Illamasqua Scarab

This is one of the Illamasqua polishes I hauled at Sephora and it's a gigantic win for me!

Let me say this first: dark red and vampy colours are not something I'll reach for first, if ever. I don't think I have any dark reds in my collection, so Scarab is a cautious venture into the unknown for me.

After seeing swatches of this I just HAD to get it. It's such a beautiful red shimmer in a dark brown base. Truly, like beetle's shell. Although it's named Scarab, it does not match the color of Scarabaeus viettei's shells, which is black. This looks more like the shell of Lucanus maculifemoratus instead, with a bit more red shimmer.

The formula impressed me the most. This polish applied unlike anything I've ever put on! The color was pretty much a one-coater, slightly thick but not chunky, flowed perfectly. The easiest way to describe it, as if I was applying liquid vinyl on my nails. It was a beautiful experience and I am still blown away by it. I neeeed more Illamasquas! I wore this for 2 days and while there was tipwear, it did not chip and stayed on like iron. 

This is a wonderful polish, colour and formula wise. It's 14$ dollars in the Canadian Sephora, but that's a lot less than Deborah Lippmann, Chanel and NARS. Scarab has been a wonderful experience and I'm hoping I can get my hands on more Illamasquas. 

L'Oreal - Owl's Night and nfu-oh 38

L'Oreal Owl's Night is something I picked up on a whim, I really loved the way it looked in the bottle! A beautiful deep olive, chock full of slightly greenish golden shimmer...at least that's what it seemed like. On the nail, shimmer is much more subdued and it comes out looking more brown than olive. If you look closer, it's still that mysterious olive base with gold shimmer. Application is okay, nothing notable. Takes 2 coats to fully show up, but I used 3 for max opacity. It dries a little gritty, but a topcoat helps a great deal. I did not like the way it looked at first but then it grew on me a little bit. It's a very sophisticated color, subtle and neutral yet still edgy and dark. 

check dat color shift!

I decided to layer some flakies over it as well (nfu-oh 38) to give it a bit of flair. I find that the flakies work VERY well on this polish, since it gives way to the orange color a lot more than green. The combo reminds me of fallen leaves... very autumn-y!

Dear RUS discolouration - 0554

So I got around to swatching the purple pictured here! clicky click

There was a label on the purple one and it said:

Discoloration 0554

Pretty drastic change from the bottle, eh?

normal warm hands

My hands got cold...

With topcoat on, the GLORIOUS golden shimmer comes out a little more. This polish is beautiful matte and even prettier when shiny!

Shiny warm hands!

I'm in love with this polish! Subtle shimmer, dramatic color change (compared to most mood polishes)... 2-coater formula, fast dry time. Unique color combination is also a big plus. These are a giant win if you can get your hands on them (I know I will try to find more!)

Dear RUS: introducing Korean mood polish!

I had the pleasure of buying polish from the lovely Tadukhipa over at http://thecutestmakeup.blogspot.com/

She shipped 2 bottles of very interesting color changing polish all the way from S. Korea!

Today I will be showing you quick swatches of the 2 side by side.

They both contain very fine shimmer and they dry MATTE. This means they end up looking like suede polishes from OPI! Purple contains beautiful golden shimmer, while blue has a light blue shimmer.

When they are cold, they look like they do in the bottle...but when warmed up, purple turns to a warm auburn and blue turns into a seafoam green! Here is some mood polish action:

Cold

warm

The color change is so rapid, even the tiniest droplets of water change it.

soft gradient

How cool is that? Both are matte (suede) and the color change is so dramatic....awesome! I want more!

Forever21 - Gold Iridescence

Saw this at Forever21 and could not pass it up! Chunky holo in metallic beige? Yes please! 

This is a strange color indeed...looks like an amazing beige disco ball in the bottle, it is a frosty(!) beige on the nail with chunky hex holographic glitter.

OPI Muppets Warm and Fozzie

Today, I got my hands on OPI Warm and Fozzie, from the Muppets 2011 holiday collection!

To be honest, I was not excited for the Muppets collection at all. I didn't really dig the topping glitters and it just didn't feel like something I needed to buy. However, after seeing them in PERSON they looked like little disco balls! I was almost tempted to buy all of the glitters when I settled just on Rainbow Connection, which is a rainbow hex glitter and Warm and Fozzie, a color I did not expect!

This is an interesting combination. It's a warm, golden brown foil, with golden and raspberry flecks mixed in. Warm and Fozzie is very reflective and was a pain in the butt to remove, a true foil! I continue to be impressed with the OPI foil formula, it's fast drying, glides on and best of all...looks fantastic in 2 coats!

This is one of the most unique takes on winter polishes I've seen yet...I should try this matte sometime.

Sexy bomb s22

Sexy Bomb s22 is another amazing polish that came home with me from Metrotown's Faceshop, Vancouver BC. I hauled most of these on the account that they look like fantastic duochromes in the bottle, but so far it's been a trend with them looking much less impressive, but still very pretty on the nail. 

S22 is a sandy/camel base with light brown shimmer. It translates to a warm beige shimmer on my nail, sort of like a darker champagne. I did notice that it gives off a green flash, as seen on the index finger and it's visible in both daylight and indoor light. Application is AWESOME and only took me 2 coats to get it solid. Sexy Bombs come with a wide brush but it's not clunky and works well. The polish itself seems pretty runny, so I was surprised at the opacity I got. I really do love this color, it's not bright but not quite a neutral at all... very unique.

I think I have about 2-3 more Sexy bombs left to swatch!