Steelnpurple

Moved back to my own hosting

2010-11-30T11:40:00.000-08:00

I have moved back my blog to my own hosting - using Wordpress. I have moved over all posts and comments, so everything should be pretty much intact.

Everything is up and running but I am NOT done customizing the look and feel of the theme I'm using over there.

So, it is live but it is still somewhat a work in progress.

If you have my blog bookmarked or linked to I suggest you change the link to http://drebel.net. :)

I have disabled comments on this site and hope to see you over at drebel.net instead!

Thank you for you patience!

See you on the dark side! ;)

Urban Decay Naked Palette Swatches

2010-11-22T09:28:00.000-08:00

Wohoooo! I have had the Naked Palette for almost a week now and I can only say that I haven't used any other eyeshadows than the ones in this palette since I got it. I can honestly say that there are almost endless combinations here!

Yes, they are all neutral shades, but they range from the lightest to the darkest and all in between. Including some gorgeous gold and bronze tones. So.. you can go as neutral or as crazy as you want with this one!

Oh did I mention the pans are all full size shadows..? ;)

First off let's look at the palette itself! The outside is in a brown velvety material. The name NAKED is written in gold letters. Very sleek!

All images are clickable.

Outside view:

And now two inside views, showing the pans:

Ah. Gorgeousness! *happy sigh*

All the shadows are velvety soft to use and very easy to blend. I am amazed over the consistency of the shadows in this palette.. there are no duds! They are all smooth, soft and easy to blend. Oh.. and pigmented of course. ;)

The swatches are up next! My skin tone is for reference a MAC NW15-ish one.

i have swatched them in the same order as in the palette.

First the whole balooza:

Next up are the six left colours. Virgin, Sin, Naked, Sidecar, Buck, Half Baked:

.. and the six right ones. Smog, Darkhorse, Toasted, Hustle, Creep, Gunmetal:

You can probably not really see Virgin very well. But trust me, it does show up when used on the lids. It is the perfect highlight colour and it's also good as a blending colour.

Toasted and Hustle have almost plum undertones which makes them perfect for smokey fall and winter looks. They complement each other very well.

Creep is not pitch black like Oil Slick (from the Ammo Shadow Box), it's like a very very VERY dark grey with almost blue undertones.

I highly recommend this palette to anyone. Even if you're not into neutrals you'll still get mileage out of this one. The colours are vibrant and sexy even if they belong in the neutral family. Textures varies also. You get mattes, metallics, shimmers..

The palette also comes with a dual ended 24/7 eyeliner and a mini Primer Potion.

I will cover the 24/7 eyeliner pencil in a separate post.

I bought the Naked Palette from ASOS. They sold out minutes after I had booked mine. I was lucky for once! ;)

<3

//Tina

A month of silence

2010-11-18T15:12:00.001-08:00

It's been a month since my latest post. Crazy.. I needed a vacation from blogging I guess. I had not planned it though..

So, thank you for being loyal to me and I do apologise for just disappearing. :(

I have hauled some awesome products during this month and I feel my energy slowly coming back to me. This means that you can expect some new posts in the (very) near future!

See y'all very soon!

<3

//Tina

elf Eyeshadow "C" Brush

2010-10-19T09:42:00.000-07:00

I have had the elf Eyeshadow "C" Brush for a few weeks now so I feel I can give y'all my opinion about it.

Some info first; it is a synthetic C shaped brush which is made for packing on eyeshadow on to the lid with. It is part of elf's studio line.

I have used my brush daily since I got it. I have also cleaned it every single day - after each use. That will probably tell you something.. ;)

Yes. I love it! It does the job in a fabulous way. Packs on colour to the lids without any effort. It is also dense enough so I can use it to define the "outer v" if I want to, although I do have other brushes which I prefer to use for that particular task.

The C brush is cheap, does the job, looks stylish, easy to clean, does not shed.

So, I wouldn't hesitate. I highly recommend it! I will actually buy a few more, that way I will always have a clean one at hand without breaking the bank. :)

Availability: anywhere that sells elf's studio line products and the regional elf websites.

Price: $3:00/£3:50/42:70SEK.

Links:
www.eyeslipsface.com
www.eyeslipsface.co.uk
www.eyeslipsface.se

<3

//Tina

Shape Shifter, Halloween 2010

2010-10-08T13:05:00.000-07:00

Oops, been a while huh?

I've been slacking terribly.. sorry about that. Thanks for sticking with me. :)

I did a quick Halloween look today for fun. I call it Shape Shifter and I was inspired by Boris Karloff. Google if you're not familiar with him. ;)

Anyway, I used black eyeshadow, white pearly eyeshadow, cream eyeliner, winter coat and my dSLR.

I had to "cheat" with the eyes, since I already wear lenses I can't use special effect ones. Photoshop comes in handy in those moments.. ;)

You should definitely click on the images to see the full size.

Until next time, be safe! ;)

<3

//Tina

Fabulous Felines - Palace Pedigreed Eye and Swatches!

2010-09-25T11:44:00.000-07:00

Soooooo I got my MAC stuff yesterday! I bought a quad and an eyeliner from the Fabulous Felines collection. I also picked up Painterly Paint Pot. :)

I wish I was richer because virtually everything in Fabulous Felines collection is fantastic! LOL! Anyway, I settled with two items and I'm very happy with them so all is good!

This post is mainly about the eyeshadow quad! I remembered to take the photos before I had touched it this time, so the pictures came out pretty slick if I may say so myself. ;)

First out is the colours of the quad in a close-up photo, click on it to see a larger version of it:

The colours are in "reading order": Courtly, Palace Pedigreed, Quite Spoiled, Russian Blue.

Russian Blue is a matte, the other three are satins.

I just simply LOVE this quad! It is a perfect mix of dusty pinky purples and a blue/grey. Awesome for fall! Well done MAC!

This is actually the first MAC quad I have bought!

Here is the eye I came up with today, I used all four colours:

You can see the eyeliner here also, it is one of the Super Slick liners from the same collection in the colour Smoky Heir. <3

Arm swatches, perhaps? Ok! Here they are! They are not in focus completely but I feel that this image portraits the colours so well that I decided to use this (over more in-focus ones) anyway:

Did you get anything from this collection?

<3

//Tina

China Glaze Vintage Vixen fall 2010

2010-09-21T11:09:00.000-07:00

I never win anything. Never. I still do keep entering contests, buy lottery tickets etc because hope is the last thing that leaves us they say. ;)

Then it happened. BAM. I got an email from Vampy Varnish stating that I was one of the winners of her China Glaze / Seche giveaway that she held to celebrate VV's 2 year anniversary!

I WON! *insert shock and horror music here* :0

So, let's just say I have some swatching to do in the foreseeable future. :p

Here follows the pictures of the prizes! I received them today. :)

All overview images are clickable for a larger size!

First the China Glaze stash:

Yep. 12. Stunning. Bottles. *gasp*

The overview above is taken with my daylight lamp. While I was working on that the SUN decided to come out! So I include two images taken in sunlight below!

Then we have the Seche part of the prize. :)
Not a bad lot huh? ;)

Again, THANK YOU Vampy Varnish for your awesome giveaway, and congrats to the other winners!

I am very very happy right now.. :-D

Nail polishes - My safe cards

2010-09-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

Most of us love nail polishes. Some people like them vampy and dark, some like them lighter and neutral. Some like the more classic colours..

Trends come and go and as time passes we do find some polishes that we love extra much and consider "safe cards". Polishes that always work. Regardless.

These are my current safe cards. Note that they will vary over time though but, as I said, these ones are my current loves. They always work. I can use them in any situation. They rock my stash!

First off is this purty trio.
Left to right: China Glaze Naked, China Glaze Fly, Essie Demure Vixen:

Next up is from left to right: OPI Meet Me on the Star Ferry, Color Club Uptown Girl, Color Club High Society.

Last "safe card" is an oddball, so I decided to put it in it's own picture. I use it in a special way too.. not on it's own, but layered over whatever polish I have on. It's something I might apply on day three or four of a manicure, when I've grown slightly tired of the shade.

Sinful Colors I Miss You:

The polish of choice today is Color Club High Society. I knew I was going to use one of my safe ones but I didn't know which one at first, then I decided I wanted something classy and neutral. :)

Do you have any safe polishes that you always come back to and that just.. works?

<3

//Tina

MAC Fabulous Felines Finally :)

2010-09-17T13:55:00.000-07:00

One of MAC's fall collections Fabulous Felines finally hit Sweden and I did actually order two things from it! I placed the order today so I don't have any actual products to show you yet.

It was the first order I placed at Kicks (which is our first authorized MAC etailer) and I had waited until now on purpose because of this collection.

Temptalia has an awesome sum up of the whole collection - which consists of three parts - so I am linking to her blurb about it here:

http://www.temptalia.com/mac-fabulous-felines-collection-for-fall-2010-preliminary-information

You can of course also go to maccosmetics.com to read about it. ;)

So, what did I order? Hmmmmm? I ordered (no surprise I guess..) the Palace Pedigreed eyeshadow quad. I also got the Superslick Liquid Eye Liner in the colour Smoky Heir. These two are the items I've been lemming since I first saw them online, so I am very very happy. :)

Since I don't have the products yet I don't have photos or swatches, but if you go to this page and scroll down, you can see Temptalia's swatches of both the quad and the liner:

http://www.temptalia.com/mac-fabulous-felines-palace-pedigreed-review-photos-swatches-eyes

I also ordered a Paint Pot in the colour Painterly. I have wanted this for the longest time. I don't have a valid reason for not buying it until now, because we do have a MAC counter so it is only a matter of going there and picking it up, since it's a permanent item.

Anyway, I hope I will be back with the swatches pretty soon!

<3

//Tina

EOTD September 16, 2010

2010-09-16T11:43:00.000-07:00

I went a little smokey today and this is a method I truly suck at. I have not mastered it, yet. I like it though and my way of doing it is without liner. Here's what I came up with this morning, a soft aubergine smokey eye!

The aubergine eyeshadow is Raspberry Truffle from e.l.f. which is matte. This particular shade is the favourite among the e.l.f. shadows I own. Loves it! :D

So, my plan is to perfect the smokey eye now! I really want to rock this look! I'm happy with my current progress but yes, there is room for improvements!

Apart from the aubergine shade I used my MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in By Candlelight, lightly blended all over the eye from the lashes up to the brows. :)

Aubergine is - for me - the perfect fall eyeshadow shade. :)

<3

//Tina

Layout update plus feed test

2010-09-15T07:39:00.000-07:00

Nothing to see here.. moving along! ;)

Well, I did some minor changes to the blog layout plus I am testing out an automatic Twitter feed thingie that is supposed to kick in whenever I post on the blog.

So... test test test. :D

<3

//Tina

Lazy weekend skinwize

2010-09-12T06:19:00.000-07:00

Some weekends, when I have no plans what so ever, I skip on makeup all together. I am sure many people do this? I highly doubt that I am alone.. ;)

This weekend is one of those lazy ones. No plans, just chilling, computer, resting and so on.

What I wanted to talk about, and ask about, was the skin care routine you guys have on these lazy occations?

I am going to share mine. It's very complicated. ;) I have NONE! I do nothing to my skin. Zilch. Nada. Apart from washing the face in cold water in the morning. But that is ALL. I have this theory that the skin needs these breaks every now and then. It's not only makeup you "stress" your skin with, it's all the other things too such as cleansers, moisturizers, toners and so on.

My skin always looks better after these lazy weekends. But I do feel that I need exfoliating so I tend to treat my skin with that on the Sunday before I go to bed.

Do you have any skin secrets? I'd love to know!

<3

//Tina

EOTD September 9, 2010

2010-09-09T09:40:00.000-07:00

I managed to take a few "ok" pics this morning when I was getting ready (I had a FAIL yesterday heeh) though they are a bit blurry if you click on them and view them in full size.. SORRY! :D

Today's EOTD is quite similar to the last one, the difference is that this is almost matte. Matte base shadow, matte liner.. :)

I used three eyeshadows for this. Two MAC and one from my Sleek Storm Palette. The Sleek one is the 2nd from the right in the bottom row. Click here to check out my post about the Sleek Storm Palette for reference. It is basically a matte medium to dark brown colour.

Again.. at 7 AM one is perhaps not as immaculate as one wishes.. but I'm happy with the look considering the state I'm in at that time in the morning! Haha!

What I used was MAC Orb all over the lid way up to the brows, then I slapped some MAC Patina in the crease. The matte Sleek shadow was used as a liner (by using my MAC 266 brush as usual) and I also put some under the lower lashes.

I feel a matte fall. Definitely. I will need to increase my matte arsenal, I hardly have any mattes, only a handful I think! Oh, yes I know that Patina is not matte but when used like this it almost appears matte. Satin at least. And yes, I know that Orb technically is a satin but it sure looks matte to me. Always thought of it as a matte shadow. ;)

Too Faced Shadow Insurance want under it all today. Rimmel Sexy Curves went on the lashes as usual.

