DIOR Vernis #244 Majesty, from the Spring 2015 Collection Kingdom of Colours

Tags

dior, Dior Vernis #244 Majesty, nail polish, Pastelise Kingdom of Colours Spring 2015 Collection, Spring 2015

I haven’t done a post on a nail polish in a while! Simply because when it comes to wearing nail polish in the colder months I’m not too creative choosing colours.

I mainly go for dark, deep reds and plums ( you can see my Autumn picks here ) and golden glitters for the Winter Holidays ( see this year’s gorgeous picks here and here ), and going on with the same themes until the weather shows me it’s finally Spring… Then I take out my lovely pastels and nudes to celabrate that! ( see some of my favourite picks here, here and here ).

The Dior Kingdom of Colours Spring 2015 Collection came out with three nail polish shades: #244 Majesty, #294 Lady and #660 Glory and a graphic Top Coat Eclosion called #001 Blossom.

 – Pinterest

My pick was #244 Majesty. It was the one that appealed to me the most because I thought it was the most particular of all the colours, the happiest and the most Spring-appropriate.

Lady is a pretty neutral shade, but I already have Incognito which is very, very similar to that ( see the review here for comparison )! I wasn’t looking for a red shade even if Glory has a lot of pink in it! As for the Top Coat, for as pretty and fun as it is I was sure that I wouldn’t reach for it too much, since I’m not too dramatic/creative ( again! ) *to be red lazy!*, when it comes to doing my nails! Plus I’m working in an environment where bright, “elaborate” nails aren’t too appreciated!

Back to Majesty now! It is a beautiful luminous peachy-pink shade with an amazing glossy finish, as all the new reformulated Dior nail polishes are.

I will have to warn you though that this is a shade that will not go opaque in just one coat. So to achieve that opaque effect on the nails I do need a good three to four coats! But I also love the semi-transparency only two coats give to the nails, as I believe it makes them look very fresh and clean! 

The new Dior Vernis formula is thicker, glossier and fast-drying.

Enriched with techno-polymers, they transform each coat of polish into a film as smooth and as shiny as glass and creates a seamless bond between the nail and the polish. The added organic silicon strengthens the nail surface for extremely long staying power. On me, Dior nail polishes last for a full week witout major chipping, just the usual washing off on the tips of the nails. Pretty good, right?! 

Also, the new formula is toluene, formaldehyde, phthalates and camphor FREE.

Mani ready, we only need Spring around here!

See you soon, beautiful!

xx, Annie

Dior Golden Shock 2014 Christmas Collection – It’s a Gold Rush indeed!!!

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#001 Golden Shock, #022 Mirror, #241 Gold Equinoxe, dior, Dior Golden Shock Winter 2014 Christmas Collection, Golden Shock Christmas 2014 Collection, nail polish

“Gold at your fingertips” is what they say you need this winter! And how can I ellude Dior‘s alluring call for gold!?

– image credits Dior

Whether in the form of delicate glitter specks ( Dior Diorific Gold Leaf Effect Top Coat previously reviewed here ), in a pearlescent shimmer or an illuminating powder form, gold is everywhere this winter. Dior took advantage of this precious metal radiating festive aura, making it “collide” with crimson reds, soft pinks and liquorice colours, revealing new combinations and 3D texture effects. The result is  the most beautiful Christmas 2014 look, the Golden Shock.

My Dior Golden Shock 2014 Christmas Collection is finally complete! And soon enough, around Christmas time, it will be all sprinkled on my fingertips and dusted all-over my cheeks!

But first let me share with you my other two items I picked from this amazing 2014 Winter Collection!

The new Diorific Vernis shades beautifully accent the your nails with an intense colour, for a gold shock effect.

That is the main reason why I had to purchase two more: the pearlescent #022 Mirror and the melted pepite #241 Gold Equinoxe, which is basically gold in liquid form. Two stunning colours that light up your nails with the brilliant, diffused shine of lit candles in the middle of a Christmas dinner table.

See you soon, beautiful!

Merry Christmas!

xx, Annie

 

INTERESTING FACT:

– image credits Dior

And since Christmas is just around the corner, literally, here you have the most beautiful Christmas movie Dior ever created. Enjoy!

