Illamasqua Serenity

Posted on by Cynthia

Why does Illamasqua keep putting out such lovely polishes? Why do they want to push me to financial ruin? It’s ok, Illamasqua: I forgive you. It’s not your fault that I have no self control whatsoever. When I saw that they had added a few colors to their rubber finish polishes, this was the first one that made me run out to Sephora to see if it was in stock. It wasn’t yet, so I ordered it online along with 2 other colors from this line. For those of you who have NARS Koliary, how does this color compare? I didn’t get Koliary so this color kind of makes up for it in my mind.

(Before I forget, I would really appreciate some input about my pictures. I am using a new light box system that I set up today, and I don’t know if I need to change it up or what. I am used to taking direct sunlight pictures, but I need to move away from that because my schedule won’t allow it in the near future. So please let me know what you think.)

    

Serenity is such a beautiful shade of blue. Like its name states, it definitely has a serene quality to it. This polish is pretty freaking pigmented so you only need two coats but make sure that you don’t overwork the polish like I did. You can kind of see some brushstrokes, right? I wore a good ridge filling base coat because I find that this formula tends to show every single imperfection.

    

The two pictures show Serenity with a coat of Seche Vite. Ahhh….glossy and lovely.

    

And here is my feeble attempt at some type of nail art. I am such a fail at this stuff…I should just face the fact that all I can do is stamping!

What do you think of Illamasqua polishes? Are you a fan of the brand? Is there a color from their new Rubber Brights that you are interested in getting? Thanks for stopping by and have a great Wednesday.

P.S. As you can tell, I am finally trying out some watermarking. Today I got a few emails from people I had contacted about using my pics without giving me credit. They were all apologetic and said they would have credited me if they knew where the pics came from. Weak defense in my opinion, but maybe if I had watermarked, they would have credited. We shall see how it all pans out. As most of you know, there are a lot of shameless people out there who don’t care about stealing/using other people’s work.

Ninja Polish: Nail-Venturous Humblebee

Posted on by Cynthia

Today I have another installment of the reformed glitter hater chronicles. I’ve been on a serious glitter high for the last month or so despite all of my previous statements about hating glitter. I still have issues with it when it comes to removal, but otherwise I am mesmerized by the world of indie glitters. There are so many amazing glitters out there and I recently I did something I said I didn’t have the patience to do: buy some polishes on Etsy. Now, that statement came from all the complaints I would hear about having to stalk certain shops, but I had no problems whatsoever getting the glitters I wanted. That is probably going to change in the new future once people get a load of the polishes I have coming. I’ll have those later in the week so I’ll be able to post them soon.

I decided to use the second polish I recently purchased from Ninja Polish: Humblebee. It is such an amazing matte glitter in the same vein of Floam. I layered it over Wet N Wild Pin ‘Em Slater from their HTF collection, Saved By The Nail. I didn’t really need a base color because you can build up Humblebee to opacity, but you have to be sure to allow each coat to dry or else you risk dragging.

 

 

    

This is 3 coats of Pin ‘Em Slater. If you don’t want VNL, you must wear some white undies.

    

And here is the majestic Humblebee. Ahhh….so pretty!

Sorry for more food porn…don’t mean to make you hungry. I was so in the mood for these carne asada tacos so they hit the spot.

Today was not as hot but it was still pretty gross. I can’t wait for this weather to just calm the F down. How has your week been? Ready for hump day tomorrow?

Also, don’t forget to enter my two giveways:

Free Julep Maven Intro box ($40 value) details here

Polish package + Beauty Samples details here

Thanks so much for stopping by and indulging my glittery beating heart.

Sephora Day

Posted on by Cynthia

On the heels of asking all of you if I post too much, here I am with a second post today! haha! I just got so excited that I wanted to share these new polishes I picked up today. I think I tweeted earlier that I was going to go scope out all the drugstore deals so I went to Walgreens and Rite-Aid because I wanted to see if I could find those WNW Halloween polishes. Alas, I didn’t find them. Feeling sad and dejected, I went to one of my favorite places:

And I feel super deluxe lucky that my Sephora has a MUFE boutique!! I’m spoiled, I know.

