OPI Mariah Carey Liquid Sand Swatches

 

Every once in a while OPI brings out a special collection designed with a celebrity. This year it's diva extraordinaire Mariah Carey. Together with OPI she designed a collection of eight shades. Four for the studio, and four for the stage. The lacquers made for the stage are the real stunners in this collection. They feature OPI's newest finish in nail lacquer, the Liquid Sand finish. The polish dries to a textured matte finish infused with reflective glints of light. You are supposed to apply two coats of the color and you should not use a top coat over them. For that would undo the matte finish. 

I ordered the Mariah Carey OPI Liquid Sand nail lacquers off of eBay, which saves me a lot of money considering OPI almost quadruples their prices over here in the Netherlands. I would tell you the seller but upon checking I saw that they are no longer selling these sets. I think they must have sold out. 

Below you can see two swatches of each color. One without top coat and one, obviously, with top coat. I applied two coats of each color on the nail wheel, so you can judge the color payoff equally.

Get Your Number is a matte blue with different sizes of silver glitter infused within. There is really fine micro glitter and larger hexagonal glitter. The color payoff was a little dissapointing, I'd personally wear a bright blue shade under this to really make it pop.

 

Can't let go is a bright purple stunning shade, again with different sizes of glitter. There is silver, lilac and purple glitter in this one. I particularly like this one without a top coat. Again I would apply it over a purple shade to make the pigmentation a little more intens, it kind of lacks some now.

Stay The Night is one of the more interesting shades in this collection. The black jelly based filled with hot pink small glitter flecks looks really great on the nail. Especially over a black polish.

 

Last but most definitely not least. My favorite shade from the collection is without a doubt 'The Impossible'. This gorgeous color looks red in this light and then pink in the other. Really interesting and filled to the brim with shiney glitter really makes my magpie like tendencies play up. The larger bottle of this also has star shaped glitter, but I'm glad my version doesn't have that. It just seems a little too childish for me. 

The OPI Mariah Carey collection is now available all over the world. I'd run to the stores if I were you, because it's  a limited edition and you never know when it is going to sell out!

Inglot Fall/Winter Quad Swatches + Eye of the Day

After successfully passing most of my midterms I decided that I needed to get something for myself to celebrate, a bit like an incentive to do as much as I did this time the next round of midterms. Which are approaching so fast... eek! So I stopped by my favorite counter in the whole wide world and broke my no buy rule for november. I picked up a quad of the most amazing warm fall colors. I seriously couldn't wait to go home and play with those shades. Further down the post are the swatches and the fall makeup look that I have created.

from left to right: 606 Pearl / 605 Pearl AMC Shine 27 / AMC es 54

When I got home I immediately set to work with these shadows to create a fall/winter makeup look suitable for work. Look below for my interpretation of this eyeshadow quad. I absolutely love these colors. They are so warm and gorgeous and I can't wait to do more looks with this quad.

All eyeshadows from the quad, black eyeliner by Rimmel, mascara by Yves Saint Laurent

Lush Lacquer Review and Swatches

The world of indie lacquers is growing every single day. All across the world crafty people are showing up that know there way around glitter and bases. They make beautiful polishes with extraordinary finishes, colors and effects. This also goes for the American women Lexi and Karin, who founded the indie brand Lush Lacquer. I ordered two polishes from their etsy store and they arrived yesterday. 

I'd like to warn you in advance. This post is super image heavy.

First we have the amazing Salt 'N Peppa. A mixture of black and white bar, hex, round and square matte glitters and small tiny holographic glitters in a clear base. On the picture above the top nail has one coat, and the bottom nail has two coats.

I'd like to say a little something about the application of this polish. It's FANTASTIC! Never have I experienced a glitter polish that transfers this easily and prettily onto the nail. Impossible to describe how pretty it is. You'll continuously have to snap your fingers in front of my face to snap me out of staring.

Above it is layered over to different color polishes, to show you what it looks like over nail polish. I layered it over the beautiful barbie pink called Free Hugs. It's an essence polish. The way Salt 'N Peppa makes the pink polish look sweet yet edgy.

The blue polish is called 'let's get lost' and I've been abusing this polish a lot lately. I can't help it, the color is just lovely. Another essence polish. They're so pretty yet cheap.

A macro shot to show you all the different sizes and types of glitter that this spectacle holds.

Snap Crackle Pop is a beautiful blue jelly base filled with red and silver iridescent glitter and loads and loads of white and blue matte glitter of different shapes. Hexes, bars and squares, it's all in there. The polish looks spectacular on it's own, but layered it really is a beauty! Two coats looks really nice as well.

Here is Snap Crackle Pop layered over ANNY's True Love on the right and over Essie Blanc on the left. In the bottom picture is it over essence let's get lost.

