Friday, June 29, 2012

Sneak Peek: Urban Decay Smoked Eyeshadow Palette

Look at all this loveliness! I would like to save up money for it. But I think I will wait to see swatches in real life.

Image Source

"Asphalt* — deep gun metal w/silver micro-glitter and metallic base 
Backdoor* — true dark brown w/matte finish
Barlust* — dark golden brown w/metallic finish 
Blackout — blackest black w/matte finish 
Freestyle* — light nude w/matte finish 
Kinky* — soft ivory peach w/matte finish 
Loaded — deep emerald shimmer w/metallic base 
Mushroom — warm grey w/shimmer finish 
Rockstar — deep aubergine w/shimmer finish 
Evidence — deep navy blue w/shimmer finish

* denotes an exclusive shade to the Smoked palette "

This is suppose to be released sometime in early July. But I feel like $49 is a bit steep for 10 shadows considering the Naked palette has 12 and is lovely as ever.On the other hand, it is definitely very beautiful to look at

So check out the full review, swatches and all here.

Planning to pick this up?
Anna

Grin & Berry It

This is Ulta Grin & Berry It. What a weird name. I wonder what it means.





This is indeed my go-to color right now. I love the wine-berry'ish color. The purple shimmer is so subtle and beautiful. It was hard capturing it in daylight but the way it is in the flash it how visible it is in real life. I love the way it sits on my nails.

The formula and pigmentation were great. Very smooth and opaque in 2 coats. I have heard a few people having problems with the Ulta brand but I have always come across the goods. Maybe I've been lucky! If so, I hope my luck doesn't run out!

Well, I hope you all have a great weekend!

What's your go-to wine color?
Anna

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Jelly Jelly

You know I love me some good jelly sandwiches.




Since I couldn't find Essence Blue Addicted and Across The Universe is a bit out of my budget, this is what I have substituted it for.

I used one coat of China Glaze Ride The Waves from the neon collection, then one coat of Jordana Cosmic and repeated the same step for this beautiful result. Lovely much?

Both polishes were very easy to apply and the pigmentation was great.

Have you used Ride The Waves for a jelly sandwich yet?
Anna

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

KKCenterHk Nail Decal Strips In ANE-5012

I have another review for you from KKCenterHk today. I recently posted my first review about a different nail decal strip which you can find here.

KKCenterHk is a online based shop that provide many wonderful different cosmetic products which vary from false eyelashes, wigs and makeup products. And this is another product that they kindly sent to me.

"Brand New With Original Retail Packing Box
100% Authentic
Approx.Length : 3cm/ 30mm/ 1.1"
Water Transfer Sticker
Easy To Apply, Zero Dry Time!!
Kit Includes: 12 Nail Tip Sheets And 1 Smoothing Tool
Water Decals are Not Sticky!!"

Very basic and easy to follow instructions.

Tools needed.

 


I am glad to say that this time around, I have learned to apply these properly. Again, the steps were very easy to follow. After my first initial review and application, here are a few things I did differently from the first time. After taking out the strip from the water, I shook off all the excess water so that it wouldn't slide all over my nail and stay put. After applying the strip, I waited for it to dry so once I filed off the excess strip, it wouldn't slide off and give me rigid edges. With those minor changes, the application was perfection.

I do apologize for the nicked part on the ring finger. As I applied my topcoat, it pooled into my cuticles. When I tried to clean it, a small part of the nail strip got caught. However, applying a top coat truly helps the longevity of the nail strip. These strips lasted roughly a little over a week. The only minor wear is on the tips of my nails which I would say it has lasted a long time. They were also very easy to remove, as I used regular nail polish remover. One thing new that I learned is that during the application of the topcoat, if you take your time, the top coat will smooth out any lines formed from the strip (if you have a curved nail bed). Also, if you notice any curling of the nail strip, all you have to do it apply some top coat over it and it will smooth out onto your nail. 

The only other problem I had were that some of the strips were a bit small as you can see in the last photo, the strip did not cover my entire nail bed. I also, feel like this particular strip would look better on longer nails since you couldn't see the entire design on my short nails. However, again I did really enjoy this and do recommend using these.

Overall, I am very pleased with these strips. They last for a long time and would be great if you were going on vacation (or for a long time) and don't want to worry about your nails since the life of these are quite good.

KKCenterHk has a huge variety of strips which is great, except leaves you wanting so many! The instructions listed on the back of the packaging were simple to understand and very easy to apply especially now that I have learned the most efficient way of applying these.

You can purchase these strips here for $8.00 USD along with many other cool nail strips.  

You can also use the coupon code "totheshowing10" for a 10% discount off your purchase. The coupon code is god through January 31, 2013.

Anna

*This product was provided for  for my honest, unbiased review. Please see PR Disclosure for any questions.*

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Twinsie Tuesday: Favorite Brand

Are you serious? This week's Twinsie Tueday challenge: our favorite brand. Out of the 387598357984 many brands we are to only choose one brand? That is just madness!

