Deborah Lippmann - Ruby Red Slippers

Celebrating!

Hi guys! What's up? Today may not really be the time for vampy colors, since it's an excruciatingly hot summer day, but today is the day I've been blogging for six months so I wanted something festive! Only six months, it seems so long already!

Glitter

I think this polish is just fabulous! Red Ruby Slippers by Deborah Lippmann is a black jelly base with a mix of small and big hexadecimal hexagonal red glitter. Absolutely divine. It's like China Glaze's Lubu Heels on steroids!

Application

Polishes like these are never the easiest to apply though. You really have to be careful when it comes to the placement of the glitter, it can be all over the place! I actually had to use a stick to immediately push the glitter back in, away from the cuticle, while it was still wet. Normally I like to layer wet over wet, but this one needs a little bit of drying time between layers. But it's so stunning to look at, that I'm gladly taking this for granted!
You can wear this at two coats, but I applied 3. It does dry bumpy and not so glossy, so you definitely want to bring out the top coat. I applied 3 layers of Nubar Diamont to create a smooth glossy surface.

Deborah Lippmann polishes cost between $16-$20 for 15ml each. You can order them online at deborahlippmann.com

Thanks so much for stopping by and see you next time!
- Michèle

Catrice Caramé Collection

Caramé conjures up visions of an evening stroll over an oriental bazaar: it’s still very warm, despite the late hour. The air is laden with the smell of oriental spices. Dusk slowly lays its blanket of peace and quiet over the vibrant, pulsating bustle of the market between Persian tapestry, blackened bronze jewellery and expressive Indian fabrics.

Today I'll be showing you 3 out of 4 polishes that belong to the newest Limited Edition collection by Catrice: The Catrice Caramé Collection. Of course I wanted to cover all four, but I couldn't find them all :-(.

Catrice - Bronzed Brown

Pretty shimmery brown. I'm not a big fan of browns, but this one isn't that bad. I applied 2 coats and experienced no issues at all. I probably won't wear this one often though, since I have no outfit to match it with ;-).

Catrice - Oriental Orange

I wouldn't really call this a true orange, more an orange-y red. Nothing unique of course, but I can appreciate a good red when I see one. The thing I love about Oriental Orange, is the finish, it's a jelly. Jellies are usually extremely shiny, and this one is just like that.
But there's often one big downside when it comes to jellies: they're sheer. I had to apply 4 coats and I still had a visible nail line.. It goes one very smooth and nicely though!

Catrice - Spiced Bronze

This one's kinda fun. Spiced Bronze really lives up to its name, it's a bronze with a little bit of edge to it. Pretty cool. I applied 2 coats but after seeing the pictures I think it could've used a third. No other problems whatsoever.

The polish that's missing is Berry Bazaar, a pretty berry creme or jelly. If I find it I'll make sure it will be added to this post.

Overall conclusion

The formula of these is pretty good, they weren't as thick as some of the nail polishes from their core line. No bubbling, dragging or any other funky stuff, while it's pretty hot out here. The colors aren't really my cup of tea, but that just boils down to personal taste. I do think they did a very good job visualizing the theme they were going for. The price tag is a huge plus too, they only cost 2,49 EUR or 3.15 USD each and are now in stores!

Enter the giveaway by Catrice

If you're interested in winning this collection (entire collection, not just the nail polish), Catrice is giving away 30 sets! You'll only have to fill in the form here.

Eyeko - Coral Polish

Wow. That's what I thought after I put this polish on. Wow. I don't really own anything THIS bright, and I think this polished unleashed a secret longing for colors like these, haha. I'm not sure whether this is considered a true neon, but it sure is BRIGHT. I do have some coral-y colors, but I certainly don't own anything similar. I think I'll be wearing shades like this a lot this summer!

Besides the color, I'm in love with the packaging of Eyeko polishes, every color has it's own designed label, cute huh?
The only thing that bothered me a bit, was the application. It's definitely on the thick side. It took 3 layers to even everything out. But if you add some thinner, it's pretty much perfect! I wore this polish for about two days, and experienced some chipping on my thumbs.

Check out this cute packaging!

Eyeko polishes cost £3.50 (€4.- or $5.40) for 8.5ml. Eyeko products can be bought online at www.eyeko.com. Their shipping is extremely cheap: either free (if you're in the UK or Europe) or $5.40 for all international orders.

This polish was sent to me for review by Eyeko

Coral Comparison featuring OPI, Essence, P2 & Catrice

Hi guys! After swatching Catrice's I Scream Peach! the other day, I really felt like doing a comparison! I picked out four colors to compare: Essence - What do U think?, Catrice - I Scream Peach!, P2 - Flamboyant and OPI - Shootout at the O.K. Coral. As you can see, these are somewhat similar in the bottle.

On the nail, they are quite different, well two of them are. What do U think and I Scream Peach! are almost identical, I think the latter is a teeny tiny bit darker. Like I mentioned, these are really close dupes of Chanel's Orange Fizz!
The formula of these are really similar too, they're both cremes and they both need 3 coats. The one by Essence is more smooth when it comes to application.

P2 Flamboyant is darker and more vibrant, a bolder color. The finish of this one is kinda where a creme and a jelly meet. It took me 4 coats to get rid of the evil VNL, but other than that, application was perfectly fine.

OPI's Shootout at the O.K. is really different from the others, it is slightly duochrome, alternating between orange and pink. The formula of this one is really good, still needing 3 coats, but applies like a dream.

I think coral is a difficult color though, I love how summer-y it looks, but I do think colors like these tend to look better on someone with a tan, and obviously I don't have one haha. Will you be wearing coral this summer?

Thanks for reading and see you next time!
- Michèle

OPI - My Espana favorites & Upcoming Shrek Collection!

Hi guys! How is everyone? I'm a bit sick today but thankfully I had already prepared this post yesterday, so I only had to push the Publish button (well, and write this of course) :-D.

I wanted to show you my favorites from the Espana collection by OPI. This collection came out last fall, and I was pleasantly suprised! The colors that came out were wonderful, I liked almost every polish out of this collection. I'm sure you've all seen them by now but I wanted to show you two favorites of mine..

The first one, and my ultimate favorite, is Here Today... Aragon Tomorrow. This is a stunning blackened dark green. It has a jelly-like finish so It's incredibly shiny, even on it's own. The application was pretty good, the first coat went on really sheer but the 2nd coat makes up for that. I applied 3 coats, to get an opaque result.

The other color I absolutely adore, is Pamplona Purple. It's a beautiful purple creme, with an amazing application. 2 quick coats and you're good to go!

After OPI's Absolutely Alice and the Hong Kong collection, they're already working on a new one: The Shrek After Forever collection.

from left to right: Funky Dunkey, What's with the Cattitude?, Rumple's Wiggin', Who the Shrek Are You?, Ogre-the-Top Blue and Fiercely Fiona.

I can't wait to try these! What do you think?