A macro shot of Snap Crackle Pop's multi glitter extravaganza.

Essie Stylenomics Fall Collection Swatches

Essie is quick on its way to becoming my favorite nail polish brand. Their colors and collections are spot on and super feminine. I have yet to find a formula that I did not like. The polish dries quick and the darker colors have excellent coverage in just one coat. I also own their 'good to go' topcoat which is my absolute favorite. 

Their 2012 fall collection is named after style and fashion, and the current economy. Essie shows that you can be stylish and live on a budget with these rich jewel toned shades. The six shades are perfect for fall, I wish I could own all of them. Down here is a description of each of the six polishes. 

Stylenomics - Get rolling in the deep, opulent green that's the new black.

Recessionista - Smart & savvy millionheiress ups the ante with color and style that's priceless.

Miss Fancy Pants - Greige under pressure. Refined chic & executive privilege never looked so pretty.

Skirting The Issue - An a-line of gorgeous saturated burgundy.

Don't Sweater It - Lavish in warm, cashmere mauve, that goes with anything and everything. 

Head Mistress - This take-charge red out-classes the competition.

I ordered two of the polishes from this collection for myself. Recessionista, look at the (unfocused, damn you camera!) pictures below.

Recessionista is a dark burgundy red, aiming towards purple. To me this is the quintessential fall nail polish color. However, it is not really that unique. I love it nonetheless and it will be adorning my nails many a time this autumn.

Stylenomics is a really dark green that aims toward black in some lighting. It's the namesake of this collection and I can see why. It's gorgeous and unique, I own nothing like it. I adore this color and will definitely be wearing this a lot. 

W7 Pastel Polishes swatches and reviews

There's one thing I am certain about when it comes to the British brand W7, they're not very original when it comes to packaging. Their nail polish bottles are shaped exactly like OPI's and their box blushes are obviously modeled after Benefit. But nevertheless, they do know how to make nice affordable cosmetics. I'm especially a big fan of their nail polishes. They have a wide range of colors from super bright neons to glitters to the softest of pastels. And that last mentioned group of colors is what I'm showing you today.

These four colors are all soft and pretty, really feminine. The names are added in the picture. All are two coats, except for chiffon, that took three coats to get to this opacity. I think they would need three to four coats on the actual nail. 

Chiffon is a super soft muted pink. I can really see a bride wearing this. I don't know why, it just screams wedding to me. Sheer peach is the perfect peach color, which I had been looking for for quite some time. Sheer lemon is a pretty pastel yellow, not sure how this will look on darker skintones. Sheer mauve is more like a lavender in my opinion. Not the most interesting of colors, nor is it very original but it's pretty and soft enough. 

A closer look at chiffon and sheer peach.

And sheer lemon and sheer mauve.

These polishes last a proper amount of time on the nail, very good job for this price. The only thing I don't like about these polishes is the smell. It's super strong, and my dad already starts complaining when I unscrew the brush. W7 polishes are sold at Dutch op = op voordeelshop stores. €2,99 a piece or two for €5.

L'Oreal Rouge Caresse

I never thought I would fall for this product the way I have. You probably know I am a lover of bold statement lips. So a product marketed as soft balm which provides subtle, sensual color shouldn't be something that floats my boat, right? Boy, was I wrong. 

This summer I want to make my makeup look less done. If that makes sense. I want a more natural, fresh faced appearance when I am out and about in the hot summer air. Not that that is anywhere near happening here in this terrible country. But a girl can dream, right? Anyway, I caved and bought the Rouge Caresse lipstick/balm from L'Oreal. I got the color 07 Cheeky Magenta. 

It's a lovely formula, melts onto your lips and leave them covered in a nice subtle color that looks natural enough to look fresh and done enough to look like you just came out of fervent kissing session with your partner. The formula is super soft and moisturizing and it leaves your lips feeling lovely. 

swatched lightly // swatched heavily

The rouge caresse line comes in twelve luminous shades that each provide a nice pop of color to the lips, while being super lightweight and moisturizing. This really is a fantastic product. The only downside, I wish it lasted a little longer. It doesn't linger quite long on the lips. 

Image shows the twelve shades available in the Rouge Caresse line of lipsticks

Sleek Ultra Mattes Brights Palette: REVIEW + SWATCHES

I finally jumped onto the Sleek bandwagon and purchased i-Divine palettes. I have seen so many amazing looks made with the affordable and original shades that Sleek makes. Today I am reviewing one of the two palettes I bought. The i-Divine Ultra Mattes Brights palette. Not too long ago Sleek released two new palettes which have all matte colors. 

