NOTD: Layering Fun!

A while ago, I saw an amazing post on Dizzy Nails (Original Post HERE). Go check out her post on it; her pictures are amazing!She says that it was a manicure that was inspired by some girls on the MUA boards. When I saw her take on it, I was floored!! It was such an amazing combo, I literally had to do my nails right away!~
It was so amazing because I actually owned all the colors she used! The colors include:

~Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear 'Purple Pizazz'
~OPI 'Last Friday'
~Clarins 230

Here is how mine came out:


How to Achieve this Look


1. Apply one or two coats of Sally Hansen Purple Pizazz.
I applied two, but I think one may be better. This is a gorgous purple jelly with red shimmers.

One coat

2 coats

2. Apply one coat of OPI Last Friday.
Of course, you can use another glitter if you don't have this one. Just make sure it's a sparse glitter and that the base color is very sheer. This glitter works great because the glitters are a little chunky, but not too big.

3. Apply one more coat of Purple Pizazz
This will incorporate the glitter into the the polish, making it look like the glitter was part of the purple polish. If you wish you can stop here, because it actually looks really beautiful already!

4. Apply one coat of Clarins 230. Then apply a top coat.

You are done!!! Here is the mani in the sunlight:

Hope you enjoy this, and let me know what you think of this mani!

Enter my Giveaway HERE!!!
For a chance to win some Tarina Tarantino products, MAC jealosy wakes, or Le Metier de Beaute nail polishes!
Check out http://bloggers.com/ ~ I was chosen for today's Editors' Picks!

OPI 'Moving Out' Vs Clarins '230'

The infamous Clarins 230, or as other like to call it, Unicorn Pee. I could imagine that Unicorn Pee would be  something like the Clarins 230. Or maybe they have some Unicorns in a shed and they make them drink water all day and bottle up their pee and sell it to the black market and it eventually gets into the hands of people like me. O_o"
Clarins 230  is so difficult to get and it does not come cheap. But what if I told you that there is a a similar polish out there, and that I am giving one away? What would you say? "F*** yeah!" better be your response.;D (Giveaway is closed! Winner has been selected. Congrats!)

That some-what-close-dupe is none other than OPI's 'Movin Out'.

After using both polishes with different bases, I came to the conclusion that Movin Out is a very close dupe, but not a dead on dupe. They both have the same duo chrome shimmers, but they have different colored bases. Clarins 230 has a sheer, dark purple, jelly base while Movin Out has a sheer, frosty pinky-purple base.
You will see from the swatches.

*Both products were swatched over OPI 'Ogre-the-Top Blue'

In this lighting, you can see that both have reddish pink shimmers. It is more obvious in the 230 because the base is darker and Moving Out has a  frosty pink-purple base that competes with the shimmers.

Here you can see the difference in the base colors.

Sorry for the blurry pic. It is hard to capture the different colors.

In this lighting, both polishes have golden shimmers. Again, it is more obvious in the 230 because of the base color.

This picture is really blurry, but it was the only way I could capture the green tones of this polish. Again, the 230 has the most obvious green tone, but Movin Out also has it.

What did we learn? That Movin Out is close, but not a bullseye. Still, it is a gorgeous polish that will tame the lemming for a Clarins 230 just slightly.

Clarins '230' a.k.a Unicorn Pee

I am so excited to show you guys this nail polish. I got this not too long ago in a swap, and I have been trying to find the best way of using Clarins '230.' If you have not heard of this...well, have you been under a rock? This is a very hyped  nail polish, especially because it is discontinued. :(
I must say that this is one of the most amazing nail polishes I have ever had the pleasure to come across.

Like seriously, look at that magnificent bottle! This is like a rainbow in a bottle. Pictures cannot even hope to grasp its entire beauty! I am in love. But all good things have to come to an end. I am so sad that this is so hard to find, and super expensive. But at least I have my one bottle T_T

Product

The formula is kind of sheer. Not a bad sheer though. If you use this alone, it looks like a jelly purple with  tons of micro shimmer. It is very pretty on its own. BUT, it looks much better when applied over another color. I have been trying to find the best color to put under this. I tried so many, but I was not happy with the results. Then, I heard from tons of different people to try this over a bright blue color, specifically Revlon's 'Royal' nail polish. I actually owned 'Royal' so I gave it a shot. Abra Cadabra! We have a winner! These two polishes were ment to be together. To be joined into one single manicure which will give the wearer unthinkable happiness. I could seriously wear this for eternity. I own many nail polishes, but if I could susbstitute all of those for endless amounts of these two nail polishes, I would. In a heart beat. Now lets see some pictures!

