Sometimes Yaya

Diamond Cosmetics

As a follow up to my Diamond Cosmetic adventures, I bring you a select few mattes from their collection, and more. From my introductory post here where I used the brand’s polish for the first time, I have fallen head over heels.

It wasn’t just enough for me to borrow the polish from a friend (xo Britt), I had to go to the darn site and purchase a few polishes (quit with the side eye y’all! They’re only $2 each!!).

I will be updating you with what I got once I get the package (I purchased some of the cosmetics to test out as well), but I have some polishes to hold you off until then.

2 coats application

left with top coat, right with China Glaze Matte Magic Topcoat

Matte Black

This is a fab color. Without a matte or a shine top coat it is the most wearable black polish that I have come across, in that it isn’t too shiny, but it’s not completely matte yet either. As a matte it’s a bit more satin-y than how it is with the matte top coat as you can see above, but that just adds variety. I am a fan of these types of colors because then you get three for the price of one. You get cream, satin-y (lol), and matte with the help of top coats (but top coats help all polishes). The application is smooth and consistent, and nothing to complain about.

left 2 coats, right with China Glaze Matte Magic Topcoat
Matte Burgundy
I didn’t do a photo with a top coat this time, but I did try the matte coat. Unlike matte black, this is a little more matte when dry, but still more of a satin finish. The color looks like a chocolate/raspberry wine (can you tell when I post while hungry?). These polishes are great with coverage and only require two coats.

2 coats left flash, right no flash

With top coat, left flash, right no flash

With China Glaze Magic Matte top coat, left flash, right no flash

Matte Mulberry
This again, was a color that was hard to capture on camera. What did I say? Anything that includes a hint of pink becomes a photography rebel. The color is a bit in the middle of the flash and no flash. This was similar to the matte black, in that it was more of a satin finish at first.

Left flash, right no flash
Plum Pie in the Sky
My all time favorite of the bunch. This is the perfect plum color that I have been needing in my life. This is not a matte, and I didn’t try it as one either, but come on! How gorj!

Tried these yet? Want to?

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Review: Revlon Double Twist Mascara

Hey kiddies! As part of the “VIPretty” at PrettyCity.com, I get to review products for the site. Since I couldn’t really upload photos there, I wanted to share what I had for you guys here. You can check out my review by clicking over here. I got to review the Revlon Double Twist mascara and was surprised by what I got.

This is what the hubub is about. The innovative brush. But did it deliver?

As I mentioned in my review on PrettyCity.com, this mascara committed the epic fail with the packaging on the inside of the tube. If you take a close look at your mascara, you will see that the inside tapers in a bit so that when you pull the wand out, it kind of squeezes the remained of product away to allow optimal application.

The packaging here has it so that there are little spikes in a circle, which in thought are a good idea, but in reality they don’t take off enough extra product and the wand ends up being gloppy and overstuffed with product. Just one swipe on the eyes makes for a terrible clump of a time.

I wanted to compare the Revlon Double Twist mascara to my all time fave, Chanel Inimitable mascara. Yes Chanel is a pricey bugger, but it has yet to fail me. It gives me a soft and even application that’s perfect for anywhere.

Review
Packaging: 1 out of 5
Price: 4 out of 5 ($8.99 – lots of BOGO)
Quality: 3 out of 5
Overall: 2 out of 5

This is what the wands look like when pulled out of the tube as if for regular application:

I had to play around with the lighting to show the globs of mascara on the Revlon wand. See it? You can’t even discern a single fragment – it all looks like one… thing. None of the double twist technology even has a chance to prove itself because there is a thicker than thick layer of mascara paste stuck on it.

I think this was a major mistake in the packaging, and that the original idea of the mascara was just the innovation in the brush. The double twist has different bristles alternating on the wand. Does it work? Not with this tube. I will revisit this mascara with a different tube and see if the wand fares any better there.

left:no mascara, right:after one coat
Maybe if Revlon revises the packaging of the mascara with a different opening, it will become a hit. Otherwise, I’d say purchase at your own risk.

Have you tried this for yourself?

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Fafi + Adidas = Love?

What do y’all know about my girl Fafi? I first heard about her aristry and quirky designs when MAC partnered up with her way back when (check out all Temptalia related posts about the collection). Since then, I’ve been lemming over the t-shirts on sale at the e-commerce shop, and checking the design collabos she does throughout the world. The characters she draws are neverendingly (yes I made up a word) entertaining and original.

When I heard via FreshnessMag that she had partnered with Adidas I couldn’t understand why I didn’t know this sooner!

