Fyrinnae Arcane Magic Swatches

What was I thinking, waiting so long to try Fyrinnae's Arcane Magic shadows? The four I chose are all stunning, and the colour change is just the icing on the cake. The effect is hard to capture, but I tried to get a photo closer to(top) and farther from (bottom)  light. Enlarge these pics to see the differences for each.

Dragon Magic, Faerie Glamour, Futuristic Glamrock, Madame & Eve's

Dragon Magic

Dark, almost black, green with bright blue-green shimmer. Colour change is less obvious than others, becomes more green, less blackened.

Faerie Glamour

Vibrant purple base with light blue and pink shimmer. Another less obvious change. Shifts from mostly pink to mostly blue shimmer.

Futuristic Glamrock

Icy blue filled with light blue and sparse pink shimmer. Pink sparkle becomes much more obvious closer to the light.

Madam & Eve's

Dark purple, leaning brown, base with blue-green shimmer. Shifts from purple-brown to turquoise.

Fyrinnae Shadow Swatches

As promised, here are the rest of the swatches for my new Fyrinnae eye shadows. 

Eternal Innocence

Dark shimmery green. I've been looking for a good dark green for a while, and I think I want something just a little brighter than this. So, I'd love to hear any suggestions, whether from Fyrinnae or any mineral makeup company.

Kamikaze

Bright red with red sparkle. On me, anyway, this seems to have slight orange tones.

Meerkat

This is one of the shadows I bought mostly for the name. I think meerkats are one of the cutest animals around. Maybe not the best way to choose eye shadows, but I wasn't at all disappointed with this one. Pink-purple with tons of gold sparkle.

Orangutan

Coppery-peach with an almost metallic look to it. I actually didn't think I would really like this one as much as I do. It's another one I bought for the name. Orangutans are my absolute favourite animals in the whole world. How can you not love a baby this cute?

Hesty the Orangutan (Denver Zoo)

And last but not least,

Tapir

Rich purple-based burgundy. This looked more of a wine red in the jar, but the purple tones came out against my skin. Nearly matte, with only a slight shimmer.

March Greens: Layering Lime Lights

Today's green is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Lime Lights. This is an iridescent pale green. My index finger shows three coats and it's still incredibly sheer, so this one is made for layering. 

Left to Right: 3 coats Lime Lights; LL over SH Xtreme Wear in Green With Envy, LL over China Glaze Jolly Holly, LL over SH Xtreme Wear in Black Out.

I love how this polish adds a little unexpected shimmer to lighter cremes and totally transforms black.

St Patrick's Day: NOTD 1

Here's the first in my series of St Patrick's Day nail art. I'm not sure how many I'll end up doing. It all depends on how many ideas I can come up with.

The green is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Emerald City and the gold is China Glaze Midnight Kiss. The heart rhinestones are from Born Pretty. The tiny balls I found at Dollarama, but the colour bleeds out of them. Born Pretty has similar balls, which I plan on reviewing soon.

Heart Rhinestones (Click image to go to Born Pretty Store)

March Greens: Emerald City

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Emerald City is a true medium-dark emerald green shimmer. Not too yellow or too blue. This is two coats, but it could use a third to even out a bit of patchiness. It's just slightly darker than the photo shows.

I'll have my first St Patrick's Day nail art up later today so check back in a few hours for that.

March Greens: Edyta

I don't share the green obsession that a lot of bloggers seem to have. I prefer greens that either have a lot of blue or have contrasting shimmer or something else going on in them. So here's another green that's not just green. Zoya Edyta is a dark grayed green base filled with green and bronzy-gold glitter/shimmer. I think this one was two coats. Maybe three?

March Greens: Object of Envy

Our next March Green is from Color Club's Fall 2008 Glitter Vixen collection. I just got my first Color Clubs a few months ago and they're already becoming one of my favourite brands. Application is generally great and they have some amazing colours. Today's polish is no different. This is Object of Envy, a green glitter in clear base. This is the perfect, true green. And the glitter is just dense enough that you could use one coat over another colour, or it looks amazing with a few coats of this alone. So, I wanted to show how it looks after one, two, and four coats, without anything underneath.

