Friday 28 February 2014

F.U.N Lacquer Haul & Review

Here's my haul and collection from the independent company F.U.N Lacquer and I also review the polishes too. I split the video into 2 parts so it wouldn't be too long, and there's a giveaway at the end of the second video so make sure you check out both.

I got some items from the 2013 Christmas & Princess Collections as well as the latest 2014 Love Collection which has some lovely thermal colour changing polishes. I demo the polishes so you can see what they look like on the nail included some macro footage for all the cool details in these lovely nail polishes from F.U.N Lacquer.

The videos of Part 1 and Part 2 are on YouTube or you can view them below and check out the more in-depth written review under them in this post.

The giveaway will close on April 2nd and I will announce the winner shortly after.

Disclaimer: This is not a paid advertisement and I bought all the items with my own money and I am not affiliated with F.U.N Lacquer in any way.

Enjoy!

Video Review

Part 1


Part 2



Giveaway Rules

1. Like the Video on YouTube - http://youtu.be/sPsJsomvGCk
2. Subscribe to my YouTube Channel - http://www.youtube.com/user/MichtyMaxx
3. Follow me on Twitter - https://twitter.com/MichtyMaxx
4. Like my  Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/MichtyMaxx
5. Comment below the video on youtube when you have done all that. 
http://youtu.be/sPsJsomvGCk


Giveaway Polishes
Mulan
Tiana
Cinderella
Icy Snow (thermal polish)


The giveaway will close on April 2nd and I will announce the winner shortly after.


List of F.U.N Lacquer polishes I've bought so far...

2013 Christmas Collection
Gold Mark
Winter Wonderland
Icy Snow (thermal polish)

Princess Collection
Aurora
Belle

2014 Love Collection
Secret Admirer (thermal polish)
Purfect for Me (thermal polish)

Diamond Duo Set
Glow Diamond Top Coat
Diamond Holo Top Coat


Review


I heard about F.U.N Lacquer on YouTube from the Crafty Ninja and then found the account on Instagram run by the created Yuin Ying, who is a lovely lady and very attentive when it comes to questions via Instagram. The swatches on Instagram is what made me actually purchase these polishes. The Crafty Ninja's photos and the ones on the F.U.N Lacquer IG page definitely helped make my decision when it cames to nail polish purchases. I always like to see swatches, so I can get a better idea of what the polish looks like and their IG page definitely shows a lot of people's good swatches and videos.


I have bought from F.U.N Lacquer 3 times so far and will do so again because the colours are so unique, especially when it comes to the thermal polishes. The Parcels are packages with love and care and I have never received a damaged or spilled bottle. The sweet bows are a nice touch too. The shipping time is quick and some of the packages have even been shipped the same day I ordered them, so that's the great thing about a small personal indie company.


The Christmas glitter polishes are beautiful colours and have plenty of glitter in the clear base, which is great. I hate when a glitter polish is too sparse and can't be worn alone easily. I do have to "fish" for some of the larger glitter pieces a bit, but that is to be expected and it is much easier to get the bigger pieces on your nail than with most other glitter polishes, so that's very satisfying. And these glitter polishes can be worn alone with just a few coats or careful dabbing of the glitter on the nail.




I love Winter Wonderland and Gold Mark especially and I bought quite a few of the princess collection greens and blues for a giveaway and they are lovely colours too.

I will say that I wish the holographic polishes had more holographic effect in them. Aurora is a very pretty colour but I would like it more with a stronger holographic effect. It is great that there are the holographic top coats so that can help in that respect.




I am a HUGE fan of glow in the dark polishes and a collection of colourful glow in the dark polishes would be amazing. The glow diamond top coat is a nice start but I'd love to see F.U.N Lacquer go further with that effect.

I would also love to see more bright coloured glitter polishes like Winter Wonderland and Gold Mark. I would be very excited about a red holographic chunky glitter polish, a pink one and a purple one! Yep, I love bright colours!




I like how there are sets for the polishes. The whole collection is a bit much to commit to but the recent addition of the duo set of diamond polishes was a great idea. Thanks Instagram I grabbed that set when it was going out of stock, and it's been replenished now. I recommend following their Instagram page for updates and swatches so you can see what's coming out and what looks good.



My previous negative criticism I have of F.U.N Lacquer store was the shipping price in the situation of buying just one polish. With several polishes I am fine with the shipping cost and it's very fair, however if I just want to buy one or two polishes I am discouraged by the shipping being a large percentage of the price of the polishes. And I voiced this concern to the Yuin Ying, the owner, when she asked for feedback and after that she reduced the shipping charge and the only thing that discouraged me from ordering a couple of polishes was removed!

I have nothing but great things to say about the customer service through Instagram and email. Any little question I have asked has been answered in a timely fashion and curiously, plus if I had any special requirements to do with packaging items like separate containers, gift wrapping or combining shipping it has been attended to quickly and thoroughly.

