NOTD: NARS Bad Influence! Swatches/comparisons!

Today's nail of the day (NOTD) is NARS Bad Influence.  I picked this up for $8 at Sephora.com.  It is a 0.5oz bottle of polish.  I am in love with this polish.  There's nothing super special or unique about it, but it just makes me happy to look at.  Sephora.com describes it as a smoky taupe.  Depending on the lighting it looks brownish green or brownish purple.  I love it.  The formula was great!  It was almost opaque in 1 coat.  I applied 2 coats.  It applied flawlessly and without effort!  It has a nice shine and a cream finish.   I have a few other polishes it reminds me of, and I will do a comparison below!  This is my first NARS nail polish and it makes me want to try more, but the regular price of $17 makes me hesitate.  Maybe I'll pick up a few the next time a sale comes around! 

(L to R) Illamasqua stagnate, OPI A-taupe the space needle, NARS bad influence, OPI You don't know Jacques!, China Glaze Ingrid

without flash

with Flash (above)



 

(L to R) Illamasqua stagnate, OPI A-taupe the space needle, NARS bad influence, OPI You don't know Jacques!, China Glaze Ingrid



NARS Danmari cheek palette!

A cheek palette from NARS?  Yes, please!!  I had to snag this up!  It's an awesome deal at $65 (hurry and get it 20% off during Sephora's friends and family sale until Nov 2nd!).  It comes with the following:

 6 x 0.12 oz Cheek Color in:

•  Hungry Heart (gold ivory)
•  Super Orgasm (peachy pink with gold glitter)
•  Desire (cotton candy pink)
•  Casino (dark brown with golden shimmer)
•  Orgasm (peachy pink with golden shimmer)
•  Sin (berry with gold shimmer)

NARS regular blushes are $27 each and contain 0.16 oz, so this is a tremendous value (even if you have 1 or 2 of the colors already).  Here are some photos!

(top row L to R) Hungry heart, orgasm, desire
(bottom row L to R) Casino, Super orgasm, Sin

Danmari palette compared in size to a NARS blush and single eyeshadow

(L to R) Hungry Heart, Casino, Orgasm, Super Orgasm, Desire, Sin

Orly Matte Magic top coat!

Not much to say about this except it does exactly what it's supposed to.  Just apply a thin coat over any nail polish and it turns matte.  Here is a before and after photo.

Before



After



OPI Ginger bells vs. Essie Very structured



(L to R) OPI Chocolate moose, Wet n Wild Casting call, Essie very structured, OPI Ginger bells, Orly Golden jubilee



(L to R) OPI ginger bells, Essie very structured, Wet n Wild casting call, OPI Chocolate moose, Orly golden jubilee (thumb)

I thought it might be helpful to see these swatched side by side.  I also included a few other polishes I had in my collection that were in the same color family!  They look similar in the bottle, but very different on the nails!

China Glaze, Orly, Misa and Color Club! (swatches included)



This is what I purchased recently from http://www.head2toebeauty.com/!  Swatches to follow.





(L to R) China Glaze flying dragon, China Glaze Atlantis, China Glaze Meteor shower, Orly Au Champagne


(L to R) Nouveau Vintage, Gossip column, Rad nomad ***All Color Club brand**







(L to R) Nouveau Vintage, Gossip column, Rad nomad ***All Color Club brand**





(L to R) Office Polish-tics, touch the rainbow, grey matters, phazers on stunning **All Misa Brand**

(L to R) Office Polish-tics, touch the rainbow, grey matters, phazers on stunning **All Misa Brand**



Project: Nail Polish Organization!!!

I have around 275 nail polishes!  I NEED STORAGE!   THIS IS INSANE!  I'd be lying if I said this was an "organized mess".  It's just a straight up  MESS! I actually had these somewhat organized, but I just said the heck with it and now it's a huge pile!  My sweet husband is building me 2 large nail polish racks for Christmas!  I will update as soon as this happens!  I am so excited!! 

Lip plumper comparison/review/swatches!

I've tried several lip plumpers over the past few years and I thought I'd share my experience with them.  In all honestly, I tried them out of curiosity.  I didn't have high hopes that any of them would noticably plump my lips.  These are the four lip plumpers I have tried:

• Physician's Formula Plump Potion in nude potion
• Buxom Lips in Amber
• LipFusion in Crave *mini tube in photo
• LipFusion XL (only available in clear) *mini tube in photo

(top to bottom) Buxom Lips in Amber, Physician's Formula Plump Potion in nude potion, LipFusion XL, LipFusion in Crave

My thoughts: (swatches at the bottom)

Physician's Formula Plump Potion: This gloss gave my lips the most noticable "plump".   This gloss is a very pretty color, but wow did it burn.  I don't have sensitive lips either.  This one felt like I rubbed raw jalepenos on my lips.  It even turned my lips red.  My husband thought I put red lipgloss on.   For some reason I tried this a few more times and I will say that it burns less the more you wear it.  It's almost like you have to get your lips used to it.  By the fourth time I wore this, I actually liked it.   The gloss is thick and stays on your lips for quite a while.  Six hours later I still had the gloss on and could still feel a slight tingle.  My grocery store sells them for $10, but I got mine when it was on sale for $5.  It comes with a ton of product.  Great value!

