Salmon Mate

Corals. Ugh. That's what I usually say because they don't suit me, ever: in make-up, in clothes, in polishes. Except some very cold shades of coral, only then they don't make my skin look dirty and/or sick, lol. One of such shades is Sinful Colours Soul Mate: 

Soul Mate is a soft dusty pink coral shade, quite whitened and with a cold undertone. Complex description of a complex colour, hehe :)

The formula is great, very opaque yet not goopy, the application is nice - except one thing: the brush. It's just sooo harsh that it leaves the furrows on the surface. Either I will have to change the brush, or to try to work in easy quick strokes barely touching the surface. I wonder if it's the problem of all Sinful Colors?

Oh, well, I couldn't but stamp it :) So I took the Bundle Monster BM-306 plate and white Konad polish and stamped some flowers over the salmon.

I'm not really satisfied with how the white polish transferred, but noone is perfect :) I don't know if it was the problem of the plate or of my stamping skills.

Do you have any Sinful Colors? What do you like in them? :)

Nevskiye Berega 2013: Part II + Pool Party

About a month ago (Sep 26-27) I attended the 2d beauty fair in my life :) I'm sure that you have read about my first experience already, and this time it was the same fair - Nevskiye Berega - it turned out to be biannual!  The difference between the spring and autumn fair is only the size - the autumn one was smaller. Some brands/companies were missing, eg. Color Club, Essie, El Corazon etc. So below I'll just post some pics of the newly seen things, otherwise you can see my full report on the spring fair here. 

First to mention - Dare To Wear polishes. Reeeeaaally attractive colour palette for me :)

And the DTW crackles, although I don't really like crackle polishes.

Zinger: this brand is quite wide-spread in Russia due to their manicure/pedicure accessories. Now they produce polishes too, quite nice looking. I got a great clean-up brush from their stand :) 

Krimle: "American line" they say, but are they in reality? I don't think so.

POSH: never heard of this brand. But it was the only stand they were trying to kick me out from because I was taking pictures. Hmm hmm.

CM Polishes: same here, no idea what they are, but looking boring, don't they? :)

Random brands: I only remember IT Girl. Never tried it though.

What did I grab? Even though I was less enthusiastic than the last time, I got 3 polishes: an old lemming of mine - Dare To Wear Kiss The Rain and 2 China babies (Pool Party and Shocking Pink) that were on sale for 2EUR each :)

A whole roll of lint-free pads, nail wheels and a curls forming gel. I'm a curly girl, yeah :{

Manicure correction brush (Zinger), a new Konad m89 plate and two things that work wonders: Cuccio Nail Whitening Paste (all bloggers have the yellow nails problem I reckon) and a buffing (!!!) and sealing nail file. The latter is actually made of steel (!!!) and I could hardly believe it works, being afraid to apply it for the 1st time even... but it's magic, believe me!

Can't let you go before I show one of the polishes I got, sorry :D Both of them were a spontaneous grab, I think I was in need of extra bright colours. So here it is, now one of the brightest of my whole stash - China Glaze Pool Party:

Coral/orange neon crelly would be the description, and the name.. it's rather a fire brigade party. Hot as hell and so SO SOOO in your face you can't imagine!!! Notice that it's a neon, but I still think that my camera did a good job on reflecting the colour. Beware, I've seen a lot of "weird" and "wrong" swatches on the web. The shade still worked its wonder, and namely the autumn colour therapy - I did like this polish as a result, even despite its application. 

What's with the application? Well, it's awful: you'll need 3 to 4 coats to cover all the bald spots. Don't forget about the top coat, because the initial finish is like neon rubber - no gloss at all.

Close-up, although it was not any necessary: 

I think I'll stop here. Do you buy a lot on beauty fairs? :)

Coral Reef

What's wrong with me and the coral colour? I don't know, honestly. When I was a kid, my mom told me that I should not wear salad green and bright coral shades, because the colours don't suit me at all. I never questioned that, until recently - we went shopping (with mom), and I wanted to try on a bright coral top just for fun - suddenly it suited me so well, the damn colour! My mom said we should grab that top immediately, and when I reminded her of the words she told me years ago, she laughed and said she never remembered that. Parents... they say random stuff and we have child traumas ;) 

So the top was exactly the colour that I'll be showing today - a bright coral shade of Avon Coral Reef. Reminding you, my official supplier of Avon polishes is Antallex, to whom I'm very grateful! :) 

Coral Reef is a neony (not fully neon though) coral polish with a tiny tad of white, very glossy and quite in-your-face. I was wearing it in winter and the colour therapy worked perfectly :) 

No problems with application at all, 2 coats and fast-drying. No staining, no chipping.