Color Club Object of Envy 1 coat

Color Club Object of Envy 2 coats

Color Club Object of Envy 4 coats Flash

 

 

Color Club Object of Envy 4 coats No Flash

Speaking of Color Club, I was at Winners the other day and bought Untamed Luxury: Every Shade of Indulgence Collection. It was only thirteen bucks! Not bad for seven polishes. I didn't really *need* any of these colours. Never mind that I have near dupes for pretty much all of them. I just love greyish neutrals and dark vampy colours. Now that I know this location gets Color Club sets, I'm gonna have to start stalking them.

March Greens: Mint Cream and Layering

Here's Elf Mint Cream, a pale mint green creme. (Don't you just love those painfully obvious names?) This is four (or five?) coats. It went on fairly smoothly, for a pastel, but was a little too sheer. I love this polish. Perfect mint green that doesn't give me insane lobster hands. (They're a lot redder in the pic than in real life but the polish colour is accurate.) Elf polishes are available on their website for a dollar, but they always have great discount codes.

I wanted to try some layering with this one so I pulled out Orly Love Each Other. It's one of my all-time favourite layering polishes. Over dark colours, the pink shimmer is really visible but over pale colours like this one it's a more subtle, hidden shimmer that just adds a bit of interest.

March Greens: Hi-Tech

This is four coats of Milani 3D Holographic in Hi-Tech. The first two coats went on patchy but it eventually evened out. Light grass green (very yellow-leaning) dispersed holo. Photo is without flash, indoor lighting.

Milani Hi-Tech 4 coats No flash

March Greens: Zombie Zest

I want to share some green polishes leading up to St Patrick's Day. The first is China Glaze Zombie Zest from their 2010 Halloween collection. (It's only about four months late.) My sister found this on clearance a couple weeks ago, along with Ick-a-Body, and picked them up for me.

China Glaze Zombie Zest 3 Coats Indoor Light

My first thought when I saw this colour in the bottle was that it looks like slime. The base is a murky olive green, somewhat sheer but buildable. And it's packed with golden green shimmer. Definitely not my every day type of colour, but I absolutely love it for the one or two days I'll wear it each October. 

This went on smoothly and dried pretty quickly. The only downside was the major case of lobster hands it gave me. Zombie Zest is discontinued but still available on Amazon.com and some other etailers.

My New Favourite Nail Polish

I hinted on twitter the other day that I had found a new all-time favourite polish. And that is not a title I take lightly. Sure, just about any colour can make it into my revolving top ten for a day or a week, but to declare something an all-time favourite, you know it must be good. Charla good, or even Space Cadet good. Are you all dying to know what has me so worked up?

It's Joe Fresh in Peacock. A gorgeous dark blue-teal-green shimmer with purple duochrome. In most light, it's about equal parts blue and green, but at certain angles or lights, this looks royal blue or emerald green. And if you move your hand just the right way, you see the most amazing purple/fuchsia. I played with the bottle for seriously ten minutes before I painted my nails, turning it each way to watch the colour shift. (I know, air bubbles...eek.)

Joe Fresh is a grocery store brand available in Canada and what I've tried from them is so much better than I would have expected. These polishes retail for $4 and are sold at Real Canadian Superstore and Fortinos (and probably any of the other Loblaws brand stores, but I'm not certain of that). I never bought these before because $4 for 6mL seems too pricey. (It's like paying $12 for an Orly or $10 for a China Glaze.) But I got this one for just $2.33. Much more reasonable. How?

Superstore has a store coupon right now for $1 off any nail polish. And if you buy three of the Joe Fresh polishes it's $10 (instead of $4 each). So combining three of the coupons, you save a total of five bucks! I wasn't sure if they would let me use three, but it wasn't a problem. Have I mentioned how much I love couponing?

Now on to the swatches. This was a tough one to capture so check out the pic spam after the jump.

