Olivia Frescura

los angeles beauty & lifestyle blog

Lime Crime Nail Polish in “Pastelchio” Swatches and Review

Lime Crime Pastelchio

I don’t wear green nail polish that much, but when I saw Lime Crime‘s nail polishes at IMATS, I knew I wanted to get Pastelchio, because it looked like a wearable green, and I was right! It is the perfect shade of green for spring or summer. It’s bright, but light, if that makes sense. I did nail art featuring 2 other shades from this line, Crema de Limon and Lavendairy, here. For this polish, I just did a plain ‘ol mani and I’m glad I did! It was kind of thick, but 2 coats gave good coverage and any unevenness was solved by using topcoat. I’d definitely recommend them!

Essie No Place Like Chrome (Mirror Metallics) Swatch

No Place Like Chrome Swatch

Essie recently came out with a line of metallic shades, and after trying Penny Talk from the line, I knew I wanted to try more! My mom got me this along with the gold, which you’ll see in the future. I am really impressed with how metallic these are, and not as streaky as others. The key is varying thin and thick coats.

No Place Like Chrome (flash)

I also used this shade in my Olympic manicure! It’s a great chrome silver, if you’re looking for one- I’d definitely check this line out. Has anyone tried any other colors in this line?

NOTD: Essie Penny Talk (Mirror Metallics) Swatch

Essie Penny Talk Nail Polish

Lately this nail polish, a recent launch from Essie, has been causing a craze with nail bloggers and junkies alike. A rose gold nail polish? PERFECT! These have been raved about for being streak-free metallics, which is what mainly drew me to this polish. I also saw it on BEAUTEZINE, one of my favorite blogs…so I knew I had to try it out.

I picked this up at CVS for a little over $8.00. I found it in a bin…no joke. I guess that’s why I was able to find it, since it wasn’t actually displayed…

Essie Mirror Metallics Penny Talk Nail Polish

This polish is a gorgeous rose gold…despite the name, don’t worry about it being coppery. It’s definitely rose gold…slightly lighter than a shiny new penny.

Essie Penny Talk Swatch

When I was applying it, it had a little streaking, but once it dries after topcoat, that all goes away. If you have nails with a lot of ridges it may not look the best, so I am jealous of all of you with perfect flat nails! Penny Talk applies in a perfect 2 coats.

Essie Mirror Metallics Penny Talk Swatch

This polish wears pretty well also, I typically get a big chip just one day after applying a nail polish, but not with Penny Talk.  I just have tip wear and a few minor chips here and there.

Essie Mirror Metallics Penny Talk Swatch with Bottle

Isn’t it just gorgeous? Hurry and run to where you buy your Essie polishes and grab this one!

NOTD: Lime Crime Crema de Limon & Lavendairy Nail Art

Lime Crime Crema de Limon and Lavendairy Nail Polishes

After hauling some Lime Crime nail polishes at IMATS, I couldn’t wait to paint my nails with them. BUT, I had a problem…Which polish to use?! I opted to use complementary colors Crema de Limon and Lavendairy to create an interesting V-gap nail art that I’ve been wanting to do but have been too nervous to try. I recently received some nail tape from Born Pretty Store…so I decided to experiment.

Lime Crime Nail Polish Labels…CUTE!

I think Lime Crime has really hit it out of the park with their polishes…Amazing packaging along with affordable price and great colors. Can’t wait to see if they expand their nail polish line in the future!

Lime Crime Crema de Limon and Lavendairy Swatches

This was my first time using nail tape and I was pretty excited to try it out. It didn’t go as well as I had hoped, but it still turned out great. I think it would have been better with regular tape, but the first time I tried using tape on my nails a few years ago, it was a hot mess. Luckily these were really quick drying so I think I could get away with it in the future!

Here are some photos of me doing the V-gap techinique with Born Pretty Store’s Nail Art Striping Tape.

Step 1: Apply striping tape where you want it (on dry polish) and make sure it is completely pressed down.
Step 2: Paint a coat of polish on the space where you want it, being very careful to not go over the striping tape! Remove while polish is still wet.

Not sure if you can tell, but my pink striping tape bled onto my nail and left a pink border. At first, it really bugged me, but then I thought it was pretty cool. After your design has dried, apply a top coat! I really liked the end result, but was too nervous to do it on all 10 of my nails!

V-Gap nails with Lime Crime

I can’t wait to do more striping designs. Maybe next I’ll try a chevron pattern!

I can’t wait to use the rest of my Lime Crime polishes now!

