This Week's Nails #13 - Jack Frost/Black is Back

Hey there! It's been a while, I've been crazy busy for weeks and had zero time, but I'm back to regular posting now. I hope your Christmas was as awesome as mine! I got some great gifts that I will review in the not too distant future :) Here is the manicure I did today:

I layered Models Own 'Jack Frost' from the Winter Wonderland collection over Essence's 'Black is Back'. I saw this combination somewhere before and I had to try it for myself, it's so pretty! 'Black is Back' is a nice black creme, opaque in two coats.

'Jack Frost' is a pretty glitter containing a myriad of blue and purple hues. I don't care for it much alone since it's quite sheer, but layered over other colours it looks great! The formula is SUPER thick and goopy, you need to scrape a ton of polish off the brush before you apply it or it will refuse to dry. This is the second time I've done this manicure on myself, the first time was quite bad since I layered 'Jack Frost' too thick and it ended up smudging really bad later on. Also, this glitter absolutely demolishes topcoat. It's a bit silly! I applied three layers of a topcoat here, two of 'normal' consistency and one very thick one. For about an hour or so my nails felt smooth, but now they feel rough again. I love the colours in the glitter but the particles have such beautiful dimension when they're smoothed and glossy, and it's a shame that's so hard to maintain that wet look. I took a blurred picture of this manicure too, to show off the glitter some more:

I'll leave it at that, but I'll be back again soon. Thanks for reading!

Gold Festive Look

Hey guys! Quick post on a look I did today. Everyone's posting festive looks so I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon :) Here's what I came up with:

Products used:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
Urban Decay shadows - Blitz, Echo Beach
The Body Needs shadows - Blackened Gold, Smoked Gold
TKB Trading mica - Forged Gold
Sugarpill - Tako, Goldilux
Inglot Gel Liner - 77 (matte black)
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On pencil - Zero
Essence Eyebrow Designer - Brown

Review with Look - Sleek Supreme

This is the second part of the Sleek 'Shangri'la' collection review. The 'Shangri'la' collection is priced at €25, and also contains the 'Respect' palette and two 'Truley Mattely Deeply' lip colours. The limited edition 'Supreme' palette is also available alone at the price of €10. This is what it looks like:

Like the 'Respect' palette, the 'Supreme' palette also has fancy gold writing on the front. The shadows in this palette have quite a different colour scheme to its sister palette.

As you can see there are a good few shades of blue in here, along with a number of green and neutral tones. The shades that stand out most to me are the darkest blue and the dark yellow. Here are some swatches:

Blue Suede, R&B, Bronx Black, P-Funk, Grand Master Flash, Wah Wah White

LA Belle Blue, Smokey Robinson, Al Green, Delfonic, Commodores Cream, Shangrilas Lemon

The top row has strong, bright, bold colours, while the bottom row has some lighter colours, with some pastel shades. They're mainly matte and satin shadows, with just one shimmery shade, 'Wah Wah White'. The shadows are very soft, and apply nicely. Pale shadows look so weak swatched on my skin. I'm sorry, they just blend in well. The barely visible 'Smokey Robinson' is a nice pale matte grey, in case you were wondering. 'Wah Wah White' is whiter than it looks in this picture too. Here's the look I created:

It makes me think of Wolverine! I photographed my left eye for a change. Please excuse the scar. Actually it's because I messed up the liner on my right eye and then the bulb blew on my No 7 illuminating mirror, making it too dark to see what I was doing. This one looked better anyway. For this cut crease look, I defined above the crease with Urban Decay's 'Mainline' pencil from the 24/7 Glide-On Smoked pencil set. I smudged that out and added 'R&B' just above it. I blended this up towards the brow with 'LA Belle Blue'. I also used 'Mainline' on the waterline. On the upper and lower lid I placed 'Grand Master Flash', and highlighted the brow bone and inner corner with 'Wah Wah White'. I smudged Urban Decay's 'Zero' pencil along the outer part of the lower lid. I finished the look by lining the upper lid, adding mascara and filling in the eyebrow.
I like this palette, it's great. As much as I liked the 'Respect' palette, I prefer this one. I can see myself using this one more, but we'll see what happens! Using both palettes together is going to be good too. I'll leave you with more pictures and a product list.

Products used:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance
NXY White Base
Sleek 'Supreme' Palette - R&B, LA Belle Blue, Grand Master Flash, Wah Wah White
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On pencils - Mainline, Zero
No 7 Stay Perfect Liquid Liner - Black
Maybelline Falsies Mascara
Essence Eyebrow Designer - Brown

This Week's Nails #12 - The Man with the Golden Gun/Skyfall

I'm super excited about this post! I've had my eye on OPI's 'The Man with the Golden Gun' topcoat since I learned of its existence. I couldn't justify buying it for myself with its €36 price tag, but my awesome husband bought it for me as a gift for our 5th wedding anniversary! Our anniversary was on November 23rd, but my gift arrived yesterday. Here's a photo of the outer packaging:

*Swoon*

It's beautifully packaged in its own display box. I'm going to keep it in this box to protect the bottle which looks very fancy with a mirrored gold finish. I don't want my other bottles knocking off it and potentially scratching or chipping it. Here's a photo!

When I wear this top coat I feel like the queen of the world. I have never owned something so luxurious before and I love it :3 It looks so pretty and classy, and it's likely my most treasured possession. This is one layer over 'Skyfall', which I got in the 'Get Bonded' set. It would work fantastically over a wide range of colours. Black, midnight blue and deep purple are the first that spring to mind. Here's a closer look:

I love it so much! This is the perfect Christmas gift for the fanciest lady you know. The whole premise of a real gold top coat may seem absurd to some people but I like it. It makes me feel spoiled and special, and that's not so bad. Yolandi knows how it is:

I'll sign off with a photo of the 'Skyfall' bottle. It's a gorgeous colour, a very deep vampy red creme. The closest polish in my collection to this one is Revlon's 'Forbidden', but 'Skyfall' is deeper still. It makes for a trendy and festive manicure. Catch you soon!