Sparkled Beauty

Hi guys, I'm (kinda) back :) The move was exhausting (I didn't sleep at all Friday night, then passed out Saturday night after the movers left), but I'm glad it was over and done with.

I won't have internet at the new house until Thursday, and I am trying to give myself time to just breath, so posts might be pretty scattered.

This particular post is to mourn my long nails (besides showing you the beautiful nail polish that was Jesse's Girl Julie G Gumdrops in Rock Candy).

With the move, my nails broke off here and peeled there, to the point short was the only way to go. I know they will grow back, but in the mean time, my finger tips hurt with the nubs :(

Anyway, Rock Candy is a beautiful and sparkly baby blue with a hint of teal. Shades like this is what keeps me going back to textures. Note that it looks lighter on the nails than in the bottle.

Bloggers said it is a dupe of Orly Aqua Pixel, so that's even better. I'll tell you the same thing I told you in previous Julie G NOTDs, get them when you can :) Not sponsored, btw, I bought them myself (well, thanks to a US friend).

And here with flash to show you the sparkles, how could I not, right?

You know what I found out about myself with the move? I have a lot of stuff - makeup, nail polish, shoes, you name it. But I hated the look of the movers and the friends who helped me that day when they saw the stash. They told me I need to downsize!

Of course I don't need all that to live, but they are my joy and pride and I didn't go into debt buying them. Why can't I just have something I love? I don't care about what the movers think, but my friends? It hurts a little with their judgement. More reasons for me to want to be just by myself, I tell you!

A personal update before we get to the NOTD. I added a countdown widget on the top right of the blog last night, yes that's how much time I have to pack before moving into the new place. I am excited but also nervous to do this on my own. Wish me luck! :)

Moving on ...  Continuing the texture trend, and heading toward summer (hopefully), I have Jesse's Girl Julie G Frosted Gumdrops in Hot Cinnamon today.

It is a raspberry red with gold shimmers, and it is hot :) I don't say that too often to a red nail polish, so you know it is special enough to deserve that.

This is just one coat, with no top coat to maintain the textured finish. Textured one coaters have replaced matte nail polish as my finish of choice when I have to paint my nails right before bed (yes, that happened more often that I care to admit, lol).

Though this is still bright, I found it is an easier start for someone who is shy of strong colours, instead of a right out red. And the gold shimmers which is less visible on the nails than in the bottle (see below) doesn't do a bad job in grabbing your attention either.

I know Jesse's Girl is not widely available in Canada (though they ship internationally on their website), but if you come across the Frosted Gumdrops line, I would definitely suggest you give it a try. I am happy that a friend helped me buy the whole collection, as I can't pick just one favorite among them.

See the shimmers in close-up?

And if you need more persuasion, Hot Cinnamon is confirmed to be a close dupe of OPI Magazine Cover Mouse from the Couture de Minnie collection. Definitely a cost saving alternative!

So go put on a bright nail polish, or bright lipstick, and enjoy the summer that we are going to have. I'll probably spend most of my free time with boxes and packing tape, so have a drink for me when you are out having fun :)

I'm hoping to blog as usual through the next few weeks, but if things get crazy and I go MIA, you know why :)

Thank you for reading the blog and sticking around with me.

Very first shade from the Jesse's Girl Julie G Frosted Gumdrops collection from my US CP haul, this is Sugar Rush.

If you haven't caught up with the textured nail polish trend, it is so much fun. Frosted Gumdrops collection is a good one to try, since the shades pack some shimmery shine on top of the matte texture, not just pure cream finish.

Another reason I adore this collection is that they are one coaters, and the texture is not too rough. They wear well for about two days on me.

Sugar Rush is bright, not full on red but more of a pinky red, with gorgeous gold shimmers.

The first pic was with flash, which brought out the crazy shimmer shine. The pic on your left here was in natural lighting, no sun, no flash, which showed a more toned down version of the colour.

Interesting to note that in both pics, the colour in the bottle looked brighter/ more intense than on the nails. So, don't turn down a colour by the way it looks until you try it on :)

Isn't Sugar Rush looking so awesome in closeup? The flash is the gold shimmers' best friend here. They are insane!

And if you are wondering, Frazzle and Aniploish confirmed that Sugar Rush is more golden than Zoya Destiny or OPI Jinx. I'm happy with just one.

