Nail Color of the Day: Sephora by OPI Metro Chic

This was probably one of the most talked about nail color around this time last year. So I picked it up last Christmas but haven't worn it much since. I've probably used it only two times in the past year. Last Friday, I decided to give it another try and painted my nails with it. Here's how it looks:

Sephora by OPI Metro Chic the day it was applied

It's a very "interesting" color. I can't quite put my finger on it. It's a taupy grey color with a hint of purple. I can see why this is such a popular color. It's very unique. I also think this looks a lot better on shorter nails than longer nails.

Application is pretty great, and it's not streaky. I painted two coats and a top coat (Seche Vite). The only thing is that I wish their polishes could have a wider brush. I find the brush to be too small so I have to keep re-dipping the brush which is just a little annoying.

Since last Friday, I've been wearing this for about 5 and a half days now. Here's how it looks right now:

Sephora by OPI Metro Chic after 5.5 days of wear!

Can yo see how little chipping there is? I found that to be quite amazing. Usually OPI nail polishes last no longer than 3 days on me without chipping. I have to say this exceeded my expectation. I think I'm going to do a nail polish wear comparison just to give everyone an idea of how long each brand usually lasts.

Overall I like polish especially for the long wear. This is quite expensive in Canada though which is a major con. Sephora by OPI nail polishes retail for $12.00 in Sephora which is considerably more expensive than regular OPI nail polishes which retail for between $7 to $9 a bottle. The color is very unique but it might not be flattering on every skin tone.

MakeUpAddict.

Review: Clinique Acne Solutions Spot Treatment Gel

This Clinique treatment is also really popular. The sales people at the Clinique said it is one of their best selling products and that it "really works". I purchased it after my breakout madness in the hopes that it will help with my break out. Here is what it looks like:

I've used quite a bit of it. A little really goes a long way with this product. the tiniest amount covers a large area.

This is the opening, pretty sanitary.

It's just a clear gel. Can you spot it on my hand?

It smooths out really easily but leaves a sheen on the skin.

Let's read the claims again: "This fast-drying gel is applied directly to blemishes to help diminish their size while promoting quick healing. It works immediately to soothe visible redness and irritation. Formulated to remain invisible, apply either under or over makeup."

Onto the review. This little tube costs $17.50 CAD or $14.00 USD which is really inexpensive for acne treatment. I'm pretty sure this will last at least 4-6 months, just look at how much I've used in one month! However, I feel that it does little for my acne. =( I really wanted this treatment to work since the people at the counter made it sound like a miracle worker but it has proven to be a disappointment.

When this product dries on the skin, it leaves a tightening feeling which I really liked and saw it as a sign of it "working". However, I've noticed no reduction in pimple size OR redness. If anything it caused a little bit of added redness on my skin. Keep in mind though, I have a LARGE area on my face covered in acne, it might have worked on some small pimples but overall here is no visible result. It's not all bad though. Since it dries to a thin film, I do like this treatment for acting as a barrier between my acne and the environment, especially after I just squeezed the pimple. I feel that it kind of protects it from bacteria.

This product claims to be good to be applied under makeup but that is completely not true. When I apply makeup over this gel, the concealer and foundation separates on top of it making the spot even more visible. I would definitely NOT recommend applying it over makeup.

Overall it's not a treatment worth purchasing but I won't be returning this either since I feel like it does have a bit of function as a barrier for my acne. Definitely not a miracle worker. However, Clinique does have a very good return policy so if you are interested in the product, you can always just go purchase it and try for yourself. If you don't end up liking it, you can always return it to Clinique. Again, this is only my personal opinion it might work for other people!

Overall Impression?
Quality: 5/10
Price: 8/10
Packaging: 8/10
Overall: 6/10

MakeUpAddict

Review: Queen Helene Mint Julep Mask

This is one of the most popular masks in the beauty community. I have owned this long before my break out. Here is what the bottle looks like.

