June 27, 2013
Hi guys! I'm very minimal with makeup these days but still love me at least a few beauty products per day :D Thought I share my early summer favourites with you guys:
Lip Products
My favourite category!! Summer is the only season where I actually wear lipgloss. I love Nars Babe as it's a gorgeous pigmented warm red gloss and is not sticky. Another rediscovery is my ancient MAC Sock Hop (LE - Heatherette, 2008) which is a beautiful light coral cream. When it comes to lipsticks, I also go for warmer and creamier. Guerlain Rose Bengal Rouge Automatique is a warm rose that applies with some shimmer but is not gritty. Chanel Antigone Rouge Coco Shine is a lightly pigmented strawberry red and MUFE #37 Rouge Artist is a loud pink coral that will definitely make your lips stand out.
Swatches:
Left to right: Guerlain Rose Bengal, Chanel Antigone, MUFE #37, MAC Sock Hop, Nars Babe
Eye Products
I'm currently a fan of one product only eye makeup and hence gravitate towards cream shadows and bright eyeliners. L'Oreal Permanent Khaki Colour Infalliable is a shimmery olive green that is great as a lid colour blended up. Maybelline Barely Branded Color Tattoo (light golden beige) is an awesome all over colour and eye brightener. Chanel Illusoire Illusion d'Ombre is a tres chic sparkling mauve, love this one smoked out with a dark matte purple for the night. Shiseido H4 cream shadow (DC'd) is a unique blend of warm pink with green flash that looks wet when applied to the eyes. MUFE #22 aqua cream pot is the most gorgeous emerald green that I love applying on as a liner, base for green shadow or for the sparkling Lise Watier Golden Green Eye Glitter. I tend to apply Gosh Blue Lagoon Velvet Touch eyeliner on my lower lashline to elevate a neutral look.
Swatches:
Left to right: LW Golden Gree, Gosh Blue Lagoon, Chanel Illusoire, MUFE #22, L'Oreal Permanent Khaki, Maybelline Barely Branded, Shiseido H4
Face Products
I'm super low maintenance with face products in the warmer months. Lately been loving my Lancome Teint Miracle foundation (I use shade 4C - Buff) as it's light and natural on. I also apply MUFE Full Cover concealer ins shade #6 under my eyes and on scars and go a bit overload with Nars Laguna bronzer (another rediscovery in my stash). I need to bronze a lot these days as I did a spray tan on my body and now my face and body don't match, lol!
Nail Products
I'm traditional so in the summer I go nuts over brights and neons. I've also been loving a full on white manicure using OPI Alpine Snow, so elegant and goes with everything. My current fave neons are Zoya Lola (gorgeous bright pink) and China Glaze I'm with the Lifeguard (super neon green, great on toes). I also enjoy the bright orange red that is Essie Meet me at the Sunset.
April 10, 2013
Hi lovelies! We're almost halfway through April and it's still friggin' cold here in Ottawa. I'm really itching to bust out my spring outfits but can't do just yet! At least I delighted myself in purchasing a few soft nail polishes and started painting my nails in happy colours already!
Here's my four pretties from left to right: Essie Bikini so Teeny, Essie Madison Ave-hue, China Glaze Keep Calm Paint on and China Glaze Mimosa's Before Mani's:
Essie Maddison Ave-hue was the first one I tried. This is a beautiful barbie pink with subtle shimmer. I thought for sure I would have a dupe for this but none could be found. The formula on this was amazing!
Essie Bikini So Teeny was released last year but I believe it's permanent to the Essie range now. It's a very light blue almost leaning periwinkle with subtle silver shimmer. The formula was good but I had some bubbling on the nail as you can see:
China Glaze Keep Calm, Paint on is a soft aqua shade. I have a few shades similar to this but no dead on dupe. Essie Mint Candy Apple is more pastel, China Glaze for Audrey is more blue. Application was a breeze and drying time quicker than most China Glaze polishes I own:
China Glaze Mimosa's Before Mani's is a gorgeous shade of peachy coral. It has enough pink to it to prevent giving me lobster hands though. Those of you guys with pink/red undertones probably know what I mean. This one is a lighter, more spring-y version of ChG Pink Plumeria:
I absolutely love all four polishes. If I had to pick a fvourite though, it would be Madison Ave-hue...which is strange as one would think pinks are common enough not to be my top choice.
