Share the love: Green

I'm continuing my "tradition" of non-beauty related posts for the weekends.

This time I present you green. I especially love warm green! Green grass, green leaves, bright sun and blue sky - what could be better? :)

 

Green beauty!

 

Can you see a green guy? :) I was really surprised to meet this little guy in London!

 

Green on green. :) A little guy from Barcelona. :)

 

Simply beautiful! :)

Hope you enjoyed! :)

To be continued! Stay tuned! :)

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND! :)

Pure Minerals Source Haul and swatches (plus comparison with Aromaleigh)

Even more mineral eyeshadows... and even more greens! :)

Natural "light", flash, contrast added

Natural "light", flash

Natural "light"

Natural "light"

Top row: over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy

Middle row: UDPP (Urban Decay Primer Potion)

Bottom row: on its own

Natural "light"

Top row: over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy

Middle row: UDPP

Bottom row: on its own

Natural "light", flash

Top row: over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy

Middle row: UDPP

Bottom row: on its own

Update/Note: Pixie Epoxy indeed makes the colour more vibrant and intense. It's magical! :)

Shipping for 10 samples (7 USD for 10 samples, 4 USD for 5 g jar) was 3 USD for International (1 USD for US). Quite reasonable, isn't it?

Ordered on 28.12 (Monday), seller contacted me on 5.1 (Tuesday, a week later), received my order on 25.1 (this Monday).

The seller/formulator contacted me on 5.1 regarding supposedly my mistake in ordering (it turned out I "didn't" specify the colours I want). I replied right away stating I did everything right (copy pasted  my list of eyeshadows from the receipt). I got a sweet note (on 25.1) that it was some sort of confusion and it was some other buyer who had problems. I am glad everything turned out fine. :) Btw, I blame cold weather for slow shipping! :)

My initial thoughts:

I've already tried Divinity and Dragonfly (btw, they're my faves from the bunch! Surprised? lol) the other day, and also have already swatched all the products, as you can see from my pictures. :)

The first thing I noticed was the obvious difference in shades from what I see in PMS (what a name abbreviation! lol) Etsy shop (they have pictures only, no colour descriptions). Lets take a look at their Mojito, Magi and Dr. Cara's Rx. To my eyes Mojito appears much golden IRL than olive green gold, Magi is sparkly light orange and very close to Havana Heat - it doesn't look shimmery beige, Dr. Cara's Rx is a total mystery! Light shimmery brown? Nope! It's somewhere in between dark shimmery mauve and violet. Weird, right? I guess it's some kind of colour changing shade... And I wish Gun Smoke to be more of a matte black rather than dark gray...:/

The other negative thing is the fact that these eyeshadows don't blend very well. When I try to blend them they just fade/disappear! Haven't experienced this weirdness before. I have yet to investigate this problem. Pigmentation is pretty decent (before I tried to blend!). Overall, I'm ok with this order (cheap nice shades), but not totally impressed (troubles with blending, shade difference, shipping time)...:/

Have you tried Pure Minerals Source? What are your thoughts?

PS Pure Minerals Source don't repackage. "Chemical free, no animal testing, vegan."

Pure Minerals Source and Aromaleigh greens comparison

When I first saw Divinity and Dragonfly I immediately thought of Aromaleigh Aloe and Loden (which are two of my 4 favourite shades from this brand). I decided to swatch all my favourite colours together just for fun (note: I added Glow just in order to show that it's not that similar to Divinity as it looks, it's more yellow).

 Natural "light"

Top row: over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy

Middle row: UDPP

Bottom row: on its own

These two indeed look quite similar to Aloe and Loden, Dragonfly and Aloe appear to be lighter, and Divinity is slightly more yellow in tone. It looks to me as if the combination of Aloe and Loden resulted in Dragonfly, Glow + Dragonfly = Divinity, Drama Queen Topaz + Amarante = Loden. Oh my! I guess I just like similar colour tones. :)

PS Strange thing - if you compare PMS greens picture with the last "comparison picture", you can notice that these 2 pairs look very similar (both pictures were taken under the "natural light"). Weird, isn't it? Oh well, I guess the problem is in my camera and lighting. Bear in mind that it's my first attempt to make (what I call) decent swatches. :) IMO they turned to be quite colour accurate.

Happy 101 Tag and How I failed my first EOTD lol

Thank you, Heather from Eyeconic for tagging me! :)

Rules:

• Put the picture of the tag in your blog
• List 10 things that make you happy, try and do one of them today and pass it on to ten people.

