Monday, May 31, 2010

Stellar holiday

Hello ladies,

For the Americans amongst you, I hope you had a restful Memorial Day holiday. I decided to create a subtly patriotic manicure using Dinner Jacket from the BB Couture for Men Formal Collection. A backdrop of roses helped complete the red, white and blue color scheme.

I chose the layered star pattern from Bundle Monster plate BM05. The stamping was done in white Konad special polish. I placed a diaphanous blue star in the center. I would love to experiment with this look in other colors.




Here is a bit of Americana for you. Below is a sculpture of a mule painted with a scene of life along the river. The garden he resides in will be so lush in a couple of months. Do any of you have these painted animals in your town?


I applied three coats of Dinner Jacket for perfect opacity. Whether or not you will need two or three coats depends largely on nail length. I think the colors from this collection would apply successfully in two coats for most people.

Along with multihued micro shimmer, Dinner Jacket has a subtle purple duochrome. I'm hoping it's visible in the pictures. Blue and purple tend to merge on many computer monitors. What I am enjoying most about the polishes from the Formal Collection is the unique take on classic colors. Each polish I have tried so far has an understated beauty and complexity.

Dinner Jacket was sent to me for review. This color, along with the entire BB Couture for Men Formal Collection, is available for purchase from overallbeauty.com. Would you like to win all six polishes from this collection and a beauty gift pack? Check out the His & Hers Giveaway to enter.

Happy painting, ladies.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

City floral

Hello ladies,

Today I am wearing Incognito, a stunning duochrome shade from the new BB Couture for Men Formal Collection. The polish has a grey base with a purple tint. A lilac flash of shimmer adds interest and complexity. A touch of blue micro glitter sparkles intermittently.

Incognito reminds me of the city. In this polish, there is the steel of skyscrapers and the stained glass of old cathedrals. To me, I can't separate these images from the city parks and gardens I linger in or walk through every day. I stamped a modern floral design from Bundle Monster plate BM03 in Konad pink special polish. In the center of each flower, I placed a hot pink metallic sphere. These also came from Bundle Monster.






I painted three coats of Incognito for opacity. I believe ladies with more active length nails would only require two coats. I am really pleased with the BB Couture application. This polish is definitely salon quality.

Incognito was sent to me for review. This shade and the other polishes in the BB Couture For Men Formal Collection are available for purchase at overallbeauty.com. For a chance to win all six polishes in the Formal Collection and a beauty gift pack, please visit the contest post.

Happy painting, ladies!

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Reviva Labs EFAs Cream

Hello ladies,

Today I want to share my experience with a natural moisturizing cream formulated for thin, delicate skin: Reviva Labs EFAs Cream. I am impressed with the range of quality ingredients, the merging of nature with science and the performance of this product.


This is a spectacular hydrangea bush outside the community garden. I think one of the gardeners may have added some rusty nails to the soil. Some of the flowers are shifting towards blue in tone. It's a wonderment!

Behind the hydrangeas, pink roses are growing aside the wrought iron fence.
The formula blends 10 essential fatty acid oils together in a lightweight cream. All of the EFA oils are plant based, making this product suitable for vegetarians. Included are sunflower oil, flaxseed oil, borage oil, rosehip oil, hemp oil, avocado oil, wheat germ oil, black currant seed oil, olive oil and sesame oil. Pomegranate oil is also present for its antioxidant properties.

The purpose of adding essential fatty acids is to help return Omega-3 and Omega-6 oils to the skin. The presence of these nutrients can help rebuild skin cell membranes, leading to the appearance of healthier skin. I found my skin looks slightly plumper and feels smoother with continued use of EFAs Cream. To date, I have been applying this product nightly for about a month.

Since I have dry skin, I layered the EFAs cream over Hyaluronic Acid serum. I will be reviewing this product separately, as I found it very useful. It's purpose is to help skin that is resistant to moisture more easily obtain emollient properties from creams and lotions. I was very impressed with how these two products together delivered moisture to my very dry skin. I'm used to requiring very thick and heavy creams to keep the skin on my face soft and hydrated.

