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Jumat, 29 Mei 2009

They're almost here...

The Zoya mattes are almost here... Check out this promo image straight from Zoya!

Those bottles looks super cool. Almost like they're frozen!

I can't wait. This is awesome.

Shazahn Padamsee

Shazahn Padamsee is 21 year old Indian theater actor and model. She is the daughter of renowned ad guru cum theater personality Alyque Padamsee and pop diva Sharon Prabhakar.

Shazahn will make silver screen debut as lead actress opposite Ranbir Kapoor in an upcoming Yash Raj Films production Rocket Singh Salesman of the Year directed by Shimit Amin.

Check out more profile information and cutest pictures of Shazahn Padamsee here.

Kamis, 28 Mei 2009

OPI Retro Fun In The Sun Revisited

It seems like it was about this time last year that this collection came out. I had gotten my own camera and was just learning how to use it. Needless to say, my pictures were horrible.

This was such a good collection, it really deserves better pictures. Let's try this again.

OPI Retro Fun In The Sun Collection - Summer 2008

Calendar Girl. A shimmery magenta with a blue/purple flash. It has lots of little sparkles, but it's not quite as sparkly-looking as the other polishes in the collection. The blue flash is what makes this one special.

Give Me A Coral Sometime. Shimmery coral. This one is actually not too different than Calendar Girl. It is lighter and has more of an orangey tint instead of pink. It also has a little bit of a blue flash.

Lemonade Stand By Your Man. Shimmery lemon yellow. This one is a stunner! It's so bright and cheerful, and in the sunlight it looks like it's candy. It has so many little sparkles in it, almost like it's coated in sugar.

Peach-A-Boo! Shimmery, duochromey peach. This polish is really unique. It changes colors depending on the angle. It has a peach shimmer base, but flashes of gold, red and silver. Very, very, very pretty.

Sea Ya Later, Sailor! Sheer sparkly light blue. This is a bright, beachy, watery light blue. Reminds me of swimming pools and beach balls. It's really sparkly, and one coat of it reminds me a lot of Chanel Azur. Would be great for layering.

Sit Under The Apple Tree. Light golden-green shimmer. This is an unusual color. It's very light green apple green with a strong golden flash. It leans very yellow, and looks more yellow than green until you get to three coats.

The formula on these is so-so. It seems like with each new collection they release, OPI adjusts the formula. They just keep getting better and better. This was pretty soon after they converted to three-free, so I don't think they had worked out all the bugs yet. These are thick but runny at the same time, what I refer to as Three Free Syndrome. They are all very sheer. These pictures are three coats. They make great layering polishes because they're basically sheer shimmers, but opacity on these is definitely buildable.

I really loved this collection. The polishes are so pretty and sparkly, they look so beautiful in the bright summer sun. There was also a pretty good range of colors in this. I would have preferred a purple instead of either Calendar Girl or Give Me A Coral Sometime, but I'm still happy with the color selection. They do look very retro, and they all have cute names. I think this was right before OPI's names started to switch from cute to confusing (Paint My Moji-toes Red, anyone?).

These polishes also came with beaded hair bands around the necks of the bottles. I could never figure out how to use them. They were figure-eight shaped elastics with a bead in each loop. What are you supposed do with them?

I'm sure that most of this collection is still around at the various etailers. It didn't seem to get very much hype when it was released and I never hear of anyone wearing these. Sad, because this was a really great collection and I still love it.

Del Sol Sale and some answers.

I no longer feel good about recommending this brand, so I've archived my review.

Rabu, 27 Mei 2009

Sneak Preview: Lippmann Collection Celebrate: The 10th Anniversary Set

A sneak preview from Lippmann Collection! This will be available in July.

Please click for full size. This picture is huge.

CELEBRATE: THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY SET

FROM LIPPMANN COLLECTION

THINK: Celebrating a decade of nail perfection.

WHAT THEY ARE: Three shimmering shades that let your nails shine. After ten years of pioneering nail trends and developing fashion-forward shades, nail guru Deborah Lippmann is celebrating with an exclusive set of special-edition polishes. Available only in the Celebrate tenth anniversary set, the luxe lacquers come in three glam, glittering shades:

Ruby Red Slippers—A sparkling red reminiscent of Dorothy’s famous slippers
Funky Chunky—A sequined, sheer black
Superstar—A show-stopping, shimmering copper

Created by Deborah Lippmann, the go-to nail guru of the Hollywood set and the fashion elite, Lippmann Collection includes a vast array of nail lacquers and luxury treatment products for hands and feet. This sequin-infused set celebrates Lippmann’s legacy on the runway and the red carpet, bottling her expertise in three essential new shades.

The Celebrate lacquers mirror the over-the-top glam seen on the spring runways: Ruby Red Slippers and Superstar complement the embellished flapper frocks seen at Alberta Ferretti and John Galliano, while Funky Chunky reflects the black, heavy sequins shown by Alexander McQueen.

