Reader Requests

I am trying my best to catch up on my requests. Please be patient with me. Thank you :)



Essie Blueberry Crumb. Quite sheer, this is five coats.



Index and Ring: China Glaze Agent Lavender
Middle and Pinkie: OPI Done Out In Deco
Not dupes!


Index and Ring: OPI Louvre Me, Louvre Me Not
Middle and Pinkie: OPI Overexposed In South Beach
They looked more similar to each other in the bottle. Not dupes, I'm afraid.



Dior Bleu Poison. AKA Poison Blue. Very dark, looks nearly black in most lighting.


CND Plexi Pink. Sheer hot pink tint with blue/purple iridescence. Makes a great layering polish, especially over blue.


China Glaze Yell-O-Neil. A medium yellow with glass fleck shimmer. Beautiful color, painful application.


NARS Orgasm. Very sheer, needed five coats.



China Glaze Celtic Sun. Neon highlighter yellow jelly. This is a pretty bad picture of it- it's closer to the color in the bottle. It is the color of a highlighter in real life. Very, very, very bright.


OPI Think Merry, Pink Merry! You may want to view this beauty full size. Shimmering frosty pink metallic with silver microglitter. Ulta Exclusive, holiday 2008.


OPI Breathe Life- sunlight. It lights up with blue sparkles in the sunlight.

Jessica Summer 2009 Life's A Beach Collection

This is the second collection I've tried from Jessica and I love it even more than the first!

The Life's A Beach collection is a collection of brights and a few have a very jelly-like finish!


Bikini Bottoms. A bright fuchsia creme. This isn't really as jelly-like as the other shades in this collection. It's a nice, bright pink but it's not neon. It also looks good against my skintone, which is rare for pink!






Diva On The Dunes. Bright orange creme. This one is a lot more jelly-like, but doing three coats covered up the squishy look. It's a very bright but not quite neon orange.



Loving The Lifeguard. Rich red-purple creme. This looks a lot like some of the neon purples in my collection but with the 'neon' removed! It's not really bright but it is bold.



My Cabana Boy. Near-neon coral-orange creme. This color is hot! It was also impossible to photograph. This is as close as I was able to get to the real life shade. It's much brighter and more saturated. I don't think it's a true neon, it doesn't dry matte, but it is bright enough to be seen from across the room! I think this is my favorite one so far!



No Tan Lines. Bright bubblegum pink creme. Your standard girly pink.




Under My Umbrella. Near neon hot pink creme. This has the most obvious jelly finish out of all the polishes in this collection. It's also super bright but not a true neon. It's right on the edge of bright/neon! Bold and bright, perfect for a summer pedicure.


I didn't think Jessica did a whole lot of brights or neon-like colors, so this collection was another surprise for me. The more and more I experience this brand, the more I like it.

I especially love the name of this collection. Life's A Beach. Ha!

The polishes all have a great texture, not too thin, not too thick. They don't seem to have three-free syndrome. They all apply evenly with no streaking, running or pooling. They dry very quickly and the wear on them is really quite good. The bottles and brushes are also of a very high quality, and that helps a lot when applying polish.


I love these colors. Like I said, they're bright but not neon. Brighter than the colors in China Glaze Kicks but not as bright as the colors in Zoya La-Di-Da. Every shade is flattering and could be worn by a wide variety of skin tones and still look perfect. I was especially shocked that the pinks looked good on me. Pinks usually make my fingers look dirty or burnt. Bonus!


Overall, hot colors, perfect for summer. Great formula. Not the most exciting or unique collection, but at least there aren't any ugly colors. Perfect for someone who's not brave enough to venture into neons but wants to wear bright color.

I don't have an exact release date for these, but they're available at the end of April and can be purchased from Jessica's website.

Essie Summer 2009: NEONS!!!

I just got the new Essie neons and HOLY CRAP! These are BRIGHT!!!!!!!

First, a disclaimer and then the swatches. Since these polishes are neon, they don't photograph true to life. I have not yet found a way to capture the true glow of a neon polish. They do weird things to my camera. I have tried my best to get the colors accurate, but these will look much, much brighter in real life.

I'm trying out different types of lighting for these, and a couple of them turned out pretty good. Some are taken in the shade or in a dark room, so that's why my skin looks grey... No, I am not a zombie. Yet.

Edit:  Check out Siobhan's awesome swatches of this collection at The Nailphile!




Flirty Fuchsia. Neon pink. Sunlight pictures of neons never come out, I don't even know why I bothered. This pink has almost a touch of red to it- it's a deeper pink than Punchy Pink but it's just as bright!




Funky Limelight. Neon highlighter yellow. This is a true highlighter yellow. It's officially my new favorite yellow. This is retina-searingly bright, in fact, it gives me a bit of a headache just looking at it!




