Sparkled Beauty

It has been a long time since I posted a NOTD. I still wear nail polish every day, just don't have the habit of taking pictures anymore.

I haven't bought new nail polish for a while either, until a bunch of Formula X collections showed up on Sephora sale page in the last week. You might see more nail polish on here because of that, starting today with a Kiko Cupcake texture shade.

This is 650 Peach, still matte with different coloured "sand" texture, but unlike the first 2 shades from the same line that I tried - Wisteria and Pistachio, it took 2 coats to even out.

The colour is quite unique in my texture stash, so I would not mind an extra layer. And it wears beautifully, I can't complain.

The bottles in Kiko Cupcake collection are 0.37oz/ 11ml, reg. $4.90, on sale for $1.90 each at the time my friend bought it for me. Absolute steal!

After a long time being available in the US (in stores and online), Kiko still does not show any interest in entering Canada. Such a shame, cause their makeup is awesome too.

It took me a while to go back to the Kiko Cupcake nail lacquer bunch after wearing Wisteria in September. I got carried away with holiday nail polish this time of year.

Today's spotlight is 656 Pistachio. Again, only the number is printed on the bottle, and I had to refer to their website for the name, which I find inconvenient.

If you don't remember the Cupcake line, it includes polishes with multi-colour grains and matte Sand/ Sugar finish.

The "grains" sure illustrate the name accordingly, and I love their colour combinations, which work well with the pale yellow base. Quite different and lovely.

Similar to Wisteria, Pistachio also takes one coat with light touchup on random bald spots (my application, not the nail polish's fault).

And the wear time is similar too, over 2 days which is good on me.

Good size bottle (0.37oz/ 11ml), reg. $4.90, on sale for $1.90 each on Kiko US website.

Kiko has always been an out-of-breach brand for me since forever. When the brand launched their US website a few months ago, my friend helped me get a few things.

I certainly could not pass up their Cupcake nail lacquers (with Sand/ Sugar effects and multi-colour grains, matte finish), reg. $4.90 (0.37oz/ 11ml), on sale for $1.90 each.

Among the 10 shades, I got the 5 that are not the popular/ traditional colour choices for textured polishes. The first one to show you today is 653 Wisteria. The name does show up on the website but not on the bottle, so I include both for your easy reference.

This is one thicker coat but a bit of touchup here and there for even finish. Pigmentation and the (medium) texture are great.

The colour stays more true to the name on my nails than in the pic with more of that purple tint. I love the different colours of the "grains" too. Despite the flash, the base is definitely matte, and I did not add a top coat, as usual.

Glad to say that Wisteria wears really well on me, not even a tiny tip wear spot pass the 2 day mark. If you are a fan of textured polish, give Kiko Cupcake line a try, especially at this discounted price.

I am super late in trying this colour out, considering my Europe haul was from last year lol.

This is Kiko Rosso Glitter Sparkle Touch #237. I don't know if this colour is discontinued, as it is not on Kiko website anymore. Their nail polish is on special sometimes for €2,50, great time to buy if you live where the brand is available.

I like Kiko from what I have tried so far, it just sucks that we don't have access to it here in Canada.

I know this is more of a summer colour, but I needed to talk about something bright and warmth today. We had a frost warning last night, and it was 8 degrees (about 46F) when I left the house this morning. Sure it is warming up but I'm not ready for this type of weather just yet. I still have a number of dresses to wear without being bundled up.

Anyway, this is 3-4 thin coats of 237, in natural light. It is sheer but buildable, work best as a glitter top coat if you aren't into putting on so many layers of it.

I personally don't mind that, as I found painting my nails are relaxing and comforting. It is actually a way to slow down my breath (like yoga). I try to keep the brush off the cuticles at all times, so if that fails, I know that I was impatient. Very therapeutic huh?

The gold and pink shimmers/ flecks are subtle but more visible with flash in this last pic. These, and the reddish pink base make it a very cheerful nail polish.

I hope I cheered some of you up. I needed it too. It's just Tuesday and I'm ready for the weekend already.

No, I didn't get to go to Europe but am lucky to have a big enabler that hunts stuff down for me where she lives and where she travels. You probably remember Marie from Mon Coin a Moua through my France swap last year. She is in a blog hiatus for a while now but we still keep in touch. She always offers to pick me up some stuff and send them over.

This first batch of stuff, she got from London a while back but couldn't send them to me because of the Canada Post strike.

I tried to be good and didn't ask her to get too much. There wasn't any LE Sleek palettes around at the time, so nothing for me there.

I got a beautyuk eyeshadow palette #2 and some MUA (Makeup Academy) £1 range: lipstick #7 and eyeshadows #2, #7, #12 and #14, all Pearl finish. It's silly with all numbers as names, but nothing I can do there lol.

And then, nail polish. Prices are for reference only, I'm shocked sometimes of how little these cost compared to the quality
- H&M Hunt Me Down - I couldn't find this shade at my store here, €3.50
- P2 Crackling top coat in Golden Rush, €1.75. This completes my main colour range for crackles
- Essence Colour & Go in Where is the Party? - duochrome goodness, €1.25, and a Nail Art magnet, €1.79, to work the few magnetic nail polish I have. We'll see if it works.

- Kiko #237 Rosso Glitter Sparkle Touch, #278 Viola Orchidea Microglitter, #255 Viola Microglitter and #231 Multicolour Paillettes Sparkle Touch, €2.50 each. Only numbers on the bottles but there are names on their website. I have always wanted to try Kiko, they aren't easy to get a hold of.

Catrice has been coming out with fabulous LE collections lately and I'm absolutely in love with how they look and even their names.
- From the Papagena collection: Tigerlily Crystal Clear Gloss Stick, €3.99. Same concept as the Maybelline Pop sticks
- Out of Space collection: Beam Me Scotty! nail polish €2.49, Supernova Skywalker and Back To Pandora baked eyeshadows, €3.49 each. There'll be more nail polish and eyeshadows from this collection coming my way, I wanted to collect them all
- Glamourama collection: Drama, Baby! and En Vogue Absolute Eye Colours, on clearance for €1.50 each, woo hoo! These 2 shades show up on camera brighter than IRL. Can't wait to do more smoky eyes with them.

The box she sent the stuff in was packed to the rim. See what she sneaked in as extras for me:
- Essence You Rock! collection: Cut Off the Beige, Love, Peace and Purple, Kings of Mints and Speed of Light Blue
- Essence Sun Club in BBC Splash Refresh.

How cute are those tiny little bottles (7ml)? They are slightly bigger than the Colour & Go line (5ml) but are still babies next to the Sun Club (11ml). Love the colours she picked for me, especially Love, Peace and Purple with the duochrome sheen.

Then there's more.
- Catrice Absolute Eye Colour palette in The Season's Must Have
- P2 Kiwi Cuticle Peeling
- P2 Me, Myself and I nail sticker
- Essence Blossoms Etc. eye pencils in I Like and Bloom-a-Loom
- Essence You Rock! lip stain in Your Pink is on Fire
- P2 Home Sweet Home Everlasting eye primer in Little Darling, and
- P2 Happy Blooming eyeshadow in Cheerful Lilac.

Besides cute names, the packaging is adorable too. Can I have these brands here, please? All of them? I'm clueless of what to try first, can't decide. What do you want to see first?