Nails Inc Ebury Place NOTD: Attempting the Lilac Trend

You know, sometimes I really think the nail polish companies are just out to get me. They're always making the "trendy" colours of the season some colour that I think is just plain ugly, or some colour that just doesn't look good on me. Well, to be fair, there was the whole taupey-brown-purple mushroomy craze that I really liked - hellooo Sephora by OPI Metro Chic (here), Nails Inc Jermyn Street (here), and all your imitators. That one I liked. And then there was the mannequin nails trend, which while I know was boring as heck, was at least good for me (here). But for the most part, the polish companies just seem to hate me. Take the mint green trend for example, inspired by Chanel Jade (which isn't really jade colour at all, but more a mint colour) - I actually tried it out, and it looked like a pastel green puke of death on my fingers. And then now there is the LILAC trend, thanks to Color Club's Light As Air and Essie's Lilacism.

Can I tell you how much I hate those kinds of pastel lilac purples? Granted, I like them in the form of eyeshadows for some looks, but for nail polish, I just KNOW it's going to look like the pastel-purple-puke-of-death on me. But you know, I can never resist something if it's hyped up enough, and so I decided to give the trend a try. Of course, I wimped out of wearing straight up lilac, so I rooted around in my stash for something lilac, but with a tinge (okay a pretty strong tinge) of pink to it to make it less purply-pukey and more pinky-nude. And this is how I ended up with Nails Inc Ebury Place for my NOTD.

So here is my half-hearted attempt at wearing a lilac-ish shade, in the sun:



See see see? See what I mean about lilacs looking like purply death puke on my fingers? While I could certainly think of worse colours to wear, I initially felt like it made my fingers look really dirty. And not in a good way.

But anyway, I didn't have much to complain about. This was actually surpringly pigmented given that it's a light colour, especially since most light colours tend to be formulated (or mis-formulated) as sheers - as though an opaque light colour doesn't exist. Anyway, this was actually pretty much opaque in one thicker coat, although I used two out of habit. I think I might actually try konading with this someday, I think it could do. It also has a superfine silver pearl finish to it, that doesn't show up in most lights, if at all. But I think this slight pearlized finish is why this shade looks really glossy and reflective in the light.

Here is Nails Inc Ebury Place indoors. Here you can sort of see the silver pearl finish, if you squint. It's best seen in the bottle, around where the light hits:



Application on this, was, as is usual for Nails Inc, absolutely smooth and problem-free. I actually feel sorry for my fellow US girls, because it's hard for them to get their hands on Nails Inc, and they don't know what their missing. Every bottle I've had has been awesome in terms of application and consistency, with the slight exception of just one bottle, out of the many I have.

Wear time on this was also really good, as is with almost all my Nails Incs (except one). I don't know what Nails Inc puts in their polishes, but every company seriously needs to learn from them.

Anyway, I guess this didn't look THAT bad on me, although it wasn't my best colour. I feel that it's a little too cool-toned for me - it kind of really draws out the yellow in my olive undertones. The colour itself is interesting though - it's a lilac pink that looks either more lilac or more pink depending on the light. And that slight pearlized finish helps prevent it from looking too flat and uninteresting. I guess it's not a bad buy if you like these colours, and if you, like me, want to try out the lilac trend but don't dare to wear a straight up purple, this is probably a better bet for you.

RBL Sale - Last Few Hours!

I'm sure you nail addicts will already have placed your orders (or maybe not, since true nail addicts would have had enough of the sheer/neutral/pink colour palette featured in this post) but RBL is having a 48 hour sale, and I do believe they are in the last few hours as this post goes up!

Basically you're getting these 7 to-be-discontinued polishes for $50. What a deal for my US ladies!

1. Pink Shimmer
2. Sheer Pink
3. Opaque Pink
4. Lulu
5. Ani
6. Sheer Natural
7. Square Pants

All these colours are nudes/sheers/pinks, so they're perfect for the girl who doesn't like colour. Except for Square Pants, which is a pale pastel yellow.

Anyway, shipping is the kicker, as is usual. It rangesf rom $7.50 to $8.50 if you are in the US, and $38.50 if you are outside the US. Looks like us international ladies have to make good friends within the US!

Last Chance to Win a Prize and Help Me Out

Much as I hate pimping stuff, I'd like to remind everyone that you have 2 days left if you want to win this hamper of cosmetcis worth 100GBP:



If you'd like to win this, then please do the following:

1. Go HERE

2. Enter this voting ID: EWA1260

There are 2 days left, so please, please pretty please help me out guys! If you've found any of my swatches helpful, or if you liked any of my posts, please do vote for me! I do spend a lot of time and effort swatching, and I quite frequently get told off/scolded/interrogated by salse assistants and counter girls for swatching...I get everything from "You're using too much tester" to "What are you doing?" to "Excuse me you can't take photos at all", so if you would like to show a little appreciation for me sticking out my neck to do these swatches, please do vote! You get the chance to win a prize, and I get the chance to know you guys love me! Awwww.