My favorite use of the EFAs Cream is for the skin on my neck. In recent months, I started moisturizing my neck as well as my face before bedtime. I apply the EFA cream alone for this purpose. My skin looks more supple and refreshed.

The EFAs cream is recommended for women and men over 35 and for younger people with thin or delicate skin. The EFAs cream is a high quality, light weight moisturizer I feel could benefit a variety of skin types and age groups. I personally started looking into anti-aging moisturizers in my mid twenties. It has been a useful, preventative measure for me.

Reviva Labs sent their EFAs Cream to me for review. It is available for purchase at revivalabs.com and overallbeauty.com. A 1.5 ounce container retails for $25. For a chance to win a full size jar of EFAs Cream, please visit the contest post to enter. After trying the EFAs Cream, I contacted Reviva Labs about adding this item to the giveaway. I have been greatly enjoying their products and am happy to share the experience whenever possible.

Happy painting, ladies!

Cat in the garden

Hello ladies,

I was taking flower pictures in the community garden and I encountered some fauna. This striped feline was positioned behind a wooden bench and one of support beams of a large arbor.
I am not looking.
I am still not looking.
Now I will stare at you endlessly...
Even as you back away.

He didn't seem particularly interested in human company until...
I caught him following me!

He hid under the rose bushes and supervised my picture taking. So very like a cat!

That was the first time I had ever seen a cat in the garden. I hope to see my little friend again.

Happy painting, ladies!

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Chocolate covered cherries

Hello ladies,

Today I am wearing Tuxedo Night from the new BB Couture For Men Formal Collection. This glitter speckled jelly formula has a deep burgundy base with a brown tint. In some lights, it reveals a dark purple hue. The color reminds me of the juice of a black cherry mingled with dark chocolate.

The thought of chocolate covered cherries possessed me as I was creating this manicure. I brought to mind cherries hanging from branches, with the warmth of the sun still on their skin. I also thought of the red foil wrappers that surround chocolate covered cherries.




A crystal skull topped quartz point. This is a borrowed trinket. How I wish it were mine to keep!

I painted three coats for opacity. The first two coats looked streaky and suspicious, but the third glossed over my nails to perfection. I can't even begin to describe the gorgeous shine of this polish with topcoat. My nails look like tempting confections.

There is a multitude of shimmer particles, shaped like tiny flakies. I can discern gold and red with specks of blue violet. I would love to see the glitter in Tuxedo Night frozen under a matte topcoat. I would like it best on a man without the high gloss, unless of course he were a rock star. A little shine and flash of glitter near the guitar strings is not a bad thing at all.

Tuxedo Night was sent to me for review. This shade and the rest of the BB Couture For Men Formal Collection can be purchased from overallbeauty.com. For a chance to win all six polishes and a beauty gift pack, please visit the contest post to enter.

Happy painting, ladies!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

His & Hers Giveaway!

This giveaway is now closed. The winner has been selected. You can see the results here. Thanks so much!

Hello ladies,

Welcome to the His & Hers Giveaway! I am happy to introduce the new Formal Collection from BB Couture for Men. You ladies can decide if you want to keep the polishes for yourself or share with an adventurous friend or partner. There are still plenty of color and beauty items for you! I must admit that I am not giving up my polishes!

Let's take a look at the prize package.
All six polishes from the BB Couture for Men Formal Collection.
Six Mineral Eye Shadows in your choice of colors.
Handmade Makeup Bag.
Reviva Labs Skin Energizing Gel.
Reviva Labs EFAs Cream.

The total prize package value is $77.00.
The BB Couture for Men Formal Collection.
Above: Dress Rehearsal, Dinner Jacket, Award Medal.
Tuxedo Night, Incognito, Ceremony.
Six Mineral Eye Shadows in your choice of colors. 3 grams each.
Image Maker Eye Shadow brush.
Handmade Makeup Bag from Little Worm Creative Crafts on etsy. This zippered pouch is fully lined in a coordinating fabric.
Reviva Labs Skin Energizing Gel.

