My Nail Polish Collection

The purpose of this post will be to keep track of my current nail polish collection. I will update it as my stash grows and shrinks.

Current bottle count: 148

Chanel: 18

• Orange Fizz
• April
• Rose Confidentiel
• Jade Rose
• Gold Lame
• Mimosa
• Dragon
• Intermezzo
• Rouge Fatal
• Pirate
• Blue Boy
• Blue Satin
• Graphite
• Steel
• Peridot
• Black Pearl
• Particuliere
• Lotus Rouge

China Glaze: 23

• Hybrid
• For Audrey
• Wagon Trail
• Pelican Grey
• Liquid Leather
• Peachy Keen
• Broken Hearted
• Hey Doll
• Ghoulish Glow
• Sun Worshipper
• Golden Spurs
• Draped in Velvet
• Red Stallion
• Secret peri-wink-le
• Magical
• White Out
• Awaken
• Sugar High
• Gussied up Green
• Wireless Holographic top coat
• Cracked concrete
• Calypso blue
• Ruby pumps

Deborah Lippmann: 6

• Daytripper
• Constant craving
• Wicked game
• Glitter in the air
• Today was a fairytale
• Happy birthday

Dior: 4

• Safari beige
• Pink kimono
• Graphic berry
• Psychadelic orange

Dolce & Gabbana: 4

• Rose
• Cosmopolitan
• Fuchsia
• Drama

Essie: 27

• Matte about you
• Meet balls
• Hot coco
• Neo whimsical
• Pepperoni
• Pink diamond
• Nice is nice
• Bachelorette bash
• Mink muffs
• Perky purple
• Tart deco
• Van d'go
• Tri-beca
• Vermillionaire
• Knockout pout
• French affair
• Can't filmfest
• Fair game
• Fifth avenue
• Haute as hello
• Lilacism
• Bright tights
• Chubby cheeks
• Jewel
• Chinchilly
• Pouf daddy
• Red nouveau

Illamasqua: 13

• Raindrops
• Bacterium
• Lament
• Velocity
• Hectic
• Jan
• Milf
• Rare
• Baptiste
• Alarm
• Ruthless
• Grab
• Top coat

Le Metier de Beaute: 4

• True romance
• Heat of the night
• Chrome passion
• Midnight rendevous

Nars: 2

• Bad Influence
• Pokerface

OPI: 6

• Grand Central Carnation
• Vodka & Caviar
• 18k Ginza Gold
• Black Shatter
• Java Mauve-a
• Live from NY…it's OPI

Rescue Beauty Lounge: 8

• Bangin
• Bruised
• Chinoise
• Decorous
• Pizzicato
• Poco a Poco
• Purple Haze
• Smitten

Rimmel: 3

• Mouthy
• Climax
• Night before

Sally Hansen: 8

• Lavender Marquis
• Antique bronze
• Fuchsia bling bling
• Pink promise
• Cyber
• Mille fleurs
• Base coat
• Top coat

Sephora by OPI: 10

• Queen of everything
• Meet for drinks
• Dear diary
• Shopping frenzy
• I'm with brad
• Domestic goddess
• Sample sale
• Metro chic
• Too good for him
• Rumba romance

Zoya: 12

• Sweet
• Pasha
• Brizia
• Jinx
• America
• Addison
• Dove
• Jennifer
• Flowie
• Gretchen
• Pippa
• Caprice

Foundation Overview: Take 1

A few months after I moved, my skin decided to have an identity crisis. I’m not entirely sure whether it was because I had just turned 25, if it was reacting to the new climate, or if it was due to all of the stress of moving…maybe some combination of 3 and then some…but regardless, it was doing things that I had never seen it do before.

I’ve always had very good skin. Even now, my skin isn’t bad, but I do quite a bit to it to keep it that way.

I’ve only recently discovered the awesomeness of liquid foundation, but I have to say I’m addicted.

From left to right (above and swatches below): MAC Pro Longwear Concealer in NC45, Makeup Forever Face & Body Foundation in No.12, Nars Sheer Glow in Med. Dark 5/New Orleans, Makeup Forever HD in No. 177, Guerlain Lingerie de Peau in No. 25, Diorskin Nude in No. 051

My perfect foundation is light to medium coverage, and leaves a dewy or satin, more skin-like finish. My skin is normal to dry, more on the dry side, so I don’t want anything that is mattifying or that will dry down to a matte finish.

