Cirque Awakening and Matte Look Topcoat-- Spring 2015

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Cirque Awakening-- Spring 2015

  There's nothing like a gorgeous new collection from a fabulous and renowned boutique artist to snap a gal out of a nail polish funk, and Cirque Colors' Spring 2015 collection, titled Awakening, did just that for me... and how!  Awakening is a set of five uniquely flecked creme polishes and introduces Cirque's new Matte Look mattifying topcoat, a simply brilliant move on creator Annie's part because these five polishes are just delicious mattified, like semi-precious stones.  Each swatch is shown with two coats of polish and one coat of Matte Look topcoat.

Essie Cashmere Mattes-- Spun In Luxe

  I've not been overly excited about nail polish lately, and have found myself settling happily and comfortably into a rotation of neutrals, reds, berries, and greys.  One of the reasons Essie's Cashmere Matte collection caught my eye is because they are classic, sophisticated colors in a fun and edgy finish.  I'll admit that I initially had four of the set of six pegged as must-haves but when it came down to it, I chose the colors I knew I'd actually wear.  This one is Spun In Luxe.

Essie Cashmere Mattes-- Spun In Luxe

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

Zoya Naturel Satins

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Zoya Naturel Satins

  When Zoya announced a new Naturels collection for winter 2015, and in a brand new Satin finish, I was super stoked at the spills and bottle shots.  The palette is soft and delicate, and the finish looked to be something similar to the Essie Cashmere Mattes (are these ever going to land in stores?!?).  The Naturel Satins (not to be confused with The Satins) left a little to be desired once I actually got them on my nails.

Zoya Matte Velvets

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Zoya Matte Velvets

  Hi friends!!  You've probably heard by now that Zoya has rereleased their highly sought after and limited edition Matte Velvet collection, and they've done it in its entirely.  I've posted my thoughts on my two favorites and the iconic one of the bunch already-- now I get to show you my take on the whole set.

  The Matte Velvets come with matte black lids and in frosted bottles that look cool but obscure the appearance of the polish inside.  They're all nicely pigmented, fairly self leveling, forgiving of nail flaws, and ridiculously easy to apply.  I have a fairly steady hand but my cuticle lines are seldom this neat.  You see two coats of each polish with no cleanup.  Each polish dries to a matte finish that indeed feels velvety soft to the touch.  The colors are rich and packed with their own unique shimmer that mattifies as well, not adding any sparkle but imparting a lot of dimension.

Zoya Harlow-- Matte Velvet Collection

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  Hi everyone!!  Of the six rereleased Zoya Matte Velvets, the most highly anticipated is cult classic Harlow. Last holiday season, Zoya did a special repromote of four of the matte shades and Harlow was left out.  The Faeries that be have done a marvelous job of whetting our collective polish appetites and the inclusion of Harlow in this relaunch has indeed sent many hearts aflutter, and mine along with them.  Being one who missed Harlow the first go around, I couldn't wait to see how it actually panned out.

Zoya Harlow-- Matte Velvet Collection

Zoya Loredana-- Matte Velvet Collection

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  Hi everyone!!  I'm being true to my word and wearing each of the relaunched Zoya Matte Velvets as full manicures (because some polishes are just way too awesome to be merely "swatched").  Posh captured my polish loving heart instantly {HERE}, and then Loredana went and did the same...

Zoya Loredana-- Matte Velvet Collection

Zoya Posh-- Matte Velvet Collection

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  Hi all!!  Back in 2009, when all I did was paint my toes and OPI was everything, Zoya released two limited edition sets of what they call Matte Velvet polishes, totaling six colors.  They quickly became fan favorites and for five years, guys and gals in the know hoarded their precious Matte Velvets in the hope that Zoya might rerelease them as a full set some day.  Well, that some day is now-- the Zoya Faeries that be held out for long enough and the Matte Velvets, all six of them, are once again available for purchasing and wearing pleasure.  Thank you, Faeries!!  Just... THANK YOU.

  So I was sitting around swatching the collection yesterday and I was blown away by the awesomeness of every single one of these, wanting to wear each as a full manicure, and feeling like they each deserve their own post.  I may yet do the former but I won't drag the whole collection out over a series of posts, tempted as I am.  I'm going to indulge in the one that blew me away the most, though, the one I knew I had to come back and post excessive photos of-- not Harlow (I'm saving that one for last, to see if it is worth the hype), but Posh.

