Archive for 2010

NOTD: New Year's Eve Mani!

Friday, December 31, 2010

Hello Readers!

This is my last post of 2010, what an interesting year! I completed one calendar year of blogging and started school to get my cosmetology license, whew. I bought countless cosmetics and started to love nail polish (in fact, since May, when I started to get into nail stuff- I've acquired on average, one nail polish a day! Isn't that just nuts?)

And so I thought I'd end this year with a opalescent glitter mani. This is Hard Candy Break Up. The glitter is thin, semi translucent and hexagonal. There's also micro silver sparkles in the clear base, along with the glitter. The glitter isn't very dense, so I did swatches with three coats and before deciding that it'd look better over a navy creme.

Whoops, somebody forgot to moisturize her acetone dried fingers.
1x Essie First Base, 2x Orly La Playa, 2x Hard Candy Break Up, 1x SpaRitual
Bottom and Top Coat

Couldn't quite get a good picture, but I think it kinda looks like confetti. How festive.

Happy New Year, everyone! Be safe!
-Mimi

Products mentioned were purchased by me for my own use.

2010 Favorites

I'm sure that by now you've read a bunch of lists by other bloggers about the beauty products that they've loved this past year and now it's my turn to clutter up part of the internet with my two cents. These may not be new products or brands, but they were remarkable in some way to me this last year.

Best High End Cosmetics Company

Rock & Republic gets my stamp of approval this year. I was introduced to this brand by Cheri from Blushes on Display late this year. Before MakeupAlley, I had never heard of this brand. I knew they made jeans that looked great on Kim Kardashian but had no idea that they made such lovely makeup. Their packaging is sleek and modern, yet their fancy R&R logo is definitely ornate and really makes for a beautiful product. This year, I tried their lipgloss, pressed powder, shadow and blush and was thrilled with it all. Best of all, they had fantastic sales this year and I was able to buy many products at a fraction the retail value. I spent about $225 but got about 28 products from them- isn't that a steal?

Best Indie Cosmetics Company

Shiro Cosmetics was a great find late this year. I loved the vivid pigmentation, the themed collections and the price of the shadows. The themes are not only endearing but are accurate to their namesakes. I mean, 'Link' is that perfect green, the exact shade his tunic should be. I especially like getting sample sized and mini jars from Shiro, since I like dabbling in different colors but not having to commit to a full priced jar. I can't wait to continue to be a customer and hopefully will see more and more complex colors from Caitlin in 2011!

Best Drugstore Brand

Oh Wet'n'Wild, you did so many great things this year. Your Color Icon shadows were superb, your Craze nail polishes were gorgeous. Those limited edition Pixie Palettes were so sought after... now how will you top it in 2011? G. from Nouveau Cheap is a blogger ambassador for WnW and has dropped some juicy hints! I really can't wait to see what affordable products will the shelves this year. Really though, the quality of the products Wet'n'Wild carries really stepped up this year. Who says pigmentation has to be expensive?

Best Nail Polish Brand

This year I really enjoyed the variety of polishes that Color Club has. Perhaps not as widely available or as popular as China Glaze and OPI, however Color Club is near and dear to my heart for creating shades that I truly enjoy wearing. Color Club has everything from electrifying neons to those wonderful holos that have a grip on my heart, to glitters and creams and everything in between. I especially love the formula of these polishes, I've never had an issue with streaking or any application problems. Also, on a side note- their bottles fit really nicely and efficiently in my polish drawers.

Best Limited Edition Makeup Item

When I think about all the LE collections that came out this year, NARS immediately comes to mind. I really liked the duos that they brought out this year- the only problem is deciding which one is my favorite. Rajasthan is the winner, but Melusine gets honorable mention. I loved the complex colors that NARS put forth this year- as far as boring as you can get, yet not tacky or unusable.

Best Limited Edition Polish

Forget the stampede to get MAC Bad Fairy or the murky Chanel Paradoxel, this year what stood out to me was a drugstore polish. Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure was by far my most prized polish of the year. I tip my hat off to Sally Hansen for creating such a great quality flakie. I only wish that the quantity and distribution was better. I never actually saw it ever in person at a store, it was only thanks to the wonderful LPJ that I even got my hands on a bottle. For 2011, I would love to see more drugstore gems like Hidden Treasure... but more readily available please!

I'd like to thank all you readers! Without your interest in reading MakeupWithdrawal, I sure as heck wouldn't have made it through the year blogging. I hope you have a wonderful New Year's Eve (and Day!) as well as a fantastic 2011!

