Vintage Vixen Swatches - "Cat's Meow"

Happy Hump-Day all! Are we ready to finish out the China Glaze - Vintage Vixen swatches? I knew you'd be excited!>>>

Classic Camel - Maybe the most interesting color in this collection. I love weird shades like this. This is a yellow-tan with gold shimmer. It's sort of like Dijon mustard but shimmery!

First Class Ticket - I love this and it was my first official manicure with this collection. This is a plummy purple that has a lot of blue shimmer than makes it look very "blurple" and even very blue in the bottle. I love this one.

Emerald Fitzgerald - I may like this more for the name than the actual shade, but I do still really like this emerald green. It is pretty blue sided. It reminds me of Nubar - Earth but deeper.

Midnight Mission - Oooh. This denim blue polish with tons of silver shimmer immediately made me think of a starry night sky and a particular highly coveted nail polish of a similar name: Starry Starry Night. This would be a very distant relative to SSN as that one is glitter and this is shimmer, but still...

Riveter Rouge - This is a ruby red with gold shimmer and micro glitter pieces. I don't usually care much for reds but this one is interesting and I like it! Do you think Rosie would be proud? :cP And how about that close-up bottle shot?!

Goin' My Way? - Ooh oooh! I did not think this would be so pretty! This one was a big surprise. This is a brown shimmer but this shimmer is incredible. It is multi colored and and shines like mad. I can see glints of green, gold, red... it's just gorgeous.

This set has very pigmented shades and I was able to do 2 coats for all of them. I am really digging all these shades and can't wait for the cooler weather so I can wear them. The finishes of all these are very interesting and shimmery and sparkly. I think the word "frost" should be used a bit more lightly for this collection. When we got the first pictures and shade descriptions the "frost" was thrown around a lot and it put me off big time and I am sure plenty others. These are more like shimmers than frosts and even if a couple of them seem a bit frosty, like Goin' My Way? and Bogie, they are flattering.

Now that we have seen them all, what do you think?
-Elaine
:c)


Disclosure: The products featured in this post were furnished to me by the manufacturer or PR company for review. For more information please visit my disclosure policy.

HOOT!

First of all, can I just say: I got myself the newest NP release from MAC, In The Buff, and it is so weird! It is one of the weirdest colors I have. It is one of those "ugly pretty" shades I can't get enough of.

When I read the very first description of MAC's summer collection, I was very excited to see this because in the description it said "avocado" and so I expected a green. This is not green! It is a sand colored nude with lots of olive tone. It may match some peoples' skin to be a true nude, but it is definitely not my skin tone so I can appreciate it as a color. It looks like a brown paper bag sometimes, and sometimes more nude, and sometimes very murky olive. Strange but cool.

Anyhoot, back to the point of my post! I have recently become a huge fan of anything to do with owls. Without telling too long a story, a friend and I got these necklaces with owl pendants and call them "friendship owls" and it has made me really like anything with owls. So I figured that meant it was going to have to be on my nails somehow. I think I pulled it off>>>

If you like the owl and would like to try my hand-painted art, you are in luck! I decided to take pics as I went along so that you could have a tutorial!

Here is what I used. LA Colors Art Deco stripers in white and black, L'Oreal - Sizzling Tangerine, Barielle - A Bouquet for Ava, Seche Vite and a dotting tool. The colors you choose are not important, but you should choose well pigmented shades so that you don't have to go over the same spot several times. You will also need at least one striper polish.

1) Using one of the regular polishes you choose, make a ovalish shape in the middle of your nail, a bit below center so you leave space for the head. This will be the owl's body. Let it dry.

2) Using another color make two circles at the top of the blob you made in Step 1 and then pull them up to make an upside-down heart. I just used the nail polish brush to make these circles, but you could also use a dotting tool and a larger drop of polish if you prefer. Let it dry.

3) Using your nail art striper, make the owl's puffy feather "hairdo" on top of his head pulling the striper brush from outer to an inner point just below the tip of the "heart" we made in Step 2. Make several passes until you feel that it's puffy enough! Next, take the brush and just under the "heart" inbetween the two circles, make a little diamond shape to create his beak.

4) Using white polish and a dotting tool, make two dots for the whites of the owl's eyes. Let that dry.

5) Using black polish and the dotting tool, make a smaller dot in the center of both white dots.

6) Getting out the striper again, make two slightly curved lines on either side of the body to make wings. I made a couple passes on each side so they were a bit thicker than just a line. Then make two bunches of three little lines on the bottom of the body for his talons.

