China Glaze - Rose Among Thorns

Hello everyone,
It's been almost a week, and I have once again failed to keep my blog updated, but I am trying my best.

Today I have for you a great summer color, a neon red, I would say, because it is not exactely red, has a bit of fuchsia in it. It is a cream neon, goes on a bit sheer, and the formula is a bit runny, but all in all nothing one can't handle.

I applied two coats, and I still have VNL but I don't mind with this color.

I put on a top coat as usual with this kind of finish.

Hope you like it as much as I do

Clinique - Happy

I'm back, sort of!! Sorry for the lack of posts, I got really caught up with my new job, and lots of other things, addapting to my new schedual, and some small health problems. Anyway, I haven't forgotten about you guys, and I missed posting very much.

I am presenting you today the new Clinique polishes, or not so new for some of you. They came out with an all new range of polishes, very pretty shades, apparently for sensitive skin. Don't know how that works, but I don't care I don't have sensitive skin, and all the colors are pretty girly, and gorgeous. They are having a promo now in Sephora - for each two Clinique polishes that you buy they offer you the base coat free. So obviously I couldn't resist!!

So onto the polish itself, it is a bright coral red cream, and I think this one is the one that attracted me most. The bottles are round, and have nothing written on them, but nothing I mean nothing. You just have a small label on the bottom, where you can see the name and the number, in very small writing. The cap has Clinique written on it.

The brush was not exceptional, not on the base coat, not on the polish. The bristles are not all the same length, and I for one am very bothered by that, I had to cut them with my scissors.

The formula is great, it is opaque in one coat, and goes on pretty smoothly. As for wear I couldn't tell you I just put it on yesterday.

Here is the photo and please let me know if you've tried any, and which one, and what did you think of them?

Sinful Colors - Rose Capri

This is the last one of my Sinful minis. I promise.

It is a bright neon pink, that has a cream finish, so it is shinny, not like neons usually are a bit matte, and you have to add a topcoat to make it shinny. This one is shinny all by itself.

Anyways, the formula is pretty good, just like on the previous two, and it is opaque in two coats. Well I really like this color, I have already gotten a gew compliments on it, and I think I will be wearing it all summer.

Sinful Colors - Sunburnt

Hello, hello!!
I have for you today another one of the three minis I bought in The Lafayette Galeries, last weekend. In case you didn't know these retail here for 3.5€, and the big size retails for 6€ I think.

This is a cream orangy coral, with a great formula, glides on nicely, and is opaque in two coats. It does shrink with seche vite, just like the previous one. I applied some matte top coat from peggy sage on top of it. Hope you like it.

Don't really have much more to say about this, so here come the pictures:

Sinful Colors - Bleu Electrique

Hello everyone!!
I have been seeing this color called endless blue from Sinful Colors on every blog, so I had to have it. In France, Sinful Colors are sold in the Lafayette Galeries. I went in looking for that color, but couldn't find it, in exchange I found this one: Bleu Electrique, don't really know if it's the same color but it sure looks like it. I guess they changed the name to french. Please let me know if I'm wrong.

It is a really electric blue, just like the name says, it is not neon, it's a cream finish, and has a pretty good formula, it was almost opaque in one coat, but I did two.

It did shrink quite a lot at the tips after I applied my top coat - Seche Vite. I will soon be changing it for the Sally Hansen Insta dry, when it is done, because I find it better.

Anyhow here are the photos:

Dior Gris Trianon accent manicure

Hello everyone!
I so forgot to review this one, when I bought it. And I am very sorry for that. But I can still review it now. It was part of Dior Spring Cherie bow collection along with two other pinks that I didn't really love.

This one is a very nice taupy nude, very wearable, but still with an edge to it. It is a cream finish, and for full opacity you need two coats. The formula is great, just like all Diors, it glides on the nail easily, and they last a very long time on the nail with no wear. I am a Dior fan as you all know.

