Manicure Monday - Jan 13 2014

I love glitter and wish I could afford more from this brand of nail polish.  This is the same and one of the two Deborah Lippmanns I own. The other one is not a glitter so I don't wear it much at all =/

I used two coats of Deborah Lippmann's Cleopatra in New York and I layered a Wet' N Wild Black Creme nail polish underneath to help with opacity of the polish. As shown in the swatches of my last post, the black base is not very opaque. I guess it helps the glitters show up against the black. 

As you can tell, I suck at this hand modelling business.

How often do you paint your nails?

Favorite Nail Polish Shades for the Winter && Current Manicure

I wear polish all year around, except for exam time. My polish collection consists of approx 80 polishes? I have stopped directly buying polishes. But there are always some colours that I do not own. Today I was be sharing some of the polishes that I will be and have been reaching for during this winter (at least the types of polishes). 

The two main categories are jewel tones & glitters. I love jewel tones, but I never thought of wearing green polish on my nails. Then again, red and green polishes are essential for the christmas season. I am not telling to you wear both colours together, but that is up to you. The purple polish featured was a gift from my boyfriend two or three years ago. He also got me some other colours, but I like this one the best. I think he deeply regrets buying me nail polish.

Going clockwise from the pink glitter.

• Essie's A Cut Above (part of the Luxeffects collection)
• Deborah Lippmann's Cleopatra in New York
• American Apparel's Rouge
• Sally Hansen's Plum Luck in the  Complete Salon Manicure formula
• China Glaze's Exotic Encounters (part of the On Safari Collection in 2012)
• Essie's Set in Stones (part of the Luxeffects collection)

My current nails:

The base colour is OPI's Dulce De Leche (second row, first polish on the right) & a Asian polish layered on top from Nail Colordium (from The Face Shop) (first row, middle polish)

I will try my best to participate in Manicure Mondays in addition to my other posts!

Do you own any of these nail polishes?

Sephora Favorites SuperStars (Beauty Must Haves) - Preview

Hello there,

After watching Glamlifeguru's video on this set, I had to put it on my wishlist. I picked it up when I went to Portland. As a Canadian, things for overpriced for not a very good reason. This set retails for $75 USD but $89 CAD.

How I convinced myself to buy this set :

• I don't own any bronzers
• Eye creams are really expensive (in this case the eye cream is worth 37.50 !)
• I like liquid eyeliners and I would love to try more brands
• BB Cream appeared to be in the right shade for my skin tone
• Early Christmas present?

The set comes with 13 items (the too-faced product comes with 2 items) which means each item costs only $5.76. (75/13=5.76)

BEAUTY MUST HAVES - Sephora's top selling beauty essentials: From makeup to nail polish to fragance, this exclusive 12-piece beauty kit contains our must haves (including nine full-size products).

Price of the 9 Full Sized Products: ( in Canadian Prices)

Deborah Lippmann nail polish in Cleopatra in New York - 22
Josie Maran 100 percent Pure Argan Oil - 18
NARS Lipstick in Dolce Vita - 30
Origins GinZing Refreshing Eye Cream to Brighten and Depuff - 37.50
Smashbox Camera Ready BB Cream in Light - 50
Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner - 26
Too Faced Better Than False Lashes Nylon Lash Extension System - 46
Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Sin & Mushroom - 22
VIKTOR & ROLF Flowerbomb Rollerball - 30

I actually do not have the NARS Lipstick. I have extremely dry lips and I can't wear any coloured lip products except lipbalm. I decided to give it to my friend already :)

My thoughts on the items I have actually used:

Deborah Lippmann nail polish in Cleopatra in New York
This is the first Deborah Lippmann glitter polish that I have used. It is not a combo that I would pick up. I am much more interested in Strong & 99 Luftballons type glitters.

99 Luftballons | Cleopatra in New York | Stronger 

Smashbox Camera Ready BB Cream in Light
I don't have swatches for this BB Cream but it is too dark for my skin tone. I like that it contains SPF so I will be mixing it my other BB creams.

VIKTOR & ROLF Flowerbomb Rollerball
I have heard about this fragrance from many YouTubers, but I never got a chance to smell this scent. It's difficult to love a scent based on someone's description. My verdict is I prefer my Chloe and my boyfriend doesn't like it.

I may include more information once I get a chance to use these products :)

The entire set displayed at Sephora

I hope that this helped you to make your mind on this set. I am drugstore makeup user. Sephora is too expensive for me, but I couldn't pass up this deal. I forsee myself purchasing the 2014 SuperStars set.

Happy Shopping !

Glitter Polish Removal Method && Current Nail Polish

Hello there!

As much as I love glitter nail polishes, I hate the removal process. Tbh, I hate everything to do with nail polish removal :) 

I've seen countless number of videos and tutorials on nail polish removal with aluminum foil, but I thought that there has to be someone out there that don't know about this method. I hope that this is helpful.

I had tried to remove the polish through the regular method. But as you can see, only the black polish and the tint on the glitter was removed. Btw, I am wearing Cleopatra in New York by Deborah Lippmann over a black polish. I recommend that you use a nail polish remover with acetone. I used to use acetone-free remover but it was too ineffective. You will also need 10 pieces of aluminum foil and 10 pieces of cotton. They can be cotton balls or pads, but remember that you need slightly larger pieces for your thumbs.

Next soak the cotton in remover and place it on your nail and then secure the piece of cotton with the aluminum foil. I would suggest to cover your thumb last and do one hand at a time if you are not in a hurry. I was using my computer so I wanted one free hand to scroll my mouse. 

Leave the cotton on for approximately five minutes and you will end up with stained nails like mine! (I hope not.) 

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I don't know about you but my nails cannot stand to be polish free. They are simply too weak and they break too easily. If I am short on time I will still put on base coat. In response to autumn, I've decided to wear some darker colours. 

This lovely forest green is China Glaze's Exotic Encounters. I received this colour last year in some beauty subscription box. I don't have any colour similar to this, but I love this colour for the fall and winter. I decided to make use of my glitters and include them to spruce up my nail polish. 

Base Coat : Pro Fx Protein Enriched Base Coat and Revitalizer from Walmart

Top Coat: Seche Vite Quick Dry Top Coat from Winners 

Glitters : eBay

What colour are your nails this week?