Beautopia Nails

Rescue Beauty Lounge - IKB:2012

beautopia — Wed, 30 May 2012 09:22:27 EDT

Rescue Beauty Lounge - IKB:2012 - $20 at rescuebeauty.com

I was so excited about this release because the blue known as International Klein Blue is my favorite color. Since it's such a rare and distinctive color, I decided to splurge. I only have three or four RBL polishes and like with Chanel, I only buy the ones I find to be unique enough to add to my inventory. I was a little sad about this one.

First off, the color lacks the gorgeous glow of IKB, it's positively dull. Secondly, it's a lot more purple than IKB. I can understand it's hard to make a polish that exact color, as it's so complex, but the promotional bottle pics all made it look exactly IKB. My photo makes it seem a little brighter than it was in person due to the flash. Regardless, it's still a very pretty color and I'd have been willing to forgive it for it's very un-IKB-ness except that applying this polish is like trying to spread craft paste on with a popsicle stick in a room with a high-velocity fan blowing directly at you. I've used literally a couple thousand different polishes in my life and I was just horrified by this. I love my other RBL polishes, but this one is a stinker. I saw at least one pre-release review that shouted that this polish was "self-leveling" and although I've met precious few polishes that DO NOT self-level, I'll be damned if this one DID NOT for me. The finish is plasticky, and the polish that inevitably dries around the neck of the bottle turned into a flaky, cheap plastic-like mess.

I hate to give such a negative review, especially for a product by a brand that I admire so much, but I intensely disliked this polish and want to put this out there for anyone debating what to do with that $27.50 ($20 plus $7.50 in shipping) burning a hole in their pocket. I heard that the early ones that shipped to people for reviews had the same sort of symptoms that I'm experiencing, but that they would be addressed, but unless I got one of the original formula, the issues were not addressed, so caveat emptor my friends.

Korres Wild Rose Flawless Finish Powder - Review

beautopia — Wed, 05 May 2010 11:58:35 EDT

Korres Wild Rose Powder in WRP2 - $28 at korresusa.com

Here's my fourth foray into the Korres Wild Rose range of products, let's see... I assume this is a finishing powder, but I can't find anything on the site or on the packaging to tell me that unequivocally. After using it, however, I sort of feel like it's more of a light-to-medium coverage foundation. It felt a little too heavy on my skin over foundation.

Click to read more...

Korres Eye Palette in Natural- Review and Swatches

beautopia — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 16:20:50 EDT

Korres Natural Collection Eye Palette - $35 at sephora.com

Sephora has the exclusive on these new eye palettes from Korres and they're purty. There are four different palettes to choose from, and I received the Natural one to review for you guys. Overall, I like the palette... There are things that I like about it and things that I don't, but the positives outweigh the negatives.

If you want to try some Korres products, right now until May 20 you can get 20% off your $35 purchase at korresusa.com! Code - BEAUTOPIA

Click to read more and see photos...

Korres Zea Mays Powder Blush in Pink - Review and Giveaway! CLOSED

beautopia — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 10:12:36 EDT

Korres Zea Mays blush in Pink - $24 at korresusa.com

I'm a blush fiend, and I'm sure a lot of you can relate to that. I have an entire craft drawer devoted to blush alone. There's just something about it. Even though truthfully so many look the same on me there's just something about a giant pan of beautiful pristine color that speaks to me. Among my favorite brands are MAC and Cargo, and now that I've tried this Korres blush, I feel like I'm going to need to start a second drawer.

Before I go any further I just want to mention to you guys that at KorresUSA.com you can get 20% off your $35 order with the code BEAUTOPIA. This code is good till May 20, which will be great for Mother's Day and for self-gifting if you catch my drift. I'll be getting my mother-in-law some stuff and some things for little ol' me might find their way into my cart...

Additionally, three of you are going to win a Korres Zea Mays Powder Blush in Pink! Read on to see how...

1) Be a follower of Beautopia on Google Friend Connect OR On Sugar. You can find those boxes to the right of this post.

2) Leave a comment below telling me about your favorite Korres product. If you haven't tried Korres, which product do you want to try the most?

