Something wicked this way comes – wickedly good, that is.
I’m normally of the opinion that Halloween is a bit of a waste of time… unless it gives me an excuse to break out a brand new nail polish of course – and Deborah Lippmann’s Weird Science is exactly the kind of special sauce that spooky season screams out for!
Posted in Beauty
Tagged best glitter nail polishes, best green nail polishes, best metallic nail polishes, Deborah Lippmann, Deborah Lippmann nail polish, Fantastical Holiday Collection, glitter, gold, green, Halloween manicure, Halloween nail polish, Holiday 2014 Collection, manicure, metallic, nail lacquer, nail polish, nail varnish, NOTD, review, swatch, Weird Science, where to buy Deborah Lippmann in Hong Kong
I love blue nail polish at the best of times… but there’s something about it that just seems so much better in summer. So with the first hints of an autumn breeze swirling through the air here in Hong Kong, I thought I’d better bust out Christian Louboutin Scarabee II before our long hot summer was over for yet an other year (*insert lament about how quickly time flies here*).
Scarabee II is another colour from the limited edition Christian Louboutin Scarabee Collection of gorgeous duochrome polishes inspired by the iridescent shell of an Egyptian scarab beetle – and it might just be the most instantly striking of the three. Or it might just be that I’m an eternal sucker for blue nail polish!
Posted in Beauty
Tagged Beaute Louboutin, Beauty, blue, Christian Louboutin, Christian Louboutin Hong Kong, Christian Louboutin Nail Colour, Christian Louboutin nail polish, Christian Louboutin Scarabee II, duochrome, Louboutin nail lacquer, Louboutin nail polish, Louboutin nail varnish, Louboutin Scarabee Collection, manicure, metallic, nail lacquer, nail polish, nail varnish, NOTD, photos, review, Scarabee Collection, Scarabee II, swatch, where to buy Christian Louboutin in Hong Kong, where to buy Louboutin nail polish in Hong Kong
Do you believe in magic? Well, if not, may I present you with Christian Louboutin’s Scarabee I.
Duochrome colours – metallic shades that shift different colours in different lights – are certainly nothing new in the nail polish world, but that certainly doesn’t stop me feeling a giddy sense of wonder every time I wear one… and Scarabee I is no exception.
Posted in Beauty
Tagged Beaute Louboutin, Beauty, Christian Louboutin, Christian Louboutin Hong Kong, Christian Louboutin Nail Colour, Christian Louboutin nail polish, Christian Louboutin Scarabee I, copper, duochrome, gold, Louboutin nail lacquer, Louboutin nail polish, Louboutin nail varnish, Louboutin Scarabee Collection, manicure, metallic, nail lacquer, nail polish, nail varnish, NOTD, photos, review, Scarabee Collection, Scarabee I, swatch, where to buy Christian Louboutin in Hong Kong, where to buy Louboutin nail polish in Hong Kong
Couldn’t get enough of the a-ma-zing packaging for MAC’s Alluring Aquatics Collection? Yeah, me neither… so I thought I’d bring you another shamelessly covet-worthy post on the collection’s other nail lacquer, MAC Shimmerfish, for you to drool over! [Polish geek side-note: the third lacquer from MAC’s Alluring Aquatics Collection, Neptune, was not released in Hong Kong.]
Shimmerfish is a super shimmery (surprise!) silver with teeny-tiny flecks of light copper also swimming in the mix. It has the same kind of mottled glittery foil finish (a la Chanel Graphite, OPI Warm & Fozzie and Butter London Wallis) that is absolutely my favourite kind of complex molten metallic; in fact, it reminds me of OPI’s Designer De-Better, which was from the same Muppets Collection as Warm & Fozzie – check out my friend Eugenia’s swatches of that here for comparison.
Just like the sun sparking on ocean waves, Shimmerfish totally dazzles when the light hits it – resulting in brightly glistening flashes of silver at your fingertips. But those coppery flecks keep things equally awesome in the shadows too, delivering a coolly complex shade that you just can’t quite put your finger on – is it a silvery bronze… a bronzy silver… a rusty rose-gold… a champagne-taupe… or some equally intriguing new shade that doesn’t even have a name invented for it yet?
Nail polishes often make me feel like I have butterflies in my tummy (hint: they usually involve either turquoise or glitter!)… but here’s one that takes things to a more literal level!
Chanel’s Bel Argus nail polish is from their Summer 2013 L’Ete De Papillon De Chanel Collection – and like Le Vernis Azure before it, it’s named after a type of butterfly. Unlike Azure, Chanel has actually got the colour right this time though!
