CND Vinylux Weekly Polish in Daring Escape Review, Photos and Swatches

CND Vinylux is a Canadian brand of nail polish, from the creators of the shellac manicure. CND Vinylux is a weekly polish, that when used with the special CND Vinylux top coat is meant to last a week. The weekly polishes actually strengthen your nails, unlike regular nail polish which weakens and dries your nails. 

At IMATS Toronto this year, I picked up three colours of CND Vinylux. They were on sale for $6 each. Regularly they are about $10-$12 each. 

Here is the CND Vinylux shade Daring Escape, which is a medium blue-green with silver sparkle and shimmer. This shade makes me think of summer, it's bright and shimmery and almost tropical. But it's muted, not overly bright. 

All the CND Vinylux polishes apply beautifully. They're slightly on the thick side but enough so that they are easy to control going on and are opaque with only two coats.

This is two coats of Daring Escape plus the CND Vinylux top coat on top.  

Daring Escape wore on me for about a week, though I saw a bit of wear especially on my right hand after about 4-5 days.

I think CND Vinylux are great polishes, particularly if you find that nail polish tends to chip quickly on you or if it dries out and weakens your nails. Or if you like wearing nail polish and don't want to have to change it every few days.

One thing about CND Vinylux's selection is that they don't have a lot of textures. Most of them are solid, without shimmer. That's why I snapped up Daring Escape and Steel Gaze at IMATS. 

I really like this shade. It's bright and shimmery but isn't too dramatic.

Grade A

C.

Other CND Vinylux Weekly Polishes I've tried:

Dark Dahlia
Steel Gaze (coming soon)
Bloodline (coming soon)

Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Viridian Review, Photos and Swatches

Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Viridian

Illamasqua is on it's way out of Canada, very sadly. It was available at Bay stores and on the Bay website, but soon they won't be available to Canadians apart from on their website. As of today's date, The Bay is having a clearance sale on all Illamasqua products on their website and I believe, in store. 

I picked up a few items from the clearance sale online. You can see my review of Illamasqua's Salacious lipstick here and Illamasqua's nail varnish Vice here. 

This post features Illamasqua's Viridian nail varnish. It's described as a peacock green and has a metallic finish. 

Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Viridian

Packaging detail

There was a promotional card inside the nail varnish box, advertising Illamasqua at Sephora, which of course is no longer true. Illamasqua is not available at Sephora anymore either.

Promo card 

Promo card

From the Illamasqua website:

A spectrum of bold shades with a range of finishes including matt, rubber and high-gloss. Award-winning, extremely hardwearing and chip-resistant, there's an Illamasqua Nail Varnish for every shade of humanity. 

15 mL/0.5 fl. oz.

Illamasqua's nail varnishes are some of the best in the industry, in terms of formula, quality and unique colours and textures. They cost £14.50.

Let's take a closer look at Viridian.

I'm a sucker for green (and blue) nail polish, so while I already have a similar shade in Butter London's British Racing Green, I thought it'd be worth it since it was half price ($12 CDN). Also Viridian has bit more blue to it and was quite a bit more shimmery. I was intrigued.

Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Viridian

It makes me think of the ocean, deep and mysterious. It makes me think of mermaids and fish. 

Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Viridian

All the Illamasqua varnishes I've tried go on beautifully. Viridian was no different. It applied smoothly and was complete with two coats. 

Here it is on my nails. Gorgeous, right?

Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Viridian

I love this colour and have nothing negative to say about the formula. This is an absolutely beautiful nail polish, so if you like blue-green shades, you'll love Viridian. 

I would have no qualms ordering any Illamasqua nail varnishes online, even if I can't see them in person first. Their formulas are excellent and the colours and textures are innovative and unique. 

Grade: A

C.

Navy Smoke EOTD with Copper and Rose Compliments

This look was inspired by a look I've seen a number of times, typically on women with dark skin. Gayle King was a guest judge on the season finale of Project Runway Allstars which aired last week and had a deep blue matte smoky eye and it inspired me to take a look to see if I had the colours in order to try it out on myself. 

Turns out I don't have a matte deep blue/navy blue to work with but I have some shimmery deep blues and I tried them out. 

This is what I came up with and I like it! It's a great take on the smoky eye and this look would work well on most skintones, particularly on darker skintones and with brown eyes (the navy is a perfect contrast for brown eyes). 

This look looks a lot darker and less shimmery in person than it photographs. The flash obviously picks up the shimmer in the eyeshadow. I'd love to try this using matte eyeshadows. 

I used this Lisa Eldridge video as inspiration, though I didn't use the same products. 

