Sunday, June 30, 2013

NARS Voulez Vous Eye & Cheek Palette

Preview:

Last year, NARS came out with a second version of their cheek palette for Nordstrom's Anniversary sale. I was hoping for something similar to that again, but unfortunately, it will be an eye & cheek palette, which is what their palettes have been like these past few months. Here is a preview of the Voulez Vous Palette:
Image found from Nordstrom.com

I don't know how to feel about this, but I DO like that they do not include their bronzer OR Orgasm blush in this. Instead, it will have Dolce Vita & Deep Throat, along with four new exclusive eyeshadow shades for this palette. This will retail for $59, and the each of the blush sizes are 0.15 oz, which isn't too bad of a deal considering one full-size blush has 0.16oz of product & retails for $29, so it's like buying two blushes and getting the eyeshadows with it.

What do you think about this palette? I'm on the fence about it, but since I don't have Deep Throat & Dolce Vita, I might end up picking this up.


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Monday, June 24, 2013

Zoya Summer Irresistible Collection




Swatches & Review

Zoya's Irresistible collection is one of their three releases for the Summer season. I have previously reviewed some of the Summer PixieDust, as well as the Stunning collection. The Irresistible collection has the similar colors to the ones in the Stunning collection, but unlike the Stunning collection, these have shimmery, metallic-foil finishes.

Zoya's Irresistible consists of six metallic foil-like finish shades.

Kerry: A shimmery golden yellow with a foil finish. It is definitely shimmery. For the swatches, I used two coats. This was the shade I did not like at all from this collection. The yellow looks weird against my skintone, and it was a pain to remove because of all the shimmery golden flecks.

Amy: A fiery red-orange with golden shimmer. Two coats were used for the swatches. The formula on this was great, it applied smoothly and was pretty pigmented.

Tinsley: A rose gold pink. The golden shimmer finish is very strong. This applied sheer, so I used three coats. The formula was great because it was not too thick, or too thin. This was a surprise favorite for me because it did not look that great in the bottle to me, but once it was on the nails, it was amazing! This is definitely a unique color and a stand-out from the collection because at some angles, you see the pink more, and at other angles, you can see the gold more. It's pretty awesome, I love it! This will slightly stain your nails, so I would recommend using two base coats before applying this. (& of course I had to include more pictures since this was such an amazing color!)


Bobbi: A magenta with a foil finish. Bobbi was very pigmented. I used two thin coats for swatches, but you could easily get away with one thick coat. This is a nice bright pink color for summer,but it is not a color I would choose myself because of personal preference. This stains a lot more than Tinsley does so two base coats would also be recommended for this.

Hazel: Icy blue with a foil finish. I used two coats for the swatches. The icy blue reminds me of the holiday season. This kind of reminds me of FeiFei because of the gold flecks, but this definitely looks more foil-like than FeiFei.

Rikki: A pine leaf green with a metallic foil finish. I used two coats for the swatches. This makes me think of FeiFei, but a green version because of the golden flecks in it. This applied easily and the formula was great.

Overall, I have mixed feelings about this collection because I am not too big on shimmery foil finish nail polishes because they are a bit hard to remove. I felt that out of the six, Kerry, Bobbi & Rikki were the hardest to remove because it the golden shimmer spreads everywhere! However, I really like some of the shades in this, such as Amy, Tinsley & Rikki. These took a while to dry for me, which is how it usually is for me when I use Zoya nail polishes. Compared to the Stunning collection, I think I like the Stunning collection more because the creamy finish is what I would usually go for. If you were to get a few from this collection, I would definitely recommend Tinsley because it is such an amazing shade!

What do you think about Zoya's Irresistible Collection? Have you purchased any nail polishes from their summer collection?

These are available for purchase on Zoya.com now, and they retail for $8 per 0.5oz bottle.

*The products in this post were provided to me for my honest opinion/review. I was not paid nor compensated for the review.


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Sunday, June 16, 2013

Milani Color Statement Lipstick: Uptown Mauve



Swatches & Review


This year, Milani has released a new line of their lipsticks called the Color Statement Lipsticks. Their lipsticks have a variety of colors, as well as finishes, such as cream, matte, vinyl, and metallic. Uptown Mauve is one of the lipsticks with a cream finish.