So the reason why I am posting today again is because I picked up two gorgeous polishes that I had not even heard about. Being the Sephwhora that I am, I can’t believe these flew under my radar. Are you ready for awesomeness?

This beauty is the Sephora + Pantone Universe Jewel Lacquer in Parachute Purple. I don’t even have the words to describe it right now.

I only picked up two of the colors because I wanted to try them out first before buying a few of the other colors that looked interesting. These are the two colors I got:

I was also really excited about their latest 500 pt perk so I ended up getting two. If you think about it, I had to spend $1,000 dollars to get these since each dollar is worth 1 point. lol

I usually think that their perks are lame and worthless so when something good comes around, I make sure to stock up. These are full-size tubes of Benefit Porefessional!!!

So what do you think about Parachute Purple? I can’t want to try Reflecting Pond. Are you going to check these out at Sephora?

Summer Blue

Posted on by Cynthia

Lately I have been on a China Glaze kick. Since I have so many dusties in my area, I always like to go and look for older China Glaze polishes…especially the pre big-3 free polishes. I am convinced that one of these days I am going to find Channelesque if I just look hard enough.

    

Rain Storm was first released in the China Rain collection for Spring/Summer 2001. It was then also re-promoted as part of the Rainbow of Hope Collection in 2010. Let me just tell you that I absolutely adore this polish. I don’t even care that it was crazy sheer and I needed 4 coats to reach bottle color.

    

And because I couldn’t help myself, I added a coat of China Glaze Blue Hawaiian. I am IN LOVE with this combination. I’ve seriously been wearing this for 2 days now and I anticipate leaving this on for at least another day! *gasp*

Even though it’s still early in the day here, it’s supposed to be a little cooler. I am so looking forward to it!!! OMG…I think I just heard the UPS guy’s truck. Gotta go!

Guess Who’s Having Another Giveaway?!

Posted on by Cynthia

EDIT 8/25: I am noticing that I am getting a lot of entries from new people who are not showing up as followers in my stats. In order for you to be eligible, you MUST be a blog follower. If you follow my blog via email, you have to confirm your subscription. If you don’t confirm it in your email, you will not show up as a follower so you will NOT be eligible for the prize.

Am I a giveaway freak, or what? I’ve been seriously building up a crazy giveaway stash, and I figured I might as well do one now. The exciting part of this giveaway is that I am opening it up to the top 4 countries in my readership stats which means that this giveaway will be open to US, Canada, France and UK residents!

To enter, you can go to my facebook page and click on the Giveaway tab  or you can click here a Rafflecopter giveaway and enter that way. The giveaway is live NOW and will run until the end of the month.

So what will you get if you win??

essence Nude It!, essence Where Is The Party?, Sinful Colors Lavender, Zoya Nimue & WNW Nerd Alert: Screech

You will also get a bunch of random samples as well as a surprise or two…depends on how many entries I get. 😉

I wanted to ask all of you a few questions about my blog because lately I have been having a lot of trouble keeping up with comments and especially keeping up with all the blogs I follow. As some of you may know, I’ve been interviewing lately so that cuts down on my free time as well as what colors I can wear unless I want to change my nails more than usual. The absolute best part of having a blog, in my opinion, is interacting with all of you so I hate feeling like I’m dropping the ball by not answering questions/emails that I get. I also miss being able to visit all the blogs on my reader regularly. Normally, I post once a day but that has become a bit harder so I’m thinking of changing things up a little bit which is where your opinions come in. I have a few polls down bellow and it would mean a lot to me if you would take a minute or two to answer my questions.

Also, don’t forget to enter my Julep giveaway for a FREE Julep Maven Intro box. Click here to enter the giveaway or you can click here to read about how you can enter for the free box and also sign up for a box for only $0.01!!!

All of these questions are only about my blog. If you’re on twitter, you know it’s way easier for me to be on there and interact with everyone. I am very committed to this blog so I want to make sure that my posts are enjoyable to write and also enjoyable to read. Thank you so much for your continued support!

