For the Lazy and/or Layerer: Eyeshadow Sticks

The "My Collection" page on the blog is about half unreviewed products, so I'm going to make a concerted effort to try and talk about some pretty things! I've culled my stash several times over the past year, getting rid of things that no longer work or that don't get the love they deserve, and at this point, I'm pretty happy. I think I've still got a couple purging cycles left (and don't even get me started on my closet), but the effort of trying to decide what to discard is more than I feel like putting forth right now!

I have a zillion "new" lippies (some of which I've had more than a year, hence the scare quotes) and I don't really know where to start, so instead, I'm going to talk about cream eyeshadow! Yay! Eyeshadow!

Clockwise from top left: Laura Mercier Sugar Frost*, Mally Champagne,
Rimmel Bulletproof Beige*, Laura Mercier Rose Gold*, Laura Mercier Khaki,
Laura Mercier Pink Opal*, Boots No7 Cool Mink, BECCA Romanticism*,
Sephora+Pantone Tuscany

I've found that I really adore eyeshadow sticks (it's like drawing on yourself!), and between the generosity of friends and some fortuitous sales, my stash has grown considerably. I now own 7, plus two liquid eyeshadows, which, while slightly less convenient, serve a similar purpose: they work great as quick washes or as bases underneath powder (the "lazy" and "layerer" from the title, respectively).

Manicure Monday

GUYS! I DID IT! I finally finished wearing every single one of my polishes. It would have happened sooner if I could have stopped myself from picking up new ones, but...whatever. New Year's resolution DEFEATED. Boom.

This is a pretty massive post, so I'm going to try and keep it short(ish) and sweet(ish). I got gradually less successful at being brief over time...

Sally Hansen Rosy Outlook with Wet N Wild Waves of Enchantment, taped

WoE is sheer, but it's really pretty layered over Rosy Outlook.

Manicure Monday

Hi, y'all! Sorry I've been so MIA (I mean, even more than usual). I'll ease into posting again with a new Manicure Monday––it's been more than 2 months since my last one (wtfffff), but I've been trucking along with my NY resolution. It might go faster if I stopped buying new polishes, but...well, I'm only (a nail polish addicted) human. This isn't everything I've worn, but I'll include the rest in my next MM :)

Color Club Eternal Beauty

This is a polish I haven't already posted, in spite of having had it for, like, a year. It was part of the set gifted to me by the lovely Amanda! All the CC holos are super holographic and incredibly pigmented (this was one coat!), and really fast to dry. Unfortunately, it doesn't get along with uneven nails, and chipped on my middle fingers (both of which had lost the upper layer of nail on the tip). It's real pretty, though, and good for days I don't have much time to devote to my nails. I also want to use it with others from the line in nail art! Rainbowy holo goodness.

Manicure Monday

Another week, another batch of unworns.

OPI Black Cherry Chutney with Wet N Wild Night Prowl
Night Prowl may very well be opaque enough on its own, but I was too lazy to find out, so I just did it over a coat of BCC. Pretty!

L'Oreal Infallible Gilded Envy and Infinite Sky Review and Swatches

I picked these up a while back when Rite Aid had 40% off L'Oreal and I felt like injecting some new sparkle to my eye collection. I love Bronzed Taupe, though I don't find the Infallible formula to be ironclad like others do, but I always wear eyeshadow primer anyways, so whatever. Gilded Envy and Infinite Sky are both very different from anything else in my stash, at least!

Gilded Envy is a crazy pewter-olive-grey-sage-whatthefuck glittery reflective pile of amazing.

macros r us

Manicure Monday

Still truckin' along with my NY resolution! Here's some of what's been on my tips the past couple weeks.

a england St. George

Amazed I haven't reviewed this already! It's a gorgeous dark teal with subtle holo, opaque in one coat. I remember disliking the a england brush, but it was fine this time (except for my ring fingers, which both ended up with polish on the cuticle, how annoying!). I wasn't going to photograph it because my nails are super short, due to one breaking, but then I discovered I haven't featured this polish yet, so I figured it's better to have stubby photos than none at all. Now I want to try Dragon again to see if maybe it will behave better than I remember...

Manicure Monday

Because it's still Monday in Oregon!

