My favorite Makeup Products

I get asked frequently to do makeup tutorials, not sure I am super comfortable with that...yet. We will see. I have tried a lot of different products though and I thought I would put together a list of some of my favorite products. I have been using some of these products for several years. Maybe this list can help you finish up your last minute Christmas shopping!

1. Mac Painterly Paint Pot in soft ochre is my favorite eye primer. It has a thicker consistency which I love because it evens out my darker toned eyelids and gives a nice base for shadow to adhere to. I have been using this for years.

2. I recently picked up the new Naked Cherry Palette and I am LOVING it! The peach and cherry tones are stunning on any skin tone.

3. These Stila Glitter & Glow liquid shadows are SO beautiful and so easy to apply. My favorites are Kitten and Rose Gold.

4. I have tried quite a few drugstore and high-end mascaras and I always go back to Maybelline Falsies.

5. This Salmon Darkcircle Corrector comes at a great price and doesn't settle into your fine lines. It has the perfect hue of salmon to cover dark circles. I use it as a base for my concealer.

6. I have also tried many concealers and Nars Creamy Radiant Concealer covers well without looking cakey. I use the shade Custard.

7. My favorite eyelash curler is this Shiseido one.

8. Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder for under eyes is the finest powder to set concealer and brighten under eyes. I LOVE this product!

9. This Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector is so beautiful! I don't wear it everyday but I love to pull it out for a night out on the town. It gives your skin such a nice glow without looking powdery. I have the color Opal.

10. My favorite eyeliner is It Cosmetics Superhero Waterproof liner. It lasts all day and is so easy to apply. I live in the desert and other liners I have tried dry up in about a month or so. I can get for 4-5 months out of this tube and I wear it almost everyday.

11. I am not the best at brows but the Anastasia Brow Wiz makes it easy for me.

12. Who doesn't love the Hoola Bronzer? It's a classic.

13. I have had this Marc Jacobs Air Blush in Flesh and Fantasy for a month and I. LOVE. IT. SO. MUCH. It's a little more pricey but I usually find a great quality blush and use it for a year until it's gone. I expect this to last that long, or even longer. 

14. I use this Anastasia Foundation Stick in the color Mink for contouring.

15. Laneige Lip Mask is such a luxurious balm. It would make a great gift!!

16. Makeup Forever HD Foundation is one of my favorites. 

17. The It Cosmetics CC Cream is a must especially during the summer months. 

18. My current primer is the Too Faced Hangover primer. It doesn't feel heavy or greasy.

19. I love the Buxom Full-On Plumping Lip Polishes! My favorite shade for this time of year is 'Be Cherry' but I couldn't find it. You can't go wrong with any shade though!

20. Mac lipsticks are so amazing and so addicting! I have several. Some of my favorite shades are Twig, Angel, Peach Blossom, Diva, Velvet Teddy, I could go on and on . They would make such a great gift. 

21. My second favorite lipsticks are Urban Decay lipsticks! My favorite right now is Back Talk.

I hope you found this helpful. Let me know in the comments below what products you can't live without! I always love to find new loves. 

-Laurie

Gift Guide: Nail Products

Nail Gift Guide

Christmas is coming soon and I thought it would be helpful to create a gift guide of my favorite nail products! These would make great gifts or stocking stuffers. You could even sneak a few in your own stocking. Am I the only one guilty of that?! Haha! Links to all products down below for your convenience.

1. This Sally Hansen Cuticle Remover is lightweight and really gets the job done! It also comes at a great price.

2. I love to use this E.L.F. Smudge brush dipped in acetone to clean up my mani and create a crisp edge along the cuticle, making your mani look more professional.

3. I use this Angled E.L.F. brush to apply cuticle oil on the skin around my nails.

4. I have tried many cuticle oils and CND Solar oil is my favorite.

5. These Tropical Shine emery boards are my fave as well!

6. A Nail Tek glass file is so luxurious, a little more expensive but they last a long time.

7. My favorite nail polish remover is this ZOYA Remove +. Polish comes off like a dream and it doesn't leave your skin dry. The pump is also such a fantastic feature! 

8. As my final filing step I love to square up my nails with these cube files.

9. A silicone mat is good to have if you love to do nail art. 

10. Nail art lovers will also love this bundle of professional nail art brushes from Winstonia.

11. Aquaphor is my most used product. I love to apply this on the skin around my nails at least twice a day and always at night before bed. The secret to keeping your cuticles moisturized. Get this!!

