I Love Nail Polish Iconic

*Purchased by me*

OK who is prepping for the ILNP Ultra Chrome Flakies preorder today?? I know I am! It's really hard to choose which Ultra Chrome Flakies to try first, but I think I am going with Metropolis, Supernova and Electric Carnival. Then, if they are really spectacular, I will go back for more. I am also going to add Black Orchid to my cart. My birthday is tomorrow, so I have a good excuse LOL! If you're looking for a gorgeous nude/blush holo, you should consider adding I Love Nail Polish Iconic to your order. Iconic is really cool because indoors in low light, it's a pretty shimmery sand that is totally work appropriate and elegant looking. But outside or in certain artificial lights, it's like BAM!!! HOLO!!! The color itself is beautiful, it's a mix of blush, sand , and golden champagne tones. It could definitely function as a nude on some skin tones.

This is three coats of Iconic. The formula was great to work with and easy to apply. It covered very smoothly and I had no patchiness or dragging. I don't use base or top coats with holos.

 Here is Iconic indoors in low light. It's still stunning. I really like the fact that it looks professional inside and so rainbow-y outside.

*Purchased by me*

If you like nude holos, you will love Iconic. If you need work appropriate polish, but you'd like it to have some fun to it as well, definitely check this one out. So tell me, what are you preordering from ILNP today at 11 AM Pacific Time? ILNP Iconic and other pretties are available at ilnp.com.

Loving Rose Gold? Try L'Oreal Frieda's Nude

 *Purchased by me*

Months ago, the UK got a L'Oreal polish collection called Collection Privee, featuring celebrities/models and nudes for their skin tones. Fear not, US polish fiends! We now have (kinda) this collection in our drugstores! I say kinda because some of the shades are different and the bottle are totally different, but it is still a lovely little collection. I picked up L'Oreal Frieda's Nude, the standout of the collection in my opinion. Frieda's Nude is a soft metallic rose gold. It's not in your face sparkly or anything, so it can still function as a nude for some skin tones, but it is definitely rose gold.

Frieda's Nude has a nice formula, kind of on the thin side, but it makes for a nice smooth application. I used three coats for these pictures, but if you do thicker coats, two would be fine.

*Purchased by me*

I really like this color and the great formula. I had my eye on a few of the other shades, so I might have to go back and grab a few more. I found the whole collection at Walgreens when I went to get my flu shot last week (this was my treat for getting the flu shot LOL).

MAC Heavenly Creatures Haul

I have been anticipating the MAC Heavenly Creatures collection for a few months now. I LOVE MAC mineralize products, and usually their summer mineralize collection is my favorite collection of the entire year. When Heavenly Creature appeared on the MAC website almost a week early (this past Monday), I jumped at the chance to get my products earlier than expected. I also had a code for free overnight shipping, so I got my order super fast as well. Heavenly Creatures is a large collection with lots of color products, as well as skincare. Here were my first round picks (I may go back for seconds after another paycheck):

I picked up two of the four Mineralize Skin Finishes (MSFs), Center of the Universe (left) and Star Wonder (right). MSFs are great all-over color for the face and I am pale enough to often wear them as blushes. They have a beautiful sheen and I always think I look healthier when wearing an MSF.

I also got this gorgeous Mineralize Blush, Supernova. Supernova already sold out on the MAC site, but you will be able to get it next week at your local MAC counter, and there's always Macys.com, Nordstrom.com, etc. There are three other Mineralize Blushes in this collection.

Above are 2 of the nine Mineralize Eye Shadows (MES) from the collection. Nine was overwhelming to me at first, so I just got these two- Magnetic Attraction (left) and Universal Appeal (right). I will probably get another MES or two from Heavenly Creatures because I do love them.

I only got 2 of the five Cremesheen Glasses, but this is another area where I'll probably grab a few more. I love the Cremesheen Glass formula. That's Astral on the top and Meteoric on the bottom.

Finally, the one skin care product I got is Volcanic Ash Exfoliator. I got this when it was last released, I think with the Style Black collection in 2009, and loved it. This is definitely not exfoliation for sensitive skin, but my skin likes these grainy scrubs. The crystals in this do melt away so it isn't too harsh as long as you don't rub too hard at first. Many people also find the smell to be odd, so sniff it at your counter before purchasing. I will most likely buy another 2 tubes of this if it doesn't sell out too quickly.

And now for the swatches!!!! Universal Appeal MES is more purple... my camera didn't feel like accurately representing the color I guess.

Center of the Universe MSF

 Center of the Universe, Star Wonder, Supernova (in shade)

 Star Wonder

 Supernova

 Center of the Universe, Star Wonder, Supernova (sunlight)

 Magnetic Attraction, Universal Appeal, swatched dry

 Magnetic Attraction, Universal Appeal, (dry)

 top- Magnetic Attraction, bottom- Universal Appeal (dry)

 Astral, Meteoric

 Astral, Meteoric

I haven't done any full looks with the products yet, so hopefully I'll be posting those soon. I did try Center of the Universe on my cheeks quickly and I'm loving it! It gives a beautiful warm glow that isn't too brown or muddy looking. I wanted to get these quick swatches up before stuff really starts to sell out! Everything I purchased looks amazing, I am super pleased with this collection and hope to buy more when I get paid again LOL!!

