Neve Cosmetics Mistero Barocco eyeshadow palette

I have ten minutes to spare (I am a busy woman) and I miss regularly updating this blog. So here's a review of NC's Mistero Barocco eyeshadow palette. NC is seriously becoming my favourite brand.

This palette is no longer available on their website, but single eyeshadows are, and you could still find it in brick&mortar stores or other retailers.
The packaging is pretty awesome, white with the golden symbol, it's definitely going to rank high you your list of awesome packaging cosmetics.
It's not much different than a smaller regular palette (like the Duochrome, the Scurissimi and so on), it's in plastic and holds four shades: Crinoline (warm shimmery gold) Ember (pure matte red), Obscure (dark brown, matte with some really subtle shimmer) and Ornament (shimmery antique pink). No primer here, just swatched on bare skin.

Crinoline is very pretty, it's not just a warm gold, to me it has hints of orange and it's extremely beautiful. Highlight the inner corner of your eyes with this, or just use it as a regular eyeshadow. I know many gold eyeshadows but this one really is different.
Ember is a pure, simple matte red with cold/neutral undertones. I have used this as eyeshadow, eyeliner and blush. As blush I recommend caution because it's extremely pigmented. It doesn't look too much Heid-ish once you learn how to apply it.
Ornament is a personal favourite. Like, if you can only get one of these please get Ornament! It's not only a ridiculously beautiful eyeshadow (if you do neutrals this is your new best friend) but it's also a great blush! I used it more as a blush I believe, and it really looks wonderfully ... natural on me, the shimmer doesn't highlight the imperfections of my skin and it's extremely long lasting.
Obscure is a pretty beautiful brown, not that unique but still good and useful, you could use it in your brows as well if they're dark enough. NC suggested you to use it as bronzer as well, but it depends heavily on your skin color. On mine it would be way too dark, and would need a lot of work and blending. You can still use it as eyeshadow or eyeliner, the color is very pretty after all.

The pigmentation varies a bit, Obscure is much more buildable than the others, but that's a good thing in my eyes.
So, any of you got this or plan on getting it? Personally I am quite in love with it, it's extremely multitasking (you can do eyes, brows, face...)!

My New Year's Eve Polish

Hello! And happy new year to all of you! I originally planned to post this on NYE but I got carried out in food preparation... So here it is, Barry M Gold Mine Glitter, brought to me by my cousin who is currently living in England.
I always wanted to try a Barry M polish, and this one was perfect for the holidays! Two coats and seche vite here. Gold glitter in a black base that is opaque enough to cover the nails in two coats, and with an averagely good glitter distribution, I'd say this is a good polish!
However I have to add  that, over my mom's Kiko base, it chipped really soon: yesterday evening while I was cooking... it's not the first time I wear a polish for NYE that ends up chipping on that very evening, it must be a curse!
I want to test it over my regular Essence base too. For now, i really like this polish and I think a better base would do it justice.
I hope we all have a nice 2015!

Christmas nail art and gifts

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope you had a nice day (whether you celebrate it or not)
I always love looking at what other people received so I'm showing off my gifts, because why not.
The bag is kinda like the Freitag bags, this one is made with old ads and recycled seat belts. All recycled! I really wanted something in that style so I'm really happy!
And the beauty case is a nice addition too, it's very big.

Aaand a close up of the Sugarpill makeup I received! I've been wanting this palette for so long! And finally a good matte yellow eyeshadow!

Aren't those the prettiest colors you've ever seen?! Look at that palette, seriously! It's all my favorite colors combined in one palette, I can't wait to try this!

And my Christmas nail art. I didn't want to use red, so I used Essence Colour 3 Midnight Date and Catrice Bronze Deco for a simple star-inspired nail art. Not a typical Christmas nail art but I really like it.

Stamping and gradient over Essence 182 Hello Rosy

The gradient is barely visible here, but under sunlight the yellow/gold particles of Kiko 640 really pop out! I stamped a nice geometrical pattern with Kiko 328 and it kinda looks aztec/pre-colombian to me, it reminds me of The Road to El Dorado. It's the first time I stamp over a sand effect polish and I am not disappointed at all, it was easy. The only downside is that you cannot fix your design with topcoat.
I love this pattern, the only problem I have is that the design on the plate is much bigger than my nail (not only longer, it's wider too) and it's hard to restamp always the same portion of the design. Ah well, it's still a nice mani so I wont complain.

Catrice Crushed Crystals 04 Oyster & Champagne and small haul

Aka: I swear I only went there to buy the nail base..