Christmas NOTD 7: Christmas Trees

 I decided to do Christmas tree nails, but rather than stamp or freehand the trees, today's nails are just inspired by Christmas trees. I used China Glaze Jolly Holly as the base and stamped on Color Club Worth the Risque using image plate BM11 for tinsel.

 

 And since Wendy suggested I do a glow-in-the-dark Christmas mani, I used Sally Hansen Glow in the Dark for the lights. I couldn't get a picture that showed the dots glowing but how cool is this bottle shot?

Last, I used clear polish to add rhinestone ornaments. It turned the silver holo a bit yellow, but I'm not sure if that's better or worse.

I completely forgot to take a photo of Jolly Holly alone until I was done my left hand but luckily I got a picture of my right hand (at a bad angle, sorry). I don't wear green nail polish very often but this colour is gorgeous. Dark green full of green shimmer with just a bit of golden shimmer as well. It's a perfect Christmas green.

Christmas NOTD 2: China Glaze Mistletoe Kisses

I know most of you have seen this colour a million times in the past few weeks, but it really is gorgeous so I had to show it here. As soon as I saw the China Glaze holiday collection, there were two colours that I knew I must have. The first was Mistletoe Kisses. It's silvery-green glitter in green base. I'm not usually a big green fan, but this is a perfect polish for Christmas. This is three coats (though I probably could have got away with two).

Photos after the jump.

White Ruby Nail Prisms (Pic Spam)

Here's White Ruby. This is one of the sheerer Nails Prisms so i layered it over black to really show off the rainbow effect. At some angles it's silvery white; sometimes it has a pink foil effect. I could just sit and watch my nails as I move my hands to see the different colours. I took dozens of photos to try and capture every colour shift, so here's a bunch of them.

 More photos after the jump.

East Village Comparison

I've got another colour today that isn't very "fall" but I just bought it so I wanted to show you. Pharma Plus has NYC polishes BOGO this week so I chose a couple. The first is East Village. This is a shimmery blue-green. It went on smoothly, but after 3-4 coats was still a bit sheer.

I think I have a dupe for this. Comparison after the jump.

Tag + Ivy League

I know I said it was time for a no-buy, but here's something you should know about me: I'll always say it's time for a no-buy but I won't actually do it until my far more reasonable sister convinces me I have to slow down. So, I'm planning just a couple more hauls online (it doesn't count if it's online, right?) THEN I'll stop for a bit. So, I was looking through swatches on Imperfectly Painted trying to decide which polishes to get and I came across this tag from a few months back that I haven't done. I love when I get a chance to know more about bloggers, aside from their makeup and nail polish likes and habits. So, hopefully you guys find some of this interesting. But I won't be offended if you skip to the end for a nail swatch.

50 Things You Never Knew About Me

1. What time did you get up this morning?
Noon. I usually work nights so I don't get along well with mornings.

2. How do you like your steak?
Not a steak person at all. I've been vegan for almost two years.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
The Town. Ben Affleck AND Jon Hamm? Awesomeness. Even aside from them, it was really good.

4. What is your favorite TV show?
All time, I'd have to say Jeopardy. I know that's such a nerd answer, I apologize. Right now? I love Mad Men and White Collar.

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
It would definitely have to be close to a big city. I'd like New Jersey just so I can go to Devils and Giants home games.

6. What did you have for breakfast?
French fries with hot sauce and vegan Becel. I tend to eat meals at the wrong times. For example, after the dinner rush at work I usually have a bowl of oatmeal.

7. What is your favorite cuisine?
I really like Middle Eastern. And Italian is a classic.

8. What foods do you dislike? or rather don't prefer?
It always seems to surprise people that there are a lot of veggies I don't like. Broccoli, cauliflower, celery, etc. And obviously, I'm not a fan of meat, cheese, eggs, any of that stuff. (Though I do love Daiya vegan cheese.)

9. Favorite place to eat?
I like Fresh in Toronto because they have such an amazing vegan selection. For fast food, you can't beat Pita Pit.

