Black and white

I was in a "argh, I don't know what to wear on my nails" moment yesterday, and since I couldn't decide on the color, I went for black and white!
I hadn't worn Shaka Sugary White for a while and had forgotten how cute (and how sheer) it was. A really lovely polish, very shimmery. Under sunlight you can catch its actually very colorful shimmer.
I added Maybelline Color Show Polka Dots in Chalk Dust over it. A bit of a salt and pepper effect perhaps, but still cute. And it's always nice to use polishes that had been neglected for a while.

Tag: The Lip Product Addict

I took this from Drama, I haven't posted anything for a while so I decided to give you something about my lip products..

Favorite Balm/Treatment

As a night treatment, I sometimes use Neve Cosmetic's Lip Nectar (not pictured here), but the lime flavored Baby Lips is what I usually keep in my bag. It's not perfect as the overseas bloggers depicted it, but it's not that bad either, plus, I love the smell and the packaging is super cute.

Best Eye-Catching Red

I haven't worn a red in quite some time, but Catrice's It's a Matt World is the one that looks best on me. It's matte but not lip drying at all, and looks stunning.

Best Luxury / Best Drugstore (And Best Mac Lipstick)

My best luxury... is also my best Mac, since I don't have any other Mac lipstick, and it's the luxury-est one I own. It's Rebel, and it's definitely worth the price. Stays all day, eve after meals, looks fantastic on me, doesn't dry lips at all. I love berry/violet lipsticks and this one is probably the best one in the world.

For the same reason, I included as drugstore product a Maybelline liptint with a great scent and great color payoff. The other liptint is Catrice's Megan Fuchsia, another recommended product. The color may seem excessively flashy, but it's actually an office-friendly shade.

Most Disappointing

Nothing! No real disappointments in my lip purchases.

Liner Yay/Nay

I don't usually use a lipliner (except when I wear a black lipstick), but the Perfettina transparent/white lip pencil is useful if I want a flawless look. The two Neve Cosmetics Lip Pencils you see, well, I use them alone as lipsticks. They're pigmented and not too much lip drying, but it's better to prime and scrub the lips because they'll highlight any little flaw.

Best Gloss

I have no doubt that this is the best lipgloss on the planet. It's the lovechild of a lipstick and a lipgloss, and it's INSANELY pigmented. Like, capslock-worthy pigmented. More than certain lipsticks. See that wonderful shade of violet (called Underworld Amethyst)? Well, this is exactly what will appear on your lips. A lot of violet lip products turn pink or pink-ish on my lips, this doesn't. I can't recommend it enough.

Something Extra

Kiko's black lipstick and Shaka's matte white lipstick. I am really upset by the fact that they aren't the norm as nude and red lipsticks are, because they can be quite great. Plus, the black lipstick looks fantastic with my hair, and it very pretty. Those colors don't have to be weird or goth, they can be worn with class, depending on the rest of the makeup and the outfit.

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-

My Top 5 "It's exam time!" products.

No, it's not one of the Top 5 launched by Drama, but since it's still exam time for me (I have one on thursday) I decided to share with you which products I use on an exam day. While with written exams really nobody cares how you look like, I wouldn't wear bright red lipstick to an oral exam.
The "proper" factor matters only in a certain way, if the professor is a female she really wouldn't care even about red lipstick or dark smokey eyes. My point in exam make up is that it should be long lasting and smudge-proof, so you can wait and sweat and get caught by anxiety in the hours before your turn in the corridor next to the professor's office.

I didn't include the primer and the setting powder because I always wear them and they're always the same whatever makeup I wear (The primer is the one by Essence and the powder is E.L.F.'s Complexion Perfection).

Foundation: Maybelline Fit Me! foundation in 105. As I've already written, it's the foundation closer to my skin tone I've ever found. Still a bit too yellowish, but it's hard to notice. A good base always gets me in a good mode.

Blush: from the old Kiko Colours in the World LE, Marine Coral 100 is probably my favourite blush ever. Easily blendable, has a natural effect, smells very nicely. And it's insanely long lasting, despite touching my face a lot it's always still there when I come back home.

Eyeliner: Concrete Minerals matte eyeshadow in Bulletproof. Someone might argue that a blue eyeliner isn't that sober and classy. Let them say whatever they want, because this beauty is an essential part of my routine: it's incredibly beautiful and longlasting, it sets like a tattoo and doesn't smudge. I also think this color looks extremely good on me, and feeling confident is important.