Matte matte matte, yes. I've never been a matte person. Ever. But I do feel an urge to go matte all of a sudden!

<3

//Tina

EOTD September 6, 2010

2010-09-06T08:58:00.000-07:00

After my whine-post I got this idea that I should incorporate more of my everyday makeup adventures into the blog! Such as Eye Of The Day and the odd makeup ramble regarding products that I own and use. And of course take photos!

Whaddya think? ;)

I will start this off with an EOTD post!

I am - like most people - extremely tired in the mornings. I have never been a morning person. Ever. I will never get used to getting up at 6 AM five days out of seven in a week. Never. So what I do is that I start by taking a shower plus wash my hair (sometimes with shampoo and sometimes just with water). This will all in all take half an hour. So at about 6:30 AM I will be out of the shower and on my way to get dressed. I will dress in five minutes and I will put my KMS flatout straightening creme in the wet hair and work it in and brish the hair back.

At about 6:45ish it's time for makeup! It is about now I will start to really wake up and get energy! The morning tea helps too! So, I light up my makeup mirror, sit on my stool and stare at my bare face in the 5x magnifying mirror. (horrific I know..) Now I will get inspired on what look I'll do for the day.

Today I felt like a neutral look (duh) with a neutral liner to go with it. This is what I came up with:

You can click on the image to see a larger version. If you dare. Bare in mind that this was photographed at around 7 AM this morning LOL!

So. The eye products I used are these:

Base: MAC Paint in Bare Canvas

Crease: Urban Decay matte eyeshadow in Naked

Lid: MAC eyeshadow Honey Lust (lustre eyeshadow)

Liner: B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful eyeshadow in Barrow (a purple brown dark colour which I applied wet using mixing medium and the MAC 266 brush)

Mascara: Rimmel sexy curves

Waterline: Urban Decay 24/7 in Baked

Everything held up great during the day and the eyemakeup had hardly faded at all after the workday was over. When you think of it there is not much that can go wrong, nothing that will crease horribly or such.

To finish off my morning routines I blow dry my hair and then flat iron the bangs and the "crown". :)

Oh and the makeup takes about 30 minutes to do, but that includes everything; face also.

Hope you enjoyed!

<3

//Tina

Good news, bad news..

2010-09-05T09:21:00.000-07:00

So yes.. my computer now works again. Wheee! It turned out to be the motherboard, not the graphics card. Anyway.. it works now. That was the good news!

The bad news is that during this time all my "social media duties" have built up to ridiculous piles of "musts" so that I now feel like giving it all up. The drop was the site counter stats that arrived in my mailbox. I have almost no visits anymore.. I wonder why I even bother sometimes?

The conclusion is that right now I don't know how to proceed. I don't know what I will do about it all..

I need to find a new direction I think.. I can't keep doing it the way I have been. I don't know what to do.. :(

<3

//Tina

No computer

2010-08-27T14:08:00.000-07:00

My computer died last night, I thought I'd let you all know.. :-/

After some testing it seems as if it is the graphics card. I don't have a spare one so I can't make sure but I'm pretty certain of it..

I will get a new cheap graphics card as soon as possible but for now I am without the possibility of doing proper blog posts and YouTube videos.. :-(

I am availble on Twitter through my phone so make sure you follow me. :)
http://twitter.com/steelnpurple

This post was also made with the phone and it took a heck of a time to write lol..

<3

//Tina

Kicks.se launched their webshop today

2010-08-25T12:00:00.000-07:00

This post is a happy one for sure! Today Kicks.se launched their webshop. Huge selection of brands to choose from including M.A.C. and Make Up Store.

Free shipping after 600 SEK.

Kicks is now Sweden's first authorized M.A.C. etailer.

Happy shopping! ;)

Comparison 1: Essie and Quirius

2010-08-22T01:56:00.000-07:00

This comparison was actually requested by two different people and I also though about doing it myself even before it was requested. The two polishes I am about to compare are not dupes by any means, but they share some similarities that makes them interesting to show off side by side.

So without further ado, comparison 1: Essie Demure Vixen and Quirius Breezy Rose!

First I will show you two bottle shots. Essie to the left and Quirius to the right:

Essie Demure Visen on top and Quirius Breezy Rose on the bottom:

Now.. the bottle photos do show the similarities I was talking about earlier. See the magenta flash? :)
The Quirius polish is clearly darker than the Essie one but they are still kind of similar. It is almost as if the Quirius one is the darker sister of the Essie one.

Demure Vixen left, Breezy Rose right:

Quirius left, Essie right:

So there you have it! :)

One thing I must add is that the Quirius polish was much less shiny in finish so I added top coat to both swatches to make them similarly shiny for the comparison. The Essie polish was super shiny by itself.

Swatches are made of two coats plus a generic top coat for shine.

<3

//Tina

Max Factor False Lash Effect Review

2010-08-14T07:24:00.000-07:00

Before I get going with this mascara review I want to point out two things:

1. Sorry to scare you with a closeup of my (other than mascara) naked eye.
2. If you like this mascara and can't handle criticism then stop reading. Now.

Ok. That's out of the way. Now I can continue with the actual review! Let's get going!

I had heard so much good about this mascara that I eventually caved in a got it. I actually got it in the purple tube, a limited edition version, but it is according to my reseach the same product as the one in the normal black tube. The bristles are short and there are a lot of them. The material of the bristles area plastic, not fiber.

Let's take a closer look at the wand itself:

I find the mascara itself to be very liquidly in it's consistency. Not so much as it's running out of the tube, but once applied on the lashes. It never. Freaking. Dries. That is why I give this mascara a huge thumbs down. Because there is nothing wrong with the wand, or the look of the mascare. It's the fact that it never dries! Or at least take a looooong time doing so.

Half of the time when I use it, I get mascara on the upper lid, on the lower lid or any combination of the two. I've had it for two weeks now and it IS getting better! So I'm guessing that it will be just fine after 4-6 weeks. But I for one am not going to struggle with it for that long before it gets usable.

Now.. here comes the closeup of my eye. Only wearing the mascara. See the nice sexy smudging on the upper lid?

I swear I did not do that on purpose! I was very careful when applying it (as always) and it STILL smudged on me. Plus, the lower lashes are hell to apply. This is one area where the fat brush sucks..

So. Would I buy this again? No. Would I recommend it to anyone? No. Do I understand why so many people love this mascara? No.

Quirius - Rose Breeze

2010-08-10T09:56:00.000-07:00

Another of the polishes I got from Nicole. It might not look like anything special in the bottle, but this gem has more than meets the eyes. And I think I have captured that in a few of the photos I'm about to show y'all. But first, speaking of bottle, let's start there. :)

All images are as per usual clickable!

Already on this first photo I think you see what I'm talking about.. the base colour itself is a mauvy rosey nude. Very pretty indeed! BUT! Look where the light hits the bottle. Do you see that flash of magenta? ;)

That extra flash of magenta is exactly what makes this polish not "just" another safe mauvy nude. Next pic is also a bottle shot but you can see the nails here too.. Two medium thick coats and it looks pretty much as it does in the bottle. :)

I have a full manicure here, which means my usual shebang with base and top coats. :)

I did add a few drops of thinner to the bottle as the consistency of the polish seemed a bit on the thick side for my personal taste. After I had done that it applied like a dream! No problems what so ever!

The magenta flash is sooooo nice!

The combined colour (base and "flash" combined) reminds me somewhat of blueberry ice cream or blueberry yoghurt! Well, it's not exactly the same colour but it's in that family.

The photos were taken on the day off application, I am now on day three and the nails still look great! No chipping! :D

<3

//Tina

ChinaGlaze Tree Hugger

2010-08-04T11:19:00.000-07:00

Another blog-sale-haul-polish! I've seen this on swatches of course so I kind of knew what it would be like on the nails, but it still blew me off my feet! It looked so much better on me than I thought it would!

Presenting: ChinaGlaze Tree Hugger (or should I say Tomato Hugger hehehe).. shimmering green goodness. :)

All images taken in daylight. Click for a bigger version!

This is like no other polish I own! My official stance is that I don't like greens. I really don't know why I keep saying that because this is freaking awesome! LOL!

Shimmery. I have a full manicure on all images. This means base coats (yes I use two..) and top coat. The polish itself is two coats; one thinnish coat and one thick coat.

Gorgeous green. Bottle shot:

Such a fun colour!

Now I want to eat apples! And smell my not-yet-ripe tomatoes. :)

<3

//Tina

Nina Ultra Pro - Viva la velvet + 100th post!

2010-08-03T09:43:00.000-07:00

This is the 100th post on this blog! Can you believe it?? *gasp*
I said on Twitter the other day that my 100th post would be a giveaway. Well.. it's obviously not. it's "yet another nail polish swatch post". ;) BUT the giveaway is coming soon! There will be one. Just not today. The giveaway will be because of the 100 post milestone. Keep an eye out for that.. and now to the swatches!

This bottle is one of many extras that Magic Maid was kind enough to send me along with the items I bought in her recent blog sale. Thank you again Nicole! You are so sweet! <3

The brand is new to me; Nina Ultra Pro. I'm sure it's one of those US brands because I didn't even recognize the name! It is one heck of a lovely polish though! The name is Viva la velvet and I think it is quite appropriate! :)

First off, let's study the bottle. The colour of the polish is red but with a clear pink undertone in my opinion. In the bottle you can see gold shimmers, but on the nails the shimmers don't really look gold, they look like the polish itself so to speak.

Click on the images to see a larger version! As usual: recommended. ;) Photographed in the sun!

Next up is a macro shot of the polish on the nails. Here you can see the shimmers. This image is highly recommended to view in the full size! Macro taken in the sun:

The polish itself applied like a dream. It was pretty much opaque after one coat. This is two coats though, including my normal manicure procedure. Photo taken in the sun:

You will probably notice a bit of tip wear but these photos were taken after a full day of use. This is pretty normal and it won't get much "worse" than this. I always get *some* tipwear because of work..

The next picture is taken in the shade. Gorgeousness..

I would call this polish a metallic shimmer. If there is such a thing. It is super pretty but perhaps not your typical summer colour.. I don't care about that though. ;) Next, and last, photo also a sun shot:

Thank you for watching, hope you enjoyed this gorgeousness. ;) Again.. stay tuned for the 100-post-giveaway!

<3

//Tina

The Frankenpolish by Alizarine Swatches!

2010-07-31T10:10:00.000-07:00

Yes. Here they are!

I will let the pictures speak for themselves I think. If you want to read my initial thoughts about the franken polish, then read this post. I will add though, that I see a clear silver sheen to it that I didn't notice that much on the tape swatches. It's not "silvery" .. you can clearly see that for yourself. But there is a hint of a hint of silver sheen.. to the surface. Sort of. I think this makes this colour very unique.

This is a full manicure using my normal base and top coat routine.

My initial thoughs have not changed now that I have applied it to my nails. The formula is splendid and very easy to work with even for a clumsy person like me. ;)

Images are as usual clickable for a bigger size! And that is as usual recommended.. ;)

Again, thank you SO MUCH for this bottle Alizarine. I love this colour and I don't know what I'll do when I run out if it! LOL!

<3

//Tina

Frankenpolish by Alizarine

2010-07-29T08:59:00.000-07:00

Alizarine and I were talking back and forth on Twitter a little while back and before I knew it she was going to franken a nail polish for me! I know I mentioned purple and possibly grey but I don't remember exactly what I said.. then the days went and I didn't think much about the whole thing.

Today there was a fat envelope stuck into the mail box on my door. :)
I immediately understood what it was.. and who it was from..

And yes. It was the franken!

All I can say is that this freaking polish is SPOT ON! It's so gorgeous!

Image spam follows below! All images are clickable for a bigger size. Recommended..!
No sun out now unfortunately and while my daylight lamp does give an accurate colour representation it still lacks that extra umpf that the sun gives glitter poilishes. But you'll get the idea!

Look at the bottle!

Gorgeous colour huh?? And check out the the label! She named it Steel & Purple! :D

Hahaha I LOVE it! :D

Now for the sad part. No nail swatches. Yet. I will - of course - do a full mani with this gem but not today. I will do it on Saturday and the blog post will most likely be up on Saturday as well.

So here are the swatches. Tape. For now. ;)

It applies like a dream, at least on the tape. ;) But even a tape swatch does generally give you an idea of the texture of the polish, how easy or hard it will be to work with. This one will be very easy to work with. It is a purple base colour and to my eyes it looks pretty neutral in it's undertones. Not red and not particularly blue either. This is tricky though.. because if I hold a blue polish next to it, the franken appears to have more of a red undertone. Then on the other hand.. if I hold a plum or a reddish purple next to it.. guess what? It appears more neutral. :P

It's a chameleon! :D

There are glitters in it. Mostly silver glitters from what I can see. But I think I can hint a slightly shimmery effect to it also! It's definitely not "just" a creme with glitters in it (not that that's something bad!). It does have something extra. A sexy discreet shimmery base to it, without being over the top. Plus the glitters as I said earlier.

