Maybelline Color Show Crystallize 235 Red Excess

Now that it's holiday time I have far more time to blog, and it's something I missed.
Today I present to you a new Maybelline nail polish with a sand effect finish.
I fell in love at first sight, but waited for a while before purchasing it. I had read reviews of this limited edition as being beautiful but not long lasting at all. In the end I gave up and purchased it, because in the bottle it looks a bit duochrome-ish. Not on the nails, ufortunately. It's still awesome: pinkish red microglitter in a dark liquid sand base. It could be a perfect New Year's Eve polish!
I added a pop of red with another sand polish, Kiko 640.
Sadly, the voices about not being long lasting were true. It's the second day, and it's already chipped, which kinda disappoints me... usually sand effect polishes last 3 days at least on me.

Vote: B

Christmas beauty-related gifts

Hello! Are you enjoying the holidays? I hope so!
I wanted to show you three beauty products I received this year, who are also my first UD products, not counting the nail polishes.
Do they really need an introduction?

The Naked Basics was on my wishlist for many reasons: it's small, travel friendly and contains beautiful nude matte shades. Small nude palettes are very popular now, but they aren't matte...
I've tried it on Christmas day, and it's just great. The colors are very pigmented (Faint is my new fave brown) and Walk of Shame is a "my lid but better".  I know Venus is a frost/subtle shimmery color, but It's perfect for highlighting needs, so I'm not gonna complain. I can't wait to learn many combinations and makeups with this.

The UD 24/7 Glide-on Eye Pencils are my  new favourite pencils ever. Unsurprising, I know.
Once, I was at Sephora and tried some of them. I fell in love with Uzi, a wonderful gunmetal (with a very appropriate name too). They're soft and allow me to do precise, smooth lines as eyeliner. Uzi might seem too glittery, but it's just metallic and it's a perfect day shade. It has cold undertones and it's just fantastic.
The other one is Invasion, a dark forest green, matte and with cold/blue undertones. It's hard to express how I feel finally owning it, not only because I've desired it for months, but because of the story behind it.
Once I was looking at some online swatches of the UD pencils (I think it was on Sparkage's blog) and was struck by certain color combinations and their names. The matte grey of Desperation, the blue-green of Invasion, the weapon-like grey of Uzi... I fell in love with the color scheme, and started writing a story based on it (inspired by the names too). I haven't finished it yet, but the placeholder title for it is Invasion...
(I plan on connecting that shade to one of my character's outfit).
I feel as if simply staring at it and owning it will help me writing my story.

I hope this doesn't sound too weird... for now, happy holidays! And don't forget to tell me f you received some beauty products for Christmas..

Christmas Nail Art

A quick post to show you my Christmas nail art while Trading Places ends... I did the same for the other hand, except I inverted the nail art (red accent). The base is Shaka Emerald, a wonderful festive metallic green. I stamped with my Gals stamping plate some Christmas trees with Pupa 620 and Kiko 628. The Pupa polish stamps nicely, but is not much visible over the dark green, which is a pity. It's still pretty, so who cares? and my fellow nail bloggers have done far more complicated stuff, but with the mince pies to bake and my niece around, well, I didn't have much time... Merry Christmas to everyone!
(I told you this post was quick..)

Mini haul Kiko & China Glaze

Hello everybody, feelin' the Christmas spirit? I hope so because Christmas is very near!
And there is 30% off-on-everything sale at Kiko. Now, could I go there and not buy anything? Of course not. I was extremely tempted by the stick blush, I'd love to try the format, but I'd wait for the after holiday sale. I got the Digital Nail Lacquer in green and a red lipstick. The Latex Like lipstick line is very beautiful, I mostly use matte colors and something shiny will be a nice change. I tried one that could be a "My Lips But Better"... and that's why I didn't buy it. I still don't see the point of something that's the exact same color of my lips. Should I need an office friendly shade I'd go for something wearable but visible.

And in the same shopping mall there's also the shop where i go for all my China Glaze needs, they've the limited editions too and the polish are always on sale. I had There's Snow One Like You in my wishlist and I didn't need to think twice: I can't resist special textured polishes. I also bought another thing that I won't show because I bought the same for a relative, and I don't want spoilers :P

Did you get anything in the Kiko sale? Do you plan to get somehing?

Stamping over Kiko Venom Teal

As I've already told you before, Kiko Venom Teal is a gorgeous, gorgeous polish.
So I've experimented with some stamping on it, and now look at this hot duochrome on duochrome action. The stamping polish is Pupa 001 from the Cosmic Beauty LE. It's truly a beauty, since it stamps really amazing. It was an one coater, so I could guess that, but the results were better than I expected. The contrast with the dark base really makes the design pop out, and under the right angle or/and light, when the pink/violet hues of the Pupa polishes are visible, well, it's magnificent. For me it's one of those nail days when I can't stop staring at my nails!

I should remove it and wear something else, since I won't have time to do my nails again until sunday, but it's too pretty...

