Manicure Mondays-Essie Licorice

Today I have for you a classic, Essie's Licorice.  It is a black jelly polish.  I love a good black polish, I find it so chic.  This one was opaque in almost one coat, though I used two.  I used CND Stickey base coat and Diamond Dry top coat.  This manicure lasted me a full 7 days!  I can't say enough about Essie polishes.  If you have not tried one, do say ASAP!

MAC Pro Longwear Concealer Review

Launched about a year ago, MAC's Pro Longwear Concealer has become my concealer of choice.  It claims to be a medium to full coverage liquid concealer that gives a natural matte finish and lasts up to 15 hours.  Sounds good right?  But does it do what it claims?

I can honestly say that I love this concealer!  The shade I wear is NC 35.  I find that it is a medium coverage concealer that can be built up to full coverage.  It does last a very long time. I've worn it for 15 hours and I experienced no fading.

I wear this over my Bobbi Brown corrector in medium to dark bisque.  I apply it with a Samantha Chapman Real Techniques flat foundation brush and blend it out with the Sephora airbrush concealer brush.  I apply it with a tapping motion in order to get the most coverage possible (as I have horrendous dark circles and bags).

Some people claim that you don't have to set it.  I personally do or else I find that it creases, even with a primer underneath.  I set this with the MAC Prep+Prime translucent finishing powder.  That assures that it doesn't crease or settle into those tiny lines under my eyes.

I even use it for blemish coverage, and it works great for that.  I just dab a little onto my blemish or dark spot and blend it out.  It stays put all day.

The thing that I don't like about it is the pump that it comes with.  It is the most sensitive pump ever.  One pump of this stuff is enough for 2-3 days of usage.  And there is no way to just pump out the amount you need.  What I've done to remedy that is I pump a full pumps worth into a Sephora sample jar and I use it for 2-3 days, just dipping my brush into get my desired amount.  Also, on my first bottle of this, the pump quit working when there was about 1/8th left. It just wouldn't pump anymore.  And there is no way to unscrew the pump.

Overall, I love this concealer.  It retails for $17 and will likely last you six months.  It is available at MAC counters and stores.

Beauty UK Earth Child Eyeshadow Palette #4

First, let me apologize for the small blogging break that I took, I had to take care of myself.  But I am back and feeling better!  Beauty UK is an affordable UK brand that I'd heard tons about on other blogs.  It is sold in their drug store for 3.99GBP.  I received this in my swap with BeautybyJJ.  And let me tell you, it's good!

Top row of colors

Bottom row of colors

It is a 10 color palette full of earth tones.  The colors have no names from what I can see.  The eyeshadows themselves are very soft and pigmented.  And they blend wonderfully.  It is a nice mix of mattes and shimmers.  My favorite combo to wear from this palette is the shimmery brown on the lid with the matte brown in the crease.

I love the size of the palette also.  It's great for traveling.  When the husband and I took a long weekend trip over Labor Day weekend, this was the only eyeshadow that I brought.  It allows for neutral looks as well as a smoky eye as it has blacks and greys too.

If you are in the UK, I highly recommend picking up this palette.  Beauty UK also ships to the US, if any of my US beauties are interested.

Manicure Mondays-Revlon Smoky Canvas

Released with their Fall 2011collection, Revlon's Smoky Canvas is a warm taupe grey.  This is a cream finish.  The formula was superb, this one could have been a one-coater but I opted for two.  This wore chip free for 6 days with my CND Stickey base coat and Diamond Dry top coat.  I believe this is a limited edition color, so if you like this, pick it up quickly!

Crown Brush 7 Piece Synthetic Travel Brush Review

Crown Brush was on Haute Look again, so I went ahead and placed another order.  This time for the travel brushes as I will be doing some traveling for work soon.  I opted for the synthetic brushes as I have not been so pleased with their natural hair brushes in the past.

The set consists of a powder brush, blush brush, spoolie, angled eyeliner/eyebrow brush, lip brush, domed blending brush, and a flat eye shadow brush.  They all come in a black nylon case.  They have a matte unlabeled black short handle with a silver ferrule.  The handle measures 5 1/4 inches long.  Tiny in comparison to a full sized brush.

When I first opened them, they had a pungent smell and had powdery residue coming from them.  The powder brush had a few loose bristles.  I washed all of them immediately and the smell went away and there was no more shedding.

The face brushes are very soft and dense.  I really liked the finish that the powder brush gave when I used it with my MAC MSF natural.  The blush brush wouldn't be my ideal blush brush as it is so dense but it did get the job done.

The eye brushes are also very soft.  The flat eye shadow shader brush packs on color nicely on the lid.  And I was very impressed at how well the blending brush blended.  I do not like the angled brush for eyebrows, it works much better as an eyeliner brush as it is very stiff.  The spoolie is a spoolie, nothing much to say about that.  The lip brush I found works better as a detailed concealer brush.  I used it to cover tiny blemishes that I had.

Overall, this brush set impressed me way more than the original three brushes that I ordered.  This set was $25, purchased from Haute Look.  If you're looking for a travel set, this is a good one to check out.

My Top Ten Nail Polishes For Fall 2011

Manicure Mondays-Color Club Wild Orchid

Color Club Wild Orchid is a beautiful shade of grey with some lavender undertones and micro shimmer.  The formula was nice and smooth.  I only needed two coats for opacity.  Since Color Club doesn't play well with my Diamond Dry top coat, I had to apply Sally Hansen Diamond Strength top coat, then my Diamond Dry top coat (which is a fast dry top coat).  I still used my usual CND Stickey base coat.  It wore well, lasting 6 days before chipping. Color Club is cheap, costing only $2.99.  Pick some up the next time you see some!