This polish will be worn often, I can tell you that. It will most likely be one of my go to fall colours.

Thank you so much Alizarine! You are truly talented! Anyone can tell you know your stuff. I suspect that you have been tweaking and such also because you are a perfectionist.

I love you girl, you FREAKING ROCK! <3

p.s. Couldn't photograph the candy. I ate it. :D

Blog layout delirium

2010-07-27T11:53:00.000-07:00

I am currently dabbling around with the looks of this blog.

That's just how I am. Never satisfied.. ;)

So this look is not a final one, the blog will change appearance a lot over the next week or so.
I just wanted to let y'all know what's going on. ;)

I have a vision.. let's just see how long it takes for me to get there. And how much the blogger limitations prevents me from get there.

<3

//Tina

Sinful Colors - Let's Talk

2010-07-25T08:08:00.000-07:00

Once again I will go way out of my comfort zone. I've had this polish in my collection for a long time now (I got it from Nicole last year), but I haven't had the guts to use it to be honest LOL!
Today would be the day. Finally! It had become a bit goopy but I revived it with some thinner.

I bring you Sinful Colors - Let's Talk.

All images are clickable.

Vampy? Yes... very.

It is as you can see a strong vibrant purple with blue undertones. It's fantastic! I don't know why I keep dissing vampy colours, they are gorgeous! I need to wear them more often. I always get compliments when I do! And I am fortunate enough to be able to wear what I want on my nails at work. :)

Bottle love.

And the last two pictures:

So.. conclusion: Love it! After I revived it with thinner it applied lika a dream. On the thin side perhaps but that will take care of itself in time.. It was pretty much opaque after one coat, but this is two coats.

It's hard to capture the shinyness on photos but I hope you get the idea. :)

<3

//Tina

Adding labels plus recreation

2010-07-24T08:32:00.000-07:00

So, I'm currently adding these labels to my posts (well, the appropriate posts for them of course): makeup, nail polish, skin care. Blah. I can't BELEIVE I didn't do this when I made the posts?? The reason for this is the new nifty navigation bar up on the top of the site. It lets you see posts with only those specific labels. :) So, bare with me, it will take a while I'm afraid... :(

Meanwhile you can always look at my new YouTube video I uploaded today. It's a tutorial.

Full list of products:

FACE:
Max Factor Lasting Performace foundation in Natural Beige
e.l.f. blush/bronzer powder duo - the blush part
MAC MSF in By Candlelight

EYES:
MAC paint in Bare Canvas
MAC MSF in By Candlelight
Urban Decay matte eyeshadow in Naked
Bourjois eyeshadow in Marron Glace

LIPS
Mama Coco's real vanilla lip balm
Smashbox gloss i Candid

<3

//Tina

Essie Demure Vixen

2010-07-14T11:45:00.000-07:00

The mail man woke me up this morning with a package. I opened the door (looking a hot mess) and got the package. I knew what it contained of course but still... it contained two nail polishes and one facial moisturizer (which I'll blog about separately later on).

One of the bottles of polish set me in a state I've never experienced before. It was probably "one of those moments". Y'all know what I'm talking about. You see something so utterly beautiful and perfect in every way that you almost cry. Yes. I almost cried when I first held the nail polish bottle in my hand.

I'm talking about Essie Demure Vixen. *Sigh*...

Look at the bottle with the sun hitting it.. you can clearly see the duochrome'ish effect here. The dusky mauvy beige-pink base and the fushia/magenta shimmer. All images are clickable for a bigger size!

This is seriously the most beautiful nail polish I have ever seen.

This is one classy shade. I'm out of words now, can't describe how I feel inside when I see this. It TOTALLY blew me off the ground. I got the polish out of the description online but I could never imagine that it would be this gorgeous!

I'm sorry for the non-cleaned-up cuticles. I can't pull myself together to do it. That would mean removing some of the colour.. I could see myself painting this all over my hands actually! If it was physically possible! *dies*

Here's a crappy attempt at a macro shot:

I realied just now that I didn't even mention the other polish I got! Well, it is Essie Mink Muffs. Also super nice, that was the "main reason" for my order. But the dear poor Mink Muffs bottle ended up in my stash quite quickly. While Demure Vixen ended up on the kitchen table together with my manucure stuff. I fondled around with the bottle for some time before removing the polish I had on. Then I slowly, lovingly, gently, pained my nails.

I will end this post now. It was emotionally straining. I love you Demure Vixen. Love you so much.

<3

//Tina

The Super Trio - Making a mani last

2010-07-12T11:34:00.000-07:00

I have always had problems with getting my manicures to last. My nail polish chips on day two at the latest, normally. Regardless of what base coats or top coats I have been using..

Well. I found a super combination last week that I just have to share with you!

Here is a photo of the Holy Trinity:

So, I have tried the base coats one by one and I still got chipping on day one or day two. I have tried the Diamond Strength as a top coat and as a base coat. Same thing; chipping. I have tried Seche Vite top coat. Same thing; chipping. I have used the NailTek alone as a base coat. Same thing; chipping. And so on..

Now here is when the magic begins. You combine the NailTek AND the Sally Hansen as base coats, following these easy steps:

Step 1: Apply one coat of NailTek Foundation III
Step 2: Apply one coat of Sally Hansen Diamond Strength
Step 3: Apply your nail polish of choice. I normally do two coats.
Step 4: Apply one coat of Poshe top coat

So, if you - like me - have problems with chipping on day one or day two, this might be something you could try out!

My last manicure (see this post) lasted for FIVE WHOLE DAYS before I took it off. And I didn't take it off because of chipping, I simply wanted to change the colour! So, there was no chipping even on day five in the evening! My current mani is on day three and it is still looking as it did when it was newly applied.

This is truly amazing! I keep looking at my nails and can hardly believe what I see!

Btw, what's up with my Poshe turning milky white? Still works as normal but it looks odd..

<3

//Tina

Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer SPF20 - Application with coverage!

2010-07-11T11:26:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! So I made a video where I show you how I apply my Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer.

It is almost like a foundation; a light weight one! Great coverage concidering it's a tinted moisturizer.

I find that the way I apply it I get the most out of the coverage possible, without caking on an actual foundation! Watch the video if you are interested in my method!

Products mentioned/used:

The e.l.f. angled foundation brush
Laura Mercier hydrating primer
Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer SPF20 in Porcelain
MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Light/Medium

Questions? Just pop'em below!

<3

//Tina

Updated Skin Care

2010-07-09T10:21:00.000-07:00

So.. I have updated my skin care routine. Or rather.. expanded it. ;)
I have finally incorporated some much needed acne treatments into it. Because - yes - I have finally realized that I not only have dry skin, but I have dry skin that is acne prone. And sensitive.

Go figure.. =/

I made a video about this that I just uploaded. The products mentioned in the video are:
Mario Badescu Drying Lotion
Mario Badescu Drying Mask
Mario Badescu Buffering Lotion
Mario Badescu Aloe Vera Toner

I did buy more Mario Badescu than those above but I will cover them in separate videos and blog posts later on, as I haven't really used them enough yet.

The "video thumbnail" that you see below (that YouTube generated) was so funny and disgusting at the same time that I have decided to keep it! :D

Enjoy!

Order MAC online in Sweden.. / Beställ MAC på nätet i Sverige.. :)

2010-07-06T09:27:00.000-07:00

Hi guys! Boy do I have some exciting news! But before I get into that I will have to explain the bilingual title of the blog post. I will write this post in Swedish below so the whole post will be bilingual. I think I will start doing this with some of my posts from now on. Maybe not pure swatch posts but reviews and news. :)

On to the news then!

As many of you may know Sweden is a developing country when it comes to makeup, at least in many ways.. Many brands are simply not even sold here while others (such as MAC) IS sold here on a few locations, but the option of buying MAC online does not exist for us.

Well. This is about to change! In a big way!

On August 25 2010, the Swedish department store Kicks will launch their e-shop. Which is awesome! What's more awesome is that they will sell MAC Cosmetics on their e-shop! Kicks will with this become the first authorized etailer in Sweden to sell MAC Cosmetics!
The shipping cost will be 49 SEK. You will also be able to order from the webshop and pick up the items at your local Kicks store. Shipping will then be free. :)

I can't even begin to explain how excited I am about this!

What's more.. Denmark is going the same route! Magasin in Denmark will start selling MAC on their online shop in September!

Source: http://purity.webblogg.se/2010/june/pressfrukost-hos-kicks.html

And now in Swedish!

Sverige är sminkets u-land känns det som ibland. Många märken säljs inte alls här medan andra säljs på några få ställen (MAC t ex) men inte går att beställa online.

Nå. Detta är på väg att förändras!

Den 25 augusti 2010 kommer Kicks att öppna sin e-butik! Det i sig är ju bra men det stannar inte där.. nej.. de kommer nämligen att sälja bl a MAC via sin e-butik! Yep! Kicks blir därmed den första auktoriserade e-shopen i Sverige att sälja MAC Cosmetics!
Frakten kommer att ligga på 49 SEK. Alternativt kan du beställa i webbshopen och hämta ut varorna i din lokala Kicks butik. Frakten blir då gratis! :)

Jag är så glad och exalterad över detta så jag vet knappt vilket ben jag ska stå på!

Även Danmark kommer ut ur dimman efter sommaren faktiskt! Magasin ska börja sälja MAC via sin e-shop i september!

Källa: http://purity.webblogg.se/2010/june/pressfrukost-hos-kicks.html

<3

//Bilingual regards, Tina :)

OPI - Suzi Says Feng Shui

2010-07-05T14:51:00.000-07:00

I have had this nail polish since March. I should have swatched it at the same time as this nail polish.. but I didn't. Reason? The polish was goopy and a bitch to apply (my thoughts at the time were that I had managed to get a fake OPI polish..), so I simply didn't bother with it anymore.. I put it way back in my stash and kind of forgot about it.

Well.. today I pulled it out and decided to try and save it with some thinner. A few drops did the trick! So, here is my belated swatch fest of OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui! A gorgeous blue creme with - in my eyes - green undertones.

Click on the images to see full size!

The first two images were taken outside, the sun was just going down!

The rest were taken by the kitchen table. :)

The bottle.

Heheh.. I just had to! Of course the colours got screwed up here (especially the ones in the picture on the phone) but I thought it would be a nifty shot. ;)

So, sorry for not saving my polish and posting these earlier! I love the colour so I really wish I had done this before!

<3

//Tina

Hourglass Veil Fluid Make Up Swatches

2010-07-03T06:45:00.000-07:00

So, I got my Hourglass Veil Fluid Make Up samples that I talked about in this post. I have tried them out, each sample was enough for roughly two applications.

The samples are of the colours #0, #1 and #1.5. Below is the photo of the swatches. I encourage you to click it so you can view it in full size.

For reference I have fair neutral skin. In MAC lingo I am a NW15. NW15 is not perfect for me but it is the closest match. I do look best in foundation that either are truly neutral or neutral with a pink (or even peachy) undertone. Yellow just looks wrong on me, makes me look ill.

Conclusion:
The texture of this foundation is quite lovely. Smooth, easy to blend. It is long wearing in my brief experience, held up well throughout the days I tested it. Amazingly well so! Looks flawless on skin once blended out. Buildable. Enough coverage for me.

But.

Because there has to be a "but". The colour matching.. I am having a hard time accepting this. I LOVE this foundation but none of these three lightest colours match my skin. #1 is the best match of the bunch. It is too dark and too warm though. #0 is too yellow. #1.5 is simply too dark.

It costs $60, so I want a more or less perfect match for that price. Not "almost". If this had been drugstore I would not have hesitated one bit, I'd make it work. For $60 I'll have to pass though. Sadly enough. :(

<3

//Tina

CherryCulture discount

2010-07-02T10:34:00.000-07:00

Good grief it's hot outside right now! Summer finally hit us, and hit us HARD! :D

Here's some more discount tips for y'all. CherryCulture is having a 10% off all orders over $50.

Enjoy!

Oh and let me know if you get anything, I love reading about people's hauls. :)

<3

//Tina

The Sleek Storm Palette

2010-07-01T09:28:00.000-07:00

I treated myself to a Sleek Storm Palette. Finally! It gets sold out from time to time, so I was very pleased to find that Sleek Makeup had them back in stock!

It's a steal, only €8.50. Twelve highly pigmented colours, a superb mix of neutrals and darker blues, bluegreens and a black, shimmers and mattes.

