Wednesday, February 29, 2012

OPI Rally Pretty Pink

OPI Rally Pretty Pink is a truly royal pink with tons of golden shimmer. It has so much shimmer in it that it gives a duochrome effect to the nail polish. I wouldn’t say that this polish is a duochrome by itself though.

Rally Pretty Pink is a part of Serena Williams for OPI Slam Glam collection. It was supposed to be a base for the red shatter. For me, it didn’t work at all. Somehow, I thought that these 2 were not complimenting each other at all. Plus, I didn’t like red shatter idea.

opi rally pretty pink

OPI rally pretty pink swatches

OPI rally pretty pink serena williams glam slam collection

OPI rally pretty pink serena williams glam slam collection swatches

opi rally pretty pink swatches and review

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Ikat Manicure

I love ikat prints and I was quite inspired by the idea of making an ikat manicure. Ironically, when I made it I saw some similar manicures on the web. Even colors matched!!! 

Personally, I think this one is perfectly implemented by Nails by Very Emily 
J 

Here’s the result of my experiments. I used:
- China Glaze Secret Periwinkle as a base color;
- Nail Inc. Taxi Black;
- Revlon Teak Rose;
- NYC white nail polish.

ikat manicure

ikat print manicure

ikat print manicure swatches and ideas

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Finger Paints Twisted


Hey Girls!
Just a quick post.

I finally chased down gorgeous Finger Paints Flakies for a reasonable price:)
For today's manicure I used:
- Nails Inc. Black Taxi;
- Finger Paints Twisted.
finger paints twisted

finger paints twisted swatches

finger paints twisted swatches and reviews

finger paints twisted flakie

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Rusty Manicure with Butter LONDON Wallis

Hey lovely Ladies,
This post is about flakies …again. I hope you are not tired of it yet (no one can be possibly tired of flakies, right?)
J
rusty manicure with butter london wallis and flakies

As a base I used one of my favorite polishes of 2011 – Butter LONDON Wallis. It’s already has an touch of antique look to it.

butter london wallis swatches

At first I thought just to cover it with Essie As Gold as it Gets, but it didn’t quite work out. Top coat wasn’t seen at all.

So, I used Relouis Crystals 443. This is also a flakie top coat. I bet you have never heard of this brand before. It’s a Belarusian brand of makeup. 443 is one of the polishes that I picked up during my recent trip to Russia. It has a very thick coverage unlike most of the flakies. I used only one coat.

On top of the flakies I matified it all with Essie Matte top coat.


butter london wallis with flakie for rusty effect manicure

butter london wallis with relouis flakies, rusty manicure

flakie macro
So, what are your thought? Do you like the result?

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Pink Wednesday – Revlon Starry Pink Matified

Hi Beauties!

This Wednesday I’m wearing Revlon Starry Pink. I’m sure you have already seen a lot of swatches of it, so I decided to modify it somehow…I mean matify..:D

I absolutely love this nail polish and I spent weeks to chase it down in my local drugstore. But I already mentioned on couple of blogs several times about Revlon strategy to rename best-selling polishes from limited collections and release them right after limited editions. And I can say it once again…I Don’t Like It…no, let me be more frank…
I Hate It!!! 

To end on the positive note, I would say Revlon Popular is similar to Starry Pink. And if anyone didn’t get a change to buy one..it’s available in many drugstore or on Ulta. I’m also holding an 1 Year Anniversary Giveaway with 2 Popular nail Polishes as Prizes here.

revlon starry pink swatches and review

Revlon starry pink popular dupe swatches

revlon starry pink
Natural Light
Revlon popular swatches
Natural light

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Orly Act Your Shoe Size

Orly Act Your Shoe Size– is a burgundy nail polish with a hint of chocolate brown.
I’m on the fence with this one. On the one hand, I really like the quality of the polish and glossy finish. Overall, I like burgundies.
On the other hand, I see some pink notes and this is a kind of pink I don’t like.

QUICK UPDATE: I have just started a Facebook Page. So if you find it more convenient to follow me there - "Like" me here


orly act your shoe size swatches and review

orly act your shoe size swatches

orly act your shoe size nail polish swatches

orly act your shoe size

Monday, February 20, 2012

International Nail Polish: PUPA 402, 800, 905 swatches

PUPA nail polish is something that you can’t find in US. At least I haven’t seen it in Massachusetts. It is a really cool Italian brand that is famous for their fancy colorful all-in-one make up palettes. They also have a nail polish line. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find a lot of colors that I don’t already have, but I got 3 shimmery glitters. All 3 polishes have the same small silver glitter dust, but the base colors are different.

