Katy Perry for OPI Swatches and Review

As I had mentioned previously, I bought the Katy Perry for OPI miniset this past weekend.  Unfortunately, I was unable to get my hands on a bottle of the Shatter polish to go along with these, but I've got it coming in sometime next week.  I took the Katy Perry colors on a test run for the past couple of days and here are the reviews and swatches:

From left to right: The One That Got Away, Teenage Dream, Last Friday Night, and Not Like The Movies

The One That Got Away is a vibrant fuchsia that has a nice glass fleck shimmer to it.  If you're not sure what glass flecked is, it's a term that describes a certain type of shimmer, in this case, it refers a tiny shimmer particle that has a soft sparkle to it.   This was the color that really stood out to me in the set, and I almost bought the full-sized bottle.  I'm glad I didn't, because while a pretty color, there was nothing about this polish that really stood out.  I had two coats on my nail which easily gave me 100% opacity, but I think I might try it again with three coats to add some depth.
Grade: C

Teenage Dream is a massively glittery and sparkly soft pink polish.  I put on two coats and thought it would make a good top coat, but I was able to an almost full opacity with about four coats.  I didn't think I would really love this polish, but I adore it.  It's very flattering to my skin tone, and would be great to dress up a simple outfit.  The only downside to this polish if you want to opaque it is the fact that A) you need four coats per nail, meaning you'll be doing your nails for a hour and B) It also takes an hour to remove.  I just spent 15 minutes trying to get this and the glittery blue polish off two nails. 
Grade: A

Last Friday Night is the glittery blue sister to Teenage Dream.  I really don't think it's the same formula as Teenage Dream, as Last Friday Night lacks a lot of the shimmer that the pink polish has, but seems to have more tint to the polish base.  I wasn't very impressed with this polish.  The ads show it as a soft electric blue (like Katy Perry's wigs) but I couldn't come close to getting that color on my nails.  In the photo above, I have on 5 coats and the blue is still super soft.  I don't even really think this would be a decent top coat for another blue polish. 
Grade: F

Not Like the Movies is a silver shimmer with a hint of glass flecks.  This polish is nice as it has some depth to it, similar to a Chanel polish.  In certain types of light, the polish looks like it has pinkish/lavenderish tones to it, but in other lights, it looks like it has green tones.  This is a pretty solid polish, and if you don't have a silver already in your collection, I highly recommend this one.  The only reason I'm not 100% in love with this color is because it seemed to wash my skin tone out. 
Grade: A-

 

When I get my Shatter polish in, I'll paint my nails like I did above, and take some photos.  Overall, the collection is pretty good, but I think they could have been a bit more adventurous with the colors.  Here's another swatch photo, this time I tried to get more of the details of the polish in it.

 

PREVIOUSLY:
OPI Shatter Polish is NOWHERE to be Found
TREND: Shatter Polish

OPI Shatter Polish is NOWHERE to be Found

This past weekend I was at the Huntington Mall and picked up the minipack of Katy Perry for OPI polishes.  Of course, Trade Secret was out of the Shatter Polish.  The saleswoman told me they had been unable to keep it in stock, and then added it was impossible to find in the Tri-State area due to demand.  Trade Secret still had plenty of the colors in the collection available for purchase. 

If you're looking to buy Shatter, you're probably going to have to go online.  I finally broke down and bought the Serena Williams Simply Smashing! set, which includes the Shatter polish and a cool chartreuse green (I wear this color a lot).  I bought the set off Amazon, and with shipping it came to around $15 and change, which ain't bad.  Amazon had the Shatter polish by itself for as low as $4.50, but when you add almost $5 in shipping, you're pretty much paying full price.  However, for the time being, this looks like the only option for buying Shatter. 



Note: If you purchase this polish off Amazon, be sure to know that you're not actually buying the product from Amazon, but from an individual who sells on Amazon.  Most are great sellers, but there are a few bad apples.  Make sure your seller has at least a 95% approval or above. 