This will most likely be my go-to palette for the rest of the summer.

The applicator included is actually pretty darn good! I think it's because of the long handle. You get a good grip when you hold it and I use it when I want to create a smudged out eyeliner effect using one of the colours.

These swatches are taken outside but in the shade, same order as palette:

These are the swatches of the colours in sunlight. Same order as in palette:

I am having problems capturing the darker colours in these swatch photos. If you look at the palette pictures in the beginning of the post you get the colours most true to real life. :)

Here's the look I pulled together today. Darker than i usually wear this time of year but I simply love the dark colour I used here. It's the third from the left in the bottom row! I think that is my fav colour in the whole palette. :p
I also used the first and the fifth colours in the upper row. :)

I bought TWO palettes, I will keep the other one for my upcoming giveaway. Stay tuned for that!

Do you have this palette? What do you think of it?

<3

//Tina

HQHair and ASOS discounts!

2010-06-30T03:40:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd share some discounts I got in the mail today. :)

First out is HQHhair! 15% off everything right now!

ASOS is also having discounts. You get €10 off your next order it seems. :) I think this only is valid for fashion though, but I'm not sure..

Happy shopping! ;)

//Tina

Hourglass Cosmetics? Outside of Sephora?

2010-06-29T10:50:00.000-07:00

Hourglass Cosmetics has become quite a buzz on YouTube lately. In my case it was ginabinawina99 who made me curious about this brand.

Now.. I don't know why I got this impression, but I thought that Hourglass only was sold at Sephora. This - of course - made a bit depressed (lol) since Sephora is nothing but a distant dream for us Swedes. :p

Anyway, I decided to check out the Hourglass website anyway the other day, just to see what goodies I was missing out on. :) I knew about the supposedly fantastic concealer, I also knew about the supposedly fantastic foundation. What else did they make? So, after surfing around on the site for a while I clicked on "Store locator" and studied the list of online stores presented (on which Sephora is one of them). It suddenly struck me that I was looking at a list of websites that sells Hourglass. Maybe there is a site that ships to Sweden?

Yes. It turns out there is! Zuneta ships internationally. I think Zuneta is based in the UK so there won't be any additional customs fees when you order (if you're inside of the EU).

I browsed to the Hourglass foundation page to see what shades they have available. I'm thinking that any of the three lightest shades possibly would work on me. The problem is that it is an expensive foundation and I don't want to risk buying the wrong shade. At this point in my thoughts I noticed a text/link on the page; Not sure which shade will suit you? Email us and we'll send you some samples. Trust me, I think my heart skipped a beat! I emailed and asked if they sent samples internationally (one never knows!), I also explained my dilemma regarding the three lightest shades. I got a reply the day after stating that the samples are on the way in the mail!

o_O

So, guys! This is AMAZING news! I do have samples on the way to me and as soon as I get them I will post swatches of them side by side so you can compare!

I'll keep you updated regarding this. Once I have found my shade I will order the foundation and also the concealer. :)

<3

//Tina

My brush cleansing routine and brush overview

2010-06-27T10:00:00.000-07:00

I'm one of those people who only buy the brushes I actually need and would use on a daily basis. So, I don't have a lot of them. In fact, I have a total of 11 brushes! And yes, I use most of them every time I apply makeup.

Granted.. there are a few brushes that I already have that I probably will buy backups of. The blending brush for example.

I deep clean my brushes every weekend and spot clean them after every use. In the photos below I have just cleaned them, so they are still wet.

Left is my MAC 116 brush. I use this for blush and for higlight. I've also successfully used it for liquid foundation! Right is the MAC 187 stippling brush. I use this sometimes for blush and sometimes for liquid foundation:

Left is an eye kabuki brush from Everyday Minerals. I only use this to apply concealer. I stipple it on and then gently blend it out with my fingers. The right one is the e.l.f. flat top powder brush. This one is a true multitasker. I use it for liquid foundation, powder foundation, setting powder. Love it. The handle is loose, that's the only downside of it. Still haven't got around to glue it in place. :P

Then we have the e.l.f. angled foundation brush. I use this to lay down liquid foundation, I don't blend with this since I don't find it is so great for that. It's bit stiff. The right one is my Japonesque large fluffy eyeshadow brush. I use this for all over colour mostly and some blending.

Next up, some more eye brushes.
Left my Smashbox #15 crease/smudge brush. And that's pretty much what I use it for. The middle one is a thin, small liner brush. It kind of sucks to be honest. Need to invest in a new one. It's still pretty good to smudge out eyeliner with though.. The right one is an eyeshadow brush from Everyday Minerals. I use this to pack on colour on the lid, I also use it for cream products.

The last one is my MAC 224 blending brush. Love it.. awesome blending brush.

If you counted these you will notice that there are only 10 brushes. I forgot to photograph my 11th one. But it's a small brush that I use to pack on eyeshadow on the lid. It is optimized for mineral makeup but I use it for all sorts of eyeshadows (not cream ones though). It is a Japonesque brush.

For everyday spot cleaning I use the MAC Brush cleanser. I have "depotted" mine as you can see on the image below. I've poored some over into a spray bottle since I find it so much easier to use. I simply spray the brush and wipe it of on some clean paper.

For my weekly deep clean I actually use the Lush shampoo I currently use. For the moment it is the "New schampoo bar". I also use conditioner on the brushes that are made of real hair. Lush Veganese at the moment.

I find that the Lush schampoo bars are doing a great job, the white parts of the stippling brush for example; they get WHITE after cleaning them with this. Awesome. <3

That concludes my brush overview and cleansing routine! Hope you enjoyed!

Edit: Hah, I suck. i totally forgot that I also have a kabuki brush. I use it a few time per week, so it's not that it's hidden away somewhere.. I think it was from Ocean Mist Cosmetics. It's really soft and nice. I use it to buff in my MAC MSF Natual sometimes.

<3

//Tina

Viva la Diva swatches!

2010-06-26T09:31:00.000-07:00

Sun is shining today so I thought I'd swatch the Viva la Diva polishes for you!

They are all very pretty but I do have a favourite.. more about that below. :)

All swatches are two coats, one thinner and one thicker. No base or top coat.

First out is number 77! I described this in my haul post as a mauvy berry lavendar.

Granted, they are all sheer, but this was a bit more sheer than I expected. I would use three coats of this.. but it's still pretty!

Next up is the one I love the most. The purple one. :) Number 61. It's not plain purple, the glitters are blue and red too. Gorgeous!

As you can see, this is also on the sheer side. Three coats will do the trick. But I simply love how this sparkles in the sun!

The two polishes above can of course be layered over other colours! I would also suspect that a white base under these two truly will make them pop!

The last one is the worksafe of the bunch. A pearlescent pink with a slight peach undertone. Very very pretty. Very very safe. Number 45.

I think that the perfect balance between pink and peach will make this colour look great on just about any skin tone!

That concludes today's swatch fest! Hope you all enjoyed! I think I have found a great spot for my photography! As long as it's sunshine.. ;)

<3

//Tina

Haul'd and update

2010-06-25T12:57:00.000-07:00

I have been making more YouTube videos than blog posts lately, which is completely out of order for being me. The normal standard of things is - of course - the other way around. :)

I am bored with the layout of the blog, I am also frustrated of the the lack of control I have on Blogspot. There is a possibility that I will move back to my domain (drebel.net) and start using Wordpress again.. I haven't decided yet, but it is possible. Just a heads up.. ;)

ANYWAY! I haul'd a tiny bit the other day and I thought I'd share the goodies with y'all! The sun was shining so I snapped a few nice photos of the things I bought!

First I picked up the Maybelline Dream Creamy Foundation since I wanted to try it out. I read the review over at Musings of a Muse and decided to buy and try it as soon as possible. Here is my video review of it if you're interested:

Here is how it looked in the pan before I used it:

Whilst in the Maybelline area of the department store I strolled over to the lipsticks. And found one that I really liked. Number 125; Shimmer Pink. And that's just what it is. A shimmery pink. :) I love when names and colours match. ;)

And this is what it looks like on me:

No haul without nail polishes, eh? :D

I have been drooling over the Viva la Diva polishes a long time. Don't know why I haven't picked any up (until now) but oh well. I did pick up three at last! All of them are shimmery and/or glittery. All of them are stunning..!

First out is number 77. I would call this a mauvy berry lavendar. Yes.. I'm not the best at describing colours, I do admit that. Here is what the bottle looks like in sunlight:

The second one is purple. Sparkly purple. I see red and blue and purple glitters in it. Number 61:

The third and last one is pink. Slightly peachy but pink. More of a shimmer than the other two, in my opinion. The number is 45.

I will swatch these for you as soon as the weather permits! Hopefully within the next few days!

That concludes the haul!

Upcoming events; I will be holding a giveaway soon. I have not decided if it will be a Youtube one or a blog one. I have ordered some prices for you that are on their way to me. Don't worry; I will be tweeting, blogging and Youtubing about the giveaway when I launch it, you won't be able to miss it. ;)
It will be an international giveaway, so the only "rule" will be that you follow me on the blog or subscribe on Youtube (whichever I decide to do).

ANYWAY (again lol)!

Until next time! Have a fab weekend y'all! <3

//Tina

Depend no. 72 - oranges and apples

2010-06-12T06:11:00.000-07:00

Ok so I've gone way out of my comfort zone here. Hope you all appreciate that. ;)
Orange. Very orange.

Presenting Depend in no. 72!

All images are as per usual clickable! :)

This first picture is taken in the now famous "alizarine angle". :)

See what I mean by comfort zone? I'm all about neutrals and the odd purple of course. But neon orange? Heheh... I'll let you in on a secret. I LOVE it! :0

Bright bright!

Yes, I am still struggling with my nails, I'm having problems getting them strong enough to grow longer than this.. they go off in layers at the tips.
They are much better now though, so I do have hopes!

Finishing off this post with a totally random apple photo. Took it the other day after having sliced my apple in half. I realized that I had sliced the stem too! Yes, my knife is very very sharp. :)

Nom nom nom. Apples and oranges. Summer.

Lush New Schampoo Bar

2010-05-23T07:36:00.000-07:00

I have been trying a new Lush schampoo for the past week or so. Well.. not "new" as in new product but "new" as in new to me.. the name of it also happens to be New. ;)

Capice?

Anyway, this red gem is a real kicker! It smells STRONGLY of cinnamon. I can also pick up some peppermint. It really wakes me up in the morning! Yes, I wash my hair every morning.. that is because I use a lot of styling products..

This image shows how my bar looks after rougly one week of thorough use:

Ok, let's get down to the dirty stuff. How good is it?

It's awesome!

It lathers real good and it does indeed clean my hair from all styling products! I only need to rub the schampoo bar with a few strokes over my damp hair, and then simply work up a lather and massage that in. I massage the scalp too. Then.. rinse as normal. It does leave your hair with a cinnamony scent so you must like that scent.. or you will hate this schampoo.. ;)

No. It does not dry out the scalp! I'm dry skinned and dry haired (hence also dry scalped) but my scalp feels great, no itching and so on that you can feel if it's too dry.

So, if you're into spicey scents I definitely recommend Lush New schampoo bar!

<3

My Skin Care Routine Spring 2010

2010-05-16T09:33:00.000-07:00

I recorded a video today where I show my current skin care routine. I thought it would be informative enough to post here on the blog also.

I am very happy with this routine. It works great for my dry skin.

My routine is as follows, in the order mentioned:

Morning routine:

First hot then cold water
Lush Eau Roma Water
Lush Full of Grace serum
Clarins Super Restorative Total Eye Concentrate
Lush Ultralight moisturizer

Evening routine:

Lush Ultra Bland makeup remover/face cleanser
St. Ives Timeless Skin Daily Microdermabrasion (every other day)
Lush Eau Roma Water (on days when I don't use the St Ives)
Lush Full of Grace serum
Clarins Super Restorative Total Eye Concentrate
Clarins Super Restorative Night Wear

Here is the video:

If you have any questions just ask! I'll do my best to answer them. :)

<3

e.l.f. Haul - Cream shadows plus some.. ;)

2010-05-04T10:24:00.000-07:00

Wohooo, time for another e.l.f haul! This time I concentrated on the cream eyeshadows, plus the blush/bronzer and a few nail polishes.

Perfect items for spring and summer in other words!

I did get a backup of the mineral infused face primer, but since I already showed that once... yeah. It's a backup because I don't want to run out of it!

On to the good stuff eh? :-D

Images are clickable for full size as usual!

First out: Swatches!

Yes. You can clearly see the theme here. Neutrals, neutrals, neutrals. I am a huge fan of neutral colours so I kind of went all in here.. ;) The cream shadows are gorgeous, easy to apply and they don't feel too slippery if you know what I mean. Used over a primer I am sure they will last good!

