Essence Sparkle Sand Effect nail polish 163- Hey Nude!

When the OPI Bond Girls collection came out I fell in love with many of its polishes, mainly Pussy Galore and Jinx. So when I found a Kiko polish that was Jinx's dupe, it became mine! (It was Kiko 640).
A dupe of Pussy Galore didn't seem to exist. Until Essence came out with this.
Now, let's be honest, it's not a perfect dupe: Pussy Galore is pinker, Hey Nude is more nude-ish (as you could guess). PG is pearly and has no big glitters, HN does.
However, it's exactly what I wanted: a pink/nude shiny sand effect polish. The glitters are quite big, but it's still an office-friendly shade imho. I love how they reflect the light!
I applied three coats for full coverage. If you want less coats, you might want to use a base, and I wonder how it looks on a pinker base, since it can be quite sheer.
Drying time, as most sand effect polishes, was pretty good.
Side note: if you have very long nails the white part of the nail might still be visible under this polish.

I'm still going to give it an A, well done again, Essence.

Urban Decay Smog nail polish & Essence new products haul

No, I don't have the whole Naked Nail Set... my sister does, but she didn't like this one, so she gave it to me.
A shimmery brown/bronze, very warm. It's almost a duochrome, under the light it shifts from brown to bronze to dark purple. I love this color, but it's not much pigmented, after three coats it still didn't offer the coverage I'd ask for. I think it would be better as a layering polish, since it did just a couple of days without topcoat before chipping. Certainly not a groundbreaking polish, and it would've been great if it had offered the same apocalyptic-proof resistance of, say, the UD pencils.

And now, to the Essence haul!

I have studied the Essence website when the new products were presented, and there were a couple of things I found worth trying. So when the Essence display was updated at Coin, well, I took the chance to test them:
Eye Sorbet in illuminating coconut: I had great hopes for this, but it's a bit too glittery and less whitey than I'd expect. It could make a good cream eyeshadow, but not an highlighter, unless you are going for a Twilight vampire look. I will post swatches as soon as I get back home.
Lashes Go Wild mascara: I can't wait to try this, the wand reminds me of Neve Cosmetics' mascara.
Glow In The Night topcoat:  This is going to be fun.
Sparkly Sand Effect in Hey, Nude! : I'm trying this right now! I've chosen it because it reminded me of an OPI polish. I'll post a review real soon!

Tag: 11 Questions

The lovely Ky of Il Mio Beauty Case mentioned me among the 11 bloggers with less than 200 followers after receiving the Liebster Award. That was really cute of her ^_^! Being tagged, I have to answer to 11 questions:


1· How did your nail obsession start?

Mmmh, I don't remember a single episode, when I was a kid I always asked my sister to paint my nails and had a small collection of drugstore polishes of all colors. I remember struggling for finding a nice green one.
At the uni I started doing more nail art and buying more polishes after seeing an image of an art deco chevron nail art... I wanted to recreate it, and I found myself in the nail polish mania!

  2· More or less, how many nail polish bottles are there in your helmer?

 I think around 100, but I don't dare to count them.

  3· Just nail lacquer, accent manicure or nail art?

It depends, I usually wear plain polish for a day and add details later. Accent manicures are perfect because they don't require much time.


  4· What was the oddest/stupidest comment to your nails?

 ...damn, I don't remember any!

  5· Are you jealous about your bottles?

 Uh, yes. There are some I would lend only to my sister or mom, some others I could lend to people but only if I get one of their polishes as hostage,erhm, to try.

  6· What is your most desired brand (NOT indie) which you would love to find in your perfumery?

 I imagine A England is considered indie, so I'm going for OCC. They did an entire limited edition based on the atmospheres of the Weimar Berlin, how cool is that?!

  7· What do you like less about nail blogging?

 Not managing to take good pics of my nails, haha. When it comes to the nail blogging world in general, I'd say people who post pictures of their nails without even a comment...did you like the color? is it a good polish? we may never know.

  8· What is your favourite nail polish brand?

 Considering  price/quality criteria, I'd say Kiko and Shaka.

  9· What is your all-time-favourite nail lacquer (I know, this is hard)?

How am I even expected to choose? Perhaps Lucky Red by Pupa, but I love them all! *hugs all the bottles*

  10· What is your least favourite nail lacquer?

A glittery apple green by Debby. Too sheer and stains the nails.


  11· What is your least favourite nail polish brand?

I have 3 polishes by B by Limoni and they all suck ( sheer, almost watery, no coverage, endless drying time..) so perhaps that's the brand.


02/10 Edit: Also, I forgot to add the 7 facts about me, so here they are:

1) I always get angry at movies that make no sense, even if they're a pleasure to watch (Pacific Rim, I'm talking to you) especially if they have flaws that could have been easily corrected. Or, worse, when people say "it's just made to entertain, duh". Yeah I know, but I don't see why it can't be nicely done.