 

 

Into blue nails and pumpkin! Courtesy of Estée Lauder and… Mother Nature

Tags

Autumn 2014, Estee Lauder, GM Blue Blood, nail polish, Pure Colour Nail Lacquer

“Dear Miss Autumn,

I’m not very found of you because you scary away my dearest Summer. But I still have to be grateful for the lovely colours you please my eye with, and for the best fruits of the year!

xx, Me”

Yes, I’m not a big fan of Autumn. And yes, I love dark, vampy, almost goth nails and every excuse to wear them will do ( another post about my favourite nail polishes to wear during the colder months is here ). I also love the beautifully coloured, funny looking pumpkins which taste particularly good at this time of the year!

Now, the Estée Lauder Pure Colour Nail Lacquer in shade GM Blue Blood was such a pleasant surprise for me. I discovered it because I was looking for a decent dupe for my beloved ( but sadly defunct ) Dior Tuxedo, which came out a couple of years ago with the Blue Tie 2011 Collection. I unfortunately don’t have Tuxedo anymore to give you a fair comparison, but I’m sure you’ll find plenty of swatches if you Google it!

Back to Blue Blood now! Formulated with True Vision™, a technology developed in the Lauder Laboratories and meant to transform ordinary color and make it extraordinary, this nail polish is rich and glossy with an intense shine. It completely dries in a matter of minutes, it lasts for a long time on the nails and delivers high coverage with even one coat. The fine shimmers visible in the bottle transfer muted on the nails, making them look more glossy than shimmery.

It also resists chipping. After a good couple of days of wearing, only the tips of the nails seem to be worn off. In the picture above you can see it freshly applied on my nails in two coats, without base or top coat.

Even its name – Blue BLOOD is appropriate for the holiday of the moment… Uuuh! Scary! Haha! 

By the way… How was your Halloween this year?

See you soon, beautiful!

xx, Annie

 

DIOR – Transitional nail polishes for Autumn 2014

Tags

#108 Muguet, #338 Mirage, #970 Nuit 1947, Autumn 2014, dior, nail polish, photos, review

Last year Dior celebrated 60 years of the iconic Rouge Dior lipstick and have revamped the formula, the packaging and even the shade line-up of some of their best sellers, nail polish included. The newly reformulated polish now goes by the name Couture Colour Gel Shine and Long Wear Nail Lacquer and it is thicker, glossier and fast-drying.

The techno-polymers transform each coat of polish into a film as smooth and as shiny as glass and creates a seamless bond between the nail and the polish. The organic silicon strengthens the nail surface for extremely long staying power.

Provided with a smart brush applicator which is softer, longer, less dense and flat with a rounded tip, the user-friendly design of the new Dior Vernis brush ensures flawless application – even for beginners.

Also, the new formula is toluene, formaldehyde, phthalates or camphor FREE.

The lightest, more summery of the shades is Dior #108 Muguet. Part of the Dior Backstage Essentials Collection, Muguet is one those timeless basic colours every woman should have in her nail polish stash. On the Dior website Muguet is proposed for what they called The Nude Manicure, applied in just one sheer layer over the Dior Base Coat, for a subtle result. The translucent colour, enriched with subtle shimmers, enhances the healthy aspect of your nails. Clean, healthy-looking nails – that is what you will get with Muguet!

Now let’s easily translate into a more Autumn shade with Dior #338 Mirage. Mirage is a violet, purple berry bottle of loveliness. This creamy smooth perfection, goes opaque in just two coats, delivering the same shiny as glass gel effect finish without the fine shimmers, on Muguet.

Dior Nuit 1947 is from the Autumn 2013 Collection called Rouge Dior. There are 4 nail polishes in this collection: #999 Rouge, #657 Trafalgar, #653 Darling and #970 Nuit 1947.

There is only one way to get somewhat close to an accurate description for this amazing nail polish: vampy, autumn/winter, perfection.An intensely vampy, purple red, jelly/crelly nail polish. The first coat goes on much brighter and patchy but the second coat evens out everything perfectly. Dior Nuit 1947 is extremely close to Chanel Rouge Noir, in person you cannot really tell the difference but that is another post.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:

The first coat of these nail polishes goes on streaky, as all jellies, but the second coat works its magic. Being a crelly/jelly is of course a little less pigmented than your usual nail polishes, but nothing that can actually bother you. You can always layer it as much as you wish without transforming your nails in a gloopy mess!