I did an accent nail with Milani's one coat glitter in Silver Dazzle, I love the combo!
I also did a comparison with Essie Chinchilly on the nail, and some other colors in the bottle.

This is the Dior by itself:

The accent nail mani :

This is the bottle comparison:

 The comparison on the nail with Essie Chinchilly is underneath. As you can see in the bottle they look pretty much alike, and on the nail too, but they are not dupes. The Essie is a bit cooler and lighter.

The products that saved my dehydrated skin

I know you are not used to such blog posts. But I have been on a quest recentely, to find a really hydrating product to help with my really thirsty skin.

I think that winter has really affected my skin. Normally applying a hydrating cream in the morning and in the evening, was enough for my skin in winter. I don't know if it is the really prolonged winter or my skin is getting older and changing, but my face and hands became really dehydrated in the last month. I had bits of dry skin all over my face, even under my eyes, and my foundation and concealer clingged to them, and it made it look so cakey, and nasty all in all.

So I started by buying a face cream for dry skin ( I thought it would be more hydrating)- BAD MOVE!! Dehydrated skin is not the same as dry skin. My skin isn't dry, it's combination, so it did nothing, even worsened the situation because on top of my dry patches all over, I had really oily skin by the end of the day. I am curently using that one as hand cream.

I then purchased a hydrating mask from Uriage - this was ok, but it worked for like a minute, and I really had to do it every day on top of my daily routine. And by the end of this month it stopped working.

I went to Barcelona, to visit my friend like two weeks ago, and she had this face cream and it did the trick in the 4 days that I was there, but I can't afford to pay the steep price tag, so I searched other options online. And I came across a forum, in which a lady reccomended a brand I had never heard of before called Qiriness that is sold in Marionnaud. Marionnaud is like Sephora in France.

This is a swiss brand and I saw on the site they had a water wrap for the face and I thought to myself this is exactely what I need!!! It is a bit expensive it costs 60€, but it is 100ml, and Marionnaud is actually having a second product 40% off, so I got the eye contour creme Caresse Regard Futur and the hydrating mask Le wrap d'eau

This is what they look like in real life:

As you can see the packaging is sooo prety, but hey for the price tag I wouldn't expect less. I payed for both products 87€, with 40%ff of the eye cream.

The eye cream has a pump and 15ml, and no smell what so ever.
The face wrap can be used as a mask, or as a night cream. It is pretty thick and creamy, so that's why you can't use it during the day. As a face mask it is supposed to be left on the skin in thick coat for about 10 min. I use it as a night cream, I put on a light layer, and leave it on during the night. In the morning my face feel great.

As you can see from the picture this is a pretty rich cream and the tub is huge. It is 100 ml as opposed to 30ml in a normal face cream. It has a wonderfull subtle cucumber smell, that I loove.

I think I haven't even told you if these worked. Well I am happy to say that in two days all my dry patches went away, and I have found my normal combination skin back to it self.I know these were expensive, but considering the quantities you get, and all the money I put into the previous useless products, I think I was better off buying these from the get go. But who knew about them? So this is why I am writing about these, because they saved my skin.

I am also considering starting to take better care of my skin, and starting the mille feuilles skin care method. I will keep you posted.

Anyways if you are having the same problems as me, and can't seem to find what you need, I firmely recommend these!!

Kiko Sugar Mat 640

Hello hello!!!
Happy to present to you my last choice from the Sugar Mat collection .

This one is a bright orange with a lot of golden shimmer. I really chose only shimmer ones, because they had six others that had no shimmer at all, and I found them a bit boring.

I really wanted the Mariah Carey collection, but I wanted the minis, and I can't seem to find those anywhere. Oh well, better luck next time. I am pretty happy with my Kikos.

So application wise it is the same as the other ones, goes on smoothly, and I needed two coats for full opacity. It is as easy to remove as the other ones, and the formula is great. The only thing is, that since you don't apply top coat, because of the finish obviously, it gets a lot more tip wear than a normal polish.

