Random Post: Enchanted Polish August 2014

Woah, look at me being on top of things.  Blog posts are being written and there have been multiple random posts so far this month on top of doing NaNoWriMo.  I'm pretty proud of myself.

Now today's random post happened because of the frenzy over Enchanted Polish.  In case you do not know, this past year they have been releasing a mystery polish every month.  I keep seeing beautiful swatches of the polishes and I have multiple fellow polish junkies that have taken on the mission of owning every mystery polish of 2014.  So far this year they have all been gorgeous holographic polishes and we all know how much I love holo.  So for my birthday in August, I promised myself the mystery polish.  The presale for it was a month ago, so I swooped in and got it.  Now, if you've seen swatches of the August polish, you may already know what I'm about to say.

If I had known it was going to be duochrome, I would not have coughed up the $16 plus shipping for it.  Don't get me wrong, it is a gorgeous polish that has a strong shift of purple to blue to green and is perfectly opaque in two coats, but I <3 Nail Polish's Ultrachromes are $12.50 and they do sales every so often.  For the $16 price tag, I expect an amazing holographic polishes like every single other mystery polish they had come out with this year.  Now, you may say, well LacquerVixen you own seventeen Deborah Lippmann polishes and those are at least $18!  Those were all either gifts or purchased on clearance.  The most I've spent on a Deborah Lippmann has been $10 a bottle.

Really, it's a really pretty polish, but I am disappointed.  I guess that's the chance you take with mystery polishes.  Though apparently I may be the only person thinking this way because every other conversation I've seen about it, the people love it.  In that case, anyone want to trade for October 2014? :-P

As the usual kind reminder, these products were purchased with my own money.  I am not cool enough to have companies send me free stuff to review them. ;)

Swatch Saturday: Rimmel Caramel Cupcake

Happy weekend everyone!  I hope you all have some fun plans for the weekend so that I can live vicariously through you.  ;-) My weekend plans include more NaNoWriMo bingeing and nail polish.  So at least the second half of that will be fun.

 Today I have Rimmel London's 60 Seconds nail polish in Caramel Cupcake.  It is a nice tan nude that is just slightly different enough from my skin tone to not give me true mannequin hands. There is a bit of shimmer in there that I found difficult to photograph. I used two coats for full opacity and found it easy to work with.  Now, I don't know if I would really call this 60 second polish. I've painted my nails with it before and dented it half an hour after I finished. I do like the color though and it was cheap, so I can deal with it. :P

As the usual kind reminder, these products were purchased with my own money.  I am not cool enough to have companies send me free stuff to review them. ;)

Random Post: October Empties

Oh, it's already November.  October is gone, and soon it'll be December with all the holidays and present shopping.  I'm actually already half way done with my Christmas present shopping.  I just have family left.  I am a very excitable person when it comes to shopping and planning.  Why do you think my wedding planning is mostly done and I'm not getting married for another 11 months? :-P

So October's empties is a ridiculously large group.  Honestly I have no idea how I went through this much stuff.  It makes no sense.  I had to divide everything into two pictures, so get yourself a drink, maybe a snack, and let's start this puppy!  Let's try to keep this short and sweet and avoid me rambling.  

1. The Balm What's Your Type? Tall, Dark, and Handsome Mascara- Now to be honest I only bought this mascara because the guy on the box looks like Archer from the FX show and I LOVE me some Archer.  I generally do not see the point in high end mascara and spending anything more than $10 on a tube.  Luckily I found this one on sale for $9.50 on Hautelook.  I like it.  It is not a super wet mascara and does not leave my lashes all clumpy, this isn't actually empty, it dried out! It does plenty in the length department and not so much in the volume.  Would I repurchase? Eh?  I think it's a pretty solid mascara, but nothing special.  If I happened to find it on sale, sure, but I wouldn't actively go after it.

2. Simple Moisturizing Eye Gel: I'm not exactly sure what this is supposed to do.  It has a metal roller ball that is nice and cooling, but I don't think it did much of anything. Would I repurchase? Nope.

3. Elizabeth Arden Good Morning Eye Treatment: Okay, I really like this stuff.  It helps smooth puffiness under your eyes.  I found it at TJ Maxx randomly for $6, that made it even better.  I had bought it hoping to find a cheaper dupe for the Origins Gin-zing under eye cream and was pretty happy with the results.  Would I repurchase? If I could find it again, definitely.

4. Clarisonic Gentle Hydro Cleanser: I got this as a sample when I bought my Clarisonic, and it was okay. It got the job done, but it didn't foam at all and when it comes to my cleansing products I don't feel quite clean enough unless I see it foaming up. Would I repurchase? Nah, especially not with so many other good options out there. 

5. NYC In a New York Minute Top Coat: Okay, I have to be honest here, I didn't use this as a nail top coat. I swear by HK Girl.  I used this for my dragon eggs. It is less than $2 and I can top coat 3-4 eggs with a bottle. It works for me. Would I repurchase? Ha! I've gone through like 4 bottles already and I need more.

