Author Archives: Fiona

Benefit Feelin’ Cheeky: Posietint, High Beam & Benetint Review & Swatches

Image of Benefit Feelin’ Cheeky Hi all! Some news: This is going to be my last blog post. But don’t worry: Swatch And Learn will still be around – Mary’s still going to be doing her in-depth reviews, vivid swatches and silly nail art!

So for my last post on Swatch And Learn, I bring you Benefit Feelin’ Cheeky: Posietint, High Beam & Benetint. I’ve been wanting to review this for the longest time, but the tints are sooooo hard to photograph. The pictures still didn’t turn out as well as I’d hoped, but I need to rave about the tints before I go. 😛 Continue reading →

L.A. Girl Aqueous Review & Swatches

7 Replies

Image of L.A. Girl Aqueous ** This post was written by Fiona. She no longer blogs for Swatch And Learn. However, Mary still continues to blog and will be happy to reply to your comment. **

What do you do when you’re tired of a mani but are too lazy to change colors? You add something different to it and say the results were your intentions all along. Anyone? No? Maybe it’s just me…

At least that’s what happened with this mani… I was sporting the lovely L.A. Colors Enchanting for the fourth day and was getting bored of it. (BTW, no chipping at all and only slight tip wear.) Then I remembered I haven’t tried L.A. Girl Aqueous yet. At first I didn’t think the sky blue glitter would complement the rose-gold bronze/reddish purple duochrome, but I actually ended up liking the contrast! What do you think? Continue reading →

Milani 3D Glitzy Stylish Glamour Gloss Review & Swatches

9 Replies

Image of Milani 3D Glitzy Stylish Glamour Gloss ** This post was written by Fiona. She no longer blogs for Swatch And Learn. However, Mary still continues to blog and will be happy to reply to your comment. **

Holy orange lip gloss, Batman! Milani 3D Glitzy Stylish Glamour Gloss (try saying that 3 times fast) is an orangey shade with a tinge of pink when you look at it in the tube. It’s not a shade that I’d normally gravitate toward since I’m only recently starting to venture outside of my color comfort zone.

I’m glad I did because this pop of orange is hmm hmm good. And I don’t mean the taste. At first, I was scared that this gloss would make me look like I drank that orange soda from McDonald’s straight from the cup. (It’s natural to not want orange lips, I think!) But Stylish is just sheer enough to complement my skin tone while really adding a tinge of orange.

BTW, did McDonald’s stop selling their orange pop? Continue reading →

L.A. Colors Enchanting Review & Swatches

18 Replies

Image of L.A. Colors Enchanting ** This post was written by Fiona. She no longer blogs for Swatch And Learn. However, Mary still continues to blog and will be happy to reply to your comment. **

I get excited trying out new brands. Whether the product is a dud or a stud, I like knowing that I have the option to choose from a wide range of brands at various price points. I even like it more when the product I try turns out to be a winner.

Take L.A. Colors Enchanting for example. It’s my first experience with L.A. Colors, and I never expected the shade to have so much depth and personality. It’s a duochrome that reminds me of a cornucopia, perfect for autumn. But to heck with that: I’m wearing it in the summer anyway!

BTW, happy August, everyone! Continue reading →

Nail Art: Blue & Gold (Crooked) Diamond Nails & Tutorial

5 Replies

Image of Blue & Gold Crooked Diamond Nails ** This post was written by Fiona. She no longer blogs for Swatch And Learn. However, Mary still continues to blog and will be happy to reply to your comment. **

I was just thinking how far I’ve come since Swatch And Learn was first launched. I’ve tried more things, toed my comfort-zone line… and bought a hella lot of makeup products that I’ve justified by saying, “It’s for the blog.” While Swatch And Learn has taken part in the death of my wallet and sometimes caused me to stay up late to finish a post, I am glad to be a part of it. And I’m really grateful for all the support everyone has shown. We hosted a 1-year blog anniversary giveaway to show our appreciation, but I really want to say: Thanks! Thanks for your support – through comments (which we love to read and answer) and through returning to read our praises/rants of products. 🙂

I’m no expert or guru by any means. I just love playing with colors, something I think we all gather because of. That’s why I’m not embarrassed to show my Blue & Gold Crooked Diamond Nails to you. Well, OK. I’m a little embarrassed. I didn’t actually intend for them to be crooked. Sad face. It’s a good thing I wasn’t aiming for hearts, or they’d be crooked hearts! *awkward laugh*

Anyway, this is a fairly easy design to do in terms of technicality. If you have more patience than I do to place the tape at the right angles on the nails, yours will definitely turn out better (i.e. straight)!

Continue reading →

L.A. Girl Rock Star Punk Review & Swatches

15 Replies

Image of L.A. Girl Rock Star Punk ** This post was written by Fiona. She no longer blogs for Swatch And Learn. However, Mary still continues to blog and will be happy to reply to your comment. **

A few months ago, I did a Cherry Culture haul post where I revealed my Santa Claus sack-sized loot. L.A. Girl Rock Star Punk was the polish from that haul that I was the most excited about. In the bottle, it looks like a blue and purple duochrome. Blue and purple? My fave colors! How could I not be overwhelmed with joy when I finally got a bottle of it in my hands.

I kind of set myself up for disappointment on this one. The color is pretty. I would describe it as a midnight blue with stars, but the duochrome-y effect is very subtle. It’s a blue dominate color that I would otherwise love. But I was expecting the purple to be more apparent! I took lots and lots of pictures to capture the purple, but it’s really hard. Continue reading →

e.l.f. Essentials Red Velvet Review & Swatches

12 Replies

Image of e.l.f. Essentials Red Velvet ** This post was written by Fiona. She no longer blogs for Swatch And Learn. However, Mary still continues to blog and will be happy to reply to your comment. **

I would like to congratulate elf Cosmetics for turning 7! I love this brand: most of their stuff is awesome, and it all costs so little. Plus, they always have discounts (even up to 70% off), and their customer service is great. This is my honest opinion – Swatch And Learn is not affiliated with elf Cosmetics. Have you tried their stuff?

I would like to congratulate elf Cosmetics on a second thing: They finally got the name of a nail polish correctly! 😛 I have quite a few elf colors, and I keep buying more because they provide such value for $1. The thing that peeves me to no end is that their color names are so misleading. But not e.l.f. Essentials Red Velvet. When I look at this color, I actually do see the inside of a red velvet cake. I can see it layered in between cream-cheese frosting. (I did not eat it; don’t worry.) Continue reading →