Neener Neener Nails Peek-a-Boo Nail Glitz

The photos will do most of the talking for this post. Etsy.com is an almost overwhelming online marketplace, especially when it comes to indie nail polishes. One that I picked up was from Neener Neener Nails. They were having some sort of amazing sale at the time, either pre or post-holiday. The first polish I bought from Neener Neener Nails is Peek-a-Boo.

I love it! The photo above is the most true-to-color, at least on my monitor's screen. Creamy yet sheer pink with black and pink glitter. This was actually five coats because I wanted it to be opaque. Next time I would wear a base of white or pink polish. However, the sheer look is quite nice on this one at two coats, subtle and ladylike. I had no application issues.

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You can purchase Nail Glitz polishes by Neener Nails from their Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/NeenerNeenerNails?ref=top_trail. The full-size bottles are $8.50. She also has mini bottles available for varying prices, depending on how many you buy. Nettie of Neener Neener Nails sometimes posts coupon codes on their Facebook page, so you may wish to Like that: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Neener-Neener-Nails/169634086508356

*Product was purchased by me with my own money, and I am not affiliated with the brand.*

You Tell Me--Which Should I Review First?

Bloom.com recently had progressive closeout sales, so naturally I had to pick up a few things. Rumor has it that they were transitioning from having their own stock to only referring you to other retailers. I am not sure if that is true, but that would explain the prices. They had three sales that I know of: 50% off, 60% off, and 70% off. The selection dwindled as the discount increased, of course. These are my picks from the 70% off sale. 

Bloom.com 70% Off Haul

Total retail cost of the above items is $69.71. With the coupon code for the sale, and free shipping as part of the deal, I only paid $20.91.

Thank you to everyone who is following Rouge Required--I really appreciate your support of my new venture. Maybe you can help me decide: Which of the following products from my Bloom.com haul should I blog about first? Let me know in the comments.

Revlon Luxurious Color Perle Eye Shadow in Violet Starlet

L'Oreal Infallible Never Fail Lip Gloss in Sangria

CoverGirl LashBlast 24 Hour Mascara in Black

Megan Miller Collection Nail Polish in Framboise

CoverGirl Outlast Lipstain in Everbloom Kiss

Pop Beauty In Liner in Green

Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle Nail Colour in Gorgeous Grape

Did you buy anything from the Bloom.com closeout sales? I learned about it from makeuptalk.com; perhaps you did, too. They have a great section where members keep each other up-to-date on coupons, special offers, and sales. To counteract the effects of such enabling, there is also a section where members encourage each other while trying to buy less beauty products. :)

Nominated for a Liebster Award

Thank you to Jessica of the beauty blog Olive + Hazel, who nominated Rouge Required for the Liebster Award, given to up-and-coming bloggers (less than 200 followers) in recognition of their blogging efforts.

The rules:

• Nominees must link back to the blogger who awarded them.
• If nominated, write "11 Random Facts" about yourself and answer the 11 questions the awarder wrote for you.
• Make up 11 new questions to be answered and nominate 11 other bloggers (their participation is optional).

11 Random Facts About Me:

1. My husband is from Barbados
2. I'm distantly related to Jesse James
3. My dad's business is making professional ventriloquist dummies: http://www.puppetsandprops.com/ 
4. I have fibromyalgia, OCD, and chemical depression
5. I am a book nerd
6. My youngest aunt is also my best friend
7. My favorite type of humor is a play on words
8. My poor mother was pregnant with me for 10 months instead of 9
9. I have freakishly small feet
10. I am from California, but I lived in Minnesota for almost 7 years
11. My brother has a crazy-deep voice like a radio announcer

Jessica's 11 questions:

1. Do you have a favorite quote? There are perhaps no days of our childhood we lived so fully as those we spent with a favorite book. --Marcel Proust 
   
