UA-26222132-1 Libby's Pink Vanity: September 2011

Friday, September 30, 2011

A Mother's Love for China Glaze's City Siren

Posted by Libby's Pink Vanity at 9/30/2011 07:55:00 PM 5 comments
In just about 24 hours, I will be drawing the winner for the Cult Nails giveaway. The winner gets two, new Cult Nails polishes. Go here to enter and see details.

Have you seen the Metro collection by China Glaze? This is their Fall collection and I'm in love with it. If they were my kids, I'd spoil them. But for now, I'll just hand you photos of my brilliant, gifted, beautiful children. And here is my sweet 'City Siren'...


Oh, she's going to be a heart breaker!!! She's quite a mysterious, darkened red. Smoldering, I'd say...
And when she gets out into the city...Step back!

Three yummy coats and one top coat of Seche Vite.

I'm not sure if I have another mildly orange, vampy, hot red. 'City Siren' does call attention. In the bottle, she's much darker than the outdoor light presents. However, the nail color is very spot on. Yes, so beautiful, stunning and my darling, gifted red.

Oh, this young temptress will surely test us as loving parents. But we really can't play favorites. Check out more of the 'Metro' family here, here and here.

There are not any full displays of China Glaze's Metro collection around here, that I have seen. So, if you are wanting one or some, don't wait til later.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

This Season's Trendsetter Nail Polish Color

Posted by Libby's Pink Vanity at 9/29/2011 07:54:00 PM 9 comments
You know about my Cult Nails giveaway, right? You have to enter! Go here to do that.

As you may have surmised from previous posts, I am in love with China Glaze's Metro collection for this Fall. I haven't found a stinker out of the entire collection; I love 'em all.

I know this color may be tricky and/or not a shade many would care for, however, I love these drab mustardy colors.

True to my word, I adore this one. It is 'Trendsetter'...



If you look super hard, you can see that this is not a creme; there are some sparkles in this polish. That adds more to this unusual color.The micro-est of all glitters is a darkened yellow shade, same as the base polish itself. Even in real life, it is more murky than photography reveals. And the sparkle isn't blatantly obvious.

Now, on the nails...
Only this photo gives you a chance to see how green AND yellow it is, all at the same time. All the other photos showed a terrible application and this polish is way too pretty to have a crappy manicure distract from that. You'll see a tidier look later on.

I only had to use 2 coats. My foible was that I didn't allow those coats to dry sufficiently between application. I do have on one top coat of Nailene's 'Miracle Maker.' Again, it didn't hide the bubbling. In no way is the bubbling due to the polish, it was due to the applicator; me.

It is getting harder and harder to find polishes from the Metro collection. So, I wanted to get this post in so you can see if it is one you might like. I wouldn't risk waiting to get it.

Maybe you have it already? Tell me what you think about it. 

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Who You Lookin' At? Says the Night Owl

Posted by Libby's Pink Vanity at 9/27/2011 07:02:00 PM 9 comments
Seems like there has been a lot of 'bird' collections this season. That's OK with me; these are some fine shades!

Orly got into the game (bird, game...get it) early on. Maybe the early bird gets the worm?

I like this taupe because it goes in my category of 'pleasant surprises.'  'Night Owl' is a taupe that would not bring attention to itself except for the taupe micro-glitter. I don't have anything else like it in my collection. Not to say there isn't one out there. I'm, however, happy to have this beauty.

And the best part is, that the color in the bottle is exactly what I got on my nails. With 3 coats, I got a coverage that was complete and finished. I don't have a top coat on this manicure; it was shiny all by itself. This could be the smoothest Orly polish I own.



The glitter gives it a whole, new depth to it.

And I must tell you, if it wasn't for that micro-glitter, this would be a shade my grandma would have worn. Remember the taupe frost by Sally Hansen? Yea, it was grandma's pick.

I love my grandma with all my heart but, I don't want to wear her nail polish. I'll take this cutey, instead.
 


This is in no way a decent manicure. Bless my eyes, they don't see what the camera shows. But, that color is BOSS and a wise 'Night Owl.'

