Nails Inc Kensington Caviar Top Coat Review (plus, a couple of swatches from December Haul)

Hello everyone! 

This a review of Nails Inc Kensington Caviar Top Coat and there are a few swatches of Nails Inc Magnetic Trio in Trafalgar Square (also one nail is painted in White Hall, and another in Parliament). Plus, one nail in Claire's Mood Changing Polish in Hyper/Relaxed and Daring/Ditzy.

I have been using Nails Inc Kensington Caviar Top Coat for about 2 weeks now. I bought it at Sephora earlier this month for $7 (because of a coupon I had) along with the Nails Inc Kensington Caviar Base Coat and the Nails Inc Magnetic Trio. Usually, I would not buy a top coat that retails for $10, but seeing as my coupon lowered the price by 30% I figured, why not?

Nails Inc claims:

"Kensington caviar 45 second top coat is a super glossy top coat that leaves nails touch dry in 45 seconds. Apply over your nails inc polish for a professional, long lasting finish. This formula has been specially developed for women who demand instant results.The effect on the nails is a super glossy, wet look professional finish so that nails look like they have been professionally manicured. This incredible formula will also help to increase the wear of your nail polish adding chip resistance and sealing in colour."

Okay, now that is a lot of claims... So did it deliver?

The top coat definitely dried to the touch in 45 seconds! I was so shocked with how fast it dried. I'm pretty clumsy with my hands, so there have been times where I've accidentally knocked my nail into my nail polish bottle while painting my nail causing me to redo it. However, this time when I knocked my finger into the nail polish bottle, nothing happened! My nail was still in flawless condition! I've also found that if you wait a few minutes after applying the top coat and then run your hand under cold water and let the water air dry it will help your nail polish dry completely (I found this to be true using Nails Inc top coat). As for glossiness, I wouldn't say it makes my nail polish "super glossy". Kensington Caviar Top Coat does add shine or gloss, but not so much as to say "super glossy". Also, the longevity of my manicures lasted about one week until my nail polish would start chipping, so it did extend the life of my nail polish.

The application of the top coat was flawless, the brush was not too stiff. It was able to fan out over my nails. The consistency of the top coat was not too thick, but not too thin - just right.

HOWEVER! And this is a big con... A little over a week and a half my top coat developed little tiny air bubbles in the polish. Over the weekend I decided to change up my manicure from CG's Dorothy Who? To CG's Westside Warrior. A few minutes after applying NIKC top coat, I noticed tiny air bubbles forming on the surface of my nails. At first I thought the bubbles came from CG Westside Warrior because I never had any problems with my top coat. So, I redid my manicure and the same thing happened! Still convinced that I had a faulty bottle of Westside Warrior, I redid my nails again paying special attention to the brush of CG Westside Warrior, making sure that I did not see bubbles on it. I even gave it more drying time, looking over my nails and seeing there were no bubbles before applying my top coat. To my horror, I still saw air bubbles formed on the surface of each nail just minutes after I applied my top coat. I finally looked at the bottle of my top coat only to see little air bubbles on my brush and in the bottle of the nail polish.

Sorry for the bad lighting, it was the only way to take the picture showing the bubbles. The nail color is CG Westside Warrior. However, it doesn't really look like that because of the terrible lighting.

I'm not sure, but I believe its impossible to fix top coats with air bubbles... I've looked up ways to fix air bubbles and the most recommended solution is to add nail polish thinner to the nail polish. However, it is my top coat that has bubbles not my base color polish. Also, my top coat is definitely not thick so I doubt that that is the reason my polish has bubbles. I have never shook the bottle or froze the bottle. I always apply nail polish at room temperature and in rooms that aren't too warm or too cold.

I have looked up if other people had the same problem with their bottles of NIKC Top Coats. During my search, I've found a couple of people here and there have had bubbling issues, but the majority of users did not. So I can only conclude that something happened to my top coat or I got a defective bottle...

Bottom line, this top coat was amazing for the first 1 and a half weeks I used it until the bubbling problem happened. It really does do all that it claims (except the "super" part of "super glossy"). But, there is a chance that the bottle will form air bubbles, so do not throw away the receipt after purchasing it because you may need to exchange the bottle or return it if you aren't lucky. Even though I experienced horrible bubbling, I still love this top coat. It was an amazing top coat, I only wish it did not bubble. And honestly, I have the urge to purchase one more NIKC Top Coat to see if the second one will bubble or not.

These are all pictures of swatches I did about two weeks ago (sorry, the picts are sideways.. not sure why it was uploaded like that). All of the nails are topped with Nails Inc Kensington Caviar Top Coat. As you can see none of the nails have bubbling. Also, see my post on China Glaze's For Audrey for picts; For Audrey & Dorothy Who? was my last successful manicure using the Nails Inc Kensington Caviar Top Coat :(

So, have you ever experienced your top coat bubbling? If so how did you get rid of the bubbles? 

Summer Nail Polishes (very old post that I promised)

Hello! 

