neon nails

i know neon is beyond trendy this season. i cant warrant owning any big pieces of neon such as pants or shirts since i dont think the trend will be around long enough to make it worth it. however, i do enjoy the small slices of color added here and there in the form of accessories, intimates, and of course nails.

neon nail varnish is one of my favorite things to pull out during the summer. something about the bright, eye searing colors applied playfully on the fingers and toes makes me so happy during this time. i have three colors in my collection.

china glaze knows how to do their neons. i own (from right to left in the pic above) shocking pink, flip flop fantasy, and pool party. neons can be tricky to apply, they are streaky and dry matte. if you want a high shine finish you definitely will need to use topcoat. as for the problem of being streaky, a base of white polish underneath helps tremendously. with all the swatches below i applied as is, no white base. if you dont use a white base, three to four thin coats of polish will be needed for full opacity. all of the extra trouble is worth it for the bright results!

POOL PARTY
pool party is a punchy hot pink. currently on my toes :)

SHOCKING PINK
shocking pink is so amazing. it is a very cool pink so it surprised me that i enjoyed this shade so much. the color really flatters my hands. i highly recommend this shade, it is rare when i apply the same color on my nails twice in a row but i have done it with this color!

FLIP FLOP FANTASY
this shade was a staple pedicure color for me last summer. i get countless compliments whenever i wear this, most likely because a coral shade.

i dont think i will be giving up my neon nails until the temperature drops and i see the leaves falling. if you own no neons i highly recommend you pick up flip flop fantasy or shocking pink. they wear wonderfully and even though they need at least three coats for an even finish, that isnt so bad for the standard neon from what i hear. what do you think of the neon trend?

king of all taupes - le metier de beaute corinthian

i must admit, i never understood the fascination with taupe eye shadows. i knew they were popular and i could appreciate the beautiful mixes of grey, purple and brown but i never fully appreciated how wonderful they were on the eye.

i blame my initial deduction on mac's satin taupe. i swatch satin taupe, i see it on other people, i even blindly see it compared with other shades on blogs and automatically pick it as my favorite before reading the caption, but this shade does not flatter me. for some reason when i wear satin taupe, it makes me look TIRED. it is so strange and so frustrating since it swatches and wears so beautifully on others.

anyway, long rant aside, i fell head first into loving taupe after receiving the urban decay pony palette as a gift from my sister. and the rest, as they say, is history. in the pony palette is my beloved shade, 'toasted'. i have long professed my love for UD's toasted. it has started a frenzy within me to try every taupe known to man. i can say taupe is my favorite shade to wear out of all eyeshadow shades. it is so easy to blend all over the lid paired with a little black liner smudge into the lash line.

seeing as i fell in love with taupe, i had to try out le metier de beaute's corinthian. it is too well known and back ordered too often for me to pass up owning it. i finally got my hands on it and thought i'd compare it to my other taupe shades and give my thoughts.

TAUPE COMPARISON

left to right: mac satin taupe, theBalm insane jane, LMdB 'spectacle' from the le cirque kaleidoscope, LMdB corinthian, UD toasted, burberry midnight brown, mac sable

from left to right the shades go from cool toned to warm toned. the closest to corinthian i would say is UD toasted and satin taupe but there is no exact match. satin taupe is cooler and has a murky purple base. corinthian has more of a warm and brown base, just like toasted but i would say toasted is warmer and has much less purple.

comparing taupes has been tremendous help in figuring out if a taupe will work for me or not! the warmer the taupe the more likely it will suit me. anything too cool starts to make me look tired and is just overall unflattering. i have a hard time with theBalm's insane jane and mac satin taupe for this very reason. mac's sable is one of my favorites and it is very warm, the warmest taupe in my collection in fact.

ON THE EYE

corinthian has the perfect mix of coolness and warmth. i would tout it as the king of all taupes in my collection. the texture, shade, and longevity of the shadow is spectacular. i have no regrets picking this up even though i had plenty of other taupes to work with already.

FULL FACE

on another note, i picked up another nars sheer lipstick in mayflower which is what i am wearing above. i still love nars dolce vita more but this is a nice switch up from my routine.

SWATCHES: mayflower on left, dolce vita on right

mayflower is definitely more pigmented and a more neutral pink. with dolce vita, i always think of a fleshy toned natural color. mayflower isnt as natural and isnt as...fleshy. but i still enjoy it and have been using it everyday since ive bought it.

so, do you guys hate me yet for not posting often enough? :P i am trying to get into the blogging flow and get my butt of out my unofficial blog hiatus so expect more posts from me these next few days :) hope you all are well!