Love,
Mimi

EOTD: Rock & Republic Chronic

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Hello readers!
Remember that beautiful Chronic that I showed you yesterday? I decided to use it this morning for my EOTD. I paired it with tans and browns to really bring out the olive, rather than it looking kinda mucky khaki which happens when I pair it with brighter greens.
Nothing fancy. My eye looks kinda mean and shocked though, like my camera was threatening my face or something.

Brows: Maybelline Define A Brow
Eyes: UDPP, Rock & Republic Chronic shadow, LORAC Smokin' shadow, MAC Blacktrack Fluidline, L'oreal HiP Crayon in Meticulous, NYX Doll Eye mascara

Rock & Republic Green Shadows

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

I've been on such a green shadow kick lately, it's crazy. Here's a few of my favorites- the ones from Rock & Republic.
The formula of these shadows are fantastic, almost creamy. The pigmentation, as I've happily reported before, is out of this world when used over primer. The colors look so vivid!

Direct sunlight, no flash

Chronic is a more olivey, khaki green with shimmer.
Envy is a shimmery dark forest green. (My favorite!) It's such an intense color, I really love it on my eyes.
Jaded is a seafoam green shimmer. It definitely has more blue and more pastel than the other two. This one looks kinda weird on me, but does alright when blended with a true blue.

Do you have any of these greens? Do you own any that look like them?

Products were given to me as a gift.

EOTD: Blackened Teal

Monday, December 27, 2010

Hello! I had a snow day today, so I got busy and cleaned all day. I shampooed my carpets and also played with the dogs outside, they love the snow so much! I regret not taking my camera out there, but I probably wouldn't have gotten very many good shots- they move way too fast. But they really are a sight to behold, Kuma (the big white one) barrels through the snow at break neck speed while Nigel (the medium sized one) twirls and leaps like he's dancing.
Anyways, after I had dinner, I played around makeup for a while, something I haven't had a chance to do for a while.

I used:
Brows: Maybelline Define A Brow
Eyes: UDPP, Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy, Fyrinnae Japan shadow, Rock & Republic Fatalistic shadow, Rock & Republic Spy shadow, L'oreal HiP Shadow Paint in Steely, Rimmel Soft Kohl liner, NYX Doll Eye Mascara

So, what did you guys do over the holidays? Did you celebrate anything? Have any plans for New Year's? How about New Year's makeup, got anything planned?

Wearable Nail Soakers Review

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Hello Readers!
I really hope you enjoyed the holidays. I myself just came out of a food induced coma (how lucky am I that Mr. MakeupWithdrawal's father is a wonderful cook?) and decided that enough was enough- I desperately wanted to take off my acrylic set. This gave me a chance to test out the nail soakers that I bought off of eBay.
A few sellers carry these soakers, they come in a set of 10 and are supposed to be acetone resistant so that you can use them to take off artificial nails.
I was quite excited to try these out, I thought they were a great idea! Normally I either soak them in a bowl of acetone or use the foil covering method. I figured that these soakers would cut down on the acetone fumes and would allow me a bit more flexibility as I waited for the acrylic to gummy off.

Uh, not so much.
The first problem I encountered when using these soakers was the issue of actually filing them with acetone. Pouring into the rubbery tops was rather difficult and I had to use a glass pipette to drop in the acetone. I popped them on without much problems, but then I noticed that they all leaked! Even with my hands stationary, I had acetone seeping out of the cracks between the rubber top and the plastic chamber.
This made soaking off my nails take much longer than just soaking them in a bowl- every few minutes I had to refill the soakers with more acetone. The instructions say that you can scrape your nails with the inner scraper to get the acrylic off... uh, well there's no inner scraper. There's an outer ones though, but using them while still on the finger causes spillage all over the desk, and down your sleeves.
So as far as soaking off acrylics, I'd say that these are absolutely terrible. However, after I gave up and soaked off my nails the old fashioned way, I decided to give these soakers another chance. This time, I filled them with a thicker lotion which I warmed up in the microwave, and treated my cuticles to a nice long session of badly needed moisture therapy! That actually worked out great- due to the thicker consistency of the lotion, it didn't leak out everywhere. Though I suppose that I did end up wasting a lot of product by filling up the chambers, but the warm lotion really penetrated my acetone dehydrated skin.
In short, you really don't need these soakers. Cheap as they are (I bought them for around $6, if I remember correctly), they leak like mad and I would only ever recommend them if you intend to use a thicker lotion with them.

