Nailing It! Essie in Meet Me At Sunset

Summer is still in full swing (even though it's cloudy and the rain is brooding outside as I type this!) and what better way to get in a happy mood than to do your nails, right? Last night, I went with two of my friends to Shoppers Drug Mart and picked up these amazing Essie polishes and I just HAD to blog about them straight away! I'm only wearing one of them right now, but here's a picture of both of them! Pictured are, L to R, Angora Cardi and Meet Me At Sunset, both from Essie:

The one I'm currently wearing is Meet Me At Sunset. It was originally released with their Summer 2011 Braziliant collection, but I think it's made its way into their permanent line. Cute name aside, this polish is representative of the kind of colours I'm just recently getting into, such as corals and oranges. I don't really want to go full-on red with my nail colour, I'm not quite sure why! When I saw this orange-red creme, I gravitated towards it instantly. On my nails, it reminds me of the colour of a tomato and has a great, shiny finish. It only took me one coat of polish to achieve opacity, which means I save lots of time in application! It also dried the fastest of all the polishes I've ever tried, even compared to my other Essies!

I used one coat of Sally Hansen base+top coat, then one coat of Meet Me At Sunset, then a final layer of the same Sally Hansen top coat. It only took me 15 minutes to do these nails, and they were almost dry! I do recommend leaving them alone for at least half an hour afterwards, though, just to avoid ruining your fresh, new manicure!

I will definitely keep wearing this colour well into fall! After that, I think I will switch and try Angora Cardi! Loving my new Essies so far! :)

Review: Rimmel Natural Bronzer in Sun Light

It seems like forever since I've been in school...which it has! The last class I had was in March, which is all of practically half a year ago! Since then, I've just been working and enjoying summer as much as I can...and I don't plan on stopping, even when the weather gets cool again! Cue Rimmel's Natural Bronzer in Sun Light, which will continue to bring your cheeks that healthy flush of colour and accent your lovely (if perhaps nonexistent...this is my case!) contours! It looks great in photos and gives my face that precise depth without the shimmer that accompanies a lot of bronzing products these days.

Read on to find out why I love this product!

First of all, let me just put it out there that this is my VERY first bronzer! I got it after reading many positive reviews online, and let's face it, that embossed sun just looks so inviting! I like that the product also fits exactly inside my palm as I hold it, although I do agree with others that the packaging can be flimsy at times and could be improved. If it were a flip lid, that'd make it perfect! It is a matte shade that isn't too dark, so it can be layered darker in places to create shadows, such as next to the ear and hairline, up to the temples! It matches my skin well and doesn't look like I went into a tanning salon and completely lost track of time and toasted myself! The drugstore price and reliability of Rimmel cosmetics can't be beat! Hurray for a first-time purchase that paid off!

Nailing It! Sephora by OPI in How Cute is That?

My rule of thumb for buying a good polish of course involves price, ingredients (3 Free!) and ease of application/removal. However, one of the most important aspects, is, of course, colour! Any shade of nail polish can change easily with opacity and the range of tones I like to use varies with each season. For summer, I like to keep it simple with pastels and bright colours that evoke thoughts of the warm weather and bring a tropical feel. This shade is a perfect coral mix of strong yellow-based pink undertones and orange. On my NC30 skin, it appears more frequently as an orange. This picture was taken in artificial lighting so my skin appears dark, but the polish is true to life.

I did these nails in two coats for a nice opacity, you can barely see the nail whites afterwards! I also used Sally Hansen Ultimate Shield as a base and top coat. I wore it for five or so days and there was no chipping whatsoever. As an added bonus, it's really easy to remove and goes off with a few swipes of remover! I think I will be wearing this a lot!