Swatches

Firstly, lets see what 'Royal' looks on its own.

And for reference, I have two coats of 'Royal' and one coat of '230'

Now, with '230' on top.

See that it changes so drastically depending on the sun exposure? Pretty amazing. I also failed to capture the green chrome. Yes, it also turns green. I actually really like how it looks in indoor lighting too. Very unusual looking!

What do you guys think?

Haul: HauteLook, Swaps, and random puchases

Spring break is a time of indulgence. And I have definitely over indulged during this spring break. A lot. I have bought many things lately; an after affect of final exams most likely [Right...I will keep telling myself that]. I am sure I am not the only one who uses shopping as a way to release stress :D

I have a couple things I want to show you guys, and hopefully I can review all of these soon.
I still have Fyrinnae shadows to swatch and review, those will come in due time. I also have a pretty huge nail polish haul as well. [See, I have been over indulging!]

First, I have two Crown Brush brushes from a Haute Look event.

[L to R]: C405, C404

C404 - Small Duo Fiber Blender Brush: This was $6.50 on Haute Look, retails for $10.43 on their website.
It is a small duo fiber brush that I like to use for cream blush or for highlighters. You can also use it for foundation, if you are patient enough. I have not yet noticed shedding, and I am really liking the brushes. I am not sure how this compares to the MAC 188, but they seem to be similar.

C405 - Contour Blush Brush: This was $6.99 on Haute Look, retails for $11.26 on their website.
This is an angled blush brush. It is great for blush or for contouring. I mostly use it for contouring.

I got both of these to get rid of my desire for the MAC equivalent of these brushes. Although MAC brushes are great, they are expensive. I cannot justify spending $40 for one brush at the moment. Besides, I already have other brushes and there really is no need for me to buy a $40 brush. But these are affordable and good quality, so why not?

You can see that I had just used them xD

Next are two items that I recently got from swaps. I have already shown one in a previous post and the other I have not yet shown.

[L to R]: MAC 'She Who Dares' and MAC 'Azalea Blossom'

MAC 'She Who Dares'

MAC 'She Who Dares': Mineralized eyeshadow from the Venomous Villains collection. Most of it is a blue color, and the other is a green color. I really like this, and I really wanted it when the collection came out. But I thought I should save my money, so I did not buy it. But I began to want it badly, so I ended up swapping for it on Makeup Alley. I traded it for something I had received for free, so in a way I got this for free. Swapping is a really awesome thing. You can get rid of something you don't use, and get something you really want.

MAC 'Azalea Blossom' Ombre

MAC 'Azalea Blossom' Ombre: I have wanted this blush sooooo badly. It has been haunting me for a while now. I was originally planning to buy this when it was released in the Color Forcast collection, but it was sold out by the time I went to get it. I was lucky enough to find someone who wanted to swap this. I am so delighted to finally have this. I absolutely love it! It is so perfect for me. It is a gradient of pink and a light purple. I do not know why, but I love the idea of a purple blush. If you mix the two colors together, you get a mauve-pink shade.  But the purple on its own does come up purple on the cheeks.If blended out slightly, it actually looks quite nice. As you can see from the picture, the purple only takes up about 1/3 of the entire pan.

Next, I have a very exciting bunch of nail polishes. One of them, the most exciting one by far, was also a swap. Guess which on I am talking about from this next picture:

Well you might not be able to tell...

But naming them from left to right might give you the answer!

OPI 'Shim-Merry Chic', OPI 'The One That Got Away', Clarins '230', Hard Candy 'Sky'.

Well? How about now? Yes, the famed Clarins 230, AKA Unicorn Pee. This is most likely the most wanted nail polish ever! I am currently experimenting with it, and once I am content, I will review it. It is definitely most disappointing that it is a discontinued color :(

OPI 'Shim-Merry Chic' is a limited edition color from a holiday collection. I bought this on eBay for about $8. This is a very interesting color. A bronzey shade that contains green and orange flakes. Very unique!

Next, I ended getting OPI 'The One That Got Away' which is from the Katy Perry collection. I already have the rest of the colors, and it caught my attention in a local beauty store. I just went for it and bought it.

Hard Candy 'Sky' is a most peculiar sky blue. I don't usually like sky blue nail polishes, but this is a very pale color, and it has a beautiful bright blue shimmer and sheen. By far the prettiest sky blue nail polish I have seen. At $4, I can't really complain either. Bought at my local Walmart.

If you want to see a review on any of these, please be sure to comment below. Thanks for reading!

~Yami<3