Revlon Perplex

Gotta love my dad popping up in the background - hah.


Revlon Perplex is another dupe to Chanel Paradoxal and a much cheaper one at that.  I actually bought a couple of extras for future giveaways because it's my understanding that this color is sold out in some areas due to it's likeness to Paradoxal.


I used a base coat of Seche Natural, 2 coats of Perplex and a top of Seche Vite.  The formula was nice and smooth.

In the sun, you definitely see more purple shimmer than grey which Paradoxal was more grey, less purple shimmer.  I have to be honest, I'm more of a purple girl so I love this way over Paradoxal.

My shade picture kind of blew me away - check out that smoky purple color!  Big fan.

Indoors with flash - lots of purple shimmer in a grey base.  It's a bit dark for me for spring but I never really wear colors according to the "season" - I just wear colors.  ^_^


Revlon can be found in several grocery and drug stores - price may vary from $3-5.  Check out their website for more information.  You can also follow them on Twitter or like them on Facebook.

deborah lippmann Waking Up In Vegas

deborah lippmann's Waking Up In Vegas was all the rage last year when Lady Gaga was photographed on the cover of Vanity Fair back in September 2010 wearing it.  I'm pretty confused as to why it's a "putty-liscious grey" creme when I'd think "Waking Up In Vegas" would be a glitter bomb... then again I've never been to Vegas...  That's my goal for my 30th birthday (which is coming up sooner than I'd like) and I REALLY want to go to CosmoProf America in July (also in Vegas)...  anyway.


So I finally broke down and purchased this with a gift certificate that I had for Apothica.  This polish sells for $16 a bottle.  My bottle had a lot of yellow tone to it, as you can see in this bottle picture but on the nail it wasn't yellow, which was good.  My polish tends to do a lot of sitting on table tops and acrylic racks so sometimes I'll see the polish needs to be gentle rolled to be mixed around.


I used a base coat of Seche Natural and just 1 coat of Waking up In Vegas.  I topped it with Seche Vite

As you can see in the sun, the bottle still looks a bit yellowish grey but on the nails, it does look like putty.  It also shows off my tons o'ridges.  I normally buff my nails every few months but haven't in a while as you can tell.

I seem to get a bit of lobster hands with this color which surprised me but overall it's a great office appropriate shade.  I'd probably want to either add a glitter top coat or Konad or something.  ^_^


deborah lippmann sells for $18 a bottle.  You can follow her on Twitter.

China Glaze Pelican Gray vs Dr.'s REMEDY Healing

Look familiar?  I thought so too.  For both polishes, I used a base of Seche Natural, 2 coats of polish and a top of Seche Vite.  Are you ready for twins?

Hello sun!  Total dupes.

Same story in the shade - even down to the blue undertone.

And an inside flash shot - fun times!

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

China Glaze Pelican Gray

Another from the spring 2011 collection Anchors Away is China Glaze Pelican Gray.  This is another one of those light concrete greys that seemed super popular last year and it does hold its own as a nice neutral.


I used a base coat of Seche Vite, 2 coats of Pelican Gray and a top of Seche Vite.  Formula was good - consistent.

Here it is in the sun.  My cuticles need some care eep!

In the shade it has a bit of a blue undertone to it.

I had the bright idea (ha) to take pictures against my white door with a flash - not sure if this helps much or not... I did it for Starboard too.


Overall - Nice grey creme with just a tiny shimmer.

China Glaze [official website] can be found online through several etailers, including my favorite Head2Toe Beauty [official website], Sally's Beauty Supply [official website] as well asTransDesign [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.

Sephora by OPI Mash Up vs deborah lippmann Wicked Game

As I was swatching, I was wondering how these two duochromes stacked up against each other, so here's a small comparison post for you!


I tried both of these without a base or top coat.

In the shade:

As you can see, Mash Up is more opaque and has more of a green shimmer whereas Wicked Game is more sheer and has a purple hue.


Tada!

Sephora by OPI Mash-Up

I'm a big fan of Glee - watch it every week and tend to download at least one song off iTunes from each episode.  So when I heard that Sephora by OPI was making an entire Glee inspired line of nail polish, I went and got them all.