I'm super sorry for this really late post considering its WINTER where I am and definitely not summer! I do think the blue could work as a year round color though. During the month of May I went into CVS while I was shopping around and saw they had the new Summer 2011 Braziliant line for Essie on display. Unfortunately, there weren't many colors left so I ended up getting (L-R) Meet Me at Sunset, Braziliant, and Smooth Sailing. I had a picture of Braziliant (the middle bottle) but I have no idea what happened to it and until I go back to school I won't be able to swatch it. 

Braziliant is sort of shimmery and dusty orange at the same time. It definitely as a slight duochrome finish because of the pink shimmers. It was opaque in 1 coat and achieved full opacity (no visible nail line) at 2 coats. After drying there is not much shine on the nails. 

Meet Me at Sunset is a dark tangerine orange color. It has a cream/jelly finish to it. Just like Braziliant it achieved full opacity in 2 coats. Meet Me at Sunset dries super glossy! 

Smooth Sailing is a periwinkle blue with silver microshimmer in it. It is probably my favorite from the three I bought. One not too thick not too thin coat was used in the photograph. I do feel like this color is wearable throughout the year (of course it wouldn't be following "trends") but no one would look at you strange for wearing it during winter. It also dries glossy, but not as glossy as Meet Me at Sunset. 

Like most Essie nail polishes that I've tried these were easy to apply. The only thing I dislike about Essie polish is the brush which can be slightly stiff sometimes.

For Audrey & Dorothy Who? Swatches

Hello and Merry X-mas to you all,

Today I have China Glaze For Audrey Swatches to show you from my December Haul collection. China Glaze's For Audrey is a Tiffany Blue nail polish. Like many experiences I've had with China Glaze, the nail polish applied like a dream. Just make sure you do not apply too much pressure when painting your nails otherwise you will end up with bald spots. For Audrey was opaque in 2 coats of polish, which made me a very happy camper :). After I applied FA I fell in love! I was very hesitant to change up my manicure because I loved the color that much. Usually I'm not a big fan of light blue nail polishes (like Essie Something Borrowed... I feel like light blue polishes make my hands seem unusually tanner than the rest of my body) but FA is the perfect light blue, not too light but not so dark that it can't be considered light. I honestly cannot say enough good things about this polish. Love the smoothness, the shine, the color, everything!

I also layered CG Dorothy Who? Over For Audrey after a little more than half a week because I was going to attend a birthday party and I wanted something more festive and party-esque. Dorothy Who? is a beautiful medium blue jelly nail polish with loads of blue and silver glitter. I had to use 2 coats of polish to get the glitter to cover the whole surface of my nail. Even though the polish had glitter in it, it tried pretty smooth, just one layer of top coat was needed to achieve full smoothness. I loved the way it seemed like there were different depths to the nail polish because the glitters were suspended in a jelly base. 

An enlarged photo.

DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT - Essie No Chips Ahead Review

Hello everyone!

I consider myself an Essie nail polish lover; over time I've collected about 15 bottles of Essie nail polish, its probably one of my favorite nail polish brands. I have always had a good experience with Essie. With that being said, on my birthday I decided to splurge a little and buy a few nail products. I've been out of Essie Good to Go (my favorite top coat) for awhile now and wanted to replace it. However, when I got to the store they were out of my preferred top coat but had one box of Essie No Chips Ahead. I figured that Essie No Chips Ahead would be up to par with my expectations of a top coat. I knew that NCA is not a fast drying top coat, but a few years ago I used Essie 3-way Glaze which is not a quick dry top coat/base coat and I liked it so again I figured it would be fine. Boy was I wrong...

Essie claims NCA will provide a chip free top coat. Also, it will extend the manicure for up to 10 days and protects against chipping. 

I layered Essie NCA over my Sally Hansen Real Effects Nail Polish strips in a candy cane pattern to make it nice and shiny. My initial thoughts on the polish when I first opened the packaging and applied the top coat to my nails were, cute packaging and silver cap, nice consistency. NCA has a nice thin consistency unlike most top coats which are thicker, therefore it spread over my nails nicely. NCA applied nicely on my nails. I waited about 10 minutes lightly touching my nails to see if it tried and it didn't! An hour past and I thought it would be fine to take a nap, but it wasn't! I woke up to see my newly finished nails ruined. Since the top coat smeared while I was sleeping, small holes were made into the nail strips, therefore I couldn't hide the holes. I did one more layer of top coat to get rid of the bumpiness caused by the holes and this time waited a few hours for it to dry completely. Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of my manicure post "hole-y" experience. Just a picture of it when the top coat was drying. Also, about 5 days later I noticed MAJOR chipping.

Bottom line is, no, it did not protect my manicure for up to 10 days. The drying time sucked more than normal for a regular top coat. I did like that the top coat had a thin consistency which made it easy to apply, which made me think that it would dry within reasonable time, but it did not!

I would rate this top coat a 1.5 - 2 out of 5 stars.

This experience has not hindered my love for Essie polishes. I've always had pleasant experiences with the nail polish colors. I've used Essie G2G (haha GTG makes it seem like it is Essie Got to Go) and Essie 3-Way Glaze and again had pleasant experiences with them, but this just was not the case. Hopefully this will be my one and only horrible Essie experience.

December Nail Polish Haul!

Hello all!