 

BGP: Tarte's 8th World Wonder Set

In one of my most recent posts, I discussed my purchase of Tarte's 8th World Wonder Best of the Amazon makeup kit from QVC.  I got it Monday, and have worn it every day since then.  To quickly summarize my overall review: meh.  This set is good, but not great, which is a shame because  I wanted to really love this set.  Here's the breakdown and reviews of everything in the set:



Amazonian clay full coverage balancing foundation in light.  According to the little pamphlet that came with this set, this foundation will "adjust to meet and address your skin concerns for makeup that wears better, longer, and truer!"  When I think of a full coverage foundation, MAC's StudioSculpt or StudioFix come to mind.  In my experience, those foundations cover every uneven skin tone or acne scar.  If MAC is a 100% coverage, the tarte formula is at best a 75% coverage.  I have some minor acne scarring, and this foundation didn't cover it very well.  However, the color matches my skin beautifully, and it did last all day.  With this set comes an "airbrush finish" foundation brush.  According to the directions, you're supposed to put quarter sized dots on your face, and then use the brush for a "flawless" look.  I'm not a big fan of foundation brushes to begin with, but this one is nice and fluffy so I thought this one might be different. I wasn't impressed.  It gave the foundation an even lighter coverage.  The brush is very nice, though, very well made with a bamboo handle.  I think it'll be great for powder or bronzer.
Foundation grade: B. 
Brush grade: A



Amazonian clay blush in glisten.  I just ran out of my Nars Orgasm, and the pictures and description sounded a lot like it, so I was excited to see if this would be similar.  On first glance, it is.  However, the tarte blush has less pigment in it and seems to be all shimmer.  It doesn't build well, I had to apply the blush about five times to get it visible on my cheeks, and I'm pretty pale.  It didn't last very long as well, by lunch time there wasn't a speck of color and hardly any shimmer.  However, while playing around with some of my other blushes, I have found the tarte blush layers very well with my all-time favorite blush, Benefit's Coralista for a great glow.  Here are some swatches:



Blush * is where I applied the blush with my finger maybe 2-3 times and it looks great there.  But blush ** is where I applied the blush with my blush brush, and I think I counted like 5 times trying to build the color.  If you can't see what I'm talking about, click on the photo and it should blow up to its actual size.  Look for what appears to be hives on my arm.  I also have the swatches for the eye liner and lip gloss on my arm as well.
Blush grade: C- on its own, B- if layered



Amazonian clay eye shadow palette.  Clockwise, Shimmering Bronze, Shimmering Cocoa, Shimmering Sand, and Shimmering Plum.  I think I was most excited to get this palette than I was anything else, purely for the Shimmering Plum shade.  It does not disappoint, it is gorgeous.  I have dark brown eyes, and it really enhanced them.  The Shimmering Cocoa and Bronze have a rich color to them, and are well-pigmented.  Shimmering Sand is okay, it's very sheer and doesn't show up very well, but I think that's how it was supposed to be.  It's a good canvas for the rest of the colors.  I've very happy with this palette, and have no doubt it will go into heavy rotation in my daily makeup bag.  It also comes in an adorable bamboo compact that is a tad awkward to open. Swatches for the colors are below:


Eyeshadow grade: A+



PureOptic gloss in Golden Pink.  I'm not a huge fan of tarte's glosses as most of them are UBER-sparkly.  The color itself is pretty, but I don't like it with this set.  With the heavy amount of shimmer in the blush and eyeshadows, a super sparkly gloss turns your head into a sort of flesh disco ball.  It has a light mint flavor. 
Gloss grade: B if not worn with set.



Amazonian clay waterproof eyeliner in Golden Plum.  I don't use eyeliner pencils as I prefer a thinner line, so I really don't know how to grade this product.  It lasted all day, and went on smoothly.  Yay?
Eyeliner grade: ?



Lights! Cameras! Lashes! Mascara in Black.  This is my all-time favorite mascara.  It makes my lashes super long, and they don't clump.  unfortunately, it's pricey at $19 a pop, so I switch between this and another mascara to make it last longer.
Mascara grade: A+

The set came in a purple clutch that is made out of PVC that has a stamped woven effect.  Normally, I end up giving these sort of things away because A) I'm up to my end parts in all sorts of makeup bags and B) they're usually just cheap pieces of crap.  But the one that the set came in is well made and can hold a bunch. 

The set was available on QVC and QVC.com for a short bit before they sold out.  They still have the set available in Deep, though.  I've read on a few blogs that this will be coming back, they're just waiting to get more in stock.  The item number is A212775.

Charming Charlie Coming to the Huntington Mall

While at the Huntington Mall yesterday looking for luggage (which is SO EXPENSIVE), I ran across a facade where some construction work was going.  The signs proclaimed that Charming Charlie was getting ready to move in soon.  I've heard of Charming Charlie before, and I want to think I've been in one, but I'm not 100% sure.  Okay, I remember now.  It was when I was in Norfolk, VA, last summer. 

