SWATCH: Zoya - Blu

I Bought This 

Third time's the charm!  The first time I tried to swatch this, the pictures came out tinted green. >.<;  The second time, fuzzies (from I don't know where) seemed to be get stuck in the polish on my fingers while I was applying top coat.  That was frustrating, but it finally looks like it's going to work out!

I received Zoya Blu in my May ipsy bag and was really happy because it was one of the colors I've wanted since the Lovely collection was released.

I feel like I've had a big influx of light blues like this to my polish collection lately, but that doesn't stop this from being a pretty color.  Even though it's not that unique of a color, I still like it.  Application was okay.  I had a bit of a problem with streaking and the polish did not self-level, but I fixed that with a coat of Seche Vite (my mani saver!).  I used 2 coats of polish and 1 coat of polish for the swatch.

 

SWATCH: L.A. Girl 3D Holographic - Brilliant Blue

Did anyone else know L.A. Girl has a holographic nail polish collection?!  I haven't heard anything about this, but I spotted the display at Rite Aid when I was there earlier this week and it was still pretty full.  I was pretty excited and bought two of the colors!

There are 8 colors all together, and here are some bottle shots of all of them:

 

3D Silver & Electric Coral

 

Teal Dimension & Purple Effect

 

Dazzling Pink & Brilliant Blue

 

Sparkle Ruby & Black Illusion

I pretty much wanted all of the polishes, but limited myself to two: Brilliant Blue and Purple Effect.  Today, I have swatches of Brilliant Blue for you!

Click through for swatches.

SWATCH: Sinful Colors - Sugar Rush and Candy Coated

I stopped by Walgreens on Saturday hoping to find the Sinful Colors Sugar Rush collection because I love pastels and they would be great for Spring!  Also, I wanted to take advantage of the $1 off coupon since it was the last day.

When I got there, I didn't see the display and thought I was out of luck.  But good thing I looked in the regular display!  I don't know about your Walgreens, but the Sinful Colors display at my Walgreens always seems to be in disarray.  Anyway, I picked up 3 from the collection, and I have 2 to show you today!

Click through to see the swatches!

SWATCH+REVIEW: Avon Suede Nail Enamel in Blue Royale

Happy Election Day!  With the outcome of the Presidential election, I thought it would be appropriate to post a swatch of a polish that correlates with the color that is tied to the winning party.  And if you didn't know by now, Obama has been re-elected!  

Blue is the color tied to the Democratic party here in the U.S., so here is Avon's Suede Nail Enamel in Blue Royale.  I got this polish recently and couldn't wait to try it! I'm not really sure how to describe this blue.  It's navy blue in some lighting, but more of a royal blue (as its name suggests) in other lighting...as you can see from the pictures:

shade

sun

shade

sun

I thought this was a really pretty polish!  I missed out on the suedes that OPI did a while back, so I'm glad that other companies are doing them now!  Avon came out with 6 colors, so in addition to this one, I bought 3 other colors to add to my collection.  I also have suede polishes coming in my Julep Maven box for November, so I think I'm good on suedes now, haha!

Anyway, this applied a little streaky at first, but evened out.  I think suede polishes are pretty forgiving in application, though I did have some small bald spots.  I used two coats for the picture above, with no top coat.  A glossy top coat kind of ruins the suede effect, I think.  And the color is gorgeous how it is!  It's a nice deep color for fall!