Wow! I haven't posted here in a very long time! I tried to post a blog five different times, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

Anyway, I have bought quite a few bottles of nail polish during the summer and fall, but I didn't take any pictures of the bottles and I'm currently back at my parent's house for winter break so I don't have them with me. However, I will blog about them individually later.

Last weekend I went to Sephora with my boyfriend to use their $15 off any $50 purchase coupon and bought Nails Inc Magnetic Trio, and Nails Inc Kensington Top Coat, and Nails Inc Kensington Base Coat. I spent a good 20 minutes in the store debating if I should buy the top coat and base coat or the Nails Inc Glitterati collection. Ultimately, I let my boyfriend decide. His reasoning for getting the base coat and top coat over the glitters was since I don't have my base coat with me and I recently ran out of my favorite top coat (Essie Good to Go) I should buy the pair. Honestly, I don't regret my purchase one bit. I really did need the top coat and base coat because wearing nail polish without the base coat miffs me. I worry about my nails being stained all the time. Also, I ran out of Essie Good to Go while at school and bought another Essie top coat to replace it. Prior to that time, I've only tried Essie Good to Go and Essie 3-way Glaze, both polishes I loved and had no problems with. Jumping to the conclusion that all Essie top coats were good, I bought Essie No Chips Ahead... and I hated it! But I'm getting off topic... (I'll do a review on it later). Anyway, lets get back on topic! The magnetic trio is great! I already plan on doing a in-depth review later on the trio and base & top coat. The trio comes with three colors, White Hall (emerald green), Trafagular Square (silver), and House of Parliament (deep purple). However, only Trafagular Square comes with the magnetic cap, so if you wanted to buy the trio and break up the polishes to give away as gifts... you can't. But, I have no intention of giving away my trio so I don't care about that. Regular price for the trio was $30 while the top coat and base coat were $10 each. With the coupon the price of the trio was $21 and $7 each for the top coat/base coat.

A few days after my Sephora purchase I went to Claires with my boyfriend to look at the mood polishes. The polishes were being sold buy one get one 50% off. The Hyper/Relaxed polish caught my eye so I wound up purchasing that one and the cashier girl told me the polishes were buy one get one 50% off so I also bought Daring/Ditzy. Hyper/Relaxed (purple/blue) and Daring/Ditzy (peach pink/ light pink).

Thursday night I was bored, so as always I "window-shopped" online. I went to ulta.com and noticed China Glaze and Orly polishes are buy 2 get 1 free. Naturally, I jumped on the deal. My boyfriend and I went to Tanforan shopping mall for the first time together. I saw there was a Best Buy across the street from the mall and knew I wanted to get my boyfriend's father's Christmas gift first. While I was on my way across the street I saw there was a Sally's Beauty Supply next door. I went into Sally's for the first time before going into Ulta to see what deals they had. Sally's sold CG polishes 2 for $10. I told my bf that if I couldn't find the polishes I want from Ulta, we'd come back. I went off to Ulta and bought Traffic Jam, Westside Warrior, and Flying High. I also went across the street to Sally's Beauty Supply and bought Dorothy Who? and For Audrey.

Expect some quick (and some not so quick) nail polish reviews with swatches later :)

Hautelook: Urban Decay Sale

Hello! I just wanted to share news with everyone that theres a Urban Decay Sale on Hauteloook.com . This is a discount website on name brands and vacations. In order to be able to make an account on Hautelook.com you must be invited. http://www.hautelook.com/invite/SChan569 is my own personal invite to anyone who wants to join. 


Also, I wanted to let everyone know that I'm still alive and well. I haven't been blogging because its exams week for me! Once I'm done with exams I'll have more time to post up blogs. I already have a few lined up to post. I just need to upload pictures. :)

Clinique 3-Step Acne Solutions Review Week 4-6 -

Since there hasn't been "rapid" change in terms of my skin after week 3 I decided to combine the rest of the weeks. I've been using the 3-Step Acne Solutions kit for 6 weeks now (duh, S - it says so in the title :x) its been good to me for the most part though I do have a slight itchiness along my chin from time to time, but nothing a little moisturizer can't fix. As you all know from reading my week 1 review, I loved this product sooo much because I started seeing a noticeable difference right off the bat. But, by week 3 my skin was pretty much the same. Even though, the changes has slowed down a lot, I still see gradual effects. There definitely has been a decline in redness. It eliminated my break out spots on my forehead and around my inner eyebrow area. The Acne Solutions kit is not the same as previous products I've used and what I mean by that is. Previous products I've used I saw drastic improvement in the beginning for the first two weeks or so but then my skin adapts to the cleanser and its back to breaking out all over again, however this product isn't like that for me. I'll admit that during my fourth and fifth week of using it I was worried that it no longer had an effect on my skin just like previous products, but I was definitely wrong. I noticed that I stopped having a lot of pimples and break outs around my face and there was less redness on my cheeks. Now I could actually put on blush without fearing that it is highlighting acne scars making them look inflamed. :). I am planning on buying a new skin care set in the summer so I can switch out my products and I'll blog about it when I do :]

