Essie: Case Study

I bought Case Study when it first came out in 2011 and wore it a few times.  As you can see, I haven't gotten much wear out of this.  The reason the bottle seems a little dirty is because my China Glaze Ashes and Smoke from the Hunger Games collection broke in the bag, so this got covered.  

Thoughts

I really liked wearing this colour.  It was easy to apply and it was opaque after one coat but I added a second.  I'm not sure if this is still available in stores to be honest but I decided to wear it and share my thoughts on it.  I painted my nails late at night so any sparse areas could be my fault and this is not a fresh manicure, I wore it for a few days by the time there was daylight for me to take pictures.  I apologize in advance but the colour is still there.

Breakdown
Basecoat: Butter London Nail Foundation
Colour layer: Essie Case Study (2 coats each polish)
Topcoat:  Butter London P.D. Hardware

I don't remember where I bought this.  Essie polishes retail from C$7-12 depending on where you buy them in Canada.

Winter Clean Up: Evaluating my make up drawer

Yay for long weekends! It's Family Day in Ontario.  I have been cleaning my make up drawer during this long weekend.

There has been a big difference since when I first got into make up and now.  So, looking back, there are a lot of things that I don't use anymore.  While it's a waste to throw it away, it's just in my room spoiling or not being used.  So I decided to clean my drawer a bit.  If there's anything I haven't reached for in 1 year, I decided it might be time to throw it out.  Even more sad is, it's not only do I not use it, I don't even take it out to look at it.  Before throwing it out, I set it aside to see if I would miss these items, and the answer was no.  There's nothing wrong with these products but I just simply grew out of using them, which is pretty sad and wasteful.  

Anyway, if you wish to see what I do not like anymore, please read on.

Unii palettes

I liked them when I first bought them and I bought a few.  I'm not sure if I'm rough or not treating them properly but these aren't great for me to travel with.  I store my make up in a drawer and sometimes my palettes are stacked.  Sometimes within the drawer it'll fall.  I find that my depotted shadows actually break and it creates a mess.  The Unii creator did say that could happen especially with travel and the rough handling of luggage.  So for that reason, I feel like I have to be extra careful with these.  This one below is the original but I'm sure the newer models will still have this problem since it is magnets.  I actually travel with my Naked palettes now.  Even in my drawer or if I dropped it on the carpet, a big mess happens. 

Lucky for me, these are my Nars shadows that I bought at a warehouse sale.  I left the Nars shadows I bought full price.  So happy I did that!  I do like that it is convenient and that all the colours I need are in one palette.

Eyeko Mini Set
I bought this during boxing week originally for a friend.  I like to buy things in advance so that I can gift it later.  I realize my friend only uses pencil liner and she bought herself a Make Up Forever eye pencil set.  So I kept it.  This was C$12 since it is a mini set.  I used the mascara once and I liked the brush but the formula was very wet.  It got all over my eyelids, so I'm not a fan of this.

I thought I really liked the liquid liner.  I like the tip and it drew really fine lines.  I guess because this is a mini, it doesn't have as much as a full size?  This lasted 2 weeks!  Now I know I shouldn't expect much because I basically bought a deluxe set, but it looks like it has a lot of product in it.  I much rather buy drug store liquid liner.

Make Up For Ever - HD Power
I think they have a pressed form of this, which makes me very happy to see.  I was going to add this to my list of I wouldn't repurchase only because when I open and close the lid, the micro-fine powder goes everywhere.  I don't want to inhale because I'm scared it might actually get stuck in my lungs.  I like the way the finish is but I can do without my paranoia.  This is actually my second purchase.  My first purchase I used up pretty quickly and then I decided to rebuy even though originally I didn't like it that much even when I first bought it.  I still have two loose powder finish powders from Bare Minerals to go.

Sigma - Paris Palette
I'm not sure why I bought this to be honest.  I guess I wanted to try the brushes and all the youtube gurus who worked on this project were doing make up looks to promote this palette that I thought I could use it too.  I think this came out on around maybe Spring 2012?  I like Elysees, Notre Dame and Triomphe as well as the blushes and highlight.  However, I find it's hard for me to use this palette since the packaging is so big and it's not like I can just throw it into something.  I like the blue shades because they are so bright but I haven't been able to incorporate those colours to my look.  I am happy I have the brushes.  I could depot it but I'm not sure if I really want to go through that effort.

Urban Decay - Vice 2 Palette

Such a pretty palette, but I had to return it.  I also found that I could not incorporate this to my everyday life.  There was a colour that looked like a taupe in the pan but more of a maroon on my eye.  

Eye shadow

Let me start with the Jill Stuart Crystal Eyes.  I ordered these on e-Bay and they were expensive.  I was getting into make up at the time and mainly I really liked Japanese make up or targeted to the Japanese market.  It was shimmery and very pretty.  However, I rarely used it.  Although I love the shimmer and it is very pigmented, I didn't give it enough love.  I wish I did/could.  I even left it out so I could use it but the time rarely, if ever, came.  The way I currently apply make up is different from when I first started to use make up.  So, now this doesn't fit the current me.  I don't know what I'm going to do with this because it's been a couple of years and I rarely reach for it.