Zoya Posh-- Matte Velvet Collection

Zoya Ultra PixieDusts Fall 2014

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Zoya Ultra PixieDusts Fall 2014

  Hello and happy first day of Fall!  The Zoya Ultra PixieDusts are here, gorgeous texture polishes in red, wine, and berry tones, and sporting a brand new formula.  Like the preceding Magical PixieDusts (summer 2014 collection {HERE}), these three are jelly based, sparkling, and packed with glitter, rather than the shimmer of the originals (fall 2013's Dhara and Arabella swatched {HERE}); unlike the Magicals, the Ultras feature tonal, metallic small round and larger hex glitters, giving each a glamorous and amped up monochromatic appearance. The Ultras aren't as chunky as the Magicals; the texture bits seem fewer and finer.  With the exception of Noir, for some reason, the Ultras much easier to remove; pigmentation is better, also, and each of these polishes is beautiful in two coats.

Cult Nails Kiss

  Hi everyone!!  I've oohed and ahhed over Cult Nails polishes on Essie's and Christine's blogs, and just never pulled the trigger because sometimes you know that the last thing you need is to be hooked on another line of polish, lol.  Well, Christine's posts on the Passionate Dreams collection pushed me over the edge.  Kiss, a vampy shade of blue based red that dries to an envelope-pushing wax finish, had to be mine.

Battle of the Matte Red Lippies!!

  Hi everyone!!  One of my new year's resolutions was to start trying a little harder to look put together.  It's been a wonderful thing to feel free enough to show up any and everywhere sans makeup and there's a lot to be said, I think, for feeling comfortable, beautiful, even (though I never really got that far, lol) just as you are.  But, I've felt ready to step it up a little and have some fun with color again.  Besides, I was starting to really miss my red lips.

L'Oreal Hidden Gems

Good morning, guys and gals!  So I admit I was, for the most part, underwhelmed by the L'Oreal Gold Dust texture collection, except for Diamond In The Rough.  Then I found myself back at the display, picking up and really examining the bottles.  I ended up taking home another, Hidden Gems, and I'm not sure how this one escaped me in the first place-- it's so much of what I love most in a dark polish.

Hidden Gems is a blackened teal shimmer, a shade for which I have a tremendous soft spot, with silver hex glitter strewn throughout.  In the bottle, a slight purple shift is visible, but because this dries to a matte finish, the shift doesn't translate onto the nail.  It doesn't matter-- this polish is cool enough without it.

Glam Spam!!

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Hi everyone!!  Glam Polish creator Rachel has been a busy little bee, churning out one amazing set after another.  I've got three polishes to show you all today, two from specialty collections and one core line.

First up is the core line polish, Aquanaut.  Aquanaut is a super fun glitter topper just begging to be made into a jelly sandwich.  I'm showing it over OPI Don't Touch My Tutu and under a thick, clear topcoat to fully demonstrate the complete and utter cuteness of this one, but even with just the clear topcoat, this one still gives the illusion of free floating glitters.  This polish is lavender, fuschia, and satiny silver squares and hexes and large satiny silver stars and butterflies in a clear base.  The stars and butterflies are wonderfully abundant and come out of the bottle with ease.  I used one coat of Aquanaut.

Essie Belugaria-- Holiday 2013 Encrusted Treasures Collection

Hi everyone!  I have what might be the most interesting polish of the year to show you today.

Essie's jumped on the texture bandwagon with a collection of six for the holidays, and these are unlike anything we've seen.  Ommorphia Beauty Bar loves them.  The Polishaholic hates them.  I was drawn to, and picked up, the most polarizing of the six, and also the anchor of the collection, Belugaria.

Belugaria is a black jelly polish packed with clear textured bits and medium sized holographic hexagon glitters.  The black base, combined with the drying action, take away all vestiges of clear and in two coats, this dries matte and thick, with the hexes giving off the appearance of being embedded within.  Its so odd, and completely fascinating.

e.l.f. Matte Lip Color Rich Red

Hi guys and gals!  I got a few comments regarding my red lips on my recent Wantable box review and I've actually had the photos done for a while, it's just taken me a while to get the post up.

It seems drugstore brand e.l.f. has taken the beauty community by storm, thanks to nice products, spare, chic packaging, and a really low price point.  I first learned of this potentially fantastic matte red lip pencil here, via Eating Lipstick.  Target is the only store around me that carries e.l.f., and it's not in a terribly convenient location but when Mommy Does Her Nails and I were out galavanting around a few weeks ago, we ended up at Target and I decided it was time to give this color a go.

The packaging is long, narrow, and satiny and the color on the end is a fair indicator of what the actual color looks like on-- at least, in this case it is.

