Recently there's been a lot of buzz in the nail polish blogosphere about this collection from Sinful Colors and whether the colours are dupes (blatant rip offs?) of OPI's Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides collection.
(FYI I think only the 5 shades pictured in the poster are part of the ‘Adventure Island’ collection.. the others didn’t have ‘sea’ themed names and were probably put there just to fill the display)
I’m an eyeliner girl. I’m pretty much addicted. For years, it was the one thing I'd have to be wearing before I left the house (now it's mascara! but I still love me some eyeliner). Black, brown, gold, blue, green, I love ‘em all. I’ve lined my waterline for as long as I’ve been using makeup, and I used to like doing winged liner because it made my eyes look more ‘asian’ (ok I still do that).
I’ve used a few different types (pencil, liquid, felt tip, gel) and there are pros and cons to all of them. Cream or gel eyeliner is easy to use and pigmented, but can be prone to creasing and fading so I don’t often use it.
I had read some good reviews about the e.l.f.Studio Cream Eyeliner online, but didn’t think a $3 product would be very long lasting or water resistant.
I'm sorry for the long absence, but I have lost my camera battery charger so I've been unable to take any photos lately :( I don't really want to take review & swatch pictures with my Galaxy S because the quality just isn't the same. HOPEFULLY the charger is just in a weird random place that my kids found and thought it would be funny to stash Mama's things in.
I've been learning a lot about Photoshop lately, so I may do a few posts on that in the next week!
Today I wanted to change the look of my nails without spending too much time on them. I've been wearing Sinful Colors Social Ladder, which is a frosty nude white with a hint of pink. I wanted to cover up the few chips and tipwear, but I didn't have time to do a full mani, so I pulled out the trusty glitter.
Glitter nail polish is great for covering up chips, mistakes or tipwear and to give your 3 day old manicure a fresh new look without doing too much to them. I'm using Milani Gems from the Jewel FX collection, which is an almost exact dupe of deborah lipmann Happy Birthday.
EDIT: Added more pics because I was super lazy yesterday and only put up two!
I’m a lover of vibrant colours (who isn’t?), but for some reason most of my eyeshadows are on the sheer side. I guess I like the softness of it, but I do wish some of them had a bit more colour payoff.
A radiant eye liner that also doubles as an eye shadow. Made with a blend of mineral oil and powder, our creamy Jumbo Eye Pencils glide on effortlessly—no pulling, tugging or fading—and come in a rainbow of vivid hues. Some call her chubby. We say voluptuous. Available in 28 shades.
INGREDIENTS: Bees Wax, Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba)wax, Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla)wax, Ceresin, Microcrystalline Wax, Polyethylene, Octyldodeanol, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Isostearyl Isostearate, Isononyl Isononanoate, Tocopheryl Acetate, B.H.A., Isopropylparaben, Isobutylparaben, Butylparaben. MAY CONTAIN: Mica (CI77019), Titanium Dioxide (CI77891), Iron Oxide Red (CI77491), Iron Oxide Yellow (CI77492), Carmine (CI75470), Chromium Oxide Green (CI77288), Ultramarine Blue (CI77007), Ferric Ferrocyanid (CI77510), FD&C Blue No.1 Aluminum Lake (CI42090), D&C Red No.6 (CI15850), D&C Red No.7 Ca Lake (CI15850), D&C Red No.27 Al Lack (CI45410:1).
I figured if I act enthusiastic about it, it would make me feel enthusiastic about it :p
I was getting a little bored with all the pastels and brights I've been wearing on my nails lately and decided to break it up a bit with Wet n WildEbony Hates Chris - $1.99. It's a black satin creme which is a part of the Fast Dry collection. Plain black felt a bit emo, so I jazzed it up with some sparkle, Wet n WildKaleidoscope - $0.99,which is in their Wild Shine collection. Both of these polishes are really inexpensive and pretty good quality too.
Oh, I also made a little temporary lightbox from this tutorial on VioletLeBeaux.com. It doesn't look very pretty, but it works ok. I tested it out for this post, but I only have one light source right now so it's not exactly how I wanted it to look. One step at a time!
This is two coats of Ebony Hates Chris and two coats of Kaleidoscope.
In the flash you can see all that pretty multicoloured glitter just light up and sparkle... It's beautiful! I think it looks like space :)
The glitter in Kaleidoscope tends to collect more at the tips so you have to be careful when applying it, otherwise you'll end up with none near the cuticle and big globs of it down at the tips of your nails. Ebony Hates Chris drags a bit so you need to use a light hand and plenty of polish on your brush, otherwise you'll end up with streaks.
Dry time on Ebony Hates Chris was really fast, about 5 minutes. Kaleidoscope was a lot longer, but I sped up the process by using my Rush topcoat. I'm actually running out of it so I need to either buy more, or another brand. The OrlySec n Dry was a big, massive fail due to horrible shrinkage and peeling... The Rush topcoat dries really fast and doesn't cause shrinkage, but it doesn't prevent chipping well and it also tends to get sucked up by glitters and doesn't provide that really shiny, smooth surface I'm after. I think I might get a regular top coat for that smooth and shine and use the Rush topcoat over it to dry my nails quickly. I've heard a lot of good things about the Zoya system, so I might give it a go.
