Insta nails

I've been a bad blogger but I've been trying to be active and share through instagram...Here are a few polish related pics~

 Base is L'oreal Tea and Crumpets. Stamping with a BM plate and topshop polish.

 Hare polish in Pegasus and King of Caratflowers

 Cirque polish in Galinda and XX

 Hungry Asian polish

 New Revlon polishes: Eclectic, Enchanting, Urban and Girly

Revlon Girly vs. nails inc. Topping Lane vs. Deborah Lippmann Candy Shop

I used Revlon Eclectic and Enchanting, along with theFaceShop BL601

Revlon Facets of Fuchsia vs. deborah lippmann Bad Romance

I'm still trying to get back to more regular posting, but for now I'm back with another comparison post. Revlon has been releasing some interesting polishes and a recent display had a few pretty glitter polishes. I picked up Facets of Fuchsia and was immediately reminded of deborah lippmann Bad Romance so here's the comparison of the two.

Facets of Fuchsia swatches:




Facets of Fuchsia vs. Bad Romance swatches





Facets of Fuchsia (Index, Middle) - 3 coats
Bad Romance (Ring, Pinkie)-2 coats

Facets of Fuchsia has more glitter in it then Bad Romance but the color is pretty much the same. The formula for Facets of Fuchsia is a bit thinner and the base color is sheerer than Bad Romance so I had to use more coats. My preference is for Bad Romance since I liked the look with a bit less glitter so that you can see the base a bit more but Facets of Fuchsia is definitely a great alternative :)

The other polishes I picked up from the same display were Blue Mosaic and Starry Pink.

I'm definitely hoping Revlon continues to release these interesting colors.

Revlon Black with Envy vs Chanel Black Pearl

During a recent drugstore visit, I spotted a new Revlon display with advertising another "it" polish color. After seeing Revlon's take on Chanel's Paradoxal, I was curious if this polish would be mimicking another Chanel color. My hunch was pretty accurate, the new color was called Black with Envy and it seemed like it would be pretty similar to Black Pearl from Chanel. Here are the comparison pics:

Index and Middle: Black Pearl
Ring and Pinky: Black with Envy

Once again, Revlon is super close but not quite identical to Chanel. Black with Envy has a similar black with green tinge feel as Black Pearl but the finish is different between the two. Black with Envy has more shimmer to it while Black Pearl has that pearl-esque sheen to it. I wonder what if Revlon will tackle Mimosa next? :)

Revlon Not So Blueberry Scented Polish

During my latest drugstore hopping trip, I've noticed a mess of new Revlon displays. One was advertising their scented nail polish but it was interesting that on the display it said it was Revlon's first scented polish...I was a bit confused since I re-called Revlon releasing a scented polish last year. So I bought Not So Blueberry (to compare to the earlier release by the same name) and Mon Cherry.

I did some stash digging and found my original Not so Blueberry. The 2009 release actually spells it as "Not So Blue-berry" while this year's edition is "Not So Blueberry."

The 2 are a bit different. The 2009 edition is more silvery while 2010 edition has more blue/lavender to it. The scent seems to be about the same. Of the two, I like the 2010 one a bit more since I find the deeper color a bit more flattering for me.

Yes, my kitty was chilling in the sink while I took pics =)


With flash


No flash


With flash

Turns out there are 16 shades of Scented polish available. The Revlon website is a bit misleading, it looks like you can order online but when you checkout, you get pushed to drugstore.com....which doesn't at the moment seem to have the newer products so check out your local drugstore if you're interested in some scented polish. I got a few of the CustomEyes palettes and Colorburst lip glosses-both which I like a lot so far, more info to come =)

Revlon Perplex vs Chanel Paradoxal

While browsing through a Duane Reade drugstore on the way home this week, I saw a display for a Revlon polish. It claimed to be one of Fall's hottest shades. When I picked up the bottle it immediately reminded me of Chanel's Paradoxal. The Revlon polish even has a similar name-Perplex. I was curious to see how close the two would be so I brought a bottle home. All pics are taken with flash.

Bottle to Bottle

Swatches:

To me, Perplex has a more dark purple feel while Paradoxal has a more dusty grey feel to it. The shades are close especially in regular lighting but Perplex does look a tad darker. Although both do have a lovely subtle shimmer to them. Of the two, I actually prefer Perplex, I like the deeper purpler. Here's my current Perplex manicure. Application wise, the polish was very smooth and went on easily. Tips are Deborah Lippmann Today was a Fairytale.

Revlon Colorsurge lipstick and new Luxurious Color eye shadows - Part 2

Since Tammy was twittering to me that there was a 2 for 1 sale at CVS this week for Revlon products, I picked up a few more Colorsurge and Luxurious Color eye shadows. I picked up the lipstick in Blush, Soft Nude and Carnation.

Close-ups:


Swatches:

Top: Blush
Bottom: Soft Nude and Carnation

I was hoping that Blush would be more pink but it leans more brown. Soft Nude I was afraid would be too pale but it's growing on me as a lip color base (a la Mac lip erase). Carnation is a warm bright pink color.

For the Luxurious Color eye shadows. I picked up Sunlit Sparkle, Noir Galaxy and Violet Starlet. These are all perle shades.

Swatches:

Sunlit Sparkle (light gold color), Noir galaxy (Black with multi colored shimmer) and Violet Starlet (Plum with multi colored shimmer)

If you missed it, click here to see part 1 of the Revlon Colorsurge lipstick and new Luxurious Color eye shadows.