Here is the photo. Let me know what you think of these. I have already put mine on the blog sale, and they were sold pretty quickly, so I see you kinda like them too.

Blog Sale Update

Hey everyone!!
I added some new nail polishes to my blog sale. Go check it out. The sale conditions are the same.
For any questions you have my email address in the Contact bar!

Salut tout le monde!
J'ai rajouté des vernis à ma vente de vernis. N’hésitez pas à aller jeter un coup d’œil. Les conditions de vente sont les mêmes. Pour toute question vous avez mon adresse mail dans la barre contact!

Salutare tuturor!
Am adaugat oje la vanzarea mea de oje, asa ca nu ezitati, aruncati un ochi. Conditiile de vanzare sunt aceleasi. Pentru orice intrebare ma puteti contacta pe adresa mea de mail de la contact.

 

Ciaté Caviar mini bar review

Hello everyone!!
Sorry for my abcence I was on a small vacation in Barcelona, had to get some sun, since in Paris we haven't seen it for like two months. Had good times, with good friends, and good food. It was lovely!

So I bought this caviar mini bar in Sephora like a month ago but it took me a while to get this review done, cause I had other priorities on the blog list.

This is 22€ in Sephora, and you get 4 polishes and 4 bottles of those little pearls and a funnel I guess to put your pearls back in the bottle once you are done with them.Here is what the box looks like from the outside. I like it I am a sucker for nice packaging.

This is what it contains: 4 nail polishes - from left to right: - Knickerbockerglory, Pom Pom, fit for a queen and Sand Dune and underneath 4 pearl bottles - from left to right - Prom Queen, Jubilee, Hologram, Candyshop.

Aren't the bottles cute with the little bows?? I love them so much. The other two polishes I haven't tried yet, but I will.

How does it work ??? Well you apply your base, then a coat of polish, and the second one, and you can't let this last one dry - at this moment you pour the pearls directly from the bottle onto your nail, and you will see them stick to it. If you have patches that are still empty, just take some pearls on your finger and press them on your nail yourself. After this you press gently all the pearls on the nail, and wrap your tips in top coat. Just the tips because if you wrap everything, it look kind of nasty.

It is not a long lasting mani, mine did not even make it through one day. The beads fall off if they rubb against something. And it is a bit weird and uncomfortable. But it is fun.

For removal just use a cotton pad, and soack you nail for a bit, and then wipe off the nailpolish with the beads. It is a bit messy so do it over something.

Here are the photos:

This is Knickerbockerglory ( What a name!!)

 This one is a Coral creme - application is great and it only took two coats to get it opaque.

This is Pom Pom

 This one is more of an orange coral, but the formula is the same as on the previous one.
I tried them without the beads and it is very longlasting. Love these!

And this is Pom Pom with Jubilee.

I found it looked better in real life than in these pictures, can't really say why.
I kinda like the look, but I think that it is not worth the effort, because it doesn't last for long. Hope you enjoy!

Born Pretty Store articles review

I am back with a review of two articles from Born Pretty Store. I got contacted by them to review some of their products and I accepted right away. It is a big online store that has a rather large nailart section.

I got sent two products:
- water decal stickers (click for the link)
- decorative studs (click for the link)

I am going to start with the water decals. There are 12 in the pack, so I guess 2 back-ups in case you screw one up on each hand, and the designs are varied. As you can see from the link the price is 2$, so very cheap.

Now onto the review - I either did not know how to use these, either these are not of a great quality. And why?? I will tell you:
On the pack it is written to dip them in water, remove the protective sheet, apply to the nail phile de excess and then apply top coat. I was not able to phile the excess before applying topcoat. And once I applied the topcoat, the water decal would shrink and sometimes even disolve.

These are the ones I chose:

 

I must say this was the first time applying water decals for me, so I really don't know if it was my fault, or not, but all in all this is how they turned out :

The spot on my ring finger is where the topcoat disolved the water decal. Sorry for the poor appearance of this mani, but I did my best.

