Showing posts with label nails. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nails. Show all posts
Festive Nail Idea⎪Dipping in Gold
Giving you some holiday festive nail inspiration today! When it comes to nails in the holidays, it's all about that glitter.
I've been loving layering nail polish with glitter. I went all out this time around with Essie "Wicked" and adding gold sparkle only on the tips with Deborah Lippmann "Cleopatra in NY". I also added a little bit of "Boom Boom Pow" but it isn't necessary. Make sure you take the step to use a top coat so that the extra layer of glitter doesn't look like it's bopping out.
I feel like if you add sparkle on the whole nail, it looks kind of too much. (It's pretty if you do sparkle on top of a nude or pink nail polish though!) But adding just a bit of gold on the tips adds elegance, chic, and festivity!
The name I made for this nail is "Dipping in Gold" :)
Revlon COLORSTAY GEL ENVY
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| wearing High Roller |
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| Left to Right: Beginner's Luck, Up the Ante, High Roller, Wild Card |
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| wearing Wild Card |
What I love about them you ask? There isn't a lot of shades, but I do hope they come out with more. The finish (after two coats) is super... super shiny. As if it was a gel nail polish. I know Sally Hansen came out with gel-type polishes, but oh my, they are horrible! But these from Revlon are amazing. They stay shiny for days on end. I want to compare them to the Butter London polishes because they are super shiny too and the wear goes for days too. The thing though is Revlon is that it is half the price of the Butter London ones!
I just love how long-lasting they are and how shiny they stay put until you take them off. I usually find that nail polishes start looking dull after a day or two, or immediately after you apply hand lotion. But this will last! I've tried other Revlon polishes, but other lines from them aren't that great. It is specifically this line of products that rock ;)
Favorite ESSIE Nail Polishes
I don't know if I'm making the leap into the Essie world and discontinuing my loyalty to Butter London nail polishes, but what's for sure is that Essie nail polishes are really starting to grow on me. Their vast range of color choices and the fact that they are more affordable, makes me like them... a lot. But recently, I find that Essie polishes have become easier to paint on and longer-lasting (although I do think keeping nail polishes on 3 days at a time would be the best for nails)!
I have three small shelves of nail polishes. I won't even count how many fits into those three shelves because I don't want to face the fact that over 3 years, I've been collecting quite a few. But, I do know that I have a hefty amount of Essie nail polishes. I've chosen a few of my favorite shades, although I am far from having tried even 1/4th of their range!
I've got a few on my mind as a next purchase, but until then, here are my faves! Faves as in, I'd repurchase them again and again and again. I haven't got the really famous ones, but these are shades that are right up my street and complement my skin tone exceptionally well :)
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| topless & barefoot, maxmillian strasse-her, bahama mama, absolutely shore, under where, casablanca |
- Bahama Mama -- best (slight) burgundy (real) plum purple shade out there
- Topless & Barefoot -- best nude pink, ever
- Absolutely Shore -- sea foam summer, that's what it reminds me of
- Under Where? -- prettiest lavender with a bunch of pink in it!
- Maximillian Strasse-her -- gray green chic-ness
- Casablanca -- those crazy days when you want your nails to shout
If you want to see them on, you can just search it up in the search bar on my blog :) I probably have a post for most of them. In the pictures below, I am wearing maximillian strasse-her which I love so much.
BEAUTY HAUL • skincare, makeup, haircare, and nails!
I waited about a month for all these products to finally come in the mail! But now, since they are all here I thought it was about time to please your eyes with these beauty goodies. I did film a Beauty Haul video but (personal note begins here...) I am hesitant about continuing my Youtube channel. If you are a subscriber, I think you could still see the video but I may close my account soon... still thinking about it.
But as for blogging, I really enjoy it so I'm definitely continuing this! So, on that long note, I wanted to share with you the products I've recently bought. I'm going to post a more detailed review of each of these product when I get the time, but I've swatched some of them for your viewing pleasures haha :)
High-End Makeup
My most exciting purchase was the YSL rouge volupté shine lipsticks. Guys, I'm still new to YSL lipsticks, and little did I know about their different lipstick ranges. But recently, I've become so intrigued by their line and I really wanted to know what was best for me. Because I am someone who loves bold colors but finds so little time to wear them, I wanted something with medium pigmentation that has a slightly sheer finish so it wouldn't be too off-setting when I wear them around. So, YSL has their "rouge volupté sheer candy" and their normal "rouge volupté" and then, the "rouge volupté shine". Their "sheer candy" line was something I was most interested in, but found that they really are super duper sheer. So much that I found it pointless to even get them. The regular "rouge volupté" is a richly pigmented lipstick. It is very creamy and moisturizing, but it also pretty dense.
