Essie's Really Red - weekly nail review

"It's really red." This was Janice's response when I asked her what colour we were painting my nails last week. Yes, it's really red.  Seriously.  I've never worn red on my nails, toes maybe. Creamy tomato soup came to mind whenever I looked at my nails, that, or cherries. The artificial kind you'd taste whilst savouring a Jolly Rancher.  Yum.

To be honest, I always associated red nails with ladies of the night.  Red is vibrant, daring, alluring - adjectives I would never use to describe myself. It's pretty liberating to wear something which challenges your own comfort level.  For instance, my friend Sally asked me what sorts of colours she should wear on her lips and cheeks; this goes back to your comfort level and how daring you want to be.  I ended up telling Sally to pinch her cheeks to see what colour she was left with and for her lips to wear what her heart desires.

Essie's Really Red is a creamy formula, becomes opaque after applying two coats and lasts well between base and top coats.  Cherry pie perfection.

High five

Essie

Close up

Really Red

Chanel Illusion D'ombre in Illusoire - swatch and review

In early March I was booked in for another appointment with Chanel and the lovely Marina.  My appointment fell on the eve of attending my first fashion show here in Melbourne.  During my hour long session I had no idea what I was looking to accomplish, except for, perhaps, something a bit edgier.  As you know, I'm a bit conservative with my colour palette.  Natural, neutral, maybe even boring, but never not myself.  Dinner was nigh - we went out for Indian; I thought to myself "what the heck, let's do this." Marina painted and transformed me from light to dark.

Transformation

Darker..

Another view

Ideally, I wanted an easy to create smoky eye; I'm still learning the tricks of the trade and am inept when it comes to "smoking out" my eyes.  This is where Chanel's Illusoire comes in; Marina pointed at her eyes and said, "we'll do this, but lighter."  That day, Marina was wearing Illusion D'ombre in Mirifique, a charcoal black with a hint of shimmer; Illusoire, on the other hand, provided the same amount of subtle mystery, but with a plum hue.

Have brush, will travel

Compact

With cap

This lovely little glass jar contains a bouncy/springy-type eye shadow and is slightly difficult to apply. When I swatched Illusoire I noticed the product began to ball up and turned into a little clump on the tip of my finger; not something you want to have glom onto your lid.  In order to get the best consistency and ideal application, I found it's best if you gently rub the contents until it's warmed to the point where you can have enough product on your finger.  Then, I tap and dab my eye lid, first concentrating there and then working my way out.  As I work my way out, naturally, I have less on my finger which, in turn, creates the smoke.

Illusoire swatch

As you can tell, Marina had a bit of fun with vamping me out. Above, I'm also wearing Chanel Rouge Allure in Maniac on my lips and it was topped off with a bit of gloss in Petillant in to order soften the dark brown, almost black shade. As for the rest of my face, I'm not too sure what else Marina applied; all I know is I have a client card tucked away for potential purchases.

The Bagful breakdown:

Total amount for Chanel's Illusion D'Ombre in Illusoire:

• $48.00 AUS, includes brush.

Value for money spent (performance and quality):

• 9 out of 10 bags – I had to take one full point off due to it being so expensive here.

Likelihood to purchase again:

• Mirifique, you will be mine.

Essie Shine of the Times over Midnight Cami - weekly nail review

Reptile-like, ever-changing and a dash of Culture Club.

"...red gold and green, red gold and green."

This song popped into my head as I was taking pictures of my nails last week.  The sun was shining and the light was reflecting off of my nails, which displayed a spectrum of colours.

I've been absolutely addicted to Essie's Shine of the Times and I think it looks far better on darker shades; but, what I was really going for was Deborah Lippman's Ray of Light as seen below.  The flakes are mixed throughout the dark blue polish, whereas my concoction was layered.

However, after seeing swatches on Vampy Varnish and Temptalia, I prefer the layered look.  The flakes have an increased opportunity to play with the light; meanwhile, Deborah Lippman's formula restrains the holographic flecks. I realise Deborah named her polish after Madonna's single "Ray of Light" released in 1998; perhaps, she was looking to capture the ethereal luminescence conveyed by the theme and lyrics.

For me, my mani wins.  It lasted really well; Janice painted one coat of Midnight Cami and one coat of Shine of the Times.  And, I love the fact that a girl who works for Kit Cosmetics told me my nails looked "friggin awesome."

Friggin awesome indeed.

Essie Shine of the Times and Midnight Cami

From another angle

Rasta Monsta

Dupe of NARS Ramatuelle

Before jumping the gun and dropping something heinous like $89 smackeroos - need I remind you about Arabian Nights?  I decided to take a closer look at the newest NARS trio, Ramatuelle, online, to see if I could duplicate the look with what I already own.  I think I came pretty close.

NARS defines the three shades (from left to right) as silver, icy peach and apricot.  Typical colours which are deemed as being on trend when squeezed into a little black compact.  I'm not being cruel or smart, just savvy with my bottom line.

Lucky for me, I own MAC eye shadows in Electra (a heavy silver which has blue undertones) and Shroom (the champagne of beige), as well as Inglot's shade #407 (sherbet orange). Go on an archaeologic dig, dust off a few compacts and you will most certainly be able to find these colours in your own arsenal.

MAC & Inglot

Electra, Shroom and #407

From left to right: Electra, Shroom & #407

In order to get the look above, I applied shroom from the lash line to just below my eyebrow - essentially, all over. Then, I patted #407 on my eyelid and blended the colour into shroom. Finally, I dusted electra on the inner corners and winged it within the crease in order to open my eyes.

I firmly believe in using an eye primer before applying eye shadow; my lids have a tendency to get oily and quite often damage the effect I was going for.  NARS Smudge Proof Eye Shadow Base is quite simply the best.  Tina Turner must be referring to NARS whenever she sings that song.

The final look

Summery, soft and easy to accomplish.

One final, side-by-side comparison...