MAC Ruby Woo with a possible dupe

My first ever MAC purchase was a lipstick and not just any lipstick! It still is my all time favorite lipstick and I wear it all the time. The color is intense, it stays all day (and all night if I don't take it off) and it brings a pop of color to any outfit.

As you could tell from my 2 part Favorite Red post (part 1 and part 2) I love red nails. But my love for red doesn't just involve polish, I also love red lipstick. I'm always looking for a red I don't own yet and I was on the hunt for a great blue toned red that stayed all day. I tried a lot of lipsticks, but they were never quite right. Untill I tried MAC Ruby Woo! It's is a true red matte lipstick with a blue undertone and a cult classic for a reason. In my book this is the perfect red and I compare all red lipsticks to this.

 

Because this is a matte lipstick, it does tend to dry my lips a bit, that is why I always wear a lipbalm underneath. It can be a little difficult to apply and I would advice using a lip pencil to outline your lips and make the lines nice and smooth, but once it's on, it stays on!

Like I said, this lipstick does not come of unless you want it to! I love wearing this when I go out for diner, because I can eat and drink everything I want and this will still be on my lips when I get home. I can even safely kiss my husband and he doesn't have to worry about looking like a clown.

If you don't have a MAC counter near you, I have a drugstore lipstick that looks a lot like Ruby Woo, but is a bit cheaper. Rimmel London lasting finish matte by Kate Moss number 111 is a red matte lipstick with a blue undertone, just like Ruby Woo. But are they dupes?

In the tube they look really close, the Rimmel seems to be a little more shiny, but other than that they seem the same. Let's look at the swatches!

Rimmel

Top: Mac bottom: Rimmel

They are so close that I needed a better view of the two together, so I wore them both at the same time. On the left (with the red dot) is Ruby, on the right is the Rimmel. Can you tell I'm actually wearing two lipsticks?

Ruby does look a little more matte, but after wearing the Rimmel for a while, this dries down matte too. Pretty much the same as Ruby.

Although they are very close, I like Ruby just a little better. It stays a bit longer and the color is just a smidge more intens. Oh, who am I kidding? These are totally dupes, but I just love my Ruby, lol!

Do you own any of these and which one is your favorite?

X

Read more »

Sinful Colors Precious Metal

One of the big nail trends for fall that seems to come back every year is metallics. Although I love all nail polish, I'm not a fan of this particular finish because it just doesn't seem to suit my skintone. I love silver and gold polish, but they make me look like I'm undead...

For instance, I wish I could rock Orly Rage, I love that rosegold tone, but I didn't even buy it, because of previous experiences with metallics and my skin...

So when the lovely Holly (misshollyberies, blog and Youtube) send me a few polishes and she included a metallic one, I was hesitant. Although I immediately loved the color (I'm a sucker for blue), I was afraid the finish wouldn't work for me. Nothing was further from the truth! As soon as I put Sinful Colors Precious Metal on my nails, I loved it! Finally, a metallic polish I could actually pull off!

It's a midtoned blue polish with a silver metallic shimmer running through it. This polish is part of the 2012 Hot Flash Metallics collection.

Isn't that gorgeous?

I was so happy she send me Sinful Colors, as I don't have access to this particular brand and was dying to try it. The formula of this polish was good, but the polish itself was a  little on the sheer side. It flows on the nail, but I did need 3 coats to get it fully opaque. But since it dried reasonably fast and was so easy to apply, I didn't mind.

2 coats Precious Metal

If anyone knows a good site where I can buy SC that actually shippes to Europe, please let me know!

X

Read more »

Essie Cashmere Bathrobe

Essie released a gorgeous Fall collection this year, For the Twill of it. I really liked several of the colors, but wasn't keen on the one that everybody is raving about. Don't get me wrong, I like For the Twill of it, but it just doesn't have that wow-factor for me because I own a dupe that has been in my stash for quit some time AND OPI released a polish that's almost a dupe at the same time. That just makes it less interesting to me.