Here we go, in no particular order, I skipped my loved ones (hubby, family and friends) and makeup though, because these "things" are SO obvious :):

1. Sun, blue sky, white clouds and warm weather!
   
2. Animals, especially babies/cubs!
   
3. Delicious food! Japanese, Italian, Spanish, French, Russian, Cypriot and Lithuanian cuisines are my faves! A box (or two) of Rafaello will do also. lol
   
4. The moment I get a parcel! Don't you agree? :)
   
5. Good movie with a happy end.
   
6. Sleeping and dreaming.
   
7. When I find something that works for me (whether it's a makeup product, or clothes, or anything else).
   
8. Traveling! I try to get maximum experience when I'm abroad.
   
9. Home, sweet home! The moment when the plane lands is magical! :)
   
10. Sense of accomplishment I get when I accomplish something (whether it's just a book, or some kind of project, or even a makeup product!).
    

It is really difficult to track those bloggers who haven't done this tag yet! If you read this post and haven't done this tag yet, I tag YOU! Let me know in the comments, I'd like to read yours as well! :)

On to the FAIL! :) My first EOTD (aka Eye/s Of The Day) attempt. That was something really difficult! I admire you, if you are capable of making gorgeous EOTDs/FOTDs! You are my heroes!!! :) All the colours look so washed out (no wonder why though... crappy lighting and selfportrait feature! Couldn't use macro on my eye, because I was afraid of the flash! lol), I wanted to add a contrast but it just looked so unreal, that I gave up. :/ Anyway here it is, so called "neutral/barely there green look":

• Urban Decay Primer Potion
• Aromaleigh Aloe (Pure Eyes Frost) (lid)
• Aromaleigh Loden (Pure Eyes Frost) (crease, lower lashline)
• Maybelline Colossal mascara (it doesn't work for me, unfortunatelly! Colossal fail! lol)
• Lumene eyebrow Eyebrow Graphics pencil in Grey Brown 2. My HG! Without it I'm almost albino. lol

All the colours (eyebrow included) are much more vibrant IRL! This picture is a demonstration of my fail only! lol Gotta try taking decent pictures again! :)

China Glaze Emerald Sparkle (with a little something :) )

Remember my Candy Cane Christmas nails? I decided they were too bright for me, so I chose CG Emerald Sparkle to join the company of the tiny mistletoe (I considered it to be quite modest). :)

Artificial light, flash

Artificial light, flash

Let me introduce you my "fully-emerald sparkled" right hand! :)
Natural light, flash

Natural light. Finally, some decent shot without a flash! Yay!:) Check the warmth (well, it's THIS warm under the certain light) and depth of this green!

Note: My hands are super dry (usual problem in winter!). I'm still on a mission to find my HG hand cream!

14 ml (0,5 oz), exp. date: 36 months after opening, made in USA.

Loves You Snow Much collection. Holiday 2008 (original), re-release in 2009.

Nail lacquer with hardeners (Kaolin/China clay).
Seems to be 3 Big free.

Colour: dark rich green jelly base with a bunch of bright green glitter. It is more of a warm tone green. It indeed looks like a gemstone. It kind of glows from within. And it sparkles! :) Stunning!

Finish: glitter.

Application: pretty smooth application (a little bit runny consistency, but nothing serious), 2 coats is enough for a full coverage.

Retail price: 2,5 USD - 11 EUR.

Pros: gorgeous shade, cute bottle (!), perfect coverage, nice brush (could be rounder though), big 3 free.
Cons: pretty strong smell, a little bit runny consistency, time-consuming removal process (hey, it's GLITTER!) - try foil-cotton ball method, the fact that it's so expensive here!

PS GORGEOUS! A MUST-HAVE, especially if you like GREEN! :)

PPS If the starry night were green (for the unknown reason) it'd look like Emerald Sparkle! lol

Holographic glittery gothic Skittles nails

What a name I came up with! lol

Actually, it's not a NOTD. It's just me playing with my new toys! :) Couldn't wait to try them out. So, here are my reactions after I tried them on (check the initial reactions on my "8ty8beauty haul Nr.2"):

 

Index - CC Revvvolution is playing the "white skittle" (cause it looks light in my picture): it's a little less holographic (rainbow!) than Wild at Heart, and it's more dark charcoal gray-silver than black! At least to my eyes (energy saving lamps don't help much :) ). It reminded me of OPI Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees Suede version with a top coat. The good thing is I didn't order Suzi, the bad thing is that I want OPI My Private Jet. It seems darker in the pictures. Is it darker and black in a real life? I've heard also that there are two different versions. I'd like to have a holo version. Need to check the retailers... Or maybe I'll just skip it and will enjoy the beauty of this one. :)

Middle - CG Side-Saddle is playing the "red skittle": this colour is strange but still pretty nice! I love it! By "strange" I mean that it appears to be dark chocolate with golden shimmer in a real life, appears deep shimmery burgundy on my crappy pictures (still figuring out how to use that macro thing and artificial light... imagining my hubby's face when I'll ask him how to properly use those functions... for taking pictures of my nails... lol), and finally it appears (well, actually disappears would be the right word in this case) violet (!) on the cotton ball (during the removal process, obviously)!

