October Empties

It's that time again! I feel like I have a ton of stuff I used up this month. Most of the hair things were partially used already. The mascaras and eyeliner got dry - they weren't completely gone, just not usable anymore.

If you'd like to see the pictures a bit closer and see some of my thoughts on them, check out the album I made for empties on my Facebook page! 

Candy Corn Manicure

I have always loved Halloween and doing themed manicures is one of my favorite parts! I think I do candy corn nails every year, but they're just so fun, and pretty easy!

Products I used: 

China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat

Sally Hansen Insta Dri - Whirlwind White

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Mellow Yellow

Maybelline Express Finish - Orange Blazes

Seche Vite Top Coat

To get this look, I started with one coat of the white polish on every nail. This white is my favorite because with a fairly thin coat you can get reasonable coverage that's not terribly streaky - perfect for layering! Next, I used the yellow. I just did a few strokes up from the bottom of the nail, stopping between a third and halfway up the nail. Because I knew I'd be layering the orange over it, I didn't make the top edge especially neat. The orange layer overlapped the yellow a bit. I tried to make the bottom edge of the orange somewhat neat, but also not stressing too much about getting it perfect because, let's face it, actual candy corns are never perfect! The white layer started in the same way, but I tried to make it closer to the tip since usually the orange is the thickest layer on candy corn. Since there was already some white on the tip from the bottom layer, all the polishes only needed one coat, so this manicure was actually pretty fast to do!

Clinique - Black Tie Violets Set

On a recent trip into Macy's, I spotted this set from Clinique. I was immediately intrigued because it included a few products I've been curious about - the mascaras and Chubby Stick - and the eyeshadow colors looked lovely. As an added benefit, it was also bonus time, and as this set was $39.50, it qualified for the bonus! I'll save the gift with purchase for another post, though.

Since there are so many, the detailed photos of each product will be after the cut!

Face of the Day - October 22

This was the first time I used the Sonia Kashuk Eye On Dazzling Color palette. So far, I'm loving it! Can't wait to try some of the other shades!

For product photos and a list of the things I used, keep reading!

Nail Polish Comparison - butter LONDON Wallis

L-R: Safari Gold over Stone Cold, Safari Gold, Wallis, Zombie Zest over Stone Cold

For more photos and detailed information and comparisons, keep reading!

Nail Polish Comparison - Medium Pinks

This is the final post of pink polish comparisons! (For now at least!) 

L-R: China Glaze - Strawberry Fields, Covergirl - Fuchsia Girl, SXY (Payless) - Pink  Prestige

The Covergirl is a long-time favorite of mine - I've had a bottle of it for YEARS, and this is actually the second bottle! I had another one that I probably used about half of before the cap split and the polish dried out completely! It's a very opaque and easy to apply color.

Although I haven't had Strawberry Fields as long, it's definitely one of my favorites as well. It's so beautiful, especially in the sun. Although its base color is similar to the other pinks, the gold shimmer in it really makes it quite different. It's one polish I'd recommend everyone have in their collection - at the very least for summer pedicures!

Nail Polish Comparison - Neon Pinks

This group is definitely the least color-accurate of all the pinks! Neons are notoriously hard to get photographed correctly, and these are no exception. 

L-R: China Glaze - Light My Tiki, L.A. Colors (no name), China Glaze - Shocking Pink (Neon), Essie - Lights

Light My Tiki is the least "neon" of the bunch. It has glitter and dries to a shiny finish. It's very bright though! The L.A. Colors shade and Shocking Pink are both true matte/slight satin neons. The L.A. Colors one in particular is really opaque and even for a neon polish. The Essie dries to more of a satin than a matte finish, and isn't quite as in-your-face vibrant as the others, although it is still very, very bright. It also applies really beautifully. 

Nail Polish Comparison - Pale Pinks

Today's installment of pink nail polish comparisons features the pale/pastel pinks of my collection!

L-R: Revlon Colorstay - Cafe Pink, OPI - Pink Friday, China Glaze - Something Sweet, Revlon - Flirt

Cafe Pink and Pink Friday are very similar. I haven't actually worn a full manicure of either yet, so I can't say how they wear yet! Flirt is definitely the thinnest formula, but it's not actually that sheer! It is also the most purple of the four, but it fit into this bunch the best.