Ruby Wing Poppy with Cult Nails Alter Ego

This shot was taken after Poppy had started to change colors. I seriously wish all polishes were UV sensitive. Alter Ego, another DC Cult Nails polish (I only buy them when they're on sale, ha), gives an interesting antique gold shimmer overlay. I'm still experimenting to find what colors I like it layered over, but basically, sheer toppers = endless fun.

Manicure Monday

I finished winter term last Thursday (after writing some 4500 words in a 22-hour span, #likeaboss) and spent Friday catching up on rest, Saturday cleaning, and Sunday relaxing. As I write this on Sunday, I'm awaiting the boy's return home after more than a month in San Francisco, and I'm pretty psyched to see him (#understatement). We're going to the coast for a couple of days, and then I'm going to Portland for a couple of nights with my mother, so it may be a little bit until I'm back to a (somewhat) regular posting (and commenting) schedule. But here! Have some nail polish. It's very...green.

St. Patrick's Mani: Color Club Cactus and Cult Nails Two-Timer

My ex was (and, as far as I know, still is!) Irish-American and very into St. Patty's Day, so I have a bit of lingering resentment towards the holiday (through no fault of its own). Nevertheless, I decided to get into the holiday spirit with a very green manicure, featuring Color Club Cactus and Cult Nails Two-Timer, which I bought when it was on clearance for $3 (scoooooore). While it's kind of lumpy, and I'm not really sure why––I probably didn't give enough time between coats––it wore like iron; this photo was taken after 4 days. Which may not be all that impressive by some people's standards, but I was super thrilled! My right (dominant) hand looked almost as good, too. Cray.

Manicure Monday

Wow, it's been forever since I've done one of these. Which is silly, because I've been wearing nail polish pretty much constantly! So this is pretty mondo, sorry.

The boy's birthday was the 7th, so I asked him how he'd like me to do my nails. He requested an ombre from turquoise to dark blue; turns out I have enough polishes matching that description to make all 10 nails different! I used 12 polishes, most of which I hadn't yet worn this year, so it made a nice dent in my new year's resolution :)

rawr

Pinky to thumb, left hand: Sally Hansen New Wave Blue topped with Finger Paints Art You Wondering?; Wet N Wild Caribbean Frost; Zoya Wednesday topped with Golden Rose 52; Color Club Blue Heaven; Zoya Yummy

Manicure Monday

My friends and I came up with New Year's Resolutions for each other, ranging from the absurd (A has to pet 365 dogs) to the pragmatic (T has to cook using an ingredient new to her at least once a week). The boy has to leave a review for a game before he can purchase any more (his Steam account is just ridiculously overstocked), and I have to wear all my polishes (not just new ones!) before I can repeat any, though I am allowed to re-wear things so long as the manicure contains at least one polish I haven't yet worn. So y'all will be seeing some polishes I've featured before, as well as some new and exciting ones, and I'm hoping the exercise will result in a sleeker, better polish collection.

Essie On a Silver Platter* and Sephora+Pantone Rose Dawn
My NYE mani was a great way to start the year. I layered Essie On a Silver Platter (my Christmas gift from Z!) over Sephora+Pantone Rose Dawn (one coater! which I could have sworn I'd reviewed, but apparently not...). The contrast of warm rose under the blue holo hexes and gold shimmer was really, really pretty (and actually reminded me of the guest post Z did for my birthday!). I would totally re-wear this if I could, but alas, it will have to wait. Also, I was going through a rebellious phase and didn't want to photograph with a real camera, so you get crappy phone pictures.

in sunlight

Manicure Monday

Hi again! I hope y'all have had a great holiday season. I've been enjoying my time off school and indulging in some reading for pleasure (it'd been years since I'd really done that!), which has left less time for research and blogging, but whatever. It's winter break! I'm going to hibernate. And code. (I finally actually made some headway in that department, and wow, I totally understand why people do CS. When it works, you feel like a GOD. It's awesome. When it doesn't work, you want to kill yourself and everyone you've ever known, but you can't, because then you'll never figure out the puzzle of why it's not working...)

Here are some pictures of manis I've done the last few weeks; I did a green and red one for Christmas, but didn't take pictures because I felt like ignoring my duties as a blogger, but I'm sure you'll see the polishes I used at some point in the future. For now, here are these!

Winter Wonderland

Schnee! Kar! Nieve! Snow! (All the languages I speak
use the same writing system. Sorry to be so boring.)

