My Collection + swatches

So I finally got my swatch sticks :)  That makes me happy.  Thought I'd share with you my collection...I divided them by brand and unless I tell you otherwise, all of them are 2 coats except for the glitter toppers (I've only got three of those) and those are 1 coat only. 

I also got my nail polish wall mount, but I'm not skilled when it comes to drilling things in so that will have to wait another day :)

First up are my Julep nail polishes.

 

 From left to right: Joanne, Logan, Ilga, Jessie, Dawn, Francis, Fifi, Chatoya and Sharna

Joanne: Julep describes this as a "smoky plum creme".  It's a beautiful color, great formula.  Have only worn it on my toes so far since it's not a very summery color and I received this in a swap last month.

Logan: Julep describes this as a "sultry aubergine shimmer".  I know it kinda looks black but trust me, it's eggplant colored.  It is very beautiful and one of my favorites.

Ilga: Julep describes this as a "rich bordeaux creme".  Who could go wrong with a red wine color. This is a classic color to own and the formula is fantastic!

Jessie: Julep describes this as a "deep Kalamata creme".  I'm not sure what Kalamata means but if I can describe this, it's a deep deep reddish-purpleish-black.  I am presently using it as a base for a glitter topper because this is the closest I have to a black at the moment.

Dawn: Julep describes this as a "citron creme".  The formula is a tad patchy with this one; thin coats work best.  I have only put two coats on swatch stick but on my nails, I swear by three.  I love the color, I wish it was easier to work with.

Francis: Julep describes this as a "celery green creme".  This is absolutely gorgeous and formula is fantastic...could be a 1-coater.  This one makes me think of spring.

Fifi: Julep describes this as a "tea-time pink creme".  This is another nail polish that is hard to work with; I put two coats on swatch stick but swear by three or four on my nails.  It is quite sheer but the color is so pretty it is worth the hassle.  Love using it as a base too.

Chatoya: Julep describes this as a "bright platinum glitter top coat".  Despite Julep calling this a top coat, you can get this opaque with 2-3 coats but I absolutely love topping it over other colors.  This is also a textured finish; it feels like sandpaper when dry.

Sharna: Julep describes this as a"bronze-dipped full coverage micro-glitter". If you can't tell by the picture, I've abused of this color lol  I really really love this on my nails; it looks like sand.  If it was still available on the Julep website, I would so get another of this one.  Also feels like sandpaper once dry.

Next up, are my Rainbow Honey nail polishes:

Left to right: Aqua Cristalina, Neon Yoshimi, Tsukimi, Juicy Orange Pop, Laguna Grande, Cuprum Veritas, Delphine, Thallo Bot.

Aqua Cristalina: Rainbow Honey describes this as "glitter topper with heavy aqua and holographic glitters in a crystal clear base".  Been absolutely loving this glitter topper; it looks fantastic over everything I've paired it with so far!

Neon Yoshimi:Rainbow Honey describes this as "full of black, white and neon blast of bright glitters in varying sizes sorinkled with iridescence to make your manicure pop".  I've also abused of this topper.  the colors are just so fun and look good on a variety of colors.  It absolutely does make your manicures pop.

Tsukimi:Rainbow Honey describes this as "shimmery violet sea of holo and iridescent glitters".  Let me start with the bad stuff; the formula SUCKS!  it's super goopy and does not apply evenly and if that's not enough, it chips pretty fast (inside the same day)...unless you apply on top of a different nail polish, in which case it lasts for quite some time.  The colors you get in this polish are amazing!  If you apply thin coats, you should be rewarded with an amazing manicure.  It makes me think of raspberry jam for some reason...

Juicy Orange Pop:Rainbow Honey describes this as "a luscious bright, orange soda jelly ".  this color made me sooo excited to try it on I wore it for three weeks in a row, no jokes.  As you can see it's now almost halfway done.  Consistency is great as long as you apply thinly.

Laguna Grande: Rainbow Honey describes this as "a midnight swim, illuminating teal blue".  This one is an absolute beauty!  Have worn this twice in the two short months since it came into my life :)

Cuprum Veritas: Rainbow Honey describes this as "a shiny copper bullion you can wear on your nails".  This copper color is great, a tad sheer.. need two thick coats or three thin ones to make it opaque but absolutely worth the effort, it is very pretty.

