NOTD: Marc Jacobs Beauty in Louise (160)

If you're a regular reader of my blog, you may have noticed that a lot of products hold a special memory or meaning to me.  This nail polish is no different.

Last year right before I went to New York I was busy making my wish list as usual.  I always bring back a Marc Jacobs nail polish, to me these scream luxury and they are my guilty pleasure.  So while making my wish list I was strolling through the colors and noticed this one, named Louise.

A few months before, my bestie had just given birth to a baby girl named Louise.  Needless to say I just had to get my hands on this one (not just for me but also for my bestie).  If I'm honest, I was a little bit jealous.  I mean, who gets a nail polish named after them after being in this world for around 3 months?  I've been here 38 years and I've never seen a nail polish called AN (if you know one, please let me know).

So I thought it would be easy, just stroll in to a Sephora and buy two bottles of nail polish.  Sounds simple right?  Wrong!  Apparently this polish was part of a range that just got out and after spending 3 days in New York I still hadn't been able to find it.

And then came the last full day and we decided to walk the high line.  We were just casually walking towards it when I noticed a Sephora, a really nice Sephora I must say.  It was just around opening time and by now my travel companions all know that I can never, and I really mean never, pass a Sephora without entering.  'Just a quick look' I said, and in we went.

Without hesitating I went to the Marc Jacobs display but unfortunately without much luck.  My friend was trying out polishes on the separate nail polish display when she called me and there it was: Louise.  I immediately grabbed 2 bottles and went for the cash register (after 3 days of New York, I just cannot afford to wander around a Sephora anymore, it's just dangerous for me).

It's a very wearable color, a soft nudish pink.  A bit of a baby nude pink I think.  I love Marc Jacobs polishes, they are good quality, have a good brush and apply without streaking.  But this one holds a special place: little Louise, this little bottle will always put a smile on my face.

Where to buy:

You can buy the Marc Jacobs Beauty range exclusively at Sephora.  Sephora.fr does sell the nail polishes (€19,90) but unfortunately Louise hasn't made it over here yet so for now, you can only get it at Sephora.com (they ship to a very limited amount of European countries) ($18).

Urban Decay Naked Smoky Palette

Once you’re hooked, there’s just no going back.  I’m talking about the naked palettes by Urban Decay.  I remember chasing after the first one (which was always sold out everywhere) and finding it in a Sephora in San Fransisco at opening time.  There were 4 palettes in stock and I took 2 (one for me and one for the bestie), sorry not sorry for the people coming after me.  Mind you, this was like the 10th Sephora I visited that trip and the only one that had it.  That was the trip my man first got to know Sephora, learned that MAC isn’t always short for McDonalds and saw a Naked Palette bring pure happiness to his girl.

It was a good marketing trick, making sure stock is always low, the product is hard to find and bloggers write about it.  It became a cult product, a legend on its own.  A good quality eyeshadow palette with only natural/nudes in there.  Since than almost every brand has come out with a similar palette but they started the whole thing.

UD had added 2 more naked palettes and of course the 2 naked basics (that are great for traveling) to their range.  And like I said, once you’re hooked, that’s it.  So it should come as no surprise to learn I almost have them all.  The only one missing is the Naked Basic 2, I’m still planning on getting it but waiting on a promo of some sort.

from left to right:

High, Dirtysweet, Radar, Armor, Slanted, Dagger

Black Market, Smolder, Password, Whiskey, Combust, Thirteen

from left to right: High, Dirtysweet, Radar, Armor, Slanted, Dagger

from left to right: Black Market, Smolder, Password, Whiskey, Combust, Thirteen

And now Urban Decay came out with this one: The Naked Smoky palette.  Sure you can make a more ‚natural’ look with this palette but there mostly darker colors in there, perfect for the smoky looks.

Just like most palettes these days there is a booklet in there on how to make certain looks.  I love this!  I’m no make up artist and even though I watch tons of tutorials on youtube, I really love these little ‚how to’s’, they just make everything look so easy.

I love the packaging, it’s very solid.  It has a plastic case which makes it easy to clean and has a magnetic lock.  No need to push hard to close this baby!

The shadows are great quality, as usual with Urban Decay but I especially love the glittery shadows.   To me they scream girls’ night out!  I really need to plan more nights away just so I can bring out the full potential of this palette.

And of course UD is a real make up brand which means they know you can't do much with a 'sponge thingy' so instead they give you a full size dual end brush with which you can make all the eye looks in the booklet.

Where to buy in Europe:

I bought mine at feelunique.com for €53,58 (I did have a £5 discount so I paid less) but you can also find it at Sephora.fr for €49,95 (they charge shipping so feelunique will probably be cheaper).

NOTD: Michael Kors Impulse

I'm not one to buy a lot of fancy high end nail polish.  There are just too many drugstore brands out there that have good quality nail polish in their range.  But every now and then a girl just has to spoil herself.

