Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Pink Wednesday! DS Couture!

I haven't done Pink Wednesday in forever!

Sorry to all my other PW ladies...I just get so caught up with work, I'm lucky if I can blog at all!  It happened that I had time to review a new pink polish TODAY for Pink Wednesday!  Weee!

This is another DS polish I picked up at my favorite dusty salon!  It's called DS Couture and it's got a subtle, beautiful holo to it!





I really like this!  I'm so glad I found it and could add it to my DS collection :)  The lid looks like they had spilled nail polish remover on it or something...but that's okay!  I think since the lid was messed up was the reason it was marked to $4!  It was pretty full.  Anywho it went on smooth in three coats and has a subtle pink linear holo to it.

I don't know why I'm so drawn to pink holos!  I think that's what most of my holo polishes are.  I only have 2 or 3 other colors, hah!

Anyway--have you guys seen this polish before, or own it yourselves?  I'm in love!

Well I hope you guys have a great Thanksgiving!  I'll be back home in Ohio for a few days so I doubt there will be any more updates this week!

So catch you guys later, don't forget to check out the blog sale and my giveaway!

<3 Whitney

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

OPI DS Perfection!

I've got a treat for you ladies today!  I haven't seen many reviews of this polish and I'm not sure why because it's GORGEOUS!

It's called DS Perfection and it's an older OPI DS polish that I found brand new at a salon!  Check out this beauty (warning...lots of pics!):


Look at all that color!





It's not a holographic DS polish, but instead a beautiful duochrome, almost foil--like, polish that shines between dark pink and orange!  It kind of reminds me of fire with all the dark pink/orange/yellow flashes you can see in it.  It's got a great formula (since its OPI!) and went on great in 2-3 coats.  I usually add 3 for pictures, but two may be okay for this one!

I can't say much else except wowsers!  I'm glad I bought this polish, and I'd love to keep it, but I need a bit of extra money, so I added it to my blog sale.  If more than one person wants this, it'll obviously be first come first served, but I think they might've had more at the salon!  Just let me know if you'd like it :)

And check the bottom of the blog sale page for other HTF polishes I can get from this awesome salon!

<3 Whitney

Monday, November 21, 2011

Sally Hansen Nail Prisms!

Soooo I went to Ross lately and found THREE of the Sally Hansen Prism sets!  One for me and two for swapssss.  If my second swap proposition doesn't go through, I'll add it to my Blog Sale :)

All I can say is WOW!  I love these :)  I'm all about my pink holos!  Check 'em out:

First up: Ruby Diamond:





Ruby Diamond is a deep pink holo...it's loveeeeely.  It goes on kind of thin and took 3 coats to become opaque, but when it got there it was amazinnggg!  It's not as linear as some of the other holo's I've seen but it's awesome nonetheless.

Next is Blush Diamond, another pink holo!




Blush Diamond is very similar to Ruby Diamond, but a little lighter!  It's also pretty thin and needs three coats.  The formula on these is pretty great for SH, though! 

Here is a comparison of Ruby Diamond and Blush Diamond, side by side, on a nail wheel so you can see the difference between the two:

Look at that fab holo!  On the left/top Ruby Diamond, on the bottom/right Blush Diamond
Those are my two faves of the whole set--I'm so glad to have 'em!

Here's the next one, a duochrome called Lapis Amethyst:




Lapis Amethyst is a beautiful lavendar/gray/blue duochrome.  This one I believe I used 4 coats on because it's a little frosty and my nails have a lot of ridges.  If I would've used ORLY Ridgefiller I probably could've been fine with three coats!  This is one of the prisms available in my giveaway!

I should mention that I was so excited to swatch these that I didn't do a very good job cleaning up and my cuticles look kind of like poop...I apologize for that!  However I ended up getting lazy and didn't want to swatch the last two, so I did them both on one hand:

Silver polish: Diamond, Cream polish: South Sea Diamond




Diamond is a lot prettier on the nail than I thought it would be.  It's a multi-dimensional scattered holo super fine silver glitter.  I can't tell if it's in a gray base or if the shimmer/glitter is just so dense that it makes it look that way!  I really, really like this polish a lot and wish it'd come in the larger bottle!
Diamond is a suitable name for this
South Sea Pearl is a pretty iridescent, frosty pearl-colored polish.  It took four coats to become opaque (I just slapped it on, so this up close pic below doesn't do it justice) and it has a beautiful shimmer to it. However, it's got just a bit of a yellowish tinge to it, that no matter what I do, I just think it looks off with my skin tone!  So I also added this one to my giveaway!
Wow...my lack of clean up is evident
Wam blam!  Those are some fab polishes obtained for not very much money!  Look out for these at Ross...that's the only place I know to get them so far.  I'll let you ladies know if I find any more for those who'd like this collection!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for a chance to win South Sea Pearl and Lapis Amethyst!

