chelsea wears

5.30.2012

NYX - Matte Pure Red

One of my favorite bold, bright reds is NYX Matte Lipstick in "Pure Red." These highly pigmented NYX Matte lipsticks are a great value for money (they will only set you back about $5.99 for 4.5 grams of product) and quite comparable to MAC lipsticks ($14.50 for 3 grams), in my opinion. All this gram talk makes me sound like a drug dealer... you'll have to excuse me, I'm currently immersed in a Breaking Bad marathon! But hey, lipsticks ARE my drug of choice. ;) If you're an animal lover, you'll be happy to hear that NYX is a cruelty-free brand -- Dexter is quite pleased with that.

It wears well, with a great matte finish -- if you're not a fan of matte lipsticks then you'll probably want to either avoid the noid (check NYX's regular lipstick range, which has about 70 shades) or simply apply gloss over the top. However, I love a matte finish and rarely ever use gloss or products on top of my lipstick. This shade wore very well on my lips with no liner, lasted for hours, and did not feather or bleed into my skin at all. Next to MAC's Lady Danger, I dare say this is one of my favorite reds! It's quite similar to that shade, but less orange. It's much brighter and more orange than MAC's Russian Red. I'd say that the closest I have to it from my own lipsticks is MAC's Scarlett Ibis (a sought after limited edition color from the Iris Apfel collection), but it is just the tiniest bit brighter. So if you missed out on Scarlett Ibis, scoop this up!! If you are a packaging junkie, note that the packaging does feel a little cheap, as it's a very light plastic. Nevertheless, I have transported it around in bags and never had a problem with the top coming off or cracks in the plastic. Obviously it's not the most sleek or sophisticated packaging out there; but for a great quality lipstick for just under $6, can you REALLY complain that much?

I recently purchased more of these lipsticks because I was so impressed during my first encounter with "Pure Red," so I will be sure to let you know what I think of those as well in an upcoming video featuring my whole NYX lipstick "collection." I highly, highly recommend you try this formula out -- there is a large range (22+) of reds, cranberries, pinks, nudes, peaches, and orangier (Is that a word? Well, now it is.) shades to choose from. FYI: other shades that really stand above the rest for me are Indie Flick, Shocking Pink, Alabama, and Hippie Chic (not shown below).

[ all of the larger swatches on the left half of my arm are the Matte Lipsticks ]

[ the two in middle are from the Lipstick line ]

[ the glossier looking shades on the right are Soft Matte Lip Creams ]

5.28.2012

What I Wore: 5.11.12

Do you know how much this is affecting my over dramatic self-diagnosed OCD to have this video out of chronological order with the rest of my outfits?!?! Breath in, breath out. Breath in, breath out. You can do this!

Shirt: Zara False Pocket Tee

Jeans: BDG from Urban Outfitters

Bag: Madewell Transport Tote

Wedges: ShoeMint "Jolly"

Irish Cut Coin Necklace: Etsy

Bracelet: H&M

5.26.2012

Essie - School of Hard Rocks

The latest polish to grace my nails is Essie School of Hard Rocks, a dusty blue/green (according to my limited adjectives and poor explaining capabilities) or a "midnight malachite" (according to Essie's website) for those of you who might know what the hell that means. Duh, Malachite is a copper carbonate hydroxide mineral, with the formula Cu2CO3(OH
)2. Thanks Wikipedia. I wore this gorgeous shade for almost 2 weeks (and it wasn't pretty by the end of it all; but I was busy, sue me!!) It lasted very well in the beginning stages (up to the 5 days - 1 week marker) and I really loved the color and easy application.

This is definitely a shade I will continue to wear multiple times throughout the coming months as it was a nice statement color that also blended well into other outfits on the days when I didn't feel like having such bold, attention grabbing nails (I can't count the number of times my nails have been painted some awesome color for one particular outfit but then have clashed horribly with any other normal, plain outfit I wanted to wear. Talk about a nailmare. Am I right, guys?!). Two very prettily polished thumbs up for School of Hard Rocks!

5.24.2012

What I Wore: 5.13.12

Happy belated Mother's Day :)

Shirt: Mouchette from Urban Outfitters

Jeans: BDG Jeans

Sandals: Sam Edelman

Necklace: Gift from Grams

Bracelet: Urban Outfitters

5.22.2012

My NARS Lipstick Collection

Many of my YouTube viewers have been asking for a video outlining my lipstick collection, so of course I had to deliver. The only problem is... I HAVE SO MANY LIPSTICKS! You know how long that video would be?! Intimidatingly long. Make sure you go to the bathroom before you start it long. I'd rather watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy because it's shorter long. So, today I offer you Part 1: My NARS Lipstick Collection. Enjoy!