NARS Joie De Vivre Cheek Palette

I have reviewed it here. :)

Remember the Danmari Cheek palette from NARS that was sold exclusively at Sephora last Holiday season? Well this time, there is a palette that looks exactly like that with different colors (well.. Orgasm is in there, yet again) for Nordstrom's Anniversary Sale! This palette is called Joie de Vivre, which means Joy of Life (in French & correct me if I'm wrong, I only took French in High School =x). The colors included in the palette will be Laguna, Orgasm, Luster, Angelika, Gaiety, and Albatross. I wish they included something else instead of Orgasm, although that is one of their "best selling" shades, and I feel like Gaiety and Angelika are very similar to each other. However, I might end up just buying it anyway if I get the chance to & if it doesn't sell out by the time the Anniversary sale starts for the public since there is a pre-sale for Nordstrom cardholders. Here is how the palette looks like:

Exactly like the Danmari, right? Just different colors and no Super Orgasm! Each shade contains 0.12 oz of product, whereas one full NARS blush contains 0.16 oz of product, so it is almost full-sized.
What do you think about this palette? Would you be getting it?

Click to read more!

OPI - The Color of Minnie

Swatches & Review
The Color of Minnie is from OPI's 2012 Vintage Minnie Mouse collection. The Color of Minnie is well.. basically the color of Minnie, which is RED! Normally, I'm not the person to wear red. The only two other reds I actually use is Zoya's Reva & Essie's Big Bag Theory. Originally, I was not going to purchase anything from this collection, but after seeing it in person, I had to have it!
The Color of Minnie is a Red with subtle silver shimmer in it. The shimmer was hard to capture, and it is hard to see indoors, but when it's outdoor, the shimmer is a lot more visible. This was a really pigmented red color, and I could have totally gotten away with one coat easily. For my swatches, I used two coats. Application was smooth, so I had no problems with it at all. On my ring finger, I am also using another color from this collection, which is called I'm All Ears. It is a pink with darker pink & some blue shimmer. The shimmer in I'm All Ears is definitely more noticeable than The Color of Minnie. I'm All Ears required three coats since it is sheerer than The Color of Minnie. However, it did not affect the application of it at all.
Overall, I like these colors. I feel like they are perfect for summer, especially I'm All Ears since it is bright. My camera had a hard time capturing The Color of Minnie, so in real life, it is a tad bit darker, but it is definitely a gorgeous color. Both of these applied perfectly and even when I'm using it in almost 100 degree weather, it was not goopey after a while of applying, which is the trouble I have with some polishes when I'm painting my nails while it's hot out.

What do you think about this collection? Love it? Hate it? Let me know! :)

Click to read more!

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain: Precious

Swatches & Review
Revlon's Precious balm stain is a "nude" colored balm stain. This balm stain took even longer than Honey to find because Target does not sell this shade in stores. I don't know why, but when I went to Target locations, I noticed they only sell the balm stains in 10 out of the 12 shades that are available. However, they do sell it online on Target. Anyway, the only reason why I call it "nude" is because when you first apply it, it does look kind of nude, but after a while, the stain is not so nude. I tried it on yesterday and even though it looked nice in the beginning, I realized it became more of a pink-ish shade a while after. This shade also applies on sheerer than Honey did. On my swatches, it was kind of hard to see it on my arms because it somewhat blended in with my skin, so I put arrows on it! :)

Overall, I was pretty disappointed in this shade. This was another shade I was looking forward to the most & I literally screamed when I finally found it in stores. I wish the stain was more of a nude stain than a pink stain. Although the pink colored stain does look nice, it would have been better if the stain was true to the color of the tube. Now, I kind of wish I tried another shade because when I just look at it, it just seems like I'm wearing a lightly tinted lip balm, and this is way more expensive then a simple lip balm. Maybe next, I'll just try their Creme Brulee lip butter (which I have been holding it off for a while).

Anyway, what are your thoughts on Precious? Have you purchased any other shades from Revlon's Balm Stain line?

Click to read more!

Layla Mermaid Spell

Swatches & Review
So today, I decided to also do a review on Mermaid Spell from Layla's Hologram Effect collection. I have previously reviewed two others ones I owned & I have not tried Mermaid Spell before. Recently, I also purchased Layla's file for their Hologram polish at Ulta, which is $2.75, compared to Aveyou, which sells it for $5.50! Anyway, here's a picture of it with two coats with comparisons.
Each has two coats.
Middle Finger: No base coat, no file. Ring Finger: Base Coat applied. Pinky: Layla's File used. As you can see from the picture above, it actually does look best, shinier & has more coverage when Layla's Base File is used. The finger with top coat used looks terrible & I applied to nail polish after the top coat was completely dried! For the finger that I did not use either, you can see that there are imperfections of the nail that are shown visibly.
This is with four coats of nail polish:

As you can see, four coats covers most of it, but there is still some balding

In the end, I finished it off with five coats. Like my last posts for the Layla, it kind of sucks that it requires so many coats considering the bottle is small. After finishing up all my fingers from my Coral Glam with so many coats required, I was only left with about a little less than half a bottle left and a bottle itself coats $15.50, which costs way more than what China Glaze & OPI used to price their holographic finish polishes. You can also tell that when the Layla Base File is used, the effect looks smoother and a bit shinier.
Overall, I like this color, but not enough that I would buy it again especially with the amount of coats it requires. I guess a good thing about this is that it dries extremely fast and the holographic finish is strong. However, I feel like Mermaid Spell's finishing effect is not as strong as Coral Glam or Retro Pink, but it is still a strong, smoother linear holo.

