Dior 2015 Diorsnow Collection: A few picks!

Every year, Dior launches a special Asia-exclusive collection under their Diorsnow line.

Born of a skincare line targeted at skin-brightening for the paleness-obsessed Asian market, the line eventually expanded to include a foundation line, brightening powders, and then exclusive limited edition makeup collections.

Typically, these collections are not seen in the West, except occasionally in collaboration with malls like Nordstrom's as temporary exclusives. If you've never seen any of these items before and you're thinking of buying on eBay or through online sellers without being able to swatch and try them in person, then there are few things you might want to remember.

1. The Diorsnow collections are primarily targeted at East Asians who not only prize fair skin, but also tend to have pale to medium skin tones in general.
2. The makeup colors that are born out of the line cater to the Asian consumers who often steer away from strong, dramatic colors. Most of the eye palettes come in soft, pastel tones, and are short of strong definer shades for the lash line and socket. The blushes and powders can often leave a bit of a cast on darker skins.

If you want strong dramatic rich colors, or if you have darker skin, this might not be the collection for you. That said, the items are usually gorgeous and something Dior Addicts keep an eye out for each year, just for the collectible value.

The star product of the collection this year is the Les Neiges de Diorsnow Colour Correcting Radiance Powder in 001 Rainbow (or what everyone is simply calling "Diorsnow Rainbow"), which is designed to mimic the effect of light bouncing off fresh snow up onto the face.

Besides correcting unevenness and sallowness, I was actually quite surprised that it managed to really blur pores and fine lines exceedingly well.

In fact, the powder makes my skin surface look retouched. Besides looking more luminous and even (little veins and some redness is diminished), the most amazing thing is it mattifies and makes pores so much less visible, without looking flat or dull.

I had initially thought it would be like Guerlain Meteorites, but this is honestly a much better investment in my opinion, since Guerlain has the color corrective properties but not the texture/flaw-blurring effect.

Sadly though, if you have tan to dark skin, this WILL leave a bit of a cast on your skin especially if you take pictures in strong lights. That's simply caused by the reflective property of the pigments. Otherwise, it's fantastic and definitely the first item you should check out from the collection.

Les Neiges de Diorsnow embossing

Another item I'm really enjoying is Diorblush 966 Eternal Pink.

This looks super bright in the pan, but it's like a warmer version of Chanel's Joues Contraste in Ultra Rose. It goes on much softer and sheerer, and you can build it up.

Diorblush 966 Eternal Pink on the cheeks

This blush is actually very iridescent and quite a light bright pink. I would sweep it quite high along the cheeks so the product catches the light and does double-duty as a soft highlighter. Don't feel that it will be too strong and saturated if you are pale. This is after all a Diorsnow product. It actually works better on lighter skins in my opinion, because for darker skins, it can leave a cast.

The texture is gorgeous and more finely milled than many other Diorblushes I've tried.

Dior 5 Couleurs 836 Snow Petals

There are 2 eyeshadow palettes in the collection; one a petal pink grouping and the other a pale blue and charcoal set. My preference was for the softer, warmer palette simply because I'm really not into pale blue. If you need definition though, I would recommend the blue palette over the pink, because it at least has one darker shade.

836 Snow Petals has beautiful colors, but not a single one will work well as a definer shade in the socket line or along the lashes. This is a palette that needs complementary eyeliner, and lots of mascara. 

But it CAN work beautifully. The tones are soft but the textures and pigmentation are beautiful. Several of the shades are so creamy and soft they remind me of old palette favorites like Rosy Tan which are sadly discontinued. 

Here I paired the eyeshadows with a metallic grey liner (a discontinued Lancome Artliner 24Hr) and a silver glitter liner from Collection, which I also used to coat my lower lashes, so the sparkles peek out between the black mascara on the top lashes.

So as you can see, it CAN look quite dramatic depending whether you pair it with strong liner and big lashes. If you like strong eyeliner, a soft palette actually complements it. Strong shadow and strong liner can compete for attention and look quite over the top for daily life and quite "drag"-like even though it looks good on a blog, in videos, or on Instagram. If that's the effect you're going for, go for it. If not, stick with softer tones on the lids if you are going to be wearing thick, metallic or sparkly liner.

Lastly, the nail polishes. There are about 4-5 shades in the series, and all are cremes except for 045 Stardust, which looks like a molten metal shade in the bottle, but is actually a translucent sparkly fog-grey on the nails. Very ladylike and not too punk for more conservative environments.

Dior Vernis 045 Stardust

The Diorsnow collection is available at the ION Dior Backstage boutique, as well as Robinsons Raffles City at time of writing. ION seems to have run out of stock for the Diorsnow Rainbow powder compact, but the team has told me they are ordering more, so definitely check with the sales folk in stores and see if they can hold one for you when it comes in. 