If you want to order off of Born Pretty Store, use code OMC5K31 for 5% off (I don’t get anything from you using it!)

**This post contains product that I have received for free from Born Pretty Store– for more information, please read my Disclosure Policy**

Small Businesses Make a Splash at HBA Expo New York 2012

While I was in New York for my FIDM Beauty Study Tour, I made a stop at HBA Expo on my free afternoon. Unfortunately, I was only there for a few short hours, so I only got to visit with a few brands. I was really impressed with all of the upcoming brands in their Splash section, so that is where I hung out! I thought it’d be nice to give these brands a little shout-out on my blog, so definitely check these lines out!

Grand Central Beauty SMART Skin Perfecting Mask

 

Grand Central Beauty is a brand that has a very cool face mask that I can’t wait to share with you. You mix the mask yourself, which is super fun, but ensures that the ingredients are fresh! It is travel friendly also! They currently sell on Beauty Army. Their Fantastic development portfolio is so cool and hard to describe, the mask hardens, similar to rubber, and peels off your face. This one is definitely going to require an awesome review once I try it out!

Karuna Skincare Exfoliating Treatment Sheet Mask

Karuna Skincare is a line of sheet masks for your face that have a wide array of purposes. I’m quite a fan of Japanese sheet-masks, but since I can’t read the ingredients usually, they have me feeling wary. With Karuna, all of this disappears! Yay! They have 7 face masks and an eye mask. All of their face masks have the “Karuna Beauty Boost” which features Chinese licorice, aloe vera, chamomile, vitamin B, and a blend of peptides. Then, each mask has added ingredients to target specified skin concerns. Their masks are made with natural fibers and are paraben free, which is awesome!

Lola Barcelona LACA Nail Polish and Light up Lip Gloss

 LOLA Barcelona was a brand completely new to me at HBA, but their cute packaging drew me in. Come to find out, they are a brand that is soon to launch online! They only have a few products so far, but I see a bright future for them. I need more orange products, though! 😉 – I’ve only tried the lipgloss thus far and so far I really like it (shock!).

Naked Princess is a lingerie line turned beauty line with some very impressive products. They’re based in Southern California like I am so I was happy to meet a west coaster during HBA!  I samples their Vanille Blanc scented Body Souffle, and I love the scent…sultry and sweet. They also have a 24 Karat Love Dust which has little sparkles. My mini size has a separate puff, but the full size includes a puff that is infused with the product, so you don’t get messy with powder! They also have a line of lip glosses that are all in neutral colors. Although glosses aren’t my thing, I think their shades are perfect for their brand- the color I’ll be trying it out is “Barely Coral.” They have beautiful candles also, that won an award for packaging at the expo…I really want one! I’m really impressed with this line! Can’t wait to see what they come out with in the future.

Furless Patches

Furlesse is a brand that has line-reducing patches that you stick on your skin at night. This is a pretty cool idea and I love their names. Since I’m not even 20, I can’t say these made a difference in my skin from using them once. I will say the forehead patch didn’t make it through the night- I still can’t find it! They’re a really cool product for aging skin.

Sumita/Ziba Beauty

Ziba/Sumita Beauty was the only brand I was familiar with that I saw at HBA. I’ve seen them before at IMATS, so I made sure to stop by and say hi. They have some great Indian-inspired products that I can’t wait to try. They spoiled me! They even gave me a cute Mehndi (henna) candle that you’re supposed to make a wish and light…which I totally did! Looking forward to trying these goodies and reviewing them!

The Art of Mehndi Candle from Sumita/Ziba Beauty
Me & The Girls Organic

Me & The Girls is a cool new organic skincare line featuring cupuacu seed butter and other organic and natural ingredients. This line has been in formulation for many years and is a recent launch. I haven’t tried anything yet but after looking at the ingredients and sniffing them, I think they can go far!

Eyedoll Chatter Scented Eyeshadow and Lip Balm

Eyedoll Chatter is a line of scented eyeshadow and lip balm targeted at young tweens and teens. They were nice enough to give me samples to give to my sisters (12 and 16). Unfortunately, they weren’t too enthused at this idea, essentially because they felt that it was for younger kids. I’d say they should target girls under 10 and it would probably work a lot better. This is good for the girls that won’t stop playing in your expensive makeup!

That’s about it for my fun and short time at HBA Expo in New York City! I can’t wait to review some of these products fully in the future- I was thankful to have received them! Let me know…have you heard of any of these lines before?

**This post contains product that I have received for free– for more information, please read my Disclosure Policy**