FOTD: Winter's Last Stand

I know I've been big into spring colors lately, gravitating towards gold, copper, coral, and turquoise. However, I was itching to wear some cooler colors today, and came up with a look that ended up reminding me of Winter! I've got some royal blue, grey, silver and champagne involved, and even though it doesn't feel like "summer" to me, I'm happy to rock this in the sunshine. Besides, I'm getting sushi for dinner tonight, and the blue and silver seem appropriate, right? Maybe? Like fish scales, a bit?

Just go with it.

Once again, I didn't take pictures of what I used. The area I usually use to lay out my supplies has been taking over with sewing notions... Whoops. I need to straighten up this weekend!

Here's the look:

And here is what I used:

Face: Clinique Redness Solutions Base, Almay Primer, NARS concealer, MUFE Face & Body Makeup, Illamasqua Cream Blush in Laid (on fullest part of cheek), Physician's Formula Youthful Wear Illuminating Pressed Powder, Wet n Wild Color Icon Bronzer in Reserve Your Cabana (as cheek highlighter), Hard Candy Blush in Pin Up (top of cheek), NYX blush in Taupe (to contour under cheekbone)

Eyes: NARS Smudgeproof Base, Inglot D.S. 501 (grey with shimmer, from lashline into crease), L'Oreal Infallible Eyeshadow in Midnight Blue (in crease, outer corner, and along lashline), Urban Decay Eyeshadow in  Verve (to highlight inner corner and blended above the crease), Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Bootycall (Blended above Verve and up to brow bone), MAC eyeliner in Industrial (on lower lashline),  Prestige My Biggest Lashes mascara, Stila Majorlash Mascara, Prestige brow pencil, Ulta brow gel

Lips: Revlon Lip Butter in Creme Brulee with NARS lip gloss in Female Trouble on top

Cheeks!

Eyes Open... 

And eyes closed

Lips

So, what do you guys think? Are you ready to kick your cooler colors to the curb just yet? have to say, I love the way this combination of lip colors came out! I'll have to think about coming up with a "summery" look using cool shades; navy, grey, and silver always feel unseasonable to me in April (going into May)! I know I'm talking about the seasons a lot with the looks I've been posting lately... I swear I don't believe in strictly sticking to "seasonable" shades, I've just been so inspired by the warm weather lately, in all the creative aspects of my life... Including the colors I reach for when I'm painting my nails or putting on my makeup!

NOTD: Rimmel Sunset Orange and Sally Hansen Disco Ball

Man, I have been feeling nail polish lately! As you can probably tell by the more-frequent-than-usual nail polish posts... I've been wearing brighter colors on my nails lately, and it's been a lot of fun. This is a manicure I wore a couple of weeks ago for a couple of days; it wasn't my favorite I've ever done, but I thought I'd share it with you anyway!

I picked up Rimmel's Lasting Finish PRO nail polish in Sunset Orange, which is an almost-neon (but not quite) coral, and the formula seems to be a cross between a cream and a jelly. If pressed to decide on one or the other, I'd call it a very pigmented jelly. I used two coats of Sunset Orange, then a coat of Sally Hansen's Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear in Disco Ball (small iridescent glitter in a clear base), and then another thin coat of Sunset Orange to top it, except on my ring finger, where I just used two coats of Disco Ball without topping it with Sunset Orange. As usual, I started with a base coat, and finished with a top coat.


The polishes I used:

Disco Ball and Sunset Orange

And here are the results:

You can kiiiiiind of see Disco Ball under Sunset Orange! 

And here's a better shot of the different colors that Disco Ball flashes:

BLING

What do you guys think? This wasn't my favorite combination, for a number of reasons. First off, the combination of Disco Ball's glitter and the color looks a little "young" to my eyes, like something I'd expect to see on a teeny-bopper. Not a bad thing, just not my style! Secondly, I like that you can see just a hint of Disco Ball through Sunset Orange, but Sunset Orange is a bit too opaque for this kind of treatment. Lastly, accent nails aren't my thing. I thought I would give it a try by using the same colors in a different way, but it still isn't my speed. Oh well, at least I tried it out, right?

