Free beauty tips: Teal

Showing posts with label Teal. Show all posts

Vampy Varnish BB Couture Collection: Part I

Above: Napa Valley red, shown in 2 coats. This is a deep violet red or deep burgundy red-toned jelly base with coordinated glitter. No matter how many photos I took, they simply do not do this shade justice. Kim at Overall Beauty believes this is the best-selling one, and I can certainly understand that.

Above & Below: Union Square, shown in just 1 coat! Unbelieveable coverage on this metallic bronze shimmer with what appears to be tiny silvery pink glitter. Below, with a matte top coat.

Below: Mendocino Midnight has a special place in my heart, because I have always been partial to tealish green shades. I used 2 coats on this shade. It looks like a deep evergreen with hints of teal on the nail, and the small glitter reflects an emerald green sparkle in less direct lighting.

As many of you know, the lovely Kelly from Vampy Varnish recently had the opportunity to work with BB Couture in developing her own polish collection. You can read about her experience and see her swatches here. BB Couture polishes have always impressed me with their formula, their color selections, and their range of finishes. Combine that with Kelly's eye for color and style, and I knew these would not disappoint. I purchased mine from Kim at Overall Beauty last week. I happened to be on Twitter when Kim announced one of her fabulous sales...buy one get one free, limit 3 free. I jumped on that opportunity immediately, because it was only available for one day, and ordered the entire collection. This is the perfect trifecta of nail polish...the quality of BB Couture, the unique and beautiful polishes that Kelly designed, and the customer service of Overall Beauty! Congratulations to Kelly for doing such a wonderful job turning the colors in her imagination into such beautiful polishes!

GOSH Polishes: Golden Dragon & Black Passion

Above & Below: GOSH Golden Dragon shown outdoors with no flash. It's very cold and snowing outside, but try as I might to capture the beauty of this one indoors or outdoors, it's true beauty is not coming through in the photos.

Below: Look at the gold in the bottle!

Below: Indoors, using an Ott light.

Below: Black Passion shown indoors, with and without a flash. This is a very deep charcoal shade with fine silver shimmer. This one has silver veining in the bottle.

Oh. My. GOSH! Andrea, one of my followers from Great Britain, sent me my first GOSH polishes last month in an exchange we had arranged. This allowed us both to get some brands that we can't typically get in our own countries. I am thrilled that she chose these, but what I'm not happy about, is that I now want any and all polishes made by this brand! Golden Dragon is unbelievable. It's a cross between turquoise and teal, with beautiful gold veining in the bottle. On the nail, it has almost a duo chrome effect and fine gold shimmer. I have absolutely nothing even remotely close to this in my collection. Black Passion is another stunning shade, although I do have some similar shades. One can never have too many shades of charcoal grey, so I'm happy to have this one also. What I loved about Black Passion was the extreme high gloss finish it has. It really helps to define the silver shimmer. Both of these were nearly opaque in 1 coat, although I did use 2 coats for good measure. I don't know of anywhere to purchase these in the U.S., and their web site seems a bit off to me, because it doesn't even show the prices. Thank you Andrea for choosing these for me. You are an excellent personal shopper!

Posted in GOSH , Shimmer , Silver/Grey , Teal , Turquoise

Quick Post of My Sephora Order

Above & Below: Cargo's Hands of Hope Eye Shadow palette and my 3 samples. This is so big, I was really surprised. The case is about 7" square. The case itself is very pretty, with a gold foil design and a little jewel in the center. It has a magnetic closure.

Below: Urban Decay's Get Baked palette is a great bargain at $18.00, and I love the shades for summer. My first Illamasqua polish, in Muse.

I just received my Sephora order and I love it! I used my $15.00 Beauty Insider discount code...I just couldn't let that go to waste! The Cargo Hands of Hope palette is huge. The shadows are at least the size of a silver dollar and the shades are all just lovely. This palette retails for $29.00, so that's not a bad deal, especially considering how big the product is. I also got Urban Decay's Get Baked palette, which is currently priced at $18.00. These are perfect shadow shades for me in the summer months, and it also came with a 24/7 pencil in Bourbon, and a mini Primer Potion in Sin. Lastly, I received my first Illamasqua, and I chose Muse. I had every intention of getting more Illamasqua polishes, but honestly, none of them really appealed to me all that much. There must be something wrong with me!

Yen from Victoria Nail Supply just sent me an eMail to let me know they just received their shipment of the Color Club Exclusive Japanese glitters I showed you here earlier this week. I don't see them on the site just yet, but they should be up in the next day or two.

Posted in Cargo , Eye Shadow , Illamasqua , Teal , Urban Decay

Sally Hansen's New Complete Salon Swatches

Above & Below: Midnight in NY is a black creme base with very subtle multi-colored microfine glitter. The black is one shade away from black in my opinion, and could be considered the deepest shade of charcoal grey. All of these polishes are shown indoors using 2 coats.

