OPI Ulta Exclusives Holiday 2010

Every year around Christmas, OPI does a set of three holiday-themed polishes exclusively for Ulta. Last year's collection raised the bar so high, that I was super excited to see what they did this year.... But I was sadly disappointed, after hearing from a very reliable source, that no one knew anything about them and there probably wouldn't be any this year.

Then, imagine my surprise, when everyone on Twitter was, well, atwitter with excitement over this new OPI Ulta exclusive gold glitter polish. I immediately drove to Ulta and returned home with these safely in tow.




All The Berry Best. A medium berry toned red shimmer. It's rather washed out here because of the lighting; it's a couple shades darker in real life. Regardless, it's my least favorite of the collection. It has some really great gold duochrome in the bottle, but on the nail it's just an average looking red shimmer. It does have a really nice velvety looking finish, though.



Gift of Gold. Now THIS is a glitter. Amazing. It's so ridiculously sparkly. It's a lighter gold mixed with some darker gold and even a bit of what looks like copper or bronze glitter. It's very opaque, too, needing only one to two coats depending on how thick or even you do your coats. It's still rough and hard to remove like other glitters, but it's just soooooo pretty. The best one in the collection for sure. OPI really knows how to do glitter and I'm really glad they've been doing a lot of it lately.


Plum Full Of Cheer. The flash picture shows the base color of the polish and also shows the pretty multi-colored shimmer, but in real life it looks more like the top picture. This is not a bad color at all, it's extremely pretty, one of my favorite types of purples, but it's just so common lately that it doesn't feel special to me. Shimmery, glowy, red-based dark purples are great, I think I'm just a little burned out on them. I had hoped for something really special like last year's Visions of Sugarplum.

Wait a minute... Wasn't last year's Ulta Exclusive holiday collection a gold, a berry-red and a dark purple? What was the year before that? I only remember the gorgeous pink microglitter one.

The formula was good, so no complaints there. The Gift of Gold shade was really thick, but that's part of what makes it so opaque and dense. I only needed two coats of each color (and that's what I'm wearing in these pictures) and the drying time was very good. They were a little dull without topcoat, so I am also wearing topcoat for these pictures.

They're nice, and Gift of Gold is very nice, but they didn't knock me over with awesome like last year's set. Maybe they'll do something more unique this year!

Deborah Lippmann Holiday 2010 Shades - Boom Boom Pow and Today Was A Fairy Tale

I know that I'm a little late posting these as it's now a few weeks into the new year, but there's nothing that requires one to love these only during Winter...

Deborah Lippmann has once again created some magnificent glitter shades. I'm loving this. A high end brand who appreciates the glitter.


Boom Boom Pow. This one is said to contain real 24 karat gold. It has large gold hex glitter and some tiny delicate gold sparkles in a clear base. I'm betting that the 24k gold is those little glimmers of gold in the base. While this polish would be great for layering, I personally prefer it when worn alone, like this. Very magical looking.



Today Was A Fairy Tale. Like Boom Boom Pow, this one also contains a fancy ingredient: Virgin Diamond Powder. What is Virgin Diamond Powder? Well, it's an abrasive made of micronized diamonds and it's used for polishing. Is there a benefit to having it in nail polish? Who knows. All I know is it's cool to say, oh, my nail polish has diamonds in it. Anyway, this shade is a sheer grey base with large and small silvery blue glitter. The base tints the glitter a bit and it has a cloudy sky sort of effect. Very pretty. Excellent for layering:


Deborah Lippmann Today Was A Fairytale (one coat) over Zoya Dove. See how the grey base tints the polish a little? It deepens the color and adds a slight blue hue. So pretty.



Deborah Lippmann Today Was A Fairytale (one coat) over Illamasqua Obsess. Over such a bright color like Obsess, it really changes. It deepens and mutes the base polish and it makes the glitter stand out more- more contrast between light and dark.


The formula on these was good. They're sheer glitters so they need at least three coats- I'm wearing three coats in these pictures. They're a little thick so you should wait a few minutes between coats if you can, it will help make a smoother application. Drying time is average and removal isn't too bad for a glitter.

Because of the fancy ingredients like real gold and diamond, these are more expensive than the average Lippmann polish; they're $20 each.

