Orly Gossip Girl Nail polish

I usually don't go for golds as I find that gold isn't very flattering to my skin tone. Luckily, Gossip Girl really worked out for me! I would describe it as an almost pink-hued gold with a glittery jelly base. The following swatch above is two layers of Gossip Girl with no base colour underneath. Gossip Girl is one of the most impressive glitters I have tried this year, having both chunky and fine glitters in its formula. I also liked how easy it was to work with and was pretty much opaque in two layers. Gossip Girl is definitely a festive colour for the holidays and I'm rocking it for Christmas. Happy holidays everyone!

NYX Intense Butter Gloss Chocolate Crepe

I have found myself picking up more of these Intense Butter Glosses up over the last few weeks so expect to see a few reviews of them every now and then. Brown lipsticks/lipglosses were really in this past fall and Chocolate Crepe is one of the most wearable brown shades I have ever worn. I would say it pulls a bit burgundy-red on my lips, so don't let the dark shade on the outside tube scare you away. I'm a big fan of these Intense Butter Glosses because of how comfortable they are to wear and how pigmented the formula is. They also come in some many different and unconventional shades which I think makes NYX stand out from the usual "play-it-safe" drugstore brands. If you're looking to foray into the world of brown shades, Chocolate Crepe might be a great place to start. 

China Glaze Coal Hands, Warm Heart

I kept my word and went back to the salon to pick up China Glaze's Coal Hands, Warm Heart. I just couldn't forget this dazzling multidimensional glitter and that it stood out in a holiday release. Since these glitters are slightly bigger and more varied than I Soiree I Didn't Do It, I decided to layer it on top of one coat of a black polish (I used Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear Black Out). There are two coats of Coal Hands, Warm Heart on top of that and I have to say it turned out really well! The blue glitters really give the black base a blue tinge and I love the random gold glitters. It's just a colour palette which is so pleasing to look at and I'm sure this polish will have further use than simply being a holiday polish.

Covergirl Oh Balm! Vitamin Infused Balm 10 Gumdrop

I have been let down by coloured balms in the past and have steered clear of them for a while. I picked this up at the drugstore the other night and I would have to say that I am pleasantly surprised. Gumdrop is a very sheer mauve colour which will give a dark tint to your lips at best, but is actually fairly moisturizing. I found that with L'oreal's Color Riche Balm and Maybelline's Babylips, the moisture was very superficial. It would apply very comfortably, but the "balmy" feeling wouldn't stay very long-twenty minutes the most! I have had this balm on for about an hour now and I really think the only way it would run out was if I wiped it off or ate something. Overall, I am quite pleased. Sometimes it's nice to have a bit of colour and lip balm power at the same time.

China Glaze I Soiree I Didn't Do It

I always get really excited for China Glaze's Holiday releases and have fond memories of great colours from the past. I Soiree I Didn't Do It is from their Cheers Holiday 2015 collection and I would describe it as a teal glitter nailpolish. This look was achieved with three layers of the polish and two layers of Seche Viche topcoat on top (I find glitter polishes chip really easily, so hence why I felt I needed a little more top coat protection). This colour is lovely on its own and doesn't need a base to be opaque, although I'm sure you could come up with some cool looks with it. I know that the Cheers collection didn't quite hit it off with everybody, but I really think that it took a different spin from your typical holiday reds and multicolored glitters. I'm considering going back to pick up Coal Hands Warm Hearts.

Bonne Bell LipLaquer Bellini

Every once in a while, I get hit with nostalgia and miss the things I had as a child. Any kid who grew up in North America is probably familiar with Bonne Bell's Lipsmackers chapsticks which came in every flavour a kid could dream of. That's why I'm always a bit surprised every once and a while to run into the Bonne Bell products which are tailored towards older young woman (did I just write an oxymoron there?!). Surprisingly, these liplaquers are pretty great formula and pigment wise. Bellini pulls a warm coral colour with some shimmer (of course) on lips and the formula feels moisturizing. The only problem is the smell, which reminds me of some really sour Starburst candies or sour fruit. If you can tolerate a sub-par fruit smell, I totally recommend this lipgloss to you; it's a great compromise to your younger Lipsmacker's lovin' self.

L'oreal Color Riche Nail Polish Feline Sauvage

Bonus post of the day! I'm hoping to help you all decide on which colours to wear with the upcoming holiday parties and all. Feline Sauvage is a deep emerald pine green with micro shimmer. It's insanely gorgeous and such a fitting colour for the holidays. I have yet to see any of the major players release a colour like this in their holiday collections this year (I'm looking at you OPI and China Glaze). Although I really like the concept of mini polishes (heck, who uses a whole bottle these days), I didn't especially like the brush included with this one; it reminds me a lot of the ones that come with Sally Hansen's nail polishes. The polish though is quite easy to work with. I recommend two thick coats for even coverage.

