Sephora + Pantone Universe- Parachute Purple

Hi!

I made my first visit to Sephora yesterday! I had browsed online and passed the store numerous times, but yesterday I decided that day was the day. I've been missing out on a lot! I found so many things I fell in love with but of course I had limited funds.

Anyway, I came across the Sephora + Pantone Universe Jewel Lacquers. There were only 4 colors there but they are now $5 if you happen to be looking for any! I of course picked up Parachute Purple, although I'm really wanting a few others before they're gone!

Parachute Purple is a vibrant medium colored purple with aqua colored shimmer. The polish can lean towards a darker purple in certain lighting. I used two coats and had no trouble with it being too runny or thick. The only issue I have is that the aqua shimmer is not as strong on your nails as it is in the bottle. It's still gorgeous though!

Sephora Stock Photo

With flash on

In sunlight

 I really love this polish! I've seen others say it's a dupe for Rescue Beauty Lounge's Scrangie, but from what I can tell by other bloggers photos, it is not a dupe. Parachute Purple is darker and has less shimmer.

-Emily

China Glaze- Pelican Gray & Candeo- Sprouse

Hi!

So I've had these two polishes for a while. I actually received Candeo Sprouse in a giveaway from Llarowe some time ago. I never wore it because I didn't know what to wear it over but then I spotted Pelican Gray in my collection and it just clicked to use them together! Candeo Sprouse is actually the only indie nail polish I have, although I've been eying some others lately.

Pelican Gray is a somewhat sheer light to medium gray with a bit of silver shimmer. It takes about 3 coats to cover. Sprouse is an interesting top coat. It's loaded with so many different glitters. There's white and black bar/horizontal glitter, small and medium sized black and white hexagonal glitter, medium blue hexagonal glitter that switches to red and green depending on the angle, medium gray hexagonal glitter that switches to silver depending on the angle and finally sparse holographic glitter. It's absolutely gorgeous.

I used 3 coats of Pelican Gray and 2 coats of Sprouse and Orly Won't Chip topcoat. I had no trouble applying either although with Sprouse I had to place glitter around sometimes to make it look the way I wanted.

China Glaze Pelican Gray under fluorescent lighting

Under fluorescent lighting

With flash

Under fluorescent lighting. Blurred to show holographic glitter.

I actually really loved this mani! Do any of you have Sprouse? What do you think about it?

-Emily

Quick Post

Hi Everyone!

I've gained so many new followers, so I'd like to say hello! I hope you stick around for a while. :)

I just wanted to let all of you know I also have another blog for makeup (if you're interested). I have lots of swatches and reviews. If you'd like to check it out, feel free. Here's the link: 

http://artisticshadowsetc.blogspot.com/

I hope all of you have an awesome day! I'll have new posts up very soon.

-Emily

OPI- Live and Let Die

This is another mini from the Skyfall collection I bought a few days ago from Ulta. You can see my swatches of The World Is Not Enough here.

Live and Let Die is a hunter/dark green with golden green flecks. It almost appears black in some lighting, like florescent. I used two coats of Live and Let Die and a topcoat. I had no issues with this color. One coat was pretty good, but two was the magic number with this one!

I'll apologize ahead of time that I had to take these with my cell phone. My camera batteries died and I didn't want my polish to chip before I could get new ones. Luckily my cell phone has a macro setting so the photos didn't come out too bad.

Under florescent lighting.

With Flash

With Flash

I thought I would fall in love with this polish. This was the one I was dying to get my hands on. Although I do like this color, I don't think it's my favorite from the mini collection. I have another two polishes to go and I'm really eying GoldenEye. We'll see!

-Emily

OPI- The World Is Not Enough

Hi Everyone!

So I took a little trip to Ulta with my coupons in hand and I bought the Skyfall minis collection! I absolutely love every color in this collection. I was actually going to pick up all of these colors individually until I spotted this collection. I will have swatches of all of the colors up soon, but today I have The World Is Not Enough.

The World Is Not Enough is a rosey taupe with multicolored glitter (mostly pink and blue). I'd say it has a silver sheen/shimmer to it also. It's a complicated color, but I do enjoy it! I had no issues with application, although this polish is a bit sheer.

This is 3 coats of The World Is Not Enough along with Orly Won't Chip topcoat. All pictures are taken indoors in indirect sunlight.

What do you think about this polish? I haven't swatch the others from this collection, so I can't say for sure if it's my favorite yet. I do like how it is so unique! Which colors do you like from the Skyfall Collection?

-Emily

China Glaze- Ick-A-Bod-Y

Hi Everyone!

Ick-A-Bod-Y is from the China Glaze Awakening Collection 2010 (Halloween collection). I found my bottle earlier this year at Sally's Beauty which was a big surprise considering it was one of my lemmings. So score on my end!

Ick-A-Bod-Y is full of orange glitter suspended in a murky green base. From the bottle you can't really tell that it's murky green, but once it's on your nail it's a nice surprise. The glitter in this is pretty dense so I only had to use two coats with no layering over black. I did have a bit of trouble since my bottle seems to be getting a little thick. I don't know if this is a common problem or not, but a little nail polish thinner should do the trick.

I really love this color! I like all of this collection's colors so I may pick them up soon!

~Emily

BPotW China Glaze Ruby Pumps and Fingerpaints Brilliant Brushstroke

Hi Everyone!

Sorry I didn't get this post up sooner. I've been extremely busy and have been away. If I can't get the Boyfriend's Pick of the Week up sooner than I have lately, I'm just going to call it Boyfriend's Pick. I'll see how things go. I don't want to disappoint any of you!

The boyfriend picked China Glaze Ruby Pumps last week and dumb me thought it was just a glitter topcoat polish so I was going to use Fingerpaints Brilliant Brushstroke as a base, but I was in for a surprise when I realized it really wasn't just a glitter topcoat. It actually had a red base! So I just went ahead and kept both on since I actually really like Brilliant Brushstroke more than I thought.

Ruby Pumps is a gorgeous red base loaded with red glitter. This was part of the China Glaze Loves You Snow Much Holiday 2009 collection. Fingerpaints Brilliant Brushstroke is a bright cherry red with gold microglitter/shimmer.

Both are 3 coats with no top coat. Brilliant Brushstroke is on my index and ring finger and Ruby Pumps is on my middle and pinky finger.

Both formulas are pretty good.  Even with 3 coats they can be a little on the sheer side. I like Brilliant Brushstroke a little more than Ruby Pumps. Which do you like more?

~Emily