Indie Focus: Pahlish August Duo & Moats and Boats and Waterfalls

Hey guys!

I'm back with new indie polishes from Pahlish, an indie seller on Etsy. The first one is called:

 "Moats and Boats and Waterfalls"

It's a dark teal jelly with blue, silver, lavender and teal hex glitters in various sizes. I think it's such a unique combo and the lavender certainly makes it much more interesting than the usual blues/teals mix that many indie polishes currently have.

Used 2 coats with Seche Vite

It looks a bit like a galaxy, don't you think? :)

 Some cool macro shot

Second one is actually a new upcoming August duo called "Old Fires Were Burning" which consists of:

1. Slow Like Honey

2. Heavy With Mood

According to Pahlish:

Slow Like Honey: nude/putty cream with copper shimmer and green glass flecksHeavy With Mood: clear based glitter topper with copper metallic glitters in several sizes, small moss green hex, and medium midnight green squares accented by sparse gold shimmer

"Slow Like Honey"

 

LOOK AT DEM FLECKS THO

2 coats with Seche Vite 

 I love this one so much, it's subdued and the flecks is very subtle. 

Kinda wish it'd show up more, actually.

"Heavy With Mood"

I like how in certain lighting the copper glitters look like rose gold,

and in another angle they just look like peas & carrots :P

 Macro shot because WHY NOT

Check them out on Etsy and Facebook for further info and sales.

*Disclaimer: these products were sent to me for review purposes*

Product Review: NYX Matte Lipsticks in Euro Trash & Strawberry Daiquiri

I trust NYX when it comes to lip products. Until recently I've been using their Soft Matte Lip Cream exclusively. I know some people don't like them for various reasons (mostly they can't get over the "It's a lip gloss, but why is it not glossy?" state). I, on the other hand, hate sticky and shiny glosses (I remember my fellow blogger Whitney called them jelly doughnut lips lol) so obviously I'm all about this product. Plus, they're uber pigmented and amazing...so what's not to love? Read my review here, if you haven't tried them.

Now, I've been seeing these matte lipsticks on NYX display for quite a while now, but I was so content with the lip creams so I never got around to try them. All I know was they were good products, have wide selection of colors and of course, affordable. Gravitating towards the pigmented matte lipstick, I knew it was only a matter of time before I cave in and hoard them all.

Fortunately, I have decent self control this time around and only purchased 2 to try. The reason being, simply because I have too many lipsticks. The colors I've chosen are Euro Trash and Strawberry Daiquiri. Not sure if NYX had something in mind behind naming this line, but they seem to be quite random. I thought they were beverages-inspired (there are also Merlot, Bloody Mary) but then they have "Butter" ... so I was like,

lol idk

 Anyway, here they are

 Euro Trash: muted pink (has brown undertone)
Strawberry Daiquiri: peachy pink (has warm undertone)

For my NC37 ish skin, these two look really subtle on my lips despite how bright they may look in the tube. Euro Trash is gorgeous but I think the winner here is Strawberry Daiquiri. If you're about my skintone and want to try a semi-bright lip for the summer, try Strawberry Daiquiri (or Sierra, a tiny more orange compared to Strawberry Daiquiri).

VERDICT

Packaging (3/5): Sleek black plastic tube, easy to open, no hassle, overall very nice but nothing to write home about.

Texture (5/5): Pretty creamy and glides on lips very easily, unlike WnW Matte lipsticks which sometimes tug on your lips if you haven't moisturize. 

Performance (3/5): NYX Matte Lipsticks are actually not that matte in appearance when you just applied them but they do dry to a matte finish after a while. Not all the colors are buttery smooth like Euro Trash & Strawberry Daiquiri. Some are chalky and hard to work with.

Pigmentation (5/5): Just look at the swatches :) They're amazing.

Scent (4/5): No scent detected, which is a plus in my book.

Longevity (4/5): Pretty decent. Always use lip balm underneath.

Overall (4/5): Try them, at least one, to see how you like it. I think it's worth it especially if you're a fan of matte lipsticks.

Swatches: Liquid Lacquer Collide Into You & Halfway Gemini

I'm on a roll this week! Here's another post on indie polish sellers I've tried before, Liquid Lacquer. Recently they released these 2 limited edition polishes which contain circle glitters exclusively, so of course, I had to have them. They are called Halfway Gemini and Collide Into You...and they are GOOOOORGEOUS!

Halfway Gemini - Collide Into You

"Halfway Gemini - A vibrant blue jelly with rose gold and pink circles and scattered silver dust."

 

As you know, I fell head over heels with another blue jelly polish by the same company, 

so I was so excited to try this one as well. 

Obviously, they don't disappoint.

"Collide Into You - An awesome turquoise jelly with pink and gold cicles and scattered gold micro flakes."

Holy crap on a cracker!!!! I'm DYING over this one.

The turquoise/magenta combo never fails me.

This feeds my perpetual hunger for Femme Fatale Cosmetics's Winter Hyacinth for a while.

Overall, I'm so impressed by the quality of the product. If you're interested, check out Liquid Lacquer here and their Facebook here.

