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Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear

I am absolutely in love with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear lately. Most of the colours go on well with two coats; glitters need three. I tend to change my polish every three days max, but these show only slight tip wear at that point, without top coat. And they come in such an amazing variety of colours. These retail for about $3 but I know Pharma Plus has them on sale just about every other week (and for airmiles :)). The bottles are 11.8mL which is a bit small but I like them because they are the perfect height to fit in my cosmetics drawers.

I feel like I should apologize for the swatches. I always keep cheap fake nails on hand to swatch new polishes as soon as I get them so that's what I have up now but I'll try to get full hand pics of my favourite colours up soon. The photos were taken in artificial light with flash and are two coats (except where noted).


(Left to right:)
Marine Scene-marine blue-green shimmer
Blue It-dark blue frost
Blue Me Away-pale blue creme
Ocean View-bright blue frost. much brighter and bluer than it looks here


Ivy League-green with gold shimmer (a bit lighter than this pic)
Lime Lights-3 coats. pale iridescent green. amazing over black for a cool dark iridescent green

Green With Envy-lime green creme
Emerald City- dark green frost.


Twisted Pink-not quite neon but bright pink with shimmer. a bit warmer than it looks here
Hot Magenta-bright magenta frost
VIP Pink-light pink jelly with lots of pink glitter


Sun Kissed-light orange creme. a bit lighter than this pic
Fashionista Orange-medium orange frost.
Crushed-medium-dark orange frost. less coral and more orange than it looks here. Pretty similar to Avon's Mambo Melon but with more shimmer


Red Carpet-opaque red base with red glitter. Much more red than it looks here and brighter
Cherry Red-true red creme (actually looks more like the third nail in this pic)
So Sexy Red-medium red creme, leans orange


Plum Power-dark pinkish-plum frost
Flirt-vampy burgundy. somewhere between creme and shimmer, depending on the light. more red than the photo shows
Mellow Yellow-true yellow creme. brighter than the pic. it takes at least 3 coats for opaque colour but whenever I wear it, I feel like the colour makes up for the extra effort


The glitters are all three coats but can be worn with one or two for a more subtle glitter effect. I like layering them over black. (I'll try to post swatches soon.)
Shooting Star-pale blue jelly with blue and silver glitter. I'm a little disappointed by this colour because the base looks so much brighter/darker in the bottle but layering it over Blue Me Away makes up for that.
Disco Ball-clear base with iridescent silver glitter.
Rockstar Pink-my new favourite glitter polish. Clear base with lots red, pink, purple, and blue glitter.
Strobe Light-Clear base with multicoloured glitter.


Celeb City-like aluminum foil on your nails. I love this colour.
Gun Metal-dark grey frost with a very subtle blue undertone

If I had to choose a top five right now it would be (in no particular order):
  1. Hot Magenta
  2. Blue Me Away
  3. Ocean View
  4. Celeb City
  5. Rockstar Pink
I've been lusting after Wet Cement but alas, it's not available in Canada.

Which ones do you love? Or hate?


(Update: More swatches!!!)



Friday, March 19, 2010

Welcome to my blog

Why did I decide to start blogging now? It seems to be the thing to do. Why blog about make-up? First off, I love make-up. LOVE IT. I love having fun with new colours and experimenting with different looks. And I love trying out new products to find that perfect eye shadow or lipstick or nail polish to add to my collection. Second, I guess because I always try out new looks, a lot of people seem to ask about what I’m wearing or how I achieve a certain effect. So, I figured I’d answer all those questions here. I’m planning on doing mostly reviews and swatches for now, but hopefully, I’ll get to do some tutorials, or at the very least photos of eye shadow or nail designs.