Delphine: Rainbow Honey describes this as "a pastel blueberry creme packed with their signature shimmer blend".  This is a very beautiful color and surprisingly opaque in 2 coats as it is such a light color.  You can see the shimmer in the bottle but sadly, once it dries on the nail, it becomes sparse.  It is still worth it as a creme minus the shimmer.

Thallo Bot: Rainbow Honey describes this as a "metallic summer green beauty".  This reminds me a lot of Julep's Francis except it has a lot of shimmer.  I love the color very much!

Up next are my Sinful Colors:

Left to right: Feel the Vibe, Let's Talk, Let Me Go, Unwrap Me

Feel The Vibe:Sinful Colors describes this as "Orange is the new Black.". It is quite vibrant and quite beautiful.  For some reason, I find it to be more of a pumpkin orange color (fall) than a summer color... am I alone to think this?  That said, be careful; a good base coat is needed as this will stain your nails.
Let's Talk: Sinful Colors describes this as "Dark Violet Shimmering Purple". This color is to die for!  every time I wear it, I get people asking me about my nails.  It stands out so much and gets opaque in two coats!
Let Me Go:Sinful Colors describes this as "a purple and blue shimmer".  This is lovely on its own in three coats.  It is absolutely gorgeous on top of other manicures to transform the look into something you'd expect the least.  It is a must-have for your collection.
Unwrap Me:Sinful Colors describes this as "a mix or black and red hex glitter with smaller black glitter in clear base".  This is another nail polish I abused of.  It's nearly half-empty.  It looks good on just about anything and no, it does not have to be Christmas time to use this one.

Some Odds and Ends:

 Left to right: Wet n Wild The Wonder Yellows, Wet n Wild Burgundy Frost, ACO Deep Sleep

Wet n Wild The Wonder Yellows: unfortunately did not find a Wet n Wild cooperative website to quote their description but here goes my take.  It's a shimmery golden yellow and it's an absolute must fun.  It's by far my favorite yellow in my collection.  Granted, I only have two but I bet there's no other yellow that can beat it.  Plus the brush is amazing and thick.

Wet n Wild Burgundy Frost: Again, same applies as previous nail polish, I need to describe it on my own.  This is pretty much self-explained though, it's burgundy and it has a frosty shimmer.  I love this color even though it's quite similar to Julep Ilga, I just can't seem to be able to part with it.

ACO Deep Sleep: this is another tough one to find online; I got this bottle at Ardene I think 3 years ago.  It's a beautiful shimmery dark blue.  I'm surprised I don't wear this that often.  Swatching it today made me realize how stunning this is and understand why I bought it in the first place.  The formula on this is great and I've rarely had any issues with Ardene's nail polish.It kinda makes me want to go shop there to look at their new colors...hmmm

Finally, a friend gave me some loose glitters to add to my manicures.  I am drawn to that purple glitter... perhaps Deep Sleep with purple dusted on top?  hmmm I think so!

There you have it, my entire nail polish collection with room to grow ;)  Which one is your favorite?

Julep Chatoya + RH Neon Yoshimi with Different bases

I don't know if you're able to tell from this picture but each nail has a different base color...I'll cover that individually but first the toppers.  I just received Julep Chatoya from a swap I did and I just had to try it.  I spent a couple of days just wearing Chatoya over the base colors and then, today, I got the idea to add a coat of Neon Yoshimi (yes, I know, I'm using this glitter topper a lot but it really makes me think of summer lol).  Here, there's two coats of Chatoya and one coat of Neon Yoshimi.  I had to thin out the formula after this use as it's getting stringy and unusable.  But thanks to a few drops of nail polish remover in the bottle, looks pretty good now :)

Pinky finger has three coats of Sinful Colors Let Me Go (purple haze)
Ring Finger has two coats of Julep Francis + 1 coat of Sinful Colors Let Me Go (celery green)
Middle Finger has two coats of Rainbow Honey Delphine + 1 coat of Sinful Colors Let Me Go (baby blue)
Pointer finger has two coats of Julep Fifi + 1 coat of Sinful Colors Let Me Go (baby pink)
Off Camera - Thumb has 3 coats of Julep Dawn + 1 coat of Sinful Colors Let Me Go (mustard yellow)

You can sort of see a difference in the gradients in the colors.  I am really liking Neon Yoshimi over silver.  I want to try different looks over Chatoya :)

Thallo Bot + Neon Yoshimi Mani

I was excited to try this manicure...a tad shaky.. might be my antibiotics affecting me but we get the gist even if it's obvious I flooded my cuticles at a few places.. I tried my best to clean up but it might be best for me to keep the cleaning up for tomorrow.

