Orly Mirrorball

Sorry guys! Nail polish spam coming through, just cause I've been hauling them left and right lately :p

Mirrorball is the one that got away the first time I found the collection in store but luckily for me I was able to find it at another Sally Beauty store.
It is part of Orly's Holiday Collection 2014. It has fine silver holo pigments and some small silver holo glitters. There's definitely a linear holo but it's quite subtle under artificial light. I've yet to see how it looks under bright sunlight. It has a slightly thicker consistency but I didn't have any trouble working with it. It's a bit sheer so on its own you'll need 3 coats for opacity. Hmm, I really wish the rainbow was more vibrant like it appears in the bottle.

Sephora + Pantone Universe Astral Lip Glaze Set - Swatch and Review

Yay Friday! I've been wearing these almost all week. Wanted to get this review out as soon as possible and what better way to end the week with a review on these new Astral Lip Glaze from Sephora + Pantone Universe...Excited?


Packaging

• Rectangular tubes
• Doe foot applicator
• .22 oz or 6.5 mL in each tube

Product

• The first thing I noticed is the thickness of the gloss. The good thing is, they apply smoothly. I don't know I'm not really loving the texture. It does feel heavy on the lips.
• The glosses are also pretty pigmented and have a sweet coconutty smell. Personally, I don't love it but I don't mind it either. 
• It feels kinda sticky but not that sticky. 
• If you look closely, they have a bit of that holographic shimmer in them but you won't really notice that from afar. 
• What's interesting about these lip glaze it how they look when worn. They give my lips more dimension and a fuller appearance. The nuance in the colors are subtle but quite noticeable under bright light. I don't have any lippies with this kind of finish so I'm actually really thrilled about the unique formula.
• They are very shiny and some of them look pretty frosty but for some reason they still look good. I usually don't like lip colors that are too frosty but I like these and probably not everyone will. They're  more for those who don't mind flashy lips. 
• They can get on your teeth so make sure you check yourself. 
• They last well without eating and up to 4 hours even with occasional drinking. They do fade a lot after a meal so you would need to reapply after you're done eating. 
• I found them somewhat hydrating. 

Brandied Melon. The color reminds me of a cantaloupe. I was afraid this shade might look too light and weird on me but I'm glad it didn't. It's a light orange color with green shimmers in it. I don't know if you can tell from the picture. Pretty unique shade. I don't have anything like it on my stash but it's a shade most people probably won't like.

Mauvewood is undeniably mauvy but with more red undertone to it and also has green shimmers.

Chrysanthemum is pinker and brighter than Mauvewood. Also this shade is frosty looking but in bright light, the green shimmers really come out and looks quite duochromey. I know you can't really see in these pictures but in real life it is. I wore it the other day to work and didn't see the duochrome effect until I went out to lunch. It was bright outside and I took a look at my lips in the car visor to see how the color was holding up and didn't realize until then how much duochrome potential this lippie had.

Arabesque...Now this one is a true duochrome. I can see it in any light. The color shift is very strong and noticeable. I wasn't expecting that because it did not look duochromy in the tube so this was a pleasant surprise. Can you imagine how ecstatic I was? LOL...My first REAL duochrome lippie! Had to take another shot of it so you can see what I mean. It's the only gloss from the pack that does not have green shimmers. The color shifts from bronze to pink. Think of it as Sally Hansen Lustre Shine Lava for your lips.

Final Thought

I love the colors and the way they look on my lips. The holographic effect is very subtle but these also have an interesting duochrome effect to them as well. They are very shiny and frosty looking but they look good and make lips look fuller. The only thing I didn't like was the thick, heavy, and bit tacky texture but overall quite unique lip colors.

Rating: 9/10

Price: $24.00 for the set of 4
Avalability: Sephora

A England Nail Polish Haul and Swatches (Pic Heavy)

Happy Humpday!

I was uploading these pics into Picasa last night and I don't recall how long it took me but I just remember dozing on and off on every other pic, LOL. Finally, on the last pic, I turned off my computer and crashed. So yes I felt pretty well-rested when I woke up this morning and I made it to work on time! Woohoo!

Anyhow, I placed an order with A England on January 14th because they had a promo going. I thought it was a good deal and I've been wanting to try their polishes for a while so this was like a great opportunity.
A set of 3 was £14.00, a set of two was £10.00, and Dragon was £6.00. I can't remember what was in which set anymore. Bottom line is my total was £30.00, with free shipping. So in another word, in US dollars that was $49.65 for all six. As you can see by the currency, these came from England.

Typically, I don't order something from oversea unless it's dirt cheap, can't be found here, or there's something cool about it. I blame other bloggers for this purchase, lol. I've seen way to many gorgeous swatches and rave reviews so it's time I discover it myself and tell you if the rumors are true.

