Posh by Revlon

Once upon a time (it was the end of June), I took a trip back to Canada. When boyfriend and I boarded the plane, we found a rogue fashion magazine, which I, of course, picked up. While flipping through, I found an ad for some new Revlon colours. My eyes fell upon Posh, and from that moment I knew it was a colour I needed.

Posh is an amazingly beautiful emerald green creme. I have two coats on here plus one coat of Seche Vite, but it does dry very very shiny on its own! The formula was just amazing, went on smooth and was so easy to control!

I'm in love.

Conclusion? You absolutely need this.

China Glaze Bohemian Luster Chrome Collection Swatches and Review.

Helloooo! After breaking my heart all week, the mailman finally delivered the package I had been waiting for - the new China Glaze Bohemian collection! This collection consists of six different metallic duochromes. So, of course, I ripped open the package and immediately got to swatching! What did I think? You'll have to wait until after the delicious picture goodness! For all of these pictures I used two coats and no top coat. Also, all of these pictures were taken indoors. The duochrome effect doesn't like to come out to play as much in the sun. :)

CG describes Swanky Silk as "brilliant beige with peach undertones." I agree except for two things. First, instead of peach, I'd say that the colour is a light pinky purple. Second, there is no way that it's an undertone. The duochrome in this is just absolutely ridiculous! In a good way! Unfortunately, when I asked my camera nicely to photograph it, it said "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA NO." You can see a bit of that pink flash in my pictures but it is SO much more obvious in real life.

 Here is my bottle picture! 

China Glaze's official press release picture is way closer to how it actually looks!

Again, hints of duochrome but way more obvious in person!

Next up we have Rare & Radiant, which is an "extraordinarily rich gold" that has a deeper teal duochrome. The effect is very strong in this polish too. Even better is that it comes out to play in pictures!

 Bottle picture! You can see how strong the duochrome is!

 All the colours out to play

A nice shot of the gold that is the main colour of this polish.

Here we have Unpredictable, a "multidimensional gorgeous green." It is a lighter green with a teal duochrome. The duochrome is strong in this one too! Not much else to say, here's some pictures. :)

 Obligatory bottle picture. Pretty!

Nice duochrome effect on the nails.

I must warn you that we are coming to the part where I stopped being impressed.

No Plain Jane is next on our list. It's purple with a green/grey/gold duochrome. The effect in this polish is a lot more subtle than the previous three, but it can still be coaxed out at the right angles! This one isn't my favourite, but it's definitely not my least favourite either.

Bottle

 Pretty purple

The duochrome payoff!

Next up we have Deviantly Daring, which China Glaze describes as "adventurously bold peacock teal." I'll buy that for the colour. This colour has a fairly strong duochrome in the bottle, but it doesn't really translate to the nail. It's a shame, because I really really like it in the bottle!

 The bottle! Isn't it pretty?

 The most duochrome I could get this polish to show

Full frontal, baby.

Finally, we have my least favourite of the colours: Want My Bawdy. I hate the name and I hate that it's really not that much of a duochrome at all. It's a ballpoint pen ink blue. You know how pen ink has that purple flash to it under some lights? I feel like that's what they were trying to go for with this one. The blue on its own is nice, I guess I'm just disappointed that something like this is in a collection full of fabulous duochrome yumminess. It reminds me of Blue Year's Eve. Anyway, this, like all other blues, did not want to photograph the right colour so keep in mind that it is deeper than what you see here. Also, my camera took all the purple tone out of the pictures. I tried my best to alter them (which is my my hands suddenly look purple), but yeah. Let's just stick with the ballpoint pen ink analogy. :)

 Bottle picture. Actually a little more purple than this in person.

On the nail. Nice blue, just meh everywhere else.

Now, I wasn't ready to give up on these. They are fairly opaque but I wanted to see if layering them over black would make the colours pop a little more. Short answer is yes, yes it did. I have on one coat of each colour over one coat of black.

 Left to right: Deviantly Daring, Unpredictable, Rare & Radiant, Swanky Silk

Pinky and ring finger: Want My Bawdy. Middle and index finger: No Plain Jane

Okay, so let's get into how I feel about this collection. I have mixed feelings.

What I liked: 

- Most of the colours are gorgeous and have a vivid duochrome effect. My fingernails looked like beetles! 

- There is the option of wearing these on their own because they are opaque enough, or over black for that extra pop of colour.

What I didn't like:

- These were SO brush strokey. They sort of settled and I guess that is to be expected from a chrome, but I spent a lot of time trying to get my brush strokes juuuust perfect. I like my manicures to be quick and pretty.

- The duochromes weren't very strong in a few of the colours. I understand that a strong duochrome might not be everyone's thing, and that China Glaze probably wants there to be something for everybody in their collections, but I was just a little disappointed.

- The colour range. Honestly. There are way too many variations of green/blue/teal here for my liking. They had the chance to do anything, something awesome that the world hasn't seen before... and there are three colours that are just basically the same. Disappointing.

