butter London The Black Knight

A few weeks ago I noticed a special 2-pack of butter London polishes in a stupidly large (read: wasteful) package. Of course, I bought it anyway. It contained two glitterbomb polishes, one being The Black Knight. It looked like a fun glittery polish in a dark base. I'm usually apprehensive about glittery polishes, but I bought it anyway.

The two things I don't like about glitterbombs are 1) the lumpy, bumpy feeling you get with the finish and 2) the horrific, cotton-shredding, get-out-of-the-room-while-mom-curses removal. I'm sad to say, both exist with this polish.

First two nails are 2 coats of TBK, the second two are one coat of black and one coat of TBK

The polish itself consists of blue and dark pink glitter, smaller silver micro glitter all suspended in a dark jelly base. As I was swatching on the first two nails, I noticed that the base was very streaky and splotchy. At that point, I thought it would look good over a base of a plain black creme, so I painted my ring and pinky finger with one coat of Orly Liquid Vinyl (which is a fantastic black creme, by the way) and then one coat of The Black Knight. Pointer and middle finger are two coats of The Black Knight plain. It looks much better over a base coat of black than on its own.

Two coats of TBK plain, click to embiggen

You can still see some bald spots in the plain coats. I'm sure a third coat would have evened it out, but it's already quite gritty as it is. I didn't put any top coats on this, but I would guess that it would eat up the topcoat as well. Maybe a coat of Gelous first and then one of Seche Vite would go towards smoothing out the finish.

One coat of TBK over one coat of Orly Liquid Vinyl. Click to embiggen

I think the glitter just pops a bit more when layered over black. You can really see the blue and fuchsia glitter really well like this. And just as I thought, it was a bear to remove. I almost sent the spitfire out of the room during removal in case I began cursing (spitfire 2.0 is still too young to understand my, uh, colorful language, she can stay). But I persevered. 

I'm glad I bought this. I'm sure I'll be hesitant to use it simply because I'm anticipating the removal, but I'm going to have to get over that!

Chanel/Sally Hansen comparison - and 1 year anniversary!

So, one year ago today I decided to start a blog and posted some really crappy pictures of my Deborah Lippmann Bad Romance manicure. Well, my pictures haven't gotten that much better, and there was a brief hiatus while I was birthing my daughter, and recovering from said birth. I'm still trying to find time for the blog, and I get little bits here and there now that she has a decent schedule, plus, I have a ton of lovely little additions that I haven't broken into yet so I can take pictures (the things bloggers do!)

In the meantime, I took these pictures some time ago, but only one turned out publishable, and barely at that.

I caught a glimpse of Sally Hansen's Insta-Dri in Bronze Ablaze and thought it may be a good budget friendly alternative to Chanel's Peridot. Oh, boy was I wrong! I have found that SH polishes can be hit or miss. Many are great, but when you get a doozy.. whooohooo..

Bronze Ablaze went on thick and clumpy, and it bubbled like a sucker, to boot.

Oh, hello bubbles! Peridot on pointer and ring, Bronze Ablaze on middle and pinky

Formula aside, the color can't compare to the duochrome complexity that is Peridot, but a flat metallic bronze color. This one is going into the swap pile for sure. Peridot, on the other hand, is staying put!

Le Metier de Beaute Purple Haze

So, earlier this year the fashion director for Neiman Marcus, Ken Downing, teamed up with Le Metier de Beaute and put out Ken's Koral Kollection (again, I'll forgive him gratuitous overuse of the Ks). I loved this polish. So, when Ken collaborated with lMdB again this past September and put out his Bordeaux collection, well I knew I would end up buying something from the collection (used the c that time, there...)

This time around I picked up the two lip cremes. The two that were released were Purple Haze (pictured above) which is a lovely shimmery lavender-pink, and In the Know Bordeaux (not pictured) which is a vibrant berry red. I initially bought both of the lip cremes, but the deeper berry color just wasn't my style. It is beautiful, but just not me. I passed it along to my mother, which was right up her alley.

Purple Haze, on the other hand, is most definitely right up my alley. This color is a very flattering color. A creamy lavender-pink with subtle shimmer. The shimmer is very evident in the tube and on the swatch, however it doesn't make my lips shimmery. Shiny, yes. Shimmery/frosty, no.

This is a very pigmented product. While it's glossy, it's not a lipgloss, but more of a liquid lipstick. And the staying power - well let's just say it sticks around for a long time. It will still be visible on my lips after snacking and a drink or two. The one thing I don't like about this is the scent. The scent of the creme is a very strong sweet smelling scent - coconut, maybe? It does fade quickly and it is tasteless, but it still throws me for a loop when I put it on.

I love this lip creme, and I'm very glad I splurged (and at $36 a tube, it is a splurge). I love the color, the formula and the staying power. And I think I love Ken Downing, too.

Dior Vernis 651 Merveille

*tap tap*

Is this thing on... hello... hello...

Yes, it's been quite awhile here. I've been, um, well, busy. After 6 years I very nearly forgot what it was like to have a newborn in the house. But I'm happy to say that spitfire2.0 is doing very well. In fact, we're getting into a nice routine that actually allows me some free time. For the first time in nearly 2 months I was able to give myself a manicure. Not only that, but she's allowing me to actually sit and have time to blog about it! Wee!

So, I picked Dior Vernis 651 - Merveille - from Dior's holiday 2011 line. Of the four released, this was the only one that I picked up. I really liked the slightly coraly red with gold shimmer. However, as prominent as the shimmer appears in the bottle, it doesn't translate well onto the actual nail. You really have to work the light to make the shimmer show up.

