February 05, 2012

MAC Hyper - weekly nail review

February 05, 2012/ Nicole McIntyre

I gleefully skipped to French Pink last Saturday with MAC's Hyper in tow; I wasn't sure if my request to use my own polish would be denied. Afterall, French Pink has turned me into a Butter London and Essie junkie and I would never want to offend all of the colours I've loved before. As luck would have it, they gladly obliged and even oohed and aahed upon catching a glimpse of what I got to enjoy all week. Hyper's formula is thick - you really only need two coats in order to reach the ultimate colour payoff. One coat leaned purple, but two coats added depth and hints of green flecks much like what you would find in a peacock feather. Peacocky I am not, but jazz hands were definitely sparked to life just by wearing hyper. Wear time has been optimal and I only experienced chipping in one spot from clawing at my tights as I rushed to get ready for work one morning.

In order to get the best wear time from polish, always use a base and top coat and never paint your nails in transit - I've seen my mom do it and, well, let's just say her fingers may've sported a smudge of silver polish here and there. You can only imagine what the final product looked like:)

February 02, 2012

YSL Rouge pur Couture Glossy Stain

February 02, 2012/ Nicole McIntyre

I feel a bit like Wayne right now… "It will be mine. Oh yes. It will be mine."

Only thing is, I am not:

a. Lusting after a guitar

and

b. Lusting after Tia Carrere

Go with your gut and remember who you're dealing with here - a makeup obsessed girl who stalks stores and asks to be placed on waiting lists for makeup.

I am presently:

c. Swatching/testing YSL's Rouge pur Couture Glossy Stain

Shades 9 (bottom), 12 (middle/smeared) & 15 (top/smeared)

The above gems dropped at my local YSL makeup counter today and as soon as I realised today is the 29th, I scurried over to swoon and drool. All at the same time of course. Yesterday I filled out a dream shopping cart at Sephora and actually attempted to purchase; but wouldn't you know it, Sephora doesn't ship directly to Australia. Hello Sephora - have VISA, will buy! See the proof below.

I even tried to add YSL shade #12, but it was sold out much to my dismay. I am beginning to wonder if my purchase was ever meant to be, I should've taken it as a sign. In the mean time I will test and ponder; should I ask P-Cakes to send a tube to me even after she scoffed at my latest purchase at Inglot? Yes, I bought another palette at Inglot. I apologize for the frenetic pace of this current entry and I am fully blaming it on the glass of wine I just consumed.

It's been about 4.5 hours since I tested YSL's shade #12 on my lips and I can still see a hint of colour and feel a bit of product on my lips. Perhaps a purchase is in the cards, but will I be willing to pay $50 Australian in order to satiate my latest obsession?

The Bagful breakdown:

Total amount for YSL's Rouge pur Couture Glossy Stain:

$50.00 AUS / $32.00 USD

Value for money spent (performance and quality):

Based solely on first impressions only - long lasting, light & non-sticky, but the glossy finish turns to a matte stain

Likelihood to purchase:

Which colour should I go with? You decide!

February 02, 2012

Essie's Smooth Sailing - weekly nail review

February 02, 2012/ Nicole McIntyre

Sparkly water, soft sand and beach waves courtesey of the salty air are the thoughts that swirled through my mind as Essie's Smooth Sailing was painted onto my nails last Satuday. This periwinkle shade was released with five other shades as part of Essie's Braziliant line. If you look closely, you can tell the shimmer factor was awfully high and to be honest, I think that's what truly garnered all of the accolades. Wear time was typical given that I play with paper plans and type on my computer's keyboard all day. However, I did mange to chip my polish accidentally in the shower - one nail scratched another - end of story.

January has turned into the month of blues for my nails; I'm currently wearing Hyper on my nails and I can't wait to share!

January 30, 2012

G A R E T H P U G H for MAC - Hyper first impressions

January 30, 2012/ Nicole McIntyre

If you keep up with me on Twitter, you would know that I made a special field trip to the MAC pro store on Chapel Street this past Monday. By heading there specifically, I knew I would have a shot at picking something up; I already checked with the MAC store inside of Myer and they informed me their store was getting a limited amount of stock. If you live for limited releases and special editions, it is best to get in and out the moment a collection is unveiled or you run the risk of missing out. I learned the hard way when MAC to the Beach for Summer 2010 came out. I was truly intrigued by the packaging, the overall emotion conveyed and the darker colour scheme. While I wasn't too familiar with Gareth Pugh before, I think I should be by now. Pugh is a fairly dark version of Alexander McQueen (now deceased) and he even reminds me of Project Runway's very own Chris March; I still can't believe he used real hair as a textile! I read the reviews back in November and then had to wait a mind-numbing amount of time until it landed in Australia. This waiting thing will be a never-ending theme; case in point, I placed my name on a list with Chanel in order to be notified when their Spring 2012 makeup collection becomes available (it drops in mid-February).

All I had to do was sneak out of work at lunch time and make my way to MAC and back by 1 PM - no sweat! I hoofed it some of the way and then melted from the heat the rest of the way on the tram; it's summer here and it's been hot! Once I made it through the entrance I eagerly glanced around for the display, but it was nowhere to be seen. Struck with panic, I then looked for an associate to quell my fears and calm my nerves; in that moment I was thinking I had wasted my precious lunch hour! I inadvertently skipped through the door so quickly, I failed to notice this to my left…

Photo taken on the sly w/ my iPhone (sorry for the horrible quality)

After asking loads of questions I decided to walk away with just a bottle of Hyper; I couldn't really rationalize investing in the entire this 18-piece collection. Much to my Mom's bewilderment, I am not getting paid to blog - it's just for fun! Hyper by MAC's definition is a"deep blue with violet pearl." One might consider it to be a duochrome, but that only holds true in the bottle; once painted it appears to be a dark and broody blue. I'll be sure to bring this colour to the girls at French Pink and have them paint my nails - stay tuned for next week's nail review.