The shadows themselves:

They are placed in the same order as on the arm above.. apart from one boo-boo. The middle palette, the pink/gold one, is switched as you can see. The pink should be to the left.. but I think it is obvious if you compare to the swatch. ;)

Love the sleek packaging! The lid screws off easily but can be screwed on tight and snug, I don't think these will dry out in the near future.. :)

Next up is the blush/bronzer duo! This thing is HUGE! I was really surprised!

These are pigmented, but not too pigmented if that makes sense. If you are fair like me then you should definitely use a light hand though, especially with the bronzer. I will probably use my stippling brush. The blush is a classic pink-coral blush with some shimmer. The shimmer is very subtle and not in your face. No pun intended.. ;) Gorgeous colour, perfect for my complexion.

Lastly the nail polishes:

Wow. I love these two colours. They are spring and summer in a bottle if you ask me. My next mani will be with one of these. I will keep you updated.. there will be a blog post about that. ;)

All in all I am just as impressed as I was the last time (which was my first e.l.f. haul). I am especially happy over the cream shadows. I don't really have any cream shadows in my collection anymore, so these were very welcome. I will use them on their own and possibly also as colour bases.

I will keep you all posted regarding my experiments with these products! I am sure there will be the odd look or five posted on the blog the next few weeks.. ;)

Ta-daah!
<3

Been a while! Sites, nails, skin..

2010-05-02T05:37:00.000-07:00

Oops.. or something! ;)
I feel as if I really have neglected the blog lately.. sorry about that.

This post is just a recap of some things that have been going on, and to let you know that I'm still alive. ;)

The main issue right now is totally not makeup related.. or.. well indirectly it kind of is. The thing is; my Youtube account and my Blogger account are two different accounts, they are not linked. Unfortunately. It is bugging me a bit, things would be so much easier if they were linked. I am signed in on one account to manage my Youtube channel and then I have to log in to a different one to manage my blog and the blogs I follow.. Bah! The reason for this is that when I started this blog (or rather this version of the blog) I used a blogger account that I already had, rather than starting a new one. Stupid mistake.. *headdesk*

The second issue going on right now is the OPI/Transdesign controversy. This is something that you might have heard about. The main problem is this; Transdesign have been selling OPI nail polishes at their webshop without OPI's permission. The other thing Transdesign have been doing is that they have been shipping the polishes in flat rate boxes with USPS, internationally. That is a no-go now! They have to ship with UPS which means an additional $40 in shipping costs for us international buyers! Wha...
Google on OPI and Transdesign and you will find a heap of information regarding this whole kaboodle..
I am personally quite pissed off at OPI for this, but I am also more or less forced to quit buying at all from Transdesign because of the new shipping cost.. :(

The third issue at the moment is a pleasant surprise! In my drugstore.com haul (where I among other things got the Neutrogena foundation) I also hauled the St Ives Timeless Skin Daily Microdermabrasion. I had seen some good reviews of it and it was dirt cheap. Well, I've been using this DAILY since I got it a few weeks ago.. and.. I do see a difference in my skin! Definitely! Smoother, pores less visible, glowing, healthy looking! It amazes me that I - with my dry, slightly sensitive skin - can use a product like this DAILY!

Ok this concludes the rant of the day. ;) I promise to update the blog more often.. Oh, do check out my Youtube channel, I have some new videos up that might be of interest! :)

Ta-dah!
<3

Neutrogena Healthy Skin Liquid Makeup SPF20

2010-04-18T03:38:00.000-07:00

I finally got the Neutrogena foundation that everyone is raving about on Youtube! I am sooo happy! I have a video review up that I made yesterday. I am a bit all over the place in the video, sorry about that.

I also forgot to mention that it has a SPF of 20 in it. But that kind of shows in the product name, so oh well. ;)

Here is a closeup of my skin while wearing the foundation. I have dry sensitive skin with some enlarged pores. I am *very* happy with this foundation! Works great on my skin, does not settle in fine lines, does not emphasize the pores. Long lasting. Makes me almost flawless. ;)

The colour I am using is number 20, Natural Ivory.

I have found my holy grail foundation. Thank you Neutrogena!

Image is clickable for a bigger size:

Have you tried it? What are your thoughts?

List of lemmings..

2010-04-12T12:30:00.000-07:00

So, I decided to create a list, spreadsheet, of items I'm currently wanting and planning to get. I thought it would be a fun thing to share, so you can see what things I currently want. After an item has been purchased, I will update the spreadsheet accordingly. Then it is very possible that a swatchpost/review will follow!

You will be able to keep track of my ongoings!

Link to the spreadsheet: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0At9Ib25mlC2vdEEwRGNxUDMyd3djRU1kR2t1bHZSTnc&hl=en

Let me know if there are any technical difficulties with the file, if it's not viewable or so.. it should work though since it's on Googlel Docs.

A link to the list is - apart from in this post - currently in the sidebar to the right. I will probably make it permanent by putting it in the main navigation bar up on the top. We'll see how I do.. ;)

Please note that the file is almost empty at the moment, I basically just created it. Will start filling it out more in the next few days. :)

<3

Fav MAC eyeshadows early spring

2010-04-11T06:29:00.000-07:00

Spring, allergies, runny eyes. :) I tend to do much less eyeliner in the spring and summer. This is mainly because my eyes get runny easily, due to pollen allergies and harsh sun light. So what eyeshadows do I currently love? This post is about my current top favourite MAC eyeshadows. Non-MAC will follow in a separate post!

These are in no particular order, I love them equally, but of course for different reasons. Since they are.. different. ;)

Images are - as per usual - clickable.

I don't really use all of these together though. I tend to pair Honey Lust with either Tempting or something more matte. Honey Lust and Tempting are both lustres, so it might get a bit overboard if you're not careful. Honey Lust is a gorgeous lid colour when applied lightly.

Satin Taupe is my HG crease colour. I reach for that one almost daily. It looks much warmer in the sun photo than it does in real life. Satin Taupe is a cool toned purply brown shade with shimmer.

Naked Lunch is the perfect sheer pinkie champagne shimmer colour. Love love love it. I normally use this sheer as an over all colour.

Overcast:

Direct sun:

Neutrals anyone? Yeah, I do love my neutrals. Even in the winter! But especially in the spring and the summer.

By the way; sorry for the lack of posts on the blog and videos on my Youtube channel. The spring allergies is making me very low on energy. ;)

What are your current favourite eyeshadows? MAC or non-MAC? I'd love to know! Do share!

Magic Maid reached 400+ followers - holding a Giveaway!

2010-04-04T12:05:00.000-07:00

The lovely Magic Maid has reached quite a landmark; 400+ followers on her blog. I wish to congratulate her to this! It is quite an achievement!

To celebrate this she is holding a huge giveaway with some awesome prices!

Make sure to pay her a visit and read up on how YOU can enter the giveaway!

http://www.magic-maid.net/2010/04/400-follower-giveaway.html

<3

e.l.f. Haul

2010-04-03T08:29:00.000-07:00

As some of you might know already I did order some stuff from e.l.f's studio line. I've had the stuff for a few weeks now but I wanted to give them a real good go before I posted about them here.

I got the following:

Eyeshadow Mystic Moss
Eyeshadow Raspberry Truffle
Eyeshadow Amethyst
Eyeshadow Butter Cream
Mineral Infused Face Primer
HD Powder
Powder Brush
Foundation Brush

I will post about the brushes and the powder in a separate post later on..

Regarding the primer; I have made a video review of it, to cut it short and simple: I love it!

Bottle love:

Video review:

On to the eyeshadows.. :)

First of all I'd like to apologize for their appearance.. the containers are wee bit dusty after heavy usage. :)

Also, I had a bit of an accident with one of them. Totally my own fault.. but disturbing anyway.. good thing is that the compacts are tight and snug, no shadow particles are leaking from the compact. So I can still use the busted shadow. :)

First out; Mystic Moss. It is a pretty dark mossy green. The name is pretty much self explanatory. ;) I'm not normally a big fan of greens, but this one is muted enough to work really well on me. I like it a lot!

Next up is Butter Cream. A pale yellow cream colour. Not dead on pigmented, which makes it a perfect all over lid colour. I've used it pretty much daily since I got it. It is now a staple base colour for me.

Then we have Amethyst. Purple. With a reddish undertone. I had big problems capturing this one on photo. I just won't get the correct colour to show off! Perhaps it's the blue table that is confusing things.. I like the colour a lot, it's pretty dark though. Comes off much darker on the skin than it looks in the pan. This is not a negative for me though, Love using it for the outer v. :)

Finally the messy one.. hehe. Looove the colour! It's called Raspberry Truffle and it is a brownish colour with a hint of red. Unique to my collection. That is why I am keeping it. Might order a new one and try not to drop it on a stone floor.. ;)

Lastly, some swatches! I took these outside in the sun so you really can see what they look like with strong sunlight!

All images are clickable.

I am very impressed with elf's Studio Line. Prices are awesome and quality too! Not a very common combination.. I will be trying out more of their stuff. I am officially hooked! lol!

What are your thoughts? Have you tried any elf stuff yet?

<3

Current Lemmings April 2010

2010-04-02T11:12:00.000-07:00

My original plan was to upload a tutorial video today, I recorded one but it came out yellowish and I also ranted a lot, so I was kind of all over the place.. so it went to the recycle bin. :p

Sooo I thought I'd do a "current lemmings" post instead! These are items that I am wanting at the moment!

CLEAN Wellness Purity EdP is not new but I have sniffed it in real life and I loooove it! Might be a bit heavy for those fragile spring days, but it will surely be perfect for a night out:

Juicy Couture EdP is also a fragrance I'm wanting.. it smells divine! I do need this one LOL! Gorgeous bottle:

I need something new to hilight my cheekbones with for the spring season. The Smashbox Fusion Soft Lights in Intermix has caught my attention.. I might just pick this one up. I think I'll pay my local Smashbox counter a visit:

Foundation might be a bit heavy now for the spring.. I'm thinking of something with a bit less coverage! Perhaps the Nouba Foundation Hydrostress could be something to try out? It is supposed to have medium coverage and it is also supposed to be moisturizing:

These were the items I could think of right now that I have been eyeing! Do share your lemmings list! I'd love to see what you want for spring!

<3

MAC See Sheer lipstick

2010-03-27T14:21:00.000-07:00

I picked up a new lipstick today when I was shopping clothes for spring. I always seem to pick up some makeup related item when I'm not supposed to..

Anyway.. I felt that I needed something new for the upcoming spring and "coral" came to mind. I tried a few different ones but the one I fell for the most was See Sheer by MAC.

It is a lustre and it is therefore quite sheer. Or so it is said.. it's very pigmented in my book! It's not a bad thing.. but surprising!

I've never worn coral lipsticks before but I felt that this one did perk me up! A nice change for all the pinks and mauvy neutrals. ;)

I have applied this without any lipliner or such, as you probably can tell. :p
To be honest: I don't own any lipliners! Maybe I should start investing in a few.. ;)

Finally, the hand swatch:

Sorry about the lighting in these photos, it was dark out when I took them so I could not provide any sun (or even overcast) shots. ;)

Loving the color though! Will be wearing this a lot for spring!

<3

Sephora by OPI: Metro Chic

2010-03-24T11:40:00.000-07:00

I had seen this nail polish mentioned on numerous occations on Youtube and everytime someone said that it was their fav color it made me even more sad.. this nail polish is only sold at Sephora - which we don't have access to here in Sweden. (Yes I know there are sites which enables you to order stuff from places like Sephora - even from Sweden - but the shipping cost is steep to say the least..)

I am talking about Sephora by OPI and the color is Metro Chic.

So what is a girl to do? Well.. eBay! So I searched and I found! It is now in my possesion!

I was really surprised when I saw it in person. The color is so complex! I knew it was an unusual color but I did not expect it to be this unusual!

I personally describe it as purplegreytaupe. Ish. LOL!
It looks different depending on what lighting you have. In cooler lights it looks almost completely purple. In warmer lights the grey or the taupe takes overhand. Very exciting color! I can see why so many have it on their favs lists!

I must admit that it is a tad bit darker than I expected, but that's no biggie, it's still gorgeous!

I can see why people loved this in the winter. An unusual color like this, and in a creme finish! Perfect..!

Application was dead simple, it was quite sheer after the first coat though (which made me a bit nervous) but it all fell into place after a second, thicker, coat. :)

<3

OPI Hong Kong collection: Meet Me On The Star Ferry

2010-03-21T05:48:00.000-07:00

Ok this one is probably my current fav, all categories. The pictures did NOT do this polish any justice, but at least I did my best. The color can be described as a mauvy plum with a pinkish sheen to it in some lights, I can't say if it's frosty or shimmery or even metallic, it seems to be a mix of all! What you CAN'T see here is something you see in direct sharp light: multicolored small glitters.

