Saturday, December 31, 2011

HITS Demeter Swatches and Review

HITS Holographic collection overall have been a huge hit in nail polish addicts community lately. The whole collection of this Brazilian brand is amazing without exceptions. I also keep my eye on some of their flakies. I bought this polish from Llawore shop.

HITS Demeter is one of a kind orange holographic nail polish. Yes, orange! I haven’t seen orange holos before, so I just had to have this one!!!

Demeter has a jelly base, super easy to apply and wear. It’s not very opaque, so 3 coats are needed to get what you will see in the pictures. The formula is on the thicker side, but nail polish doesn’t chip for a long time.



hits demeter holographic nail polish swatches and review

hits demeter swatches

HITS Demeter holo nail polish

Friday, December 30, 2011

3D Glitter Gal Lizard Belly Swatches and Review


I decided to start New Year without a lot of the nail polishes in the wishlist…hehe. I mean, I allowed myself to buy most of long time lemmings. Some of them were actually given to me as a present for Christmas.

Today’s post is about one of the polishes I was “stalking” for a long time. I bought it from Llawore after it has been out-of-stock for months. She sells a lot of the “hard to find” polishes like A-England, HITS, Lynnderella and Ozotic.

3D Glitter Gal Lizard Belly is an amazing green-black holographic with rainbow sparkle. I have no idea what linear holographic is (if you know I would appreciate if you explain it to me:)), but this is how Lizard Belly described on Leah Ann’s site.

It’s as hard to describe the unique beauty of it as to actually capture it by camera. This holo is of an amazing quality and quite pigmented. On the photos you will see 2 coats. It dries very fast as most of non-jelly based holos and I had no problems with streaking.

Lizard Belly is an absolute must-have for a nail polish junkie! My only “surprise” was the bottle – it’s very small.



3d glitter gal lizard belly swatches and review


3d glitter gal holographic nail polish lizard belly

3d glitter gal lizard belly

3d glitter gal holographic nail polish lizard belly swatches

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Bobbi Brown Cool Holiday 2011 Eye Palette



Hey Everyone,

You know that I usually don’t write about make up, although I’m as obsessed with it as with nail polishes. I just thought I’d share, because when I was looking for the grey palette I couldn’t find many swatches of this one.

I don’t have Bobbi Brown eyeshadow, but I have read a lot of good reviews about this brand, so I thought I’d try. There’re 6 eye shadows of different finishes: pearl, metallic and matte.

Bobbi Brown Cool Party Eye Palette Shades:
• White Eye Shadow
• Iced Blue Metallic Eye Shadow
• Rockstar Metallic Eye Shadow
• Sterling Shimmer Wash Eye Shadow
• Gunmetal Shimmer Wash Eye Shadow
• Onyx Sparkle Eye Shadow






This is probably the first time I will use each and every one of these eye shadow. The whole palette is very universal. The quality is really good and I like the brush, but I can’t say that it’s the best eye shadow that I ever had. Maybe I’m too addicted to Dior, it’s a little more pigmented and vibrant. 
The brush that is included in the set is a magic maker. I rarely blend shades, but it work perfectly and makes it so easy. On the other hand, I found it hard to blend shades with any other brushes.

Overall, this palette is a nice gift and definitely will be appreciated. It also awesome for traveling. I generally love various shades of grey and taupe eye shadow, so it's perfect for me. For somebody who like to use more diverse color this probably is not worth 45$.

Nabi New Blue Glitter Swatches and Review


My Icelandic Beauty friend has got me this polish as present from one of her trips. I have never seen this brand neither in US not in Europe. I found Getcha Nails Did 2009 review of these polishes and some of them on eBay (what cannot be found there?). Apparently Nabi has a huge palette of colors and textures. You can check it on company’s website here.


New Blue Glitter is a mixture of pearl light green base and blue, green and holo glitter of different shapes. It’s an adorable polish with personality.  It’s definitely more interesting in the sunshine when you can see pearly finish and sparkling glitter.
Nail polish definitely has blue undertones, but to my eye it's more green with a hint of grey than blue.
What do you think?

nabi new blue glitter swatches

nabi new blue glitter nail polish



Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Tiger Manicure



Just a quick post.

I  wanted something bright for the weekend. Days are getting colder and darker, so I thought orange will be perfect 

I used Color Club from Poptastic collection as a base and Revlon Copper Penny for Stamping.
Reminds me of Tigger from Vinnie-The-Pooh..hehe. 

tiger manicure

tiger mani yellow with golden stripes

              

Julep Maven Giveaway!



2011 is almost over and I’m sure we all deserved some extra presents!

The winner of this giveaway will receive a Classic with a Twist Julep Maven Box (valued at around $40). To enter you need to be a GFC follower of this blog. Quite simple, right?
You can find my review and swatches of Sneak Peek box here.

Giveaway will be closed January 20th, 2011. Giveaway is open for US and International entries.


If you can’t wait and want to try Julep Maven program right away, use the code LOSTGIRLSNOTES at checkout to receive your first box for 9.99$. I know that some bloggers also have promo codes, so you should definitely check it out, maybe you find a better deal.