As for the product itself, it's just a mint green clay-like mask:

It's pretty easy to smooth out on the skin:

Claims:

"Mint Julep Masque is the original natural home treatment developed by a dermatologist that helps dry up acne pimples, rinse away blackheads and shrink enlarged pores. Simply apply Mint Julep Masque to your clean face and neck. Within minutes it firms and hardens , drawing out impurities from your pores. After the masque is removed, your skin will feel clean, refreshed and smooth. Even for individuals who are fortunately free of skin problems, Mint Julep Masque is a refreshing facial treatment that helps relax tired muscles and ease tension lines on the face and neck. "

On to the review. So, this mask feel super soothing, it has a very refreshing scent and gives you face a tingly feeling like it's being cleansed. It does live up to it's clam to help you relax muscles and feels super great on the face. This is definitely an enjoyable treatment for the face. However, I DO NOT see any visible reduction in the size of my pimples or the size of my pores. In the first month and a half of my break out, this is the only treatment I used religiously three to four times a week. After a while, I realized that it is not really improving my skin conditions. Sure, it feels great on my face, but it did NOT live up to it's claims of "drying up pimples, rinse away blackheads, and shrink enlarged pores". I do, however, have to give it credit for being a great acne prevention treatment for those with good skin. Before my breakout, I rather liked this product since it helped me even out my skin tone and prevented pimples. Even then, i didnt notice any visible reduction in the size of my rare pimples but I felt like it did clean my pores pretty well.

Even though the masque did not help my current acne problems, it did not do my skin any more harm either. I don't have too much to complain about the masque especially since it's very inexpensive (only a couple of bucks in the drugstore) and one tube will last you forever.

Bottom line, this is a great masque for those with good skin. It will help you prevent or even treat small pimples but perhaps it is not "strong" enough to treat acne porn skin. Great everyday mask for acne prevention but sadly not nearly good enough to clear up my break out situation. (Keep in mind that this is just my personal opinion).

Overall Impression?
Quality: 6/10
Price: 10/10
Packaging: 8/10
Overall: 8/10

MakeUpAddict

Operation Acne Clearing!

I don't know why but my face just started to break out BIG time about two months ago now. It started in early September and you can not even imagine how saddening it is. I am very frustrated about the break out since I'm not the type of person that usually gets acne. My skin used to be pretty clear besides the monthly pimple or two. This whole break out situation is kind of new to me and I'm trying so many different products to try and clear it up!

I've noticed that this break out issue has been quite common lately so I've decided to track my acne progress. I have had to basically get a completely new set of skin care since I usually dont get much acne problem. Instead of getting one set of skin care, i have decided to get a lot of different acne treatments that have very great reviews and a lot of people recommend. So for the next few weeks or months (hopefully weeks), I will be reviewing different products that I have and give my two cents on how i feel about the effects!

MakeUpAddict

How to do French Tips

I probably do my french tips a little different than most people. Here is all you're going to need:

1) A base coat (clear or pink). I used OPI's Natural Nail Strengthener.
2) Super fine nail brush
3) White acrylic paint
4) Mixing plate
5) Water
6) Top coat. I used Seche Vite's Fast Drying TOp Coat (this is optional, you can just use your base coat again)



Now that you've gathered everything here is what to do:

1) paint the base coat and let it dry
2) In the mean time, put some acrylics on the mixing plate with some water. Water will make it a lot easier to apply since the consistency is not as thick.
3) Dip the brush into the paint/water mixture and paint on white tips! This is super easy to do, just follow the white like on your natural nail and fill it in.
4) let the paint dry! This is very important. If you don't let it dry, it wont look good.
5) Apply top coat and you're done!

See how simple it is? Try it next time!

MakeUpAddict

Nail of the Day - French Tips!

I got really bored last night so I decided to French Tip my nails. Here is the result!





And the other hand,


What do you think? It's super simple but it makes your nails look so neat and done. This is probably one of my all time favorite things to do. Makes you look a lot more polished then just a plain nail color.


MakeUpAddict

Nail Color of the Day - Revlon Steel-her Heart

I picked this up just this Monday in Shoppers Drug Mart. It was on sale for only $3.00 CAD which is a very good deal. The application process is pretty good but the color is a little streaky. It took me two coats to get this coverage. It is a very gorgeous silver metallic color very in style for the fall season. I'm absolutely IN LOVE with this color!!

This is my first drugstore nail polish in a very long time and I have to say I'm impressed. This is definitely worth the 3 dollars and you should check your local Shoppers to see if they have any polishes that you like!


MakeUpAddict

New Makeup Set Up!

As previously mentioned, I recently moved back on school campus so I had to rearrange my makeup again. This is a sneak peak of how they look right now.



I have all of my beauty products together. There're nail polishes on the left, perfumes in the middle, and finally makeup on the right!