Awesomely beautiful nail polish!

It applies like a dream and is good to go after two coats. I am a bit surprised to find a color like this one in a spring/summer collection though.

Gorgeous.. I can't stop looking at it! I only bought two polishes from this collection so far, this one does stand out the most in my opinion.

I wish I had longer nail beds, but I don't, so I must work with what I've got. ;)

The color is so non-uniform and exciting that it - despite of being dark - works really well with my pale skin tone. Without looking "goth". Not that I mind "goth" though, don't misunderstand me! I would definitely call it work safe. On the border but still.. work safe. Love it love it love it!

<3

edit the sun just came out (out of nowhere basically) so I ran out and took a shot in the sunlight so you can see the sparkly goodness:

Pretty huh?

<3

Poopie-poopie! Brown nailz.. ;)

2010-03-18T12:45:00.000-07:00

Hahah.. I'm still laughing at myself! I have been spamming Twitter with odd poop and diarrhea messages the whole afternoon.. I feel I need to explain this a bit. Don't you? ;)

You see, I went to the dentist today and after that I popped in to Kicks "just to browse". You basically pass it when you are going to the bus terminal on your way from the dentists office.. Anyway, I picked up a new nail buffer plus a glass file! Very excited about that, I've needed both for a while.. at the checkout there was a shelf with Depend polishes. You know, the small dinky scandinavian polishes? ;) Buy 2 get 1 free!

So. I picked up two brown ones and one bright neon orange one (!).
When I saw the lighter of the two browns I immediately came to think about diarrhea! LOL! Howcome? Well, see for yourself! :D Two coats:

This is actually pretty damn awesome in my opinion! I think it is quite becoming! I love this neutral shade on my nails! It is a bit odd because while it looks the same as in the bottle, it still looks much more becoming when it is on the nails! The name is Depend no. 188.

The darker brown one, the poop colored one, was a shocker! In the store the bottle truly truly looked like poop! But when I came home I saw that it has a red undertone to it. (so if your poop looks like this - go see a doctor)

This one was completely opaque after only one coat! Amazing! So this is just one coat (plus base and top of course..)

This is much darker than I am used to but it is sooooo pretty! I will be wearing this one a lot! Applies like a dream too.. Name: Depend no. 186.

Here's a shot of both hands, so you can compare the colors!

Gorgeous huh? :D

I will most likely get comments at work tomorrow for wearing two different polishes.. but that's ok. ;)

Color Club Uptown Girl

2010-03-17T10:48:00.000-07:00

This color is so pretty that I almost want to cry! I would call it a taupe-purple or maybe a greyish purple? Not sure.. it's not a straight forward purple though, that's for sure! I present: Color Club Uptown Girl!

Part of Color Club's Spring 2010 collection called Rebel Debutante.

Applies like a dream imho. Not runny, not goopy, it's not gripping the nail, does not go on too sheer och too thick. Simply perfect.

I apologize that the photographic quality is so-so on these.. I took them after the sun had gone down plus I did not use the "good" camera. But I think they show the polish quite well anyway!

My first shot at a Color Club nail polish, and I love it so far! I picked up one more as you can see in my previous post. Very excited about that one too! I will swatch all the polishes I got in that haul, so don't worry!

I may have found my perfect purple... :)

<3

Haul: OPI, Misa, Color Club, China Glaze + treatments

2010-03-16T11:03:00.000-07:00

This is the first blog post I make since after the move from my wordpress blog that was found at drebel.net. If you haven't updated your bookmarks by now please do so, as all my beauty blogging will take place here from now on. :)

Anyway! Haul! Amazing! I ordered these items from Transdesign.com on March 9. Got them today. March 16. Talk about fast delivery! I am truly impressed by this! I mean.. we are talking about USA --> Sweden here. Not next doors exactly..

Ok, let's cut the small talk and get straight to the haul! ;)

First the nail treatment stuff!
Left to right: CND Cuticle Eraser, NailTek Foundation III, Poshe super fast drying top coat:

Next up the first batch of colors!
Left to right: Color Club High Society, Color Club Uptown Girl, Misa Marabou Slides:

And the final batch of polishes!
Left to right: OPI Meet Me On The Star Ferry, China Glaze Fifth Avenue, OPI Suzy Says Feng Shui:

I love all these colors. They are even more fab in real life than I thought. I can't pick a fav, they are all gorgeous! I think I made some great choices here!

I was extra curious about Color Club as I have never tried that brand before. So, as soon as I got home I removed my old mani, applied the cuticle eraser, the NailTek basecoat and then two coats of Color Club Uptown Girl.. plus the Posche top coat. WOW! What a formula! I love it! I think, in my humble nail polish experience, that the Color Club formula is one of the absolute best I have tried! Went on super smooth over the basecoat. Evened itself out as any good polish should. I will post swatches tomorrow.

So, yes, I will definitely buy more polishes from Transdesign. Great prices, fast delivery.

<3

I hauled a bit.. :D

2010-03-09T13:48:00.000-08:00

Wo-hoooooo I am very excited! I have hauled nail stuff!

I have two orders coming my way, they probably won't get here until about two weeks though..

This is what I am expecting from transdesign.com:
Polishes:
Misa - Marabou Slides
Color Club - High Society
Color Club - Uptown Girl
OPI - Meet Me on the Star Ferry
OPI - Suzi Says Feng Shui
China Glaze - Fifth Avenue

Treatment/manicure:
POSHE Super Fast Drying Top Coat
CND - Cuticle Eraser
NailTek -Foundation III

I also snagged one nail polish from evilbay. Hope I get it LOL!
I have been wanting this one since I saw it the first time, and it is of course not available here, so swaps or evilbay are the only options. :D
Sephora by OPI - Metro Chic

Wohooo! :D
Do you own any of these? Like? Dislike?

The Balm BalmVoyage palette

2010-03-07T09:08:00.000-08:00

I picked this palette up about a week ago. I have been wanting it since last summer but I never bought it. Why? No idea.. It just didn't happen. So now I finally did! And I don't regret it one bit!

It comes in a cute retro box which includes a name tag for your travel bag, a dinky brush, plus the shadow trio itself of course!

Super cute!

A closer look at the shadows included. Left to right: Luscious Lani, Caught in the act Courtney, Hot mama:

The Hot mama shadow can be used as a blush. Well, all shadows can regardless, but this one even says so in the packaging! Pretty nifty..

Luscious Lani is a shimmery beige colour. Awesome as an all over lid colour. Gorgeous.
The dark brown one - Caught in the act Courtney - is unique to my collection. I don't have anything else like this. It's a super dark brown with sparkles in it. Very pigmented so one has to be careful.. The Balm also guides you by stating that this shadow also can be used as a liner.
Hot mama is a peach colour, super summery and beautiful. Almost metallic to the finish. Soft. Did I say it's gorgeous? It reminds me of Claire de Lune from MAC. I love this on the cheeks and on the lids all over for a nice peachy glow. Add some of the dark brown in the crease and you're all set!

Here is a picture of the palette in the sun:

And here is what you all probably want the most: swatches! I took this in the sun because it really brings out the gorgeousness of these shadows. The order is the same as in the palette.

This palette is very versatile. You basically get three shadows and a blush and a liner. I totally love this palette and I will be getting more eyeshadows from The Balm as I love the finish and feel of these three. Oh by the way, I don't experience any fallout with these. Which always is a plus!

I haven't seen this palette on the thebalm.com website lately but you can certainely find it on other web shops as I did. At least two of the shadows can be bought separately. You will have to look around to see what is available, since this palette is not new.

Your fav nail CARE products?

2010-03-06T09:11:00.000-08:00

I have had nail problems the last month or so. This has been entirely my own fault, the main problem is that I have been using Acetone as a nail polish remover...

So, last night I cut them down. They had grown enough so that the damage was out on the tips.

This is the result; nubbins!

Feels very good though.

It got me thinking.. I don't have any nail CARE products apart from the cuticle oil I use.. So I am asking: What are YOUR fav nail care products? I need inspiration! My nail problems include: dry nails, break off easily, flake easily etc.

So, post ahead; give me your must have products!

Barry M Nail Paint 302 Fuchsia

2010-03-02T12:31:00.000-08:00

My last Barry M Nail Paint post was quite the rant, wasn't it? In that post I wrote that the other one I have - the fuchsia one - applies like a dream. So.. here it is! Barry M Nail Paint in Fuchsia!

First, let's look at the bottle. It is pretty much what you see is what you get. It is a bright fuchsia colour with a cream finish.

I loooove this nail varnish and I can recommend this particular colour to anyone who's into shades like this one. It applies smooth and without any gooping or tugging.. Even I manage to get a good finish out of it and that's saying a lot! LOL!

This next shot shows you the varnish "in action". The lighting in this image is the kitchen table lamp, which is a normal bulb. I had to do some post processing in order to adjust the white balance.

Here is the bottle and the thumb. Lighting now is my computer monitor plus my halogen desk lamp. I think that this shot shows the true colour pretty good.

Same lighting again. It's like I said on Twitter while I was waiting for this to dry; it's so bright it should be illegal!

Speaking of drying and such. This mani is basecoat plus two coats of varnish. No top coat as I wanted you to see the actual finish of the varnish. It dried to smudge proof pretty fast.

So. I had a bad experience with the grey Barry M, and a fabulous experience with the Fuchsia one! I ask again; are they hit and miss? Anyway, I feel confident enough now to try other colours. They are pretty cheap so it won't break the bank.

Barry M Nail Paint 293 Grey

2010-02-28T09:20:00.001-08:00

I have two Barry M Nail Paints. One in Fuchsia and this one, in grey. Funny thing is that they apply very differently. The fuchsia one applies like a dream; smooth and opaque. This one however... applies blotchy and goopy.

It is a shame because I really do like the colour!

It doesn't help that my nails are uneven exactly.. Bleh. But as I said, the colour is divine!

Two coats. I would need three coats but I'm afraid that would have made it even a worse mess than it already is.

I will show the Fuchsia one in a separate post. Don't feel like redoing my mani right now, so it will be another day.

What are your experiences with Barry M Nail Paints? Was I in bad luck here or are they hit and miss?

Too Faced Lip Of Luxury in Celebrity Meltdown

2010-02-28T07:00:00.001-08:00

This review is long overdue. I am almost ashamed to say that I have had this lipstick for quite a while. Before I get started I want to make one thing clear. I don't normally wear "dark" lipsticks. Pinks and nudes are what I am all about. My friend alizarine persuaded me to get this one though. She can be very persuasive! We were talking lipsticks and all of a sudden she had made me click the "order" button. LOL!

This review is for the Too Faced Lip Of Luxury in the colour Celebrity Meltdown. I have one other colour but I will put that one in another post, since the two have completely different finishes!

Let's start by looking at the lipstick itself!

Very pretty huh? Girly and pink and.. lovely!

The colour is described as a rose gold with shimmer. And yes, that pretty much sums it up I think. Here is what it looks like swatched on the back of my hand:

As you can see it does have shimmer to it. It's not gritty and particlely (??) though, feels very smooth on the lips.

I do find this one very moisturizing for being a lipstick. I have dry lips (well, who doesn't at this time of year) and even if it comes out quite opaque on the lips, it still feels very smooth and nice and moisturizing. Love it!

And now for a couple of lip shots:

I have heard some complaints over the scent of these lipsticks. Too Faced claims they are champagne infused, and I can definitely smell that. Or whatever they use that smells like champagne.. I love champagne personally and this lipstick does feel a bit luxurious!

If you are sensitive to scents, then this might not be for you though.

Prices will of course vary. I got one of mine at full price and the other one on sale. They cost $18 at toofaced.com just to give you and idea.

Final thoughts; I love these. I love that they come in different finishes. Love the colour payoff. Love the feel of them.

Sorry for my lack of prettyness on the pictures though! No makeup at all on the skin. Only moisturizer. Lazy today.. ;)

Rant on brands and prices

2010-02-27T14:54:00.001-08:00

I have said it before and I will say it again; I live in a development country when it comes to makeup and beauty related stores. This post is simply a rant on that subject. To fully understand the impact of this I will just simply lay it in front of you, in a blunt way.

Sephora - This is the Ultimate Wet Dream. Sephora in Sweden. But, it's not going to happen. Not even the option of ordering online from one of the Europe based Sephora sites are available..
Nordstrom - Funny thing is.. Nordstrom is a Scandinavian name. But it stops there. I could just as well live somewhere in the middle of the desert..
Ulta - another makeup heaven not available.

