Monday, April 30, 2012

April Haul

Hello!

Let's see what all I bought this month:
(Please ignore my gigantic unicorn pillowpet in the background, I did this in a hurry and didn't feel like retaking the pictures.)


Essence Colour & Go - Let's Get Lost, Glamorous Life, and Where is the Party?


Llarowe purchase - Hits Mari Moon Cool, Hits Specialita No Olimpio Zeus, Ludurana Aurora Boreal Reluz, Ludurana Flocado Arco-Iris.




Essie - Pink-a-Boo, No More Film


Random - Gap Gold Rush, Revlon Whimsical, L'oreal Tweet Me, Pixi Opal Sheen, and Pixel Oh Goly Gee!

I also ordered 14 Zoya polishes during their Earth Day polish exchange, but I haven't received them yet. I'll do that haul in a separate post when I finally do get them. 

How many polishes did you get this month?

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Chanel Peridot?

No, I don't have Chanel Peridot to share with you today, but I do have a dupe.

Today I have swatches of Gap Gold Rush. I got this about a week ago, because I thought it looked similar to Peridot. Luckily I came aross Lacquered Lover's post on Chanel Peridot dupes, where you can see a comparison of Gold Rush and Peridot.







This is two coats, and it applied very smooth. There was a lot of streaking when first applied, but they disappeared as the polish dried. 

I'm so glad to have this polish, especially since Chanel Peridot was a lemming of mine. This was only $6 dollars compared to $26 for the Chanel polish. You can find Gap Gold Rush in their stores, I couldn't find it online, along with other trendy colors.

I hope everyone has a good weekend! 

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Quick Update

I feel like I've been neglecting my blog! I've been so busy with school and work I haven't had the time to blog as much as I would like too. 

Today is going to be a quick post. I have a pic of Essie No More Film that I uploaded to Instagram last week. You can find me on Instagram at Helenk90


My picture of Essie No More Film is not color accurate. It is a purple, not blue. I would say that it is a dark egg plant color. I believe that its part of the Resort Collection; I have another polish from the collection to show you. This was opaque in 1 coat, even though I used two.  I love Essie's formula by the way. 


This I just something I did a couple days after I painted my nails from the last post. I used Wet N Wild Black Creme and stamped the image from plate BM-208.  

Well that's all I have for today. My schedule should slow down soon, especially since I'm done with most of my projects for school. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, April 20, 2012

Ludurana Aurora Boreal Reluz

Hey there!

Today I have another polish from my purchase from Llarowe, Ludurana Aurora Boreal Reluz.  This is an amazing duochrome. For the most part it shifts from blue to purple, with hints of golden brown, pink, and teal (its hard to say because its only at extreme angles). This is such an amazing color, and I can't seem to keep my eyes off of my nails.




You can kind of see that golden brown I was talking about. 




This polish was very thin. It was pretty sheer and I needed 3 coats for full coverage. I think this polish would be a great color to layer over black. I'll have to swatch that for you one day. This has an amazing color shift, and it really sparkles in the sun. I absolutely love it. 

I hope you enjoyed this polish as much as I did! Thanks for reading. 



Thursday, April 19, 2012

HITS Zeus

Hi everyone!

Today I have Hits No Olimpo Zeus. Zeus is a charcoal holographic. I put this on a few days ago, and the first day I wore this it was very cloudy out so I thought the polish was very ehh. But once I saw it in the sun, I absolutely loved it. It has a very strong holo effect, and I couldn't stop looking at my nails.




 With flash




I used three coats for full opacity. The polish was thin, but easy to work with. I didn't use any base or top coat because I didn't want to dull the holo. It lasted two whole days before it chipped. 

This is the first time that I've used this polish, but my bottle is 3/4 full.  I'm not sure if it wasn't a full bottle or not, but I feel like I couldn't have used that much of it...
I bought this at Llarowe along with three others, so look out for upcoming swatches.  

Thanks for reading!

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Kleancolor Metallic Fuchsia Stamping

Hello!

