OPI Strawberried in the Sand swatch/NOTD (NL B01)

OPI “Strawberried in the Sand” (code NL B01) is probably on the brighter end of the pink color spectrum that's almost at the edge of my comfort zone. It is a discontinued color so might be a bit hard to find (but definitely not super rare). On some websites it is described as a ‘shimmery peachy orange’ – and I’ve read various reviews saying it’s a coral. However, on my nails it as at best a pink with the tiniest hint of coral. It is not an opaque color nor a creme, in the bottle it looks like a fluidy, semi transparent glossy pink base with a lot of very very fine pink iridescence/ shimmers that flecks a slightly hotter pink and a very subtle gold. It applies translucent in one coat but almost full color in 3 coats. Overall on the nail it doesn't look good with one translucent coat because the tip of your nailtip will show. (see picture below). One coat is quite sheer: With 2 coats: I find with brighter colors, it's easy for something to look tacky..and OPI somehow does give this color a little bit extra ommph with the unusual glossy base infused with the shimmers. The shimmers are extremely fine, melts into the base color completely, it's not big enough to make the shade a metallic or foil nor is it opaque enough to make the shade a frost. I would definitely characterise this as a pearl or more of a fine iridescence. Here you can see the pearly flash:

Under some angles I suppose I see a bit more coral:

However with 2 or 2 coats, it's a luscious, rich, summery pink, I wouldn't say it's really like a natural strawberry, maybe what you'd imagine artificial strawberry lollies might look like, it's almost slightly flourescent pink (but not that extreme bright). Definitely more a summer bright color.

I have a slight difficult time figuring out whether this pink suits me- my hand is literally 2 or 3 shades darker than rest of my body (went kayaking and the suncreen totally wore off). Here's a comparison of my hand versus my normal skintone on my arm. The color's probably wearable for both those who are pale or those awho are tanned, but definitely for those who can embrace slightly brighter shades. Overall, not my top color pink, but it's rather fun and interesting summery color if you are looking for a change from bright neon pink or fuschias.

What are your other favorite summery pinks?

Chanel Le Vernis Nail Colour #471 Ming 2009 swatch

Chanel Le Vernis Nail Colour "Ming" (#471) is a 2009 release along with the rouge laque in the same shade.

Ming is a very classic candy rose pink with tiny shimmers, it applies smoothly like most Chanel nailpolishes, it's a sweet pink, very girly and great for the Australian spring/summer right now.

I know that a all these pastel pinks can see pretty generic from time to time, but this is probably easily one that I'd reach for quite often. It's a sweet pink without screaming 'look I'm wearing such a generic pink'- as soon as I wore this, at least 2 people asked what color I was wearing and commented on how nice it looks.

Here it is with 2 coats, indoor flash:

See...pretty much like how it is in the bottle with two coats- one coat is a little bit too translucent though.

As with normal Chanel formula, I do find that it is prone to chipping or flaking quite quickly (within 2 days)- I wonder if it's not compatible with the topcoat I'm using (Seche Vite). I used a basecoat- Orly bonder which is basically translucent too (but obviously didn't seem to help it last longer with this one).

Overall a gorgeous color, very feminine, it's different to a few other Chanel pinks I have like rose satin or pink satin etc. Will have to update this post once I figure out whether there's any dupes in other OPI colors I have...

RMK Spring 2010 product promo photos

Can't believe it's spring collection time soon again! as usual, most Japanese brands start pushing out the typical Spring shades, i.e. what you'd imagine as including pastels, pinks, light greens, aquas and lilacs (these two years a lot more Japanese brands started pushing out the pale amber/apricot shades too).

Here are some sneak preview of RMK 2010 Spring palettes- unfortunately I don't have real product photos just yet. Again, please click to enlarge.

5 eyeshadow palettes (don't the promo swatch make several shades seem almost the same?? There are 5 different palettes available). Retails for 4500Yen.

Cheek color palettes, 3 colors each, retails for 4000 Yen.

Irresistable Lips C lipsticks, 3 colors Nail Color, 4 shades

I'm finding the last Spring collection definitely looking like they were prettier (unfortunately they were fairly pastel/ sheerer too)- Spring 2009 was a lot more etheral looking..

However, you never know! I'm definitely getting my hands on the Cheek colors though, RMK products great blushes that has a great luminosity. Same with the eyeshadow, they have a good array of textures and colors from their 2009 revamped single eyeshadows range- excited to be able to get palettes since it's such a better value.

Here was Spring 2009:

Blushed Wombat ..: RMK 2009 Spring Translucence- product pic preview!

Kanebo Lunasol 2010 Spring makeup collection preview

I'm hoping to compile an order for Kanebo Lunasol 2010 Spring 'Nature' collection soon, the collection features themes with five spectacular: Ocean, Flower, Greenery, Sand, lands. Here are some press release photos I got hold of on the color shades and names. Click to see really big photos!

(please do not copy my photos, please provide direct link to this blogpage only).