The backstory is kinda funny, because I stopped at Coin before an university lesson to buy the nail base that I had finished, but as soon as I saw the new Catrice products I freaked out a little and investigated everything, neglecting the Essence display. So I forgot to buy the base.
I did get, however, a sand polish, Oyster and Champagne of the Crushed Crystals (sand effect) line and a lip polish. The eyebrow lifter was intriguing and so one of the new palettes, but I decided to stick to these 2 for the moment.
You'll find the review of the Catrice polish at the end of the post, for the moment let me tell you that the lip polish (in Megan Fuchsia) is amazing. It really stays a lot, not 8 hours if you eat a main meal, but after lunch I still have a pleasant fuchsia stain on my lips, so the effect doesn't completely go away. It's not lip drying at all, it's soft as a lip gloss (but not sticky) and extremely pigmented. Recommended!

Today I went to OVS to get the nail base. They didn't have any new stuff, but Essence products were on sale and sadly there weren't any pigments left. I still got the base (yay!) and another sand effect polish, this time Essence 165 Here's My Number, which was on sale.

Catrice 04 Oyster and Champagne is a really pretty golden-rose liquid sand effect polish. It contains hex rose microglitter; it looks as if the base was soft gold and rose micro- and standard sized glitters have been added to it. It's very pretty, and discreet too. It shines beautifully under the light, so of course this morning was cloudy when I wanted to take the photos. I can't tell you anything about duration yet, but application was easy (I recommend 3 coats or a rose base) and it dried quickly, so no complaints!
It reminds me of the gold and pink polish of the Maybelline Brocades LE, the colors seem very similar, but since I couldn't find the Maybelline one anywhere, well, at least I have this.


Tried anything new from Catrice/ Essence? Bought anything on sale?

Something About Me nail art

Better late than never, I whisper to myself as I try to finish the "Something About Me" nail art.
At first I was a bit puzzled, because as much as I genuinely wished to participate, I kept thinking about the many things I liked. Hot tea? Postapocalyptic fiction? Sci-fi? History?
I went with history, and specifically, with Empress Theodora.

I've chosen her for many reasons:

• She's one of my favourite historical figures. I recommend you to read more a bit about her on wiki. She rose from the humble ranks of actress until she became empress- a femme fatale and an intelligent, pious woman at the same time.
• A painting depicting her is also my avatar! I tried to stay with the similar, warm color scheme of the painting for the whole blog. She isn't the subject of the painting in the banner, but I think it fits with the atmosphere. She devoted a lot of her time to her beauty too, and I like to think as my blog as my small beauty corner where I can take care of myself after a long day.
• I wanted to do something more elaborate compared to my latest nail arts, and some of my latest polish acquisitions just fit the theme (Catrice Bronze-Deco mostly).
• The last time I went to see this mosaic I was with a group of friends, and it had been a really great day, so i can commemorate it!

Each nail represents a detail (her cup, headdress...). And since I did it in the evening of the 23, sadly I don't have the time to take sunlight photos.

I've seen the mosaic in Ravenna more than once and let me tell you, it's a must see.


The polishes involved in the process were: China Glaze Charmed, I'm Sure, Catrice Bronze-Deco, Kiko 629, 328, 294 and Sinful Colors Snow Me White.

Maybelline Color Show Brocades 224 Rosy Rosettes

The first time I saw this LE, I didn't get anything. What a mistake. Weeks after, I went searching for the gold/rose polish, not finding it anywhere. I searched it in every shop I knew had Maybelline products, and I gave up after my last hope (a Target-like shop near my parent's house). Some pieces of the collection were still available, and I surrendered to my second choice, the pink/red one. I honestly remembered this as red, I'm glad it's more pinkish or the effect would me too Christmas-like.
The finish is a beauty, it's like Shaka Burlesque on a darker base and loaded with glitter. Shines beautifully under the light (if only it hadn't been raining for weeks you'd see it under sunlight).
I had read reviews on how the pieces of this LE were pretty but not long lasting, on this one I have no particular complaints, it lasted 3 days before chipping on my index... could be better, but also worse.

I haven't seen anything like it, and I really love it. Vote: A-

Catrice Bronze-Deco & Suspect

Yesterday I spend the morning with my mom, and we went shopping. At Coin we found two interesting Catrice polishes: Bronze-Deco, from the Arts Collection LE, and Suspect from the Thrilling Me Softly LE.
I bought the first one and mom the second one-she's starting to be really into nail polishes too, I've created a monster!
Anyway, to the polishes: Bronze-Deco is far more golden than bronze. The texture, not quite glitter not quite shimmery, reminded me of the Pupa polishes of last year's Art Deco themed LE.
The color is the most magnificent gold I've ever seen. Warm-toned (bronze toned, I agree, but this color is definitely not bronze), it's like gold foil. Coverage is also quite good for this kind of polish, here I used 2 coats but it was already opaque in one. It captures the light perfectly and, despite its simplicity, it's an impressive shade of gold. Definitely recommended.
I added Suspect on my middle and ring finger for a simple chevron nail art, reminiscent of art deco.
I needed more than 2 coats since I had to apply it over a rather strong and shiny polish, but the coverage is good, and the color is prettier than I had imagined. A soft, pearly grey-gold, it builds a nice contrast with its fellow.

