Chanel Le Vernis in 547 Pulsion

I take back what I said in my last post regarding muted nail colors. The moment I saw Pulsion at the Chanel counter, that tame streak ended and now I'm back on with bright fingers. :)



Pulsion is an electric, fuchsia-pink creme that provides full opacity in 1 layer. The formula is probably the best I have ever tried on (for the price, it better be!). The color is probably not the most unique, but I don't care! I love it, and can see this looking beautiful on summer toesies.


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In other news, a package arrived for me on Saturday. Guess what it is?? ;)

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Yup, my Benefit Bella Bamba's! I've been impatiently waiting for this release and snatched up three (one for me, two for Christmas presents) on the first day it debuted on Benefit's site. I love Benefit's boxed powders/blushes, and from the peeks I've taken of this new one, I have a feeling it's going to rocket to the top of my favorites list. Still trying to get myself to break the new surface of it. Anyone else do this with new products??

It's been so rainy and cold here in Northern California. Hopefully the sun will come out soon and I'll get an opportunity to get some good pictures of Bella Bamba. Review and swatches to come!

<3

Essie Sew Psyched

Been feeling the more muted colors on my nails lately...Essie Sew Psyched fits in nicely with all the other nudes, greiges, and greys without being TOO boring. After all, I still crave a little bit of color! Love.

Zoya Flame for Winter 2010: Swatches and Review

EDIT 11/19/2010: This collection is now called "Flame" instead of "Fire and Ice" due to some trademark issues with Revlon. Apparently Revlon already had a collection by that name. Sorry for the confusion!

Imagine my surprise when I found Zoya's Winter 2010 collection as I was browsing for nail polish. Named "Fire and Ice," this is Zoya's ultra shimmery, ultra stunning line for winter. Yes, winter! I haven't even worn any of from my fall collections haul and I'm already skipping ahead to winter. In my defense, these were hard to resist. I love shimmery polishes, and from the moment I saw the color samples online, I knew my wallet was going to be in trouble.

The collection consists of 6 different colors, but I ended up only picking out 4 that I liked the most. The other 2, called Lisa (red with gold sparkles) and Sarah (magenta with gold sparkles), weren't really special to me so I passed on those. I couldn't find any swatches of this collection on any of my favorite nail polish blogs, so I'm guessing that the collection hasn't been officially released yet? I read somewhere that it's supposed to come out on October 1st. Oh well, I found these at my local beauty supply shop, so I figure that if I was able to buy them in a store open to the public, I should be able to show them online to you, my dear readers!

These will be perfect for the holidays. All the colors pack some serious shimmer. The formula is typical of a shimmer, which is to say a little thin and sheer, so I did 3 coats for all of the swatches. Dry time was pretty good; I was able to paint the nails on my left to right hand and back without significant wait time in between. The only gripe I have with these polishes is that they are a pain to remove. The polish itself isn't difficult to take off, but expect gold glitter residue everywhere! Even after a good wipe down with 4 remover-soaked cotton balls, I can still see some tiny flecks here and there. Still, these exceeded my expectations in terms of looks. I thought it would be harder to let go of the mint greens, yellows, and bright pinks I've been sporting all summer, but these lovely shades make the transition to colder weather easy.

So, without further ado, I present to you my personal favorites from Zoya Fire and Ice for Winter 2010. Click on the pictures for a closer look! :)


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The first is called Tiffany, and I would describe it as a pink/peach champagne with gold shimmer. I'm not usually drawn to colors like this, but Tiffany is so pretty! I can see myself wearing this a lot. It makes me think of New Year's and bottles of bubbly popping open, haha! It's a nice way to do a light pink without veering towards spring's pastel version. It's very refined-looking; I think it will match beautifully with medium skin tones. My second favorite from the collection.


Natural light


With flash


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The second is called Gloria. Out of the 4 I picked up, Gloria is probably the least unique, though that doesn't mean it's ugly! On the contrary, Gloria is a bright red pink with gold shimmer that will be nice on both hands and toes. A different way to do red. It's the perfect color to wear come December 25th as you stand underneath some mistletoe ;)


Natural light


With flash


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The third polish I picked up is my personal favorite from this collection. Valerie is a deep purple shimmer that has flashes of orange/yellow. Gorgeous. Looks great on lighter skin tones!


Natural light


With flash


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The last one I picked up is called Crystal, and it's a light blue with gold shimmer. I'm pretty biased towards this color and picked it up mainly because they're UCLA colors. ;) I would probably wear Crystal to a tailgate for this football season if I were still living in LA (GO BRUINS!). Football or not, this is still a very pretty color. I've heard that it could be a dupe for OPI's Absolutely Alice, but I think this is a much lighter, frostier blue.