The collection is a bit smaller than I would’ve wanted, but had a good sneaker design on one pair. They also have a long sleeve tee and a jumper, but those didn’t catch my fancy either. Read on to see the images!

The prices range from $65 to $100, but I was only tempted to purchase two pieces. Can you tell which?

Do you like any of the designs?

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Talk It Out Tuesday! Mistakes!

My mother is an aesthetician. There! When young girls were just getting into skincare and beauty products, I already had it stuck in my head. The no nos and rules of sunscreen? I thought it was a given (I would’ve caught a whooped bum if I had ventured out without it during the summer). What I thought was a basic understanding of skin care and the business behind it, seemed to be more of an education.

Apart from teaching me to be extra kind to my skin, my mother was strict about not letting me wear makeup. This was a mixed blessing. When I was young and thought I knew it all, I didn’t understand how it could hurt. I’d sneak out and wear makeup sometimes (but if I came home with it still on… war started before dinner), though that was rare. My mom kept saying the youth of my skin was all the ornament I needed. Now that I’m older of course understand what she meant.

But that doesn’t mean I always listened! Though listening to my mom (or trying to keep my butt from being beaten too much) has gotten me used to a more natural look (i.e. lipgloss for the most), as well as familiar with addressing my skin’s needs, I have still committed plenty of mistakes in the cosmetics department.

When I was younger black liner seemed to be the one stop solution. I had horrendous raccoon eyes on special events and though way too highly of myself. I would stand in the mirror and sometimes take pictures (pre-digital cam age – plenty of annoying pictures to develop & waste money on!)for hours.

Now I know just how much black liner needs to slide on my waterline, or if any at all. I have befriended the shadow and liquid liners, and discovered makeup brushes (and YouTube gurus). I dare say, my only mistakes now are when I pair the wrong colors or brands together. Who knows, though? I may even come back years later and say my makeup habits currently turn out to be atrocious.

But more on the here and now, what beauty mistakes/crimes are you guilty of committing?

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ORLY nails

Continuing my nail craze, I have grouped together some polishes with the same company. The ones today are from ORLY. These creams are always kind to your nails and define the word cream. A lot of the time they need a bit of extra maintenance, as they require more coats than usual, but all is forgiven. These polishes are perfect for summer and lighthearted manis, and the darker colors get heavier in consistency as if they know that you’ll be wearing them when the weather drops and will be less patient with coats.

ORLY Enchanted Forest
This is a green shade I am falling madly in love with. It’s like a mudy emerald green and applies like a dream. The color seems to be the type that is the perfect equation for happily ever after with anyone’s nails, and I’m glad this time they were mine. On the right is a matte version (using China Glaze Matte Magic top coat).

ORLY Sol Cabana
A very cute cream sorbet-ish orange. The color itself looks delicate and soft right? Though it has a bit of a sheer coverage issue, I think it works just right. Maybe even with a white puffy jacket in the middle of the slopes?

ORLY OMG
This peachy pink is of course hard to photograph. All the pinks in my life refuse to be photographed. Rowdy ladies. The actual color of OMG is somewhere between the left (no flash) and the right (with flash). Barely lets your nail shine through and conveys the super sweet with a side of sexy. (Hope that makes sense)

I tried to Konad it up with the black Konad polish, and Color Club in Revvolution for the paint splat (don’t like how it came out).

It was hard as rocks to get the lace like pattern apply evenly on the nail. I’m still undecided if I approve. Like it?

What colors do you have on your digits? What colors should I wear next?

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Forever 21 joins the mob

Forever 21 joins the makeup and beauty mob with their own line Love & Beauty. not available just yet, you can get a lipgloss sample with a $75 purchase ($75 also gets you free shipping).

I’m not surprised that this is happening, being that F21 has carried polishes and various beauty products here and there. The packaging doesn’t seem anything special to me, and I wonder what the quality will be like. Also – what kind of pricing will be introduced for these products? Being who they are, I’d think everything would be wallet friendly

How do you feel about this?

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Magazine Weekend – Real Simple October ’09

I know I know, it is most definitely the first day of November, but being that I was behind on my magazine weekend, I had about ten more magazines to give to you and one and a half days. Add to that the fact that there is plenty of football and junk food to eat on a weekend, and you have a girl that doesn’t like to be around a computer much. (I’m typing this as I get my ice cream ready by the way).

To give you a snippet, I wanted to let you know how to do your own Bride-tastic hair from BRIDES, and how to give a good compliment from Esquire. None of this made the print for this post though, and instead, I looked through Real Simple and found a great list of things to do to prevent wrinkling in your clothes. We all wash our clothes right? And to make each dry a perfect dry, and not an expensive ‘Oh my, I have to go back to the dry cleaners and spend all my money’ trip.