Perky Purple. Saturated neon purple. This might actually be my favorite type of color. No matter how many neon purples I own, I just never seem to get sick of them and always find myself wanting more! This is more of a deep purple in real life, but super bright. It's a lot like Essie Bermuda Shorts from last year's neons.




Punchy Pink. Uber-bright neon light pink. This is the lighter of the two pinks, and it seems more on the cool end of the spectrum. These pictures can not possibly portray how cool this polish is. It is ridiculous.


The formula on these is perfect. Thin, pigmented, smooth, totally flawless. I had zero application issues. These are right in line with the Zoya neons formula-wise. In fact, these are even thinner and smoother than the Zoyas, but not as opaque. They are slightly on the sheer side- one coat of polish lays down a lot of pigment but to build intensity you really need three coats. All of these pictures are three coats of polish with one coat of Seche Vite. Since it is the nature of neons to dry matte, you will need a topcoat if you want a glossy finish.

I am going to say it right now: Funky Limelight is the best neon yellow I own. It's the brightest, the smoothest, the least streaky and just plain incredible. Backup-worthy. I don't usually like to choose 'best' products because something better usually comes along, but no, this is THE. BEST. Period.

Overall, I am totally thrilled with these. Yes, these are pretty much your average neons, but they seem a lot brighter than most of the neons I own. The other thing that has me so excited about these is that, hello, they're ESSIE. Neons. Essie. Safe, sheer-pale-pink-nude Essie made these obscenely bright neons. Wrap your brain around that!

I would have liked to see a blue and green to round out the collection, but I can deal with just four awesome shades. I can't even see clearly because of the spots in my eyes from looking at these. It's like looking at the sun. Wicked.

Orly Summer 2009 Tiki Time Collection

One more summer collection, this time it's a collection of four bright cremes from Orly.

(And yes, I know that some of my pictures are blurry! My camera can't seem to focus very well anymore...)




Calypso Breeze. A dreamy bright blue creme. I don't have much to say about this- the picture says it all. It's beautiful. It is somewhat similar to Essie Mesmerize, but I don't have them to compare side-by-side at the moment.




Mint Mojito. Bright mint green creme. This reminds me of the color of mint chocolate chip ice cream! It's more of a bright green-yellow than I had anticipated. I thought it might be a match for MAC Peppermint Patti, but when it arrived I realized I was wrong! It is much better and brighter in real life. I am in love with this color. Right on, Orly!!




Sol Cabana. Soft yet bright orange creme. This is a lot softer looking in real life- these pictures seem to make it look almost neon, but it reminds me more of orange juice. It is quite bright and colorful but still has a soft, almost pale look to it- this seems to contradict itself, but once you see it in real life, you'll understand what I'm trying to say!





Teeny Bikini. Ultra bright red creme. Is there such a thing as neon red? Because that's what I would call this. This red is SO BRIGHT. It stands out so much against my skintone that you can't help but stare at it. This is definitely an attention grabbing sort of color.


The formula on these was wonderful. Thin, smooth, no runny/thick three free formula like a lot of other Orly polishes have. Drying time was much faster than I'm used to for Orly. Maybe they're working on their formula a little?

These pictures are all three coats of polish. They were a little sheer due to the thin texture of the polish, but they looked decent at two coats. I wanted to be absolutely sure they were 100% opaque, so I did three coats. You could probably get away with two.

Other than Mint Mojito, none of these colors are entirely unique. You could probably find matches for them from multiple brands- right off the bat, three of the colors are pretty close to three from the Misa Living On The Fast Lane collection. But still, they're gorgeous and if you don't already own similar colors they're worth having in your collection.

Overall, this is an awesome collection. I love every single color. I love brights, I love blue, I love green, I love orange, so I knew this would at least have three things I liked. The red was a total surprise. I don't normally like red, I find it boring, predictable and overdone, but certain shades of red appeal to me. There are a few reds that I really love- Maybelline Juicy Tomato, OPI Vodka and Caviar, OPI Keys To My Karma, Zoya America, Essie Russian Roulette, Essie E! Live From The Red Carpet, and now this.

It's also a nice small collection- easy on the wallet. Even better, this collection comes in a set of minis as well! It's a cheaper way to try out the collection and I really appreciate that Orly is making it more affordable to try their colors. Minis rock.

Lippmann Collection 'Did I Shave My Legs For This?' Ayurvedic Shave Cream

Did I Shave My Legs For This? is the brand new luxury shave cream from Lippmann Collection- yes, they do more than nail polish! Lippmann Collection has a line of luxury spa-type hand and body treatments like Steppin' Out Ayurvedic Foot Cream, Soul Mission Foot Scrub, Get Off Callus Softener and my personal favorite, Rich Girl Hand Cream (more on that in another post!).