The brush changed its design too so there is no need to press too hard, especially when you apply the first layer. Be gentle with the brush in order to avoid streaks forming!

I do recommend, as with all jelly/crelly polishes, that you wait for the first coat to dry before applying the second coat to avoid dragging.

The new formula wears incredibly! Even without a top or base coat they last up to 5 days with hardly any tip wear!

– Here you have #108 Muguet after a good 8 days of wearing!

What do you think about luxury nail polishes on your nails? They make you feel special too, or is it just me?

See you soon, beautiful!

xx, Annie

LANCÔME IN LOVE vernis à ongles #280N COSMOPOLITAN KAKI review

Tags

#280N, cosmopolitan kaki, France, kaki, Lancome, nail polish, nails, review

I decided to buy this Lancôme In Love nail polish in #280 Cosmopolitan Kaki the instance I saw it online two years ago, when Lancôme threw into the world the Autumn-Winter 2012 Collection, called Midnight Roses ( so exquisitely poetical! ).

I have to admit though that I wasn’t a big fan of this particular colour and I haven’t used it that too often. I very much preferred the other one, Lancôme In Love nail polish in #220 Joli Matins from the same collection. I love a nice, clean, pinky-beige nude on my nails ay any moment!

But with this year’s never ending winter,  this dark shade was the one I’ve reached for more.

– two coats, daylight

I did a bit of research before writing this post and I realized that there isn’t too much hype around these products. And I really don’t understand why…

It is true, they are not on the same lever of quality as my Dior or YSL nail polishes but they certainly are way better than my Chanel ones.

They are opaque in only two coats. The shine you see in the pictures does not come from any top coat, it is their own. They only chipped after three or four days ( unlike my Chanel ones that chip even on day two?! ). I find the brush a bit tiny but that’s because I got used to the Dior brush, which is the widest brush I’ve ever seen on a nail polish. As for the selection of colours – is not going to blow you away but I think it is pretty decent.

– day 5, daylight

Now that Spring is finally here and the sun is up, I won’t be using the Cosmopolitan Kaki as much. I need happy colours on my nails to celebrate the new season. But I am sure that when fall will be here, again, I will start enjoying it again.

See you soon, beautiful!

xx, Annie

REVIEW DIOR nail polish nudes

Tags

#219 Beige Safari, #256 Incognito, beauty, dior, makeup, nail polish, nails, nude, review

HELLO beautiful people!

I put together this post because I wanted to share with all of you this new obsession I  have for Dior as a beauty brand, and especially for their nail polishes. I’ve always had a soft spot for nude nails and how clean and chic they look.

– application day 1, daylight

So, after a little research on the good old WWW, a little “help” from some enablers ( you know who you are ) I picked up these two nude colors. DIOR VERNIS in #256 INCOGNITO and DIOR VERNIS in #219 BEIGE SAFARI.

#256 INCOGNITO is a soft nude pink with a slightly hint of grey that applies like a dream. It’s not stripy or gooey at all and the coverage is almost sheer ( you can see it above – left side of the picture, applied twice and in daylight ).

All the nail polishes have a smooth application thanks to the revamp Dior did in 2011 when they redesigned the look of their Vernis line and the brush applicators ( picture above ), abut they also reformulated and renamed some of the permanent colours.

Which brings me to the next favourite, SAFARI BEIGE #219 renamed also when it came out with FALL 2011 BLUE TIE COLLECTION. ( Good Lord, how I want the #908 TUXEDO from that collection. I can’t seem to find it anywhere! 😦 ). Safari Beige used to be called Nude Chic and you may see it like a cool-toned nude with an obvious pink undertone. It has silver micro-shimmers but you can barely see them on the nails. Its consistency is a semi-opaque jelly. It applies sheerly and unevenly on the first coat, which is typical for this formula because the same thing happened when applying Incognito.

– day 8 from application

In terms of durability the Dior website says that “The texture of Dior Vernis relies on an innovative combination of polymers and resins that fuse with the nail, helping it resist chipping. This technical feat results in perfectly lasting color and shine.” And boy! they resist! They don’t chip in large chunks after a day or two. I’d rather say that they fade from the edges of the nail…

They are easily dupeable, I know, but if you want to feel pampered and classy Dior Vernis products are worth the money ( retail price about 24 euros ).

See you soon beautiful!

xx, Annie