Revlon Sugar Plum

I am really loving Revlon's Sugar Plum nail polish from the Top Speed line. It is a frosty red violet color with beautiful red and gold microglitters. The only things I dislike about this polish the polish doesn't dry as fast as I thought it would. On the back of the bottle it says it takes 60 seconds to dry; I found that to be untrue. The other thing I disliked about it, isn't so much the polish's fault, just the brush. To my horror, I noticed the brush had bristles coming out before I even used it so it created little scratch marks/dents in my polish :/. The formula is good close to China Glaze, Essie, or OPI. However, I have used lighter colors than this and the formula was not good. The light pink Revlon Scented nail polish called Cotton Candy, was really sheer when I applied it... and the smell was very tiring. I've also used a frosty yellow I think its called Electric from the Top Speed line and it was very streaky. The only commonality that I see were both colors were light... So... I think I'll continue to purchase darker colors from Revlon rather than lighter ones...

Sugar Plum with Bundle Monster Image design. 

If anyone wants to know the image plate number leave a comment :) or has just as a question about this product or just wants to say hi :)

If you like my blog please follow :)

Cute Panda Nails :)

After trying out my Lippmann glitter polishes I hit a nail polish funk. I wanted to wear a new polish but at the same time I wanted to put a cute design on my nails that didn't take any effort. Well, I didn't cover my whole nail with a nail polish color but I did decide to give Cutepolish's Panda design a whirl and I'm so glad I did. This nail design is simple, fast, and absolutely adorable.

To learn how to do this design click [here]. I am an absolute fan of cutepolish's nail designs. 

I do not have a top coat on my fingers in the picture. I added a top coat after I snapped the picture.

I used

Nailtek Foundation Formula II as my base

OPI's Alpine Snow for the white

Wet n Wild's Black

and applied OPI's RapiDry for my top coat

Lady Sings the Blues

Hello all! I feel like I haven't blogged in the longest time!

This is going to be a pretty short post on another Deborah Lippmann glitter polish, Lady Sings the Blues. This polish has a navy blue jelly base and blue and silver glitters. I like this polish more than Across the Universe but less than Bad Romance. At first I wasn't liking the silver glitters very much but it grew on me over the past few days. It reminds me of outer space. Very beautiful! The polish took two coats to achieve opacity and two top coats to get a smooth finish.

Clinique 3-Step Acne Solutions Review Week 3

Okay, it has been three weeks since I started using Clinique's 3-Step Acne Solutions, not much of a difference from week 2. There is definitely less "dirt" on my face and not as much oil. I am starting to see my pores are being purged of oil too in which a little bit more pimples have formed but once they've gone away they're gone for good. Con: my neck, under my chin, and jaw line area have been extremely itchy and dry lately so I have to keep applying ointment afterwards.

If week 4 and 5 are pretty much the same.. I think I might just skip writing a review about them or an update and wait until week 6. I'm also thinking of doing an "About Myself Blog Post" if anyone is interested in reading that. If you are interested in a post like that leave me comments about what you want to know about me and I'll answer the questions that I think are interesting or relevant to my blog. I won't answer private questions about myself such as where I live or where I go to school because thats too private.

Raving about Bad Romance

Ra Ra Ra Ah Ah Roma Roma Ma Ga Ga Ooh La La

Hey Everyone! The color currently on my nails is Bad Romance from Deborah Lippmann's line of nail polish. Its a jelly purple-y gray color with purple/violet glitters in it, BEAUTIFUL! I think this is my favorite nail polish. I am very shocked that I would like it this much; I thought for sure I would like Across the Universe better, but I actually like Bad Romance more! It definitely has a GaGa feel to it. Only two coats were needed for good opacity, three makes it more vibrant though. It took between 2-3 top coats (depending on how much glitter and how big the glitters were on your nail) for a smooth surface. Originally, I was going to take off this nail polish after one day to apply "Lady Sings the Blues" from Lippmann's "All that Jazz" Collection, but I'm loving the color wayyy to much to take it off haha! I love how layering on the nail polish makes it look almost black with glitter in it. The contrast in color is great, it adds depth to the nail polish. I love how this polish looks great alone, adding stamping designs or floral designs to it would take away from its beauty. However, I do think it would go wonderful with IHaveACupcake's graduation nail design (without needing to layer on a separate glitter polish). Don't know what nail design I'm talking about? Click [here] I also think this color is perfect for prom (well any school dance for that matter) and clubbing, etc. Its definitely adds some pizazz to your outfits and it matches completely casual outfits too. The versatility with this nail polish is endless. Pictures of the polish are below. Again, I don't think they captured the nail polish's true beauty. I wish I had an actual camera rather to use rather than my cell phone camera. I've been looking into buying a digital camera and I have one in mind but I'd like to think it over some more. If you have any suggestions for what is a good point and shoot camera or have any questions about this polish please leave me a comment below :) 