Reviva Labs EFAs Cream for facial and hand care.

This contest was sponsored by Overall Beauty and Reviva Labs.

The items pictured in this giveaway post were provided for my review. The winner will receive the nail polish collection, mineral eye shadows, eye shadow brush and makeup bag directly from Overall Beauty. I will be mailing the products from Reviva Labs. Many thanks to our sponsors!

The His & Hers Giveaway is open internationally for followers and e-mail subscribers. The contest runs through the end of the day June 10th. To keep this simple, I am willing to count the date as the last available time zone worldwide. As long as it is June 10th somewhere on the planet, you may still enter.

Here's how to enter:
Mandatory:
1) Become a follower or e-mail subscriber of painted Lady fingers. If you are currently a follower or subscriber, that certainly counts! Please let me know in the comments which option you choose for keeping up with painted Lady fingers. For example: I follow via Google Friend Connect or I subscribe via e-mail. Be specific. I check entries very carefully.

If you follow via Google Friend Connect, log into the proper account when you leave your comment. If you follow via Google Friend Connect, your account has to have some public aspect. It is okay if you don't follow publicly, but there needs to be some signs of humanity on your profile page. If you subscribe via e-mail, your e-mail address must be confirmed through feedburner. If you have never received an e-mail related to painted Lady fingers' blog posts, you do not have a confirmed account. 1 entry.

Optional extra entries.
2) Let me know. Have you tried BB Couture polishes? What other shades are you interested in trying? You can see the full line of colors here. 1 entry.

3) Which mineral eye shadows would you choose? Please share a few or all six choices if you would like. You can view the color choices here. 1 entry

4) Blog about the contest in a post or add contest info to your sidebar. I will definitely count your entry if your blog is not written in English. I will also count your entry if your blog is just getting started and has a small number of followers. These extra entries are meant to be inclusive and fun. Please provide a link. 2 entries. If you use one of my contest photos, add another entry.

5) Tweet about the contest. Only once, please. Please provide a link. 1 entry.

6) Have painted Lady fingers on your blogroll or add painted Lady fingers. Please provide a link if I haven't already commented on your blog. Otherwise please remind me. I want to be sure to count the entry even if painted Lady fingers has been on your blogroll for a long time. If you have a nail polish blog and you would like to be on my blogroll, please e-mail me. 1 entry.

7) In appreciation, I am going to add an extra entry for those who comment regularly on non-giveaway posts. I do enjoy reading your feedback! Thank you! Not to worry, I am very inclusive with this extra entry. 1 entry.

You are welcome to put all your entries in one comment or return to the contest post with comments for each entry. Either way works for me. Your entries don't have to be sequential. Enter in any way you like whenever you like before the end of the day June 10th. For the ease of your contest host, please include your e-mail with your entry to qualify. If you forgot to write your e-mail in with your contest entry, leave me another comment with your e-mail address. Thank you, ladies! Enjoy!

This giveaway is now closed.

Bejeweled grapes

Hello ladies,

Today I am wearing Pelican Peak Purple from the Summer Beach Blowout Collection by Diamond Cosmetics. I find the name of this polish completely charming. I imagine a group of pelicans gathered together on rocks overlooking a purple toned sunset. To me, this shade seems more fitting to a Spring collection. This matters little since I absolutely love the color.

I was in the mood for a tone on tone purple look. Using Konad violet pearl special polish, I stamped the grape design from Bundle Monster plate BM05. I added rhinestones in two different shades of purple along with lavender pearls. I painted over the stem with a green Migi Nail art pen.




The perspective of this photo amuses me. There is actually a skyscraper to the left behind these flowers.
Hot pink chalcedony earrings by WildHeather. I wore these earrings today. The pink is so vibrant and lovely.

Pelican Peak Purple was opaque in two coats. I am showing three coats here. I decided to add a refresher coat and the bejeweled grapes to celebrate the sun returning after a few cloudy days. This shade was incredibly easy to apply for a pastel creme.

The polish was sent to me for review. Pelican Peak Purple can be purchased from diamondcosmetics.com. For international purchasing options, please see this post for details. The Migi Nail Art pen was reviewed previously.

