Hard Candy Nail Polish in Crush on Amethyst, Crush on Caribbean, Crush on Lava, Piece of Papaya, Crush on Tin - Photos, Review, Swatches

As soon as I set eyes on the new Hard Candy nail polishes, I knew they were bad news... for my wallet! D: Luckily they made my hands VERY happy, which is how I justified purchasing a dozen or so ;) Anyway, here is the first part of my haul. I'm pretty thrilled with these!

Crush on Amethyst, a brilliant medium purple with complex (and stunning!) gold accents -

Crush on Caribbean, a shimmering turquoise blue. Again, more beautiful and complex than my photos can show -

Crush on Lava. Gah, you know how people describe things as having the color and gradient of beetle wings? This really, really does resemble that, and it's gorgeous. Crush on Lava is a violet red that shifts orange/gold/brown. Beyond. Words.

Piece of Papaya, a warm coral/pink with gold flecks -

Crush on Tin, a baffling but intriguing mix of slate, forest green, gold, and brown -

WOW. I'm impressed with all of the shades shown above! I had no issues with the formula (all swatches are two coats) and the texture is smooth and pigmented. These new Hard Candy lacquers are high-quality, affordable drugstore options for nail fanatics seeking unique, non-traditional shades and at $4 a piece, they're practically a steal! It's damn near impossible to choose a favorite, but if pressed I would say my heart belongs to Crush on Lava and Crush on Tin. All are fabulous, though, and I will no doubt put them to good and heavy use. Now to prevent myself from scurrying off to buy all 48 hues in this new Hard Candy release... 8D

All 48 new Hard Candy polishes are available at Walmart for $4 each. Have you checked these out yet? What do you think?

Thank you for reading, and please consider following me if you enjoy the contents of this blog :)

Disney Jasmine by Sephora Magic Carpet Ride Palette - Review, Photos, Swatches

Truth: Aladdin was my favorite Disney movie as a child! (Sword in the Stone was a close second, it must be said.) I was never a huge fan of the iconic princess trifecta (Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella) as they were a bit too frilly for me, but was drawn to Aladdin for its music, entertainment value, exotic setting, and fun plot. I wanted to live in the Arabic country the story took place; I wanted my very own Aladdin to sweep me off my feet; I wanted Jasmine's outfit and her pretty, long hairstyle (never happening, with my fine, naturally blonde hair!); I wanted a well-mannered pet tiger and kleptomaniac monkey; I wanted a singing Robin Williams to follow me around in my daily life, cracking jokes. 

Considering this, imagine my nostalgic delight when I read the Sephora Beauty Insider email about their Disney Jasmine collection release! Ultimately I purchased a couple of carefully selected pieces. One is the Magic Carpet Ride Eyeshadow Palette:

L to R, Top to Bottom: Carpet, Wonder by Wonder, Splendid, Diamond Sky

Beautiful, fitting packaging. Carpet is a rosy taupe shimmer; Wonder by Wonder is a deep matte burgundy purple with glitter; Splendid is an orange peach shimmer; Diamond Sky is a turquoise shimmer.

Overall, quite a nice little set. A surprising favorite was Carpet - such a flattering, interesting neutral that has gotten the most wear from me thus far. Wonder by Wonder is, however, the problem child - it's patchy and sheer, and took about 5-6 coats to build up to what you see in the photos. It's a shame, as I really enjoy how this hue relates to the palette's color story. Splendid and Diamond Sky were of good quality as well, similar to Carpet.

This Jasmine quad retails for $30 and may be purchased from Sephora stores and online.

I'm loving Sephora's Disney collaboration and can't wait to see what else they dream up! What do you think? Have you purchased anything from either the Jasmine or Cinderella collection?

Revlon Nail Polish in Girly, Heavenly - Swatches, Photos, Review

Still reeling and recovering and rebalancing from vacation, but trying very hard to slip back into the blogging routine (Blogger Act II: Back in the Habit? 8D).

I have surprisingly few Revlon polishes, but when I saw the new display I decided to pick up these two beauties -

L to R: Heavenly, Girly

Girly is a bubblegum pink with blue, purple, silver, and holographic hex glitter (two coats):

 Heavenly is a clear topcoat with translucent square and hex glitter. Shown is one coat over Zoya Wednesday:

These two lacquers are a fun departure from Revlon's usual classic hues, and I'm glad to see them diversifying their collection. Girly's texture is a bit thick and it dries gritty, requiring a generous layer of topcoat, but it's very much workable. Heavenly is pretty solid; the glitter density is neither too heavy or too light, and the particles disperse evenly. Not bad for one of Revlon's first outings into the wonderful world of unique glitters and colors!

Girly and Heavenly are available in many drugstores for about $4.99 each, and also online at drugstore.com.

