Swatch: Essie - Shine of the Times (Luxe Effects Collection)

I'm so excited for today's post!  I think this is the polish I was most looking forward to from the holiday collections, and it doesn't disappoint.  It is Essie's Shine of the Times from the new Luxe Effects collection.  I found it at a local nail supply store that I don't usually frequent.  I just decided to stop in this past week, on a whim, and they had the Luxe Effects collection...kinda, lol.  They only had one of each polish, and they all had the names printed on one side instead of the usual sticker.  I'm thinking they might be samples...?  Anyway, doesn't matter, cuz now I have it in my hands!! :D

Shine of the Times is a gorgeous flakie that shows up primarily orange, but flashes green and yellow too.  I tried swatching it over a white base and a black base.  The white base was a fail, but the black base was full of win!  So happy with it!

1 coat of Shine of the Times over Orly Liquid Vinyl (top 2 fingers) and OPI Alpine Snow (bottom 2 fingers)

1 coat over Orly Liquid Vinyl

look at the prettiness!

I am a big fan of flakies, and really love this one!  Definitely going to stop by my usual nail place and see if I can pick up a back up. :)

What do you think?  Gonna pick up anything from the Luxe Effects collection?

BIRCHBOX: September & October 2011 + Smashbox

I missed posting my September Birchbox, so thought I'd do a compilation post.  I've actually got 3 Birchboxes to post about today! :)

Usually I'd post my box as soon as I got it and wouldn't get to try any of the products beforehand.  But since I'm a bit delayed with my September box, I've already had the opportunity to try some of the products and can do a few small reviews.  So first up is my September box:

happy birthday birchbox!

jurlique hand sanitizer: 

has a soft floral scent that isn't overpowering.  

it dries quickly and doesn't feel sticky at all.

jouer conditioning lip treatment: 

this was the smallest sample, but it lasted longer than I thought it would.  

it did condition my lips and give it a slight shine, but I didn't notice any plumping effect.  

(of course, it should be noted that I have pretty full lips already.)

truth art beauty - face nourish oil: 

uh, not sure how I was supposed to use this, lol.  

I've never used oil on my face, but I thought of this as an extreme moisturizer for the face.  

I put it around my nose, because that's my driest/flakiest area.  

Works ok, and there's not much of a scent, even though it's supposed to be BB's special blend...

incoco polish strips: 

these seem to be really popular these days.  

I haven't tried them yet, but am excited to!

And for my October box:

And my third box is one I got from an event I attended at the end of September.  Birchbox teamed up with Smashbox to create this event for their subscribers, and also gave all attendees a gift.  So this is what was in it:

All Smashbox items!  I haven't tried any Smashbox items before, so I'm pretty excited to try them. ^^

This post is kind of late...almost time for the November Birchbox to come around, lol.  Can't believe it's almost November!!  First Halloween though...which I consider the start of holiday season, lol.  I love this season...fall, winter, and the holidays all together.  I love the decorations, the food, the weather, everything.  Can't wait for everyone else to get in the holiday spirit, hehe. ^^  Ok~ enough rambling!  Until the next post~ Au revoir~

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...

Nubar Verde

The stain is gone, and I'm getting back into swatching! :)  First swatch since the staining incident is my first Nubar polish!  I got it from a local nail supply shop and had the hardest time picking out which color I wanted.  There were so many pretty ones, but this one here is called Verde.  As you can probably tell from the name, it is a green polish.  I'm not exactly sure how to describe it except as a very dark green with an almost a foil finish.  It has a lot of subtle golden shimmer that doesn't seem to want to show up in the pictures.  Another polish whose true beauty was hard to capture!  

The formula was great with this and took only 2 coats to achieve opacity.  I can't wait to get my hands on more Nubar!  I already have a wishlist going, and the next one I plan to buy is Indigo Illusion. ^^

Julep Maven: October 2011

I'm back with another Julep Maven box!  If you don't know what Julep Maven is, you can check out my other post on it, from when I got my first box.  It's basically a nail polish version of Birchbox.

I skipped last month's box because it didn't appeal to me...the polish color looked too much like Miranda, which I had gotten in my first box.  This month's box came with 2 polishes and a hand care product, and oh yeah, it was free!  Julep decided to comp this month's box for those who signed up during a certain period due to a mistake on their part during that time.  It was very generous of them!  Thank you Julep!  Now onto the unboxing:

it came in a bag again, though a smaller one this time...

with a cute maroon bow tied on top...

the polishes still all wrapped up...

the 2 polishes: gayle & malin and age defying hand brightener

top: gayle (eggplant purple), bottom: malin (frosty light pink)

I was really excited for Gayle!  It's definitely my kind of color and a perfect color for fall.  I have yet to try Olivia from my last box, as I was saving it for fall (should be swatching it soon ;]), but can't wait to try Gayle too!  Malin is not really my color...I like light pinks, but am not a fan of frosty polishes.  I'll have to see how I like it after I swatch it...

Speaking of swatches, no new ones just yet.  That manicure I got with the red polish?  It stained my nails, even though she used a base coat. =.=;;  I'm waiting for the stain to disappear before swatching again...probably another day or so.

P.S. If you're interested in signing up for Julep Maven, please consider using my link.  I get $15 in referral credit if you do. ^^

Professional Mani/Pedi Day!

School's getting into full swing, and the past week and half have been full of tests for me.  Kinda weird, since I'm so used to the quarter system, where I'd barely be starting school right now.  Anyway, when my cousin asked if I wanted to get a mani/pedi last Thursday, I decided to go for it.  I really needed a pedi, as the bottoms of my feet were getting a bit rough.  And that was only what I was going to get done...but for $5 more I could get a mani too, so...I did. lol

The nail salon was small and didn't have the greatest selection of polishes.  No OPI and only one Essie or China Glaze here and there.  I chose a polish from a brand called Lily (I think...the name was a bit hard to read).  I didn't bring my camera, so I couldn't take a picture of it.  But, it looked like a duochrome in the bottle, as it was a ruby red color that flashed orange a lot, and was called Ruby Frost (I think, lol).  It looked like a great fall color!  But when it got on my nails, all that orange was lost...it was just a straight ruby red color with red shimmer.  Still gorgeous though and a nice color for fall!

left hand, natural light

right hand, natural light

Definitely glad I got the manicure, since my cuticles really needed the clean up.  Now I just have to remember to keep them moisturized, as I am prone to really dry, icky cuticles.  The service was good, though the lady working on my nails didn't talk much.  This isn't the place I would usually get my nails done at (when I do get them done), but I might go back.  If I do, I'll have to remember to bring a polish from my own collection...

I'm going to keep this on my nails for a few more days to make it seem like I'm getting my money's worth, lol. But I'll be back to swatching polishes soon! :)