Do you have these? What do you think of them?

(These were sent to me for review.)

Christmas Eve Mani

I really like how this one turned out. Very appropriate seeing that it just started snowing as I type this :)


This was:
Two coats of China Glaze Frosty
Konad m59 in Light Blue Konad Special Polish
Color Club / Art Club silver gems from the holiday gem wheel
INM Out The Door Northern Lights in Silver, fully shaken

I originally tried to do holo silver snowflakes but they didn't show up at all! So then I tried to do gold snowflakes (you can see it on my pinkie) but it looked to warm and un-snowlike. Finally settled on the baby blue Konad polish and it was perfect. Not much contrast, which I like for this design. Added the gems because it didn't look icy and sparkly enough for me and then the Northern Lights because it still wasn't sparkly enough.

I did fewer gems on the left hand just to see how it looked:

I think I like more gems better.

So, I guess it's not specifically Christmassy... More like a winter-themed nail art. Ooh, it would even make a great Hanukkah mani, too.

I'm thinking I want to do something with a green base on Christmas Day. Maybe start with China Glaze Jolly Holly, then do something with gold and red and jewels? Hm. Better start brainstorming.

Since I probably won't get a chance to post tomorrow, I want to wish you all a merry Christmas! ♥

Christmas Stamping Nail Art

I've been wanting to do some Christmas Konad nail art... Problem is, I can never come up with an idea other than using one stamp and one color... Plain... So I tried something different this time. One of them turned out perfect, the other not so much...



This is the one that turned out great. Subtle yet sparkly and very festive. I stamped Bundle Monster snowflakes in GOSH Holographic and SpaRitual Golden Gleam over my day old Essie Silken Cord mani. It's hard to see the holo on the snowflakes in these pictures, but they were subtly holographic in real life.


And then I had this great idea for some Konad stamping...

... That didn't turn out the way I pictured it at ALL. *sigh* Why can't I do nice Konads?! I partially blame the Migi nail art pens I tried to use. They're so runny and watery, I can't figure out what to do with them, which is partially why I have never reviewed them. This was China Glaze Snow as a base, snowflakes with Konad m59, candy canes with Konad m12 and Konad Red Special Polish, Bundlemonster holly leaves with the Migi green pen.

I tried to fill in the bows on the candy canes and the veins on the holly leaves with the Migi pens, but they were so runny they just oozed into a blobby looking mess. I should have just left them alone. I filled in the berries on the holly leaves with Konad red special polish which was nice and thick and made good, non-runny circles.

Did this on the other hand. The star on the Christmas Tree is from the Color Club holiday nail gems wheel. I like the way these holly leaves look much better.


I need more practice. I think I'm going to try something different tomorrow.

Awesome gift idea: White Castle Candle.

I've just heard about this and I think it's awesome! I'm a big fan of offbeat gifts and I'm considering handing a few of these out for Christmas....


Do not adjust your screens. You are actually seeing this. It's a White Castle Slider scented candle. Burger and onion. Seriously, can you believe this? This is so awesome, I'm having a bit of a fit over here!

Now, I haven't smelled this, so I don't know how it compares to the real thing, but still... Burger scented candle. Enough said.

I don't believe that there's any sort of continued charitable contribution resulting from the purchase of this, but this week they did donate $500,000 of the profits from the sale to the Autism Speaks organization. That's pretty noble!

Each candle costs $13 and is available for purchase online (WhiteCastle.com) or at any of the 420 White Castle locations Nationwide. (On a sidenote- are there really, actually exactly 420 White Castle locations? Did they do that on purpose?)

Wet n Wild Color Icon Golden Goddess Palette Holiday 2010

The Golden Goddess palette. All of the palettes that I found early in my search were smashed and broken! It must be the soft texture of these shadows. Cause they are soft.... Soft and creamy and buttery. Such a nice texture for so cheap (inexpensive) of a shadow.

This one might be my favorite of all of them. So versatile. I've used it a lot already. So easy to use and wear!


The package. So warm and magical looking.


Inside! White gold shimmer, gold shimmer, copper shimmer, golden peach with glitter, metallic bronze, deep plum-brown with gold glitter. All of the shadows except the dark peach and brown have a shiny metallic sheen to them. The pencil is a deep bronze shade.