At any rate, this collection will be out in August, but you can find it on Amazon or ebay right now! What do you guys think of this one?

My skin story and how proactiv changed it all.

Hey guys! I'm going to do something a little different today. In my first post I mentioned how terrible my skin used to be. Here's a little bit more on that.

This is totally going to sound like proactiv paid me to write a commercial for them, but I swear they didn't! Anyway.

When I was in high school, my skin was awesome. I had a very occasional pimple, but it was honestly so rare. I thought I was in the clear! Then, when I was 18 or 19, my skin failed me. My cheeks and nose got really red and angry little bumps started popping up EVERYWHERE on my face. Honestly, everywhere, though it was by far the worst on my chin. At first I thought that it would just go away, but they were determined to stay. For years.

Of course, this didn't help my self-confidence. I hid from pictures. Actually, I wanted to find one to show you guys how bad it was, but I honestly can't. I tried to position my hair strategically so no one could see the worst of it. One time I even sat down and circled every blemish with eyeliner and my face ended up mostly black. Not only did I hate looking in the mirror, but these angry red bumps were painful!

Let me tell you, I tried everything. For years I experimented with every toner, every cleanser, every calming cleanser, every exfoliating cleanser, every moisturizer. I spent a lot of money trying to find something that worked, but nothing did. Disheartened, I eventually went to my doctor and asked for help. I was prescribed a cream that didn't work, and then a gel that actually sort of did! I cleared up some, but had weird patches of skin peeling off my cheeks that would then start to weep. At one point I stopped using the gel for a week. When I started again, my eyes got really itchy and were swollen shut when I woke up the next morning! I guessed that I had developed some sort of allergy to something in it, so I stopped using it altogether. By this point I had pretty much accepted that I was going to have crappy skin for a long, long time.

Of course, I had seen the proactiv commercials on TV, but many years and a long string of failures had made me very skeptical and I just brushed it off assuming it wouldn't work for me. By this point, I was well out of university. That's right, I had been suffering for five years at least. I'm not sure what made me change my mind. Maybe I just decided that just one more attempt wouldn't hurt, or that another $75 was a drop in the pool compared to what I had spent before. For whatever reason, I tried it. I got the starter kit and gave it a go.

Wouldn't you know it, I had another allergic reaction (it must be benzoyl peroxide). Instead of not using it anymore like any sane person should do, I told my body to shut up and get used to it. After only a few days of following the steps (cleanser, toner, cream), my skin looked a lot lot lot better and the swelling had gone down. The only problem was that it was dry. Like, skin-flaking-off-my-face dry. I decided to see if I could get away with just using the cleanser, and sho'nuff I could!

Now, I won't claim that my skin is perfect. I get tiny little whitehead zits sometimes, like when I put sunscreen on my face or before that awful time of the month. I have also stopped using proactiv for the past couple of months to see what my skin would do, and it's fine. But guys, this stuff works. Trust me. After many tears and many dollars down the drain, I haven't had a single want or need when it comes to my skin after using proactiv. I am a much happier and confident person because of this. If you are anything like I was and unsure about giving it a shot, you absolutely should.

A little polish haul + NOTD

Hey guys! Just in case you weren't aware, Sally is having their red tag clearance sale! All red tag items are an additional 50% off! This is on in stores until July 22nd, so hurry up and check it out! I picked up six things from the clearance section and two other things just on regular sale.

The first clearance things I got are four Finger Paints polishes. This brand is pretty new to me, but I have loved what I have tried so far! I picked up Go Van Gogh!, Art You Blue?, Bauhaus Burgundy, and Picasso's Puce. Art You Blue? and Picasso's Puce are shimmers; the other two are cremes. These were only $1.65 each! Crazy!

Go Van Gogh!, Art You Blue?, Bauhaus Burgundy, Picasso's Puce

Next up are two China Glaze polishes. I try to avoid buying single bottles of China Glaze because I pretty much know that I will eventually buy the entire collection they belong to. How can I resist when they are only $1.65 each, though?? I ended up taking Unplugged and Ingrid home with me.

Unplugged, Ingrid

The last things I got aren't that exciting. One was my first bottle of Seche Vite, which was on sale for $6.99. To give you an idea of the price discrepancies between USA and Canada, Seche Vite is on sale for $8.99 north of the border. Anyway, another bottle of top coat caught my eye simply because it is enormous and only had a $4.99 price tag! Since I go through top coat like water, I had to give it a try. It is Rush 60 Second High Speed Top Coat. The $4.99 I paid got me 1 Fl. Oz.! I still think it's funny that the two top coats I bought cost more than the six nail polishes!

Exciting top coat picture

My next stop was CVS, where I was on a Milani hunt. I was hoping I could find some of the 3D holographic colours and I was not disappointed. I found Hi-Tech, Cyberspace, and HD in the clearance bin! I don't know what I paid individually but when it was all said and done, I paid just over $6 for all three!