Either way, I really like this color. Maybe it's because I've had naked nails for the past two months, but I keep staring at this color. It is a perfect holiday color.

Dior has the same great wide, flat brush that I love so much, and the formula on this one was a bit on the thick side, but not so much so. Absolutely not like my bottle of Graphic Berry that I brought back, but not like last year's polishes, either, but still well within workable bounds.

I'm happy with this purchase. I'm still trying to decide if it will be my Christmas mani this year. Last year was a Dior mani, why not continue the trend?

Sorry for the long absence...

But I have a good reason:

I'll be back soon, posting away.. but I need some time after falling hard and fast for this little girl.

In search of the Holy Grail

The Holy Grail. Not the Holy Grail like what King Arthur or even Robert Langdon were looking for, but that be-all-end-all cosmetic product that you can NOT live without - in which the discovery of calls off all future searches for said product as you have found THE ONE.

Yes, folks, this is a rambling post. No pictures. Just lots of words. Pics will be back soon!

I don't have any holy grails. None. I thought I did. A few years back I completely gave up on wearing eyeshadow because it would crease withing an hour of application. Way back in the day I used to use a L'Oreal product call De-Crease to keep eyeshadow in place, but it only extended the life of my eyeshadows for about 2 hours or so. Then I discovered Urban Decay Primer Potion. My whole outlook on eyes changed. I loved this stuff, my shadows stayed put for over 12 hours. My eyeliners didn't rub off to the lid above my crease. It was great. I began hoarding eye shadows and wearing them again. There was only one problem - I hated, Hated, HATED the genie bottle. Earlier this year, UD came out with the squeeze tube of their primer potions. I had found my holy grail product and time to stop looking.

Wrong. On a whim I picked up a tube of Too Faced Shadow Insurance and I love it. Now I have two products I enjoy using. I guess you can say I have two holy grail products? Better than none, I guess.

I can't think of any other product that I own that would be considered a holy grail. I've tried many different products, haven't found THAT one, yet. Blushes change with my mood, as does pretty much anything that has color (eyeshadows, lipsticks, glosses) Hell, I can't even settle on a brand of lip gloss or lipstick that I'll choose over all others. However, when it comes to colors - lipsticks, glosses, blushes, eye shadows, I like not having one go to - I have a huge (probably too huge for the dearest's liking) variety at my fingers. I'm still trying out foundations, concealers and even cleansers.

There are two items that I would love to find a holy grail for. The first is concealer. I currently use a MAC concealer and while I have liked it so far to repurchase it, I know that I can find a better one. I have heard absolutely fantastic things about Cle de Peau concealer, but I have to say - I'm a wee bit hesitant on plunking down $70 for concealer. So, I'll just keep on searching.

The product that I really, really want to find a holy grail for is mascara. I want that fantastic mascara that you'll buy over and over and over again. The one that you tell all your friends about, and then tell your friends' friends about. The problem? I'm too freaking picky. I want a separating and volumizing formula that will hold a curl. I don't want a wand that's too huge, nor too small. I don't want it to clump together and give the look like you only have 5 lashes. I also don't want it to flake and give me raccoon eyes by 8:00. The one thing I don't care about? Lengthening. I'm ok with the length of my lashes. I just want nice, thick, separated, curled lashes. Am I asking too much? Probably.

I have about 8 open mascaras at this time. Many are sample sizes from various GWPs or 100 pt bonuses at Sephora. I've also tried the range of prices, from $2.39 Essence mascara (barely shows up and flakes within 2 hours) to $30 Chanel Inimitable Intense mascara (will clump like a bugger if you're not super careful with the application) and everything in between. I've found ones that work well, but I haven't found THAT one. So I'll keep on looking.

Happy searching, all. Hopefully you have found your holy grails.

Hourglass Extreme Sheen High Shine Lip Gloss

I'm pretty torn on whether I'm a lip gloss or lipstick type of girl. While on one hand, I do love a nice, opaque, chock-full-o-color lipstick, on the other hand, I'm also a sucker for a nice, shiny gloss. And we can't forget some of the lip balm-type lipsticks (Dior Addict and Chanel Coco Shine). So, Hourglass Extreme Sheen High Shine Lip Gloss isn't helping me in the debate.

It all started, as many of my lemmings do, by reading Elvira's blog, Pink Sith. She waxed poetic about this lip gloss and it placed a bug in my brain. Every time I went into Sephora I lingered around the Hourglass display, pawing at the lovely, thin lip gloss tubes. I tried on many, including the one that Elvira loves so much - Siren - but that was was just a bit too much for me. I kept going back to the color Nectar - a non-shimmery coral.

This is the type of color I have been drawn to this summer. The orangey, coralish, peachy colors. This one is no exception. It's super shiny, however not as sticky as others I have tried. The wear is about average for lip glosses, as it doesn't last through any type of meals, snacks or drinks.

The color is actually quite subtle on my lips, but nice and summery. Yes, I know it's now September, but the weather's still quite warm, so that counts, right? I have a feeling that I may be going back for more of these glosses. The color Primal was also calling out to me. Time will tell if I can resist or not.

On another note, my postings have been getting further and further apart, and they may become more so in the next 2-3 months. I'm due to deliver spitfire 2.0 at the end of September, so this last month is getting a bit rough, and the first few with the new baby will be full of sleepless nights. I'm going to try and keep up some posting, but it may go to the back burner. I do enjoy it, so it's not going completely away, and as soon as I have a good routine down, I'll be back to posting as normal!