Well that's my mani for today :) I know I've been super boring lately with my nails and I definitely want to try out some nail art soon.. It's a learning process though and I hardly have time to sit down and do my nails, let alone do nail art!
It’s Friday, Fridayyyy, Gotta get down on Fridaayyy!!
Lame and played out Rebecca Black jokes aside, Happy Friday, Beauties!
I decided to enter a contest one of my fave bloggers, DSK Steph, is having and it required us to do a FOTD with some of our favourite products. This is such an awesome idea, I jumped at the chance to challenge myself a bit and see what I could come up with. As you all know, I’m no pro and I tend to lean towards more subtle looks, a) because I have to walk around with my kids and go to kiddy places and don’t want people thinking I’m a hooker weirdo, and b) because I can pull them off more easily. I wanted to use this as an opportunity to push my boundaries a bit and put more effort into a different look. I’ve also been wanting to try out my false lashes that I got from Forever 21!
I like to look in CostCo for beauty products, they have some great makeup wipes and sometimes they have really great value sets! I love buying makeup sets, as they tend to give you a bit more bang for your buck.
I got this set at CostCo for $10. Yes, that’s right.. $10!!!!! It has two Long Wear Lip Liners, a Convertible Color Dual Lip & Cheek cream, two eyeshadows and a small sharpener, just the right size for the lip liners.
Super glamorous packaging that I hacked open with a knife.
I'm posting this a little late in the day (night!!), I know. I wanted to get the all clear from my friend Christina to post her photos! There's nothing worse than a friend posting photos of you without telling you and you didn't really want anyone to see them.. Like those random pics on facebook with your face all shiny or making a weird expression and hair a mess that you get tagged in a million times and everyone sees them before you can untag yourself.
But I digress, these photos are definitely nothing bad like that. I just wanted to be sure she was comfortable with me blogging about her!
On Friday I went over to Christina's to do a mini eyebrow makeover. She was heading out to an anniversary dinner with her husband that night and wanted to look her best! I went over to give her a hand with them and also gave her a little manicure.
I think it's so much fun to get together with the girls and do some pampering. It kind of reminds me of when I was a teenager and we used to do makeover sleepovers. You're never too old for a bit of pampering, especially if you have little ones. It's all too easy to forget to take time for yourself and do those little things like eyebrows and nails, but those little things can really make a big difference in the way you feel about yourself! You could go to a salon, sure, but why spend all that money when you can do it at home with your friends?
Here is the mani :)
I used OPI Met On The Internet (this one is getting it's own post.. I have a story behind why I bought this gorgeous polish) and Nicole by OPI Love Your Life on the accent nail. She just wanted something simple and pretty and we thought this was really anniversary date night appropriate ;)
Eyebrows before:
Eyebrows after:
She has really light blonde hairs, so it was difficult to see them without a lot of light! We pulled over a lamp to help out the sun a little. She has great natural brows, so I just cleaned them up a bit and stuck with her natural shape.
We really had so much fun and our kids had a blast playing together. I think we should do regular Mama Makovers and Manis! It's a great Money Saver to do these things with your girlfriends instead of going to a salon! It might not turn out perfect, but you'll have a great time doing it :)
What's something you like to do to pamper yourself?
Hope you're having a great start to the week, Beauties!
My weekend was a pretty quiet one, lots of eating out and good food though! On Friday I actually went over to a friend's place and did her nails and eyebrows as she was going on a date night with hubby for their anniversary :) It was so much fun and (I think) I did a pretty good job! I'm far from a pro, but we don't need to be pros to give our friends a mini makeover, right? ^_^
Ok, so after the whole NYX 12th Anniversary sale debacle (catastrophe/fail/disaster... whatever you want to call it), they released a 50% off and free shipping code to us disgruntled consumers. I know a lot of people decided to boycott NYX, but I do believe that it was just a underestimation on their part of just how busy their servers would be.. They are human and fallible after all. I thought 50% off and free shipping was better than nothing, so I made a purchase.
Here is a video of my haul!
Please excuse my amateurish set up.. It's my first video, so I'm still learning! I will strive to fix light/angle/sound/quality issues ;_;
Products mentioned in the video:
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils in Milk, Strawberry Milk, French Fries
NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss in Nude Pink and La La
NYX Round Lipstick in Peach Bellini and Tea Rose
NYX Concealer Jar in Orange
NYX Automatic Eyebrow Pencil in Medium Brown
NYX Matte Lip Cream in Addis Ababa
I can't wait to try out these products and do some reviews :)
Please let me know your thoughts on the whole NYX situation and whether you bought anything during the sale.
I can’t believe it’s already the 6th month of the year.. it seems like this first half of 2011 has just flown by. I know I promised to post this yesterday, but yesterday ended up being one of those days where the kids were so out of sorts, I couldn’t leave them alone for one minute or risk a screaming/crying fit… From BOTH of them. I think the busy weekend and deviation from their regular sleep schedule got them feeling a bit run down. They ended up going to bed super early last night and are feeling MUCH better today (thank goodness!).
Today I’m reviewing the Afterglow Powder Blush I bought from HauteLook for $5.