This is a single coat of three white polishes layered to try and create snowy nails. I did it during our week of snow, when I was trapped at home, before I got annoyed with the stupid white stuff. It's Wet N Wild's white $0.99 polish topped with Orly Au Champagne and Orly Winter Wonderland. It wasn't fully opaque, but I didn't really care, because the shimmer from Winter Wonderland helped disguise it. That polish is really appropriately named! It does look like frosty magic.

Manicure Monday

These reviews are all super wordy, so I'll skip the introduction.

Revlon Wintermint
This is one of the new scented polishes released by Revlon (they're permanent, no worries). I picked it up because I was just dying of curiosity as to whether it would be a dupe for my beloved Mermaid's Dream. It's not. In fact, I kind of hate Wintermint, even though they are really similar.

2 coats Wintermint on all except
pinky, which has 2 coats Mermaid's
Dream. All with 2 (or 3? damnit)
layers of top coat

Here's the deal: Wintermint's base is much thicker and more opaque than Mermaid's Dream, so it covers up the blue big glitters and gold little glitters in the base much more than in MD, and since there are less glitters to begin with in Wintermint, the end result is much more muted and less sparkletastic. And where MD dries uniformly bumpy, allowing all sorts of different layers of glitter to sparkle (and giving it a cool fish-scale effect, without the 3 coats of topcoat necessary to smooth it), Wintermint is lumpy and uneven from where the larger blue glitter pokes up.

Manicure Monday

Only two manis (though three polishes!) for your viewing pleasure this week.

Zoya Yummy and Maybelline Beaming Blue
Zoya's polish names are ostensibly all female names, but...Yummy? I certainly hope that's no one's name. I picked it up because I wanted something to layer under Beaming Blue, picked up a few weeks ago, and from the online swatches, it seemed the closest in base color out of Zoya's blues. Happily, it's perfect! Though it doesn't look as wonderful in pictures as in person.

Beaming Blue is much prettier and more
interesting than it looks here. Yummy is pretty
accurate, though!

I did two coats of Yummy on all my non-layered fingers, and 1 coat topped with 1 coat Beaming Blue on the others. It was very pretty! Beaming Blue has a beautiful lavender duochrome, though it still does not outshine Lavishly Lilac (and I of course neglected to photograph it...), and Yummy is interestingly pastel-bright. I see it being ideal in spring!

Manicure Monday

Betcha didn't think I'd be posting again so soon, didja? I'm so on top of things, guys.

Sinful Colors Ice Dream
I saw this one at the drugstores last winter and passed on it, only to later decide I wanted it and go back to find it gone. So I was very happy to see it again this year, and snatched it right up! It's a very sparkly, very pretty silver shimmer with blue small hexes (I think they're hexes, at least; they're very wee!).

You can build it up to opacity on its own in 3 coats, but I was lazy and just did it over one coat of Wet N Wild Silvivor, which gave almost exactly the same effect. Only one coat of top coat needed, too. Very wintry! Here's hoping we get snow this year so I can wear it and feel like the Ice Queen.

Manicure Monday

I've been having some digestive issues lately, which hasn't left me feeling particularly bloggy, but I have procured some new polishes––nothing quite like colorful sparkle fingertips to take away from stomach malaise, no? (Also, due to the discomfort and concomitant resurgence of CFS symptoms, I've been rather absent from the blogosphere, too, which I must apologize for! It's gotten to the point where I'm so far behind on commenting that the thought of trying to catch up gives me anxiety, so while I have been reading and loving y'all's posts, I may not ever write the comments to prove it. I'm sorry! Feel free to not comment on my posts for a few weeks...)

Nubar Iris Dust
This is actually about a year old, but I don't think I've ever shown it here. It's a super dramatic multichrome, shifting from a deep purple to a bright yellow. I wasn't able to capture all the shades, but the shots below capture how it looks most of the time.

It's a perfect fall polish, since it matches the glorious trees. It's very, very sheer, though, so I recommend layering it; I did two coats of Iris Dust over two coats of Wet N Wild Under Your Spell. I neglected to photograph it until a couple of days after applying, hence the tip wear, but I find the wear to be pretty typical. You can find it on eBay for ~$5, which is where I bought mine.

Manicure Monday

Two more Turkish polishes for your viewing pleasure! I think there's only one left––I wore it, but neglected to photograph it, so you'll get to see that...eventually. But here's the ones I did snap!