2)I don't have the constance to follow tv series anymore. I only watch Castle every saturday on tv, but that's it. I tried the Walking Dead (first season, a bit of the second), Breaking Bad (first 2 episodes), but didn't find them so great.

3) I used to listen mostly to extreme metal when I was a teenager, now I listen to pretty much everything that catches my fancy, from Lady Gaga to new swing.

4) I love making playlists for my moods and for the stories I'm writing, my favourite ones are the Cyberpunk, the Postapocalyptic and the Dieselpunk playlist.

5) I usually play videogames when I paint my nails. Just got killed? Add a coat of polish. Too scary part/don't know how to go on? Add nail art.

6) I have studied many historical eras and figures just for fun...history books can be better than novels.

7) I love salty food more than sweet food. A lot. I used to steal salt from the kitchen cupboard when I was little.

 

Pupa Lasting Color Gel 054 review

By now you all know about Pupa's special offer: become a fan of them on fb and download a coupon to get a Lasting Color Gel polish for just 1 euro. If you invite a friend you can also get a Vamp product for 5 euros, but I wans't interested in that, so I sticked to the polish. I had also received bad reviews of a polish of this line, so I was quite glad of this occasion to get one, since I would've never bought one at full price.

The color is great, a cobalt blue with a hint of indigo: it's like the polish version of Sephora's Azur Blue pencil. The finish is a nice, shiny creme, with a nice glass effect as advertised.
It has a big brush that makes application easier and less streaky (still wasn't very easy, but with a small brush it would have been a mess). I wish Pupa used such a brush in all its polishes.
I don't care about it that much, but keep in mind that it smells badly when you apply it (dried it has no smell).
I've worn it for a day, so I can't tell you much about duration yet.
I can however tell that so far I like it, I'm going to add some nail art soon.

Would I recommend it? Not at full price, the color range is nothing to die for. Otherwise, go for it.

Autumn supplies

It's raining! Looks like autumn finally is here! And I'm taking this chance to show you some new nice things, and celebrate the end of my exams!

I always carry with me a notebook to write ideas for my script and stories, and my old one is more than finished. I am really a pain in the neck when it comes to my personal notebook, I have to "feel" that it's the right one. This one passed the test! At Feltrinelli there's an entire official collection of products (notebooks, planners...) with Alphonse Mucha's prints. This one, the Zodiac, as always been one of my favourite.
The peacock glass bowl comes from Zara Home. I'm using it for my single eyeshadows so far, and it's incredibly beautiful.

Now, to the lipsticks! Artificial light makes the color a bit different, 'm sorry.
The first one is from the Rimmel By Kate line, the shade is 111 The Kiss of Life. It's a classic matte red with cold undertones ( a bit à la Lady Danger). A great color, very exaggerate. Dries the lips a bit.
The second one is actually a dark plum color (thanks flash and artificial light *facepalm*) from Deborah, part of the 24 Hours Power extreme long lasting lipstick series, shade 10.The finish is advertised as demi-matte, but on the lips it seems full matte: it's just a bit more metallic. The positive thing? it dries the lips significantly less. It's also very buildable, so if you're not a bold lipstick person, this could be a good choice, since its intensity varies a lot according to the number of layers.
P.S. Yeah, I'm in a lipstick mood... and I had those two for cheap, the first one for little more than 2 euros thanks to a 5 euro discount coupon and the second one for 3 euro in a Deborah brand store in the sales section.

Rainbow Challenge day 2, Orange nails

And today, orange nails! Kiko 356 is the orange, Pupa 209 the black and 203 Kiko the white. Over them, a cot of Essence's matte top coat.
The inspiration for this is the flag of the fictional land of Cresezia, created by my boyfriend. Plus, I love those colors and the geometry they create. It's simple yet stunning. And I love matte nails, I can't help.

Pupa 620 Lucky Red

Instead of showing you what i bought with the Pupa promotion (my 1 euro polish), or of doing my rainbow challenge organge nails...I'll show you this old polish, from the old China Doll LE.
I was going to do the orange nails, but I had forgotten one of the colors I needed at home.
So I put on my favourite red nail polish evah: Pupa 620 Lucky Red. Excuse the tipwear, I had been wearing this for 3 days, and no topcoat.
Here it seems almost christmas red, but the red is more...neutral irl, not too cold, not too warm. I think it looks great on every skintone. Let's face it, it's a great shade of red, that really is reminiscent of China: you know, those varnished little boxes...the dresses...

This is my femme fatale red,  the most seducing red I own. I still remember the happiness of the moment when I first tried it..