Entries for Wednesday February 29

China Glaze’s Blue Year’s Eve

• Manufacturer: China Glaze
• Availability: part of China Glaze's Let It Snow collection
• Color Range: metallic bright sapphire blue sparkle
• Staying Power: 4 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$6 for 14 ml / .5 fl oz
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades: OPI's Countdown to the Kiss, China Glaze's Eyes Like Sapphires, China Glaze's Frostbite, Zoya's Tart

This is a slightly brighter blue than Countdown - but otherwise, they’re both fairly similar. This is almost exactly the same base color as Eyes Like Sapphires…which is still available from a few stores, but not necessarily as easy to find. I think it’s the same base color as Frostbite, too - so I guess that I’m just very strongly drawn to this shade of blue, since I have so many similar polishes! I find that, while they cost more, Zoya’s polishes generally perform better for me than most China Glaze polishes. However, this makes the China Glaze polishes perfect for use in nail art or stamping. (The Zoya polishes don’t always work as well for me when I try to use them like that…and if I experiment and things don’t work out, I feel less stressed having used up a polish that I got for $4, through an etailer, than one that I got for $8.)

Zoya’s Jana

• Manufacturer: Zoya/Art of Beauty
• Availability: part of the Smoke collection
• Color Range: smokey medium-deep lilac creme
• Staying Power: 4 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$8 for 14 ml / .5 fl oz
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades:

This was actually a little darker than I expected. Application is good, and the polish is fairly sturdy. But…this just isn’t the shade I was expecting. I thought this would be just a little closer to Carey, in terms of brightness. “Not as bright as I thought” seems to be the mantra for this collection, judging by others’ comments and by my own experience with Cynthia.

OPI’s I’m a Princess…You’re Not!

• Manufacturer: OPI
• Availability: ...not quite sure...I think there was a Princess Charming collection?
• Color Range: extremely sheer iridescent pink pearl
• Staying Power: 4 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$9 for 14 ml / .5 fl oz
• Would you purchase again: no
• Similar shades:

I like polishes that I can use for layering…if I know that they’re that sheer when I’m buying them. I was lead to believe that this was semi-sheer, but that after three coats it would show more of the pink and not show quite so much VNL. As you can see, even after six coats (6!!!), you can see plenty of the nail bed, and very little of the pink iridescence of the pearl finish. I may find use layering this atop my darkest browns and reds, and possibly a few of the Zoya purples, but don’t know if it will be of much value to me.

Entries for Tuesday February 28

NYX Cosmetics’ Jumbo Lip Pencil collection

• Manufacturer: NYX Cosmetics
• Availability: drugstores and midrange "all-in-one" stores (Ulta, CVS, Rite-Aid, Fred Meyer, et cetera) also through various etailers (ie, cherryculture.com, beautyjoint.com)
• Contains: 25 eye pencils
• Cost/Amount: USD$4.50 for .14 ounces / 4 grams
• Would you purchase again: yes

As with most NYX collections, there’s a little bit of confusion. The color names don’t match up from site to site. The online swatches may or may not be acdurate representations of the colors themselves. And NYX’s own web site says that there are 30 colors available…but they only list 25. (Maybe someone was having a Bad Math Day. Or they just copied boilerplate text from another page and didn’t bother to fact-check it.) Since NYX and its various partners (and the etailers) don’t always use the same names…I’m including the numbers. At the time of this review, Narcisse and Vixen seem to have been discontinued…but I’m including them here, in case others go searching for these. (And if you’re interested, they’re still apparently available from Beauty Joint.)

Concrete Minerals’ Sugar and Spice kit

• Manufacturer: Concrete Minerals
• Availability: from the webstore beginning winter 2011
• Contains: 4 eyeshadows and 1 lip balm
• Cost/Amount: $34$24.99
• Would you purchase again: yes

I didn’t buy these kits because by the time they came out, I already owned all the eyeshadows - so it made more financial sense to just buy the lip balms individually. The four colors complement each other well, with Lolita and Rocked being among my favorite softer shades from this company.

Entries for Monday February 27

My Pretty Zombie’s Custom Zombie

• Vendor: My Pretty Zombie
• Availability: part of the Darksider collection
• Color Range: soft greyed blue shimmer
• Staying Power: 3 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$3.75 for 1.5 grams
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades: Bare Escentuals' Showers

Applied dry, this doesn’t have much color payoff, and resembles Bare Escentuals’ Showers. Applied wet, more of the blue is apparent and it’s got a bit more shimmer…but the chief effect is the higher pigmentation level. There are faint hints of purple in the color that are only really visible when foiled, as well. It’s a soft enough shade to be used easily by folks who are leery of blue eyeshadow, soft enough to make a nice browbone accent. Possibly you could get some interesting effects layering this over a dark navy or purple cream shadow. (Oh, and now I’m wondering what this might look like over an orange- or rust-based cream shadow…?)

Aromaleigh v2’s Miuccia

• Manufacturer: Aromaleigh v2
• Availability: released as part of Aromaleigh v2's Fall Tapestry collection
• Color Range: light sand-taupe with aqua duochrome shimmer
• Staying Power: 4 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$7 for 1.2 grams; $1.00 for a sample baggie
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades:

A very soft neutral when applied dry, with no overtly visible shimmer. It’s slightly brighter than many other browns that I have, so that it subtlely lightens without adding any yellow tones. The turquoise shimmer is light even when applied wet, so you’re still working with what is predominantly a neutral color…it’s just got a cooler cast. I think this was one of the first colors in the Fall Tapestry collection to run out, and I can definitely see why! Hopefully it will come back as part of the regular lineup.

My Pretty Zombie’s Drunken Toast

• Manufacturer: My Pretty Zombie
• Availability: part of the Geekily Ever After kit
• Color Range:
• Staying Power: 3 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$3.75 for 1.5 grams
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades:

While I have loved most of the colors I’ve purchased from My Pretty Zombie, and liked the idea behind the Geekily Ever After collection, I was less pleased with a few of the colors in that kit. Drunken Toast doesn’t look attractive when applied wet. It, and the other colors in this group, look a little bit “chunky” - for lack of a precise term. The consistency isn’t all that smooth. But when I tried mixing in more water, it was too thin in spots. The color itself is nice enough, but the application and consistency of this one mean that I’ll have to think about some good ways to use it. It’s too pigmented for use as a highlighter shade, and while the dry application looks okay, I have to foil most of my eyeshadows to get a full day’s wear out of them.

Everyday Minerals’ Silver Bells

• Manufacturer: Everyday Minerals
• Availability: from the online storefront; part of the Snow Angels (holiday 2011) kit
• Color Range: cool silver shimmer
• Staying Power: 3 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$7 for a 10-gram jar with sifter / 2.5 grams
• Would you purchase again: possibly
• Similar shades:

Entries for Saturday February 25

MAC’s Ash Violet fluidliner

• Manufacturer: MAC Cosmetics
• Availability: MAC webstore and channel partners; released as part of the Fall Color: Midnight Blue collection
• Color Range: medium-deep smokey lilac creme
• Staying Power: 4 out of 4
• Cost/Amount: USD$15.00 for .1 ounces
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades: