OPI India Collection, China Glaze Eco Collection and Everyday Minerals.

I got my OPI India and China Glaze Eco polishes today.

They're pretty cool, but I haven't worn any of them yet. Unplugged and Recycle look really awesome, though. I don't want to paint my nails right now. I'm still enjoying yesterday's manicure of Sally Hansen Glossy with OPI Man of La Mancha on top. I really love the old formula OPIs, I wish they'd go back. And I'm really getting sick of the ProWide brush that I used to love so much.

I also got one of those Beauty Blender things.... I haven't tried that, either. I used mineral makeup today.

I'm going to sound like a total heretic here, huge Bare Escentuals fan that I am, but I tried the Everyday Minerals Try Me kit and I think I'm in love.

They offer different formulas, which I like. I am wearing the Intensive one, which offers way more coverage than my beloved Bare Minerals, using less product.

The color match is nearly spot on. I usually wear Light or Fairly Light in Bare Minerals, but for some reason the last two refills I've purchased have been much darker and pinker. I even have an old jar to compare, and they're definitely different. I am wearing the lightest shade in Everyday Minerals (on the cool spectrum) and it's perfect. Not pink, not orange, not white.

I'll have to keep using it to see if it does anything weird to my skin, but so far, so good!

Orly Rock Candy: Miracle Worker

Yesterday's manicure was OPI's Make Love. I don't know what inspired me to pick that color. It's an opaque milky pink. It really stands out on your nails. I just wasn't feeling it. At times I loved it, other times I wondered what I was thinking.

This morning I debated removing it, but since it was still perfectly pristine, I thought maybe I'd modify it instead. I originally planned to layer OPI Pink Ulta-Matum over it, but then another polish caught my eye. Orly Rock Candy. I'm glad I went with the Rock Candy. It's perfect.

Rock Candy is a sheer somewhat shimmery iridescent sort of color, with mostly blue-green overtones, but layered over the top of Make Love, it looks like mother of pearl. I was trying to figure out what the color reminded me of, and that's it- the inside of seashells. Really pretty and interesting at the same time.

I broke down and ordered the three OPI India polishes I had my eye on, and decided to throw in the China Glaze Eco collection in with them... to keep them company. I'm actually more excited about the Eco ones than the India ones. Finally, a grey nail polish that's not gunmetal or silver.

I also can't wait for the China Glaze Ink collection... I love bright colors, and I can't wait to be wearing that purple one.

I'm still in a makeup rut. It's painful.

I got my MAC Fafi stuff, and I'm really disappointed that the special Fafi packaging is just stickers/plastic overwrap. How lame. I don't get this Fafi stuff. Meh, whatever. When Heatherette comes out I'll be able to rave about that.

Cargo Blu Ray High Definiton Makeup Collection Review

I'm trying out this new Cargo Blu-Ray High Definition BS makeup whatever stuff.... I'm not sure why I bought it, but it seemed like a really great idea at the time. Drunken Sephora ordering, FTW!

Here are my first impressions:

The powder seems like any normal pressed powder, but the color is way too dark. It only comes in one shade and I feel like I'm suffering serious floating head syndrome. The finish seems nice enough, but I can't be absolutely sure, as I'm wearing it over MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural (which I'm pretty sure I don't like.)

The blush/highlighter is pretty nice. Actually, really nice. It's a neutral pink shade with what appears to be a bit of shimmer. The texture is absurdly soft, so be careful. I tapped my brush onto it and sent a giant cloud of blush dust everywhere. That's how soft it is.

The mascara is freaky weird, but effective. The applicator is basically a paddle with a really thin comb on one end. It absolutely will not clump and gives decent length, but I couldn't build much volume with it. I need volume. It's also a little messy to apply because you have to press so hard to deposit mascara from the weird comb onto your lashes, and you get mascara flecks on your eyelid as a result.

The glosses seems nice so far. I used the one in the lower left hand corner. Shade is nice, nothing special. The formula is nice and smooth, not the least bit sticky. It has a slight mint flavor and cooling sensation, but nothing dramatic. It's your average gloss, I guess.

I didn't try the mattifier because I don't need one and it would probably make my skin look dry. Can't report on that. Maybe next time.

Now I'm off to remove my awesome Amp'd Up manicure to try Chanel Azur over Blue Satin. I hope it turns out cool.

Color Club Ampd Up With China Glaze Wireless Holographic Topcoat

Ok, here's some pics. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. It doesn't look neon or holographic and I can't figure it out. It looks cool in real life... Am I using the wrong lighting? Frustrating.

Anyway, Color Club Amp'd Up with one coat of China Glaze Wireless Holographic Topcoat (and Seche Vite).

Flash (just for fun)


No flash:

Urban Decay New Releases for 2008, China Glaze Wireless Holographic Topcoat and Lancome L.U.C.I

I remembered what else the Urban Decay lady said was being released... Colored mascaras, and I believe she said it was the Big Fatty formula.

