Chanel Dupe and Vacation

Hey guys! Just wanted to let you know that I'm taking a much needed vacation and most likely won't be around to blog, answer email or check Twitter. I won't be gone long- probably about a week- but I didn't want you to see me stop posting and emailing and think I got abducted by aliens or something.

I'll probably schedule some random picture spam to go up while I'm not around just so it's not so lonely here.

And before I leave, I wanted to put up another picture I've been wanting to post for months!

Index: Chanel Kaleidoscope
Middle: BB Couture For Nails Blind Love
Ring: Chanel Gold Fiction
Pinkie: Sephora by OPI Charge It!

As you can see, Charge It! and Gold Fiction are not as similar as I had hoped- the texture/finish and application were very similar but the shades are pretty far off.

However, Kaleidoscope and Blind Love are near-exact duplicates. There is very little difference between these two polishes. I even did a wear test- alternating the shades on each finger and wearing it for a day- and I couldn't tell the difference. The subtle differences between them are that Kaleidoscope is ever so slightly more sparkly and Blind Love has just a touch more of a yellowy-green tint. Not enough for me to even notice when wearing them both at the same time.

Kaleidoscope is long gone, but as far as I'm aware, Blind Love is sticking around for a long time. And about one quarter the price.... Wears better, too.

My first Barry M polishes!

Another post I have been meaning to do for a long time!

Nail-blogging British friend of mine Helen surprised me on my birthday with a package that included some awesome Barry M polishes. There was some Illamasqua and a really kickass Barry M eyeliner as well, but those are for another post!

Thank you again so much for this amazing gift! I love everything.

284 Emerald Green. This is a light emerald shade with tons of shimmer. It's in between frost and metallic. Very shiny, kind of reflective and sparkly at the same time. It applied so smoothly, with only a hint of visible brushstroke.

299 Racing Green. A rich dark green with blue overlay... It's sort of duochrome, but you can see both colors clearly all the time. It's kind of like green underneath and blue on top! Is it green shimmer in a blue jelly base? Such a cool polish. It reminds me of Bloom Bianca, but this seems darker. Very similar feeling to the two polishes- aquatic, mermaidy, rich and botanical. Like leafy dark green seaweed in deep blue water!


I love these polishes a lot! I don't know if I can even get Barry M here- I've heard they have a website you can order from, but I've also heard stories of bad customer service when ordering from them, so I won't post the link. However, if you are in the UK, these are probably readily available to you, so go check out these gorgeous greens!

Ulta Professional Green With Envy

Ulta Professional Green With Envy

This is so gorgeous, I don't even know what to say about it. It's too nice. It's too perfect.

It's a very dark blackened yellow-toned green shimmer. As much as I love green, I'm really very disappointed with all of these strongly blue-toned greens that have come out recently. I feel like they lack a certain richness... Like they're watered down green. This particular polish does have a slight blue undercurrent, but it's yellow enough to make me happy.

The first green polish I ever owned was a little like this. Super dark, a little yellow toned. I still have it, even though it's half empty and I'm too scared to use it for fear of somehow ruining it or finishing it. Maybe that's where my love of blackened yellow-toned greens comes from. And then when Zulu came along? Heaven. Bonus points to anyone who knows what that first dark green polish is... Scrangie trivia! Hahahahaha!

Anyway... Ulta Green with Envy. I do have two complaints about it. First, the name. Green With Envy? Are you kidding me?! You couldn't come up with anything better than that? That's one of my peeves. Every green polish being named Green With Envy or Envy or something related to that phrase, and every red polish with glitter being named Ruby Slippers or some variation. Creativity... [Do you need it?] [You can have this.]

My second complaint is the formula. It was kind of sheer and maybe a little watery. I needed to use three coats. I hate it when companies slap the word 'professional' on polish. Like Sinful... yeah... no. Professional my ass. Okay, back to the Ulta polish. The brush was a little strange shaped and the vanity cap was hard to remove as well. So this polish isn't entirely perfect, but the color is definitely worth any trouble I may encounter in the formula or brush.

I hope Ulta keeps making cool polishes like this. There were some other cool looking blackened colors on the display, but they looked *too* black so I didn't grab 'em. The only other Ulta polishes I own are glitters, which I also love, but they were limited edition Christmas type things. Maybe I'll post those one day!