According to their website, Charming Charlie sells women's jewelry, handbags, and other accessories with most prices running from $4.97-$49.97.  In their stores, which are designed to look like a boutique, everything is grouped according to color.  I, for one, love this idea.  I can't count the amount of times I've looked for something to match an outfit and never find anything (until after I've worn said outfit), so this feature is wonderful. 

Like I said earlier, I'm pretty sure I was in the one located in Norfolk, VA, last summer.  I remember asking my friend what kind of store it was, but I didn't have a lot of time to really look because the store was getting ready to close.  The stuff I looked at was pretty (and sparkly!) but I can't vouch for quality.

I did some research on the Charming Charlie company online.   Last in year, it won several awards such as International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) Hot Retailer of the Year 2010, which is an impressive award.   I also did some research on reviews for the store.  Most are very favorable, although some have pointed out that quality-wise, what you pay for is what you get.  To be honest, if I'm only paying, say, $9 for a necklace, if I get a year's use out of it, I'm satisfied. 

Overall, I'm very excited the addition of Charming Charlie to the Huntington Mall lineup.  I'll post opening information as soon as I know something.

WEBSITE: Charming Charlie.  unfortunately, it doesn't really showcase any of their wares, but the blog is entertaining.

LOOKBOOK: Spring Dresses from The Limited

Happy March 21st ladies!  You know what today is, right? 
If you don't...it's the first official day of SPRING!  In the spirit of warmer weather,
here are some beautiful spring dresses from The Limited.

Lattice Front Shift Dress, $89.90

Ruffle 2-in-1 Dress, $98


Printed Floral Halter Dress, $89.90


Printed 2-in-1 Bow Dress, $89.90


Bow Neckline Halter Dress, $89.90

The perfect shoes for these dresses?  A classic--and cheap--nude heel:
Elle Yalena Platform High Heel, Kohl's, $59.99
on sale online for $39.99

 

I'm a Sucker for Value Beauty Kits

One of the things I love most in this life are makeup palettes and value kits.  Like nail polish, I really don't finish too many of my cosmetics for various reasons.  This is why I like most palettes and value sets: the sizes are smaller than the full-size products thus I don't feel as bad when I don't fully use them. 

Due to my desire to get my student loans under control, I have cut back massively on my shopping.  I'm also in desperate need to sort through my makeup collection so the fear of having duplicates has really controlled my spending habits.  Despite my efforts, I responded to the Siren's call that is QVC. 

So apparently QVC has moved (mostly) beyond the massive jeweled brooches and some fitness guru's juicer of yesteryear.  Now they're selling some of my favorite cosmetics brands such as Stila and Tarte.  Now, Tarte isn't as well-known as MAC or even Stila, but the products are great.  Tarte also produces some of the best value kits out there.  I bought this set Monday:

Tarte 8th World Wonder Best of the Amazon Collect, $52, QVC.com

This collection is from Tarte's new Amazonian Clay collection.  You can read the backstory about Amazonian Clay at the Tarte website.  Supposedly it can detect your skin type (oily, dry, etc.), and act accordingly.  Since I haven't gotten this yet (it gets delivered Monday!), I can't say for sure if this Amazonian Clay really works as told.  However, I checked out the reviews on some of the other products that have the clay in them, such as the blush, on Sephora.  The reviews are overwhelmingly positive for the blush, so I'm hoping the rest of the products are just as amazing.  I own other Tarte products, and I've always been thrilled with them.  In fact, my favorite mascara EVER is Tarte's Lights! Cameras! Lashes!  unfortunately, it's $19 a pop, which I find too expensive to replace every month, so I only wear it every other day. 

Full report to come next week!

Blog News & Updates

I really apologize for the lack of posts for the past few weeks.  On top of work and school, I was for three weeks.  I've had everything from a wicked sinus infection to laryngitis to food poisoning.  While sick I thought often of the blog, because trust me, I'd much rather blog than lie on my bathroom floor praying for sudden death. 

I've also been thinking on blog improvements and such.  When I started this blog back in January, I was posting just about everyday.  I now realize that I simply don't have the time to do that.  So for the meantime I'm going to aim for a Mon-Wed-Fri schedule.  My other plans include using a Lookbook post in the mornings, with another post in the afternoons.  Apparently, my Lookbook posts are amongst my most popular, according to my Wordpress stats page.  Since I'm currently on a mini-vacation, I'll have plenty of time to get posts for next week up.