Overall, I recommend them both! What do you think? Oh, and by the way, did you find the Art Deco palette of this LE? I never did, only the polish, and the display seemed to be made to host only two palettes and the AD wasn't amongst them... such a pity.

Gunmetal Brocade

The base for this nail art is one of my favourite polishes, Kiko 382: a softly shimmery gunmetal grey, very classy and eye-catching in its "not exactly black" darkness. It's definitely a winter polish.
I attempted some stamping after a long time and I have to admit I am quite satisfied with the results, Kiko 328 is an excellent stamping polish. I used my Gals stamping plate GA29, and covered everything in Essence quick dry top coat to seal the design.
It could make a good festive nail art, and the design could be used in many other ways. Imagine it in silver over green...
I really love how elegant it looks. Plus, gunmetal is the coolest name for a color ever.

I am Loki of Asgard...

and I am burdened with glorious nail art!

 Polishes involved in the process: Kiko 629, Shaka Emerald, Pupa 209 & Essence Stamp me! Black.

I swear, this is all Tom Hiddleston's fault. He did a magnificent appearance at San Diego Comic Con that made the geek world go insane. And I also have a friend who's obsessed with Loki and she posts a lot images of him, and that was surely an influence. No, I am not a Tom Hiddleston/Loki fangirl, but he surely does a great job playing Loki. Plus, I've always been a mythology geek and when I studied germanic philology at the uni we talked about the Marvel comics as well!

Flower print + haul

Base color: Deborah 11 Sense Tech 100% Mat. Gold: Kiko 628

This weekend I went to the Comics School party and the dresscode was tie or bowtie for men and something floral for women. So I went for some floral nails! I tried the Deborah polish as base. Quite particular, it manages to be matte and shimmer at the same time. It's probably not the best polish to stamp over, since the stamping polish doesn't grasp much on it. However the effect is quite great.

And those are the last polishes I bought!  The Deborah store is addicting.. I got that top coat just for 1 euro! I always searched for it, what a bargain! And surprisingly the Essence Fantasia LE is back in stores... i get that's very cold but I wasn't expecting to find a winter LE! The only polish left was that one... I hope I can find more polishes in other stores, but it was still a great surprise!

Blue, teal and gold

I haven't posted for a while because 1) exams argh 2) wasn't satisfied with my last nail art efforts.

However, I still want to show you this. I did this mani a week ago, the gold tips didn't show tipwear for approximately 5 days, which is super great. When they did, I recovered them with gold and started with the nail art I wanted to do... until I realized I had forgotten my nail art brush at home, and had no substitutes here. My watercolor brushes were all too big, so I didn't complete this nail art. Also, the artificial light fails to capture the beauty of those colors.

It has an Ancient Egypt feel, don't you think?
I am absolutely in love with kiko 294, such a gorgeous blue. Oh, and both the blue and the teal (essence 03 life is a freeride) lasted more than a week without topcoat, I'm impressed.
The gold is my trusty Kiko 628, a must have.

The Great Nailsby

Another thing I should specify on my personal info: I have a horrible sense of humor.
Anyway, I'm going  to see the Great Gatsby this evening, so i recreated an old Art Deco nail art I did last winter...with an addition.

Glitter! 'Cause there's no party like a Gatbsy party. Until people die and everybody is disillusioned with the jazz age as a whole, you know.

The gold base is Catrice's Genius in the Bottle, a dupe of Chanel Peridot. Sort of a duochrome, with not much visible green/light blue hues. Still gorgeous. Other polishes: Essence Stamp Me! Black and Kiko 617.
The glitters are OPI's The Living Daylights.

Shaka Sugary white, Emerald and Peacock review

The main reason why I didn't post anything this week is because I wasn't satisfied with the results.
I will, however, post my last two nail art (more like fail art), because they were still good occasions to review my new polishes, especially the news Shakas of the family.