Orly Nite Owl

I bought Orly Nite Owl on a whim a few months ago when I was at Sally's Beauty Supply as I thought a nice brown colour would be good for fall. I was very surprised at how it turned out! Nite Owl is simply not a flat brown colour. I would describe it as a silvery iced mocha shade-it's a lot more complex than I thought it was! Nite Owl applies thin, so it is opaque with about two coats. I'm wearing a Kiss nail sticker on my ring finger, as I thought it would be fun to jazz up the look.

L'Oreal Color Riche Lipstick 392 Tanzania Rubis

I spotted L'Oreal's winter collection stand at a local drug store the other night and was quite impressed with what they put out. The theme has some emerald and gold tones which I think are perfect for the upcoming holiday season. There were two lipsticks released (a nude and red) and I chose Tanzania Rubis as I think that a red lipstick is perfect for those Christmas parties and whatnot (when isn't a red lipstick perfect?). I have mixed feelings about the texture of this lipstick, as it is a bit drying and red can really bring out skin flakes and lines. I recommend wearing lip balm and as well some lipliner to get the best out of this lipstick. Otherwise, it's quite pigmented and the shade is very flattering-I think it would look great for both cool and warm skintones.

NYX Prismatic Eyeshadow Punk Heart and Blue Jeans

I grabbed these eyeshadows on a whim while on a late night drug store trip and was pleasantly surprised at how pigmented they were when I swatched them in the store. These two shades are no different either-pigmented, smooth and buttery application. I would advise you to not use these eyeshadows with a heavy hand as a little goes a long way! They're great as a crease accent or even just a single wash of colour over your eyelids for that pop of colour. I picked these two shades together in particular because they actually work very well with each other-I recommend a light wash of Blue Jeans over the lid and using Punk Heart in the crease. 

OPI Sheer Tints Look #2

I'm having a lot of fun with these sheer tints! They really give you license to be creative and make nail art/looks a breeze. I achieved this look by first using a dotting tool to dot on the glittery shade (OPI Orange You Fantastic! From their Coca Cola collection last year). Then, I layered three shades of the sheer tint "I'm Never Amberrased". I experienced little bubbling this time around, as I used thinner layers of the sheer tint and waited a bit between application to let the layers dry.

Wet n Wild Color Icon Limited Edition Stay Wild Eye shadow palette Freestyle Wrap

I had high hopes for this palette, as I've experienced great pigmentation and colour pay-off with previous Wet n Wild eye shadow trios. This is a limited edition version of their Color Icon palette which comes in other great colour combos too, but I chose this purple one as it stood out to me the most. Sad to say, the first two colours of the palette are very chalky and glittery. The last and deepest berry shade is the most velvety and pigmented of the three and has the familiar normal texture that their eye shadows usually have. Nevertheless, they are still all very wearable and workable shades and I see myself using this for when I want some purple without it being too harsh. 

Sally Hansen Big Glitter Top coat Goldi-Flecks

Ever since I discovered the "tin foil method" of glitter nail polish removal, I have started to wear glitters again without being afraid of the tedious time it takes to remove them. I saw this at the department store the other night and was quickly lured to buy it, as I had a good experience with another Sally Hansen glitter polish, Mermaid's Tale. I layered it over OPI's Skyfall (in honour of the new James Bond movie I guess) and was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to work with. I used two thin layers to spread out the glitter and they dried without bubbling or any difficulty.

Essence Love and Sound Eye shadow Glastonberry

I know this is a bit of a late post on this eye shadow, as I bought this on my trip to the Pacific Coast two months ago. I just had to share this with you all as it is a beautiful, soft and pigmented eye shadow! I think this would be perfect as a wash on the lids with a beautiful nude lipstick for an autumn look. Out of all of the baked eye shadows that I have tried so far this year, Glastonberry has got to be the most pigmented.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Polish Nail Strips Crowd Surfer

This was my first time trying nail strips/wraps and I'm not sure what to quite think of them. I can appreciate how you can have intricate nail art and designs without expense or a masterful level of artistry. There is also virtually zero dry time. On the other hand, these weren't as simple to put on as touted (mind you, it was my first time trying them) and I could probably apply traditional nail polish a lot faster. As well, I had difficult finding ones that matched my nail sizes accurately as they were all a bit too big for me (I have small hands; my ring size ranges from 4 to 6 at the largest). These tore on me a bit too, making it difficult to stretch them over the nail without ripping them before getting a chance to wrap the nail tip. I'm guessing it might be because Crowd Surfer is a glittery finish and might be thinner than the other designs. In all, these are a lot of fun, but I might reserve them for special events or days when I can't wait for nail polish drying.