Product was purchased by me, for my own use.

Happy Holidays!

Friday, December 24, 2010

Hello Readers!
I hope you're enjoying what ever holiday you celebrate this time of the year! (Or if you don't celebrate anything, I hope you're enjoying the crowded malls, delayed postal service and the general overload of tinsel and red and green glitter) Anyhoo, I just wanted to say that I'll be taking a break from posting for a few days so that I might enjoy time spent with my family and friends.
Don't worry, I'll be back right after Christmas!

Have a fantastic holiday season,

-Mimi

False Lashes from KKCenterHK Review

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Please note that the pairs I received were in sample packaging!

I was recently given the opportunity to try out lashes from KKCenterHK. Up until I had been contacted by them, I had never heard of this Hong Kong based company, but when I browsed their site I was astounded by the huge array of lashes they have. They literally have hundreds of styles! For any lash obsessed gal like me, it is absolute heaven.
They have everything from soft, natural lashes to beautiful, peacock feather lashes. It took great self control to stop myself from ordering bright pink feathered lashes right then and there. Anyways, I tried a few of their more natural lashes.
I picked three styles- one clear banded (ES A52), one black banded (ES A134) and one style of lower lashes (ES A021).

All the lashes were really nice and wore really well. The bands on the ES A134 and A021 were a little stiff, but the prices are so amazing, I really can't complain. I mean- a box of 10 PAIRS (yes, that's right! 10 freaking pairs!) of the ES A134 are $4.98. That's less than 50¢ per pair of lashes. Where in the United States can you get lashes that for that cheap? No where! That's such a great value, especially if you wear falsies a lot or are a professional MA and use them a lot.
Here's some pictures of me wearing the ES A52 and ES A021 (lower lashes).

I'll definitely be ordering lashes from them in the future. The English on the site is a bit wonky, but I'm able to get the gist of it. One thing I noticed though was that shipping (Hong Kong Post, with a tracking number!) scaled with the number of items per purchase, so take that into consideration.

Products featured in this review were sent to me for consideration. Please refer to my Disclosure Policy for details.

More Wet'n'Wild Holiday Wild Shine Polishes!

Monday, December 20, 2010

Once again, procrastination has gotten the best of me. I was hoping to post these swatches last month, but kinda put it on the back burner. When I finally decided to put them up today, I realized that I had completely lost the original pictures and had to redo the swatches.

Anyhoo, here's the few polishes that I did pick up.

Extravaganza

Indoors, flash

Indoors, lightbox, no flash

2 coats, in both pictures. Extravaganza is this blue based red with gold sparkle. How festive!

Toast

Indoors, flash

Indoors, under lightbox, no flash

A neat silver foil shade. A bit thin, I did two coats in the pictures above but it could have used three for total opacity.

Champagne

Indoors, flash

Indoors, no flash, lightbox

This one is really interesting. Champagne has this sort of dark lavender translucent base that's jam packed with silver foil. In addition to the silver, there's also gold and even a bit of copper foily bits. The dark lavender isn't super visible on the nail, but gives the whole nail a mysterious cast.

Confetti

Indoors, flash

Indoors, under lightbox. Blurred to show glitters!

I'm pretty sure that this one is just Hallucinate from the permanent line, renamed.

Fireworks

Flash, indoors

Indoors, lightbox, no flash

Gold glitter in a clear coat, with bigger hexagonal holographic glitter. It's really quite blingy. Two coats in the pictures.

One coat each over Wet'n'Wild Black Creme

Both Confetti and Fireworks look pretty good over black, don't you think?
For 99¢, you really can't beat the performance and variety of colors that Wet'n'Wild Wild Shines provide. I think that this collection of holiday colors beats any and all other holiday polish sets in terms of value!
Did you spot any of these polishes?

All products were purchased by me, for my own use.

Review: Becca Pressed Shimmer Powder in Nymph

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Happy Sunday, readers!

A few months back, Dermstore had a fantastic code - if I remember correctly it was $25 off of $50. Hot dog, I jumped on that quick! I used that code to try a few things that I wouldn't have otherwise bought at full price, including a Becca Pressed Shimmer Powder. First, look at how cool the Becca packaging is. This powder looks like it is housed in a spaceship!