There are new formulas being created from the old 3-Free formula to a new 5-Free formula so you get less nasty chemicals and even improvements to thin out the formula have occurred recently. You will be able to find the polishes listed clearly with "old formula" and new formula when the change has been finished.

I find the prices of each polish quite fair and I love that they offer the option of mini polishes and the low prices mean that I can try out more different polishes and I must say that this definitely makes me order more at the F.U.N lacquer online store.

So basically the bright colours, beautiful glitter polishes, interesting effects and fair prices are what makes me love F.U.N lacquer and I'd love to see strong glow in the dark polishes and stronger holographic polishes and I will be purchasing more items in the future.

Saturday 22 February 2014

How to get longer, thicker lashes: Lumigan/Latisse Review & Experiment

I have a great tip for you if you want to have long luscious lashes! A way to get permanently longer and thicker lashes that grow over time and stay that way. It makes a quick lick of mascara look fantastic and completes a makeup look with out adding false lashes.

If there is one product I completely stand behind, it is Lumigan. It is a wonderful product that's function almost outweighed it's ease in application!

I get my Lumigan from www.inhousepharmacy.biz and they ship internationally and have reasonable shipping rates and with free shipping to the US.

This is not a paid advertisement and I am in no way affiliated with the company. All the views and findings are my own.

Check out the review and video below or here on my Youtube Channel.

Enjoy!

Video Review & Demo




There are many ways to increase your lash length and volume but none are permanent and tend to involve inconvenient methods. You can apply false lashes but that's fiddly, go to a salon and get eyelash extensions that fall out and don't maintain over time, try out fibre mascaras and many other ways that don't cut it for always fabulous lashes.

Lumigan is a opthalmic solution created to cure the pressure associated with Glaucoma and the patients noticed they had some pleasant side effects. Their lashes grew longer, thicker and darker and the pharmaceutical companies decided to market the same chemical as a cosmetic product called Latisse. Now, Latisse contains the exact same active ingredient as Lumigan, in the same concentration, which is 0.03% or 300ug per millilitre of the substance Bimataprost and Latisse costs upwards of $150 if you can even find a distributor and Lumigan costs around $40-50. They work the same so there is no reason to pay the cosmetic price tag to get the same results!

The Lumigan bottle is sealed with a safety seal and is sterile. It comes with an eye dropper top, but you don't want to apply the solution directly to your eye because it will change the pressure of your eyeball. So you use an eyeliner brush, apply one drop then run the brush along the roots of your lashes as if you were drawing a thin line of eyeliner. I do this every night after washing my face and putting on my eye cream and make it part of my routine so I don't forget.

How it works & Results

The way Lumigan works is it increases the growth cycle of your eye lashes, so they don't fall out as frequently and stay on your lashline for longer thus you have more lashes & a denser lashline. As it does this it allows the lashes to grow thicker in this time and longer, thus your lashes are thicker, darker and much longer.

This effect isn't instant, it occurs over a time period as the lashes adjust to the substance changing the growth cycle. Using the solution more frequently won't make the results happen quicker because of the growth cycle mechanism, however you will notice some changes in as little as 10 days.

Below I have taken some pictures of my lashes over 40 days, with and without mascara to show the growth up until there and my lashes have continued to show growth after 70+ days. The end result for each person will be different, but I will definitely guarantee an increase in lash density, thickness and length.

1. Day 1 Naked Lashes 2. Day 14 Naked Lashes 3. Day 40 Naked Lashes 4. Day 1 with Mascara 5. Day 14 with Mascara 6. Day 40 with Mascara 7. Day 40 with Mascara

This same solution can be used to grow your eyebrows as well and can be a useful tool in regrowing over plucked brows or thickening up sparse eyebrow tails. I recently started using it on my eyebrows and have managed to elongate my tail and fill in some less hair areas well and I'm happy with that too.

There are side effects if you apply the solution directly to your eyeball. The glaucoma patients mentioned dryness of the eyeball and light colour eyes becoming darker. I have not had any of these effects and I have used Lumigan over many years and I know people with blue eyes that haven't had any change in eye colour. Possible dryness will only occur if you apply the solution to your eye as in glaucoma treatment but not if you run it along your lashline like I show in the video.

Where you can purchase Lumigan

I get my Lumigan from www.inhousepharmacy.biz and they ship internationally and have reasonable shipping rates. They have economy packs where you can buy 6 bottles and have free shipping, which is what I tend to go for and I store the bottles in a cool place until I use them. They must be stored under 25oC and can be stored in the fridge for long term storage. Each bottle has an expiry date on it so refer to that for storage times.



Friday 14 February 2014

Ace of Spades Joker Inspired Lip Art Tutorial

To up the ante I created this Ace of Spades Lip Art that came to my mind after listening to Motörhead's Ace of Spades and as I love to play, I thought I'd do a series on poker starting with this Lip Art.

