Loose Powder

I meant to post this review the day I got this manicure, because, just WOW, this is an amazing color! Last month I took mother dearest to get her first (yes, very first, and she’s 55 years old) manicure for her birthday. She was super psyched and I was excited because my nails were in decent shape for it. For mom, I brought a polish for her – my Zoya Marcella. I pegged it as a good color for her skin tone (pale/ruddyish, freckles, red hair, blue eyes) and it ended up looking great on her. I was afraid she’d pick some garish pink or bright red, which, NO. She needs pinky-browns, like Marcella. Anyway, I decided to choose a fun color they had at the salon, and settled on OPI’s Glamour, part of their DS (designer series) series. Unfortunately I can’t find it anywhere online anymore to link to This has to be one of the prettiest nail polishes I’ve ever had the pleasure of wearing – here are a few pictures:

The first picture is in full sunlight with the holo all a-glitter (click on it to see the full-sized picture and the full effect!), and the second picture is in less direct light without the full rainbow effect. When not looking at the polish in full sunlight, it’s a nice cornflower-to-royal blue with some silver sparkle, and when you look at it in full sun, it explodes into this gorgeous rainbow glitter. I just LOVE it.  The manicurist put two coats on plus a top coat, and it lasted a good few days without any major chipping.

My huge regret is that I didn’t purchase a bottle when I found it online back then… I just checked the site Cyn found it on and it’s gone now It was a Fall 2009 color so I probably won’t be able to find it anywhere, but I will keep looking. Probably the best blue polish I’ve ever had, and I needs to have me a bottle!

I’ve been wary of mineral eyeshadows ever since my disenchantment with Garden Botanika products when I was in high school.  The appeal of the “natural” is understandable; if you’re going to spackle layers of gunk on your eyes, why not choose products that are made with harmless minerals instead of fish scales, rust, or crushed insects?  Non-comedogenic is the magic word here. But I was always disappointed with how the colors looked different when applied, or how the color would get sucked into my skin and disappear. But that was years ago! It was a different brand. They have shadow primers now. I decided I was ready to give mineral products another go.

Aromaleigh has gorgeous eyeshadow palettes that make me want to buy all of them. Lucky for my wallet, they have free samples when your friendsyou buy something. I tried Chantal and Colette. I apologize for not putting up pictures of the samples. My camera is MIA and you can’t really appreciate the colors in the tiny ziplock bags anyhow. If you wish, they can be seen here. Chantal is a gorgeous, lustrous brown. Colette is a dark, glittery blue (though not disco-ball glittery).

It sounds like a contradiction, since the simplest solution would be to not wear any makeup, but always being short on time requires me to be very practical with my makeup. Control, durability, and efficiency are really important factors when choosing an eyeshadow.

And just to make sure I wasn’t being biased (call it my “control group”), instead of using concealer I applied Aromaleigh’s eyeshadows over Too Faced eyeshadow primer, and over a Benefit cream eyeshadow base, and then over both. I’ve seen people use mineral eyeshadows with success. I’m not one of them. I really, really wanted to love this product. But I don’t.

First I used Colette in combination with a neutral base color. The color just didn’t look quite as sparkly, no matter how many times I dabbed at my eye. I was hoping the blue would pop a bit more. I know that a blue cream base would take care of that, but then it would lose its subtlety. It’s always disappointing when a color doesn’t look the way you expect it to, but sometimes you can learn to like it the way it is.

Lack of staying power, however, is a deal breaker. I don’t believe in reapplying makeup. Carrying a little bag around with all your essentials is the opposite of practical, and with all the primers and tints and cream bases there are today, makeup can last a long, long time. Chantal is a very pretty color, but it faded in a few hours.  Colette ended up all over my eye, even though I only applied it to half. I don’t apply eyeshadow with so much care so two hours later it can look like I’m wearing one color, uniformly applied — or like I’m wearing a touch of an indistinct color. Eyeshadow needs to blend when I want it to and stay where I put it.

Also, fallout. It’s not just a a really cool video game, it’s a serious problem with these eyeshadows. Once upon a time, I wasted a lot of product and time wiping my cheeks clean and reapplying foundation. I’m disappointed with the dusting of powder left on my cheekbone, where I didn’t put it. It makes me feel like an awkward teenager again.

I came to a conclusion, inspired by a night at the opera with AthenaKTT: Mineral eyeshadows are my cosmetic Rheingold; they’re beautiful and shiny when all I do is admire them, but as soon as I get hold of them, the consequences are ruinous.

So back to my question: If I’m going to plaster my face with product, why not choose some that will cause the least amount of damage to my skin? Answer: because it’s ineffective and inefficient. It doesn’t matter if  Aromaleigh is cheaper and better for my skin. I use 4–5 different colors in one application. I don’t want to buy an eyeshadow if I have to spend a full five minutes playing with just one color on one eye because it’s not showing up, after which I have to clean my face again. The pigmentation doesn’t hold up in the substantial company of colorful, vibrant lineups from Mac, Urban Decay, Make Up Forever, etc.  The benefit of a high pigment eyeshadow is that you can use less of it, and there’s less fallout, which also means you’ll be done faster. I think that’s worth paying for.

