Essence Whoom! Boooom!!!

Please enjoy the following press release from Essence.  (I think the names of the colors are wrong, but I'm still waiting for confirmation from Essence)


essence is entering the spring season with a bang! whoom! boooom! In March and April 2011, the new “whoom! boooom!!!” trend edition lets us leave the dark, cold winter behind with a splash of color. The extravagant products and unusual screen print designs are also reminiscent of one of the most popular art genres of our times, pop art! The expressive colors of the new essence whoom! boooom!!! products provide you with plenty of inspiration for your next night out. If you’re getting ready for the party of the year or heading out on a shopping spree with your best friend, the range of colors helps you achieve creative looks in a trendy pop art style. Bright colors are effortlessly combined with strong grey and black shades creating works of art like those by Roy Lichtenstein or Andy Warhol. Your face is a canvas ready to be painted! 


essence whoom! boooom!!! nail polish
Say goodbye to the grey winter months for good with these four expressive nail polish colors. The multitudes of cool colors are enough to make even Andy Warhol jealous! Available in 

chacalaca

andy, you're a star

you've got the art

roy's red

Around 1.79 €*.


essence whoom! boooom!!! mini nail files
essence knows how to create so much more than a stylish eye-catcher—their new mini nail files are also an essential companion when you’re out and about. The files, in a colorful pop art design, are perfectly protected in a tiny to-go-box so that you have them wherever you are! Available in

POW WOW

Around 1.59 €*.


essence whoom! boooom!!! nail sticker
Let your nails speak for themselves! That’s the motto of the new, self-adhesive nail stickers. Hilarious speech bubbles and cool images give your nails the ultimate finishing touch with a bit of the pop art style! Simply stick on your nails and share your pop art with the entire world. Available in

hey ya!

Around 0.99 €*.


essence “whoom! boooom!!!” will be available in stores in March and April 2011.

China Glaze Light As Air vs Zoya Marley

So now that you've seen both of them separately, let's check them out together.  From the bottles, they look a lot alike, but how close are China Glaze Light As Air and Zoya Marley?


For Light As Air, I used a base coat of Seche Natural, 2 coats of polish and a top coat of Seche Vite.  For Marley, I used a base of Zoya Anchor, 2 coats of polish and a top of Zoya Armor.

In the sun, you can tell just slightly that Marley is darker than Light As Air but it's not completely obvious.

However, in the shade, it's a little bit more obvious when looking at the ring and pinkie fingers.  I'm kinda torn - I'm not sure which one that I like better... that's why I'm all about having both!  ^_^

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

China Glaze Light As Air

Hey!  Look at - another pretty muted purple grey!  China Glaze Light As Air from the Up & Away 2010 Spring Collection is one that I kind of glazed over the first time, thinking it was too muted for me, but after seeing Zoya Marley, I knew I had to take a second look.


I used a base coat of Seche Natural, 2 coats of Light As Air, and a top of Seche Vite.  The formula on this was slightly runny but not unmanageable.  

Mmm pretty!  The purple is so pretty in this dusty color.  I'm really in love with this look - it's a perfect balance of flirt and being coy.

In the shade, you pretty much get the same story.  Lovely, soft, beautiful.  Oy.

China Glaze [official website] can be found online through several etailers, including my favorite Head2Toe Beauty [official website], Sally's Beauty Supply [official website] as well asTransDesign [official website].

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Zoya Marley

Oh Zoya, you slay me with your Intimates Collection.  I'm definitely a sucker for soft cremes - I feel like they are super work appropriate, fun, flirty... I'm in lust.  Marley is a soft purple with a hint of grey in it - it looks very "washed out" here in the bottle picture but oh wait until you see it on the nail!


I used a base of Zoya Anchor, 2 coats of Marley and a top of Zoya Armor.  I did feel that the formula on this was slightly thick but it may also just be my storage conditions.  Despite these blue skies, it was freezing temperatures.

In the sun, you can see how lovely this color is - very soft, very pretty.  I think this would also be a great base coat for some bright Konading or even nail art.  Oh how I wish I was more creative (and patient).

