SHINE, SHIMMER & SPARKLE

Hello!

Swatch and some thoughts on Life Is Rosy from China Glaze's Spring 2013 Collection Avant Garden is available. 

For more photos and thoughts, follow the link below :)

http://kaslovesmakeup.wordpress.com/2013/01/12/qwic-pic-china-glaze-avant-garden-life-is-rosy-nail-lacquer/

Hello :)

Hope you are well! The Holiday 2012 Collections are slowly making their appearance on shelves and it is an exciting time - Holiday collections are my favourite, with all the blockbuster sets, special editions and rich hues. In this entry, I'd like to share with you one of the new nail lacquers from Laura Mercier's Holiday Collection, the Art Deco Muse Collection.

Despite having a huge stash of nail polish in various colours, all I've been wanting for my tips and toes recently are dark, vampy maroons and reds.

And Laura Mercier's Crimson (14ml / SGD$29) is just perfect food for my addiction.

Crimson is a deep oxblood red - it has a great balance of deep red and brown which is the kind of deep vampy shade I enjoy (as opposed to the purple-tinged berries). Crimson is a Limited Edition shade and is one of 3 nail lacquers Laura Mercier has created for the Art Deco Muse Collection - the brand's homage to the architecture, style and mood of the Art Deco period of the 1920s in Paris. The collection features rich shades of golds, blacks and reds. 

All 3 nail lacquers in the collection, including Crimson, are 3-Free and are designed to be chip resistant and long-wearing. The bottle is a simple square design - the top is smooth shiny plastic and despite the shape and size, I did not have difficulty wielding it to paint my nails.

The brush is normal / mid-sized which will be welcomed by nail polish fans who detest larger brushes like OPI's Pro-Wide brush.

The texture of the polish was smooth and creamy - 2 coats was all I needed for full opaque coverage and dries to a rather glossy finish. In the swatches below, I have on one coat of China Glaze Nail Strengthener, 2 coats of Crimson and 1 coat of Seche Vite Quick Dry Top Coat.

The pictures you see below have been taken after 2 days of wear - and I've not been gentle with my hands - I've been packing away things, washing dishes, fixing jewellery hooks and loops and you can see the polish is still in pretty good shape. 

In shade or lower lighting, the deep brownish-maroon hue is what you'll see - like in the first swatch picture. In brighter light, the polish takes on a more vivid oxblood red hue. Crimson looks great for both for a manicure and a pedicure.

The Laura Mercier Nail lacquers will make their appearance soon - likely in it's new full-fledged counter in Tangs Orchard. There are a lot more Holiday sets and exclusive launches so keep a look out for them!

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Thanks for stopping by and have a great week ahead :)

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Disclaimer: Product featured was provided by the brand. All opinions expressed are my own and are unbiased. 

Hello .. hope you are well :)

A little while ago, I popped by Chanel and picked up 2 items from the Blue Illusion de Chanel Collection. The Blue Illusion de Chanel was inspired by Chanel's haute couture show earlier in 2012, which featured 150 variations of blue - the blue palette for eyes and nails is refreshing, contemporary and the deeper shades are this season's take on the traditional smokey hues of blacks and greys.

There was another Illusion d'Ombre in the collection, Destination - a paler silvery blue which I deliberated on, as did I on the Precision Eye Definer in Aérien - I left after deciding I could live without those 2.

I've yet to wear Apparition but I loved how it sparkled and glimmered in my swatch in-store and in the pot (as seen below)

Chanel's Creative Director Peter Phillips describes Apparition as an "intense greyish blue". 

I usually don't wear my Illusion d'Ombres on their own - I prefer using them as a topper for my eyeshadow, for a pop of glimmer and sparkle on the lids or the centre of my lids. So far, my collection of the Illusion d'Ombres include Vision (gold), Graphite (golden-pewter khaki), Fantasme (sparkly silver white), Illusoire (smokey eggplant) and Riviere (pale teal green) .. and now Apparition.

Her World Plus featured some lovely shots of the backstage action of Chanel's 2012 Spring Summer Haute Couture which featured the Blue Illusion de Chanel makeup, of which I share a couple. You can view the rest of the wonderful photos HERE

My favourite photo of the lot!

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When I first saw these photos of Le Vernis in Skyline, I knew I would HAVE to check it out - rather than a frosty polish, it seems to have that ethereal glow about it that makes it so pretty.