3) You can tweet the following: "Follow @BeautopiaBlog and win a Korres Zea Mays Powder Blush ($24 Value)! http://bit.ly/cjb0c6" You can tweet daily, but please comment here and leave each tweet link. Sometimes tweets get lost and I want to make sure that if you take the time to tweet, that you get every entry!

This giveaway will end at midnight on 22 May and is open to only US residents because it is brand-sponsored. I'm sorry I'm neglecting you international beauties again, but I promise there's good stuff for you on the horizon!

Click for more photos and the review!

Wet n Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Quad in Opulence

beautopia — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 09:25:26 EDT

Wet n WIld Opulence Quad - $4.99 at most drugstores

I previously reviewed one of the new Wet n Wild Color Icon singles, and was quite impressed with the quality of the shadow, so when faced with these new quads, I had to at least try one. There are several adorable color combinations, but the turquoise and purpley-pink shades in this quad screamed out at me. In the quad you get three powder shadows and then the top left is a glittery cream shadow. Here are my shade descriptions:

Top left: Frosty white with opalescent glitter
Top right: Satiny nude beige with lilac flash
Bottom left: Shimmery medium turquoise shimmer
Bottom right: Satiny lilac with large golden shimmer

I was pretty impressed with the turquoise and beige shades. The turquoise has a deeper base with lighter shimmer and had lots of depth. The nude beige has a gorgeous lilac duochrome flash to it that really makes it interesting. This highlight type shade pairs gorgeously with both the lilac and the turquoise. The lilac shade itself is a bit chalky, and I'm not the biggest fan of it. It almost reminded me of a mix between MAC Stars n Rockets and Trax. It sounds like a strange combination, and it is, but I found it to be pretty accurate. You can see the slight chalkiness of this shadow in the swatches below. As for the glittery shade, I was pretty impressed with this as well. I don't recommend using it alone or as a base, but when patted on top of other shadows with your finger, it gives a beautiful light-catching pearliness. The glitter isn't overwhelming, but it's definitely there. Overall, I was certainly pleased with the value of this quad. For $1.25 per shade I really can't complain. The turquoise and the nude are worth the price of the quad alone. Furthermore, you will find that Wet n Wild often have sales so you might be able to snag it for even half the price I did. If you run across these, I'd definitely take a close look at them.

Click for more product photos and swatches

Review: Urban Decay Stardust Eye Shadow in Diamond Dog

beautopia — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 15:00:41 EDT

Urban Decay Stardust in Diamond Dog - $20 at sephora.com and Ulta

I tried to ignore these shadows. I promise I did. After all, I'm no longer really a glitter girl. I pull out my MAC Reflects glitters once or twice a year to lightly pat over my eye makeup for the ultra-rare "Mommy & Daddy Night Out." Try though I might, I couldn't avoid these for long. I was drawn in by the shimmery taupe awesomeness in the pan, and the futuristic-looking packaging that requires just the convenient squeeze of a couple fingers to pop open. The straw that broke the blogger's back was that Ulta was offering 2 free mini 24/7 eyeliner pencils with a $20 Urban Decay purchase. I am a hopeless fan of 24/7 pencils and have or have had nearly all of them, so I couldn't resist, especially because the cashier let me choose which ones. But I digress... the eyeshadow.

Yes it's gorgeous in the pan, and it can be beautiful on the eye as well, you just have to figure out how to apply it. The draw of these shadows is that they are a sheer wash of color with loads of teeeeeensy glitter that will give a wet look to the lids. Keep in mind; they're not kidding, they're super sheer. If you attempt to brush these on, it will look like glittery smudges of dirt. Urban Decay recommends applying these with your finger, but this precision-lacking method will make the dirt-smudge look even more of a reality. I feel like the most success I had in applying this was with a spone-tip applicator. By packing a bit of shadow on the sponge, tapping or blowing off the excess glitter and then patting it on to the lid will give the best result. I also recommend applying a base shade similar to the shade you're using underneath to intensify the effect. The fallout while applying wasn't very bad using this method, but throughout the day I did get some random glitter landing in my lashes and hovering distractingly just inside my field of vision. The wet-look did stick around for a bit, but the base color sort of started to fade a bit. Overall, this is a cool idea for special occasions, and indeed I think they're really meant for that. Consider getting a neutral shade like Space Cowboy that you can tap lightly over any shadow at all for a little extra oomph.