The "sheer" version of that is the ones I got in the number 19 and 14. No. 19 is my current obsession. You know I have a thing for purple lipsticks. The fuchsia lipstick from the YSL matte line looked a bit too cherry and not purple enough. But the rouge volupté shine no.19 is that beautiful true purple shade that I was looking for! It seriously looks so flattering. What I love about these lipsticks are that even if the colors are bold, you can wear them without fear that they are too in your face. They are subtle but rich at the same time. And goodness, they are also super moisturizing, and the color stay? Amazing.
No. 14 is a coral-pink shade. One can't have too many of these right? Beautiful, and always out of stock, I finally got my hands on these. Just a good fresh pop o' color, you know?
I also picked up the NARS Creamy Radiant concealer in the shade vanilla. I wanted "custard" but the lady at the Nars counter insisted I get "vanilla" which is a lighter shade than "custard". I caved and got the "vanilla" soon finding that the color "custard" actually may be the better match! HUMPH. But in terms of formulation, it is pretty amazing. I am in love with the Collection 2000 concealers, and thank goodness I now found Nars because it's a perfect replacement, I must say!
DRUGSTORE Makeup:
From the drugstore, I picked up two makeup bits and two haircare bits. For makeup, I got one L'Oreal MagicLumi under eye concealer shade 862, and a L'Oreal Telescopic Liquid Eyeliner in black.
HAIR CARE:
For hair, I got my forever-repurchase L'Oreal Damage Repair Erase Balm (read it here), and It's a 10 miracle-leave-in hair product. It's a new one, but I'm hoping I'll love it!
SKINCARE.
You know I love Mario Badescu so when the opportunity comes, I'l stock up on what I love. I got my favorite toner Cucumber Cleansing Lotion and a new toner I wanted to try, Glycolic Acid Toner. Then I got the Dry Cream I love so much and the Enzyme Revitalizing Mask that seems like a good everyday mask. I also got a good well-rounded moisturizer called Buttermilk Moisturizer and I also got a newbie, Hylauronic Emulsion w/ Vitamin C which sounded like my two favorite skincare ingredients merged into one!
NAILS.
Ok, so I went a little cray you know? I do have a lot of nail polishes, but I wasn't feeling any of them. I splurged on some Topshop nail polishes. They have such cute packaging. The shades I got:
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| left to right: fly trap venus, carnival, mannequin, threadbare, tidal, rainy day, varsity, parma violet |
2013 Ciate Advent Calendar
The Ciaté Mini Mani Month Advent Calendar was the first advent calendar I had bought. Unlike the purpose of an advent calendar (counting down the days 'till Christmas), I ended up opening all the little trinkets the day I bought the box. I had never bought or tried Ciaté nail polish before, but I always thought their colors were lovely.
I'm all for mini nail polish sizes. For all the options and nail polishes we buy, I wonder how many of us can finish the whole bottle before it goes all icky and gooey? And the collection of nail polishes keep piling up and soon, you start feeling guilty for spending and buying so much before even finishing them! Bleh. So, I suggest a smaller sized nail polish which allows consumers to buy more, try more, and spend less. Voila!
So, this Ciaté mini nail polish set was ideal for me. The price was affordable ($58) for 24 nail polishes you get to try. I've tried about six or seven of them already. I've picked my favorite four of them (going left to right):
- Tweed and tails - a perfect military khaki green
- Main Stage - plum, plum, plum is all
- Snow Globe - best extra layer of sparkle texture/ it looks like glass in your nails
- Boudoir - the reddest of the red, the truest of them all/ reminds me of Marilyn Monroe
- follow my Instagram and you can see how the colors look on my hands aka swatches
The box also came with the little filter looking plastics so you can use the caviar pearls without spilling them all over. I still haven't mastered how to wear them and make them look good, but they are pretty to just look at!
Ciaté in general has lasting-power (like really long lasting-power), great easy to use brush (by far, one of the best), and lovely colors. It is pricey, but if you get it as a set like this, I think it's quite worth the money.
Ciaté in general has lasting-power (like really long lasting-power), great easy to use brush (by far, one of the best), and lovely colors. It is pricey, but if you get it as a set like this, I think it's quite worth the money.
I am sure to pick another one of these for next year! It probably is also a perfect gift idea to give to a friend :)
Top 10 Spring/Summer Nail Polishes!
At first, I was going to do just 5, but it ended up being all Butter London! So, I went and picked out some more and decided to just go for 10.
Here are my picks: (watch here)
- Snog - Butter London
- Mint Candy Apple - Essie
- Under Where? - Essie
- Lilicism - Essie
- Trout Pout - Butter London
- Kerfuffle - Butter London
- Cuppa - Butter London
- Eden - Julep
- Fruit Machine - Butter London
- Navigate Her - Essie
P.S. Follow my Instagram! :) username is obviously... EtherealEllie
JulepMaven Box Review!