Happy painting, ladies!

Monday, May 24, 2010

Apothecary: Reviva Labs Eye Makeup Remover Gel

Hello ladies,

I wanted to share my experience using Reviva Labs Eye Makeup Remover Gel. I love wearing eye makeup almost as much as I enjoy nail polish. I experiment with pigments, hand pressed shadows, mineral makeup, cosmetic glitter, liquid liner, colored mascara and more. My choice in eye makeup is often as bold and colorful as my manicures. I am pleased to have found Reviva Labs Eye Makeup Remover Gel to help take the color off when I am ready.
An iris after the rain.

Reviva Labs Eye Makeup Remover Gel is simple to use. I dampened my eye area with water, added a small amount of the gel to a cotton pad and easily wiped my makeup away. In most cases, I was able to use one pad for both eyes. The only variant was removing dark, navy eye shadow. I needed to go over both eyelids with an extra cotton pad and a fresh application of gel.

I have also been using the Eye Makeup Remover Gel to clean my skin between swatching shadows on the side of my hand. I was really impressed that I could go from dark to light shades without any trace or residue of color.

The gentle formula is useful for people with sensitive skin. There are soothing botanicals present to care for the skin during makeup removal. Cornflower, chamomile and eyebright are known for their healing properties, especially for the delicate area around the eyes.

Cornflower and eyebright have natural antioxidant properties. Chamomile has often been used to help with puffiness in the eye area. I am continually impressed with Reviva Lab's well researched use of plant extracts. The choices are always specific to nature of the product.

I am happy to have found a quality, natural product for eye makeup removal that is both effective and non-irritating. It's perfect for the woman who loves color and has sensitive eyes. I can recommend Reviva Lab's Eye Makeup Remover Gel wholeheartedly.

This product was sent to me for review. Reviva Labs Eye Makeup Remover Gel is available for purchase at revivalabs.com. A 2oz. bottle sells for $5.00. For a chance to win a full size bottle in a Spring Beauty gift pack, please visit the contest post. There is one day left to enter!

Happy painting, ladies!

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Bella Sugar duochrome eye look

Hello ladies,

I have another look for you with eye shadows from Bella Sugar Cosmetics. It features my favorite new shadow of the moment: Chocolate Covered Blueberries.

The shimmer in low light.
In the swatches below, the first line shows the color over bare skin. The second line is the shadow over Reviva Labs Makeup Primer.
Chocolate Covered Blueberries. Brown with pale blue/green shimmer. In some lights, the shimmer reflects mint green. In others, an icy blue.

Coltt: a navy blue shimmer that can be worn as eyeliner. Coltt also makes a striking contour shade .

Morning Glory from the Wildflowers Collection: a sky blue.
Gaillardia from the Wildflowers Collection: pink with gold sparkle.

Before applying the shadows, I started with a light covering of Reviva Labs Makeup Primer as a base. Morning Glory was brushed across the lid with Chocolate Covered Blueberries in the contour, spreading out to form the cat's eye shape. I blended the two colors together beneath the eye. I would caution against using Chocolate Covered Blueberries as eyeliner on its own. The color shifts so much, you would visually lose the fluidity of the line. Otherwise, this shadow is perfection. I would love to see more shades like this added to their regular catalog.

Over the brow bone, I am wearing a blend of Gaillardia and Bella Sugar. I am really impressed by how well this company makes pinks. The pinks I have tried have a lot of life. They remind me of the warm pink tones present in a beach sunset.

I am really enjoying the shadows I have from Bella Sugar Cosmetics. I have some other eye looks planned for you in the coming weeks, including a summery blend of orange, copper, peach and gold.

All of the products mentioned in this post were provided for review. You can find Bella Sugar Cosmetics on-line at bellasugarcosmetics.com and in their etsy shop.

Both Morning Glory and Gaillardia are part of the Spring Beauty, Spring Cleaning Giveaway. Please stop by the contest post to enter. There are only a couple days left for this giveaway!

Happy painting, ladies!