In the shade, this color really pops.  The purple is really showing its stuff against the muted greys.  Very much a winning color for me, but keep watching today - I have another comparison post coming!


Zoya [official website] can be purchased on their website for $8/bottle.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Jesse's Girl Crush vs Zoya Jancyn

Are you seeing double?  DOUBLE TROUBLE!  ^_^  While wearing Jesse's Girl Crush, I was thinking "Hey, I've seen a perfectly pigmented orange before!"  Zoya Jancyn from the Flash collection was a pretty awesome orange as seen here so it's time for a comparison!


For Crush, I used a base coat of Seche Natural, 3 coats of Crush and a top of Seche Vite.  For Jancyn, I used a base of Zoya Anchor, 2 coats of Jancyn and a top of Zoya Armor.

Yep - they look pretty much like twins!  Both were smoothly applied, both have a nice shine - winners!

Same story in the shade.  Nice - orangey... mmmm juice.  Love it.


Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

CSN Giveaway #5

I'm still validating the entries from my Urban Decay Giveaway, but hey, let's have another CSN gift certificate giveaway - this one for $45!  Sorry international friends - this is only for USA & Canadian readers, but I'm going to be having a few more giveaways in the near future, so stay tuned!

To sign up, just fill out the form below - giveaway ends in one week on 16 February at midnight GMT.

So as I mentioned before, I purchased my first house last year, and while we were remodeling the kitchen, we tore down the existing bar area in the kitchen to open up the floor plan.  Now that it's gone, I miss it!  I've thought about building a new one, or even just a stand alone area but one thing that was missing was an overhang to place some modern bar stools.  It was pretty annoying, actually, since you just had to stand there and when one person was preparing food and the other was talking to you at the bar, well, it wasn't very inviting

Now, I'll be honest, you're not going to find a bar stool for $45 on CSN, but you could get some beautiful framed art, or maybe some accessories for you bar, so with that in mind, make sure you follow via GFC and fill out the form below!  ^_^

Cat's Meow Winner

So as I mentioned (like 2 months ago), the winner of my Cat's Meow 6 piece never contacted me back (ever), so tonight I went through the entries and picked a new one.

#79 is miketrochack!  Congrats!  I have already emailed you and will need to receive your mailing address by 16 February or I'll chose another winner.  

Jesse's Girl Crush

It's time for another Jesse's Girl color - today is actually Jesse's birthday!  Give him a shoutout on Twitter if you have time.  ^_^  Crush is a perfectly pigmented orange creme - very vibrant and a very nice formula.  I used a base coat of Seche Natural, 3 coats of Crush (to make sure it was even) and a top of Seche Vite.

In the sun, you can see how this color is very pumpkin like - or a big glass of orange juice.  Either way, it's pretty sweet!

Same story in the shade - just a lovely orange that looks good enough to drink.  (I think I'm just craving orange juice...)

Jesse's Girl sells for $2.99 a bottle online or at Rite Aid stores. You can visit Jesse's Girl on their website, Like them on Facebook and Follow them on Twitter.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Blogs of Note

It's Super Bowl Sunday here in the USA, and I'm stoked to watch the game.  While I start pre-gaming, here's some blogs of note for you to nosh on.


Jellynat: Medium to Long nails - slightly sporadic posting (had a down computer and was missing her photo editing software) but still a good place for searching older posts.


Just Nice Things:  Definitely long nail blog here - which I think is super cool!  I wish I had long nails sometimes!  You'll also find guest blogging reviews, some makeup, and some great blogger interviews here.  I do believe this blog is updated daily, so be sure to put her in your RSS/GFC feed!


Keerthamina: This is another blogger who hasn't updated in a while but does have some great older posts to check out - reviews and some art.  I really do like researching other colors on other blogs - especially some of the "core" colors from companies.  ^_^


Enjoy!

Last Day for Urban Decay Giveaway!

While I'm Super Bowling it up (I'm a sucker for football and good commercials), my Urban Decay Pigments Giveaway will be ending.  Make sure you sign up - there's currently 106 people signed up (not counting bonus entries), and I'm giving away 3 whole sets of pigments so go go go!


Link to the giveaway is here.  Please do tell your friends!