Natural light


With flash


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Alrighty, those are my thoughts on Zoya's Winter 2010 collection! If you do happen to see these in stores before October 1st, make sure to grab some. I would probably pick up Valerie and Tiffany, as these are the 2 stand outs in the collection in my opinion.

Have a great Thursday!

<3

Fall 2010 Nail Polish Frenzy!

After trying and failing to find Chanel's Les Khakis collection (By the way, this is what sucks about living in Northern California as opposed to LA. In LA, I could have chosen from 3 different retailers within 15 minutes of my apartment that would have stocked all of the Chanel polishes. Here, the closest--and only!--place that would have it is in San Francisco. ARGH!), I guess I went a little crazy and assuaged my pain by picking up items from 3 other Fall 2010 nail polish collections (plus one Winter 2010 collection!). I know. I have a problem. I admit it! I gave in. I am weak to the charms of pretty nails.

Just how badly did I break down??


This badly.

Yeaaaa...I should really get some help. Overcompensation through overconsumption. I even hid the bag of polishes inside my purse when I got home so that the boy wouldn't see it. That's when you know there's something wrong! Hahaha...do any of you ever do that? Hide your purchases/receipts from loved ones? Sneak around with your newly-bought goods?? Say "Oh, I've had this for a while" when someone asks you if it's new??? If so, then hello. I'm a fellow addict.

But can you blame a girl? Just look!


First, I picked up a mini set of Essie's Fall 2010 collection, which includes (from left to right): Little Brown Dress, Merino Cool, Limited Addiction, and Sew Psyched (which I was so psyched about because it's the closest I'll get to Chanel's Khaki Vert).


Then I saw OPI's Swiss Fall Collection and thought "Ooh! I don't have anything pine green (Cuckoo For This Color), gunmetal (Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous), or dark teal (Ski Teal We Drop)!" And before you knew it, three more bottles were in my basket.

Then of course, there were the 2 collections that I've reallyyyyyy been looking forward to: Orly's Cosmic FX for Fall 2010 and Zoya's Fire and Ice for Winter 2010.

And whaddaya know? The beauty store I went to had both! There was no way I was passing up these babies.


Lunar Eclipse, Space Cadet (MY FAVE!), and Haley's Comet. Lunar Eclipse and Haley's Comet have almost exact dupes, but I don't own any of them, so I picked them up. Space Cadet was just too cool to leave behind. If I had to pick JUST ONE (though I wouldn't anyway, lol), it would be Orly's Space Cadet.

Finally, there's Zoya's Fire and Ice Collection. All shimmery, beautiful, and perfect for this upcoming season. I picked up my four favorites


Valerie, Tiffany, Crystal, Gloria. Can't wait to use all of them!


Now the question is.......which one first?? :)

Maybelline NYFW 2010 Nail Polish #642 Gray-T Glamour

Hey everyone! It's 2am here in California, and I am just about to pass out, but I wanted to post this before I go to bed. This is the second item that I got from the Maybelline NYFW collection. Now, I'm not sure if this is considered part of Maybelline's fall collection or if it's solely for Fashion Week, but I do hope that they extend the availability of the items into winter, because both of the things I got are sooo worth snagging for yourself!


This nail polish definitely caught my eye because it stood out amongst the dark reds and purples of the display. I don't have any color like it, so I'm really happy that I found a pretty gray polish--and it's by Maybelline no less!


I would describe this as a blue-gray polish with ultra fine shimmer. The shimmer is almost imperceptible, but there's enough in it to keep the polish from looking like flat cement. The formula is surprisingly excellent. I say "surprisingly" because I haven't always had good experiences with Maybelline polishes in the past. They're usually goopy and hard to use. This particular polish applies pretty much flawlessly. The brush is a little more stiff than I'm used to, but I found that it makes the application more quick and easy since it allows for precision. It only required 2 coats to be opaque. I didn't time myself to see if it would really dry in 50 seconds (I also used a quick-dry top coat), but I cooked dinner and washed dishes right after I gave myself a manicure, and it's still looking fresh hours later. I would say that the wearing power (so far) is good.


2 coats, natural light. Pretty, isn't it? Too bad my camera isn't good enough to capture its greatness. For a better idea of how the polish looks, check out this swatch.