What makes this PSP in Nymph different than other highlighters I'ved tried? I think it's the finish that sets Nymph apart from other pinky highlighters. While other highlighters (like BeneFit High Beam, Dior Amber Diamond, Hard Candy Honeymoon blush, etc) are shimmery or sparkly, Nymph is softly pearly.

I found that while other highlighters sometimes emphasize the pores at the top of my cheeks and often times make oily skin look worse, the glowing effect of Nymph has quite a different effect. Somehow in a way I don't quite understand, this highlighter makes skin look luminous.

The one thing about Nymph that you might not like is the scent. Though I found the perfumed aroma rather pleasant, I understand that people can be really sensitive and picky about scents.

This Pressed Shimmer Powder lasted all day on my skin, something that I really appreciated. At first, when I looked at the list of ingredients, I was worried about possible breakouts because it did contain things that my skin had been sensitive to in the past (the titanium dioxide and the bismuth oxychloride in particular) but I actually didn't break out from it. I guess since it was on top of both my foundation and primer, that proved enough of a barrier for my wicked sensitive skin.

Here's what's in it:

Talc, Mica, Aluminum Starch Octenylsuccinate, Bismuth Oxychloride, Isopropyl Palmitate, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Zinc Stearate, Lanolin Oil, Magnesium Carbonate, Isostearyl Neopentanoate, Cetyl Alcohol, Octyldodecanol, Polyisobutene, Dimethicone, Parfum (Fragrance) And May Contain: [+/- Titanium Dioxide CI 77891, Iron Oxides CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499, Carmine CI 75470, Red 21 Lake CI 45380, Red 7 CI 15850, Red 36 CI 12085, Yellow 5 Lake CI 19140, Ultramarines CI 77007]

Becca Pressed Shimmer Powders are $38 each. If you're interested in trying them, I'd wait for a good Dermstore code because they also offer free shipping. Win!

Product was purchased by me, for my own use.

OPI Designer Series Extravagance

Friday, December 17, 2010

Indoors, under lightbox, no flash
2x Extravagence, no top coat (which is why the finish looks rather flat)

Hello dear readers!

Ah, just look at this polish. There aren't even words to describe how beautiful it is. Let's just take a moment to take in the dazzling photos.

This holo makes me almost cry with joy. It's just so stunning! And to think, I almost didn't buy it- I picked the bottle up on a whim at Cosmo-Prof and almost put it back.

This magenta scattered holo doesn't just sparkle... it's like an array of jewels on your nails, each facet shining brilliantly. It only took to coats for it to look completely opaque, and the application was amazing! I really like how well OPI DS polishes apply, they just glide on and level so well.

Let's look at some more pics!

Indoors, flash. With topcoat- 1x Sally Hansen Insta Dri

Look at that amazing color!

I've been really lucky with nail polishes lately. I've had a slew of really gorgeous polishes in the last few weeks!

On a side note, my nails look kind of thick because I just had acrylics put on. *hangs head in shame* I know, I love natural nails but with the upcoming holiday festivities, I knew it'd be really hard for me to maintain attractive looking hands so I choose artificial nail enhancements, just till January 2nd! That's when I'll soak 'em right off. I like how even they look though, and how well nail polish holds to the acrylic material. Usually my nails chip or I get tip wear within 24 hours, no matter what combination of top coat and basecoat- but I can count on acrylics to look good for a few days at least.

Anybody else do anything different for their nails for the holidays?

Product was purchased by me for my own use.

Jeweled Black/Silver Mardi Gras Mask!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Hello!
I did something that extremely time consuming today, and thought I'd share with you the fruit of my labors. For five hours, my lovely model Erica sat still while I did both her hair and makeup. The rhinestones took up most of the time, taking about two and a half hours to painstakingly glue to her face. One by one.
All I have to show you is a crappy cell phone picture that neither flatters the model, nor does justice to my work! Alas, that's all I have- but if any of my class mates took any better pictures, I'll post them later.
I used:
A crap ton of rhinestones, feathers, DUO glue.
UDPP, Ben Nye Light Concealer Wheel, Victoria's Secret Foundation, NYX Hebe Black Label Lipstick, Prestige Total Intensity Deepest Black liner, Urban Decay Perversion shadow, Bobbi Brown Chrome Silver shadow, Rock & Republic Chain Link shadow.