Have you purchased any new spring nail polishes? What are some of your favourite seasonal nail polishes?
September 28, 2012
Hi beauties! I have for you today my top 6 nail polishes. Every year, I add a few more bottles to my already gigantic stash of fall shades (I think there are 100+ bottles there I would call fall appropriate). But I can't help it, dark polishes just like red lipsticks are my weakness!
I tried to refrain from only showing you red and burgundy shades as that's kinda predictable. Here's a wider assortment of dark fall shades, all been loved by me for over 2 years :)
Left to right: Zoya Casey, Chanel Paradoxal, Misa Toxic Seduction, OPI Malaga Wine, China Glaze Rodeso Fanatic, Orly Goth
Closer look:
Zoya Casey - is a dark maroon and by far my most used nail polish of all time. Creamy and smooth texture and looks so delicious on!
Chanel Paradoxal - is a grayed purple, one of those unique colours you don't see all the time. Flawless application!
Misa Toxic Seduction - is a dark forest green laced with some shimmer and glimmer. This polish was my first Misa and made me go back for more.
OPI Malaga Wine - this wine shade is an OPI fall classic and needs no praises from me ;)
China Glaze Rodeo Fanatic - beautiful shimmering teal. More unexpected for fall but totally wearable.
Orly Goth - Awesome black with lotsa silver shimmer. I wore black nails all the time as a teen. This is my upgraded adult version.
Some swatches for you guys, same order as above:
What are some of your favourite fall nail polish shades?
May 21, 2012
Happy Victoria Day everyone! I'm having some folks over for lunch today and thought to share a quick nail post with you before.
Pink Plumeria is my nail polish of choice for this long weekend. This polish was released with China Glaze Summer Neon collection. I would describe Pink Plumeria as a warm pink, it looks like it has peach undertones to it. This is a fairly unique shade to my stash and I'm happy I got it:
The formula on this was great. I did two coats to achieve the shade of the bottle. I've had this on for a couple of days and there has not been any wear and chipping mark. I never wear any polish for more than two days so can't really comment of wear for more than this time frame. As with all neons, Pink Plumeria needs a shiny top coat to really shine. I would not say this is a blinding kinda neon though, it's bright but not loud and should look good on pretty much everyone:
Have you guys bought any of the new China Glaze Neons? What are some of your favoutite neon shades?
May 14, 2012
Hey beauties! I love wearing neon polishes in the summer. Each year I grab a few of the latest neon releases and rock them on as long as my summer tan lasts.
I happened to pass by a Chatters Salon here in Ottawa and noticed they already had the China Glaze summer (neons) collection in. I was surprised coz I haven't seen any reviews of these polishes so I assumed they are not out yet.
They were even sold out of at least half of the shades. I bought three that were most unique to my collection:
Pink Plumeria is a warm pink, it's kinda in between peach and pink. Bold and sophisticated.
I'm with the Lifeguard is a neon grass green, soooo gorgeous under the sun!
Sun-kissed is a highlighter yellow. I'm planing on rocking this one on my toes.
I chose I'm with Lifeguard as the first one to wear. I took a quick picture of it before heading out so my apologies for the messy cuticles. The formula was great and only needed two medium coats:
Will you be grabbing any neon polishes this summer?
May 3, 2012
Hey lovelies! Though I have nothing against all out bright makeup and sport the look myself once in a while, I prefer neutral shades on my eyes with lipsticks as bright as MAC Impassioned.
