Stash + Excuses

I can't believe I've been away for this long.

The only sorts of excuses I can make are a little faulty. I joined a swim team, I've spent more time with the boyfriend, and somehow... My computer slipped through the cracks - something that rarely happened.

Actually, I haven't even been taking pictures of my manicures, also a new thing that bothers me. I'm not sure what it is, but I really just haven't been, despite fresh manicures each week.

If I didn't post now, I never really would - so here's a picture that a month old of my stash. It's off by 1, since I recently bought the ORly Sec N' Dry top coat (which SUCKS for nail art), as well as the new top coat and pastel colours I'll be purchasing soon. I currently have 128 bottles.

Hopefully new posts within this month.
-Melanie

Nail Art: Patchwork Mani

Oh hey guys! It's been a while since my last post - things are hectic since school has started, and my school is the over-crowded/guinea pig one so things have been a little crazy.

The previous manicure I did I forgot to take a picture of! I haven't done that since I started the site, so I'm just really stressed.

Also I joined the swim team this year, which really sucks for my poor nails <3 It's also senior years, so I have to focus on my grades.

Anyways, here's some nail art I did, trying to follow Kayla Shevonne's awesome manicure tutorial. I'm not really a pastel girl (but I'm learning to be!), so I used my metallics and such.

^ Click the peekture for nail art awesomeness^

The polishes I used were Sexy Silhouette &  Frostbite from China Glaze, as well as Positive Energy from Nicole By OPI. The black 'stitches' are using my Kiss nail art brush thing.

That's all for now ~ Hopefully I can post soon!

-Melanie

Three Manicures

Oh hey guys! Sorry for my lack of updating.. I've been super busy too lazy to bring down my cable to transfer stuff, LOL... I'm lazy...

Anyways, I've built up three swatches because of that (I've also got some new nail art and make up to show/review, sooo yeah!) and I figured I should probably post them all since I kinda disappeared - I suppose. All in all, what I've got to show you is Strawberry Fields, Watermelon Rind, and Sex In The City from China Glaze, Party Of Five Glitter from Wet 'N' Wild, and a reappearance by Groupie from L.A. Girl.

 [This post is picture heavy! Be warned!] 

First off, I want to say I didn't haul these or buy these all at the same time. I feel like I'm dying a bit more when I do that. I like to spread out my buying ;D Also, excuse the dry cuticles.

This is Strawberry Fields from China Glaze.

 

 I used to totally be against most.. well, girly shades of pink - but I've always been captivated by the swatch wheel of this at my local Sally's Beauty Supply. Unfortunately, nearly everytime I look for this, it's gone, and some incredibly obnoxious fuchsia is sitting there. I got lucky, and was searching behind other pinks and boom! Found it!
Anyyyyways, this polish applied awesome! I only used two coats, but my smile line might've been more hidden if I had gone with another coat. It's a pink with shimmery gold flecks in it that I was so in love with. I wouldn't wear this all the time, but LOVE LOVE LOVE.

Next is a glitter accent mani, featuring Sex In The City from China Glaze, and Party Of Five Glitter from Wet 'N' Wild.

 Awesome! I love blues and I have this bad obsession with those tropical looking teal colours (I have so many). This reminded me of those, but it was definitely more blue than green. I added the glitter because I wanted to make use of my glitter polishes, LOL. I hate removal (even with foil) so I usually only do accents.

SITC was only two coats, by the way. Even more awesome!

Lastly, this is the manicure I still have on. This is Watermelon Rind from China Glaze, and Groupie from L.A. Girl (which you might not know, is my all time favorite purple. Yeah. That's right)

This one was inspired by Donatello the turtle (and the boyfriend who picked green). Honestly? I wasn't 'wowed' by this polish. It looks kickass in the bottle, but I was.. eh. Not too impressed :/ If it weren't for my accent purple nails, this polish would've been off in two days. Application took three coats for opacity.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed those manicures ^_^ I have some more posts, and now that I've actually gotten a bunch of photos on my computer, they'll be up within the week (maybe. I'm so lazy)

-Melanie

Something Irrelevant: Eyeliner: NYX's Felt Tip vs. L'Oreal Lineur Intense (Old & New) vs. Revlon Colorstay

Oh hi guys :]

Today is a comparison between four of the liquid eyeliners I own (I once had the Prestige one, but I used it up before the start of this site, and really can't remember how well it worked).

I wanted to do this because frankly, I heard great things about all of these liners, but when I googled it I could never find a comparison - just singular reviews that normally said "this is great!" which didn't help me all too much. So here I've got Revlon Colorstay, L'Oreal Lineur Intense (felt tip), and NYX Felt Tip Liner.

On to the comparisons!

From left to right: Revlon Colorstay, L'Oreal Lineur Intense (felt tip) x2, NYX Felt Tip Liner.

PACKAGING: Revlon & L'Oreal have the basic felt tip and inkpot thing going on. Both need to be shaken before using. The NYX you don't really have to shake (and if you do, there's no clicky sound). It's a felt tip liner, so it's remove the cap and apply.

FAVORITE: I love how nice and thin the NYX one is. It's definitely nicer to hold in my hands. Next would be L'Oreal - despite how long the handle is.

 

TIP: The hardest tip would definitely be NYX, and next would be Revlon. Neither bend - at all. So those two are great for liquid liner n00bs, since it gives you much more control, I suppose. NYX is much too hard for my liking though. Which brings us to L'Oreal - this thing bends like a noodle. It's definitely not for beginners, but you can get the hang of it pretty easily.

