orly rage

orly rage is one of my all time favorite polishes!  i know i probably say that a lot...hope no one is keeping count haha.  it is part of orly's foil fx collection and is described as a "rose gold".  i am so in love with this lacquer it's not even funny.  i love gold more than WORDS baby and this polish takes a unique spin on it.  there's multi-colored shimmer in it too, with silver being prominent too.  the thing i like best about this is, for a metallic foil, there is nooo brush strokes.  this is fool-proof easy to apply (which is more than i can say for some of the dupes milani came out with soon after).  *sigh* i have to wear this again soon!  the only thing is, it's got a weird name compared to the other polishes in the collection, shine and luxe.  it's like, one of these things is not like the others...idk.  i would've called it glam or glitz or something expensive sounding.

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i oppose the "safe cosmetics act"

here's some links on why this bill is not the answer:

http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/2010/07/21/the-safe-cosmetics-act-of-2010-has-been-introduced/

http://wingedseed.com/blog/2010/07/24/why-i-oppose-h-r-5786-safe-cosmetics-act-of-2010/

http://www.naturalingredient.org/Articles/melanie.html

http://thealabublog.com/soap-archives/general/5-ways-the-safe-cosmetics-act-will-harm-consumers/689/

there's tons more if you search :)

and here's an informational video:

Glam Rock Cosmetics

hey girls! here's the deal. i'm not super stylish. i know this may come as a shock to you, but it's true. fashion has always been interesting to me, but it's never been something i've been super into for myself. i like to be comfortable, jeans and a t-shirt is what you'll find me wearing 98% of the time, not gonna lie. however, i also love to express myself and be girly. this is the main reason i love doing my nails. it allows me to show my femininity and style w/o being caught up in wardrobe choices that i don't care about.

another awesome way that i love to express my girly and sexy side is by my makeup, of course! i've always loved makeup but only have gotten "good" at it in the last few years. watching tutorials on youtube has helped me tremendously. i love to do fun shadow looks and play up my hazel eyes. in the last little while though, i've found myself getting in a rut almost. choosing brown, neutral shadows every single day? bo-ring. pretty still but meh, it was getting old.

so when i first heard about glam rock cosmetics on twitter, i decided to check out their website and see what was up. they're a new company and i'm always up for supporting smaller businesses.

their mission statement: We are here to provide you with best makeup at an affordable price. Our philosophy is the brighter the better! Satisfying our customers is our number one goal and what better way to do that then with highly pigmented products!

i got two pigments, an eyeshadow, a star paint, and a blush from them to try out. they had fast shipping, i got my products in about three days (it mentions to allow 10 days for shipping on the website) and i know that it's a flat rate for shipping charges of $5, and if you spend over $50 you get free s/h. and they do ship internationally :)

anyway on to the goodies!! they are in the process of relabeling all their stock right now, so these have the old labels on them, i've included their correct names in the photos.

please click to enlarge

i know my eyes are bloodshot haha, they always are

so here's what i think:  the shadow (gold) is really easy to work with, it glides on easily and feels creamy almost in texture.  it also blends well.  the star paint (bright purple) in my crease was a bit harder to blend but the color payoff is awesome.  these can also be worn wet or dry for more intense looks.  the pigment called trail was what i used in my outer corner; it's described as a deep eggplant and it's seriously awesome.  it has purple sparkles in it and i just about died when i put it on because it was so gorgeous.  i topped the look with a matte highlight by maybelline in champagne, brown covergirl eyeliner, and black covergirl lash blast mascara.

i used the blush called corporate because i've been wanting to try different blushes on me.  i've only EVER used nars deep throat.  i'm not much of a blush girl haha.  this was nice and really pigmented without being overwhelming.  i think it warms up my complexion nicely, kind of like a bronzer almost!  i have this curse of having a perma-fair face compared to the rest of my body.  i don't know why but it's super annoying.

would i try other colors from GRC?  hell yeah!  i really like what i've got to use so far, and i can't wait to try the other pigment, carrie (coral with gold sparkles) in a nice warm bronzey look.  i think they are priced well and have really fun colors and are made very well.  i also really like the packaging, it feels so simple and clean.  you can also pop out the pans in the shadow and paints if you want to put them in a palette.

so what do you think?  do you like what i got?  would you check out glam rock cosmetics?  what are your favorite "independent" makeup brands?  and please don't make fun of my makeup skills too much, haha.  this is the first real makeup look i've shown on here so let me know if you hate it haha, it's possible i should stick to nails O_o 
 

this product/products were sent to me for review purposes. please see disclosure statement for more information.

Parlez-Vous OPI?

i really love this color.  parlez-vous opi? came out in the la collection de france back in 2008 but i got it about a month ago :)  it's a smoked out lilac that is incredibly feminine and chic.  this is two coats of girly sophistication.  do you loves?