Stamping Sunday: Can’t Wait For Fall

Posted on by Cynthia

I am a fall person. I can’t help it. I was born during the Autumnal Equinox, and I always found something poetic about it because I’ve always felt like I was an old soul with a darker disposition. Maybe that’s one of the reasons why I hate summer so much!

This Sunday, our theme is “Can’t Wait For Fall” and it couldn’t be more appropriate for me. Today I’m teasing you with Pumpkin Delight, a color from the Jessica Spicy Dream collection that is not available just yet. It should be available this month so keep an eye out for it if you love dark, spicy and rich fall colors. If you would like to see swatches of the whole collection, you can click here.

I started out with 2 coats of Pumpkin Delight:

    

Then I used stamp BM 309 for this design. I’ve got to admit that I hate birds. They freak me out so this was a big step for me to actually have birds on my nails even if they are supposed to be cute owls.

    

   

So what do you think of this look? I wasn’t feeling super inspired today. This was actually my second mani for Stamping Sunday; the first one was a complete fail that I didn’t even photograph before taking it off. Don’t you hate it when things don’t work out at all the way you pictured them in your mind?

I hope this weekend has been nice and relaxing for you. The heat has not eased up here in So Cal so I’m beyond grouchy at this point. All I have to say is that next week better be cooler or else…

Kiss My A’s With Sticks N’ Stones

Posted on by Cynthia

When I ran into a nicely stocked Sation display, I knew I was in trouble. My usual Sation nail place is always out of the colors that I really want so I jumped all over this and grabbed way more than I should have:

Most of the polishes come from the Class Of Sation Collection which is freaking adorable. I love all the crazy names such as Jock Juggler, Class Flirt and Miss Emo Shun All.

Now I have another one to share with you: Kiss My A’s!

Sation calls this a vibrant watermelon shade but it looks a little more red/orange/coral to me. The more I look at it, the more I start to see the watermelon reference…although, if my watermelon was that color, I’d probably be afraid to eat it. lol Since this is a neon, it dries to a satin finish so you have to use a topcoat if you want a shiny finish. As usual, I used Seche Vite. If you don’t like VNL, you should use some white undies.

And for the final look, I layered a coat of Sticks N’ Stones over Kiss My A’s. I don’t know about you, but I lurve this! I am also super happy to get this version instead of giving any money to Miss Shady McShady (I think you know who I’m talking about!)

Today was a great nail mail day. I received my Cult Nails order that wasn’t scheduled for delivery until tomorrow so I was very happy.

Then I also received my latest Sephora order with my Illamasqua goodies and my VIB sample bag.

I accidentally bought 2 bottles of the yellow nails inc. so I’m putting one in my giveaway stash. 🙂

So what do you think about my combo of Kiss My A’s and Sticks N’ Stones? This polish came from my first Ninja Polish order and I am hooked. I also bought Humblebee which I will be trying soon. Currently I am waiting for Alexandrite to come back in stock…it literally sold out in hours. Ugh! I don’t know if the weather was more mild where you live, but it was actually bearable here today so I am definitely happy about that. Let’s hope that this becomes a cooling trend!

Thanks for stopping by!

Jessica Cosmetics Spicy Dream Collection Fall 2012

Posted on by Cynthia

It seems that last week I was saying how summer has been pretty mild here in Southern California, and now I am roasting in my own sweat. It is so hot here that I can barely function. Whenever it gets this hot, I tend to be in a foul mood so I’m sorry if you’ve been unlucky enough to be the recipient of that. I’ve been saying that I am so ready for fall ever since May and it’s not just because it gets cooler, but also because of the drool-worthy nail polish fall collections. I was lucky enough to get my hands on the Jessica Cosmetics Spicy Dream collection, and I couldn’t wait to swatch it for all of you.