2 years ago in Macy's New York I decided I was going to treat myself to a Michael Kors nail polish.  I'd already bought a red Marc Jacobs polish at Sephora so I wanted something different this time and Impulse was just that.  A bit different from the usual colors I buy but very wearable and just an overall great petrol like color.

As I was holding the bottle, still contemplating on whether or not to buy it, it was suddenly snatched out of my hand by my friends (because yes, it does take at least 2 persons to make me lose my grip on a bottle of nail polish).  They decided to give to me as part of my birthday present.  Fine by me! Just one problem here: my birthday was over a month away and I didn't want to wait that long to put this on.  So we compromised: they got me the nail polish, I could keep it right away but I had to choose a second part of the present and no matter what it was I had to wait on it until my birthday. Great deal, huh?  (The second part was the smoky palette by Urban Decay so the waiting was hard but I survived.)

The quality is great, it applies easily, has great coverage but I especially love the packaging.  It just radiates fanciness! 

I have worn this color quite often that fall but somehow I forgot about it last year.  I'm pretty sure it's not going to be ignored this fall/winter though. 

Where to buy:

Michael Kors make-up is available for al you Belgian/Dutch reader at Douglas.nl, the nail lacquers cost €19.

NOTD: HEMA Jelly Beans matt nail polish in Coral

Matt coral red nailpolish?  I think this is the only one I have.  Coral by Hema the Jelly Beans range. 

 

I put on 3 coats and it still didn't cover my nails fully but other than that it was an 'ok' formula.  

The matt finish is hard to photograph, I've tried many times and this is the best I could capture it.  Not super excited about this one but just ok.

The brush is a little too small for my liking but that's personal.

Where to buy:

You can buy these polishes at HEMA for €2,50.  There is currently a 2+1 promotion on nail polish at HEMA.

Phyto 7 hydrating day cream for dry hair

Sometimes you just can’t make up your mind about a product.  You just don’t know if it works or not.  I have those feelings for the Phyto 7 hydrating day cream for dry hair.  I first read about it on Lisa Eldrigdes website, I think it was a post about her in-flight routine.  I’d never heard about day cream for hair before but it just immediately made sense to me. So of course I went out and bought it.

It is exactly what it says that it is: a day cream for your hair.  You apply it everyday on towel-dry or dry hair, just a pea size of product through the hair, focussing on the ends. I use it everyday, after my make-up and right before I leave the bathroom.  It’s not greasy and it doesn’t weigh the hair down.  I’d never heard about a day cream for hair but like I said, it makes sense somehow.

I don’t know what I was expecting but I never really had a ‚wow’ moment with this product.  I just started using it and it found its way  in my daily morning routine.  And last week it suddenly hit me that the tube was getting empty.  What now?  This is the first time I actually had to start analyzing my feelings towards a product.  Normally you just know if you like it or not, you just know … but with Phyto 7 I just couldn’t tell.  The only thing I can tell is that my hair is in good condition, even though I use a straightening tool.  And to be honest, the thought of not having it in my daily routine scares me somehow.  To me, that’s reason enough to order a new tube.  

Where to buy:

You can buy Phyto 7 hydrating cream at your local pharmacy (€13,50 for 50ml).

NOTD: Rimmel London 60 seconds super shine in Sand And Deliver (495)

I wasn’t planning on buying a nail polish but I had to.  Seriously, I HAD to.  You see, there was a promotion on bol.com, 3 for the price of 2 on all Sally Hanssen products.  So I had to order 3 bottles of Insta-Dri for a total of €19,98.  Of corse free shipping starts at €20 so I HAD to buy a nail polish (shipping costs are a total waste of money in my book).

Go for something different, I told myself.  No corals, reds or pinks but a color that you don’t have in 20 different shades yet.

Insert Rimmel London 60 seconds super shine in Sand And Deliver (495).  I was a bit disappointed when it arrived, I thought the color looked really weird and I really didn’t know what to expect.  But once it was on my nails I had to admit that I liked it, I like it a lot actually!  

I don’t have that many Rimmel polishes and I always wonder why when I use one.  They are great quality, have a great brush and have a great price.  Greatness overall!

Where to buy:

You can buy Rimmel 60 seconds at the drugstore (in Belgium Lookiss, Di, Kruidvat) for €3,99.

Catrice LE Lumination nail polishes

About every 1,5 months Catrice brings out a new Limited Edition and I knew there was a new one coming out around august 15th.  I was expecting the 'Sense of simplicity’ collection and I was looking forward to it because the polishes were such nice colors (and I was actually curious about the bouncing eyeshadows too).  You can imagine my surprise when instead I found a different Limited Edition called 'Lumination’ in the store.