The products I did use are:

• Calvin Klein Tempting Glance Intense Eyeshadow in Midnight Blue (shimmery navy blue)
• Sleek Makeup Ultra Matte Eyeshadow in Ink (matte deep sapphire blue)
• MAC Frost Eyeshadow in Deep Truth (shimmery true dark blue)
• Bloom Eye Definer in Black 
• L'Oreal Voluminous Mascara in Black

1. I started by pressing Midnight Blue onto my eyelid with an eyeshadow brush. Since I wasn't getting good pigmentation from it so I added some Ink to it, focusing on my eyelid. I wanted a dark blue, as dark as I could get so I layered and layered. I'll try this look again but using Ink instead of Midnight Blue, which I think is too old and dried out to use, though the shimmer of it nice for this look.

2. With a clean eyeshadow brush, I blended out the edges, making sure I had some shadow slightly above my eye crease. Blending is the key to wearing dark colours and for doing a smoky eye. You have to make sure there are no harsh edges. So blend and add and blend some more until you get the look you want - darker on the lid and towards the lashline and softening at the crease and above. 

3. Once I had the shape and effect I wanted, I used black eyeliner to line my waterline, working it into my lashline and smudging it slightly above. This step is key to a smoky eye look. If your eyes are particularly sensitive or tend to water, look for a pencil designed for sensitive eyes or a water-resistant version. 

4. To add a touch of brightness, I used an eyeshadow brush to apply a bit of Deep Truth to my crease about 1/3 from the inside corner of my eye. I also dabbed it to my lower inner eye. It's subtle but adds a brightness to the look.

5. I curled my lashes using my Shu Uemera eyelash curler and applied three coats of L'Oreal Voluminous Mascara in Black.

6. To compliment it, I filled in my brows with a bit of MAC Wedge (muted matte beige taupe) and Embark (matte reddish brown) eyeshadows and because blue and orange compliment each other, swept MAC Mineralize Blush in Warmth of Coral (coral-peach) along my cheekbones using an angled blush brush. On top of my cheekbones, to highlight, I swirled a little bit of MAC Extra Dimension Skinfinish in Superb (soft peach nude with multidimensional shimmer).

7. I wanted to keep my lips muted but softly enhanced, so I applied MAC Lipglass in Full For You. It's a MLBB gloss for me and one of the few lipglosses I wear (I'm much more a lipstick girl than a gloss girl). It adds a subtle rosy colour and of course, shine.

8. My base is my usual Sleek BB Cream with OCC concealer under my eyes and on red spots, but I used a dusting of MAC Studio Fix on my t-zone to give me a mattified look rather than my usual loose powder.

Overall, I quite liked this look. It wasn't quite what I was aiming for, but without a deep matte navy blue in my makeup collection, I wasn't going to achieve it. Still, this is a very wearable, fun, flattering, edgy blue-purple smoky eye that reminds me of the makeup looks I used to wear when I was younger. I never used to go out at night without a smoky eye. 

You could do this look with shades of brown or grey if you wanted a more traditional smoky eye. Or try it with purple or green or burgundy. 

Blues on the eyes are fantastic for making brown eyes pop. So take note, brown-eyed guys and gals!

Black liner in the waterline makes all eye colours pop. Without it, this look on me might not be so flattering. The blue of the shadow would overpower the blue of my eyes without the black liner. 

It's a very simple look. I used three different eyeshadow colours, but could've gotten away with just two - the dark blue and the brighter blue as highlight. And a black eyeliner pencil, that's it. This look is all about the blending. It should look soft, with no harsh lines. 

What's your favourite colour to do a smoky eye with?

C.

My First MAC Eyeshadow: MAC Tilt Eyeshadow Swatches, Photos and EOTD

I would suspect that a good number of women would say that the first eyeshadow colour they bought was a blue-green frosty colour. Mine was. Well, at least, the first MAC eyeshadow I ever bought was. 

I still have the very first MAC eyeshadow I ever bought and thought I might show you. I would have bought this in 1998 or 1999. It's Tilt eyeshadow, which MAC still makes, amazingly. Tilt is violet with blue-green frost, according to the MAC website and this surprises me, I actually have never noticed any purple in it at all. Now I can see it. 

To compare the old MAC packaging with the new MAC packaging, I photographed my Tilt next to a recent purchase (Wedge). 

The newer MAC packaging has the flip-top while the Tilt packaging has a screw-off lid.

