China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint Nail Lacquer
China Glaze Up & Away Collection: Re-Fresh Mint
China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint Nail Lacquer is a minty pastel green creme. This was one of the smoother, easier to apply light cremes from this collection. The finished look is definitely lovely, and even though it’s cool, I don’t mind it against my warmer skin. It’s much lighter and less green than MAC’s Peppermint Patti, and it’s a little greener than Essie’s Mint Candy Apple (which runs a bit blue in comparison).
The formula is similar to the other shades in the launch: thick without being gooey and very pigmented. I stuck with my base coat, thin coat, thicker coat, top coat routine with this shade, and I felt like success was much easier to obtain than starting out with a thicker coat (which could be too thick, be streaky anyway, etc.).
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- Product: 28/30
- Value: 9/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: For a minty fresh manicure, try Re-Fresh Mint (if only for the clever name).
Availability: January 2010
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China Glaze Flyin’ High Nail Lacquer
China Glaze Up & Away Collection: Flyin’ High
China Glaze Flyin’ High Nail Lacquer is an opaque, sky blue creme with a slight teal undertone — it can easily photograph more on the teal side, while it’s quite obviously blue. I’d also say it’s a little deeper than shown, though – but it’s kind of the difference when light reflects vs. you’re in the shade. Unlike Something Sweet, this one applied much more like a dreamy cream (harhar! couldn’t resist!) and just one medium-thick coat would probably be enough. I prefer my polish in layers (two to three), so I went for a thinner first coat and followed with a thicker second coat and left it at that. I used China Glaze for a base coat and Zoya for a top coat.
The formula in Flyin’ High is similar to the deeper shades from the Up & Away Collection; it’s thick, pigmented, and easier to apply than the lighter, paler shades from the same collection. It’s not runny at all, though, so you have a lot more control over the product, even if it is on the thicker side of things. Again, be sure to keep hands flat while waiting for each coat to dry a bit, because the thickness of the formula can move to the sides if you hold your hand on the tilt. It also best to give each layer some time to dry and not just layer it on immediately.
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- Product: 28/30
- Value: 9/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation:
Availability: January 2010
Affordable Makeup Brushes: Sonia Kashuk’s Twist of Fate Brush Set
Sonia Kashuk Twist of Fate Brush Set ($19.99) is a limited edition holiday brush set with six brushes housed inside a gorgeous, shimmering black clutch.
The six brushes you get are: blush brush, foundation brush, blending brush, small eyeshadow brush, smudge brush, and lash/brow groomer brush. The only brush I felt was kind of a throwaway was the lash/brow groomer – it’s just not a great brush, and it certainly couldn’t comb my lashes worth a darn, so I wasn’t pleased with it. The other five brushes, however, are much better and certainly more useful.
Sonia Kashuk is an extremely reliable, trustworthy brand, particularly for beauty tools. Whenever someone asks me about a budget-friendly brush brand, Sonia Kashuk is my go-to for a reommendation. These brushes are soft, fluffy, and useable. They’re not as good as my MAC brushes overall (I would say MAC brushes are softer, particularly for face brushes), but they’re around 75% there. Close, but not the same – but much more affordable.
In comparison, I would say the blush brush is similar to MAC’s 129 (a little bigger and not as rounded), the foundation brush is closest to MAC’s 190 (but a little smaller and thicker), and the other brushes don’t have as close matches. If pressed, I’d say the small eyeshadow brush is similar to MAC’s 239, while the blending brush is similar to MAC’s 222. Finally, Sonia Kashuk’s smudge brush is closest to MAC’s 231.
Even though the brushes are totally great for the price (and pretty good, period), my favorite part about the set is the CLUTCH. I usually hate the bags, clutches, etc. that come with brush sets and never use them again (they just sit around collecting dust, because I feel guilty tossing them), but this one is really fun and perfect for the holidays. It’s big enough to actually be used as a clutch and looks elegant and festive. I’d probably pay $19.99 just for the clutch!
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- Product: 28/30
- Value: 9/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 5/5
Recommendation: For affordable brushes, Sonia Kashuk always has you covered!
Availability: Target
China Glaze 5 Golden Rings Nail Lacquer
For the Holidays: China Glaze Love You Snow Much Nail Lacquer Set
China Glaze Love You Snow Much Nail Lacquer Set ($12.00 to $18.00) is a holiday-themed set, and it includes 5 Golden Rings (pale gold), Emerald Sparkle (emerald green), Tinsel (light silver), and Ruby Pumps (ruby red).
- 5 Golden Rings is a paled yellow-gold with bright and muted yellow gold shimmer mixed in a sheer, tinted pale yellow base. Even with three coats, I couldn’t get this shade to look opaque on my nails. I like the color, but it’s a bit on the sheer side and I tend to gravitate towards more opaque choices myself. However, since it is so sheer in its base color, it gives you bling without being too much.
- Emerald Sparkle is a shimmery rich emerald green. It is a deep, dark forest green base mixed with brighter, more emerald green shimmer. It’s also a dream to apply; smooth and pigmented, it only needs two coats to obtain a rich, lush green that is entirely opaque.
- Tinsel is a bright silver shimmer suspended in a clear base. Since the base is clear, it is sheer and doesn’t apply completely opaque even with three coats. I think thicker coats and three or four of them might yield a slightly more opaque look, but some experimentation is necessary.