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any special plans for the weekend?  i'm headed to a family reunion tomorrow.  camping.  NOT my thing.  like i mentioned on twitter the other day, i will never understand the appeal of wanting to sleep outside on the ground!  but i gotta suck it up i guess.  whatevs.  wish me luck that i don't get eaten by a mountain lion or fall down a mountain side.  or worse, break a nail!  i'm scheduling some posts to pop up while i'm gone but i'll miss you :)  la la love you all!

nicole fresh squeezed

i only have three nicole polishes out of my entire collection! i find them overpriced really. and the bottle is retarded. yup i said it. but i do like this color A LOT. an orange glitter that isn't garish?? yes please! three coats of juicy goodness! PERFECTION for summer!

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yum, makes me want a big bite of a juicy orange!

opi breathe life

hey! hey you! have you heard of "Addicted to All Things Pretty"? well if you haven't, it's a blog run by my lovely friend Krissy :) she graciously allowed me to guest post on her site a while ago and i showed off a beautiful opi polish called breathe life. you should go check it out! click on the picture below to visit her site and read the post if ya want ♥

swatching it up

sheesh if i didn't swatch or buy anything new for a few months i'd still have "back files" of swatches to post everyday! gotta get on it i guess!

this is absinthe makes the heart by sephora by opi. the name is badass, i love it. the color is pretty great, if you love murky greens which i do. it has sprinkles of sparse holo glitter and multi colored shimmer in there too, but this is very understated. subtle but sexy.

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essie's berry hard was one i think i got at ross :)  good place that ross.  it's not my favorite essie, i had some bubble troubles, but i still like the color.  deep burgundy jelly.

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ulta's material girl.  not sure what i was thinking on this one...i don't like it at all haha.  the weird magenta color is just not flattering on me.  so i made it matte and liked it better that way, but still don't love it.

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essie's fishnet stockings is pretty gorj for a red :)  lovely, red creme.  nice and simple, nice and terrific.  and a dope name!  i think this is three coats.

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china glaze's fifth avenue is a very "mom" color but i still adore it.  i borrowed this baby and loved it a lot so i'm sure i'll end up buying it :)  it reminds me of eyeko's tea rose polish but a bit darker?  i love china glaze cremes *sigh*

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i hope everyone is have an excellent week so far!

zoya julianne

this is a "current" swatch, as i confess (pfft like it's a secret) that some of the swatches i show here are relatively old news (like a month or so). this baby is from LAST NIGHT. yup extra extra read all about it! front page stuff! julieanne is from the "wicked collection" that zoya just put out and even though i have mimi, the bright purple number from the "sparkle collection" from this summer, i had to have this baby too.

julieanne is described by zoya as a byzantium sparkling metallic. yeah i don't know what byzantium means. or at least i didn't until i googled it. it even has a hex triplet! so they didn't just make that up ;) this color has an awesome dark charcoal/blackish base color that lets the royal purple shine center stage. the polish also has a bit of duochrome on the edges, it's slightly silver and almost gold sometimes. very complex. you can fall head over heels in the deep dark pool of glitter that is julieanne!

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china glaze OMG

i haz holo for you! and who the heck doesn't like them some good ol' fashioned holographic goodness??? if you raised your hand, you can leave...j/k don't leave, but for reals? you be crazy. this polish is called OMG from the OMG! collection China Glaze did a few years back. it was in the 2BKEWL pack, so yeah i guess it was all text-speak-ese names, which is fun. i only have two others from the collection but i wish i had more of them, they're probably my second favorite holo collection ever, the first being China Glaze's Kaleidoscope polishes.

OMG is straight silver smooth holo. i used no base coat to minimize cuticle dragging (as this is known to be an issue with holos) and no top coat so as to maximize the holo effect. sex on a stick! i used to be addicted to silver, but now my true love is gold as we all know.  but i can still appreciate a hawt silver now and again :D

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who loves ya baby? OMG, i do :)

color club ultra violet

ok so i've heard that this polish is a total lemming and highly coveted one from some people, and from others they're indifferent about it or don't like it at all. you might be saying, well yeah i guess every polish is like that. but it just seems people really like/want this guy or really don't want/like it. what's up with that? anyway, i happened to get my hands on it pretty easily at a local beauty supply store and then got it a second time in a pack of the collection it came in, electro candy so i used it that one in a giveaway.

color club ultra violet is a very pretty and fun polish in my opinion, tho i have yet to wear it as a full manicure. it's shocking electric purple with a blue/green flash. the whole collection (which i'll get around to swatching one of these days) is like this but this color seems to lend itself best to the flashy combo. this is three coats the polish is slightly watery. it dries matte, as it is a neon so these photos have a topcoat on them. i believe i used the color club vivid intensifying topcoat; it's a really thin formula with a slight hint of blue in it, i guess that's what makes it "vivid".

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  i'm definitely on the side of the "ultra violet lovers" here. what about you?

rain & hidden treasure

i wore the eyeko rain polish i posted about a while ago as a full mani a few days ago and wondered what it would look like to put a coat of sally hansen's flakey rainbow hidden treasure over it.  and the results were AMAZING!  i absolutely loved it.  til then i had only worn it over darker colors, but it's way pretty over lighter colors too!

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the eyeko product used in this post was sent to me for review purposes. please see disclosure statement for more information.