Eyeshadow quads x 5:

#01 Nature Blue #02 Nature Green #03 Nature Brown #04 Nature Beige #05 Nature Colorful

Cheek colors trios (refill, compact and brush sold separately):

#05 Light Pink #06 Light Beige #07 Light Coral Lipgloss N: #17 Soft Coral #18 Soft yellow #19 Soft Beige #20 Clear #21 Soft pink Lipsticks #26 Orange Beige #27 Soft Coral Red #28 Soft Orange #29 Fresh Orange #30 Cool Beige #31 Red Brown #32 Sheer Beige #33 Pink Beige #34 Soft Pink #35 Shiny Pink Red Shiny Water Eyes (eyegloss/ liquid cream eyeshadow in a tube) EX01 Shining Blue EX02 Shining Green EX03 Shining Brown EX04 Shining Beige EX05 Shining Pink Lipliners duo: #07 Pink beige #08 Beige Orange #09 Pink Red

MAC Full of Grace Suntints Liquid Lip Balm SPF20 (Baby Bloom Collection 2009)

MAC Full of Grace Suntints Liquid Lip Balm is a limited edition product from the MAC Baby Bloom collection on 30 July 2009. Retails for 14.50USD. MAC Suntints are limited edition releases. They are truly more like tinted lipbalm than lipgloss, it doesn't have the typical tacky or thick texture you see in most lipglosses. The shade I picked was 'Full of Grace', which looked like the most pigmented medium pink shade available out of the collection, in fear of lack of pigmentation following reading reviews online. MAC describes the shade as a 'soft sheer rose' which is relatively accurate- I would say although it looks rosy in the tube it's more a pink though. MAC suntints lip balm comes in a squeeze plastic tube with slanted applicator, it contains 10ml and has SPF20. The packaging cannot be faulted in terms of convenience and ease of application, but it's not super appealing and a tad too plastic for me. Ingredients: The suntint itself smells a little bit sweet, like the lightest hint of vanilla, however if anyone's familiar with the scent Prada lipbalms, this smells and tastes almost exactly the same! There's that light sunscreen scent of some sort. I don't particular love it, but don't find it intrusive to the nose either. The shade 'Full of Grace' is a medium neutral pink, however once on the lips, it only gives the slightest pink tint. Swatch below under different lights. Photo of bare lips: (went hiking for a few days in New Zealand and suffered some serious chapping, lip still recovering so there are some discolourations). Photo with MAC full of grace suntints- can tell the light pigmentation means suntints does not entirely cover the uneveness in color. It gives my lips a very slight pink tint, neutral toned, not really warm and not really cool. I initially thought the shade had a tinge of mauve (which is a base shade I can never wear)- but on application it's just a true sheer pink. I like the wear and feel of the balm, it feels light, non-sticky, spreads easily and almost slightly plumps up my lips and blurs any lines. It is not sticky, does not wear off in gooey bits when I drink or talk. Wears off evenly. 10ml is really quite a generous amount since all you need is a small amount. It is also lightly moisturising- it feels fine on my super dry and sensitive lips even without another lipbalm underneath. Having a SPF during summer is always a plus too! The collection comes with a total of 5 suntint shades:

(left to right:) Lilt of Lily – Soft Creamy Pale Pink

Pinktinge – Clean Bright Yellow Pink with Gold Pearl

Full of Grace – Soft Sheer Rose

Just A Smidge – Soft Pastel Yellow with Multi-Coloured Pearl

Moist Plum – Light Lilac with Very Fine Pearl

Shiseido Pureness Mattifying Stick review

Shiseido Pureness mattifying Stick is basically a makeup primer for localised areas where you have enlarged pores. It's probably mainly for the t-zone or nose area to provide a smooth canvas before your foundation application. Housed in a lipstick-like silvery blue metal tube in a twist up mechanism.

Applies like a thin whiteish cast on the skin, it has a relatively fine consistency though:

Smoothed out- it definitely leaves a slight white cast (but should not be noticeable under foundations), it does help to smooth out small pores and just blurs any lines a little bit, but honestly if you have bigger pores on your nose this will not be able to fill it in much. This swatch is just on the back of my hand which has far smaller pores anyway.

Overall 2.5/5. There are just slightly better pore filler products out there. It does mattify a bit but with the white cast it's not like you can easily repair your makeup throughout the day by applying this on top.

Sofina Vital Rich Cream Moist review

Sofina and most other Japanese brands tend to have a revamped skincare line each year, however they are more or less the same as the prior year line, but just added with new ingreidents (whatever's trendy or revolutionary according to the makeup companies each year) and new packaging.

Sofina's 'Vital Rich' line is for mature skin. I only bought this because it was going for a bit of a discount. It's very very rare for me to use a moisturising cream, as I have probably the most irritatingly sensitive skin out there, that tends to breakout whenever the oil to water ratio is not balanced on my skin. So I did not expect to use this at all.

Last winter my skin was in a very angry state, it was very dry and peeling and yet my cheeks had the most horrible irritation bumps that sort of looks like congested skin but all the pimple treatment cream etc does not work on it. I think it was just sensitivity to something!