Deborah Lippmann Polishes

Hello everybody! I hope all is going well :). I've been really busy with midterms and papers so I haven't been able to blog much, but I am super excited to share my recently acquired polishes. I just recently purchased Deborah Lippman's Across the Universe, Lady Sings the Blues, and Bad Romance. All three polishes are glitter -jelly nail polishes. Across the Universe is a very beautiful "mermaid-y" glitter polish, it has blue glitter and blue and green hexagon shaped glitter in it. The hexagonal glitter reminds me of mermaid scales :). Its very easy to apply and get the larger glitter pieces out. I've had polishes such as the Maybelline's Valentine's day collection which had heart decals in it, this polish is not like that. Its so easy for the glitter to come out and stick on the nail. It takes about three coats for full coverage. I bought Across the Universe for $18 at Nordstrom. Yes, I know its very expensive for nail polish, but I couldn't resist it was so beautiful and I wanted it for awhile. The Lady Sings the Blues and Bad Romance polish I ordered from beautybar.com because I had a $40 coupon that I got for $20. Both polishes were also $18 each, but I really only wanted those two nail polishes from their website and not anything else. I haven't had the chance to try out the other two polishes yet, but I can't wait to try them :). I hope I covered all the bases for Lippmann's Across the World polish, as always if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask in the questions box below.

L to R: Bad Romance, Lady Sings the Blues, and Across the Universe

Across the Universe. This picture does not do the polish justice; its such a shame that my nails are short. I think it would look fantastic on long nails, but its still pretty on short nails. 

Across the Universe

I will add more pictures of the other polishes later a long with a short blog about it.

Clinique 3-Step Acne Solutions Review Week 2

I decided to do short reviews on Clinique's 3-Step Acne Solutions System every week for 4-6 weeks because the pamphlet it came with said acne should be completely cleared by then.

So, its been two weeks since I started using the Acne Solutions System. As of right now my skin has stopped peeling around my cheeks and temples, its not as sensitive to weather but it does get dry if I don't use another moisturizer with the kit. The burning has stopped and the tingling is very light now. Around my chin and neck area my skin has started to itch a lot because the skin has become slightly dryer, so I've been using an anti-itch ointment over the itchy areas after I apply my moisturizers. My skin is going back to being oily; I know in my previous post I said the kit works in terms of oil control, but I've noticed my skin is becoming slightly more oily now compared to last week. However, its not as oily as when I did not use Clinique. This might be because the product is no longer drying out my skin as much; during the first week that I used it I had to bring a moisturizer with me wherever I went because my skin would dry out throughout the day. It could also be because the weather is a lot warmer now. My face has been pretty clear for the most part. No major breakouts. I do have one pimple on my chin but thats it. My forehead (one of my major breakout zones) has stayed relatively clear, there are still a few bumps from before, but it has been greatly reduced. There hasn't been a big difference between my skin's redness this week compared to last week... Sometimes I feel like its less red, other times I feel like its the same amount of redness, but I think a contributing factor is whether or not I drink enough water throughout the day.

Speaking of drinking enough water, it is not enough to have the right skin care system that works for you. Diet and exercise is also a big part of having clear and healthy skin. Having good skin care products can only do so much, but if you are constantly eating junk food, starving yourself, and not drinking enough water you won't have that natural, healthy, glowing skin. (Unless you're born with really good genes and you eat a lot of junk food and never break out... then I'm just jealous, haha!) As always, remember to eat vegetables, fruits (especially berries which have a lot of anti-oxidants which protects your cells from free radicals, therefore helps against aging), and most importantly stay hydrated. Drink a lot of water throughout the day. To name a few reasons, water helps the body flush out waste, it keeps your skin healthy by keeping it moisturized, better digestion, and organs function better.

I know in this day and age, people feel pressured to be skinny or lean and it is okay to want that, but do not starve yourself in order to be skinny. Starving yourself is unhealthy in general, but its also extremely unhealthy for your skin because it deprives it of nutrients and vitamins.

Also, something I didn't know until recently daily exercise also helps promote healthy skin. Exercising helps circulate nutrients to your organs, which the skin is the largest organ in the human body.

If you have any questions, post them into the comment section below and I'll get back to you :).

China Glaze Atelier Tulle

On Thursday of this week, I received my package for three China Glaze polishes that I ordered off of eBay. I ordered three colors: Atelier Tulle, Mom's Chiffon, and Second Hand Silk. Coincidentally, all three colors are from the China Glaze Immaterial Girl collection, something I did not know when I ordered them.  

This color is pretty close to the coral shade I want.. Its a coral shade that leans more towards the red. Its a very beautiful color. I only needed one color for it to be opaque and for it's true color. The application of the was okay... It wasn't the best application, but wasn't the worst. The things I liked about the application was it was opaque in one coat, color was the same color as shown in the bottle, easy to paint the majority of my nails, very glossy. However, I did have two major problems with this nail polish: at the tips of my nails the application would get blotchy which never happened to me when I used a base coat (as always I used Essie 3-Way Glaze) . Now this didn't happen for all of the tips of my nails, just a couple. And also, when I was applying my OPI RapiDry Top coat  it seemed to lift a little bit of the color off of my nail (not a lot where it was noticeable but there was some very noticeable nail polish transfer on my brush). This also never happened to me before when I used Essie or OPI. 

One small problem I had with the nail polish packaging is the handle of the China Glaze nail polish.. its a lot smaller than OPI and Essie so it took some getting used to. But that has nothing to do with the polish itself but the packaging and once I got used to it it was fine.

