::pretty::tough::nails::: raspberry

Showing posts with label raspberry. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Maybelline Clearly Spotted Over GOSH Berry Me Swatch And Review

Wow, I'm mentally disturbed right now. I just watched the Sardinia episode of Bizarre Foods, and I think it totally topped the worst most disgusting foods I've ever seen eaten before. I know that aging cheese can be a long and difficult process, but the two cheeses that I saw on this episode was enough to trigger my gag reflex. Gross. I was in Sardinia a few years ago, and I left it with some amazing memories of great architecture, wonderfully friendly people, gorgeous beaches, and delicious food. Now I have a feeling that this episode will always leave a small stain on that experience. Did anyone else see this episode?

Moving on.... I was in the mood to go with a bright berry color and settled on using GOSH Berry Me, a highly pigmented berry wine cream. The formula on this was amazingly smooth and easy to apply, and possibly one of the best drugstore polishes I've had the pleasure of using. I could have gotten away with one coat, but I used two to be safe. No topcoat so you can see its natural shine. I really love how complimentary this shade is against my skin, and I think it would probably work well with most skin tones.

GOSH Berry Me

I though this gorgeous color would be a great canvas for Maybelline's Clearly Spotted. Clearly Spotted is their version of matte black and white multisized hex glitter in a clear base. I had no trouble with application - the glitters didn't stick together and they spread out nice and evenly. This was finished with a layer of Essence Gel Look Nails to help smooth out the finish.

Maybelline Clearly Spotted Over GOSH Berry Me

There are so many drugstore brands that are coming out with this now classic combination, and it's wonderful to see that they each have a unique take on the combination. I do miss the bar glitters, but the hex only glitter variation is a fun change of pace. Compared to the other mainstream black and white glitters, this is probably my favorite so far in terms of formula, application, and density. Have you tried any lately?

Monday, January 14, 2013

Illamasqua Vridian and Glitterati Duo Swatch And Review

I never really understood the phenomena known as Dim Sum. We had some for brunch today and it was more hassle than I think it was worth. Brunches on the weekend usually involve some sort of wait for seating, which I don't mind, but more than 30 minutes for what is essentially Americanized Chinese food makes me want to go elsewhere. Parking was a nightmare too, and all for some food that's been sitting in a cart for who knows how long and being breathed on by too many people. Meh. I just don't get it. Someone explain what I'm missing, please?

Sephora recently had a slew of markdowns at the beginning of the year so I jumped on the Illamasqua Duo Set of Vridian and Glitterati during the sale. I'd been eyeing this set for a while so I was stoked to see that it was marked down, plus an additional 20% off making it less than $8 a bottle.

Firstly I have Vridian to show you, it's a metallic forest green shade that was well pigmented. I used two coats in these pics with no topcoat. It was a little thinner than I would have liked but I love that there was very minimal visible brush strokes once it dried.

Illamasqua Vridian

The second polish in this set is Glitterati, a beautiful dark berry shade with gold microflakes and silver hex gitter. It was well pigmented and I used two layers for opacity. My only complaint is that I wish there was a touch more glitter in the formula because it seemed sparse after the two coats. It dried a little bumpy but I only needed a layer of Poshe to add shine and to even it out.

Illamasqua Glitterati

Overall I'm really happy with this set, with Glitterati being my favorite of the two. If you like it, you can still nab a set on Sephora or on the Illamasqua website.

Friday, December 7, 2012

Cult Nails Behind Closed Doors Swatch and Review

I forgot to mention earlier this week that my best friend visited me this past weekend to meet my LO for the first time. She lives in New York City and I hadn't seen her since she threw my baby shower in June, so I was really excited to have her visit. She had a great time with the LO, she even rolled up her sleeves and changed a diaper or two. We visited LACMA and I finally got to explore the third floor some more and we saw both the Stanley Kubrick and Caravaggio exhibit.

My favorite piece at LACMA by Ken Price

Later that night we went to Baby's R Us to pick up a new bath tub for the baby, and of course she couldn't resist looking at the baby clothing. Fortunately for her, she found quite a few outfits for my LO - notice I said fortunately for her and not me or the LO because this spurred a photo shoot the next day, all inspired by her birth state, New Jersey. Yes, New Jersey. My baby was Jerseyfied. She was a Jersey Girl living in a Jersey World. Gah! Bad Auntie! There was gold, spandex, midriffs, cheetah print, tube tops, and jeggings involved. Luckily there was no bronzer or hairspray, whew!

When I found out about the recent Cult Nails collection, I was beyond excited to see these colors in person. I love that there is a great range of colors, and each color has a unique finish - flakie, glass fleck, and shimmer. What more can any polish lover ask for? I must have a polish angel looking over me as well, because I was contacted by a lovely member of a polish board that I post on frequently and she offered to send me some from the collection because she was accidentally sent a duplicate order! How lucky am I? So now I have some swatches from the collection to show you, and hopefully you can see how awesome they are. So be prepared, this is a long post!

First is Flushed, a gorgeous deep purple with a pink shimmer that makes the polish appear to glow on your fingers. I adore polishes like these! Contrasting shimmers truly make the polish come alive on the nail. I had no trouble with application, although I had a slightly wonky brush, and I used two coats in these pictures with no topcoat.

