Urban Decay - Revolution Lipstick Swatches

clockwise starting at the top: Rapture, Sheer Shame, and Manic

Today is a new month and I am embarking on a new adventure...hopefully. I am going to transition this blog to more of a beauty and whatnot blog, so not so much polish based. So it's not that much of a change but it opens up more ideas and ease for me...hopefully. We shall see how this turns out.

Today I have three different Urban Decay Lipsticks, two are Revolution lipsticks and one is a Sheer Revolution Lipstick. Why am I showing you these? Not only are these new to me, they are on sale!

$11 each. Yep, regularly $22 on sale for $11 (I got mine for a bit less because of my Ulta employee discount).

l-r: Sheer Shame, Manic, and Rapture

Here are swatches of the three different colors. You can really tell the difference between the Sheer formula and the original Revolution formula.

Urban Decay Sheer Revolution Lipstick in Sheer Shame

Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in Manic

Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in Rapture

Urban Decay is one of my favorite brands and their lipsticks are fabulous! The Sheer Revolution Lipsticks are really nice and hydrating. The original Revolution Lipsticks are very creamy and wear wonderfully!

A note: Rapture is my go-to lipstick to sell at work when women are looking for a nice your-lips-but-better color.

What are your go to Urban Decay lip products? Have you bought any of these on sale yet?

Urban Decay Lipsticks (Revolution, Matte, and Sheer) are on sale for $11 at Ulta, Sephora, Macy's, and Urban Decay.

Fanchromatic Nails Review!

Today I bring you three amazing geek-tastic polishes!

I was contacted by the owner of Fanchromatic Nails, Lynae, if I would like to review some of her polishes. Of course I agreed! Geek-based polish! Heck yes! Sign me up! I've been lemming a few of her polishes for a while now, so I was super excited and honored that Lynae contacted me.

So, let's get on with the polishes!

This is Not a Lady. This is a brand new polish for Fanchromatic! It's due to be released July 16th! It is inspired by the characters Brienne of Tarth and Arya Stark from Game of Thrones. It is a deep, blackened warm rusty red, with a leather-like finish.

This is one coat of Not a Lady. One coat! And look at that gorgeous deep color. I would call it a bit more of a blackened red based purple. And that finish! Wow! Looks like leather to me! Gorgeous!

This is Not a Lady with top coat. Still just as gorgeous! And it shows off the shimmer found in this lovely polish! The formula is fantastic! A one-coater indie is amazing! Just top quality pigments! 

Now, I didn't finish the first book of Game of Thrones (I really tried for a year! But couldn't), but if the book was like this polish I would have finished it in a week!

This is Deceptive Charm. This is from Fanchromatic's early summer 2014 release. This intense color was inspired by Weyoun, a character from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It is a very saturated cobalt/royal blue with a gorgeous pink shimmer!

Guess what! Another one-coater! And this blue is so amazingly pigmented and such a bright royal color! (please excuse the bumps on my nails, they are from my nails and not the polish) I did use a top coat.

Here is Deceptive Charm taken with flash and slightly blurry so that you can see that pink shimmer. See it? Isn't it stunning! I think that hidden shimmer really makes this polish special!

This is Misty Mountains. It is one of Fanchromatic's most popular colors (and one of my lemmings!). It is part of the There and Back Again series inspired by Tolkien. It is a murky, earthy sage green with gold and copper glitter in varying sizes, gold shimmer, and blue iridescent glass flecks.

Now, this being a glitter (an amazing one at that) it runs a bit sheer. On my index, middle, and pinky fingers I used one coat of OPI Stranger Tides as undies. My ring finger is two to two and a half coats of Misty Mountains. As you can see both ways are gorgeous! If you layer it over some undies then it'll last longer! :)

Just look and all that shimmery goodness! And can you see the blue flecks visible on my index finger? This polish is just as good as I'd hoped it would be! I love it!