Incase you didn't already know, my favorite favorite brand is OPI. OPI is probably is the brand that I own most of. I love OPI.

At first I couldn't make up my mind. After some long time thinking, I concluded that OPI is certainly my favorite. They have many different colors and a variety of finishes. They're easily accessible and not too expensive. They hold up for a long time and have awesome color pay off. Fortunately today I won't be doing any OPI's. I wanted to share with you a brand that I have been loving lately!

1 Coat



2 Coats


I have been loving Jessica Custom Colours lately. Look at that 1 coat beauty above. Just 1 smooth coat and that was the opacity that it gave me. I was so impressed and wanted to leave it but wanted to show you the full coverage with 2 coats.  But honestly, you could get away with just 1 coat. How lovely is that?

This is Only In Venice and it is the truest orange ever. It does lean a bit to be like almost a neon orange but I am really loving this! 

Do you have any Jessicas? Whats your favorite brand?
Anna

Check out the Twinsies' favorite polish brands!
 Amanda at Amandalandish
Ashley at Art Evolve
Brandi at The Collegiate Nail
Chelsea at Nailed Blog
ChiChi at I''m just me...ChiChi
Cordia at Srsly Swatched
Katherine at Haul of Fame
Marisa at Polish Obsession
Meredith at Polish and Charms
Rachel at Top Coat It

Monday, June 25, 2012

Gwin

I had a wonderful weekend and I really hope that all of you wonderful lovelies did as well!

I have got something awesome for you today, er, well, I think this is pretty awesome.



Oh yeah! Look at that baby!


Zoya Gwin was super smooth and applied very easily. This was 2 very awesome opaque coats. Gwin was released in 2010 and is a coral'ish-orange with a very strong golden yellow'ish iridescent shimmer. Sometimes you can even see a green shimmer peeking through.

This was very hard to photograph for some reason. I hate when that happens, as I'm sure we all do. But hopefully you get the point. The iridescent shimmer is much more visible in real life. This color is like the unnamed coral-ly orange of the year except with a shimmer in it.

The only thing that I can really complain about it that in the picture with the flash, you can see the brush strokes. And anything with brush strokes annoys me! However, I am willing to let that go for the beautiful outcome considering since the brush strokes aren't noticeable. I really love this. It's so juicy looking for summer!

What do you think?
Anna

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Ikat

It is finally the weekend! And it is my first actual summer break weekend! Incase you're wondering, I passed my summer course with a B+. I hate those "+" and "-". It makes me feel like, if only I did a little bit more, I would've done better. But what can I say? B+ is passing.

So, I have finally had time to start doing more stuff on my nails. And it feels good!




I am sure you have seen this design around but this is my interpretation. I have been wanting to do this for a while but didn't think it would turn out as decent as it did. So I am glad to say that I am pretty proud of myself. Fortunately, it was much easier than I thought it would. You should give it a try as well!

For the base I used China Glaze For Audrey then I used a non-toxic acrylic paint for the red, black and white. It was very simple and I really enjoyed looking at my nails. Luckily, this particular design doesn't acquire much skill so that's a plus!

Digging the ikat designs lately?
Anna

Friday, June 22, 2012

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Blog Revamp

Firstly, I hope the white isn't too much of an eyesore!

So I was very very tired of the old layout. It started looking ugly to me, honestly if you wanted to know the truth. I mean, shouldn't every blogger love the way their blog looks? That wasn't me up til now.

I wanted something clean, cute and simple with a very crisp look to it. Not anything too eye catching because the layout is not the focus of my blog. The way that my blog looks like right now is exactly the way that I had envisioned it. Thanks to my lovely husband who helped me with this. It wouldn't had been possible without him. With that said, how does it look?

What do you think?
Anna

No offense will be taken! All opinions are welcome!

KKCenterHk Nail Decal Strips

Today I have for you a review from KKCenterHk. KKCenterHk is a online based shop that provide many different cosmetic products which vary from false eyelashes, wigs and makeup products. And this what they have kindly sent to me. 








This nail strip is in: ANE-NAIL 12 Pcs Lotus Flower Transfer Sticker Decals & Files and you can find it here.

"Brand New With Original Retail Packing Box
100% Authentic
Approx.Length : 3cm/ 30mm/ 1.1"
Water Transfer Sticker
Easy To Apply, Zero Dry Time!!
Kit Includes: 12 Nail Tip Sheets And 1 Smoothing Tool
Water Decals are Not Sticky!!"

This was my first time using nail strips and I cannot even tell you how easy these nail strips were to apply. I did not have to look for a tutorial. Instead I simply followed the pictured instructions above and it seriously was as easy as 1, 2, 3.

These nail strips were flexible but as soon as they dried, they did become a bit stiff. The excess strip was very easy to file off as well as to remove. In the instructions it states that you should trim the strip according to the size of your nail, but I didn't have to trim much since it fit very nicely.