Milani's Color Statement Lipsticks are packaged in a golden plastic tube. I like how the bottom of the lipstick has the color of what the lipstick color itself would be, which makes it easy to pick out the color that you want.



Uptown Mauve is a creamy berry shade. I have tried some of their lipsticks for a while and what I like about Uptown Mauve is that it is one of the creamiest ones that I have tried from their new lipstick line. Normally, berry shades would be kind of dark, but Uptown Mauve seems like it is a berry that would be perfect to use all year-round. The lipstick scent has definitely improved since their older line of lipsticks, but the scent is one of the things that I do not like because it is a very strong fruity scent. Another thing that I do not like is that the plastic packaging attracts fingerprints like crazy! I feel like after I use it, I have to wipe it down with a microfiber cloth so that it will look nice and new again. For me, Uptown Mauve was creamy, applied without tugging and long-lasting. I applied it with one swipe and it was super pigmented. It lasted about four hours for me with some drinking in between and it left a stain on my lips until I wiped it off with makeup remover.

What do you think about Milani's Color Statement Lipsticks? Have you tried any of their new lipsticks? Which shades are your favorite?



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Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Rimmel London Show Off Lip Lacquer: Big Bang




Swatches & Review

Today, I will be reviewing Rimmel London's Show Off (Apocalips) Lip Lacquer in Big Bang.



These are packaged in a plastic tube with an asteroid-like cap and the color of the shade is shown through the tube.


The Show Off Lip Lacquer has a soft doe-foot applicator and there is a little hole in it where the product falls into.



Big Bang is a bright red. When I first heard about Rimmel's Apocalips, Big Bang was one of the most talked about shades. The lip lacquers are like an opaque lip gloss. They are glossy, but the lasting power is not that well, so you may have to reapply these after a while. Big Bang last about four hours for me, and the glossy finish lasted about an hour and a half. Even without eating, I find that these start fading within the first two hours, but there's a slight stain that stays around until you wipe it off. I did not find any bleeding/feathering from Big Bang and this was applied without any base or gloss on top.

Have you purchased any of the Rimmel London's Lip Lacquer? Which shades are you most interested in?


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Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Zoya Summer Stunning Collection




Swatches & Review

Zoya always has amazing summer collections and this year, they definitely delivered by having three collection sets. The Stunning collection is a part of their 2013 Summer collection.


Zoya's Stunning collection has six creme-like shades. The reason I say it is creme-like is because although they look like they have a creme finish, some of them actually have very subtle shimmer in them, however, it is not very noticeable unless you are in direct sunlight.


Darcy: Bright mustard yellow with subtle shimmer. I found that this applied very streaky, so I used three coats to even it out. I did not like Darcy too much because it seemed to clash with my skintone.


Thandie: Bright orange coral creme with subtle shimmer. This applied smoothly and even, so I used two coats for the swatches. The color of this reminds me of the orange Prius C.


Micky: Bright medium coral pink with silver shimmer. This applied sheer, but the color was build0able. I used three coats for the swatches. This is one of my favorites from the collection.


Yana: Hot pink creme with subtle shimmer. Yana is super bright and pigmented. I used two coats for the swatches, but you can get away with one coat.


Josie: Bright medium green creme. This kind of reminds me of summertime grass. Like Yana, this was very pigmented. I used two coats for the swatches, but this can definitely be a one-coater.


Rocky: Sky blue creme. I absolutely love this blue! Every time I buy a blue off Zoya, I wanted it to be this blue, but it always ended up too dark (Yummy & Breezi). This is the perfect blue and does not look bad against my skintone. This was a bit streaky, and three coats were used in the swatches.

Overall, I like this collection. All the colors except Darcy looked nice. Like cremes, they apply kind of streaky, and I think that Yana and Josie were the two that applied the best without being streaky. I initially thought that these were all creme-finish nail polishes, but four out of six of them are cremes with subtle shimmer. To me, I feel like these looked brighter in the bottle than on the nails, but these are perfect summer colors. My favorites are Micky, Josie & Rocky. The downside is that these take a while to dry on its own, but with a fast-dry top coat, you are good to go!

What do you think about Zoya's Stunning Collection? Have you purchased any nail polishes from their summer collection?

These are available for purchase on Zoya.com now, and they retail for $8 per 0.5oz bottle.

*The products in this post were provided to me for my honest opinion/review. I was not paid nor compensated for the review.


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