Buxom Lips: I love the color of this gloss.  It's gives just a hint of color and a nice sheen to the lips.  I don't see any plumping with this gloss.  It does stay on the lips around 4 hours for me and it has a nice cooling tingle.  I bought one of these for my sister and she loves it because of how long it stays on the lips.  The consistency isn't as thick as the Physician's formula.

LipFusion: This one is my absolute favorite.  It has an amazing mandarin scent and it does plump my lips just a tad.  The color I have is "crave" and it is a gorgeous shade.  I wear it alone or over a nude lipstick.  Again, this is long lasting on me (around 3-5 hours).  It has a slightly sticky formula, but I don't mind that.  I personally prefer sticky glosses because they last longer.  I would repurchase this again and again.

LipFusion XL: This is more of a lip plumping treatment than a gloss.  It is to be applied right before bed.  While it does plump my lips slightly, I don't have many fine lines around my lips.....yet.  This has a peppermint scent and just a slight tingle on the lips that goes away after a few minutes.  I did go nuts when Sephora had them for 75% off and I stocked up on them.  Would I repurchase at the full price of $50?  Absolutely not.  Will I continue using it since I have so many?  Probably.  You might find some of my backups on my blog sale in the future. 



(L to R) Physician's Formula Plump Potion in nude potion, Buxom Lips in Amber, LipFusion in Crave, LipFusion XL

Fall Nail Polish Goodies!

I picked out some great colors for fall and of course I'm always in the mood to wear glitter nails.  I finally found my perfect nude nail polish also....tickle my Francey by OPI.  I usually look terrible with nude nails, but I actually loved this one!  I can't wait to wear all of these colors! (The swatches below are 2 coats of each and no top coat).

(L to R) OPI tickle my Francey, OPI Ginger bells, OPI A-taupe the space needle, OPI we'll always have Paris

(L to R) OPI Tickle my Francey, OPI A-taupe the space needle, OPI Ginger bells, OPI We'll always have Paris

(L to R) OPI Gone Gonzo, OPI Excuse Moi, OPI DS Extravaganza, Glitter Gal Lizard Belly

(L to R) OPI Gone Gonzo, OPI Excuse Moi, OPI DS Extravagance, Glitter Gal Lizard Belly

China Glaze 2011 Holiday Collection! Let it Snow!

I picked up my 4 favorite polishes from this collection.  These were the most unique to my collection.  They are all opaque in 2 coats and they were all a bit of a pain to remove (except for Blue Year's Eve).  Blue Year's Eve didn't stain my nails at all after removal, so I was very happy about that!


(L to R) twinkle lights, tinsel town, blue year's eve, snow globe




(L to R) twinkle lights, tinsel town, blue year's eve, snow globe



Sephora by OPI "Chestnuts about you" nail polish swatch/comparison

Sephora's website describes this polish as an opaque pink champagne with fine glitter.  When I received the bottle I immediately thought of the popular Orly "Rage" nail polish and also a limited edition Loreal polish "Whimsical (#333)".   Chestnuts about you was opaque in 2 coats.   The glitter is so fine, it's easy to remove afterwards.   As you will see below, it is pretty much an exact dupe of Loreal "Whimsical" and if you have Orly "Rage", you could probably pass on this.  I am a rose gold lover, so my collection will gladly accept it.   Hope you enjoy the swatches.

Click here to see swatches of my entire Sephora by OPI Collection!
Click here to see more comparison swatches of Chestnuts about you!

 (L to R) L'Oreal Whimsical, Sephora by OPI Chestnuts about you, Orly Rage, OPI Pros and Bronze

(L to R)L'Oreal Whimsical, Sephora by OPI chestnuts about you, Orly Rage, OPI Pros and Bronze

2011 Sephora Friends and Family Goodies!

I tried to not overdue it this year with the Sephora Friends and Family sale, but with my birthday next month, I figured why not take advantage of the savings now!  :-)

Here's a list of what I purchased along with a photo!  I will be swatching and comparing very soon!

• Laura Mercier "book of nudes" palette
• Nars sheer glow foundation in the shade "Gobi" (LOVE <3)
• Nars "Miss Liberty" blush
• Nars "Danmari" cheek palette
• Nars Nail polish in "pokerface" (only $8!)
• BareMinerals Ready palette in "Truth"
• BareMinerals Ready duos in "The scenic route" and "The paradise found"
• Sephora by OPI nail polish in "Chestnuts about you"
• Kate Somerville "Exfolicate" Intensive Exfoliating Treatment (received a sample a few months ago and fell in love)