Impassioned is one of those shades that just gets you noticed. No matter how many times I wear this lipstick (and I've been for nearly 3 years), I always get comments on it. I wore this shade to the office with various taupes shades on the eyes yesterday.
Hope you like :)
Face
Pro Longwear Foundation - NW25
Nars Madly blush
Shell Pearl bp (LE)
Eyes
Painterly p/p - base
Style Snob e/s (LE) - inner lid
Satin Taupe e/s - lid
Cork e/s - crease
Blanc Type e/s - highlight
Wedge e/s - above crease
EL Blackened Cocoa e/l - lower lashline
Added Goodness f/l (LE) - to line
Marcelle Power Lash mascara
Lips
Trimmed in Pink l/l
Impassioned l/s
Palatial l/g (DC)
And on my nails, I had one of my favourite shades of blue, China Glaze Bahamian Escape. ChG is hit and miss for me sometimes formula wise but this shade is excellent. I could even get away with one coat but did two anyway:
December 19, 2011
September 7, 2011
May 26, 2011
April 19, 2011
Hi lovelies! Though it's cold here in Ottawa again, I've already started wearing my spring and summer nail polishes. Screw you winter, I am done!
My NOTD is China Glaze 108 Degrees which is part of their summer collection. 108 Degrees is a GORGEOUS glass flecked fuchsia shade. It literally glows under the sun light. I'm a huge fan of China Glaze glass finish polishes and this one is no different. The forumula was also great and I had no issues with streaks.
Here's a two coater swatch on my nails:
Do you guys own this naill polish? What are some of your favourite spring/summer nail colours?
March 27, 2011
Happy Sunday everyone! Here's another edition of my top 5 nail polishes. This one focuses on "traditional" colours; red and pink. It may sound boring to you but in my opinion red and pink are the best shades for nail polish. They look good on everyone and you can wear them all year long. Here's a list of my faves:
1. Top 5 Red Nail polishes - sultry reds will forever have a place in my heart. Just like red lipstick, I tend to accumulate a lot of red nail polishes. I never have enough as in my opinion red goes with everything!
Essie Laquered Up - bright tomato red, I looove this for spring!
Essie Fishnet Stockings - This is a deeper sexy red, just like the name suggests. There's a swatch of this shade here.
OPI Dutch Tulip - Pinky red, very pretty and reminds me of Chanel Cambon Rouge Coco. You can see my NOTD here.
OPI Malaga Wine - My all time fave nail polish, this is my third bottle of this blood red shade.
Color Club Fast Woman - this burgundy red is hands down the sexiest red shade in my stash. Perfect for the fall/winter season.
Top 5 Pink Nail Polishes - The first nail polish my mom ever gave me was a light seashell pink when I was 5. That's how long I've actually been painting my nails! I love the simplicity of pink from light mod pinks to bright pop of strawberry pink.
OPI Mod About You - this is an unusual but HOT shade of pink, very light but opaque pink.
OPI Strawberry Martguerita - My go-to pink all summer long, awesome formula too! Check out my NOTD here.
China Glaze Strawberry Fields - This medium pink infused with golden shimmer in a glass finish just makes me happy. My fave China Glaze nail polish of all time!
Color Club Ultra Violet - this is more of a violet pink with blue reflects; very unique and very petty. I'm wearing Ultra Violet here.
Zoya Bijou - This is a warmer pink and looks awesome on toes. Another one of those shades that just make you happy. See my NOTD here.
What are some of your favourite nail polishes in these two colour categories?
March 23, 2011
Hey lovelies! This is part #2 of my top 5 nail polishes organized by colour categories. Hope you Enjoy this post!
1. Top 5 Blue Polishes - I included anything from light blue to navy in this section. Blue nail polish is one of my favourite colours to wear and I think blue is a shade that works with all skintones.
Misa Pour me Something Tall and Strong - gorgeous neon medium blue, excellent summer choice.
China Glaze Caribbean Blue - This is prob my most worn blue polish, beautiful light blue with micro gold shimmer.