Cult Nails Flushed

Next is Disciplined, a lovely sheer light grey crelly with blue, pink, and purple shimmer, how awesome is that? I thought that this would be my favorite of the collection, and it completely lives up to my expectations. I did use four coats in these pictures to get the polish opaque enough so there wasn't any VNL in the pics, but next time I plan on using a colored undie, like Zoya Caitlin. No trouble with the formula or application on this color either.

Cult Nails Disciplined

I was really looking forward to Coveted, a dark green jelly with flakie shreds. I adore flakies, and Cult Nails has been putting out some really great ones lately. Unfortunately I had a lot of trouble with the application of this color - aside from being a jelly, the flakies in the polish are too large and don't sit flat on the nail. I had some big clumps of flakies and had to use the brush to push them off the nail to discard. In these pictures I used three coats and you can see that the flakies are larger and not evenly dispersed on the nail. No topcoat in these pictures.

Cult Nails Coveted

Finally, I have Bitten, a raspberry glassflecked polish that completely took me by surprise at how lovely it looked on my nails. A good glassfleck is hard to come by and this one is definitely one you don't want to miss. I really like the shade of raspberry and the glassflecks add dimension to the polish. I used three coats in these pictures but I could have probably gotten away with two. No topcoat in these pictures.

Cult Nails Bitten

I unfortunately didn't get Afterglow to show you, as I'm not really a big fan of brown polishes, but after seeing how gorgeous the other colors were I might need to pick this one up as well. My favorite of this collection is Bitten followed by a tie between Disciplined and Flushed. I really wanted to like Coveted but because of the application issues, I will probably be passing this one along. Are there any must haves from this collection that you need?

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Zoya Ornate Collection Aurora and Logan

I got my hair did today! My hair was getting out of control and I was in dire need of a new haircut. Did you know that when you're pregnant, towards the last 3 months and 3 months following birth you don't lose a single strand of hair? It has something to do with the hormones during pregnancy. My hair is already thick to begin with, and not losing any hair for half a year made me feel like cousin It, especially since my normal cut is long layers. It was just too heavy! I needed more body! So I went onto yelp and found a new hair salon which was able to schedule me in within a couple days. Now I've got shorter, texturized layers that make my head feel so much lighter. Another plus is that my daughter, who is learning how to grab with her hands, can't take fistful of my hair any longer. I love it when I haircut makes you feel like a million bucks.

I'm sure you're tired of seeing swatches of the new Zoya Ornate collection, but I couldn't resist two of their colors and had to pick them up. One of course one was green, Logan, and the other is Aurora, a color that looks positively stunning in every picture I've seen so far. I would have picked up Storm as well if it was in stock but unfortunately my nail supply was out(oh, did you know I found a nail supply that carries Zoya now? Winning!). I always forget how lovely Zoyas apply and these were no different. I only needed two layers for both and the formula was stellar as always. An added bonus is that Zoyas are 5 free, which recently became more important to me while I was pregnant. Gotta love Zoya!

My first swatch for you is Logan, a shimmery pine green foil interspersed with gold. To the naked eye, I needed two layers for opacity but in some of the pics you can see balding here and there so for camera pictures, three coats works best. In the bottle it looks fabulous but once on the nail it loses its initial appeal.

Zoya Logan

Next is Aurora, which is more stunning in real life than in the pictures I've seen online so far. It's a deep raspberry polish with holographic microglitter, and bright light really picks up the holographic rainbow easily. I don't have a single polish like it and I'm totally in love! Again, only two coats in these pictures with a coat of Poshe for added shine.

Zoya Aurora

Zoya Aurora blurred for holographic sparkle effect

I don't want to take off Aurora, ever! It's so holographically delicious and sparkly. I can only imagine with Storm looks like in real life and it's definitely going onto my wishlist. Zoya really made some great polishes in this collection and I'm so glad they ventured into holograph polish arena. It's a great start!

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Hare Polish Medusa Luminosa from Illuminated Life Collection

Crap, I can't believe it's already a week before Thanksgiving! Time really flies. I still have to figure out what I'm going to make for a turkeyless Thanksgiving, but I'm sure I'll come up with something. My in-laws are coming into town for the week and neither eat meat. It figures they'd come on a holiday that's represented by a turkey. I've already done vegetarian shephard's pie and veggie pot pie in the years before, and that's pretty much my entire cooking repertoire. I might have to branch out and try a more exotic cuisine this year. Vegetarian Vietnamese Thanksgiving anyone?

I've already posted Bury the Hatchetfish, and now I have another polish from the same collection, The Illuminated Life. This is Medusa Luminosa, a gorgeous shade of violet with iridescent purple hex glitter and raspberry micro glitter. I love the iridescent sparkle that makes this polish glow from within and really brighten up the violet jelly base that it's suspended in. Of course it's impossible to capture the true color of the purple on camera without turning it bluer than it really is, but at least it doesn't hide that wonderful glow. I believe the color is based on the beautiful coloring of a bioluminescent jellyfish known as the medusa luminosa. Application good, a tiny bit thick but workable, and it took three coats for me to get full opacity. I used gelous and poshe to get a glass like shine.

Hare Medusa Luminosa

Takes your breath away doesn't it? I'm throwing the towel in now and have accepted the fact that I'll have to own the entire collection of the Illuminated Life. So far everything I've tried has been stunning!

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