Face of the Day

Since I'm opening the store where I work most days this week, it sometimes will lead to me not having a lot of time to get ready in the morning! When that happens, I usually end up doing a fairly simple and/or neutral eye look and focusing on the lips as the color of the look, since that doesn't take as much time and patience. This was the case today.

 For photos and a list of all the products and tools used, keep reading!

Nail Polish Comparison - Light/Medium Pinks

I was enjoying picking out similar-looking polishes and taking comparison photos, so I did quite a few over the same weekend. The ones I'll be posting first are all the pinks I compared, since the color seems to be everywhere for breast cancer awareness currently! 

China Glaze's 'Naked' polish is one that was included in a set with Seche Vite topcoat and a little keychain. I believe 5% of the set's sales went to Susan G. Komen for the cure, which is a nice bonus. I just liked the pink and can always use another bottle of Seche Vite! Especially for $7.99 for the set!

L-R: Pixi - Pirouette Pink, Revlon Top Speed - Candy, China Glaze - Naked, China Glaze - Sugar High

China Glaze Sugar High is one of my favorite pink polishes of all time. Candy is a nice color, but I don't particularly enjoy the Top Speed formula - they seem to be tacky and actually dry slower than the regular Revlon polishes!

The Pixi polish is much brighter than it appears here, and I'm not sure if you're able to see it but there is a little bit of glitter/shimmer to it as well! It's interesting - like a neon pastel pink!

Face of the Day

Sometimes, even if I don't feel like doing much of anything with my hair or my outfit, I still make the effort to do my makeup! Today was one of those times.

For photos and names of all products and tools used, keep reading!

Face of the Day

 For photos and lists of the products used, keep reading!

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Collection

Because the Complete Salon Manicure line of polishes from Sally Hansen has been spotted on clearance at Walgreens, I figured now would be a good time to post my collection! I only have five from them since they're my least favorite line of Sally Hansen's, yet they're the most expensive. I prefer more opaque formulas. They're not difficult to work with if you don't mind sheerer polishes or putting on several layers, and as long as you don't have tiny nail beds, because the brush is quite wide.

The swatches are all done with about five coats.

For the names of the polishes and bottle photos, keep reading!

Nail Polish Comparison - Yellow-Greens

L-R (in all photos) : China Glaze Electric Pineapple, OPI Did It On 'Em, Sinful Colors Innocent

Once again, none of these are dupes for each other, but they're all very similar. Innocent is more green whereas the others have more yellow to them, and the OPI is a bit more vibrant, although certainly a very similar shade, to the China Glaze.

The Sinful Colors is a bit more opaque in one coat than the other two, but none of them take many coats to get even and opaque coverage. They're all a pretty nice formula to work with as well. I love fun, bright colors like these and would definitely recommend having one of them in your collection! They're great as accent nails or in nail art if you're not sure about wearing an entire manicure with a color like these, too.

Face of the Day - Studio Crawl Day 2

Products Used:

Rimmel Fix & Perfect Pro primer
Revlon Colorstay foundation
Revlon Colorstay Under Eye concealer
Revlon Photoready concealer
Milani Minerals compact makeup
Wet n Wild blush - Heather Silk
Physicians Formula Happy Booster - Translucent
Urban Decay All Nighter setting spray
MAC lipstick - Moxie
Prestige Brow Perfection - Light/Medium
Maybelline Great Lash clear mascara
MAC Paint Pot - Painterly
Sleek i-Divine Original palette
Physicians Formula eyeliner trio for blue eyes - black eyeliner
L'Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara

Face of the Day - Studio Crawl 2012

Today is the first of the two days of the Studio Crawl in Fargo-Moorhead. My mom's studio is in our house, so our family helps out. I figured I'd better look presentable! Of course, my job ended up being to stay upstairs with the dogs, so mostly just the internet gets to see my FOTD today!

It's kind of playing off the dress I'm wearing, which has an interesting pattern made up of several colors, including coral, teal, grey, and mustardy yellow. I chose my favorites from that to put on my face!