6. Julep in Reese: This is something else sacrificed to the dragon eggs. I learned very quickly that the tiny Julep bottles do not have enough polish for dragon eggs, not by a long shot. So I actually combined it with Sephora by OPI in Meet Me in the Disco.  If you're curious, this was the final result.  Now I used this polish because I'm not the biggest fan of the silver duochrome with purple and green on my nails, but I thought it would be a great egg. This happened to be the only one in my stash, so it got used. Would I repurchase? Probably not. I'm just kind of over Julep.

7. Zoya Remove + (mini size): This is Zoya's infamous nail polish remover. It has all these extra bits in it to be more nourishing and less damaging to your nails.  It did the job pretty well. Would I repurchase? A full sized bottle of this is $10, and it's only like 8 oz.  I can get others that are just as good, smell better, and a lot cheaper. So no. 

8. Jessie's Girl Waterproof Liquid Liner: Ug, this was terrible.  I got this hoping that it would be a good drugstore dupe for my beloved Kat Von D Tatu Liner. It is not anything like it.  First it claims to be waterproof, it hardly lasted 3 hours.  Hell it made my eyes water.  It even got all crusty and would peel off.  It also made my eyes itch.  This isn't actually empty product, it's a fail.  Would I repurchase? Hello no.

9. Nyx Super Skinny Marker in Black: This is a pretty solid, middle of the road liquid liner.  It is felt tipped.  My issues were that it wasn't as black as I like it and it dried up in like two weeks.  Would I repurchase? Meh? Maybe in a pinch or if it was super cheap. 

10. Urban Decay 24/7 Velvet Glide On Pencil in Black Velvet: I got this in an Ipsy bag and was super excited because I loved the Perversion pencil that this had replaced.  It falls short.  It was really dry and no matter how often I would sharpen it, it would be a sheer color and would skip.  Not cute.  This was another fail instead of an empty.  Would I repurchase? Ha 

11. LOreal True Match Concealer Stick in W4: I have always bought my concealer from the LOreal True Match line.  I really like the color range and I think they do a good job. The coverage is good and it stays pretty well.  The stick is nice because it's less messy than the liquid ones, but then maybe I'm just super messy.  Would I repurchase? Definitely.  

12. Beauty Secrets Acetone (pink version): When I said I could get cheaper polish remover that was just as good as the Zoya Remove +, this is what I meant.  This thing is cheap at Sally's Beauty Supply and is scented like wine.  Yeah, it's awesome.  Would I repurchase? Duh.  lol

13. Batiste Dry Shampoo for Dark and Deep Brown Hair: I have reviewed this before in my May Empties.  Needless to say, I love it.  It's amazing.  Would I repurchase?  I have two back ups already.

14. Softsoap Juicy Pomegranate and Mango Infusions Body Wash: I've gone through so many bottles of this body wash over the years.  It's probably my favorite ever.  If Softsoap ever discontinued it, I may  have to run out and buy all of the bottles in a 20 mile radius.  It has a very pleasant scent and suds up very well.  I always fell very clean after my showers with this.  Would I repurchase?  Absolutely.  

15. Ulta Anti Bacterial Gentle Foaming Hand Soap in Mandarin Mint: It's hand soap, smells good, and cleans.  They're usually $6 a bottle, but Ulta usually has a buy two get two free sale.  Stack that with a $3.50 off of $10 so they only end up being about $2 a piece.  Would I repurchase? Yes.  Totally.

16. Dove Go Fresh Revive in Pomegranate & Lemon Verbena Scent: I have reviewed this before in my September Empties.  So I love it.  Would I repurchase?  I buy this in duos.  lol

17. Heavenly Sugar, Sugar Scrub: I got this as a gift from a friend and use it during my weekly mani upkeep.  I like it, it leaves my hands feeling soft.  Would I repurchase?  Sure, if I happen to come across it and it's not expensive.  :-P

18. Simple Protecting Light Moisturizer with Broad Spectrum SPF 15 Sunscreen: Okay, I need to stop taking pictures of stuff I've already reviewed.  This one was also in my May Empties.  I love it, it's my go to face moisturizer.  Would I repurchase it?  Of course!  I always have difficulties finding it, so I have to swoop in when I can find it.

19. Bubble White 5 Minute Effervescent Nail Cleaner: I love this stuff.  This is also another weekly mani upkeep product for me.  I soak my fingers and toes with this stuff and it leaves me feeling squeaky clean.  Like, literally squeaky.  Loves it!  would I repurchase?  Already have!