I used to have a cashmere sweater this taupe color. Would you pick this shade to wear? I think this color would be a cool one for some boots!

Monday, September 26, 2011

Can You Make Your Own Duochrome Eye Shadow?

Posted by Libby's Pink Vanity at 9/26/2011 06:33:00 PM 7 comments
((Pssst...before we start in, I'm having a Cult Nails Polish giveaway. Check it out here.)

Once I get new makeup and have taken photos of the pristine, unused look of it, I start to experiment. I play around with shadows, mixing them and swatching them. Yes, a grown woman playing with makeup. But I know I'm in fine company in this community. :)

I posted about a few L A Colors palettes I picked up at the Dollar Tree a couple of weeks ago. You can see my haul post here. My experience with LA Colors has been positive and I couldn't wait to work with this palettes.

This one shade from the Sand Dune palette got me to thinking and, the wheels started turning. I was thinking, can I make a duochromatic shadow?

Here's what I started off doing...
The purple shade on the far right is the one I concentrated on to make other shades seem like a duochrome.  The shadow, itself, is gorgeous...
(Let me know if photos of used makeup skeeve you. It does for me.)
 It's got some duochrome effects all by itself. These photos are taken in front of the sunny window. I'll point out the few that were not.

Here's the teal shade I swatched first...
Now, together...


The next one is a blush. I'm really embarrassed to tell you that this blush was from my makeup artist kit, and it is old; I'll just leave it at that.



First, a simple swatch of the blush...

And mixed with the purple shade...

Next, I wanted to see how it would look mixed with a pink. So I choose this purply-pink from the new LA Colors palette, Tiki Punch...

Gorgeous palette, don't you think? Here's the purplish-pink I swatched by itself, then with the purple shadow mixed...

This one shows more of the duochrome effect. Here are some different angles and various lighting looks...

 Non-direct sunlight from the sunny window.






Then, I wanted to try it with a bronzy-gold, so here I used that shade from the Boardwalk palette...
 The gold swatched alone...
And here, with the purple shadow...



One last experiment. Remember the must-have palette of last Christmas, Wet 'n Wild's Night Elf? I wanted to give that 'rad' red and matte black a try...
 Swatched alone...
Now adding in the 'catalyst'...

That the pink swatch at the top of the above photo was a swatch from the light pink from the Tiki Punch. Here is it with the purple shade mixed with it, as well as all the swatches.
The very bottom swatch was using a lighter hand with the matte red. It made a softer version and less blotchy swatch then the first one, that's second one down on the left.

And that was my franken shadow swatches. Some gave off more of a duochromatic flare than others, of course. However, that's what experimenting and playing with makeup is all about; creating, mixing and enjoying the fun.

Do you like to experiment with your makeup or do you just use straight, as is? Do you think the purple shadow made the second shadow swatches look duochrome? Share your thoughts, I'm always reading and listening.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

SundayA-Z of Me: I'm Feeling Nail-venturous

Posted by Libby's Pink Vanity at 9/25/2011 04:01:00 PM 6 comments

 Everyone has heard the deal were we all have a twin somewhere. I've often wondered if this is true for twins...do they have another set out there just like them? Same with triples, quads, etc?
Well, before you go off pondering that, I was tipped off that I had a blog twin. You might find a resemblance when you hop over to I'm Feeling Nail-Venturous. I hope Amy is as delighted to have found me as I am with her.

I'll say it right up front, Amy is the 'pretty' twin. I'm the twin that's older. LOL

Amy's blog has everything I love about reading a nail/beauty blog. Everything! And she responds to her readers; that's a great asset at the vanity. :) Amy is a captivating blogger and you'll find out quickly when you check out her blog.

And with that, I turn the next bit over to Amy of I'm Feeling Nail-Venturous:



The A-Z of me.