Look at those sparkles....


Swatched dry, no primer. See how nice the pigmentation is? The colors look a lot different on the skin than they do in the pan.


On the eyes:


Didn't take many pictures of this because it didn't turn out as nice. I did this look for four days straight, but on this day I used Urban Decay Primer Potion and it made my blending suck.... Too Faced Shadow Insurance forever! Long live the Shadow Insurance!!

This was:
Urban Decay Primer Potion
White gold shade on inner lid
Metallic bronze mixed with copper on middle lid
Plum/brown on outer lid and lower lashline
Bronze eyeliner from the kit
Little bit of Urban Decay Glitter Liner in Baked over the bronze liner
Dab of Make Up For Ever Diamond Powder in 02 over the white gold
Cover Girl Lash Blast

The shadows are really sparkly and glimmering on their own already, but adding a touch of Diamond Powder puts it into sparkle overdrive. Have I mentioned how much I love the Make Up For Ever Diamond Powder? 02 (a white gold shade) is one of my must-have products. It's a really tiny yet extremely shiny/sparkly microglitter, similar to a MAC Reflects glitter, but finer and not gritty feeling. Not much fallout when you apply it, which is rare for a glitter, it seems to stick perfectly on its own without any help from primers or sticky adhesives. The jar is so small it's almost microscopic, but it lasts forever even if you use it every single day. Oh yeah, I'm supposed to be talking about the Wet N Wild Palette.... Oops... But I do really love that Diamond Powder...

Another winner from Wet n Wild. You can't beat the value of this thing... $5! Good quality! Flattering colors! I'm just still so impressed by this. I picked up one of the non-holiday ones (Lust) at the same time I bought this one, but I haven't worn it yet.... Will have to see if it's the same nice silky quality.

Illamasqua Nail Quills and Scorn Matte Finish Polish

Illamasqua's latest creation. Once again they've done something totally unique- you won't see these anywhere else! They're nail quills. A set of two matte black and chrome accessories for your thumbs, inspired by one of these:

They come in a ridiculous nice box. It's plain matte black with a shiny Illamasqua logo for contrast. It has a really sturdy suede-ish fabric lined sleeve that protects the matte black jewelry box containing the Quills. I know it's just packaging, but man, it's so fancy and expensive feeling!

With the outer portion on...


The inner box. It looks really light and grey here because of the lighting, but look how it picked up on the texture of the box. That's weird and kinda cool, I don't know how I managed that. The box feels like it's a smooth satin fabric but it also looks like cardboard... not sure which it actually is, but it's pretty.


Open the box...

Two nail quills and a little double-sided card that has some info about the nail quills and Mike Pocock (the creator/designer of the Quills) on one side and the opposite side is printed with the signature Illamasqua wood nymph looking lady. One funny thing to note- there's a legal disclaimer on the card that says that Illamasqua isn't responsible for any damage caused while wearing the Quils...


When you pull up the little ribbon, this chamber is revealed. It holds the application instructions, a little tube of nail glue and four stick-on tabs. I love the design of this box. Secret storage for the less-glamorous items!

Some more shots of the quills in their case:



In case you're wondering just how exactly they're secured:

There's a little sticky tab underneath each quill. Probably not the most permanent solution for holding the quills, but you can always store them under the flap if the tabs lose their stickiness. Also note the construction of the quills from the underside. The rough black part feels like acrylic sealing in the edges of the chrome foil material. The bottom part is a smooth plastic like a nail tip or press-on nail (which is what these are). Each set of quills is handmade and unique and have their own little quirks and imperfections.

Now, these are slightly too big for my thumbs so they look a little 'off', but I just had to try them on. You might be able to file down the edges/sidewalls if they're too big, but I was afraid to... Didn't want to accidentally ruin them. I used the sticky tab with no glue.



So wicked looking. They're quite long and rather pointy so do take care when wearing these. They're a little flexible so that you don't do any major damage, but you could still poke yourself if you're not careful!


Application is extremely easy. For this very temporary application, I used only the adhesive tab. If you've never applied an adhesive tab, this is all you do: Prep the nail by wiping it with alcohol or acetone, peel the tab off of the paper sheet but leave the paper backing on. Place the sticky side of the tab onto your nail and smooth it down so that it lays flat with no wrinkles. Peel off the paper backing and press the nail quill onto the sticky part. Voila! Easy. But, keep in mind that adhesive tabs are not very strong and won't really last more than an evening.