China Glaze Frost Bite - This is a deeper bright royal blue, my hubby's fave shade of nail polish on me. See a swatch of the Rally blue here.
Zoya Crystal - Crystal is more of a teal blue and it has silver and gold, absolutely beautiful! See my swatch here.
OPI Russian Navy - This is a classic navy, it has hints of purple and is soooo chic!
2. Top 5 Green Polishes - I must admit, unlike many nail fanatics, green is not a colour I like to wear on my nails. I do wear it but I'm picky! I only go for darker greens and avoid anything grassy or yellow toned (yellow clashes baaaad with my cooler undertones).
OPI Jade is the New Black - This is the perfect medium green, not all yellow toned, lol! Have a look at my swatch here.
Misa Grass is Greener on the Other Side - Neon medium green, I only wear this on my toes.
Misa Toxic Seduction - This is a beautiful shimmery forst green, application is excellent. One of my fall faves and absolutely sexy. Check out my swatch here.
Zoya Edyta - Edyta is a deep olive green with beautiful micro gold shimmer. I adore this one!
Zoya Envy - I love that Envy is super dark yet distinctly green and not black, even indoors.
3. Top 5 Purple Polishes - oh how I love purples! I have a preference for lilac toned ones. Either way this category took me a while to decide on. I tend to buy a lot of purple nail polishes.
American Apparel Dynastie - My favourite purple hands down! Gorgeous light purple with cream finish.
OPI Parlez Vous OPI? Dusty light purple again with a cream finish. I'm on my second bottle!
Color Club Wild at Heart - This is how holos should be done. With a purple base and tones of fine silver shimmer. Check out my swatch here.
Orly Cashmere Cardigan - This is more of a perwinkle shade, it screams spring to me. Excellent formula and you can see a swatch of it here.
OPI Louvre me Louvre me Not - My fave red toned purple. OPI does great purples, every single one I have is a hit.
What are some of your favourite nail polishes in these three categories?
March 21, 2011
Hey lovelies, hope you all had a fabulous weekend. I've decided to show you my top 5 nail polishes in various colour categories starting today. I was inspired to do this when I was going through my nail polish stash yesterday. I didn't even count the polishes, just reorganized them for the season. I remember the last time I counted them was 2 years ago and I had 90 bottles :/ and obviousely many more have been added since, I think the number is closer to 150 now. I just loooove nail polishes though; I change my nail colour everyday to reflect my mood. I can go without makeup but naked nails means naked me, lol!
For the first installment of favourite polishes, I have chosen my top 5 vamp, nude and gray/taupe polishes. All shades are described from left to right (in the picture).
1. Top 5 Vampy Polishes - vampy shades are by far my favourite colour of nail polish and hence fall is my fave nail polish season. I consider anything dark vamp, lol! So this category is multi-coloured, but all with a somber mood.
OPI Yes I Can Can - my all time most worn dark nail polish. There's no dark burgundy like this cream finish perfection.
Zoya Casey - The most gorgeous super dark burgundy brown. Looks gorge with my skintone.
Essie Sexy Divide - this is the dark purple perfection. Slight shimmer and smooth application; I have an NOTD here.
Chanel Paradoxal - this is more of a trendy gray purple. Very unique and always a conversation starter. You can see my NOTD here.
Orly Galaxy Girl - Another non-traditional vamp. This is a dark red brown with blue reflects, as seen in this post. Gotta love Orly's nail innovation.
2. Top 5 Nude/Natural Polishes - the nude and neutral shades are forever classy. I prefer the more unique ones that have a hint of taupe, gray than the band-aid look.
OPI Time-less is more - this is actually a pale white, not a chalkboard shade. The name perfectly describes the colour. Click here to see my swatch.
American Apparel California Topper - This is a gorgeous gray toned nude. Lovely in all seasons.
$OPI - Going Nude, eh? This is similar to the APP but warmer and lighter.
OPI Tickle My France-y - My all time most worn nude, what an elegant and ladylike shade.