The formula is super pigmented and 1 coat is enough for the full opacity. It is also very shiny and long-lasting. At first, I thought that I had mini versions of the nail polishes, but I guess all of their polishes are so small (only 5ml). These polishes are on a thicker side, so they are perfect for stamping.

If you see PUPA somewhere, I would definitely recommend trying it out. You won’t regret.
Unfortunately, PUPA nail polishes don’t have names, so I will name it by their numbers.


402-Purple shimmer with silver dust. It's a deep purple shimmer with slight burgundy undertones.
pupa nail polish 402 swatches and review

pupa nail polish 402 swatches

pupa nail polish-402 purple shimmer

800-Navy blue shimmer with silver dust. This polish is my favorite of 3. It is a pretty close dupe to my long wished Chanel Nuit De Russie that is impossible to find anymore.

pupa 800 nail polish swatches and review

pupa 800 nail polish swatches

pupa 800 nail polish navy blue shimmer

905- Black/Brown shimmer with silver dust glitter. The finish is very similar to the L’oreal Night Owl. The only difference is the color of the glitter.

pupa 905 nail polish swatches and review

pupa 905 nail polish swatches

pupa 905 nail polish black shimmer

Friday, February 17, 2012

Forest Nymph Manicure

This is just a simple manicure with 2 different types of flakies.
I used:
- Priti NYC Rabbit Tracks;
- Finger Paints Flecked;
- Essie As Gold As It Gets;

forest nymph manicure

priti NYC rabbit tracks with essie as gold as it gets and finger paints flecked

essie as gold as it gets with finger paints flecked over priti nyc rabbit tracks swatches

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Rouge Bunny Rouge Sketches On Water Tinted Moisturizer Review


I saw RBR many times when I used to live in Russia, but I have never actually been tempted enough to buy anything. Just a couple of weeks before going on vacation I read a very positive review of Milk Aquarelle Liquid Foundation on Best Things in Beauty blog. So, I googled Rouge Bunny Rouge and was surprised about a huge hype around this brand. I tried Milk Aquarelle at the store and it turned out to be quite creamy, so I went with the Sketches on Water Tinted Moisturizer.

Sketches on Water is one of the best tinted moisturizers I have ever tried. It gives completely flawless finish without being seen on the skin or creating a “mask”. It has a water based formula that gives subtle coverage nourishing the skin at the same time. Frankly speaking, I didn’t expect that I would like it so much. But this one is definitely worth trying out.

The price for Sketches on Water is in the higher range. On Zuneta, it costs around 74$, I bought mine in Russia for 50$ that is still quite pricey.

My skin is pale with pink undertones, so I got the lightest shade Adansonia and it matches my shade perfectly.

rouge bunny rouge adansonia sketches on water review and swatches
Adansonia 
Overall, there are only 3 shades to choose from.You can see swatches of other shades on Sparkles Unlimited blog here.

Nubar Red Ruby Glitz

Red Ruby Glitz is one of my favorite reds. It’s a red jelly with bright red sparkly glitter. It has a weird formula – not very glittery and not too jelly. It’s hard to explain or describe it, but the finish is amazing, especially with a top coat.
nubar red ruby glitz swatches and review

 nubar red ruby glitz swatch

nubar red ruby glitz

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Pink Wednesday: Bourjois 1 Seconde #2 Nameless Nail Polish

The name of this post says it all. I really don’t know what is the name of this Bourjois nail polish. I don’t even think any of them have names. There’s only #2 label on the bottle. So, let’s call it #2.

This is 1 Seconde nail polish that is supposed to dry in less than 1 minute ( 50 seconds if to be precise).You can see all the shades here.

In general, I’m very disappointed with it. It doesn’t dry in 1 minute, not even in 2. The application is streaky, maybe because of the specifics of this color.
The color itself is nice, but the brush is way too wide and it’s hard not to paint the cuticle.

bourjois 1 secunde nail polish #2 swatches

bourjois 1 secunde nail polish #2

bourjois 1 secunde nail polish #2 swatches and review

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

A-England Tristam

I’m a complete holo junkie, so when I saw Tristam I almost lost my breath. Many brands have holographic nail polishes, but I have never ever seen such a deep blue one in any of the collections.

A-England holographic polishes are one of a kind. I’m drooling over entire The Legends collection as well.

The quality of the nail polish itself is superb. The application is smooth, the formula is not jelly based, so the polish is thinner. Nevertheless, 2 coats are enough for the full opacity.

a-england tristam swatches and review

a-england tristam swatches

a-england tristam swatches

After wearing the polish for 2 days I decided to make a French mani. I used Essie Matte top coat and Tristam for the tips. So, technically, it’s a French manicure with one nail polish :)

a-england tristam holo mattified

a-england french manicure with tristam mattified