All in all, I rate it a 8/10. 

I found this polish to be very similar to OPI's Red My Fortune Cookie that I had on earlier this week. Except Red My Fortune Cookie is definitely a more bright red that Atelier Tulle which compared to OPI is more pink. 

China Glaze Atelier Tulle

OPI Red My Fortune

OPI Pirates of the Caribbean Collection 2011

Does anyone else look forward to getting this collection? I think the polishes that I'm the most excited about are Mermaid's Tears, Steady as She Rose, Skull and Glossbones, and of course the most talked about of the collection, OPI Silver Shatter. From the swatches I've seen online, I do like what I'm seeing. I've noticed a lot of people have complained that these colors are not the "vampy" colors that they would expect from a "Pirates of the Caribbean" collection. However, I think these colors work for the collection. I don't think its necessarily about the colors that you would expect to see a pirate wearing but the colors a pirate would see when he or she it out at sea. For example "Mermaid's Tears" would be running into a mermaid or maybe a gem that was named after a mermaid's tears etc. "Skull and glossbones"... well bones are gray... I know I know, it could be a darker gray but its a Spring Collection after all! As for the other colors I believe the pastel pink, "Steady as She Rose", the deeper pink "Sparrow Me the Drama", and "Planks a Lot" the pastel purple to be floral, exotic colors for the spring which could represent flowers seen on deserted islands or again, gems, etc. While "Stranger Tides" which is a light pastel yellow represents the sand of an island.  

As for Silver Shatter... I think I am most excited to put it on darker, frosted colors and bright colors, rather than pastels just because I feel like it will give more of an interesting contrast. I think layering it above a dark matte color will give a really unique design... However I don't know how I would put a top coat over the nail without the whole nail becoming glossy or the whole nail becoming matte... So... I think for that I'll have to use either a matte nail polish or put a matte coat over a glossy nail polish.. then add another matte top coat and finally the Silver Shatter.  

I probably won't be getting this collection any time soon after it comes into stores... mostly because I'm swamped with schoolwork to go out to my beauty supply store to buy it. Also, because the beauty supply store that I go to while I'm in school costs more than the one I go to back home. And I need to start saving up money and in the meantime there are nail polishes that I have not worn yet :(. But it is one of my top priorities to go buy it during summer when I am home for the next couple of months. 

So what colors are you looking forward to the most out of this collection? Are you disappointed with the color selection? Leave me a comment below :)

Red My Fortune Cookie

I didn't do any nail designs when I painted my nails, mostly because it was in the middle of the night. If I do decide to add a design I'll put it in another post. Anyway, I am currently wearing "Red My Fortune Cookie" from OPI's "Hong Kong Take Out" Summer collection 2010. It's a bright tomato-ey red. I like this nail polish. It is definitely a "in your face" bright red. I think its fun for spring and summer. It will look good on most skin tones. The application was good; I probably had the least amount of clean up to do after applying it. The formula dried faster than most polishes I use, but that may because it only takes 1-2 coats. I applied two coats on all of my fingers but I noticed I could get away with one swipe on my pinky nail. I really love the brush for this polish, its the new Pro Wide Brush. The brush is wide and stuff therefore when when the polish is applied the bristles don't go everywhere it just slightly fans out for an even application. The polish is very glossy without a top coat. I'm usually not into bright reds, but for some reason I really like this color. For my base coat I used Essie's 3-Way Glaze.

Outdoors, Natural lighting, cloudy, no top coat

 Indoors, skylight, no top coat

Sorry pictures aren't great quality... I don't really have a camera so I have to resort to using my camera phone.

Clinique 3-Step Acne Solutions Experience and Review

Disclaimer: I am in no way a skin specialist. This is just my experience with the product and my honest opinion about the product. 

This is a pretty long story about how I ended up purchasing the Clinique 3-Step Acne Solutions and Neutrogena SPF 15 Oil Free Moisturizer... So feel free to skip to bottom where my review is located. :) Also, little note to keep in mind: My skin has been pretty clear (aside from one or two pimples that come and go) up until this past year.

Last week while I was in San Diego, I was recommended by my friend to purchase the Clinique 3-Step System for oily to combination skin 

since my face had been breaking out badly for weeks and none of my current skin cleansers had worked. I walked into Macys with my friend and browsed around the Clinique counter. Macys was having a special gift with any $21.50 purchase from Clinique. (You can read about it here). I picked up the Clinique 3-Step System but was hesitant to buy it because it would have been my first non-drugstore skincare purchase and I kept worrying that it would not work. The manager of the Clinique counter could see I was struggling to make a decision and offered some assistance. I told her I had been breaking out due to stress and none of my cleansers had been working anymore and under my friend's recommendation I should try to use the 3-Step System for Oily-Combination skin. The manager kindly explained to me that what I wanted to do was first use the 3-Step Acne Solutions which can be used for all skin types (dry, dry/combination, oily/combination, oily) to get rid of my acne and then after about three months switch to the 3-Step System for Oily skin. Under the manager's recommendation I ended up purchasing Clinique's 3-Step Acne Solutions. 

