Barry M Gelly Polishes: Dragon, Blueberry

These are totally inappropriate for the holidays... just kidding, it doesn't matter!!! Maybe good for a baby shower though haha.  They are gorgeous, and two of my favourite polishes.  Dragon is the pink one, it has barely visible shimmer in it, which makes it even better than I expected.  Blueberry is just blue, but what a beautiful blue it is!!

L'Oreal Polishes: 823, 824

These polishes are really nice... but really overpriced for 5 ml!!  Sparkly and festive though.  823 is called Riviere Amethyst and I think it's a liquid sand type- that's how it dries anyway.  824 is called L'Or Noir, and it dries normally... and nice because the black base actually shows through with only 1-2 coats.

Sephora and Drugstore Hauls!

I'm pretty happy about these purchases! I didn't plan on buying an eyeshadow palette, but it was less expensive than I thought, and it was really nicer than I expected, although I don't think this is the same one I swatched in the store- it's called 102 The Ingénue. The one I swatched was called "The Glam" but this one is still nice and I'm sure I'll use it a lot.  I tried the lip gels in the store and passed- I thought the texture was too soft and glossy for me, and I thought they were a bit expensive.

The other stuff I ordered online but it came today as well.  I am really excited to try this L'oreal  highlighter, and it is beautiful.... Although I didn't know its just an overlay so the main powdis a pressed powder.  The thing that irritates me.... its so expensive for a drugstore product, I really hate all the tape all over it. I've tried alcohol and nail polish remover but I can never get the tape residue off.... Anybody have any tips for that??

New Purchases: Gosh Nail Polishes

I am trying my best to do a no-buy, and not just for makeup but everything... the only things I want to buy besides necessities are things I'll take with me, or things I won't be upset about when I have to throw them away.

I've always seen the famous Gosh 549 polish online, but since the old version was special and this one isn't, I never bought it-- and it's so easy to resist online!  Not so easy in the store.  I spotted a brand new Gosh display that was swarming, I mean swarming, with people so I had no clue what to get I was a bit freaked out over the frenzy.  Luckily I am a bit tall, so the nail polishes were easy for me to get.  I got 549 "Holographic Hero" and 612 "Galaxy"... oh they are pretty!  Galaxy is a dark olive-gold with some holographic sparkles, it says Special Edition and easy to spot with the star cap.  I wish they would have written "24 hour wear" on it as well, because that's how long it took to chip on me... really badly, too- I had to remove it all the day after I put it on. I don't know if this is how all their polishes are, but if it is, I'll not be buying another, definitely not worth it!

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.  

Dior Nail Polish Rock Coat and Nirvana Review

First, I would like to say that I am very bad at nail reviews- I just am not that coordinated, nor do I have the proper camera or lighting.  Not that I don't buy nail polish, becauese I love it!  Nail polish would be my second biggest thing after eyeshadow.  In fact, I always, always wear polish.  Even when I had to rehab my nails (bad acrylics!  bad!)  I still wore nude polish, rather than nude nails.  So I am going to try my best here, I just thought these were unique enough that I wanted to post about them. 

Dior Rock Coat is a top coat that is applied to give a smoky effect to nail polish. 

For those of you unfamiliar with Dior polishes, I wanted to mention that the square cap does come off like other square caps- Chanel, Butter London, etc. (please take a hint here, NARS!!!), and the brush was recently redesigned.  I personally could almost care less about the brush, as I have used all sorts of nail polish, from 99 cents to 27 dollars, so I can make just about anything work. 

The bottle:

The brush:

The brush is wide and thick, and tapered on the ends.  It is very nice, and easy to get a streak-free application.  It is very similar to the Sally Hansen Pro brush, but just a tad wider.  I have shown here the OPI brush for a comparison:

Now, on to the polish!  I think Dior puts out really strong creme polishes- that is one of their formulas I really like.  I will probably never find better cremes than some of Chanel's, but Dior's are very good. 

The Rock Coat is supposed to be the next big trend, but I really was not that impressed.  Kind of dulls it, and I don't really know who would go for that kind of thing.  I have a lot of dark polishes- blacks, eggplants, browns, and anything in between, but they were made that way. 

It seems like a lot of these trends, I jump on at the first sighting and then my excitement quicky fades when I realise, this is just not my thing.  I think I prefer just plain polish- glitter would be as exciting as I can go.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love nail art and the like, and I truly admire the talent and creativity of the artists, but I just prefer the plain. 

That being said, the Rock Coat is pretty cool.  The Nirvana goes from teal to a hunter green type of teal- supposed to be a blackened teal, but on my natural nails I am wearing this now, and it is a hunter green with the Rock Coat. But I really like the polish alone as well.

L: Nirvana,  R: Nirvana with Rock Coat

(L: Graphic Berry, R: Graphic Berry with Rock Coat)

Nirvana was just released, as part of the same collection with Rock Coat, and Graphic Berry has been out for some time.  I think Graphic Berry looks cooler with the Rock Coat than Nirvana though- it goes from a berry pink to a black cherry/burgundy shade. 

I tried the Rock Coat over a glitter polish and it darkened it, but it also lost the glitter effect completely- don't care for that at all.  Three thumbs down on that. 

Overall, Rock Coat is a nice formula and it is 'something different'.