I tend to enjoy matte shadows a little more, because they blend a little nicer onto the skin and they seem to appear a little more natural. But if you want a natural effect, you probably shouldn't go with this neon colored super bright set of twelve shadows. 

What is in the palette?

12 shadows that are 1.1 grams each. 9 of the shadows are super duper bright and 3 of them are more soft shades, pastel colors even. Swatches of these shadows are below.

from left to right

chill, pout, sugarlite, dragon fly, pucker, bamm!

Pretty damn good pigmentation on each of them. Chill, the light blue color, did need a little more pressure to get these results. But if you use a dense brush and apply it over a light base (for example NYX jumbo pencil in Milk) it will have proper amazing color payoff!

from left to right,

cricket, bolt, strike, floss, crete, pow!

This row was a little less amazing. Cricket, bolt and strike are the shit. I love love love love bolt. What a fantastic electric blue color, I can't wait to use this in a look. But floss, crete and pow! aren't my thing. The color payoff is disappointig. But if you use them over a white base they will be a lot better, still, that shouldn't have to be required.

Overall, an amazeballs palette. Really happy with my purchase. I'm looking forward to using these shadows in looks, and will start to play with them when I have time after tomorrow's last midterm. I purchased this palette from the Dutch website Enchantra for €8,49.

Glitterbug part two: GLITTER SWATCH FEST!

A while ago I promised you the swatches of my glitter nail polish collection. And here they are! I finally got my stack of nail wheels from ebay (I'm a total ebay addict now, but more on that later). I sat down at the kitchen table and started swatching away. Without further ado, the swatches of my glitter nail polish. Great for reference when you want to layer your glitters or want to purchase a nice new sparkler.

Essence color & go nail polish in 'Make It Golden', 'Blue Addicted' and 'Time for Romance'

Make it Golden is a clear based glitter packed with gold tiny round and larger hexagonal glitters. This looks great layered over an opaque gold polish. I enjoy the effect you get when you sponge it on. It makes the glitter transfer onto the surface of your nail a little better. As you can see here in a nail design.

Blue Addicted is a sheer blue based polish. Again with the smaller round glitters and the larger hexagonal ones. It has quite a bit of green glitter in it as well. I love it most over a bright blue polish.

Time for romance is one that I have to shamefully admit to never using... Good thing the color & go polishes only retail for one euro and thirty cents. Time for romance is a sheer red with tons and tons of small round glitter and a few hexagonal ones. Great over a bright red or a nice vampy dark color.

Catrice 'Marilyn and Me' and 'I wear my sunglasses at night'. Catrice makes great opaque colors with pretty glitters in them. Marilyn and me seems more fuchsia in the swatch, but when you apply two coats is nice and dark red. A gorgeous color.

I wear my sunglasses at night is probably my favorite color in my collection. It's such an absolute beauty! It's a shame that it is such a nightmare to apply. I've tried thinning it with nail polish remover, but it just never seems to apply right and dry in a respectable amount of time.

The swatch doesn't  show the glitter perfectly, but it has multiple colors of tiny tiny tiny tiny glitters in the polish. I love love love love love it in the bottle. Do you know any dupes?

Paris Memories, as I have mentioned before, is perfect for a person on a budget. 13ml for €1! These are the glitter in my eight bottle collection. The black one is opaque in two layers. It's a nice charcoal black with tiny silver strips of glitter. That is #255. The one next to that is #253 which is a clear based lilac holographic glitter. It was featured in my Aries Goes Goth nail design. But it looks great over light colors as well. I like layering this over New York Color's Lavender Cupcake.

Essence Nail Art Twins in 'Edward' and 'Blair'. Essence has these great nail polish duos. They are sold separately but go perfectly together.

Edward is a clear based polish with tiny blue round glitters and square green glitters. It is sold with the teal creme polish called 'Bella' (I love these colors, despite my aversion to the Twilight movies. The books were okay, despite lacking in plausibility. But that's a whole other debate.)

Blair is a perfect depiction of my favorite Gossip Girl character. The silver sparkle is gorgeous. It is sold with  the mid-purple 'Chuck'. Although I must admit that even though I secretly hope Chuck and Blair will end up together again (I'm at the beginning of season 5, DON'T SPOIL ME!) I don't wear the nail polishes together. I enjoy layering the silver over a lime colored polish.

Essence special effect nail toppers in 'Hello holo!' and 'Glorious Aquarius'. These are soooo pwetty! You can see Glorious Aquarius in the nail polish design I did about a week ago right here. It looks good over a nude polish, but a dark polish (black looks best!) or a blue polish.

Hello holo is really nice too. But not as holo as I would like it. And it's an absolute pain to remove.

This is the second set of Essence Nail Art Special Effects toppers. 'It's Purplicious' and 'Night in Vegas'. The purple and pink one has square glitters as well. I'm not too sure about square glitters, they look okay but a little strange to me.