I had to post because I just tried out my China Glaze Wireless Holographic topcoat. I have a very loud manicure right now. First, a quick review of the topcoat: Sparkles.

It's very pretty, but not really all that noticeable. I used one coat, but tried two coats on my left thumb. It's not really in-your-face holo, but the effect is just gorgeous.

Since I was faced with the prospect of making any holographic color I wanted, I decided to make a color that I know doesn't exist: Holographic neon orange. Hell yes.

I used Color Club Amp'd Up as my base. Let me talk to you about Color Club. It's dirt cheap, has a huge range of colors and the application is a breeze. Sure, it's not OPI or China Glaze, but that doesn't mean it can't be good. Almost all the colors I have are completely opaque in one coat, and I can't say that about many of my pricier polishes. If you can find them, you should definitely pick up a few.

Once my camera is charged I'll try to take a picture, but I'm a really terrible photographer, so I can't promise the pictures will be good.

I got a chance to try my new Lancome things.

First of all, the L.U.C.I. Eyes Ray of Apricot Light is incredibly disappointing. It's not iridescent, it's not light-reflective or photonic or whatever... it's just crap. The texture of the coppery colored shadow is nice, but it's nothing special. The "special" white/pink shadow is extremely chalky and is just a shell pink with white chunks. It does come in a very cool shell shaped compact, but I think you'd be better off trying it before buying it. If you're interested in the "iridescent" shadow, you should try MAC Vex. It's cooler, has more depth and the texture is like velvet. MAC has lots of nice duochromes with fabulous texture and the price is way more reasonable.

The Juicy Tubes Julie Verhoeven in Pink Muse is beautiful. It's a sheer, barely-there pink gloss with a small-size diamond glitter. It's not glittery, but it really lights up when the light hits it. Very pretty.

The Juicy Tubes Star Shower is puzzling. I don't see why it's called Star Shower. There's not really any shimmer or anything. It is pretty, but, huh. Star Shower?

Zoya Angelina, Chanel Azur, and random beauty babble.

My manicure today is Zoya Angelina. I don't know, I really like this color but I don't get it. In the bottle it's clearly brown. A very dark chocolate brown, like my favorite Valrhona Le Noir Amer 71%... Mmm.... Dark and bitter, it suits me well, no?

However, on the nails, it just looks black. It's an interesting effect. It's black, but there's something different about it. It's softer, not as harsh... In the right light you can see that it's actually brown, but otherwise you can't tell. It kinda makes my fingertips look red.

Another color I don't get: Chanel Azur. I admit, it was an impulse buy because it looked soooooooooo cool in the bottle, but now I don't know what to do with it. By itself it's not strong enough to make an impression. Sure, it's really cool looking, but you have to be under the right light and looking right at it.

I think it would be great for layering, but I don't know what to use with it. I tried it over China Glaze For Audrey and it just made it look blah. I'll try it over Blue Satin, or some other dark blue, Zoya Indigo maybe? It might enhance the sparkle. Hmm. We'll see. Any ideas?

This week I've changed my nails every day. Monday was Clarins 230, Tuesday was Zoya Creamy, Wednesday was OPI Pretty at the Premier (blah), Thursday started out as Essie Decadent Diva but then I changed to China Glaze OMG, which was chipped this morning so now I have Zoya Angelina. I think I have manicure ADD.

Nothing in the makeup world is really all that interesting right now. I am a little excited for Heatherette for MAC (or other way around?) but I haven't seen any pictures. It's Heatherette, it has to be good.

I did acquire some new makeup this week. Lancome Color Fever Gloss Photonic in Rainbow, which didn't really live up to the hype. L.U.C.I. eyes duo in Ray of Amber Light, Juicy Tubes Sparkling Night in Star Shower and Juicy Tubes Julie VerHoeven Pink Muse, none of which I've used yet, so I can't really review.

My Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab collection has reached critical mass. I have no place to store it. I need to go box shopping. Without counting duplicates, I have 214 bottles and 310 imp's ears. That's 524 unique scents from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab alone. I won't stop until I've tried them all! Gotta catch em all!!!!

I need some sort of box organization system... I used to keep all my limited editions in one box, lunacies in another, general catalogues in another and all of my imps are alphabetized in ammo boxes and the duplicates are in a huge ziploc bag in my nightstand. Now my nightstand is completely covered in bottles and imps that no longer fit in their designated boxes. I'm afraid I'll knock them over or something.

I want to keep them upright, but I want them protected. No shelves. I label the tops of the bottles with stickers, so I don't need to see the labels. A box would be ideal, or multiple boxes to avoid risk of tragedy.

I'm going out to the garage to get myself in trouble come up with an idea.