Click for more pics and to see the 24/7 eye pencils I picked!

Chanel Lumieres D'Artifices Glittering Nail Lacquer in Diamond - Photos and Review

beautopia — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 14:15:23 EST

This is one of the more interesting top coats I've used, because like Out The Door holographic topcoat, all the glitter settles at the bottom and you shake it up to diffuse it throughout the polish. The cool part is that you can shake it a little for a little bit of shimmer, or shake it up till there's none left on the bottom and really shimmer it up. The base of this lacquer is very watery, it literally feels like water, and you must apply very thin coats as it will run towards the sides of your nails. There is barely any surface tension at all, but it does dry very quickly, so those many thin coats won't cause a huge problem. Here, I've shaken the living hell out of this bottle and applied it to my previous Chanel Black Satin manicure in two coats. You can see it's really subtle, but it's actually really visible in low light. Sunlight is where it's at it's most glorious, however my camera will not capture it. Of course. This is the third surprise Chanel delivery from that dear friend o' mine you've read about previously. I heart her, she's very thoughtful, and I don't think that this is one I would have ever known about if it hadn't been one of her personal favorites. This is a very cool polish to have, though you can find silver topcoats in any brand, I do think the delicate look of this one is really something special.

Check out the rest of my Chanel Le Vernis reviews and photos here.

Click for more pics!

Chanel Le Vernis in Black Satin - Photos and Review

beautopia — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:41:14 EST

The black nail polish that started the mainstream craze, Chanel Black Satin sold out quick and went for prices on eBay so high they'd make your eyes bleed. Then Chanel upped production and people relaxed, and it sold at a slower rate, but it still sold out again. This is another member of my small Chanel collection that was sent to me as a gift from a dear friend as a surprise after it sold out the first time. I had bought the dead-on dupe, Zoya Raven, but still lusted for the real thing. Once I had it, I was shocked at how identical the two polishes seem barring the thickness of the formulas (Chanel=thin, Zoya=thick), but I still prefer my Chanel, maybe just because it's Chanel, and it feels like I've got a wonderful secret when I wear it, but I think a lot of it has to do with the means by which I got it; from that dear friend. Anyway, enough gushing. This polish, like a lot of the Chanel polishes I've tried and reviewed, applies beautifully in a couple coats. The brush is somewhat long and skinny, but it makes it a bit easier to wiggle around at the cuticle to get as close as you can, as evenly as you can. While the bottle is iconic, I don't think they designed it for salon efficacy. It's more a luxury item, and as I have said about the others, it's definitely a nice affordable luxury if you don't feel like dropping thousands on a handbag, but want a little Chanel in your life. The wear is decent if you change frequently, I get about two to three days without chipping if I really push it.

Click for more photos!

China Glaze Dreamsicle - Photos and Review

beautopia — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 11:38:10 EST

Dreamsicle is available at transdesign.com and head2toebeauty.com, as well as select Sally Beauty stores

China Glaze Dreamsicle is part of the recent Specialty Collection of 50 brand-new polishes, including tons of amazing new glitters. This polish is a light jelly orange with opalescent glitter of varying sizes. It's quite sheer, and I'm wearing two coats here over two coats of China Glaze Peachy Keen from the new Up & Away collection. I like wearing it over Peachy Keen because the tone is similar and makes the final result very close to bottle color as opposed to wearing it over white, or alone in several coats. The white base lightens it up a bit from the bottle color and wearing it alone, it just reminds me more of sparkly ear wax than anything. That said, when used the right way, this polish is amazing, and will be an awesome Spring shade.

Click for more photos

Chanel Le Vernis in Noir Ceramic - Photos and Review

beautopia — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:54:13 EST

An oldie-but-goodie. Released in 2006 to follow up the smashing success of their Black Satin polish that made the nails of fashionistas everywhere goth-chic, this polish had nailies everywhere stalking makeup counters. I actually was blessed to be given it as a gift from a dear friend, and I think that it makes it even more special than it is on it's own. I'll try to be as unbiased as possible, though;P

Click to read more!