Orly Country Club Khaki - lovely lovely light taupe nude. Excellent application.
3. Top 5 Gray/Taupe Polishes - this types of shades has been trendy since OPI released You Don't Know Jacques with their France Collection back in 2008.
Color Club Jewel of a Girl - My go-to light gray. Since I own a lot of gray clothing, this gets used a lot.
Color Club Snakeskin - a warmer and deeper gray, bordering taupe.
OPI You Don't Know Jacques - you probably all own this, if not you should! Def an OPI classic by now.
China Glaze Ingrid - I adore this dark taupe because of the tiny gold flecks. Looks amazing when the sun hits it. See here for swatch.
MAC Earthy Harmony - the perfect "conservative" colour that is still trendy. Click here for my swatch.
Hope you guys enjoyed this post. I will post the rest of the colours in sequence this week and the next. What are some of your fave polishes in colour categores listed?
November 7, 2010
Yey, I got an extra hour of sleep today due to time change! It's funny how little things like that can make me feel happy. This was my NOTD from last week that I forgot to post. China Glaze Ingrid was released with their fall collection (Retro Diva) and as usual it took me months to get around to wearing it. Ingrid is a gorgeous taupey shade with tiny gold reflects that are only visible when you look closely. I really like this shade though and the formula is great. China Glaze tends to be hit and miss for me but I definitely didn't have any application issues with this one.
Here's a two coat swatch for you guys!
September 15, 2010
YES! It's finally fall and I can wear my vampy nail polishes. I mean there's no rules as to when to wear what shades but I'm kinda cliche and reserve my dark nail polishes for fall. The shade I'm sporting today is China Glaze First Class Ticket from their Vintage Diva fall collection. It's a deliciously dark purple shade with slight shimmer. I tend to have some application issues with ChG and find most of the polishes either too thin or too thick. But this one was perfect in performance. I usually change my nail polish every other day but I think I'll keep this one more more day :D
Here's a two coat swatch for ya:
August 26, 2010
I've said it in this blog before, but I absolutely adore fall shades for makeup and nail polish. I have a lil vamp living inside me that never sleeps, lol! My fave shades are burgundy, dark red, smokey purple... but really anything dark and sultry. Give all this, I'm already excited about fall. Ive been accumulating some nail polishes that fit the bill since the last two weeks, excuse the quality of pics, bad cloudy day today :/
1. Left to right: Midnight Mission, First Class Ticket and Ingrid all by China Glaze. I picked these up from Sally's.
2. Left to right: Out of This World, Lunar Eclipse and Galaxy Girl all by Orly. Orly's Cosmic FX is the best nail polish collection I've ever seen in a while! I got these from Sally's as well.
3. Left to right: Zoya Kotury (picked this from Trade Secret), Earthly Harmony and Jade Dragon both from MAC's new nail trend collection.
Overall, I'm loving this new vibe of small glitters in dark polishes. I have not worn any of these yet but I can see a common trend which I love! I picked up "cooler" toned fall shade this year as my stash is full of warm purple, burgundy and blood red shadeed nail polishes.
Here are some quick and dirty nail wheel comparisons. I will do full review and swatches of all these as I wear them:
1. MAC Rain of Flower (left) vs Orly Out of This World (right). I didn't pick up MAC as even though they are not dupes, I find the MAC shade just pales in comparison. Much more flat looking.
2. MAC Ming Blue (left) vs Orly Lunar Eclipse (right). Again I skipped the MAC shade. The base of these two is similar but Orly has more reflect glitters in it. You can't see it well in the picture but the orly almost looks like it has a purple flash to it IRL.
3. China Glaze Ingrid (left) vs MAC Earthly Harmony (right). These are in the same colour family of mushroom shades that have been popular since last year. They are different enough for me to justify owning both. The fine glitter is more visible in the MAC shade.
Did you guys get any new polishes lately? What are some of your favourite nail polish brands/shades?