As the usual side note, these products were purchased with my own money.  I am not cool enough to have people send me stuff for free just to review them. ;-) 

Hard to Find Friday: Stardust Mother of Dragons

Happy Friday!  It's finally here!  Ah, this week has been crazy and now we can finally all breathe. ..Tomorrow.  :-P  Trying to keep up on NaNoWriMo this week with life and still trying not to neglect you guys has been kicking my butt.  I am still here though and barring crazy stuff happening, I will keep being here.  So let's get on with today's Hard to Find Friday!  

This is Stardust Polish in Mother of Dragons from her Game of Thrones collection.  This collection was first released over a year ago and has since been discontinued.  I only own one more from this collection and this was my favorite.  It is a pink polish with an orange duochrome, a bit of purple flash, and a scattered holo.  Yeah it's amazing.  It took me two coats for complete opacity.  Now the formula on mine was a bit thick and kind of difficult to work with, BUT I blame that on the fact that it is an older polish that I have abused quite a bit.  This may be the forth or fifth time I've used it so there is a very obvious usage line on it.  The combination of that and how much it has been open to the air probably made it thicker.  It is nothing that some thinner wouldn't fix.  So if you can find a bottle of this, get it!  If you have it already in your collection use it. 

As the usual kind reminder, these products were purchased with my own money.  I am not cool enough to have companies send me free stuff to review them. ;)

Untried Wednesday: Gloss N Sparkle The Huntress

Happy hump day everyone!  I hope your week is going well.  Mine has been super productive, so ya!  I am two days ahead for NaNoWriMo, so yay I have a cushion.

Today I have Gloss N Sparkle's The Huntress.  I randomly found this on sale on Llarowe and picked it up.  I am a fan of Gloss N Sparkle's unicorn crellies, so I thought that this sparkly  would work for me.  I loved it.  It is an emerald green jelly with blue and purple hexes and bits of holographic glitters.  I used two coats of polish and it was opaque enough to keep me happy.  Generally jellies tend to need at least three coats because of how sheer they are, but this one was opaque enough to only need two while still letting all the glitter shine through.  If you can get your hands on it, especially for a good price, get it!

As the usual kind reminder, these products were purchased with my own money.  I am not cool enough to have companies send me free stuff to review them. ;)

Mani Monday: Konad Stamped Netting

Happy Monday everyone!  I hope you all had a good weekend.  Mine was pretty productive.  I'm ahead on my NaNoWriMo, so woo go me.  But I know you guys are here to see my polish pictures, so let's get started.  Just off the bat, I don't particularly like the way these turned out and I have no problem showing it to you all.  Maybe you'll know what I did wrong or you wouldn't make the same mistakes I made.  Whatever they are.

As my base polish I used China Glaze Strawberry Fields.  It is a bright pink with a pretty heavy gold shimmer.  I used two coats for complete opacity.  This is actually one of the few China Glaze polishes I own.  Generally the formula doesn't work with my nail chemistry.  No matter what I do, it chips off in big pieces on me within 24 hours.  I do really like this color though, so I keep it around.

To top it off, I pulled out my my stamping stuff and my favorite bottle of Cult Fetish.  For this I used Konad stamping plate N53, it is the same one that has the zebra and leopard print.  It has been a while since I pulled these out and I remember why.  The C curve on my nail is too pronounced for these kind of full nail stamping images.  They generally don't reach the edges of my nails.  I also attempted to do a black french tip with a dotting tool and give them an almost fluffy cloud appearance.  They ended up melting together.  Yeah. Things were just not working for me today.  It was totally not cute.

As the usual kind reminder, these products were purchased with my own money.  I am not cool enough to have companies send me free stuff to review them. ;)

Swatch Saturday: Zoya Odette and Black Cat Lacquer Let Them Eat Cake

Happy November first everyone!  I hope you all had a lovely and safe Halloween.  What did you guys do?  We decided last minute to get dinner at the mall and watch all the trick or treaters.  So I did a quickly painted my face like a sugar skull we had lots of fun.

Today I have two polishes to swatch and they are both some of my favorites.  First off, this is Zoya's Odette from the Spring 2014 Naturel collection.  It is a dusty purple cream with a really smooth formula.  I used two coats for complete opacity.  I don't have anything like this in my collection and I feel that it is really unique.  I've worn this polish a couple of times already and had been almost craving it this week.  I HAD to use it.  ;-P  You may be able to find this at your local Ulta, it is a relatively recent collection.  It is available on Zoya's website, so keep an eye out for a sale.  They are bound to have another one coming up soon.  

Probably my favorite polish to top Odette with is Black Cat Lacquer's Let Them Eat Cake.  It is a glitter topper with pastel blue, pink, and yellow hexes with a sprinkling of holo glitter.  The glitter pay off you see on my nail is after a single coat.   Let Them Eat Cake is quite possibly one of my favorite indie toppers.  I think it's one that every nail polish junkie should own.  

And now kind readers, it is time for me to start my 1667 words for the day.  Yay for NaNoWriMo.

As the usual kind reminder, these products were purchased with my own money.  I am not cool enough to have companies send me free stuff to review them. ;)