I received my polishes this past weekend (almost a month later) due to a delay in the shipping process because they had some issues with their mail carrier. No big deal, I guess. I'm glad they quickly let everyone know about the issue. One thing I was a bit disappointed with is when I received these polishes, they were individually bubble-wrapped like so and they all came in a padded envelope. Fortunately nothing broke but I strongly believe nail polishes should be shipped in boxes and not padded envelopes. I would've be pretty upset if anything broke during shipping. I thought that was rather careless of them considering how far these are coming from. And if anything had broken, I don't know how long it would take them to replace them since they've been having issues with international shipping. So yeahh, I consider myself lucky. I hope no one  else had to deal with broken nail polishes.

Tristam is a deep blurple with scattered holographic shimmers. It looks amazing in the bottle but on the nails, the holos are significantly subdued. It's still pretty though and they shine a little more under bright light. It was almost opaque on the first coat, almost but not quite so I did two coats.

Princess Sabra, I couldn't find the words to describe this shade but on A England's website, they describe it as a golden olive bronzite. This one also has some scrattered grainy holos. They are definitely a bit more noticeable than Tristam. It also required 2 coats.

Tess D'Ubervilles is a deep dark green with subtle green and golden shimmers. This one only required one coat!

Dragon. When I saw the bottle I was like wow! It's a scattered holographic green shimmer with a golden glow to it. Yes this baby GLOWS like a dragon! The golden glow becomes more apparent under bright light. This is quite a mesmerizing color. I only used one coat as well. Definitely, one a nail polish collector should have! It's quite unique. I have not seen anything like it.

Excalibur was part of the trio set. I honestly didn't really care for it but it was cheaper as a set. Now, this one really surprised me. As you can see, from the bottle, it looks like a typical silver nail polish but it's the formula that blew me away. Yes, it was that amazing! It's insanely thick and saturated with silver. I mean seriously INSANELY! I've not come across a silver nail polish this saturated. It literally looks like liquid silver because the pigments are so fine. Though there might be some visible brush stroke, the formula spreads so easily just like butter. I was so impressed! I ended up really liking it. It's so bright it looks almost white yet you can tell it's still silver. Oh yeah, this was an easy one coater.

Saint George is a dark teal with scattered holographic shimmer. Such a gorgeous color and the fact that they added holo shimmers in it just makes me really happy. Let's just say I've seen better swatches of this one. But in all honestly, it's best to keep it looking real so it's not misleading to others. I even heard that people take swatches of nail polish under water because it makes the shimmers look prettier!? IDK about that. Like I said, keep it real. No one wears nail polish under water so why take swatches under water? I'm not sure I understand the point of it. Even if there is a reason behind it, I don't think it's very helpful. Anyways, that's just my opinion. I'm sure some people may disagree.

I found the formula pretty consistent across the board. They totally nailed it! It's one of the best nail polish formula I've come across. It's rich, saturated, and applies incredibly smooth. The brush is round and a pretty good size. It picks up a good amount of product so you can do one layer without having to re-dip it in the bottle. The only flaw is that the bristles are rather uneven. The formula dries a little faster than average, which is great and I really like that.

Each bottle contains 11 ml or .39 oz., a bit smaller than average but since some of these can get away with one coat. I think that's not too bad.

I took pictures of the swatches with natural indoor light and flash so that you get the idea of what it would look in real life. As with any holographic nail polish, keep in mind that you do need a significant amount of light in order to see the reflection of the holos. They are definitely there but they do need some light in order to really come to life.

Overall, I'm very pleased. The colors are gorgeous. The formula is one of the best out there. If you see a color you like, you will not regret it if you buy it. You might want to check with them how long it will take them to ship to you if you don't live in the UK.

Mentality Holo Top Coat Swatches

Hello lovelies,

Since I am obsessed with holos and given that they are quite expensive, I was trying to see if there was a cheaper alternative. I actually stumbled on this holographic top coat by accident as I was googling for swatches. I purchased it a few weeks ago from Ebay for $6, plus $2 shipping. I thought that was a pretty good deal considering one holographic nail polish can cost on average $15.
Since this is a top coat, it can turn any color into a holo, thus making it more versatile, which I liked that idea.

The polish itself is clear and densely packed with holo pigments and you can see the strong rainbow it gives off from the bottle. The pigments are not super fine but a bit grainy. I'm actually ok with that cause I think it shows the holos better. 

I have it swatched (3 coats) over 4 different colors here: blue, red, teal, and purple.
With one coat, it can look a bit patchy but you can certainly get a good coverage with 2 coats but I tried 3 just to see if there is a difference.

The main difference I noticed is as you put more coat, the base color starts to look lighter. The holos still look the same. Personally, I think it does give a pretty decent linear holo effect but I really don't think it will replace or come close to the effect I got with the Layla Hologram nail polishes.

My take is if you can be happy with what you see on these swatches, then this is a nice cheap alternative. Otherwise, if you want the real deal or should I say stronger holo effect, you probably gonna have to bite the bullet.

Here's a link to the Ebay seller, just in case you are still considering getting it. I received it within a week of placing my order and it was carefully packaged in a small box.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mentality-Nail-Polish-lacquer-Holo-holographic-top-coat-15mL-/170963440863?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27ce3714df

 

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