Products used:
Rimmel Fix & Perfect Pro Primer
Revlon Colorstay Under Eye concealer
Revlon Photoready concealer
Milani Minerals compact makeup
Wet n Wild blush - Pearlescent Pink
Prestige Brow Perfection - Light/Medium
Maybelline Great Lash clear mascara
Covergirl Lip Perfection - Fairytale
MAC Paint Pot - Painterly
Wet n Wild Brulee Eyeshadow
Wet n Wild Comfort Zone palette (Left: Browbone, Eyelid, Crease. Right: Crease.)
Wet n Wild Blue Had Me At Hello palette (Right: Eyelid)
Milani Shadow Eyez pencil - Aquatic Style
ELF Jumbo Eye Pencil - French Fries
L'Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara

Nail Polish Comparison - OPI vs China Glaze

Recently I realized that I could be using the many similar shades and near-dupes in my somewhat extensive nail polish collection to help other people avoid buying such similar colors, or deciding which one they want more! I plan to do several posts like this with different colors. 

First up, China Glaze Innocence vs. OPI Bubble Bath. I've heard OPI Bubble Bath mentioned quite a bit, but rarely have I seen Innocence brought up! I don't think they're 100% dupes, but they are very, very similar. 

L-R: Innocence on its own, Bubble Bath on its own, Innocence over white, Bubble Bath over white.

On their own, I had to use about six coats to get the opacity shown. I did use very thin coats to avoid streakiness or pooling, so it's possible that it could be done with fewer. Or, of course, if you don't mind the visible nail line, you could definitely get away with fewer coats! 

I also decided to test them over white. For this, I used two coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in White On as the base, and then I still used two or three coats to get a nice uniform coverage. I'm not very used to using sheer polishes, so there may be a better technique to apply them in fewer coats, but I think the color showed up well this way. 

The difference between the two polishes is most clear over white, but even then the difference is barely noticeable. I'm not sure if they're dupes if they're not 100% identical, but they are certainly close. The formulas performed equally in application, neither required more effort or more coats than the other.

September Manicures

These are becoming my favorite posts to put together! It's fun to see all the colors I used throughout the month. I was definitely in fall mode this month! Although For Audrey is always a favorite & I suspect it'll make an appearance most months.

1. Butter London Aston
2. Essie Your Hut Or Mine
3. Finger Paints Go Van Gogh!, OPI Swimsuit...Nailed it!
4. Sonia Kashuk Two Cent
5. Butter London Wallis
6. China Glaze For Audrey
7. Zoya Shawn, China Glaze Zombie Zest
8. Sally Hansen Insta Dri Whirlwind White, Wet n Wild Through the Grapevine, Revlon Impulsive
9. Butter London The Old Bill
10. L'Oreal Spice Things Up
11. Zoya Caitlin
12. Wet n Wild Wet Cement, OPI The World Is Not Enough
13. China Glaze For Audrey, Milani HD, Milani Gems, Essie Set in Stones, China Glaze Fairy Dust (I did a more specific post on just this manicure here.)

Face of the Day - With Falsies

I have quite a few pairs of fake lashes, but I rarely wear them because I don't normally bother to wear contacts, and when I wear my glasses, the falsies bump into the lenses! Besides, it would be very difficult to even tell I was wearing them. Today, however, I felt like putting some on! So I put on contacts. They may be a pain to put in and not that comfortable to wear, but they sure do make applying makeup easier! I'm not bumping all the ends of my brushes into the mirror!

Products Used:

Rimmel Fix & Perfect Pro
Neutrogena Shine Control Foundation
Revlon Colorstay Under Eye concealer
Maybelline Superstay Concealer
Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Sheerest Cream Blush - Bloom
Jordana Powder Blush - Tawny Beige
Pixi Flawless Beauty Powder
Covergirl Lip Perfection - Flame
Tweezerman Brow Powder Duo
Maybelline Great Lash clear
MAC Paint Pot - Painterly
Jordana Powder Eyeshadow - Bronzeville
Jordana Powder Eyeshadow - A Classic
ELF Beautybook Smoky Eye Edition - Matte nude
Physicians Formula Gel Liner Trio for Hazel Eyes  - brown
Covergirl Lash Perfection mascara
Ardell Invisiband Natural lashes - Babies

September Empties!

I feel as though I made a lot of progress as far as using products up this past month! Most things I've been working on a long time or else they were sample sizes, but it still feels good to get rid of more stuff!

I've done a brief review of each product, but if you want to know anything more specific, just ask!

For closer photos and my thoughts on each of them, keep reading!