2 coats of Rainbow Honey Thallo Bot and 1 coat of Rainbow Honey Neon Yoshimi on pointer and ring fingers.  I like it! :)  The Thallo Bot can be a bit patchy if you're heavy handed so I would warn to be careful with this one.. thin coats is best as it does have a tendency to pool.  I like the color very much though; absolutely worth the fuss. :)

Rainbow Honey June 2015 Unboxing

As I am dealing with an ear infection, I thought I'd do something that would cheer me up and Rainbow Honey Unboxings fits right in that category.

So Rainbow Honey is a Vegan-friendly, 3-free indie nail polish company that offers a mystery bag subscription where you get six products every month for 12$US.  Ends up coming to about 15$ Canadian.  Usually, you get three nail polishes and three beauty/nail care products like lip gloss, lotion, perfume, top coat, base coat, cuticle oil, cuticle balm, etc.

This is my second unboxing from Rainbow Honey and I only wish I had started this subscription earlier.  I absolutely love it and am having a hard time resisting buying their whole store.  Their nail polishes are usually pretty great and the nail care products and beauty products are phenomenal!

Please note, I have ordered a nail fan to properly display swatches but have not received it yet, so at the moment, we'll have to make do with only seeing the color in the bottle.  I will, however, add the description of each product as written in the letter accompanied by my subscription, as well as my review of the product :)  Without further ado...here we go!

This month, Rainbow Honey included : three nail polishes, one scented topcoat, one perfume mist and two hand soaps. At first glance, I really love the colors! Let's get a close up on these lovely polishes.

From left to right: Aqua Cristalina Glitter Topper, Cuprum Veritas Nail Lacquer and Thallo Bot Nail Lacquer.

Aqua Cristalina: Crystal blue waters from famous beaches around the world inspired this glitter topper with heavy aqua and holographic glitters in a crystal clear base,
I think it's a very pretty glitter topper; I actually tried it on Cuprum Veritas and it's pretty jam packed with glitters and such lovely colors.

Cuprum Veritas: Enjoy an elemental sneak peak to our upcoming precious metals collection with Cuprum Veritas!  A shiny copper bullion you can wear on your nails but... be careful not to trade your nails for goods!
As stated in previous paragraph, I presently have this color on my nails and it is absolutely gorgeous, super shiny but it does need 3 coats to reach full opacity.  That won't stop me from wearing it though, it reminds me of sandy beaches :)


Thallo Bot: Part of our upcoming Robots Part 2 release later this year, meet Thallo Bot!  This metallic summer green beauty looks stunning with 2 coats.
I have not yet tried it on my nails but on paper, this loks super shimmery and absolutely opaque in 2 coats.  I am looking forward to try this with Neon Yoshimi from last month's Rainbow Honey mystery bag! that will definitely be my next mani.

Twisted Iced Tea Scented Topcoat: Apply scented shine to your nails with our Twisted Iced Tea scented topcoat, enriched with vitamin E!  Be on the lookout for our upcoming summer drinks collection!
This smells exactly as expected, as long as you expect your iced tea to smell lemony.  I absolutely love Rainbow Honey scented topcoats; the scent lasts well over two days and I just can't help smelling them throughout the day... only problem is, I probably look crazy smelling my nails all day long haha








Left: Island In The Sky Perfume Mist.  Right:Sakura Matsuri Clear Summer Jelly Red Clear Scented Soap.