Bonus - I'm so pleased with my vacation that I can't help siccing photos on unsuspecting bystanders whenever I get half the chance. It's my equivalent of sitting guests down for a slideshow ;) Anyway, here you go, enjoy (or.. something 8D), and thanks for reading, following, and commenting!!

View from the top

Monkeh! :D

Sugarpill Sweetheart Palette - Review, Photos, Swatches

I'm back from a looong vacation! Thanks for hanging in there with me :)

Picking up right where I left off, here is the last of my Sugarpill palettes, Sweetheart: 

The shades are Dollipop (hot pink), Afterparty (bright blue), Midori (vibrant green), and Tako (white). As you can tell, the quality, consistency, and pigmentation is (surprise, surprise), SUPERB.

As with all Sugarpill products I have reviewed thus far, I have absolutely no criticisms. Such a lovely brand with an equally lovely line. For a more detailed review, you can check out my Burning Heart palette post. You may also want to check out Heartbreaker!

Aren't these shades gorgeous? You can purchase Sweetheart and other palettes in Sugarpill's online shop for $34 each. For that price you get a very generous amount of high quality eyeshadow; you can't go wrong!

Sugarpill Cosmetics Heartbreaker Palette - Review, Photos, Swatches

Woo, I'm on a Sugarpill roll! Today I have another lovely 4-pan palette - Heartbreaker! After you see photos, I hope you realize why it's so hard to pick a favorite; they are all maximally fantastic and full of so much awesome it hurts. Even if you only have the budget for one, you can't possibly go wrong whatever you pick. Without further ado, here's Heartbreaker:

As with Burning Heart, the formula, pigmentation, texture, etc. are stellar. For a more detailed breakdown, you can check out my Burning Heart palette post. This palette and others are available from the online Sugarpill shop for $34 each. Gooo theeeere :D

Thanks so much for reading - I truly appreciate it! :)

Sugarpill Cosmetics Burning Heart Palette - Review, Photos, Swatches

Exhibit #273 that I'm losing my mind: as I was taking photos of today's product last week I started feeling an overwhelming sense of deja vu that I had photographed this palette already, and immediately began berating myself for my absent-mindedness. Well, it turns out I never actually did post this before (for shame!) so who knows what my brain was trying to tell me!. Anyway, today I am showing you the lovely, spectacular, stupendous, astonishing, wondrous (and many other positive adjectives) Sugarpill Burning Heart palette!

All swatches are over Too Faced Shadow Insurance. Look at how gloriously saturated and vibrant the colors are after just one pass of the brush!  The shades are beautiful and the texture of the shadows is soft with minimal fallout (much less than you would expect from such matte, bright hues). With primer they last all day while remaining fresh-looking. I've worn these in looks for a couple of my dance performances, and not only did the eyeshadows stand out under the bright lights, they withstood some serious sweat-age ;) 

The packaging is cute and sturdy, with a magnetic closure and a mirror on the top-side of the flap. The shadow pans are HUGE, so it's safe to say you are getting a mega-value for the price ($34). I highly, highly recommend this palette and can't say enough good things about Sugarpill and her products :) This palette and others are available from the Sugarpill Cosmetics online shop. Also, keep an eye out for the occasional sales!

What do you think? Do you love it or is it too much for you?

L'Oreal's Colour Riche Caress Stick Lipstick in Pink Vinyl, Blushing Sequin - Photos, Review, Swatches

Busybusybusy! D: I will try to get a few good, substantial posts in before my vacation, though!

Today I have for you two of the newish L'Oreal Colour Riche Caress Stick lipsticks. They come housed in pretty but fingerprint-prone gold packaging and, as far as I could tell, are available in 16 hues. I purchased two shades similar to what I like and tend to wear: Blushing Sequin, a warm bright rosy pink with a tinge of red; and Pink Vinyl, a cool pink with a touch of lavender. 

Blushing Sequin:

Pink Vinyl:

L to R: Blushing Sequin, Pink Vinyl

Alright. So, the shades are fairly lovely - sheer, easy to pull off, and providing a subtle wash of color. Unfortunately, the formula on this lipstick was terribly uncomfortable to wear. Immediately I felt stinging. (An allergy, perhaps?) It was mild, but still not something I want to put my lips through when I have other options. I found these drying and the texture to be slippery, very nearly slimy. Pink Vinyl disappeared within 1 to 1.5 hours of application.

Needless to say, I do not recommend L'Oreal's Colour Riche Caress Stick lipsticks despite wanting desperately to like them. I love sheer, balmy lipstick hybrids with a punch of color, and that's what I hoped these would be, but there are better options available. If you want to try out these lipsticks, they are available for about $9.99 each at drugstores.