Thursday, August 28, 2014

Coastal Scents Revealed 2 Eye Palette

Today I have for you another amazing eye palette that I discovered thanks to a friend. I had been wanting to buy the Naked palettes from Urban Decay; more specifically the Naked 3 palette was at the top of my wish list; but really could not afford to buy all of them, I had been saving all the extra money I could and finally had enough to buy one Naked palette. I was so undecided on whether or not the Naked palettes were really worth the money that I enlisted the help of some friends and asked opinions. One friend suggested I check out a post she came across done by Beauty Broadcast and you can check out that post here. She does a very good comparison between the Coastal Scents Revealed Palette and the Urban Decay Naked and Naked 2 palettes. This post and my friend's own experience with the Revealed palette is what swayed me to check them out.

I found that this Revealed 2 palette was indeed very similar to the Naked 3 palette, just like what I had heard online from other users and at just the fraction of the cost. Coastal Scents Revealed 2 palette is $19.95 regular price, they occasionally go on sale and you can sign up for "price alerts" on their site to alert you to the sales via email.

I am hooked!! I am so glad that with the money I was going to spend on one Naked palette I decided I was going to spend on BOTH Revealed palettes!! Even with shipping (which was $8.95 for both palettes I believe) I still came in with a total price under the $54 price tag of one Naked palette. I was excited when they arrived.

Shipping was a lot faster than I expected, even though I had read reviews and heard from others that their shipping is fast. I got my shipping notice email the next day, it was in the morning and I was not expecting it that quick but I was so excited that I think I squeeled when I read the email. Once it shipped I think it only took about 2 days to get to me and I just chose their standard shipping, I did not upgrade or pay extra for quicker shipping.

Once it arrived it was all packaged in a nice flat rate box I believe. Inside they were wrapped so nicely in bubble wrap so that they didn't bang around in the shipping box. Each palette was in it's own individual palette box and inside Coastal Scents included a 4 color sample of some of their other shadows, a business card with their info on it, and a cute "I Love (it was actually a heart) makeup" sticker. I have yet to find the perfect place for this sticker so I am going to just hold on to it until I find it's perfect place, lol!

I opened up the palette and it was perfect, no damage at all! I was so impressed with their shipping and packaging! I have the Revealed palette (I ordered it the same time I ordered this one so they arrived together) so I was hoping that the shadows would be pigmented and as smooth as the ones in the Revealed palette. Boy I was not disappointed with these, these babies are so smooth and pigmented that you barely have to use any to get nice color. I couldn't wait to try them out and see how they are when you apply them with a brush.

I have tested these out for about a month now and I realized that applying my makeup was so easy. You really don't have to use a lot to get great color because they are so pigmented. There is a mix of matte shades, shimmers, and a few that are a little glittery. I didn't experience much fallout with application unless I put too much on my brush (which happened the first couple times until I got used to not having to put a lot on the brush). The more glittery/shimmery shades do have a bit of fallout but it's nothing that is going to deter me from using these shades because they are so gorgeous. My advice is maybe apply your eye makeup before you do the rest, that way you can cover up any fallout with your foundation and powder.

I have noticed that I have been reaching for the Revealed 2 palette and the Revealed palette everyday. I have not touched any other eyeshadow in my collection since getting these. These are my two favorite palettes and by far the best purchase I have ever made!

Below is just a quick swatch of each shade to show you how pigmented they are and just how beautiful these colors are. Each swatch is just one swipe of my finger on the color pot in the palette and then one swipe on the underside of my arm. I have numbered each shade on the palette for you and coordinated it with it's corresponding swatch on my arm.

Here is a close up of shades 19 and 20. I wanted to show you that shade 19 is a nice dark plummy brown with red glitter in it, almost just like Blackheart in the Naked 3 palette.

If you are wanting to purchase the Naked 3 palette but haven't because of the price (like I was), try this one out, it is a fraction of the cost and in my opinion just as good of quality (I will note that I don't own any Naked palettes for comparison but have tested a few shades out at Ulta on my hand to just see how they were).

When you sign up for an account at Coastal Scents you get points, you also earn points with each purchase, and you can use these points you collect for credits or an amount off of your next purchase. I will definitely be purchasing from Coastal Scents again. They sell all kinds of makeup, not just shadows and they sell brushes as well. I've gotten a couple Coastal Scents brushes in my Ipsy bags and I love them! You can purchase this palette on Coastal Scents' website here.

I hope you enjoyed this post!!



Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Negative Space Nail Art with Zoya

Today I have a fun little negative space nail art I did with the Zoya Entice and Ignite collections. I am really just loving these colors for fall and will have another fun nail art post for you using these collections also.

First off let me explain the "negative space" nail art for those of you who don't know what that term means. Well, it means that in this nail art there are spaces where there is no color underneath your art, basically your bare nail is showing through. It's pretty simple and it's becoming quite popular lately. So with it's popularity I decided to jump on the bandwagon and do some negative space nail art too.

I decided to start out simple for my first negative space nail art mani. I used Zoya Margo from the Entice collection on my thumb, pointer finger, and pinky finger. Then I used Zoya Teigen from the Ignite collection on my ring finger. Then I decided that I was going to do the negative space art on my middle finger.

To do my negative space nail art I really just took two pieces of striping tape and placed them on my nail to create 3 different areas on my nail. Then I proceeded to fill in those spaces with different colors from the Ignite Collection. Starting at the base of my nail I used Zoya India, then the middle is Zoya Remy, and the tip of my nail is also Zoya Teigen.

Once I had my blocks filled in I removed my striping tape to reveal my "naked" nail below those stripes. I do have a base coat on but it's clear so you can still see my natural nail. You want to remove the striping tape right away before the polish dries so that it does not pull up any of the polish you want to stay on your nail, plus I think it gives you nice cleaner lines too.

Then I let that dry a bit. I didn't want to apply my top coat too soon because I didn't want the top coat to "pull" or make the polish smear, thus ruining my nice clean lines. Once it was dry enough I applied a top coat of Out The Door to all my nails to protect them and give them such nice shine.

I just love the way the Ignite collections sparkle with a shiny top coat!!

You can find all the polishes used here and all Zoya's other polishes here on Zoya's site. They retail for $9 each.

I hope you enjoyed this mani and stay tuned for more nail art using the new Fall 2014 Zoya Entice & Ignite collections!!

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Zoya Nail Polish Twitter Party



Hey Nail Polish Lover) Zoya is having a Twitter Party!!!You and your stylish friends are invited to talk all things Fall with ZOYA!

Join us on Twitter Wednesday,August 27th from 8-9pm EST (5-6pm PST). We'll cover the hottest nail colors for Fall, trends from the NYFW (New York Fashion Week) runways and much more (ahem, giveaways)!
In addition, there will be a special Q&A session with the woman behind our 300+ color assortment - ZOYA's Creative Director, Rebecca Isa. So get your questions ready!

How it Works:
· Follow@ZoyaNailPolish on Twitter.
· Zoya will release a series of questions marked Q1, Q2, Q3, etc.
· Reply to these questions with the corresponding A1, A2, A3, etc.
· Use the hashtag#FALLingForZoya so Zoya (and everyone else) can find your tweets easily!
 
 
Did someone say PRIZES?!Join in on the fun and you couldWIN*! Followers that participate and answer questions throughout the Twitter Party will automatically be entered to win special prizes from the Naturel 2 and Entice & Ignite Collection at random.
 
PLUS - Enter to win afull Fall Zoya Nail Polish Wardrobe! All you have to do is upload a picture of your ZOYA manicure at any time during the Twitter Chat (8-9pm EST) and tell us which shade(s) you're wearing to the party. Don't forget to include#FALLingForZoya. The grand prize winner will be announced at the end of the event following the Q&A session.
 
*Terms & Conditions: No purchase necessary to participate or win. Promotion begins Wednesday, August 27, 2014 at 8pm EST. Entry via Twitter ONLY - Twitter account must be on public setting and must follow @ZoyaNailPolish to be eligible to win. Giveaway winners will be DM'd codes - codes are not valid in conjunction with other coupons, codes or promotions. Continental US only. Art of Beauty is not responsible for incorrect addresses, credit card entry errors, web related issues or any errors associated with declined credit cards. Returns or exchanges of promotional items not permitted. This Twitter party is in no way sponsored, endorsed, or administered by, or associated with Twitter, Inc.
 
 
Zoya Nail Polish and Treatments |zoya.com

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Zoya Entice Collection Fall 2014

****PRESS SAMPLE****

Zoya has done it once again. They have come out with another amazing collection. The Entice & Ignite Collections for Fall 2014 are inspired by the classic wools, textured brocades and metallic accents of the season, Zoya¹s new ENTICE & IGNITE collections create a palette of lush, deep color including wines, browns, navies and greys. I am just loving all these warm colors for Fall. That is one of my favorite things about Fall.