ALSO I added some brand new HTF polishes I found to my blog sale, so check them out!

<3 Hope your week is going well!

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Bare Minerals Eye Liner + Shadow Review!

Okayyyy if you remember from one of my recent hauls posts I picked up a bunch of Bare Minerals make up while visiting Ohio! 

It's my favorite kind of make up everrrr!  I decided that since I hinted towards the eyeliner I was wearing in yesterday's post, I'd talk about it today!

So here's what I've got to review for you ladies today:

Wearable Browns Eye Shadows
ANnndddddd
The Retro Lounge Powder Eyeliner

I'm actually going to do a comparison of the two liners that I picked up that day, the Retro (seen above) and a pencil called Sage that was featured in the Girlfriend collection (seen in my haul post).

I'll just post all the pictures first and then discuss 'em:

Wearable Light Brown, Wearable Medium Brown, Wearable Dark Brown

Artsy perspective...oooh.  These shadows are all used in the pics below (of my eyes...duh)
Up close of the Retro powder eyeliner + brush
My favorite Bare Minerals eyeliner is a powder eyeliner, so I had high hopes for this one!  Not to mention it came with a brush, albeit much wider than the normal liner brush I use.  It, however, was much darker than the liner color I usually use and it was pretty much a jet black:
 
Retro gave a pretty smooth line...it's a little shaky though 'cause I wasn't used to using the giant applicator brush!
Up close of the Sage eyeliner pencil...you can see (and probably tell by the name) it's a brownish-green color!
This was a very unique color for me!  It's a dark shimmery green.  It didn't give as smooth of a line as the Retro, but I think I like it better anyway:

Dark green/gold = pretty.  It would look better with a gold or bronze shadow
Here is a picture of both of my eyes so you can see the differences in the liners side by side:


I think I'm quite terrible at applying and blending eyeshadow.  I used the wearable light brown above my lids and under my brows, wearable medium brown on the lids and wearable dark brown on the crease.  Here's a few more pics of my eyes, open...which covers up the fact that I suck at applying makeup lol:

Sage

Retro

Overall I'm pretty satisfied with all my purchases!  I really like the three shadow colors, I just need to work on blending a little better.  I don't wear too much vibrant-colored make-up so these neutral browns are just up my alley! 

In terms of color and ease, I loved the Sage eyeliner pencil.  It's so much faster just to swipe on a pencil!  I do think, though, that this would be better suited for a colored shadow!  In this case, I did like how Retro looked a little better.  It ended up being a much cleaner line which suited the neutral colored shadows quite nice.

Also, if you're wondering, the mascara I have on is the Maybelline Lots of Lashes mascara featured in yesterday's post (and my giveaway).

Hope you all are well!
<3

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Maybelline Lots of Lashes Mascara!

Heyyyy lovelies.

Man, I can't say it enough how happy I am that my blog feed is fixed and now people actually know I'm updating again. Horray!

Anywho, for those of you who don't know, I'm a BzzAgent, meaning I get some products to try for free and in return I'm supposed to share my experiences with my friends!

This time I got to try the Maybelline Lots of Lashes Mascara in very black:


The Great Lash Mascara that Maybelline makes has been around forever!  This, however, is a new and improved version called Lots of Lashes featuring a new applicator brush they call the little grabber.  This brush is supposed to help you reach the inner and outer corners of your eye lashes much easier.   Here are some pics of the applicator:


Up close and personal
I really really liked the applicator brush.  What they advertise is true: it was super easy to reach all of my lashes.  And it was also quite simple to build up your coats.  It says for a fuller look to apply another coat without letting the first one dry.  I'm all about that because I'm impatient...and I like giant eyelashes.

Here are some pics of me wearing this mascara:


Yes the eyeliner I'm wearing is different on each eye...I'll update about that later
Overall I reallllly liked this mascara.  I'm very very picky about my mascaras...and I usually wear waterproof because it curls better...but I've found myself wearing this a lot lately!
It applies relatively thin for mascara, which I like since it leads to clump free lashes!  It also removes easily with normal soap and water or make-up remover (or tears lol).

