Dysfunctional yet Charming
23Jan/117

Illamasqua Load

Illamasqua LoadI just received two products from Illamasqua, the nail polish Load being one of them. I was instantly taken by the name (and description) of this polish, gutter-minded as I am, and I decided to try it out immediately.

Back in October I tested another polish from Illamasqua, and I loved it. Unfortunately I didn't love Load as much, simply because I found it to be hard to apply, difficult to work with, and it took quite an amount of effort to look somewhat even on my nails even though I didn't fully succeed.

Load is described as a "rich cream" which is quite accurate. It has a glossy finish. I might go as far as calling it a very subdued yellow against my skin, which might have to do with my yellow undertones. I applied three coats, the last coat being quite thick, and I had to work quickly to avoid streaking.

The Verdict:
RatingI'm kinda sad to award Load with only three brushes, but the difficulty applying it did disappoint me a bit. By all means, I'm no nail polish guru, but I was hoping for another Jan (nice and easy to work with). On the other hand.. it's a light color, and I think lighter colors are harder to apply flawless in general. As I said I love the name and description of this nail polish, and I do like the color as well. I'm also giving it another plus for drying quickly, despite of the third coat being a bit thick. Load receives three brushes from me, but all-in-all it's a strong three!

Picture was taken indoors in artificial lighting.

Disclosure

This review contains product(s) sent for consideration by PR.
I do not agree to paid reviews or guarantee reviews.
All views and opinions expressed in this review are purely mine.

Photo © Shamini Thevarajah '11

11Jan/116

Chanel Le Vernis Black Pearl

Chanel Le Vernis Black PearlUp until today I've been a very good girl, managing to stay away from seriously high end brands like Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton and their likes, but on the last Tuesday in December I failed - but while I was failing I happened discovered how easy it was to order from Nordstrom. I'm now the proud owner of my very first Chanel Le Vernis Nail Colour, in fact my very first Chanel product ever, and I intend to keep them to an absolute minimum. I hope they are as good as everyone's raving about for the color looks amazing.

Black Pearl is one of three nail polishes from Les Perles de Chanel for spring 2011, the other two being Pearl Drop and Pêche Nacrée. I'm not sure if it's a limited edition or not, but the color is certainly too hot not to own! I just hope I won't spark another flame, kindling an addiction to Chanel polishes. It's said to be a slippery slope.

Wanna see swatches?
Take a look at the ones Karen posted.

Photo © Chanel

15Dec/105

Shopping for Christmas

I'm kinda hoping this will be the last medical update from me in a long while since my doctor's appointment yesterday went well and all. He didn't tell me anything I didn't know, but we talked for a while about everything that has happened, my thoughts and feelings around it, and it felt good to hear that also he thinks it's anxiety that's been bothering me. Don't get me wrong, I never wished for anxiety - I'd much rather have something easily treatable - but then again, I'm starting accept that I'm actually quite healthy, despite of what my body has been trying to convince me to believe over the past.. 47 days. I also had another blood test, this time to exclude diabetes, and mission accomplished with measured glucose at 4.9 on an empty stomach.

Since I was already out of the apartment I decided to go to Cubus at the nearest mall for a little pre-Christmas shopping. I wanted to pick up another pair - I now own five pairs, whereas three of them are brand new - of those incredibly soft pajamas they start selling around Christmas. Sometimes I wish I could spend my entire life wearing my pajamas, but unfortunately I like to think I'm a bit more decent than that. PJ's FTW!

Anyway, while at Cubus I noticed the new brand MNY Maybelline and decided to try a few of their nail polishes. I didn't really like the colors in stock, but I ended up picking up a purple shimmer flecked with purple glitter and a gorgeous deep, dark blue shimmer which instantly reminded me of flowing velvet - #557 and #665. I'll try to be a good girl and come up with some swatches.. eventually, but if you're in a hurry you could always try Google. Since my HG mascara is Max Factor False Lash Effect I decided to try out the new Xperience Volumising Mascara in black. I'll let you know how it goes. Even though False Lash Effect is my go-to mascara I did kinda like their Lash Extension Effect for the days when I really want to tone it down. Extreme lengthening? I don't know about that, but still a decent mascara if you ask me.

