Two weeks ago I wanted to paint my nails after what seems to be forever since I last painted them. I used to be very diligent in making sure I have colors on my nails but over the past few months I just did not have the time. And I was enjoying the bare nails look. However I started to missed my funky accent nail-do and I did not want to use the same ol’ nail polish I had so I went on a stash shopping looking for new nail polishes. As luck was on my side I found a few brand new nail polishes sitting in the drawer. I have three new CATRICE nail polishes but the CATRICE Ultimate Nail Lacquer wow-ed me and I cannot stop using them!

I had these CATRICE Ultimate Nail Lacquer from the brand launch event back in 2015. Now I am smacking my head wondering why the heck I have not used them because IT IS SO FREAKING GOOD! I must admit, I am at the most confuse state every time I am standing in front of CATRICE shelf, especially looking up at their nail polishes. They have so many and you know me, choices and I are not the bestest friend lol. I bought a few before but they were meh. But these ones, these ones blew my mind.

CATRICE said that the formula for Ultimate Nail Lacquer provides professional coverage. I think they meant opaque. It has unique colour brilliance that last longer as well as high-shine results. Checked, checked and CHECKED! Made in Luxembourg, these nail lacquers are free of formaldehyde, toluene and phthalates. Initially I only wanted to use the berry shade – 94 It’s A Very Berry Bash. Oh I forgot to mention that all CATRICE products come with a funky shade name. Then I remembered I do not do single nail shade for all 10 fingers so I whipped out 99 Sweet Macaron Sin as well.

First of all, the applicator. I have really, really tiny nails and I have always been into small applicator. I notice that small round applicator can make the finishing a bit streaky. Flat applicator like the one in Bourjois that I like as well are too big. This flat applicator from CATRICE Ultimate Nail Lacquer is just perfect. Perfect size and fit even for my small nails (and toes too). It does it’s job in three quick swipe. I usually start from the middle, then right and lastly left. The opacity of this nail lacquer is just amazing. It is so high coverage that you can easily get away with a single coat if you do a medium thickness. I like my nails to dry fast so I prefer a thin layer and then reapply another layer so that they last longer.

It dries pretty fast too. And durable as well. I applied on last Friday, load and unload lots of stuff for #IWillBeOkay Trail Hike on Saturday and my nails are still as pretty as freshly applied today. It normally last one and a half week on me, depending how much chores I do.

It has high shine finishing so a top coat is not necessary. But I still apply a top coat not for extra shine but to drag the durability even longer. Sadly my top coat are gone by the 2nd day. Don’t ask me why. It just does not last lol.

As you know, CATRICE is my all time favourite affordable drugstore brand. I have said this so many times and I am going to say it again. The pricing for CATRICE products is just amazingly affordable. And when Guardian is having sale, it is even cheaper! This retails for RM15.90 each. When it goes on sale, it can be as low as RM10 . Sometimes. Don’t quote me

Disclaimer: Product was from brand launch previously. This doesn’t affect my judgement in the review in any way.

The post This Is What Happened When I Finally Take Out CATRICE Ultimate Nail Lacquer To Good Use appeared first on Street Love. by Fiona

Recently I went slightly obsessed with nail polish. I am not someone who is into nail polish before this. Even painting my own toe nails is such a chore to me. With my previous work requirement to look presentable and meeting corporate clients all the time, painting my nails is not something that I would even consider, unless it’s nude but I’m not into nude at that time . When I saw that Sephora brought in the Victoria, Victoria Beckham for Nails Inc. London, I got to have it. Firstly I’m a fan of Posh Spice from the Spice Girls and of course Victoria Beckham herself. Secondly, how can you resist such a beautiful shade! How can?

Nails Inc. London, one of the top brand when it comes to nail polish collaborates with Victoria Beckham. Not just VB herself but also Victoria, Victoria Beckham collection. The Victoria, Victoria Beckham for Nails Inc. London collection unveil a unique limited-edition duo of nail polish, which was inspired by the feel of Victoria Beckham’s collection and its subtle incorporation of Japanese elements. Interestingly, the collection only comes with two nail polish shades – Judo Red, a vibrant tomato red and Bamboo White, a delicate bone shade. These nail polishes are created with stretch-to-fit technology that ensure the polish to glide on perfectly, plump and flawless during application. Now get this. It is formulated with bamboo extract. Bamboo extract typically contain all the essential nutrients for healthy nails. It reduced ridges and imperfection as well as promote nail growth, provided you use it frequent enough