Lippmann Collection nail lacquers are free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, and Dibutyl Phthalates. Additionally, all of Lippmann Collection lacquers feature Aucoumea Klaineana extract, a natural resin from West African trees, which is known to strengthen nails and prevent ridges for smoother, healthier nails. The long-lasting formulas of Lippmann Collection nail lacquers contain Green Tea extracts and protein-building Biotin so nails stay healthy and strong.

Zoya Color Lock System Revisited

The Zoya Color Lock System is essentially a set of treatments that is meant to make your manicure last dramatically longer. It consists of a nail prep (Remove+), a base coat (Anchor), a top coat (Armor) and some quick-dry drops (Hurry Up).

The first two times I used the Color Lock System, I did get extremely good wear time out of my polish, but I also had a lot of bubbling. Since then, I obtained the 'new' Color Lock System, the big set with all the extras and decided to give it another try. This time, my results were much better, and I think I've pinpointed the cause of the bubbling.

Day one. Nothing worth noting.

Day two. Looks the same as day one. I added another coat of Armor.

Day three. One more coat of armor. No tipwear yet, but I was beginning to see where tipwear was starting.

Day four. Now we have minor tipwear. Nothing noticeable from a distance. Added another coat of Armor, but in hindsight that was a bad idea. I'll explain why in a moment.

Day five. Looks pretty much the same as day four.

Day six. Here's where I started to have very obvious tipwear. I think that if I hadn't done all those extra coats of Armor, I wouldn't have this much tipwear.

Day seven. Slightly more tipwear than day six, but now the polish was lifting up at the edges, like what happens when you apply Seche Vite on dry polish.

Here's what I did this time. I prepped with Remove+ and waited for it to dry. I made sure I wasn't by a fan or vent, and that I wasn't next to a window with the sun shining in. I did one thin coat of Anchor and let it dry for one minute. I did two thin coats of Zoya Roxy and let them dry one minute in between. On top of that, I did one thin coat of Armor. I waited five minutes and then applied a drop of Hurry Up to each nail. Total drying time was about fourty-five minutes. The polish was set at around 20 minutes, but very dentable and soft until around the fourty-five minute mark.

This time I had no bubbles. Looking back at it, a glitter polish probably wasn't the best choice if I was trying to detect bubbling.... But I inspected each nail closely under multiple kinds of lighting and from every angle and didn't see any signs of bubbles.

The main difference between this try and the last two was that this time my Anchor and Armor were noticeably thinner. Almost watery thin. The first two times they were both about the thickness of regular polish- not thin but not thick like Seche Vite either. I'm thinking this is why they decided to add the Renew Polish Rejuvenator (basically a three-free thinner) to the Color Lock System. So, if you're having problems with bubbling while using the Color Lock System, try adding a little Renew to your Anchor and Armor.

I was also sure not to apply my polish in direct sunlight. Even with the windows closed, being in direct sunlight while applying can sometimes cause bubbles. I noticed this while swatching one day, and since then I've made sure my hand was in the shade while polishing.

This time around, I also did an additional coat of Armor for the first four days. I'm positive that this was a mistake. Around day five or six, the polish started to pull away from the tips- it very closely resembled the 'shrinkage' that you get when using too thick of a coat of Seche Vite. I think I did too many coats. The more coats of polish you have on your nails, the more likely it is to chip, shrink and peel. On the last day, the polish lifted at the edges where it had worn, exactly like what happens when you use too much Seche Vite or put quick-dry on top of dry polish. If I had only done a coat of Armor every other day, I could have probably extended my wear to around eight or nine days.

On the seventh day, I decided to try a little experiment. I broke the corner off my ring finger nail, so I filed down the rest of them to match. This removed the tipwear from the seven days of wearing Roxy. I added one additional coat of Roxy, since I think it looks best with three coats. Then I did this:

Matte Roxy.

I found an old bottle of Maybelline Matte Maker topcoat!! Since I found it, I've been mattifying every polish I put on. Matte Roxy is truly breathtaking. It looks so much better in person, though. Each little glitter particle now looks like a shiny metal plate. You can see it trying to reflect from under the surface of the matte topcoat. When it's matte, the glitter in Roxy looks like perfectly smooth river stones. This is so ridiculously cool. Tiny platelets of metal suspended in a purple sea. Gorgeous. I don't know if I'll ever wear Roxy glossy again, this is just too mesmerizing!

(That was the polish experiment I mentioned on Twitter the other night! Matte glitter. )

So, overall, I had great results with Color Lock. A full five days without major tipwear and a full week without chipping. And this time, no bubbles! Again, if you're experiencing bubbles, thin your Anchor and Armor. That fixed my problem. I also did Color Lock manicures on my Mom and on my brother's girlfriend over the weekend (Mom got Audrina, girlfriend got Paz) and didn't get bubbles. It had to be the texture of the Anchor and Armor.

I have not yet used the Color Lock system on non-Zoya polish, but I don't see a reason not to. I would assume that any big three free polish would work. I'm going to try it with a variety of three-free brands (Which is... like... all of them now...) and report back.

Zoya polishes and the Color Lock system can all be purchased directly from Art Of Beauty. Keep an eye out for special deals from Zoya on Twitter as well!