Quick Swatches: Revlon Starry Pink and Facets of Fuchsia

I"m currently in the middle of moving and preparing for a hurricane (!!!), but I managed to get my hands on two of Revlon's Fall 2011 colors: Facets of Fuchsia and Starry Pink. I saw them on Eva Chen's tumblr a few months ago and was instantly smitten. When Steph said she found them at Target in the regular Revlon stock, I made sure to check my locals as soon as I could.

Starry Pink. A pale powder pink with silver micro and hexagon glitter. I think this is lovely for fall. I can see it working really well with dark grays, black and deep berry shades in your wardrobe.

Facets of Fuchsia. A sheer black jelly with deep fuchsia micro and hexagon glitter. This is really stunning. None of my photos could capture it. 

This is three coats of each, no topcoat. This collection also has a blue glitter, I think called Blue Mosaic, and a grayish taupe called Smoky Canvas, which I really like but didn't get because I have so many grays and taupes. I might cave later, though. 

Winning!

First, let's talk polish. Continuing with my Revlon fixation as of late, today I have Revlon Top Speed in Royal on my toes:

I really like it. It performed better than the two other Top Speeds I've tried in the past couple weeks: Electric (so chalky and terrible I took it right off) and Mock Snob (which looked fine after three coats but was a nightmare to apply). This is just one coat of Royal; if it had been my fingernails I would have done two. It dried flat so I added Seche Vite.

In non-polish news, I won something! And a really great something! These lovely earrings from etsy seller Contempo Jewels:

I won them by entering a drawing on StyleLush. If you haven't visited StyleLush, I highly recommend it. It's full of great finds in nearly every area - beauty, home, kid stuff, places to go - oh, and gifts! I've gotten so many great gift ideas from it! And its sister site, FoodLush, is also a great idea generator. Anyway, I was so excited when I saw my name in the winner announcement post! I never win anything! Can't wait to get these babies on my ears!

Revlon Just Tinted

I'm not sure where I first heard about Revlon's Limited Edition Just Tinted nail polishes...it was probably this post on Nouveau Cheap. The idea of a sheer matte polish really appealed to me; it sounded novel and summery. I looked and LOOKED for these for weeks with no luck. I finally found them at the Rite-Aid near my house, which gets lots of limited edition displays. I've had really good luck finding LE polishes there, so I wasn't surprised when they finally turned up. Of course I saw them at Ulta a few days later, but that's usually how it goes.

I picked up three of the four shades:

Victorian, Desire, Dawn

I swatched all three as soon as I got home. 

Dawn, Desire, Victorian

This is two coats each. Application is a challenge with these; the sheer/matte combo is like watercolor paint. If you're not careful, it looks like when you were little and you colored your nails with markers. So it takes practice to get the coats even. I didn't use a base coat because I thought it might affect the finish. 

Speaking of finish, the display also had a gloss topcoat in it, but I was skeptical that it was any different than a regular topcoat so I skipped it. My first full mani was Desire: 

This Instagram shot doesn't really capture the sheerness. Of course the matte finish means that you get quick tipwear, but I don't mind because I really like the look of the polish. 

Next I tried Dawn, a subtle coral: 

I used Seche Vite over this to achieve a glossy finish and I really loved the way it looked. Very jelly-like and soft. 

I love these tints and I might go back for the fourth shade; it was a berry/purple. Nice work, Revlon! I feel like I've been on a Revlon/Essie kick lately when it comes to drugstore buys. I just got in an order from Zoya too, so I'll be swatching that soon. I'm going to do my best to get as many fun summer colors in as I can this year! Bright beauties improve my mood. 

Spring Nails of Late

Essie Coat Azure

Oooh...this was a while back and I can't remember what color it was.  Had to be Essie Bachelorette Bash, which is bright hot pink in reality. Posed with an awesome Rachel Roy boombox pendant that I got half-off at Macy's.

China Glaze For Audrey

Sally Hansen Tracy Reese Midnight in NYC. Glossy black creme with multicolored microglitter. 

Revlon Moss. Part of a set of three minis that I hunted down for weeks. It's much darker than I thought from seeing it on the internet; it's close to Essie Sew Psyched but it has more yellow in it, and no shimmer.

Orly Sapphire Silk. A dusty teal. 