I’m not giving up on the Aromaleigh brand altogether. They have some other products I really want to try and I believe they’re in the middle of improving their formulas. I just don’t think their eyeshadows are right for me.

If you’re a minimalist with sensitive skin, and use just a bit of color here and there, Aromaleigh might be just thing for you. Just get yourself a good primer and apply carefully.

“Leaf Him at the Altar” is the last color in the “Modern Flowers” Spring Mini Collection by Sephora. This is first green color nail polish I have ever tried, and I love it. I pretty much love this whole “Modern Flowers” Mini Collection.

This green nail polish is similar to the pink “Handpicked for Me” because it has a satiny finish. The green color is not a dark green, but it more like a light greenish yellow with more emphasis on the green.  I only note the slight yellow hue because in the pictures the polish looks like a dark green, when in fact it is much lighter. Also sorry about the bad manicure, I was in a rush and hadn’t bothered to clean the edges of my nails before taking the pictures. Generally, the polish looks like a pretty green. Great for spring and St. Patrick’s Day or any day you feel like wearing green.

I only needed two coats of the polish to get good coverage and color. There was no streaking, the polish evened out while it dried. With a clear protective topcoat, the polish lasted almost a week before any noticeable chipping around the edges occurred.

I don’t think Urban Decay still sells the “Super Stash” set for their 24/7 Glide-on eye pencils anymore, but you can still find them on ebay for $40-$50, though I don’t think this set is worth those prices on ebay.

I have always preferred using pencil liners over liquid liners because the few times I have tried to used liquid liner, it always ended up a disaster, but I recently discovered the beauty of gel liners, but that’s for another review. I like using pencil liners because I feel that I have better control, and if I make a mistake, it isn’t as catastrophic as with a liquid liner. The problem with most cheap liners is that they either crease or don’t last the whole day and end up giving me raccoon eyes.

A couple friends had told me about how Urban Decay has the best eye pencils, but being on a budget, I wasn’t sure about spending $17 on an eye pencil. After probably wasting that amount or more by trying out various cheaper brands, I finally broke down and decided give Urban Decay a try. Now I had another dilemma. What color should I try? All the colors in Urban Decay are bold and colorful, and I wanted to try a lot of them if not all. Since I could not decide on which colors, I decided to get the Super Stash which had nine different colors and mini sized. So if I didn’t like a color, I wouldn’t have a lot of it left over, but if I loved the color, I was going to have to spring for the regular sized pencil.

The Super Stash comes with nine colors. Colors from left to right: Zero, Oil Slick (black and glitter), Corrupt (brown and glitter), Eldorado, Graffiti, Binge, Ransom, Rockstar, and Stash.

I tend to stick to boring colors like black, brown and the occasional dark purple, but after getting this set, my favorite colors have been Binge (Navy) and Ransom (Iridescent purple). I did not think I would care for the green (Graffiti) and gold (Eldorado), but the colors are so bold and pretty that I have tried them out and love them. Every color in this set is great for any occasion.

Now the colors are fantastic, but how do they wear? Urban Decay’s 24/7 glide-on eye pencil goes on very smoothly and bold. You don’t need many strokes to get a nice good bold lining. With primer the eyeliner will last all day. Without primer the eyeliner will still last all day, but there will be minor creasing. Also this liner would survive my toughest workouts where I feel like am showering in sweat.

Another example of its water resistance was when I was cleaning the swatches off my arm, I had just put my arm under the faucet and the water just ran right over the colors without any smears or smudges. The liners with sparkles did lose a couple flakes, but that’s expected. I actually had to use a waterproof makeup remover to successfully clean the patches from my arm. So the eyeliner is definitely water resistant as advertised.

Colors from left to right: Zero, Oil Slick (black and glitter), Corrupt (brown and glitter), Eldorado, Graffiti, Binge, Ransom, Rockstar, and Stash.

For the swatches, I went over them twice with the pencils, since just having one layer was not enough for the camera to capture the colors. All the colors have a little shimmer to them. Corrupt has glitter, but they aren’t showing up in the picture. Also Zero (black) is darker than in the picture. My favorite color in this set is Ransom. At the time I only thought it was a regular purple color, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was an iridescent purple with a hint of blue. This was a combination of two colors I love! Needless to say, I’ve been using this one a lot.

Now I did mention that these pencils are “mini” sized, and when I say “mini” I mean mini. I knew they were small when I bought them, but I had underestimated the smallness when I received these in the mail. These pencils are 0.02 oz or 0.5g. When it is just numbers, it is hard to imagine the size. So I decided to measure the pencil with a ruler, and they measure only about 2.75 inches. Basically they can, literally, fit in the palm of your hand. Because of the smallness of each pencil, this set is a bit on the expensive side, but it is a good set to try if you want to play with the different colors.

After purchasing this set, I was wondering if I spent too much for eyeliner, but after using these liners for about a month. I have no regrets, and I’ve even purchase a couple more sets with some new colors that aren’t “mini” sized.