Ring - CG Emerald Sparkle is playing the "green skittle": now I see the dark green base under all that amount of green glitter in my bottle! This is the most gorgeous green nail polish I've came across (not that I saw loads in a real life...)! I now totally understand Scrangie's "back up" thingy! :) I was thinking of ordering Nubar Greener, but now I can't decide wheather I need 3 deep greens... I already had one deep green Wet'n'Wild Erie (check my review) polish prior to CG...

Pinkie - CC Wild at Heart is playing the "purple skittle": I'm not really a fan of bright purples, but this one is just AWESOME! No comments! :)

Common WOWs: cute bottles, nice brushes, smooth application (CG Side-Saddle has a little bit runny consistency though, but is still manageable). I love all these shades! They're all so different from each other and I love them all equally! Hmmm... Emerald Sparkle a little bit more, but don't tell the others! :)

PS And! These are my first ever China Glaze, Color Club, holographic and intense glitter polishes! Man, I need more! lol

PPS It's our giant lemon tree on the background. She is beautiful. :)

PPPS My hands look SOOO dry because they just hate cold weather! :/

Wild and Crazy Nail Enamel in Nr. W144 Erie

Warm tone? (pretend it is :) )

 

 Cool tone?

14 ml (0,4 oz), exp. date: no info, made in USA.


Toluene, formaldehyde and DBP free

Colour: deep green, more of a cool (blueish) undertone, under the certain light it appears more of a warm tone though. Gorgeous shade! Have no idea what Erie means (could it be the lake?), but my guess is a Nordic forest fairy. :)

Finish: pearly frost (hello, brushstrokes! lol).

Application: smooth application , 2 coats is enough for a full coverage.

Retail price: around 2-3 EUR.

Pros: beautiful colour, good coverage, long lasting, smooth application (not too much brushstrokes), big 3 free, CHEAP!
Cons: the brush is quite small for my liking.

PS GO GREEN! :)

8ty8beauty haul Nr. 2

What a day!

We still have a green winter here! It's a little below 0C but it's not yet that bad. I can deal with it. :) I was so surprised to see the sun today! But then "suddenly" I remembered that I didn't wear any nail polish, meaning I couldn't be able to make a decent picture... again. lol

Five minutes later I was almost ready to leave the house when the door bell rang. Postman!!! With my 8ty8beauty haul! I decided to stay at home for 10 more minutes. I ripped the paper off, grabbed my camera, arranged "the set"... And guess what? Yep, my battery died after the first shot! Man, I'm "lucky" today... lol

Anyhow, I'm VERY excited! These are my first products from China Glaze, Color Club and Poshe. Can't wait to try these babies!

As you've probably seen all these famous polishes for xxx-times and you have the idea of what they look like, pretend you can recognise them from my crappy picture. lol

Can't recognise? Ok, here they are (as a bonus - my initial reactions):

From left to right:

China Glaze Side-Saddle: dark chocolate brown with golden shimmer. Pretty, but I expected it to be more of a burgundy undertone.

China Glaze Emerald Sparkle: green shimmer. WOW! WOW! WOW! It is SO GREEN (no bluey undertone, the original version?)! And it seems that my bottle is FULL of the gorgeous green shimmer (I can hardly see the base - dark green polish!)! I think I found a new love! Speechless! :) Sparkling Christmas tree! :)

Color Club Revvvolution: gray-black holographic shimmer. Interesting colour! Not that holographic as Wild at Heart (yep, no sun here again). I heart the bottle! So cute! :)

Color Club Wild at Heart: purple holographic shimmer. Pretty! I'm so happy it's a bright purple. I was afraid it could be very dark and "sparkle in sunshine" only (check the story about OPI DS Fantasy).

Poshe Super-fast drying base coat

Poshe Super-fast drying top coat

Here is my second attempt, several minutes ago (artificial light):

From left to right: CC Wild at Heart, CC Revvvolution, CG Emerald Sparkle (it looks brighter and warmer in a real life), CG Side-Saddle, Poshe top coat, Poshe base coat

PS This time 8ty8beauty were not that fast (took almost 3 weeks just because they forgot to inform me that one of the polishes was OOS and I had to replace it with another one!), but it was worth the wait! :)