Zoya Mod Mattes Lolly

Two Reviews: Butter London Yummy Mummy and Day Out With Thomas

I've had several manicures since you saw me last, but here's the story of one: Ulta was having free shipping and I wanted to try a beachy-waves spray that I'd heard about that's not readily available anywhere else, so in order to bring my cart up to $25 to qualify, I decided to try Butter London brand nail polish, which I'd been wanting to do for a while. I picked up a shade called Yummy Mummy, which BL describes as "universally flattering." It's a greyish nudie with a slight hint of lavender and a barely perceptible shimmer. As I'd heard, application was quite smooth, although in my usual poor lighting (and looking up to watch the Amazing Race), I had to fill in some bare spots after the two coats I applied.

I like it. It's very similar to Revlon Grey Suede, which is one of my all-time favorite nudes, but Yummy Mummy is less pink. Oh! I almost forgot. When I added this polish to my cart, Ulta added a free two-ounce bottle of Butter London's Powder Room polish remover. I tried it a couple manicures before this one, just because I had the bottle out, and it was, hands down (ha!) the best nail polish remover I've ever tried. It just swiped the polish RIGHT OFF. And it was acetone-free...now, here's something odd, I've been using remover with acetone for a while now because I do my nails so often and I thought the acetone stuff would be faster, removal being the most annoying thing about the manicure. And I've noticed that my nails have become thinner and prone to peeling (especially my thumbnails). So I was shocked to find how quickly this non-acetone stuff worked. It also had a bit of a not-quite-oily-but-almost finish, so i'm not sure what else in it makes it work so well. Anyhoo, after being blown away by Powder Room, I went to the Butter London website to see how much a full-size bottle cost, figuring it would be way expensive. But. The full-size bottle is just the two-ounce bottle; I thought I'd gotten a small sample, but no, two ounces is IT and...it's $5.00. $5.00! So...if you have money to burn and space for dozens of two-ounce bottles of the Greatest Polish Remover on Earth, well, have at it. I don't, but this experience inspired me to go back to acetone-free and I picked up a jumbo bottle of the Target brand for under $4. Regarding Butter London, the polishes are $14 a pop, so I don't think I'm going to return, however, they do have a limited edition shade called No More Waity, Katie, a tribute to Kate Middleton, which I may have to get because it's kind of a cool Royal Wedding commemorative (remember Pope Soap on a Rope?) even though I think a shimmer would have been more appropriate than a glitter...I mean, don't you think? By the way, have you seen the Kate Middleton FTW tumblr? It's kind of awesome. My favorite might be the shot of her and Pippa entering the church: "Yes, We've Brought Sleeves Back. You're Welcome."

What did I do for Mother's Day? Brunch? No. Day at the spa? Heavens, no. I took my two-and-a-half year old daughter to Day Out With Thomas! I know, MOTHER OF THE YEAR. Since I waited so long to buy tickets, we were on the last train of the day on the last day of the event. B was very excited about riding on Thomas but less so about the other activities. Did she want a temporary Thomas tattoo? She did not, shrieking "No! No!" as if we were threatening to give her a real tattoo. She waited in line for the (tiny) carousel, then changed her mind at the last minute, then decided later she did want to go on it, then held on to me for dear life with a very worried look on her face during the extremely slow ride. She expressed interest in the moonbounce, even took her shoes off and stood at the entrance, but couldn't be persuaded to go in. At last it was time to board the train. Upon hearing this, B got decidedly more animated and got cutely impatient when the line would stop. "Don't stop! Don't stop!"

I do think she was very excited to see the life-size Thomas, but she was rather subdued. In awe, maybe? We found a seat on the train (an ancient Amtrak car) and settled in for our ride. It was not nearly as...scenic...as the Island of Sodor, but I'm sure B didn't mind the graffiti and rusting old train cars. And trees. There were some trees. All in all, a worthwhile event. She loves her souvenirs.

"Charm City? Really?"

Only You

When I put my outfit on this morning:

Baggy, wrinkly linen dress and oversized, striped mesh-like cardigan,

Blue nails (China Glaze For Audrey) and excess gaudy jewelry,



I thought, "oh snap...I'm going to get hit on CONSTANTLY today." So I added these beauties to frump things up:

Authentic, orthopedic Swedish clogs. That ought to do it! Whew.

Heard this song for the first time in YEARS this week. Can't get it out of my head now. So beautiful.



You Been on My Mind

Sitting in my brain recently:

Snappy blue polish (Essie Coat Azure)

Sappho for Spring reading (If Not, Winter)

1960s/1970s British lady folksingers (Bridget St. John)



Pretty pretty Spring dresses (Top: Rachel Roy Spring 2011; Bottom: Forever 21)

This video. (Simone White, Why is Your Raincoat Always Crying?)