Perfect Palette Tag

It took me an insane amount of reflection time to write this, because, to my shocking discovery, I don't even own that many palettes. And videogames are a distraction too, but let's ignore this and focus on the palettes, shall we?

1) Best Packaging
This is genuinely a hard question. I don't have palettes with pretty but practical packaging, so I really don't know how to answer this. Probably the Sleek ones would win on this, since they have room for a brush and a mirror too, despite being small.


2) Best Color Payoff

Neve Cosmetics Duochrome palette. One of the best palettes I've ever tried, the pigmentation of these shades is insanely high.


3) Most Versatile

I was tempted to answer "the Duochrome again!", because, really, you can create dozens of looks with that. However I've chosen this old Kiko palette, Sensuous Burgundy. Ok, it's not that old. The colors are greatly pigmented, especially the brown, and choosing to use, say, the pink instead of the gold on the lid will change you eye look greatly.

4) Best for Traveling

Look at me shamelessly recycling an old pic

Ok, this should be called "best for travelling in summer and spring", due to the colors. Last summer I've been away for a week carrying only a limited amount of makeup, and this was the only palette I had with me. It's not only great because it has a sturdy packaging and offer lots of shades in a small space, but you can create many different looks with this (even some evening looks).

5) Biggest Regret

This little lovely Catrice palette from the Thrilling Me Softly LE was a total regret. Surely, the shades are nice and go very well together. That is, they would if they were pigmented. The matte brown isn't pigmented at all and a wet brush didn't help. The two shimmery shades cause lots of fallout. Catrice, you're disappointing me!


6) Best Color Names

Ehm, the Duochrome by Neve. Again. Anyone who creates a wonderful green/yellow eyeshadow and calls it Acid Rain wins.

7) Least Used

This greatly pigmented, long lasting eyeshadow palette by Pupa would be great, if it weren't for the typical, evening "social life" colors. I don't have a social life that involves partying, night clubs and such, so I can't use it as much as I would. I used it last year in Lucca Comics and it proved itself to be insanely long lasting, my eye makeup was still perfect even when I came back in the evening and gave me that "yeah I might be exhausted but I still look fabulous" feeling.


8) Most Used, Most Loved (aka the one to bring on a desert island)

This little gem is an E.L.F. mini palette called Luxe, paid less than 2 euros and it contains the only eyeshadow where I've actually hit the pan. The highlighter shade is a perfect My Lid But Better, and combined with the brown and the taupe it creates a gorgeous, shimmery-but-not-too-shimmery daily friendly nude-ish look. The dark taupe is an unique shade of which I've never found dupes, if you look at it very closely it has small warm and green hues. Hard to describe, wonderful to use, recommended if you place an E.L.F. order.

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.

Kiko Quick Dry 830

I had no idea this could be so hard to photograph, I swear. It's way blue-ish irl.
Anyway, I didn't have such a great experience with the quick dry line by Kiko, but this one was far better.
I love the big brush, and it applied nicely. It's a beautiful vibrant blue, quite a superhero color!
The application was without problems and, to my surprise, I actually didn't have a blue like this in my stash! (It was a gift from my sister). I don't have much to say about this besides the fact that I'm relived that not all polishes from this line have a bad application. 

Kiko Venom Teal over China Glaze Charmed, I'm Sure

The good thing: the two colors go really well together.
The bad thing: apparently i cannot draw triangles.
The teal ones were supposed to be triangles. I was expecting Venom Teal to be an one-coater and it was not, which kinda complicated things. I purchased it with the 30% off coupon, together with a violet lipstick.
The duochrome effect present in the bottle isn't much visible on the nail, but it's still a magnificent color. For once, they chose a really good name, it's really dark and venom-like, fitting for a Dark Heroine.
I can't wait to try it all over my nails. More of a fall color than a winter one, but in the end who cares, it's awesome. I have a couple of teals, but this is different than any I own.
I was afraid it might be a dupe of the Pupa blue/violet duochrome of the fall LE, but they're actually very different. This is less duochrome-ish (unfortunately) and much more teal-based.
For some weird reason I don't like my nails when they're fully covered by polish...

Rainbow Challenge day 7, Violet Nails: My very first China Glaze polish!

The Rainbow Challenge ends with something really special for me, my first China Glaze. A brand I've always heard wonders of, and never found before. But a few days ago I went to see Hunger Games 2, and in the mall where there's the cinema I found a small shop for everything nail and hair related, with China Glaze polishes. On sale. The day after I came back and bought the polish I had fallen in love with: Charmed, I'm Sure, from the autumn LE.
A wonderful eggplant purple creme, opaque in 2 coats. Great application. The color is super shiny even without topcoat.
I guess I'll be checking that shop more often, should they get the winter collection I want the snow-effect one.

By the way, today it's the last day when you can use the 30% off promo at Kiko, will you get anything? If I had enough money I'll get the textured polishes set, but I'll settle down for less stuff.