Cosmoprof: 31 July 2011

Okay, let me tell you, it's been insane around here.  On top of meeting some wonderful bloggers, I've been seeing some amazing things going on in the beauty world.  I tried to spend today checking out EVERYTHING so I could narrow it down over the rest of my stay, but ha, yeah that didn't happen.

As soon as I got registered, I ran into Jen of The PolishAholic and she and I decided to go exploring.  One of our first stops was AII where I saw the upcoming China Glaze polishes "Haunting" for Halloween 2011, "Let It Snow" Winter 2011, "Eye Candy 3-D Glitters" coming out in late 2011 and "ElectroPop" Spring 2012.  I'm telling you, this stuff looked AMAZING.

I met up with Kimmi from the Plastic Diaries and was honored to attend her interview with Suzi from OPI.  You'll have to check Kimmi's blog for her interview coming up but Suzi was absolutely amazing.  She was very down to earth and humble.

Yes, I look like a goober.  I literally had goosebumps as Suzi had her arm around me.

I also grabbed a few pictures of upcoming collections.

Afterwards, Kimmi and I headed to CND where we got to see the new Shellac colors which includes a flakie!

Yes, a flakie!

Then we saw BeautyJudy getting her toes Shellaced.  

Finally we headed over to NUBAR and the Painted Nail and there was Katie from the Nail Files in all her glory!

She is every bit lovely in person - she immediately gave me a huge hug.  I nearly passed out in excitement.  I'm actually having dinner with her in about 2 hours!!!

Two companies I'd like to spotlight that I learned about today - Cyclic and tiara.

Cyclic is a big-3 free polish with no chemical smell.  It's safe for children and you can actually add your own perfume into the bottle - which all the bottles are crystal perfume bottles.  It lasts just as long as regular nail polish, dries just as quick and you remove it with either acetone or Cyclic remover.  You can visit their website more product details.

tiara is a line of false nails that will now be carried in the US that features tons of very delicate and intricate artwork.

They have many different lines, styles, shapes, patterns and colors.  One of the best things is that they are reusable and can last anywhere from 6-8 weeks.

This is Hugo, the US importer, and he can help you with whatever style you're looking for.  Their warehouse is located in Los Angeles and along with their website, they will be open for business in September 2011. Update: Their business opened January 2012.

Well I'm pretty well worn out already but this is Vegas and nothing stands still.  I'll have more for you tomorrow including deborah lippmann and Jesse's Girl Cosmetics!

OPI Y'all Come Back Ya Hear?

I've spent 20 years in Texas and I've always agreed with the mantra "You can take the girl out of Texas but you can't take the Texas out of the girl."  I routinely say y'all when talking to others - even in the singular form.  I was excited for this color but not totally sold on orange.  Why orange?  WHY.


I used a base of OPI Natural Nail, 3 coats of Y'all Come Back Ya Hear? polish and a top of OPI Top Coat.

Sorry for the no sun again.  It's over 100 degrees but there's this huge ridiculous cloud above my house.  Is this a sign?  :P  You can see some VNL but it's not terribly bad.  Again, this is a jelly/sorbet polish.

Pure shade and check out the VNL especially on my ring finger.  Since this picture, I've gotten a manicure, promise.  My nails aren't all icky shaped anymore.

Indoors with the flash and I'm just still not in love with this color.  Not a big fan of orange polish, but there's no shimmer or glitter so it's in my "meh" pile.

OPI is available at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, and Ulta, for $8.50 ($10.95 CAN) suggested retail for each Nail Lacquer. Please visit their website for details [official website].  

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Jesse's Girl Cafe Au Lait

Now, the majority of Jesse's Girl eye dusts are pretty popping colors but every good palette has to have some nice neutrals as well.  Cafe Au Lait is a light caramel brown pigment.

In the shade, it kind of disappears against my skin tone but I promise it's there!  I could see myself using this as a highlight color for a good neutral look but that's about it for me.

Jesse's Girl sells for $4.99 a piece online or at Rite Aid stores. You can visit Jesse's Girl on their website, Like them on Facebook and Follow them on Twitter.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me using store credit for external work I provided.  For more information, please read this post.

