Review and Swatches--Literary Lacquers Woman of Pleasure

The first two photos are from when I first received this polish in the mail, which I posted about here. Literary Lacquers describes Woman of Pleasure as "a periwinkle crelly (creme jelly) base with navy and lavender sparkle, matte light pink, large navy hexes, and magenta circle glitter." My photos are pulling a little blue, but it is definitely periwinkle.
*I purchased this polish and received no compensation or samples for this post.*

I finally photographed a full mani using this polish. Shown is three coats of Woman of Pleasure over a base coat, and topped with one coat of Seche Vite.

The first coat was very sheer, but not streaky. The second and third coat built up the color nicely. I didn't have any trouble with the formula, everything went smoothly. 

I was very happy with this polish. My favorite part is the magenta circle glitter. The magenta really pops against the periwinkle base. Have you purchased any Literary Lacquers? Their holographic polishes are especially amazing. 

You can purchase Literary Lacquers from their etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/LiteraryLacquer for $10.00 each. Payment is via PayPal only. If you're on Facebook, you should follow their page to keep up with restocks and occasional coupon codes: http://www.facebook.com/LiteraryLacquers. Today (Monday, January 6, 2014) is the last day to use coupon code HAPPY2014 to get 20% off at checkout for all orders.

Coastal Scents Creative Me 1 Palette--Swatches & Review

Coastal Scents is known for their eye shadow palettes, at least online. I've seen these palettes raved about, and I've seen them absolutely panned, no pun intended. They had a major sale in July (which they often do), plus I found a coupon code online, so I decided to try some for myself.  The first one that I'm sharing with you is their Creative Me 1 Palette.
*I purchased all of the products mentioned in this post with my own money.*

This palette called out to me because of it's vibrant shades, similar in feeling for me to the Sugarpill Burning Heart Palette ($34.00 for four shadows). The Creative Me 1 Palette regular retail price is $14.95 on the Coastal Scents Web site. I paid $9.72 and had free shipping at the time.

Isn't it pretty? The above photo is in the shade and below is in the sun. I did not, of course, expect the Sugarpill quality that I've seen online. However, I've read that Coastal Scents shadows are much like BHCosmetics in that they work really well as long as you use a good primer.

I've done arm swatches for you outdoors in partial sun, without any primer. I didn't do intense swipes, since I didn't want to oversell the pigmentation. I've done them in the same order that they appear in the palette.

As expected, not so pigmented without a primer. My whitey white skin does help the color to stand out, though. :) The texture felt fine to me; not buttery, but not chalky or too powdery. The yellows were awful, the pinks and purples were the best.

In the photo above and the closeup below, I played around with some of the purples and bright pinks over Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original, which is my personal favorite eye shadow primer. Hopefully you can see what I see, that the color pops quite a bit when used over primer. In fact, I had to try and used a very small amount of shadow so as not to overdo it.

Overall, I'm very pleased with my purchase. I think the Creative Me 1 Palette is tons of fun for the price of one non-drugstore shadow. The price and quantity gives me the freedom to experiment with bold colors that otherwise might be too risky of an investment for me. I also appreciate that there is a mirror inside. I'm thinking maybe a sunset eye shadow look is in my future with this palette.

What do you think? Do you own any Coastal Scents palettes that are love, hate, or "meh"?

*I purchased all of the products mentioned in this post with my own money.*

Swatches and Review--Essie Come Here

Essie Come Here is what I would describe as an electric coral red creme. Essie describes it as a 'nearly neon coral'. When I purchased it, CVS was having a weekly special in which they had four or five select Essie shades for 50% off. Irresistible!

*I purchased this product with my own money. I am not compensated by nor affiliated with any of the brands mentioned in this post.*

There was no lighting or camera trick in which I could capture how bright this shade is; it's not neon, but it is definitely electric.

I am quite enamored (BBC is on the television as I'm writing; is it influencing the words I choose?) with Come Here. The color is rich, intense, and happy. I applied two thin coats and one thick coat over a base coat that I can't remember now, and one coat of Seche Vite quick-dry top coat. I believe it would have applied best in two thick coats for some reason. 

If you like bright colors, you might want to check out Essie Come Here. The other shades in Essie's Resort 2013 Collection are quite bright as well. I bought all four of them, and I rarely buy an entire collection. 