12. Here are some more fine Berry Wine nail art brushes by Winstonia, and my most used.

13. This Tweezerman cuticle pusher works great especially when used with the Sally Hansen cuticle remover.

14. I use these dotting tools for nail art ALL. THE. TIME.

Here are my favorite base and top coats as well as some other great polish gift ideas.

1. My favorite base and top coat are by Glisten and Glow!

2. I have been loving this Glisten and Glow matte top coat as well.

3. Essie First Base is another good base coat option.

4. I also like Essie Speed Setter top coat.

5. Did you know Essie has an Advent calendar out this year? It is available at Costco and comes with 6 full size and 6 mini's. It's a great way to get your collection or a loved ones collection started.

6. My favorite nail line EVER is Essie Gel Couture! If you haven't tried them you must. You can get your mani to last up to 2 weeks. Make sure to use the color and the Gel Couture Platinum Top Coat together for best results.

7. This mini pack of the new Essie Concrete Glitters is such a great gift idea.

8. I loved the OPI Nutcracker collection and this Nutcracker Nail Lacquer Duo Pack from Ulta is another great gift idea for nail polish lovers. 

9. Here is another option for the OPI Nutcracker Collection minis.

10. Did you know OPI brought back Fan Favorites in their OPI Infinite Shine line? You can get old faves like Mrs. O'leary's BBQ and Vodka & Caviar and many more. So, this little gift pack would be fun to give as well.

11. Deco Miami has the cutest gift packs this year! Their packaging is super adorable, just as adorable as their polish bottles. This customizable Trio Gift Set definitely makes a great gift!

12. Another gift option is this Cuticle Oil + File Set

OPI California Dreaming Collection Comparisons!!

I have the comparisons for the new OPI California Dreaming Collection for you today! If you haven't had a chance to see what was released for this collection, check out my video review and live swatch video. (Just click on the link below.) In my video I let you know how the polishes apply, how many coats are needed for full opacity and which ones are my favorite.

I got my polishes from polishpick.com, It's great place to purchase new OPI shades (they are only $5.25 a bottle). Make sure to get your order in quick before these are limited edition polishes are gone.

OPI California Dreaming Collection: Live Swatch and Review

I found this color palette a bit interesting. There are a handful of colors that are pretty similar to what OPI has put out in past years, but there are also some unique gems. Okay, let's get into it!

Feeling Frisco is slightly peach toned nude polish.

It's pretty close to last years Pale to the Chief, but it is slightly more peach/yellow, and while PTTC has a slight shimmer, FF is a straight up cream. Topless and Barefoot is more pink toned. So no dupes here (at least in my collection).

And here they are close up :)

Barking Up The Wrong Sequoia is toned down peach nude polish. 

Excuse Me, Big Sur! is a dusty rose pink.

Both are unique and I am in love with them! I don't have anything like them in my collection (I don't have a lot of rose polishes in general). I instantly thought of Freedom of Peach when I swatched these because they have that same dusty quality but FOP is more of an orange peach. Gouda Gouda Two Shoes is also similar as far as tone goes but it is much more of a red/burgundy. I don't have Essie Stitch by Stitch but I think it might be very close.

Time For A Napa is my most favorite from the collection, it's a bright strawberry coral.

I originally thought it would be the same as Essie's Cute As A Button, but it's more of a raspberry shade and TFAN is more of a strawberry. SPF XXX is more of an orange coral and GMIAJ is more of a pink Coral. So many gorgeous coral shades all in one shot!! I love them ALL, but TFAN is my fave right now. I don't have Sorry I'm Fizzy Today from the Coca-Cola Collection and I am thinking it might be close. If anyone has that polish will you let me know? Thanks :)

Here is a close up of the two closest to each other. I will definitely be rocking this shade.

Malibu Pier Pressure is a bright cotton candy pink shade. 

It was pretty hard to capture the color of this shade because it's pretty bright (although not as bright as this photo), so please excuse the different lightings. Is this polish original? No. Is it beautiful? Yes. It's not exactly the same as these other two popular pink shades though, but they are super close. 

And here's a close up of the three. :)

GPS I Love You is a fun raspberry shade. Raspberry pinks are my favorite kind of pinks, especially for summer.

It's very close to the cult favorite Strawberry Margarita, but they aren't exactly the same. And, Kiss Me On My Tulips is more purple toned.