10. Favorite dressing?
Either balsamic vinaigrette or something with sesame, soy sauce, ginger, that kind of flavour.

11. What kind of vehicle do you drive?
I have a sweet bike. It's pink and has a basket. And splash guards for the tires. It is my pride and joy.

12. What are your favorite clothes?
As much as I hate to admit it, I like sweat pants and hoodies. They're just so easy to wear. But I also love dressing up and looking nice even when I have nowhere special to go.

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance?

I definitely want to travel across Canada. So far, I've just been to Quebec, and obviously Ontario. There's also a few cities in the States.

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?
I'm really not a fan of this question; like it's supposed to tell you everything you need to know about me.

15. Where would you want to retire?
Somewhere in Canada. Free healthcare is a retiree's dream, isn't it?

16. Favorite time of day?
Between midnight and 4am. I'm a night person, for sure.

17. Where were you born?
Toronto, ON.

18. What is your favorite sport to watch?
Hockey. Even though this season has been a bit depressing so far.

22. People watcher?
Yes. So much fun.

23. Are you a morning person or a night person?
Night

24. Do you have any pets?
Bonnie-a black lab, Sarge-a boxer who thinks he's a person, and Harry-a cat who thinks he's a dog.

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share?
My sister is coming home for the weekend to go to the women's show with me. That's kinda exciting. And I'll tell you all about it on Monday.

26. What did you want to be when you were little?
For a while, I thought lawyer. That's so sad. Kids shouldn't want to be lawyers.

27. What is your best childhood memory?
One that really stands out is going to pick up one of our puppies when I was about twelve. There was a room full of tiny yellow labs. I love puppies. I think a lot of what I remember from my childhood focuses on the pets we had or our friend's pets. My dad's friend had a pit bull that was the nicest, sweetest dog I have ever known. Every time they came over, I would play with the dog for hours. 

28. Are you a cat or dog person?
I have both and I love both. I don't understand being just one or the other. Liking dogs doesn't preclude someone from liking cats.

29. Are you married?
Yes. To Jon Bon Jovi. He just doesn't know it yet. Other than that, no.

30. Always wear your seat belt?
Yes

31. Been in a car accident?
Yes. Last year. I was on my bike, but there was a car involved.

32. Any pet peeves?
So many. Poor grammar and spelling is one, or two. "Would of" instead of "would've or would have". Oh, and pink jerseys. My favourite colour is pink and most of my clothes are pink but NJ Devils colours are not pink, so why would I wear a pink Devils jersey. I don't know what marketing genius thought up that one. Being a girl doesn't stop me from wearing team colours. It shouldn't be so hard to find girl's sizes in the real team colours. Ok, I'm done with that rant. I'm just saying Don Draper wouldn't put up with that.

33. Favorite Pizza Toppings?
Sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, red onions, roasted garlic, pineapple, and mango.

34. Favorite Flower?
I don't really have a favourite but I like hibiscus. And also snap dragons, but not nearly as much as my sister does. ("Aw man, these aren't even snap dragons." Sorry, that's an inside joke.)

35. Favorite ice cream?
I love peanut butter soy ice cream.

36. Favorite fast food restaurant?
Pita pit or Subway.

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test?
Just once. And that was enough. I don't drive anymore. Hence, the wicked-awesome bicycle.

38. From whom did you get your last email?
Sister

39. What store would you max out your credit card?
Forever 21, H&M, Sally Beauty, Tiffany's (in my dreams)

40. Do anything spontaneous lately?

I cut my own hair. Big mistake. I used to do it all the time when I had super-long hair but it's a whole other story with short hair. It started as a trim in the back. And now I look like my brother at age 12.

41. Like your job?
It's not too bad. I work at a sports bar. I expedite orders and also work in pantry and take-out. When it's not busy, I can watch the hockey games, so that's pretty cool.