The decorative studs

These come in a small wheel, and in different shapes - 12 shapes to be exact. The wheel is 5$ and has lots of studs inside.

 I really loved these!! It is really easy to use them and you got lots of options for a creative mani.

This is the mani I did using one of the shapes in this wheel:

Shipping is free worldwide and they told me it would take up to 5 weeks, but I got the products pretty fast, like 10 days.

So all in all I would not order the water decals again, but the studs have conquered me, and the free shipping is a clear plus.

They gave me a 10% off reduction code for my readers - for 10% off of Born pretty store use this code  DAJ61 at check out.

KIKO Sugar Mat n°639

Hey guys!!
Today I have another Sugar Mat nailpolish to show you, from Kiko, and it is in n°639. It is a peachy orange, with golden shimmer.

Like all the other nailpolishes from this collection, it dries to that gritty finish, that is so in fashion right now.  It took two coats to get opaque, and it dries pretty quickly.

It is also pretty easy to remove, it's nothing like a glitter, it is more like a shimmer polish, removal wise. So don't be afraid, these are nowhere that painfull to remove as a glitter polish, you will not need to use the aluminium foil method.

I do apply a base coat with these, but no topcoat.

Here are the photos. I have been getting some questions on these, on how they compare to the Liquid Sand from OPI, or pixie dust from Zoya, but I really don't know since I own none of those. But from what I can see, the Kiko seem more opaque.

KIKO 645 Sugar Mat

Hey everyone!!
Today I am showing you another Kiko from the Sugar Mat collection. This is one of the most interesting colors in this collection in my opinion.

It is a brownish color, with bronze shimmer, and I can see some silver shimmer in there too. All in all looks like a dark pink - totally love it!!

It applies smoothly just like the other ones in this collection, it took two coats to get it opaque, and dries to that gritty finish so do not apply top coat if you want that effect. If you don't, you will have to apply two coats of top coat, because this is a very hungry glitter.

Here are the photos:
What do you think? Are you a fan of this trend?
Do you own any of this kind of polishes? If yes which ones?

Clarins - Instant light Natural Lip Perfector

I don't know if you all know this product, but it is well known in the blogosphere. I for one am not a fan of lipglosses, but I love this one. It is the lipgloss for lipgloss haters.
I much prefer lipsticks, or lipbutters, or the crayons, any hard stick shape really. These are currently the only lip glosses I own. Why?? I am going to tell you why.

I got a sample with a magazine one day, and I really loved it, because it is in no way sticky, it is really creamy, like a lip balm, and smells amazing, like vanilla, and even tastes like it. The applicator is fixed on the top of the tube, so no ennoying wand ( I hate wands on lip glosses) and it is a sponge applicator - you squeeze the tube and the product comes out.

In the beginning there were only 3 shades, all very sheer, and I got the pinkish one number 01, after having finished my sample. I almost finished this one.
Now they have come up with 3 more shades, a bit more pigmented, but nothing that stears too much away from the basic line. I got the number 06 which is a brownish color, but no worries on the lips it looks clear.

The price is not that elevated for a high end product. The tube costs here in France 16,5€ at Sephora, and it's got 12ml. I don't find them extremely expensive. I also got mine in the duty free at the airport, where it retailed for 13€. 

So here is the tube - I love the design too, with the gold cap. As you can see the pink one is almost done.

So I think it is pretty obvious, that the pinkish color is number 01, and the brownish one is number 06. As you can see the brown one is a bit more pigmented, but it does not show up on my lips, which I like, it is exactely what I need when I am wearing a strong eye make up.

KIKO Sugar Mat - n°641

Well,well I'm on a roll, can't stop posting.
Today another gem from the sugar mat collection. This one is a more orange toned pink, with gold shimmer, that doesn't show that much on the nail, it gives it just a glowy look that the mattes don't have.

