Nail Polish Haul

If you saw my string of posts about the Sephora and Cinderella line, then you'll notice a severe lack of swatches. Well part of that comes from the fact that two of my makeup nail polish orders arrived at the same time and some nail polishes that I was coveting finally arrived in my local drugstore. You see, my favourite holiday is Halloween so I've been holding out for the treats that will be released in October -- but my other love is Disney and the two just happened to occur at the same time. So here's a chance to look at my nail polish hauls! 

In my own collection I have several bottles of black nail polish but it recently dawned on me that I didn't have an orange colour. Nor did I have a black crackle nail polish. So on one of my "routine" checks of Walgreens, I found that some of the Halloween nail polishes were finally in stock!

From left to right I grabbed the Black Crackle (1019), Pumpkin Spice (1135), Let's Talk (929), and Courtney Orange (30). The crackle nail polish retails for about $3.99 and the rest go for $1.99. Even though I have a lot of purples, I didn't have that hue so I just had to. I am excited to see what kind of combinations I'll come up with with just these four alone. As usual though, I probably won't be posting that much about manicures, so rest your troubled soul if you were worried that I'd change directions about the blog. ;)

While in Walgreens, they finally got the Revlon Moon Candy nail polishes in stock which I've been stalking since release. Almost every store nearby that had them were immediately sold out of my favourite colours and finally I had my moment. The first two are mine and the last two I bought for a friend (but let me take a quick picture of it -- I'm looking forward to seeing her manicure with the two).

From left to right is Orbit (280), Galactic (210) and for my friend is Eclipse (240), and Satellite (230). They retail for just under $10 each which seems a little bit on the high side (do keep in mind that they are 0.26 Fl. Oz. which makes them less then your standard nail polish bottle) but honestly, they are absolutely gorgeous and so very much worth it. I did end up using the Galactic (pictured at the very bottom of this post) after I wrote my Cinderella posts and I'm very much happy with their look. I'm new to flakies and I have to admit, I'm incredibly impressed (and also gullible since these polishes have a space theme -- this is strangely similar to how I got suckered into Angry Birds Space).

It terms of arrivals, the Cinderella Sephora nail polish arrived a few hours after my order from Lucky 13 Lacquers which made me an incredibly happy person. Lucky 13 Lacquers is an indie line created by Kyoti who blogs about nail polishes. She created  a Humble Indie Inspired Bundle, which took 6 indie games and turned them into gorgeous glitter nail polish. She is also donating 15% of the proceeds going to the actual Humble Indie Bundle. After careful thought (of all of 2 minutes), I decided to buy it especially since I played about half of those games and loved it. Plus with part of the proceeds going toward a good cause and supporting an indie nail polish maker, I couldn't quite resist.

As usual, I'm super excited to be posting about all of these items but it's probably going to take me a bit of time to finally swatch it all. But I can't wait!

Revlon Moon Candy in Galactic.

Review: Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter

It took a few visits to different stores before I could find the whole Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter lineup. These lip butters seem to have flown off the shelves at the drugstores near me so while I loved the marketing on them, I never really did see the full lineup of colours. Obviously I found them so what about the marketing got to me? Well, I'm a sucker for lip balm and lip glosses (as evidenced by the Lancome Juicy Tube, Revlon Prismagics, Blistex Lip Infusion, and Burt's Bee Lip Balm that are within a foot of me) so that was a pretty easy sell. What lured me to it was the fact that it was a bit of a light colour which means that I could get tint with hydrating goodness, which is useful for someone like me that always remembers to put on lip balm but never remember to put on lipstick. Seems like a natural step.

Anyhow, after much deliberation and wondering what kind of genius names these things after desserts (no sarcasm intended there, I found myself seriously wanting to buy myself cake afterward), I settled on Cherry Tart and Red Velvet. I knew that there might be a huge hit or miss here, especially since the colours don't really look like the ones on the website and they, of course, will look different on my skin so I was sticking to two.

I couldn't wait to try these on but first I had to do a swatch, just to prepare myself (and you, dear reader). Naturally my camera didn't take a good job with the photo of the swatch, so if you want to see it, you can check it out by clicking here (the top is Red Velvet and the bottom is Cherry Tart).

Cherry Tart

Here is Cherry Tart on me and at first, I really took to the colour. It added just the right amount of colour but wasn't too obvious. I tried wearing it for a week though but found myself disliking it more and more. Although it was light, it just didn't seem to fit my skin tone right. It did feel great though and left my lips moisturized, but I just couldn't get over the colour.

Red Velvet

Up next was Red Velvet and I'll reveal the truth: I didn't pick it based on it's colour, I picked it because of it's name. My favourite dessert is red velvet with that delicious cream cheese frosting. So I was really surprised at how much I loved this colour. If you look at the colour it is advertised as, it looks really dark, but it comes out a bit light.

When I was taking pictures the thing I noticed was how red the Red Velvet was which was just surprising since it didn't look like that in the mirror. It was a happy surprise as to just how much I like this colour.

After a week of use, I can happily say that Red Velvet is now a permanent part of my collection. I'm happy with it's overall performance, staying power, and the pigmentation.

