notd: revlon parfumerie wintermint

hi guys! i had a ton of cvs coupons to burn, so i picked this up yesterday. this is my first and probably only bottle from the parfumerie line, mostly because the scent doesn't last very long and i generally pick my polishes for their color than their scent. some of the other ones that i thought looked pretty, i didn't want to buy because wasn't interested in their scents. i picked up this particular bottle because it reminded me of deborah lipmann's mermaid's dream..but it's drugstore--it's cheaper. and it's mint scented. hello.

obviously, because this line of polishes is scented, you do not want to apply a topcoat; but if you don't care about them smelling nice and want them to last..then go ahead and apply some.

while applying this polish, it does smell like mint. now, i don't advise going and sniffing straight from the bottle, but the 'normal distance your face is from your hands while you're painting your nails' is enough to smell the mintiness. after they dry, you can actually smell its true scent. from what i've read and heard, the scent doesn't linger for too long--a couple days at most, considering normal people work with their hands, doing stuff..or at the very least, you wash them occasionally, right?

regardless, i like how this came out. now i did paint three coats to make sure it was super opaque (it's fairly so after 2) and i did not add a topcoat. this polish because of it's nature, with the glitter and all, dries to a textured finish. i likes it, in concept and prettiness, but i probably won't get another from this line.
~Lin-chan ^.~

february hauls

 

here's what i had going on this month; mostly drug store items. i also won two awesome giveaways (one of which, i totally forgot i entered into....). but anyway, hope you guys had a great month and that i don't spend too much next because my birthday's coming up! ~Lin-chan ^.~

(polish swatches to be added later.)

giveaway wins: opi push and shove from rocknpolish.blogspot.com (see related notd post here); oster myblend blender from eleventhgorgeous

 
barely pink, nude rebellion, make a mauve; beige-ing beauty, caramel cool, nude compliment, sleek & spice

bed bath & beyond: maybelline master glaze blush sticks in barely pink & nude rebellion, color tattoos: (in order of swatches) beige-ing beauty, caramel cool, nude compliment, sleek & spice. i wasn't as interested in pure nude or stroke of midnight, mostly because idk when i'd use a black shadow like that one and pure nude looks just like barely beige and barely branded, so why would i need a third...

 
swatches: starfruit, yow, rebel

sephora freebies with purchase: stila lipglaze in starfruit, bm moxie gloss in rebel, buxom gloss in yow; origins gen-zing eye cream--i've been wanting to try this forever and haven't wanted to pay for it! lol, it was 100 points.

 

--walmart: pantene dry shampoo, simple ultra light gel moisturizer (maybe this was at cvs? i don't remember) & 24-hr day/night cream, covergirl shineshadow in color me money, maybelline master glaze blush stick in make a mauve
--theBalm.com had another 50% off sale, so of course i got cindy lou-manizer, finally!

 
jordana black point vs. urban decay perversion; the jordana swatch took more effort to remove than perversion...hmmmm! we'll have to put them to a side-by-side test!

luminoso, cindy-lou manizer, copper fling, color me money, black point

walgreens/winn dixie/whole foods: dr. bronner's magic soap in almond, walgreens-eos lip balm dupe in watermelon--legit smells like watermelon jolly ranchers, covergirl shineshadow in copper fling, milani luminoso baked blush, jordana 12hr eyeliner in black point, loreal magic topcoat in the shift me

lower left-most swatch: black and blue

cvs: neutrogena deep clean facial cleanser & daily scrub, sally hansen insta-dry top coat & polish in black and blue

notd: opi push and shove

hi guys! i've recently acquired this limited edition polish from opi's gwen stefani line, push and shove, with the lay down that base basecoat. so i wanted to try it out! i also swatched it with a glossy topcoat (sally hansen insta-dry) and matte topcoat (nails inc westminster bridge) on a nail wheel to see why they say not to use a topcoat. this polish has a really awesome chrome effect to it, but because you're not putting topcoat on, it won't last for very long (the box says: "Like all limited engagement events, Push and Shove is intended for One Night Only wear.") ~Lin-chan ^.~

application method, as recommended by opi: 1 coat basecoat and let dry, 2 thin coats polish, no topcoat.

my findings: make sure to buff your nails before applying the basecoat. you'll see every imperfection when you're done if you don't buff first. the first coat of polish is streaky, but the second coat helps cover it nicely. to avoid making streaks in the second coat, you should try not to pass the brush over the same spot multiple times.

glossy topcoat, no topcoat, matte topcoat

the glossy topcoat, is not as mirror-like as not using a topcoat, and the matte topcoated one looks like a frosted mirror, reflecting an abstract image. (i touched that last one a lil too early.. >.< )

herb garden update

hi guys! now that it's finally sunny again and earth shifted position again and whatever.... sunday, i bought some new herbs and redid my flower pots and box. the small potted plants at whole foods are 2/$5, which is so inexpensive! less than or approximately the same cost as buying those pre-cut, packaged fresh herbs. anyway, so i bought two hardy rosemary's, a spearmint mint, and a greek oregano. i also planted some basil seeds. i've had really good luck growing basil from seeds, but not oregano or rosemary.... also pictured is my tomato beefsteak (planted as seeds) that hasn't figured out what it's doing, it's been like that since the summer. but it's not dead either..and we kinda forgot about it and didn't water it for a long time..... so i don't really know. it's weird. ~Lin-chan ^.~

hardy rosemary, greek oregano, tomato beefsteak, spearmint mint

notd: zoya dot & sally hansen strobe light

hi guys! so as seen in my previous post, i got zoya's dot nail polish in my february ipsy bag. and well....i didn't really like it all that much alone, so i added some glitter to distract from the patchiness. so all is well in the world now. =P ~Lin-chan ^.~

also used: opi natural nail strengthener, sally hansen insta-dry topcoat

i was a bit lazy with the polish-on-skin..ness up there. whoops. lol.