Tag Archives: nails

You Big Flirt! Ralph Lauren The Big Pony Fragrance Collection For Women essie Sensual Set #2 Review, Photos, Swatches

| 15 Responses

This spring, Ralph Lauren and essie are getting on board the matchy-matchy train! The two big brands have created four limited edition fragrance and nail sets available now in Canada. The sets come in two formats:

  • 30 ml fragrance, 50g body mist & essie nail polish ($47 exclusively at Jean Coutu in Quebec) — the one I’m showing here!
  • 50 ml fragrance & essie nail polish ($67 available at The Bay and Sears)

I received set #2 for the Sensual Woman. She’s pink, flirty and 100% fabulous. :)

Appealing to the sensuality in every woman, #2 carries a sensual fragrance that could only be bottled in pink. Accessorize the feminine hue with a few criss-cross lines, reminiscent of laced ribbons.

Big Pony Fragrance Collection Essie Set 2

essie Polish in #2 Pink is a fuchsia creme. I found this to be on the thick side. One coat gives great coverage, but I decided to go with two to cover some uneven spots. Inspired by the nail art created by nail art Rita Remark created for the collection (more on that later!), I tried my hand at nail art myself: polka dots!

Big Pony Fragrance Collection Essie Set 2 Wearing Nail Polish
My lipstick

I paired Pink #2 with a red, essie Polish in A-List. Cute, no? I think it perfectly suits the sensual woman this set represents.

Big Pony Fragrance Collection Essie Set 2 Nail Polish Swatch

When one is a beauty blogger and not specifically a nail blogger, she must improvise on how to show off the nails in a non-macro setting. Watch and learn. Clockwise from top left: “The runway model”, “The fake laugh”, “The come hither, not to be confused with the finger”, “The oops I did it again!”

Unleash your inner geek, girls! Life’s too short to be cool. Just have fun with it. :)

Ralph Lauren Essie 2 outtakes

Keep reading to see more photos!

Click here to see more photos!

YSL Arty Stone Collection for Spring 2013: La Laque Couture in Nº 34 Jade Impérial and Nº 35 Bronze Pyrite (Limited Edition) Reviews, Photos, Swatches

| 8 Responses

YSL La Laque Couture in Nº 35 Bronze Pyrite Nº 34 Jade Impérial
La Laque Couture in Nº 35 Bronze Pyrite (Limited Edition) / Nº 34 Jade Impérial

I don’t have a lot to say about nail polish usually, but YSL La Laque Couture ($27 each) are totally worth mentioning.  I’m going to keep this review short and sweet: this has the best brush and a wonderful formula. Two coats using the wide brush give me streak-free nails with high shine. YSL Arty Stone Collection for Spring 2013 brings one new shade, Nº 34 Jade Impérial and a limited edition shade, Nº 35 Bronze Pyrite.

YSL La Laque Couture in Nº 35 Bronze Pyrite Nº 34 Jade Impérial brush
La Laque Couture brush

Check out the wide brush. It’s wonderful for petite nail beds and newbie nail polish skills like mine. The wide brush is easy to control and allows for less strokes, which translates to less streaking on the nails.

YSL La Laque Couture in Nº 34 Jade Impérial
La Laque Couture in Nº 34 Jade Impérial

Nº 34 Jade Impérial can benefit from a slightly thinner formula, but it still works well. After freshly applying a second coat it looked a little streaky, but the formula is self-levelling. Like whoa, magic.

YSL La Laque Couture in Nº 35 Bronze Pyrite
La Laque Couture in Nº 35 Bronze Pyrite (Limited Edition)

Nº 35 Bronze Pyrite is a limited edition metallic pewter shade, shown here in two coats. This has a perfect formula for a mirror-like finish. Unfortunately my uneven nail beds don’t show its true potential, but she really is a beauty.

Have you tried YSL La Laque Couture? What do you think of these shades for spring?

Karl Lagerfeld for shu uemura Holiday Collection: nail color & special nail stickers Reviews, Photos, Swatches

| 4 Responses

Karl Lagerfeld for shu uemura collection includes three nail colors ($20 each), and each comes with a strip of nail stickers. These nail polishes in glittery black, beige and red tie in well with mon shu’s colouring. Wanna hear about them? Then let’s start right meow!


nail colors in karl black, royal beige, shu shu red

karl black is a black base with fine olive gold and silver glitter. I like how this one applied; it was smooth and had no issues with streakiness. I’m showing it below in two coats. The finish is not super shiny so I’d still wear a shiny topcoat with this, personally. It just feels a little bit gritty to the touch because of the fine glitter.


nail color in karl black

royal beige is a midtone beige with very subtle gold shimmer that is barely detectable on the nails. On me, it is the perfect beige nude nail colour. However, the formula is awful; it is really thick and hard to apply evenly. The swatch below is after two coats.


nail color in royal beige

shu shu red is a creamy tomato red. This is a classic, easy to wear shade. I liked this one a lot despite my poor application on my left hand. I am left handed, okay? :P This applied well, needing only two coats for full opacity.


nail color in shu shu red

The mon shu nail stickers come with each bottle of nail color in this collection, and sure they are fun. These do however, cost a couple of dollars more because of the stickers. What do I think? I don’t really care for them. I found the stickers to be too narrow and too long for my short and stout nail beds. I am not really a “nart” kinda girl anyway. I found these to be very sticky, so make sure that your nails are fully dry before applying them.


nail stickers

Of the three, karl black and shu shu red are great and I’d recommend them in a heartbeat. They are a great inexpensive way to get your hands on this highly anticipated holiday collection. :)