Random Jessica Polishes

I have a confession. I have pictures of four new fall/winter collections from various companies open in my photo software waiting to be edited, but they bore me to death and I don't even feel like posting them. They've been sitting there for weeks.... Every time I go to finish cropping and watermarking them I think I fall asleep.... zzzzzzz....

So, instead, here are a few of the awesome Jessica polishes I ordered a couple weeks ago.

Like I've mentioned before, Jessica is a new brand to me. I never used them before last year's holiday mini collection (which is beyond gorgeous) and every time I see them at Target it's just a bunch of pinks and reds.... So when I was poring over their website, clicking on every single polish name and looking at their pictures, I was totally shocked and excited to see a good variety of blues and "interesting" colors! I ordered a bunch and I've been indecisively filling and emptying another shopping cart ever since...

Enough babbling. Pic time.



Casablanca. A sheer-ish black base with pink/blue/teal duochrome shimmer. This has a ton of duochrome in the bottle, but the effect is more subtle on the nail. It needs bright sunlight to be visible, but it also shows up in sunset light quite well. It reminds me of one of those sweet black/duochrome shimmer Nicoles, but I can't remember which one. Blues In The Night perhaps?


Glamorous Gladiator. A warm brown-bronzy shimmer with a splash of opal flakes. Jessica has a flaky polish! I had no idea. This reminds me a bit of OPI Shim-Merry Chic, but less "barflike" (as I've heard it called, lol!!)- it's richer, more saturated, a little deeper and bronzier. Not as many flakes and no glitter, but still a very strong shimmery base.


Grecian Touch. I love this type of color. Vampy colors that are nearly black, but have a glint of color that appears to be glowing like coals... Lit from within. That's what it looks like. This one is a plum-bronze-burgundy duochrome. Subtle duochrome, the color shift is most obvious in bright sunlight. Dark around the edges and glowing in the center.

Midnight Moonlight. Medium blue shimmer with subtle green and purple duochrome. I think this is my new favorite blue. In the bottle this has an insane amount of duochrome, but the effect is much more subtle on the nail. In the second picture you can see a little of the green and purple duochrome. Purple at the tips of the nails and green in the center. Have I mentioned yet that Jessica's bottle pictures are the best? Extremely helpful when picking out polishes. Look at their picture of this one.

Solar Eclipse. Super deep blue creme with a hint of purple. In the bottle, this one looks a lot more violet, but on the nail it's mostly a rich dark blue with just a tiny drop of purple. I've been wearing this on my toes for nearly three weeks topped with a bit of Orly Prisma Gloss in Silver and it looks stunning. It's super dark but not black. A lot of dark blue cremes end up looking black or inky but this one retains its blue-ness.

Venus Was Her Name. Deep dusty charcoal grey base with vibrant purple shimmer. This is super unique. I don't have another polish like this. It looks dusty. Dusty and color shifty. In some angles/lights it looks grey, but when the light touches the surface, the electric purple shimmer lights up the deep base and it just looks soooooo cooooool. Freakin' weird. Weird and awesome.


The formula on them is not the greatest, but it's not horrible. Just inconsistent mostly. I find them a little hard to control- some are kind of thick, some are normal, some are thin, but the brush is kinda soft and doesn't make a perfect U shape like other brushes. They also take quite a while to dry. Not so long that it deters me from wearing them, but long enough that I can't put my shoes on a half an hour after application. I definitely recommend a quick-dry topcoat and drying drops with these. Every little bit helps! Also, letting them dry for two minutes between coats helps speed up the process as well, but that requires patience, and... well... Sometimes I don't have a whole lot of that when I'm painting my nails!


The thing about ordering on the Jessica website is that it's a little difficult to find the 'good' pictures. When you click on the custom color section from the homepage, you get the useless color dots and then you have to click ORDER to see the bottle picture. BUT, if you click 'Custom Colors' on the bottom of the order/add to cart page, it brings you to the list with the good pictures that you can click to enlarge.