I wasn't wrong ...

Skyline is a pale, pearlescent blue, with the slightest touch of silvery periwinkle to it. When you inspect the bottle closely, you can see ribbons of pearly shimmer coursing though it. 

At first, I thought it might be a touch pale and stark - however, I think the pearlescent quality gives it such a beautiful lustre, it looks like pearls on the hands.

I find that it can look a little deeper or a little brighter depending on lighting or the angle (as seen in the shot below) - it is not a shade-shifter but I think the lustrous quality of the polish lends itself to this nuance.

Taken against the greying evening sky - you can see how there are no grey tones in Skyline at all

It is relatively easy to apply but there are some visible brushstrokes which can probably be minimised further with real meticulous application. I found that a coat of Seche Vite made the brushstrokes a little less obvious though.

I don't have any other polish remotely similar to Skyline so I can't make any comparisons. However, The Beauty Look Book, as usual, has an amazingly comprehensive comparison swatch photo in her blog entry HERE - do check it out and you'll see how the luminous Skyline leaps out at you from the nail wheel.

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Thanks for stopping by and hope you have a beautiful week ahead

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Disclaimer: Products purchased with my own money. Official descriptions and photos of the Chanel haute couture show courtesy of Herworldplus.com

Hola!

Working late into the night is always treacherous - I somehow always end up trawling one website or another and then the tired eyes widen with delight when something new and shiny makes its appearance on my laptop screen. This time, it was Essie's latest addition to its Luxe Effects topcoat range, Stroke Of Brilliance.

Stroke Of Brilliance joins 2 other glitter top coats in the Essie Luxe Effects family - A Cut Above (metallic rose-pink glitter) and Set In Stones (metallic silver glitter).

Essie describes Stroke Of Brilliance as "platinum sparks". I would call Stroke Of Brilliance a metallic periwinkle - platinum is usually a "metallic tint of pale grayish white" (according to Wikipedia's colour descriptions). There is a great deal of a metallic purple-blue-gray tinge to the glitter in Stroke Of Brilliance. That said, it does look deeper and brighter, depending on lighting and angles, as you will see later in the swatches.

There are 3 sizes of metallic periwinkle glitter suspended in the clear base - large hexagon-shaped glitter, small hexagon-shaped glitter and a smattering of tiny micro-glitter - all the glitter is the same metallic periwinkle.

As is with the other 2 glitter top coats, A Cut Above and Set In Stones in the Luxe Effects series, the glitter in Stroke Of Brilliance is dense. You really only need one coat for mostly full coverage of the whole nail.

I love how the base is totally clear, allowing the base colour to shine through and complement the metallic glitter beautifully. The glitter also lays flat once applied to the nail - some other glitter polishes tend to curl or stick out of the nail surface despite topcoat which gets annoyingly scratchy.

I first sported this combination for a pedicure and loved it so much, I've now redone it on my fingers. The base is OPI Do You Lilac It - a creamy lilac and I have one coat of Stroke Of Brilliance atop, sealed off with a coat of Seche Vite quick dry top coat. I think Stroke Of Brilliance will complement whites, baby pinks and creamy greys very well too.

You can see, even in natural lighting (no flash), the metallic periwinkle glitter looks deeper or brighter depending on the angle - it has that reflective quality to it, which is what makes it so alluring.

Outdoors with Flash

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Indoors with Flash

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I purchased my bottle of Stroke of Brilliance from Tammy HERE - what I do love about Tammy is how fast she responds to your queries and how fast she mails the polishes out. I had Stroke of Brilliance in my letter box in a matter of 2 days. 

If you loved the first offerings in the Essie Luxe Effects collection, you really should take a look at Stroke Of Brilliance - beautifull mettalic glitter, fabulous coverage and just so pretty.

Thanks for stopping by and have a fab day ahead :)

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Disclaimer: Product featured was purchased with my own money; all opinions are unbiased

Hello :)

If you buy one glitter polish this season, it really must be Make A Spectacle from China Glaze Halloween Collection, Wicked.

I never do this - I never call anything a must-have or must-buy but I think this is one amazingly arresting polish that any glitter polish lover must have in their collection. I think even non-glitter polish lovers will appreciate this.

