Essence twilight shimmer powder 01 swatches and photos

Essence has some good cheap thrills. This powder is gorgeous, and is surprisingly good quality.

The color is a very rich light gold, no glitter at all- just shimmer. It's super pigmented, soft, buttery and blends into the skin nicely.

Swatch of twilight shimmer powder 01 'bella's secret' :

 Wearing the shimmer powder on my cheekbones (over Chanel fandango blush) :

This is a superb gold highlighter for any skin tone. I highly recommend picking this up. I think it cost $3.99 CAD, which is a total steal. It is LE, but if  you can find it grab it!

NOTD: Essence magnetics nail art photos

I tried these Essence magnetic polishes a while ago, I got them in a swap from Europe as they are only available there as far as I know. The magnet effect is really cool and unique. Now of course I've recently come accross Nail inc. magnetic polishes at Sephora that give the same effect - but they are super expensive.

I got a few colors to try, the gold is called pixie dust! and the awesome shark skin gunmetal grey is hex! hex!.

hex! hex! is on the pinkie, pixie dust! is on all others

What I didn't like about these is that they dried super fast and you have to work really quick to get a nice effect. The tiny magnet you use to make the stripes is difficult to get close to the nail without smudging the polish. I messed it up a few times before I got the hang of it.

I do think it's worth the effort afterwards because it really looks neat.

I wish you could make different designs instead of just stripes. I want to figure out how to tweak the magnet so I can make different shapes!

Have you tried any magnetic nail polishes? did you like it?

NOTD: Essence glisten up over Maybelline extreme black currant

I wouldn't have posted this NOTD if it weren't for the absolute amazing-ness of this combo! I realize that it is a little sloppy, but this color was just incredible, I think my favorite of all time.

As a base I used 2 coats of Maybelline Salon Expert 'extreme black currant' which is a deep blackened violet jelly (pictured above on the right).

Essence glisten up is a super sheer aqua with tiny glitters throughout and flakies. The flakes didn't show up much in the pictures, but I got this amazing greenish teal cast of 'glow' when I layered this over the black currant that took my breath away.

2 coats Essence glisten up over Maybelline extreme black currant:

I have over 100 nail polishes and I think this is my favorite color - EVER. It's just so bewitching!

What do you think?

NOTD: ombre mani using color club front row diva

I've often wondered how to do a nice gradient nail, and discovered most do it using a sponge. I got inspired by a photo recently, and thought I'd take a go at an ombre mani!
This was my very first attempt to gradient colors.
I first did 3 coats of color club front row diva, which is a pale greyed pearl with a little bit of sheen. I then used a wedge sponge and added on 2 coats of Essence surf break, which is a medium grey cream. I concentrated the color at the tips, and dabbed it down lightly to the middle of my nails.
Then I took a Sally Hansen Xtreme wear glitter (sorry I forgot the name!) and did 3 coats, again concentrating at the tips and dabbing it downwards.
I liked the effect but I know it's nowhere near perfect.

left to right: color club front row diva, essence surf break and sally hansen Xtreme wear glitter


This was really fun to do and I think I'll try again when I have more time to make a nice smooth color degrade.