Cozy in Cashmere

Mention the word cashmere and the word cozy immediately springs to mind, along with visions of snuggling up on a couch with the heater blaring drinking some hot tea - at least, that is what springs to my mind! Cashmere is luxe and Essie have clung onto that idea with their new Cashmere Matte collection. At first I was hesitant as I don't always appreciate a matte finish on my nails, but this Cozy in Cashmere* shade is soft and not at all chalky, and I can definitely see the cashmere aspect of the finish on my nails.

The taupe shade has incredible blue microshimmer when you look at the bottle, but because it dries down to a matte finish these are basically undetectable once the shade hits your nails. I took what seemed like a million bottle shots to try and show you the beauty of this shade, and below is the closest I could get to capturing how gorgeous it is. I also went ahead and applied the Kit Cosmetics topcoat* on my ring and middle finger in the two shots below to show you how easy it is to transform a matte polish into a traditional glossy finish - it's like two polishes in one! I realized that this shade is called Comfy in Cashmere in America - something worth noting if you're an Aussie trying to hunt it down at the shops!



with topcoat on middle fingers



topcoat on middle fingers

 

This kind of ladylike-with-an-edge shade is very me, and it's a pretty easy shade to wear. I like the fast drying time (thanks to the matte finish) and the fact that I can transform it into a glossy shade with ease means this is a keeper in my collection! I'm currently weeding through my polishes and giving a whole stack away, and I think I'll be posting as I sort through the stash and make my decisions. My reward at the end will be a nice new nail polish rack installed in my beauty room, something I am very much looking forward to!

Essie polishes retail for $16.95 AUD and are available at Priceline. The Cashmere Matte collection is limited edition August through September, you can see the rest of the shades swatched here.

Would you have kept this Essie Cozy in Cashmere shade, too?
What are your thoughts on the matte nail trend?
-Emma


*Provided for consideration. Honesty, always.

Roller Coaster

My lemming for Essie's Mojito Madness is still going strong, but I've bought myself a wee cheap green polish to tide me over until I hit the US and get to run into Sephora for the first time ever. I mentioned it briefly in this haul post and am pretty happy with the quality and opaque nature of essence Roller Coaster!

Roller Coaster is a mid-toned green that has the most subtle green sparkles, and though I could've done with another coat in these shots it applies with ease (I am a fan of fat wide brushes like the essence ones!) It's not the perfect Kelly Green/Starbucks shade that I can't get out of my head (seriously, look at the Essie swatched...) but it will do for now.

I like my nail polishes to generally have a bit of kick to them, and this definitely fits the bill in that regard! For a mere $2.75 I don't think you can go wrong with these essence polishes, they are always great value and an easy way to satisfy a strong lemming for a specific shade. 

Emma x

Getting Deep and Dark with L'Oreal Rock N Roll Denim

I swing between the extremes when it comes to my choice of nail polish - I love a nice bright cream (orange and pink especially!) and a good heavy glitter, but my true nail spirit comes in the form of a deep and dark metallic like this. My all-time favourite nail polish shade is easily L'Oreal Colour Riche Vernis in Luxembourg Garden, so when I saw this glittery denim Rock 'n' Roll Denim polish that was reminiscent of it I didn't hesitate to pick it up.

I love the way that this flashes a deep grey metallic from a distance (as shown in the shot below) but the depth and complexity of the colour when you look at it closely is even better. Colours like this can be really easy to wear because they look great with an all-black outfit (my favourite kind!) but just as great with a pretty pink and feminine dress.

I have quite a weakness for the L'Oreal polish range, I think the bottle design is much better than other drugstore brands (even when brands rerelease things, they aren't as nice as this!) and the smaller size and corresponding price is also a real pleaser if you're in need of a nice little pick-me-up that is easy on the hip pocket.

The L'Oreal Colour Riche Vernis range retails for $6.95 AUD and is something I genuinely recommend you try out if you are in the mood for a new shade to perk up your polish collection.

What colour have you tried from the L'Oreal polish line up?
Do you have a polish 'style' too, do you wear the same sorts of shade all the time?
Emma x

On my nails : Natio Denim

 

If you are a fellow beauty lover (and you must be, because you are reading this!) you know that reading beauty blogs is a rather dangerous pastime.  Every time I flick through my blog roll (right hand side of this page, check it out!) or my Feedly roll, at least one new beauty product jumps onto my wishlist. I’m sure that it is not just me, right?!

When the captivating BeautyReductionista posted about an unexpected Chanel dupe that she received in a swap with an Australian (Making Up 4 My Age for those playing at home) I dived into the post with much excitement.  I am yet to explore the realm of high end polishes, and though Dior will probably be the first to come home with me once I land a full time job I was interested in seeing what affordable Australian polish shared similarities with the big brand Chanel.

Natio Denim is said to bear a striking resemblance to Chanel’s Blue Boy, a long discontinued denim inspired blue crème polish, and for $5.95 AUD is a wonderfully cheap way to treat yo self! The comparison swatches are definitely worth a squiz before Natio Denim hops off the shelf (I have a feeling it may be discontinued…) and I quite like pretty but not pastel shades of blue like this one.

 

Have you been tempted into buying a beauty product from a single blog post?

How often do you succumb to little treasures like this affordable polish?

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty

 

 

Dirty Snow

 

 

It has been well documented that I have a weakness for glitter polishes, and as I mentioned in my BYSpolish post one of my very favourite bottles is Cold as Ice from the ultra-affordable brand. The beautiful mix of silvery fine shimmers is so addictive for me, and I adore it when thrown over a cement grey like Wet Cement from Sally Hansen.