For those who wonder if they really need another coral - here's a comparison of Avon Coral Reef vs. Essie Cute As A Button vs. Orly Pixy Stix. Coral Reef is the brightest of all, Essie is just a little more muted, and Pixy Stix is the most whitened. 

As for me, you don't need all 3 polishes, maybe only you are a frantic coral-addict :) Are you? :)

Toulouse

A very special story today. A story why I bought Mavala Toulouse, what it means to me, and why. The shade is not even not my favourite.. It's all about the name. Here is where it all it comes from:

In the beginning of my -teen ages I read one French novel, where the main action took place in XVII century in Toulouse, France. I loved the book, and re-read it 2-3 times more afterwards. Some years later, very randomly I met a French guy in the Internet - interesting to talk to, handsome and charming. Besides, he played guitar and sang in a band. We used to spend days and evenings chatting and fooling around, we sent SMS to each other and even exchanged gifts. The whole thing was so romantic, and if you know the French people, you'll understand what I mean... :) But apart from that, I had my real life, and it was very vivid, too. So, I met some other guy in "real world", and my priorities shifted. The French guy did not want to accept it - well, his right, but I felt very pity about it. We stopped any communication, although for me it was hurtful, and I know for him too. Funny thing: we STILL have each other on Skype, but never write to each other. Never. We never met in reality, too.

Oh, the guy was from Toulouse. And the swatches below are made in the room where I know he was once. 

Enough romance? :) Some words about the shade: coral pink semi-jelly, not very easy to handle as it's very runny. Needs 2-3 coats depending on your wish/time, dries fast though.  

And it's also a very sun-friendly polish! Look how it shines:

Uf, now that I remembered all these times I became so melancholic :) But I guess I wanted to share this. Imagine if he crosses upon this post one day, hehe. 

Sunny Pink

For a while I haven't posted about the polishes I don't really like. You see, I choose every bottle for my stash very carefully, putting in and out of wish list loads of polishes. Max Factor Sunny Pink is a special case. Firstly, I spotted it looong ago, but was never really willing to pay 5€ for 5ml of hell knows what. Suddenly, the was an offer "buy a mascara - get a polish for free!", so I couldn't refuse (Max Factor mascaras work very well for me), so I took Sunny Pink home. But after I tried it... 

Firstly, it's VERY sheer. I needed 3 coats to wear it, but my inner frantic perfectionist demanded the 4th coat to get rid of any signs of VNL. Secondly, it's streaky - it's not that bad, and with some effort you can apply it evemly. Thirdly, the drying time.. is emmm.. average. Not slow and not fast. But with 4 coats, you know.. ; )

What caught me in this polish was the magic golden shimmer - I can never resist it. Also, surprisingly, the shade did not conflict with my skin tone, although I expected it because there is a touch of coral in this polish. Lastly, the name is quite cute, so is the bottle and the brush. And the name really SUITS the polish, that's becoming a rare case nowadays. 

BUT: Don't get enchanted (in case you like such shades). Otherwise you will be swearing this polish for application - better pick something similar from other brands. Oh, and about brands: this is my only Max Factor polish. So far I don't feel like trying out more : )

Golden Soul Mate

Still struggling to understand my attitude to coral pinks. To be more precise - the degree of awfullness of their combination with my skin tone. After my experiments with Rose Bowl (warning: sit down before you click the link) I haven't painted my nails with coral shades for a year. Now, the spirit of experimentation woke up inside me again and I decided to wear Sinful Colors Soul Mate while my hands are white and not yet touched by the sun tan.

Just like the first time (careful, OLD SCARY swatches) when I wore it, I have mixed feelings: it looks better than I expected, especially outside, but I still realise it's not the best shade for my skin tone. The polish itself is pretty nice: thick and opaque. The brush is a mess though. After wearing it solo for a day, I spiced it up with noname gold shimmer:

Conclusion: I like such shades. And I won't stop wearing them just because I think it works not so perfect with my skin. Like my father used to say (stuffing me with strawberries when I was like 5 and had diathesis), "if you know you shouldn't, but you want immensely - do it". So I will : )