December 23, 2009

OPI Alice In Wonderland Collection

This January, to celebrate the March release of Tim Burton's adaptation of Alice In Wonderland OPI is presenting us with four gorgeous polishes. Much to my glee, two of these polishes are glitter!





First there is Absolutely Alice which a beautiful blue and gold glitter that truly captures the essence of Alice.




The second glitter is Mad As A Hatter which OPI calls a "madly marvelous black-multi glitter". From the swatches that have surfaced online thus far, this one is a rainbow in a bottle!




Next we have Thanks So Muchness! - a beautiful red shimmer that appears to have a twinge of magenta to it.




Last but not least is Off With Her Red! which representing the execution happy Red Queen is a bright and bold red creme.



I can't wait for this collection! With a January release, it will make the wait for the film's March arrival much more bearable.

November 30, 2009

L.A. Girl - Sea Grass




Upon first seeing this bottle of polish, I wondered to myself if it would satisfy my urge to own MAC's Peppermint Patty, but once I got home and saw it in normal lighting, I realized that the lights in the store had washed it out and that Sea Grass was much deeper and vibrant. Once on my nails, I soon remembered where I had seen the color before. In middle and high school, I was a huge fan of the band Hole and owned a Fender Squier Vista Venus guitar which was designed by Courtney Love. Sea Grass is a color match to my old guitar. It's a vibrant sea foam green cream that is reminiscent of cars in the 1950's. Although the UPC sticker on the bottle says "Jade", it has been brought to my attention that it is actually called "Sea Grass" and I think the name really suits it. This polish just screams "Spring!" and really livens up a cold Winter's day.



Sea Grass applied like a dream and was completely opaque in two thin coats, although I'm quite sure that one coat would have been sufficient had I applied it more carefully. It's been on my fingers for over three days without even the smallest of chips, so I think that this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship. At less than $3.00US, this was one of the best bargains ever!

November 26, 2009

Bath & Body Works Temptations I Love Licorice 3-in-1 Body Wash, Bubble Bath, & Shampoo





For several years, Bath & Body Works released summer and winter scent collections under their Temptations line which never failed to please the nose. Each scent came in a body lotion, body splash, 3-in-1 body wash/bubble bath/shampoo, and the occasional fun item like shimmering body powder or lip gloss. Not being much of a lotion user, the 3-in-1s appealed most to me. Each Spring and Fall, I'd eagerly await their release in stores. My favorite scent of all was called Glittery Gumdrop. When I went into their store last holiday season, I discovered that much to my horror they had done away with the Temptations line! What did I do? I stocked up on eBay, that's what I did!

Apparently, Bath & Body Works has seen the error in their ways and has generously released a new scent collection this year! When I found out that they were bringing back their Temptations line for the holidays, I literally jumped up and down. What glorious scents did they present to us? Well, returning is the old favorite Twisted Peppermint as well as three new additions to the family named I Love Licorice, Nutcracker Sweet, & Spiced Gingersnap. Sadly, Glittery Gumdrop will not be joining us this year. Although all four scents smell delicious, I'm here today to tell you about my favorite: I Love Licorice.

The I Love Licorice 3-in-1 Body Wash, Bubble Bath, & Shampoo is available in a generous 16 fl. oz. (473 ml) bottle to the tune of $10.00US, which is a smaller price tag (and much better value) than in previous years when it was $12.00US. At this size, one bottle should last several months providing that you use small portion sizes. Believe me, a little does go a long way with this one as it has a thick and luxurious lather even when only a small amount is used. I'd even go as far as to say that this new formula has been improved in the lather department. A quarter sized drop is more than enough to clean your entire body and then some! As you may have already guessed, the fragrance is reminiscent of red licorice that so many of us love such as Red Vines or Twizzlers. Imagine bathing in liquid licorice. This is exactly what it would smell like if you could. The scent of berries will definitely linger in your bathroom and has great staying power on the skin. I won't say that it stays for hours upon hours, seeing as though it's not a perfume, but you will still be able to detect a hint of it long after showering or bathing especially if you use it as shampoo. I feel that it's a real shame that Bath & Body Works doesn't offer a coordinating conditioner or an Eau de Toilette spray, though. If they did, I'd smell like Twizzlers from head to toe every day of the week! In my experience when used as a body wash or bubble bath, it was fairly moisturizing and left my skin feeling clean and smooth although if you live in a colder climate, you may choose to layer it with the coordinating body lotion. Adding the lotion would definitely add to the staying power of the fragrance. When used as a shampoo, it cleans hair well however I will say that when I used it by itself sans conditioner, I felt as though my hair was a bit less easy to comb through while wet. I'm unsure of the long term effects of using this as a shampoo, but it's great in a pinch, that's for sure. It's great for use while traveling because it does double duty as shampoo and body wash.

It's uncertain if this particular scent will be returning next year, so I'm stocking up while I can! I highly encourage you to visit a Bath & Body Work store near you to smell the whole collection for yourself!

November 24, 2009

Purplephilia franken



It has been a labor of love to get this pic posted. Not only is my computer slow, but my internet connection has been incredibly unreliable all day as well.

Purple is a beautiful color, but it seems as though no company has got it "just right" so I ventured to make my own Holy Grail of purple polishes. She has been named "Purplephilia" after a very lovely lady from one of my favorite sites on Earth - Makeup Alley. She ever so graciously allowed me to "steal" her name for this grape splendor.

How did Purplephilia come to be you ask? Very simply.

I mixed equal parts of NYC clear polish, LA Girl Midnight Diva, and Sinful Colors Daddy's Girl in an empty bottle. Then, I added a gratuitous amount of Sally Girl Sparkle Effects loose glitter in Violet Vixen and three (yes, three) stainless steel zinc coated "ballz". After everything was in the bottle, I shook and shook and shook and shook. Presto! Instant blingage!!

The ONLY downside to this little beauty is that the loose glitter tends to settle at the bottom of the bottle, as is common when loose glitters are used to franken with, and it is quite a pain to mix it back up once settled. It's totally worth it though. This is like a purple version of China Glaze's Ruby Pumps on steroids.

First Post!

Who knew that setting everything up for a blog would be so complicated? Trying to sign up for a Facebook account has been a nightmare since I accidentally made a personal page, deleted it, and can't register the account under "other public figure". Now I have to play the waiting game for Facebook to fix the issue even though it was my mistake. Signing up for Twitter was a cinch, though, thank goodness! My hopes for this blog are to give back to the makeup community that which I have received from it, so I want to make sure that everything works smoothly before officially "launching".

Currently, I've been playing around with making a purple glitter franken since there doesn't seem to be anything to fit my idea of "THE perfect purple polish" that is available in stores. Once I tweak it and give it a worthy name, pics will be posted. I also plan to do reviews on some polishes that are my favorites.