Nail Polish – Bubbly Michelle

Dior Summer 2014 nail polish, Yacht : Review, photos & swatches

May 21, 2014May 21, 2014by Bubbly Michelle2 Comments

Kicking off Dior Summer 2014 reviews with one of it’s more interesting offerings, Yacht.

Yacht is a neutral toned sand (beige meets grey) shade; A fresh take on what’s fondly referred to as mannequin nails. Not so beige that it looks deathly, nor too pink that it looks more like a nude.

Applied in thinner layers, it’s a colour which is essentially a pink tinged grey beige (grege). And as it’s built up with more coats, you are left with a shade heavier on the grey spectrum of things.

As with the newly reformulated Dior polishes, this too has a perfect consistency. (More on reformulated Dior polishes here!) Not too runny or too thick. Also the new brush leads to less streaky application.

Seen below are brush tips of an older Dior polish and of the new version. Clearly the more rounded and sleek brush aids in a neater application close to the cuticles and eliminates the chances of a wonky jagged edge.

Overall I felt the improved formula made the lighter shades easier to apply. Although for those with major OCD issues (myself included) the slight streakiness of the first coat could be a bit alarming. Two to three coats are advisable and gives a uniform application.

Onto comparison swatches..

For reference, here are two of my favourite nude and beige polishes swatched beside Yacht. As you can see, YSL Beige Leger is more pink heavy and Essie Sand Tropez looks more of a beige shade. In comparison, I’d say the Dior one is a healthy medium which I believe is very flattering on most skin tones, specially light to medium complexions.

*I thought it looked very similar to my much loved Chanel Frenzy which sadly, I couldn’t seem to find at the time of swatching!!

Wear time

These perform phenomenally. Even without a top coat they last up to 5 days with hardly any tip wear. The pic I took of my nails are actually after 3 days of wear, still in pristine condition. And looks quite glossy!

Overall I believe it’s a polish worth owning. And as far as high end polishes go, I find the Dior ones to be no.1 when compared with Chanel (which seem to chip easily), YSL or Burberry.

Product details
Dior polishes contain 10ml of product and this retails for SGD 45 I believe, the price hike is duo to the decals and nail file that comes with this (which I don’t see much use for), usually Dior polishes retail at SGD38.
I purchased mine from the Dior Backstage boutique at Ion Orchard.

Makeup

Dolce & Gabbana nail lacquer 107 Lilac

February 12, 2014May 25, 2014by Bubbly Michelle8 Comments

Lately I have been obsessing over everything lilac. I am guessing it’s the release of all these Spring collections taking it’s toll on me. But seriously, who could resist lilac? Just look at this pretty bottle I am about to review!

This is my very first D&G polish and I feel like a little girl who got her first Barbie doll. It’s all i’d hoped for…. the beautiful packaging with it’s pristine gold cap and engraved logo, (yes ENGRAVED)! it screams luxury. Aside that though, I could easily justify my purchase as I truly own nothing like this.

The shade itself is very grown up, an alomost mauve lilac.. quite ‘dusty’ with it’s high percentage of grey undertones and a hint of silvery micro shimmer that’s only visible upon close inspection. It actually makes for a perfect transition colour from Winter to Spring, where you’ve been wearing burgundies and greys on your tips, and this just takes it a bit further with a hint of lilac.

Application wise this goes on very very smooth!

If you have read my previous posts on nail polish, you’d know I am a huge fan of the YSL lacquer formula (no streaking, excellent brush..). Well the D&G comes a close second. In one coat it was pretty much perfect. Absolutely no streaking. And if you like wearing your colours sheer, you could actually stop there. But as my preference in finish is more for opaque coverage, I did two.

This dried somewhat jelly like and wasn’t what I was expecting to be honest. But after finishing with my Guerlain gel top coat, it turned out exactly as I imagined, glossy, elegant nails.

Now if you are wondering, do I recommend you buy this? Of course!!! I wouldn’t usually type up a review on a polish unless I truly am madly and deeply in love with it!

Caution, one look at the swatches and I KNOW you’d be sold too! 😉

(Nail swatch was taken three days after application, still looks amazing with no chipping)

Below are some comparison swatches so you get an idea as to how the colour runs 🙂

Product info-

11ml 0.37 fl.oz per bottle. (Although this is one of the biggest nail polish bottles in my collection, it had slightly less product compared to the Chanel polishes which contain 13 ml per bottle)

Available at Saks, retailing for $24

Makeup

Lancome Vernis In Love – Etincelle D’Argent | Review, photos & swatches

January 20, 2014January 21, 2014by Bubbly Michelle7 Comments

If you picked up this nail lacquer from Lancomes Holiday collection, lucky! Unlikely it’d still be available as it was a limited edition shade, but I didn’t want to keep the loveliness which is 071 Etincelle D’Argent to myself, just in case there was a chance you’d still be able to hunt this down!

