China Glaze swatches

Here are the swatches from my last China Glaze haul.

Pure Elegance: 3 coats. This color lasted 5 days with zero chips and almost no shrinking. Basically it looked at 5 days exactly how it looked when I first put it on.

For Audrey: 2 coats. Gorgeous cream color! I didn't think I'd like it so much but I love it. Unfortunately it started chipping the next day, I think because its so thick. Next time I'll add some thinner.

Blue Sparrow: 3 coats. Dark blue jelly with wanna be glitter. It dries matte so you need to wear a top coat with it. In this photo I did not because I was putting somethng else over it after taking pics. That said I LOVE this color. Normally I'm not into dark blues but this is great. Also I think its one of those colors that will leave your nails blue, and I know the glitter is going to be a wretch to take off.


I wanted to snaz For Audrey & Blue Sparrow up so I added some Pure Ice shimmer top coats over them. The first one is Oh Baby, not heartbreaker. I labled it wrong. The second photo is correctly labled though.

NYX Chrome Pigment Swatches

Here are the 9 colors I have: Queen, Yellow, Apricot, Sunny Day, Red, Violet, Fuschia, Bayou, Lagoon.

China Glaze & NYX np haul

For the entire month Sally's Beauty Supply store is having Buy 2 Get 1 Free on ALL nail polish brands, so I had to rush there this morning and pick out some pretties. I may go back at another time to get some other colors. Swatches to come soon.



I picked these up last weekend. South Sea & Mango Cafe. SS is GORGEOUS! Its a pearly pool blue with purple tones. MC is not as fab as I'd expected, but its still pretty.

China Glaze ~ Summer Days & Bahama Blues

Bahama Blues: I only got these 3 colors because I'm not into dark blues, and Bahamian Escape, Caribbean Blue, and Blue Island Iced Tea are the prettiest.

Bahamian Escape and Caribbean Blue are bit difficult to apply. They go on too thick and you have to wait for each layer to dry a good bit before applying a second coat, or else the first coat will smear. I don't know if this can be fixed by adding a few drops of thinner, but as soon as my Sally's has their thinner back in stock I'll pick some up and try it. Blue Island Iced Tea is very thin and you need 3 to 4 coats but its easy to apply.






Summer Days: I love these colors! Its a great summer collection. Watermelon Rind is a bit sheer and needs 3 coats but its gorgeous and has a little bit of a metallic shimmer in the sun light. Strawberry Fields is a pink with gold shimmer, its a great color but I wish the pink was a bit more vivid. Raspberry Festival is a hot red with pink and red shimmer, you also have to let each layer dry before applying each coat.






You can get these at:

transdesign.com - $2.60
head2toebeauty.com $3.00
8ty8beauty.com $2.68

Sinful Colors nail polish stash & swatches.

Here are all my Sinful Colors nail polishes, and I've swatches all but UFP & Treasure Island because glitters are a pain to remove.

You can get these at Walgreens & Cherryculture.com for $2.00


click to enlarge

Misa nail polish swatches

All but First Kiss were just 2 coats. These are so pigmented, I love it. I definitely want to get more colors.




First Kiss

Lather, Rinse, Repeat

Sandles, Flip Flops, & Hip Hop

Bikini With A Martini

St. Patricks NOTD

Its a bit sheer even after 4 coats but its so BLINGY! Btw NYX has renamed it to Simple Sparkle or some crap like that. Idk what their deal is.

Review: MAC Prep + Prime Face Protect SPF 50

Quality: 5 out of 5
Packaging: 4 out of 5
Size: 1 oz
Price: $28.00
Where To Buy: maccosmetics.com
Will I Buy Again: Yes, for sure.

A skin-protecting cream with SPF 50. Applies under makeup to prime the skin for the sun. Featherweight, fast-absorbing, oil-free, invisible. Will not affect the look, texture or long-wear integrity of your makeup. Specially formulated with oil-absorbing powder, helps prevent oil breakthrough. Provides high-level broad spectrum sun protection. Worn daily helps guard the skin against discolouration, premature aging, dryness and other effects of sun exposure. Suitable for all skins.



I get all warm and fuzy just thinking about this primer. I have very oily skin, I've tried a few primers, different foundations, face powders, whatever, and none have been able to do what MAC's Prep + Prime SPF 50 has done for me.

Oil Control: When I'm not wearing primer my skin becomes oily 4-5 hours after applying foundation (sometimes sooner on bad days), and by 3 or 4 pm I have to blot (I just use tissue). When I wear the Prep+Prime my skin gets a little 'dewy' after a few hours but it rarely gets to the point when I feel like I need to blot. Even if its 10 o'clock at night, my face will still look only dewy or just slightly oily.

Foundation Wear: My usual face products are Revlon's Colorstay Foundation, followed by a pressed powder. I apply my foundation right after the primer because it CS is easier to blend with something else underneath. With the Prep + Prime my foundation lasts all day and if there aren't any lines around my nose or mouth (from smiling).

Breakouts & Pores: I almost always have one or two new zits everyday, and I don't find this to have affected my skin in that way at all. I usually just use the primer on my forhead, nose, & cheeks, and my breakouts are always around my mouth and cheeks. So this primer hasn't made me breakout more or less. Also its never clogged pores or caused any other skin irritations.

Application & Removal: The formula is light and easy to apply. I just use a little dot for each cheek & one for my nose and forehead. I've found using a bit more makes it work even better at controlling oil. This washes off just fine with my Olay face cleanser (it has little exfoliating beads), I don't have a problem with this staying on my face when I don't want it there.

Packaging: This comes in a little sparkly black tube that is narrow on the top and has the opening on the bottom. Its only 1 ounce, which I think it a rip off for $28. Also I think it will be a pain to get all of the product out when I start getting to the end. I would probably cut it open if not for the fact that I would not be able to take the empty tube back to MAC for a free lipstick or whatever. I only use the primer on days when I know I'm going to be away from home all day, otherwise I feel like I'm wasting it and I don't want to have to rebuy this all the time.

PROS:
-controls oil
-wears well under foundation
-no funky smell
-SPF 50
-doesn't clog pores or cause breakouts

CONS:
-expensive for such a small amount
-packaging could be better