Milani Moisture Matte Lipstick-- Matte Confident

  It's really hard for me to turn down a matte red lipstick, especially one by a brand as fabulous as Milani.  I've yet to meet a Milani product I didn't like and their lipsticks are particularly stunning.

  The new Moisture Matte spring 2015 lipstick collection is a set of eight matte finish shades.  There's a nice cross section of nudes and pinks, a fuschia, purple and orange, but only one bona fide red.  I found this rather odd, and initially disappointing, because it's a dark, dramatic ruby shade, cool and remote, not so easily accessible.  I would have, given the option, gone for a truer, more classic shade, but curiosity and the always fantastic price point ($5.99 retail) got the better of me.

Matte Confident-- Milani Moisture Mattes

LLPT's Best Beauty of 2014!

  

LLPT's Best Beauty of 2014

  Well, C's and my Christmas vacation is drawing to a close and before we both head off to work tomorrow morning, we will have devoured three boxes of chocolates in four days.  I'll get back on the workout bandwagon tomorrow, as well, but in the meantime, I'll just savor a breakfast (now lunch, lol) truffle or two.and tell you all about my favorite beauty products of 2014, both new launches and products I just discovered this year.

June Favorites!!

*contains press sample(s)

  

  Hi everyone!!  I just started an instagram challenge for the month of July, and the first task was to post our June favorites, and I decided to do a full blog spot on them, since I haven't done that for a while (welcome to my stream of consciousness).

  I've really been having fun playing around with accessories and I found myself drawn to chunky necklaces and menswear inspired watches.

Quick & Dirty Milani Bella Blue Lipstick Review

  Hi friends!!  For as long as I remember, I've been much more a lipstick gal than an eyeshadow one, and I can only trace this to my mom, whose lipstick stash rivals my own (and may exceed at this point).  Unlike her, though, I have this propensity towards blue lipstick.  You won't likely catch me running around in public with blue eyeshadow, but on the lips, it's a whole different story, and one that I can't explain.

  The last time I recall a mainstream brand releasing a blue lippy was L'Oreal in the mid to late '90s with Blue Mood.  I don't remember much about it except that it didn't translate on the lip like I'd hoped it would, like it wasn't blue enough, so I got rid of it.  I think about it often, lol.  When I saw the first press releases for Milani's limited edition summer collection, Bella Blue, and that it included a blue lipstick, I got all excited and couldn't wait to get my hands on one.

Milani Bella Blue lipstick

Milani Spring Lips & Tips

  

  Hi friends!!  Do you ever feel like there are some brands that absolutely would not show up on your radar, were it not for beauty blogs?  Milani is one of those for me, despite its fairly prolific drugstore status.  I've used a couple of their core nail polishes and I adore their holos from a couple summers ago but I've never really delved into their full lineup.  My friend Dani of From Polish, With Love convinced me that I need some of Milani's Spring 2014 polish collection in my life (check out her full collection review HERE; it's seriously THE prettiest set of the season).  I decided I'd try out one of their highly regarded blogger-darling lipsticks, too.

Milani 3D Holographic Hi-Res + Hi-Tech

Good morning!!  The other night I came off a not very fun day at work to Christmas in July!!  First, the deerstalker cap C ordered me for fall arrived (IG photo in my little slideshow on the right, if you haven't already seen it) and I received awesome surprise nail mail from the lovely Melissa of  Lacquer Reverie.  I'd mentioned at one point that I hadn't even seen the Milani holos in my area so she went and tracked down the whole collection for my holo-loving heart ♥♥♥ Naturally, I had to try a couple of those babies on, like, immediately.

This is Hi-Res, a grape jelly holo.

This is Hi-Tech, a light, bright yellow-green holo.

 

There's something different about these holos and it's very cool.  They don't appear to be done with spectraflair; it's more like a fine glitter and holo flake mix... there seem to be some irregularly shaped holo bits in these. The consistency is fairly thin, being unaltered by spectraflair.  Application is elementary and these can be worn as easily as any non-holo polish.  They're very obviously scattered, but with a very faint linear effect and instead of the rainbow where the line begins, it's kind of a glowy, fiery golden orange thing.  These also look amazing under artificial, indirect light and shade.  So many holos are merely acceptably pretty out of direct sunlight, but these are jelly-like and twinkly, making them ideal for those dark winter days when you've got a hankering for some holo.  They're festive.

I'm so excited to have these beauties in my collection and I'm so thankful to Melissa for sending them to me.  Good friends are more remarkable and brilliant than the most fiery rainbow ;)

Thanks for reading and have a lovely day!! 

Milani Orchidia

Good morning!!  It's C's and my eighth anniversary today, so to commemorate, I decided to wear a polish that remotely has something to do with our wedding, lol.  Our main flowers were white orchids, Japhets and Dendrobiums, if you know your varietals.  An orchid was one of the first flowers he ever gave to me (for one year together, if my memory serves me).  

But enough nostalgia.  Orchids are cool.  They mean something to us.  This polish is from Milani's spring line last year.  It's called Orchidia, and it truly is the most perfect shade of orchid flower purple.

 

Orchidia is a medium-bright, warm toned purple with pink, blue, and silver shimmers that give it a cool amount of depth.  It's super easy to apply, dries quickly, and is opaque in two coats.