The instructions recommend combining the tabs with the glue for a longer wear and to preserve the life of the Quills. It instructs you to apply the tabs like normal, but then apply a few drops of glue on the tabs before you apply the Quills. This is so you can remove the Quills without ruining them by soaking them off like you'd have to do if you use the glue alone.

To remove them when applied with tabs, you run your thumbs under warm water and just peel them off. It doesn't damage your nail at all because it's just sticky tape. For removal with glue plus tabs, you can do the same thing but you may need to clean the underside of the quill because there will be a little sticky residue left from the tabs.

Easy to apply, easy to remove. Looks awesome and will definitely make you stand out. The only downside I can think of is the price- they're £35, which is about $55 USD. They are quite limited and all handmade, a true collector's item, so they'd have to be a little on the pricey side, but I do think that £35 is quite steep. The info about them says that they're bespoke- which, as I understand it, implies custom made to your specifications, but I'm not entirely sure if/how that works with these. If they are all custom fit, that would definitely justify the price.

So, now you have pointy matte black and chrome thumbs, what do you do with the rest of your nails?

That's simple- Scorn nail polish. It's designed to compliment the quills- it has the same color and finish.

This is two coats of Scorn. It has amazing coverage and smooth, even formula. The finish isn't really a true matte- it has some shine to it. You know I'm all about the super chalky matte-mattes, so this isn't exactly my favorite finish, but it does match the Quills. It looks like leather to me, so that's cool. If you wanted to continue the matte black and chrome theme, you could put a little silver gem or stripe of foil nail art tape on each nail, too.


I think these are really crazy and I love them! They're a weird combination of beautiful/glamorous and intimidating/tough. They're delicate but at the same time they're knife-like dangerous! I was expecting a true stiletto shape, but they actually are quill-shaped, which also impresses me. If you want this look but can't afford the price tag, you could always go to a salon to get your thumbs done in black and silver acrylic stilettos, but they won't be quite the same and they won't be re-usable.

This would be a good gift for a nail fanatic who loves to be different and stand out. The box and packaging and presentation makes them very gift-able. Available only on Illamasqua.com and at the flagship store on Beak Street in London.

(These were sent to me for review.)

Philosophy Under The Mistletoe Lip Shine Set Holiday 2010

It's that time of year again when blogs start posting holiday gift ideas. I bought this Philosophy set recently and it dawned on me that it would make a really great gift (or four). I am selfishly keeping this for myself, but I guess there's nothing stopping me from buying another one for someone else...

The Under The Mistletoe set is a box of four of Philosophy's amazing lip shines in new holiday flavors. This year they're candy-themed scents instead of baked goods like previous years. Comes in a pretty nice box:

It's actually pretty sturdy. It has a cardboard sleeve (with a gross picture of kissing babies) and a very solid pull-out drawer with a pretty printed red glitter pattern and light blue lining. You could totally use the pull-out drawer for something once you take the gloss out, but I can't think of what. Change tray? Makeup organizer? No clue. It feels too nice to throw out.


This is what you see when you pull out the drawer. It contains lip shines in Peppermint Bark, Candy Cane, Pink Frosted Cookie and Have a Cherry Christmas.


Ooooh, they're so pretty. Peppermint Bark is a sheer red shimmer, Candy Cane is clear, Pink Frosted Cookie is a sheer pink shimmer (but essentially clear), and Have A Cherry Christmas is a slightly lighter sheer red shimmer but looks almost the same as Peppermint Bark.

They don't provide a whole lot of color or shimmer, but they are really shiny:

Peppermint Bark, Candy Cane, Pink Frosted Cookie, Have A Cherry Christmas. As you can see, they're really sheer, only the two red shades add a small amount of color.

Peppermint Bark has a chocolate peppermint type scent. Reminds me a bit of C.O. Bigelow Double Chocolate Shake Mentha Lip Shine.

Candy Cane is straight peppermint- and it's STRONG.

