Favorite Products of Summer 2011

With all the Back-To-School ads and even Halloween stuff in stores, I can't help but feel like summer is already over. So I thought I would post my go-to products that I've been using on almost a daily basis for the past couple of months.

In no particular order:

Poppie Jones across the shoulder fringe purse in brown suede that I bought about 3 years ago from DSW.

Jade and Bamboo Necklace from Island Dancer Jewelry (a gift). Sorry, Island Dancer Jewelry website is not up at this time

Bath & Body Works body cream in Country Chic.

Maybelline Shine Sensational lip gloss in Pineapple Paradise

No brand name sunglasses (gifted to me) with animal print

Gold and turquoise cuff from India, I bought this from a local festival

NYX Ultra Pearl Mania in Yellow Gold Pearl

Bath & Body Works Body Spray in Hello Sugar Whole Lotta Lemon Going On (sadly discontinued) - this really complimented Country Chic.

OPI - My Chihuahua Bites, I've been wearing this on my toes all summer long.

Icing Mood Swing Color Changing Nail Polish in Confident/Cheery

Pur Minerals Eye Pencil in Black Amethyst - This has been truly waterproof/sweat proof in my opinion. Not so great for the waterline though...boo. But I still love this eyeliner.

Loreal Infallible 6hr Never Fail Lipgloss in Rebel Red - Red lips was my favorite thing this summer. And this is probably my favorite lipgloss of all time. Really pigmented and had long lasting wear...even while eating and drinking. Fabulous.

Gold Peacock Long Necklace - I think I bought this at Charlotte Russe a year ago?

Revlon Molten Metal Liquid Shadow in Platinum Pinup - Sadly also discontinued.

Cateye Black sunglasses from Target, I believe they were on sale for $12.99

Lancome Color Design lipstick in Red Haute - BEST MATTE RED LIPSTICK EVER! I never had a red lipstick that I liked on me until I found this beauty. Even the packaging is sleek. Wear time is really good too. After it fades, your lips still have a red stain on them.

Vintage looking flower ring from Pier 1 Imports - It was less than 3 bucks and it's adjustable.

And this was my favorite product of the summer:

 LA Splash Liquid Eyeliner in Royal Blue - I bought this on clearance at Ulta awhile back. As a liner it was ok. Gives a great pop a color and a great alternative to Urban Decay liners in the same colors. Definitely not sweatproof or waterproof. As a liner this really needs a primer and a sealer. But then I started using it to tint my lashes and I fell in love! It looks gorgeous paired up with gold eyeshadow that really popular to wear in the summer.

LA Splash Liquid Eyeliner in Royal Blue layered on lashes

I don't think the picture does it justice. You can definitely tell your lashes are blue in real life but there not a neon sign above your head announcing the color of your lashes either. TONS and TONS of compliments wherever I went. I applied my usual mascara like usual and once dry, I layered the liquid liner on top of the mascara. You can also use a disposable wand to apply the product. I just didn't have one.

I kept hearing all summer that THE nail color of the season was a toss up between yellow and orange. So when I saw the Mood Swing polish in Cheery/Confident, I thought "Why not wear both at the same time?"

WARNING: Manicure was 5 days old!

Warm hand

Dipped in Ice Water



After a few minutes

Few minutes more

Back to warm temperature

 I highly recommend this nail polish.

As much as I love these products. I'm not sad to see summer go. I've been melting in this summer heat. And as I type this, the area where I live is on the cusp of being hit by Tropical Storm Don. I much prefer the fall. But I will miss seeing these lovelies in my backyard:

What was your favorite product this summer?

So Close, Yet so far - Chanel Quartz, Sephora by OPI Already Famous, Afterthougths Racer Brown

After seeing various posts of Chanel's last fall 2011 nail colors, I like everyone else, could not wait to go and buy Peridot (which I did). But the quiet and demure Quartz was the one that really caught my eye. It reminded me of my favorite nail polish that I wore almost everyday my freshman year of high school. I bought it from a mall boutique Afterthoughts (I think they were bought out by the company that owns Icing. Don't quote me on this, I have no idea really). I was obsessed with brown. Brown eyeshadow, brown lipstick, brown accessories...what was I thinking?

So I immediately jumped at buying Racer Brown. A beautiful taupey brown with a subtle silver frost.  And it was love at first swatch. It looked so nice against my skin tone. And I constantly had compliments whenever I wore it. The head cheerleader even became my friend after I manicured her nasty talons with it. She in turn introduced me to my Senior crush who became my Senior boyfriend for a magical two months (ha!).   What more can you ask for from a lightly frosted brown nail polish?

Afterthoughts - Racer Brown, no topcoat

Sadly, my love affair with Racer Brown slowly faded when I discovered that glitter polish looked best over purple, blue and black. I tried my best to dupe Chanel's Ciel de Nuit (so THAT'S where it all started) layering my 99 cent glitter polish over any navy blue polish I could find.

It is now old and the formula lacks what it once was. Its now stringy and streaky and smells funny. I even tried to salvage it by thinning it and I have yet to be successful. I still cannot part with it. I almost did this past April during Zoya's Earth Day Exchange. Almost.

So when I saw the posts of Quartz, I thought I had found my long awaited Racer Brown doppelganger.




Afterthoughts - Racer Brown, Chanel - Quartz, Sephora by OPI - Already Famous

I was mistaken, pleasantly mistaken, but mistaken nonetheless. Racer Brown leans more red while Quartz leans more gray. I compared Quartz to Sephora by OPI - Already Famous. While it's not a dupe at all, it might satisfy your lemming of Quartz and save you $15. In the above picture, the label around the Chanel bottle distorts the color. If you enlarge the picture and compare the two bottles from above the label, you will see the colors look like a very close match.

As you can see from this above picture, Already Famous is much more gold and obviously more shimmery than Quartz. I have to say that the swatch on the pinky is not at all what the color looks like. On the pinky it looks out right gold, it is not. Swatch on middle finger is more true to its color.



Left - Chanel Quartz, Right - Sephora by OPI Already Famous

That is also true for Quartz, the swatch on the pointer finger is more true to color than the ring finger. So if you look at the pointer finger and the middle finger, you will have a better idea just how close they are.

And of course you have Racer Brown on the Thumb which sticks out, well, like a sore thumb. HA!

But I absolutely love Quartz. It's a lovely shade that seems to love my skin tone. And the formula was great. Completely opaque in two coats! But I will predict, come fall, we will see a lot more options for dupes on this one.

And for those of you wondering, no I haven't swatched Peridot yet. It's so pretty in the bottle that I'm afraid to use it all up. :-)