The MAC Heavenly Creatures collection is available now online at maccosmetics.com. It will arrive on MAC counters on Thursday July 5th. 

Awesome Collaboration: Sephora + Pantone Universe!!

I heard that Sephora was collaborating with Pantone Universe for a color of the year collection quite awhile ago. Being a color nerd who always waits to hear the "color of the year", this made me SUPER excited. However, I wasn't prepared for how seriously fabulous this collection turned out. Part of the attraction for me is that the color of the year is Tangerine Tango and orange has been a favorite color of mine for YEARS! Orange make-up is also pretty flattering on me. There really isn't an orange make-up item I won't try.

Now, here's the fun part! I was going to skip the lip gloss set because I already own 9 million lip glosses, but I won it in a giveaway over on Best Things In Beauty!!! Yay!!! Let me tell you I am SO glad I did! Above you can see the lip gloss in it's packaging. The packaging for this collection is really nice by the way. I love the box covers with all of the Pantone color chips. The lip gloss set contains four Tangerine Tango glosses in four different finishes, all for a mere $20.

This is the Prisma Chrome Blush in Apricot Brandy ($16). I bought this because: A. Apricot Brandy sounds delish. B. I am a blush ho. C. It had a really cool pattern on the product itself. Again, I am SO glad I bought this!!

Here are swatches of Apricot Brandy in sunlight. That's a heavy swatch on the left and then blended out on the right. This can definitely be tailored to your skin color, see how light and glowy the right swatch is? Apricot Brandy is a gorgeous, pigmented shimmering apricot color. I wore it yesterday and several people told me I looked nice and one person even said I looked tan. LOL, tan?? Me?? For reference, my arm is probably about a MAC NC15 right now.

OMG this gloss set is amazing! Left to right in these pictures are Tangerine Tango Luminous, Tangerine Tango Vivid, Tangerine Tango Glaze, and Tangerine Tango Opal. The above picture is in sunlight, below is indoors in lower light. If you are afraid of orange or just any bright lip colors, there are still some wearable glosses in this set. The Glaze and Opal finishes could work on any skin tone/color. The Glaze is a very sheer hint of peach kind of gloss that I know I will reach for daily. Opal is a cool subtle duochrome-like finish that actually looks more sheer and wearable on the lips.

Below is one more sunlight shot because these are so pretty! The Luminous finish is a bit more pigmented than Glaze and Opal, and has very pretty shimmer. Finally, Vivid is exactly that- a very vivid creme finish gloss with full pigmentation. This one may be scary for some people, but I think the gloss set is still worth it for $20.

I tried Vivid on first and LOVE IT SO MUCH IT HURTS!!! Behold, a lip swatch:

I apparently applied this in the dark or something though because I missed a whole bunch of my bottom lip. Who does that? But I just noticed it when I went to crop the pictures, so sorry about that! Awesome color though.

Based on these two items, the Sephora + Pantone Universe collection is a massive hit. I can't believe I was going to skip the gloss set. Stupid. I also purchased the set of four nail polishes (duh.), so you'll be seeing that soon too! Big thanks to Charleston Girl at Best Things In Beauty for giving away the lip gloss set and picking me as the winner!! I REALLY hope that Sephora and Pantone decide to collaborate every year. I think that would be amazing, and I know I would be interested in future collections!

The Sephora + Pantone Universe Collection is available now at Sephora.com.

Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blush Cancels My Other Spring Blush Orders!

OK so here's the deal: I don't really buy drugstore make-up. I spend all of my make-up money on expensive brands like NARS and Chanel, and I end up with little left over for drugstore brands. I think I was about 12 years old the last time I bought a drugstore blush. However, I was hell bent on getting the new Maybelline Color Tattoo 24 Hour Eye Shadows (review coming soon!), and bumped into some reviews of the new Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blushes. So, last night when I purchased three of the Color Tattoo e/s, I grabbed a Dream Bouncy Blush in Candy Coral. The picture above shows Candy Coral swatched heavily on the top and lighter on the bottom.

Now, please bear with me and the pictures I attempted to take of me wearing this blush. I am adept at nail swatch pictures, and I do OK with arm swatches of make-up, but I can not for the life of me figure out how to take good face pictures of myself without looking like an alien. In these pictures I am wearing Candy Coral on my cheeks. It looked much brighter in person, but still looked natural and pretty.

I think you can see Candy Coral better in this picture taken with flash. However, I look cross-eyed. I promise that I am not, in fact, cross-eyed LOL. But my cheeks are glowing and beautiful, so I had to share this picture!! I'm also wearing Maybelline Color Tattoo e/s in Fierce and Tangy, but more on that later!!