I got the whole Frosted Gumdrops set as a Groupon US deal, but the shades are sold $3.99 online. Jessie's Girl does offer international shipping.

Have you tried any textured polish yet? At the time of this post, brands that follow this trend are (relatively in the order of price point):
- Jordana Texture $2.99
- Jesse's Girl Frosted Gumdrops $3.99
- Milani Texture Creams $4.99
- Sally Hansen Sugar Coat $5.49
- Barry M Textured Nail Effects $7.50
- Kiko Sugar Mat £4.90 or €4.90
- Orly Mega Pixel FX $8.50
- Zoya Pixie Dust $9
- OPI Liquid Sand $9
- Nails Inc Leather Effect $25 for a kit with a ring.

Did I miss anyone?

It has been a good mail week, and I found fun new products to play around with. Here they all are :)

Let's start with the Sephora VIB sale. My US CP package from Tiffany at Will Work for Makeup came in with items that either were a lot cheaper in the US or I couldn't get here.

Not much, just 2 Hourglass Ambient Lighting powders in Diffused Light and Dim Light, reg. $45 (vs. CAD52) each and a Lorac Pro palette, reg. $42 (vs. CAD55).

These cost $110 (after 15% VIB, no tax where Tiffany lives) instead of CAD155 (after tax here), even after shipping, it was a steal. It sucks to realize that with a VIB discount, Canadians just get to the amount that Americans pay regularly.

I did get a few things from my Sephora during the sale:
- Shu Uemura eyelash curler, reg. CAD24
- OCC lip tar in Nylon, CAD19
- Stila Countless Color pigments in Acoustic and Finale (LE), CAD29 each.

I see that there are 10 shades of these on Stila website, only 7 on Sephora. Naturally, I kinda want the 3 that aren't at Sephora lol - Center Stage (pink, peach & blue), Melody (purple) and Encore (champagne & brown). The collection is coming to selected Shoppers soon, I don't know how many shades. Review for the 2 shades I got is coming.

I regret not getting a NARS Boys Don't Cry (Pierre Hardy) blush and a Buxom coconut-scented Hot Escapes bronzer because of pinksofoxy :) Oh well, next time!

On to drugstore stuff. Karen from Frazzle and Aniploish was helping me hunt down goodies that I couldn't wait to get my hands on.

Yes, these :) They are the Maybelline Color Tattoo Duochromes that might show up in Canada later, but they are LE, I could not miss the chance to collect them all.

First row, from L-R: 10 Precious Pearl, 15 Blue Paradise, 20 Waves of White, 25 Shady Shores.

Second row: 30 Icy Mint, 35 Cool Crush, 40 Seashore Frosts and 45 Lavish Lavender.

I think Maybelline starts the numbering again just with this collection, so the numbers might happen to be the same with current shades, a bit confusing, but whatever. Swatches will be up soon.

More duochromes, in naii polish form this time.

Here are the Funky Fingers duochrome bunch with, from top left, clockwise, Venom, Pink Pixels, Mood Ring and Primrose.

Haven't got around to wear any of these yet, but they look awesome in the bottles. If Funky Fingers could do it, why can't others? I need more good duochromes, more brands should join the bandwagon!

Gotta give Funky Fingers an award for funny looking bottle shape lol. They are awkward to hold for pics.

More lemmings to fulfill, this is a Wet n Wild LE palette galore :)

In the background are the Color Icon eyeshadow medleys with a MegaLiner liquid liner attached, in 34120 and 34121 (no names).

In the front are the Color Icon eyeshadow palettes in Nude Awakening and Going in the Wild (LE).

No sign of these in Canada yet, at this point, unfortunately.

I was so happy to get my hands on the Jesse's Girl Julie G Frosted Gumdrops collection for cheap. It was on Groupon US for $13.99, I begged Karen to get me one.

From L-R: Blueberry Fizz (blue), Rock Candy (light green), Crushed Candy (lilac), Tangerine Dream (yellow orange), Sugar Rush (orange red) and Hot Cinnamon (raspberry red).

Making a rare appearance at the top is Maybelline Vivid lipstick in Blazen Berry. This is one of the two shades Canada missed out on, the one I wanted the most. Yes, I ask Tiffany for 2 tubes of it, just cause.

