Hope Girl Nail Travel Bling Set

I surprised myself and got up some real quick and dirty swatches.  This particular trio is called "Pink Syrup" and that's probably a good description.

So here we go.

I noticed on the box itself that these are to work in conjunction with one another.  Well then!  That makes it easy.  Look at the many ways to do your nail art!  I opted for the easy gradient.  It ain't too pretty though.

Ok, on index is Number 1 (these may actually have names but since I don't know a SINGLE word in Korean I really wouldn't know).  This is actually really pretty and reminds me of that NYC topper.  But it ain't much by its lonesome.

Middle is a gradient of all three.  Numbers 1 and 2 sort of blend together and are incredibly difficult to tell apart.  Ring is number 2, frosty with a bit of holo hexes, though they are pretty tough to get out of the bottle.  Nu-uh.  Would probably make a decent topper as well.  Pinky is number 3, a real juicy pink with a good amount of glitter.  All are two coats.  They don't work well together, imo, but would all probably be very serviceable toppers, and that is alright by me.  Here are some additional photos.

Don't hesitate to ask additional questions.  Until next time.

Memebox -10 Minute Box

Hey guys,

Today didn't turn out quite like I planned and I didn't have enough time to get swatches done.  I'm hoping to get on the ball tomorrow, with a few swatches before and after work to make up time.  Today I've got my most disappointing Memebox to date.

I don't know why I got this one, except that I had a butt load of points to spend. Well it came, and I'm sad.

Item 1: Aromalab "Designer Fragrance Oil  - American Pheromone Woman Type 01"

A roller ball which is supposed to be fruity, but is really bordering on powdery.  It does indeed have a fruity scent, but I'm not sure about this one. It might be going to Houston to stay with my mother very soon.  Nice packaging, but mine did leak a wee bit. EDIT: Dries now nicely.  Pretty happy with it at this point in time.  Has a bit of masculinity early on but the dry down is just so good.

Item 2: Hope Girl "Powdery Body Perfume"

(That looks like blue cheese, doesn't it?!)

This is quite literally a powder, though it does have a very mild powder scent. I'm not a fan of powder, but I can tolerate it as it's so subtle. I tend to overheat quickly too, so I'm willing to try this since silica is good for body moisture...tmi, I'm sorry.  Well packaged but I'm not huge on leopard print (but I do love leopards).

Item 3: Hope Girl "Milky Balm Lipstick"

Randomly selected. I got Red Burgandy, which I guess is perhaps more wine red than the other option, though I don't know for sure.  This is pretty much a brick red.  Typical lipstick packaging. I'm not huge on red lipstick but I might be able to sheer it down.  Mine melted a wee bit (it's so mother humping hot...ugh), but I'm sure as long as I'm careful it won't break.

Item 4: Secret Romance "Hair Essence Lovely"

Perfume for the hair. Good concept and it smells great. Problem is, it's oily! Ugh. My hair is extremely thin and produces plenty of oil on its own.

Lastly....
Item 5: Laboratory eyelashes

I don't know what pair I've gotten.  It's all in Korean.  But nope.  No.  No.  No.  Not even any glue.  Wat.

Oh well.  Can't win them all.

Rainbow Honey - June Mystery Bag

I finally got my bag yesterday!  I couldn't wait to rip it open and so I have no pictures of the pretty packaging (sorry)!

I also forgot to photograph the card, but I'll hopefully remember to do that with the forthcoming swatches. And off topic, but I didn't forget about the holo post...I just got side tracked.  Ugh.  It turned into more work than I thought, and I'm going to have to do a second round.

Back to Rainbow Honey.  First the soap (I forgot to include in the group shot).  I could smell this through the wrapper and it's sooooo yummy.  I thought it was chocolate upon smell, and when I saw it I thought surely it was but in fact it's a sugar scrub.  I don't know but it smells good.

Lets finish the non polish items first.  Next is the Nucifera Eau de Parfum rollerball.  This is a perfume in the works.  It's supposed to be reminiscent of the tropics but it smells like peppermint to me.  I'm not sure what's in this but it's a bit odd.  I'll have to try it on and see how it wears on my skin.