The shave cream is described on Lippmann Collection's website as:

"The perfect way to indulge your skin and senses anytime, whether it's before a weekend getaway or whenever you need a little pampering. The specially formulated shave cream, for use on any body part and with any skin type, has soothing, moisturizing and toning properties so shaving will never be in vain. A unique, rare blend called the Ayurvedic Complex creates a moisturizing skin smoothing barrier that lubricates skin without clogging your razor. The creamy texture molds to skin while shaving- ideal for the areas prone to nicks like ankles and knees.

• Ayurvedic Complex - A blend of Green Coconut Water and Withania Root Extract exclusively selected in India, which is high in amino acids and vitamins to help restore, rehydrate and nourish skin.
• Exotic Acai Oil - Includes Omega 6 and Omega 9 fatty acids that hydrate and soften skin, phtysterols which help regulate and enhance the cell turnover process, and Vitamin C to protect skin from free radical damage and rejuvenate dull, sun-damaged skin
• Lavender, Lemon, Mint, Cypress and Labdanum Oils - Aromatherapeutic, natural botanical essential oils that relax the skin and delight the senses."

Sounds pretty alluring, I have to admit. I am not normally a shave cream type of girl- I favor the epilator over the razor, so I don't often have a use for shave cream. However, I am willing to change my routine if it means I get to use new products. I'm not just a polish addict, I'm a beauty, bath, body and fragrance addict as well, so of course I'd jump at the chance to try out some new thing that smells good.

I don't know anything about Ayurveda or how it relates to beauty products, but it seems to be a very popular beauty trend lately. I am always seeing signs and ads for Ayurvedic spas and all types of Ayurvedic beauty treatments. Effective or not, it does make the product seem more exotic, doesn't it?

Anyway, I used the product regularly for about two weeks and I had good results, but nothing stellar. My skin did feel softer and a lot more hydrated after using this product for shaving compared to using shower gel, and I didn't feel the need to immediately moisturize my legs after stepping out of the shower.

The cream itself is a new experience for me. I'm used to a traditional shaving cream that foams up when you apply it, but this is more like a lotion. It's a very thick consistency, like a rich body cream rather than a light, airy shaving cream. Despite the thick, lotion-like texture, this product washes off easily with no residue. It also washes off unintentionally while you're trying to shave in the shower, so be sure to step away from the water or turn off the shower while you're shaving with this.

The cream provides a nice, smooth shave and doesn't leave your skin feeling dried out afterwards. The scent provides a feeling of calmness and the formula of the product feels luxurious and indulgent.

Despite not being a country music fan, I do find the name of this product cute. I couldn't recall any of the words or even the artist who did the song, so I looked it up and listened to it a few times. In the song, the singer mentions doing her nails! But apart from that, it's a little sad and it is a good reminder of who you should really be trying to please.

My favorite feature of this product is the scent. The scent is fantastic. I am a person who buys things just for the scent, and this is a product that would inspire an impulse buy for me. It has a really unique scent that isn't my typical favorite "cupcakes and incense" type of scent.

It's calming, cool and herbal. It has a very serene, watery, spa-like aroma that is both relaxing and refreshing at the same time. I wouldn't categorize the scent as either masculine or feminine. I often find myself opening the tube of shaving cream just to smell it. It is heavenly. I need to find a perfume that smells like this!

Overall, it's a very nice product but there weren't fireworks for me. I'm not sure that I could really justify the cost of regularly buying this. At $24 for seven ounces, this is really a luxury product. It's a good, effective, moisturizing shave cream with a wonderful natural scent and a cute name. If you want to treat yourself to a small indulgence to make a very un-glamourous task feel a little less mundane, this is a product for you. Or, if you're like me, you'll sniff it once and come home with seven tubes of it.


Did I Shave My Legs For This? can be purchased directly from Lippmann Collection's website and it retails for $24 for 7 ounces (200 grams).

Revlon Intensifying Lashes

Now for a little change of pace...

I recently received the opportunity to try out several styles of Revlon fake lashes. I'm a big fake lash fan, but they're not an every day thing for me. However, some of the lashes I tried were so nice, I think I could make them an every day thing if I wanted to! Some styles I loved, some not so much. I'm going to start off with a review of my favorite.




This is the Revlon Intensifying lash. As you can see, it's a full strip lash with soft black lashes arranged in a very natural pattern. I would call these medium length. They're twice as long as my natural lashes but they're not so long that they're costumey or over the top.






