Sunday, July 22, 2012

China Glaze: Pink Plumeria



Neons have been all over the place this summer. Although I love bright colors, they've gotten a little bit redundant. The new colors coming out for fall have been a welcomed change and I can't wait until I can get my hands on some of them! As I was losing hope that I would ever find a unique neon, I found China Glaze's Summer Neons collection, which has shimmer in the colors, making these different from the countless other neons everywhere. Pink Plumeria is the polish I chose to get from this collection, because, well, look at it!


Pink Plumeria is a beautiful orange based pink. Leaning towards coral, but also a super Barbie pink in some lights. The superfine gold and pink shimmer makes this more unique than the other neons floating around, and also just give this such a beautiful depth and sheen.



I don't know if it was just the fact that I was painting my nails at three in the morning or that it was 90 degrees with a humidity of 98 percent outside, but I found the consistency of the polish a little bit thick and hard to work with, which is something I've come to expect from China Glaze neons. Also as a note, this dries matte so a top coat is necessary. Overall, I love this, what a gorgeous color!

Did anyone else decide to pick up this color, or any other colors from the China Glaze Neons collection? 

Thursday, July 12, 2012

YSL: The Black Collection


Hi everyone! It feels so good to get back into the swing of things again with blogging and getting set for school. I've finally found an apartment with two very sweet girls and I'm now on the hunt for a job! It has been blazing hot this summer (last weekend it was a record breaking 110!), so today at only 90 is a great breather. For someone who moved up north to get away from hot temperatures, this sure hasn't been my favorite summer, but it has brought some great nail polish trends and collections. Today though, I'll be reviewing a trio that reminds me of cooler days: The Yves Saint Laurent Holiday Set, which includes Black Bronze 126, Black Lapis 127, and Black Indigo 128. I received this set from my mom as a random gift this January, how lucky am I, right?



Here's Black Bronze 126, a black based polish with subtle yellow bronze shimmer. Along with the bronze, you can see some red, green, and nuances of blue/silver added to create its beautiful complexity. This color is very dark, but it has enough that even in artificial lighting the brown shows through. It reminds me of rich Turkish espresso. 


close up



On the nails the micro-glitter becomes much less obvious than in the bottle. Of the trio, the shimmer is the most visible in this polish. Still lovely indoors, but sunshine really brings out its beauty.


My favorite of this trio is definitely Black Lapis 128. This one, like the others has a black base. Blue micro glitter and trace amounts of gold, red, and green shimmer make this a stunner!





This color reminds me of octopus ink, or when you get the ink of a pen wet and it bleeds into paper. On the nail the blue shines through brilliantly and is truly gorgeous in direct sunlight. Indoors it's a very dark blue/black. Again, my favorite.



Black Indigo 127 is the next color featured in this trio; a black base filled with rich warm purple, red, and blue. 



On the nails this shimmer is the least noticeable of the three. In direct sunlight only hints of color show through, making this color the subtlest. This is the darkest of the three, and in artificial light and shade it looks black. Pretty, but not a very unique color.

What I like about these YSL nail lacquers is that they are very opaque. All of these colors were perfect in two coats. Although not very unique, they're all very nice colors with fabulous consistency. What do you guys think of this collection?  Anyone else ready for winter too?