::pretty::tough::nails::: taupe

Showing posts with label taupe. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Pahlish El Topo Petit Swatch And Review

Hey there! How's you week going? Mine has been interesting to say the least. My car is in the autobody shop and my in-laws are still in town. Luckily, I have LO's birthday party to look forward to at the end of the week, so I've got some light at the end of the long tunnel!

I've got a lovely neutral for you today, and that's Pahlish El Topo Petit, a dark taupey cream with a ton of red microglitter. The formula was smooth and creamy, and applied with easy fluidity across the nail. I used two lovely coats and had no issues with pooling or streaking and the microglitter dispersed itself equally throughout. I finished with a layer of topcoat for added shine.

Pahlish El Topo Petit

The microglitter is easily visible and doesn't get swallowed up by the dark base, and comes off as a beautiful red shimmer. There's something incredibly sexy about a work appropriate neutral with a pop of vibrant red shimmer. I feel like I can wear this easily at a business meeting and look professional, but then there's that quiet shimmer that hints at my inner vixen. There's not too many neutrals out there that have qualities like this, and given that it's a product of Pahlish, I'm not surprised. Shannon is brilliant and her easily wearable polishes can be found in her Big Cartel shop. Make sure to stop by and give them a gander!

Purchased

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Pahlish Your Fortress Fades With Northern Star Wild Flowers Swatch And Review

I was intrigued by the gold microsparkle in Pahlish Your Fortress Fades, and gave neutral light taupey grey a try to see if it would work with my skin tone. The formula was on this was a bit sticky and probably could have used a bit of thinner to make for a smoother application. I used two coats here except for my pointer which smudged and needed an extra two coats. No topcoat for the pics below.

Pahlish Your Fortress Fades

I was planning on doing a little skittle nail art, but when I browsing my collection and saw how similar in base color Your Fortress Fades was to Northern Star Wild Flowers, I knew it would be a perfect match. Both contain gold shimmer, but Wild Flowers has a much sheerer base that would probably make it difficult to wear alone. With its purple squares, red and gold shards, and black hexes, it brings to mind happy flowers dusted with sunshine. Despite its thick consistency, I used two coats here and finished with topcoat for shine.

Northern Star Wild Flowers

Although I'm not a fan of pastels, I am loving all these lighter color shades of spring, such as this lovely grey leaning taupe accented with a ton of gold shimmer. The purple squares are of course my favorite, followed by the fun colored shards. It's been a long while since I used a greyed out taupe and I have to say I miss wearing this color. I'll have to make sure this color makes more frequent appearances here! Do you have a shade that you've been amiss in wearing?

Friday, September 13, 2013

Barielle Nude And Naughty Collection For Fall 2013

Press Sample

Great news!! Barielle is hosting a giveaway of ten prizes consisting of both their fall collections as well as a Cole Haan handbag as their grand prize. All you have to do is enter below. It's open from September 12th through the 26th, so enter now before you forget!

Barielle released two collections for fall this year, and today I have for you the second collection called Nude And Naughty. This is comprised of subtle yet sexy nudes that are great for days when you need a palette cleanser or something work appropriate. The colors range from light to dark, cream to shimmery and will be a great addition to anyone's collection.

Starting from the lightest shade is Very Bare, a nearly white nude cream with a touch of pink color. Application was a little streaky and needed three coats to become even. No topcoat here.

Barielle Very Bare

Pillow Talk is a traditional peachy nude cream that would probably be a good nude for fair colored skin tones. It has a similar application as Very Bare meaning it was a tad patchy and needed three coats to even out. No topcoat here.

Barielle Pillow Talk

No Not Now is a shimmery barely there pink nude. This one is very pretty and the silver shimmer is fairly visible on the nail. I used two coats here with no topcoat.

Barielle No Not Now

My favorite of the bunch is I Got A Headache, which is a darker nude shimmer, almost like a cafe au lait shade. The gold shimmer really pops and I added a picture of it in low light so you can see it better. No topcoat here.

Barielle I Got A Headache

And finally the darkest shade of the collection, In Good Taste, which is a dark milk chocolate cream that has some green undertones to it. I used two coats here and it had perfect pigmentation and consistency. I did finish this with topcoat because I planned to wear it for the next day.

Barielle In Good Taste

Overall, Barielle managed to come out with a lovely collection that isn't your typical boring nudes by combining shimmer and hints of untraditional undertones. Application overall was good considering that nudes are frequently streaky. I loved all the names of the polishes in the collection as well, with some bordering on hilarious.

Barielle is available at some retail outlets as well as their website barielle.com. Remember to sign up for the emails because they frequently send out promotions that make their polishes very affordable.

As mentioned above, their having another sweepstakes and here is a what the prizes will be:

The September Sweepstakes will start on September 12^th and end on September 26^th. There will be 10 prizes given out and one Grand Prize of a Cole Haan Silver Satchel, RSP of $175.00. The Barielle kit will consist of:

1 Two of the Fall Collections 5 Packs (Sophisticated Lady and Nude & Naughty) - $50

2 One Nail Rebuilding Protein Base Coat - $17.50

3 One No Chip Speed Dry Top Coat - $12.50

4 One Nail Strengthener Cream - $17.00

The value of the total Grand Prize is more than $200.00

The Grand Prize will include the fashion accessory plus the Barielle Kit.

