Green polish comparison and notd

Sorry for the lack of postings. I've been busy tidying things up at work since I'm taking a few days off for my birthday/thanksgiving. I'm taking a short trip to Toronto, Canada. I've been there before but would love to hear any recs for places to eat/shop if anyone wants to share =)

Anyway, I've been meaning to post this reference pic comparing Illamasqua Milf to Essie Mint Candy Apple and Chanel Jade. The fourth color is Essie Lollipop.

I attempted to use this gradation lame liquid that I purchase on ichibankao.com ages ago. You're suppose to dab it on the border between your 2 nail colors and then drag the brush down towards the base of your nail to produce a gradation. The liquid works ok, but it takes patience to dab on the right amount and make a quick enough brush motion to get a smooth effect. My ring finger ended up with a more prominent gradation than my other nails but it didn't stand out enough for me to re-do it =P
Instead of buying this liquid you could probably diy by using a brush and nail polish remover but I have not try this method.

I used Zoya in Gigi (pale pink with silver shimmer), layered a shimmery white polish from the face shop and did tips with Jill Stuart Secret diamond (from the anniversary set).

Aube couture holiday palettes, Visee LE Glam Hunt and Kate Nudist lipstick

After reading MiuMiu's post on her Christmas present, it reminded me that I had to post my pics on the new Aube couture holiday palettes. I ended up picking 01 (brown shadow and pink lips) and 04 (silver shadow and beige lips). I love the snowflake design on the outside.

Inside contains 4 shadows, 3 lip colors (2 lipsticks and 1 shimmery gloss) and 3 double ended applicators (2 for eyes and 1 for lips). For the eye shadows, they are layout in the compact as a guide for how to wear them with the side color being the liner shade. The lip colors get a plastic cover to help protect them from any stray eyeshadow powders and from getting onto the mirror.

Compact in 01

Compact in 04

I did end up liking 01 more since all the eyeshadows had good pigmentation and they were really pretty shades of shimmery browns. The main silver color in 04 didn't have very good pigmentation and was almost indistinguishable from the highlighter color.

I've been in an shimmery earthy colors mood and I ended up ordering the Visee LE glam hunt palette in mauve since I thought the beige brown option might be too warm for me. This is a really pretty palette and the quality of the shadows are excellent-they go on smooth and vibrant.

On this neutral kick I also ordered one of the nudist designing lipsticks from Kate in BE-01. I'm always afraid that the nude color will be too pale and make me look like a corpse but this one turned out to have just right amount of pink to it.



Swatches for the Visee palette and Kate lipstick

Chanel La Ligne Professional Eyeliner Duos

As part of its holiday collection 2009, Chanel released a new shade of its La Ligne Duo Eyeliner called Celadon Lame. It reminded me how awesome these liners were and how I had been neglecting the earlier versions.

The La Ligne liners come with 2 powder shades in each compact. One being matte and the other having a bit more shimmer to it. You can use it dry or wet. There is a mini pointed sponge applicator and a mini liner brush included in the compact. I prefer the using the liner wet (usually with water) since I like a more vivid liner. Currently, there are 3 shades of this liner - Noir Lame, Brun Lame and Celadon Lame. I do not know how limited each shade is although the Brun Lame and Celadon Lame have been labeled as being limited editions.

Here are in the pan pics:

Swatches for each pan-swatched wet with water and dry with sponge applicator:

Only Celadon Lame has a strong color distinction between the 2 pans. For the noir and brun versions there is definitely a subtler difference; the lame side is just a bit more shimmery than the matte side. I love the formula for these liners since they are pretty resistent to smudging. I have a tendency to rub my eyes and for the most part these liners can stand up to it pretty well. They may fade a bit but they don't completely disappear. I rubbed my swatches a bit left to right and top to bottom:

They held up decently I think. I have not tried using a sealing gel with these liners so the smudge resistence may be bumped up if you use a different wet base.

Here's an end of the day pic of the liner in the darker color from the celadon lame, no touch up. I did not rub my eye that much that day so it stayed pretty fresh.

The only drawback for me is the extra time it takes to dampen the liner. I tend to damped the brush a little at a time so I have better control but this is one of the smoothest liners I've use and maybe it'll motivate me to try and be less rush-y in the mornings. =)

Questions from giveaway, NOTD and COTD

Answers to questions left on giveaway post.

1- Can we have a tour of your room? I would, but I'm super messy person and I won't offend you with my clutter. In general, I do know where everything is. It's a state of organized chaos. =)

2- Favorite nail polish brand? I don't know if I can pick one. I go for what kind of color is offered rather than sticking with one brand. Top ones are Zoya, OPI, Dior, Illamasqua (can't wait for more colors).

3-Favorite high end eyeshadow brand? Dior is a popular one in my stash. I have a weakness for their palettes and I like givenchy shadows too. On the asian brand side, I like maquillage is prolly my top pick.

4-Recommendation for an opaque baby pink polish? mmh I don't have a lot of that shade in my collection but one of the more opaque ones I have is Marilyn by Zoya. It does have a bit of sheen to it though so I don't know if that is the finish you want. Since I am lacking on reference for this question~If you know of one, please leave a suggestion in the comments!

Since this posted needed some visual stimulation, here's my notd:

Dior in Lemon Balm

And for the COTD (Cat of the day), this is how the kitties spent their Saturday:

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Thank you Giveaway ~ Winner

Thank you to all the participants. I went on random .org and the wining number was #3 ~ lipstickfever!

Please e-mail me at beautymoogle[at]gmail[dot]com with your shipping info!

I'm still working on answers to some of the questions posted, will give answers soon.