Le Vernis 071 is a cool toned silver tinsel shade, textured and MATTE.

What I loved most about this lacquer was the consistency, not too runny or thick and it applied free of streaks achieving full opacity in just two coats.

Upon application of a top coat (in this case the Guerlain gel coat) I found the colour intensified and the glimmer more pronounced. It’s also worth noting that the top coat did not alter the textured surface, or turn it glossy.

*All photographs were taken sans top coat, so you see this nail lacquer true to form.

Other observations-

This nail lacquer felt heavy on the nails. Almost strengthening them with its sandy shimmer. I considered that a plus, as my nails are quite thin and prone to chipping.

Drying time between coats was less than five minutes!

The wider brush shape of the Lancome nail lacquers give better control and made it easier to reach the sides of the nail for a neat finish.

Bottom line, I consider it unique and well worth splurging on 🙂 too pretty to pass up.

Product info-

Lancome nail lacquer contain 6ml 0.21 Fl. Oz and retail at SGD 30 (U.S retail price $15)

Makeup

YSL Rose Scabiosa La Laque Couture nail lacquer review, photos and swatches

January 16, 2014January 16, 2014by Bubbly Michelle13 Comments

One thing YSL beauty does well is nail lacquer.

I have never come across any YSL polish that ever performed poorly to be honest. Yeah, some of the lighter shades can be a bit on the sheerer side, but a couple of coats always give a nice even finish.

YSL Rose Scabiosa #48 (LE) is no exception to that. I LOVE this cool toned, medium pink. I have nothing similar in my stash and was very excited to pick this up as soon as I returned home from my Christmas vacay.

I achieved full opacity in two coats (applied over the usual Chanel base coat). Later on I did go over it with a top coat which brought out more of a glossy finish. But this photo was taken before the top coat to give you an idea how it looks worn all by itself.

The Guerlain top coat I use extends the wear of these polishes, and also helps with keeping nail breakage to a minimum.

Application wise this was a dream to paint on. The consistency not too runny or too thick, and the signature broad tapered brush allows you to cover a wider surface of the nail and gives better control of application.

Perfect for those who enjoy DIY manicures! You really have to try hard to fail at applying this polish streak free 😉

* The drop of polish is a true representation of the actual polish colour.

Onto more product info.

These give me the best wear time, a solid week without major chipping, definitely wear longer than Chanel or Dior (Chanel being the poorest… visible tip wear within 3 days).

YSL lacquer come in 10ml / 0.34 fl.oz bottles, retail at SGD 37.

I purchased mine at the Ion Orchard counter, Singapore.

In the US they are available at Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Saks.

Thank you for stopping by, wishing all of you a wonderful week ahead!

Makeup

Dior Spring 2014 – Nail polish swatches, Porcelaine and Bouquet

January 3, 2014January 5, 2014by Bubbly Michelle13 Comments

Anyone else out there that thinks Spring collections hit the counters ridiculously early this year? Like seriously!??? I bet next year they’d try sneaking it up on us well before NYE, mark my words!

That being said, I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t excited to spot the Dior Spring collection out last morning.. had my fill of pastels for the day 😛

Anyway, the purpose of this post was to get the swatches out for my picks from the Dior Spring 2014 polishes. There were 4 released in Singapore. (Apparently the US carries two colours that didn’t arrive at our shores, Pampille 192 and Blossom 132)

The local (Singapore) releases were-

Bloom 777- A deep fuchsia pink

Bouquet 457- A corally peach sorbet shade

Porcelaine 204- Pastel powder blue

Perlé 187– A topcoat with lilac shimmers, or so it seemed. (testers weren’t out at the time)

I returned home with Porcelaine and Bouquet

Like all Dior’s regular polishes, this came with the signature wide applicator brush which is great for quick and easy application.

Consistency was not too runny or too thick, it was just right 🙂 ; and Porcelain applied smooth with a little streaking on the first coat (something I have come to expect with lighter cream finish colours as these) and by the second coat it looked opaque with all streaking corrected.

*Pics were taken with just two coats and a top coat

Bouquet applied pretty much the same as Porcelain, opaque in two coats with no streakiness, and this one was a warmer shade, so I see myself using this during Summer as well!

Something worth noting is that this applied much more brighter on the nails than seen in the bottle.

My favourite was Porcelaine, and like last years Nymphea 307 I expect this to sell out just as fast. Call your nearest Dior counter and reserve it now!

Product info-

Dior polishes contain 10ml – 0.33 fl.oz

I purchased mine for SGD 38 at the Tangs beauty boutique