E.L.F. Nail Polish in Gold Star Swatch & Review

I feel like if I had to have only ONE kind of glitter polish, it'd be a gold one. Gold glitter goes with everything. Especially red. I just love those two colors together.

For years now I've been wearing Maybelline Colorama's Honey Cristals around Christmas and New Year's, which means the polish is slowly running out. I decided to find a new gold glitter, and since I had to place an order on Eyes Lips Face, I thought I'd try one of their polishes. I got Gold Star, which is a mix of gold hexagonal and small glitter.

I wore 2 coats of Gold Star on top of Kiko's Martha Red. Application was... well, it wasn't as easy as I thought it'd be. The clear base is thick, and the brush doesn't get a lot of glitter out of the bottle, so you really have to place and move the glitter around. The polish (which has a strong smell, almost like glue) took a long time to dry... and it didn't held up long on my nails (I got my first chip a day after applying).

All in all, I loved the look of Gold Star, and for 2€50, it's fine, but if you're looking for the perfect gold glitter, I don't think Gold Star is it.

February Reads

It's been a while since I've posted a reads post ! Let's say I've not read as much as I could have these past few months, mostly because I've been watching movies before bed instead of reading. I still managed to read some books though, and here they are :

Shopaholic Abroad/Takes Manhattan (L'Accro du Shopping à Manhattan), Sophie Kinsella : I'm a sucker for chick lit and I've been wanting to read the rest of the Shopaholic series ever since I read the first one years ago. Unfortunately, I just did't enjoy this one as much as the first one. It took me forever to finish it even though it's a pretty easy read. I still want to read the other books, but I'll put off reading them I think.

Abandon trilogy, Meg Cabot : Now these books, though, I loved them. I read all three back to back. If you're thinking about reading them, you should definitely buy them all at once, as they all end on a cliffhanger... And you'll want to start the next one right away. They're basically one story cut into 3 books. It's probably targeted more towards teens/young adult, but they're really enjoyable.

Mad About The Boy, Helen Fielding : Bridget Jones' Diary is probably the first ever 'grown up' book I read when I was younger and mostly reading about teenagers. I finally got around to reading the third one and boy was it good. I laughed, and I cried, and you should really pick it up if you've read the first two.

Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn : I'm guessing by now everyone's heard of Gone Girl. I'd managed to stay away from spoilers (about the movie and the book) and I thought I'd read the book before watching the movie. Oh. My. God. This book is a page turner, I didn't want to put it down. I read it in five days. The ending ! Argh! If you've not seen the movie yet but want to, I think you should read the book first (and even if you've seen it). The movie, although it is a perfect adaptation, has less details than the book, you get to really understand what's going on in the characters' minds.

Some books were read in French (I added the French title for those) while some were read in their original versions. I thought I'd mention it, as I feel sometimes translation can make a difference whether I like a book or not.

Labello (Nivea) Fruity Shine lip balm in Strawberry & Cherry Swatch & Review

Today's post is a review for Labello's Fruity Shine lip balm in Cherry and Strawberry.

The Fruity Shine line claims to hydrate your lips, all while giving them some shine and color.

Here is the lip balm in Cherry :

This one definitely shows on my lips, I love the color. It smells delicious but you can't taste the product once it's on your lips.

Here are the pictures for the lip balm in Strawberry :

This one doesn't show up as much as Cherry does, although you can tell I have some color on my lips. It smells like Strawberry candy, but again it doesn't have any taste.

I have to say I'm really pleased with these two lip balms. They hydrate my lips, and even though the color and shine don't hold up on my lips all day, I don't feel like I have to re-apply constantly for my lips to feel smooth and hydrated.

They're not the most pigmented lip balms ever invented, and depending on how much you apply, they do give a nice wash of color to the lips. On days when I don't want to bother with lipstick but still want to look like I at least tried to look nice, they're more than enough. 

I definitely want to try the other colors in this line (I think there are two more, Peach and Watermelon) !

Have you tried these ? What's your favorite lip balm ?

Rimmel Glitter Bomb nail polish in Midnight Mistletoe Swatch & Review

Here's the polish combo I wore on New Year's (which, yes, I know, was a while ago) :

I wore 2 coats of Rimmel's Midnight Mistletoe, from the Glitter Bomb collection, over OPI's Green-wich  Village.

Midnight Mistletoe is a mix of red, silver and green hexagonal glitter, and some small green glitter. This polish definitely screams Christmas, and I love it !

The polish was super easy to apply, the brush will get enough glitter out of the bottle to cover the nail, and you can definitely layer it without feeling like your nails are suffocating under a ton of the base polish.

Bottom line : if you love the mix of red and green glitter in polish, try to get your hands on Midnight Mistletoe !

NOTD : Bourjois 1 Seconde Prune Stellaire (n°9)

Hey everyone ! Long time no nail polish post, huh ? Well, here's one !

 

Today I have Prune Stellaire (or number 9) from the Bourjois 1 Seconde line. This is an oldie (sorta). I bought this in 2011 (I think ? Or early 2012) at a discount store, and I'm about 80% sure that this was one of the first colors Bourjois released from the 1 Seconde line.

Prune Stellaire is a beautiful deep plum with pink glitters that shows more in the sunlight. It was hard to capture it on camera. I applied 2 coats and removed the polish 6 days later, and only had some tip wear. Yay for long lasting polishes !

 

But what exactly is the 1 Seconde line ? Well, the back of the polish says 1 nail = 1 stroke = 1 second, with 50 seconds of drying time. Do I agree ? Definitely. Now obviously application time also depends on the size of your nails, but with a brush that size, 1 stroke = 1 nail for me, for sure. The brush is wide and flat, and I don't have any problem with it polishing my cuticles at the same time as I'm doing my nails. It might look a little scary but it's honestly one of the easiest brush I've used, and the shape of the handle really helps.

I took a picture of the 1 Seconde brush next to OPI's brush (this is Gouga Gouda Two Shoes), so you can compare.

Have you ever tried a Bourjois 1 Seconde polish ? What's your favorite nail polish brush ?