China Glaze: Sunsational Cremes

Sent for Review

Hola!! After enduring a terrible work week, I thought I would chase away all my sorrows and brighten up my weekend with some neons (pun completely intended)!

Despite all the hype over neon colours in the polish community, I have always avoided neons because I found them too stark and too eye catching for my taste... that is, until I saw the promotional pictures of China Glaze's neon releases for summer 2013. The pastels called to me and my eyes were immediately drawn to the blues and greens. I knew I had to have them. And I was right! Take a look:

Disclaimer 1: I've tried my best-est of best-est to get colour accurate pictures but my camera just refused to handle so much awesomeness. They are brighter in person.

Disclaimer 2: I did not go for any tanning session. The neons are so bright that my camera (and even my eyes) decided that I must have become tanner some what. Silly them.

Too Yacht to Handle.
Yup, this is a almost-neon sister of the famous For Audrey. It looks identical to For Audrey but when you put them side by side, you will notice the difference immediately. Too Yacht to Handle is a bajillion times brighter and For Audrey looks really dusty in comparison. Too Yacht to Handle also comes across as being slightly greener. Both are gorgeous in their own right.

Hightlight of My Summer.
A yellow-leaning pastel mint green. I really like it more than I'd expected. It is really bright. I'd thought Illamasqua Nomad is bright but it pales next to Highlight of My Summer. Nomad also has a tinge more blue than Highlight of My Summer. Yup, I do love these two colours.

Sun of A Peach.
An eye-searing neon peach. Ughhh I love this so much - unexpected favourite. Awesome colour with an awesome name to match. Just plain awesome. I wore it when I dropped by my workplace during my call break (needed to settle some personal matters) and my friend was completely blown by how fluorescent my nails were. Yup it is that bright.

Neon & On & On.
A neon pink with just a touch of coral. I thought I wouldn't like it but the coral is making me mince my words. Also an unexpected favourite.

Bottoms Up.
A neon bubblegum pink with a touch of blue. I am sure this would grace Barbie's nails during summer.

That's Shore Bright.
A bright red-leaning purple. The least neon of the collection - is it a neon? Nonetheless, it is still a fun summery colour to sport.

Now, you may have already heard of this already. The formula of these colours are not the nicest to work with. They apply streakily and do not level on their own. I suspect the white in the pastels is not playing nice - as usual. I found that it helped a little to use piCture pOlish's Revolution (meant to be a glitter base but it did not work as well as I had hoped it would be) - the colours applied less patchily that way. Seche Vite did wonders to level out the streakiness as well.

Nonetheless, I am really head-over-heels in love with the sunsational cremes. I liked that they are not the usual highlighter colours. They look less stark that way, don't you agree?

Ever since I have received them in my mail, I've pulled them out countless times to wear them one way or another. Just before I came back to work, I did this completely work-inappropriate mani just because I can ;)

I started with a white base and randomly sponged on the colours from the Sunsational cremes before topping them with a coat of black shatter. Oh yes, shatters do look good once in a while ;)

So what do you think of the Sunsational cremes?
My personal favourites are Sun of a Peach, Too Yacht to Handle, Highlight of My Summer and Neon & On & On... ok. That's not really helping :P
Which colour is your favourite?

Stay tuned for swatches of the other half of the collection ♥



**Products were provided for our honest review. Please see our disclosure policy for more information.**

Femme Fatale Cosmetics: Gilded Rose, Scorchling, Incendius and Chocoholic

Sent for Review

By now, you should know that I am utterly obsessed with Femme Fatale Cosmetics. For the uninitiated, FFC is an Australian indie brand that is known for its unique and gorgeous glitter mixes. From right at the start, Sophie, the creative genius behind FFC, never failed to impress me with her eye for colour and her sense of depth - two important factors that make a polish look complete. In fact, her polishes were a part of the reason why I got started on Wow (yup, she takes some of her inspirations from the game too!).