Polishes are available in full 15mL for $9.50 or mini 5mL for $5.00

Please visit Fanchromatic's Facebook page

And visit Fanchromatic's esty shop

I want to thank Lynae and her amazing brand Fanchromatic <polish for the geek in you> for this wonderful opportunity! All the polishes I reviewed were of amazing quality and formulas were fabulous! Thank you so much!

Barielle Summer 2014: Keys Collection Review

Guess what! I have the newest collection from Barielle to show you today! It is called the Keys Collection, it "celebrates the warm, sun-filled, tropical beach days enjoyed all over the world. These beautiful, creamy, high-fashion colors set the mood for paradise vacations" (Barielle Press Release).

Let's get to the polishes shall we? *picture heavy*

Hawaiian Sunset: "a shimmery orange". Might I add a gorgeous orange? I'm not a huge fan of, it's one of the colors that I have the least of. But if I'm going to wear an orange, it's gotta be like this! This is so pretty!

I mean, seriously. Check this out! This is two coats of Hawaiian Sunset and one layer of Barielle Top Coat. I could have probably gotten away with just one coat of Hawaiian Sunset.

Money shot! Just look at that shimmer! Great formula! Can't wait to use this polish again! I now have an orange that I love!

Topless in St. Tropez: "a creamy pink with a hint of coral". I would say coral, period, with a lovely shimmer!

This is a very pretty, feminine color. Fabulous formula! This is also two coats and one layer of top coat. And again, I could have probably gotten away with just one coat!

This is with the flash on. I really wanted to get a truer color and show of the shimmer a bit more! Pretty huh!

Paradise in the Tropics: "a deep fuschia". This is a beautiful deep rich pigmented color! 

Guess what? This is one coat! One! That's how seriously pigmented it is! It's gorgeous! It also has one layer of top coat.

Sorry this one is a bit grainy I used my flash to show the creamy beautiful color!

Panama Pina Colada: " a creamy, soft mellow yellow". A beautiful yellow! Mellow? Not really, more bright on me! Sort of turns my hands a bit red, but I still think it's really pretty!

This is two coats (one coat of top coat), which is normal for a yellow polish since they tend to be a bit of a tricky formula. But, as far as yellows go, this formula was still really lovely. And the color is really pretty!

Here it is with the flash. See how my hand is a bit redder? But still, look at that gorgeous cream of a yellow! 

Miami Heat: "a sheer jelly red". A very squishy gooey red! Look at that vibrant color!

Two coats and check it out, barely any visible nail line! It does have one layer of top coat, but it was still super shiny without the topcoat! Great formula for being a sheer, no pooling or anything!

Just look how squishy it is! Can't wait to use this in jelly sandwiches and stamping!

Barefoot in Bermuda: "a creamy hot pink". Exactly what it is! A stunning creamy gorgeous hot pink!

And guess what? This is only one coat (with top coat of course)! Stunner! I love this color! So bright and fun and so perfect for summer!

Here it is with the flash to really show you that it is hot pink! So bright I might need some sunglasses! :)

And finally, here is my Barielle Keys Collection Dotticure, featuring all six colors with Topless in St. Tropez as my base. A fun and bright summer mani that anyone can achieve!

Overall, I love each polish in this collection! Some are colors that I didn't have many of so I am grateful for these new additions! 

All of Barielle polishes contain no formaldehyde, toluene, dibutyl-phthalate, camphor, or formaldehyde-resin. They are 0.45 fl oz (13.3ml) and are suggested retail at $8.00. You can find them at Barielle.com

I am still using the Nail Strengthener Cream, the Intensive Nail Renewal Oil that I received for my first review.

** I just want to say that I decided to use all Barielle products in these swatches. So since I did not request a base or top coat from them I decided to purchase my own with my own money. I chose to buy Fortifying Nail Builder with Calcium Fluoride and Ultra Speed Dry Manicure Extender. 