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| Eden w/ Flash! LOVE this :) |
Still yet, I am nowhere near the amount beauty girls have. I can still fix all of my nail polishes into two Glossyboxes :) not that having a lot is anything to be ashamed of! However, you do have to admit that nail polishes aren't a need but a want. Still yet, when I found out that Julep gave their first JulepMaven monthly box for free, I quickly jumped on the wagon!
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| sorry if the filer looks dirty! I couldn't wait to try it out :) |
So, briefly speaking: Julep has a monthly subscription where you pay $20 for a box of 2-3 nail polishes, and a slew of bits and bobs, things like nail polish remover, nail filer, or even hand lotions. You choose. First though, you are recommended a "type" of box. You take this mini-quiz, and you come out either: It girl, Boho glam, Bombshell, or Classic with a Twist. I came out as a Boho glam kind of gal!
But, for the free box, I chose this It-girl box only because this was the only box that sent just all 3 nail polishes. The other boxes had 2 nail polishes and hand lotions, and I didn't need the hand lotion. Besides, the It girl box had one shade that I really really wanted. It's their shade Eden.
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| w/out flash |
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| Abbie |
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| Mackenzie |
Overall, though I am so thankful for the free box and finally getting to try their polishes, I don't think I'll subscribe to their monthly service. I'd rather go on their website and just buy the ones that I actually like instead of risking $20 for nail polishes that I may not enjoy. But hey, it might be up your street :)
Not all Topcoats are the Same: CND Super Shiney
I love this topcoat, and the real proof came when I tried it with my Butter London "Gobsmacked" nail polish. This super glittery, almost 3D black/gray granite nail polish looks so beautiful, but as days go by the shine kind of dies. But this CND Super Shiney high-gloss topcoat really brings out the shine. I'm going to stick with just talking about the topcoat, although I mean... the Butter London "Gobsmacked" is amazing and would love to go on and on about it.
Anyway, this top coat from CND promises high shine and long-lasting, hardening effect. Also, it dries quite quickly. I want to just point out that Sally Hansen's "MegaShine" is SUCH a disappointment! My nails were chipping by the next day. But so is the Sally Hansen "InstaDry". The best Sally Hansen topcoat was the Double-Duty. It actually helped my nails stay anti-chip for a week! But this CND gives such a beautiful real super shine as well as hardening the nails so that they don't chip or wear away at the ends.
CND is known for their shellac aren't they? I've never tried shellac, but I really want to! I can see why they are so recognized for their whole nail range. Love it!
A Not-so-Good Review on Essie Sleek Sticks...
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| Over the Moon by Essie |
Scroll all the way to the bottom for my actual thoughts on them:
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| Mauvey purple/pink beige with sparkles, the prettiest one I think so far! |
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| Haven't tried this one yet but I think it'll look good on top of something! It's a metallic blue scaled and laced pattern. |
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| The most artistic one by far! This was in fact the first one I wanted to try :) |
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| Looks the prettiest in all its glory of lace... but... I have to say when you apply it, it looks like you've got 1st grader type nail sticker on your nails.... |
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| Under regular light in a semi-dark-ish room, the sparkles on the nail look... a bit over the top sparkly. I would recommend this if you love dramatic over the top nails... or maybe just on special nights out? |
So, here are my thoughts:
- Disappointed! Unlike what they look like, they aren't as pretty on the nails as much I wanted them to be. The lace one especially looked so pretty but when I had them on my nails, they were so sticker-like. I almost looked like a first grader who puts sticker on nails to pretend like she had nail polish on! (I used to that!)
- I thought it would be like the Incoco nails where they actually were nail polishes, but really... these are just stickers. You can tear them off in just a few seconds. I guess that's the good part... but they really are stickers!
- I would've like them more if they didn't have only such over-the-top patterns, things I'd be uncomfortable wearing on an everyday thing. It'd be pretty though if you had it on only one or two nails.
- They aren't as easy as you think. They apply similarly to the Incoco nail strips but because these are stickers, they seem to peel back faster. And these are thick! You can't tell by these pictures, but up close my nails were messy :( Applying regularly nail polish would have been much prettier...
- Good price: each packet comes with a nail filer. You apply it and then file the excess away!
So, if you are a fan of these nail stickers then I'm sorry all I have to say are negative things. They aren't "bad" but just a "disappointment" and not up to my expectation. You may very well like it, but yeah... it wasn't the greatest for me. The "over the moon" was the prettiest. I tried the lace but gave up. After applying them and taking a bunch of pictures, I think took them all off. It just didn't live up to the hype for me! :(
I'm really interested though in the Incoco nail strips. I might try those out. I was pretty impressed with them!
What do you guys think? Have you tried them?