Posted in Beauty
Tagged Beauty, Bel Argus, blue, Chanel, Chanel Bel Argus Le Vernis, cosmetics, duochrome, L'Ete Papillon de Chanel, make-up, metallic, nail lacquer, nail polish, nail varnish, photos, review, Summer 2013, swatches
I already wrote about Chanel’s Stylo Eyeshadows from their L’Ete Papillon de Chanel Summer 2013 Collection – but c’mon, do you really think the range could have passed me by without picking up a polish or two?!
First on my nail polish hit list – obviously, it’s turquoise – was Chanel Azure.
Posted in Beauty
Tagged Azure, Beauty, Chanel, Chanel Azure Le Vernis, cosmetics, duochrome, L'Ete Papillon de Chanel, make-up, metallic, nail lacquer, nail polish, nail varnish, photos, review, Summer 2013, swatch, turquoise
Zoya FeiFei is absolutely one of my favourite polishes of last year. It’s blue, it’s silver, it’s black, it’s gold… ugh, screw it, it’s just awesome!
FeiFei is such an amazingly multi-faceted colour – like a sexy sparkling chameleon. It’s even good enough to make me overlook the fact that its name sounds like Canto for fat; in fact, “Fei Fei” literally was the nickname given to a chubby Hong Kong TV personality of yore, Lydia Shum… and I’m pretty sure my auntie has been know to call me it a few times too!
Metallic polishes are ten a penny and dime a dozen these days (phrases which would both make for decent metallic nail polish names actually!), so it takes something pretty special for me to sit up and take notice of one. And with a name like Screaming Bright – and a colour that lives up to it – MAC have achieved just that!
MAC’s Screaming Bright is part of their recent permanent collection of polishes – a pale yellow gold that is SO bright, it almost starts to look silver… if that even makes sense! This is some seriously SHINY shizzle.
Posted in Beauty
Tagged Beauty, best metallic nail polishes, cosmetics, gold, Mac, MAC cosmetics, make-up, metallic, nail lacquer, nail polish, nail varnish, review, Screaming Bright, silver, swatch
Sometimes you just see a nail polish and know it’s going to be a classic. Such was the case with OPI’s Warm & Fozzie.
Part of OPI’s 2011 Muppets Holiday Collection, Warm & Fozzie was part of the first wave of mainstream interesting foil-metallic-shimmer-duochrome-awesomesauce finishes, that in my world at least was kick-started with Chanel’s Graphite (possibly my most referenced nail polish ever – I just can’t get enough of it!). Since then, we’ve seen loads of polishes with a similar finish in the same metallic colour family (including Butter London’s Wallis and Estee Lauder’s Nouveau Riche) but I still hold a soft spot for one of the originals!
Posted in Beauty
Tagged Beauty, best bronze nail polishes, best copper nail polishes, bronze, copper, cosmetics, make-up, metallic, Muppets Collection, nail lacquer, nail polish, nail varnish, O.P.I, OPI, review, swatch, Warm & Fozzie, Warm And Fozzie
I’m never one for following the seasons with my nail polish (I mean… have you seen how often I wear glittery “holiday” colours?!), but if you’re looking for a perfect fall colour, you can’t go far wrong with Butter London Wallis.
This beauty made its way to me thanks to my lovely make-up mule Justine after many months of lusting – but it was definitely worth the wait. Generally, I don’t lose too many sleeps over Butter London’s limited (and stupidly expensive) availability in Hong Kong as their colours aren’t really that special (their British slang names which have been confusing American bloggers for years with hilarious consequences, are pretty priceless though), but Wallis is definitely one of their smash hits and unique enough to warrant pursuing across the oceans!
Posted in Beauty
Tagged Beauty, Butter London, cosmetics, gold, make-up, metallic, nail lacquer, nail polish, nail varnish, review, swatch, Wallis
I'm Rachel Read, a Hong Kong-based freelance writer and editor, make-up addict and general layabout. I'm powered by bacon, cupcakes, nail polish and the needs of two cute Yorkies.
All products/meals were paid for by me, unless otherwise stated.
Contact me at
rachelmread+ttlg@gmail.com
Photo by Sabrina Sikora Photography
© Rachel Mary Read and Through The Looking Glass, 2010-20.
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material (including photos) without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.
Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Rachel Read and Through The Looking Glass with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Through The Looking Glass by Rachel Read is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Through The Looking Glass 