And here I am again, slowly filling another Jessica cart and then changing my mind... Do any of you guys have Pink Diamonds, Greta, Bette, Bedazzler, Garnet Glaze, Queen Bee or Mystery? A couple kind of look like glitter in the pictures but doing a search for 'glitter' doesn't return them as results. Two of them look like cool duochromes too, but it's hard to tell. Maybe I should just get them. Hmm... Decisions, decisions....

Happy Birthday, Illamasqua!

Two of my favorite British things turned a little older this week.... Yesterday it was Gavin, today it's Illamasqua!

Illamasqua turns one year old today. How cool is that?

I've been kind of in love with Illamasqua ever since I laid eyes on this:

Illamasqua Rampage

Happy birthday, Illamasqua! I hope there's many more years of dark, edgy and awesome nail polish and makeup to come!

More Nail Designs from Fing'rs EDGE!

Halloween is this weekend! I know that a lot of people are using fake nails as part of their costumes, and I recently received some new styles of press-on artificial nails from Fing'rs to try. Some of these styles would be great for Halloween (or just every day)!

Here's the 31388 style and the 31194 style.

31388 is a sheer nude base with a hot pink french tip and a black diagonal grid design. They're inspired by International Recording Artist Mylin, who I'll admit I've never heard of, but she looks kinda like Jackie Warner. I think these would go great with an 80's/90's Prom Queen costume!

The 31194 style is a sheer nude base with white french tip and black polka dots. Very retro-50's looking, maybe these would go well with a retro glamour girl costume. I really wanted to wear these. Boo. They're so cute.

As much as I was looking forward to putting these on to review, I couldn't. To be completely honest, these are too short for me to even wear. As I was sizing the tips and getting ready to apply, I realized that these nails only covered about 3/4 of my nail bed. I would literally have to cut off my fingertips to wear these... so, sadly, I can't show pictures of these on my nails. When they say short, THEY MEAN IT! Hahahaha. I have long nail beds with fairly 'skinny' nails so many press-on nails don't fit me exactly right. I think these are better suited for someone with naturally shorter nail beds and wider nails.

However, one of the styles just barely fit my fingers!

Style 31269. A sheer nude base with deep blue metallic tips. Really cool looking. The tip is kinda glowy and reflective. Would make a good polish color. I wonder if I have a polish that matches this color? Hmm.

Here's how they look on me:


Pretend that you don't see my middle and pinkie nails sticking up over the top of the fakes. I had to file my nails down as far as they would go without bleeding to wear these, but my pinkie and middle were still just a bit too long.

I think they look pretty good, if not a little too wide for my nail beds. I can handle a french manicure when the tip is a fun color, and this blue is really fun. You can see in the flash picture that it's very reflective. It always has a section where the light is hitting the tip and there's a lighter stripe. It moves as you move your hands. Really fascinating!

I used the included glue to apply these, but they also come with stick-on tabs. The tabs are great if you only want to wear these for the night, as they remove *very* easily with warm water. The glue will give you a week of wear if you wanted to keep them on for a while.

For some tips on application, check out my older press-on nail reviews! But really, the two things you really need to know are:

Don't use too much glue. Just a little on the center of your natural nail. Otherwise the glue will get EVERYWHERE and you'll glue your hands to things unintentionally. Not like I'd know... *cough cough*

Press down hard! If you release the nail before the glue is dry or your pressure is uneven, this can cause air bubbles. Air bubbles not only look obvious with a sheer base nail like this, but they can collect moisture and condensation which can lead to some nasty things growing under your nail.

Other than that, these are fun and easy to use. A quick way to change your nails for an event. Best suited for people with shorter nail beds. I myself prefer a much longer nail, but I've heard from many people when I do my fake nail reviews that a short length is preferred for them. So, your mileage may vary!

Lip balm?

Okay, this is totally random but I figured you guys would have some great suggestions.

Recommend me a lip balm!

I normally like My Lip Stuff but I'm wanting something thicker or more substantial.

So, what's your favorite lip balm everyone?

EDIT: Holy crap, you guys ROCK!! I knew I could count on you for awesome recommendations. I now have a lip balm wishlist about a mile long! If you still have suggestions, keep them coming, I'm going lip balm shopping! :D Thank you so much. Group hug. Awwwwe.

Hard Candy Just Nails

You may have recently heard me complaining about having to go to Wal-Mart to find these and leaving empty handed every time. While the hunt for these polishes was not the least bit pleasant, the reward was worth the ordeal.