Good Luck Everyone!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Julep Maven Classic with a Twist Box Review

Hey Girls!

I hope your Christmas was full of happiness and presents:) Happy Holidays everyone!

Today’s post is a review of Classic with a Twist Box by Julep Maven. I think by this time most of you have already heard about this program. If not, follow this link to find out more. Julep has some really cool nail polish shades, but you never know what you will get before you get it.

My Classic with a Twist Box contained:
- “Facial For Hands” Glycolic Hand Scrub;
- Nicole nail polish;
- Whitney nail polish;
- Several samples of hand cream and green glitter (very appropriate for Christmas...)


“Facial For Hands” Glycolic Hand Scrub
I have tons of hand creams and scrubs and I’m quite picky in what I use for my weekly routine.  But this thing is seriously awesome.  I used it once and it made my hands super soft. It smells nice too.  Usually glycolic acid is used for face scrubs to resurface the skin and get rid of the dead cells without “mechanical” scrubbing. It is also quite good for pigmentation removal. Frankly speaking, I haven’t seen a lot of hand scrubs with it, but it works like a charm.

Here’s the description from Julep maven website:

“Potent glycolic acid combined with apricot seeds provides powerful double exfoliation that leaves your hands feeling noticeably softer and looking younger after just one use.  Naturally scented with orange oil for a refreshing aromatherapy boost with each use.

Nicole Nail Polish – is a blood red shimmer. Lovely red color especially for those who still don’t have OPI’s Affair in Red Square (one of my all-time red favorites).

julep maven classic with a twist nicole nail polish review

julep maven nicole nail polish swatches

Whitney Nail Polish – Taupe with pink undertones. I absolutely fell in love with it although I own couple of somewhat similar shades. It’s a great neutral for work or if you don’t like to experiment too much with nail polish colors and textures.

julep maven classic with a twist whitney nail polish review

julep maven whitney nail polish swatches

julep maven whitney swatches and review

Overall, I was very satisfied with the quality of everything: scrub and nail polishes in particular. Julep nail polishes are pigmented and although I have 2 coats on the photos it was not necessary, one coat would be enough. The formula is also on the thick side; it’s not watery and stays without chipping for 2-3 days like an average nail polish.

P.S. I will be hosting Julep Giveaway starting tomorrow. One lucky follower will receive similar Classic with the Twist Sneak Peak Box. So don’t forget to check out the blog J

If you are interested in the program overall and feel like you are ready to sign up, just enter the code: LOSTGIRLSNOTES and receive a Julep Sneak Peek Box for $9.99 (valued over $40).

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Pink Wednesday - Wet'n Wild Hannah Pinkata

Happy Pink Wednesday Everyone!

This is my recent nail polish find Hannah Pinkata from Wet’n Wild. It’s a jelly  burnt pink glitter with magenta notes. I like the fact that it’s not a demanding nail polish. You can quickly apply it and in less than 2 minutes you are ready to go. It dries very fast and stays long on the nails.

Although it looks opaque in the bottle, one coat is almost transparent. I applied 3 coats to get what you see in the pictures.

The formula is the same as Ocean Breeze (you can find swatches here).  Remember that it’s not a 3-Free nail polish, so apply a base coat, otherwise nails get yellow.

wet'n wild hannah pinkata swatches and review

wet'n wild hannah pinkata

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

NIC’s Sticks Review and Swatches

Hi Ladies,

I don’t know how many of you have actually seen these nail polish pens. I found NIC’s sticks in TJ Maxx and , frankly speaking, I have  never seen this brand before.  5$ for 6 polishes was definitely worth trying it out.

NIC’s Sticks is an OPI brand. I suspect it is discontinued, because I wasn’t able to find any info anywhere.  All polishes come in a pen and quite easy to apply (remind me of Sally Hansen Nail Color Pens). The dry time is very fast too.

NIC's sticks by OPI review and swatches

My set included:
- Silver-ella
- Rainbow's end
- Dash into the dark
- I’m on deadline
- Are we there yet

Overall, I have mixed feeling about NIC’s Sticks:

On the one hand, holographic nail polish are amazing quality and really easy to apply, dry extremely fast and don’t chip for 4 days.

On the other hand, darker cream shades are pain in the *ss to apply. The brush is horrible and scratches the nail leaving streaks of color. Even 3 coats will not give you opaque color. Besides, the formula is watery, so the whole process of painting and removing nail polish from cuticles is quite messy. This is a pity, because the colors are gorgeous.

Silver-ella is a silver holographic nail polish. Super-shiny and vibrant color.

nic's sticks silver-ella swatches

Rainbow's End is another holo - golden one.
nic's sticks rainbow's end swatches

I’m on Deadline is one of my favorites in terms of color. Purple-blue shimmer with a hint of duochrome finish. I needed 4 coats to get what you see in the picture. As you might guess, it never dried fully, I had to remove it.
nic's sticks I'm on a deadline swatches

Dash into the Dark - almost black burgundy, very pigmented. If you look closer you will be able to see streaks. It was also hard to remove it from cuticles...ehhh.
nic's sticks Dash into the dark swatches

Overall, if you see a set NIC’s Sticks with holographic polishes, definitely go for it, you won’t regret for this price. Otherwise, I would not recommend buying it.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Sally Hansen Crushed Gems – Cha-Ching!