I also did some eBay shopping. C'mon. You didn't expect me to end my little Christmas shopping post here, did you? I was looking to get the Sweet & Sugar Sparkle duo from CND, but it turned out to be an impossible task. I mean, I did find a seller who were offering both polishes, but 12 seconds before I paid for my purchase I got a message telling me that there had been a mistake, they didn't have them in stock. Bah! I wish I would stop waiting, and just get the items I want.. when I want them. This little setback naturally led me to browsing around eBay without any particular goal, and the whole escapade ended up in me ordering another six nail polishes. Yep. Six. For some reason they ended up being all O·P·I: Paris Couture for Sure (top coat), Changing of the Garnet, Diva of Geneva, Merry Midnight, DS Magic and DS Radiance.

It's important to reward oneself, yes? Razz

24Oct/104

Illamasqua Jan

Illamasqua JanBack in August I received a few gorgeous products from Illamasqua and I apologize for not posting this little review sooner. My health has been varying a lot these past couple months, and I haven't been playing too much with my makeup. I have so many ideas for looks, but absolutely no energy to actually put them to life, I'm sorry.

I have never tried nail polish from Illamasqua, so I was thrilled to finally get the chance when I received "Jan". She's described as a "light dusky pink" with a glossy finish, but somehow it looks more lilac to me. Maybe it's my skin tone? Or maybe it's just me. A gorgeous color nonetheless!

"Jan" was quite easy deal with and applied evenly. I used two coats for my nails - I seriously love all polishes where I can get away with two coats - and it dried fairly quick, which means I managed to take a picture without messing up anything. It's now been five days with this manicure, no base or top coat, and I'm just starting to see the tiniest sign of wear on the tip of my index finger. I'm amazed with the durability of this nail polish!

The Verdict:
RatingIf you're looking for a nice, subtle nail polish where you can get away with two coats, then this is absolutely a polish worth looking into. Even though I'm no expert on applying nail polish, I really think I managed to do a decent job with this one. "Jan" is easy to work with, the texture is nice, I experienced no streaking and it dried quickly (two medium thick coats). The durability is excellent, and I know I need to add a few more Illamasqua nail polishes to my collection. Two thumbs up, and full score from me!

Picture was taken indoors in artificial lighting.

Disclosure

This review contains product(s) sent for consideration by PR.
All views and opinions expressed in this review are purely mine.

Photo © Shamini Thevarajah '10

14Oct/1013

China Glaze Holiday 2010 Collection

I think I should admit to someone, most importantly myself maybe, that I'm a total sucker for shimmery nail polish. When I saw the new Holiday 2010 collection from China Glaze yesterday I just had to go on a hunt for proper swatches, and Scrangie is one of those fantastic nail bloggers who rarely lets me down. I quickly pegged which ones I wanted, and hurried off to Trans Design to place my order, just as I use to. From earlier experience these special polishes tend to sell out fairly quickly, so I wanted to be sure I'd get mine before they are gone. Unfortunately TD is only offering 12 of the polishes in this collection - why they don't offer "Mommy Kissed Santa", "Jingle Bells", "Frosty" or "Snow" is unknown - so I scampered off to Head2Toe instead. A few minutes later my order had been placed, and now I'm crossing my fingers it'll arrive shortly!

I'm not a very Christmas-y person as we all already know, but these polishes ended up giving me warm, fuzzy feelings inside, reminding me of Christmas when I was a kid and actually liked snow.

"Frosty" is a gorgeous white shimmer, totally reminding me of powdery, magical snow. There are six different reds in the collection, but I was instantly drawn to "Sugar Plums", a plum shimmer with glitter - and "Mommy Kissing Santa", a gorgeous rich cranberry shimmer. "Little Drummer Boy" is an absolutely stunning rich blue shimmer - I love the name, and it's also one of very few Christmas songs I like to listen to. "Midnight Kisses" is a pretty gold shimmer, and "Cheers to You" looks like silver shimmer twin. The wild card of my order is "Party Hearty" which is a glitter top coat-mix of red, green, silver and gold glitter - this is not typically a polish I would order, but it looked quite unique, and I'm sure I'll find a way to layer it.

China Glaze Frosty China Glaze Mommy Kissing Santa China Glaze Sugar Plums China Glaze Little Drummer Boy China Glaze Cheers to You China Glaze Midnight Kiss China Glaze Party Hearty

The total price for seven nail polishes? $37 included shipping to Norway by USPS First-Class Mail International ($15.70), or about 213,- NOK with today's exchange rate. They cost a little less than amazing 17,- NOK per bottle! Now I'm just a little anxious to see whether or not Head2Toe declare the shipments correctly (value and shipping separate), or if I have to pay taxes and fees upon arrival.

Choose between the 16 colors, or get all of them from Head2Toe.

Photos © Head2Toe Beauty

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