Nail Polish Comparison: Maybelline Unforgettable Red and NYC Burgundy

On the left is Maybelline Salon Expert in Unforgettable Red and on the right, NYC Long Wearing (yeah, right!) Nail Enamel in Broadway Burgundy. Broadway Burgundy was my favorite shade before I got into matte shades. I went through three or four bottles. It's still one of the few shades I've had to repurchase

Swatches in artificial light:

Left: Maybelline Unforgettable Red, Right: NYC Broadway Burgundy

Swatches in natural light:

Left: Maybelline Unforgettable Red, Right: NYC Broadway Burgundy

As you can see from the pics above, Unforgettable Red is warmer than Broadway Burgundy. It's also shearer. Above, two coats were applied without any top coats. Broadway Burgundy is fairly opaque while Unforgettable Red still needs another coat. Of these two I have to favor Broadway Burgundy because of the deeper and cooler color, the pigmentation, and the shine. Unforgettable Red is a bit dull, while Broadway Burgundy definitely has a more lacquer finish. As for formula, Unforgettable Red is thinner than Broadway Burgundy and dries really really quickly, which is a plus. I just wish it was a bit more opaque. Broadway Burgundy is a steal at 97 cents!!! And honestly, NYC nail polishes aren't even that bad. I've tried Sally Hansen polishes with way worse formulas.

That's it for now! Next post will be an eye look!!!

Super Bright Essie Nails!!!

Ok, so I'm not, by any means, a super bright nail polish person. I tend to stick to dusty lilacs, pinks, or go really dark with navy's and burgundy's. Lately, however, I've really been craving neon/really bright nail polish, and I was lucky enough to get some mini's on sale at a salon in the mall. Here's a tip for those of you who like Essie and OPI but hate to spend almost nine bucks on a nail polish: raid the clearance bins at the salons in the mall. I always stop by the Regis Salon or Trade Secret's at my mall and they always have something good. I got these babies for a buck each!!! I also got a few full size OPI's (Parlez-Vouz OPI, Baguette Me Not, Russian Navy, Black Cherry Chuteny, and more) for around three bucks each!!!!!! That's crazy!!!!! I'll post some pics of those later, but this post is dedicated to two of the four Essie mini's I got.

The shades are Turning Heads Reds (left) and Fearless (right):


Turning Heads Reds is a jelly orange based red. If you're looking for something super pigmented and opaque, this is not your color because it is a little bit shear. You'll probably need three coats for it to be completely opaque.


Fearless is a neon orange. It is A LOT brighter in person than it is in the pic above and those below. I'm not too crazy about this one for my hands, but it really makes my feet stand out. Too band I can't wear flip flops yet :(


Here they are on my nails:

Fearless is the orange above, Turning Heads Reds is below. You can really see how Turning Heads Reds is kind of shear, not that I mind because I wasn't looking for anything too heavy. And my nails are so short because I grew them out but they started to break on me :( I've got pretty weak nails that tend to peel (the top layer of my nail-at the edge-will peel off, leaving the edges of my nails really weak). I work with a lot of clay in my ceramics classes, and clay just sucks the moisture right out of your hands. My knuckles are always red, dry, and chapped in the winter, so Vaseline becomes my best friend really quickly, haha!

Anyway, back to nail polish. Here they are in more natural lighting:

Fearless (left) looks quite a bit red/subdued in this pic, but it really is brighter in person.

I hope you liked these. Let me know if you'd like to see more nail polish posts. This is my first one and it is a bit of an experiment. Till next time!

Review: Lancome Juicy Tube in Ginger Palace

I know all of you guys are probably sick and tired of seeing Lancome reviews, so I promise that this is the last one for a long long time, haha! I'm just a really big fan of Lanome. So many of their products are absolutely phenomenal, and the Juicy Tubes aren't excluded! The one above is Ginger Palace, from the fall 2008 Maharani Jewels Collection.



Here's the applicator:


And a couple of swatches:


And on my lips:


The color is a warm orangy brown with fine shimmer in it. It kinda looks looks like brown sugar, but warmer. Oh, and it smells sooooo good! It's like a mix of sweet brown sugar, orange, and something else... I'm not quite sure what, but it smells delicious. That is, if you like scented lip glosses. For a while, I didn't even notice that Lancome's lip glosses all smell differently, even the ones in the permanent collection. I tend to like scented glosses, but if you don't avoid this one because the scent is fairly strong (not overpowering, however, in my opinion).

In terms of application and wear, this gloss goes on very smooth, like most of Lancome's glosses. It isn't very sticky and easily lasts three hours. Now, on my lips above, it doesn't look that glossy, but it depends on how you apply it. I prefer a lighter application with this color--I just think it looks better with a neutral. But you can apply it thicker for a more glossier look just as easily. It is very comfortable on the lips, and very moisturizing as well. My lips feel sooo soft after I take this off!!!

And because nothings perfect, I do have a couple of small complaints. One, my gloss is starting to separate. I know I've had this gloss for about a year and a half (I bought it at TJMaxx a while after the collection came out), but I've had other glosses for longer and they're still fine! And can you see how messy the applicator is in the third picture!? There's gloss all over it, even where it screws into the cap. So not cool!!! I try to clean it up as best as possible, but it keeps getting messy. I think it's because, compared to other Lancome Juicy Tubes, this formula is a bit thinner, runnier. Overall, I still love the actual product and highly recommend it!!!

Info:

Price: $18

Ingredients: Polybutene, pentaerythrityl tetraisostearate, C18-36 acid triglyceride, tridecyl trimellitate, bis-diglyceryl polyacyladipate-2, silica dimethyl silylate, linalool, geranoil, calcium aluminum borosilicate, calcium sodium borosilicate, eugenol, sodium saccharin, silica, limonene, citral, synthetic fluorphlogopite, polyethylene terephthalate, polymethyl methacrylate, benayl alcohol, benzyl benzoate, benayl salicylate, alpha-isomethyl oilone, hexyl cinnamal, isobutylparaben, isopropylparaben, butylparaben, bht, fragrance.

Disclosure: The product featured in this post was bought by me for the purpose of my personal use. If you have any further questions about disclosure, don't hesitate to ask in the comments.