These are a few examples of the stores (real or even online) that would enable me to pick and choose from any brand. Including new releases. Not just months old ones.. Some brands that are difficult - and even impossible in a few cases - to get your hands on over here inlcude: Revlon, Bobbi Brown, Kat Von D, Stila, MAC Pro, Urban Decay. Some comments: Revlon makeup is not sold at all in Sweden. Their hair line is, but not any of the makeup. MAC is available but not MAC Pro. I have one MAC counter in my city (thank god) but releases come months later than in the US and they have a very limited stock since it is a counter. A Swedish official MAC site please..? Stila is available online from European sites (not Swedish..) and Urban Decay is sold online to some extent. New stuff reaches us up to six months later than in the US! Most of the time they don't reach us at all! The other issue I want to touch is prices on products. The general template when talking about prices seem to be that of the price for a single MAC eyeshadow. It is $14.50. Well, here it is roughly $22. One. Single. Eye. Shadow. This means of course that even drugstore products such as Maybelline reaches almost high end prices over here. That is why I don't really talk about drugstore per se. We don't have $1 nail polishes. We don't have $10 foundations.. We don't have a Walmart or Ulta or Superdrug with exciting cheap brands. This whole issue disgusts me and making me really angry. No.. I demand two things of all the things that bothers me: 1. Sephora opens in one of the larger Swedish cities accompanied with a Swedish website where you can order online from. 2. Drugstore prices on drugstore products! Heh.. bring us drugstore products period!
Thank you for bearing with me!

L'Oreal Color Appeal Trio Pro

2010-02-22T12:12:00.001-08:00

This is a review of the L'Oreal Color Appeal Trio Pro in the color combo Forever Rosewood. I picked this up at Kicks a couple of weeks ago. The packaging looked so pretty and the colors were so fresh and peachy that I just had to buy it. Of course. ;)

It is a trio eyeshadow palette. It contains three (duh) colors; one light beige pinky peach, one orangy peach and one medium purple.

Now.. I must be completely honest here. When you look in the pan you expect to get three quite different but complementing colors. The two peachy colors look very similar when swatched though.. the biggest difference between them is that the lighter one is more shimmery than the darker one. The lighter one does not come out as light as it looks! This was a bit dissapointing. The purple color is the least pigmented one. This was also a bit dissapointing. Don't let the swathes fool you, the purple swatch took quite a few swipes to produce! The shadows are very soft though and blends quite easily so you can work with them very easily.

The packaging itself looks quite nice, it has a gold rim around it and it opens in two compartments. One (the bottom one) that holds the actual eyeshadow trio and one (between the lid and the pan) that holds a flimsy bent (to fit the shape of the palette) applicator..

I can see how they were thinking with the applicator but honestly.. I'd rather if they had just skipped it. Who in their right mind could possibly USE this kind of applicator?

Anyway..

All in all I do like this compact trio though. I use it quite often. I love the peachy colors. But as I said; I'm very dissapointed about the purple color. I thought it would come out as it looked. It would have complemented the trio perfectly but it is simply not pigmented enough.. I need to darken it with another purple if I use it.

Peachy pink with a purple hint

2010-02-14T10:51:00.001-08:00

This look was pretty much unplanned. It ended up being a pinky peachy slightly shimmery look with a hint of purple. :)

Photos are at the end of the video. :)

If you have any questions just pop them below, either here or on Youtube.

Neutral daily look with some shimmer

2010-02-13T09:15:00.001-08:00

So I made my first eye makeup tutorial finally, heh.

This look is pretty much my go-to look when I'm stressed out in the morning without time to be creative. It's my current go-to I might add, they do change. ;)

Huge light issues, sorry about that. I look yellow LOL!

There are photos at the end of the video. :)

China Glaze Fly

2010-02-08T13:53:00.001-08:00

First off I want to apologize for the state my nails are in. I am currently fighting problems with peeling. It is my own fault.. but they are much better now than they were only last week!

Anyway..! I picked up two China Glaze polishes today. I will be showing off the other one in a separate post but not today.

China Glaze Fly!

I have been wanting this color for a while so I'm super glad I finally picked it up!

Sooo gorgeous! I wish my nails were in a better state..
It is a vibrant magentapink. Super nice!

No complaints regarding this polish! Smooth application, dries pretty fast. Just as vibrant on the nail as in the bottle. Almost opaque after first coat..!

I used two coats plus base coat and top coat. This color perks me up just by looking at the bottle! :D

<3

Makeup Factory no. 126

2010-02-07T02:35:00.001-08:00

I've seen the Makeup Factory counter several times but I haven't really stopped there and looked if that makes any sense. So yesterday I took the plunge and picked up one Makeup Factory nail polish. The colours are numbered, not named.

I personally call it a brown pink. Makeup Factory calls it number 126. ;)

Super smooth application, almost opaque in one coat. I am very impressed! I applied two coats on these images. Plus base coat and top coat of course. :)

When I came home I went to their website to see the swatches online. The online swatches were way off as usual. I'd say they are one shade too light. At least on my monitor. Just a heads up..

I am definitely getting more of these, I loooove the formula. Super pretty!

<3

Sorry + Birthday Haul

2010-02-03T11:21:00.001-08:00

First of all I want to apologize to you for the lack of updates here lately. I don't want to make excuses so I won't.. ;)

Anyway! Moving on..!
Today is my birthday and I got a few goodies that I have eyed for a loooong time, so I'm super happy!

First I got the MAC Strobe cream. I will use this as a primer under my foundation. It is going to be fab! It is quite pricey so I'm glad I got it! :D

Then I got the MAC Honey Lust eyeshadow. I don't know why I haven't bought this one before. It's been on my wish list for a long time. It's super gorgeous! I love the lustre finish, just wish there were more colours to choose from! I only have this one and Tempting in the lustre line.

I also FINALLY have my new makeup mirror on the way! It has been out of stock for weeks, so I have been waiting and waiting.. but it will probably be here this week! Very exciting!

Expect some looks! Both here and on my Youtube channel! :D

Mini Haul - Foundation and eyeliner

2010-01-02T08:55:00.001-08:00

I went to pick up a few items on the Pharmacy today and popped in to the department store while I was there..

First off I picked up a Maybelline foundation (my first one!), the Dream Satin Liquid Foundation in the color Ivory. It is the lightest shade and - as usual - it is about half a shade too dark for me, but I can make it work I think.. It seems to turn a bit lighter once it has set. I'm a foundation freak so I just HAD to try this one out! :D
I will most likely do a video review of it once I've used it enough to review it! So stay tuned for that!

Then I picked up another glitter eyeliner; a black one with silver glitters. Brand: Isadora.
I'm not sure what to expect from this one as I'm so new with glitter eyeliners..

The brush is thin and nice but very flimsy, it bends extremely easy.. I might have to use a different applicator with this one, but I'll give it a whirl and I will let you know my opinions of it.
Here's a swatch:

Speaking of eyeliners! I am on the lookout for an aubergine colored eyeliner! If anyone has any ideas please do let me know! Preferably liquid with a built in applicator but a gel eyeliner will do I suppose.. it's the color that is important!

Last but not least I bought a cream face cleanser, it comes in the same series as the night cream I mentioned in this blog post. So, unfortunately this one is only available in Scandinavia. Sorry about that. :P

It contains a lot of goodies - just as the night cream does - and is supposed to deep clean face, remove makeup and everything without drying out the skin. I'm very excited about this one!

That's about it for now! Questions and comments below as usual! ;)

Quick beauty tip for dry skin

2009-12-31T04:57:00.001-08:00

So, it's freezing cold day and night and the skin feels tight and extra dry.
My quick tip for this is to use a heavy night cream also during the day. Use a bit less than you would at night and massage it in properly in the skin.

I'm currently loving a Swedish brand so it's not much good for you international readers, but I will show an image of it anyway. It is as I understand it available all over Scandinavia.

This particular cream has left my dry skin feeling like the behind of a baby. ;)
It contains goodies such as almond oil and shea butter.

Go to http://www.natuvive.com to read more if you are interested.

So, remember to keep your skin well hydrated and moisturized during these cold days and nights! You will notice a difference!

BeYu no. 374 Metallic Purple Pink.. :)

2009-12-25T09:34:00.001-08:00

BeYu is - I think - a German brand. I picked up two polishes and two glitter liners from BeYu the other day, and here is the second polish. The first one being the glitter polish I showed in this post.

I would describe this color as follows: a lavendar purple with a strong pink duochrome and a metallic finish.

See and admire..:

The color is mesmerizing, I can't stop watching my nails LOL! I loooove pinks and purples so this one is a dream! I recommend you all to check out BeYu's nail polishes if you have a chance. Love the quality!

Application was dead easy, I applied two coats plus base and top coat of course.

I will for sure pick up more of these! :-D

Glitterified Copper Flame

2009-12-23T09:25:00.001-08:00

Sooo... the Copper Flame started to chip today so I decided to put some glitter over it. I buffed the chips smooth, reapplied some Copper Flame over the worst parts and then put a coat of BeYu glitter polish in the color 395 over it. :)

This is SOOO GORGEOUS! Aaaargh!! :D

The bottle itself look like this:

Sorry for the spam but one more gorgeous glitter shot:

I'm very happy about this one! So gorgeous over the darker polish I had on!

Max Factor Nailfinity Copper Flame

2009-12-22T11:36:00.001-08:00

Horrible horrible application.. after first coat it's streaky like nothing I've ever seen before. The varnish is thin in concistency and difficult to apply.

After the second coat something happens:

It's a stunner! Reddish brown with red microglitter. None of my photos capture the microglitter properly, you just have to take my word for it that it's gorgeous. :P

Sorry about the blurry photo:

And one last one:

As I said the application of this one is horrible. But I like the color. So.. I'm not sure how I feel! I do love it though.. I have another Nailfinity which showed no application problems at all, so it might just be this particular color..

November/December 2009 Favs

2009-12-21T05:50:00.001-08:00

I just uploaded a video showing my November and December favs. :)

The eyeshadows mentioned can be seen in this post.

The nail polishes can be seen here and here.

:)

OPI Sand in my suit

2009-12-20T08:04:00.001-08:00

I find this one extremely difficult to capture with justice. Some polishes are just like that, tricky!
OPI Sand in my suit is one of them.. I have applied two coats plus one coat of Seche Vite. The mani is much shinier in real life! It looks almost dull in the photos..

It looks all scratched up too, but I promise you it's not! I don't know why this particular nail polish is so awful to photograph.. I love the color!

Here are a few more shots.. not one of them turned out as it looks in person!
*headdesk*

I do like it in person though.. I know you won't believe me but it's a pretty neutral with a hint of silver shimmer. Regardless of how the photos turned out. :P

China Glaze - Admire

2009-12-17T12:46:00.001-08:00

China Glaze Admird was part of my Polish Bloggers Secret Santa 2009 package.
It is a real stunner; pink metallic shimmery type of color. One coat is opaque, so you could get away with one coat plus top coat if you wish.. Amazing!

One can safely say that what you see in the bottle is what you get on the nails.

This is two coats plus top coat. :)

Due to the metallicness of this one I suspect that it will be fab to use with some Konad art. I just wish my Konad package would finally get here so I can play with it! I want to stamp on this polish! :D

Quick Swatch - Pink with purple glitter

2009-12-14T12:27:00.001-08:00

This manicure is first two coats of China Glaze Innocence and then one coat of Sinful Colors I Miss You.

The Sinful Colors purple glitter polish is unfortunately making ANY mani chip after two days but I'm telling you: it's worth it!

The sheer purple base in the glitter polish is turning Innocence into a warmer stronger pink.
I love this combo, I've worn it several times!

Sorry for my beat up cuticles, not even Lemony Flutter is helping at the moment. :(

OPI Up Front & Personal

2009-12-10T10:16:00.001-08:00

This is a swatch that I posted a while back on Twitter, I thought I'd do a proper blog post about it. The nail polish is OPI Up Front & Personal. A gold shimmery gorgeous nail polish. I have two coats on the picture below.

It's sheer but as you can see quite visible with enough coats. It's also super cute to layer over other polishes.

Speaking of gold shimmer.. I'm on the look out for gold and silver glitter polishes. I've spotted a few interesting ones but if you have suggestions, drop a comment below! The glitter should be quite large, not small and shimmery as the OPI above. :)

Simple Christmas Nails!

2009-12-08T10:59:00.001-08:00

This is my current manicure, a very simple Christmasy look. I'm using two nail polishes; one red and one gold shimmery. Sorry about the cuticles, I forgot to clean them up before I took photos. :(

The red polish is Max Factor Nailfinity in Red Passion. The gold shimmery nail polish is OPI Up Front & Personal.

I applied a base coat first, then one good coat of the red polish. Then after that had dried I applied one coat of the gold shimmer polish.

Last, finish off with a top coat.

I applied one more coat of gold shimmer after I had taken these photos, the gold holo effect is much more visible now, so that is a tip! I'm normally scared of red nail polish, but applying the gold shimmer over it makes the red less scary and much more wearable imho!