Still not convinced? Just take a look:

Gilded Rose. 1 coat sandwiched between OPI Barre My Soul.
Gilded Rose is a glitter bomb filled with gold, pink and even sprinkles of purple glitters of different shapes (including stars!) and sizes. As it has a clear base, it is very versatile and can be used as a topper over different colours - in the first picture, I layered it over OPI My Very First Knockwurst on a swatch stick; Bec of Nail Gun XS also has a gorgeous swatch of it over a metallic pink. For this swatch, I chose to do a squishy jelly sandwich with OPI Barre My Soul for a more delicate look. <3

Scorchling. 1 coat dabbed over Illamasqua Vice.
A sheer berry-red jelly filled with red, burgundy and black glitters and pops of red and blue shimmer. One of my favourites and a prime example of why I love FFC polishes - the colour and glitter mix are just so perfectly balanced for a bold fierce look.

Incendius. 1 coat dabbed over Michelle R3.
Another clear-based glitter topper. This is filled with red, orange, gold and black glitters of various shapes and sizes. I had layered it over a dark shimmery red for a fiery look but the glitters really pop if you layer it over a black - in the swatch stick above, I layered it over a near black, Wet n Wild Under Your Spell.

Chocoholic. 2 coats over Essence Wanna Say Hello.
This is a sheer dark plum base filled with tiny brown glitters and larger brown hexes accented with sprinkles of royal purple and some pink and blue dots. So deliciously dark and rich, I had to stop myself from taking a bite. Love it so hard!


So, what do you think of these FFC polishes?

FFC is available on their website at http://femmefatalecosmetics.com.au/.
At the moment, FFC does not ship polishes outside of Australia but, thankfully, us international girls can satisfy our lemmings at one of their stockists. You may also wish to try your luck at their clearance section - these polishes are available for shipping internationally subject to a limit of 6 bottles.

You can follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more updates!




**Products were provided for our honest review. Please see our disclosure policy for more information.**

essence: Spring / Summer 2013

Sent for Review

Happy Sunday everyone! ^_^

I'm feeling particular exuberant today because the air in Singapore has cleared up somewhat in the last two days! The past week had been absolutely horrible. Fires raging in Sumatra caused a huge haze in Singapore with the PSI readings hitting the hazardous range for the first time in years. I have been shuffling to and fro work with a mask because the haze (oh the burning smell!) was giving me a tremendous headache. So I am really relieved that we have some brief respite over the weekends - finally some remotely breathable air! Of course, it would be even better if the government could declare a stop work order next week... yea, I've been told that I am too optimistic :(

Anyway, back to the polishes!

essence Singapore has recently brought in some new shades for spring and summer and they have most generously sent them over for me to share with you. I don't have much to say except that these colors are simply perfect springy/summery shades! Take a look:

Ice, Ice Baby! 4 thin coats.
A squishy off-white jelly that is slightly tinged beige. A little streaky on the first 2 coats but evens out to a perfect glossy finish. It didn't really need the top coat but I top-coated it anyway to speed up the drying process.

Peach & Cream. 3 thin coats.
A soft peach puff with slight pearly shimmer. The pearl finish is not that obvious on the nails after 2 coats so that's a big plus for me - I am not really a fan of that finish. I did not think the color was very flattering on my skin tone under some lighting but I wore it for a few days anyway because it went well with my new turquoise phone casing! :P

That's What I Mint! 3 thin coats.
A soft pastel mint with very very slight green shimmer (that is clearly not visible on the nails). You know my obsession with blue-greens - this was instantly my favorite. Of course, I wore it for a few days because it matches my phone casing too! ;) It is a tad lighter than China Glaze's For Audrey and they will make a good ombré manicure - I just need to find 3 more shades of turquoise / mint... See! That's why I need more shades of this color in my life. *nods solemnly*

Hello Marshmallow! 3 thin coats.
A delicate lilac with sprinkles of red and blue shimmer. The shimmers are not that visible on the nails but you can catch a few glimpse of the elusive shimmer where the light hits the nails. It is significantly less similar to China Glaze's Light As Air than I'd thought - more purple and brighter.