Wet swatches on paper from left to right (above and swatches below): MAC Pro Longwear Concealer in NC45, Makeup Forever Face & Body Foundation in No.12, Nars Sheer Glow in Med. Dark 5/New Orleans, Makeup Forever HD in No. 177, Guerlain Lingerie de Peau in No. 25, Diorskin Nude in No. 051

I’m still in the process of testing these - trying out different application techniques, using them over and under different products…etc. But so far, the DiorSkin Nude is my favorite.

Dried swatches on paper from left to right (above): MAC Pro Longwear Concealer in NC45, Makeup Forever Face & Body Foundation in No.12, Nars Sheer Glow in Med. Dark 5/New Orleans, Makeup Forever HD in No. 177, Guerlain Lingerie de Peau in No. 25, Diorskin Nude in No. 051

There are still a few other foundations that I want to buy and try (Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk, Chanel Perfection Lumiere, Dolce & Gabbana Perfect Finish Creamy Foundation, Burberry Sheer Luminous, Tom Ford Traceless, Bobbi Brown Skin…just to name a few), but I’d like to get through the ones that I have first. Have you tried any of these? Any suggestions for good ones I didn’t mention?

I plan on reviewing each one individually, then compare, contrast, and link them all together for part 2.

Talk to you in the next one!

The Best Makeup Ever!

OK, so maybe not EVER, but these are the things that I’ve been loving and reaching for most this month.

As I’ve said before, I love makeup. I wear it just about every day, even if it’s just a bit of lipgloss and mascara. I like it simple, understated, and natural-ish.

Over the past few months, my collection has grown a bit, but nothing out of control. (I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to store it all, and I think I’ve found a good solution for me…but I’ll save that for another day.) Anyway, on to the goods, right!

Chanel’s Kaska Beige Quad is on of my favorite eyeshadow quads period. The Armani Heat quad was part of their summer collection, and a newer addition, but I’ve used it quite a bit since I’ve had it, and I have yet to put a dent into it.

I have a love hate relationship with eyeshadow singles. They suck to travel with. They’re easy to lose, or forget about. They hog space. They’re easy to drop…OK, so it’s mostly hate. But the ones I do have, I love, and the goodness inside makes me smile.

The Giorgio Armani Maestro eyeshadows are my absolute favorite (as of right now anyway). I love their texture, staying power, packaging, and color pigmentation. I just wish for the price, it came with another gram of product. They’re fifty cents more than the Chanel singles, and you get about half the amount of product…don’t let the packaging fool you. Looks bigger, but I always check to see how much I'm product I’m getting. All of the shadows are super smooth and are swatched below in natural light with no primer.

From left to right: Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liner, Chanel Illusion D’Ombre, and Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill. All are amazing, and I highly recommend.

I have a lot of nail polish. I counted today, and I’m a little embarrassed to say that I’m closer to the 200 bottle mark than I thought. I tend to go through phases where I’ll wear the same color family for weeks, then move on to another, but this month, I was a little bit all over the place.

from left to right: Rescue Beauty Louunge Decorous, Dolce & Gabbana Cosmopolitan, Dior Safari Beige, Dolce & Gabbana Drama, and Chanel Rose Confidentiel

I don’t blush pink…or much at all really…but I do prefer peaches and orange colors on my skin tone on general, but these blushes in particular served me well this month.

I swatched the Givenchy Le Prisme Blush separately to show all 4 colors, and then I swirled a brush over all 4 colors, and showed what they look like together. It gives me a really pretty warm glow that I had a hard time picking up with my camera.

I usually prefer lipgloss to lipstick, but lately, I’ve gravitated towards the latter…and I have to say, I’ve been enjoying it.

from left to right (above): Makeup Forever Rouge Artist Intense #42, YSL Rouge Volupte #22, Chanel Rouge Allure #58 Audace, Illamasqua lipstick in Wanton, Nars lipstick in Mindgame, and in front, Guerlain Rouge G in #5 Gracieuse

from left to right (above): Nars Mindgame, Guerlain Gracieuse, MUFE #42, Chaanel Audace, Illamasqua Wanton, and YSL #22

And finally, lipgliss…

from left to right (bottom): Mac Dazzleglass Crème in Radiant Jewels, YSL Golden Gloss in #2, Illamasqua Sheer Lipgloss in Enchant, Mac Lustreglass in Spring Bean, and Makeup Forever Glossy Full Couleur in #3.

The picture is blurry, but the colors are accurate.

That was a long post, but I do hope it was enjoyable! Ciao for now!