NYX Intense Buttergloss in Toasted Marshmallow

Continuing on with my pick for fall colour lipsticks/lipglosses, I would like to introduce you to Toasted Marshmallow. This was my first time trying the Intense butter gloss line (I own a few of the regular butter glosses) and I have to say that these are super pigmented! I was able to colour my whole lips with one swipe. I really like this colour because it's a good balance between deep red and burgundy-there is even a bit of berry/violet undertones! Toasted Marshmallow has the same texture and suppleness on par with the regular buttergloss line and is very comfortable to wear.

OPI Sheer Tints Look #1

Just a quick post today showing the most easiest and basic look you can achieve with the OPI sheer tints (or a set of jelly tints in general). I used two coats of a white base nail polish (essence the gel nail polish in "wild white ways") and dabbed each colour in its respective corner lightly. You don't need a special brush to achieve this look as I just dabbed the colours on sparingly. My only one complaint was that these jelly polishes seem to "bubble" as they dry, but it might be because I added an additional top coat on top (Seche Vite) and these polishes are marketed as top coats themselves (I just don't feel like I've finished my polish routine without a top coat to seal it all in!).

Palladio Herbal Matte Lipstick Regal Cafe

Continuing with my theme of great autumn lipsticks, I want to show you guys one of my favourite netural matte lipsticks as of late! I shop at Sally's Beauty Supply quite often and really love the Palladio Beauty line of make-up that they carry. This lipstick has a matte finish and lasts about 2-3 hours before reapplication is needed. I really like this shade because it's a neutral/nude shade which stands out (it's darker than a "my lips but better" shade). Regal Cafe is perfect for an autumn lipstick without being too bold, especially if you are looking for a more casual work-safe lipstick.

Wet n Wild Coloricon Palette Poster Child

With Halloween fast approaching, you may be needing some different colours in your make-up stash than what you would normally sport on a daily basis. I find that during these times, value and quality become factors of great consideration. Wet n Wild's Poster Child palette is a great combination of value and quality. The colours in this palette are very bold and have a silky texture. They all have quite fair to good pigmentation without any base or primer underneath (I swatch all eye shadows without primer to get a good sense of their basic pigmentation). I would probably use this palette throughout the year too, on any day I felt like jazzing up my make-up routine (I have an endless collection of brown, taupe and neutral shades). 

MAC Verve Lipstick

Sorry for all of the recent MAC posts-I swear I do use other brands of cosmetics! I always find that as the seasons transition, so does my make-up. Verve is a Satin Finish lipstick. I would describe the colour as a nice burgundy brick red and it can be vampy depending on how you pair your eye shadows with it. It's very moisturizing (surprisingly) and clings to lips for a good 3 hours. I think it's a great autumn colour, especially if you want to rock red without it being too loud.

Sinful Colors Splatter Spell

I have been in the mood for some Halloween themed nails! I have two layers of Sally Hansen's Xtreme Nail Color in Black Out underneath a layer or two of Splatter Spell. Black out was surprisingly a very great black nail polish to work with (I have not had great experiences with Sally Hansen in the past and now I'm wondering if I should try some other shades; the Xtreme line is very affordable here). Splatter Spell required a bit of more work. I couldn't get the glitter flakes to cling on with just one coat, so I layered it on gently. I smoothed out the layers with each application so it wouldn't get too goopy. I know that glitter top coats usually require a bit of work but Splatter Spell was a bit more difficult to work with than Sally Hansen's "Mermaid's Tale", another glitter flake top coat mentioned in a previous post.

OPI discount nail polish haul

I wandered into a local beauty salon at the mall yesterday and stumbled upon some luck! They were selling off some older OPI polishes for 3 dollars each (or 5 for 10 dollars) so naturally, I hoarded. I was able to get all of the OPI sheer tints shades and one from the Coca Cola collection last year (Orange you Fantastic!). I have been looking for sheer tinted colour polish to try out some simple nail art and thought I missed the boat on getting them. It seems like you never know what the Universe will surprise you with!

I'll be sure to share the nail art concoctions I will come up with.

MAC Evening Rendezvous Lipstick

Two MAC posts in one day! This lipstick was the only thing that I "hauled" from the new MAC Magic of the Night collection. It is a vampy, but yet very wearable berry-purple matte finish shade. I think this lipstick will be a hit in the collection, so grab yours before they sell out!