The nail polish comes with a heavy and thick white box, with the nail polish securely tucked in the middle of the box. It make such a great gifting idea but mine was stained so I had threw it away . What really drew me towards this nail polish is the unique bottle. The white bottle doesn’t justify the nail polish shade. One glance and you wouldn’t know that it’s actually a red. One would thought it’s a white nail polish! However because the bottle is in matte white, you ought to be extra careful not to drip any nail polish on it. I ran the applicator along the edge of the opening neck to remove excess polish before applying and a tiny drop of polish dropped onto the bottle. Sigh.

I really like that the real Judo Red shade is peeking through from the sides instead of the whole bottle. That’s really Victoria Beckham style. This red is nothing like what I already own in my small collection. I’m usually not the type of person to use such a bright red on my nails. This time I thought I’ll go bold

Funnily (again), I fumbled with the cap. I thought the white top is the usual twist cap and I had a hard time getting it open. It was heavy mind you so it’s double the trouble. Then I remember that most nail polish comes with a separate cap on top so I pull the cap off and voila!

I was expecting a small applicator. I have really tiny nails so I really hate big applicator, just like how I hate big mascara applicator. The applicator for Victoria, Victoria Beckham for Nails Inc. London is huge. It has a shorter wand, which I appreciate, a flat applicator, which I like but the size of the applicator is huge. It doesn’t fit most of my nails and I have to be extra careful with the nail side during application. Honestly, I was shaking when I apply the nail polish on because I was so afraid I would mess up. I don’t want to mess up a red nail polish on my hands.

The shade on the other hand is gorgeous. The camera doesn’t seems to capture the exact shade. It’s actually a bright peachy red, which Nails Inc. described as “vibrant tomato red”.

Somehow I seems to have an issue with Nails Inc. nail polishes. The Gel Effect seems to be giving me lots of bubbles on the surface eventhough I did not shake the bottle before applying. This Victoria, Victoria Beckham for Nails Inc. London Judo Red also give me bubbles but just a few bubbles. Not as severe as Gel Effect.

Now comes the best part. The nail polish lasts on my nails for a good minimum of 2 weeks, with no chips or dent. The shine on top does goes away a little bit as I did not apply any top coat. Even without any top coat it look absolutely beautiful and still the same even after 2 weeks.

Nails Inc. nail polishes are surprisingly good. I mean I know they are good and I’ve heard so much about it. Now that I’ve own 7 bottles of Nails Inc. nail polish, I can understand why it is such a darling to have. The colours are so gorgeous and vibrant, opaque, doesn’t give any streaks, long lasting and it’s extremely cheap to get when Sephora is clearing each set for RM25 only (this Victoria, Victoria Beckham is not included ya).

One downside of Nails Inc. nail polishes that I personally find annoying is the scent. It doesn’t have the conventional nail polish scent but there is a strong plasticky scent that bothers me a lot. The scent doesn’t goes away after a while. As I’m typing this review, I already had the nail polish on me for more than 2 weeks. I still can smell it even after 2 weeks. It’s not that annoying unless you have your hand upclose to your face or when you’re grabbing food to your mouth. Ewwww!

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored review. I bought the product on my own.

The post Victoria, Victoria Beckham for Nails Inc. London ‘Judo Red: The one nail polish that got me love at first sight appeared first on Street Love. by Fiona

Two months ago, I randomly stroll at the nail polish section at Sephora KLCC and stumbled upon this beautiful glitter nail polish by Nails Inc. I was contemplating if I should get it because glitter nail polish can be so gorgeous on the nails but it is an absolute pain to remove. I bite the bullet and got it, happily applied it on my nails and a week later, I needed to remove it as it was chipped all over. I cried. I regretted. I couldn’t understand why I bought the nail polish. I wished I didn’t bought it. I wished I didn’t applied it. Yeap. I went all emotional while doing the difficult task of removing.

Then, I went back to Sephora because I knew Sephora has a remover just for glitter nail polish. Well, the demo video looks promising. I’ve only used it a few days ago and I’m going to tell you if you should run like I do to Sephora for this Instant Nail Polish Remover for Glitter.

