Polishes -OPI - Barre My Soul
Ice222 6/9/2012 7:15:00 AM
After I saw swatches of OPI's NYC Ballet collection, I just knew I had to have at least one. Since they are sheers, I couldn't justify getting all 6 (they'd look quite similar once on), but I think I made a good choice with Barre My Soul. Firstly I love the colour, the light pinky-beige looks so natural with my skin tone. Second is that it's incredibly easy to apply, I can get extremely thin coats. In fact I've been wearing it over a flakies polish (Essie - Shine of the Times) to get an opal-like effect. Worn it's own, it looks like I have perfect natural nails - so natural looking it's as though I just slapped a clear coat on it. It looks effortless (and it is), beautiful, elegant, and simple. It's something you could wear to work without any worries. I actually think it'll be great for a super natural looking french manicure too, can't wait to get a white polish and give that a go.
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Polishes -Essie - Shine of the Times
Ice222 6/9/2012 6:59:00 AM
I've wanted a flakies polish for a long time but it's very hard for me to find them in my country (NZ). I originally wanted Sally Hansen's Hidden Treasure, from all the photos I've seen online, this polish was the most similar to it. What I love is how versatile it is, wear it over black and you get the dramatic flashes of colour, and over a white, you get subtle shine. One of my favourite ways to wear it at the moment, is to wear a sheer polish over it. I've been wearing 1 coat of China Glaze Sea Spray (pale gery-blue), 1 coat of OPI Barre My Soul (Sheer beige), 1 coat of Shine of the times, and 2 more coats of Barre My Soul over that. Sounds over the top, but Barre my soul can be applied so very thinly and it just mutes the flakes a little. The effect makes your nails look like actual opals since the flashes of red and green look like they are coming from the inside! Can't wait to find even more ways to wear it :).
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Polishes -China Glaze - Sea Spray
Ice222 6/9/2012 6:37:00 AM
I never used to be a nail polish fan, but when first saw this polish in a youtube video and I just HAD to have it. I love very subtle muted colours and this is the perfect blend between being a unique and beautiful colour while not being overpowering. The shade is very wearable for me, and goes well with quite a few things in my wardrobe too. Heck I even bought a grey-ish blue tank top just to colour match with this polish. Easy to apply too. After having it a year, it is still my favourite out of all my polishes. I LOVE it. I don't think any other shade will surpass this for me I hope China Glaze will keep selling it, if not I'm going to have to stock up!
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Shampoo -Garnier - Fructis Anti-Dandruff Shampoo
Ice222 6/9/2012 6:26:00 AM
I think this i the product I have, except it's in a blue bottle. I can't quite decide if I hate or love it though. This the the first anti-dandruff product that's worked for me, after washing my hair I will have no dandruff at all even though I used to have a lot. I also rather like the feeling of the micro-beads on my scalp. Now, you might expect me to love the product, except it does have a number of problems. First is that it makes my scalp itchy, I FEEL like my dandruff is worse even if it looks all better. Second, I got a pimple or something on my scalp after I used it 2 days in a row, so I actually think it's worse for my scalp even though the dandruff is gone. Third it dries out my hair. Fourth, the micro-beads don't always wash out. Overall I'm very undecided about it. I like that it works for the dandruff, but there's just so much I don't like about it. I guess I might buy it again, and just alternate between the anti-dandruff shampoo and the Giovanni shampoo I normally use to give my hair and scalp. Guess I'll just have to keep looking for something better.
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Polishes -Orly - Rage
Ice222 2/12/2012 1:01:00 AM
I've always liked the rose gold colour, and wanted a rose gold polish to match a ring I recently bought, after hearing all the raves about Rage whenever I looked up rose gold polishes, I spotted a bottle and thought I'd give it a go. While the colour is nice, to me it's too far from the rose gold colour I was after. It's got a much cooler tone than it should, looking more 'rose silver' than rose gold. It also chips very easily. On the plus side, I'm not usually a fan of foiled polishes, but I love the almost dusty finish on this one. I also love that it's easy to apply without streaks. Overall I still haven't found the perfect rose gold that I was after, but since it's still a nice colour and a fairly good polish I 'd give it a 4. I don't do my nails much, so I do love that Orly makes mini bottle of all their polishes and makes it cheaper and more convenient for me to buy and try a variety of colours :).