Flashy Pumpkin. 2 thin coats.
An eye-searing tangerine orange. It is so bright that I would even call it neon. Super summery but definitely not for the faint-hearted. Formula for this was exceptionally good. It is very pigmented and I suspect you can get away with one thick coat.

Prom-berry. 2 thin coats.
An intoxicatingly rich vampy purple with very subtle red and blue shimmers. The shimmers are not obvious on the nails but they give the nails a slight glowy look when the nails catch the light.

Miss Universe. 1 coat over black.
A sheer black base filled with intense sparkly blue and green microflakies.   It is very sheer and will need about three to four coats for full coverage on its own. Very similar to Zoya's Kotori except that it has that extra oomph from the bright green sparkles. Needless to say, I am head over heels in love with this too.






Overall, I am extremely happy with the new colors. The colors, brush and formula do not disappoint. As always, the pastels are slightly streakier than the other colors but they even out fairly nicely on the third coat so I have no complaints there. Plus, at only S$2.90 each, they are a steal - definitely one of my favorite affordable brands.

So, which colors caught your eye? :D

essence cosmetics is currently available at these Watsons stores: Ngee Ann City, City Square Mall, Causeway Point, Lucky Plaza, Plaza Singapura, Bugis Junction, Sun Plaza, JEM, JCube, Parkway Parade, IMM, Lot 1, Anchor Point, Rivervale Mall, Park Lane, Bedok Central, Beautyworld Centre and SMU.

Color Club: Halo Hues 2013

In 2012, Color Club took the nail community by storm with their Halo Hues - a gorgeous collection of six holographic shades with excellent formula. This year, Color Club once again lived up to all our expectations by delivering six more stunning holos:

Mindblowingly holo, aren't they? I've skipped the holos last year because they were too light for my taste but the 2013 ones come in more saturated colors so I caved in and snapped them up!

Swatches below are taken under indirect light and direct morning sunlight (super sunny - Singapore style). Please excuse any awkwardness in the sunlight pictures - it was so sunny I couldn't see a thing on my camera when I took the pictures. Please also excuse the weird red glow on the bottle in some shots - I was wearing my red t-shirt and the sunlight was bouncing off it in all directions... *_*

Kismet. 2 coats.
A lime green-gold holo. I thought this would be my least favorite from this collection because I am not a lime person but seeing as I've already started using it for nail art, it looks like I do love it after all!

Cosmic Fate. 2 coats.
An orange-tan holo. Interesting color - I haven't actually seen a lot of orange holos. It is not as mannequin on me as it looks in this picture. The morning sun made my hands look more orange than it actually is.

Miss Bliss. 2 coats.
Pink holo. I am not a pink person either but this was a medium pink that was not too coy so I am ok with it. Plus, the holo-ness redeemed it all.

Eternal Beauty. 2 coats.
Another saturated color... this is a medium purple holo. Really pretty. Not my usual shade of purple but I do like it a lot.

Over The Moon. 2 coats.
A medium aqua blue holo that reminds me of Layla Ocean Rush. I am all for blues this year so naturally I had to get this.

Beyond. 2 coats.
Charcoal black holo. Gahhh... no words for this beauty.

As you can see, these colors are really holographic so it was hard for me to capture a shot to show the base colors on the nails. I was only able to capture them on swatch sticks (on a cloudy day, no less) because the plastic swatch stick dulled the holo significantly (they blaze with rainbow goodness on the underside where I paint the polish) :

Although the plastic swatch sticks dulls the holo, be rest assured that you can add a topcoat over these beauties to protect them from chipping. Thicker topcoats may dull the holo a little initially but the holo should be back to business once the topcoat dries to a thin film - at least that's my theory. :P I've tried topping them with my usual Seche Vite and it did not seem to dull the holo significantly.

Application for these pretties were excellent. Unlike other fickle holos, I did not have any trouble applying these over my usual base coat, NailTek Foundation II, and they only required two coats for complete coverage. Really, what more can I ask for? Nothing... except more holos? *flutters my lashes*

What do you think of these holos? Which ones caught your eye?

xoxo,
mich