MakeUpAddict

Styli-Style Flat Pencils Review!

From Top to bottom: Milano Milan, Perlin, and Madrid.

These are the Styli-Style Flat Pencil eyeliners. They're relatively cheap at the drugstores (I can't remember exactly how much they cost) and they work wonders! The only down side is that you do need to buy special sharpeners for these. I have three colors as shown above. Let's first talk about the flat tip.



As you can see, the tip is very flat and sharp. It makes it very easy to draw a fine line with no skills required. I was never good at eye lining, these pencils saved my life! In those mornings when I really don't feel like messing with gel liners (since they do take more time) I can just grab one of these and line away. I can't stress enough how easy it makes lining your eyes. The formula is very creamy so it does not tug on eyelids AT All. The result is very fine and precise line and it's very hard to mess up. It's fast, it's simple and it looks amazing.

From Left to right: Berlin, Madrid

The pigmentation on these aren't bad at all. Berlin is definitely my favourite color. As shown above, it's a very deep chocolate brown with subtle shimmers. Madrid is a mid-toned blue. The lasting power is quite descent. I'd say you can get a good 4-6 hours of wear which is really not bad for pencil liners. It does fade slightly throughout the day so I'd recommend setting with a powder. I wouldn't recommend using this if you have a very long day ahead of you but they're great for school/work when you only need makeup to stay fresh a shorter period of time.

Overall Impression?
Quality: 9/10
Price: 10/10
Packaging: 10/10
Overall: 10/10


MakeUpAddict

I am BACK!!

Sorry for the lack of posts in the past two months. I went to Ecuador for a month in July for a volunteer project then I went to Taiwan for a month to volunteer in a hospital. I'm finally back in Vancouver and moved into my new dorm room. Now that everything is settled I can start making blog posts again!~~ Yay~

Small Haul

I went to the mall with the intention of picking up a rain coat but I came home with these on top of the rain coat. Like always, I end up buying more than I intended. It wasnt too bad this time though, I only picked up three more products.

OPI Dim Sum Plum, OPI Bubble Bath, MAC Jazzed

Jazzed came out with the new in the groove collection. I went into MAC to just look over the products but this one really caught my eye. I was debating whether or not to get it when the MA told me they only had one left. So, I took it as a sign and got the lipstick.

It's just the most gorgeous coral color perfect for summer! It glides on like a dream and the color pay off is just perfect. Swatches and more photos coming up!


MakeUpAddict

Nail Color of the Day - OPI Bubble Bath

I got this nail polish yesterday so I decided to try it out and wear it today. It's a gorgeous soft pink color that would suit any skin tone. Unfortunately though, the pay off of the polish isnt the greatest. It took me three coats to get the color to show up the way it did. The application process is typical of all OPI polishes, easy to spread and dries fast.



The color looks slightly darker in real life than on camera.


Again, color looks darker in real life.


I do think this is a gorgeous color and it's something that I can wear without really thinking too much about what to match with it since it's such a natural color. I would've liked it more if the color was more opaque but it's definitely worth the work!


MakeUpAddict

Sneak Peak: My Makeup Collection and Storage!

Here's a very quick sneak peak of my makeup storage area. I will do a more in depth post later with all the products I have!



I found a really great lipstick and pencil holder at Daiso (it's a japanese dollar store) and they are great at keeping my makeup organized. I will definitely go more in detail later!


I keep everything I use daily on the top. There's my lipstick collection, mascara, eyeliner (pencils), eyelash curler, primers, foundation, eyebrow powder, and concealer. It just makes it so much easier to grab in the morning rather than having everything stored in the drawers.



So I basically keep all of the makeup that I grab everyday on the top.Makeup that I use on occasion are in the pink shelves you see on the right and my blushes are in the green shelf on the left. Some of my backup makeup is in those two red boxes and my single ended brushes are mostly in the brush holder cup (with the exception of some that are currently getting washed).


MakeUpAddict

Update on Claire's Mood Polish

I noticed that the Claire's Mood Polish started to chip after about 3 days of wear which is shorter than normal polishes I own. I found myself removing the nail polish today (day 5) just because it has started to look really worn out. I usually wear my other OPI nail polishes for around 6-7 days before I have to remove it so the Claire's polish is a little less durable. However, with that being said, I do have to take into account that the Claire's polishes are a lot cheaper in price. I applied two coats of the polish as well as the Seche Vite quick drying top coat which usually elongates nail polish wear time for me. Overall, the polish looks great on but it doesn't have the best nor longest wear. I would still recommend it though just because the whole concept of it is AWESOME and the color does look great on. I wont mind having to reapply this more often than other polishes I own.