When I first saw these colors, I was immediately reminded of being in France. Let me elaborate: Back in 1999, D. and I were studying in Paris together (Paris X – Woo hoo!) and one of his friends was supposed to take us to his family’s house in Normandy for the weekend. Well, that weekend was an utter catastrophe because there was a terrible storm that leveled forests, ruined roads…it was a nightmare. But, we ended up taking off anyway and spent the weekend touring  different areas…Pont-l’Évêque (which has an amazing cheese), Honfleur, Deauville…ahhh…it was a nice weekend. This was also the weekend when D. created his infamous Sopa Castellana (Castillian Soup). I have no idea what he put in it, but I just remember eggs and chorizo…it was delish. So the reason why I am talking about all this is because we drank a lot of Calvados which is an apple brandy. Calvados is such a pretty color, and I was instantly transported back there when I saw these rich fall colors from the Spicy Dream collection. These colors also remind me of the spice souks that I loved so much when I was in Tunisia and Morocco. Can you tell I miss traveling?

Let’s move on to some swatches:

    

CHAMPAGNE BUBBLES:  This was my least favorite polish of the collection. I just don’t like the way it looks on me. China Glaze also has a polish called Champagne Bubbles but it is very yellow while this is much lighter and has a more delicate feel to it. Whenever I swatch, I always use Seche Vite as my topcoat and something weird happened when I applied it: it dragged and the polish got a wrinkled look to it so I had to remove it and reapply.

    

PUMPKIN DELIGHT:  This is my absolutely favorite polish of this collection. I love how rich it looks. It’s just breathtaking.

    

GINGERSNAP:  This is one is a pretty color as well. It’s obviously not as intense as Pumpkin delight, but it’s still pretty. Oh, and I am a gingersnap freak…I love them so much!

    

CINNAMON KISS:  This polish looks like something I’ve seen many times before, but I see how it fits into this collection. I always love these type of polishes that have a glowing quality to them

    

CRIMSON TATTOO:  Don’t laugh but this color made me think of Kat Von D. I wouldn’t say that I am a huge fan, but I love what she does with make up.I love how bloody this color looks and it’s probably the color I would wear the most year-round.

    

BROWN SUGAR:  I think this is the most unique polish in this whole collection. In my opinion, it’s one of those ugly pretty colors that you can’t really nail down. It has the strangest shimmer in the bottle: it looks a bit blue to me but it’s almost like some marbling. You can barely see it on the nail, but you can definitely tell that it’s not a flat creme.

Overall, I do like this collection despite the fact that I don’t think some of these colors compliment my skin tone very well. I can’t really fault them for that because I’m sure others can really rock these colors. I can already see some of these colors as an awesome base for Thanksgiving nail art. The main thing that I didn’t like was that the first three colors were very difficult to remove. There was shimmer/glitter all over my fingers, my nails and embedded in my cuticles so I had to use pure acetone for removal. No one ever said beauty would be painless. The second part of the collection, which is intensely pigmented, surprised me because none of the polishes stained at all. I figured that Crimson Tattoo would be the biggest staining nightmare because of the pigmentation, but it removed effortlessly. I only had to use two coats for all of these polishes and some of them could do with one coat if you apply it carefully.

Are you ready for Fall? I think that we can start getting into the Fall mood with the lovely polish collections that will start to crop up even if the weather refuses to cooperate. Let me know what you think of this collection. Will you be picking up any of these colors? Do you have a favorite? Are you a Jessica fan? I am!!!!! They released my favorite collection of 2012 so far: Gelato Mio! Check out my swatches here if you haven’t gotten your hands on any of those beauties. The Spicy Dream collection will be out this month at www.jessicacosmetics.com and at salons and spas internationally.

Thanks for stopping by and remember: enabling = caring.

****These items were sent for review. This in no way influences my review and opinion of the product.****

You Won! 3rd Round Wet N Wild Saved By The Nail Giveaway

Posted on by Cynthia

Just a quick note to let you all know that Jodi has won the 3rd round of my Wet N Wild Saved By The Nail/Saved By The Bell Giveaway! I emailed her last night and she already got back to me so I will be mailing out her prize this week.