*I purchased this product with my own money. I am not compensated by nor affiliated with any of the brands mentioned in this post.*

Swatches and Review--Mirabella Colour Sheer in Posy

As you may have read previously, I really liked my Mirabella Colour Sheer lip color in the shade Daydream, which I received through my ipsy subscription. (Swatches and review are linked here.) I was excited to receive another shade, Posy, in a trade on makeuptalk.com.
*I received this product in a trade conducted on makeuptalk.com. I am not affiliated with nor compensated by any of the companies mentioned in this post.*

Application was smooth and easy to control. Posy applied creamy, but without being slippery, much like Daydream. It felt moisturizing for about four hours without eating or drinking, slightly more moisturizing than Daydream for me. Daydream is a ladylike shade, whereas Posy is a little sassy. I need both to express myself. :)

Posy is very pigmented, but sheer to start, as it is supposed to be.  It is very easy to build, however. Shown below is one swipe on the right, and six swipes on the left.

Alrighty, the before photo with bare lips, natural light indoors: 

And the after photo below, natural light indoors. I am not wearing any lip liner or other lip products for these photos other than Posy.

The photo in which I'm not smiling turned out much better, and is the most true-to-color photo (at least, on my monitor):

The next photo is in artificial light indoors (what am I always looking at off to the side?):

These closeups are outdoors in natural light, but the clouds had rolled in:

Mirabella sells their Colour Sheers for $22.00 each on their Web site, in 14 different shades. I have to be honest and say that I do not pay those type of prices for a lip color, so I am glad that I received my two Colour Sheers through my ipsy subscription and through a trade. As a matter of fact, I can't think of a single beauty product that I pay that much for...coupons, sales, samples, and trades for me! Otherwise, my 'stash' wouldn't be so large.

In any case, I am very happy with Posy. Moisturizing, colorful, creamy, and flexible enough to be sheer or opaque. What do you think?

*I received this product in a trade conducted on makeuptalk.com. I am not affiliated with nor compensated by any of the companies mentioned in this post.*

Swatches and Review--Mirabella Colour Sheer in Daydream

Recently, I resubscribed to ipsy. (You can read more about ipsy at the end of the post.) In their May bag, one of the products they sent for subscribers to try is Mirabella Colour Sheer lipstick. I received the shade Daydream. I also have the shade Posy, which I received in a trade on makeuptalk.com, but I'm going to save that for another post.
*I paid for the subscription which provided this sample. There is a referral link later in this post.*

Application was smooth and easy to control. Daydream applies creamy, but without being slippery. It felt moisturizing for a few hours. My lips were not dried out after that amount of time, but no moisture was being added to them from the lipstick.

Applied lightly, yellow artificial light

Applied lightly, natural light

Daydream does have a shimmer to it that borders on a frost, but it doesn't quite go there, which is to its advantage. It is enough, though, that from close range it will emphasize any skin on your lips that has not been exfoliated. You can see that it also emphasized the lines in my lips, as they were dry to begin with that day, but it didn't sink into them and make the color uneven.

Applied lightly, white artificial light

I am not wearing any lip liner, balm, or any lip product in these photos other than Mirabella Colour Sheer in Daydream. Here are my bare lips for reference:

Bare lips, sunlight

Applied lightly, outdoors in the shade

As the product name suggests, this is a sheer color, but still pigmented and buildable. See the swatches below on my arm to show how you can certainly start subtly and build from there.

One swipe, artificial light

Six swipes, artificial light

Mirabella sells their Colour Sheers for $22.00 each on their Web site, in 14 different shades. I am skeptical of their representations of the shades, though, so you may want to look for reviews and swatches like mine online. Mirabella's site makes Daydream look like some sort of super pale lilac. I hope that it was just human error and they accidentally posted the wrong image.

Built-up color, artificial light

I've been keeping Daydream in my purse since I received it, and using it on the go. I'm happy with the product, so I look forward to trying my other shade, Posy.
If you're unfamiliar with ipsy, their Web site describes their service this way: "Each month, subscribers will receive a beautiful Glam Bag with deluxe samples and full-sized beauty products. Members can watch and play along with the stylists with the same products that they are using. All for only $10 a month." They also give out coupons or coupon codes for the brands sampled that month.
*I paid for the subscription which provided this sample. There is a referral link in this post.*

My referral link: http://www.ipsy.com/?refer=u-h051fwxig0n810mm. You don't have to use my referral link, of course, but I would appreciate it very much. (If two people sign up for an ipsy subscription using my referral, I get a bonus product in my next Glam Bag.)

Swatches and Review--Essie Under Where?