The first time I used it the manager at the Clinique counter in Macys demonstrated how it works on my face. She first wiped my face with a cotton ball that had the cleansing foam and then showed me all of the dirt residue that came off of my face and onto the cotton ball... Lets just say I was super embarrassed to see all of that dirt... Especially since I washed my face twice during that day before heading into Macys. Then she wiped my face with a cotton ball soaked with the clarifying lotion and I was doubly embarrassed when I saw the cotton ball. Afterwards she waited about 5 minutes before putting on the clearing moisturizer on my face. By this time my face had a strong tingling feeling... almost a burning sensation over all of my breakout areas. While one of the workers was ringing up my purchase the manager told me to not use the Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing lotion that my bonus gift came with because it would break out my skin a lot if I used it with the Acne Solutions skit. She also said that my skin would get worse before getting better, meaning the first week or two would be hell for my skin because all of the oil is purged to the surface. During the first day that I had starting using the product my skin experienced dry flaky skin. From never experiencing dry skin I was befuddled with what was happening to my skin. Until finally about 5 hours later I looked into the mirror and noticed dry flecks peeling off. The very next day I called the Clinique counter and asked whether or not I could use another moisturizer because I was scared of breaking out. The manager said yes, as long as its and oil-free moisturizer. I then rushed to Ulta and bought Neutrogena's SPF 15 Oil Free Moisturizer. 

It has now been a week since I started using Clinique's 3-Step Acne Solutions along with Neutrogena's SPF 15 Oil Free Moisturizer

Blurb from Acne Solutions brochure: 

From day one... Cleanse, exfoliate, and moisturize with the Acne Solutions Clear Skin System twice a day, and acne-causing bacteria are instantly shut down.. Shine and flakiness are cleared away. Skin looks and feels cleaner, smoother. Note: As clogged pores start to clean (and "gunk" surfaces) skin might get worse before it gets better. Stick with it and within 4-6 weeks, your pimples should be on their way out.

After one week... Skin is getting the message and looks clearer, calmer, less oily. Less red, too. You've probably noticed skin's glowing with a newfound radiance instead of oily breakthrough. Makeup's going on smoother, staying fresher, longer.

After two weeks... It just keeps getting better. In fact, after just two weeks, you’re guaranteed to see smoother, clearer skin. Midday shine will be pretty much history. Those supersized pores? Less noticeable.

 Active Ingredients: Salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide

Clinique 3-Step Acne Solutions Review

Pros:

• After the first week I noticed the bumpiness on my forehead started to diminish
•  I had smoother and softer skin
• Acne scars from before faded 
• Redness around my cheeks started to fade
• Dried the pimples I had on my face in a day or two
• Controlled oil
• The bottles are pretty sanitary (i.e. the foam cleanser has a pump)
• Quick to use

Cons:

• During the first four days my skin burned like crazy, but by the fifth day my skin adjusted to the product and no longer burns 
• The moisturizer that comes with the kit does not moisturize the face well. I experienced dry skin (especially around the corners of my lips) about 15 minutes after applying moisturizer.
• Experienced peeling skin for about a week
• Skin became very sensitive to the weather during the first week. Under direct sunlight my skin started to burn. When it was just slightly windy my skin would dry out. 

Around my fourth day using Clinique's Acne Solutions System I live chatted with one of the consultants online about my peeling skin who explained that my old, "unhealthy" skin was peeling off to make way for newer and healthier skin. Once the majority of my unhealthy skin peeled off my skin felt smoother and softer. My skin was also brighter and less red. As for supersized pores... Well I didn't have supersized pores to start with. I don't notice a difference in my pore size... I think the size of my pores goes unnoticed throughout the day about whether its large or not.  

I didn't experience a lot of breaking out while using this product. I noticed that I did get two extremely large pimples, this would have bothered me, however my pimples did not all come at once. (First I had a huge pimple on my chin, which went away in about 2 days, then I had a huge pimple form on the side of my forehead which disappeared after one day). I figured this was all part of the skin getting worse before getting better part. 

Overall, I do like this product a lot. I did read other reviews that others have written and noticed each person experienced different amounts of time that it took for their skin to get better. It only took between a half a week to a week for me to start seeing positive results. For others its taken between 1-3 weeks and a few lucky people saw positive results in one day. So it does vary between users. 

I do recommend people trying this product, but only if drugstore products haven't been working because compared to drugstore brands Clinique is pricey. Keep in mind when trying this product to have a lot of patience, because as I said before the time it takes for this system to start working varies. For some people it happens very soon, for others it may take a few weeks. Unfortunately, theres no way to tell. If you do end up purchasing this product and don't see positive results right away, I recommend you keep using it for at least 3 weeks before giving up on it. 

If you have any questions or want to share your experience with Clinique 3-Step Acne Solutions System feel free to ask below.

