Saturday, November 26, 2011

OPI; Designer ... De Better!

Swatches and Review
OPI - Designer... De Better!


For this week, I'm wearing OPI's Designer... De Better. This is from their 2011 holiday Muppet's collection & I love this nail polish! I am normally not a big fan of foil finish polishes, but this one is just gorgeous! It looks like a silver, almost light bronze with dark bronze flecks on it, just perfect for the holidays! On my accent nail, I'm wearing China Glaze's Twinkle Lights from their 2011 winter Let it Snow collection. I know it seems really Christmas-y, but it is the perfect way to get you in the Christmas spirit! Especially when Thanksgiving is over & Christmas is coming next :)

I love the color of Designer... De Better, however, it took me 4 coats to get it opaque and the formula for mine was kind of runny. Maybe I just got a bad batch? If my nails are in sunlight, you can still see my nail itself so it might be better to wear a light-colored base coat. Other than that, I really love how the color looks! Own it? Love it? Share!

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Wednesday, November 23, 2011

theBalm; Balmbini Vol. 1

Swatches and Review
The Balmbini Volume 1

Jealous Jordana, Insane Jane, Mary Lou-Manizer, Hot Mama & Down Boy


All swatches have been swatched over Urban Decay's Primer Potion


This is the Balmbini from theBalm cosmetics, which is a company based in San Francisco. I bought this palette a while back & I use the blushes from these almost everyday. This palette is basically my go to palette in the morning to just put on some blush quickly before I leave for school. I know that they have the Balmbini Vol. 2 now & although I'm a bit disappointed in it since it does not contain any pressed powder blushes, I'm still dying to get my hands on it since all the shadows appear to be new except for Open to Offers Olwen.. unless they renamed a few shades.

Here are the reviews from the Balmbini Vol. 1:
Down Boy: It is a matte pink shadow/blush. I mainly use this for blush because Down Boy appears on my eyelids sheer. This blush is very pigmented so I always have to be careful when I am putting it on so I don't end up looking like a clown! A little goes a long way :)

Hot Mama: Hot Mama is also a blush that can be used as a shadow as well. This is a pink-ish peach colored blush with specks of gold shimmer to it. It is comparable to NARS Orgasm, but at a more affordable price! If you buy the full product, it is $19 on Sephora and you get 0.25oz worth of product while NARS is $27 for 0.16oz worth of product. I own both of the blushes and I can see myself buying more of Hot Mama over Orgasm because Hot Mama is super pigmented as well. I suggest also using a light hand on this because a little goes a long way!

Mary Lou-Manizer: This is a luminizer & I usually go to this to highlight my cheeks or my eyes after applying eyeshadow on. It's definitely not a luminizer that will make your face look too "glowy" and like the other products, this is also very pigmented as well. A full size for this is $24 at Sephora, but they are selling theBalm sets at TJ Maxx now & there is a set that includes a full size of this product for $29.99 that also has a brush & lip gloss in it.

Insane Jane: Insane Jane is an eyeshadow that is also in Shady Lady Vol. 2. Insane Jane is a gorgeous taupe color which is work appropriate. In the pictures of my swatches, the eyeshadow was only swiped on once & it was already very dark on my skin. I love using this color whenever I go for a neutral eye look.

Jealous Jordana: This is a dark shimmery forest green. I love dark colors, and I do think this is very pigmented, BUT this color fades off on me real fast. Maybe it's just me because even when I apply this color with primer, the color fades off me in less than an hour so I end up looking like my eyes have uneven color on it especially when I am using this color with something else. I think this looks amazing on my swatches and in general, but if only it would last on me for more than an hour, I would love it more.

Overall, I think this is a great product to get if you are curious about trying items from the brand because it has a few of the best selling shades in this small CD sized palette which will actually last you a long time! Everything in this palette is pigmented and have a really soft & buttery texture to it. The eyeshadows have a bit of fall out given since the eyeshadows are so soft so remember to tap your brushes before applying :) This palette is available on thebalm.com for $28 and if you are in the US, theBalm offers free shipping and unlike other brands, theBalm also ships items internationally, although it does cost a bit much.

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Saturday, November 19, 2011

Color Club; Worth the Risque

Swatches and Review
In direct sunlight

In direct sunlight

In the shade



This is Worth the Risque from Color Club. I used Rainbow Connection from OPI on my ring finger as an accent. I absolutely love Worth the Risque. It is a silver holographic polish & it is affordable too! The nail polish itself was kind of thick, but it wasn't hard to work with & it dried fast. I have 3 coats of Worth the Risque on.
Rainbow Connection is from OPI's holiday Muppet's collection. I love how there are so many different colored glitters in here! I always wanted Deborah Lippmann's Happy Birthday, but I never wanted to spend so much on it so I'm happy I was able to get Rainbow Connection at a much cheaper price! It actually took me a while to get it because everywhere I went to was sold out of it. I was actually thinking of buying a second bottle, but I ended up not doing so since I don't think I will end up using the whole bottle anyway. The removal was hard, but that is a given since this is a glitter. I used to foil method, but some of the glitter were still there & it was stuck on like super glue! I had to peel it off and I used Worth the Risque under it as well as a base coat. Other than a removal, it is an amazing rainbow glitter polish!

Own it? Love it or not?

*these images are mine. Please do not use them

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Subtle Purple Eye







I have a lot of makeup, but I rarely use them &when I do wear makeup, I usually don't use a lot of colors since I usually keep my eye makeup natural. This is a subtle purple eye look & I have swatches for you guys to see as well :)

Colors used:
Urban Decay: Sellout
Urban Decay: Ecstacy
Urban Decay: Jet
theBalm: Mary Lou-Manizer
MAC Lipstick: Plum Dandy

How do you guys normally like wearing your makeup? With a lot of color, or with very neutral colors? :)

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Nail Polish Collection (July 2011)



This is my nail polish collection from July 2011. I have gotten a lot more since then, but I haven't gotten around to updating it & it is scattered all over for now. I'm constantly buying so many nail polishes, I can never use them all! I will post up some nail polish swatches on here whenever I get the chance to. Meanwhile, you guys can check out my LUUUX for some swatches :)

Luuux Account

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