What was I expecting: a peacock-style nail art
The result: An aztec-style something
The base color is Shaka Emerald, that I find great. Unfortunately Shaka Peacock didn't contrast much with Emerald so the result is, well, not what I wanted. Maybe they would make a nice gradient together.
(Violet: Pupa 410, Gold: Kiko 628)

What was I expecting: A candy effect
The result: A sports team t-shirt effect
The white is Shaka Sugary White. Should you buy only one polish of the Shaka Sugary Collection, go for this one. It's very candylike and has small silver glitter that makes it really look sugary...
(Yellow: Max Factor Mellow Yellow, Green: Mint Cream, Orange: Kiko 356, Violet: Kiko 338, Pink: Catrice Pimp My Shrimp)

Overall, even if I am not satisfied with my nail art, something that comes more from my mood than from an effective failure, I have to say that Shaka polishes have always an overall good quality, and a low price (usually 1.99 euros, I paid them 1.79 because there was a make up sale at OVS).
Shaka Peacock was part of my birthday gifts.

Historical Figures Series: Cleopatra

And the next historical figure is...queen Cleopatra!

I really like how this mani come out, it really makes me think of Ancient Egypt!
When I was a kid one of my favourite books was a giant book shaped like a sarcophagus and I was really obsessed with ancient civilizations, especially Egypt. Who am I kidding, I'm still obsessed with History.

The blue is Kiko 294, that I obtained thanks to the one-free-nail-polish coupon for the 1 million fans on the kiko facebook page. I really needed a bright blu and I love it! The other colors are kiko 204 and 628, and the black is essence's stampy nail polish in black. A black very pigmented that comes really handy for nail art (and for stamping too, of course). Another thing that came very handy was Essence's Nail art express dry drops... I'm probably going to write a post about it soon.

Historical Figures Series: Horatio Nelson

I know I haven't posted anything in days, but university (and videogames...) kept me busy. Plus, Burlesque by Shaka was incredibly long lasting, after five days it had just started to show signs of tipwear. Now that's good quality!
But onwards with the news! Mixing my obsession with History and the time spent playing Civilization V I decided to start a new nail art series inspired by historical figures. There will be people I've read the biography of and people that I just find fascinating...

I will start with the british Admiral Horatio Nelson:

And that's my take on it. I am in love with Royal Navy uniforms.

        

It was also a good occasion to try 19 Denim Blue by Avon (more like navy blue to me...), a polish lent me by a friend of mine (we're borrowing each other's polishes!).

The other colors are my trusty white 203 and mirror gold 628 by Kiko.

Shaka Burlesque

I'm not a pink nail polish person, but hell, this is gorgeous.  A pink basis with such a strong golden shimmer that it's almost a duochrome, hard to capture in photos but really gorgeous.
This is 3 coats and topcoat, maybe 2 coats are enought but with 3 the gold really stands out. It could make a really nice layering polish.
Honestly, it makes me think of fabric, maybe of indian saris, more than burlesque... but, hey, it's gold and bright pink, it's perfect for burlesque too!

Noblesse oblige: Stamping with Kiko 628

 I bought Kiko 628, of the new Mirror Nail Lacquer series, because I heard these mirror polished stamped greatly (and because I love gold nails..) and it turned out to be true! This polish is very beautiful and stamps greatly, I recommend it.
The base is Life is a Freeride by Essence and I used the GA38 stamping plate by galscosmetics.

I must say, I really like how it turned out, it's simple and yet eye-catching... it reminds me of brocade, hence the nickname of this nail art. I really feel like a queen now!

Christmas gifts review part 2

This is actually a double review!
The second nail polish I received for Christmas was OPI The Living Daylights, from the James Bond special collection. It's also my first OPI polish!
The glitters are copper, gold, green and silver, and they're very big. The brush catches lots of glitters, this is just one coat. I wanted to see how it looked on different colors so I did this skittle mani with a nice nail polish set purchased at H&M.
The H&M polishes are Golden Days, Nude Dude, Peacock Green and Purple Potion. The black you see it's actually a beautiful gunmetal shade from Kiko, the 382.
The Living Daylights looks amazing on gunmetal, grey and, surprisingly, on purple. Ok, fine, it looks nice on every color. I can't say the same for the H&M polishes, their colors are great (I'm in love with Peacock Green) but they aren't really long lasting, after a couple of days, well you can see what happened on the Nude Dude finger. And that's a pity because it's a beautiful nude.
In the H&M set there were two more glitter polishes that I haven't tried yet.

So, the OPI polish isn't what I'd call a must have but it's fun, and it made a perfect New Year's Eve mani. Unfortunately, as many glitter polishes, it's a pain in the neck to remove.
The H&M polishes make a good gift (the packaging, man, a beauiful but simple golden box with a peacock, who's not to love that) and the color are very well selected. Plus, it's cheap,  around 7 euros for 6 polishes. I wish they lasted for more days but, alas, you can't have everything.