Make A Spectacle consists of medium-sized flat discs of iridescent glitter that largely flash aqua-blue and golden-orange and some pink; the clear base has a smattering of tiny micro-glitter that flash the same 3 colours. The first thing that crossed my mind when I saw it was iridescent fish scales. I googled that and lo behold, I was right - there is a fish that has a similar golden-orange aqua-blue, pink flash

The Sicydium Punctatum - a variety of the Goby fish in the Caribbean (the Marble Goby is served in Chinese restaurants here by the way - I've eaten it before)

I picked it up at the flea at SCAPE (Dyon International's stall) because it was glistening in the sun. Then I put it back because I thought, hmmm, it looks like something I own already. But it kept glistening and a little voice went "Buy Me Buy Me Buy Me" and so I did.

No regrets.

Depending on the base colour and the way the light hits it, this iridescent glitter topper can look different. After a little experimenting, I found that it looks the best on bright blue - a combination I'm sporting on my feet right now. No feet pics and my fingers are all super short so I've swatched these on a nailwheel. 

All nail swatches are without flash - these were somehow a little difficult to photograph and I had no sun in my balcony today. Flash just makes everything look dark somehow - can't see the gorgeous details at all. I didn't want to adjust the colour so in real life, these are a tad more vibrant.

Note: All swatches are with 2 coats of coloured polish, 1 coat of China Glaze Make A Spectacle and 1 coat of Model's Own Topcoat.

On red and maroon, the glitter in Make A Spectacle flashes more golden orange and green; the aqua blue flash is apparent only in certain angles. It also made Velvet Bow look a little deeper than it actually is.

On white, Make A Spectacle looks lovely and ethereal - it flashes a very subtle pale aqua, lilac and a silvery pink instead, which is more clearly seen in this shot below:

Make A Spectacle looks the best on deeper blues and greens as you can see below

On black and dark navy, the glitter discs in Make A Spectacle behave in a tri-chrome manner - they flash green, gold and aqua depending on the angle the light hits it. 

On green, the glitter is primarily a golden-orange and green-toned flash as you see with the swatch of Bourjois Vert Chlorphylle.

The best effect is on the bright blues - you get this amazing duochrome flash of very bright aqua and gorgeous peachy gold. You can possibly entertain yourself flexing your fingers and toes, I say.

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How do these match up to other iridescent topcoats in my stash? I rummaged through and came up with 3 others to compare to.

I'm not comparing these to any of my flakies polishes like Zoya Maisie because the shape of the glitter is totally different.

To be honest, my heart skipped a beat when I saw China Glaze Snow Globe (Holiday 2011) - it looks like a very close contender in the bottle. But once applied ... totally different.

Anna Sui 012 and DL Stairway To Heaven are much less dense than Make A Spectacle.

Anna Sui 012 has octagon-shaped glitter that flashes a deeper green and orange while DL Stairway To Heaven has square and octagon shaped glitter than flash a deep aqua and iridescent orange.

China Glaze Snowglobe is the closest - unlike Make A Spectacle, it actually has 3 different sizes of glitter: medium, small and micro-glitter. The micro-glitter in Snowglobe is still a little larger than the micro-glitter in Make A Spectacle and it also twinkles an iridescent purple-blue. Both have clear bases.

To be honest, I prefer Make A Spectacle to Snow Globe - it just looks ... nicer.

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Formula-wise, this polish is great - all the above swatches are just ONE COAT. The polish dries rather smooth and flat (unlike some mylar flakies which stick out of the top coat). The thing is that Make A Spectacle tends to dry a little semi-matte so you need topcoat for a more polished finish. 

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It's amazing - I've acquired so many new polishes (some Indie glitter ones even) and I love all of them but Make A Spectacle is really the most alluring of them all. You really have to see it in person ... let it toy with your emotions and play with your mind .. like the siren of a mermaid sitting on a boulder, her mermaid scales glistening .. something like this? 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week ahead!

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Disclaimer: Products featured purchased with my own money.

Hola!

I picked up 2 items from the Chanel Bombay Express Collection and instead of packing them away "safely", I've been happily using both the Routes des Indes de Chanel illuminator and have worn Chanel Diwali.

I knew from the get-go that Chanel Diwali will be a wee bit similar to something I had in my stash. But I wanted it anyway.