 

 

Sadly my Seche Vite is super gluggy and in need of resuscitation, but I think I will end up switching to a Sally Hansen topcoat and just deal with it later on. What top coat do you use?

 

*All bottles purchased by me. Honesty, always.

Confetti Conga in Zurich!

I was wanting to try out a raspberry toned manicure for new years eve nail practise, and decided to start with  ‘From A to Zurich’  from the OPI Swiss collection from 2010. The shade is a dark rose berry shade that seems red in some swatches I’ve seen. It is more of a raspberry on me, and I was wearing a raspberry pink cardigan when I applied this and it went nicely with it.

 

I decided to try out one of the glitter polishes that Fashion Addict sent me, and I love the unusual mix of colours that Confetti Conga* contains. Burnt  orange, blue,  hot pink and purple along with silver micro glitter is suspended in a clear base, and I used only a small amount on my ring fingers to jazz up my manicure a little bit.

 

I must admit that though I am partial to a dense opaque glitter polishes, this sort of glitter is something I’m really glad to have in my collection. I am planning on pairing this with a burnt orange or hot pink polish next, to really take advantage of the glitter inside. I love the name of both of the polishes I’ve used, there is nothing worse than loving a shade and it having just a number or forgettable name.

 

 

 

I don’t think this type of glitter goes perfectly with the rosey shade, but I was still happy with the manicure and think I will wear From A to Zurich with a red glitter next time, and Confetti Conga with an orange base.

OPI is available from David Jones, Myer and Petra stores for $19.95. Confetti Conga and other BYS shades are available from $3.75 from Fashion Addict.

What would you pair with these two shades?

*Confetti Conga was kindly sent to me by Fashion Addict.

L'Oreal Blue Reef + Darling Harlequin

Like most beauty bloggers, I am a magpie when it comes to pretty and sparkly things. When L'Oreal gifted me some of their new Colour Riche nail shades, Blue Reef* really stood out to me.

A dark teal creme polish, this was very opaque after one coat but I applied another as I like to do two coats of all of my polishes. The wide brush with these mini polishes is brilliant, I find them easier to use than regular polish brushes.

Never one to leave a nice manicure alone, I brought out one of my favourite glitter topcoats, Darling's Harlequin*. It's a mixture of small and large silver hex in a clear base, and is great because it looks good on such a wide range of nail shades.

Absolutely love this combination, it lasted quite a while on my nails and is something I think I will wear quite regularly as well.

The whole Color Riche Le Vernis range really appeals to me, I'm yet to use up a whole bottle of regular polish so the smaller sized bottle suits my needs (having said that, I can see myself finishing this whole bottle up and will be buying a replacement when that happens.) I have my eye on a few other shades from the collection (there is a purple with gold shimmer that is calling my name!) so I will be showing more of these here soon.

L'Oreal Color Riche Le Vernis are 5ml and retail for $6.95 AUD and are available from Target, Priceline, Pharmacies and anywhere else you find L'Oreal.

Darling polishes retail for $18.95 and can be purchased here.

Are you addicted to accent nails as well?

What do you think of these colours?

*These polishes were provided for consideration but my opinions and love for them are honest. Honesty, always.

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Nice is Nice

I was lucky enough to receive a mini bottle of Essie's Nice is Nice polish from my US Makeup Swap (post here). I hadn't tried Essie before that, though I did have some other minis in my collection.

A gorgeous pale lavender shade, this applied with ease and I have to say I'm pretty impressed with the formula of the Essie shades I've tried so far!

I chose to top my accent nail with The Face Shop in PK107 which is a pink tinted jelly base with round glitter, small bar glitter and a few stars for good measure. I didn't realise that the base was so tinted and it really changed the tone of the lilac underneath, which made me regret doing it!

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Candice chose Nice is Nice as well, we were house sitting and watching Interview with a Vampire and eating Crust Pizza. Lilac was indeed the colour of the night indeed! The photo above was taken when we had parked the car, she wasn't driving don't worry! She got engaged a few days after Chris proposed,  hence us showing off our rings in that photo.

Candice chose to coat her accent nail with essence Space Queen which is fine glitter in a clear base, I prefer the look of it to my own accent nail as it kept the lilac underneath intact.

Which accent nail do you prefer?

What other Essie shades do you recommend?

 

"We'll always have Paris."

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to attend the Melbourne Beauty Bloggers Event, held by the amazing Val of Ponikuta. It was held at the gorgeous Miss Fox in Melbourne and part of the even involved a manicure from the staff at the salon. I was the very last to get my nails done (you can call me Miss Emma Chatty Pants) and I was spoilt for choice with a box full of Zoya polishes. I chose a deep red burgundy cream by the name of Paris- so very fitting, given my obsession with the place.

Don't mind the horrible cuticles and nubbins of nails,  how stunning is this colour!

The colour is deep and mysterious, and for me this is a terrific staple colour in my nail colour wardrobe.

Paris is a red creme that leans burgundy and has a jelly-like finish that I adore. I think a glittery accent nail would look amazing with this as well, just to give it a little pizazz. It is the first Zoya polish I have ever tried and I must say that though the professional application had something to do with it, I really liked the formula. I will be gunning to add 'Paris' to my collection, as I am a sucker for deep wine type shades.

What are you staple nail polish colour?

What have you tried from the Zoya range?