I have a mani I wore a few days ago to share with you.  I used Pixi Opal Sheen, Kleancolor Metallic Fuchsia, and stamping plate BM-206.  When I first did my nails, I wanted to wear Pixi Opal Sheen on its own, but I wasn't patient enough between coats because they bubbled really bad.  Since I wasn't in the mood to redo all my nails, I just stamped on top of them with Kleancolor Metallic Fuchsia. All the pictures are before I put topcoat on. 






I really like Pixi Opal Sheen. I'll have to post a swatch on its own. The color of Opal Sheen reminds me of a pearl. It has the most gorgeous pink shimmer. I used 3 coats, and like I said, I was impatient and didn't wait long enough in between coats and used my nail dryer at the end which caused it to bubble.  

Kleancolor Metallic Fuchsia is great for stamping.  It is very opaque. Depending on your topcoat, it may run though.  I use Seche Vite, and it always turns out perfect.  

I have a very hectic schedule coming up. I can't wait til this semester of school is over. I'll try to post as often as I can. I may just post pics though.

Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, April 13, 2012

My Experience with Little Black Bag

Hey everyone!

My first Little Black Bag arrived a few days ago, and I thought I'd share my experience with you.

Little Black Bag is a subscription service I heard about through the blogosphere.  Its kind of like the other subscription services like Julep Maven and Birchbox. It is $49.99 for the monthly membership, and $59.99 if you just want it once.  With the monthly membership, you can skip anytime as long as you request it in time, and cancel anytime.

Basically you take a quiz, then choose your first item you'd like. They also give you 1-3 surprise items picked out by their stylists.  But it doesn't end there.  You are then given one week to swap your items with other members.  By swapping items, you can get more items, and a higher value than you started off with. If you want more info you can go to their webpage here.

The trading is the best and addicting part of the whole program.  With the trading, you have a way of ensuring you like everything you're going to receive.  You can also try to maximize that value of your package by trading up, or by trading for multiple items.

Here is what I got in my first package:




I received a R&Em Rebel Crossbody purse, Umbra Butterfly Wall Decor, and a Lydell NYC Double Horn Necklace.  I can't remember what my entire value came out to, oops.  But I know I saved over $50.  

I really had fun ordering from Little Black Bag. It's very unique in that it lets you trade your items. You get at least $100 in value.  I'm pretty sure I spend way more than $50 on accessories and purses a month, so I think I'll keep my subscription and try not to spend elsewhere.  

What do you think of Little Black Bag?

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

NOTD: Spoiled Shrimp On The Barbie

Hello!

Today my nails are painted with another Spoiled polish, Shrimp On The Barbie. I think this might become one of my favorites! It's a gorgeous gold glass flecked coral-pink.




This is 3 coats because it was a little sheer, but not bad. Like the other Spoiled polishes, it has a very wide, slanted brush, which I find hard to work with. Other then that, I think this polish is amazing. I couldn't bare covering up this color with any nail art. For $2, this polish is a must have. 

Also...

Today is Tom's One Day Without Shoes. Of course I'm sporting Essie Barefoot in Blue for this occasion. I participated but didn't really leave me house except to go to the tattoo shop to drop off and pick up my bf. My picture is not color accurate at all. I'll probably swatch and review Barefoot in Blue on my hands in the future.


This is the picture that I posted onto Instagram. I added a filter to it to make my feet more bearable. You can find me on Instagram at helenk90.

Did you participate in One Day Without Shoes? 




Sunday, April 8, 2012

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Suave Professionals Keratin Infusion 30 Day Smoothing Kit Review

Hi!

So for today, I have something a little different than the usual.  Its not nail related, but I still wanted to share this with you guys.  I bought the Suave Professionals Keratin Infusion 30 Day Smoothing Kit a couple weeks ago. I finally got around to using it, and wanted to share my experience with you.