The order that I chose has nothing to do with how much I like them I like to go in the order that are listed on the paper they send with the polishes. :)

 

You can find out more about Barielle's products by visiting:

Their Online Store

Twitter
Facebook

Make sure you sign up for their emails for upcoming specials!

So which of these were your favorite?

The Never Ending Pile Challenge: A Random Untried!

Today's prompt is a random untried polish. Phew, that's easy, just let me dig around and narrow it down! Hahaha! I chose China Glaze Make Some Noise (two coats) and stamped with Konad Black using Messy Mansion MM14. Top it off with some HK Girl Top Coat and voila! Beautiful and easy mani! Got a lot of compliments with this one at work! :)

Don't forget to check out what the other Pirates are doing for their random untried prompt! Wanna join? Click on the prompt list above!

An InLinkz Link-up

GOT Polish Challenge: Coral

Well, it's been awhile since I participated in the GOT (Golden Oldie Thursday) Polish Challenge. This is where you have to use a polish that is older than a year and follow the prompt. Well, I decided to use OPI DS Reflection because I saw Kerrie at PishPosh and Polish use it last week and reminded me how gorgeous it is!

Today's GOT prompt is Coral.

OPI DS Reflection was the first DS I ever bought. And it is gorgeous! Formula is fabulous! This is two coats. It's a coral/red/salmon color with scattered shimmer and holo. The first picture is in my light box with a flash and this one above is just in my light box. This polish stayed on for awhile without much chipping! Got to love those kinds of polishes!

If you would like to join GOT Polish click the photo above! And don't forget to check out the other ladies and their oldies!

An InLinkz Link-up

The Never Ending Pile Challenge: Pastels!

Today's prompt for the Never Ending Pile Challenge where we use up our untried polish, is Pastel. I love Catrice polish. A lot! I wish we had them here in the United States. There are some online stores that can get them to us, but it's not easy. Thankfully I have a few friends that I can call on to get me some!

I used Catrice Mint Me Up and Catrice Lilactric to create a simple dotticure. Both of these Catrice polishes are two coats and applied flawlessly!  I love the shimmers in both of these polishes too! I topped it ff with HK Girl Top Coat. This mani lasted almost an entire week without much chipping, like only the free edge tips of my nails were showing where I had wrapped them! Love Catrice polish!

Don't forget to check out what the other Pirates are doing for their pastel prompt! Wanna join? Click on the prompt list above!

An InLinkz Link-up

The Never Ending Pile Challenge: Glitter!

Today starts the beginning of a new challenge! It is called The Never Ending Pile Challenge in which we post Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday different untried polishes that follow the prompt for the day! This challenge was created by Missy over at Gnarly Gnails for The Glittah Pirates facebook group. If you would like to join the challenge, feel free to join the group! :)

Today's prompt is glitter! 

This is Steampunk by Pretty & Polished. I bought this about a year ago? I bought it because 1) it's called steampunk! Hello, I love that! 2) it's a grey! and 3) love the color combo!

This is three coats. Yep three, well, closer to four. I don't really like polishes where I have to use more than two coats. Opacity wasn't the issue, two coats was good for that. Glitter placement and glitter fishing was the issue. But it didn't get thick with the coats and I do like the depth it has!

So I decided to pair this with OPI Glitter Off. I like glitters but hate taking them off! I've tried using Elmer's glue, but my polish just pops off really easily! So I put this on one afternoon, thin layer, waited until it dried clear and added my layers of Steampunk. I topped it off with HK Girl Topcoat. Almost 48 hours later (two showers, multiple hand washings, computer work, bathroom cleaning, and normal activities) one popped off! I think I could have gotten one more day's wear out of this mani but it snagged on something right after washing and putting lotion on and popped off.

Within seconds I had popped off the remaining polish, leaving behind nothing on my nail! I love OPI Glitter Off! Can't wait to use it some more! I really try to get people at work to buy it! :)

Don't forget to check out what the other Pirates are doing for their glitter prompt! Wanna join? Click on the prompt list above!

An InLinkz Link-up