Minggu, 31 Maret 2013

HAPPY EASTER BOOM NAILS



Isadora Moisturizing Lipgloss

Something that I don't use that much and that therefore has been strangely absent in my makeup collection is lipgloss. Recently I have found a certain affection for glossy lips and decided to upgrade my lipgloss-collection a bit with two new glosses.

The ones I got are both by Isadora and both very vivid colors; Tropical Pink and Diva Red.


Tropical Pink is a bright, hot pink attention-seeker that would make Hello Kitty squeal out of happiness. Even though I don't follow mainstream fashion (and no alternative fashion trends either for that matter...) it hasn't escaped me that this color is the shit this spring. Well, who am I to disagree?

Pigmentation: 4/5
Longevity: 3/5
Price: 99 SEK
Buy again? Sure, why not!


While Tropical Pink is a peppy spring color Diva Red is a sultry, glamourous winter red. This color is just fabulous! :) It is a little bit too sticky to be my dreams-come-true lip product, but the color, did I mention the gorgeous color?

Pigmentation: 4/5
Longevity: 4/5
Price: 99 SEK
Buy again? Yup!

What brand is your go-to-brand when shopping for lipgloss? Do you always buy the same color or are you brave and try something new occasionally? :)

Thanks for reading!


Sabtu, 30 Maret 2013

Flakie Friday (Saturday Version!): Daring Digits Holy Fire

Press Sample

 *Product(s) Featured provided for review. Please see Disclaimer/Legal Page for more information** 

Good Morning Lovelies! I am so excited to be back to posting in the mornings. I've changed the way I'm swatching and photographing, and that seems to work much better. For the longest time I was polishing and photographing the night before posting, and with the new camera and a very active toddler, that just wasn't working well anymore. So I decided to be like most people and start swatching and photographing a few days beforehand. I failed for this post, but actually have my next few post ready to go. Yay me!

While you're here, why not enter my giveaway? 2 lucky lovelies will win the brand new 10 polish 80's Hits Collection from Daring Digits! If I hit 500 GFC followers while the giveaway is running, I will add yet another giveaway, so tell your friends! I know everyone is afraid to use GFC, but it's not going away in July (that's Google Reader), and we've had this scare several time before and it's still here. You're safe, and what do you have to lose, right?

Even though it's Satruday (my youngest was under the weather yesterday), it's still Flakie Friday here at KLK. And today's polish is a doozy!  I have been loving neutrals with a kick lately, and Daring Digits Holy Fire was just what I was craving.

Daring Digits Holy Fire is a blend of coppery bronze flakies and glitters in a sheer off white base. The flakes and glitters tend to make the base appear more nude, which is fine with me - this combination is stunning!!! In all honesty, I have been dying to wear this polish since Ashley sent it to me, but let's be real....Daring Digits does not make a single polish that is less than awesome, and choosing one is tough. This week I could resist no longer, and I am so glad that I didn't! I'm actually still wearing this one. Since Dex was feeling blah through the night, I couldn't swatch, so  I get to wear this a bit longer!

This is 3 coats of Daring Digits Holy Fire, no undies, topped with HK Girl Topcoat.




















Check out that macro shot! *dies* How gorgeous is this polish? I love this baby so much that I've considered proposing, but I can't afford a ring.  I love every single Daring Digits polish, but this? This is one of my very favorites. It's just......I have no words. It's as if Ashley created this baby just for me.

Holy Fire's formula was pure perfection. Perfect consistency, no thickening, and no glopping or gooping. Application was a dream, gliding onto the nail like pure liquid silk. The flakies are small and delicate so no issues with sharp edges or flakes that won't lay flat. Both the flakies and glitters are perefectly distributed on the nail. This girl also dries as smooth as glass, so no need for anything other than your usual top coat (KLK recommends HK Girl Top Coat).  Holy Fire is very sheer, so you will need 3 coats for opacity. This polish also looks incredible layered over a buff colored base, as well as darker colors. It's incredibly versatile, but it's just so gorgeous on its own that I can't bring myself to even think of layering it.

