Sephora Haul: Naked3 and Lollitint

It took me a while to decide if I needed Naked3. I don’t wear eyeshadow daily and I was worried that the pink tones wouldn’t look nice with brown eyes. After reading many reviews, I thought it was worth a try since most people said that the colours were lighter than the shades in Naked and Naked2. I never purchased the original Naked palette because the shadows were way too dark for me, but I got Naked2 because it complements cool toned complexions. I like Naked2 but some of the shades are a bit intimidating. As you can see from the photos below, the shades in Naked3 are much softer.

Naked3 comes with a double ended brush and some primer potion samples.

Naked3 contains twelve rose toned shadows.

Strange, Dust, Burnout, and Limit.

Buzz, Trick, Nooner, and Liar.

Factory, Mugshot, Darkside, and Blackheart.
I have not tried Naked3 yet so I will be posting more pictures, swatches, and comparisons to Naked2 in the future.
When purchasing Naked3 from Sephora, I also ordered Lollitint from Benefit. I already have the other three tints and really wanted to try this one.

On the skin, Lollitint looks a bit brighter than it does on the brush in the photo below.

Soon, I will create a post that shows swatches and comparisons of all four of Benefit’s tints.
Have you tried Naked3 or Lollitint. What are your thoughts on these products?

NOTD: Julep Clara

Julep describes Clara (a polish from the ‘It Girl’ series) as an opaque peach crème. To my surprise, this colour is quite opaque despite its light shade. It is fairly close to my skintone and looks a bit like I’m wearing foundation on my nails. That said, I received compliments on this colour and many people told me that it makes my nails look very clean and professionally manicured. I also like how it didn’t clash with any of my outfits for the week.

My issue with this polish is with the formula. It is quite thick. I used three coats because it did not dry smoothly after the first two coats. If I did not encounter this problem, I would not have needed that extra coat because the colour is not sheer at all. It also took quite a long time to dry. I painted my nails around 2 PM and it was still a bit sticky by 5. I even smudged a nail by accident about an hour after applying the last coat and I needed to remove the polish and repaint the entire nail because I could not get the touch up coat to set evenly. The only other Julep polish that I have is Gabrielle and I do not have the same trouble with it.

Despite the struggles that I had with the formula, Clara went for four days without any chips and it dried to a nice shiny finish. This was very surprising since I usually experience the first signs of chipping much sooner when I use more than two coats of polish.
Since the colour is very pretty and versatile, I will keep it in my rotation of work appropriate weekday colours.

What are your favourite shades from Julep?

NOTD: OPI Glove You So Much

Glove You So Much came out in winter 2009 with OPI’s Holiday Wishes collection. I received this polish for Christmas a few years ago. It came in a set of four mini polishes. This shade always stands out to me because it is much richer and more elegant than the other three bright, glittery reds in the set.

In fact, I think of Glove You So Much as more of a deep purple with wine undertones, rather than a shade in the red family. The polish looks like a cranberry shade in the photo above, but it is more of a velvet plum shade in real life. It has a fine shimmer that gives the finish a lot of shine.

I wore this colour over the holidays because it looked festive enough for Christmas but also complemented a formal black, grey, and white New Year’s Eve outfit.

I was most impressed by the staying power of this polish. Some OPI polishes tend to chip very easily on my nails but I got five full days of perfectly intact polish before a few chips began to surface.

The formula is very smooth and pigmented so I only needed two coats. If I finish my mini bottle of Glove You So Much, I will consider searching for a full size bottle since I can see myself getting a lot of use out of this colour during the colder months.

NOTD: Essie No Baggage Please

Of the four polishes that were released with Essie’s 2013 wedding collection, No Baggage Please was the shade that most appealed to me. I’m always drawn to pastel baby pink shades and this one is rather unique.

First off, the formula is less of a stark creme like other polishes of its kind, and leans more toward a jelly-like formula. The colour itself has neutral to warm undertones that give my skin a healthy, rosy hue.

While it’s a bit difficult to see in the photos, this polish contains very fine particles of silver micro glitter that are most visible in direct sun light. The shimmers mix well into the formula and they do not make the polish feel rough in any way.

As for application, I was a bit surprised by this polish. Aside from Fiji, many of Essie’s light pink shades are quite sheer. However, No Baggage Please covered most of the nail with just one coat. That said, this polish was somewhat streaky and still looked uneven in spots after three coats. In spite of this, the polish looked smooth for the most part and would complement a white wedding dress.

Overall, I believe that I will get a lot of use out of No Baggage Please. It’s perfect for everyday wear and it makes the nails look neat and clean.

Nail Polish Haul (Zoya, Essie, Butter London & more!)

Since my favourite nail polish brands can be a bit expensive, I usually only purchase a few colours at a time. After months of collecting, I thought that it was time for a collective haul. Check out my polish pictures below to see which colours I picked up from Zoya, Essie, China Glaze, & more!