Again, heavily swatched on top, lighter on bottom. I love this blush so much that I could go on for hours and sound like a raving loon. So, to try to consolidate my thoughts, I'm going to do bullet points.

blended

• This blush has AMAZING texture. Somewhere between a gel and a creme, but feels light as air on the skin.
• Buildable pigmentation. You can wear this blush really sheer, if you are afraid of too much color, or for a lazy day. You can also seriously pump the color up for lots of color! Just apply a few more layers.
• Ease of use- Apply with your fingers and blend! 
• Price- $8 for 5.6g of product
• THE COLORS, DUKE, THE COLORS!!!! Currently comes in 10 colors, including the awesome-looking Hot Tamale and Orchid Hush.

These are just a few reasons why I am now obsessed with Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blushes. I will be acquiring the other 9 colors very soon. In fact, all 10 colors are on Ulta.com right now and I have a 20% off code. So I can order all 9 for about $58 + tax!! I paid $50 for just one Chanel spring blush!! I was also intending to order the new YSL Gel blush for $30. But now, I'd rather put that $30 towards almost 4 Dream Bouncy Blushes!

Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blushes are available now at drugstores, or online at Ulta.com!

Dr.'s Remedy Jolly & Joy Holiday 2011 Collection!

Just in time for the last day of Dr.'s Remedy's special deal on their holiday collection, I have swatches of Jolly & Joy! This collection is fabulous for the holidays, featuring red and green, but in a way that feels fresh. The polish I couldn't wait to try out was definitely Essential Emerald. Wowza!!! Is this polish pretty, or what?? Essential Emerald is a jade green polish with very delicate shimmer. The shimmer is that really fine kind that from you can't see from far away, but it really adds depth to the polish. I don't own anything this particular shade of green and that's saying something!! This color is unique and great for the holidays or any other time of the year!!!

 For these pictures, I used three coats of Essential Emerald, but I would probably wear just two. The formula was good, a bit thin, but that didn't make application difficult. The bubble in my middle nail was caused by my top coat, by the way, not this lovely gem! I loved this polish and highly recommend it to lovers of green!

 Next up is a polish I have reviewed before, Revive Ruby Red. Revive Ruby Red is a real true ruby red shimmer, not blackened or too bright red. I loved this color before and still really have a soft spot in my heart for it now.

 However, I had some troubles with the formula on this one. The first bottle of Revive Ruby Red I received last year was perfect, I described the formula as "nice and smooth. No problems at all." This time, I experienced some problems with the polish running into my cuticles. Hopefully, I just received a bad bottle this time. The formula of my old bottle really is great, so I hope they haven't changed anything. The good news is that this was totally opaque in two coats.

Passion Purple is another winner, a deep eggplant shimmer. I love deep purples like this that, despite being dark, manage to always look purple, NOT black. Not that I don't love black, but sometimes you just want a good dark purple, right? And they are really hard to find! But Passion Purple manages to stay true to it's purple soul. This is the kind of color I wear non-stop during the winter months, especially on toes.

The formula on Passion Purple was great, nice and smooth application. This is two coats and it's fully opaque and even. Hassle-free is the way to be in a holiday collection!

 Now, I saved the best two for last. OMG THESE GLITTERS!!!!!!!!!! WHY DOESN'T DR.'S REMEDY DO GLITTERS 24/7?????? Serene Silver Glitter is an unbelievably sugar-fine silver glitter in a clear base with super-fine red and maybe pink glitter pieces strewn about. This glitter is so sugary and fine, it's so cool!!! This makes it opaque in really just one coat!!!! I did two coats, because I was expecting to need more than one coat, but really.... one coat is enough here!! For those of you who hate chunky glitter, this is perfect! It's so smooth, but super sparkly at the same time!!

 Application was ridiculously easy for a glitter. For any polish for that matter. Like I said earlier, full coverage in one, maybe two coats if you have super long nails with very obvious white tips. Removal was easy too!! Overall, possibly the most amazing glitter I have tried. Definitely on my Top Ten of 2011 list.

The only thing I dislike about Resolution Red Glitter is the name. It's not really red. I suppose there is red glitter in there, but it looks kind of blush/pale copper colored overall. This is a really unique color glitter. It's hard to say exactly what color it is, but copper/blush/rose gold, whatever, it's gorgeous! It's the same degree of awesomeness as Serene Silver Glitter. Same sugary-fine glitter. Same coverage. This is a glitter for the fan of natural-hued polishes. Maybe Resolution Red Glitter will help glitter-phobes expand their horizons.

 These two glitters are just so amazing, I can't even. They both will look fantastic year round, not just during the holidays. They would also make excellent "starter glitters" for people who are afraid of glitter. They're easy to apply, easy to remove, and look sophisticated, not like middle-school age glitter. I hope Dr.'s Remedy makes more awesome glitters like these in all sorts of colors.

Overall, I love this collection! Great colors, great formulas for the most part (I think Revive Ruby Red was just a bad bottle). And those glitters!!! OMG. Go buy them now while they're only $14 and free shipping!! They are worth every penny, believe me.

The Dr.'s Remedy Jolly & Joy collection is available now at remedynails.com. Don't forget to "Like" Dr.'s Remedy on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

These polishes were sent to me for review by a PR agent for Dr.'s Remedy. For more information, please see my Disclosure Policy.