OPI Tomorrow Never Dies

I love this color! This is another James Bond polish, Tomorrow Never Dies. OPI calls this an "intense purple". This is a true blurple. In some lights it's a beautiful royal blue and in others it's a perfect royal purple. There are some shimmers showing in the bottle but it doesn't really come across on the nail. Still, it's a perfect two coater and a just fantastic color. I didn't realize I would love this as much as I do. I've been using the same Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure base coat and Insta-Dri top coat. I love the top coat, it's fast drying and super glossy but I'm unsure on the base coat. I have a huge problem with my polish peeling off my nail and this base coat doesn't really seem to do much more for me than my OPI base coat. I'll keep testing it out but so far I'm not super impressed.
I've got four more Bond polishes to go! Does anyone have any recommendations for what to do about my polish peeling problem?

January 2013 Favorites

I haven't done a monthly favorites in so long! I've been wearing makeup so much this month, it would be impossible for me to not show you some of my recent favorites!
Garnier Moisture Rescue Lightweight UV Lotion - My skin is pretty dry most of the year but it's the dead of winter so my face has been a peeling flaky desert all month. I basically just pulled this out of my stash of half used beauty products to use in addition to my regular day and night creams. It's not the most incredibly moisturizing but it does help and it's not too heavy. I love it!
Urban Decay Dew Me Moisturizing Makeup Setting Spray - Another product to help my poor parched skin. This is fantastic at making me look dewy, feel a little less tight and dry and setting my makeup so it lasts all day.
Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream - This has been my favorite foundation all month. If I can't say it enough, I need the extra moisture and this provides a little coverage, enough to even me out. I can't really say if it's a true BB or not but I see this as a fantastic tinted moisturizer.
Benefit Erase Paste - I've recently picked this back up again as my undereye corrector. I definitely put concealer over it because it would look unnatural on it's own but it's really the only thing that covers up my very dark undereye circles. It's kind of expensive but it's so thick and creamy that it will last you forever.

Benefit Sugarbomb - I have this as part of the Sugarlicious kit and absolutely adore it. The four colors together make a great everyday nude pink cheek that fits in with the very natural looking face I've been doing most days. I'll probably order a full size once I hit pan on this.

MAC Jest and Copperplate - I recently depotted my MAC shadows and put them in my palette and I'll show you that soon but it really renewed my love for MAC eyeshadow. I've been wearing this combo a ton this month. I sweep Jest all over my lid and use a fluffy brush to put Copperplate in my crease. It's still nude looking without being any of the usual suspects.

And that's it! It felt so nice to do a monthly favorites again! If you posted January favorites, leave a link in the comments and I'll check them out!

Project Pan January Update

Yay for shiny turtle bowl! I was so excited to pull this thing out to put on my vanity and it's just perfect for holding my project pan. I've been wearing makeup so much this month but I actually don't have that much progress to show for it.

Yup, I hit pan on this powder! But I don't know if this actually counts. The big chunk was where the powder cracked one time when I was using it and most of what came out of that got thrown away because it was making a mess. That little tiny piece I actually did hit with my brush. I think I'm going to keep this in for now, just to see how much progress I can make in a month. I'd like to remove a powder from my collection because I really want to buy Benefit's Hello Flawless powder. Sam has been using it and really loves it.

Other than that, I've really been finding it difficult to restrain my spending this month. I'm going to try harder this month. It's been so easy to just pick up one of the awesome new things that are at the drugstore but it's time to put that habit aside, at least for now.
Anyone make some good progress this month? Or are you being like me and not restraining yourself at the drugstore?

OPI Skyfall

 

 Jenn wanted to see Skyfall next so here it is! It's a tad bit more vampy in real life but this is fairly color accurate. OPI simply describes this as a maroon. If you want a more exact color description, I say Skyfall is a vampy raisin red. It definitely falls into the oxblood trend that we saw in the fall. This was two easy coats followed by Sally Hansen Insta-Dri topcoat. A lovely color that I will definitely enjoy wearing. It's a nice change of pace to wear a cream instead of a glitter or shimmer color. It feels so polished and sophisticated. I'll definitely be trying the other creams in this collection next.

Again, I didn't get to see this movie but I've definitely missed my chance until it comes out on DVD. We had planned to go the week of Thanksgiving but we were both sick and wouldn't have been able to find a sitter anyways. We will definitely rent it when it comes out though!

Any ideas of what I should swatch after I'm done with the Bond polishes?

