Welcome to St.Tropez...Lauren B Beauty Sun Kissed in St.Tropez

Released as part of Lauren B Beauty's Spring/Summer 2018 Travel Collection, Sun Kissed in St.Tropez is a glorious, deep burnished copper, with a metallic finish.

The first coat offers semi-opacity, with some nail line peeking through. However, with a second coat,  you achieve full color payoff. Personally, I prefer the color depth after the third coat. Although the majority of streaking levels itself out, there were minor trances on my application that day. It's not unusual to have streaking with metallic polishes, and I find this gives their finish added dimension.

A gorgeous, poolside shade, I love how Sun Kissed in St.Tropez transitions from summer into fall and, dare I say, looks even more stunning against the backdrop of Autumnal hues.

Sunshine of Your Love...Bath & Body Works Shower Gel

With temperatures ranging from 83 to 86 degrees, the first week of Autumn was off to a sizzling start. The month is just about over, and one use left in the bottle, September's shower gel was Love & Sunshine.

Love & Sunshine's key fragrance notes are: Sun-kissed Daisies, Sweet Lemon, Mara Strawberry, Golden Honeysuckle, Sunshine Musk.
A refreshing scent for warm weather, I mostly pickup the lemon and strawberry notes of the shower gel.

I thought Love & Sunshine was retired, but I just checked the Bath & Body Works website, and it's still available. I've already made my repurchase. 

Come Over Here and Kiss Me...Femme Fatale The Kiss

Femme Fatale is one of my favorite indie nail polish brands. All of their polish creations are spectacular, and I covet them all!

Isn't the color combination of the polish and glitters beautiful?! 

Inspired by Gustav Klimt's painting of the same name, The Kiss is a yellow (warm) to orange (cold) thermal, with various sizes of yellow, orange, turquoise, white, and black matte hexagon glitters. I feel Femme Fatale captured their inspiration in polish form. However, I'm also getting a 1970's printed fabric vibe as well as candy corn, both of which I love.

The Kiss is opaque in 3-4 coats (personally, I prefer the look of four). The polish dries textured, so, don't forget that top coat. Although the polish contains glitters, it was easy to remove. As for wear, I got a full week of The Kiss.

Fantastick, That's You! Linda Hallberg Fantastick II Lipstick Swatches

In addition to Lisa Eldridge's Summer Pink Lipsticks, Linda Hallberg's Fantastick II Lipsticks were in heavy rotation this Summer.

 Although I own the original five Fantastick Lipstick shades, I'm going to work backwards, and post the five most recent shades first.

 I found the colors and pattern of exterior packaging of  the second release extremely appealing.

The Fantastick lipsticks are a multi-use product that can be used on the lips and cheeks. Also, they're  vegan, cruelty-free, and contain SPF15.

From left to right: Cultured, I Die, Extra, Famous, Pop. 

Cultured: a muted, terracotta orange.

I Die: a slightly reddened-coral.

Extra: transparent with pink and champagne glitter.

Famous: a cool toned nougat-brown.

Pop: a cool toned fuchsia.

At first, I wasn't going to get Extra, as I'm not really into glittery transparent lip products. However, the bundle amount dropped from $115 to $100, and the cost of 4 Fantasticks was $92. So, in order to qualify for the free worldwide shipping of orders over $100, I parted with the $8 difference.

Reminiscent of the M.A.C Sheen Supreme Lipsticks (remember those?) in both appearance and formula, I found the Fantasticks to have a creamier consistency. I really enjoy the performance, and wear of the Fantasticks; they're pigmented, yet have enough translucency in their glossy finish to give the lips a succulent pout. The only thing I don't like is the diagonal, circulair shape of the lipsticks. I found it difficult, and rather tedious, to apply along the lip line. But, hey, that's what lip brushes are for.

Of theses five shades, my favorites were cultured and famous. I'll definitely be caring them over into Autumn.  

I Guess I Was Born...Naturally Born...Born Blue...Zoya Mallory

I had Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers playing in the background while cleaning makeup brushes, which inspired today's manicure, Zoya's Mallory.

Mallory is a highly saturated, deep (yet, bright) prussian-blue creme, with a high-shine finish. This polish has a beautiful, one-coat formula. I haven't worn Mallory in a while, so I don't remember its wear time. However, I will update this post upon the first sign of  tip wear.

Mallory is an attractive shade of blue, and always puts me in a pleasant mood whenever I look at my nails. 

Pink, It's My New Obsession...Lisa Eldridge Summer Pinks Lipstick Collection

I picked up three of the four new lippies from Lisa Eldridge's Summer Pinks Lipstick Collection. As much as I enjoy a salmon-pink lip, depending on the base tone of the pigment used, the shade can be a hit or miss for me. Go Lightly is described as having a pastel undertone. Because those kinds of shades doesn't look good on me, I feel confident in my decision to pass.

With the purchase of two or more lipsticks you got this cute pale turquoise fabric bag, with pale yellow gold trim, and Eldridge's trademark embroidered emblem.

The lipsticks come in two different formulas: Luxuriously Lucent (Go Lightly, and Love of My Life), which is a soft, translucent, semi-sheer finish. The second formula is Insanely Saturated (Rainbow Spill, and Skyscraper Rose), a creamy, ultra-pigmented demi-matte. Both textures apply smoothly, with a luscious, lightweight feel on the lips. As a side-note, all three lipsticks leave a beautiful, even stain.

 From left to right: Love of My Life, Rainbow Spill, Skyscraper Rose.

Love of My Life: a medium, rosy pink.

Rainbow Spill: a slight muted, slightly radiated, corally-red, watermelon pink.

Skyscraper Rose: a deep, yet vibrant, reddened, fuchsia pink.

Apologies that my lighting in the photos below are all over the place. I really need to buy a ring light.

Love of My Life.

Rainbow Spill. 

 Skyscraper Rose.

I love all three shades as well as both finishes. However, I must say my favorite formula was the Insanely Saturated, and my favorite shade was Skyscraper Rose, with Rainbow Spill coming in at a close second.

Were you able to get any Lipsticks from the Summer Pinks Collection?

Gone Surfing...Lauren B Beauty Santa Barbara Surf

In Tokyo, August is the hottest month of the year, and based on the weather.com forecast, today is 95°(feels like 111°). My apartment feels like the epicenter of Hades itself. I long for a swim, and although I may not be able to cool down, at least I can wear a cool shade of nail polish.

Lauren B Beauty's Santa Barbara Surf is a bright, seafoam green with a shiny creme finish. The first coat has some streaks and unevenness (not unusual for a shade that borderlines on the pastel spectrum), and depending on my application, I'm able to get an opaque finish in 2-3 coats. Santa Barbara Surf's wear time is an average of 4-5 days.

I love how Santa Barbara Surf looks on the fingers and toes, against tanned-skin and white clothing (shocking coming from someone who only wears black). Santa Barbara Surf is a beautiful polish that's perfect for both Spring, and Summer.