NOTD: OPI 'In the Cable Car-Pool Lane'

Today's nail of the day is from the OPI San Francisco Winter 2013 collection. It is the color 'In the Cable Car-Pool Lane.'

Pretty! This color is a deep purple color that finishes to a gel-like shine.  So gorgeous and perfect looking!  The application of this color was pretty great. The formula itself is rather thin and runny so thin coats will be your best bet for this! The first coat shows up very sheer and is a pinky purple berry color. The second coat finishes the color off though, and thats all I needed to create a nice opaque finish.

This color is so lovely as a dark neutral for the winter and can easily be worn into other seasons if you want to rock a dark nail.  As I've mentioned before, I'm lovin the dark and creamy berries, purples, and burgundies for the fall and winter so this color fits right in! From what I've read, this color is pretty dupable, so if you have something similar in your nail polish arsenal already, then maybe you should skip this one! I myself find similarities between this and Essie's Bahama Mama, a color I've had in my collection and loved for a while.

If you're looking for a great, deep, creamy purple to fill a hole in your collection then this is the color to do it with! So gorgeous!

OPI nail polishes retail for $9 a bottle and can be found at Ulta and some drugstores.

xxSJ

Review: Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette

The Urban Decay Naked 3 was arguably the most exciting release of the holiday season and I was so thrilled to find it under my Christmas tree!

This is the third installment to the incredibly successful and popular Naked palette series, all palettes holding 12 neutral shadows. This palette is the 'rose gold' version of the line. The packaging:

The packaging is gorgeous.  The tin case is similar to the Naked 2 palette except it is a pretty rose color and has some ridging on it.  The packaging is bitter sweet to me because though it is gorgeous, I really love the original Naked velvet packaging a bit better (though it did tend to dirty up rather quick).  I know my eyeshadows are safe within this tin and plastic casing, however there was something about the velvety packaging that felt luxurious and unique.  It truly is a beautiful case, though.

Ahhhhh! Now for the beautiful colors! All 12 colors in this palette are completely unique, unlike the two predecessors which had some repeat colors and colors you can find in Urban Decay's permanent shadow line.  All the colors are beautiful and unique and to shorten things up, I'm going to split the eyeshadow reviews by finishes and highlight colors I particularly like:
Satins/Mattes: Strange, Limit, and Nooner; I love all these colors. So buttery and satin-y to the touch and not lacking pigmentation! Also the purply tone to these colors really make the eyeshadow combinations you can make using this palette so unique!
Glittery/Chunky Metallics: Dust, Buzz, Trick, Blackheart; These colors are VERY glittery with serious CHUNKS of glitter. As a warning, you MUST use a primer for these colors to stick to your skin and show up and even with a primer there will be some serious fall out.  The colors Dust and Buzz are pretty awesome because these are the most non-neutral colors of the palette being pink and light purple.  The Blackheart color is super unique. It is a dark purpley-black with red and purple glitters in it. Gorgeous!
Sheen/Glitters: Burnout, Liar, Factory, Mugshot, Darkside; These colors are standard Urban Decay eyeshadows. Great pigmentation, great application and blendability, and awesome wear time.  Burnout is quite a pretty peachy color which is an awesome overlooked neutral. The other 4 colors are all of the taupe variety but fortunately do have distinguishable characteristics to them which is nice.  You can tell the colors apart.
I thought it would be nice to compare this palette with the previous two naked palettes:

As you can see, the Naked original palette (left) is a gold and brown toned palette. The Naked 2 (middle) is taupe centered.  The Naked 3 is rose gold. Putting all these palettes side by side, I think the Naked 3 really stands apart as far as the overall coloring of the palettes.  In fact, Naked 1 and 2 look quite similar side by side.  I like that the Naked 3 is definitely a neutrals palette but still has some color to it.  My only disappointment is that the colors on the end of the palette before the darkest color are rather similar to each other and there are similar colors in the previous palettes. You'll be able to see in swatches, however, that the colors are distinguishable from each other.

Here are the swatchy swatches! I think the colors swatch very realistically to what you see in the pan.  All of the colors are buttery soft and easy to apply and, as you can see, pigmentation is not an issue.  Also as I mentioned before, the 4 taupe-ish colors really are distinguishable from one another. This is an issue I keep repeating because I was disappointed with the Naked 2 palette as some of the dark taupe colors in that palette all ended up reflecting the same metallic taupe color despite looking different in the pan. These colors, however, do not have that issue. Thanks Urban Decay! Nailed it!

As far as I'm concerned, Urban Decay has knocked it out of the park once again.  This palette is great and truly distinguishes itself from the previous palettes with its rose gold theme and brighter colors.  I think that if you have one or even both of the previous Naked palettes, Naked 3 would still be a solid addition to your collection with out much overlap.