Zoya Paloma, Zoya Daul, Zoya Monika

Zoya Shawn, Zoya Carmen, Zoya LC

Zoya Rory, Zoya Gei Gei, Zoya Trixie

Zoya Kennedy, Zoya Jacqueline, Zoya Barbie, Zoya Erika

Essie Shine of the Times, Essie Russian Roulette

Butter London Teddy Girl, Butter London Primrose Hill Picnic, Butter London Jaffa

Butter London Toff, Butter London Queen Vic

China Glaze Snowglobe, China Glaze I Herd That, Deborah Lippmann Across the Universe

NOTD: Zoya Rory

After a long winter of dark, cream finish polishes, Zoya Rory is a breath of fresh, spring air!

At first glance, this shade appears as a standard pink with a hint of purple, but a little sunlight brings out its truly unique properties. Zoya describes Rory as a “medium mauve pink with lilac tones, gold and silver reflective metallic shimmer accents, and a foil-like finish.” As you can see from the photos in this post, this description is fairly accurate.

Rory was introduced to the Zoya family in Summer 2012 with the release of the Surf collection. The other five polishes in the collection have a similar finish. Despite being a medium shade, Rory is fairly pigmented and becomes opaque with two coats. Zoya gives this polish a 5/5 in terms of opacity.

I’m not sure if I agree with the Zoya site in its classification of Rory as a warm toned shade. I can usually only pull off cool toned shades, but Rory did not compete with my skintone. I think that the lilac tones neutralize the mauve and allow Rory to have a neutral base.

Also, while the finish is quite metallic, I wouldn’t go as far as saying that it is “foil-like”. I consider a foil-like finish to be smooth and reflective, or mirror-like (for example, the Sally Hansen Chrome polishes). The metallic-look of this polish is created by gold and silver shimmers which make the finish shiny and glossy but not quite reflective. Either way, the finish is unique and gives the shade dimension.

Overall, I feel that Rory offers a pretty pop of colour, and a surprising splash of shimmer with its metallic micro glitter formula. The formula is easy to work with and it took five days for minor chipping and tip-wear to begin. A perfect spring and summer polish!

NOTD: Zoya Jacqueline

Jacqueline is part of Zoya’s Spring 2013 Lovely collection. Zoya describes this shade as a full-coverage, perfect magnolia nude cream.

While I found that this polish applied very smoothly and evenly, I needed to apply two coats of it to get full coverage. I had to add a third coat to get the opacity that I was hoping for, but two coats look nice as well.

I do agree that “nude” and “magnolia” are fitting words to describe this shade (buttercream works well too!). However, this polish does not have a true cream finish formula. As you can see from the photo above, Jacqueline contains very soft shimmer particles. The shimmer is virtually invisible most of the time (it shows up in sunlight), but it prevents the polish from having a stark finish. For this reason, I’m very impressed with the natural, clean look that this polish gives my nails. The shimmer diffuses any nail imperfections and makes the nail surface look smoother.

Overall, I really like this polish and feel that it will work perfectly as an every day, work-appropriate shade, or as a neutral base for nail art designs.

My Perfect Red Lip

Since I tend to shy away from bold makeup, achieving the perfect red lip has always been a challenge for me…until now.
I have never been a lipstick type of gal and, while I love a red gloss, it’s quite windy where I live and my hair always tends to get caught in gloss and leave unpleasant sticky streaks of colour on my cheeks.
For the past two weeks, I have been layering Burt’s Bees 100% Natural Tinted Lip Balm in Rose over Benetint from Benefit. The result is a pigmented red stain that lasts for hours. The Benetint works perfectly as a base because it stays put and does not leave a harsh border on the lips. The Burt’s Bees balm is a perfect topper because it evens out the colour of the Benetint, makes the shade more vibrant, and adds non-sticky moisture to the lips. It also has a pleasant cherry scent.
I love how the combination brings a healthy, youthful glow to my complexion. Not to mention, I can add an extra layer of the balm throughout the day without needing a mirror.
What’s your perfect red lip combination?

NOTD: Butter London Queen Vic

Butter London’s nail polish in Queen Vic is the perfect berry shade for my pale cool-toned skin. Although the colour looks very pretty in the photos above and below, it is even richer in real life. Since my camera finds it difficult to accurately capture anything with red tones, the colour appears a lot more red in the photos. Queen Vic is actually deeper and more purple toned. In fact, Butter London describes it by saying, “Stunning, elegant and classy. Red wine meets cranberry. Fit for a queen.”
Aside from the colour, the formula of this polish is very impressive. It applied smoothly, dried quickly, and lasted for six days without any chipping. I couldn’t help but look at my nails every few minutes while wearing this polish to admire the way that it brightened up my hands with its rich tones and shiny finish. I received many compliments while wearing this shade.
My only complaint is that Queen Vic left my fingers with a red stain for a few days after I removed it with nail polish remover. To avoid this type of staining, I recommend using a good base coat and a strong polish remover.
Overall, Queen Vic is a gorgeous polish with a great formula. It will continue to be a go-to shade for me during the fall and winter months.

