L.A. Colors Color Craze Nail Polish Set - Swatches

These are the nail polishes I used the week of November 7th - 13th. I got them all together in a set from Marshall's. Unfortunately, the individual polishes do not have names. The photos are in reverse order - I wore the orange on the 13th and they go backwards from there.

End of July Outfits

July 22nd
Shirt: The Gap
Skirt: H&M
Earrings: Wet Seal
Necklace: Forever 21
Shoes: Payless

July 28th
Dress: Target
Shoes: Payless

I just got this dress and I LOVE it – it’s so nice and lightweight for summer, but it could easily be worn in the fall also with tights and/or a sweater. Plus it has pockets! (Why all skirts and dresses don’t have pockets is beyond me.) Meanwhile, I’ve had those shoes since 2006 I think.

July 29th
Shirt: The Gap (different color but same shirt as the 22nd)
Skirt: Forever 21
Earrings: gift – unknown
Shoes: thrifted

Rainbow and White Crackle Manicure

This is probably my favorite manicure I’ve done to date. It’s so fun! And it lasted really well on my nails.

The top picture is me trying out different things on my nail wheel. I knew I wouldn’t be patient enough to try to get the lines straight and even enough to leave them alone, so crackle seemed like a good solution. I thought I would like the contrast of the black, but I ended up loving the look of the white.

I started with a base layer of China Glaze White On White. The pink is Covergirl Fuchsia Girl, blue is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Blue Me Away, the yellow is the Xtreme Wear in Mellow Yellow, and the orange is Maybelline Orange Blazes.

After the stripes were dried, I went over with China Glaze Lightning Bolt crackle polish.

I used the China Glaze Strong Adhesion base coat and the Fast Forward top coat as well.

4th of July Look

For my eyes, I started with the Palladio eye primer, then put the NYX jumbo pencil in Milk on the lid and the one in Cherry on the crease. I used the white shadow from the Covergirl Drama Eyes quad on the lid and the NYX single eyeshadow in Cherry over the red. I used the Milani Infinite eyeliner in Infinite and Covergirl Lashblast waterproof mascara in Glam Black.

Tank Top: Express

Shorts: Target

Shoes: Payless

Nails of the Day: Funky French Tips

I love the way these polishes look together, probably because of their similar shimmer qualities. I tried a few looks before choosing one.

The green is Zoya’s Ivanka and the blue is Orly’s Halley’s Comet

The winning combination (this time):

The pink is China Glaze’s Strawberry Fields and the purple is Dannii from Zoya.

I am really loving these two polishes together. Although I think I’ll need to combine the blue and green polishes soon!

Outfit of the Day: Paramore Purple

T-shirt: Paramore fall ‘09 tour

Tank top (underneath): Target

Jeans/Jeggings: American Eagle

Shoes: MIA, thrifted

Earrings: H&M

Outfit of the Day: 6.20.11

Sorry for getting this one out late! Somehow slipped my mind to post yesterday.

Top: Old Navy

Jeans: Express

Earrings: Wet Seal

Shoes: Target

I seriously regret not having bought this shirt in a million colors. It was $5 last summer and it really is one of my favorite shirts – lightweight and comfortable without being totally transparent.

Tape Manicure: Coral & Tiffany blue

Feeling uninspired, I asked the lovely people on the Beauty Broadcast fan page on Facebook what I should do with my nails. Rather than choose just one of their suggestions, I combined most of them into one manicure!
As a base color, I used Revlon’s Tropical Temptation.
After cutting what felt like a million superthin strips of tape and placing them on my nails, I topped them off with a thick coat of China Glaze’s For Audrey.
I used the Revlon Quick Dry basecoat and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri tocoat.
For doing this type of manicure, make sure you pull the tape off IMMEDIATELY. I accidentally went on and painted two nails and by the time I went back to the first one to peel it off, the For Audrey had gotten a bit tacky and it ended up getting bits into the coral. I just dipped a nail art brush into the coral and touched it up after it had dried, but just a forewarning.

Spring Nail Haul and Swatches

These are the nail polishes I've gotten over the past few months!

L-R: Sally Hansen - Lacey Lilac, Sinful Colors - Soul Mate, Maybelline - Timely Turquoise

Top, L-R: China Glaze - Electric Pineapple* (Island Escape Collection), China Glaze - For Audrey, China Glaze - Dorothy Who?, Finger Paints - Laugh My Art Off, Sinful Colors - Hazard, Maybelline Orange Blazes (LE)
Bottom, L-R: Revlon Matte Suede - Powder Puff, Revlon - Frankly Scarlet, OPI - Black Shatter, Urban Outfitters - Afterhours

*There are two swatches of Electric Pineapple because I could NOT get it to photograph as it looks in real life! The real color is more of a combination of the two swatches.

Wet n Wild Comfort Zone Palette: Left Side

Besides primer and mascara, this eye look is entirely from the four shadows on the left side of the Wet n Wild Comfort Zone palette. I used them for the purpose that is stamped into each shadow, with the one labeled "Definer" as liner. 

I used Palladio herbal eyeshadow primer and Maybelline The Colossal mascara in Glam Black.

I picked up the NYX Jumbo lip pencil in Soft Fuchsia on clearance at Urban Outfitters for $1.99 this week as well. I thought I would try it with this neutral look, but I just don't think it flatters my skin. I'll try using it with other products or looks because the product itself is really nice - it goes on so easily, very opaque, and feels really soft and moisturizing on the lips.