Sephora Coming to Charleston & Other Mall News

Yesterday's announcement of White House|Black Market coming to Huntington hasn't been the only retail news in West Virginia as of late.  Last week, the Charleston Town Center announced that anchor store JC Penney's was getting ready for a multi-million dollar renovation.  According to to the Charleston Daily Mail, the renovations will be from "top to bottom" and will include a Sephora Inside JC Penney.  It should be no surprise to anyone that I am a huge Sephora fan, so I'm more than excited to hear about this addition to the Charleston Town Center.  A few years ago, JC Penney started to remodel its stores, and one of the first ones they did was at the Ashland Town Center, which also included a Sephora.  Ashland is maybe 20-ish minutes from Huntington, and the mall there really isn't worth writing home about.  At the time, the renovation seemed basically to showcase the American Living line, a sort of preppy-Americana brand. That same section now showcases the women's lingere...to show how well the American Living brand is doing.  I'm more or less expecting the Charleston store to look very similar to the Ashland store. 

While the JC Penney remodel is set in stone, I've heard a rumor that Forever 21 is looking to move in the Charleston Town Center.  Personally, I'd rather have a Forever 21 in Huntington than White House|Black Market.  For those who aren't familiar with Forever 21, it's a flash fashion store, meaning the stuff you saw on the catwalk two weeks ago will be in store this weekend.  Prices are dirt cheap, but the quality is dirt cheap as well.  You do get what you pay for: a cute dress that will last this season and that's it.  They do carry a pretty good plus size line called Faith 21.  All of the Forever 21 stores I have been in are huge, and I'm not 100% sure of where there might be that size available in the CTC.  There's the old Steve & Barry's location on the east side of the mall, but it's been split into two different stores. One side is an inflatable bounce house place where you can hold a party, the other sells crap out of distribution catalogs, like fiber optic angel statues.  I don't know what the leases are on those stores, but that's the only place I can think of where Forever 21 would want to move into.

The Huntington Mall is getting ready to do a multi-million dollar renovation in honor of its 30th anniversary.  Basically, skylights are being put in, new flooring installed, remodeling the joke of a food court, and some other odds and ends.  However, they are also going to put in two new stores.  While I haven't heard any rumors of what might be going in those, I imagine it's not going to be anything to get excited over.   Just throwing this out there, but I foresee a Talbot's Women and Petite.  There's already a Talbot's there, and it doesn't carry the plus size or petite clothes.  

My little sister asked me last night what other stores I could see moving into downtown Huntington after White House|Black Market.  Off the top of my head...Urban Outfitters, and that's only if WH|BM does well.  I think between Marshall, high schoolers, and people in the 24-40 age bracket there's enough population and interest to support an UO.  Like Forever 21, most Urban Outfitters are fairly large stores.  Most of the space in Pullman Square and across the street on Third Avenue is occupied.  There's not enough draw to bring people to Fourth Avenue, and obviously location is key.

White House|Black Market Coming to Huntington!

About a month ago, I posted a list of stores or brands that I'd love to see come to West Virginia.  While it's not one of my top picks, White House|Black Market is a welcome addition to downtown Huntington.  It's not going in Pullman Square though, but at 905 Third Avenue.  This is what use to be the 9th St. Plaza, right next to the AT&T Store and facing the patio of the Marshall Hall of Fame Cafe.  The building was most recently an upscale kid's clothing store--or for longtime residents of Huntington--the former Bowinkle's restaurant. 

I miss Bowinkle's.  Not only was the food good, it was very affordable.  You can't eat downtown and drop fewer than $10 on a meal.  I don't even what to think about eating out with kids costs these days.  I may be a bit biased, though, because Bowinkle's was my first job.

Ahem, back to White House|Black Market.  As the store's name might suggest, a majority of the clothing and accessories are in black and white. Sure, there's some neutrals mixed in, along with a color or two, but the store looks and feels like a P. Diddy theme party.  The best way I can best describe the clothes is a mix between Ann Taylor Loft and Macy's INC line. 

The only reason I don't see WH|BM doing well are the price points.  WH|BM is pricey, at least by West Virginia standards.  Expect a dress--even a basic jersey dress--to cost around $100.  Shoes also average $100.  I can definitely see lots of Marshall students shopping at WH|BM, and between them and the small-ish professional population, the store might be able to survive. 

Here are some dresses I'd love to get in my closet:

Mosiac Print Chemise, $98

Blue Floral Print Sheath Dress, $168

I am excited, though.  No word yet on when White House|Black Market will open, but according to WSAZ.com, the company said "soon."