Flormar Duo 2x Chrome DC05

There were a few polishes in this Flormar duochrome line, but this one was by far the most duochrome-y of them all, so it's the one I got. It is exactly the same color/shift (green-to-blue) as in China Glaze Unpredictable, but the formula is better––DC05 is opaque in 2 coats compared to Unpredictable's 3, and it's less prone to brushstrokes, though as a metallic, there are still some. It's pretty and fun, and it cost 4,49 TL, I think (about $2.25).

Manicure Monday

Another Monday, some more manicures!

Color Club Halo Hues Beyond

Another one of the polishes I got from Amanda a few months ago. Like the others, the formula on Beyond is flawless––it could have been a one-coater if I'd been more careful in applying, and it just glides on like butter. No issues over my current base coat (p2 8-in-1, purchased in Berlin), and super holographic. Awesome stuff.

Manicure Monday

Wow, 5 posts in 5 days. Don't get used to it, folks––you know it won't last ;) Today, I have a couple of polishes I received from Z for my birthday, as well as another Turkey polish and an OPI.

Butter London The Black Knight
I have wanted this polish since it came out a couple years ago, and Z generously bought it (as well as the Nails Inc, below) for me for my birthday! It was waiting for me when I got home, though my mother had stuck it in her room so I didn't know where it was for the first couple weeks after getting home. Fortunately, it was found and worn and I LOVE IT.

It's a black base with varying sizes of pink/red, yellow, and blue glitter. They dance and shine under the light, and it's so, so beautiful. I found it to be a solid 2 coater, though perhaps if you used thicker coats it could be done in 1. It's very top-coat hungry; I did 3 coats the day I painted my nails, and then another the next day, which made it almost completely smooth. The wear is phenomenal; it lasted a full 4 days on my nails with no tipwear or chipping, and I actually wore it twice in a row since it went well with the dress I wore to the wedding. I am seriously impressed, and now I begrudgingly want to try more Butter London (begrudging because they're expensive, and the British names are stupid for a company based in Seattle). It has taken up residence on the shelf reserved for true love polishes.

Manicure Monday

Finally, nail polish! On my fingers! Aaaah. It's nice to be back.

First up, Zoya Godiva, purchased when they had free shipping and waiting for me when I got home. Yippee! Unlike Miranda, I preferred Godiva without top coat. I actually liked it best at one coat, when it was sparkly and not too nude, but I didn't photograph it then. You'll just have to wait until I wear it again! It was quite opaque; I used 2 coats, and it's a bit too nude for my taste, but the silver sparkle helps. Very, very sparkly. It's fun!

Without and with top coat, respectively.

Guest Post: Manicure Monday

Hey, y'all. Long time no see! I'm having a blast in Turkey and Berlin (particularly today, as it is my birthday!!), hence the total dereliction of my blogging duties. Today's post is brought to you by one of my dear friends Z, a talented artist, hilarious storyteller, and all-around great person. Enjoy!

Happy Manicure Monday!  I'm one of Amy's college friends.  I don't wear a lot of makeup but I do share Amy's passion for nail polish.  I usually prefer cremes, which is why the manicure I'm about to endorse is such an unusual choice for me.

I have creme polishes in a range of colors, but my favorites are deep nudes and dusty pinks.  Thus it makes sense that when I branch out into something more shiny, I go for colors that harmonize with my skin tone.  Sally Hansen Firefly fits the bill.  It's a gorgeously restrained duochrome that shifts subtly from rose to light olive-gold, hitting different notes of copper on the way.  I thought Firefly would be too warm for my coloring but it worked surprisingly well on me.

I love nail polish because I love color - every time I go to the drugstore I get sidetracked by the nail polish displays.  I had been eyeing Essie Stroke of Brilliance since it first came out:  the combination of a calm periwinkle-gray hue and a bold sparkly texture immediately stood out to me.

This morning the magic happened - two coats of Firefly followed by a coat of S.O.B. (heh) and an additional layer of clear topcoat.  I had to dab extra sparkles on a goodly number of nails, but I can imagine a more laid-back person not needing to do this.  My nails were drying for a long time, but it was so worth it.  I love the contrast of the colors up close and the sparkly lilac effect they create from a distance.  It's a perfect "I'm-on-vacation" manicure, full of bright light and texture.

Awesome, right? Now I need to get my hands on Firefly, stat. What are your favorite unexpected color combinations?