2/16/13 ETA: We watched Skyfall last night so I feel compelled to right a mini review of it for this polish. It was by far the most intense Bond movie I've seen but I absolutely loved it. It lacked some of the silliness of other Bond movies but I think this one really required that. I love Ralph Fiennes and I think Daniel Craig makes a fantastically modern and fresh 007. I was so distracted by the polish Sévérine was wearing, trying to see if I could guess what it was and I think it was this one but I'd have to double check. There was just something about the relationships between Bond and the other characters that I really loved about this one. Oh and I think Eve is my new favorite Bond girl!

Current Wishlist: January 2013

I know, I know, Christmas wasn't even a month ago. But we are well into the Spring collections and I've got Christmas cash burning a hole in my pocket. Besides my last wishlist post was 3 months ago. So let's take a look into what I've been lusting after recently.

1. Legit Asian BB Creams
I've tried a few American BB creams and I can't imagine they are anything like the Asian BB's. No one would get this hyped up over these formulas. They're nice but not what I was hoping for. I've been reading Musings of a Muse for BB reviews and I think these are the ones I want to start with. If you're curious, these are Skin79 Gold Super Plus, Skinfood Aloe Sun, Holika Holika Peach Girl, and Holika Holika Moisture Petit.

2. New Drugstore Goodies
It has been so long since I've gotten excited about new things at the drugstore but it seems like every brand has something new I want to try for Spring 2013. Cover Girl has their Outlast nail polishes, Outlast foundation and Lipperfection jumbo gloss balms. The concealer crayon from L'Oreal looks awesome. I've never tried a Maybelline Color Tattoo but I want the new Barely Branded shade. And I love their Age Rewind dark circle eraser so I really want to try the dark spot one!

3. Perfume
I hardly ever wear perfume. 99% of the time I wear a body mist from Bath and Body Works or Victoria's Secret. I have one perfume that I love but it was discontinued a long time ago. I'm also one of those people who connects scents to memories and times in my life and I want a new one for this new chapter we have started. I've smelled all of these and can't really decide. I'm trying to decide between Kate Spade Twirl, Taylor Swift Wonderstruck, Coach Poppy, and Juicy Couture Viva La Juicy La Fleur.

4. New Eyeshadow Sets
I seriously don't need any more eyeshadows. And yet for some reason I really really want these. The Becca quad is super expensive but the name of it is Galactica and it's all colors I would use, so naturally, I need it. Everyone and their mom has the Lorac Pro Palette and I'm smitten. Mattes and shimmers of the same shade? I'm in. Again, I'm a Benefit fangirl and I've never tried any of their eyeshadows so I really want one of their new neutrals sets.

5. An iPad!
The only reason I haven't made any purchases since Christmas is that I'm contemplating getting an iPad. And obviously, I would get a Vera case for it, probably the tablet sleeve with a matching snap on case.We've wanted one for so long but now that it's a possibility, I'm hesitant to pull the trigger. We haven't bought anything this big for ourselves besides our computer in November. But it's so awesome and we miss the portability of a laptop. An iPad would be a great compliment to our desktop because it would do the things we wish our desktop could do. I'm one of those people who 1. struggles to make decisions like this and 2. wants things but struggles to part with large sums of money no matter how much I want something.

So that's it! If you have an opinion, let me know! As much as I want all of these things, that's just not possible. I'll be sure to post some kind of haul if I do make a decision. Is anyone else as surprised as I am that there is only one nail polish on this list?

OPI The Living Daylights

Yay glitter! I think I'm going to try to finish out my James Bond polishes since we seem to be on a roll with them! This is The Living Daylights which is over On Her Majesty's Secret Service. TLD is copper, gold, silver and turquoise hex glitter in a clear base. I did one coat and this only took minor dabbing and pushing from me to get a nice spread of glitter. Overall, I really love this glitter. I think it fits the collection well and can go over a lot of the polishes. I'm just not sure what it is about this polish, it feels like a more grown up glitter. I definitely recommend a thick topcoat over it, just to keep the glitter particles from catching on things. One of my favorites from the collection for sure!
Would anyone be interested in seeing a round up post of these polishes once I finish? I know I say this one's my favorite in a ton of posts but maybe I could make a list of the ones I feel like are really really worth owning?

E.L.F. Studio Cream Eyeshadow in Dawn Review and Swatches

I haven't been doing favorites posts for a while now but I wanted to tell you about one of my current favorites, ELF's Studio Cream Eyeshadow in Dawn. I purchased it in June 2011, used it a few times and just forgot about it. I pulled it back out in December, sprayed some Fix+ on top to help soften it up and I've been using it pretty much every other day since then.