What I like about Sephora Instant Nail Polish Remover for Glitter is that each bottle is sticker-ed with the brand label all around, from top to bottom. This assures me that no curious shopper dipping their fingers into the bottle, mistaking the retail bottle as tester bottle. Yes, that too happened all the time so check your item before check out. You can peel the sticker off but I like to keep the label off so I used a knife and trace-cutting all around the cap edge in order to open the cap.

Honestly, I never tested out the efficacy of the product nor peep into the tester bottle before purchasing so I have no idea how does it work or how does it looks like. This is what it looks like on the inside. There’s a piece of scrubbing sponge in the middle of the foam surrounding the inner bottle.

At first I dipped my fingers in like the photo below, which is wrong because the foam surrounding the inner of the bottle are soft and mushy. The correct way (I think) is to face the nail polish surface to the scrubbing sponge. I was kinda worried at the beginning that it will ruin my nail because my nails are thin and brittle and the sponge is quite rough. It turns out fine

The scent of the remover however is quite nose clogging if you were to sniff directly from the bottle. It will numb your nose for 5 minutes if you do it lol. It actually smells floral-y on the nails after that, which I like.

As shopgirlxox feedback over Instagram, it takes more than a little wiggle to remove glitter nail polish still. I know she wasn’t kidding and she was right. It is definitely not as easy as dip the fingers in, wiggle a little and voila. It’s really not. I was literally wrestling with the bottle of remover with a killer look on the face. So much so that mum asked what the heck I was up to LOL. It takes a lot of finger action #nothingporny with a lot of wiggling and scrubbing. IT.WAS.TIRING. My hand was numb from keeping the finger(s) in the same pointy shape! Again, #nothingporny.

The result? Well, I managed to get most of the glitter nail polish out except for some glitter piece that still want to stay on for a little while longer . I didn’t bother to stuck my fingers into the remover for any longer so I just scrap off the leftover.

The claims. Magic? Not quite.

Just dip your finger into the foam and bye bye sparkles in a snap? I wish

Overall it wasn’t that bad. It will work so much better for those that do not apply double layer of glitter nail polish. But hey, what’s the fun with a thin layer of glitter right? I go all out!

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored review. I bought the product on my own.

The post Sephora Instant Nail Polish Remover for Glitter: Not really magic but it wasn’t bad either appeared first on Street Love. by Fiona

Many months ago I was gifted with this beautiful creamy pink nail polish from China Glaze. It has been sitting in my drawer until recently I changed the shape of my nails and immediately took this out to use. I’ve been saving it for the nails as I knew it will be beautiful, and I was right

Hopeful is the shade that I received. It is a part of a 12 polishes in the United For A Purpose Collection which is also a China Glaze’s 2012 Breast Cancer Awareness release. These 12 polishes namely Faith, Angels Breath, Hopeful, Pearls of Wisdom, Dare to be Bare, Heart of the Matter, Hello Gorgeous, United, Beauty Within, Live Love Laugh, Exquisite and Always a Lady. Most of them are pale shades of pink but there is also a few glittery ones and bold fuchsia.

Is it so easy to guess what is my liking cause May from China Glaze Malaysia knew which shade that I will like

Hopeful appears more of a milky color with a hint of pink tint. Did you notice that I said a hint of pink tint? This means the milky color dominated the color payoff. You will still get the pink but just slightly.

I applied Seche Clear™ Crystal Clear Base Coat first to protect my nails from turning yellow and also to protect my nails from the nail polish. Then I apply a layer of Hopeful but the texture is uneven and it’s not opaque enough to cover all my nails. So I waited for it to dry and apply a 2nd layer of Hopeful. I managed to cover the unevenness just a bit but it wasn’t as smooth as I thought. To overcome this I apply a layer of Seche Vite™ Dry Fast Top Coat and voilà! Every unevenness, streaks, lumps are all smoothen out. Let’s not forget that my nails are shiny too

I have seen other reviews on this and theirs appear more pinkish on their nails compared with mine. As you can see, mine appears more milky. I got to say…I kinda like it. I have always wanted to apply milky color on my nails. But milky shade doesn’t look nice on short nails. I can’t keep long nails as my nails is quite thin and brittle. I can now apply this after changing my nail shape

Disclaimer: Gift from a friend.

The post Review: China Glaze #Hopeful – One Of The 12 Polishes from United For A Purpose Collection For 2012 Breast Cancer Awareness appeared first on Street Love. by Fiona