I Found My Zoya Kelly!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

No flash, under light box. 2x Kelly, 1x Sally Hansen Insta Dri

Hello Readers!
Remember a few weeks ago when I moaned about losing my Kelly polish? Well, I take it that you read the title to this post... that's right, I found it! It was in the depths of my couch. How did it get there? I have no idea, but I was pretty darn happy when I reached down there fishing around for the remote, and when I opened my hand I found Kelly instead. If I did happy dances, I would have done one right then and there.
Kelly is one sexy polish. I really don't think 'grey' adequately describes this creme, not by a long shot. Kelly is the color of burning indigo smoke, the color of a sooty twilight sky. It's everything I thought that it was going to be, plus more.
The application was amazing- typical of Zoya polishes. Two coats made for a beautiful glossy finish.
I can pretty much sum up how I feel about this polish in three words I usually reserve only for Chipotle burritos and milk chocolate truffles- I love it.
Kelly was $7 at Ulta, from Zoya's Fall 2010 collection.
Please tell me you have this amazing polish?

Product was purchased by me, for my own use.

NOTD: A Favorite- Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure

Monday, December 13, 2010

1x Essie First Base, 1x WnW Black Creme, 1x Hidden Treasure

Nothing new or exciting- but I did one of my favorite combos yesterday. Hidden Treasure over Wet'n'Wild Black Creme. I've really been in a flakie mood lately (first Barielle Elle's Spell, Maybelline Colorama Sonic Sunset, now this!) and can't wait to get my hands on more. In fact, I have 4 NYX flakies coming in the mail. I'm also trying to get a hold of some Golden Rose flakies, but it's really hard since they're based out of Malta and discontinued. Why, why must my heart yearn for the unobtainable? And maybe after Christmas, I'll splurge and order a bunch of Nfu Oh ones! Don't worry, my holo obsession hasn't gone anywhere, it's just sitting on the back burner at the moment.
Anyways, I've must have worn this combo at least 10 times since receiving my bottle last May (thanks again, LPJ, I love you more than you'll ever know for sending this to me!)

Do you have Hidden Treasure? Or any other flakies?

Some of the products mentioned in this post were given to me as a gift. For more information, please read my Disclosure page.

FOTD + Also, My Dog In a Poncho

Sunday, December 12, 2010

You can tell I'm going somewhere fancy by
the hippie tie dye t-shirt I'm sportin'.

Hello Readers!
I haven't posted a FOTD picture in a really long time because after I ran out of MUFE HD, I bought MUFE Mat Velvet and that photographed horribly with flash. Unfortunately, with my school hours I'm not able to get natural daylight pictures either. Well, I picked up a new foundation and have been mixing it with MUFE Mat Velvet in equal parts and that seems to have taken care of that whole ghost face issue. Hooray!
I used:
Face: LORAC AquaPRIME, MUFE Full Cover Concealer, MUFE Mat Velvet Foundation, Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation, YSL Blush Variant in #12
Lips: Wet'n'Wild Just Peachy (it's really grown on me!)
Eyes: UDPP, Shiro Cosmetics Poliwrath and Rattata, MAC Blacktrack Fluidline, Rimmel Soft Kohl liner and both upper and lower false lashes from E2 (which I'll be reviewing soon!)

And now- the best part of the post, a picture of Kuma.
I'm usually pretty anti-dressing up animals unless they really need clothing for warmth.... but Kuma really enjoys wearing a poncho. It's pretty odd. One time when I was folding laundry, I held up the poncho on a whim and he came by and just stuck his head through the hole. He then laid down and just looked rather pleased with himself. And when I took it off of him, he kept trying to stick his head back through- I think he enjoys the attention he gets with it on (both Mr. MakeupWithdrawal and I can't stop laughing when he's wearing it, it's just too goofy looking).
The flash did weird things to his eyes- they're actually really warm brown, like a cow's!

I hope you all have a good week!
Some products in this post were sent to me to review. Please read my full disclosure policy for more details.

Merlot Natural Grape Seed Night Cream

Saturday, December 11, 2010

image from walgreens.com

This review is long overdue! So long overdue, that I've lost all the pictures I took of my tub of the night cream and had to use a stock photo.
I read a few raving reviews for Merlot creams on MUA, so I thought I would give them a try. Unfortunately the day moisturizer contained zinc oxide, so I ended up buying the night cream-Merlot Moonlight Radiance Natural Grape Seed Night Cream.

The first thing I noticed when I read the ingredients on the back was squalane was high on the list. I had wanted to try squalane for a long time, ever since I heard that it was a great, fast absorbing oil that did miracles for skin.