Finally, Tea Biscuit cuticle balm.  I need another cuticle balm like I need (another) hole in the head but I ain't complaining.  This is in a typical lip balm applicator, which is unusual.  I only quickly tried it and I had a hard time applying it (only me) so I'm going to have to give this a proper go.  This seems like a great idea for travel.

NOW...the polish!

Pikake is a glitter topper.  Very pink based glitters inside a clear base, it's quite complex.  Can't wait to try it.

Rose Macaron is a milky pink glitter.  I love me some milky colored polish.  So excite.

Lastly, Ichigo is a fuchsia jelly with some flakies.  I have to try it out to see how well it shows.

Final observations.  This is a surprisingly pink month.  I'm hoping formula is a little thinner than last months but if not, I'll proceed to thin them as necessary. They also included orange sticks again and little nail art beads.  Much appreciated. I HOPE to be back tomorrow with swatches, and Tuesday with the Memebox polish swatches.

Memebox 11

Welp, I have another of these to show today.  I do apologize as these really have nothing to do with polish, but I really love this box so I have to share.

If you haven't been keeping up with Memebox, then you might be surprised at their growth. The sheer number of boxes that they've released is boggling, and I really no longer try to even keep up to date on it. It's totally overwhelming. I do feel like their global boxes are where you get great variety and value, and lucky boxes are good if you've missed a good number of the regular editions (I'm talking 4,5 or 6 boxes). I actually feel like lucky boxes are better because they tend to compile the best of but since I've never been able to practice skipping 4 boxes, I've never felt the need to indulge.

Box 11 had been no exception. Everything, like usual is beautifully presented. And surprise, surprise, there's polish.

Item 1: Dear by Enprani "Moistfull" Booskin". This appears to be a toner. To be honest, I'm not religious with toner but this looks like a nice product and I will try it out. But dat name...

Item 2: Too Cool For School "Dinoplatz Cinema City"

Took me a minute to realize this is a CC cream. Packaging is really cute. Good enough size to get a feel for if it's good or not but swatch was rather light. Will have to try it out because I do think it blends down significantly and I don't need very much coverage.

Item 3: Hope girl "Nail Travel Bling Set"

I was initially excited about this. Three mini sized polishes with good handles. The colors looked nice but after seeing them in a better lighting situation, I'm skeptical. They all look jelly, so that is a bonus. This was a random selection out of four possible color sets.

Item 4: Witch's Pouch "Lolli Tint" in Fruity Bloom

Untried.  Looks like straight raspberry. Contains a doe foot.  Pretty small, but good enough to try.

Item 5: Illi Fresh Moisture Body Lotion

Lotions are piling up around me!  I really hope I never get another one, but this one smells ok.

Item 6: Illi Green Tea Brightening Mask

Not a huge fan of paper masks (it feels like something is attacking my face after about 15 seconds) but I will use it because I am mask obsessed and don't curr about feeling like I'm in a movie with aliens zombies who suck your face off.

Item 7: Purederm "Botanical Choice Solution Eye Cream"

(So many shadows)

Nice sized product but I am trying to work my way through three other eye creams...maybe I should stop, eh?

I received it in a timely manner, despite going for the cheaper standard option. It looks like customs is now familiar with the service and so it doesn't hang out there for too long.  That's it!

Essie - Lot of Lux

Another post.  I completely FORGOT to work on my holos when I came home.  Wasted day light.  Instead, you're seeing this.

Gorgeous, potential one coater.  I did two for good measure.  Texture dries down well and it dries quickly.

Sorry this post is so short.  I had something written up and it disappeared.  Ugh.

NailMates - Review

Hey everyone! I'm back with another fun one (I think).

Edit: This posting was meant to go up after the holo post, but what happens EVERY time I wear a holo? Yep. It rains. Holo post has been postponed until further notice. I wasn't quite done testing this, so I had to hop to it sooner than expected. If I leave something out, just leave a comment below with your question.