The Naked3 palette can be found in stores at Ulta and Sephora and online at urbandecay.com.  It retails for $52 and includes samples of Urban Decay's primer potion.

Have you gotten your hands on Urban Decay Naked 3 yet?
xxSJ

NOTD: Essie 'Shearling Darling'

Today's nail of the day is my favorite kind of color to wear in the winter time: a creamy dark red or purple toned polish. Today's color of choice is Essie's 'Shearling Darling:'

This super dark creamy shade is GORGEOUS on the nails in the winter and applies so rich and pretty.  It's kind of a burgundy-brownish-red-purply color.  It's ambiguity is something I like about it, actually! Is it brown? Is it red? Is it purple? I don't know...but its pretty!

This color applies pretty thick and opaque in only 1 coat but I generally paint two thin coats for good measure. Don't want to peek at your mani under bright lights and notice some transparent spots!
Here's another photo with less glare on the nails so you can see how deep and dark this color is:

Dark like a vampire's nails! Look out, I might bite ya!
This polish was actually a gift to me from my friend Sara (thanks SaFo!) and I think she picked out a truly lovely color for me! Definitely a current favorite of mine :)

Essie nail polishes can be purchased at Ulta and some drugstores for about $8 a bottle (0.5 fl oz).
I recommend this color for its rich opacity and lengthy wear time.

xxSJ

Review: Revlon Nearly Naked Pressed Powder in 'Fair' 010

Today's review is of a powder I completely used up and decided to repurchase. Products I repurchase are deemed worthy, so I decided to do a review of this compact. It is Revlon's Nearly Naked Pressed Powder in the color 010, Fair:

 The packaging is pretty nice. It's a clean, white, glossy plastic with a window to see the color.  FYI, when you pick this color out at a drugstore, the color is true to appearance through the window.

Inside the compact there is a little puff for application (I throw these guys away.... they're cute but literally do nothing as far as applying product), and a mirror on the upper side of the lid, opposite the puff container.  The little mirror is kind of nice, I suppose, but I would prefer if this packaging was a bit more minimalistic and came sans the puff and mirror and was simply the circular powder. It would make this powder far more compact (HA! a 'compact' compact! Imagine that...) and portable. Speaking of portability, the compact snaps close and has no problem with remaining closed. You can definitely transport this guy with out concern of it opening and spilling onto your things.

This powder is super finely milled and very soft to the touch.  It is a 'creamier' powder, rather than chalky.  There is a decent range of colors offered by this line, but this is the lightest one.  Unfortunately I don't think this color would work on those alabaster-skinned girls out there!

A little dip into the product with my fingers and there you have it! A brush picks up plenty of this product (since it is so finely milled) and it presses evenly onto the skin.  No chalky application, and no cakey build up. Awesome!!  Even for the winter months when I prefer a heavier foundation and coverage, this is the powder I reach for.  It still doesn't beat my NARS powder foundation, but as far as drugstore powders are concerned, this one takes the cake!

This powder is 8g or 0.28oz of product for anywhere between $6 and $10 depending on the store and sales you are shopping.  I give this powder an A for amazing quality, so check it out if you're on the lookout for a superb finishing powder :)

xxSJ

Review: Essie Sleek Stick nail appliques 'Embrace the Lace'

Today I'm reviewing Essie's nail polish stickers in the pattern 'Embrace the Lace.'  According to the package, these nail polish appliques are UV cured to look like a gel finish and are long lasting. I wanted to try these guys out because though I love painting my nails, I would love being able to create patterned manis at home.
I found this pack of nail stickers at Bed Bath and Beyond for $9.99. They come in this sleek package complete with directions, a file, and a cuticle pusher:

My first frustration with this stuff: The package only comes with 18 sticker nails.  The reason for the excess in stickers (I do only have 10 fingers, ya know!) is that the size of each sticker nail varies so you can best fit a sticker to your nail.  This is nice but it means I have 8 extra nail stick ons.... Why not include 20 appliqués in the package so there are two sets included??? That's frustrating. For $9.99 I feel like two more stick ons could have been added to this set.