This mani is very simple, no bells and whistles, but still quite pretty and Christmasy! For even more Christmas feeling you could do some art with a white nail polish or maybe apply some rhinestones!

Urban Decay Deluxe Eyeshadows

2009-12-07T10:39:00.001-08:00

I don't know why I haven't bought any of the Urban Decay Deluxe Eyeshadows before. I really don't. Because, now that I have; I realize that I truly have missed out..

First a "packaging study". All colours have different designs on the lid:

They are simply gorgeous! I LOVE the texture, so smooth.. almost creamy. They apply and blend very easily, they are a joy to work with! Pigmentation is, as always with Urban Decay, top notch.
The two colours I have are shimmery, but not too shimmery. Perfect for everyday wear and easy to transform into a more edgy look for evening wear.

Left: Scratch - Right: Ruthless

Swatches. Again left is Scratch and right is Ruthless:

Scratch closeup:

Ruthless closeup:

So, my first two Urban Decay Deluxe Eyeshadows are in the "neutral" family. Now I'm confident enough to order some of the more daring colours!

Fore more droolage head over to www.urbandecay.com. :)

Haul: Bourjois Wet/Dry Eyeshadows

2009-12-05T04:08:00.001-08:00

Haul time again! I have bought some more items than I'm showing in this post, they will be posted separately. ;)

Eyeshadows eyeshadows eyeshadows! Gotta love them!
Bourjois Wet/Dry Eyeshadows.. I used to use Bourjois when I began wearing makeup 159 years ago so I thought I'd revive my old tradition and order some Bourjois. I'm NOT dissapointed! These are gorgeous.. I loved them way back when and I love them now!

Left: 54 Marron Glace. Right: 08 Beige Rose

Left: 04 Noir Precieux. Right: 14 Gris Delicat

These are very pigmented! More pigmented than I remember from my youth. Gorgeous.. they have several different blacks also, this particular one is not as pigmented as the other colours.
My favourites are the grey one and the beige one hands down. Stunning!

Swatches:

Don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions. :)

I've been sort of missing in action!

2009-11-22T09:42:00.001-08:00

Hey guys..!

Sorry for the lack of updates, both here and on my Youtube channel. I've had the flu so I haven't had the energy (or voice) to update anything. I do have some things to write about and a few videos to record though.

I will be back with updates as soon as I get my act together here.. so much to do when you've been sick, so many things slacking. :(

Cya soon!

Swatches of my current favourites (Oct Nov)

2009-11-14T08:31:00.001-08:00

Here are the swatches of the items I mention in my latest "current favs video":

Collections: Dior Spring 2010

2009-11-08T11:40:00.001-08:00

I don't normally do this, there are plenty of other sites that show upcoming makeup collections, but this one caught my attention and I just had to share it with you.

It's Christian Dior's Spring 2010 Collection: Lacy Beauty.

Source: BritishBeautyBlogger

These quints are gorgeous, they have my name all over them. Especially the first one. :D

B as in begone?

2009-11-08T06:18:00.001-08:00

B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful seems to be shutting down their business! I just read that on their website.
B is a sister company to Lush and they do makeup and fragrance. Well, up until now anyway.

This is so sad, I had big plans to make a series of reviews on their products, ethical makeup is something that needs to be lifted forward imho.

According to the site Lush will "absorb the business in order to obtain the assets". Not sure exactly what that means but the site also states "don't forget everything in B is now limited edition, so if you have a favourite product we suggest you get it now before it goes".

I will be ordering a few items that I really want and I will probably make a video showing them, but it doesn't feel as fun and exciting as I had wished it would.

My solution would have been to sell the makeup in the already existing Lush stores.. but oh well. That's just me perhaps..

Review of Lush Skin's Shangri La

2009-11-01T06:25:00.001-08:00

This is a review of Lush's face moisturizer Skin's Shangri La.

For the full review please check out my video:

Price @ Lush USA: $45:95
Price @ Lush UK: £24:95

It's thick, creamy, oily. Almost a bit heavy. A little goes a long way, what's on my finger below is more than enough for the whole face!

A wonderful moisturizer, despite an odd scent and a heavy feeling. The heaviness will dissapear after about 10 minutes!

To-Do as per October 22

2009-10-22T15:08:00.001-07:00

Hi,

I have some things I need to tend to regarding layout on this site but I'm the Master of Procrastination, so.. oh well. I did get *some* changes done now tonight but I don't have time to do anymore today. My hopes are that I will get my act together if I post the to-do list publicly. So..
This is my current to-do list when it comes to the site:

Change backgroundgraphics in "boxes" do a darker grey..

.. and obviously adjust font colours accordingly

Make header banner fixed so it doesn't scroll in some browsers

Finetune my post tags

Incorporate Youtube

Comments, suggestions, questions: always welcome. :)

Tag: You make me smile!

2009-10-21T11:17:00.001-07:00

Hah! Tag time!

I was tagged by Nicole. Thank you very much for the tag and for the uber sweet words you wrote about me on your blog!

You're the sweetest and you know it! <3 <3 <3

Rules:

You have to put in a song that makes you happy.

You can tag as many people as you like, there is no limit.

Say at least one thing about each blog you tag, that will make them smile, something nice about their blog that makes you smile when you read it!

I will pick a song, a video, that I watch when I feel down and low. The artist is Gary Numan and the song is Are Friends Electric? .. the song is originally from the late 70s but this particular version is recorded live in 2003. This is a kick ass live performance imho. You must watch it all! And do watch it in full screen, it's worth it. Excellent version of an excellent classic. This song puts a huge smile all over my face. Both in it's original version and especially in this live version! This song has been sampled and whatnot by other artists over the years but this guy here, he's the one who wrote it. ;)

I am tagging Nikki. Her blog has a high droolage factor. She blogs about nail polishes and she posts awesome pictures. I personally love her nails and cuticles. May sound silly but they are to be envious of. :p She's got great taste in polish too. Love her blog, I highly recommend you to check it out!

I would also like to say something about Lucy who don't have a blog. I would have tagged her if she had one. ;) YOU also make me smile Lucy! You always post nice comments and it means so much to me! <3

Honey I Washed The Kids

2009-10-14T11:15:00.001-07:00

This is a review of Lush's soap called "Honey I Washed The Kids".

I guess it's no surprise that this soap smells like honey. It is what many refer to as a "newbie Lush soap" and what that means is that most people who try it - like it. It's sort of a safe bet. ;)

I mentioned that it smells like honey but it's not straight forward "overwhealming" honey, it has a subtle hint of floralness (is that even a word?) to it. :) Very pleasant in my opinion. Honeyish, floral, sweet.

I use it in the shower, it lathers up nicely and leaves you feeling clean and soft skinned. The scent lingers on your skin for a while. I highly recommend anyone to try this soap out if you have the chance. It is not only an awesome soap, it's gorgeous to look at too! :D

For information regarding price and ingredients go to Lush:
www.lushusa.com
www.lush.co.uk

Comments and questions are very welcome! :)

Incoming Lush Haul

2009-10-04T15:27:00.001-07:00

I just placed a quite large Lush order. Various products; soaps, schampoos, skin care... ;) I'm very excited about some of the items as I haven't tried them before. This includes the a moisturizer.. ;)
I also ordered items that I have finished and wanted backups of.

So, expect some Lush reviews coming up. Hopefully I will get my items within a week.

Happy Lushing! :)

Celeb makeup - Gary Numan Berserker

2009-10-03T05:00:00.001-07:00

Sooo, this is the first look I've done for the site. It is a celebrity look, but not a "normal" look; it is Gary Numan's look for the Berserker album that came out in 1984. :)

The look itself is very blue, it is perhaps something to get inspiration from for Halloween? :D

The original first:

Then my version of it.

Makeup used is:
Max Factor creme puff in the colour Truly Fair all over the face.
Smashbox eye pencil from the Muse Collection, the blue one, used to line eyes and to fill in lips.
Ocean Mist mineral eyeshadow in Anissette on eyes and cheeks.

No, I won't go out like this. No, I didn't want to dye my hair blue for this, sorry. LOL!

Hope you enjoyed! :)

Monthly Favourites September

2009-10-02T13:40:00.001-07:00

"Everyone" on Youtube is doing them so I'd thought I'd do them also; Monthly Favourites. ;)
I am still not able to record videos though so I will have to do them here until I get a camera that records video. DSLR's suck that way.. ;)

First out are my Japonesque eyeshadow brushes. One large fluffy brush and one smaller that is made to apply loose mineral eyeshadow with, but I use it to pack on any colour.

Next up is a given one concidering the weather we had in September.
My beloved rubber boots:

This one may look a bit odd on the photo. It's one of my absolute favourite foundations, I used it extensively throughout September. It is The Balm Time Balm foundation in the colour light.
Left side is with foundation, right side is without! Hopefully you see the difference, I love how it evens out my skintone. It is a cream foundation and I am using a slightly dampened sponge to apply it:

Last favourite for this time is the Tigi BedHead Control Freak Hair Straightener.
It smells like hair salon. LOL! It does..! I love the scent..
Spray in the hand (it foams up) and then apply to damp hair. Use blow dryer and brush to dry and brush at the same time to achieve straight hair. It works. I have slightly curly hair and I hate it. I wish this baby was invented a long time ago, it would have saved me much blood sweat and tears!

Haul: Max Factor Nailfinity

2009-09-30T10:32:00.001-07:00

I got a package in the mail today, I ordered a few nail polishes and some hair styling products. In this haul I'm just showing you the nail polishes, saving the other items for another day. ;)

Gorgeous bottles.. Max Factor Nailfinity:

The darker one is called Copper Flame and the lighter one is Angel Nails. The reason for this purchase is an image I saw on MissChevious's blog, she was using Angel Nails and I immediately fell for it!

Gorgeous colours, both of them look shimmery in the bottles. Copper Flame has a golden coppery shimmer to it and Angel Nails has silver shimmer.

I haven't used these particular polishes yet but I generally like the quality of the Nailfinity's. I would recommend them if you can find them online or in a store.

Sinful Colors – Rich In Heart RELOADED

2009-09-24T11:54:00.001-07:00

Heheh... this vampy polish made me feel very inspired. I was sitting and playing around with another Sinful Colors polish.. namely "I Miss You" and all of a sudden I had applied the glitter polish over my vampy one!

How about that eh? This is soooo gorgeous! It looks much better in real life, it's quite spectacular!

More vampy goodness coming up soon, I'm getting quite addictive to this! Thanks Nicole for turning me around! :D

Lucy, I WILL use a base coat next time, I promise! ;P

Sinful Colors - Rich In Heart .. vampy time!

2009-09-20T14:52:00.001-07:00

I don't "do" vampy colours ... normally ... but there's a first for everything. ;)
This one is truly vampy and dark and I was very scared when I applied it. I didn't think it would turn out as nicely as it did. I got it from Nicole and she did an awesome job picking this one out for me!

I didn't clean up around the edges or oil my cuticles prior to this shot, I was afraid I'd smudge the nail polish. But I took it very carefully and I think I did a pretty good job concidering this kind of colour shows it ALL!

Gorgeous colour, isn't it? :D
Two coats plus Seche Vite top coat. I didn't apply a base coat so I'm not expecting this to hold for that many days but we'll see.

Black with dark red glitters, that's what I'd call it. And I'm starting to like these dark colours on me. Must keep practicing so my application gets even better.

Love it, perfect for fall!

Misa - Street Style

2009-09-14T11:43:00.001-07:00

New nail polish on today! I didn't have to change but I wanted to. There's a difference. :P
I have so many untried ones that feel I have to keep the ball rolling.. I recieved this particular one in a tiny swap. ;)

Misa in Street Style:

I'm going to be totally honest here; I'm not sure how to define the colour. It's not one colour as you can see.. I'd say it's grey-lavendar-pink-ish. But that's probably just me.
I have applied two thin coats plus my normal top coat. It's a bit more shiney than it appears on the images.

Awsome fun nail polish that I personally define as a "nude", again: it's probably just me.. It is neutral enough for you to get away with in a professional environment but it's still fun enough if you want to emphasize that. :)
I'm guessing some Konad stamping would look fab on this one!

What do you think?

China Glaze - Innocence

2009-09-11T10:03:00.001-07:00

Thank you Nicole for picking out this GORGEOUS nail polish for me. You knew exactly what I wanted!

This is by far my absolute favourite nail polish so far. A beautiful classy powder pink colour, awesome for both summer and winter in my opinion!

I took these images just now and I've been wearing this manicure for two days now. During this time I have been working, doing dishes by hand (without gloves) and just living life like normal. I'm wearing three thin coats plus my Sally Hansen Diamond Strength as a top coat. Still top notch!

Awesome quality and the shine is beyond beautiful. The China Glaze was this shiny prior to the top coat application and as I said it's been two whole days since I applied this. No touch up.

Love love love it!

This is now my go-to pink.