And you know these highly anticipated Rimmel Apocalips, don't you?

Rimmel said these won't get to the US next year, I don't even know if Canada will get them. And hell no, I won't wait till then to find out.

I got Apocaliptic and Stellar off echemist for $7.25 each, free shipping. Not too bad!

Wore them over the weekend, let's just say they are shockingly amazing. You gotta try at least one!!! Need swatches to prove it?

What's new in town? Milani shelf at Lawtons is fully stocked with new products that American bloggers have been raving about. It didn't help that the brand is 25% off this week with bonus Airmiles :)

I bought:
- Eyeshadow primer, reg. $9.99
- Multitasker face powder in Medium, reg. $10.49
- Color Statement lipsticks in 20 Uptown Mauve, 24 Black Cherry and 26 Nude Cream, reg. $6.99
- Color Statement lip liner in True Red, reg. $3.99.

Could have got a lot more with the eyeshadow pencils, blushes, etc. but I stopped there lol.

A brand new Cover Girl Flamed Out collection has showed up as well. Cover Girl is 20% off at Lawtons, so I caved.

I got 5 shades of eyeshadow pencils. From top to bottom: 300 Silver Flame, 350 Melted Caramel Flame, 335 Ashen Glow Flame, 345 Ice Flame and 310 Red Hot Flame, reg. $7.49.

Just a note, the names are only on the plastic wraps, once you peel them off, you are left with just numbers printed on the pencils. I hate referring to a shade by number instead of name. Frustrating!

The 4 eyeshadow pots don't come with plastic seals, so only numbers, no names. I got 345 (dark pink), 315 (blue), 355 (dark brown) and 325 (green), reg. $4.99.

Some good news from Lawtons. First, they now carry Wet n Wild, including the Fergie nail polish (not makeup). Product selections are similar to what we see at Walmart and Superstore, but Lawtons run sales more often :)

Second, those with good eyes will notice those little boxes on the bottom right corner in the pic. Yes, Real Technique brush sets have arrived as well, prices range from $19.99 to $23.99. Individual brushes will be available later in the summer.

Not pictured, but I also got an awesome deal at La Senza with their 40% off weekend promo. Sale on top of sale, and the loyalty discount, I got about 70% off regular price for the Body Kiss bras they have just launched. They are kind of awesome :)

I have done a lot of swatching and testing over the weekend, so stay tuned for reviews. Hope every had a good weekend and some good family time with loved ones.

I always love to look at blog sales, to find things that I can't normally get from here. And a few weeks ago, I found some good stuff to buy :-)

The first haul is from Keri at Glimmer Gloss Glow. I was extremely happy with what I got, as belive it or not, these items are all the first of their kinds that I own.

The nail polishes are OPI DS in Fantasy and Vintage, and Zoya Matte Velvet in Loredana. I don't have any OPI, not mentioning the Designer Series. Always love holo polishes, so I hasd to get them. I haven't had any matte colour from Zoya either.

I also got some Bare Minerals pressed shadows in Firelight, True Gold, Fire Opal (first row), Aurora, Trinity, and Firefly (second row). I already put them in test runs a few times. The colours are gorgeous, but they don't stay on the lids as long as my pigments do, unless I put extra work in prepping the lids.

Keri included some extras too:
- Stila Convertible Color (Lip & Cheek Cream) in Peony
- Barry M Shimmering Eye & Lip Crayon in #7 Golden Bronze
- Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-on Eye Pencil in 1999.
My first Stila and Barry M too, and I was looking for a liner that is not black. So, perfect!

Another haul came from Sara at The Makeup Snob. I love the drugstore items that she had.

Here they are:
- Milani Wet/Dry shadows in Shamrock, Black Out, Girls Luv Pink, Leaf Green, and Blue Lagoon
- Jesse's Girl Baked shadow in Moonbeam
- Physician Formula Face Sculpting Trio in Tan Organics
- Revlon ColorStay Mineral Finishing Powder in Brighten
- L'Oreal Wear Infinite Pressed shadow quad in Petals of Promise and Bouquet of Strength (LE).

It's exciting to have new makeup to play with.

Visit my blog sale too, if you are looking for some MAC. I made a tab at the top of the page for it too, for easy browsing. Have a good day.