MakeUpAddict

Claire's Mood Polish in Wild/Calm

Two days ago, I found these polishes at Claire's and I thought the idea was pretty cool so i bought two to test them out. Here's my conclusion: they're awesome!! I have to be honest and say that I was VERY skeptical at first since Claire's isnt exactly known for their high quality but these have definitely blown my mind. So the application part is pretty decent, non streaky and spreads evenly. I have two coats on in the pictures plus a top coat. These also don't take too long to dry which is always a bonus and it doesn't have an overpowering nail polish smell. So what's so cool about them is that the color changes when the temperature of your nail changes! It goes from pink (warm) to purple (cool).

Here's how it usually looks like:


As you can probably tell, it's mostly pink with slight purple on the ends. Looks like I got a french manicure!



When I put my hand in cold water, it turns into a lighter pink. It can even go slightly lighter than shown in the picture.




And, lastly, if i merge my hand in warm water, it turns dark purple (it can be slightly darker than shown)!


These really do as the claimed and the color change is very visible! They retail for $5.95 CAD but it's currently on a buy one get one 50% off special. I would definitely recommend grabbing a few to test them out. They're really fun to have in your collection!


MakeUpAddict

Small Nail Polish Haul!

I know it's been a long time since I last posted but a lot has been going on. So, let's start off with a small nail polish haul!! These are just some nail polishes that i picked up over the past week.

From left to right: Hot & Spicy, You Make Me Vroom, Natural nail strengthener, funky/fabulous and wild/calm

Hot & Spicy is a GORGEOUS coral color and I've already tried it on. It's a great color for spring/summer. You Make me Vroom is just your classic everyday red but I havent had the chance to try it on yet. The claire's mood polishes are a great find and I will talk more in detail later but basically, they're just color changing nail polishes based on your nail temperature! How cool is that?! Lastly, I just ran out of my nail strengthener so I picked up a new one.


MakeUpAddict

Urban Decay Friends and Family Sale!!

Urban Decay is having their Friends and Family sale from April 6th to April 19th. Everything on their website will be 30% off with the coupon code: 1SFNF at check out. Definitely take advantage of the sale and stock up on UD favourites or try out things you've always wanted!



MakeUpAddict.

Overview of My Nail Polish Collection

Over this past summer (summer of 2009) I took an nail design class and that's when I really started collection nail polish and started painting my nails. Prior to last summer, I only own two nail polishes: one nail strengther and one pink nail polish (it's sheer luck). As you can probably see, my collection has grown since then. Here is what I currently have:

OPI:The colors are: natural nail strengthener, the "it" color, it's sheer luck, yoga-ta get this blue!, you don't know jacques!-matte, and lincoln park after dark

These are some of my Mini's (the clear polish is just to show the size difference) the colors are: rapidry top coat, shorts story, on the same paige, and a grape fit!

Here are some miscellaneous nail polishes I own:

These are: Rimmel Powerhouse, Sally Hansen white tip, Sally Hansen urban chic, Sally Hansen pretty petal, and Just Nail black

These are: Essie mint candy apple, Sephora by OPI Metro Chic, Sephora by OPI Domestic Goddess, and Seche Vite dry fast top coat

As you can see, I own some really "popular" nail polishes like Lincoln Park After Dark, Mint Candy Apple, and Metro Chic. I actually just received Mint Candy Apple from a swap today and havent gotten the chance to test it out yet. It looks like a gorgeous color though. Lincoln Park After Dark is actually one of my favourite winter nail polishes. It's a very dark purple color that looks a lot more sophisticated than just painting your nails black. As about Metro Chic? I havent quite decided yet. It is an unique color but I personally dont see anything "special" about it. Maybe the love will come with time.


Have you seen enough nail polishes yet? That's not ALL the polishes I own though. Remember I mentioned I took a nail design class? Well, here is my "kit" (not including the fake nails and tools to trim them):









Hope everyone reading this would find it at least interesting. More beauty related posts to come! (makeup collection, reviews.)


MakeUpAddict - Arent we all?