Chi Chi's Crystal Top Coat - Australia's answer to the flake effect

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After searching high and low for the latest nail trend, I finally came across Chi Chi's Crystal Top Coat inside my local Myer store. To top it off, Chi Chi also created a cheaper alternative to shatter (in black and white) made wildly famous by the likes of OPI and for the mod set, a matte top coat to diffuse the shine.  For some reason I can't get past the crackle effect; the only thing I enjoy seeing crackled is the hard candy shell found on Cadbury's Mini Eggs. Nubar, Essie, Zoya were the first companies to introduce their own interpretations of this opalescent top coat; most flakie polishes I have seen let the flakes do the talking while transforming the colour(s) it's been painted atop.  However, Zoya has mixed up this particular formula by featuring three varying translucent shades in light pink, green and blue.  Chi Chi went for the standard offering of flakes mixed with clear polish, perhaps to dip their toes into the proverbial water.

Maybe I made a hasty decision with my latest purchase, but with Myer offering 25% off Chi Chi products this past week, how could I say no?

Above I tested Chi Chi's polish over my pinky finger; the colour underneath is Essie Super Bossa Nova. In order to get the amount of flakes on my nail, three coats of polish were required.  This particular pairing proved to be quite the lackluster performance; I think it'll really shine on top of a much darker palette.  In order to get an even better idea of how it looks, please feel free to visit these posts:

The Bagful breakdown:

Total amount for Chi Chi Crystal Top Coat:

  • Regularly sold for $12.95 AUS, but I purchased it on sale for $9.71 AUS

Value for money spent (performance and quality):

  • TBD - I can't justifiably rate this item until I find a better colour match for this fun top coat

Likelihood to purchase another bottle of polish from Chi Chi:

  • Their makeup is reasonably priced, so I wouldn't be opposed to purchasing a few dupes to play with

*Chi Chi's website is still under construction, keep checking back to see when they go live.  Until then, their products can be purchased at Myer and Gloss.

Chanel Black Pearl 513 - weekly nail review

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I definitely took the slow boat in acquiring this much chatted about colour; Chanel released Black Pearl back in December 2010. I'm certainly not a hip trendsetter with some of my finds, but I was inspired to purchase this shade upon getting a manicure at the lovely Park Hyatt Milan.  I would like to reiterate here I am by no means spoiled - who am I kidding?  The experience of getting a manicure at their spa was decadent and much needed after spending two weeks travelling around Tuscany, oh woe is me.  Upon arriving to Milan for the second time on our trip, I booked my appointment and was squeezed in that same afternoon. A short elevator ride away and the typical exchange of pleasantries (in broken Italian mind you) was all that stood in my way.  I was asked to lay down on a bed and relax and all I could think was am I getting a massage instead, crap?!  But nope, that's their standard way of giving a manicure at this calming retreat, who knew?  Laying down was probably the worst thing I could've done after just arriving from Florence by train; I was tired and growing semi-conscious from the serence music playing in the background.  The manicurist nudged me awake from a slight slumber (I was merely resting my eyes) in order to pick a colour and the only thing to catch my eye was this Statue of Liberty-hued number.  Black Pearl is one part gray and two parts patina - I had to look that one up;) In the bottle it struck me to be a bit of a duo-chrome, but I didn't really see that after application. But what did appear were little bubbles, you know the ones - they show up, say hello and rain on your heavenly manicure parade.  I'm not too sure why it happened, but I think it has something to do with the cuticle oil combining with the polish.  I was annoyed to say the least, however, my nails looked much better from when I first walked through the door.

Before departing Italy, I dragged Scott one last time to Sephora - poor guy, he's absorbed more information about makeup than he'd care to admit thanks to me!  During my final cappucino-fueled haul I made sure to grab a bottle of the lovely 513 for future adornment and this too.  Last week, I finally took it out for a spin and I'll be honest it's been a while since I last painted my own nails.  The only thing I owned was a nail file and cuticle trimmer, so I forced myself to hit up Myer and Petra Hair for a few other necessities, e.g., buffer, polish remover and cuticle cream.  While not perfect, I think I still did a pretty good job.

A few things to note about Chanel's polish (at least for this shade):

  • The bottle top is deceptive, it pops off and reveals a stub - the handle was unweildy at best.
  • The laquer is heavy, so make sure you wipe the excess off on the inside of the bottle before applying.
  • I applied two coats in order to get the opaque coverage below.

 

The Bagful breakdown:

Total amount for Chanel Black Pearl 513:

  • 20 EUR or $26.17 AUS

Value for money spent (performance and quality):

  • 6 out of 10 bags - as beautiful and unique as this colour is, it's certainly not worth what I paid.

Likelihood to purchase another bottle of polish from Chanel:

  • Slim to none.  I'd rather pay to have my nails done by the girls at French Pink every week.

Hybrid Nail Look; two for the price of one! - weekly nail review

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The girls over at French Pink really need to copyright their nail looks, because I just stole one!  Upon hearing how one of the girls layered clear sparkles over a dark navy shade, I knew instantly I needed to try it.  After last week's polish was removed and my nails were finely groomed; one coat of Butter's Royal Navy was applied and then a layer of Frilly Knickers followed suit. I've worn Royal Navy on its own and I find it to be rather classic yet vampy at the same time; two layers of this colour comes out quite dark.  Alternatively, by wearing Frilly Knickers over Royal Navy the pairing up was very complimentary.  When I arrived home last Saturday, Scott mentioned that my nails looked like Van Gogh's "Starry Night".

I've thrown away the typical red and green of the holiday season and am opting to let Butter's Frilly Knickers transform all of the colours in the rainbow.


Do these two colours swirl together as well as Van Gogh's painting?

Napoleon Perdis' Set Eye Primer Review

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I have a slight problem, my eyelids are fairly oily; this leads to shadow creasing and my handiwork suffers greatly.  I don't want to be fluttering my eyes at Scott while knowing things are slipping and clumping - can you say Maginot Line in the works?  I have tried lots of different products based on recommendations from friends and makeup artists, reviews I've read online and just by taking a good ol' chance on something that promised to preserve. During a recent outing to Priceline, I purchased a tube of Napoleon Perdis' Set Eye Primer and last night I finally opted to use this over Urban Decay's Primer Potion in Sin.  The texture of Napoleon Perdis' Eye Primer was silky smooth initially and then it turned oily upon applying it to my lids.  It was so oily, I was able to fix a mistake I made after lining my eyes with MAC's Fluidline; I dragged my pinky along my lash line and erased my blunder.  After recovering from my shaky application, I continued on while making sure I applied my shadow with a heavy hand.  I wanted to put Napoleon's product through the wringer in order to see how well it could perform.

Makeup application was completed around 5 o'clock yesterday evening and I noticed shadow drifting around 10 PM during a visit to the restroom; five hours wear time?  Unacceptable!  Not knowing what to expect, I honestly walked away severly disappointed.  Napoleon Perdis is a household name here in Australia and is even sold in Target throughout America; I don't think this brand lived up to the buzz.

Maybe next time I will line this on my lids before using liquid liner; I think it'll serve as shaky hand insurance.

The Bagful breakdown:

Total amount spent on Napoleon Perdis' Set Eye Primer:

  • $18.00 AUS

Value for money spent (performance and quality):

  • 3 out of 10 bags; why would I want to give my eyeshadow legs to move around even more?

Likelihood to purchase another NP product:

  • Pfft - I don't think I'll be trying out Napoleon's high-end range either.  Perhaps you can convince me otherwise.