Hi-Tech, Cyberspace, HD

Of course, when got home, I immediately wanted to try them. I put one on each finger and was surprised to find that I liked Hi-Tech the best, so I went ahead and did a full manicure with it aaand even took some pictures for your (and my) amusement. This colour (as with the other two) took three coats to build up to fully opaque. I did put Seche Vite on top but I found that it changed the colour! I don't know if it's because the polish dries to a different colour than it is wet, but I didn't have the patience to find out. I left my ring finger free of top coat for you to see the difference.

Indoor natural light. Pretty, but doesn't look like much...

...until you get outside in the sun, and then holy holo explosion!

More yummy holo in artificial light

Nom nom nom

As you can see, I loved this and took way too many pictures. Now to hunt for the other three from the collection!

China Glaze On Safari 2012 Collection - Swatches and Review!

Hey guys! I know I'm a little late doing this collection, but today I have for you the China Glaze On Safari collection! I will be reviewing all 12 shades. This collection consists of 10 cremes and 2 glitters. I don't think that anyone would like EVERY colour in this collection, but there is definitely something for everybody in here! This post is going to be rather picture heavy, so I'm going to put most of it behind a jump, but here's a little sneak peek!

Ooh, pretty glitter!

China Glaze Blue Year's Eve Swatch and Review!

Hey guys! I know we're in the middle of summer and everyone is in bright neon mode, but I want to show you a polish I've been wanting forEVER and finally just got in the mail today! If you haven't figured it out from the title, it's Blue Year's Eve from China Glaze! Yes, I know, not exactly summery, but maybe it will give your eyes a break from the searing neons.

Blue Year's Eve was part of the holiday collection of 2011. It's a lovely, vibrant blue jelly that is packed to the brim with shimmer! I used two coats and it was lovely, but for some reason it didn't want to dry quickly, even with quick dry top coat! Oh well. Worth the wait. The formula gave me no troubles at all, it was smooth and so easy to control.

I'm sorry for my somewhat blurry pictures, they always look so much better on the camera than full size. I also realize that my hand swallowed the bottle, oops! I shall try and figure out this photography thing.

Such a pretty blue!!

A little bit closer so you can see the shimmer. Not sure why my hand turned orange. :(

Hello!

Hello world! I have decided to add my voice to the many many beauty blogs already out there.

My name is Allanah, and Kate is my middle name. I'm a twenty-something year old girl who splits her time between North Carolina (where my boyfriend lives) and Southern Ontario (where I am from)! I guess you could say I'm new to this whole beauty thing. Up until two and a half years ago or so, my idea of a good outfit was jeans and a tank top. Even in the summer. The only makeup I ever wore was pressed powder and sometimes mascara. There was never anything on my nails. This is not to say that this is a bad thing at all; it is just very very different from where I am today.

What changed? Well, I got a job in a clothing store that required me to put some thought into my wardrobe and image. And, man, once I started down that road, there was no turning back.

Because I started such a short time ago, there is a LOT I don't know. I am always trying new things to find out what I like and what I don't. I also feel like my preferences when it comes to makeup and what I put on my face are vastly different from the majority of beauty bloggers I have come across on the internet so far.

So what are my preferences? Well, when it comes to makeup, I am very much a less is more person. My skin has given me a lot of problems in the past and I finally have it under control. I don't put anything heavier than a light powder on my face because I don't dare mess with it. No foundation. No concealer. When it comes to my eyes, I like to keep it basic. I like more sheer, neutral colours. It isn't often that I will get adventurous, but when I do, I don't even like my adventurous colours to be that highly pigmented! Eyeliner and mascara are all variations of brown and black. No blue, no sparkles, no false lashes. I enjoy playing around with these things just for fun, but when it comes to going out in public or an everyday look, I just like to look like myself, I guess.

Some of my favourite makeup brands are: Quo (a Canadian brand), Rimmel, and a newfound love of Physicians Formula. I am always willing to try new things, and I have bits and bobs from other brands that I love, but these make up the core of my makeup collection

One thing I do know, however, is nail polish. I. Love. Nail. Polish. I have entirely too much of it and I ALWAYS want more. If I don't do my nails every day, it's every other day. Seriously. It has gotten to the point where my boyfriend, who could not care less what I buy, gives me disapproving looks when I come home with more nail polish. You know the one I mean, that stern look over the top rim of glasses. But I don't care, I love it. My nails are where I do all my experimenting with colour and I don't think I will ever grow out of this phase.

My favourite brands are China Glaze (absolutely definitely my favourite ever) and Sally Hansen. For a long time I bought nothing but CG, but I am starting to try new brands like Orly and Finger Paints! The ones I have tried of those are really nice!

Anyway, that's a little bit about me. I can't wait to start blogging in my own little place on the internet. Hopefully I will have some reviews for you guys soon!

xo