The cream was $19.99 at Walgreens and came in a pretty large tub. There's a light scent, but I found it rather pleasant.

The first time I put it on, I was impressed right away by how easily I could work it into my face. A few light strokes and my face just drank it up! What was even more amazing was that 7 hours later, my normally scaly jaw and cheek areas were still as supple and moisturized as when I had first put it on. I almost couldn't believe it and kept patting my face the whole day, because it just felt so good.

I actually used it as a day cream, just because it worked so well to moisturize. Putting on makeup over Merlot Natural Grape Seed Night Cream was a dream- my foundation just looked so much better over such a smooth surface.

Alas, my super sensitive just didn't tolerate it. Within a few days, pimples sprang up all over my face. I wanted so badly to believe that it wasn't the Merlot cream that I tried to use it on three different occasions, but the same thing happened.

Now, it sounds crazy but I still highly recommend this product. Why? It's not fair for me to knock it down when it is fabulous just because my difficult skin decides not to like it. I end up not being able to use about 90% of all the skincare I buy, just because my skin is ridiculously sensitive (and a total pain in the butt). But this cream was just so fantastic for a drugstore item, and did its job so incredibly well that I still urge people to give it a try. The best part is, I've seen sample sizes of this product so you don't need to spend a lot to give it a go!
Have you tried any of the Merlot products?
Product was purchased by me for my own use.

NOTD: Wet'n'Wild Midnight

Friday, December 10, 2010

1x Essie First Base. 3x Wet'n'Wild Midnight, 1x Sally Hansen Insta Dri

I bought this polish a few weeks ago, along with a bunch of other limited edition holiday Wet'n'Wild polishes. The vivid blurple color stood out to me and I found myself reaching for it even though it's not really a finish I would normally wear.
Midnight is a bright, frosty violet-blue with tiny, winks of holographic glitter. You know what it reminds me of? When you see colorful pictures of deep space, and there's that lovely blue tinge around white specks of stars. Just look into one of the nails in the picture to the left, and imagine that you're hurtling through space, traveling at the speed of light.
I find this color very beautiful and mesmerizing in the bottle, but it's just not a shade I find appealing on my finger tips!

Product was purchased by me, for my own use.

EOTD with Bright MUFE Shadows!

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

I did my friend April's makeup today. I wasn't too pleased with how the face turned out with the foundation and all, but I did like the eyes, so I took some pictures! Unfortunately I only had my cell phone, so the picture quality isn't super great.
Used:

Brows: MAC Brow Shader in Walnut/Malt
Eyes: MAC Soft Ocher Paint Pot, UDPP, Hi Fi Cosmetics High Impact, Make Up For Ever Shadow #171, Make Up For Ever Shadow #83, MAC Clarity shadow, Prestige Total Intensity Deepest Black liner, True Cosmetics Hy Performance Mascara

Thanks April for modeling!

Fantastic Flakie: Barielle Elle's Spell

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

indoors, no flash, lightbox. 4 coats.

I never really paid attention to Barielle before this new winter collection. When someone told me that one of the polishes in it had flakies, I couldn't wait to get my painted phalanges on Elle's Spell.
The first time I went to Ulta to pick it up, I forgot my wallet and had to leave without it (and pretty furious at myself). The next day, I went back and bought it- good thing too! The display had been full the first day, but when I went back there was only two bottles left.
Elle's Spell is a gorgeous crimson jelly with flakies that flash from yellow-green to orange. I feel like the beauty of this polish will only be appreciated by the wearer, because only when is it on your fingers and you move them around in the light can you see the full range of flashing flake color change.
This polish can be worn however you like. Three coats will give more of a jelly transparent look, while I personally prefer 4 coats because the richness of the red comes through (and more flakies!).

This pictures (no flash, lightbox) shows off the color change in the flakies

This polish cost $6 at Ulta. It's listed on the Barielle site for $8, and since I have no idea where else to buy Barielle products I suggest you head to Ulta if you plan on picking this one up. Truly a beautiful color that's wonderful for the holidays. In fact, I fully intend on wearing this color Christmas morning because it just puts me in such a festive mood.
Since I just purchased this today, I can't really comment on the wear. But the application was pretty good, with a decent brush. The only thing I noticed was a tendency to build up heavily at the tips, but that's probably due to its jelly nature.

What do you think of this Barielle polish? Have you tried any other Barielle products?

Product was purchased by me, for my own use.