OPI Silver Shatter

OPI Silver Shatter actually came out back in Spring with the OPI Brights "Pirates of the Caribbean" collection.  I absolutely hated the way this looked on blogs but trust me when I say this is a color you need.  It has all this shimmer that can't be captured digitally but looks AMAZING in person.


I used yesterday's manicure, one coat of Silver Shatter and a top coat of OPI Top Coat.

I mean really, it's hard to tell you how amazing this is when it doesn't photograph well at all.

And it shatters pretty well as well.

I didn't have sun out (of course) so sorry that you don't see the full BLING of this polish.

Indoors with the flash just makes this look ugly.  Haha, sorry friends.  I promise you that this is amazing and you do need it.  This and a black shatter/crackle/texture make me a happy camper.

OPI is available at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, and Ulta, for $8.50 ($10.95 CAN) suggested retail for each Nail Lacquer. Please visit their website for details [official website].  

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Jesse's Girl Mardi Gras

Blue eyeshadow used to be such a big no-no but now I've definitely pulled it off a few times (or at least pretended like I was pulling it off!).  Jesse's Girl eye dust Mardi Gras is a light periwinkle blue with a bit of a white undertone in it.

Here in the shade, you can see that this has a bit of a matte look and you can also see a bit of that white undertone I mentioned.  Very soft and subtle while still having a glittery rockin' look.

Jesse's Girl sells for $4.99 a piece online or at Rite Aid stores. You can visit Jesse's Girl on their website, Like them on Facebook and Follow them on Twitter.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me using store credit for external work I provided.  For more information, please read this post.

OPI Guy Meets Gal-veston

Continuing with the sorbet section of the Texas collection is Guy meets Gal-veston, an 'engaging" coastal coral.  Okay, I've said it before but I'm going to seriously say it again.  OPI, who does your promo pictures?  See my bottle picture?  Here is the one that OPI produced in their press release.

What?


Anyway.  I used a base of OPI Natural Nail, 3 coats of polish and a top of OPI Top Coat.  As with sorbets/jellies, this is not opaque.

Even though it does have a watery squishy finish, it's not bad - I could see myself being able to deal with this color pretty decently.

Here in the shade you can see that it can definitely hold it's own.  It's more red than coral to me, but it's still pretty for the summer.

Finally indoors with the flash and you can see a bit of VNL on my middle finger.  I think this is probably my favorite so far for the sorbets.

OPI is available at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, and Ulta, for $8.50 ($10.95 CAN) suggested retail for each Nail Lacquer. Please visit their website for details [official website].  

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Jesse's Girl Peek-A-Boo

This has been my favorite Eye Dust to date from Jesse's Girl - Peek-A-Boo a light lavender with blue duochrome shift.  Big, big fan.  I think I may have to wear this one on August 1st at Cosmoprof.  ;]

Even in the shade, this color is VERY me.  I love this one!

Jesse's Girl sells for $4.99 a piece online or at Rite Aid stores. You can visit Jesse's Girl on their website, Like them on Facebook and Follow them on Twitter.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me using store credit for external work I provided.  For more information, please read this post.

Nicole by OPI Black Texture

Hey look, it's another black crackling polish! Nicole by OPI's Black Texture.  I decided to use my previous manicure from yesterday as my base.


Unfortunately, I found this polish to be thick, muddy and it wrinkled up on me on the nail.  It just needs a little thinner, which is pretty typical of crackle/texture/shatter polishes.

Boo older brush.  Never knew I'd miss the Perfect Brush that just came out.


Now, I decided to attempt something more than just the normal crackling.

Normal on the pinkie and ring finger (I actually paint my nails from pinkie to thumb), butt hen I tried horizontal stripes on my middle finger and sideways on my index finger.  I think I'm happy with just "normal" vertical lines instead.

In the shade, you can see how it's a bit wrinkly on me as well as bumpy.

Finally indoors with the flash - I like this color combo a lot!  And I really like that crackle hides the whole weird jelly/sorbet finish.

