Friday, March 8, 2013

Sephora by OPI Cinderella 'A Brush With Fate' Mini Set Swatches/Review

Good morning everyone! As a follow up to last night's nail art, I have swatches of the Cinderella mini nail polish set from Sephora by OPI. This set was released last October with the rest of the Cinderella products and is a fabulous collection piece!


So Totally Enchanted is a beautiful, shimmery opalescent polish. The formula on this one was a little temperamental, but a steady hand and three coats produced a gorgeous mani.


Step Off, Sister! is a glitter top coat consisting of purple and blue micro glitter. This is two coats over So Totally Enchanted.


I Blue My Curfew is a stunning royal blue shimmer. I used three coats to get the deepest color possible.


Bibbidi, Bobbidi, Pink! is a glitter top coat with two different sizes and shades of pink glitter. This is two coats over I Blue My Curfew.


Self-Maid Millionaire is a gold foil that needed three coats for opacity. I love foil finishes so much!


Rags to Rhinestones is a gold glitter top coat. I layered two coats over Self-Maid Millionaire and I am loving this combination! It's so glittery that it seems to glow!


As I said earlier, these polishes were released in October of last year (2012) and are pretty hard to get a hold of now. I've seen a few sets on eBay, but I'm pretty sure they are completely sold out online and in stores. I'm lucky enough to have an amazing momma who bought these for me for Xmas! Did you pick up any of the Cinderella products last year?

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Sephora Disney Cinderella Compact Mirror Review & Nail Art!

Good evening everyone! If you've been following me on any of my social media accounts, you probably know that I've been going crazy trying to find this mirror and I finally did! The mirror and its packaging are so beautiful that I knew I had to do some nail art inspired by it!


The mirror is gorgeous! It's hard to tell from the photos, but the center piece is actually covered in beveled plastic that mimics the facts of a gem.


When you open up the compact, you'll see the quote "time for you moment" is etched onto the top mirror. One mirror in here is a normal mirror and the other is magnified.


This is the nail art that this gorgeous compact inspired me to do! I worked off of the designs on the packaging to create this look. I started out with three coats of Sally Hansen Barracuda as my base and then stamped a floral pattern from Gals plate GA33 with SH Please Sea Me over that.


Next, I stamped a scroll pattern from Gals plate GA44 with Zoya Ziv on the bottom edges of my nails. I finished the look off with a flower image from MASH plate m21 in SH Jungle Gem and a dot of Ziv.


I'm so in love with this compact and these nails! I can't wait to collect all the other mirrors from Sephora! Are any of you guys going crazy over the Sephora Disney Princess collections?

Milani New Mascara & Eye Liner Releases for 2013: Review

Good morning! I have a couple of new eye products from Milani to review for you guys today. First is the Grandissimo Lashes mascara, which is a new voluminous mascara.


These are my bare lashes on the left and wearing the Grandissimo mascara on the right. I'm very impressed with this mascara! It applies very evenly and doesn't clump or smudge.
I also received some eye liners to try out as well. The four swatches on the left are the Liquid Eye Liquid-Like eye liners (here and here) and the two are the right are of the Eye Tech Bold liner. The Liquid-Like liners are sooooo smooth and creamy! From left to right the colors are: Perfect Purple, Brown, Graphite, and Black. The Eye Tech liner is a little too thick for my liking, but it works pretty well. You need at least two swipes to get a solid black line, but if you like your liner thick, this will surely be a great product for you.


These new products are available online on Milani's website and in drugstores nation wide. Are there any of these that you are thinking of picking up? The Liquid-Like liners will sure be getting a lot of use from me!

Products provided for review

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

KQC Flat Iron Review from Flat Iron Experts

Hello everyone! I have something a bit different for you all today: a hair product review! I received the KQC X-Heat Tourmaline ceramic flat iron from Flat Iron Experts to test out and review for you guys and spoiler alert: I love it! The flat iron heats up to 410 degrees Fahrenheit, so it works fast! As you can tell by my "before" photos below, my hair has a slightly wavy texture to it when I let it air dry or slightly blow dry it.

And here are my after pictures! It didn't take me more than five minutes to straighten my hair as you can see below. All you need is one swift motion down each piece of hair for you to get a sleek, straight style. My flat iron also came with a heat protecting spray and a flat iron holder that you can use to hold your hot iron instead of setting it on a counter. I don't typically use a heat protector when I style my hair, but I will definitely be using this spray from now on. The holder comes with suction cups on the bottom so you can stick it to your counter top and it'll stay put.
Overall, I would definitely recommend this flat iron if you are searching for a good one! I've tried quite a few in the past couple of years and this one beats them all, hands down! It is a little pricey as far as styling tools go (to me anyway) but it seems like a solid piece of equipment that will last a long time. Do you straighten your hair often or do you prefer to rock your natural texture?

