nail polish Archives - Curiously Carmen

Chanel Le Vernis Nail Colour

December 30, 2016

Normally I don’t get to review high end brands because I don’t purchase them. But when talking about high end brands, Chanel is one of my top favourites although I don’t have many products or items from them. On our first Christmas together, I received a Chanel perfume and lipstick from the boyfriend that I still really love – that’s about all the Chanel products I own.

For Christmas this year, the boyfriend bought me two Chanel nail products that I will be talking about today. He was just planning on getting me a nail polish, but got upsold by the sales person who took advantage of his cluelessness. Poor guy!
The colour he got me is a classic red from the Fall 2016 Le Rouge Collection. Chanel has quite an array of stunning reds, this particular red is the shade 528 Rouge Puissant. It is the perfect colour for me because I love my classic reds, whether it be for nails, lips, or clothes (although clothes I like darker reds).

What it says (Taken from Chanel):

LE VERNIS by CHANEL: long-wear application. An embellishing and protective nail polish designed to make vibrant colours dazzle. Long-wearing, extra-fine and ultra-shiny, each coat offers an absolutely even and lacquered result.

Application: I was really impressed with the quality of the brush. The brush is wide, so it is easy to get a nice, clean, and full colour with just one stroke. It fans out like the Nails Inc brush. As for the colour, I was in AWE with the colour. With just one coat, the colour was very vibrant and rich and matched the bottle exactly. One coat left me satisfied, which is a bit unusual because I like doing at least two coats!

Wear: This is where I was not as impressed. With a bottle of this going for $28 USD or almost $40 CAD (OMG), it did not last long with their gel effect top coat. Within the next morning, a bit of polish had already chipped off on my right hand. The left hand was okay for about 2 days before it began to chip.

At such a steep price, I had really high expectations for the wear. But, keep in mind that nail polish chips really easily on me. The ONLY top coat that I find works with my nails is the Seche Vite top coat. I’ll have to test this out with the Seche Vite top coat, but at that price, I would expect the nail polish to last at least 12 hours before chipping.

I WOULD include a picture of my nails, but I am so ashamed of them right now that I don’t want to take any pictures. Bleh! I just cut my nails short last night since my third nail broke (it’s always that one that breaks first, so annoying) and my cuticles are dry AF.

Amazing brush that makes it easy to apply an even coat
Only one coat is needed
Beautiful, vibrant colour that matches the bottle with only one coat

Does not last long, chipped within 12 hours
Would need a very good top coat for it to last

On one side, the colour and brush is amazing. However, it doesn’t last even 12 hours on me. If I’m paying $40 for ONE bottle, I am expecting it to last a lot longer than that. If I have to rely on a top coat for a $40 bottle of nail polish, I’m better off saving my money and buying a $5 bottle of polish.

It would be a nice gift for someone though, as it comes in a nice box and has that luxurious feel and factor to it. But I would not buy this for myself.

Nay.

Product given to me as a gift.

L’Oreal Nail Polish – White

July 18, 2016

A few months ago, I was really wanting white nails so I quickly picked a L’Oreal one up at London Drugs! There was only one white polish on the entire shelf, which is why I picked this one.

If I’m at a drugstore, I normally just buy Sally Hansen or essie, but I figured it’s time to try L’Oreal! I forgot how much I paid for this- maybe about $6?
The packaging is pretty simple, not much to note here. The shade is called hit the slopes – 712. Perhaps inspired by the beautiful, snow capped mountains in the wintertime.

Unfortunately, I found this nail colour to be a bit difficult to work with. It was very runny and the colour was very light. I used four coats for the colour above, and I was getting annoyed with how runny it was! It took a lot of patience and time, so don’t be using this when you are in a rush.
I finished with the almighty and my Holy Grail Seche Vite top coat. The top coat drastically improved the nail colour and made it look a lot better. It would have looked very weak and bland without the top coat. I wore this for the entire week I was in New York City, and it did not chip at all! Seriously, Seche Vite’s top coat is the BOMB.