This is the Entice part of the collection. This part consists of six new glossy, intensely pigmented, full-coverage creams.


The colors in this collection are...

This is Nyssa. Nyssa is a milk chocolate brown in the flawless, full-coverage cream formula. This is a beautiful milk chocolate brown and it went on so smoothly. I am curious though as to how close it is to Chanelle from the Naturel Deux collection. Hmmm...I may have to do a little comparison post. I don't believe that they are real close, I think Nyssa is a little darker but I would be curious to see how they look side by side.



Next is Claire. Claire is a warm, rich burgundy with a flawless, full-coverage cream finish. To me this is such a beautiful vampy burgundy. I love those vampy shades, they just make me feel so warm and fuzzy. This was such an easy application and I didn't experience any staining at all.



Here is Veronica. Veronica is a full-coverage brilliant red wine. Such a beautiful wine color. I thought I had something similar in my collection but it must have been just my mind wishing I had this, good thing is now I do have this shade in my collection. I really loved this and it's such a great alternative to red.



 Up next is Margo. Margo is a modern red plum in a flawless, full-coverage cream formula. This color is so beautiful, my only frustration with this one was my camera couldn't capture the true color of this. In these pics I think it looks a bit lighter and brighter but it's still very beautiful.



Now I have Ryan for you. Ryan is a classic indigo in a flawless cream formula. (Originally released during NYFW for Timo Weiland's AW14 Collection) I love my navy colors and blues! I have just been on a blue kick lately. I really like my darker blues and this one fits the bill. I am curious as to how close this is to last year's Sailor. I may have to do a little comparison of these two as well but I am thinking that Ryan is going to lean more indigo and Sailor will be more of a navy blue. Either way I love having these in my collection, the only hard part is deciding which one to wear, lol!!



Last in this part of the collection is Genevieve. Genevieve is a cool leather grey in the flawless full-coverage cream formula. I was really excited about this one because I don't have much for greys in my collection. I think I might have one other that is a shade of grey but I don't have one like this. I also noticed when editing pictures (because I don't pay that much attention to the bottom labels normally) that my label for my Genevieve is misspelled, it's missing the "e" at the end. How funny is that, at least I can say that my bottle is unique!

I had no issues with formula or application with any of these. They all had the wonderful formula that I have come to really love about Zoya. I know that when I get a bottle of Zoya I am not going to have to worry about whether or not I am going to need to use thinner on it or whether or not it's going to take a bazillion coats to get opacity because it's so thin. I used two coats on all of these for the pictures but I think that with Ryan and Claire I could have gotten by with one coat but I used two just to be sure. All pictures were taken indoors with artificial lighting and no flash. I also did not use any topcoat for any of these pictures, I wanted to show you that Zoya's creams all have a nice shine to them on their own. I always add a topcoat to my mani because I like the added shine and of course to protect my mani and make it last.

I also want to add that you should really make sure you use a good base coat especially with Ryan. While a good base coat gives you a nice base to lay down your color and helps make your mani last, Ryan is one of those blues that will stain your nails if you don't use a base coat (I know because I didn't use a base coat when I was swatching these). For me the staining isn't an issue that I have a problem with because I always use a base coat when I give myself a mani but also because I love the color so much that it isn't going to stop me from wearing it. A base coat underneath solves the staining issue for me all the time!

These are all available for purchase now on Zoya's site here and retail for $9 each.






Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Zoya Ignite Collection Fall 2014


****PRESS SAMPLE****

I am so excited to show you what Zoya has come out with this year for Fall! They have come out with another amazing collection. The Entice & Ignite Collections for Fall 2014 are inspired by the classic wools, textured brocades and metallic accents of the season, Zoya¹s new ENTICE & IGNITE collections create a palette of lush, deep color including wines, browns, navies and greys. I am just loving all these warm colors for Fall. That is one of my favorite things about Fall.


I have the Ignite part of the collection for you today. This part of the collection consists of six shimmering red, gold, copper, and purple liquid metal metallics.

Here are the colors in this collection...


First up I have Autumn. Autumn is a varnished copper liquid metal. To me this one really lives up to it's name, it really is Autumn in a bottle! This is such the perfect color for fall!



Next is India. India is a deep luxurious red with a gold liquid metallic.This to me seemed like a real deep burgandy with gold shimmer, almost a dark brownish red with the gold shimmer. It's just a really pretty color and great for fall!