The magazine always has great cheap lists of easy dinners. Overall, this is a magazine that includes information from every sphere someone would need to know. They don’t overindulge on one thing, and you walk away a knowledgeable reader. This mag is my equivalent of a book sometimes.

Have you ever heard of these tips to prevent wrinkles? I’ll be trying it out soon!

Shoot me an e-mail to MyOwnJudge@gmail.com if you would like me to explore other/have topics and/or magazines, or for general opinions of what’s in magazine weekend.

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Magazine Weekend – Allure October ’09

Happy Halloween everyone! I don’t know how many of you partake in the festivities, but I take it as a day to be extra fun. Plus with all negative thoughts aside (poison etc.) I think kids need a day or two like this where they can get dressed up and get free candy. The adults? They need a day to think back to the days of childhood past and take those ties off and relax. I don’t know how Halloween turned into a competition for the shortest skirt, but that’s what makes the day more fun, no? Finding the most creative costume that didn’t use a “lack of fabric” as the first step! In the past, I’ve had a theme going, where I was Betty Boop one year and Betty Rubble (Flinstones) the next. I had a couple of Bettys in mind for this year as well, but I don’t think I’ll be dressing up. Next year watch out!

As you guys await November 1 for the sale candy (that’s the best part of the day for me!), take a look through the magazine counters and check for Allure for October 09. It has Miss Vanessa Hudgens on the cover, looking a lot like MiMi (a.k.a Mariah Carey. The magazine is always well known for having an index card pullout with tons of tips. Sometimes fitness, sometimes beauty. These pullout cards have the directions on one side and product suggestions on the other. They serve as great bookmarks, and when you’re done with the magazine, you can hide the card in your bag or wallet, and head to the (drug)store to do some damage!

This month they had a chock full of advice from how to do successful blow outs at home to grooming your brows. Instead of just one page of full tear outs, you get a full three pages!

Do you do this to groom your brows? Does it work? Success/Horror stories? Share all!

Shoot me an e-mail to MyOwnJudge@gmail.com if you would like me to explore other/have topics and/or magazines, or for general opinions of what’s in magazine weekend.

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FNO is back!

It’s back y’all! Following the initial transformation of a city to a party town for the sake of fashion, Fashion’s Night Out has been well loved, well remembered, and inspired other events as well. You can check out my coverage from plenty of those events here! But no one knew it would be back, and sure enough, FNO is promising to make as big a bang in 2010.

“After high demand, Fashion’s Night Out is officially returning next year! Mark your calendars for September 9, 2010 and get ready to shop! You can sign up for updates at www.fashionsnightout.com and can follow us on Twitter (@FNONYC) for all the latest details.“

Check out more info about FNO below, as well as a short video about models representing the night from last year.

About Fashion’s Night Out:

“Fashion’s Night Out (FNO) is an unprecedented global initiative created to celebrate fashion, restore consumer confidence, and boost the industry’s economy. In the United States, the program is a collaboration between American Vogue, the Council of Fashion Designers of America, NYC & Company, and the City of New York. On September 9, 2010, Fashion’s Night Out will return to New York City to put the fun back in shopping, with designer appearances, live windows, celebrity guests, and other special events. On the same night around the world, and led by twelve international Vogue editions (London, Paris, Milan, Berlin, Madrid, Moscow, Athens, Taipei, Tokyo, Beijing, Sao Paolo and New Delhi), each country will tailor its Fashion’s Night Out celebration to appeal to its city’s unique retail environment.“

http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9/35188425001?isVid=1&publisherID=17216871001

Are you excited for this one?!

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Zoya NOTDs

Watch out now as I get ultra colorful to keep the rainy day gloom away. Actually, I’m a big fan of the rain. I find it to be quite calming, and just awesome. But the rest of y’all that like to scream about the sky falling each time raindrops fall? Pansies!

Here are some Zoya NOTDs to keep up with my nail-a-day challenge. I cheated a little for a couple of days by wearing the same polish for two days, but I’m back on the straight and narrow, I promise!

Paz

Ali

Ali and Paz were both weirdly a difficult time to photograph. The pictures kept coming out more “radioactive” than the color was in real life. The colors are both very bright, but in a yummy way. I couldn’t get enough of Ali.

Malia

Rea

Want a Zoya to yourself? You can get them at $7 a bottle here.

I adored all these colors. All the photos on the left are with flash, and on the right without. Every single cream applied like a dream and the colors were all equally unique and vibrant. Seriously? I can’t get enough of my Zoya fix.

Which was your fave? Know a color I MUST try?

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