This was my first time trying L’Oreal’s nail products, and this polish left me a bit disappointed with the formula. I’ve tried other brands before where it was just that one shade that didn’t work out, but the others were great, so maybe I should try another L’Oreal polish.

Nay!

*Products purchased by myself

Ceramic Glaze Botanical Oasis Summer 2016 Collection & Swatches

June 5, 2016

Ceramic Glaze has launched a new limited edition line of beautiful, summer ready colours that I am absolutely loving! When I was doing these swatches, I kept thinking I found my ‘favourite’ shade but truth is, I can’t seem to pick a favourite because I love them all! I’ll let the swatches do most of the talking. All of the following swatches have two coats, with the exception of the blue, which is French Riveria.
Impulsive: Impulsive is a beautiful, rich purple shade with hints of subtle blue glitter. This dried matte so it was a bit harder to see the glitter, but most of us use a top coat which would for sure make the glitter pop!

French Riveria: French Riveria is another stunning, rich blue shade that would be suitable for any season.

Seize the Day: Seize the Day is a bright, hot pink that reminded me of Barbie! I am a sucker for all things pink so I loved this shade as well.
Surf’s Up: Surf’s Up is a natural, peachy nude shade. With most nude shades, I find that they go on pretty clear so I was glad that I was able to reach a opaque finish with just two coats.

Perfect Peony: Perfect peony is a coral shade which is PERFECT for summer. I remember two summers ago, I had a huge obsession with coral and it was the only polish shade I wore. I had coral shorts, coral tshirts, and various shades of coral polish and I would wear at least ONE piece of coral on most days!

Urbane: Urbane is a beautiful, bright aquamarine shade. I find this formula to be the most difficult to work with and different from the rest of the shades. It was runny, and I needed three coats for an opaque finish while the other shades only needed one or two! However, this is still a beautiful shade so it’s not going to stop me from wearing it.

Petal pusher: Last but not least, petal pusher is a stunning muted, pastel purple shade that I love as well.
With the exception of Urbane, I found the polishes really easy to work with. I was very impressed with the beautiful, healthy and opaque finish that they all had as well.

This limited edition collection is now available at Shoppers Drug Mart!

Which one is your favourite?

Yay!

Thanks for reading!

Carmen

Press samples featured. Opinions are own.

Spring Ready Nails

April 9, 2016

Now that the days are getting brighter and sunnier, I wanted to create a nail look that would match the happier weather! This was my first time experimenting with wearing three different shades at once. At first, I wasn’t sure if I liked it but I ended up really loving this look!

Nails2 I had a Shellac manicure done last month, and some of the nail polish was starting to peel off. I thought it looked odd that I had a one single nail that was naked, while the others were still adorned in pretty pinks. So, I decided to select a pink shade in my nail polish collection to match what was left of my gel nails.

Once the gel started to peel off, I replaced it with these shades. Eventually, I took off my gel and painted my nails entirely with these colours!

Nails Here is the simple, but bright look I came up with! I finally bought a nail dotting tool back in January and have been trying to use it more. My goal is to eventually come up with detailed nail art, so I need to start practicing now!

The colours I am using are:

Yellow: Anna Sui Nail in N800
Light pink: Essie in 869 ‘Got Engaged!’
Magenta: Revlon in 901 Fuchsia Fever

This look is pretty self explanatory and very easy to create! Just paint your nails and use a dotting tool to create the dot in the middle. You could probably use a cotton swab or toothpick but the circle might not look as even.

I’m on a no-polish break for a month, as my nails are pretty weak right now. I’ll be posting more nail looks after my ban ends, and am looking forward to wearing more summer colours!

I was also reading up on biotin supplements to support healthy nails. Has anyone tried taking these and noticed results? I am always wary of side effects and dependency, so I’m not 100% sure I should try taking them yet. But I would really like my nails to become stronger and not peel as easily!