Mascara: here I show you Essence's Get Big Lashes, but it really doesn't matter which mascara, as long as it's a mascara. I haven't found my holy grail of mascaras yet and I still like trying new ones, so it wouldn't probably matter if I did.

Lipgloss: Essence Marble Mania lipgloss 4. A cold toned lipgloss that compliments my lips nicely and has a soft effect. When it fades away it still leaves a berry stain on my lips that looks quite natural and even.
It doesn't belong to the old LE with the same name, it was released alone (with other colors) only abroad according to the Essence website but I still managed to find it in Italy (!).


Tell me, fellow university students, what are your exam makeup secrets?

Black and white glitter over mint green

Base: E.L.F. Mint Cream. Top Coats: Maybelline Polka Dots 197 Chalk Dust, Essence Matte Top Coat.

I have rediscovered the pleasure of glitter toppers. Especially if mattified. Due to the hex shape of the glitters if I look closely at my nails I feel like I'm watching some molecule or chemical component through a microscope.
Anyway I just wanted to test my other Maybelline Polka Dots polish, the on with black and white glitter on a clear base. I can see myself using it quite a lot, it's very versatile. Good drying time, and the brush catches lots of glitter (this is one coat of glitter). The E.L.F. polish is quite old, but I love the color so I haven't thrown it away yet. And now that I look at it it's the exact same color of my toothpaste.
Well I am getting very random, must be the tiredness... anyway let me know what you think, do you use glitter toppers a lot? Do you wear pastels in fall/winter too?

Rainbow Challenge day 5, Blue Nails

I had almost lost all hope to find those Maybelline Polka Dots polishes, so when I found them in a Limoni store I got the black and white one and this one, 196 Shooting Stars. It's basically black and white hex-shaped glitter (in different sizes) in a blue base. It doesn't need a blue base to stand out, but it would surely look better with a topcoat.
I can only do simple decors, so I did an accent nail using Kiko 294 as base. With a blue base everything looks, well, blue-er (wow, a top description) while 196SS alone has some greenish undertones. It reminds me of the sea.
It's a polish I definitely recommend. I used three coats and it dried perfectly in a short time... It's one of those polishes that don't require many attentions but create a very interesting effect.

A small announcement & getting ready for Lucca Comics

I had a couple of mani ideas for this week. However, they won a ticket to the "To Do Land", because I have injured my right hand's thumb. It sounds less heroic when you learn I got this wide, annoying painful cut while washing the dishes. I took a cracked glass from the water, it broke, and now I'm here with a C-shaped cut covered in hospital bandages and the inability to use my right hand for two weeks. Well, i can use my other fingers but not too much, and try grabbing things without your thumb. It's still quite painful, but hey, I can still apply nail polish. More complex nail art experiments are impossible for me now.
This is why you'll mostly see swatches of polishes in the next weeks.

The good news is, I'm definitely going to Lucca Comics! And for the first time, I'll bring a cosplay. I'll be Alyx Vance from the videogame Half-Life 2. She wears no make up in the game, even if in some stills it seems she's wearing black eye pencil, I doubt she'd be wearing anything, since the game is set in a dystopian post-apocalyptic world. I will go for a no-makeup look.

The Maybelline Fit Me foundation is the best foundation in the world, everyone else go home. I use the lightes shade, 105, and it's just perfect. I apply it only with my fingers, and it sets in perfectly, lasts all day and is just the right shade for me. You know those people that make you wonder under how many cm of foundation is their face buried? Well, you only need a thing layer of this to have a nice, even skin color. I rarely even use concealer anymore.If I need it, I brought the Essence eye primer, you know, just in case (it's quite a good concealer).
The Complexion Perfection by E.L.F. is, as you can guess from the hole, a product I've used a lot. Even if it didn't have such an awesome name (it's like a videogame weapon name), it would be a great setting powder.
The Essence Lashes go Wild mascara is pretty good, it really gives me long and impressive lashes, which is why I'm still not certain wheter I'll use it or not.
The character I cosplay has darker hair than me, so I'll have to get darker eyebrows as well. This Max Factor eyebrow pencil will do the trick, even if it's not too dark.
But what about the Neve Cosmetics lip nectar and the single eyeshadow in Watermelon? Their moment of glory has come. I'll mix them in a small Essence jar and use the final product...as hair mascara.
Alyx Vance has red strands of hair, and this will do the trick. I've already tried and it works perfectly!


And that is all for now! I'm leaving for Lucca Comics & Games on thursday, and won't be able to post anything until monday (probably). Have a nice Halloween and/or a nice weekend!