Essie — Happy Wife Happy Life (Nail Polish) Swatch & Review

2015-04-182017-10-05 fivezero8 Comments

Essie Nail Polish in Happy Wife Happy Life

Collection: Essie Spring 2015 Bridal

Essie’s Bridal collection this year mostly consists of the typical French manicure-type sheer soft colors, but I was instantly drawn to one of the two bright cremes, Happy Wife Happy Life, a warm red. (The other one was Brides No Grooms, a bright pink).

Also, I haven’t seen Essie do this before, but the cap in this collection has a white sticker around it with an embossed floral pattern. Pretty and subtle, though it’d be fancier if it was the actual cap that was embossed. (Maybe they’ve done this for a while; I haven’t bought a Bridal collection Essie in some time.)

NYX — Sierra (Matte Lipstick) Swatch & Review

2015-04-032017-10-05 fivezero4 Comments

I bought this NYX Matte Lipstick a couple of years ago at Cherry Culture (not affiliated, and can I just say I am so disappointed that they only seem to carry NYX and their own line, now? I loved getting China Glaze, Milani and Jordana from them!).

Anyway, not only was it my first NYX lip product, but it was also my first foray into matte lip products. My lips tend to be dry, so I’d never really wanted to exacerbate the issue by wearing what I figured would be drying lipstick. Well, once I tried NYX’s Matte Lipstick, I started to really love having matte lips! I’ve since gone on to buy a few more matte formulas from other brands, but this is the one that started it all for me.

NYX Matte Lipstick in Sierra

I picked Sierra (MLS 12), a midtone tawny orange cream with a matte finish. (Do they even do non-cream mattes? Shimmer mattes?) This is quite a warm terracotta shade, so I would probably not recommend this to you if you’re cool-toned, but I do love it on my warm-toned skin.

China Glaze — Life Preserver (Nail Lacquer) Swatch & Review

2014-10-302017-10-22 fivezeroLeave a comment

Collection: China Glaze Spring 2011, Anchors Away

If Papaya Punch is like the inside of a persimmon, China Glaze Life Preserver is a bit like the outside of one. I guess there are some life preservers that are a dull reddish-orange (perhaps faded by the sun), but I usually associate them with bright red or bright orange, so I’m more inclined to describe this polish color as terracotta.

I don’t think I have another shade like this, as I usually shy away from them. They always seem a little musty, don’t they? I think it’s the greyed tone that seems off in a red-orange. I must say, though, that China Glaze has done a great job with this terracotta cream. It’s surprisingly flattering and I don’t think it looks old fashioned at all. It’s a keeper for me! Application was very nice with this color: two coats was perfect.

And, as tomorrow is Halloween, I’d say this is a nice, conservative option if pumpkin oranges aren’t really your thing.

China Glaze Nail Lacquer in Life Preserver, swatch

China Glaze Nail Lacquer, 0.5 fl. oz. / 14 mL. MSRP $7.50 US. China Glaze nail lacquers are free of dibutyl phthalate (DBP), toluene and added formaldehyde.