According to the Suave webpage
Formulated with KERALOCK TECHNOLOGY, this revolutionary system infuses hair with keratin protein and leaves it sleeker, smoother and easier to style. The Keratin Infusion 30 Day Smoothing Kit is a simple, at-home chemical treatment that is an alternative to expensive formaldehyde-based salon keratin treatments. It transforms frizz for up to 30 days. The rest of the Keratin Infusion range maintains your smooth style every day.
I have thick coarse hair, and I absolutely hate doing my hair.  I normally just let my hair air dry and use a little bit of some sort of smoothing cream. I wanted to try this kit out because I was hoping it'd make it smoother with less frizz, and I was curious about the product.

Here is a before picture of my hair:


This was taken after my hair had air dried completely with no products.

Picture of what is included in the kit: 


Immediately after finishing the kit:


This is after the third step of blow drying and flat ironing.

48 Hours After:

This is after the first wash.  I let it air dry and didn't use any product in my hair. 

Don't mind the crappy pictures.  It was hard to get a decent picture of my hair.  

The kit wasn't hard to use.  Its a 3 step system, and if you've ever dyed your hair at home, its very similar to that. The first step is probably the worst.  

The first step is the smoothing cream.  You work it through your hair without rubbing it into your scalp. This stuff smells really bad. It smells like the chemicals they use at salons for perms and what not.  During this step you're supposed to keep brushing your hair straight. There are different lengths of time your supposed to keep this in your hair depending on your hair type, I kept it in for 20 mins.  After the time is up, you rinse it out.  I lost a lot of hair during this step.  It wasn't so much that I was freaked out I was going to go bald or anything, but a lot more than usual. I wouldn't do this if you have thin or damaged hair because this step would probably do a lot more damage than hair falling out.  

Step two is the cuticle seal cream. This has a scent, but its a nice smell, not anything chemically like the first one. You work this into your hair and keep it in for 7 minutes regardless of hair type still combing the hair straight.  After the 7 minutes you wash it out. This is the step where I felt my hair was getting smoother.  It was very silky and smooth which washing the cream out and it was straighter than it normally is.  

Step three is the last step.  Its just heat defense leave-in conditioner.  You just need a dime size amount, and can save the rest to use as needed. During this step, you blow dry your hair and flat iron if you'd like.  I did both just because I wanted my hair to be as smooth and straight as possible.  

After all this, it says not to wash your hair for 48 hours.  This was a little annoying just because I wash my hair everyday, and if I don't it gets ridiculously oily.  I just used a lot of dry shampoo in between.

Now that its been over 48 hours, my hair feels a lot smoother than before.  There are less kinks in my hair, and its very soft.  I think I'll still have to use some sort of smoothing cream for the fly aways, but my hair is a lot less frizzy.  I'm curious to see if it'll last 30 days.  I'll update after the 30 days to let you know how well it lasted.  

Well that was a very lengthy post.  I'll probably post my Easter nails today or tomorrow.  

Thanks for stopping by!








Friday, April 6, 2012

The Parking Meteor Expired + Stamping

Hey everyone!

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days.  It just got so hectic with work and school I couldn't find the time. I did manage to buy a few polishes though, including the one I'm going to share with you today.

I have Spoiled The Parking Meteor Expired for you. This is a black teal shimmer. In the bottle, the shimmer shifts from teal to purple.  Unfortunately this polish doesn't translate to the nail very well.  On the nail, it looks very black and you can only see the teal shimmer in sunlight, and there's no purple shift.  






After wearing The Parking Meteor Expired for a day, I decided to stamp over it.  I stamped a zigzag pattern using plate BM-201 and Revlon Smoldering. I love the duochrome of Smoldering!






The Parking Meteor Expired applied great.  I used two coats in my pictures, but if you're careful, you probably could get away with one. What I didn't like was the brush.  The brush is wide, and one side is tapered .  I really dislike wide brushes.

I was kind of skeptical about using Smoldering for stamping because it's a little sheer, but it turned out great.I wonder how well it'll stamp over lighter colors? I loved how strong the duochrome is and couldn't stop looking at my nails.  This did hide the teal shimmer in The Parking Meteor Expired though.  

Well now that I have a few days off coming up, you can look forward to me posting a little more often.

Thanks for stopping by!