Review: Maybelline Rocket Mascara

Hey everyone! After a long hiatus, I am back with a review of Maybelline's “The Rocket” mascara. I purchased the non-waterproof version in very black from CVS. Maybelline claims that this mascara will give “8x clump free volume”.

Maybelline's Rocket Mascara Brush

Wand Comparison: L'oreal Voluminous
Million Lashes and Maybelline's Rocket

The brush wand has short rubber bristles (shorter than L'oreal Voluminous Million Lashes) that taper to a “blunt point”. The bristles are closely spaced together. Therefore, it was able to evenly coat my lashes evenly and the inner lashes was coated with ease. However, when I tried to coat my lower lashes, it felt awkward. But, with a little practice, that awkward stage will go away!

First time testing. I curled my lashes prior to applying mascara.

When I first opened the mascara tube to use, the formula was wet which resulted in “heavier” coats. Thus, it did not give me "8x" the volume. Instead, my lashes were lightly curled, separated, and defined. But definitely not dramatic volume and nowhere close to 8x. I think that the heavier formula weighed down my lashes. Thus, Maybelline did not live up to its claim during my first testing week. 

Second week of testing. I curled my lashes prior to application.

However on the second week, the formula started to dry out a bit and I did notice that the mascara gave me volume and held the curl. But after a couple hours, my lashes did droop down to "normal" volume (which is really no volume). I am really curious about the waterproof formula of this mascara because my lashes tend to need the waterproof formula to hold a noticeable/dramatic curl.

After about 5 hours of wear, I noticed that there was slight transfer from my lower lashes to my skin when I looked closely in a mirror, but nothing noticeable from a normal speaking distance.

Lastly, to my delight, I was able to remove my mascara quickly and easily. I always have problems with mascara being a pain to remove and balling up into clusters. But this mascara was super easy to remove which made for a pleasant surprise.

All in all, I think that this is a great mascara for people who want natural, defined, non-clumpy lashes. If you're looking for dramatic volume, you might want to try the waterproof formula because waterproof formulas tend to hold curls better and for the entire day compared to a couple hours.

Review: Revlon Colorstay Vintage Rose

Hey Everyone!

I recently bought another Revlon Colorstay nail polish called "Vintage Rose". This is my second Colorstay nail polish and fourth Revlon polish (that isn't a top coat or base coat). My experience with Revlon polishes before the Colorstay line was "okay". Usually the application of the polish depended on the color I used (light colors being the hardest to apply as usual). The other Colorstay polish I have is "Bare Bones". I won't go too into detail about Bare Bones since I will do a post on it eventually. For now I'll just say that Bare Bones was the polish that convinced me to keep buying from the Colorstay line.

The Revlon Colorstay nail polish line has over 20 colors. Definitely a variety of colors to choose from. The majority of the polishes are creme finishes and a couple contain micro glitter. There was also two foils (a copper and a silver) and one jelly glitter polish (a dark green with green glitter). I bought my first Colorstay polish back in June... and between June to present I have visited the that section of polish  at least 50 times... Yes, I have been obsessed with these polishes. Theres only 2 problems that I have...
1. Although theres over 20 colors... I already have polishes that are similar shades. Most of the shades that Revlon came out with are definitely not what I would consider as "unique". However, I do have high hopes that more "unique" looking shades will be appear over time.

Other than Bare Bones, the only other shade that seemed interesting to me and I didn't have anything else like it in my collection was Vintage Rose. Vintage Rose is such a complicated color to describe. The words that come to mind are: reddish brown, deep rosy, berry-ish/mauve-ish.

Seche Vite Crystal Base Coat
2 Coats of Vintage Rose
Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
(indoors, no flash) 

(indoors, flash)

The application was so smooth and easy to work with. I made very little mistakes. Each coat applied very evenly - no streaks or patches.

This polish as one of the best formulas - not too thin, not too thick. Opaque with a slight visible nail line in 1 coat, completely opaque in two coats. 

Two things that I just love about this polish are: the long brush handle and the brush.