This is a nice like purple/green duochrome neatly named Mash-Up.  This is supposed to be inspired by the Glee character Will Schuester, who is the Glee Club teacher and tries to encourage the kids to make mash ups of songs.  As a random bonus, here are two "mash up" songs not done by Glee, but by random YouTubers that I like.











And back to the nail polish.


I used a base coat of OPI Natural Nail, 2 coats of Mash-Up and a top coat of OPI Top Coat.  Formula was a bit watery but okay.  Depending on how the light hits you, you'll see green, grey, purple or even a silver shimmer.

Shade:

Overall, it's a bit of a weird color.  I'm not sure that I'd buy it again, considering the price and it's more of a novelty thing.  Many polish brands have their own type of swirly duochrome in this vein, so...  ^_^


You can purchase Sephora by OPI in Sephora stores or online here for $9 a bottle.  The actual Glee line can be found here

Dr.'s REMEDY Healing

Another from the 2010 Winter Collection from Dr.'s REMEDY is Healing, a seductive pewter with deep blue undertones.  It's light like deborah lippmann's Waking Up In Vegas, but the blue undertones makes this a cousin, not a dupe.  I'll have to do a comparison soon.


I used a base coat of Seche Natural, 2 coats of Healing and a top of Seche Vite.  The formula was quite nice on this polish as well.  Before I forget, I didn't happen to get "Nurture" which was the nude pink color in this collection.

I thought this polish would be more streaky, so I'm glad it's definitely not.  It has some milky properties so you can see a bit of VNL on my pinkie, but it's not bad.

In the shade, the blue really shows up - still a nice cool color - almost like freshly poured concrete.


Dr.’s REMEDY® Enriched Nail Polish is available for $16 online at http://www.remedynails.com or by calling 1-877-323-NAIL.  You can "Like" them on Facebook.

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

Zoya Dove

Zoya Dove from the Intimate Collection is listed as a delicate, pale grey cream, and it really is just that with a hint of blue in it.  You can't see it here, but wait until you check out this color in the shade.  I used a base of Zoya Anchor, 2 coats of Dove and a top of Zoya Armor.  The formula was very nice, and well - delicate.  ^_^

In the sun, you can see how this isn't as slate grey as others I've swatched, but more of a slushy wet concrete color.  It actually reminds me a bit of our minivan after a dust storm.

Then you stick this color in the shade and WHAT?!  Check out all that blue in there!  It's like a whole other color!  I was actually really happy because this is the grey I've been looking for.  Can I go dance in a circle now?  Love love love.  Very happy girl here - be sure to check out this collection, especially next time Zoya has a special.  You can also order just the spoon!


Zoya [official website] can be purchased on their website for $8/bottle.

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

Zoya Caitlin

Today's polish is Zoya Caitlin from the Intimates Collection, a misty, moody gray violet creme.  This is definitely the little sister of Kelly - same purple base but not nearly as dark.  (I'll do a comparison soon.)


I used a base of Zoya Anchor, 2 coats of Caitlin and a top of Zoya Armor.  I did find this polish to be slightly thicker than the others so far.

In the sun, you can see how moody this looks - it's soft but moody... a lot like me on cloudy days :P

Looks like a whole other color, right?  It's the purple base coming out - hides the grey while out in the shade.  Still very lovely and definitely a must have for me.


Zoya [official website] can be purchased on their website for $8/bottle.

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

Urban Decay Pigments

Remember this posting?  Well now all the pigments are in and I'm ready to have a giveaway!  This posting will just be the review of the pigments and my giveaway post will be separate.


Urban Decay currently has 12 shades to choose from on their website and they are listed at $20 a piece.  Each tube contains 1.0 gram of product/0.03 US oz which isn't that much but a little goes a very long way.  You can find them for sale from time to time (which is what I did when I purchased these for $5 a piece) and they are really powerful pops of color to use as eyeshadow.