The only problem that I had was once I took it off the packaging and attempted to put them on my nail and file off the excess, it kept slipping off my nail which gave me rigid edges. Other than that, if you are a first time user I recommend these. Though they do acquire some tricks these could not have been any simpler to use.

KKCenterHk has a huge variety of strips which is great, except leaves you wanting so many! The instructions listed on the back of the packaging were simple to understand and very easy to apply. After applying my top coat Out The Door, these strips lasted on my nails for roughly a week with very minor tip wear.  Overall, I recommend these and think they are very nice.

You can purchase these strips here for $8.00 USD. 

You can also use the coupon code "totheshowing10" for a 10% discount off your purchase and expires January 31, 2013.

Do you own any products from KKCenterHk? How do you like them?
Anna 


*This product was provided for review. Please see disclaimer for any questions.*

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Twinsie Tuesday: Metallic or Duochrome?

First and foremost, I want to inform you all that I am finally back on track with my blog and ready for this summer. Blog wise that is! Yesterday was my last day of summer classes, thankfully! And I should be finding out my grade here very shortly but that's beside the point.

 So, I want to thank all of readers and welcome my new readers. I have been super busy but I am looking to do a giveaway to celebrate my 200+ followers. I know, I’m pretty behind since I have more than 200 as of right. But fret no more! Giveaway to say thanks shall be coming soon!

I'd also like to apologize as I have not been commenting. Just because I don't comment doesn't mean that I didn't take a look, so forgive me/.

So this week’s Twinsie challenge is: metallic or duochrome.


And this week for me has got to be a duochrome. You know I love me some duochrome! So I especially saved this very special polish for this very special post. I received this polish in a swap with Abbie over at AbbieNail. She's a real sweetheart so you should check her out. 

On the other hand, the United States nail polish community is truly and unfortunately deprived of Models Own. 



In some angles, you can see the maroon, red, copper and bronze. 


Look at all that beautiful-ness on that cotton ball.

This is Models Own Purple Blue from the Beetlejuice collection. Oh how I yearned for these polishes. And the sweet Abbie picked this up for me. Yes, let's face it. I'm sure and aware that you have seen this swatched a thousand and even a million some times, but how can you turn away from this beauty? 

Purple Blue is a purple-blue duochrome with pink and gold glass flecks seen as you shift your fingers around. I am amazed and in love with this. The formula was a bit runny and thin as this is 3 coats that you're looking at, and I am not much of a 3-coater person. Ok, seriously. How come someone pass up this jam packed gorgeousness? 

Can I say one more time that the US is deprived of Models Own and all other awesome international polishes? Would you agree?
Anna 

Take a look at the other Twinsies'  awesome metallic and duochrome goodness!
Amanda at Amandalandish
Ashley at Art Evolve
Brandi at The Collegiate Nail
Chelsea at Nailed Blog
ChiChi at I''m just me...ChiChi
Cordia at Srsly Swatched
Katherine at Haul of Fame
Marisa at Polish Obsession
Meredith at Polish and Charms
Rachel at Top Coat It

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Ginger Bells

Totally not Spring or Summer appropriate, but I could care less because I love this one!

I recently purchased OPI Ginger Bells from a blog sale. I have heard so many wonderful and beautiful things about this! Once I saw it, I hopped on it like a bunny in the night on the street! (I'm imagining that you see yourself driving and see bunnies hopping all over the street because your headlights are blinding and scaring!)








This beautiful creme-y pumpkin pie look a like dusty orange took 1 coat. I should've done 2 coats but I was in awe of the coverage in 1 coat. Amazing much?! I'm not sure when this one was released but I know that it was sometime during the holiday. Isn't it lovely? Not for Spring or summer, none the less it's gorgeous!

What are some of your favorite oranges? (Besides "Color Of The Year")
Anna

Friday, June 15, 2012

Color Zone

Forgive me. But I only one more class of Summer class left (which is my final) and my Summer break is officially and finally here! I can not stress how excited I am about it! So I if I haven't been replying or commenting back, I hope you understand. And if you've ever taken a Summer course, I'm sure you'd agree that they are indeed intense!

So I have recently been finding really awesome finds at Marshall's! I found a 5 pack of nail polishes by the brand Barielle for only $9.99. How awesome is that? With that said, I also purchased this 3 pack of nail polishes for only $4.99. I have never have heard of this brand, but for the price I couldn't let go it!








The colors in the photo are not accurate. They are real neons, they're much much brighter in real life. All 3 polishes reached full opacity in 2 coats and dried matte. I used 1 coat of OTD for the glossiness, matte neon would kill me! The formula was good, a bit runny but definitely something I can work with considering the price and the great pigmentation.

I especially love the blue one.

Overall, I can indeed say that this was worth my $4.99 + plus tax. This trio came in other various colors but I was only interested in this particular one since I'm not much of a neon fanatic.

What do you think of neons?
Anna