April 22, 2012

Essie's Sexy Divide - weekly nail review

April 22, 2012/ Nicole McIntyre

Two weeks without a manicure, oh the horror! Seriously. I did my own in between the holiday break, but I've lost my steady hand and patience from when I maintained them myself. College and having no money forces oneself to become thrifty, resourceful and creative. When you come out on the other side, you become lazy and wasteful. Hence, my splurges on makeup and manicures - burning money FTW!

French Pink currently carries Essie's Fall 2011/12 collection, but it doesn't cast its usual gleam. This one can "Carry On" as well as a workroom filled with a dozen uninspired designers and one awfully sad Tim Gunn. In other words, skip it. Which I did - instead, I grabbed for a random colour that seemed to be calling my name. Essie's Sexy Divide it was.

Deep purple, shimmery with a touch of fall.

Essie's Sexy Divide leans a bit more red, definitely more eggplant with a little less merlot. If you're on the hunt for a deep / electric hue (a true purple), Butter London's HRH might be up your alley.

For those wondering why I have a bottle in hand this week... Erin of French Pink deemed the bottle as unfit for future applications, so I ended up being the lucky one to walk away with the remnants. Maybe next time I'll pick a colour based on how little polish is left. Heck, it's worth a roll of the dice.

April 15, 2012

Revlon's ColorBurst Lip Butters satiate my appetite

April 15, 2012/ Nicole McIntyre

Sugary sweet without the weight gain. At least that's what I would like to think.

Revlon shipped these lovely lollies to Aussie land last week and they are selling like hotcakes. I perused the local shops in order to add to my collection - as luck would have it, they were buy one get one free over at Priceline and Myer for that matter. $21.95 per pop can add up pretty quickly. Yes, they too, are pretty pricey down under.

Creme Brûlée, Sugar Frosting and Gumdrop are super-sheer colours and work well for those low-maintenance makeup mornings. They each contain the subtlest hint of shimmer and shine, which sticks around for about an hour or two. If you're looking to maintain glossiness, it's best if you carry your chosen shade in your purse for future applications. The thing I'm most looking forward to is layering these over my existing lipstick collection in order to enhance what I already own.

Raspberry Pie, Lollipop and Sweet Tart are far more pigmented and come with a bit of shimmer as well; thankfully the shimmer doesn't cast that 80's frost we all know and loathe. As I swatched these, I was amazed by how well each colour initially appeared; however, I was put off by Sweet Tart and its ability to crumble and melt upon contact. Definitely another reason why you should carry these in your purse rather than your pocket. Raspberry Pie dwindled down to a berry stain, which stuck around for four hours. Whereas Lollipop required several applications between dinner and drinks last night.

The ColorBurst line smells of vanilla, but the scent isn't as striking as MAC's lip range. They claim to be moisturising, although, I haven't worn them alone because my lips tend to be dry no matter what time of the year it is.

Revlon is presently selling the below elements on their site:

-"Hydrating mango, shea and coconut butter formula boosts lip moisture by 156% - Pampering gel formula provides super charged hydration and glides on lips buttery smooth - Sheer to medium colour with buttery shine - Available in 20 luscious shades."

Side note: I didn't notice improved lip moisture.

Here are a few other observations:

The surface area of applicator is on the large side. With the darker shades I lined my lips with the edge of the lipstick and then lightly patted my lips in order to build up the colour.
Cheaper than a tube of Dior Addict. They go for $49 AUS.
Buy them on sale (preferably), now.

The Bagful breakdown:

Total amount for Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butters:

$21.95 AUS - I paid approximately $13.00 per tube thanks to several sales.

Value for money spent (performance and quality):

8 out of 10 bags - I wouldn't mind paying less for these, but it's definitely good value for money in this part of the world.

Likelihood to purchase:

I'm looking to add cotton candy, strawberry shortcake, berry smoothie and cherry tart to my artillery. Any takers?

April 12, 2012

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter

April 12, 2012/ Nicole McIntyre

Ahoy! On one of my random offshoot ventures on the way home from work I zipped by Priceline. And wouldn't you know, they now carry the much sought after Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters. I swooped in like a vulture targeting it's next meal. I played, I smelled (sugary sweet vanilla) and even got a little on my hand - silly shopper smushed the lippie into the cap.

Lucky for me, I got there just before they closed and it just so happened their 20% off sale on cosmetics was wrapping up for the day. Colour me happy!

Review and swatches to follow later this week.

April 07, 2012

Essie Topless & Barefoot with As Gold As it Gets - weekly nail review

April 07, 2012/ Nicole McIntyre

I love gold. Actually, no I don't. I love platinum and silver. The only place where gold works for me is my eyes - hazel and gold, now that's what I'm talking about. In order to round out Essie's Luxeffects in the most diplomatic sense, I finally bit the bullet and had As Gold As It Gets painted on my digits last week. Quite frankly, I can't wait to get this particular pairing off of my nails. It's boring, blah and meh. My nail look is a triple threat that took me straight to boring town (no, this place doesn't really exist). Metaphorically speaking, boring town is about as bad as old lady pink nail polishes. Clinique was once the queen of old lady pink nail polishes - I think you get the point.

As negative as I've gotten about this gilded variant, it might be worth another go with say a blue or a teal. Maybe I should really blame my disappointment on the bland base colour.

For a closer look at all of Essie's Luxeffects polishes, here's a recap.