What do you think of Suede polishes?  Like 'em?  Hate 'em?  Let me know! :)

Julep Maven: October 2012

I'm back with my October Julep Maven box.  I almost skipped this month, because most of the boxes came with crackle, and I didn't like the 1 box that didn't have crackle.   The crackle trend is pretty much dead, IMO, and I think many people felt the same way because Julep came out with another option this month and that is the Maven's Choice box.  It came with 3 creme polishes from the October boxes, but no drops.  I really wanted to try the drops, so I debated whether to get the American Beauty box or the Maven's Choice box.  The American Beauty box came with a dusty indigo creme polish named Eloise and an orange crackle named Sabrina, which I thought was a pretty unique color for a crackle and was the reason I was thinking of getting it.  But then I decided it would be better to just get Maven's Choice and add on the drops, since I was also going to add on Sofia anyway.  And ta-da:

l-r: lisa, eloise, keira, sofia, quick dry drops

Julep included several extras this month.  As you can see in the last picture, there's glitter!  I got orange and black, which is perfectly fine with me because it's October and those will be great for Halloween.  But I know some people got white and silver, which would have been nice and more versatile.  The other extra was candy corn, which is a Halloween staple, but I'm not a fan of it.  I'll probably give it away.  Anyway, I hope to do swatches soon!  At the very least, I will do skittle swatches if I can't do full hand swatches right away.

Also, I was playing with lighting and angles and stuff today, so that I can try to be better about swatching and photographing for this little blog.  (Maybe you can tell, by some of the over-brightness of the photos, lol.)  That's one of the main reasons my blogging schedule is so wonky.  By the time I get home from school and/or interning, it's already dark.  And that'll be even more so with winter coming up.  Can't believe it's already October!!

Until next time~

SPOTTED: Sinful Colors Fall Fairy Tale Enchanted Collection (Fall 2012)

So I've been on the hunt for the Barely Beige Color Tattoo from the Maybelline Scene on the Runway limited edition collection.  I know, I know...I'm a bit late hunting for them now.  But I didn't think I was going to get them.  That changed over the course of time, as I saw more and more swatches.  Anyway, long story short, I haven't found it yet!  It seems to be sold out everywhere.

However, I did spot something new at Rite Aid!  The Sinful Colors Fall collection called Fall Fairy Tale: Enchanted.

The colors from left to right: Inkwell, Muse, Smokin, Rain Storm, Last Chance, In the Mist, Mesmerize, and Jungle Trail.

Close up of Inkwell, Muse, Smokin', and Rainstorm.

Inkwell looks to a be a purple-black color, Muse is a dusty gray-purple color that has become very common, Smokin' looks to be a straight up concrete gray color, and Rainstorm is a dusty blue color.

Close up of Last Chance, In the Mist, Mesmerize, and Jungle Trail.

Last Chance is a dark forest green color, In the Mist is a dusty gray-green color, Mesmerize is a dusty blurple (blue-purple), and Jungle Trail is a light gray-putty color.

All of the polishes seem to be creme finishes.  As you can tell from my color descriptions, a lot of the colors have dusty and/or grayish quality to them, which I like.  But I don't think the colors are overly unique, and I didn't pick anything up this time around.  However, I am thinking about going back for In the Mist and Mesmerize.  Also, Last Chance and Rainstorm are repromotes.  The rest are new, I think.  

Ok, actually, I picked up Rainstorm from Walgreens yesterday.  But that was before I found out about this collection, so that doesn't technically count as picking something up from this one. :P  It was part of my big SC Walgreens haul (yay 99 cent sale!), and I'll have swatches of it up soon!

Are you thinking of getting anything from this collection?  Or any other Fall collections?  I think Fall collections are some of the best collections of the year!

SWATCH: OCC - Something

Getting back into the swing of things, just as school is about to start!  I've actually been sitting on these swatches for a bit...again with the laziness of not wanting to crop/edit pictures.  I really need to stop with that.  But anyway...

I bought this polish from the OCC booth at IMATS.  It was on sale for $5/polish, so I ended up buying 2: this one and Chlorophyll, which is the one I originally wanted.  OCC's Something is a gorgeous sky blue with a dusty quality to it.

in the shade

in the sun

I loooove this polish!  It applied really well, with not much work to it and no streaks at all!  That's quite unusual for pastels...at least for me.  And I think I used 2 coats for the opacity above.  The color is gorgeous, as mentioned.  Plus, the name is cute!  (You know, "something blue"...get it? ;P)

Definitely impressed with the quality of this OCC nail polish and can't wait to try Chlorophyll.  I think I might get some more polishes from OCC at next year's IMATS!