What are your thoughts on Layla's Hologram Effect? Love it? Hate it? Let me know!

Click to read more!

Zoya; Zuza

Swatches & Review
Zoya Zuza is from Zoya's 2012 summer collection, Surf. There are two parts to Zoya's summer collection, which is Beach and Surf. Surf is the collection where it consists of metallic finishes. Zuza is a bright turquoise color on the nail and with the finish, it looks amazing in person. Since it is metallic, it basically looks kind of like silver shimmer as a finish, which is not bad at all. For my ring finger, I used Zoya's Wednesday, which is also from their summer collection Beach. Wednesday's color is similar to Zuza, but it has a creme finish. Although I think Zuza is very pretty, the removal for this was a let down. Before applying Zuza, I used two coats of base coat and it still stained my nails! It not only stained my nails, but it stained the surrounding skin of my nails. However, I had no problem removing Wednesday at all.
Overall, I really like both of these colors. Out of all of their summer colors, I found these two to be my favorites. Even though there are staining issues with Zuza, I personally would still wear it just because it is such an awesome color! Application on these were easy, and it only requires two coats. Basically, it was smooth and easy, which is a total plus! Have you gotten any colors from Zoya's summer collection?

Click to read more!

Zoya; Creamy

Swatches & Review
Zoya Creamy is a creme yellow color, however, not a pastel yellow. When I purchased this over a year ago, the name Creamy reminded me of custard buns, especially since it is a yellow! lol. I was looking for a perfect creme yellow nail polish since I did not have any, which is why I purchased this. I am actually still looking for the perfect creme yellow because Zoya's Creamy is not it. The application of this was very streaky, and in my pictures, I have used four coats before getting it to look even. For my accent, I used China Glaze's Shocking Pink, which is a neon pink. It dries semi-matte, and the nail polish is very thin so it required a few coats. For Shocking Pink, you have to make sure it is completely dry before applying the next coat because it can result in some balding.
Overall, I don't love this nail polish. I really like the color, but I do not think it is worth the hassle of using so many coats for it to look nice. Because I used so many coats, it started to look kind of gloopy on the nails and even with a fast drying top coat, I felt like it took a very long time to dry. I think if you want to purchase Zoya nail polishes, it is better to look up swatches, or order their color spoons before purchasing because the color they display on their website is usually a color that is different from the actual nail polish itself.
For the China Glaze, although applying it was also I pain, I find myself using it a lot as accent nails, or as french tips. I love how the neon pink looks as a french tip on nails, especially over the summer time. What are your thoughts on these two nail polishes? Do you have any recommendations for the perfect creme yellow? Let me know! :)

Click to read more!

NYC Blushable Creme Stick: Big Apple Blush

Swatches & Review


Big Apple Blush is a pink creme blush. Although the name says Big "Apple", it is not much of an apple shade, but a lot pinker (almost like the inside of strawberries). It has a semi-matte finish, so it is not completely matte. It has a subtle sheen to it, but unlike Berry New Yorker, this does not have shimmer in it compared to Berry New Yorker. After using Berry New Yorker for a while, I finally decided to start using another one of the NYC creme blushes that I purchased. As of now, I believe they're still available at some Dollar Tree stores since I saw some this past week. The application of the Big Apple Blush is incredibly smooth. I thought the Berry New Yorker one had a smooth application, but this is way smoother & it blends a lot easier to me. When I first apply it, it looks like it can be a harsh pink, but after blending it out, it is a very wearable pink, which I like!




Compared to Berry New Yorker.
If you have a chance to still get this blush, I totally recommend it. The only downside to me is the smell. It smells like lipsticks that my mom used to buy when I was 5, which is kind of gross, but the scent does not transfer onto your skin after applying it. When compared to Berry New Yorker, this is definitely a brighter color, whereas Berry New Yorker is more brown-ish. What are your thoughts on the NYC Creme Blushes?

Click to read more!

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain: Honey

Swatches & Review
Revlon's Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain is part of their newer lip line. Before this, I have owned many of Revlon's Lip Butters, which were my first drugstore lipstick I have ever purchased and I totally love. I was so excited to see these since I always wanted Tarte's LipSurgence, and heard these were comparable. For the past week, I went to try to find these balm stains, but everywhere I went, they were sold out! I finally found Honey and decided to try it for a day.

Left: Maybelline's Cherry Me
Right: Revlon's Honey Balm Stain

Honey to me seems to be a light berry pink color. When I first applied it, it did not seem too bright, but after a while, I feel like the stain started to get brighter and more noticeable on my lips. It started out looking natural, but after a while, it was a stain. Although these claim to be moisturizing, I don't find it very moisturizing on my lips. I really like the color on me, and there is a faint scent & tingle on the lips of peppermint, which I don't really mind. After looking at the swatch on my arm for a while and seeing it on my lips, the color somewhat reminded me of Maybelline's Baby Lips in Cherry Me. Unlike the Baby Lips, Revlon's stain stays on, while Cherry Me fades off after a while.

Overall, I like this color of their balm stain. I don't know if the color is supposed to get a bit brighter after a while, but I don't mind it since it doesn't make my lips look like a clown's. I also like how it the color stays on for about 4 hours, even though the color is not the same as when I first applied it. Have any of you tried Revlon's Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain's? What colors do you have? Love it? Hate it? Let me know! :)

*This retails at Target for $7.69 & there is currently a $2 coupon off their new balm stains on coupons.com :)

Click to read more!