Here is Teigen. Teigen is a pink toned cranberry with copper liquid metal. This was one of my favorites from this collection. In the pictures it leans more pinky violet but in real life it is a nice plum with copper. It was really not what I expected just by looking at the bottle.



This is Sansa. Sansa is a deep eggplant with gold metallic sparkle. Eggplant is a really great description of this color. I can really honestly say I don't have anything like it in my collection and boy am I glad I have it now. I think for me it's going to be perfect for when I want something dark but not a navy or black. Plus the gold just gives it a nice twist, not a typical eggplant color, better.



I can't leave out Remy. Remy is a brilliant indigo with copper and gold liquid metallic. This was another one of my favorites out of the collection. I don't know if it's because I'm on a blue kick lately but I thought this was such a beautiful indigo blue, and then you add the copper and gold to it, just a nice little variation from a typical blue.



Last but certainly not least, this is Yuna. Yuna is a warm grey with copper & gold liquid metal. I wasn't sure how I was going to like this one because I just don't always like the way greys look on me, either they wash me out or they just look plain strange, I don't know. This is not your typical grey though, it has the copper and gold metallic and that just changes it. I didn't hate this one on me, I thought it actually seemed to look pretty good with my skin tone, maybe it was the metallic that made this grey work for me.

The formula on all of these were absolutely fabulous. I had no issues what-so-ever! They went on so smoothly without any streaks. In all of these I used 2 coats of color and I did not use a top coat in any of the pictures here. Pictures were all taken indoors in artificial lighting with no flash. I think in each picture I was able to change the angle of the lighting enough to capture how differently each of the look in the different lighting. I really try to show you that everything will look a little different in different lighting and that is just so fun!

I think my top two favorites out of this collection were Remy and Teigen but they were all very beautiful. I think that Autumn is going to be perfect for some Fall/Autumn nail art I am planning out in my mind. I guess you'll have to stay tuned to see what I come up with! ;)

These are available on Zoya's site now for sale. They retail for $9. I suggest that you go online and order yours now, you won't be disappointed.

Stay tuned for the other half of the Fall Collection from Zoya, I will be bringing you the Entice part of the collection soon!!






Thursday, August 14, 2014

Coastal Scents Revealed Eye Palette

Today I have for you an amazing eye palette that I discovered thanks to a friend. I had been wanting to buy the Naked palettes from Urban Decay but really could not afford to buy all of them, I had been saving all the extra money I could and finally had enough to buy one Naked palette but couldn't decide which one I wanted more. So I enlisted the help of some friends and asked opinions. One friend suggested I check out a post she came across done by Beauty Broadcast and you can check out that post here. She does a very good comparison between the Coastal Scents Revealed Palette and the Urban Decay Naked and Naked 2 palettes. This post and my friend's own experience with the Revealed palette is what swayed me to check them out.

I found that this Revealed palette was indeed very similar to the Naked and Naked 2 palettes and at just the fraction of the cost. What got me leaning even more to purchasing from Coastal Scents was that when I checked out their site I learned they had just come out with a Revealed 2 palette which is very similar to the Naked 3 palette (don't worry, you'll get to read my post on this one real soon!).

Coastal Scents Revealed palette is $19.95 regular price, they occasionally go on sale and you can sign up for "price alerts" on their site to alert you to the sales via email.

I was hooked!! So with the money I was going to spend on one Naked palette I decided I was going to spend on BOTH Revealed palettes!! Even with shipping (which was $8.95 for both palettes I believe) they still came in with a total price under the $54 price tag of one Naked palette. I was excited and couldn't wait until they arrived.

Shipping was a lot faster than I expected, even though I had read reviews and heard from others that their shipping is fast. I got my shipping notice email the next day, it was in the morning and I was not expecting it that quick but I was so excited that I think I squeeled when I read the email. Once it shipped I think it only took about 2 days to get to me and I just chose their standard shipping, I did not upgrade or pay extra for quicker shipping.

Once it arrived it was all packaged in a nice flat rate box. Inside they were wrapped so nicely in bubble wrap so that they didn't bang around in the shipping box. Each palette was in it's own individual palette box and inside Coastal Scents included a 4 color sample of some of their other shadows, a business card with their info on it, and a cute "I Love (it was actually a heart) makeup" sticker. I have yet to find the perfect place for this sticker so I am going to just hold on to it until I find it's perfect place, lol!