Happy hunting!

Dior Spring 2015 Kingdom of Colors - Dior Vernis 294 Lady and Top Coat Eclosion 001

Dior Vernis in Top Coat Eclosion 001 and 294 Lady

Dior's Spring 2015 Kingdom of Colors features quite a fun and eclectic mix of colors, but there are 2 particularly fun items that I've been playing with the past week. 

2 of the 4 varnishes launched with the collection; 

• 294 Lady - a dusty mauve-pink creme
• 001 Top Coat Eclosion - a multi-colored and -shaped speckled top-coat in opaque pastel colors

If you want the ladylike look for Spring, 294 Lady is perfect. But if you like things a little more "Springy" and fun, that top-coat works beautifully over any bright or pastel creme polish. 

Applied over pastels, they looks like little sprinkles on a cupcake. Yum.

Dior Vernis 294 Lady, with Blossoming Top Coat 001 

Dior Vernis 607 Blue Denim with gold star decal on ring finger.

Dior Vernis 607 Blue Denim.

Rich royal blue nail polish with a touch of indigo.

Dior has great varnishes. They have the same type of big one-stroke brush as Lancôme varnishes do, and while they are exorbitantly expensive (as usual), the good news is you can get full coverage in one coat with many of the creme formulas, so you really don't use that much product compared to a lot of polishes. 

But the formula is quite thick and dries out quite quickly as well, so make sure you have a nail polish thinner like Seche Restore (I don't use anything else because this works SO well) on hand to thin it out.

I applied two coats for a thicker lacquered effect, applied gold metal stars to each ring finger. (You can use either nail glue or a tiny bit of craft glue to glue them on!)

Tip: Make sure you press each piece of metal decal to a curved object like a pen, so that it curves. If it's flat, it won't fit on the surface of your nail properly. 

Metal decals are available from online stores like Bornprettystore.com for just a couple of dollars for 80 pieces. (Now there's a deal.) Delivery takes awhile if you opt for free international shipping, but it usually arrives in a couple of weeks or so.

Just make sure you apply a very nice thick layer (or two) of topcoat so the edges aren't sticking out much. The more they curve to fit your nail, the longer they stay on!

Nail Colors I'm obsessing over for Fall 2013

Favorite metallic Fall polishes: Chanel Bel-Argus, Taboo and Butter London Knees Up

Metallics are incredible. They are able to look bright AND dark at the same time, and different in different lighting conditions.

Here are 3 of the ones I find the most incredibly beautiful.

• Chanel 667 Bel Argus - rich nuanced sapphire that shifts to an azure blue sheen
• Chanel 583 Taboo - Black, and purple, and red, with hints of copper AND flecks of gold. This polish looks like the night sky.
• Butter London Knees Up - Best metallic red in the universe. Well, MY universe anyway. This is so rich it shifts from bright ruby to blood red.

OCC Lip Tar in Sybil, a true chocolate sauce brown, with Chanel Bel-Argus on nails

Cremes, on the other hand, are solid colors that make a strong statement. I particularly like these 3 blues and greys that still echo a bit of Summer’s bright blues, but with a touch of Fall’s cooler, more somber skies.

Creme polishes for Fall: Dior Vernis in Blue Denim, China Glaze Secret Peri-wink-le, and Sally Hansen Greige Gardens

• Dior 607 Blue Denim - Looks like a primary blue but actually goes on with deeper, more grey, and not bright.
• China Glaze 683 Secret Peri-wink-le - Periwinkle is usually a word associated with Spring, but this shade has just that hint of chilly grey to it, like the sky when Summer is transitioning to Fall.
• Sally Hansen 404 Greige Gardens - Grey-beige with just a hint of lavender. More of a typical Fall color, greys always look cool and atypical, but still classy. If blue is a little inappropriate for school or work, go for a nice grey!’

Metal Decals: What they are, and tips for using them in your nail art!

Metal decals are a pretty cool way to accessorize and customize your nails because they share the intricate designs of nail stickers but are WAY more bling and cool to look at, besides being relatively simple to work with. 

They are made of a very soft, thin metal, can be used on acrylic nails or natural nails, and are usually pretty small in size (below 5mm or 2/8"). At this point, I've never seen colors other than silver and gold. 

Purchasing:

They're very affordable (120 pieces in a mixed set usually cost no more than about US$2.50 - 2.99) and come in tons of different shapes.