FAVORITE: I can't say I have a favorite tip persay - I like them for different reasons. 

APPLICATION: Revlon is a thicker, and more stiff (LOL THATS WHAT SHE SAID... ahem) brush tip with more control, so if you prefer to do your make up quicker, you will get thick liner. It's also easier to get a winged tip with this one. It's not the best for a thin line if you're in a rush. You need a whole lot of patience. That's likewise with the L'Oreal one as well - it's very, very capable of both thick & thin lines, but you need patience when you use it or your line can go uneven. NYX, on the other hand, gives you both easily.

FAVORITE: NYX, hands down. It's the easiest to apply.

Without flash & with. From left to right: Revlon, L'Oreal (old), L'Oreal (new), and NYX.

COLOR: Revlon has always been the most matte of the group (which makes it look like a lighter, less striking black). L'Oreal, however, tends to have a 'still wet' look, which some people like more. Now, the OLD L'Oreal I would've suggested to anyone - BUY IT! But sadly, not anymore. The new formula is much more watery and streaky, and so you don't get that strong, pigmented black like you should get.The NYX is definitely less black than the others - but I most admit that mine has been slightly dried out for a while. The tip is dried, but the sides aren't.... so great for swatching, bad for applying.

FAVORITE: I personally love the wet look, so I will mostly pick up L'Oreal.

Water test.

ENDURANCE: Revlon is pretty much a strong force against water. Which for looooong days where I'll be out and about is awesome! L'Oreal's old formula was stronger against water, but the new one peeled like I do when I'm sunburnt. Yuck. Also, both old & new L'Oreal flake off throughout the day, especially in warmer conditions. As for NYX, it smudged a bit, but this baby stays put.

FAVORITE: For hot days it's Revlon. But other days, I definitely prefer L'Oreal, since I don't need any make up remover for it (it's great for travel!). You wet your fingers, slide all the liner off and boom. Clean eyelids. If you even attempt this with Revlon, enjoy looking like a panda. I never tried this with NYX.

PRICE: This really only applies to my Canadian readers (silent or public), but Revlon is definitely the cheapest at around $7. L'Oreal generally sells for around $12, and NYX sells at $10.

Side note - my NYX Felt Tip Liner dried out in a week. I have read some reviews though, where it's lasted people a long long time. So perhaps you'll get lucky.

CONCLUSION: If you're looking for a dark black that's long lasting, but willing to give up thinner precision, go for Revlon.

If you're more experienced with liquid liner and aren't looking for too much staying power (like if you're a couch potato like me ;D) then L'Oreal is for you.

If you REALLY prefer pencil, go for NYX. It's probably the easiest to use, and you can get really precise or really bold with it. It's pretty pricy, and you don't know if it'll dry up like mine, though.

Hope this helped anyone looking to dip into the liquid liner world :]

Comments make me happy  :]

-Melanie

Splatter Mani!

Here's a mani I did following The PolishAholic's tutorial. Honestly this shouldn't have been so darn difficult for me... but it was. Moving on!

I didn't tape my fingers nor did I spray the polish out the right way... So to say this was messy is quite the understatement, LOL. I did find an easier way though - put a drop of polish on finger, and proceed to blow it out with the straw.

I think something's wrong with me, haha.

So I used Maybelline's Eternal Snow (it's reaaaaaaaally old!) as a base, and for splatter colours I used Avon's Nailwear Pro in Tangtastic, The Face Shop's YL702, and Cara's 206. I really dislike how Asian brands give their polishes numbers instead of names >:(

I based this mani on summer-y colors, woooo ! I also did this in like late June, haha.

Toodle-loooo ~

-Melanie

Something Irrelevant: Looks: Slytherin

Oh my gosh guys, last night (or this morning) I went to the midnight showing of Harry Potter! I was all donned in a Slytherin cloak and scarf, had a green hair accessory and green nails, as well as some green & silver eyeshadow. It was SO worth it going at midnight! We got super nifty 3D glasses for going at midnight:

Some people were there for two days before today. Crazy! It was raining but my friends and I still had fun. The movie was bittersweet - so intense and awesome, but at the same time it was really sad (both the movie and knowing the series has come to an end). Unfortunately I got some D-bag sitting behind my friends and I, who not only made extremely rude remarks about us, but continued to talk throughout the movie and very rudely ask us to "shut up please" despite speaking himself. Also, once the epilogue came up he promptly announced, "aww man, soo gay". He definitely dampened my experience, but despite his d-baggery, it was amazing and I couldn't stop crying.

Anyways, on to the make up!

 

Pre-facepaint and...

 

 Post facepaint! Yeah warstripes!

I used two NYX eyeshadow pencils (those are awesome, lemme tell you), and Revlon Colorstay liquid eyeliner.

Nails tomorrow - for now, here's a Hogwarts crest shrinky dink I made! (and then lost a few hours later *tears*)

Did any of you see the midnight showing? Did you lovee the movie? Opinions?

-Melanie

Break Away!

No swatch today - I'm currently vacationing in Mexico, so I can't upload pictures. I'm borrowing my dad's laptop, and it's preeeeeeeetty slow.

Upside, I'm going for a mani/pedi sometime this week, and I plan on buying tons of nail polish while here (or on the way back).

See you in a bit!

-Melanie