Below: Gray on Gray is a blue gray shade that I would say doesn't lean more toward blue or gray, but rather a true blue gray shade.

Below: A bottle picture comparison alongside Barielle's Slate of Affairs. As you can see, Slate of Affairs is much more blue.

Below: Fairy Teal is a true teal, although it does have a slight 'dusty' look to it in real life.

Below: Bottle comparison picture of Fairy Teal with Misa's Dirty Sexy Money. They are in the same color family, but not all that similar.

Below: Look at the inconsistency in the brush cut on Midnight in NY (L) and Gray on Gray (R). The one on the left is tapered (and has some stray hairs!), while the one on the right is much less tapered and straighter along the end. Quality Control was obviously not involved in the production of these!

I wanted to try out some of the new Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicures I picked up earlier this week (click here for original post), so today I have swatches of Midnight in NY, Gray by Gray, and Fairy Teal to show you. This new line has quite a few shades in it and they retail for about $6.50. I found mine in an end cap display at Walmart. These have the flat stem and tapered brush, much like their Insta-Dri line. I don't dislike the brush/stem structure, but it does take a bit of getting used to. As you'll notice above, the brushes are inconsistent in their cut from bottle to bottle, even though these are all from the same line. My biggest complaint with these, as with the Insta-Dri line, is that it seems to me that the bottle opening should be a little wider. The bottles themselves are also a new shape and are quite heavy and substantial. Otherwise, the polishes all applied nicely in 2 coats, dried quickly, and although they all seemed somewhat thick, the formula caused me no application problems. All in all, I think Sally Hansen's formulas and color range are improving with every new collection.

Posted in Black , Blue , Creme , Glitter , Sally Hansen , Silver/Grey , Teal

CND Teal Sparkle & Urban Oasis

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I just changed my polish, and I thought I'd give you a look at what I changed to. I got CND's Night Factory duo from Trans Design, which has Urban Oasis and Teal Sparkle in it, and I decided to crack into the two of them.

Urban Oasis is a really good teal creme. Though not the most unique shade ever made, it's completely opaque in one thin coat. In the picture, the texture looks weird because it's just the one thin coat over a ridge filler and my left hand was dry by the time I finished the right, but I wanted to show you how saturated the color in this one is.

CND Urban Oasis Nail Polish, One Coat

I added one coat of Teal Sparkle to it, which completely transformed it. This is with top coat.

CND Teal Sparkle Nail Polish over CND Urban Oasis, One Coat Each

That's the update for today, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Posted in CND , Long Nails , nail polish , Teal

Maybelline Poptimistic: Charcoal Cheer & Opti-Mist-Ic

Above & Below: Charcoal Cheer is a beautiful shade of several different shades! I can see blue, teal and grey, depending on the lighting.

Below: Close up of the finish.

Above & Below: Opti-Mist-Ic is very appealing to me, and the gold shimmer makes it even more appealing.

Below: Close-up of the finish.

Today I'm starting in on Maybelline's Winter Trend 2009 Poptimistic collection, but it's 60 degrees and sunny outside, so I've only taken the time to swatch 2 of them. It's been a long time since we've had weather this nice, so I need to get out and do some yard work. I'll hopefully get a chance to swatch the other 4 tomorrow. I found this collection at Rite-Aid a couple of weeks ago and they retail for $4.99 each. They were buy one get one free and I picked up all 6 of them because I thought it was a nice range of colors and finishes. The two I have for today are my favorites from a "bottle look" perspective, but once I actually use the other 4, my opinion could change on that.

Charcoal Cheer is a shimmer (4 are shimmers, 2 are cremes in this collection) and although the name implies that it's a grey shade, it's more of a grayed out dark teal to me. The shimmer is very fine and is basically the same color as the polish, although it is light reflecting and changes colors in various lighting. I used 2 coats and it applied nicely. It does take on a more grey appearance in darker lighting, bit I wouldn't classify it as a true grey shade. I am really at a loss to define the color of this, because I see cadet blue, grey and teal. It reminds me of Creative Nail Design's NFS, only more grey-toned.

Opti-Mist-Ic, also a shimmer, is a lovely shade of pale taupe. I would almost call it a light beige, but it seems to have hints of dove grey in there also, pushing it more toward a taupe shade. The shimmer is very small and fine, but what I love about this one, is that the shimmer is gold. This is a really different shade and the shimmer makes it all the more unique. I ended up going with 3 coats on this one, because there were a few streaks. I'm certain the streaks were caused by the less than perfect brush, however.

Posted in Beige/Khaki , Blue , Maybelline , Shimmer , Silver/Grey , Taupe , Teal

Blue Cross Beauty Pumpkin Polishes

Above & Below: Blue Cross Beauty Pumpkin Polishes. Above is a pretty shade of teal or turquoise green, although it's an odd color for Halloween. I thought it might glow in the dark, but it doesn't. It took 4 coats and the application and formula quality were not good. It dries to a semi-matte finish. Below is 4 coats (on top of 4 coats of the base color!) of the glitter polish.