To wear Rich Red, I prepped my lips as I always do when wearing red-- exfoliate lightly with the edge of a damp washcloth, line and fill in with a clear liner.  Because of the matte factor, I used a tiny bit of EOS lip balm to aid in slip.

 I'm a hunka-hunka burnin' love, behby.

Rich Red is a cool toned blue-red.  As it turns out, this formula glides on quite nicely and behaves all the way around like a matte-creme hybrid, rather than a true matte.  The thin pencil design makes it remarkably easy to apply a precise line (right corner o' the mouth notwithstanding, lol).  Because this isn't a true matte, it doesn't have quite the staying power (still decent, though, to be certain), but it also doesn't dry my lips out as much as, for instance, the true matte red MAC Ruby Woo.  Rich Red is actually a nice, lower maintenance, and lower cost alternative with a nearly identical finish and vibe.

I'm smiling because I'm listening to Rush, and also because I just got back from the salon and my hair looks fabulous.  Believe me when I say it hasn't looked that good since. :/

The only complaint I have about this lip color is the size.  The packaging's quite inefficient for the color itself, which measures about half a centimeter in diameter and about two inches in length.  That's pretty small and makes the great price seem like somewhat less of a bargain.  Even so, it's an affordable, classic, wearable red with a nice formula and a nearly matte finish. 

I bought e.l.f. Matter Lip Color in Rich Red for $3 at Target.

Thank you for reading and have a loverly day!! ♥ 

Butter London Cake-Hole

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Hi friends!!  One of Butter London's Colour Clash collection polishes is Cake-Hole, a reissue that originally debuted last fall as a Macy's exclusive.  I never got around to picking one up, so I was super excited to hear of it being rereleased.  It fits in perfectly with the collection's call to think outside the box for fall and rock those lights and brights into the stormy season.

Cake-Hole.  The color is gorgeous and the name makes me laugh.  It's an almost cartoonish looking not-quite neon pink creme with a rubberized finish.  The bright pink and the satiny finish look are perfect and fun together.  The formula is on the thin side but still a breeze to work with.  I used two coats.  It took everything in me to not slap a topcoat over this my high-gloss loving/perhaps slightly OCD side eventually won out...

Either way, Cake-Hole's a pretty spectacular color. 

Unfortunately, Butter London's website says this one's currently "on holiday", but check your local Ulta and Nordstrom for Cake-Hole, and check butterlondon.com for restocks and the rest of the Colour Clash collection.  Like Butter London on facebook to stay abreadth of specials and new releases.

Thank you for reading and enjoy your Friday!! ♥

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OPI Tiffany Case-- The Bond Girls

Good morning!!  Today's one of those days where I'd prefer to just put these photos up and just be all, "See, PRETTTTTTY!!"  I seriously can't think of a thing to say.  Holy SMOKES, I wish I had some orange juice right now.

Gahh, I still need to segue into the polish.  Hmmmm....

I heart the OPI Bond Girl Liquid Sand polishes, like, a lot.  They got me hook, line, and sinker with this collection.  I don't generally go for the "finish o' the year" polishes, but here I sit with my Bond Girls mini set AND a full size of Tiffany Case (and I'm fairly certain I'll be getting a full size Vesper, too).

Tiffany Case is named for Jill St. John's character in Diamonds Are Forever.

Tiffany Case is a gorgeous robin's egg blue polish.  I love this shade of blue and this is one of those that looks twinklingly magical both in the bottle and going on the nail.  Generously interspersed with the matte mica bits is silver and blue shimmer and some larger blue glitters.  This is the flashiest polish of the collection and I love how it gives my nails a jewel encrusted look.   It also seems to be the roughest, and I will say that is NOT what sends me about this collection.  I love the colors and I love how the texture makes them look, but I'm not wild about the feel.  Tiffany Case applies beautifully in two coats and does take a little extra time to dry since you won't be using a topcoat with it

If I had a big ol' diamond necklace, I totally would have done a shot with it, but I don't even have any fakes so I thought I'd pose with some real ice, lol.   That hand was INCREDIBLY cold, lemme tell ya.

The Bond Girls collection is still available for purchase at Ulta, but they're going fast and certain colors are proving impossible to keep in stock... If you're interested, run, don't walk, lol.

Thanks for reading and have a fantastic day ♥♥
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OPI Pussy Galore-- The Bond Girls

Good morning!!  C's been on an old Bond movie kick, lately.  Maybe bringing home these polishes inspired him, or maybe we're just thinking the same thing again.  Either way, it's been fun putting more than just a face and a name to these iconic Bond girls, even if I don't totally get the franchise itself and have napped through a good portion of each movie.  I dunno, 007 just doesn't do it for me.