Visit the Barielle facebook page to enter now!

Press Sample

Friday, April 19, 2013

Zoya Earth Day Exchange 2013! Some swatches for ya!

This weekend is the annual Zoya Earth Day Polish Exchange, where you can trade in your old polishes for free Zoya polishes, plus shipping and handling(essentially $4 each). I've participated in this in the past, and it's the best time of the year to stock up on Zoya. They don't actually expect you to mail in the old polishes, but it's a great motivator to get you to clean out your polish drawer and donate the old bottles elsewhere. I hear a lot of women's shelters will accept them, or you can leave them in your office bathroom for your coworkers.

This year's promo code is ZOYAEARTH2013, and you're welcome to use my referral link if you've never ordered from Zoya before. It'll get you a free bottle!

I have a few swatches for you to enjoy... I randomly picked some bottles out of my Zoya drawer. No topcoat in any of these pics, and that's because Zoya is so amazingly shiny on its own!

Zoya Anastasia is described on the website as a warm brown with strong purple tones with golden oxblood plum duochrome and heavy gold, gilded microglitter. Magical and versatile for sparkling fall beauty. Three coats shown here.

Zoya Anastasia

Zoya Edyta is described on the website as a complex mixture of gold, olive, blue-green and smoky grey with a sparkling metallic finish.A dark shade balanced with sparkle for a dramatic look. I only needed two coats for this because it was super pigmented. Beware, there is staining upon removal. It's worth it though! This is what I wish Hard Candy Crush On Tin looked like.

Zoya Edyta

Zoya Irene is described as a muted, mossy camouflage olive green accented by fine yellow-based green shimmer. An earthy way to wear the green nail trend. I love the shimmer of this, it almost looks duochromatic in some lights, shifting to a dark green shade. This was slightly sheer and I used three coats for opacity.

Zoya Irene

Zoya Meadow is described on the website as a soft medium pinkish peach with mauve undertones and warm frosty golden shimmer. Golden and flesh-toned, a sparkling nude for warm skin tones. I really like this soft pink with golden shimmer! Very pretty. Three coats shown here.

Zoya Meadow

Zoya Pasha is described on the website as a soft, pale, taupe-kissed beige nude with silver frost and the barest hint of silver microglitter. Very unique and fashionable- not a boring greige, nude by any means. This is one of my first Zoyas ever, and I wore this for weeks on end. Love it! Two coats shown here.

Zoya Pasha

Zoya Shivon is described on the website as a dark rose gold with hints of purple and bronze and strong gold duochrome shimmer. This color flickers and changes with light and movement so you'll never be bored. Love the gold shimmer in this. It's a less subdued version of Faye, but with a darker pink base. Three coats shown here.

Zoya Shivon

I really love Zoya because they're five free and the formula is always consistently stellar. All the polishes swatched above had no streaking or pooling whatsoever. They last forever on me as well, with very minimal chipping. Are you planning on placing an order this weekend, and what colors will you be getting?

Monday, March 4, 2013

Piper Polish Flash Mob Swatch And Review

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend! I had a great Sunday, I mostly spent it with friends on my roof enjoying great conversations and good food. I definitely can't complain about that!

In a recent swap, I was pleasantly surprised when I got a new to me indie as an extra, called Piper Polish Flash Mob. It's a pretty taupe shimmer that has a slight holo under direct light. I found application to be a touch on the watery side and it took three coats to even out. No basecoat or topcoat in these pictures, taken in direct light.

Piper Polish Flash Mob

I have to admit, I do like the name of this polish because I've always wanted to be in a flash mob. It doesn't hurt either that it's an office appropriate polish with a lovely hidden holo that gives it some extra spice. Flash Mob has piqued my interest in the rest of Piper Polish's colors and I'll be keeping on eye on more developments from this line.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Hare Polish Swanky Soiree Swatch and Review

When I read Hare was going to release a limited edition last minute release, I knew I definitely needed to snatch it up, regardless of what it looked like. This time, Nikole put out two polishes, and I have the one of them tonight, Swanky Soiree, to review for you. I also purchased the other, Holiday Hoopla, but I was too excited to try out Swanky Soiree and now don't want to remove it, so you'll have to wait until I tire of it. Swanky Soiree is a taupey grey crelly base with red and silver mutlisized hex and square glitters. I found the formula to be on the thick side but not overly dense with glitters. I used three coats in these pics for full opacity, but might have been able to get away with two thick layers instead. I topped with Gelous and Poshe for shine. Apologies in advance for the photos not being my normal style - my parents have overtaken my house so I had to hide in the bathroom to take these! I'll try to update later with more pics.

Hare Polish Swanky Soiree

So what do you think, is this festive enough for the holidays? I really like the combination, and I like that it's not overly festive because it makes it more year round friendly. I love the base color too, it's not something I've seen from Hare before but I find that it really works well with her unique collection of polishes.

BONUS: Daylight pics!