Rimmel Max Volume Flash Mascara

I recently purchased a couple of Rimmel mascaras to try them out.  This one is "Max Volume Flash" in Ultra Black.

The brush/wand is average, although I did find it a little small.  

Before and After: 

It's all right, but I didn't feel like it gave me "Max Volume".  I also found it a bit dry and stiff, which makes me wonder exactly how long it was sitting on the shelf, because I used it the very next day after purchasing and it was like that from my first use.  

I'm not loving their mascaras so far, and this was one I tossed.  

Sleek Lip Liner, Pout Paints

I had always been curious about Sleek's Pout Paints, just because I've never tried anything like them.  I bought three of them, along with a lip liner:

The shades I got are Port, Cloud, and Lava.  I only got the pencil because it was like two bucks, so I figure why not.  It's a twist up, and it's not bad actually, it's basic but effective.  

Here are swatches of all: 

                                 Lip Liner Chestnut             Cloud, Lava, Port 

The main point of the Pout Paints is that they are mixable.  The first thing I did was mix them all together: 

On lips (oops- sorry about the teeth!!): 

It's pretty, but you have to apply a really small amount or it's a big mess.  I did like the texture much better than a lot of lipsticks, they're really weightless and more like a lip stain but without being extremely drying.  I put clear lip gloss on top and the colours didn't fade.  I wish I had a clear sparkly gloss!  

Here are some more combos I tried: 

These are pretty fun and nice to wear!

Calling All Eyes Please!

So in the course of collecting sooo many stamping plates, you come across images that don't make any sense, some that are puzzling, and some that you are like, what the hell is this??!??!

So I need your help with these!

I have borrowed generic images, yes, it's true.

The first is Konad's S2 plate.

Just can't figure it out.  It's the Egyptian plate, but that crest doesn't match their flag, and I really don't know what that other thing is, a fountain, maybe?  

Now don't laugh when you see this one.  I have zero clue and I just want to be able to stop looking at it at this point!  

I think it has to be something related to that cartoon, but I guess I have to find out what that cartoon is first!! 

EDITED TO ADD: Finally figured out this is Doraemon, Japanese cartoon, and that must be the bell on his collar. 

While on this topic, the KD and QA plates (and LO, CF)- all of the ones I have are really great, the etching is deep and they all have stamped for me fine, much better than other inexpensive plates I've tried.  But please, if you are going to buy any, please don't pay $4-5 for each one!!!  I took a chance and ordered from a supplier that was unknown to me, but everything turned out great, and for wholesale prices which doesn't bother me!  

Models Own Polishes: New Purchases

I was really amazed at the selections Models Own has..... it was really hard choosing! I got Indian Ocean, Boogie Nights, and Golden Peach.

Golden Peach was the only one that wasn't on my list, and they had so many beautiful shades, so I chose this one because it's pretty and neutral.  They were fully stocked with neons, many shades of blue and green, but when I saw this I was like, yeah, this is it!  I was really glad I was able to get "Boogie Nights" because I heard that it was only online, but they had the full range.  I really like all of these! 

I also got a matte top coat, which I planned on doing a quilted nail look with.... haven't got around to that though.  I can't say much about it besides it does work very well, as some matte top coats I've heard they don't work.  

Prestige Total Intensity Eyeliners

I liked using Milani's pencil eyeliners, but I found these and they not only work perfectly, they come in 10 shades!  My only other experience from the brand is a magnetic nail polish.

Sorry the names were twisted- the long names are Deepest Black, Daring Green, Strong Slate, Lively Turquoise and Outrageous Emerald.    

Then I re-swatched green next to emerald:

I love the slate shade, it's aptly named for sure.  I love it for a softer than black liner and I don't have another pencil liner like it.  I love the emerald too.  

These are very pigmented and long lasting- I can get at least 8 hours.  Once I applied the turquoise at 7 a.m. and some of it was still there the next day!  

They are really soft but that makes them glide easily and not rough.  The only catch is that they aren't good for defined lines, more for the waterline or smudged liner looks.  

They have a good colour range too- I tried the purple but for me it was more of a deep plum so I passed since I thought I had enough darks and I was racking up a bit of a bill there.  The only one I can't find so far is olive, although I'm not convinced I need that one either.  

Skin Food Polishes.... For Stamping?