2. What's your favorite ride at an amusement park? Big Thunder Mountain at Disneyland
3. What is your favorite place to visit? Spain
4. Do you prefer coffee or tea? Coffee
5. What is one thing that always makes you laugh? Baby animals
6. When did you start blogging? January 1, 2013
7. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Ben & Jerry's Bailey's Irish Cream (limited edition)
8. Do you have a lucky number? Not a lucky number, but I've always liked the number 18
9. Who is your favorite singer or musical group? Currently, my favorite musical group is Travis
10. What are your three "desert island" items? Bible, fresh water, bread
11. Which is better: chocolate or vanilla? Chocolate

My nominees:

http://glamorable.blogspot.com/

http://apolishedaddiction.blogspot.com/

http://stuffbyashitude.blogspot.com/

http://beautymadn3ss.blogspot.com/

http://whatiamthinkingaboutnow.blogspot.com/

http://soulystones.blogspot.com/

http://laceandcameo.blogspot.com/

http://giggleblush.blogspot.com/

http://cranraspberryblog.wordpress.com/

http://beautyonrehab.blogspot.com/

http://missglammygirl.blogspot.com/

My 11 questions for the nominees:

1. How often do you blog?
2. Do you have any siblings?
3. What TV show, if any, is your guilty pleasure?
4. What is your number one weakness in purchasing beauty products?
5. Does your significant other read your blog?
6. Is your beauty product stash organized?
7. Where were you born?
8. When is your "blogiversary"?
9. Do you have pets?
10. How do you feel about nail polish?
11. What is your blogging goal for 2013?

Holographic Damsel Gradient--Essie and Milani

My last post featured the lovely nail polish Essie Damsel in a Dress. As promised, let me show you how I dressed up the manicure. I wanted to add a little something, but not lose the character of Damsel in a Dress. I chose Milani Hi-Res, a purple holographic shimmer (retail: $4.99).

I began, as mentioned, with three thin coats of Essie Damsel in a Dress:

Damsel in a Dress, alone

I proceeded to dabble on a little of the Milani Hi-Res; no sponge this time, just its regular brush. I started from the free edge of the nail and moved partway toward the cuticle.

First step of gradient

Once the first dabbled layer was dry (it dried very quickly), I added some more of the Milani Hi-Res, moving just slightly further toward the cuticles.

Second step of gradient

Finally, I dabbled a very thin amount of the Milani Hi-Res even further down toward my cuticles. I put a thicker dabble of it at my free edge to balance out the coverage. The holographic effect of this polish is not as strong as others I have seen, so it was a little hard to catch in photos, but still very pretty and stronger in real life. You can see it better in the blurred photo a little further down in this post.

Final result

Zoom in on final result

Indoor lighting

A flash and a blur to highlight the holographic sparkle 

I topped it off with Butter London Hardwear P.D. Quick Top Coat  (retail: $19.00). I wore this mani from Tuesday through Saturday without any chips, which I attribute to the top coat. I also have shorter nails than usual, so that probably helps to reduce chipping as well.

What do you think? Do you like to wear one polish at a time, or mix it up by layering another polish or adding nail art?

Review: Essie Damsel in a Dress--And Lots of Photos

Recently, my closest friend was longing for Essie Damsel in a Dress nail polish (retail: $8.00). I had an awesome coupon for Dermstore.com, so I ordered it for her. It was going to be a surprise, but in the meantime, she bought it for herself. So now I have a bottle of Damsel in a Dress of my own...and two other, different Essie shades waiting for her. Damsel in a dress is a lovely deep color, purple in some lights and red in others, looks similar to a dark red wine. It has a little bit of gloss, a little bit of silver glisten. Essie's website describes it as an "oh-so-deep iridescent currant".

I used three thin coats. Application was easy and the consistency was nice. I did not find it to be thin or thick, it was not streaky, and it did not pool around my cuticles. I topped it off with Butter London Hardwear P.D. Quick Top Coat  (which is fabulous, by the way; retail price is $19.00, but of course, I hardly ever pay retail--sales and coupons for me!). I usually only wear nail polish for a day or two, so I am often not the best source to review polish longevity, but I've had this on since Tuesday and there is no sign of chipping. I have some minor tip wear from typing a lot at work.