Island In The Sky Perfume Mist: Enjoy our light and airy perfume mist formula with Islands in the Sky - a tropical blend of milky coconut & fresh melon accented with sugarcane and raspberry nectar that takes you away to island paradise!  Our moisturizing perfume mist is formulated to refresh your skin and hair and is alcohol and paraben free!  
OMG!  this fragrance is to die for!  without reading the description, when I first smelled it, I automatically smelled the coconut and melons, a combo that is unreal!  I am sad it's not available for sell on Rainbow Honey yet as I am so going to buy a full-size of this whenever I can.  Truly recommend this scent!

Sakura Matsuri Clear Scented Soap: Cleanse and moisturize your skin while delighting your sense with our newest Clear Soap Summer Collection! 6 new deliciously clear shades scented with some of our favorite fragrances.  Sakura Matsuri is bright florals, exotic fruit, tea on Sunday afternoons, and just the right amount of sweetness reminiscent of lychee rice dumplings. 
Here's the deal, I love soaps, like really love soaps. So Rainbow Honey can never go wrong by adding a soap in their mystery bag.  I wish this would smell stronger on the hands after washing them as it smells really good.  Would I recommend it?  Hells yeah!  It's a paraben-free soap; that's an absolute must in my opinion.

That was my Rainbow Honey Mystery Bagl I am whole-heartedly satisfied with every single item in the bag and absolutely looking forward to next month's unbagging.

Do you have any questions on Rainbow Honey?  Which color do you like the most?

Ipsy June 2015

Ipsy is a make-up subscription bag that comes once a month.  So far, I've received both of my ipsy bags on the second week of the month.  It costs me 19.20$ per month(that's with the shipping and in Canadian currency) and I receive 5 items that can range from sample size to full-sized products and they come in a cut make-up bag!

I've been subscribed to Ipsy for three months now and have not been disappointed once.  My Ipsy came in on Thursday and I already repurposed the make-up bag as a pencil case at work... so, unfortunately, I don't have a picture of mine right now but here is a picture I found online of what it looks like.

Pay no mind to the make-up shown on the side as I have different items in my bag.  The bag is cute, smooth black with a nice coral zip on the top.  Love it!

The first item I pulled out of my bag was Keratherapy - Keratin infused Daily Smoothing Cream:

Full sized product is 24$ and is about four times the size of my sample. Retail value of this sample is approximately 6S.  This smells great and leaves the hair feeling silky smooth.  Love this and would consider buying the full sized product.  Alex is now a fan as well and has been using it daily.

Next item I pulled out of the bag was Dr. brandt Pores No More vacuum cleaner:

Full sized product is 55$ and is four times the size of my sample.  Retail value of this sample is approximately 11$.  This product is a godsend!  It cleans out pores like it's nobody's business and leaves the face feeling silky and tight after each use.  Alex also tried this product and loved it!  Would definitely purchase this item again.

Next item I pulled out of the bag was Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer:

Travel sized product is 19$ and it twice the size of my sample.  Retail value of this sample is approximately 9.50$.  I've never really used primer before so I can't really compare it with anything from my past but this definitely has a nice texture and does apply evenly to the face.  I love how soft my face feels after applying it.  No smell to this product either, which is definitely a good thing.  Would I repurchase this?  Probably not, just not a typical primer kind of girl.  But it is a nice product to try out.


Next product I pulled out of the bag it Trestique Mini Shadow Crayon in Venetian Gold:

 Mini Shadow Trio retails at 32$ so one crayon would value at approximately 11$.  Here is a swatch of Venetian Gold on my hand

 This applies well and is a great color for my hazel eyes, it definitely brings out the gold speckles in my eyes.  I love this product and am absolutely considering purchasing other colors from Trestique.

Finally, the last product I pulled out of my bag was J. Cat Beauty's Liptitude Hydrating Lip Stain in Blow Your Mind:

This is a full sized product and it retails at 5.99$.  This is hyper-pigmented and definitely is a lovely color.  I did not swatch it because I will likely swap this out with someone interested in it.  I personally like nude or light pink colors or sheer colors that don't stand out too much.  Just a personal preference as I am sure this product is fantastic, just not my cup of tea.

All in all, this bag is fantastic with a retail value of over 43$ while I paid less than half that price and I am using all of the products except the lip stain!  Super impressed with my Ipsy Bag and looking forward to next one!  If you want to subscribe to Ipsy, you can sign-up here!

Any questions or recommendations?

Lydie