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Polishes -Orly - Gumdrop
Ice222 9/24/2011 2:33:00 PM
I love that Orly makes their polishes in small bottles, and they are also relatively cheap compared to the limited handful of other brands available in New Zealand. I hardly ever paint my nails, so these small bottles are perfect to me. The colour first caught my eye, as I thought it would be similar to China Glaze "Sea Spray" which I fell in love with after seeing in photos online. I could not find Sea Spray here, so I thought Gumdrop may be the next best thing. Turns out they are quite different. Sea Spray looked more saturated, and more bluey-green in photos, while Gumdrop looks a little lighter in the bottle, so I thought the colours would be similar. It turns out that Seaspray is more of a grey, while Gumdrop is much closer to China Glaze's "Audrey", a darker, brighter cyan/teal shade inspired by Tiffany and Co.'s signature colour. In fact it seems to be an almost perfect dupe. While I agree with some others that it dries rather quickly on the nail when brushing it on (or at least when compared to some O.P.I. polishes I have), it's not so bad that I could not apply it smoothly. Overall I really do like this colour, and it goes better with my skin than I thought it would. It is really a bright playful shade that is as cute as its namesake. Slightly brighter than what I had wanted, so I am still hoping to get my hands on Sea Spray, but Gumdrop is a great colour in it's own right, looks great with black or grey clothing for me.
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Mascara -Clinique - Lash Doubling Mascara
Ice222 9/13/2011 8:55:00 AM
While it's probably the best mascara I have tried in terms of getting every little lash and defining them. It does not clump, smudge or flake when coated evenly, holds all day, is quite easy to remove, and I really really like the applicator. But still it is far from perfect. While I normally prefer to have very natural looking makeup, I have failry short lashes, and this mascara does not work well enough to emphasis them. After 1 coat, it leaves lashes coloured, but not coated, 2 coats, makes you lashes slightly more obvious but still barely noticeable, but 3+ coats and the tips start to look unnaturally blunt and may start to stick together. Not to mention that it straitens and uncurls my curled lashes when I apply it, which is what I dislike most about it. Overall it's a fairly decent mascara, it does colour and define the lashes, but it's far from lengthening or volumising. If you have naturally long, curly but lighter colored lashes, this may be a good option for a very natural look, but for someone like me who wants to look like I have longer fuller and CURVIER lashes, it's just a step better than nothing.
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Moisturizers -Garnier - Aqua Defense Essence
Ice222 9/13/2011 8:30:00 AM
I've always had dry skin, but I hated using moisturizers, this is the only moisturizer I LOVE. Not only is it extremely cheap for what it is, it has a refreshing gel texture and a light fruity scent that absorbs extremely quickly into the skin. The difference is immediately noticeable, lasts all day, yet you won't even feel it on your face! While it isn't exactly a primer, I swear it's probably why I never cared for makeup primers - Ganier Aqua Defense Essense already does so much in making my skin soft, supple and ready for makeup, that I notice little difference when I tried primers. This moisturizer contains fruit water an vitamin E to protect and nourish your skin. It's ingredients seem pretty safe too (though admittedly I've only memorized a handful harmful ingredients to look out for when buying cosmetics) but at the very least it has no parabens or BHT :). There are only 2 negative points I and think of, and in my opinion they are pretty negligible: 1 - They only seem to be available in Asia. I originally purchased it in Hong Kong, and fell in love ever since. 2 - If you have super dry or sensitive skin, it can sting when you first apply it, but the gel absorbs so quickly that the stinging doesn't last and after using it for a few days your skin should be so well moisturized that you'll no longer get the stinging anyway. There are several ways you can use it too, and it's pretty hard to go wrong it since it gets absorbed so well. Here are several ways I like to use it: You can pat your face slightly with moistened hands before spreading a small amount over your face for an extra light coverage. Use it as an essence under another cream (such as the cream version of this moisturizer, which is also very nice). Or you can rub a generous amount of the cream in multiple layers and use it as a mask. I hear it's great for any skin type too, several of my friends with different skin types find it fantastic too!
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