White wording on a black sticker on the bottom. Note also, the raised MAC lettering along the edge of the eyeshadow. The newer MAC packaging has the fainter writing on a not-so-black sticker on the bottom. I can see aesthetically why they made the switch, but I've noted that it doesn't take very long for my eyeshadow labels to become very, very difficult to read. They get coated with product or get worn from rubbing against other eyeshadows. I wish the black on the stickers was darker and the writing was brighter. 

And here's that 12-14 year old Tilt. As you can see I didn't use much of it. I grew out of the frosty blue-green phase, I suppose, or perhaps I just never figured out how to wear it. 

Tilt's got a lot of shimmer, and depending on the angle, it can look green-blue, or blue-lavender.

I don't remember how I used to wear it at all. Probably as an all over the lid shade or as a simple eyeliner shade. Since it's still in pretty good shape, still creamy and not dried out, I thought I'd see if i could still do an EOTD with it.

Here's what I came up with!

I applied Tilt all over my lid (look how lavender it looks now!) with my Real Techniques Base Shadow brush. Along my upper lashline, I smudged MAC Contrast (purplish-blue with blue pearl) using an angle brush. Using my Real Techniques Deluxe Crease brush, I applied a small amount of Contrast up along my crease, very lightly. On top of that, and using the same angle brush, I applied MAC Mega Metal Shadow in Unflappable (frosted black with purple pearl) more heavily in the outer crease and lighter towards the inside. Blending, blending, blending and adding a little more and blending again. Using the angle brush I used what was left of the Contrast on it to smoke my lower lashline a little and pulling it up towards the crease in the outer corner of my eye. I wasn't sure if I wanted to use a purple or a blue to line my eyes and I only had one blue and one purple eyeliner to chose from so I opted for the blue. It's Philosophy eyeliner in Creativity, a bright navy-teal blue. I think a dark purple would've worked well, or a navy blue. Or even black depending on how fun or chic you wanted to go. 

I'm kind of amazed how different Tilt look on my eye. It looks like a completely different eyeshadow colour! I might be bringing it out more often now....

If you like the look of Tilt, MAC still makes it. 

Hope you've enjoyed taking a look at my first MAC eyeshadow! Do you remember what your first MAC product was? 

C.

Butter LONDON The Big Smoke Review and Swatches

I think I'm going to throw out all of my nailpolish and just buy Butter LONDON from now on. Seriously. None of my other polishes are cutting it compared to the BL shades. I just don't want to wear anything else!

This is the latest addition to my collection: Big Smoke. It's described as London's finest. Mildly metallic navy blue that's as naughty as a night in a smoky pub. 

The name "Big Smoke" is a nickname for London and refers specifically to the Great Smog of 1952. This polish is part of BL's regular collection. 

I love the deep navy colour and how it's got a metallic sheen, giving it a hazy appearance. 

Here it is swatched. This is with three coats and a top coat.

As with the other BL polishes I've tried, Big Smoke went on smoothly and was almost opaque with two coats but I used three which was more about my application skills that the polish itself. BL polishes dry quite quickly, which is one of the things I love about them. I've had this on for four days and there's no wear yet. The other BL polishes I've tried wear pretty well, giving me four or five days before showing visible wear. This one is no different (yet). The colour is true to how it looks in the bottle, and before drying. I love the deep blue shade and flash of metallic in certain light.

Sigh, yet another Butter LONDON polish to be in love with. I should just give in now, right?

Grade: A (I'd give it an A+ except the colour isn't totally unique and it is pricey (I paid $16.99 CDN for this polish).)

C.

Blue New Glasses EOTD

I got my first new pair of glasses since my teens recently. I finally have a pair I can wear out in public! Make-up wise it's challenging. My eyes look smaller through the lenses and although I opted to get translucent frames, I have to use more eye makeup to make them stand out.

Here's a look I did rather hastily one morning before work and thought I'd show it to you. I wouldn't normally wear blue eyeshadow to work but behind glasses it's not so obvious. I used MAC's Dandizette Mega Metal Eyeshadow and a bit of MAC Contrast.

Here's the look behind my glasses.

And here's the look without my glasses.

Basically, I smudged Dandizette messily on the outer half of my eye and blended up to my crease. I wanted it messy so yes, that's what I got! I used Contrast along my lashline on the outer half of my lashes and some product smudge underneath my eye as well. See, messy!

To finish the look I used Benefit BADGal Blue Mascara.

So there you have it, a messy but effective behind-the-glasses eye look! 

Glasses-wearers, what're your tricks for making up your eyes so they stand out behind your glasses? Tell us!

C.

Quick Post: Essie Nailpolishes Trophy Wife and Aruba Blue

Essie nail lacquer in Trophy Wife and Aruba Blue

Essie Trophy Wife

Essie Aruba Blue

C.