In the course of reading sooo many nail blogs, I've read a few posts that Skin Food nail polishes were good for stamping.  I decided to try just that!  I had the gold one already, but I purchased the white one since the Konad place was out of white (crazy, right?? but they were also out of stampers!!).  So here is my experience with them.

First off, I really like these polishes and I've used the gold one on my nails often.  

They just didn't work that great for me for stamping, unfortunately.  The gold one I knew right away would not, since it was just so thin and runny on the plate itself.  

This is the best I could get: 

So no, gold didn't work for me.  However, I have noticed some people do like a more subtle pattern, so it's not like it doesn't work at all, just expect the image to be very light.  

The white seemed more promising since it went on the plate much thicker, but this is how it turned out:

It's all right I suppose, and it definitely shows up better than Konad's Pearl White I foolishly bought.  But I tried Sally Hansen's White On, which I never thought would work cause it's so thin.... and I got brighter white with that.   But here is a quick picture of Konad's white: 

Even though some people say Konad's polishes are too expensive, they definitely are cheaper than any other polish around here, and I love all of the ones I have.  I don't think it benefits me at all trying to find another polish that works- I mean if I happen to find one, then that's great, but I'm not going to go on a time consuming hunt for any, especially considering the extremely limited selection I have access to anyway.  

My Cheeky Summer Collection Arrived!

...in the middle of Winter lol!!

I ordered a small set from Cheeky's first plate set as well as this set, and they are absolutely amazing!  They stamp so clean and crisp, and every image is awesome!  They did take almost a month to reach me but that was the only bummer, they were really worth the wait!

Since I am totally inept at photographing plates you can check out every single one HERE. 

Since I just got these I haven't had a chance to use any of them but I couldn't resist the little  monsters on CH32: 

I really love these Cheeky plates, all the images stamp very well and the plates are easy to clean, even the more detailed images!  I also like that their huge full nail images can be used as tips, since they do curve on the bottom, but I have a really hard time with placing tips still- need more practice!!  But on another note, I have been using a plastic card to scrape and it's working out great.... all the plates except Bundle Monster, I just cant get those since they are etched barely below the surface of the plate. 

And I gotta warn you, backing on the plates doesn't prevent you from getting cut!  

Short Review: Rimmel Super Wear Top Coat

Super short review.... you might be on your lunch break one day and the store next to you only carries one brand, Rimmel.  This is not the product to get!

This is probably the worst top coat I've ever tried.  Ultra Shine?  No.  Chip Resistant?  No.  Up to 10 days?  Again, no.  If you've done stamping, it smears it even when you think it's dry (and another top coat on the rest of the nails doesn't smear them!).  To top it all off, it takes forever to dry- I am talking 20 minutes or more.  So for me, this is just useless and really bad.  

December Empties

I remembered to save my empties this time!

Lush Let the Good Times Roll, Nuxe Reve de Miel lip balm stick, CO Bigelow (Bath & Body Works) lemon lip gloss, Maybelline Turbo mascara

The only thing I've repurchased is the Lush... I did like the others fine but I always like to try new things, and I have too many new mascaras now that I need to get started on!  

Small Holiday Gifts Post!

I was really happy to get these wonderful gifts from my friend....

They are all from H & M.  The nail polishes are Deep Deep Water and Peppermint Fusion.  I love Deep Deep Water a lot, and I was really surprised when she told me she got it for 1 Euro!  

I thought the textures in the palette were really cool, but they wore off the first time I put a brush to them.... 

Some quick swatches: 

This is the middle section: 

Unfortunately I dropped it and the blue section got smashed to bits before I could swatch them!

Here is my other noteworthy gift:

Yes, it's the box cause otherwise it just looks like a black rectangle LOL but it's a new iPad!  I feel really lame but I never had any Apple product before, so even though it took some time learning all the stuff on it, it's so cool.... but I have to get so many extras for it, cause I can't upload photos from my camera or type very well on it- the two blogging essentials!  Even my son loves it a lot, there are so many things for him to do.  

Happy 2013!

Inglot Swatches- Mattes

It took me a minute to figure out why some of these are sparkly, but it's because I have my Inglot palettes arranged by colour, not finish, so some of the glitter from other pans has gotten into them with all my moving around.  I'm not really going to clean them now.  But these are all mattes.  You can click to enlarge.