I was a bit disappointed, these polishes aren’t exactly my colors or my favorite kind of finish and not at all what I was expecting.  But being limited I just had to get them of course.

from left to right: C01 Interstellar, C02 Cosmic Pink, C03 Stargazer, C04 HoloGREYphic

They apply streaky sometimes, which is quite normal for these finishes, but I’ve had worse.  The color range is a bit weird to me.  The pink color is definitely an outsider.  I can’t understand what it’s doing in this LE.  The other colors did remind me that fall is coming and with fall come the golden/bronze colors to prepare us for the holidays.  Favorite color here is without a doubt C01 Interstellar.

I’m still hoping that the Sense of simplicity collection will be available in Belgium soon.  I can’t wait to get my hands on that one.

Where to buy:

You can buy Catrice at Kruidvat, the polishes from this LE cost €3,49.

Catrice Colour Brightening Base Coat with Keratin

To me base coats are a necessity but not really the most of exciting products.  You need one to prevent colors from staining your nails and if you can combine that with a nail hardener to strengthen your nails than you’re all set.  I used to be a big fan of the Orly bonder formula but since  I’ve started using a nail hardener as a base coat, I really haven’t missed it.

There are some base coats out there that have a specific use and this one by Catrice is supposed to intensify your color.  I wanted to try it and I used my newly saved Essie Action as my guinea pig.

one coat of base coat on the left, two coats on the right

To me the base coat is just a white nail polish but with the correction fluid finish.  I can imagine putting a nice shiny topcoat on there and no one would notice the difference between a white polish and this base coat.  I put on 2 coats of it because 1 didn’t cover very well and I didn’t want to risk seeing the streaks through the polish.

So 2 coats of Colour Brightening Base Coat (01 On Top Of The Alpes) followed by 2 coats of Action by Essie.  You can definitely tell the difference.  This combination makes me even reassess my feelings for Action.  From hate to love?  Not really, but from hate to like?  Definitely. 

I can imagine you can get the same effect when using a normal white polish as a base but I’d opt for the Catrice version instead of using my white - mostly Essie and therefor more expensive - polishes.

Where to buy:

You can buy Catrice Colour Brightening Base Coat in the color 01 On top Of The Alpes at Kruidvat for €2,99.

Playing nail polish nurse

While I was going through my nail polish drawers, I came across this little one.  My very first nail polish gone bad, Action by Essie (summer 2012 poppy-razzi limited edition).  I bought it while on vacation in the US at that time and I really can’t remember pulling it out ever since.  But seeing the shape it was in, my heart just broke.  Immediately I kicked into nurse mode determined to save my patient.

I don’t know why it went bad.  My guess is that it has to do with the formula, it is a neon polish and the formula is definitely different from other Essie polishes.

I don’t believe polishes can go bad the same way fluid make-up or skincare can.  They can become tacky or shift like this one, but when it comes to bacteria it’s a totally different story than with make-up or skincare.  So if you can solve the tackiness, you can use your polishes as long as you like.  

When my friends and colleagues hear about my nail polish problem, one of the first things they usually say is „you’ll never be able to use them all, what do you do when they go bad?” and ever so often someone will reply „when they go bad, you have to put in a few drops of nail polish remover”.  My heart always stops when I hear this and I just want to scream ‚NOOOOOO’.  You don’t have to be a scientist to see how wrong this is.  Nail polish remover dissolves nail polish, that’s what it’s made for and that’s why it does what it does.  When your nail polish gets tacky, you don’t want to dissolve it, you just want to make it thinner.  So please use the proper product for it: nail polish thinner!

I added 2 drops of the OPI Nail Polish Thinner to my Action polish and gave it some time to work it’s magic.  And it did!  An hour later, I gave it a nice shake and it was as good as new.  Oh, and before you frown your brows at me, yes you can shake your nail polish bottles.  I know this puts air in the polish which can result in little bubbles when using it, that’s why you shouldn’t be shaking it right before you put it on (it’s best to roll the bottle between two hands if you’re going to use it right away) but if you give it a little rest after shaking, no harm is done.

My first polish gone bad and my first polish I saved.  Job well done!

So while I’m at it, I might as well make a swatch of it I thought.  As soon as I put this polish on I immediately knew why I hadn’t pulled it out since buying it.  This is probably the only Essie polish ever I hate.  I can’t put it any nicer.  I hate the formula, I hate the color (I feel like it makes my hands look sick) and even after putting on 3 coats it still doesn’t give me full coverage.

And it’s an older Essie polish so it still has the smaller brush, which I’m not a big fan of.

Overall, I’m very pleased I managed to save the little one but that doesn’t mean it’ll hold a special place in my heart from now on.  It will however star in my next blogpost which will be on the blog tonight.  Stay tuned!

Where to buy:

I don't think you can still buy Action through the usual channels, but I'm sure you'll be able to find it on e-bay if you really search for it.  You should be able to find OPI nail polish thinner in the stores that sell OPI.  Currently theres a 10% discount on feelunique.com costing €16,20 instead of €18,00.