Bright Pink Lipsticks: Drugstore Comparison with MAC Candy Yum Yum

Today when I stopped in CVS I spotted several lipsticks that were very bright pink in the tube and was wondering how they compared with MAC's Candy Yum Yum (one of my favorites!)

L-R: MAC Candy Yum Yum, Milani Rose Hip, Revlon Super Lustrous Matte - 011 Stormy Pink,  Wet n Wild 511B

Same order as the tubes. Top picture is with flash, bottom is without.
As you can probably tell, none of these are actually dupes for Candy Yum Yum, but the Milani and the Wet n Wild aren't too far off in color. They're both a creme finish whereas the MAC and Revlon are matte. The Revlon is definitely the most disappointing. It was the most expensive of the three I picked up today, and it looked gorgeous in the tube, but it just applies so sheerly! It still has a really nice texture and it is a pretty color, so it would probably be perfect for those who like the idea behind Candy Yum Yum but aren't comfortable wearing really bright lipsticks.
The Wet n Wild is also pretty sheer, but it's also still bright. I was really surprised at how nicely pigmented it was, considering the price.
Of the three, Milani Rose Hip is definitely my favorite. It has a really nice texture and it lasts really well, especially for such an affordable product. The only downside to it, for me, is the smell! It's really strong and I can still smell it once it's on my lips. I can't put my finger on the smell, but it's either fruity or sweet..either way, I am not a fan! I can probably get over it, though, since otherwise the product is great.

Milani Rose Hip

Top 10: Spring Nail Polishes

China Glaze - Lemon Fizz

China Glaze - Re-Fresh Mint

China Glaze - Something Sweet

China Glaze - Spontaneous

Essence - The World's Coolest

Finger Paints - Vermillion $ Painting

Revlon - Tropical Tempation

Revlon - Candy

Sephora by OPI - Caribbean Cocktail

Zoya - Dannii

Nails of the Day: Silver and Pink

Silver: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Celeb City
Crackle: China Glaze - Broken Hearted

Very simple but I really love the way this manicure turned out! The silver is great because it's pretty much opaque in one coat. The crackle seemed to work especially well over this polish, too. It's glittery but still smooth.

Nails of the Day: Spring Flowers

This is the manicure I had for Easter weekend. I used China Glaze Lemon Fizz as the base, then used one of the flower patterns from the Essence Nail Art Stampy Set. I used Milani Nail Art Polish in Draw in Pink for the stamps. Instead of just doing one stamp per nail, I thought it would be cuter to cover more of the nail. Unfortunately I'm not very good at positioning the stamp yet and some of them overlapped. Despite that, and that some of the flowers got smeared by my topcoat, I like how it turned out! Hopefully I'll get better at stamping eventually!

Nails of the day: Glitter!

I’ve been a lover of cream nail polishes forever, but lately I’ve been loving glitter!

I’ve also picked up an excessive amount of new nail polishes in the last few months, so I’ve wanted to try wearing all of them. I decided to do more than one at a time for this one!

The blue is China Glaze – Dorothy Who?

Accent nail is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear – Rockstar Pink

I did three coats of both. Dorothy Who? was pretty good after two but I wanted it a little more intense so I went with three. Rockstar Pink is definitely chunky so you’ll probably want a hefty later of topcoat to smooth it out.

Nails of the Day–Green Stripe Manicure

Without flash

With flash

 

For this manicure, I used China Glaze Entourage as the base (the bright green), waited for it to dry, then applied strips of regular clear tape diagonally across all my nails. On top of that, I applied a generous layer of Zoya Ivanka (the darker, sparkly green) then immediately peeled the tape off. After it had dried a little, I put on a top coat. Currently I’m trying out China Glaze Fast Forward. I like it so far, although I don’t like the smell much; it’s different from regular nail polish and Seche Vite.

This manicure was really easy and only took awhile because I let the first green dry for quite awhile before putting the tape on. I definitely recommend trying it! Regular clear tape (I have the cheapest version I could find, some generic brand from Target) worked much better than the electrical tape I tried last time I did a tape manicure since it’s easier to get it pressed flat onto the nail, resulting in less of the top color seeping through.

ELF Studio Products–Review and Swatches

Cream Eyeliner – Gunmetal

Lip Stain – Birthday Suit

Swatched on my hand

Lip stain on my lips (before I applied gloss)

 

The cream liner is very creamy and lasts well on my lids (I always set cream liner with powder; I haven’t tried it alone), however I do feel that it applies pretty sheer and takes a layer or two before it looks how I want it to. For $3, I’m not really complaining, though.

The lip stain is easy to apply, but takes a really long time to dry on the lips. Barely any gloss comes out each time I remove the wand, I need to re-dip the wand several times to get anything on my lips! As a result of too little product, I have noticed that it can sometimes pull the stain color back off with it. I’ve had much better luck when I just use the stain and then a different gloss. I definitely do not recommend using this product if you have dry lips as it can settle into flakey areas and highlight them, which no one wants! I do love the color. Pale pink is pretty much my nude, after all.

Covergirl Lipstick–Temptress Swatches

I had some Covergirl coupons and some CVS extrabucks so I picked up this lipstick today. I love pink lips and this one was in between the very pale and very bright pinks I have. Although it feels a bit drying on its own, it wears pretty well and I love the color, so overall I am not disappointed.