I am deeply, madly in love with this one, lovelies. To me, this is the perfect neutral polish - a perfect neutral base color with matching sparkle, beautiful and classy. If you're a fan of neutrals, you need this. Need. As in you may very well not make it without it.

Want your own bottle? You can grab your very own bottle of Holy Fire on sale for a measly $8.00 right now at DDPolish.com. Hurry before it's gone! Daring Digits ships for free to the U.S., and $3 flat rate to Canada. If you are outside of  North America, you can find Daring Digits at Mei Mei's Signatures.  In fact, Ashley just released a gorgeous new polish that is exclusive to Mei Mei's. All DD polishes are 3-free, cruelty free, and lovingly handmade my the fabulous Miss Ashley. Don't forget to follow Daring Digits on Facebook for info, updates and new releases.

What do you think of Holy Fire? Are you a fan of neutrals?

Thanks for stopping by and Happy polishing!
-Kimber


*Product(s) Featured provided for review. Please see Disclaimer/Legal Page for more information**  
 
Press Sample

Cobalt and Chrome

My eyes have been irritated as hell these past four or so days so I haven't been able to do the requested Tarja Turunen-look that I had planned to post this weekend. :( I'm sorry for that but I promise that this look will be top priority when my eyes decides that they want to wear makeup again!

Here comes a look that I did last weekend, using the Eyephoria Chrome eyeshadow by Isadora. I hope you'll like it!


I realize this look is far from unique, but I do like the combination of a metallic eyeshadow on the upper lid and cobalt blue on the lower. Besides, Velocity by Sugarpill is an eyeshadow I use far too seldom!


These pictures are taken in direct sunlight so Chrome looks a little bit more golden than it really is.


Warm-toned blush and nude lips matches this eye look perfectly!






Face
*Matte foundation Fair (Bare minerals)
*Blush Glow (e.l.f.)

Eyebrows
*Velvet revolver (Too Faced)
*Sexpresso (Too Faced)

Eyes
*Shadow Insurance (original) (Too Faced)
*Eyephoria Chrome (Isadora) applied wet
*Velocity (Sugarpill)
*Tako (Sugarpill)
*Gel liner Electric (Makeup Geek)
*Cupcake (Makeup Geek)
*Corrupt (Makeup Geek)
*Heaven (Too Faced)
*True natural Mascara (Lumene)
*False lashes #43 (Red Cherry)

Lips
*Lipgloss Edelweiss (Face Stockholm)

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I hope you're all having a fabulous Easter Holidays! :) Thank you for reading!


ROSE



Jumat, 29 Maret 2013

Eyebrow news!

Those of you who follow me on Twitter already now that I have been tempted to grow back my eyebrows. I assure you, it has nothing to do with the no-eyebrows-bullying that has been going on every time Sugarpill posts one of my looks at their Facebook page. Frankly, what those narrow-minded people think doesn't affect me at all.



A while ago, I attended an education session on the brand Anastasia Beverly Hills which is famous for their greater than great eyebrow products. I got very inspired by this, and became very tempted to let my eyebrows grow out again, so that I can try out their products properly. And why not give it a try? After all, if I don't want the eyebrows anymore it takes about half a minute shaving them off again. ;)


Kamis, 28 Maret 2013

Let's talk about Top Coats - HK Girl Fast Drying Top Coat Review

Nothing to Disclose

 *Product(s) Featured purchased by me. Please see Disclaimer/Legal Page for more information** 

Hello lovelies!!!! Happy Friday! Although it's Flakie Friday (and I assure you I will be back with some awesome Flakies today) I want to talk about something other than pretty polish today. I know, I know...perish the thought! 