The same goes with this YSL palette. I redeemed my frequent buyer points for this but I rarely use it, if ever.

Chanel Nail Polish
I own June and Black Pearl.  My application isn't so good and when it dries it seems like there are bubbles for the polish.  This could be that I'm not using Chanel's base or top coat as the sales person suggested but I didn't want to spend another $50 just so that the one Chanel polish I owned wouldn't bubble.  When I bought this, I originally though this would be my 2012 summer colour that I would wear for the entire time.  I didn't even wear it once.  I painted my nails and because of the bubbles, I removed it.

 

ELF Cosmetics - Powder Brush

This is actually something different from my above list.  I actually really love this.  I keep re-buying it whenever I go to the US since it's only $3.  I wash my brushes every week, so after a period of time, the bristles come undo.  I don't really mind since it was $3 and it lasts me for a long time.  Also it's the brush I reach for the most.  I have other expensive brushes but I don't reach for it as much, so if it's lasting longer, it might be because I'm not washing it as much.  When I wash my brushes, I try to keep the metal part dry but some water might have gone through.

Thank you for reading my opinion about these products I own.  Some I wished I loved a little more.

Nail Art: Houndstooth

Today I wanted to share a nail stamp did I did.  I quite like it.  I'm still getting used to my stamping technique, so some of the prints might not have transferred over as well as I would have liked but I'm still happy with it overall.

I used the Bundle Monster image plate in BM-322.  I didn't buy the entire set for 2012.  I have 2011 and now 2013.  I didn't realize that there were editions.  I'm not sure why but it didn't occur to me.  From 2012, I only wanted maybe 2 plates, so I bought them separately.  On nailpolishcanada.com, each plate retails for C$4.00.  To be honest, it's cheaper to buy the entire set but at the time I didn't really need all the plates it $8 made more sense than $23.  

This is my plate

I used Essie's Lady Like and Penny Talk.  I decided to pair these together since it's only a slight difference and it wouldn't be that apparent.  So it's a design but it's still a little subtle? I also found that Penny Talk really stamps well.  

 I should also mention that my right pinkie turned out well but my left did not.  I'm not sure why but when I stamp, I happen to lift my finger and do it in the air. For my right pinkie, I left my pinkie on the table.  For my left pinkie, I did it in the air.  This is what happened.  I bothers me slightly but I don't want to redo it because sometimes fixing one problem might create more problems (nail polish remover + nicely stamped fingers = accidentally rubbing it off).

Breakdown
Basecoat: Butter London Nail Foundation
Colour layer: Essie Lady Like (1 coat) and Penny Talk (1 coat)
Topcoat:  Seche Vite (Seche Vite seems to not smudge designs as much)

OPI: Bubble Bath

Last week I was on vacation in Los Angeles.  I had such a wonderful time.  I had some rewards points, so I redeemed them and only paid $177.17 for my flight from Toronto to Los Angeles!  It was my birthday week and honestly I just wanted to go get away from the snow and go to Disneyland.  I also went to Disney's California Adventure park, which was amazing. I guess amazing because I didn't originally want to go but I'm glad I did.  This actually became the highlight of my trip.  I also went to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and Universal Studios.  It was great.  

What I really wanted to share was this cute story of this eldery brother and sister travelling together to visit their nephew in LA. I only say brother and sister because they seemed like they were catching up the entire flight and they had the same uncle.  One was also older than the other.  Also they lived in different cities.  So I'm just going to assume they are brother and sister.  Throughout the entire flight, they were wondering if we would get to see the Grand Canyon from the plane and how wonderful it would be to see it from the plane.  After Denver, they noticed that I wanted to see it too.  Then the flight attendant told them when it would be.  Suddenly at the beginning of the Grand Canyon, the kind lady at the window had to use the washroom and the kind man wanted to take a walk.  She suggested that I sat on her seat so I can take a good look.  She gave me the entire time to look and take photos.  I offered her seat back, but she insisted for me to stay because it's amazing.  I was really touched by how nice they were to me.  Especially because I was listening them go on and on about how wonderful it would be to see the Grand Canyon and where it was.   I felt very lucky to sit beside them.

Anyway, sorry for my long story.  I just wanted to share that. I've been sharing this story with everyone.  

Thoughts

I painted OPI's Bubble Bath because I wanted to be more professional for that week.  Also I wore this the week before my vacation.  What I like about Bubble Bath is that it is a classic natural colour.  It's a light pink.  It's sheer, so you have to build it up if you want it to look like the bottle.  I tried to make it not look streaky but in my photos it looks streaky.  I don't think people talking to me could notice the streakiness.  The only thing is, I had to wait between each coat or it felt like because of the thin layers, it took longer to dry.  

Breakdown
Basecoat: Seche Base
Colour layer: OPI Bubble Bath (3 coats polish)
Topcoat: Seche Vite

I bought OPI's Bubble Bath at Trade Secrets.  It retails for C$9.9 for 15 mL or 0.5 Fl. Oz)