Thanks to everyone who entered! Also, don’t forget that I am hosting another giveaway right now. I am working with Julep to give away a FREE Julep Maven Intro box!! You can enter that giveaway by clicking here.

Thanks again for stopping by, commenting and just being so supportive of my little blog.
Cynthia

Are You A Julep Maven? – Review & Giveaway!

Posted on by Cynthia

EDIT 8/28: Please make sure that If you follow my blog via email, that you confirm your subscription. If you don’t confirm it in your email, you will not show up as a follower.

How many of you have heard of Julep? Ever since I became a total polish freak, I have been keeping track of everything polish related as if my life depended on it. How many collections can one person possibly keep track of? The scary part is that I am a crazy polish savant and seem to remember the name of every polish and what collections they come from. Weird, right?

So, it’s about time I started looking into the Julep world. The intro box that I chose is the Boho Glam box which came with two bottles of nail polish and a tube of pedicure cream/moisturizer.

Julep polishes in Toni and Sasha and a tube of The Best Pedi Creme Ever!

I picked the Boho Glam box because of Toni. I know some of you are probably sick of the purple/greige polishes, but I am still seriously in love with them especially now that fall is coming. Sasha is not a color I would normally choose, but I’ve been trying to branch out a bit in my polish choices. I was also really looking forward to the pedi creme because I am always looking for something that will moisturize and exfoliate without being crazy greasy. When I looked at the tube closely, I noticed that there were mint leaves on it and my heart fell. I absolutely hate mint/peppermint scents on lotions because I always get headaches when I use them–especially if I apply them before bed. Well, I am happy to report that the mint scent is very faint and it smells more like cucumber to me: refreshing and cooling. I have used this pedi creme two days in a row and I have to tell you that I am in freaking love with this stuff. I don’t think that my feet have ever been as soft and best of all, the creme is not greasy at all. I will definitely be using this every single night…it’s a lifesaver. No more freaking out about wearing sandals or flip-flops!

I decided to wear Toni today:

Julep calls this a greige with a hint of lavender, and I think that it is a perfect description. It applied like a dream, and I only needed two thin coats for full opacity. I can’t get enough of creme polishes!!!

Now for the super deluxe good news: I am so excited to announce that I am hosting a giveaway in conjunction with Julep where you can win an intro Julep Maven box!! In order to enter, you can use this link: a Rafflecopter giveaway  This giveaway will run until 9/7/2012 so you have plenty of time to enter.

You can also sign up to be a Julep Maven for just $0.01 for your introductory box!!! YES, JUST ONE PENNY! How? Well, let me tell you how. Sign up by clicking on my link here and use promo code MAVENINTRO  By signing up using my link, you are helping support my site so click away! 🙂

For more information about the Julep Maven membership program, here are some details from Julep’s website:

As a Julep Maven, your monthly subscription of just $19.99 delivers exclusive access to at least $40 worth of products handpicked to suit your style.After your introductory box, you’ll start receiving a Julep Maven Box each month, including:

  • At least $40 worth of customized products elegantly packaged in our exclusive giftable box
  • New, never-before-released colors and treatments sent FIRST to you, before anyone else
  • Past hits and cult favorites–the products our girlfriends can’t live without.

Your Maven subscription also comes with free shipping, 20% off all purchases in the Julep Maven Boutique and the peace of mind that comes with knowing there’s never any obligation to buy.

We’ll send an email previewing your upcoming Julep Maven Box on the 20th of each month. Like what you see? Do nothing and your box is on its way. Want to try a new style, send your box to a friend or skip the month? Just log into your account between the 20th and the 24th to submit your request.

Don’t miss your chance to enter to win a free Julep Maven Intro box here. Even better, make sure you get your own box for just a penny by clicking here and using promo code MAVENINTRO

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you get a chance to try Julep because so far, I am thoroughly impressed with the quality of their products.

If you want an extra chance to win your very own Julep Maven intro box, visit Nicole’s blog here and enter there as well!! Woo hoo! Two chances?! Yes, please!

****These items were sent for review. This in no way influences my review and opinion of the product.****