I think I like GPS better for summer because it's a bit brighter. 

This Is Not Whine Country is a jelly raspberry shade.

The color is very close to Madam President but the formula's are completely different. TINWC is a jelly finish and MP is a creme. If you love Jelly polishes, then you will love this one. And, the name is so fitting for the polish-good job OPI!

Santa Monica Beach Peach is a bright red toned orange polish.

OPI has released three oranges shades so far for 2017 and here they all are next to one another. I do like that they are all pretty different. I personally like Hand Me My Sunglasses the best out of all of  them. 

And, here are the oranges I have in my collection that are closest to SMBP. Sunshine State of Mind and HMMS both have a touch of pink and SMBP is more of a straight up orange shade. So no dupes in my collection, but I have t be honest, I don't have a lot of oranges in my collection. 

Me, Myselfie & I is a bright red hot stunning coral.

There are several polishes like this one out there, and several in OPI's line. Here it is compared to AGMIHTF and LOTB. I kept trying to find the very slight differences, but they are basically the same. Living on the Bula-vard! is maybe slightly more orange, but you can only see the difference under my bright lights. So, really I don't think you need it. I do like the formula in Me, Myseflie & I the best because it's slightly thicker, but honestly they all have great formulas.

Here they are close up friends :). I'll leave the tough decision of purchasing it up to you. Haha.

To The Mouse House We Go is a jelly red polish. I love reference to Disney :).

I only own two jelly red polishes and here they are below. Jelly Apple is has a slight berry tone to it when compared to TTMHWG, so they aren't the same.

And here they are close up!

and now onto the metallics...

Sweet Carmel Sunday is a coppery metallic polish with copper shimmer. 

It's very similar to Worth a Pretty Penne, but WAPP has quite a bit more shimmer and is slightly more cool toned. 

Personally I like WAPP a bit better because the visible lines in metallic polishes can sometimes drive me crazy. But, SSC is very, very pretty.

Don't Take Yosemite For Granite is a slate gray polish with a pearly shimmer. Another favorite of mine from the collection. Wowza!

The formulation reminded me a lot of Warm Me Up, but obviously that polish is more brown toned. I don't have any other polishes like DTYFG. It's a keeper for sure!

Whew! That's it for the collection. These comps take a quite a bit of time to prepare, so I hope you enjoy them. Let me know in the comments below what polishes you think you might get or not get after seeing this post. Thanks for reading along!

-Go Polished

My Spring 2017 Favorites!

It's time for my Spring Favorites series! This really makes me happy especially since it's snowing outside today. Boo! But really, the warmer weather is just around the corner. So, let's celebrate with talking about spring polish shades.

If you are new to my blog, let me explain what I do in my seasonal polish series. Each season I pick my top 10 polishes and provide a review, live swatch, nail design and nail tutorial for each one. I start by announcing my top 10 and why I choose each one in a YouTube video. And, it's been up for a few days, so go watch it!! (Link below)

My Spring Nail Polish Favorites for 2017

I would love to know what nails you will be rocking this spring. Let me know some of your favorites in the comments below. Have a nice day everyone!

-Go Polished

Time for a GIVEAWAY!!

I am having my GIVEAWAY today! It worked out perfectly because it was my goal to do a giveaway when I reached 4500 followers on Instagram and I am so, so close. So, thank you for all your support! You guys are the best.

You can win ONE of my custom Essie polishes I made in the Essie labs in NY last week. Here they are:

The giveaway starts today and ends at midnight on April 27th. See giveaway details below.

Please enter through rafflecopter below and don't forget, you need to be 18 years or older, a resident of the US or Canada, subscribe to my YouTube channel, like my Facebook page and and like my giveaway instagram photo. And, don't forget to tag your friends!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congratulations Christina!! I have sent you an email. Please reply within 24hrs. or a new winner will be chosen. Thank you for entering and thank you for your support!

*Fine Print: Giveaway ends at 11:59PM on Thursday, April 27th, 2017. One winner will receive one of my custom Essie shades as specified above.  Must be 18 years of age or older and a resident of the U.S.A. or Canada to enter. This giveaway is in no way affiliated with Facebook or Pinterest. Facebook and Pinterest will be completely released by each entrant. One entry per person. Entry includes filling out the Rafflecopter form above. Winner will be chosen using random.org. and will be notified via email within 24 hrs of the giveaway closing time. Winners will be announced on the post, not on Facebook. The winners must respond within 24 hrs of receiving the email or a new winner will be chosen. No purchase necessary.