Products provided for review

Monday, March 4, 2013

OPI 'Oz: The Great and Powerful' Collection Swatches/Review

Hey everyone! So sorry that this post is so late today; I had my engagement party on Saturday night and it was a really busy weekend! I have the new OPI soft shades collection to show you today. This collection is being released in conjunction with the new Oz movie staring James Franco coming out on March 8th.

Don't Burst My Bubble is a sheer white-ish pink. I used three coats here. I love this one, it's so fresh and clean and I love the way it looks on my nails. All of the sheers here applied very well with minimal streaking.


Which is Witch? is definitely the best glitter topper in this collection. It consists of a mix of holographic glitter shapes, including hexes and teeny tiny bars. This is one coat over Don't Burst My Bubble.


Glints of Glinda is a beige/peach sheer shade. I used three coats for the opacity you see below.


I unfortunately don't have much good to say about When Monkeys Fly. This is a glitter topper with large gold hexes and smaller silver holographic glitter. This is one coat over Glints of Glinda. The glitter in my bottle had started sinking in the bottle by the time it got to me; as a result of this, I had a hard time getting the large gold glitter out of the bottle even after I let it sit upside down so the glitter would re-suspend. In addition to that, the gold hex glitters curl in a taco form, making them stick out from the nail if you don't make sure the taco faces down. I suppose this could be remedied with additional coats of top coat, but I personally don't think that should be necessary. I think it's great that OPI is trying to make some awesome glitter toppers, but I feel that this one needed a bit more work.


I Theodora You is a lovely shade of baby pink. I used three coats here and as you can see, it's a bit more opaque than the other two.


Lights of Emerald City is another glitter heavy topper that has square matte white glitter and square iridescent glitter. This is one coat over I Theodora You.


What Wizardry Is This? is a new Liquid Sand shade for the Oz collection. This isn't my favorite Liquid Sand color, but it is gorgeous with top coat! This was two coats left to dry to a matte finish.


This is two coats of What Wizardry Is This? with one coat of top coat. The top coat really makes this polish stunning!


So what do you think of this collection? I know a lot of people were disappointed that the Oz collection was not more bold and colorful, but I can't help but love the soft, clean sheers. You should be able to find these in stores and salons now, but note that OPI has increased their prices to $9.

Products provided for review

Friday, March 1, 2013

China Glaze Glitz-Bitz 'n' Pieces Collection Swatches/Review

Hello! I know there are probably a lot of you who haven't heard much about this collection; I didn't even know about them under they showed up at my door. I wasn't sure what to expect of them from just looking at the bottles, but they are so awesome on the nail! All the polishes are the same composition, black with another color glitter in a clear base, and have the same formula. They needed to be dabbed a little bit, but one coat was all I needed for great coverage. 

Graffiti Glitter is emerald green and black glitter. I layered it over China Glaze Keep Calm, Paint On.


Glitz 'n' Pieces is a mixture of silver and black glitter. I layered this one over China Glaze Fade Into Hue.


Scattered & Tattered is red and black glitter, although the red photographed slightly pink. It's layered over ChG Tart-y for the Party.


Mosaic Madness is royal blue glitter with black layered over ChG Snap My Dragon.


Bling It On has blue-toned purple glitter with black glitter. This is layered over ChG Mimosas Before Manis.


Razzle Me, Dazzle Me has pale pink and black glitter. I layered this one over ChG Pink-ie Promise. This is one of my favorite combos!


This collection was scheduled for release February 2013, so it should be in stores such as Sally Beauty and Ulta now. I'm sure that you could also find it through online retailers. What do you think of this collection?

Products provided for review

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Zoya PixieDust Swatches/Review & Giveaway!

Hey guys! I finally have swatches of the Zoya PixieDust polishes to share with you! If you aren't familiar with these, they are textured matte polishes but they are sparkly too. These are definitely something different and while I'm not completely crazy about them, I know there are a lot of you out there who will love them!

Godiva is a sandy beige color that needed three coats for opacity. This would be perfect for some beach nail art *wink wink*


Dahlia is a black with silver sparkle. I needed two coats.


London is a smokey gray shade that needed three coats.


Nyx is a lovely shade of periwinkle and needed three coats.


Vespa is a fresh, minty shade. It reminds me of those sugary spearmint candies! Three coats here as well.


Here's a close up shot of Vespa so you can get an idea of how textured these are.

 
Chyna is the final shade in this collection, a deep red sparkler. This one needed two coats.


Here is Chyna with top coat. If you decide to wear these shiny, make sure you use at least two coats of top coat. I did one for the photo and as you can see, the polish already started eating the top coat on my pinky and ring finger within a few minutes of applying it.


So overall, I think these are a great representation of the texture trend. They are much more sparkly than I was able to capture on camera; you truly have to see them in person to appreciate them. I'm still not personally 100% on the texture train, but I would love to wear these are an accent with a shiny mani! Are you guys into these polishes? How would you like to win some? Enter below and five of you will each win a PixieDust polish of your very own!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Products provided for review