I applied this in two coats, and it is opaque as you can see. This is my favourite so far, although I love them all.

I am not showing you this one with top coat, you get the gist, it's not so impressive, I prefer them without, because even with two coats of topcoat you can still see the bumps, and I don't enjoy that. And after two coats of topcoat, I think there's enough coats of polish on the nail.

 

KIKO Sugar Mat - 642

Ok this is the pink glitter one! And I love it too.
This was also opaque in two coats, and I had the same problem with it, don't know when it's dry, so me being used to my nailpolish being dry after like 5 minutes, I start scratching my head or something, and my nailpolish does that thing when it  pushes back at the edge ( I don't know what I'm saying).

Anyways I took the blue one off yesterday, and it is so easy to take off!! It's not like glitter, it's more like holo when you take these off. So pretty excited about that!

I applied two coats of topcoat on this one two, and it is pretty both ways.

So here it is!  Do you have any? What were your picks?

UPDATE - Kiko Sugar Mat n°644

Wow two days in a row!! Yes I know! I have a bit more time now. I am changing my job, and untill now I was looking for a new one and now I have found it so I have a little more free time.

Today I'm going to show you the new thing in the polish world, the sandy gritty look. The shinny nail polish look is out, and these gritty new nail polishes are the Shit!

Kiko has come out with a new collection composed of 16 polishes - The Sugar Mat collection, all have this kind of finish, 8 are mats, with no sparkle or shimmer, and 8 other are sparkly and shimmery. So obviously I went for the sparkly ones. I bought 6 of them, and I'm going to present them each to you. They retail for 5€ at the kiko stores, and Fashion Polish has a 20% off coupon.

First up is n°644 a blue sparkle, with kind of silvery shimmer. I didn't think I would love these, but I do! It applies easily, just like a normal polish, dries pretty fast, and it is completely opaque in two coats.
 
It is a bit dificult to know when it's dry since you can't apply topcoat if you like the gritty aspect, but basically when it's at its grittiest, it's dry.

So here are the photos:

*UPDATE - I applied two coats of topcoat, and it is still not super leveled - this is a hungry glitter, so it is obviously not made to be covered with topcar.

Oh and if you were wondering if these get caught in your sweaters or other clothes, they don't.

China Glaze - Creative Fantasy

Hello guys!
I am back with a nail polish review. This one is a great one, it was my only pick from the Cirque de Soleil collection.
It is a very dark bright neon purple jelly, I don't know if that makes sense. I have never seen a color like it, and I love it. I think that it is definitely a must have.

It is a bit sheer, it needed 3 coats to get opaque, and the finish is matte, because it's a neon. So it needs a top coat, but once the topcoat is on, it is super glossy, like a normal jelly.

It shrunk a bit with my Seche Vite, and I have only worn it for 2 days, so can't really tell if it chips or not. Hasn't chipped yet.

The camera couldn't quite capture the true color, so this is the photo that was most true to color.

Comparison: Lipstick crayons

Hey everyone!
Sorry for the lack of posts, I've just been very busy. I am trying to change my job, so I've been to interviews, and stuff, and so it takes a lot of my time. And when I do have some free time I choose to spend it on me.

I am back with a little comparison between my favourite make up products of the moment : lipstick crayons. I love these new type of lipsticks, I think they are so practical, don't know why. I am not a lipgloss person, don't like the applicator concept, and I think most of them are too sticky. The only lipgloss I own is Clarins Instant light lip perfector ( don't know why Clarins insists on giving their products such long names).

So I recently ( and by recently I mean two days ago) bought two of the Revlon just bitten balm stains. And know find myself to be the proud owner of 3 kinds of lipstick crayons. I started with the Clinique Chubby sticks, moved on to the Kiko ones don't know how they are called, because all the writing on it has come off, and they were limited edition.