42. Broccoli?
No thank you.

43. What was your favorite vacation?
I went to Montreal with my sister in the summer. That was pretty cool.

44. Last person you went out to dinner with?
It's been a while. I don't remember. Unless a quick snack at McDonald's with my dad counts.

45. What are you listening to right now?
The computer is kinda buzzing. Other than that, silence.

46. What is your favorite color?
Pink. But I also like purples and teals/aquamarines.

47. How many tattoos do you have?
None. Tattoos freak me out almost as much as piercings do. And I'm way too indecisive to have something permanently put on my body. I change nail polish every day for goodness sake!

48. What do you like to do when nobody else is around?
Snuggle with my cat and watch tv.

49. Favorite Movie?
I have so many. I love musicals. And brat pack movies. I really liked Jersey Girl but I think I'm one of three on that. Stand By Me will also be one of my tops.

50. Coffee drinker?
Not so much. I love the smell but I don't drink it.

As promised, here's SH Xtreme Wear in Ivy League, and the compulsory accent nail with gold glitter.

This is an apple green with gold shimmer. I don't wear greens too often but I like this one. It's a nice, bright spring colour, which explains why I'm showing it to you in November.

NOTD: Shower Together

I started off with two coats of China Glaze Shower Together, then went through my blue/green polishes and with a dotting tool, added random dots. I used China Glaze Watermelon Rind and Dorothy Who?; OPI What's With the Cattitude?; Elf Mint Cream; Zoya Charla; Xtreme Wear Pacific Blue, Blue Me Away, Ivy League, and Green With Envy; and a Sally Girl polish without a name. Obviously any blue or green dots works as well.

Shower Together is a bit greener than this pic and slightly darker.

NOTD + Tag

This is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Going Green over Revlon Peach Petal. Obviously, before clean-up (again). Peach Petal is way too thin (like most Revlon) and tends to be streaky so this is 4 or 5 coats. And the colour isn't too special on its own, but I like how it turned out with the green. I used bundle monster plate BM20. On its own, Going Green is a medium shimmery grass green which is pretty enough but I really like how it looked more like a softer, pale jade green here. And I added a flower just to make it extra-special. Thanks to Stephanie for setting me off on this nail sticker kick. :)

I also have a quick survey from Stephanie so here goes;

1. Have you ever felt so disappointed in a nail polish you wanted to throw it out the window? And why?
Nothing that extreme but SH Divine Purple let me down. The colour was great but it lasted about an hour before chipping. I'll try it again with Seche Vite and if it still fails, then maybe I'll have to change my answer.

2. What are your top three favorite nail polishes?
  That's really tough. I can name three but then I think of one more that I really love and before I know it I have a list of 10 or 20 I can't part with. But if I absolutely had to name just three? SH Xtreme Wear VIP Pink, SH Hidden Treasure, and China Glaze Dorothy Who?, and also Revlon Gum Drop. I'm sorry it's just too hard to name only three.

3. What is your favorite online store?
I really like ELF for affordable, good quality cosmetics. But lately I've been hooked on ebay for accessories, nail stickers, and a million other things.

4. Is there anything you'd like to share with us that you haven't shared before?
Not that I can think of at the moment, but as I keep blogging, you'll all learn more about me.

5. What is your favorite song of the moment?
Right now, I'd have to say something of Michael Buble, but I can't name exactly one song. My taste in music isn't usually very similar to his stuff, but lately I've really liked it.

Latest Xtreme Wear Swatches

All photos are with flash. Caribbean Coral is on the left; Going Green, right.

This is without top coat. Caribbean Coral is a gorgeous shimmery coral. It's not too pink and not too orange. I really like this colour but I have way too many corals. I always seem to buy them because they're so pretty but I don't wear them enough. 

Going Green is the perfect St. Patrick's Day colour. I just wish I had bought it months ago. It's about the colour of really healthy grass, with just enough shimmer.

I also swatched with matte top coat. I love Caribbean Coral with the matte finish. Going Green, on the other hand, loses everything that makes it special. The swatch photo looks much shinier than it really is. It's really just a dull, boring, completely unspecial green.