The studio cream eyeshadows are much different from the essentials line cream shadows. The essentials are sticky and have a lot of slip and never really dry down or set. This feels light and blendable. It's a much drier texture but it never feels greasy or sticky. I only use my fingers to apply this because it does need the heat to be really workable.

Dawn is a light cool toned taupe. It pretty buildable from really sheer to fairly true to pan (pot?). I don't know if I was using this all over if I would attempt to build it up to really opaque because I would be worried it would crease with that many layers. Cream shadows tend to do that. But as a sheer wash, this would be a nice color base.

Top: light, blended swatch. Bottom: Heavy swatch

This is how I've been wearing it. I always use a primer underneath. I run the color along my lashline, taking my time to build it up to fairly opaque. Then I use what's left on finger and blend it up until I don't have any harsh lines. I'll usually put a little highlight under my brow and that's it.

It doesn't last forever but I rarely ever need eye makeup to last all day. For $3, I'd say give it a shot. It's been a staple in my routine lately.
Anyone else have some ELF favorites to share?

OPI On Her Majesty's Secret Service

What can I say, I'm loving these Bond polishes! This is On Her Majesty's Secret Service and I think this is definitely one of my favorites from the collection. It was three coats and an absolutely fantastic formula! OPI calls this a misty green pewter and I'm not quite sure that's how I'd put it. It's very hard to describe. It's a dark gunmetal type color with kind of a green/gold duochrome effect plus some blue specks. So multidimensional, SO gorgeous. You should be RUNNING to go find this right now.
I used a new base coat and top coat with this so I'll let you know how I like them. Base coat was Sally Hansen's Complete Salon Manicure Base Coat and top coat was Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip. The top coat is great so far, very shiny and fast drying!
I didn't actually watch the corresponding movie for this but if I do, I'll be sure to tell you what I think.
Any requests for polish swatches? I'm loving the Bond polishes but if there's something you want to see, let me know!

Four or More

I saw this just a couple times on youtube but I really liked the concept so I figured I'd blog it! The idea is simple, show all the products you own four or more of.

If I haven't said it enough before, I love the NYX Mega Shine Lip Glosses. They are a perfect gloss formula and really inexpensive. The shades I have are La La, Beige, Crystal Soda and Tea Rose.

I also have four NYX Lipliner Pencils. The formula is ok. I got four because they were on sale and I didn't have any other lip liners. If you want some, this range is a great place to start because there are a lot of colors, they are pretty good quality and inexpensive. The shades I have are Rose, Peekaboo Neutral, Bloom and Hot Red

I have six of the Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters! I've heard them described as the lipstick girl's alternative to lipstick and I think that's pretty accurate. They feel buttery and smooth on the lips and are not high maintenance like lipsticks tend to be. I have six shades, Pink Truffle, Candy Apple, Brown Sugar, Berry Smoothie, Raspberry Pie, and Sweet Tart.

Four ELF Essential Lipsticks! This is a great pick for those who don't know what works for them yet. The selection of colors isn't the biggest out there but at $1 it's a great jumping off point. I have Classy, Sociable, Flirtatious and Fearless.

Seven MAC shadows! MAC's eyeshadows definitely deserve at least most of the hype. The line is HUGE and while they are on the more expensive side, they are generally very good quality. I have Shroom, All That Glitters, Mulch, Motif, Jest, Woodwinked, and Copperplate.

Finally, I have the entire line or Rimmel Glam'Eyes HD eyeshadow palettes. I did win the full set in a giveaway. They are nice shadows but in poorly thought out packaging. Still, I would highly recommend them!

And that's it! I did leave out my ELF Hypershine lipglosses because I figured I bought them in a set so they don't really count. It was surprising how many products I had three of. If this had been called Three or More, this post would have been twice as long. Overall, I find that I do like to experiment with different formulas and brands so if I do collect four or more of a product, I have to really like it. If you are interested, go ahead and do this tag and post a link in the comments so I can read it!

OPI Live and Let Die

Another Bond polish! This was my Christmas mani. Live and Let Die is a deep forest green with yellow green shimmers. It was absolutely perfect in two coats. It did take forever to dry, even with a fast drying top coat. I like this color and it is very unique in my collection but it just doesn't WOW me. From an arm's length it looks almost black.
As usual, we watched Live and Let Die when I put this on. It was Sir Roger Moore's first Bond film and we all know he's my favorite Bond. Live and Let Die is the MOST ridiculous Bond movie I've watched so far. Don't get me wrong, they can all be just a little silly but this one was just crazy. I still enjoyed it and would totally recommend it if you are a Roger Moore/Jane Seymour/70's movie fan like I am. Plus I already knew the theme and love it!