---

Product: Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter
Price: $6 - $9
Would Recommend? Yes!
Takeaway: While I wasn't sold on the first one I tried because of the colour, the second one delivered in colour. Very moisturizing and lasts long, and overall a great buy.

Review: Revlon ColorStay Overtime Lip Color

On this latest lipstick kick, I've been all kinds of adventurous in the drugstore (mostly because you can't sample, so it's harder to determine what works or what doesn't -- I can go to the Lancome counter and find out what doesn't work pretty darn quickly, but that doesn't work as well with drugstore items). One of my purchases was the ColorStay Overtime and since I tend to gravitate toward darker colours, Ultimate Wine seemed like the obvious choice. 

Although I got a close look of it in the store, obviously nothing quite compares to actually trying it out. Prior to opening the package you will notice that it's double ended -- it's a two step system. Apply the colour first, then follow up with moisturizing top coat. 

I tried it out but the colour itself was very... dry. Didn't glide on as easily as one would like and the colour seemed like a very light version of what it is supposed to be. It looked only marginally darker than my own lips. Overall, I was kind of disappointed in its performance. Although the packaging says it could last up to 16 hours, I really didn't want it on for 5 more minutes. 

I think the best comparison here is to the L'Oreal Infallible Never Fail Lipcolour Compact as they both seem to be quite similar in method (though the colours and overall feel was different). With the L'Oreal Compact, the colour had a liquid like consistency and was easy to apply. A lot went a long way for the compact. You had to wait for it to dry and then follow up with the balm. With the ColorStay Overtime, the colour has the consistency of typical gloss but was very drying. It became a bit harder to apply in a short amount of time given how dry it felt. I didn't even get to the moisturizing part because I wanted it off, immediately. It looked terrible and felt terrible. So if I were you (and you're anything like me), I'd likely pass.

---

Product: Revlon ColorStay Overtime Lip Color in Ultimate Wine
Price: $8.99 - $10.99
Would Recommend? No.
Takeaway: Very drying and the colour was off. Not flattering in the slightest bit and also a slight pain to use (because it was so drying).

The Red Ladies

Don't mind the wear and tear on these gals, they have been knocking around my makeup bags for quite a bit.

From left to right:
1. Nuance by Salma Hayek Color Vibrance in Paprika
2. L'Oreal Colour Riche in Penelope's Red 320
3. MAKE UP FOR EVER Rouge Artist Intense in Moulin Rouge #43
4. Revlon Absolutely Fabulous in Vixen #59

A while ago I did a comparison of the last three with a simple everyday look (and by everyday I mean cat eyes and red lips, so make of that what you will). Penelope's Red while nice, was too light and felt too orange while the Moulin Rouge was bright and cheery but not something I could pull off everyday. Vixen was and still always is very dark, which is great for an evening look, but not for everyday wear. When I came across the Paprika tube, I was very happy with it and it is my standard everyday lipstick. (Well, not everyday, but I could definitely pull it off during the day).

Click here for a picture of the 4 lined up.

Excuse the lighting but you can probably notice some differences emerging with the four. The Revlon (Vixen) is only there as a mark for a dark red. Below you can see how the four hold up on my skin though. Nuance (Paprika) is still striking as a light red, but still there and refined. The L'Oreal (Penelope's Red) is somewhat of a mess and I think it's fair to note here that the common red lip liners are a slight disaster when paired with this lipstick. The MUFE (Moulin Rouge) just pops magnificently and the Revlon (Vixen) is my favourite lipstick for when I feel piratey. 

I already knew that in order to wear Penelope's Red that I need to find another lip liner, which I haven't done just yet. With Paprika and Moulin Rouge, I can get away with using e.l.f. Essential Feather Proof Moisturizing Lip Liner in Bitter.

As I play around with different variations, I'm sure I'll find a better way of using Penelope's Red and even Moulin Rouge. (I'm not at that point where I can wear it to work just yet). And perhaps one day I will let go of the coveted Vixen though I will admit it's fantastic for Halloween.

---

Product: Nuance by Salma Hayek Color Vibrance in Paprika
Price: $9.99
Would Recommend? Yes
Takeaway: I love it because it's just the right colour and gives great coverage. Last throughout the day though you will need to touch it up here and there. Great for an everyday look. 

Product: L'Oreal Colour Riche in Penelope's Red 320 

Price:  Approximately $8.00 depending on where you find it.

Would Recommend? No

Takeaway: Not very pigmented and thus doesn't have a good coverage. Ends up seeming too light and requires a matching lip liner to really bring out the colour. 

Product: MAKE UP FOR EVER Rouge Artist Intense in Moulin Rouge #43
Price: $19.00
Would Recommend? Yes
Takeaway: This is an intense red which has great coverage and great pigmentation which is fantastic. This one is vibrant but beautiful.

Product: Revlon Absolutely Fabulous in Vixen #59
Price: $5.99
Would Recommend? Depends on the look.
Takeaway: Great for an evening wear or even for Halloween as it's very much on the dark side.