In desperation I got this, hoping to treat the dehydration before the congestion.

It's a small pot, probably was 25ml or 30ml. It's a velvety, luscious cream. It's not heavy or ultra rich, but it's creamy and light without being runny and unsubstantial looking.

Here it is on the skin, I take a pea sized amount and rub between my palms, then press onto my face. Anyone with irritated sensitive skin (but not dry skin) should try applying their moisturising creams this way. (Instead of rubbing the cream in which tends to sink into pores and irritate the skin, instead of just providing a gentle barrier to lock in moisture and hydration).

I used up the whole pot on and off after about 7 months, not sure if this is still available.

The benefit with sofina line is even if something discontinues, they usually replaced it with something better =) So simply look for one of the sofina moisturising cream in their current mature skin range and you could probably find a replacement easily.

Overall 5/5. This really did keep in the moisture in my skin without causing further irritation. It's very simple and basic. But that's quite rare for most moisturisers on me! (usually they just worsen the congestion).

Anna Sui Dolly Girl Lil' Starlet Nail Color #01 Liz (2008 Summer holiday)

Anna Sui 2008 summer holiday collection nail color, released in Taiwan May 9th 2008. These are $590NT (18USD) for a set of 3, each bottle is 7.9ml (smaller than usual size of 10ml which retails for $500NT (approx 15USD).

Unfortunately I only managed to get 1 of them, which is #01 "Liz", the pink star featuring a crystal pink as base color, with silvery pearl shine and large pink flakes.

The other two color descriptions based on Chinese infos I found:

#02 Clara is the flamey red star, features fire red with pink pearl shine and large pink flakes.

#03 Myrna is the gold star, with a golden base tone and golden pearl shine and flakes.

(colors from left to right #01, #02, #03).

I think I can finally get back to posting...some crazy work and study commitments really took up a lot of my time (in addition to by holiday back to Taiwan! not many cosmetics purchases surprisingly though!). Apologies to any blog followers :)

A quick and easy post about an Anna Sui nail color (followed by my previous post about Shu Uemura nail color for a reason).

The bottle has a cute Anna Sui doll on the print (personally I've never really been into Anna Sui dolls..they look a tad...creepy? to me...I'm more fond of the Stila girls to be honest). The bottle is different to the old design in the potion vial shaped design, or the new nail color design in the pretty rose bottle, it's just a plain round bottle now.

Now the color, it's a sugary pink with very even metallic reflective shimmers throughout, it's very fine, a bit like the base shimmer in various OPI shades like, 'Princesses Rule!' and "Cozu melted in the sun" etc, sort of foiled metallic finish. The only twist is it also has fine glitters inside, then also large round silvery rainbowy glitters for an ultimate glamour bamm!

While the pink is a bit standard, but the varying sized shimmers (they are actually 3 uniform varying sizes- the metallic foil shimmer -> the fine glitters -> larger circular glitter flakes. This gives a great dimension to the polish, with a topcoat applied over it, it still looks glossy and very glamorous-princess sort of look.

Two coats with Seche vite top coat, indoor flash:

I thought the pink base reminds me a little bit of the OPI 'Cherry Blossom' color, but on further inspection the OPI one is more subdued and low profile sort of spring color (nevertheless, it does sparkle a little bit!), while the Anna Sui one is a tad more vibrant and summer-like.

OPI here:

The shimmers and glitters in #01 Liz nail color is quite similar to the silvery color in the Shu Uemura Phantasm nail color trio collection "glitter" shade (another LE), featuring silvery glitters and circular glitter flakes etc, other than it is more wearable on its own since there is sufficient base color.

On my nails you can see two coats gives great opacity to the pink tones.

Overall excellent quality polish, fast drying, layers easily, despite the larger looking flakes, they adhere to the nails well and still managers to apply in a smooth layer. With topcoat it looks glossy, however due to the size of the larger glitter flakes it will feel a tiny bit bumpy on the nails when you touch it (not annoyingly bumpy though).

Thumbs up, I've been wearing this to work for a few days (not out to client) and it's understated enough not to look tacky, while glamorous enough to receive a few compliments. This was an limited edition release so might be a bit harder to find though.

Features signature Anna Sui rose scent (it actually masks any traditional polish odour, I can smell the rose scent for at least a full day later on my finger tips even after showers etc )

The summer collection also features 3 lipcolors (#01 Liz, pink, #02 Clara, red, #03 Myrna, gold, all have simlar color descriptions to the nail colors, e.g. pink base with silver shimmers or red with pink and silver shimmers or gold with loads of golden shimmers), and 3 mascaras (lengthening, curling, separation).

Pics courtesy of iswii.net

Estee Lauder Guava Light Lipgloss review/ swatch

Very quick swatch for Estee Lauder guava light lipgloss

Looks like a plain plummy pink in the tube, however it applies a gorgeous pink shine on the lips!

Overall 5/5. Has the signature Estee Lauder fig scent, mild plumping, and lasts a good 2 hours. Not too sticky either