DEBORAH MILANO SHINE TECH IN SHADE 29

This is going to be hard to write. I try hard to be an optimist, to find the best in everything. But, with Deborah Milano's nail polish in the shade number 29, that's incredibly hard to do. I bought this nail polish months and months ago back in Croatia but I don't like using it. You will see by the photos of the bottle, it is obvious that I have used it many times, and I am forcing myself to use it up even though I don't enjoy it.

The color is a nice deep red, it goes on smooth, it's very opaque, but the general quality of the nail polish is where the problems appear. It does not chip though, it can go for up to two whole days without a single chip, but the problem is how fragile the surface or general consistency of the nail polish is. I applied two coats and let my nails dry completely. With most nail polishes it takes 10 minutes tops. But with this one, even during the next day I couldn't properly touch or scratch the nail without leaving a dent in it. I'm really hoping that you understand what I mean by the way I'm describing it.

Basically, through all those scratches and fingerprints, the glossiness of the polish disappears. That's very unfortunate because it could have been such a nice, glossy, dark red color. I applied it yesterday evening and my nails already look scratched with an obvious lack of shine which is why I rarely wear it over a day. What is your experience with this nail polish brand? Have you experienced the same problem?
 

BATISTE DRY SHAMPOO + MESSY BUN TUTORIAL

The lovely Batiste dry shampoo, one of my all time favorite beauty inventions - ever. Before they started getting popular and widely known, I would use baby powder which wasn't half as effective as this baby.

Because I have oily hair that never outlasts 2 days of freshness, I use this spray to lengthen the period between two hair washes, to try and save my hair from as much heat damage as possible. I combined my rave for this product with a simple tutorial for a relaxed bun tutorial which I wear at home 24/7, and on that 4th day before the hair wash. The instructions follow:

After having shaken the bottle well, spray some dry shampoo onto your roots, and - don't be scared if your hair turns grey or white, that's supposed to happen - massage the product into the roots. Cover all visibly greasy areas.

Gather all hair into a high ponytail and hold at the roots with one hand while using the other to twist the hair.

Start rolling the hair around to try and form something similar to a snail's shell. Keep your hair twisted and end with the ends circling around the bun.

Use as many bobby pins as you need to keep your hair secure, but don't worry about being too neat with that, you want it to look loose and "messy". If your bun feels too tight, pull out from around the bun and enjoy your easy bun.

ESSIE CHINCHILLY

Store all grey and beige nail polishes away. I mean it.

I've been enjoying the lack of true, bright color on my nails lately. Greys, beiges, anything colorless feels very autumn-y. So, as I previously posted a lavender grey Essie nail polish, this was the polish that I bought with it. Chinchilly is a "sleek granite grey" nail polish, says the website. Definitely not as blue as Cocktail bling, the color actually reminds me and my boyfriend (who's horrified by just about any color other than red) of clay, as there are definitely some brownish undertones in it, so I wouldn't say it's as grey as granite. Aaanyway, enough color description. In my head this color, as most do, I guess, looked better matte, so I used Essence's matte top coat. I was very pleased with the result. I then paired this nail color with a very old, yet sweet, feather ring. I was thrilled. My boyfriend - not so much. :)

ESSIE COCKTAIL BLING

This fall, I've been obsessing over grey and beige nails. It's actually quite surprising, though, that I've never before owned a single grey nail polish while at the same time 90% of my wardrobe is in tones of grey and beige.

Even though Essie's website describes the color Cocktail Bling as a pale grey, I wouldn't confirm that. To me, it seems to be a lavender grey, there are definitely tones of blue or lavender in it. I still need to find a real, pale grey. Also, this shade is my very first Essie nail polish, so I'm yet to be convinced of its quality and whether or not it justifies the fairly high price (€9,99).

What are your thoughts on Essie's nail polishes in general? Which shades are your favorite? :)

MAC LIP PENCIL IN SOAR

I never knew anything about the Kardashians. I don't really care about their lives, but they still find ways to sneak into our lives. I was on Pinterest one afternoon and I saw quite a few photos of one of the sister's make up look, it was Kylie Jenner. She was wearing a dark nude lip color and people were trying to figure out which lipstick she's wearing, when I discovered that someone wrote that she is probably wearing Mac's Lip Pencil in Soar or Whirl.

When I passed the Mac counter I decided to give those two pencils a try since the lipsticks mentioned on Pinterest were both Satins, and I prefer the matte look. Whirl turned out to be a bit too greyish on my lips which must have  something to do with my skin undertone. Soar was perfect. I loved how it looked on me and it totally went with my dark red pullover that I wore that day. For a pencil, at 14.50 it's quite expensive. But, I adore that their lip pencils aren't dry as most lip pencils turn out to be, so I can wear it without topping it with a lipstick.

BOURJOIS SO LAQUE GLOSSY

I am back. I am actually back. This time for real. I have been missing this blog for far too long and this time, I will not quit. I also have a new blog design - new header, new fonts, bigger images. A lot of things have happened in the past few years which I'll slowly reveal throughout future posts. Without further ado, this is today's post. A lovely mint nail polish.

 I was introduced to Bourjois back when I was very little. I remember that my mother had one of their small round blushes and that she would take it everywhere. She would also let me play with it because I was incredibly drawn to it due to its strong, pink color. I bought this nail polish on one of my trips to Croatia. As it turns out, Bourjois stopped selling their products in Austria a few years ago, so I'll have to stock up on anything I like in Croatia or order it online.

04 Amande defile is a pretty mint color. Sadly, and I'm going to say this right at the beginning, the color payoff isn't that great. I'm used to applying 2 coats, everything above I consider sheer. This took 3 coats to get this opaque color, so I have to count that as a con. When applied though, the color looks great. Not too green, not too blue. I love pairing mints with gold, so I always wear gold jewellery with a mint manicure.

I'd say that, considering I applied this nail polish yesterday, and that I can already see some scratches on some of my nails, the longevity of the nail polish is not great, even though three coats were applied. Can you recommend a good mint color with great color payoff and quality?