot of layers of polish, right? It is, but to me that's a small price to pay for pretty nails that can actually last a few days!

Have you tried Gelous? Do you use some other topcoat or base coat that you think is simply miraculous?

Products were purchased by me, for my own use.

EOTD: Shiro Cosmetics Magneton

Monday, February 7, 2011

Good Evening!
In yesterday's post, I mentioned that I wanted to use one of my new Shiro colors, Magneton in a EOTD. Being great at following through (joking, I'm honestly quite terrible at following through on ... anything), I actually went ahead and used it today.
The funny thing about Magneton is that though it looks like a dark dust color in the sample bag, and even when swatched I declared it a sparkly smoke shade, it pulled decidedly icy blue on my lids! That was certainly something I wasn't expecting. Go on, take a look at yesterday's swatches here and compare.

Today I was able to appreciate all the multicolored sparks in Magneton that I overlooked yesterday. Hey, when you have an armful of glittery shadow swatches, you're bound to miss some things.
I used:
Brows: NARS Bali shadow, NYX Brow Shaper
Eyes: UDPP, Shiro Magneton shadow, NARS All About Eve duo, Milani Liquif'Eye black liner, Ballet #VOXX lashes, MAC Mixing Gel Medium

Do you own any shadows, blushes, etc that look entirely different once you put them on compared to how they look in their packaging?

Some Shiro Cosmetics Swatches

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Hello Readers!
This is from a recent (ok, I actually ordered way back in December but one thing led to another and I finally took swatch pictures this week) Shiro Cosmetics order.
I ordered a few mini sizes of the shades that were recommended to me recently. Now I love the ample amount included but it drives me nuts how tightly it's packed into the little screw top containers. I can't get any shadow out from under the sifter, I wonder if it's something that happens while in transit? No biggie, I just have to order a bunch of jars with the clamshell style lid from TKB next time I have chance and repackage them myself.

Swathed on dry, bare skin. Outdoors, no flash.

Back to the point, I swatched some of shadows plus one of the free samples in sunlight.
Temple of Time is a soft, sparkle filled ash color.
Master Sword is a HOLY SPARKLE SAUCE champagne with glitter.
Midna is an absolutely delightful light charcoal.
Veran is a navy with multicolored sparkle.
Magneton is a sheer, light smoke shimmer.
Gannondorf is a stunning black matte base with fine red glitter.
I couldn't possibly pick a favorite out of this bunch, they were all wonderful. I was really impressed with Gannondorf, it's not a super complicated color but it sure packs a statement (it's like the shadow version of China Glaze Lubu Heels!). At first, when I looked at Magneton in the baggie, I thought it looked like something that came out of my vacuum cleaner because it was such a dusty looking shade (I kid, I kid, with all the wonderful creations over at Shiro, Caitlin would never resort to sending dust bunnies!) but it came out so beautiful and delicate, like plumes of smoke blown into a bowl of crystals. I can't wait to wear Magneton as an all over shade for a simple EOTD.
(If you haven't already, check out my earlier review of Shiro Cosmetics here to get an idea of what the shadows are like. I'm kinda being lazy, don't want to have to reiterate about the quality of the makeup when I could just redirect you to an earlier post.)
Are they all gorgeous colors? Oh yes.
Do I wish I had about four more pairs of eyes just so I could wear all of Shiro's colors at once? Most definitely.

What do you think of this set of shadows? See any beauty that you simply must have?

Products featured were purchased by me, for my own use.

OPI Texas Collection: It's Totally Fort Worth It

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Hello Readers!

I seem to be short on time lately, I have a big nail display project I'm working on for a competition. So tonight I'm popping in to show you pictures of one of OPI's new Texas polishes called It's Totally Fort Worth It (ah, OPI, your naming schemes never fail to amuse me). It's a fine shimmering grey with larger multicolored (warm, predominately magenta) shimmer bits. This nail polish is really quite sheer, what you see in the pictures is four coats and it's still not opaque. I bet this would make an interesting layering shade but I haven't had the time to test it out on top of other colors yet.

This is one of those polishes where if you aren't careful with the application it will punish you by showing every brush stroke. However, it's such an interesting combination, soft grey with brilliant magenta- certainly something I've never seen before. If you can get your hands on this, I'd say that it's definitely worth having!

All pictures were taken under a lightbox, with flash. 1x Essie First Base, 4x OPI It's Totally Fort Worth It and 1x Sally Hansen Insta Dri.

Dangerously Pointy: Stiletto Nails

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Hello again!
Weeeee, second post of the night. I'm on some sort of roll.
So yesterday, if you remember- I promised pictures of some of the work I've been doing at school. I'm very luck to have a student teacher who whole heartedly embraces the idea that students need to practice even the most outrageous techniques and happens to be a very gracious guinea pig.
I'd never actually tried sculpting stiletto nails before- heck, I only watched one YouTube video about them and had only a basic grasp of how to form them. The 3D sculpting I had tried a few times, but without much success.

For this nail set, I combined the two. These aren't everyday nails, that's for certain! I'd say that these are most definitely fantasy length nails. While I created these nails, we had an animated discussion about how she was going to cut hair, cook, go to bathroom etc- her basic daily tasks. She's somehow dealing with them (what a trooper!) and says that she uses her new pointy talons to poke her husband when she's less than pleased with him.
So, I'm really pleased with how it turned out for a first time attempt. Next time around, I hope they're neater, the flora is formed better (and that I can master new 3D designs) and it doesn't take me so darn long to do them (five hours).
I used: CND Rentention+ Liquid, INM Tutti Fruiti Collection Powder Paints Colored Acrylic, OPI Competition White, CND Clear Powder, tiny decorative metallic balls

Yeah, I'm kinda nuts. I really like doing the insane, tacky, over the top nails.