“Handpicked for Me” is another polish that is part of the “Modern Flowers” Spring Collection with mini bottles. This was the first color of the collection that I fell in love with. I am not a very girly person, but wearing this nail polish made me feel like I should wear a sundress and have afternoon tea. When I see this color, I definitely think of spring. Roses or tulips come to mind for some reason.

The color is a light pastel pink with very tiny sparkles mixed in giving the polish a satin finish. The polish looks darker in the picture, but it is not that dark of a pink. It is definitely lighter in a silvery way. If you look really really closely at the polish, you’ll notice that under light the tiny tiny sparkles are hologlitter since they change color under light.

I have three coats of the polish in the picture, but two coats would have sufficed. The polish did not leave any streaks and smoothed out when it dried. With the protective topcoat, the polish lasted about a week before chipping started to occur.

As a huge fan of all things Doctor Who, I’ve taken a keen interest in the new companion, Amy Pond (played by Karen Gillan) who has an interesting sense of fashion and great taste in nail polish!

I was looking for a color similar to the grayish purple Amy had on in “The Time of Angels” and “Flesh and Stone.” It was amazingly difficult to find any shots with close-ups, or close-ups in good light.

Based on that shot, I thought OPI’s Parlez-Vous OPI? was a pretty good match. It’s part of their Collection De France and I was able to find a bottle online for a very good price.

Here are pictures of the polish, one with flash and one without. Sorry, no daylight photos! I didn’t have time.

Two coats for this coverage, but the second coat was pretty thick. I probably should have stuck with three thin coats. The application was a little stroke-y and I don’t know if it was the brush or the polish. It did even out as it dried, though, and it’s a very glossy finish.

I think this is a good match for Amy Pond’s polish and I’m pretty happy with it.

If you’re looking for something else that’s similar, Michelle from All Lacquered Up suggest RGB Cosmetics’ Haze.

“Iris I was Thinner” is part of the Sephora OPI “Modern Flowers” Spring Mini Collection, which consists if four mini bottles of polish (1/8 fl. oz.) with colors that remind you of spring. Even though the bottles are tiny, I know they will probably last me forever.

I’m usually not one to go for purple nail polish. I tend to stick to lighter more “natural” colors like pinks or silver. But when I tried this color on my nails, I loved it. This polish color makes me think of Easter for some reason, and I love how the purple is a lavender pastel, but it is not too light in color or too dark and still bold enough to stand out. I also liked that it was a pretty work safe color. Additionally, since I tend to wear a lot of purple clothing, my nails matched.

In this picture, I have three coats of polish on and it gives a decent coverage and goes on very smoothly and doesn’t leave any streaks. Since I was experimenting with the colors, I decided to use “It’s Bouquet with Me” (which is also part of this spring collection) as a topcoat. “It’s Bouquet with Me” is a topcoat with purple and hologlitter, so under light you get the rainbow glitter effect that makes it more fun. Unfortunately, it is hard to see in the pictures.

After those applications, I added a clear top coat for added protection because I am very hard on my nails, and have had nail polish chip in less than a day. So far the polish was flawless for a week before there was any noticeable chipping and it was very minor chipping.

I love me some good quality drug store nail polish and Sinful Colors is currently my brand of choice.

While looking for some bright summer colors, I came across Dream On. It’s a opaque fuchsia purple with a satin finish.

As you can see from the pictures above, there is a huge color shift from sunlight to artificial light. Here are a couple more close-up shots in indirect sunlight (left) and artificial light (right).

Two coats gave satisfactory coverage, but I probably could have done three. Each coat dried quickly, though. I was also worried about brush strokes and uneven coverage, but it evened out once the polish was dry.

Without a top coat, the polish did start to wear at the edges after the second day. No chipping, though.

Sinful Colors polishes are toluene, formaldehyde, DBP, and camphor free.

While I do love salon brand polishes, there’s nothing wrong with drugstore brands! Sinful Colors Professional is a brand of polish that I have been picking up lately at my local Walgreens and Rite-Aid. Many of their colors seem to be dupes or similar to colors found in salon brands like OPI and China Glaze, but these bottles run about $2 a piece which makes them a good alternative if you’re on a budget.

This first color is definitely nothing I’ve ever owned or even tried. I’m not a pink girl, but with all these bright summer shades trending, I though I’d give it a try.

Cream Pink is a opaque pearlescent hot pink that dries with a satin finish.

After a day, I just couldn’t get used a pink that bright, so I added a coat of Sinful Colors’ Forget Now, which is a fuchsia with pink and purple-blue shimmer.

Might be a bit difficult to tell from the photos, but the single coat of Forget Now changed the color of Cream Pink just enough for my liking. It also gave it a nice glossy finish, which I love.

In conjunction with my Nutra Nail High Gloss top coat, this manicure lasted me about a week with minimal tip wear.

Sinful Colors polishes are formulated without toluene, formaldehyde, DBP, and camphor. If you can’t find them at your local drug store, check out Cherry Culture.