Essie Spring 2017 Comparisons

Are you all ready for some comps for the new Essie Spring 2017 Collection?! 

 If you haven't seen my live swatch and review of this entire collection then click on the link below. In my review video I talk about the formulation of each polish and the application. I also share which polishes are my favorite from the collection. So, check it out!

Essie Spring 2017 Collection: Live Swatch and Review

Okay, let's talk about each polish..

Excuse Me, Sur is a gorgeous light peachy pink. 

***UPDATE: I wasn't super happy with the formula on this one (as you will see in my video). As I have used it more, I have found that I just needed to be patient and let the polish dry longer between coats because the formula is on the thicker side. So I am happier with it now. :)

 I thought it was nice to see how they compared to peachy polishes that were released last year- Peach Side Babe and Lounge Lover, even though they aren't super close. It is more of pinky peach when compared to these peaches. I love them all! 

Excuse Me, Sur is so so close to Couture Curator (a polish I love for the color and longevity) but they aren't exact dupes (as you can see on my nail swatch below).

Here is the close up. EMS is slightly darker and not as bright as CC but, you can only see the differences in bright light. I still prefer CC because I fell in love with it last summer and it lasted on my nails during my vacation for 9 days. Amazing! 

Backseat Besties is a light and bright cool toned pink. It's a stunner! 

 Cascade Cool is in the same family, but is darker than Backseat Besties. Look At My Bow (from the OPI Hello Kitty Collection) is the closest match but is a shade lighter and the formula is more crelly.

Here is a close up shot. In bright light you can see that the polishes get lighter as you go down the line. In natural light they are all very close. I like Backseat Besties the best out of the bunch when considering shade and formulation. Can't wait to wear this one this spring/summer!

On The Roadie is a beautiful cool toned green. Something about this polish is so flattering and I always appreciate a good green. I can truly say this is my favorite bright green polish to date.

You can see just how cool toned it is when compared to Mojitio Madness, a polish I like but not ever really loved. First Timer has a more chalky white formula and is much brighter and lighter than OTR.

Here's a close up. All three are very different.

B'aha Moment is a bright pink raspberry shade.

Speaking of raspberries, I knew when I saw B'aha Moment that it would be close to Essie's Raspberry. But, while they look identical in the bottle, they are slightly different when applied to the nails.

B'aha Moment is a brighter shade with a more opaque formula while Raspberry is a crelly with a red tone. So, not a dupe for sure. I don't have Watermelon, but I feel like that would be an Essie polish that might be a dupe. If anyone has both, I would love to know if they are.

All The Wave is a stunning royal blue polish and is now my favorite royal blue polish to date! The formula is wonderful and the shade is perfect. It has just the right amount of purple and it's just the right shade-not too light, not too dark.

I had several requests for comparisons for this blue, so I have quite the line-up here. Then we will take a closer look at those which are the closest. I put in OPI's Super Trop-i-cali-fiji-sitic (from the OPI Fiji 2017 Collection) because I wanted you to see how different they were. Super is more warm toned and not as rich in color.

Butler Please is much brighter and more purple toned. Pacific Blue is even more purple toned and brighter as well, and my Pal Joey isn't a dupe either. Not a dupe in the group!

I am sure there is a dupe for All The Waves somewhere, but I won't go searching for one, because this one just makes me happy and I wouldn't want to cheat on it like that. :) Just get it guys!

Designated DJ is a beautiful rich berry plum shade. I always fall hard for shades like this!

It is very close to Bahama Mama and it's pretty much a dead on dupe for Kerry Blossom from the OPI's Washington DC Fall 2016 Collection. I wanted to throw in Flowerista because initially I thought it might be close but, it's not. 

And can we just take a minute and appreciate Flowerista.......It's just an amazing polish. Love it!

Here is the close up. You can see how Bahama Mama is slightly more red toned than DD. And, you can see how close it is to Kerry Blossom. 

I would definitely choose Kerry Blossom over Designated DJ because the formula is To. Die. For!!  if you can't get your hands on KB then make sure to pick up DD because it's stunning and the formula is pretty good too.

Well, that's it guys! I hope you found this helpful. Please let me know in the comments if it was. I sure appreciate you visiting my blog!

-Go Polished