Argh! I didn't intend to take a break from the blog. No excuses, just life. 
Essie nail polish is how I spend most of my loyalty points (Extra Bucks) at CVS. This lovely polish is called Under Where? and is part of Essie's Resort 2013 collection. 
*I purchased this product with my own money and I am not affiliated with nor compensated by any of the brands or companies mentioned in this post.*

Obviously I'm a fan of the Resort 2013 collection, as this is the third polish from it that I've purchased and blogged about. (See my other two posts, about First Timer and In the Cab-ana.) The only one that I didn't buy is Come Here!, and only because I doubt that it would look good with my skin tone.

Essie's Web site describes Under Where? as a 'wildly flirtatious orchid'. It is very vibrant, as are the other shades in this collection. It was difficult to capture this vibrancy on camera.

This formula seems like a crelly to me, a cross between a creme and a jelly finish. Unfortunately, it was problematic: Streaky, watery, and uneven in application. 

All photos are outdoors in natural light or shade. I'm wearing one coat of Orly Bonder as my base, three coats of Essie Under Where?, and one coat of Poshe quick-dry top coat.

The application mostly evened out by the third coat, but it still needed the smoothing power of the top coat.

Even though Under Where? was terrible for me formula-wise, I will keep it and use it again. I adore the color that much. I will probably try a different base coat next time to see if it works any better. And perhaps the polish will become less watery now that it's had some exposure to air.

Most of the time this polish looks very bright and red-based. However, in the shade and occasionally in other lights, it leans more blue. It just leans, it never becomes anything that is not lilac.

Cleanup was easy, and I did not experience any staining on my skin or nails.

Essie nail polish is pretty widely available and typically retails for $8.00 for a full-size bottle. (For example, they are sold at Target, WalMart, and CVS.) I have seen mini bottles, and I even have some through trades on makeuptalk.com, but I have not seen them for sale in a retail store in my area. 

*I purchased this product with my own money and I am not affiliated with nor compensated by any of the brands or companies mentioned in this post.* 

Review and Swatches--Colores de Carol Inner Princess

Inner Princess is the third nail polish I've tried from the brand Colores de Carol. You can see my photos and reviews of the other two here: the yummy-looking Cupcake Fantasy, and my favorite so far, Best Polish Friend Forever.
*I received this polish as a gift with purchase from Colores de Carol.*

If you're not familiar with Colores de Carol, the brand shares its name with the creator's awesome nail blog: http://www.coloresdecarol.com/. Carolina does great nail art, swatches, and reviews. Now she also creates artistic nail polishes by hand.

Inner Princess is described by Carolina as a "White base with navy blue flakes, mix of multicolored glitter and aqua stars shape glitter."

The white base is the nice, milky-sheer-type that allows the glitter to show well. The navy blue flakes are those tiny bits that you see throughout the polish. The aqua stars are quite prominent. As for the multicolored glitter, my eyes show the mix to be: 

Small hexes (hexagons) in baby pink, teal, fuchsia, lavender, and red Small squares in baby pink, teal, fuchsia, lavender, and red  

Tiny hexes in baby pink, teal, fuchsia, lavender, red, and purple

Tiny squares in baby pink, teal, fuchsia, lavender, and red

This is a sheer polish, but buildable. In all of these photos I am wearing one coat of Orly Bonder as my base, three coats of Colores de Carol Inner Princess, and one coat of Poshe top coat. Initially, I tried using a white polish as a base color, but I found that it looked too stark and really took away from Inner Princess.

Inner Princess applied well. The formula in my bottle was slightly thick, but not a problem. I believe that it wouldn't hold the glitter as well if it were any thinner. Dry time was still good. 

I didn't have to fish out any of the stars or the other shaped glitter. I ended up with at least one star on all of my nails but one. My nails are arched and small, so star glitter is unable to lie completely flat on them. I'm hoping someday to find star glitter that is tiny so that I can wear it better. These stars didn't stick out much. If you have regular-size nails or not much of an arch, they probably won't stick out at all. 

Inner Princess is a darling polish and I'm very grateful to have tried it. I've actually worn it a handful of times before this post. However, it doesn't fit my personality as well as the the other two Colores de Carol polishes that I own, Cupcake Fantasy and Best Polish Friend Forever. That is why I am not gushing as I did with BPFF. 

Inner Princess and the other Colores de Carol polishes can be purchased for $9.00 at http://www.coloresdecarol.bigcartel.com/. (Nine of her polishes are on sale right now for $7.00. Carolina also sometimes has coupon codes on her blog.)  

*I received this polish as a gift with purchase from Colores de Carol.*