The photos say the rest:

Keep an eye out for my next post--I'll show you how I dressed up this mani.

Thanks for visiting!

Ruby Jelly Nails

Jelly sandwiches are something that I enjoy quite a bit. I knew nothing about them until I started following nail blogs. There are certain nail polishes classified as having a 'jelly' finish. As the name suggests, they are pigmented but translucent, like jelly. This tends to give the illusion that they are squishy and/or juicy. Even better, it allows you to layer a jelly with another polish and it completely changes the look of both polishes.

I love this combination, so I have worn it multiple times. The day that I got the best photos of it was before I started blogging, so I didn't think to take bottle shots. I took photos of the bottles today; that's why I'm wearing a different mani for those (look for it in a future post).

NYC Broadway Burgundy Frost

My jelly polish, which I applied one layer of after my base coat, is NYC Broadway Burgundy Frost. (I bought mine at WalMart. Retail price is $0.99, according to the NYC website.) As far as I can tell, there is no good reason for this polish to have that name. No burgundy, no frost. To my eye, it's a delicious-looking translucent red with red microglitter. I have seen a polish by NYC, also named Broadway Burgundy Frost and displaying the number 116, that is a frosted burgundy shade! Mislabeled? Extra bottles? I don't know. But if you're going for the red sparkly one, just double check that it looks red and sparkly in the bottle. I don't think a frosted burgundy would work for this look.

Milani Jewel FX Red

I own a few of the glitters from the Milani Jewel FX line. I like the coverage that they give, I don't have to fish around for the glitter, and the glitters lie flat on my nails. I chose the obvious Red in this case; no fancy shade name. (I bought mine at CVS; retail price is $4.99.) I added one layer of this polish, then another of the NYC, and then another layer of Milani.

I finished with Seche Vite quick-drying top coat so that it would stay glossy and smooth. (I love Seche Vite, but it's like a moody girl. You have to follow its rules and treat it just right or she won't cooperate with you. Put it on your tips as well as your nails, use it while your polish is still wet, etc. And it stinks, literally. The end results can be amazing, though. Poshe is less of a headache to me, with very good results.)

Have you ever tried a jelly sandwich manicure? It can also work with polishes that are not marketed as jellies, but are translucent/sheer, as long as they are not too streaky.

Review--Benefit They're Real Mascara

I had heard great things about Benefit They're Real mascara. I like to try pretty much every mascara that I can get my hands on, so I traded with a lovely lady on makeuptalk.com for her deluxe sample of They're Real  that she had received in one of her ipsy bags. My experience with this mascara was very mixed.

Closeup of the brush

Deluxe sample size bottle

Without mascara

One eye with one coat of mascara and one eye without

One coat

One coat, looking nowhere

Hmm, not sure if this was one or two coats, but I like the look of the lashes.

Two coats, looking up

Two coats, looking nowhere

The sun decided to hide right before my last two photos, so I apologize for the graininess. Anyhow, when I first used They're Real, it seemed much too wet when I went to apply it. Then, when it dried, it seemed to make my lashes crunchy. I kept trying different application methods, but I was not liking it.

I stopped using the mascara for a couple weeks, and then I went back to it so that I could do my review. It was no longer too wet. It seems, at least in my experience, that mascara starts to dry out once you've opened it. Now that They're Real wasn't as wet, the application went much better. In fact, I was quite pleased with it...at first. 

I found that it took very little time for my lashes to lose their curl, they still felt crunchy, and pieces of mascara would start to flake off. It happened quite a bit less when I only wore one coat, but I like dramatic mascara, so the one coat wasn't going to do it for me. With this in mind, it is not a product I would purchase. However, I know that it is considered a 'holy grail' product for many women. This is why I love sampling. Mascara is a type of product that is not one size fits all. 

The full size of Benefit They're Real mascara retails for $23.00 on their website: http://www.benefitcosmetics.com/product/view/theyre-real. I know that it's also available at Sephora, and I believe at Ulta.

What is your favorite mascara? Would you pay $23.00 for mascara if it were the best you'd ever tried?