A few months ago I was on a quest. We've all spent a ton of time and money searching for the perfect top coat, am I right? Most of swear by Seche Vite, but let's face it. SV has issues. Like shrinkage. ANd it doesn't play well with dry polish. And using more than one coat without waiting all day to let the first coat dry cause insane wrinkles. Not to mention that SV thickens up terribly about 1/3 of the way through the bottle, and regular thinner will not work - in fact, it jut makes your SV cloudy! SO, if you want to use more than 1/3 of your bottle, you get to spend another $9 or so to purchase Seche Restore, the only way to keep your SV usable and clear. Sounds like alot of aggravation, right?

Despite all of the evil associated with SV, I swore by it for almost 2 years. I've tried other top coats, Essie Good To Go, Orly Second Dry, and Orly's drying drops were all decent - they did the job but they just weren't as fast, shiny, or as solid as SV. I moved on to Sally Hansen Mega Shine as well, and I really loved that top coat - it's super fast drying, shiny as all get out and dries rock solid. I really thought I had found my Holy Grail there, but I kept hearing about this incredible, better than SV top coat that played well with all polish and well - curiosity won out. And let me tell you, I am so glad it did!

The top coat I'm referring to is the infamous HK Girl top coat. I had heard so many wonderful things about HK Girl - no shrinkage, intense shine, dries hard but doesn't chip, dries faster than SV, no wrinkling with multiple coats, and it plays well with every polish out there. Pretty big claims, right? Well, I am here to tell you that THEY ARE ALL TRUE! 

Check out this awesome bottle - is this not the best looking top coat bottle ever? Black and clear rhinestones with bright pink curled ribbon. So cool! I love this stuff so much that I'm ordering the gigantic 2.5oz bottles now. The bottle alone is worth the money!



*Note - HK Girl top coat is not cloudy at all. What you see here is a result of my lighting.
 
The bottle is adorned with black and clear rhinestones and a hot pink curly ribbon. Gorgeous looking top coat, right?

But let's talk about performance for a moment.  I was skeptical when I first heard that HK Girl was actually better than SV. I'll admit that. So when my first bottle arrived, I used SV on one hand, ad HK Girl on the other. I really wish I had had the presence of mind to take photos, but I had no idea that I would end up so in love with HK Girl. 

Dry Time- Hk Girl dries lightning fast. We all know that SV dries to the touch within minutes, but the polish underneath is still a touch moist for awhile. HK Girl dried faster than SV by about a minute, and was dry enough that the polish underneath didn't wrinkle or dent within 20 minutes.  I have a tendency to whack my hands against everything in sight right after I polish, so this was impressive. HK Girl is also completely self levelling, and requires only a thin coat.

Shine - SV is no doubt one of the shiniest top coats on the market. However, HK Girl manages to outshine SV somehow! I was born with glitter in my veins (In case you haven't noticed, I love me some glitters and it's rare that I don't have glitter on my nails), and I use Glitter Food to smooth out my glitter manis. Glitter Food dries very matte, and HK Girl restores my nails to ultra-shiny with a single, thin coat. If you haven't noticed that my photos always have some glare from my top coat now,  well I don't know how you could actually miss it. When I used SV, I had some minor glare, but not as blinding as with HK Girl. Some people may find this detrimental to photos but I'm not one of them. I want shine. Alot of it. I want people in airplanes to be blinded when the sunlight glints off my nails. HK Girl delivers!

What about shrinkage, thickening, and polish compatibility?  I can honestly say that I've been using HK Girl exclusively for about 4 months, and I have had zero shrinkage, even if I don't wrap my tips. I'm on my 4th bottle of this stuff and have yet to experience any thickening, even at the bottom of the bottle. If it were to thicken, regular thinner would do the trick, but I have a feeling that I'm never going to need it. If it hasn't thickened up after 4 bottles, it isn't going to! I also want to mention the formula - SV is notoriously thick to begin with, and despite being self leveling, I'd always end up with some top coat that spilled over the side of the nail. I have yet to experience this little annoyance with HK Girl.  The consistency is always perfect - thin but not watery. perfect for nice thin coats. HK Girl also plays well with every single polish that I have used it with. We've all had those few polishes that SV just did not like and ended up never drying, bubbling, or shrinking like mad. Not an issue with HK Girl. 