Below: These don't have names, other than "Pumpkin Nail Enamel" and "Glow-In-The-Dark Nail Enamel".

This is a bit of a "fail" to me, but failures are okay as long as we learn something, right? What I learned is that although Blue Cross Beauty can make some beautiful, quality nail polishes (Liquid Euphoria comes to mind), these are not in that realm. The seasonal Pumpkin Polishes, found at stores such as Rite-Aid, are inexpensive and cute, but don't really impress me otherwise. The colored ones take too many coats (4) and are streaky. The glow in the dark ones do glow, but don't have much of a color payoff. The glitter polishes are difficult to apply, and get an even distribution of the glitter in less than 4 coats. But that's alright, because I only bought them for their "cute" factor!

Posted in Blue Cross Beauty , Creme , Glitter , Teal , Turquoise

Lippmann Collection Don't Tell Mama

Above & Below: Lippmann's Don't Tell Mama, outdoors under cloudy skies. This covered very nicely in 2 coats and I love the shade.

Below: The start of my nail storage revamping project. I'm using this CD storage rack for my untried's and I still have more to add to it. The bottom shelf holds some of my treatments and implements.

Don't Tell Mama is one of Lippmann's new Fall colors and this shade is one of my favorite color groups. It's a blackened emerald green with a hint of teal that dries to a high shine glossy finish in 2 coats. I love the bottle design of these...they're square and heavy, with a little beveled base. The only thing I didn't care for with regard to the bottle design is that I think the handle itself could be a little longer. I have fairly small hands and I felt like I didn't have the best control over it, due to it's short handle. I have no complaints about the polish, as it applied very nicely with a good consistency and dried quickly. The first coat was typical of most polishes, a little streaky, but the second coat concealed everything perfectly. Indoors the color appears to be dark green, but under brighter lighting and outdoors, you can see more of the blue/green tones. Their website describes the color aptly, by saying "mood ring blue/green shimmer". I only have one other Lippmann polish and it is among my untried's, so I'm very pleased with my first experience from this line.

Speaking on untried's, I am trying very hard to get my polishes in some kind of organized order. I picked up a CD stand thinking I could use something like that to store/display them on, but after starting to sort through things earlier this week, I realized that I was only fooling myself thinking this would accommodate everything. So I decided to use that stand for my untried's, and I am filling it up rather quickly. I would venture to say that it now holds about 1/3 of the untried's. Yikes! I'm going to keep working on this task and hopefully have it completed over the next week or two. Are you happy with your storage system for your polishes? I'd be interested in hearing how you categorize and store/display yours.

Posted in Green , Lippmann , Shimmer , Teal

SpaRitual Dreams Becoming Reality

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I have the last of the SpaRitual Imagine collection for you, Dreams Becoming Reality. This one's a really good teal creme, a two coater, with the same good application as the rest. The color isn't too bright, it's just right for a Fall teal.

SpaRitual Dreams Becoming Reality Nail Polish, Two Coats

Dreams Becoming Reality wraps up the Imagine Collection, which I overall like quite a bit. The only thing is that the six colors together seem a bit random, not really like a collection. That's not a huge criticism, all things considered.

That's what I have for you today, Dear Reader. Until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!

Posted in nail polish , SpaRitual , SpaRitual Imagine , Teal

Quirius Paris Night & Sinful Opal Glitter

Above & Below: QRS Paris Night shown in 2 coats. Below pictures show it with Sinful's Opal Glitter as a top coat.

I wanted to remind you that the $3.00 coupon for QRS/Quirius expires today, so if you're thinking about ordering some polishes from this line, now's the time! Their polishes are $3.00 each, but if you order a 'choose your own 6 piece set', the price is just $15.00. Combine that with the coupon, and you're getting 6 polishes for just $2.00 each. Their customer service, shipping and turnaround time is excellent also. You can find the coupon and ordering details over in the right hand column.

Paris Night is a darker shade of dusty teal, which I have a weakness for. In some lighting, it appears to be more of a muted shade of cadet blue. There looks to be the slightest hint of violet shimmer in the bottle, but once applied to the nail it is much more of a creme finish. The shimmer is noticeable in the enlarged pictures, but extremely subtle in actuality. I applied 2 coats and also used a clear top coat, as it tends to dry with a little less shine than I prefer. I then applied a coat of Sinful's Opal Glitter to add a little sparkle. Opal Glitter is a clear to milky jelly polish with small iridescent glitter that reflects a beautiful array of colors. I hope you're all enjoying the Labor Day weekend. My daughter goes back to school tomorrow, which we're both looking forward to!

Posted in Body and Soul Codes , Polishes as Top Coats , Quirius by QRS , Shimmer , Sinful , Teal

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