Maybelline Color Sensational Creamy Matte Lipsticks. My Picks For Fall!

Well hello there lovelies! I hope you all are well! I'm back with a swatch and review for you amazing readers today!

Over the last I guess you could say almost year I have fallen in love with matte lip products.

And of course this meme jumped in my head when I wrote that above sentence.  Today I am going to bringing you my views on the new Maybelline Color Sensational Creamy Matte Lipsticks. That is a mouthful.

I first heard about these through Nouveau Cheap which if you haven't heard of G. and her amazing beauty on budget blog. I seriously check her blog pretty much everyday to see whats about to hit the drugstores beauty wise.

When I read that Maybelline was going to be launching a matte lipstick line I was super excited since at the time my favorite matte lippies were made by Revlon. I am a huge fan of the Color Burst Matte Balms. Number 250 Standout is my go-to red lippie.

So I waited patiently for them to arrive at my local drugstore. The first one I wanted to pick up was Touch Of Spice, which reminds me quite a bit of the Gerard Cosmetics Lipstick 1995 which was created by Jaclyn Hill. Photos I have seen online pretty much show Touch Of Spice is an exact dupe for it.

The second one I got but didn't necessarily plan on getting, because god knows I need more lipsticks,  but I couldn't pass up Divine Wine, which is a red but its more of a vampy dark red. Its darker than Revlon's Standout. I was inspired to buy this because of the lovely YouTuber Zoella. I have always seen her rocking a dark red lip and I wanted to try too.

The texture of these lipsticks are amazing, they are super creamy and smooth. They don't dry out your lips like some mattes can do. I will say these lipsticks have a scent to them, but I don't find it unpleasant. To me it smells kind of vanilla-y. Plus I don't smell it at all after applying it. 

Lets take a look at some swatches. 

 These swatches are done with one swipe of the lipstick. In the photo you can see Touch of Spice is a brown toned nude and has that classic '90s look to it. Divine Wine is just that a nice blue toned dark red. On my lips its looks a little darker than shown here.

The staying power is not very long lasting, after eating and drinking you will have to reapply.

I paid $4.97 for these lovely lippies at Walmart which is great because other places they are about $7.99!

If you want to get your hands on these I would check out your local drugstore or Walmart now because I think everyone should have access to them!

I hope you enjoyed this post! If you love matte lippies like I do comment below and tell me whats your favorite!

I'll see you guys on Thursday with a Halloween mani!!
<3 Nicole

*All the above products mentioned by me were purchased by myself with my own money. I am not being compensated for this review.*

Sally Hansen Insta Dry: Currant Trend.

Happy Friday lovelies!! I hope you all are going to have an amazing weekend. I will be working, as per usual. If you are snowed in like me I hope that you are safe and warm as well!

Today's polish is going to be one I picked up back in the mid fall, but is still available today. I saw them at Rite Aid not too long ago.

Sally Hansen really stepped up their game with polish last year. They put out some amazing glitters and  Insta Drys! Today I have one of those Insta Drys to show you. Its called Currant Trend. I have never seen a currant but I am hoping its similar to this color.

Correction: I just Googled what a Currant is and its more red and burgundy then this polish color but this is still a beautiful polish.

Its such a vibrant purple!! I gravitate towards towards purple polishes and probably have way too many in my collection. You know the deal with the Insta Dry polishes, they dry fairly quickly, hence the name, and they come in these nifty bottles that are triangular shaped. They also have a large flat brush as well. The only thing I don't really like about the Insta Dry bottles is the neck of the bottle its so narrow and the wand and brush always come out full of polish so if you don't wipe it off well you still get a running flow of polish from the stem to the brush and you risk flooding your cuticles. As you can see I had that problem and my cuticles are slightly stained.

However with that one defect aside this color is beautiful. If look close you can see the individual blue and purple flecks that make this polish what it is. In real life in bottle it looks like a glass fleck but doesn't finish that way.