Thanks for reading,

Carmen

ACI Beauty Fall/Holiday 2015 Media Preview – Part 2/2

August 23, 2015

In early August, I was invited to the ACI Beauty event to experience their Fall/Holiday 2015 collection! I already mentioned this in part 1, but just in case you haven’t read that yet, ACI Beauty is one of the biggest beauty distributors in Canada. ACI Beauty works with many reputable beauty companies to help their products get on the shelves for us beauty lovers.

At the event, we were guided throughout some of their newest products for next season. Welcome to part 2/2!

I have seen some CLEAN products in Sephora before, but never had the chance to learn or test them out until that day. We got to smell some of the perfumes that day, and I enjoyed all of the different scents. If you’re someone who likes light and neutral scents, then this is the line for you.

I had a few friends that came over and played with the samples, and all of them said that the perfumes smelled like ‘clean laundry’.

I currently keep one of the rollerball minis in my purse,the light blue one in the middle of the box named ‘cool cotton’. It smells very refreshing and wakes me up a bit when I first put it on. The size is very convenient, and good to use on-the-go.

I also found that the CLEAN products are very gender neutral, maybe it’s just moi?? By that, I mean they don’t have a distinct ‘feminine’ or ‘masculine’ scent – it just smells like very clean soap! Although these products are catered towards women, I think that men would be able to wear this as well.

This product was highly raved about with the ACI ladies, they use this almost every day at home!

The Bliss triple oxygen instant energizing mask initially goes on your skin as a gel, but slowly turns into a foam as you rub it on your face. The foam expands on your face depending on much dirt or oil you have, so the foam size can vary each day. It also has a very nice grapefruit smell to it.

I posted this on my Instagram already, but am I ever in love with this Paul and Joe lipstick! This lipstick is part of Paul and Joe’s Fall 2015 ‘Cafe Parisien’ line.

To make this cute cat lipstick, Paul and Joe uses a Japanese candy-making technique called Kintaro-ame, which depends on two separate tubes – one columnar and one cat-shaped. This ensures that the cute cat faces remain visible until the lipstick is used up, so you don’t have to worry about the cute cat print going away!

Also on the topic of lipstick, here are the new shades for Anna Sui. I called these the ‘shooting star’ lipstick because of the way the lipstick is shaped inside the tube! The colours are very rich and make a good transition for the Fall season.

The Anna Sui loose powder, which comes in a new beautiful design, is pictured in the back. It comes with a fluffy purple puff, and looks so classic and elegant. I could picture a princess using this powder on her vanity table. Beside it is the Anna Sui BB Cream.

I showed this picture in my Anna Sui nail colour review post already, but here are the new nail colours and a new bottle design! It features a birdie on the top of the brush, while the bottle has an intricate ball gown design to it.

All of the Anna Sui nail products also have an amazing scent to them! The one I received smelled like lemons, and other scents include rose and lychee.

I also really adored the mini ‘latte’ eyeshadow pods that Paul & Joe had, featured on the left. The swirl and creaminess of the colours, coupled with a cute little foam tip brush is reminiscent of that a perfect, smooth latte on a chilly afternoon. I am a big fan of champagne/gold shades, so the eyeshadow pod is right up my alley.

Also featured are the pressed powder pods, which are purchased separately from the packaging. Beside the pressed powder pods are the moisturizing foundation and makeup primer.

The last station we were introduced to was Bliss’s regular collection (not the holiday gift set collection as featured in part 1). For myself, the most interesting product here was the ingrown eliminating pads, I am very curious to see if they will help with my ingrown hairs.

I mentioned this above already, but try to get a chance to try their body butter and soap, which are pictured in the back! The smell is absolutely amazing and will make you feel happy =)

I also did a review of the Bliss fabulous gel to oil cleanser, pictured in the middle beside the Fat Girl Slim products. You can read that post here.

I had a great time at the ACI Beauty event, thank you for having me. I learned about a plethora of new products and am very excited to try them out! Keep your eyes posted for upcoming reviews on some of the products that I have mentioned here.

Which product was your favourite from this post? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

-Carmen