I didn't pick up all the shades- I left the cremes behind. I'm more interested in glitter, but there was a yellow creme and a light teal creme that looked pretty good, I may go back and get them at some point.

Here's what I got from Hard Candy Just Nails:

Breakup. A clear-ish base with very large particle opalescent hexagonal glitter. I say that the base is clear-ish because it's speckled with little shimmer particles, smaller than glitter but large enough to make the base a little milky and sparkly. On me, mostly the orange-yellow-red side of the opal glitter shows. In the bottle it has a blue-purple-green side that I just adore and wish it showed more on me. This might be best as a topcoat because it's not the most opaque glitter in the world.


Date Night. Light medium warm pink glitter. Remember when I was posting about the new Zoya UltraGlitters and I said that all the pink glitters on the market were the same color? They're this color. This is pretty, don't get me wrong, but I wish the shade was more unique.



Envy. Vampy blue-green shimmer. This is the color I used for my Depression Awareness ribbon manicure- you didn't forget that it's still Depression Awareness Month, did you? This is a gorgeous color, blackened and still shimmery. It does look mostly black indoors and in sunlight the shimmer catches the light and it's just really pretty to look at. I wish it was a little less blue-based and a touch more yellow-toned. Lots of blue-greens out there lately.


Hot Pants. Ick. I mean.... Murky mauve-pink sheer base with large holo hex glitter and small holo round glitter. This is a really weak version of China Glaze Carnival Lights or Nubar Sugar or something. I do like the look of sheer colored base with hexagonal holo glitter, I just wish the base color wasn't so muddy and ew. It looks terrible on me. It should have been pinker or brighter, this base shade looks kind of lifeless to me. Works great as a topcoat, though.


Lava. HOTNESS. Bright red shimmer base with gold-orange iridescent metallic flecks. It's not really glitter... More like tiny little broken flakes. I love this. A lot. I've been a red-hater for a long time (to me it's boring, uninspired and overdone) and within the past year my taste has changed so much. Now I'm craving bright reds like this. But enough about me... Lava has a very iridescent, almost duochrome look to it. It flickers and changes in the light, like it's filled with little glowing embers or tiny flames. Lots of red, orange and gold flakes.


Mr. Right. Vampy dark blue shimmer. Whoa mama. Blue velvet. Gorgeous. Probably not the least bit unique, but still... very pretty to look at, isn't it? Like Envy, it does look mostly black with a hint of blue shimmer indoors, but outside when the sun catches it just right... perfection.



Mr. Wrong. If this is wrong, I don't wanna be right. It's a steel blue, grey, silver, gold and taupe metal flake fusion. This is probably the coolest polish in the whole line. Gahhh, it's so awesome!! It's a bunch of tiny little flecks of metallic shimmer- not really glitter like in Date Night or Sweet P. The particles are very thin and light. The overall effect is mesmerizing.



Sweet P. Cause everyone needs a mother.... Er, sorry. I hate that song. But I do like it when polish names make me think of music. Aaaaaaaanyway, Sweet P is a pea-soup glitter. Okay, it's not as murky-swampy as pea soup, it's more like fresh peas. Bright springy green glitter. A little muted. Kind of a retro-70's avocado refrigerator look. Or like the paint on one of those carnival rides. I'm digging it. Green, glitter, what's not to love? It's not as bright or complex as NYX Lime Sparkle, though.


The formula on these was okay. A little thick on a few, sort of watery on the others. Kinda sheer. Took a long time to dry. Not horrible, but it's not going to win any awards. I did three coats in all these pictures and they needed all three. Maybe Lava and Mr. Right could get away with two. Also worth noting: these are mini sized. .35 fluid ounces. Standard polish size is .5 fluid ounces. These also come with little plastic rings that fall off easily, do not try to pick up the bottle by the rings. The old Hard Candy jelly rings stayed on much better.

I have a few thoughts on these. One, I'm happy to see Hard Candy back with interesting colors, but I'm also a little disappointed that they're not as cool as they used to be. There's still hope- these colors aren't boring, but they're not the edgy, unique shades Hard Candy was known for.