Have you tried OCC nail polish before?

SWATCH+REVIEW: China Glaze - Lorelei's Tiara (Eye Candy Collection)

Well, hello 2012!  Here's the first post of the new year!

Lorelei's Tiara is the perfect polish for ringing in the new year.  It's silver, blue, and shiny!  This polish is one of six from China Glaze's Eye Candy collection, which was inspired by Marilyn Monroe and released for the holidays.  This particular polish is a clear base filled with small silver glitter and more dispersed bigger specks of round blue glitter.  I used two coats to reach this opacity, and it applied really nicely!  Dried really fast too!  I didn't use a top coat, so not sure how well it does (i.e. if it's a top coat eater)...

Very pretty!!  Unfortunately, I didn't get to wear this to ring in the New Year, because I didn't have time to do my nails until now.  But wearing it on the first day of the New Year is just as nice. :)  Hope everyone had a fun and safe time celebrating last night!  I went to a dinner party thrown by my old roomie, and then went to my family's shindig to countdown to the new year.  All in all, had a very fun time at both parties!

Sorry I haven't been swatching much because winter doesn't treat my skin very nicely, especially my hands!  I look like I have elephant skin on my hands...very unattractive, lol.  You can see in these pictures that my cuticles are very dry...But I've got some other posts coming up. ^^  It's the start of a new year, so there's lots of new things to come!  One of my resolutions is to blog more, so please stay tuned~!

Availability: Sally Beauty Supply, Ulta, Nail Supply Stores, Online
Limited Edition? Yes - Eye Candy Collection (Holiday 2011)
Price: $4 - 7

Wet N Wild Ice Baby Skittles

Ugh, just had midterms last week.  I'm not sure how I did, but I didn't feel too good about it.  For one of them, I studied more extensively on a part that I didn't really need to know and not enough on the part that ended up as a majority of the test. -sigh-

Anyway, today I took a trip to Walgreens, as I was on the lookout for the Wet N Wild limited edition holiday collections.  Nouveau Cheap has been reporting more and more sightings, so I thought I'd go look.  Good thing I did!  The Beauty Bar, with the limited edition palettes, wasn't out yet, but I was so excited to spot the display for the Ice Baby collection.  And it was completely full!

I picked up 5 of them:

I don't have time to swatch them individually yet, but soon!  I was just so excited that I wanted to share it right away.  Here are some skittle swatches though, so you can get a look at them:

From thumb to pinky: 1 coat each of It's All in the Cut, Back Alley Deals, Cost is No Issue, Believe Me It's Real, and Rockin' Rubies

From thumb to pinky: 2 coats each of It's All in the Cut, Back Alley Deals, Cost is No Issue, Believe Me It's Real, and Rockin' Rubies

More bottle and skittle pics after the cut...

Essence - Gagalectric (@Holografics.com)

Something I learned recently: duochromes are so hard to photograph correctly!  I can't capture all the colors and gorgeousness of this polish!  This is Essence's Gagalectric, which I recently purchased from Ulta.  It is from Essence's @Holografics.com.  They call it a holographic, but it's really not.  It is actually a very light lavender duochrome that flashes blue with a little bit of green mixed in.  It's very sheer, but still very pretty.  I picked it up thinking I might not like it because it looked like it could be sheer, but decided to give it a try anyway.  Glad I did!  While it my be very sheer, since even with 4 coats you can still see a bit of VNL (visible nail line), the color makes up for it.  It is just so pretty!

the bottle, in sunlight

in shade

in shade

in shade

in sunlight

I think these pictures don't do this polish justice!  You can definitely see the duochrome in the bottle in these pictures, but not on the nail too much. :(  Just imagine the nail flashing just like the bottle, and you'll probably have a good idea of how the polish really looks in person!