So...I had been hearing a little about nail caps from Julep, which are rubber caps you slide over your nails, along with cotton or some other material soaked in acetone to remove your polish, or gels.  I was interested in these, but I'm not a maven and really, I didn't want to pay $28 for them at Sephora (see:Julep glitter nail off).  So, I decided to wait it out. This seemed like something dupe able and I was just hoping something would come along. Well...luckily, I saw someone blogging about these by NailMates.  And even better: they're not even a dupe, because they're the original.

Nail Mates has been at it for while, making nail caps for those who get tans (I don't purposely tan so I had no idea these existed). They've done a slight redesign just for nail and gel polish removal.

I received these after just under a week of ordering.  I got no email to let me know they shipped, but they did provide contact numbers for those of us who are too antsy.  I was pleased with how quickly they came.

My order included ten pink caps (all same sized) and 40 foam acetone soakers.  

They recommend using their foam soakers, and to only soak the rounded ends of them, so as to prevent dripping.  I did this and they did not drip. But I have to admit, I don't care for the foam.  I was hoping they would be more felt like, but they're a soft foam, which easily tears.  I felt like they were just hard to work with and I was surprised at the easy tearing (I was wearing a foil, with glitter only on accent).   Additionally, the caps are a teeny bit big on me.  I have very slender fingers so they don't feel terribly secure on me.  They didn't fall off at all, however, cotton balls might work a bit better for the skinny finger girls.

I decides to do a "live" test of these, using pieces of a cotton ball. I did only test three fingers. My base is an old one, Zoya Bridgette and I topped it with a coat of Rainbow Honey Neon Blossom. A couple notes: this topper took a long time to dry. I'm still not convinced it was set but I did wait a few hours to remove it. I didn't mess with my ring finger because I'm nursing a patch. Cotton was a lot easier to use, but it is much more drippy, especially if you don't sort of form the cotton to your nail first. The first finger I tried with cotton dripped everywhere be because I kind of jammed the cotton inside the soaker. Don't do that. But it does fit a lot better with cotton and it removed so quickly, I was kind of surprised. I am excited to keep using these.

While you won't have your normal dexterity, you do still maintain some (for instance, I can still operate a remote control and browse the web without too much trouble). This is also a whole lot easier than foil. No more clumsily trying to wrap my fingers up and then be held prisoner to the foil.

One thing I did notice is that the pink does leach from the rubber. I had no trouble with the dye on my fingers or nails but did notice it in the foam and was a little confused as to why my polish looked so pink for a minute before I figured it out. This is a non problem since it doesn't stain you, but just a fair warning.

I have to say that I would repurchase these again, since they're easy to use and affordable.

Check out http://www.nailmates.net to learn more and purchase. These are currently $14, including extra soakers.

Dance Legend plus a comparison!

I'm sad to say that this is my last Dance Legend that I have to show you.  I hope to rectify this problem soon.

Today is Zmei Gorinich, a jelly based black with lots of different color flakies.  This is a great polish, with a nice variety of flake colors.  I think green is the predominate color, but it covers a nice spectrum.  Formula on this was like the others, excellent.  I did end up smudging my ring finger while cleaning up, so while the other nails are two coats, that one is three.  The third made a difference, but really it might not be worth it if you aren't just staring at your nails all day.  This does need top coat to get that glass smooth look.

I decided to swatch this with my other Llarowe grab, Picture Polish's Festival.  I don't own a jelly black polish, so I just used a black polish (WnW Ebony Hates Chris, which is a really good black, btw).

index, middle, ring, pinkie

Festival on on my middle and pinkie fingers.  You might notice that Festival is brighter; indeed it is.  The flakes are different, and I like the Dance Legend because it's much deeper and there is more variety, but it is duller because the flakes are sitting in a black base.  The Picture Polish needed two coats, but it was a very easy polish.  I'm pretty happy with both of these.

That's it for today.  I'm going to try to start doing an aqua base project tomorrow.  I hope I can have that all finished by Saturday *crosses fingers*, so I probably won't have anything Friday.