• If you're just trying them out and don't NEED to get the hello kitty inspired ones I used, I'd recommend skipping the shipping cost and buying a mixed pack from lightinthebox or bornprettystore.
• If you can't IMAGINE not using hello kitty metal decals and don't mind paying shipping, then I'd point you to reputable sellers on good ol' ebay who ship internationally.

How To Use:

First you want to apply your base polish of course. Because I'm doing a Hellow Kitty theme, I had to use a hot jelly pink. Try something like China Glaze Heat Index. (I actually toned it down slightly by applying this over a slightly less neon jelly pink I got from Hong Kong beauty supply store Sasa, but you don't need to.)

Now get your decals out. The bigger the decal, the trickier they are to work with, because you need to bend them slightly so they will fit snugly over the curves of your nail. Flat ones would just stick out. 

Tip: It's easier to pre-bend them by pressing them around the curved side of a pen.

Now you can place each piece over the designated nail to see if the curve fits properly. Make sure you leave minimal gaps underneath or it will pop off.

When you're ready to apply it, you can use a bit of clear polish, OR my preferred nail-art adhesive, repositionable craft glue. Just smooth it on where you want the decal to go, and before it's dry, place the decal on.

This is because you might need a bit of time to move it around until you get it into the perfect position or angle, and if you wait for the glue to dry, it would be too tacky to shift the decal.

I seldom ever do uniform fingers, so on my middle finger, I decided to do 2 diagonal stripes using gold holographic striping tape (#28 here). 

Tip: Striping tape has a tendency to lift and start peeling off at the edges after a day or so. To minimize this, always cut off the tape BEFORE the edge of your nail and make sure you apply a thick layer of top coat.

On the thumb I combined both, by using a bow on the top right corner (a la Hello Kitty herself), and 2 additional gold stripes along the bottom.

Tip: Finish by applying 2-3 coats of topcoat just to make sure everything is secure, and the surface is smoothed out so there are no sharp edges. Especially important if you're doing this on a child as they could scratch themselves or rub their eyes.

One Other Idea: 

Use these to bling up your cell phones!

"Antique Bronze Relic" Manicure

I was looking at one of the prints on an XL stamping plate and saw one design that I thought looked really interesting. It's a geometric pattern that looked kinda organic (peacock) and kinda tribal/sci-fi in a rather 5th Element or WoW Iron Dwarf relic kinda way. Nerd, I know.

I used:

• A beautiful duochrome polish olive-green from China Glaze that's a dupe for Chanel Peridot, called Rare & Radiant.
• A white Essie polish as stamping color. I didn't use a Konad stamping polish as it was too stark and opaque a white and I wanted something softer.
• An XL stamping plate in design "B" that you can get from cheeky-beauty.com
• Konad stamper and scraper
• Turquoise/Teal hexagon glitter
• Repositionable glue (if you have foil glue that works; anything that dries clear and tacky)

Tutorial below!

The “Yellow Polka-Dotted": Lemon Fizz Nails with Acrylic Bow and Pink Glitter Spots

Yellow polka-dotted nails with acrylic bow on accent finger and sequin heart on thumb.

Items used from left: China Glaze Lemon Fizz, Konad pink special polish, yellow acrylic bow with pink dots, and pink translucent glitter. QA30 stamping plate from eBay.

I was inspired by a pretty yellow acrylic bow and decided to do matchy-matchy nails to go with the theme. 

Apply pale lemon-yellow polish until opaque, and let dry.

Use nail glue (or indeed, super glue) to apply the yellow bow to the ring finger. Remember not to use too much. This type of glue is stronger with just a thin layer. 

Make sure your repositionable glue dries a bit before you start dotting on the glitter with a toothpick or dotting tool, or they won't stick. Simply dip the tip of your dotting tool in a tiny bit of glue and let dry so the surface is tacky and it can pick up glitter easily.
 Repositionable glue is available from arts n crafts stores (scraperfect.com has a really good one called Best Glue Ever if you prefer to shop online; they ship internationally). They're really the perfect thing for applying small pieces of nail art and glitter to your nails. 
For pink glitter, you can simply use any translucent duochrome pink glitter like the one I have above. It shouldn’t be too small in size or the dots won't be visible.

I used a random plate that was provided free when I bought a bunch of polishes from a seller in China. I'm not sure how you can get the exact same one but I 

Remember to let the glue dry before applying glitter!

I used Seche Vite topcoat.

Feel free to change the color scheme around and use different combinations! (Red and white, pink and black, blue and aqua, etc.)

China Glaze Holographic Nail Polishes: Mini Review and Swatches

China Glaze Holographics

It seems holographics just won't go away yet. They're not anything new, so I don't know why it took me so long to write about them. 