FOTD: Spring is (finally) Coming!

Hi guys!

Sorry that my posting has been as regular lately; I've been getting busy with some other projects. Some are fun, some are not, and some are things I do not mind doing, and simply must be done. You all know how that goes...

However, I managed to snap a few pictures of the look I wore yesterday! No photograph of the products I used this time around, but I'm pretty sure I remember everything I used! I've been feeling like using more color lately, since we've been getting some warmer weather. For some reason that always makes me want to branch out from neutrals and head for teal, gold, and coral hues!

The Look 

Face: Clinique Redness Solutions Daily Protective base, Almay primer, NARS concealer, MUFE Face & Body Makeup, Smashbox Artificial Light Luminizing Lotion in Flash, NYC Loose Powder, Benefit Georgia (on center of face), The Body Shop Bronzer in 01 (around edges of face), Hard Candy Bombshell (as highlighter on cheek), NYX Taupe (to contour cheek), Benefit Coralista (on fullest part of cheek). 

Eyes: NYX Smudgeproof Eyeshadow Base, Inglot AMC Shine 11 eyeshadow (light gold) packed onto lid and into crease, Urban Decay Sin from crease to eyebrow, Urban Decay Virgin under eyebrow and on inner corner, Urban Decay Flipside in crease, Urban Decay eyeshadow in Smog in outer crease, Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eyeliner in Binge on top lashline, Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eyeliner in Baked on inner lower lashline, MAC eyeliner in Industrial on outer lower lashline, Prestige My Biggest Lashes mascara, Prestige brow pencil, Ulta brow gel. 

Lips: Smashbox lipstick in Melondrama, bareMinerals lip gloss in Cassis

Cheeks! 

Eyes

You can see the three shades of blue better here

Lips

I have to say, I am always disappointed by how sheer Flipside ends up looking on the lid if you are layering it on top of other shades, or trying to blend it. I used to wear it all the time, but I got frustrated with the sheerness. Maybe if I used it wet? Or maybe I need to add it last and not blend at all... It ended up just giving the gold on my lid a bit of an olive hue. If it's a shade you want, you'd better act now; Urban Decay is discontinuing it with the launch of their new eyeshadow formula!   I really liked Melondrama with a gloss over it; it toned down the coral a bit (which is what I wanted for this look!) and added a lot of depth.

Have you guys been switching up the shades you use as we go into warmer weather? If you don't change your shades seasonally, do you get inspired by the seasons? I don't think anyone should feel restricted to a certain color palette because of the season, but I know weather often puts me in the mood for different shades, and I take inspiration from the seasons.

NOTD: Hauling polish!

I went to Bed Bath & Beyond the other day and they had a bunch of new Spring displays out, plus I found a couple of Color Club shades that called to me... I ended up using three of my new polishes in the manicure I'm about to show you. It's not the type of manicure I generally go for, but I LOVE this combination! I don't ever want to take it off...

To do this manicure, I used a basecoat, two layers of Color Club's Wild Orchid (a slate blue/ periwinkle with silver, teal, and fuchsia shimmer), two layers of Color Club's Covered in Diamonds (iridescent flakies in a clear base), two layers of Revlon's Sheer Seafoam (a very sheer stormy teal), and a top coat. Too many layers? Maybe, but it was so worth it! Sheer Seafoam is really and truly VERY sheer, but I like how subtly it alters shades you put it on top of. I used to have a very sheer red top coat from L'Oreal that I had so much fun playing around with in the same way; in this manicure, it adds just a hint of milkiness on top of Covered in Diamonds, which keeps things from being too crazy. I'm going to go ahead and say that it classes things up, making this manicure look a little more expensive and refined than it did when Covered in Diamonds was allowed to shine at its full wattage. Is that a vague, unfounded statement? Yes. But it's my blog :) Which is the same excuse I am using for showing you gratuitous pictures of this mani:

That's my corset fabric in the background, FYI; I think I was crazy to put nail polish on top of silk, but it did not leak so I'm not sorry. Wild Orchid is a similar color, and I thought the fabric was too pretty not to show off just a little!