NOTD: Glitter in the Air

On my birthday I bought an $18 bottle of nail polish. Here's what it looks like:

Glitter in the Air. This was a much-anticipated shade from Deborah Lippman. When people finally got their hands on it and swatches started showing up, there was much disappointment online. "It's too sheer!" "Four coats and it's not even bottle color!" "I'm returning it!" No such complaints from me. I think it's a stunner. It's sheer but milky, like milkglass, and the glitter is so delicate. I haven't seen another polish like it. It's truly like nail polish you'd see in a dream. One of my all-time favorites and worth every penny.

Happy Friday!

And Loses Herself in Her Dreaming and Sleep

I don't know about this outfit, you guys. It's looking a little "Andie from Pretty in Pink goes on a job interview."

Still trying to figure out how to wear this dress. I think I really need to thread a ribbon through the belt loop. We shall see. It will probably get thrown to the wayside soon anyway because there's no way I'm wearing it without tights, and hopefully, spring is FINALLY on its way!

NOTD: Sally Hansen Tracy Reese Spring 2009 Night Hydrangea

I now have four polishes from this collection: Nasturtium, Beet Stain, Azalea and Night Hydrangea; I got them all on eBay. In real life, this one is much brighter with a subtle yet sparkly shimmer. I love it but it's really more of an evening polish for fingers; it'll be good for toes, though.

Happy Wednesday! I love you and too much. :)

Lately

Almost the same. I prefer the $2.99 Forever 21 Charcoal (left) to the $8.00 Borghese Stellare Notte (right). The Charcoal has a gorgeous starry blue sparkle and shimmer. 

Unwashed hair, mixed prints, no mani. I went to work like this. Not a good day.

Birth Control nails. AKA Essie Topless and Barefoot.

China Glaze haul: Starboard, White Cap, Ahoy!, Strawberry Fields, Matte Magic. White Cap was a mistake; I ordered Calypso Blue but they sent that instead. I'm going to keep it; I think it'll be good for layering. 

Starboard, via Instagram, my latest photo app. 

See you soon!

Spring Tease

It's going to hit the low 70s today, so I went tightsless for the first time in months. However, since there was a chill in the air when I left for work this morning, I wore these:

Legwarmers I bought at H&M last year. They lived up to their name.
It seems appropriate that along with those I'm wearing a nail polish called Plie.

My last untried Rescue Beauty Lounge polish. The above is what happens when you decide to make two batches of muffins and then do a quick mani after 10PM. Sheet marks and cuticle peel. It's a really pretty shade, much more pale pink than the peach the photo caught. I wish my work had done it justice.

Looking forward to the long weekend. Enjoy your Friday!

'Cos Somewhere in the Crowd There's You

NOTD: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Plum Luck:

Eh. At first I was disappointed because instead of the plummy bottle color, it looked like a regular old blood-red vampy with a hint of raisin. But in today's (limited) sunlight, it does look a lot more purple. Yes, I know you can't tell from this shot, which was taken in my refrigerator! The light was really good but didn't translate on camera. I'm trying to go through all my untried dark shades before spring hits. I need to do RBL Dead Calm soon.

I think I achieved Good Bangs today, but I'm also pretty close to having a modern version of Dorothy Hamill Hair:

Just need to curl the ends under! I need a bang trim.

Last night I downloaded ten Camera Obscura b-sides. This was one of them; a lovely cover of ABBA's Super Trouper. This clip is so sweet; it looks like they're playing in a junior high auditorium. And Tracyanne's  hair puts mine to utter shame.

Please have a magnificent Wednesday. I'm counting on you.

Things I Accomplished This Week

1. Found a shop that carries Chanel nail polish within walking distance of my office. This might be dangerous. 
2. Suffered rips and runs in several pairs of tights. This means winter needs to be over. 
3. Did a full OPI Black Shatter mani. See below:
   

4. Discovered Lacquerista, thank goddess! Who doesn't need more internet time-wasters?
5. Bought this little number, to scrub my skin into submission. I think it's just going to make me want the $150 version, though.

6. Found the celebrated Borghese Stellare Notte at my local Rite-Aid. Think I might attempt a half-moon mani with it.
7. Started reading this:

8. Discovered that I have gained nearly 30 pounds since I stopped nursing my daughter almost two years ago. Joined WW tout suite. Wish me luck!

Courage, My Love/ Will Make Me Bolder

That Seaspray was kind of bumming me out. Shimmer to the rescue.