One, it is a collection that somewhat pays homage to Indian heritage in a classy, chic way - the luxury of gold, silver, rich tapestrie. Second, it's name - Diwali! I celebrate Diwali (or Deepavali as it's more commonly known here). 

More than the frou-frou reasons for wanting it, I really like the application and finish of Chanel foil polishes. Graphite from the previous Fall collection is gorgeous and I've worn it many times - my Mom always asks me what polish that is! And most recently, I managed to psychobabble Shirleen into getting Graphite also - and from what I understand, she loves it too (she was actually looking at a coral ... ooops!). More recently, I picked up Delight - another pale rosy copper shade which is another striking beauty.

So with Diwali in that same foil texture, I knew I would love it. And I so do.

Diwali is a pale gold foil with threads of silver running through it - you can't quite tell where the gold starts and where the silver ends. It's beautiful enmeshing of both the luxe metals that makes this so special. 

As a bonus, the polish has a generous scattering of tiny silver particles - they are not immediately visible but they do catch the light, giving the polish a little more dimension

Diwali is not overly warm or cool and I think it's a gold that perhaps many can pull of. To be honest, I was a little hesitant to wear it on my short nails (which are currently totally short .. sad) but I think it worked.

The polish is smooth and has a good dry time - it seemed to dry a little faster than some other polishes I own. The swatches you see are with basecoat, 2 coats of polish and 1 coat of Seche Vite.

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Here are the polishes I'm comparing Diwali with - these are the closest I have in my stash. I realise now that I should have added Chanel Gold Fingers in the mix - but that is a totally different gold - sort of 24KT yellow and much much sheerer.

Before I get into the shade nuances of the comparison swatches, I'd just like to point something out. Other reviews have mentioned that Diwali has the tendency to show brush-strokes. I agree - it does show a little bit of brush-strokes if you paint it fast and a little "roughly" as can be seen on the middle swatch of the nail wheel. However, when you paint it with slower, steadier strokes, like I did with my nails in the shots above and the nailwheel swatch of Diwali on the right of the picture, brush strokes are hardly visible. 

Chanel Delight is a total non-contender although it has the same foil finish and tiny micro-sparkles just like Diwali. 

China Glaze Midnight Kiss (Holiday 2010) is another pale gold foil - I thought it was the lightest gold foil I owned but beside Chanel Diwali, it actually is a tad deeper and warmer. Midnight Kiss is a great polish and if you like Chanel Diwali and refuse to spring for it or it's not available, China Glaze Midnight Kiss would be a great alternative (provided you can find it!) 

Deborah Lippmann Believe (reviewed HERE) is the lightest of the lot - DL describes it as a shimmering gold beige with a metallic finish. In comparison to the others, Believe is the coolest in hue and reminds me of a lustrous pearl.

Joey also succumbed to the beauty of Chanel Diwali; click HERE for Joey's thoughts and her comparison swatches

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Despite the closeness in shade to China Glaze Midnight Kiss, I have zero regrets picking Chanel Diwali up. I love the finish and the colour and I really appreciate how 2 coats gets me full opacity. 

I think like Chanel Delight, Chanel Diwali will be one of my no-brainer colours - you know on days where you just stand there staring at the legion of nail polish in the drawer and don't feel like anything? I think that's where Chanel Diwali will rise to the occassion.

This year's manicure for Diwali, the Festival of Lights, has already been decided upon

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Thanks for stopping by and have a good weekend ahead!

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Disclaimer: All products featured were purchased with my own money.

Hi!

I popped by the Dior counter to compare the Croisette Collection's teal eyeliner to a Chanel one and I got totally distracted - and ended up with Dior Vernis in Metallic Silver.

Practically the same shade as one of my favourite "snake print" pearl necklaces, Metallic Silver is one of 5 polishes released in the Anselm Reyle Collection.

I remember Joey posted the collection details sometime back and it was to have launched in May 2012. I can't remember if I saw it back then but it was prominently displayed at the Takashimaya counter this weekend and the BA told me its new and exclusive to Takashimaya.

Truth be told, the blue (Electric Blue) stole my heart but I swore I have similar blues in my stash and passed. Well, I likely have similar shades to Metallic Silver (off the top of my head, OPI Suzi Skies In The Pyrenees Suede seems to be in the same colour family but the finish is totally different) - but Electric Blue is a creme and Metallic Silver is a foil finish. Foil Finishes Finish First. :)

Even in shaded natural light, the ribbons of metallic silver run through the polish so prominently. It's beautiful!