You can find Insta Dry polishes at your local drugstore, Wal-Mart, Target, etc.

Until next time.
<3 Nicole

New Years Eve Manicure: OPI: Muir Muir On The Wall.

Hi guys!! Happy New Years Eve!!

I cannot believe that 2013 is coming to a close but on the other hand I am very glad that it is. Looking back on 2013 it wasn't my best year personal wise. I went through a lot of family problems which I have more else blogged about on here. I really have struggled with depression and anxiety in the latter half of this year. I mean I know a lot of people struggle with it and I'm not saying that mine trumps over anyone else but this was the first year it really physically effected me and my well being. There were days that I was just so sad or angry that I didn't want to deal with anything going on in my life. I think that is why my grades suffered so much this fall, and fell into a Netflix coma some days.

Well that last paragraph was really sad....anyhow I am slowly starting to feel like I am getting out of that slump and look to brighter things.

Today I am going to show you what I am wearing on my nails to ring in the new year! Back over the fall I bought a fair few polishes and one of them was Muir Muir On The Wall from OPI's San Francisco Collection.

It is this vampy burgundy shimmer in a black base. I try not to categorize polishes by season, if I want to wear a winter colored polish in the summer so be it! But this polish is what I would say I love about the fall, it reminds me of when the leaves change here in New York, and it still slightly warm about but you still need a light coat, and its hot coffee drinking weather.

This polish is good to go in two coats  but I did three just to even it out because my clumsy fingers kept either hitting each other or something else.

My base coat was OPI Nail Envy Matte and top coat used is Seche Vite.

These photos were taken indoors since when I decided to change my polish it was about midnight.

So how do you guys plan to spend your New Years Eve?? I will be spending mine at home with my family, since I have to work in the morning and eating some good food.

I hope you all have a happy and safe New Years, and if you plan to drink remember to drink responsibly and don't drive, get a DD or a taxi!!

Talk to you guys in 2014!!
<3 Nicole

Fingr's Set In Rhine-stone.

Good morning! Its the middle of the week! Which means I get tomorrow off and I cannot wait!

About a week or so ago I had seen on the blog-o-sphere that the company Fingr's was putting out a whole new line of nail art supplies and polishes called Heart 2 Art. I for one was really excited because to find nail art supplies where I live it is literally impossible. The Fingr's Heart 2 Art line was going to be exclusive to Wal-mart, and wouldn't you know I practically live there!!! OK so that's not necessarily a good thing but at least I get good dibs on all the new stuff that comes out there.


Anyway I had went on a trip by myself, usually my visits to Wal-Mart consist of my parents too, but I like to go by myself sometimes to just get away. Sounds great doesn't it? When I came across the display it hadn't been completely stocked yet and there were parts that were missing. But I grabbed what I thought I wanted or needed, one of them being the polish I am going to show you today.

The Fingr's polish bottles actually look like nail art striping bottles but they aren't. I had to open one in the store just to make sure. At the time I chose this polish there weren't many, like I said the display was missing stuff. I still think its missing a whole line of nail polishes. Out of the few that were there this one caught my eye.

The name is called Set in Rhine-stone. It is most certainly not a summertime nail polish. Its in the fall/winter family but to be honest if I like it I could care less if I wear it out of season. This polish is a medium-dark grey base that is sheer but very build-able with tiny silver hex glitter running through out. The name fits the polish perfectly because it does look like wet cement with tiny rhinestones in it. You know it reminds me of the Forever 21 store's floor. The black tile that has all that glitter. I seriously would love to have a floor like that in my bathroom or something.

Lets take a look at the photos.

These photos consist of three coats I believe and top coat, all photos are taken in natural light.

These polishes I believe are priced at $1.68 each, which for the amount you get isn't horrible. The brush on this isn't too bad, its your standard brush, maybe slightly wider but the elongated handle makes maneuvering a little hard.