Maybe cos I like holographic polishes but I don't go out of my way to get hold of specialty brands, so it's a good thing an accessible line like China Glaze jumped on the bandwagon awhile ago or I'd probably just pass on the whole trend.

Not all brands are the same, so you might want to consider the below before you buy these.

About:

• Holographic polishes are made with the addition of special pigments called "spectraflair". They refract light differently because they are spherical in shape, unlike flat flakes of regular holographic glitters.
• Regular holographic glitter or pigments give a scattered sparkle (like stars), and do not throw out this amazing radial effect on curved surfaces. 
• Spectraflair pigment is traditionally used for car paints. They are available for commercial buyers only. You CAN purchase small quantities of pure pigment from some sellers on eBay, but I think the price for a tiny amount is exorbitant and you might be better off just buying a holo polish that you like than getting the pigment and struggling to mix your own.

My China Glaze Holographics Collection (from Left): Strap on Your Moonboots, Don't Be a Luna-Tic, OMG A UFO, Astro-Hot, Get Outta My Space)

China Glaze Holographics

• China Glaze holo polishes are very subtle compared to some other brands like Color Club, and look like normal chrome polishes in the bottle. They have to dry on the nail before you can see the holographic effect properly.
• The holo effect shows up better on most of the lighter shades. With the red and berry shades, I find the holo a little too subtle. If you want more obvious bling go for Don't Be a Luna-Tic (silver-blue), and Get Outta My Space (pale mauve).
• Newer formulations launched in the recent couple of years work and last like regular polish. Some of the older versions from a few years ago require a special base primer or they don't go on smoothly. 

China Glaze Strap On Your Moonboots: Deep navy holographic blue. Medium-soft holographic effect. Not the most dramatic of the bunch simply because the color is quite deep, but I do love the stormy effect nonetheless.

China Glaze You're a Luna-tic: Very bright silver -blue holo.

China Glaze OMG A UFO: Fun olive green. This is one of the subtler holographics, and the rainbow effect is not as apparent as some of the other colors. Skip this unless you really like the green base tone and subtle effect.

China Glaze Astro-Hot: Pretty holographic pink. This is a good bet if you MUST blind-buy without being able to see a swatch first-hand.  I'd say it's medium intensity holographic.

China Glaze Get Outta My Space: Pale silvery mauve (pink-purple). Probably the strongest holographic effect of the bunch, aside from Don't Be a Luna-Tic. Really like this one. 

Pricing:

Varies from country to country but they tend to cost just slightly more than regular China Glaze polishes.

Pros:

• Affordable
• accessible
• pretty
• subtle enough for office or more formal occasions

Cons:

• Many of the shades dry quite fast, so you have to apply quickly in 2-3 strokes or they will drag and streak.
• They are so subtle that you might not notice they are holographic until you look close.

[Nails] Psychedelic Swirls: Adventures with XL Nail Stamping Plate B

If you're an expert, you probably already know everything I'm about to say.
But if you like doing your nails but haven't heard of "Konad" or "nail stamping", it's one of the easiest ways to "cheat" and create intricate designs on your nails without visiting a salon.

People who get into stamping get quite fanatic about it, because it's such an economical way to jazz up your nail look. Plates and stampers can be re-used for years, and there are so many different looks and effects you can get into. It's also not hard as long as you use the right polish and good quality plates.

Stamping Tools:

To get started, you need a

• metal stamping plate with some designs on it
• a flat scraper (some people use old gift cards or credit cards)
• a rubberized stamping tool
• stamping polish (or any existing polish that is very thick, very pigmented)

Konad is one of the best-known brands that supply metal stamping plates and all the peripheral accessories like rubber stampers and metal scrapers (you can find them on naildelights.com). They also supply stamping polishes. Now Konad stamps and polishes aren't cheap, and there are so many different designs that you often find yourself in a "gotta collect 'em all" situation.


In recent years, many manufacturers have come up with alternatives to Konad, most of which are much more affordable. "XL" stamping plates like these below can have up to 40+ designs on them and cost as low as about US$7 each on Amazon and eBay, if you buy 3 of them.

Not all work extremely well, but most are ok, and a lot depends on the stamping polish you use.

Starry, Starry Night: Navy and Silver Glitter Ombre Nails

(For the fabulous Yina of The Velvet Dolls.)

Super simple, and pretty darned quick to do. This nail look requires no ready-made glitter polish and no mixing of pigments into clear polishes. All you need is:

• A dark blue nail polish (I used L.A. Girl Dance Club)
• Repositionable glue (below) or nail foil adhesive
• A silver glitter (fine-grained)
• A soft blue eyeshadow (I used MAC Shimmermint)