7) To finish him off, add some dots to the body with the dotting tool and whatever shades you'd like.

8) Finish off with a coat of Seche Vite, or whatever thick self-leveling top-coat you choose so that your finished owl is level and not lumpy/blobby looking.

What do you think?!
:c)

Rebel Debutante Swatches - Spring 2010

Hello all! I went ahead and got myself the 7-piece set of one of Color Club's newest releases: The Rebel Debutante Collection. I didn't get the blue and neon green though. It's so weird they released a collection of 7 + 2. I know it's been done, but I couldn't resist swatching all of these for you. I can't let a whole collection (sort of) keep from being swatched and posted.

Who Are You Wearing? - I love shades like this! It's a soft, slightly gray, white creme. The only drawback was that I had to do 4 coats of it and it still looks a bit streaky.

High Society - This is a "greige" creme. I like the look of it a lot and it's a great alternative to Deborah Lippmann's Waking Up In Vegas which I compared here. It's on the thin side though and needed three coats.

Best Dressed List - I really liked the look of this tan in the bottle but I don't find it flattering on my nails. :c( Too bad. It reminds me of a baby deer. This is two coats.

Charity Ball - I was so excited to get this shade. I love an odd polish color and this one definitely is. Question was, though, is it going to be ugly-pretty or just plain ugly once I got it on? Well I can say that I love it on me! It's so odd but works. This is three coats.

Uptown Girl - Dusty, grayed purple. Always chic. This is two coats.

She's So Glam - I don't normally go for pinks and definitely not Barbie, bubblegum pinks like this, but I have to admit the truth: I really like my nails in this. This is three coats.

Ms. Socialite - And my favorite! This is a very rich, red sided purple creme and I love it! This swatch is two coats. It has the best application of all these shades too. Very smooth, pigmented and easy to apply.

So overall I can say that this isn't the most exciting collection ever. I wasn't jumping up and down over it's release like some collections, especially Color Club collections, but I do like almost all the shades. I think they make a nice addition to my collection and they are all pretty chic and work safe at the same time. The formula is on the thin side, but manageable.

What do you think?

Milani Swatches - Part 1

Hello! Today I am finally posting my Milani swatches, Part 1 of 2. I decided to do them because while thinking about my polishes I realized these were way up there on the faves list. This brand is great because it is virtually everywhere, and has beautiful colors and an incredible formula. They usually retail around $4+, but I always almost see them on sale. I also saw someone online write they didn't like the color selection, but I think they have a wide wide range of colors, including cremes, glitters, neons, shimmers, metallics... In blues, purples, orange, yellow, pink, whites, browns, red, berry... plenty to choose from. So here's my swatches:

Blackberry Baby - Ugh. Not for the color but for my sloppy fingers! Sorry. I just got this one and am in love! It's a dark cherry color that is not too dark. It's shimmery too. It goes on super smooth and is a gorgeous color. LOVE IT
Totally Cool - sun pic and shade pic. Other bloggers have been raving about this one and with good reason. Are you looking!? It's a blue/purple jelly with purple microglitter. HOT! I did 3 coats because it's a bit sheer being a jelly, but it's worth it. If you go to a drugstore it check this out, also look and see if they have Sinful Colors-Daddy's Girl. It is also a blue/purple jelly with purple microglitter, but the base is brighter and bluer and you may like it more. I wish I had it to compare. I tried to control my buying. (Which is usually a failure anyway!)
Mr. Sandman - Indoor with flash, and outdoor in sun. A tan metallic. Not too much to say about this one. It's neutral and pretty.
The Hottest Pink- Sun and shade - I just rebought this one because I killed the old one because I wore it so much! Yup. That awesome. Doesn't the name sell you too? 'The Hottest'. Okay. You win. It's a hot pink/fuschia with blue flash. Goes on smooth and gorgeous in 2 coats. One of my faves definately.
Red To Tango - The first pic is in one coat. It's amazing. This one is a goof proof red. It is so thin and smooth and easy to apply. It's amazing. I am a habitual 2 coater so I did two, and that is in the 2nd and 3rd pics, sun and shade. The shade is the best representation of the color. It is not as bright as the first 2 suggest. It is much deeper.
Tropical Fiesta - Bright pink creme that is kind of on the coral side but I wouldn't call it coral. It's super bright without being neon. Very fun, punchy color. The pic is indoor with flash. I thought is was the best pic to show the true color. It didn't show as true to life in the sun for some reason.

I have more to come so stay tuned for part 2!!