The 12 shades are:
Gunmetal - gray in charcoal base with iridescent microglitter
Rockstar - dark purple in black base with silver/purple microglitter
Goddess - midnight blue with electric blue microglitter
Smog - medium brown
Baked - rich bronze
Shag - pale bronze
X - gold with peach shift
Graffiti - bright green
Protest - dark green in charcoal base with iridescent
Shattered - bright green/blue
Asphyxia - bright pink with purple shift
Yeyo - bright white


With the exception of X, the other 11 pigments are vegan products and do not contain any animal-derived ingredients.


Now pigments aren't just for eyeshadow as YouTube vBlogger Dustin Hunter has shows in his 4 part video series (using MAC pigments), and if you have time, I highly suggest you check them out.


On to the pictures!  I've broken them up in sets of 3 and 6 - all pictures may be viewed larger if you click on them.  First I used just a swipe of color using the pigment brush included in the package and then next to it is a swatch with the Urban Decay Potion Primer in Eden (tawny matte finish) that I got out by using a Q-tip.  I highly recommend using an external brush to get your pigment out (or Q-tip) because otherwise you risk contaminating your pigment if you're using a primer to set the pigment.


Additionally, I'm not in love with the brush - it's quite short and doesn't have much give.

First up are Gunmetal, Rockstar, Goddess, Smog, Baked and Shag.

Gunmetal, Rockstar, Goddess, Smog, Baked and Shag sun

Gunmetal, Rockstar and Goddess sun

Gunmetal, Rockstar and Goddess shade

Smog, Baked and Shag sun

Smog, Baked and Shag shade

Out of this bunch, I'm very partial to Rockstar and Goddess.  Kat Von D has a palette with similar colors but her palette has so much fall out of glitter when applied.  While pigments can be messy, when you use a primer (like I did), they stay much better on your lids but you will experience some glitter fallout.  I like to use a MAC wipe (or any makeup wipe) to clean up any fallout after putting on makeup.  Shag was probably my least favorite because it's so neutral against my skin but neutrals have their place too!  The NAKED palette is a huge success for Urban Decay because it does contain so many neutral colors.

Next is X, Graffiti, Protest, Shattered, Asphyxia and Yeyo.

X, Graffiti, Protest, Shattered, Asphyxia and Yeyo sun

X, Graffiti, Protest, Shattered, Asphyxia and Yeyo shade

X, Graffiti and Protest sun

X, Graffiti and Protest shade

Shattered, Asphyxia and Yeyo sun

Shattered, Asphyxia and Yeyo shade

I thought these 6 would be my favorite but they were also some of the hardest to show up without primer as you can see with Shattered.  Asphyxia is my favorite because it's purple (I even had bought a backup) but I have to wear quite a bit of it for it to really show on my lids.

Overall, I'm a huge fan of pigments - just know that a little goes a LONG way and you'll be fine.  Also do check out Dustin's videos for more ways to use pigments other than just "it's like concentrated eyeshadow!"

Essence Movie Star

My local HEB grocery store now has a small display of Essence makeup, and the nail polish was QUICK to sell out.  I believe it was $1.99 a bottle for 0.16 fl. oz but it might have been 99 cents - I need to go back and check, but either way, I decided to pick up this grey in my search for the perfect grey to go with my GREY SKIES.  Blah.


Movie Star I guess is supposed to be about the silver screen.  This is a bluish grey creme that was a tiny bit on the thick side but not unmanageable.  I used a base of Seche Natural, 2 coats of Movie Star and a top of Seche Vite.

There was just a bit too much blue in this for me - as you can see it dries darker on the nail than is shown in the bottle.  I think I need a bit more white in it to even it out.

Same story with the shade.  Overall, a good color and probably an amazing base for a winter Konad.  I may keep this one around for these gross grey days with no sun.  :\

NOTD: 16 Jan 2011

Instead of taking my nail polish off and putting something new on, I decided to layer.  And layer.  And layer.


This started out with a base coat of Seche Natural.  Next came two coats of Essence Movie Star followed by a layer of Seche Vite.  Then I added a coat of China Glaze Sexy Silhouette and topped THAT with a coat of CND Effects Violet Shimmer.  Oy.  This is going to be fun to take off but I SAW THE SUN so I'm running outside next.

Do I already have a violet red with grey undertones?  I'm sure.  ^_^  Was this fun?  Of course.