Ok so they are all the same size, and have the same amount of product inside I think. The way they work is the same, you twist the bottom to get more product out. Know on to the differences

Clinique Chubby sticks - are more of a balm, and just that, so the color pay off is not at all interesting, but if you like the kind of sheer lipstick look these are for you. I like them, because I am a fan of sheer lipsticks, but in terms of hydration, I don't see them doing much. The Clarins Instant light is way better. Another thing I don't like about this product is the smell - it smells a bit plastic like. I understand they have a new intense formula - more pigmented, but they haven't released them here yet. The color range is pretty wide. They cost like 18€.

Kiko Lavish lips - this is more of a very glossy lipstick. I really like it, it is more hydrating than the Clinique one. It has no smell at all, so for those who don't like odors in make up products this is perfect. It glides on really smooth, and the color pay off is better than the Clinique one. The color range is not huge. These are really cheap, if you can still find them, I think that it was like 4€.

Revlon just bitten kissable balm stains - these are the most pigmented out of all three, and the colors are buildable. I like the color range, and the wear is definitely the best out of the three. You can eat and the color stays on. The balm is ok, but not super hydrating, it's like the chubby stick, only the pigmentation is way better. They smell like peppermint, which I really like, but for some of you that might not be terrible. These are in the middle price range - 10€, but they had a promo on them in Monoprix and I got 2€ off.

So all in all I really like these, but if you really want only one, I would suggest going for the Revlon ones, if the smell doesn't bother you, or the Kiko ones if it does.

Here are the photos

Revlon - Romantic, Clinique - Super Strawberry, Kiko - Rose nude, Clinique - Voluptuous Violet, Revlon - Rendez vous

What's in my bag

Hey everyone!
I love this tag and always love seeing what's in everyone else's bag, so I thought I'd show you what's in mine.

I just got this nice Longchamp bag in the winter sale for like 45€, so it was a steal! It's this champagne colored classic shape Longchamp, with the signature imprint on it. It is a very simple bag, easy to carry around, and on the inside does not have any compartiments, it's your classic shopping bag.

I love the little details, the horseman on the flap, and the handles are made of leather. All in all, on sale I think this is really worth the investement.

On to the things inside:
- A Moleskin small notebook, for  jotting down stuff. Haven't really used it that much.
- My Coach wallet in pink - I really love it, it is very practical, the zip makes it so much easier to handle than the normal flap ones. This was a present from my father and mother in law for Christmas.
- My Rayban case that holds my Rayban Wayfarers
- A small leather pouch from Gap that holds all my small stuff, so that they don't get lost in my bag
- My Isotoner umbrella because in Paris you never know when it's going to rain, the weather changes a lot. I recently replaced my umbrella because my old one was broken and huge, and really heavy. So I was glad to find this one, it's really the smallest one I could find. And I love the colors on it.

This is what the wallet looks like inside. very practical, has lots of compartiments for your fidelity cards, and other crap.

 So in the little pink pouch I have lipsticks and lipglosses, a mirror, a handcream and my Oyster card. Now you will all wonder what am I doing with an Oyster card I don't live in London. Well I don't but we have some friends that live there, and we visit them like 3 times a year, and travelling by metro in London is cheaper with an Oyster card.

On to smaller stuff
- chewing gum off course
- my car key with the huge dog keychain
- my mp3 player and the headphones
- my house keys with the monkey keychain and cow keychain I got from my husband, and the chip keychain I got from my brother from Vegas ( Yeah I know too many keychains, but I love them)
- my Monoprix reusable bag
- my Nina Ricci pen - a present from my husband

And that's it! Hope you enjoy this post, let me know in the comments what is in your handbag.

Essie Chinchilly & OPI The man with the golden gun

Hey everyone!!
I am so excited about this OPI gold top coat, that I did another mani with it. And it really goes with everything!! I am totally loving this!

This time I applied it on top of Essie Chinchilly which is a great taupe cream. I applied one coat of The man with the golden gun. I just really don't know what to tell you more about this.  It is gorgeous!!