Author Archives: Mary S.

OPI 5 Apples Tall Swatches & Review

OPI 5 Apples Tall Swatches Review

“How do you like them apples?”

Get fruity with OPI 5 Apples Tall from the Hello Kitty Collection!

Some of my favourite felines are Heathcliff, Grumpy Cat, and Hello Kitty. Their personalities are so different…like comparing apples to oranges.

Fashion-savvy, Hello Kitty sure knows how to accessorize. Her style is sometimes minimalist, but other times, she pulls out all the stops. (Watermelon dress, anyone?)

One accent she never forgets before she heads out the door? Her signature bow, of course! (On any given day, she reaches for a red bow that’s as iconic as red lipstick.)

OPI 5 Apples Tall precisely matches her red bow, which means that you can put the accurate finishing touch on Hello Kitty nail art, if that’s your jam.

Also, let’s talk about the adorable name. Apparently, it pays homage to Hello Kitty’s height!

If you bump into me at the grocery store, and I’m stacking apples, you can safely assume that I’m just measuring my height. Yeah, forget about what it says on my government-issued identification. I say that we should all have our height measured in apples! No, that wouldn’t cause confusion at all! 😉

Participate in my Twitter poll while you still can, and check back for the results!

 

Who do you predict will be the Twitter poll winner?

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OPI My Twin Mimmy Swatches & Review

OPI My Twin Mimmy Swatches Review

“Yellow from the other siiiide. I must’ve called a thousand tiiiimes to tell you I’m sorry for everything that I’ve done. When I call you never seem to be home.”

Oops, that’s not how Adele’s song goes! 😉

It’s no wonder that OPI My Twin Mimmy from the Hello Kitty Collection puts nails in a sunny disposition! The cheerful bright yellow creme nail polish is full of smiles and warmth, but it never veers over into orange-yellow-egg-yolk territory, so it keeps a clean appearance.

Yellow nail polish can scare people away or make them crack an inappropriate jaundice joke. But I embrace a yellow manicure because I think it’s fun, different, and adventurous.

If you tend to steer clear of ‘unconventional’ colours, I still recommend that you try a yellow nail polish at least once, even if it’s just for the weekend. Why? Well, for starters, it’s fun, and besides, if you don’t care for it, the great thing about nail polish is that it’s not permanent. You can easily remove it in seconds.

Let the sunshine in!

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Essie Spring 2016 Collection Swatches

Essie Spring 2016 Collection Swatches

Officially launching on February 16, 2016, the Essie Spring 2016 Collection is full of beautiful colours that may take your mind off Old Man Winter!

In today’s post, you’ll find my quick-and-dirty swatches (i.e. no base or top coat) of all six colours and snapshots of the bottles.

I used two coats of each colour, and I was impressed with the pigmentation on every single one of these. Yes, even the palest shade was fully opaque!

The formula on all of these is smooth and easy to glide onto your nails. It’s one of Essie’s better creme formulas.

Stay tuned because I plan to wear some of the colours in the Essie Spring 2016 Collection as full manicures. After I do, you can expect to see my usual in-depth reviews with multiple swatch photos of each colour in different lighting conditions.

(Those are my favourite types of posts to prepare because I enjoy showing you all the nuances of a polish, how it wears, if it stains, etc. But I realize that many of you enjoy seeing the full collection in a snapshot, so this post is especially for those who have requested it.)

Now it’s time to whet your nail-polish appetite! 😉

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INGLOT O2M Breathable 688 Swatches & Review

INGLOT O2M Breathable Swatches Review

Refreshing like an after-dinner mint for nails is INGLOT O2M Breathable 688, which is a perky green creme.

Clean without being stark, it’s a soft shade that fits into this transitional period where we’re getting tired of the winter and longing for the warmth of spring.

As you know, wearing green nail polish feels like second nature to me, and INGLOT O2M Breathable 688 is no exception. It’s a total ‘Comfort Colour’ for me.

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Loris Azzaro Couture Spring/Summer 2016 Collection & Maybelline New York in Paris

Azzaro Couture Spring Summer 2016 Fashion Show Maybelline New York

The Loris Azzaro Couture Spring/Summer 2016 Collection was unveiled at the Paris Couture Fashion Show a few days ago.

Bridging the sensitive with the strong, Loris Azzaro’s collection incorporated a flow of soft, deconstructed floral prints and bold geometric designs for a kaleidoscopic effect.

To complement the fashion-forward designs, Gato, Maybelline New York‘s makeup artist based in Spain created looks on the models that captured soft, feminine charm with a futuristic edge via silver eyeliner.

Loris Azzaro Couture SS16 Paris Couture Fashion Week Maybelline 4

Get the look with these Maybelline makeup products that Gato used on the models:

  • Dream Velvet Foundation – make the complexion look its best
  • Dream Lumi Touch Highlighting Concealer – brighten eyes, reduce shadows & conceal blemishes
  • Master Contour – sculpt the facial contours
  • Master Blush in Pink Amber (available in Europe only) – create a flush below the apples of the cheeks
  • The Blushed Nudes Palette – Pinkish-bronze shade (bottom left in the palette) on the eyes
  • Eye Studio Color Tattoo 24Hr Cream Gel Shadow in Silver Strike – thickly line eyes
  • Lash Sensational Luscious Mascara – two coats on lashes
  • Dream Lumi Touch Highlighting Concealer – polish brows lightly
  • Baby Lips in Quenched – prime lips
  • Color Sensational in Born With It – create soft flush on lips

Check out the rest of this post for photos of the inspirational Loris Azzaro designs on the runway, as well as some beauty shots to give you a taste of spring!

All images used in this blog post were provided to me by PR. Credit for images: Maybelline New York for all photos. (I put together the collage image at the top of the post.)

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OPI Super Cute in Pink Swatches & Review

OPI Super Cute in Pink Swatches Review

Move aside, Molly Ringwald! Why be Pretty in Pink when you can be OPI Super Cute in Pink?

A peppy pink from the OPI Hello Kitty Collection sends your nails a love letter that’s signed, sealed, and delivered! With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, it’s great timing.

It’s been an OPI Week, as you’ll notice that I’ve been doing back-to-back reviews of OPI Hello Kitty Collection nail polishes. I hope that you’ve been enjoying the posts so far! It has been a blast for me because pink is a colour that I don’t wear as often on my nails as other hues. This week has allowed me to explore more colour territory.

For those who aren’t crazy about pink, you’ll be happy to know that other colours (as well as other brands) will be reviewed soon. Hehe, I was just on a pink roll lately.

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OPI Starry-Eyed for Dear Daniel Swatches & Review

OPI Starry-Eyed for Dear Daniel Swatches Review

There’s no ignoring OPI Starry-Eyed for Dear Daniel – in my beauty book, it’s one of the stars in the Hello Kitty Collection that will make you look twice!

In the bottle, it looks pretty, but it wasn’t until I wore it on my nails that I unleashed the Pink Panther dancing to disco. What a sight! (I nearly had my eyes poked out.)

If you want the ultimate princess manicure, this is it! It twinkles like a jewel-encrusted tiara, and it’s pink like a traditional ball gown.

I’m not even the biggest fan of pink, but this one got my manicure motor humming.

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