The polish that did immediately caught my eye from this collection was Essie Cashmere Bathrobe. I think it's absolutely stunning and deserves a lot more attention than it has been getting. Unfortunately, it has been completely overshadowed by For the Twill of it...
But just look at this beautifull polish!

This charcoal grey with silver micro glitter is the perfect fall color. I love me some dark colors so no wonder I like this so much. The formula is absolutely perfect! It applies like a dream and is almost a one coater, but I did need that second coat to get it nice and even on the nail. The dry time is fast and it dries to a shiny finish.



 



2 coats Cashmere Bathrobe



I think this stunning polish deserves a lot more attention and I know I will wear this a lot in the coming months!

What's your favorite of this collection?

X

Read more »

Essence The boy next door

I have a really  nice budget polish for you today. I actually have quit a few polishes of this brand, but for some reason, I never grab them. Especially  not since they changed the bottle. But Essence The boy next door is absolutely wonderfull! I can't take my eyes of this shimmery deep cobalt blue.

The minute I walked in the store and saw this polish, I knew I had to have it! I love blue nails and this color is stunning. The formula was perfect, it flowed on the nail, almost opaque in 1 coat, but better with 2 and it dried really fast. The only problem I have with this polish (and the reason why I don't use Essence polishes as much), is the new bottle shape... it just doesn't feel stable when I dip my brush and wipe off the excess. I am always afraid to tip the bottle over. I prefer the old, less attractive bottles and wish they would come back. The brush itself is fairly wide, a little to wide for my taste, but not so wide I cover my nails and cuticles in one go.

All this is just a minor hassle, especially when you get color like this. I absolutely love this polish and really want to put it back on my nails now I see the swatches again.

2 coats The boy next door

Do you own any Essence polishes?
What do you think of the new bottles?

X

Read more »

Mani Monday's: Stripes

Another Monday has arrived and that means it's time for another Mani Monday. This weeks theme is Stripes.

Well, if you've read my earlier attempts to create stripes on my nails (click here for my epic big fat failure), you know I don't have the best track record when it comes to this particular art type...
In fact, I've had such a hard time with striping tape, I actually considered skipping this weeks theme, but that would feel like cheating. Especially since I allready skipped last weeks theme. Of course not because I've never had a French mani on my nails, let alone a Fancy French, so I have no clue how to do a French mani, but because I was on holiday! (hence the very limited posting of the last week or so)

After a lot of sighing and trying to figure out how to get stripes on my nails without tape, I gave up and got out my striping tape. This time it gave me only a mild headache so I'm happy. The result is... well... wobbly is the best way to describe it, but hey, you can definitely tell I have stripes on my nails and that was the whole idea!

I decided to use two untried polishes in my stash that, in my opinion, go great together. I started with 1 coat of China Glaze Phat Santa.

A bright red crelly, that leans a little more to the cream side. I really didn't expect it to be so opaque, but look at this:

Not bad for just one coat, right? This polish is great to work with, a little thin, so be carefull not to flood your cuticles, but really opaque and it dries really fast.

I then began my battle with the sticky striping tape. To start of with, I of course couldn't find the start of my tape... Half an hour later I finally found it and cut of the pieces. Placing them on my nails was actually really easy after that! When I was happy with my (simple) design, I added the second layer of polish, China Glaze Naughty and Nice, a really deep, dark, vampy bloodred crelly polish. It was also a little on the thin side, but I think that's what you get with a jelly or crelly... I don't know how opaque this polish is on its own, as I've never used it on it's own, but I used just 1 coat for this mani, because I had a fairly opaque base color underneath.

The beautiful twosome, Naughty looks black in the bottle, but trust me, it's not! It really is gorgeous and perfect for fall/winter.

This time I let the polish dry completely before taking off the tape and I think this works a lot better than leaving my polish a little wet. But my striping tape mani is never complete with a little (or big) mistake, so of course I bumped my pinky before I could take some swatch pictures... I really didn't feel like doing the whole thing again, so I opted to ignore my sowewhat ugly pinky. I hope you will too.

Have you ever used striping tape? What is the best way to use it and how do I get straight, sharp lines?

X

Read more »