Pink Frosted Cookie is harder to describe. It has a vanilla cake type base but a sharp perfumey fruity sort of scent on top. It's not smooth like cupcake or fresh like strawberry, I find the scent a little odd- it has a distinct 'perfume' type smell to me. Maybe a bit like Philosophy Belgian Waffle Cone mixed with Sugar Plum Fairy?

Have A Cherry Christmas might be my favorite one- it has a very sweet candy cherry scent. It's not too fake or sour or sickening like cough medicine. Cherry scents can be a tricky territory, but this one is just right. Not realistic cherry, but definitely not cough syrup!

All of them are slightly sweet tasting, so there's not just scent in them. Very pleasant, no funky Stevia bitter taste, which I'm thankful for.

The texture is thick and marginally sticky. Not extremely sticky, but enough for your hair to get stuck in it on a windy day. They feel a little more moisturizing on my lips than the average gloss and I don't feel like my lips are dry after they wear off.

I like that they're really strongly scented/flavored. I like my lip products flavored and scented, and as long as the scents are good, the stronger, the better! They're not so strong that they'll make you sick from smelling them, but they're strong enough to smell for a while after you apply them.

I'm a pretty big fan of Philosophy's lip shines, and really a pretty big Philosophy fan in general. They make shower gel that smells like cake. How could I not be? I love that they always do scents that appeal to me- Red Velvet Cake, Sugar Cookie (which doesn't smell like sugar cookies, more like lemons), Pumpkin Spice Muffin, Ooey Gooey Smores (quite possibly their best lip shine flavor EVER), Cinnamon Buns, Snow Angel (smells like angel food cake!), Gingerbread.... the list goes on. I'm rarely disappointed by the lip shines.

Anyway, I thought this set was a pretty good deal considering that these would each be $10 individually. Good quality, nice scents, attractive packaging, overall just a nice little set. Why don't people get me things like this for Christmas? I really don't want another pair of driving gloves that I'll never wear. Hmph.

Wet n Wild Color Icon Snow Sprite Palette Holiday 2010

The Snow Sprite palette was the one I was most iffy about... Light greens and blues, colors I have a really hard time pulling off because they make my face look so red. Though, after wearing the blue side, I'm really happy I decided to get this. It's so nice.


The packaging. So pretty. Taking a picture at a weird angle helps keep the glare off the plastic and for some reason picks up more of the shimmer in the shadows.

Inside the palette. A dirty creme pearl color with slight green tinge, a surprisingly awesome spring green with duochrome, a black with green shimmer, a blue-toned silver, a light metallic blue and a black with blue shimmer. Comes with a silver eyeliner pencil.


Check out the shimmer in the dark shades. You might be able to see some of the weird color mix in that light green color if you enlarge the photo.



Slightly different lights and angles. See how the second color seems to shift from a funky yellow to green to a slight orange sheen? Did not expect that. Thought it would just be a yellowy-mint color. The eyeliner applies as more of a metallic grey than a true silver and it wasn't as smooth as the black shade from Night Elf.

I haven't worn the green side on my eyes yet, but here's a look I did using the blue side:



The blurry one is the only one that shows the glitter I added. It was more sparkly in person. Still haven't quite mastered the art of photographing eyeshadow with glitter. At least this time I still had a little daylight so I didn't have to use flash on all of the pictures.

This was:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Silver shade on inner corner
Light silvery blue on lid
Black with blue shimmer on outer lid, smudged as liner and on and lower lash line
MAC Reflects Blue glitter on top of everything
Urban Decay 24/7 in Deviant on upper and lower waterline
Revlon Grow Luscious Mascara

As you can see, the blues don't really look blue at all. The silvery blue just looks silver with a subtle blue tint that fades away after a while. The black doesn't show much of the blue shimmer. That's why I added the Reflects Blue Glitter on top- to try to bring out some more blue. I love MAC reflects glitters...

But, really, can you tell that there's blue in there?

Other than the blues not looking blue once I applied them and some pretty heavy fallout on the black shadow, everything about the palette was great. All the colors are silky and dense and shockingly pigmented. When did Wet n Wild become so awesome?! What have I been missing? These applied and blended flawlessly, nothing at all like the sheer chalky Wet n Wild shadows of my youth!

Totally love these palettes. Can't believe they're only $5. Blows my mind. I think I'll post the incredible Golden Goddess one next.