Revlon Colorsurge lipstick and new Luxurious Color eye shadows

I love going to drugstores. If I pass by one and I've never seen it before I will go in and scope it out. So far the top of my drugstore list is Shoppers Drug mart in Canada, it was heaven. In NYC, there are a lot of drugstores but they are not all equal. There are the "nice" ones and the ones that you go to only in an emergency. Anyway, my bf tends to try and stop me from going into drugstore because he knows I'll buy make-up. I try to restrain myself but when I stopped by one after work, I couldn't help myself.

Revlon had some new things displayed; there was a new line of eye shadows, a new color collection and a new line of lipstick. The eye shadows offered 2 finishes-satin and perle with 5 colors in each finish. Perle is more shimmery, while satin is more sueded. I picked up one satin, one perle and one perle from the color collection that had larger flecks in it. I was tempted by a new creme shadow palette from the color collection but I resisted.

L to R: Nude Slip (satin), Brushed Copper (perle), Lilac Shimmer (perle)

Next up were the new lipsticks. When I was a teen, I use to think Revlon was the only brand to buy since that was what my Mom and sisters used, but I soon realized that it had the worse taste/smell and I soon avoided them even if there were a pretty shade or 2 beckoning me. This color surge lipstick however, offered a new packaging that was pretty cute but there was no window to the actual product, only a corresponding color cap. I decided give it a try and only pick up one.

Colorsurge in Baby Pink


Top: Nude slip, Brushed copper and Lilac shimmer
Bottom: Baby Pink

The eye shadows were nice. I was in the mood for more neutral colors so I grabbed the Nude slip (light brown) and Brushed Copper (light golden copper). Both went on very smooth. I didn't think Brushed Copper was that much more shimmery than Nude slip but somehow it's classified as perle while Nude Slip is satin. Lilac shimmer (pale lilac base with silver flecks) is part of the new color collection and I thought it was pretty color. I was afraid of the fleck fallout but I figure I would try it. It goes on a bit better than pictured but the there is fallout from the flecks (they don't stick at all) so you're just left with a silvery color with a hint of lilac.

The big winner was the colorsurge lipstick. It goes on glossy and super smooth. Best of all, there was no weird taste or strong smell. I'm definitely going back and trying the other colors! The packaging also wins points for being matte - no greasy fingerprints! It is a bummer though that you can't really see the color inside and often there isn't testers so you have to chance it that the color will be something close to the cap. The color cap for baby pink was a decent representation. I hope that's also the case for the other colors. Will hopefully pick up some more shades soon.

Sephora haul, nail polish and Kino visit

In my Sephora haul earlier this month I ordered the Sephora Brand color palette and the Dior Lady Dior charm. I also redeemed 500 beauty insider points to get a niffy Korres kit and used a promo code to get a philosophy miracle worker kit.

The Sephora Brand play palette reminded me of the coastal scents palettes that have been showing up all over. I was tempted to get one but it was a bit too much palette for me. I liked the color play palette because it was not as big but still gave a bunch of eye shadows, lip colors along with blushes/bronzer. The eye shadows were ok, I have not played with all of them but some colors are definitely more pigmented than others. So far it seems like the blue/greens show up well while the browns were eh, which is ok for me since I primarily got it so I could have some brighter colors that I normally wouldn't buy alone.

I caved and finally ordered the Lady Dior Charm. At it's original release price of $90, it was really overpriced. Also when I first saw it, I thought the colors were too warm for me. So when I saw it online for $75 and in a more flattering color. I caved and ordered it. It's so freakin cute. Still over priced but not as horribly so.

The Korres kit comes with a shower gel, face cream, lip gloss in nude and a mascara. I've used a few Korres products before and overall have been pretty happy with this brand. I first used their body products -body butter, lotion and shower gels since they came in some great scents. My first make-up product from them was the cherry lip gloss and those come in great colors and leaves your lips very soft and moisturized. Their face products have been ok for me. I don't know if it was just a phase my skin was in but nothing seem to make it happy. I had tried the white tea cleanser and the rose night cream. They were both just ok for me. Anyway when I saw this kit offered, I was really happy to finally have something worthy of redeeming 500 insider points. I'm going on a cruise in May and I figure it would be a cute kit to have.

I had found a promo code for a philosophy 5 pcs. kit. I haven't actually use Philosophy products in quite some time. I've tried the purity cleanser and hope in a jar-both were ok stuff. I have sensitive skin and occasionally get eczema breakouts, both products didn't irritate my skin but it didn't help it that much either. I have not tried the microdelivery items so I'm excited to test them out since I like scrubs and have been itching to try some at home microdermabrasion type stuff.

So in my post about my DSK Jewelry, I was wearing one of Revlon's new scented nail polishes. The colors I had gotten were Not So Blue-berry and Sublime Strawberry (color in plumpy star pics and below). These polishes have a fruity scent when dried. Overall they go on easy and wear well. Not So Blue-berry is an interesting metallic blue lavender shade and Sublime Strawberry is a pretty pink with gold shimmer. When the polish is still wet it pretty much smells like regular polish with a hint of the fruity fragrance. However when dried, the smell comes out in full force. I wear a topcoat and the scent was still detectable although you can't really smell it unless you are thisclose to your nails and who spends time sniffing their nails? So it's kind of a weird nail polish feature. The scent did last all week and it got a bit fainter towards day 6-7, but it was still there. So if you would like scented finger tips, go check out this collection at your local drugstore.

On the topic of nail polish, I just found the new Essie North Fork collection at a local beauty supply shop. I bought all three since I ended up liking all of them. I really don't know where I'm going to store all my nail polish since it seems to be growing out of control and I still have to do my Zoya exchange.

Here's what I got from my last Kinokuniya visit:

Yay for Miffy and magazines! So far Voce is my favorite since it has some really great make-up diagrams. Since I have no clue what the words are-I'm all about the pictures. There were also super cute Miffy lunch boxes but I had to show some restraint and not get them since I am never able to bring my own lunch.