Night in Vegas is a gorgeous flaky. It was my first flaky and I love it sooo much. It was one of the layers in my galaxy nail design. I love this flaky mostly over a black polish.

I held the wheel over the back of my iPhone for a sec so you can see how pretty it looks over a dark surface. Look how great it is.

OPI! Ahh... 'Rainbow Connection' from the muppets collection. This polish caused a storm to the shelves and it was sold out in no time. Countless dupes have been reported and featured on blogs. I got this one with a new subscription to Elle Magazine. Isn't it a beauty!

Next to rainbow connection is the light sheer pink with millions of tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny glitters and a bunch of slightly larger silver ones. It's from the Katy Perry for OPI collection and it is titled 'Teenage Dream'. The color reminds me of barbie. It looks best layered over an extremely pale pink polish to guarantee the proper princess effect.

And to the very left is another glitter from the Katy Perry for OPI collection titled 'Last Friday Night' it's sheer blue base with tons of pastel colored glitters.

And last but not least is the newest edition to my nail polish addiction (this blog serves as an enabler, I always have an excuse to buy more stuff!). China Glaze's Electrify from the Capitol Colors collection. It's opaque in two layers! That nearly never happens with glitter polishes. It's super pretty, but taking it off is a real proper nightmare.

China Glaze Capitol Colours Collection: Review and Swatches

About mid-march China Glaze released their Capitol Colours collection in collaboration with Lionsgate. The collection was inspired by the books and as a promotion for the (now released) the Hunger Games movie. At first there was a little drama with the naming when previously released names were changed. 

Also, any connection to the twelve districts were denied. But all us clever beauties/hunger games nerds out there figured it out soon enough. And we see a definite connection between the districts. Below is a list of the entire collection, along with a list of the polishes belonging to each district.

The three polishes in bold are the ones that I purchases and swatched later in this post.

District 1 - Luxury: Luxe & Lush
District 2 - Masonry: Stone Cold
District 3 - Technology: Riveting
District 4 - Fishing: Hook & Line
District 5 - Power: Electrify
District 6 - Transportation: Fast Track
District 7 - Lumber: Mahogany Magic
District 8 - Textiles: Dress Me Up
District 9 - Grain - Harvest Moon
District 10 - Livestock: Foie Gras
District 11 - Agriculture: Agro
Districht 12 - Mining: Smoke & Ashes

First up is Stone Cold, which is the color for district 2 Masonry. Stone Cold is a gorgeous dark grey matte color packed with silver specks. It applies perfectly opaque in just one coat. Normally mattes seem to look a little streaky, but not Stone Cold. I adore this! It dries quite fast, so if you want more than two coats (which I tend to do out of habit) act fast.

Then we have Riveting. It's for district 3 Technology. The application was a little tricky for me, because this is the first jelly polish I have ever used, and it was a little thin. So that will take some practice before that applies perfectly. 

But that doesn't take away from the fact that this polish is an absolute WONDER! It is an amazingly pigmented orange jelly with tons and tons of tiny gold and orange specks in it. It's super shiny and I love it to bits. It covers perfectly in two thin coats. 

Last, but definitely not least is Electrify, which is for district 5 Power. Electrify is a clear base packed with yellow gold and red glitter. The gold is definitely more noticeable on your nails, but the red shows up pretty good in pictures. On my nails you see from left to right 3 coats - 2 coats - 1 coat. I think this will look fabulous over a bright orange red color, or even over Riveting. I'll have to try that at some point.

I purchased my China Glaze polishes from the Dutch webshop Boozyshop where they retail for  €6,95 per 14 ml bottle. They are also available at Ulta, Sally's Beauty Supply, and multiple online stores. Prices may vary.

I definitely think checking out this collection is worthwhile! I love  three colors that I got. And I just found out there's a wholesale place in my city where they sell China Glaze as well, so I might go and check that out to see if I can get some more bottles.

You were born to be my baby

Starting to build my portfolio as a freelance makeup artist. I needed, well maybe not needed, some really nice bright colors that I can work with for more out there looks. So I visited INGLOT, my bank account is still weeping, but I couldn't be happier.

I didn't get all the colors just now. The three colors in the front (purple, gold & grayish purple) were purchased a while back when INGLOT first opened in the town where I go to college. But the rainbow colors, the red and the sparkly blue and green were purchased today. Sorry, bank account.

Here are the gorgeous swatches. The pigmentation of these shadows are to die for! I cannot wait to start using them.

INGLOT is such a beautiful brand. Their shadows are so bright and vibrant and the pigmentation on most of the shadows are abso-fucking-lutely beautiful.