In terms of finish, this Dior polish reminds me very much of the foil finish of the RMK one I love in Shiny Red (reviewed HERE) - Metallic Silver looks like it has a lot of glitter in it but there is virtually zero grit or roughness. It dries to a smooth, sleek finish, made even smoother by topcoat.

Swatches of Metallic Silver are done with base coat. 2 coats of Metallic Silver and 1 coat of Seche Vite

The gunmetal polish has ribbons of silver micro-glitter accentuated by a generous sprinkling of fine aqua micro-glitter in it. It's only visible if you look really closely at the bottle. However, the aqua micro-glitter gives Metallic Silver a little of a blue flash in some lighting, which is nice, like in the shot below.

I love foil finish polishes - I've come to realise that foil finish polishes are more elegant than glitter polishes and they are often conversation starters - RMK Shiny Red gets a LOT of questions and passes the "Distraction Test" with flying colours. (PS: The Distraction Test is when in mid-conversation, someone cuts you off halfway to ask what polish you are wearing)

I love Metallic Silver for the same reason - it's very shiny and sparkly and the shade straddles the dark and bright spectrums. It's not too deep like a black glitter polish and neither is it too light like a silver. I have some ideas for nail art with this too - I'll be sure to post it when I get it done.

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I just hauled me some Chanel over the weekend and now I'm looking forward to seeing the new quints and the nail polish duo from the Dior Golden Jungle Collection. And Guerlain has new blushes out soon.

^$$$^ (see the wings on the $$$?)

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

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Disclaimer: Product featured was purchased with my own money.

Hi!

I popped by the Dior counter to compare the Croisette Collection's teal eyeliner to a Chanel one and I got totally distracted - and ended up with Dior Vernis in Metallic Silver.

Practically the same shade as one of my favourite "snake print" pearl necklaces, Metallic Silver is one of 5 polishes released in the Anselm Reyle Collection.

I remember Joey posted the collection details sometime back and it was to have launched in May 2012. I can't remember if I saw it back then but it was prominently displayed at the Takashimaya counter this weekend and the BA told me its new and exclusive to Takashimaya.

Truth be told, the blue (Electric Blue) stole my heart but I swore I have similar blues in my stash and passed. Well, I likely have similar shades to Metallic Silver (off the top of my head, OPI Suzi Skies In The Pyrenees Suede seems to be in the same colour family but the finish is totally different) - but Electric Blue is a creme and Metallic Silver is a foil finish. Foil Finishes Finish First. :)

Even in shaded natural light, the ribbons of metallic silver run through the polish so prominently. It's beautiful!

In terms of finish, this Dior polish reminds me very much of the foil finish of the RMK one I love in Shiny Red (reviewed HERE) - Metallic Silver looks like it has a lot of glitter in it but there is virtually zero grit or roughness. It dries to a smooth, sleek finish, made even smoother by topcoat.

Swatches of Metallic Silver are done with base coat. 2 coats of Metallic Silver and 1 coat of Seche Vite

The gunmetal polish has ribbons of silver micro-glitter accentuated by a generous sprinkling of fine aqua micro-glitter in it. It's only visible if you look really closely at the bottle. However, the aqua micro-glitter gives Metallic Silver a little of a blue flash in some lighting, which is nice, like in the shot below.

I love foil finish polishes - I've come to realise that foil finish polishes are more elegant than glitter polishes and they are often conversation starters - RMK Shiny Red gets a LOT of questions and passes the "Distraction Test" with flying colours. (PS: The Distraction Test is when in mid-conversation, someone cuts you off halfway to ask what polish you are wearing)

I love Metallic Silver for the same reason - it's very shiny and sparkly and the shade straddles the dark and bright spectrums. It's not too deep like a black glitter polish and neither is it too light like a silver. I have some ideas for nail art with this too - I'll be sure to post it when I get it done.

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I just hauled me some Chanel over the weekend and now I'm looking forward to seeing the new quints and the nail polish duo from the Dior Golden Jungle Collection. And Guerlain has new blushes out soon.

^$$$^ (see the wings on the $$$?)

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

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Disclaimer: Product featured was purchased with my own money.