With flash. This picture is better because it shows the gorgeous shimmer, and the color here is more true to life~


My FOTD using my new Maybelline products! A look inspired by the display's model :)

On my face:
-Laura Mercier Secret Concealer
-Laura Mercier Mineral Powder SPF 15
-Laura Mercier Loose Setting Powder
-Stila Custom Color Blush

Eyes:
-Diorshow Iconic Waterproof Mascara
-Make Up For Ever Aqua Eyes in 0L
-Benefit Kohl Pencil in Royale

Lips:
-Maybelline Color Sensational in Wined & Dined (review here)


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Alrighty, that's it for tonight. I'm so happy it's Saturday! Time to sleep in and enjoy the weekend. Have a great 2 day break everyone!

<3

Over the weekend I.....

Made and carved a turkey for Thanksgiving dinner....

....along with fresh cranberry sauce, yams & toasted marshmallows, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, and maple bacon biscuits. My sister made corn muffins and we also had ham and assorted veggies :) I use Alton Brown's recipe for roasted turkey every year and it always comes out juicy and flavorful

Went to grab some sushi with an old friend...my new love is salmon hand rolls!!

Some more yummy rolls

Was given the most deliciously CRUNCHY macaroon ever, along with a creamy dreamy egg tart

Watched "New Moon" with my sister

Made more maple bacon biscuits with my little cousin <3 onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX2PdDOUdfiwttp20l0kT04bE4w_BUIomI1mmiAUU4r6VfcW42DBg-yBFSny4RmBwhhofnQkiM-dFwuX76_ki_3I31JlOYEQWxZn9B0B1JcguIL_TH4DEU1XFVNnGPFyGCw_kC7c_wurc/s1600-h/Picture+492.jpg">So flaky and yummy! I got this recipe from this blog and have been making it nonstop. After I made it the first time for my roommates, they have been requesting over and over that I make it again. I made a batch for a Thanksgiving potluck, and one for the boy's family, and they've been a hit with all. This is worth a try!

How can anyone resist??? Slightly sweet and savory...and buttery and with BACON...yummm...they're best served fresh from the oven but my roomies microwaved leftovers and still devoured them

Helped my mom put up a live Christmas tree...I had to go back to school before she put up decorations, but the next time I'm home for the holidays I'll take a picture of the finished tree. I love live trees because they make the house smell so fresh and comforting...

On the drive back to LA, I encountered many things welcoming the holidays. There was the annual Starbucks red cup (love their seasonal drinks...Gingerbread Latte and Peppermint Mocha are always must-haves for me this time of year)

A customary stop at In-N-Out for a burger and fries...

....with a holiday wrapper :)

Stopped by Century City Mall to pick up some Godiva chocolates and saw a cool Christmas tree made from potted poinsettias

Mall decked out in gorgeous lights at night~


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My nails in these pictures are painted with China Glaze in Atlantic...love this polish! It's soooo sparkly in real life. I love glitter polishes!

Sephora by OPI in 212-Sephora

I got 212-Sephora (on the left) during the Friends & Family Sale a few weeks ago. It's always been unavailable whenever I checked, so when I finally saw that it wasn't while I was going through my final shopping cart edit, I had to grab it! Here is the description from the Sephora website:

212-Sephora Nail Color

What it is: A chic nail color inspired by New York City's after-dark dazzle.

What it does:
Sephora by OPI 212-Sephora Nail Colour is a limited-edition must-have shade created in celebration of the new Sephora 5 Times Square flagship store. This glamorous variation on black channels the essence of the exclusively fabulous 212 area code. It is only available online and at 5 Times Square! Put the final touch on fingertips and toes with this top-quality formula that continues the OPI legacy of excellence.

What else you need to know:
Sephora by OPI combines the quality and color expertise of OPI, the world leader in professional nail color, with Sephora's reputation for the latest in beauty and sophistication. The long-lasting, chip-resistant polish ensures flawless results with each application, and its green ingredient list excludes DBP, toluene, and formaldehyde.

I happen to like the Sephora by OPI line; they have some really great colors and the formula and brush are easy to work with. I've been looking for an alternative to the plain black nail polish that I see on so many girls (and boys!) at school, and this fulfilled that AND my penchant for glitter :)

It's described as a smoky black with iridescent, gold, and copper glitter. I really like the base color and the copper flakes!

This picture is the closest depiction of what the color looks like in real life. The "smoky black" is a bit olive green, no? Click for a closer look! This is with 3 coats of color and topcoat

With flash. Too bad these pictures don't show the depth of sparkle of this polish. The copper flakes look like they're trapped under the color and the gold and iridescent round glitter add to the shine. Reminds me a bit of dark, sparkly marble counters, if you know what I mean. Overall, I likey! Not my favorite, but definitely a nice little item to collect if you're into polish like I am :)