Thanks for checking out!

Sinful Shine by Sinful Colors Swatches

Hey guys!

I'm back with a new line from Sinful Colors, called Sinful Shine. They are apparently a "hybrid" of regular polish with Gel-Tech. If you've heard of gel polishes, you probably already know the whole shabang with the application technique and the perks you get from using them. I personally change nail polishes every 2-3 days since I get bored easily, so although Gel polishes look so interesting (they're SO SHINY!) and supposedly last a long time, I was hesitant to spend $$ for it. Plus, you need to put your manicure under UV light after application...so to be honest with you,

But then I came across these, and they sound perfect to me. They're affordable and you get the same effect from the Gel polishes. I've picked up 6 of them:

(L-R) Blue Suede Shoes - Alfresco - Bananappeal - Most Sinful - At Sea - Break Away

I haven't gotten around to swatch Blue Suede Shoes & Break Away,

but here are the rest.

Alfresco

Bananappeal

Most Sinful

At Sea

They are all soooo shiny and good enough with one coat, except for Bananappeal which requires 2 since the formula is a bit thinner (still good, tho). My favorites are Most Sinful and At Sea, but honestly, I am really liking the ones I've tried. Excited to try the other 2 darker colors :D

I'm not quite sure how much they sell for because my Walgreens SA charged me with regular Sinful Color polishes ($2.29) since they were pretty new and didn't have any price tag yet. Check out your local drugstore and grab them because I'm telling you, they are SO worth it.

Product Focus: Sonia Kashuk Eye On Neutral Palette (Review & Swatches)

In a hope of assuring you that this blog hasn't yet to turn into an exclusively nail blog, I'm posting a review that I have promised to do a long time ago. It is none other than my favorite neutral eye shadow palette as of late, Sonia Kashuk Eye On Neutral from their Eye Couture Eye Palette line.

There are 3 "eyes" in its name, just in case you're not sure what they are for...

Now, as much as I love Urban Decay Naked Palette (original), there were moments when I wished to have just all matte eye shadows. UD Naked have gorgeous shimmers but let's be real here, the matte selections are fairly limited.

So when I was at Target to burn monthly moolah (I have issues, you see...) and saw this palette, I felt like the heaven's gate had been opened, the light was shining through and I could hear the angel sing. This was what I was hoping for and more. The fact that I happened to carry a $3 off coupon for Sonia Kashuk line was simply the frosting on my cupcake, really.

Without further ado, here is the sucker. 12, all mattes colors.

Now as you can see, Sonia Kashuk didn't go all fancy by naming her shadows with obscene pun and glory, instead she settled with numbers.

So the colors ranges from white, creams, warm-toned browns, cool-toned browns, taupe, gray and black. The first row (1-3) are highlighters (or at least they are for my Medium Tan skin) and they go darker as the numbers go higher (12 being black).

I simply can't stress enough how happy I was to find pigmented matte shadows, let alone having them all in one palette. Number 11, which is a charcoal gray, is simply stunning and unique. I'd buy this palette for this color alone, to be honest.

Here's how it looks with flash on

 Of course it's not complete without swatches.

Done on my skin, under natural light, no base

The pigmentation is amazing, not overly done so that you'd have trouble fixing them if you make mistakes. This is the kind of palette you'd want to carry around in your purse for a quick re-apply throughout the day, or just simply adding colors to your face without being so obvious. It's so professional and subdued, yet it's gorgeous and have a nice selection of colors. Just look at how many different medium browns they have! If I may add, the palette is also really compact and sturdy. It's not as thin as UD Naked palette, tho.

Overall, I would really recommend this palette if you're a bit bored with Urban Decay ones or still in search for matte eye shadow palette that aren't bright and rainbow-y. The price is not too bad as well, I've got mine at Target for $20 something (Everything is more expensive in Hawai'i ... EVEN TARGET THINGS!) but they always have coupons in their site, so make sure you keep an eye out for that.

Thank you for reading and let me know your thoughts if any of you owns or have tried this palette :)

Toodles~

Swatch: Lac Attack - Beauxbatons Academy

Hey guys,

I am proud to say that I'm a Potter generation, growing up reading the books and was present when the movies were finalized. Someday when my kid asks about the doomed story of one particular sparkly vampire, I'd be happy to say inform that he was in Harry Potter way before it. And he died.

Anyway, this nail polish one of Lac Attack "Magical Musings" collection called Beauxbatons Academy. YES, the lovely all-female French Wizarding school where the ladies twirl instead of walk from one classroom to another.

Ugh so lovely!

even their behind are gorgeous...

Taken from Lac Attack's site:

Beauxbatons is the French wizarding school. This polish is inspired by the powder blue carriage the students arrive in during the Triwizard Tournament, their delicate blue uniforms, and the official crest of the academy. Beauxbatons Academy is a pale milky-with-a-hint-of-blue with white squares, two different shades of blue, matte yellow and iridescent glitter. 

If you're interested, check out Lac Attack here and their Facebook as well.

:) until next time!