Sally Hansen Real Nail Polish Strips in Are You Single? (Review + Photos)

Back on June 22 I made a haul post featuring these nail strips from Sally Hansen. In the post I said that I would likely save the strips for Valentine’s Day because the little leaves in the pink, purple, red, and silver pattern look like hearts.
I wore them to a special dinner a few days after Valentine’s Day. I didn’t have much time to do my nails and couldn’t wait for regular nail polish to dry. Then I remembered that I had these nail strips in Are You Single? and decided to try them out.
The strips were very easy to apply. I only encountered a bit of difficulty with trying to find the perfect size strip to fit my nail. I have very small nails and a lot of the strips were just a tiny bit too big so I had to trim them with scissors. They were easy to cut though and I did not ruin any strips during trimming process.
The best part about this product is that it truly sticks to the nails and lasts for two weeks. I left mine on for 14 days with only minimal chipping on my dominant hand after 8 days. I didn’t have to keep pushing down lifting edges and there were no air bubbles. The strips removed easily with regular nail polish remover.
Overall, I really enjoyed this product and would definitely purchase more if I find them on sale because these strips can be a bit pricey where I live.
Have you tried these nail strips from Sally Hansen? If so, what are your thoughts on them?

NOTD: Zoya Kennedy

 

When Zoya’s Feel collection (Winter 2011) first came out, I told myself that I didn’t need it. After all, I already had lots of creamy pastel shades.

This collection features pigmented neutrals that look opaque after only a coat or two. Each time I saw swatches of the polishes, I admired their smooth creamy colours and shiny finishes. The blues, greys, and nudes were pretty but one shade, Kennedy, was my favourite of the group.

In most photos, it looked like the typical pastel pink shade with maybe a hint of pink. I debated whether I needed another polish like this and eventually forgot about Kennedy as new collections were released. 

Recently, I purchased some Zoya polishes and remembered to add Kennedy to my shopping basket. I’m really glad that I did as this shade offers so much more than I expected.

Kennedy is not just a pastel pink. Zoya describes it as a “pale, french beige cream”, but, on my nails, it looks like a creamy mocha latte with a splash of lilac. The pictures in this post really do the colour justice and show the unique shade of this polish. It looks great against my cool toned skin and doesn’t pull any red or ruddy tones.

Zoya gives Kennedy a rating of 5/5 for opacity, and accurately so. After two coats, this polish was perfectly opaque. I added a third coat for the photos but it was not necessary. Despite being a bit thick like all Zoya polishes, Kennedy applied very smoothly and did not streak. It also dried quickly and lasted for six days without chipping.

While Kennedy is marketed as a “winter neutral,” I have no doubts that it will be a perfect shade to wear year round.

Tarte Fantastic Foursome Amazonian Clay Blush Set (first impressions)

This season Tarte came out with a holiday blush set featuring four Amazonian Clay blushes. This set comes with four mini blushes that each contain 3.03 g / 0.10 Oz of product.
Amazonian Clay blushes apply very smoothly and are long lasting. According to Tarte, these blushes last for 12 hours and the Amazonian Clay is beneficial for all skin types as it minimizes oil while nourishing and hydrating.
So far I have not tried out the shades because I wanted them to be perfectly intact for photographing purposes. Scroll down to read my first impressions on the blushes and to see close up photos of each colour.

Magic (pink coral)
Magic is a beautiful coral shade with a matte finish. I think that this colour will give the perfect healthy flush on a warm summer day, a crisp fall afternoon, a cool winter morning, and a tepid spring evening. The colour is pigmented but not overly bright so it should work well for most skin tones.

Stellar (shimmering nude)
Stellar is the colour that intimidates me the most because I usually shy away from brown tones for fear that they will make my complexion look ruddy. This shade, with its explosion of gold flecks, is also quite shimmery. The glitter particles are very fine so I don’t think that they would look too overwhelming on the skin but I will likely save this shade for the summer months when I’m looking for a bronze glow. I do like how the shade is a true bronze and is not very orange.

Fantastic (soft fuchsia)
My first thought when I saw Fantastic was how does this shade compare to Dollface, my favourite Amazonian Clay blush? Like Dollface, this shade is a bright matte pink. I think that Fantastic is a bit brighter and more pink than Dollface but I will be sure to do a comparison post in the future. This colour looks a bit intimidating in the pan but I’m hoping that I can sheer it out to create a doll-like glow-from-within.

Angelic (shimmering champagne)
Angelic is the highlight shade of the group. It is a golden champagne shade filled with shimmer. I don’t mind shimmer in a highlighter and think that this product is light enough to work on all skin tones.

Another post with swatches will follow once I get a chance to try out the colours.
Have you tried this set before? What are your thoughts on the Amazonian Clay line?
~Beauty Writer