Last, but most certainly not least, of my OPI Bond Girls Liquid Sand mini set is Pussy Galore, named for Honor Blackman's character in Goldfinger.

Pussy Galore is a gorgeous, soft, gratuitously girly cotton candy pink with slightly darker mica bits for the texture, and a smattering of fuschia shimmer that refuses to come out and play on camera, even in the sun.  It's got the same airy, whipped quality of Solitaire, and despite the semi-frosty finish that you've seen in some photos, is actually quite matte.  Pussy Galore reminds me of lingerie, of maribou feathers for your nails.  Titilatingly appropriate, no?  I think, if anyone asks what I'm wearing, I'll lead off with "You know the James Bond movie Goldfinger?..."

This polish is a little sheer.  I used three coats here.  The formula is practically-applies-itself amazing, as each of the Liquid Sands I've tried has been.

And finally....

... pussies galore.  They love each other.

Thanks for reading, and have an easy Monday. ♥♥

OPI Solitaire and Vesper-- The Bond Girls

Two of the OPI Bond Girls polishes that immediately jumped out at me when I first started seeing reviews and promos were Vesper and Solitaire.  I decided the opposites would probably look smokin' together.

Here's Solitaire, named for Jane Seymour's character in Live and Let Die, pinky and ring; and Vesper, named for Ursula Andress's character in the 1967 version of Casino Royale and Eva Green's in the 2006 version, middle and index.

 Vesper is awesome.  It's a dark, vampy aubergine base filled with tiny black mica flecks that give off a semi precious gem-like flash as the light hits them.  Think onyx or hematite.  In the demi-matte, deep purple base, the texture gives an effect of raw crystals.  It's the coolest, most unique looking polish, even amongst this textured trend, and I feel safe calling it my favorite of this collection (and possibly one of my favorites this year, so far).  The base is a jelly, and so, fairly sheer; I used three coats here.

 Solitaire is a snow-white polish with an airy, almost whipped finish, filled with tiny white mica bits, tiny silver glitter, and pastel pink and blue shimmer.  Solitaire is beautiful.  C says it looks like the surface of an agate; it reminds me of a wedding dress.

I've always loved the look of white polishes.  The cremes are a pain in the neck to apply, though, and there's something about the starkness that is fun to look at in photos, but hard to pull off in real life.  Solitaire satisfies my want of a clean and elegant, but not stark, look, while being very easy to apply and perfectly opaque in three coats. 

Love!  These two polishes make me hope this textured trend sticks around for more than a couple years.

Thanks for reading, and have an amazing day!! ♥

  

OPI You Don't Know Jacques! + Satinified Accents

Hi and happy Sunday evening :)  I've got a late dinner of butternut squash soup cooking on the stove and C is playing Singstar in the living room.  It's been kind of a bittersweet day at Haus LLPT.  We found out this morning that my 89 year old aunt in the next state passed from congestive heart failure... not a terrible shock, but she was always one of my favorites, and I'm so sad for my dad.  He's the youngest of six and now he's one of three survivors... That is life, though, and it indeed goes on.  C and I spent most the day at his parents' house celebrating his dad's birthday with the rest of the immediate family, grandkids and dogs included, and it was a great visit.  There's something satisfyingly comfortable about being with your parents on their birthdays.  My nails looked kinda cool. ;)

I recently, through my Blogazons group, discovered Vicerimus, a light and lovely blog with gorgeous photos.  You've maybe seen it on my Blogazons roundup posts.  One of Yulia's most recent manis is a warm and beautiful milk chocolate mani done with a Chanel polish and OPI You Don't Know Jacques! suede.  Suede polishes have a totally unique finish and mattifying/satinifying a creme doesn't give the same effect, but I had to give it a shot, anyway.  I used OPI You Don't Know Jacques! all the way through, and accented with Essence Soft Touch Special Effect Topper.

 

 You Don't Know Jacques was my favorite mani color back before I really cared about doing manis.  I thought the dark taupe creme was so original, chic, and edgy.  It's a pretty standard neutral nowadays, but I still think it looks pretty brilliant with dark pink. ;)  I haven't used this color in a while, though, and I was surprised at how thin it is.  It required a little more application care than most OPIs and I needed three coats to be happy with it.  I used one coat of the Essence Soft Touch on my middle and ring fingers.

I felt a little wordy tonight, lol.  So thanks for reading :)

♥