A. Age:
26

B. Bed size:
KING!

C. Chore you hate:
No doubt-- it's mopping!

D. Day:
Thursday because it is almost Friday!

E. Essential start to your day:
Coffee!

F. Favorite color: 
Purple, black, and grey! 

G. Gold or Silver:
Silver

H. Height:
5'2

I. Instruments: 
Huh, what are those?

J. Job title:
Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Subject Matter Expert (Crazy title huh?)

K. Kids: 
One day 

L. Live:
Louisiana

M. Mom’s name:
Linda

N. Nicknames: 
Nope, no real way to shorten my already short name (Amy). No other cute little nicknames either.

O. Overnight hospital stays:
Two too many! 

P. Pet peeve: 
In the blogging world: typing in the word verification when I am trying to leave a comment on someone's blog!

In my personal life, I can't stand for anything to touch my face. (Sounds weird, but its true)

Q. Quote from a movie: 
"You talkin' to me?" Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver

R. Right or left handed: 
Right

S. Siblings:
1 brother, 1 sister, and 2 step brothers

T. Time you wake up: 
6am-630am

U. Underwear: 
I like wearing these.

V. Vegetables you dislike: 
I pretty much like all vegetables. I can't think of one that I dislike.

W. What makes you run late: 

Two things:
my dogs not wanting to come back inside after letting them go out for their morning bathroom break

X. X-Rays you've had: 
Do teeth x-ray count?

Y. Yummy food you make: . 
Homemade spaghetti sauce and general tso chicken with fried rice

Z. Zoo:
Animals live here.

Amy's a doll. I told her she was my twin without even saying how and she went along and figured it out. I always thought it would be cool to be a twin. And cooler yet, to have a blogging twin; great minds and all. :) Please do take a look at her blog and enjoy her work.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

September Giveaway: Cult Nails Polish

Posted by Libby's Pink Vanity at 9/24/2011 04:00:00 PM 65 comments
Everyone should have some new Fall polishes. I got mine and I swatched them here and here. I <3 my Cult Nails polishes!!

Check out this 'peacock' set...

 'In A Trance'

'Awakening'

I adore these two polishes. I adore them so much, I want to giveaway a set to you!

Maria, at Cult Nails, is sponsoring this giveaway for LPV. And, you have a chance to win your own set of 'In a Trance' and 'Awakening.'


They are packaged up so cute....like tamales. And I LOVE tamales!!! 

The giveaway is for 2 Cult Nails polishes, 'In A Trance' and 'Awakening.' This random giveaway starts right now and will end Saturday, Oct. 1 at 8 PM, EST. My sincere apologies, this is for North American followers only.

Simple, mandatory rules:

*You must be a follower, so leave me your GFC, or other means, name.
*You must leave me an email address in your comment as to how I can let you know if you are the winner.
*Do not spam with your own giveaway or link to your blog in your comments. That will disqualify you.
*Once I draw the winner and contact you, please respond in 36 hours to claim your prize. (I haven't had a problem with this ever...followers want to WIN!)

Thanks to Maria at Cult Nails for sponsoring this giveaway. Check out her blog to see all the fantastic polishes she offers.

Friday, September 23, 2011

My Evening with Judy from BeautyJudy Blog

Posted by Libby's Pink Vanity at 9/23/2011 07:24:00 PM 6 comments
If you ever get the chance to meet up with a fellow blogger, do so! It is a very wonderful experience.

Judy from BeautyJudy blog was in town on vacation and we took this opportunity to have dinner. We enjoyed chicken and dumplings, a yummy 'nom nom' dessert, polish obsessions and afterwards, just fun silliness.

We found a nice employee who was more than happy to snap a photo of the two of us...
We had dinner at the Cracker Barrel where you can always get the best comfort food. Judy and I posed next to the sock monkey costume. And I'm really liking that costume. I wish they made it in an adult size because I'd have no shame being a sock monkey for Halloween.

Judy did find a new hat, though...

And if she had one, I had to have one too...
Hey, this one even matched my purse!!! I look more devilish than wicked.

Judy took an evening out of her Florida vacation to have dinner with me and I am so honored. She's a total sweetheart and we had a grand time. Judy even mentioned that she may be back in Florida soon. And, if not, I hope I get to see her in Vegas next year at Cosmoprof.

Thanks, Judy, for a wonderful evening. Safe travels to you, my friend.
 

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