OPI Katy Perry Collection: The One That Got Away. Can't stop looking at my nails now.

Song of the day: Camera Obscura, Razzle Dazzle Rose. 

Brightening the Winter Beauty Blues

First off: NOTD - China Glaze Seaspray

Did this late last night and consequently have some sheet marks, so I'll be adding another top coat sometime today. All the swatches I've seen of this online have leaned more gray; it looks fairly bright on me but I like it. Two coats with one coat of Nubar Diamont on top. 

Tried out one of the Katy Perry shades along with the Black Shatter last week, just on my thumbs (I have to maintain at least a semblance of trying to look professional). Here's Not Like the Movies pre-Shatter:  

And post-Shatter: 

I love it! It looks better than what I've seen online. What surprised me was that it cracks almost immediately. I'll definitely do a full set of Shatter on the weekend soon. I'm glad I pre-ordered this online because I hear it's selling out everywhere--although I did see it at Ulta yesterday.

Speaking of which, I found this in Ulta's clearance aisle while I was there: 

This Too Faced set came in a black vinyl bag and contained an eyeshadow duo, a bronzer/illuminator duo, a lip gloss, a lipstick, an eyeliner, a mascara and a mini tube of Shadow Insurance, their famed eyeshadow primer. I had been planning to get Shadow Insurance because I've heard raves about it. Since all this was just $15.99 on clearance I decided to do the set. I don't think I'll use the lipstick; it's a pale pearly pink shade that will make my lips look invisible; and the bronzer I doubt will work on me but I'm looking forward to trying out the rest. 

Also at Ulta, the most amazing thing happened. 

They're carrying the One Less Lonely Girl collection from Nicole by OPI and Justin Bieber! I grabbed one for my niece, but then somehow I came home with one for me as well; so weird! 

I think this one is called The Shape of My Heart or something...they're all named after his songs as far as I can tell. It's packed with little confetti hearts. Love it. Will post when I try it out. 

None of this will melt the mountains of snow around my house but my mood is definitely brightening. 

A Kind of Weird Dress. And Then, a Highly Anticipated Package Arrives.

Yesterday I mentioned the Kind of Weird Dress I found at Forever 21 this weekend. Here it is:

Kind of weird, right? It was marked down to $15.99 from $32.50 because it is missing its ribbon belt. Today I replaced the belt with a scarf that used to belong to my mother. 

Although the colors worked well, this was ultimately unsuccessful; the belt didn't stay in place. Next time I'll either use a black leather real belt or find some ribbon to thread through the inner loop tube. (I'm sure there's a name for the space that holds a ribbon belt, but I don't know what it is. Anyone?)

This dress is also shorter that what I usually wear. Yes, I know it's not That Short, but it's short for me. And of course the day I choose to wear it, the temp doesn't even hit 20 by 9:00 AM. Anyway, I like this Kind of Weird Dress; I love the color and I love that it's both weird and office-appropriate. Oh, also, it has pockets! I love a dress with pockets.

Trying to make A Face in the mirror.

Okay, but THEN! When I got home tonight, I was delighted to find a package from M Beauty Lounge in my mailbox. It contained these lovely little numbers: 

Yes, yes! It's mini bottles of the OPI Katy Perry collection. Two shimmers (one a duochrome) and two glitters. They're really mini--smaller than I thought, but I would never have used up entire bottles of colors like this, so that's okay. What I'm SUPER excited about, though, is this: 

Black Shatter. It "shatters" or cracks after you apply it. I'll be trying this out tonight. 

Closer shots of the minis: 

Also in the package was a little giftie for someone. One of my "resolutions" for 2011 is to...not necessarily buy things for people, but...I often see things or think of things that a person I know would like; or something that makes me think of the person, and I might say to myself, "Oh, so-and-so would love this, I should get it for her/him, but her/his birthday is eight months away," or "well, so-and-so would think it was weird if I gave this to her," and I leave the thing or the thought and then regret it later.  So now, when I see something someone would like, if it's possible, I plan to grab the thing for the person and either a) give it to them right away, or b) save it for the next gift-giving occasion. Related: I want to tell people, people I know or strangers I see, that I like their outfits/accessories/etcetera. I often think someone looks awesome and I want to tell them but I don't. But wouldn't you LOVE IT if someone came up to you (in a non-creepy way) and told you that she loved your outfit, your bag, your jewelry? I would! So that's another mission for this year. Okay. I'll report back on how this giftie is received.