The long brush handle made applying the nail polish very comfortable. I dislike short handle brushes because its a lot harder to hold and if you are like me and you apply nail polish to both hands (one after the other) then its easy to smudge the polish on the hand that is applying the polish to the second hand...  did that make sense? Basically, I've had problems with smudging the polish that is drying on my right hand while I'm trying to paint the nails on my left hand. 

The brush is VERY different from usual nail polishes. It has a "double brush" meaning the brush is composed of 2 brushes side by side. If you don't really understand what I'm talking about then google the Revlon Colorstay Top Coat and you'll see. The bristles is a good balance of being flexible and stiff - flexible enough to fan out evenly over the nail, but not so flexible as to be flimsy.

The nail polish dried within a reasonable time; it was super glossy, and very smooth. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture to show the polish without a top coat since I forgot to charge my battery and I already applied a top coat last night but took the pictures this morning... So, take my word for it... it was glossy! I actually don't think the top coat made the polish any shinier than it already was!

As for the wear... This is only my second day wearing the polish (and I do have a top coat protecting it) there are no chips... but I can't say that it was due to the awesomeness of the Colorstay formula. I honestly have no intentions (as of right now) to do a test to see how long this polish will wear since I like changing my polishes pretty frequently. 

Overall, I love this polish and I don't have any major gripes about it other than it's price. The price of the Colorstay polish line ranges from $7-8 which is around the same price as Essie, Zoya, OPI, and China Glaze polishes. The Colorstay polish is only 0.4 fl oz, making it 0.1 fl oz smaller than most polishes. Both times that I purchased Colorstay polishes, the polishes were on sale. I bought Vintage Rose when all Revlon polishes were being sold for $4.99 at Walgreens... I also had a $2 off coupon for any Colorstay product and got back $3 in Register Rewards! Although I love the formula and the brush of these polishes, I would not purchase them at regular price since I could buy other brands for the same amount of money. Well, I'd make an exception if theres a polish "special" enough.

Sinful Colors Cinderella

For the past two months, I've been looking for Sinful Colors - Cinderella. Last Monday, I was walking around my local Walgreens waiting for my boyfriend to show up when something caught my eye. A baby blue Sinful Colors nail polish sitting at a display. I quickly picked up the bottle and saw the tiny flecks of pink disbursed in a sea of baby blue. Excitedly I flipped the bottle over and read, "Cinderella" on the bottom label. YES! It was the polish I had been looking for.

Seche Vite Crystal Clear Base Coat
2 coats of Sinful Colors - Cinderella
Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat

I layered 3 coats of Sinful Colors - Cinderella over my base coat. The application was tricky... and messier than usual. I consider myself to me adequate to above average when it comes to applying nail polish neatly... But this was seriously my messiest application to date. Nail polish filled my cuticles and flooded the sides of my nails. The brush was pretty stiff so it picked up and applied a lot of polish onto my nails when I wasn't careful. The formula of the polish was a little on the thick side as well. 

This is definitely a gorgeous and unique colors... and for $1.99 its a great price... However, was a little more difficult to apply. 

OPI I Eat Mainely Lobster

Hey Everyone!

Sorry this nail polish is another "reddish" color. I've been applying for part-time jobs lately and didn't want to switch up my nail polish right before an interview... so I figure "reddish" colors will have to do for now.

I've been wearing this manicure for the past 5 days without getting any chips in the polish. However, it does have the inevitable wear on the tips :/. Please try to ignore that in the photos, haha!

base coat: Seche Vite Crystal Clear Base Coat
base color: OPI I Eat Mainely Lobster
top coat: Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
picture taken outdoors

OPI's I Eat Mainely Lobster came out as part of OPI's 2011 Fall Touring America Collection. One of the things that I have always enjoyed about OPI polishes are the names. I have a deep appreciation for whoever comes up with the names because they are quite witty with the puns. And I Eat Mainely Lobster definitely reminds me of lobsters when I see it. 

This polish has subtle pink and golden shimmers in it, which lobster shells tend to have. Depending on if you are indoors or outdoors the color slightly changes. Overall, it is a coral color, but indoors it seems to lean towards red while outdoors it seems more orange. Unfortunately, I could not capture the true color of the polish when I was standing outside; my pictures depict the polish as a reddish coral outdoors... it really does look slightly orange-r... kind of a coral - cantaloupe color. Also, without a top coat this polish does dry somewhat "dusty" and doesn't have much shine to it.