Milani Liquif'Eye Metallic Eye Liner

Hello!
Ugh, I'm aching for it to be Friday already. This has been such a long week! I spent this week trying new and exciting things (sculpting stiletto nails and helicopter perms!) including a new eyeliner.
I've actually been out of eyeliner that I like for the last ... 3 months? I've been making do with that Rimmel Soft Kohl liner, it's not the softest or longest lasting liner I've used but it's decent. Finally, last week I picked up a new liner, Milani Liquif'Eye.
I had heard good things about this liner- how easily it applied, how it was much blacker than Urban Decay 24/7 Zero, etc.
It was priced at $8 and the pencil is made of that super easy to sharpen material that's kinda plastic-y. I got Shade 01, a black that is anything but metallic.
Really, this is the softest eye pencil I've ever used. It glides on so easily, literally melting into my skin. It's so smooth, it's almost gel like instead of creamy. It's... too soft. I actually had a hard time controlling it, the first time I tried to put it on, it slipped across my lid and I ended up with a huge black streak down my cheek. I've learned to use a lighter hand though, and application has become easier. It's smudgeable for about a minute before it sets into a matte black liner.

The first day I wore this, I didn't have any other makeup on at all, not even primer. Within about five minutes, I had black rainbows smeared all over my lids.
Day two: I wore primer underneath and tried to set Liquif'Eye with a black matte shadow- Rock & Republic Fatalistic. By the time I got to school (so, 10 min) it had smeared horribly.
Day three: I finally figured that I'd try Liquif'Eye with full eye makeup. I used primer, and did a full EOTD with my NARS Pleasures of Paris Palette. I also set the liner with Fatalistic. This time, it lasted all day- 12 hours or so.
I guess this liner needs the whole get up to last on me! I'm not sure why, I wouldn't describe my eyelids as super oily or anything. That's too bad, there are some days when I just want to run out the door with a couple swoops of eyeliner on. Another thing I noticed was how fast I went through this liner- I've only had it for a week but because I have to keep sharpening it (the 'lead' is really thick and to get a nice clean look, I have to sharpen it every use) and I've used about 1/2 of an inch in that time! I'll use up this pencil in no time.

Even though I did somewhat like this liner (so black! so smooth!) I do prefer Prestige Total Intensity Liners (which, might I add with frustration- I CAN'T FIND ANYWHERE! They're out of stock everywhere I look!) and will go back to them as soon as I've finished this pencil.

Have you tried Milani Liquif'Eye Liners? Did you like it?

Product featured was purchased by me, for my own use.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Hello all!
What's this, another nail post? Yes indeed. I have a bunch of makeup swatches that I'd like to post, but unfortunately I haven't gotten around to editing them yet.
Tomorrow is Chinese New Year, so I did a really quick NOTD. Did I basically just slap on a red creme and every warm glitter I own? Yeah, pretty much. I -was- going to do a cute design with white rabbits all over it (it's the year of the rabbit!) but then I remembered that I really dislike rabbits. They creep me out. I think the book Bunnicula really got to me as a kid. Also, having spent about five hours crafting acrylic stiletto nails with 3D acrylic sculpting on top (on a very patient and gracious volunteer, might I add) kinda drained me, so I went the glitterbomb route. I promise to show you pictures of those insane acrylic nails later. And I promise to do more makeup related posts. And I promise to eat my vegetables.
I used: Essie First Base, OPI Monsooner Or Later as the base shade, Hard Candy Lava sponged on the tip, Sally Hansen Golden Ticket sponged near the cuticle with Wet'n'Wild Fireworks painted on top. Then I added a layer of Gelous to gloss it all up.
Yeah, it's basically a crazy glittery hot mess. But no one can say I wasn't festive.

NOTD: Wet'n'Wild Prancer Over Black

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

1x Essie First Base, 1x Wet'n'Wild Black Creme, 2x Prancer, 1x Gelous

Hello, Readers!
This is a polish that I purchased maybe a month ago, but I'm finally getting around to showing you it now. It's Wet'n'Wild's Prancer, a mini MegaLast polish that came out as a part of the holiday collection. I thought it would do nicely for a poor man's Deborah Lippmann Red Ruby Slippers... and I was halfway right. The two types of glitter are the same size and the right shape but just using Prancer on top of black doesn't duplicate the lovely suspended look that RRS has (click here to check out wonderful pics on Lacquerized).
Still, it's a gorgeous combination of polishes that won me a lot of compliments today, I think I might wear it for Valentine's Day. It was really annoying to remove though, all those glitter pieces snagged the fibers of the felt I was using and it look about 15 minutes.

Anyways, I wanted to know what you guys thought about V-Day manis! Do you know what you're going to do? Or, do you not give a crap, and will probably slap on any old color if you can even be bothered to paint your nails? I know that over at Libby's Pink Vanity, there's a whole 14 day MARATHON of V-Day polish. Isn't that some dedication? I'm hoping that 14 days of V-Day polish will inspire me to pick something once and for all!

Products mentioned were purchased by me, for my own use.