NOTD: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Nail Polish in Bronze Ablaze!

Bronze Ablaze is one of those shades that's a little difficult to describe. It's a metallic brassy-bronze-brown with flecks of micro-shimmer that are only really visible in the sunlight. At certain angles the shade gives off a greenish-gold pearl. A shade that I find is definitely unique and looks a little more "high end" than it really is. It's only around for a limited time as it's a part of their Fall 2011 release.

If you're familiar with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri nail polish range (the Insta-Dri top coat is a favorite of mine!) the wand is very large and flat, as is the brush. It's a bit similar to the Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro Polish wand, but a little larger. For those of you with very short nails, it may be troublesome painting your nails with such a large wand, but for those of you with long nails, it makes things much easier.

I can't tell you how excited I was with this polish. I deemed it my fall favorite and anticipated purchasing a back-up. It's just such a pretty shade and I mostly wear neutrals, khaki green and tan - so this pretty much matches with everything in my wardrobe. The wear time is pretty good - almost a full week. Now, the downside with this polish is the terrible formula. It's a little on the thick side, so it's fairly opaque with one coat. It does dry semi-quickly, but after the second coat, it didn't dry as quick. With any nail polish, I always wait around 3-4 minutes and apply my Seche Vite Top Coat and within 30 seconds they are dry to the touch. But not with this polish. Several minutes after I applied my Seche Vite, my nails felt almost sticky to the touch - causing a few faint fingerprints on a couple of nails. Also, I got a few nicks on my nails. If that wasn't bad enough  little bubbles started to appear. Fantastic! 

So my problem probably was that I applied too heavy of a second coat, but I find it hard to avoid because of the thick formula and huge brush. I will try to be patient with this polish because I really do love it. I don't think the photo does this shade justice.. you should check it out at your local drugstore. 

What's your favorite Fall nail polish? I know Summer isn't even over yet, but Fall is my favorite season and I already started wearing my vampy polishes a little early. 

I need this necklace now.

Photo Credit: Dulce Candy

Photo Credit: Dulce Candy

Dulce Candy was wearing this really cute gold rhinestone spike/cone necklace in a few of her past OOTD's and I've been dying to know where she got it from. I asked around for a while, and came up with nothing. Finally, she posted another OOTD today wearing the same necklace. Turns out that it's from Forever 21! I was totally surprised to hear that as I figured it was a designer brand.

Apparently it comes in silver, gold and a charcoal/pewter metal? and retails for $14.80. It isn't available online, but I've heard from a couple of sources that they spotted it recently at their local Forever 21 stores.

I'll be on the lookout for it and I'm crossing my fingers that I'll find it! :)

Have you noticed that I've been completely obsessed with spikes lately? I have no idea why.

UPDATE: Thanks so much for those of you who alerted me that the necklace is now available online! How Ironic? lol Anyway, the link is HERE.

Blogger Crush: Swedish Bombshell Kenza

There are only a small handful of blogs I follow that are in a different language - one of them being the gorgeous Kenza. Seriously, can this girl get any hotter? Her blog is definitely one I check often (usually sobbing as I eat a gallon of ice cream.. LOL j/k) because of her beautiful photos and amazing sense of style. I'd love to raid her wardrobe.

"My name is Kenza Zouiten and I am a 20-year-old half Moroccan girl. I am self-employed, had a funny webshow Kenza & Tyra show which became the largest web TV program, but now continues as host of Channel 5 & Model Hunt! 

I also have my own shoe and clothing collections ( Wildflower by Kenza andJofama by Kenza sold in hundreds of stores throughout the Nordic countries) and I also have a jewelry collection called Guldfynd by Kenza sold at Guldfynd. 

Here in Sweden's largest blog with about 140,000 visitors each day I write about my everyday life, shoots, fashion, tvinspelningar, travel, shopping & lots of other fun things. " 

Check out her blog at http://kenzas.se/

What are some of your favorites?

Sigma Bare Palette Review, Photos and Swatches!

Sigma Bare Palette

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION: The Sigma Beauty BARE palette is a must for everyday use. Ideal to create classic neutral looks, BARE is perfect for accentuating your best features without too much color distraction. Highlight inner corners, emphasize your crease, brighten your brow bone and enhance your lash line. With BARE's color selection, you can easily create day and night looks seamlessly and as subtle or as bold as you wish. BARE is perfect for a natural yet improved you! Includes Sigma Beauty's best-selling E30 and E25 in a unique dual-ended brush. Contains matte and satin formulations. 

Sigma launched three palettes in late June; Flare, Dare and Bare. There was a lot of talk about these palettes in the blogging community as well as among youtube gurus as many blogger are affiliates of Sigma and get to test out some of their products for free. (If you have a website, blog or YT channel, you can become an affiliate. Click here for details)

Out of the three palettes, the one that struck my interest was Bare, because it contains all neutral shades that are suitable for daytime, work, etc. There are eight (8) shades in total with shimmery, matte and satin formulations. 

Shine is a pigmented black with silver flecks. It's very reminiscent of MAC Black Tied Eyeshadow.
Control is a matte black.
Snoop is a matte, dove grey with a slight purple undertone.
Hitch is a matte, neutral ash-brown. It looks warm in the pan, but once swatched/applied, it is very neutral with grey undertones.
Act is a satiny, neutral taupe with a purple/mauve undertone. Again, this shade appears warm in the pan, but is very neutral.
Command is a shimmery, deep golden.
Elope is a pigmented matte, cool beige. It reminds me a bit of MAC Orb Eyeshadow.
Approach is a pigmented satiny, warm/yellow beige. It reminds me a bit of MAC Ricepaper Eyeshadow.