I applied them with the glue included in the kit. When the glue was fully dry, I curled my lashes and applied two coats of mascara to blend the false lashes into my real lashes.

As you can see, this is a very natural look. Long, but not necessarily dramatic. I normally go for a lot more volume with my lashes, but these gave a really pretty wide-awake fresh look.

The band is nice and flexible and nearly invisible. It's a very thin band, which is good for three reasons. The first reason being that the lashes will conform to your natural eye shape and not try to fight with you, second is that the lashes look natural and not immediately noticeable as fake (a thick band is a dead giveaway), and third, they're just easier to apply with a thin band.

The hardest part for me when it comes to applying fake lashes is getting the inner corner of the strip to stay down. It's like I can never get enough glue on there and it always pops up and looks bad. It's more due to my application skills than the product itself most of the time, but a good strong glue helps.

The glue included with these lashes is decent. It is a bit on the watery side and doesn't form a very strong bond until it's 100% dry. The key to applying lashes is letting the glue dry for at least 60 seconds before putting them on, and that's what I did with this glue. It was still a little watery after 60 seconds but it seemed to work okay. It removes easily when it's time to take off the lashes. It comes off either with the lash strip or in one whole piece when washing your face.

Overall, I really love the Intensifying lash from Revlon. They're one of the easiest to apply lashes I have ever used (due to the flexibility and size of the band) and they're natural looking enough to be worn every day.

The only thing I didn't like about the lashes was the lack of density or volume, but I don't think this style of lash is meant for that. Mascara helped provide some of the missing thickness and I was satisfied with the way they looked after two coats. If you really want dramatic lashes, you can always apply multiple strips, and I might try that eventually.

If I had to give these lashes a rating, I'd give them a 4.5 out of 5. Love everything about them except for the lack of volume.

Nail Art: Art Club Technicolor Doll

Art Club is known for making some of the best nail art polishes on the market. They're what you call 'striper' (not stripper, that's another post for another time) polishes. They're called that because they have a very long skinny brush instead of a normal polish brush and it's perfect for making stripes and other nail art.

Art Club just released the Technicolor Doll nail art kit to coincide with the release of Color Club's Electro Candy collection for summer. The kit includes:

5 Neon Stripers: Technicolor Doll, Psychedelic Dream, Paisley Paradise, Electric Universe, Cosmic Creature
2 jars of sprinkles: Aqua Charms, Fuchsia Charms
3 Self-Stick Decal Sheets: Floral Decal, Heart Decal and Swirl Decal.

They paid so much attention to detail on the packaging on this kit, it's absolutely beautiful. They even made a really pretty handle for it!



The model for the advertisement has such amazing makeup, too. I never remember to take a picture of the advertisement. She has neon yellow and green eyeshadow with black double-winged liquid liner. Gorgeous, I'm going to steal that look this week.


Anyway, there's the whole kit. Let's move on to the nail art.

Anyone can do this nail art, it's not difficult. The only extra equipment required will be black polish and a dotting tool if you want to do the dots.


Let's start off with something extra simple:




I love the combination of neon and black, it reminds me of the 90's. The 90's rocked.


If that design isn't interesting enough, you can spice it up a little bit with your dotting tool:



But if you're like me and want something a little more over the top, break out the sprinkles! I used Fuchsia Charms:



One interesting thing about the charms- if you peel one of them off after your polish has dried, it will leave a flower-shaped hole in your polish. It almost looks intentional, pretty cool actually.


Let's try another design with dots!



A simple, bright look with a base of Color Club Volt of Light.

Not colorful enough? Try adding more colors.



And one more very simple design:

This is neon pink and green, but it came out looking more like Christmas with snowflakes! So, hey, why not sport a Christmas manicure in April? This one used the Aqua Charms.


Now here's something a little more involved.

Marbling. It's really not difficult at all, you just need to work quickly because these neon colors dry very fast. Start with a base of a color you like and then add as many colors as you want to the nail. Take a toothpick or needle (I just used my small dotting tool) and swirl the colors around.

And now that we've seen abstract, let's go back to something more geometric.



In 1995 I had a coat that looked like this.

I also had one that looked like this.

Of course, those designs weren't awesome enough for me so I had to take it one step further...

I added one of the 'swirl' decals (looks more like a butterfly to me) to make it more interesting.

I took these pictures while the polish was still wet, so please excuse the weird thickness of the polish. It goes away when it dries, I promise.


I really love nail art. I wish I was able to do it more often!


The Art Club striper polishes are perfect. The polish is opaque, it dries quickly and the brushes are just the right firmness. Since this kit contains neon polishes, you will need a topcoat if you want them to look shiny. I used Seche Vite, but I bet the Color Club Vivid Color Intensifying topcoat would work well on these too.