Second, I'm kinda irked that I have to go to Wal-Mart to get these. It's kind of like shopping at the circus. Stuff hanging off of shelves in narrow, dirty, dimly lit aisles, nail polish covering the floor and all displays within a ten foot radius, dozens of unsupervised children running around screaming... (Sorry, Wal-Mart lovers, I just can't do it!) I also feel that being sold only at Wal-Mart cheapens the already devalued image of Hard Candy. The Hard Candy line really went downhill in the last few years, offering chalky makeup in standard shades and four boring polish colors. I'd love to see this brand restored to its former self. I still have my first two Hard Candy lipsticks- Piglet and Skitzo- even though they are totally rancid and unwearable, as a relic of good days gone by.

Third, what's up with the price?? $5.00 for a mini? From Wal-Mart? You've got to be kidding me. I guess I'm just so used to paying $4.48 for OPI and $3.20 for China Glaze, which are full-sized AND pro/salon brands (not drugstore brands). I have nothing against drugstore polish at all, but I do think $5.00 for .35fl oz of Wal-Mart polish is a little steep. Hard Candy, you're no longer a high-end brand, you don't need the prestige price tag.

But... overall... I really like most of the colors I got, I would actually wear almost all of them and I'm happy that they're at least available to everyone who wants them. The makeup line looked kinda cool, if I see some good reviews I might actually venture back to that place to try some of it.

A few more of the China Glaze glitters

I don't have them all yet, but here are a few more of the new China Glaze 'Specialty Collection' glitters... I love them.


Atlantis. This is kind of a medium blue-green/teal/aqua jelly base with lots of holographic glitter. I included a picture of it blurred to show just how sparkly the glitter in this is. For some reason, the blurrier the picture, the better the glitter sparkle shows! Anyway, Atlantis is my favorite so far. I love it. I've worn it the most out of all of them and I'm still not tired of it!

Cleopatra. This is a warmer/orangier gold than Medallion. It's a lot of tiny particles of golden and holographic glitter.


Medallion. A softer, more yellowy-beige gold than Cleopatra, lots of holographic glitter.



Nova. Super-sparkly silver holographic glitter. This one has some larger and smaller particles blended together. The effect is spectacular in the sunlight, even my blurred picture doesn't show just how sparkly it really is.


Like the others, these have a smooth formula that applies easily and dries in a reasonable amount of time. Not fast, but not as slow as the other China Glaze ones I've had trouble with before. These pictures are three coats. The glitter in these is definitely dense enough to be worn alone, but will also work as a glitter topcoat. These are a little gritty and really do need a coat of Seche Vite or other thick topcoat to make them smooth and glossy. Two coats of topcoat would be even nicer, but not necessary.

Still in love with all these new China Glaze glitters.... Will post more when I pick up the rest of them!

MOTD

My new friend

A quick word on emails

I don't know how to start this post, so I'll just get right to the point: I'm having trouble keeping up with my inbox!

If you've emailed me and haven't gotten a response, I'm really sorry. It's been really difficult to stay on top of my emails lately. I have emails over a month old that are still waiting to be answered. I'm having a lot of trouble concentrating, remembering things and flat out finding time to sit and write coherent sentences. Please be patient with me, I am working through my messages.

Also, I am working on a Frequently Asked Questions post to cover some of the more popular questions I receive, such as "Are your nails real?" (Yes, they are.) "What topcoat/basecoat do you use?" "How do you keep from painting on your cuticles?" "Where can I buy ___ brand of polish?" and so on... That should really help me answer questions more quickly.

There's so much I want to say and do and post and it's really a lot for one person to keep up with every day- but I try my best!

I really, really appreciate all your emails. I love that you like me enough to visit my blog and want to talk to me! Cause I like you guys too. Thank you. <3

Need Zoya swatches?

I've noticed a lot of searches for Zoya swatches on here for the past few hours... They must be having a special!

Need some swatches to help you decide? Prepare for SPAM!! (And don't forget to look here as well!)

Anastasia

Aria

Bebe


Evangeline

Eve

Ginger

Harmonie

Irene

Juno

Kaufda

Kierra


Marry J

Milla


Odilia

Paris


Sienna

Soho Punch


Sparkle Gloss Topcoat

Tama

Tosca

Vegas Freeze

Venus

*whew*