I opened up the palette and it was perfect, no damage at all! I was so impressed with their shipping and packaging! I ran my finger along a couple of the shades and tried them out on the back of my hand to get an idea of how pigmented they are. OMG!!! These babies are so smooth and pigmented that you barely have to use any to get nice color. I couldn't wait to try them out and see how they are when you apply them with a brush.

Testing these out right away the next day when I was applying my makeup was so easy. You really don't have to use a lot to get great color because they are so pigmented. There is a mix of matte shades, shimmers, and a few that are a little glittery. I didn't experience much fallout with application unless I put too much on my brush (which happened the first couple times until I got used to not having to put a lot on the brush). The more glittery/shimmery shades do have a tiny bit of fallout but it's nothing that is going to deter me from using these shades because they are so gorgeous. My advice is maybe apply your eye makeup before you do the rest, that way you can cover up any fallout with your foundation and powder.

Below is just a quick swatch of each shade to show you how pigmented they are and just how beautiful these colors are. Each swatch is just one swipe of a eyeshadow applicator on the color pot in the palette and then one swipe on the underside of my arm. I have numbered each shade on the palette for you and coordinated it with it's corresponding swatch on my arm.

If you are wanting to purchase the Naked palettes but haven't because of the price (like I was), try these out, they are a fraction of the cost and in my opinion just as good of quality (I will note that I don't own any Naked palettes for comparison but have tested a few shades out at Ulta on my hand to just see how they were).

When you sign up for an account at Coastal Scents you get points, you also earn points with each purchase, and you can use these points you collect for credits or an amount off of your next purchase. I will definitely be purchasing from Coastal Scents again. They sell all kinds of makeup, not just shadows and they sell brushes as well. I've gotten a couple Coastal Scents brushes in my Ipsy bags and I love them! Check out Coastal Scents' site here to purchase.

I hope you enjoyed this post and stay tuned for my post on the Coastal Scents Revealed 2 palette!!


Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Delush Polish Essence of Summer Collection

Today I have the Delush Essence of Summer collection. This collection is so not what I expected it to be, it's so much more. This collection consists of 8 shades that are all packed with surprising shimmer. You are just going to love these and I can't wait to share them all with you.

I want to start off by saying that I had no issues with any of the polishes in this collection. They all went on smoothly and dried fairly quickly. Each shade has 2 coats of polish in the pictures and the pictures were all taken indoors with artificial lighting and no flash.

Now on to the collection...

First up we have You Glow Girl. This is a yellow base with a pink shimmer that in some lighting looks gold.

Next is Swans Upon a Time. This is a gorgeous white base with a surprising red shimmer that just radiates throughout. You really cannot miss the shimmer in this one and I couldn't help but stare at my nails all the time while I was wearing it. It's perfect for when you want a nice white but you don't want to go stark white. Love this one!!

This is Brazen. Brazen is a peachy shimmer with a subtle green shimmer packed in. This was just amazing for my pedicure. I got so many compliments on it!

The next one I have for you is Shake Your Teal Feathers. This one is a teal base with a purple shimmer to it.

This next one is Bombshell. This is a bright pink with a blue shimmer to it. I think that this is just the perfect girly pink color. I love the shimmer in this one also. The blue shimmer was hard to capture on the nail in these pics but I was able to capture it on the bottle.

It's About Thames is a beautiful sky blue with a surprising green shimmer. This is such a beautiful shade of blue. Again, the shimmer on this one was hard to capture in my pics but I think I got it on my pinky and the bottle in one of the shots.

Next is another one of my favorites from this collection. This is Indulgence. This is a vivid pink with fuchsia shimmer. I think this is nice and bright and perfect for summer!

And the last one in the collection is Orchid Situation. This is a beautiful purple base with a unexpected green shimmer. This shimmer wasn't what I was expecting with a purple base but it really is gorgeous. To me it just looks like the perfect lilac shimmer color. I really like this one and it is also one of my favorites in this collection.

I don't know if I could really pick favorites out of this collection because I really do love them all but if I had to pick a few I guess it would be Orchid Situation, Indulgence, and Swans Upon A Time. I think that these are the ones that surprised me the most.

All of these beauties are available on Delush's site here and retail for $8.95 for a full sized 15ml bottle or you can purchase a mini 5ml bottle for $4.50. I really love that these are hand blended 3-free polishes. You can also check them out on Facebook here or if you are an IG'er you can follow them on Instagram @delushpolish.

What are your favorites out of this collection or which one do you hope to get your hands on soon?