There they are in all their glory. The directions are pretty simple. Clean your nails, peel off a sticker that fits whatever nail you're working on, align the sticker and press firmly onto your nail. Then you fold the excess over your nail tip and file it off.
Simple, right?
Negatory, folks. Applying these nails is, indeed, relatively simple. However, making them look good? Now that's an entirely different story.  No matter how firmly I pressed these stickers onto my nails, there were bubbles and ridges near my cuticles. Not cute.  Here is the best I could get these to look:

Notice the wrinkles by the cuticles? I hate that! It makes it utterly obvious that I put a sticker on my nails!
Other than not looking as perfect as I would have preferred, I found that the wear time of these stick-ons was not long. Even though I followed the instructions and folded the excess applique over the tip of my nail and filed it off, the edge of the sticker started receding up the tip of my nail.  This thing is super sticky so dirt and other nastiness started building up at my nail tips.  I had to peel these guys off at the end of the second day of wearing them.  They only look cute from a distance away where you can't see the wrinkles and folds in the sticker, and that little bit of cuteness was not worth the gunk build-up.

Overall, I think this product was a major fail. $10 for two days of half-attractive wear? Not worth it in my opinion.
xxSJ

Review: Smashbox Photo Op Eyeshadow Trio in 'Multi-Flash'

Today's review is of an eyeshadow trio from Smashbox. This eyeshadow is the first eyeshadow I've ever owned or played with by Smashbox so I was so excited to dig in! I purchased the neutral toned trio 'Multi-Flash' with the hopes of being able to get a lot of wear out of the colors and to be able to wear this shadow to work.

The product comes in a black matte cardboard box similar to MAC packaging.

The circular packaging is in a rubberized black plastic container similar to the feel of NARS products. The packaging is very sleek and easy to open and shuts all the way, nice and firm. Don't have to worry about this guy opening up on its own! I love how sleek this container looks and how big the window is to see the colors inside.

As you can see, this is a pink toned neutral trio with a matte light pink, a satiny rosey pink color, and a satiny taupe color.  The colors are all buttery soft to the touch and a brush will pick up a ton of product when you dip it in!

Swatchy Swatch!! As you can see, these colors are quite pigmented and show up true to what is in the pan.  These colors are so smooth and silky to the touch and when applied which is amazing for blending purposes. I did notice, however, that the colors almost blended too well together. The rose colored and taupe color very easily blend together in a way that it kind of makes them indistinguishable from one another. Careful not to blend too much for that reason! Also the light pink is an okay highlight color, but it is VERY muted so will not add much brightness to a look.
Overall, this trio is great for me to use at work since the colors are so muted. I can wear a bit of color and achieve a nice looking eyeshadow look (which I have received compliments on!) and remain understated and classy at my job.  I am interested in picking up trios in darker colors to see how those colors compare to the neutral hues in this trio.
Smashbox eyeshadow trios retail for $28 and can be found at Ulta, Sephora, department stores, and on smashbox.com.

Worth the price? I think so. With the phenomenal packaging and buttery soft, easy to blend formula of the shadows, I think I will get a ton of use out of this product and am looking forward to trying more!

xxSJ

NOTD: OPI 'It's My Year'

Today's nail of the day is from the 2011 Miss Universe Collection for OPI. It is the color 'It's My Year:'

This color is a dark shiny purple with a lot of gold reflects in it.  Application of this polish was super easy as it was quite opaque in only two thin coats and the polish had a nice consistency making it easy to control and spread. The color shows up a bit lighter on your fingers than it does in the bottle which took me a bit by surprise. Three coats would have probably looked a bit nicer.

The wear time of this polish was okay. It started chipping on day two but wasn't easily chipped off once the chipping started. Some of this stuff was really stuck on my nails!! That tends to happen with glittery polishes like this, but I wish it all would have stuck so well rather than some of it chip right off within 36 hours! Overall, I'm feeling impartial toward this polish. I may wear it again but am also not itching to paint it on my fingers anytime soon.  If you're looking for a purple and gold color though, this will do the trick for you!

xxSJ

NOTD: OPI 'You Don't Know Jacques!'

Today's nail of the day is of an OPI cult favorite: the color 'You Don't Know Jacques!'  Again with the names, OPI, you simply slay me! 

This color is a dark taupe. It can look more purple in some lighting and more brown in other lighting. BEWARE! This color can look muddy and utterly unappealing under certain fluorescent lighting. This is something I've noticed that simply can't be avoided and is unfortunate, but the truth.  Otherwise this color is really quite a lovely neutral particularly for the Winter time.

This color applies very well and is one of my preferred OPI formulas for its consistency. However, even after two coats there is still some splotchiness and nearly transparent parts of my manicure! That's a bit of a letdown considering this color is not even on the lighter end of the color spectrum.  Just know that this color requires a bit more TLC upon application. Shine some light on your mani when you think you're done to make sure there aren't any see through spots and you should be good :)

OPI retails for $8.50 for 0.5oz of polish. It can be purchased at ULTA, some drugstores, and some department stores.

Would you rock this brownish taupe?
xxSJ