So overall, this mascara gets a thumbs up for me!  I got sent FIVE of these and have been passing them out to my friends! And good news for you ladiessss...you can win one in my giveaway!

If you can't wait for that, though, and you want to try it ASAP, it retails for $6.40 at most mass retailers ;)  If you want more info, check out their facebook page!

<3 Whitney

Friday, November 18, 2011

Color Club Beyond The Mistletoe Review and Giveaway! **CLOSED**

Okay so I have GOOD news.  First of all I started a BLOG SALE!  Please check it out and buy things :) I'm really trying hard to get some extra money saved!  It's open to both US and International buyers!  It's got some great stuff on there.

Next up I have a review of a few of the colors from the Color Club Beyond the Mistletoe holiday collection!

First: Sugarplum Fairy!  A beautiful silver/lavender holographic glitter



This one is really exciting!  It's is a mixture of gorgeous silver/lavendar holo glitters in a clear base that looks awesome in the sun!  These pictures are shown with 3 coats.  It's pretty opaque after 3 coats.  It's also a dupe of Funky Fingers Sand and Stilettos. 

Next: Beyond the Mistletoe!  A lovely seafoam green-ish holo glitter!


Beyond the Mistletoe is another lovely holographic glitter polish consisting of green holo glitter in a clear base.  This one is thinner than Sugarplum Fairy and it took 4 coats to become opaque.  It is also a dupe of a Funky Fingers polish: Baby, Baby, Baby.  

Last: Holiday Splendor!  My favorite of the whole collection! (And I haven't even tried them all)



Darker lighting to show the vibrant color!
Holiday Splendor is different than the rest of the collection as it consists of green/teal holographic glitter in a green jelly-like base.  It was easily the most gorgeous color of the whole collection.  This one only took 2 coats to become opaque.  I don't know what else to say except..wow!  I'm usually not a fan of teals or greens with my skin tone, but seriously this is probably in my top 10 faves now.  It's perfect for the holidays!

Now, there are three other colors in this set, but the day I was swatching these I got lazy and frustrated with my lighting situation, so this is all ya got right now :)

However, you'll have the chance to swap them for yourselves because I'm giving a set away!


In addition to the entire Color Club Beyond the Mistletoe Collection you'll also get:
--1 Maybelline's Lots of Lashes Mascara in Very Black,
--1 Maybelline New Baby Lips Moisturizing Lip Balm in Cherry Me,
-- 2 Sally Hansen Nail Prisms: Lapis Amethyst, and South Sea Pearl!

Here are some additional photos:




The Color Club Collection is new and purchased by me and the Maybelline products were presented to me by BzzAgent to give away as I see fit :)  I threw in the SH Nail Prisms but they have been both been swatched one time on one hand (which I will post within the next few days so you can see what they look like!). 

Here are the giveaway rules:

1) You must be 18 or older to enter or else have your parents permission to give away your address if you win
2) This is open to U.S. residents only (I'm really sorry, international followers, it'd cost me a butt-load of money to ship all this stuff, and as you can see from my blogsale I'm trying to save money...I'll work on an international giveaway soon)
3) Enter ONLY once, if you enter more than once you will be disqualified.  If you can't remember if you've entered, shoot me an e-mail at EStyles.WW@gmail.com and I'll let you know! Also, if you don't do all the possible entries and decide later you want an additional entry via twitter or something, send me an e-mail with the links, don't fill out the form again!
4) This is open until December 15, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. EST!
5) To enter you MUST be a follower via GFC.  That means on the right sidebar you need to click the button that says "Follow" and sign in using Google (or whatever other accounts it asks for) or create an account.

You get 1 automatic entry for being a GFC follower and filling out the form!  Here are some ways you can get additional entries into the contest:


-Follow @ElementalStyles on Twitter [1 entry]
-Tweet about the giveaway (provide a direct link!) [2 entries]
-Blog about the giveaway (on sidebar, giveaway page or blog entry--provide a direct link) [2 entries for a link, 3 entries if you use one of the pictures]
-Add Elemental Styles to your blog roll (provide a link please!) [1 entry]
-Follow Elemental Styles on Facebook (provide Facebook name) [1 entry]
-Answer the extra question on the form [1 entry each]


**THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED!**