- Ruby Pumps is a shimmery bright ruby red. It has a medium bright red base with darker ruby red shimmer sprinkled throughout. It applies evenly and without a fuss, plus it goes opaque in just two medium-thick coats.
Which of the four is your favorite?
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- Product: 27/30
- Value: 9/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: If you don’t own Emerald Sparkle/Ruby Pumps, this is a good set to pick ‘em up in! 5 Golden Rings and Tinsel may not be your cup of tea if you prefer opaque color–but if you do like sheer shades, you may love this set entirely.
Availability: 8ty8beauty.com, Head2ToeBeauty.com, TransDesign.com
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Long-wearing Liner: NARS Eyeliner Stylo in Bayou Blue and Nuits Blances
NARS Eyeliner Stylo
($27.00 for 0.02 oz.) was recently released just in time for the fall/holiday seasons as a brand new product by NARS. It is touted to be a long-wearing, quick-drying liquid liner delivered via a felt-tip applicator. With the felt-tip applicator, you are supposed to be able to get precise lines–thin or thick–with “maximum control.” The Eyeliner Stylo is available in three shades: Blue Bayou (blue), Nuits Blanches (black), and Nabucco (brown).
I test drove two: Blue Bayou, which is not quite an electric blue, but much brighter and deeper than a sky blue–but there’s no teal or green in it for me; and Nuits Blanches, which is a very deep dark black. Oddly enough, I’ve found a lot of black felt-tip liners do show up a bit brown when swatched on the skin, but on the eyes, looks black as it’s supposed to; this also happened here (for reference). I wonder if, perhaps, it’s how close/magnified the photo is vs. viewing it in person at a real-life size. Anyway, just something worth noting.
The formula is definitely long-wearing and it dries quickly but not too quickly, so you do have some time to work. The formula itself is fairly water-resistant as well; I’m not sure I’d say entirely waterproof, but it doesn’t budge or smudge or flake throughout the day and takes a bit of elbow grease to remove. To be honest, one of my biggest frustrations with this product had to do with Blue Bayou staining my eyelid for three days. I don’t love products that stain overall, because I do find it annoying the next day, but having this slightly faded, residual blue liner on the outer edges of my eyes for three days was ridiculous. I know in the past, readers have recommended Make Up For Ever’s makeup remover for staining products, but between my cleansers, olive oil, and Lancome’s Bi-Facil, the staining wasn’t budging. I found the black didn’t stain nearly as much and seemed to fade away by the next day.
I will say that this the felt-tip applicator is very long and skinny, and those with smaller eyes may find this a little unwieldy. On my eyes, I felt like I had enough control to create thin, precise lines. I did find creating thicker lines to create a little more skill, just because the applicator is quite thin and more suited towards thin lines rather than thicker lines. I think with enough practice you’d find that you could get thin or thick lines without much fuss or frustration, though! The applicator distributes a good amount of product without it being too much or too little–there’s no drag nor is there excess that you have to worry about.
Bottom Line: I like and would recommend Nuit Blanches, because it works and functions quite well. I do take an issue with something that stains so intensely as Blue Bayou did, which makes me hesitant to recommend it. I didn’t take any points off for staining, but it’s something I think is worth noting as a potential problem for some (as it is for me). I used Blue Bayou last week in a look, which you can view here, to see how it looks in action.
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- Product: 27/30
- Value: 8/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: If you don’t mind a product that may stain your eyelids temporarily, these are easy to use, quality felt-tipped pens to give you that liquid liner look.
Availability: NARS, NARS Eyeliner Stylo
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Philosophy Pumpkin Spice Muffin Shampoo, Shower Gel & Bubble Bath Review
Philosophy Pumpkin Spice Muffin Shampoo, Shower Gel & Bubble Bath
($16.00 for 16 oz.) is yet another fun, aromatic scent from Philosophy, just in time for the fall and holiday season. I already reviewed a few of their other holiday scents, but I knew I was going to fall in love with this one.
I am ALL about pumpkin spice. Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte… Pumpkin Spice Creamer (now I can use my beloved Nespresso to make the BEST at-home pumpkin spice lattes!)… Panera Pumpkin Muffins… you name it, if it has pumpkin spice in the title, I’m all over it. Seriously. LOVE IT. It’s so cozy and homey and autumn. Philosophy totally nailed this scent in a way that really blows me away. I was like, “How did they manage to get that pumpkin spice WITH just a touch of muffin in it?” It’s just so on point. It has the exact scent of pumpkin spice, but as you take a sniff, you can totally detect that it’s more of a pumpkin spice muffin you’re smelling. I was just particularly amazed as I was really dissecting the scent last night in the shower.
I love Philosophy’s 3-in-1 Shower Gels, because they lather up quickly and easily, and they smell so good. (If you aren’t feeling pumpkin spice–how could you not?!–they have a variety of scents, mostly food-related.) I personally also love that the scent fills the bathroom/shower, but it doesn’t linger on the skin. This allows me to wear any body cream/lotion or perfume post-shower and not worry about mixing and matching scents. One 16 oz. bottle lasts me about three or four months (for two, maybe more like a month and a half or two), so I’m satisfied with the cost-per-use value I get out of each bottle.
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- Product: 29/30
- Value: 8/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: If you love pumpkin spice, I think you’ll love this scent!
Availability: Beauty.com
, Nordstrom
, Philosophy, Sephora