This was one of those polishes where I had to look at numerous swatch pictures on google before deciding if I wanted to purchase it or not. And seriously... in just about every website/blog that I visited the nail polish looked different. Yes, it is one of those tricky colors. But I am definitely glad I bought it. I've had this polish for about 9 months now and I can honestly say that this is one of my favorite nail polishes. I love wearing this color on my nails and especially on my toenails! 

This polish made me a fan of OPI nail polishes. It has the OPI Pro Wide brush which I found easy to use. The consistency of the polish was just right, not too thick and not too thin. Overall, it is always a dream to work with. Plus, OPI polishes have great staying power with or without a base coat/top coat... I mean seriously that picture is 5 days of wearing the same nail polish with no touch ups... pretty amazing. And it still has no signs of chipping just minor wear at the tips.

More swatches:

You can see the shimmer in the bottle

Essie Ole Caliente

Summer is "here" and the "hottest" months are coming up (*chuckle... not really if you live where I live.) 

Anyway, I haven't been changing up my nail polish that much and for a few weeks I had nothing on my nails because I didn't have a good top coat and base coat. For people who have worn bright or dark color nail polishes without a base coat then you know that staining will happen.

I recently bought Seche Vite's Fast Dry Top Coat and Crystal Clear Base Coat from CVS for $8.99. $4.50 each? Yes, please and thank you! When I got home that very same day I clamored to my bathroom to paint my nails. I was super excited to use a new top coat and base coat because I've had issues with bubbling on my nails (especially with Essie's 2012 Spring Collection). 

Guess what? Absolutely no bubbling! :) LOVE IT! Which means... I can finally post up a picture :). 

In the next few days I'll be posting up a blog about my experiences with different top coats and base coats and a review of the Seche Vite duo. My horrible experiences with bubbling and all that stuff :) But for now I give you a swatch of Essie's Ole Caliente. 

Essie's Ole Caliente is part of the Spring 2012 collection which I absolutely love! On the Essie website, it describes this color as a "red-orange with a pink undertone" creme. I definitely agree with description. Its not a true red, but its not too far off from being that classic red color. I know in this picture its hard to tell if its a red-orange but it really is (the majority of the time). 

I applied 1 coat of Seche Vite Crystal Clear Base Coat and 2 coats of Essie Ole Caliente on my nails, topped with one coat of Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat. Ole Caliente is opaque in one coat but the nail line is still visible. Two coats was a must. 

I really like the formula, but the brush application was something left to be desired. I really dislike the Essie mini polish brushes! They're too stiff which makes it harder to get a nice thin application.

Whenever I see this color I think of bright red candy apples, watermelons, and strawberries. It definitely paints a smile on my face whenever I look down at my nails.

This kind of color reminds me of OPI's Red My Fortune Cookie in certain lights... But Ole Caliente is definitely less orange.

What color nail polish are you sporting on your nails today :)?

I'm Back!

Hey everyone!

I'm back! Sorry its been a really really long time since I last blogged (school, drama, anxiety problems... ugh). But I am back with a picture of a jelly sandwich manicure that I did.

I sandwiched OPI's Getting Miss Piggy With It between Essie's Jelly Apple. 

I love this manicure sooo much! It was tricky to do for the first two nails because I had to make sure that I applied a thin layer of Jelly Apple over the glitter polish. 

What do you think?

Update: nail designs from 2011

Hey everyone!

Sorry for the long wait. I have been back in school since the beginning of the month. It's been pretty good this quarter, just a lot of work to do :(. I will try to update as much as possible. 

Rose Nail Design:
Base Coat: Zoya Dove (I love this color!)
Red Petals: China Glaze Atelier Tulle
Pink Petals: China Glaze Second Hand Silk
Green Leaves: OPI Greenwich Village

Penguin and Owl Nails
Base coat: Essie Smooth Sailing
Feathers: Essie Something Borrowed
Beak and Feet: Sally Hansen Electric

Gradient Tips + Flower design
I honestly can't remember which polishes I used :(

Sorry, some of the pictures are flipped weirdly. I don't know why that happens when I upload pictures.

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 :)

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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.