Nicole by OPI is available beginning at ULTA, Meijer, Harmon, HEB, Sears, Wal-Mart and more for around $8 a bottle.  For more information, visit their website, follow Nicole by OPI on Twitter or become a Facebook fan.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Jesse's Girl Pink Glitz

I watch way too much Toddler and Tiaras on TLC, because as soon as I saw the word "Glitz", I was thinking of glitter and flippers and spray tans.  If you have no idea what I'm talking about, that's quite okay.  Jesse's Girl eye dust Pink Glitz is a light pink base with very pale pink shimmer.  Very pretty for a night out or your daughter/little sister.  Sadly, I have neither but that's cool.  Above picture is in full sun.

And here it is in the shade - you can see that very pale pink up on the top of the swatch that I was mentioning previously.  Lovely little color.


So I tried to take a picture of my eyes but um, fail.  Lots of fail.  I have a huge new respect for beauty bloggers (face) because it's HARD.

Jesse's Girl sells for $4.99 a piece online or at Rite Aid stores. You can visit Jesse's Girl on their website, Like them on Facebook and Follow them on Twitter.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me using store credit for external work I provided.  For more information, please read this post.

OPI Big Hair... Big Nails

Going back to the OPI Texas Collection, Big Hair...Big Nails is listed as a "rosy pageant peach."  Okay, I may not be a color expert, but this is no peach.  Or is it?  The odd thing about these jelly/sorbet colors is that it's not going to look like its bottle.


I started with a base coat of OPI Natural Nail, 3 coats of polish and a top coat of OPI Top Coat.  On my index and middle finger I put down a base of OPI Alpine Snow just to see if it would make a huge difference.

In the sun you can't really tell the difference between the polish alone and the polish over Alpine Snow.  I guess I picked the wrong shade to try it with, haha.  

In the shade you can just barely tell that there isn't a smile line on the first two fingers but there is on the last two fingers.

Here's where the difference comes in - indoors with the flash.  The nails (index and middle) with the Alpine Snow layer appear brighter (and a bit streaker) than the other two which are polish alone.  So is it worth it for a layer of white under?  Not for this color.

OPI is available at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, and Ulta, for $8.50 ($10.95 CAN) suggested retail for each Nail Lacquer. Please visit their website for details [official website].  

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Jesse's Girl Key Lime

So today's Eye Dust by Jesse's Girl is Key Lime and it's just like the pie as far as a lemon lime eye pigment.  Above is it in the sun.

I also got a shot in the shade - it doesn't have near as much sparkle here... more matte looking like some of the other shades.

Jesse's Girl sells for $4.99 a piece online or at Rite Aid stores. You can visit Jesse's Girl on their website, Like them on Facebook and Follow them on Twitter.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me using store credit for external work I provided.  For more information, please read this post.

Nicole by OPI White Texture

Call it Texture, call it Crackle, call it Shatter, or call it Grafitti - crackling top coats are all the rage for 2011.  Nicole by OPI announced in late May that they would be throwing their hat into the ring with 6 colors.  Nothing new to the game - still the same kind like OPI... the one down side is that while Nicole by OPI changed to their new "Perfect Stroke" brush back in January, there are still some issues with getting all their bottles with the same new brush.  That was the case for most of my Texture collection (confirmed with the Nicole by OPI press relations representative).


I decided to use my existing (and botched) manicure from yesterday with OPI Houston We Have A Purple, and just add one coat of White Texture.  I topped it with OPI Top Coat.

One good thing about texture/shatter/crackle is that it can hide a bad manicure.  I don't like that this white isn't as crisp as OPI White Shatter but it still works.  Part of it, for me, was having that thin brush instead of the "perfect stroke."

By accident, I caught a picture with natural lighting.  Pretty stuff!

Here it is in the shade - still nothing new.

And finally indoors with the flash.  Not bad, not great, not unique, not terrible.  I will, however, stick with my OPI White Shatter for my white crackle/shatter/texture needs.

Nicole by OPI is available beginning at ULTA, Meijer, Harmon, HEB, Sears, Wal-Mart and more for around $8 a bottle.  For more information, visit their website, follow Nicole by OPI on Twitter or become a Facebook fan.


Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.