Every little vote does help to make my swatching trials and tribulations worth it, so please do vote if you can! :)

ArtDeco Power of Elegance Collection Swatches

Yes, yes, late to the party as usual. But in my defence, I never knew ArtDeco existed in London, until I was kindly tipped off by LondonMakeupGirl told me that there was in fact, a store that sold ArtDeco in Covent Garden, just a 15 mins walk from where I live! So I happily went there, and they did indeed have an ArtDeco display! Oh joy!

And of couse, I took some swatches. These are from their Fall/Winter Power of Elegance Collection (I did say I was late right?). But I thought I'd put them up just in case someone still wanted them for reference purposes, and since my store still had selling stock of these. I'll really need to go back and take a look at the display again - the things they have are beautiful. Especially the eyeshadows.

What I have swatched is the eyeshadows, and a blush in the collection (or blusher, as the Europeans/Asians call it). All of the eyeshadows are just beautifully pigmented, awesomely smooth and oh-so-blendable. They're just like a cheaper version of Shu Uemura, only perhaps slightly more powdery. I'm in love. I don't think I need you anymore, MAC, Smashbox or Stila. I think I'm going to leave all of you and go exclusive with Artdeco. Well, just for the eyeshadows.



L-R: Eyeshadow: 51, 79, 272, 290, Blusher: 23

51 is a beautiful deep forest green with silver sparkle glitter. I kind of like the visual effect of the glitter here, but I'm not too sure about what kind of fallout you'd have from these types of glitter bits. This one was really pigmented.

79 is a pretty, pretty night-sky blue with silver sparkly glitter. This really looks like stars in a night sky, and I'd love it, if I wasn't so glitter-averse in my eyeshadows. Although I had to admit, I didn't actually have much fallout, surprisingly. But then again, swatching and actually wearing eyeshadow are pretty different, so I don't feel entitled to draw any conclusions just based on the amount of fallout I get while swatching. Once again, this one was super pigmented.

272 is a beautiful purply lilac, a light colour with some silver shimmer. This one wasn't as pigmented as the others, but it was decent. It showed up on me, and was nicely buildable. It could have been worse.

290 is a dusty purple. I like this one. You know I like greyed purples. LOL. It's a pretty colour, probably the most neutral in this entire collection, seeing how this collection (or what I've swatched of it, at least) is primarily made up of cool-toned colours. I guess it's in keeping with the seasons, but I personally feel 272 and 290, and the blush 23, are pretty much year-round staples. Actually, all the colours could be year-round staples - there's nothing that particularly screams out "seasonal!" to me in this collection.

And the blush, 23, is a very pretty pinky-plummy colour. I really like this colour, it's one of those colours you can sheer out or build up, and it really looks good either way. It's also quite well pigmented for a blush.

Stila on Sale at Brandalley

For all my UK girls, Stila is on sale at Brandalley right now! :) Please contact me if you need an invite at musicalhouses at hotmail dot com. A cursory look at the sale shows eyeshadow pans, 4 pan palettes, some skincare, and tinted moisturizers, some palettes and a few brushes.

Iman Wicked and Stila Diamond Lil: Are they Dupes?

If you've been a beauty lover for as long as I have, you'll probably have an opinion on dupes - you know, two eyeshadows that are supposed to be exactly alike, or two nail polishes that are exactly alike. Some people love them, because they allow them to get unique colours at cheaper prices, but some others don't buy into the concept, maintaining that true dupes are hard to find, and skintone dependant. As for me, I'm somewhere in between - but as a makeup lover, hoarder, and compusive addict, I can tell you that it's increasingly harder for companies to produce something truly unique. Often a 100% exact dupe is hard to come by, of course, but you get pretty close colours most of the time, and for much cheaper.

Case in point is today's comparison swatch post: Stila, who has acheived fame for their cult eyeshadows, and the much humbler Iman, which is only found in drugstores in the USA. Stila's Diamond Lil, the much acclaimed (and according to some, superior) dupe to MAC's discontinued Smoke and Diamonds, with a softer texture, is pitted against Iman's Luxury Eye Definint Powder in Wicked.

There are differences between the two from the outset. For one, the Iman is a loose eyeshadow, while the Stila is pressed. (I know that alone is going to help some of you ladies out there make your decision already!) And for another, the Iman is a lot cheaper.

But of course, dupes are all about colour and quality. So colour-wise, how did they fare?

Here are swatches:



L - R: Iman Wicked, Stila Diamond Lil

And because I'm all about gratituous photo-taking, here's another shot.



