Thursday, November 12, 2009

Match Your Hair Color with Your Skin Tone!

Hello lovelies!

I came across this very interesting article about how to best match your hair color with regards to your skin tone. Lots of great tips, tricks and explanations of how to choose the best haircolor - and of course I wanted to pass it on to you, my dear readers ;)

Enjoy!



by Nancy, VogueWigs.com Marketing Director

What Is Skin Tone?

Skin tone is the term used to describe your skin's warmth or coolness. For example, warm colored skins have yellow, red or peach undertones, while cool skins have undertones of pink, blue or violet. Although complexions can range from dark and olive to fair and light, basically skin tones are grouped into two categories--warm and cool. While many people can easily determine whether they have a warm or cool complexion, others may not be certain until they consider a few factors.

Click HERE to read the whole entry!

Monday, November 9, 2009

Covergirl Nailslicks "Midnight Forest"

Good day, girls!

Hope your Monday is going well ;) Up here it's cold and stormy today, so I'll cosy up inside with lit candles, green tea and soft music!

Let me present to you Covergirl Nailslicks "Midnight Forest".
This is a dusty dark goldish green with shimmer, which is mostly visible in direct sunlight/lamplight.


 


 
 
Close up...
 


I'm quite enjoying this shade, although it can look a little dull when inside. Application was very good, I had no problems at all. I believe I used three coats in the above images. This was my first Covergirl polish, and I wasn't disappointed ;)

On a side note - my nails are a big hot mess right now. Very weak and brittle, they break and peel constantly and have lots of ridges, hence why they are so short at the moment...  :(
I'm working on it though, I'm bathing them (ok, slight exaggeration ;)) in CND Solar Oil, which I love, and I'm also using Nailtek Foundation II and Orly Nail Armor as my basecoats. I'm considering buying OPI Nail Envy and try out that one as well, do you guys have any inputs or other product suggestions that might help?

Hope you've enjoyed your stay, thanks for dropping by ;))

Friday, November 6, 2009

The She Space Sample Baggies & Review

I thought this post might be helpful for anyone considering trying out The She Space mineral pigments.

Now, before you continue reading, please keep in mind that opinions expressed in this post are just my personal ones, based on my own experience ;)
Images in this post are clickable for larger view - I've left them huge, so that you can get a close look of the sample baggies with color names... (some pigments are regular, while some are limited editions - meaning some of these might not be available on the website anylonger)



I have ordered quite many pigment sample baggies from TSS in the past, and while both the color selection and the price is totally awesome, I have mixed feelings about them.

Let me just begin by saying I h-a-t-e baggies!! Although they are an economical way to try out lots of different shades, they are terribly messy to work with in my opinion. I much prefer sample jars, and I think if you have a choice, it's well worth it to spend a few extra bucks to get jars instead of baggies. (TSS don't offer sample jars, though) Of course you can always transfer the samples from the baggie to a jar yourself if you wish. I usually just tip a little out into a separate lid before I use them. Fussy, but it works ;)
Samples are very small, but as Heather (the owner) states on the website and on her blog, the samples are just that: samples - meant for you to try out for a few applications to see how you like a particular color.




Oki... moving on to the product itself.
I personally feel the quality is rather inconsistent - it's either hit or miss - pigmentation wise, that is. Many colors become really washed out when applied, leaving mostly shimmer/sparkle to be noticed on the eyelid. When you blend/buff the colors, they blend into nothing; the color almost totally disappears (and flies all over the place as well). This is not the case with ALL colors, but it happens with a lot of them, which is why I think it deserves to be mentioned.
The way I get around this when using my TSS pigments is I only use one lid shade and one highlight shade. That way I don't have to do a lot of blending/buffing - I just gently pat on my lid shade and after that I apply a highlighter shade on the brow bone.



It is possible I would have a different outcome with these if I foiled them... I haven't tried that, so can't comment on that aspect. Mind you, I rarely foil my pigments, because I think they become hard to work with and to blend when applied wet (goes for most pigments - not just TSS). Dry application has always been my preferred method, except when using pigments for lining. Maybe these do behave differently when applied wet/moist, I simply don't know. In my mind I shouldn't "have" to use them wet just to get them to show up, though ;) Also - I'm always in a hurry, so I want to avoid all unnecessary "extra steps" when getting ready...



Regardless of my seemingly not-so-great review of these, I keep buying TSS pigments. I don't think they are a bad product at all, in fact I quite like it, and if you are a fan of subtle eye color payoff, you might enjoy them too. If you visit the website you will find some of the brightest, most vibrant colors out there, as well as subtle, neutral everyday shades. New and limited collections are released on a regular basis, which I think is awesome.
Customer service is top notch at TSS; Heather always replies quickly to emails/inquiries, which is a great thing. Shipping time I would say is average - I usually have my orders within a two-week period (and I'm overseas). International shipping costs are amazingly low, too: $2,50 (goes for sample orders), which is far cheaper than I pay for domestic shipping up here!



Samples from The She Space IMO are very reasonably priced at fifty cents each, and come in tons of different colors, of which many are totally unique - which is one thing I really like about Heather's creations. Lots of truly amazing colors that you'll have a hard time finding anywhere else.

Pigments can be purchased directly from The She Space's website.

I hope you've enjoyed this post - thanks for dropping by ;)

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

OPI Cabernet For The Lady

This is OPI Cabernet For The Lady.

This is a really pretty deep berry wine/burgundy/claret with a slight blue shimmer. It seems to be quite a close match to Bogota Blackberry, but since I don't own that one I'm afraid I can't compare them for you... ;)
Yum, I am in love with this one - it's such a sophisticated, velvet-y color, and very autumn appropriate as well.

 On to the pics! (as always; they are clickable)


Sunlight...


 Shade...


Chillin' in the grass...






Close up...




Application was a breeze, two coats offered great opacity. I can't comment on the lasting power since I only wore it for one day (anxious to try out other polishes from the ever growing stash, y'a know ;)).

What do you think of this one?

That's all I have for you today - hope to see you soon ;)

Monday, November 2, 2009

Sinful Tokyo Doll

Hello there!

This is Sinful Colors "Tokyo Doll" which is a shimmering raspberry shade with blue micro glitter.

I was so excited with this one that I actually forgot to snap a shade picture, sorry... ;)









Application was flawless, and this one is very well pigmented, unlike a lot of other Sinful polishes which are often very sheer requiring quite many coats. This one was three coats.

I'm really liking this one - it's a very summery shade, not at all autumn appropriate I guess ;)
How do you like it?

Hope you've enjoyed this post, see you soon.