Formula and application were great with this!  Not too watery or too thick, and no streakiness.  It is, however, very sheer, as I mentioned earlier.  I used ORLY Bonder as my base coat and applied 4 coats to achieve this opacity.  No top coat.

Hope you enjoyed this~ the first of many swatches from my Ulta haul! :)

Jesse's Girl Julie G Collection (Part 2) - Beauty Guru, Girl's Night Out, Stilletto

Look what I have!  More swatches of the Julie G collection! :)  These are the other 3 polishes that I got from this collection. (You can see the first 3 swatches here.)

First up is Beauty Guru:

in the shade, natural light

in sunlight

This is a dusty orange creme that is still quite bright, if that makes any sense.  Love this color!  And I don't own anything like it, so it's a great addition to my collection.  The formula and application was terrific!  Applied 3 coats + Seche Vite top coat.

Next is Girls Night Out:

in the shade, natural light

in sunlight

This is a straight-up-blue creme that is gorgeous.  Again, don't own anything like it.  I have a lot of teals and a few navys, but no blues like this.  This one also had a great formula and great application!  Applied 3 coats + Seche Vite.

And finally, we have Stiletto:

in the shade, natural light

in sunlight

in sunlight

This is a taupe color with subtle shimmer, creating a gorgeous polish that is work safe.  Since I'm now job hunting, I am always on the look out for colors that are pretty yet wearable in a professional setting.  If you're looking for something like that, I definitely recommend checking this color out!  This one also had terrific formula and application!  Applied 3 coats + Seche Vite.

Overall, I'm loving the Julie G Collection.  The colors are pretty and the formula and application are great!  I only had problems with All Things Girly, with it coming out streaky, but otherwise love it.  Fashion Friday and Stiletto are my favorites out of the bunch, which is funny cuz I wasn't going to pick those up initially.  Glad I did!

All swatches are 3 coats of polish and 1 coat of Seche Vite top coat.

Jesse's Girl Julie G Collection is LIMITED EDITION.  It retails for $3.99, which is $1 more than regular Jesse's Girl polishes.  This collection is EXCLUSIVE to Rite Aid.

Do you have any favorites from the Julie G Collection?

EOTD + FOODIE FILES: The OC Fair

This past weekend, I spent a day with two of my closest friends and got my grub on at the OC Fair.  I love fair food, but it can get kinda pricey.  Plus, it's not the healthiest thing for you, lol.

I really wanted Fried Zucchini, but I didn't just want Zucchini.  So, I decided to go with a sampler combo.  It came with Fried Zucchini, Onion Rings, and Waffle Fries.  The Onion Rings were HUUUGE!

Click it to get full effect! :)

Surprisingly, this was super filling.  I had to ask my friends to help me finish it...and they shared an onion ring, haha.  It was good, but I felt kinda...gross, afterwards.  All the oil, you know?  But that didn't stop me from enjoying another fried goodie (because the fair is all about fried stuff!)........FUNNEL CAKE!

This was so yummy!  I looove funnel cake!! 

There was so much more food I wanted to get, but I was already full. :(  But that's what the LA Fair is for!  Heheh, can't wait to go to that, later in the year.  I'm definitely gonna try some BBQ, and I think I might work up the nerve to try some fried Oreos or fried Twinkies... xD

And this is the look I wore to the fair:

For this look I used UDPP, 2 colors from my Coastal Scents 88 Palette (original), and Avon SuperSHOCK Max Mascara.  No eyeliner, because I wanted to keep it pretty simple and let the color show.

Not a full face of the day cuz I didn't do the rest of my face, lol.   I've been playing around with using color on my eyes, to try and be more creative, and this is something I came up with.  This look was actually pretty simple, and I really liked the outcome so I decided to wear it out. :)