L - R: Iman Wicked, Stila Diamond Lil

So they're not 100% dupes, and if you are a true taupe lover (like yours truly), then you will NEED and absolutely MUST have both. But for the rest of us on a budget or who are just 'meh' about taupes, how do you choose between the two? Well, the Iman's Wicked is definitely less green than Stila's Diamond Lil, and as the photos show, it's a lot more brown. So a big factor colour-wise would be how brown or green your want your taupes to lean. It is in my experience that colours like these tend to pull greenish on warm-toned ladies, so if you're warm-toned, and you don't want too much of a green tinge to your taupe, go for the Iman. If you're cool-toned, you can essentially take your pick of the two since they're both pretty neutral anyway, but if you're so cool-toned that most browns look orangey on you, it might be better to head for the Stila. The Stila's also more frosty than the Iman, so for people who don't like frosty eyeshadows, the Iman might be a better bet.

Quality-wise, though, how did the two compare? I really like the Stila for its awesome blendability, and it has it's place of honour in my special Stila 6-pan palette reserved for my favourite Stilas (which also include Cloud and Rain...Ahhhh), and it does stay on all day, with minimal creasing. The Iman is a little trickier to use as it's in loose powder form, and goodness knows how clumsy I am, but it has pretty good pigmentation - I was impressed - and good lasting power too.

And one last thing to note, which is sheerness vs opacity. The Stila is sheerer than the Iman, sort of, kind of, in a way. Well, it isn't sheer per se, but it's more buildable. Because of how most Stila shadows are formulated, in my experience they tend to start off sheer but are very beautifully buidable to full opacity, kind of like Chantecaille. And Diamond Lil does the same thing. It's a little sheer at the very first brushstroke, but it definitely builds up well (as you can see from my swatches). The Iman gives off more pigment at first stroke. Of course, pigmentation is also a very personal preference, so if you prefer sheerer eyeshadows, go for the Stila. If you want greater opacity, the Iman might be better. The difference in opacity isn't very great though - I'm kind of splitting hairs for the sake of this comparison post. As I always do when it comes to great taupes. I swear that my 2342353 taupes are all different from each other. Really!

And that's it for today! I hope you guys have liked this comparison!

Zoya Yasmeen NOTD: Fulfilling My Nars Purple Rain Lemming

With all the hype going on about NARS' Purple Rain, you'd think that in addition to making your nails look great, it would also do your dishes, vacuum the floor, do your laundry, and buy you flowers and chocolates on Valentine's Day. But nah, it does none of these things - other than making your nails look fabulous, that is. And so, it's not worth all the hype, and the money. At least, that's what I tell myself over and over. It's not that great. You don't need it. It's expensive. And goodness knows I have a gazillion purple nail polishes in my stash. (I happen to have a thing for purples. And taupes.)

So, I told myself, there must be a substitute for NARS Purple Rain. Not a dupe, definitely, but maybe something in the same glowy-purple-with-shimmer category. And since I have a gazillion purples, I probably already have it in my stash. Thus, I dug around in my stash, and found this beauty called Zoya Yasmeen. It's currently my NOTD, and although it's not at all a dupe of Purple Rain, it's utter gorgeousness is making me forget about NARS.

I'm sorry if application was a bit sloppy on this one, I did my nails at 3am in the morning (there's a reason for that, and if you were following me on Twitter, you'd know why. LOL. But if you're curious, you can read the relevant tweets in order: here and here, followed by here and here, then here and here, and finally here and here. As you can tell, I reeeaaaalllly haaaate having my sleep interrupted. All my classes are early in the mornings this term, and as a result I don't get much sleep on weekdays. So catching up on sleep during the weekends is really important to me.)

Here it is in natural light. Please forgive the watermarking, there are reasons for it. The first reason is that lately, commercial sites have been stealing nail bloggers' pictures (and for some reason nail pictures get stolen a lot more than makeup pictures), and they even crop out watermarks, so if you want to prevent photo theft you really have to watermark the entire picture, like I'm attempting to do. The second reason is that my friend has installed GIMP in my computer, and I'm having a lot of fun attempting to use it to watermark my pictures. LOL. I've no idea how to edit colours etc though, so it's primarily a watermarking tool for me, since previously I was using Paint to watermark my pictures.



I love how Yasmeen has this glowy look about it that makes the colour look half-alive. It's darkened at the edges, but it's still visibly purple in all lights, and it has the most lovely gold (or is it gold? I can't quite tell...It might be multi-coloured) shimmer. I really love this one, it looks pretty both indoors and out, unlike some polishes which look nice outdoors but flat in indoor lighting and vice versa.

Here is a not-too-great photo of Zoya Yasmeen indoors. You can really see the gold (or whatever colour it is) shimmer here:



As you can see, the shimmer is really a lot more obvious indoors. It doesn't really look like shimmer though, instead the effect is more of a glow, which I really like. Yasmeen also applied beautifully, like most Zoyas do, and very little cleanup was required. However, despite the depth of colour, it was only semi-opaque in one coa, so two coats is still necessary for full opacity. Wear time is pretty decent, too. There's nothing I don't like about Yasmeen.

So Zoya Yasmeen isn't anywhere close to Nars Purple Rain. But it's pretty in it's own right, and it has this lovely glowy shimmer that the NARS doesn't, so I'm pretty happy. To paraphrase the proverb, a nail polish in the stash is worth two in the store. LOL.