Set In Rhine-stone is thick but also  a little sheer on the first coat but by the second to third coat you won't see your VNL.  But be warned the more coats you add the thicker it will get. If you want to get these polishes or any of the nail art supplies (which I'll cover in a later post) then head to your local Wal-Mart to see if the display is there. I would check even if your Wal-Mart, is one of the last to get new products. Mine is like that and they even had the display a few days after I read about it!

Did you get any new products from the Fingr's Heart 2 Art Line?? Tell me in the comments below!!!

Until next time <3 Nicole

Julie G. Nail Polish in Bikini.

Hello! Hope you all are well!


Today I bring you a swatch of polish that I have had in my stash drawer for well over a year. What I am most shocked by is that I haven't featured it here on the blog!

Today I bring you from Jesse's Girl Julie G Nail Polish in Bikini! This polish was one of the first polishes included in her original core line that if my information is correct launched September of 2011 around labor day. I remember because I stalked my Rite Aid until they got them in!

I purchased this polish because it reminded me of China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy, the first time ( and last time ) I ever got a pedicure that was the polish I chose. If my memory serves me correctly I think Bikini is slightly darker than Flip Flop Fantasy but is just as intense and in your face.

Bikini is a crème formula that requires about two-three coats for opacity. I would be careful in between coats as I noticed it can look clumpy if it doesn't settle evenly. A top coat does take care of evening out the layers but I could still see it on the sides where the top coat didn't make it.


These photos taken with 3 coats and a top coat in natural light.

If your looking for a bright color to get you in the mood for spring (since it is in 5 days) this might be the color for you! I purchased mine at Rite Aid for $3.99!

Ok so that's it for tonight! I'll talk to you next time! <3 Nicole

Spoiled I Don't Drink Cheap Wine

Hello!

Hope you all are having a great weekend. I am spending mine like I always do, at work.

Today I bring you a polish I picked up at CVS from the Spoiled Collection made by Wet 'n' Wild. For $1.99 you really can't beat these polishes, such an awesome array of colors and glitters and finishes. This is called 'I Don't Drink Cheap Wine', and by the name you guessed it, its a wine colored polish. For some reason I don't own many of these types of polishes, but this fall I find myself by more and more of these polishes, and I do not consider it a bad thing. Okay maybe for my wallet it is. :)

'I Don't Drink Cheap Wine' took about three coats to be opaque. the first coat is really streaky, but by the second coat it help cleans it up. When looking at my nails in the light I could see visible brush drag, so I suggest letting each coat dry before adding the next.

This polish has a very nice subtle shimmer to it, sadly its only visible in direct light. As for a description of the color, in the store it seemed more berry looking, then in natural sunlight you can see ruby tones appear.

Okay so that's it for this post. Sorry it so short :( I'm trying to work on some fall designs to put up soon.  Hope you guys enjoyed it. Until the next post!
Nicole

Sally Hansen Insta Dry Polish: Bronze Ablaze

Hello! Hope you all are having a lovely night/evening.

Tonight I am going to bring you a polish that I had in my polish drawer from last fall! I totally forgot about it and since fall is almost around the corner I thought it would be good to give it a 'test run'.

Usually I usher in fall when Bath and Body Works starts breaking out the fall stuff and Dunkin Donuts start selling Pumpkin Coffee! Usually it's around this time!

First up is Bronze Ablaze. I first heard about this polish when Nouveau Cheap had posted about it. It was part of a Sally Hansen Limited Edition Collection that had a bunch of other jewel tone polishes in it, including Ruby Rush, which will be the next post!

Bronze Ablaze's application is like any other Insta Dry polish. The brush is bulky and you get nice even coats but its a little messy. The color is gorgeous! In different light you see a kind of olive green color to a nice antiqued gold color. I think this is going to be one of the go to colors for fall for me! I have nothing like this in my collection!

Drying time is pretty okay with these, I only used to own Whirlwind white and that dried super fast! Plus adding the Insta Dry Top Coat just brings out the shimmery goodness!

Let's take a look at the picture!