Have I raved enough? If all of that isn't enough to convince you that you need to try HK Girl, then let me mention one more thing. I actually threw away all of my other top coat, including my SV, when I started using HK Girl. I have one bottle of SH Mega Shine in case something horrible happens to my HK Girl (in which case I will cry and throw a gigantic tantrum), but that is it. Not a single bottle of SV to be found in my house. That's a big deal for me, since even when I used other top coats, I always kept SV on hand just in case. 

Have I also mentioned that HK Girl doesn't dull holos? Bonus! I cannot say it enough - if you only try one new product all year, make it this one. You will do the dance of joy, seriously. 

If you would like your very own bottle of HK Girl top coat, head on over to Glisten & Glow! The standard 0.5oz bottle sells for $6.95, and the giant 2.5 oz will run you $25.95. Jill also carries polish bath and body products, cuticle oil, and of course, Glisten and Glow Stuck on Blu Basecoat (review coming soon!), which is a sticky basecoat that rivals expensive Aqua bases for your precious holos! 

Be sure to check back later today for Flakie Friday! I'll also have some more Daring Digits, BG Cosmetics, 27 polish and Polish TBH coming up! 

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Top-Coating!
-Kimber  
   

 *Product(s) Featured purchased by me. Please see Disclaimer/Legal Page for more information** 

Nothing to DisclosePress SampleAffiliate Link

Daring Digits 80's Hits Collection - Call Me

Press Sample

 *Product(s) Featured provided for review. Please see Disclaimer/Legal Page for more information** 

Hello Lovelies! Happy Thursday! It's so close to Friday that I'm almost doing the happy dance. Almost....

Today I have another awesome Daring Digits beauty to share with you. Call Me is part of the brand new 80's Hits Collection (which you can win in my giveaway!). I'm so glad that my schedule is getting back to normal because I have been dying to wear these babies!  

Call Me is a candy pink jelly packed with blue and pink squares and hexes. Inspired by the 1980 Blondie hit "Call Me", this polish captures the colors of the single perfectly. This is definitely a favorite from this collection and I can see myself wearing this a lot over the spring and summer.

This is 3 coats of Call Me, no undies, topped with HK Girl Top Coat:











































 Dontcha love how my lighting makes my skin tone look different with every color polish I wear? I swear I'm not actually this pink! ;) Also, ignore the weird black stuff on my thumb. I had a pastel explosion (Dex got into them) and the black stains!

Despite the pink fingers, I LOVE this polish. I'm a huge fan of pink, and this particular shade of pink mixed with the pink and blue glitters is just perfection. It's like having candy on my nails!

Call Me's formula is standard Daring Digits fabulous with no thickening, glopping, clumpy glitters, and always usable straight from the bottle. Application was easy peasy -silky smooth with no dargging or balding. Call Me is fairly sheer, so you will need 3 coats for opacity, or a good coat of matching undies.  In my photos it looks like my index nail needs another coat, but I assure you that is just my lighting shining through my nail.

All Daring Digits creations are 3-free, cruelty free and handmade. You can grab your very own at DDPolish.com for $8.50 per bottle, with free shipping to the U.S. and $3 flat rate to Canada.  Be sure to follow Daring Digits on Facebook for updates and new releases!

You can also win the entire 80's Hits Collection in my giveaway! Don't forget to get those daily entries in and share with your friends!

What do you think of call me? Are you a fan of candy pinks?

Stay tuned for tomorrow's Flakie Friday post and a review of my HG top coat - HK Girl!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
-Kimber

*Product(s) Featured provided for review. Please see Disclaimer/Legal Page for more information** 

Press Sample