Hi Everyone!

I already mentioned in couple of my posts that I’m quite disappointed with creativity of the some famous brands this year. Definitely, with such a huge variety of brands and nail polish colors and finishes it is hard to stay creative. But to copy almost entire collection…this is a little too much for me.

I understand that OPI and Sally Hansen both belong to Coty. And it is not that surprising to see some similarities between OPI Muppets Collection glitters and Crushed Gems. But when I saw the stand in my local CVS I didn’t think of OPI.
Crushed Gems look exactly like China Glaze Eye Candy! Did somebody notice this as well? Definitely the target market is a little different, Sally Hansen could be found almost everywhere unlike China Glaze, but still…

Anyways, I still bought Cha-Ching! to check out the quality and compare it with Love Marylin from CG.

Cha-Ching! is a bright red glitter with some of silver glitter of the same size. The base of the nail polish is clear. It is a nice color, I won’t deny. And it doesn’t chip for a while. The only downside is that it’s hard to apply near cuticle area. I had to move the glitter while it was still wet, so it will look clean.

sally hansen crushed gems collection Cha-Ching!

sally hansen crushed gems collection Cha-Ching! swatches and review


Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Pink Wednesday - Golden Rose Burgundy Holographic

I didn’t think that I would actually have enough pink nail polishes for more than 2-3 Pink Wednesdays. Turned out I have a lot more..

This is another Golden Rose Holographic that I recently bought – Burgundy 108. This company really surprises me with the quality of the polish compared to the price. To my regret I already own enough other holographic polishes to cover most of their shade palette.

Burgundy is a dark wine pink holographic nail polish that have a lot of holo particles. The formula is better than that of some of the much more expensive well-known brands. It has a smooth finish, quite pigmented formula and doesn’t chip at least for 2-3 days.

golden rose holographic nail polish 108 burgundy

golden rose holographic burgundy 108




You can find my other Golden Rose Holographic polish swatches and  reviews here and here.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Models Own Beetlejuice Collection Purple Blue Dupe - Orly Galaxy Girl

Hi Everyone!

Purple Blue is another nail polish that I got from Beetlejuice collection. When I already received it I had the feeling that I saw this color and finish somewhere else. So I searched my stash and…aha….Orly Galaxy Girl from Cosmic FX collection.

models own beetlejuice purple blue dupe orly galaxy girl


Galaxy Girl is the only nail polish I was disappointed in from that collection. I expected it to be a duochrome, but it turned out to be more of a tiny glitter polish. So, today you will see the result of my curiosity to compare these two. Let’s start from the overview;

Purple Blue has a dark purple base with a hint of burgundy with blue, purple and pink shimmer particles. It doesn’t have a flawless pearl finish like other Beetlejuice nail polishes.

In the bottle Galaxy Girl and Puple Blue look strikingly similar. But in reality, Purple Blue is everything I wanted Galaxy Girt to be. It is a duochrome, but not a simple glitter polish. It actually changes color under the certain light, whereas Galaxy Girl remains quite boring.

Models owns Purple Blue and Orly Galaxy Girl Comparison

beetlejuice purple blue duochrome and cosmic fx orly galaxy girl comaprison

Monday, December 5, 2011

Models Own Beetlejuice Collection – Aqua Violet and Golden Green swatches

Hey Girls,

I haven’t posted in a while and, frankly speaking, feel pretty bad about it. I have a lot of new nail polishes and would love to share with you, but work and school have been quite hectic in the past month Hope it will get easier in upcoming weeks.

I’m planning on going to Russia at the end of December and hope to find some new cool nail polishes that are not available in US. Any thought which brands I should take a look at?

Models Own Beetlejuice polishes were finally delivered last week. What a magnificent collection!
Unfortunately, Pinky Brown was out of stock, but I still hope to order it later when it becomes available.

Today’s post is about to beautiful duochromes from Beetlejuice collection – Aqua Violet and Golden Brown.

Aqua Violet is a shiny teal – purple duochrome with pearl finish. All the polishes from this collection are watery and you will need 3 coats to get the finish you will see below. It stayed 3 days without chipping – that is longer than most of the pearl-finish polishes I own.

models own beetlejuice aqua violet nail polish swatches

models own aqua violet nail polish swatches


models own beetlejuice aqua violet duochrome

Golden Green also has a pearly finish. It’s a olive green duochrome that transforms into aged gold under the certain light. Gorgeous!

models own beetlejuice golden green nail polish swatches

models own aqua violet nail polish swatches

models own beetlejuice aqua violet duochrome swatches


Overall, this collection is definitely one of my favorites this year! Although in some way it reminds me of Cosmic FX collection by Orly, it is different in terms of finish and durability of the polishes.