The kit I bought came with a 4.2 fl oz bottle of Foam Cleanser, 6.7 fl oz bottle of Clarifying Lotion, and 1.7 fl. oz tube of Clearing Moisturizer. I also got a bonus gift with my purchase that contained two make up bags (one medium size and one small size, both ave pink floral print), a travel size clinique mascara, a lipstick & lip gloss duo, eyeshadow duo with blush compact, travel size eye make up remover, and small travel size dramatically different moisturizer. (I did not add the names of the products because I'm too lazy to grab them, but I have posted a link at the beginning of the post if you want to know the exact bonus gift). This kit (excluding the bonus gift) retails for about $49.50 (I think). 

Spring Nails with an Edge

Spring Nails with an Edge!

Well I have no idea why my picture was uploaded sideways :/. Anyway, this design was created using these polishes:

Base Coat: Nutranail Mineral Strengthener (I think that is what its called)
Blue: Essie - Borrowed and Blue
Top Coat: OPI Black Shatter
Top Coat: OPI RapiDry top coat

You can use any pastel or light color as your base color, I just chose Essie's Borrowed and Blue because I thought it was pretty :)

First impressions on some of the polishes used in this nail design:

This nail design is super easy to do and I think its really fun and playful. I love Essie's Borrowed&Blue, however I did have some inconsistencies with the polish. It took about 2-3 coats to achieve full opacity. However, the formula  was thicker than what I would have liked it to be. The thicker formula made it harder to apply an even coat. Also, I did not shake the bottle but on one of my fingers bubbles formed in the corner so thats annoying. This color is from Essie's 2011 Wedding Collection. This is a unique color to be put in a wedding collection since usually the colors are french whites, sheer pinks, etc. I think its a great color for the spring. I have had this color on my nails for about four days now and there hasn't been any major chipping, again just some wear on the tips of my nails. I bought this nail polish at Ulta during my trip to San Diego last weekend. I give it a 8.5/10!

OPI Black Shatter is such a fun nail polish. My friend helped me pick it up from a nail polish warehouse in Southern California. I thought it would be perfect to apply over my newly acquired Blue&Borrowed by Essie. But this nail polish would go great over any light color, glitter gel (as long as its not too dark), chromes, etc. This polish needs to be applied quickly and the shatter effect depends on how much polish you apply on the nail. If you apply a thick layer like I did on my index and middle finger the black is wider and its more spaced out. A thin coat will have more shattering, but it is not spaced out and the black is more narrow... and in my opinion it looks "stringy" (haha, not sure how to describe it). In my personal opinion, I thick when shattered is applied thicker it looks nicer. This polish does dry really fast and once it dries its matte. And obviously it gives nails a bumpy texture once it dries. Once I was done applying it to my nails I was able to but a top coat over it instantly. I give it a 8.5/10 because I wish it took a tiny bit longer to dry because sometimes I couldn't apply a thick coat over my nails since the shattering process already started. Also, I noticed that the nails that show signs of wear on the tips are the nails with shatter over it, while my two ring fingers have no signs of wear at all... I don't know if its because of shatter, but its something that I will keep under observation.

OPI RapiDry Top Coat... I like this top coat since it does dry fast... The brush is wide that I can cover my nails with 1 or 2 swipes. However, I feel like in terms of protecting my nail polish from chipping its weaker than my Essie 3 Way Glaze. Also, even though the nail polish is dry to the touch (light touch actually) in a matter of seconds I still have to be very careful for a few minutes because of smudges. I give it a 8/10.

Cherry Blossom Nails for Spring Break

Japanese Cherry Blossoms (done with a tooth pick! :D)

When you don’t have all the right tools, you make the best of things and use a toothpick haha!


Green: Zoya Gemma
Brown: O.P.I. I’m with Brad
Light gray/lilac: Zoya Marley
Top Coat and Base Coat: Essie 3 Way Glaze


Inspired by MissChievous’s nail tutorial on youtube. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TftmO0vA5i8] link to MissChievous's nail tutorial :)


I hope Japan’s Cherry Blossoms will bloom again to give people hope.


First impressions of some of the polishes used in this design:


This design stayed without chipping on my nails for two weeks. By the end of the second week there was some wear on the tips of my nails, but no noticeable chipping.  

I know a lot of people don’t like Zoya’s Gemma because it clashes with their skin tone. But I really love this color; its described as a muted olive on the Zoya website (I think) with a duochrome finish, meaning it sparkles purple and blue in different lightning. It has a nice smooth and even finish. Its not streaky at all and its really opaque. The picture above is 2 coats on each finger. I really love Gemma with the design I did… without it I still loved the color, but not enough to keep it a plain solid color for longer than 2 days. 

This is Gemma without the nail design. It only took 2 coats of nail polish to achieve this opacity. The formula of the nail polish was so easy to apply. I love that I didn’t need to layer on a lot of nail polish. Also, that the formula wasn’t too thick. I often have problems with thick nail polishes becoming “goopy” or easily smeared even after the nail polish has dried. I had no problems with this formula at all. Usually after I apply nail polish I would become instantly disappointed in the formula because even after it has dried the nail polish would have finger print marks or indents because of the thickness, but I did not experience that with Gemma. 

I bought this polish from Ulta. It is apart of Zoya Intimate collection. I also bought Marley and Dove from the intimate collection and have Indigo that I bought from ebay. 

Bottom line: This nail polish is awesome and so is the brand. I give it a 10/10!