Left to right: Wild Orchid, Covered in Diamonds, Sheer Seafoam 

 Indoor light:

Natural light:

Holding Wild Orchid

Holding Covered in Diamonds; check out that glitz! 

Holding Sheer Seafoam

And here's a picture that shows off the sparkle:

Summary: I haven't worked with these enough to feel comfortable giving a review, but I'm on my third day of this manicure with only one real chip, which is good for me! My initial impressions are that Wild Orchid is gorgeous on its own; Covered in Diamonds' flakes are a bit sparse, and Sheer Seafoam is VERY sheer; this is not a true "jelly" level opacity. That being said, I like the look of all three of these polishes, and I can see myself using these a lot in a bunch of different combinations.

What do you guys think? Do you like layering polishes, or do you tend to just wear one at a time? Have you hauled anything exciting recently? I picked up a couple of lip and eye products from the LE displays along with Sheer Seafoam, I'll be showing those off in the coming weeks...

Dupes: SOPI I Only Shop Vintage and Icing Skinny Dipping Beauty

Hi Guys!

In my last post, I showed you Sephora by OPI's I Only Shop Vintage, and I told you that I was disappointed to find that it was an exact dupe for the shade I had on my toes, Icing's Skinny Dipping Beauty! I always feel a little silly when I purchase two things that are exactly alike right in a row :( Unfortunately, I couldn't find the Icing polish when I wrote that post, so I couldn't tell you the name of the shade. I did a little hunting, and found it for you guys, and also took some comparison pictures. Is it as close a match as I thought it was? It's exact. I cannot tell the difference. And what's even better, the formula seems to be exactly the same (although I like the SOPI brush a little better). That being said, Icing's Skinny Dipping Beauty will only set you back $4.50 (less if you take advantage of their ongoing BOGO 1/2 off beauty special), whereas SOPI's I Only Shop Vintage is $9.50. If I were you, I'd definitely go for Skinny Dipping Beauty if all you care about is the shade and the formula.

How did I wind up with these two? Well, I liked China Glaze's Fast Track so much that I was hoping to find a similar shade, which is why I picked up Skinny Dipping Beauty at Icing. However, it's yellower, darker, and has more shimmer. That's ok! It's still pretty; I prefer Fast Track, but I enjoy having variations of shades that I love. How did I end up with SOPI I Only Shop Vintage? I saw it in the store and really, really liked it! It never even crossed my mind that it looked familiar... Oops. Guess I am really digging these milky browns with gold shimmer!

Just a note; while going through the pictures, I noticed that Skinny Dipping Beauty looks a little bit darker than I Only Shop Vintage. This wasn't the case in real life; they were indistinguishable. I'm not sure why it photographed that way (especially in the bright light), but I think the problem is that my middle finger is much longer than my index finger and I couldn't get the nails to rest at the exact same angle, so the light hit the fingers differently. Trust me; you're not going to be able to tell the difference when they're on the fingers. Similarly, the different shape of the bottles makes them look a little different.  I showed these with Fast Track since a lot of you either own this, have seen it in person, or have seen lots of swatches; I thought it would help give you a better idea of the shade of I Only Shop Vintage and Skinny Dipping Beauty.

Bottles, with flash:

Left to Right: China Glaze Fast Track, Icing Skinny Dipping Beauty, SOPI I Only Shop Vintage

Bottles without flash:

Left to Right: China Glaze Fast Track, Icing Skinny Dipping Beauty,  SOPI I Only Shop Vintage 

And the labels, just for kicks:

Direct sunlight:

Left to Right: Fast Track, I Only Shop Vintage, Skinny Dipping Beauty

Indoor light:

Left to Right: Fast Track, I Only Shop Vintage, Skinny Dipping Beauty

Left to Right: Fast Track, I Only Shop Vintage, Skinny Dipping Beauty

So what do you guys think? Are you going to go for either of these shades? Icing is known for their dupes of higher-end nail polishes (they dupe a lot of Deborah Lippmann glitters, for those of you who are looking!) and they have a lot of really unique shades. Have you guys scored any awesome finds there? I still feel silly for having two bottles of the same polish, but I'm excited to have found such a close match for those of you who like the color and don't want to pay SOPI prices!