Here's a shot with the perfume we chose for me to wear on the day in question, lol-- Dior Pure Poison.  If you haven't sniffed it, it's a cold, clean musk and jasmine scent.  Yes, it still smells as good today ;)

And a parting shot of us dancing.  The photographer was a pain in the neck from start to finish, but our photos are fabulous.  This is one of my favorites.

Thank you for reading, and have a beautiful day! ♥♥

BadAss Polish America's Team

Hello!!  Today I've got the second of BadAss Polish's football themed glitters on.  This one is America's Team, named for-- who else?-- the Dallas Cowboys.  

America's Team is a very cool polish-- it's got small and medium sized silver glitters and large blue stars packed into a clear base, so very DCC (Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, fyi, which I may or may not know more about than the actual team...).  It's super sparkly and the stars, which I just love, are not as difficult to apply as other large glitter polishes I've worn.  They do have to be placed, for the most part, but I did not have to work to get a few onto my brush.  This might be because of how plentiful they are in this polish, or it might be because the BadAss base is thinner and less gloppy than other brands.  Either way, this is an awesome glitter and a great choice if you're looking for something festive and versatile.  I wore one coat over Milani White on the Spot and NARS Storm Bird, in trying to keep with the spirit of the glitter.

BadAss Polish is available for sale here and you can also like them on facebook.

Thanks for reading, and have a happy Saint Nicholas Day! ;)

This item was sent for review.

  

French Fun With Essence Toppers

Good morning!!  I'm almost done with Gosia's ABC challenge with the letter Y.  I seriously had a legitimate Y named polish, but creativity got the better of me, oddly, (yes, this is creative for me at this point) so I decided to do a French mani copying this lovely look from Mommy Does Her Nails.  It was this post from Kirsten at Geeky Owl that reminded me to get on the ball and try this.

Oh, Y.  Y is for Y not, lol, as in Y not play around and do something different?  I've never done a classic French before, and it kind of took me back to my acrylic wearing days.  I do think it looks best on real, well groomed nails.  Here's my attempt.

I used Milani White On the Spot for my tips.  The flakie is Essence Special Effect Topper in Night in Vegas, and I satinified the whole thing with Essence Special Effect Topper in Soft Touch (a couple steps above full on matte).  I'm pretty sure I need that French dip tip kit Candice featured; her tips turned out sooo much cleaner than my freehand ones.  All in all, I'm pretty happy with my results and I'm excited to wear this one to work today. <3

Thanks for reading, friends, and if you haven't entered my reader appreciation giveaway, you've got a day and a half to do so, if you'd like.  Go to the top of my page and click on the picture of the Butter London polishes.

Milani Red + Ulta Red Carpet Red

Good morning!!  This is the without a doubt the least creative I've been with a name in Gosia's ABC challenge.  For the letters R and S I made a Red  Sandwich.  Lots o' thought went into that one.  But, I'm stoked about having done my first glitter sandwich, and while I prefer my reds straight up and creamy, this does look pretty freakin' rad. ;)  

In case you're wondering, a jelly/glitter sandwich is a technique in which you layer a glitter polish between two or more coats of a sheer, or jelly, polish, allowing the glitter to peek through at less intensity.  The result is a nifty, suspended in plasma effect.  It's super easy and really fun to look at.  It's fun to take pictures of, too... I can't seem to narrow it down from four... You have been warned!!

I used one coat of Ulta Red Carpet Red, a really lovely blue red jelly, one coat of Milani Jewel FX in Red, a simple, red hex glitter, another coat of Red Carpet Red, and a topcoat, which in no way detracts from the squishy feel of this. 

Needle Marble #1

Good morning!!  It's a new week in Gosia's ABC challenge, and not only am I knocking out all of this week's letters in one mani, but... brace yourselves... I'm doing art.  If you've been reading for a while, you know that I'm not a fan of it on myself but that I've made a couple weak attempts.  As in life, I appreciate the abstract forms.  Some of my favorite techniques are those that create marble effects.  Water marbling is gorgeous but requires more time, materials, and effort than I'm interested in putting in at this point.  Needle marbling, however, is something I've felt early on I could get on board with.  This tutorial at Liquid Jelly helped make my first go at it fun and simple.  Here's what I did.

I'm pretty stoked at the turnout.  I used Milani White On The Spot as my base, Sinful Colors Dream On for the purple, and SC Summer Peach for the orange.  Per the tutorial, I used two coats of white, let them dry fully, then added a third coat and a generous drop of the accent color, and went to work with the needle.  You need to do one finger at a time and work quickly.  The results are pretty neat looking, and I will be using this method again (hence the #1 in today's title, lol).  

So how does this fit in with the challenge?  The letters o' the week are MNOP, so I've got a Needle Marble in Neon Orange and Purple. :)

Thanks for reading!! :)

A White-Hot Holo

... sort of, lol.  After seeing this post on Chloe's Nails back in March, I've been really excited to try creating a white holo look, myself.  So, that's what I did for H day in Gosia's ABC challenge.  I used two coats of Milani Fast Dry in White on the Spot, and one coat of SH Nail Prisms Diamond, as the original poster did.  Here's how mine turned out.

It's okay.  It's not overly holo-y.  From some angles I think it looks really cool, then from others I think it looks like I put a streaky coat of weak silver glitter over white and called it good. lol. 

A couple observations-- first, this white is ridiculously easy to apply, but you do need to work fast.  If anyone's looking for a new white creme, I highly suggest this one.  You can almost get away with one coat.  Second, Diamond clearly comes in at least two formulas, and the other one is stronger and more linear.  Maybe my silver Layla would work better.