I wanted a matte finish for this look so I tried out Inglot matte gel eyeliners in black and white and topped them with Sugarpill matte shadows. Honestly the white gel liner didn't work so well on the malleable surface of the lips and it cracked possibly cause it was dry and needed a mixing medium, however the black is fantastic and I will totally use that again for future lip art.

I also went "all in" and added some glitter to contrast against the matte texture and chose Eye Kandy's Licorice stick for a slate glitter shade keeping with the monochrome scheme of the look.


Check out the video tutorial on my YouTube Channel here or below for the details on this lip art madness!


And if you love pigmented matte shadows check out Sugarpill here, along with many other shimmery bright pigments & false eyelashes!


Enjoy!

Video Tutorial




As I was getting towards the end of the makeup the structure wasn't working how I wanted it to, so I decided to add an upturned smile at the corners of the lips to improve the flow of the spade shape. It totally reminded me of Jack Nicholson's Joker and the matte and somewhat cracked appearance also lends it self to a mad Joker applying his makeup and leaving it on all day!

This is my first shot at abstract lip art and although it's not perfect I enjoyed the way it came out. And the upturned sinister corner smile really made me feel all evil and mysterious. It was all round a lot of fun and I learnt about using some products in different ways and how to improve future lip art makeup.






And here's a shot without glitter.


Products Used
Lips
Palmer's Cocoa butter Lip Balm
M.A.C Prep+Prime Lip
Chi chi eyeliner in Virgin to draw spade shape
Inglot Duraline
Inglot matte gel liner in #76 (white)
Inglot matte gel liner in #77 (black)
Sugarpill pressed eyeshadow in Tako
Sugarpill pressed eyeshadow in Bulletproof
Eye Kandy Liquid sugar for glitter adhesive
Eye Kandy sprinkles in Licorice Stick


Brushes
Sigma brushes: PE=Performance Eyes kit

Sigma E16 PE Tightline liner
Sigma E17 PE Waterlline liner
Sedona Lace LB25 Lip brush
Japonesque Lip brush
Sigma E05 Eye liner brush for the glitter


Disclaimer: Affiliate links are contained in this post.

Wednesday 12 February 2014

Roses are Red Manicure ft Born Pretty Roses

This is my offering for Valentine's Day in the form of a sexy set of nails. It's grown up but still fun with all the decoration. These nails make me think of fishnets, thigh highs stockings with garters, corsets and other sassy lingerie.

I received these beautiful roses from Born Pretty Store and wanted to create a manicure around them. I added some elliptical rhinestones also from Born Pretty Store which doubled as petals for this look and are a lovely way to add glitz while changing it up from the standard shape. The hex glitter on the thumb accent nail was placed by hand (I may do a tutorial on this method some time) and it makes for a polka dot effect that is in playful contrast to the stripes.

It's easy enough to create the stripes with a decent striping brush and if you make a mistake just go over the edge with the other colour to neaten up the line. I used nail polish but acrylic paint would be easier cause it wouldn't dry in the brush and make it hard to finish the look.

I really love this manicure and would totally do this again. I will have a little review on the roses from the Born Pretty store coming soon about how they wear and other info about them.

I totally recommend the Born Pretty Store embellishments and suggest you check them out here! And to save on pretty things for your fingers, I have a code for 10% off at Born Pretty, so just type in "MIHW10" at checkout on any order!


Enjoy!










Tutorial
  1. Apply Base coat and growth stimulater to protect your nails and keep them healthy.
  2. Apply 2 coats of metallic red polish over all your nails except the thumb accent nail.
  3. Apply 2 coats of black polish over thumb accent nail.
  4. Use a striping brush to apply black polish in vertical stripes over all nails except accent nails.
  5. Apply a layer of top coat to thumb accent nail and place red hex glitter in a polka dot pattern across the nail with a tooth pick or dotting tool.
  6. Apply a fast drying top coat over all nails.
  7. Apply tiny dots of nail glue along cuticle of ring finger accent nail and apply red and black elliptic rhinestones.
  8. Apply small dots of nail glue to adhere Born Pretty Red metallic roses to the cuticle of all nails.
  9. Done!
Products Used

Base coat
Qtica Natural Nail Growth Stimulator
Zoya Anchor base coat

First layer
Zoya Carrie Ann (2 coats)

Second layer (Stripes)
Glitter Gal Serpent Black

Accent nail (ring finger)
Zoya Carrie Ann (2 coats)
Red & Black Elliptic Shape Rhinestones 12 colours from Born Pretty Store
Red rose 3D Flower Nail Decoration #12 from Born Pretty Store

Accent nail (thumb)
Glitter Gal Serpent Black (2 coats)
Red Nail Art Hexagonal Glitter Powder Sheets set of 12 from Born Pretty Store

Top coat
Seche Vite dry fast top coat

Brushes
Striping brush from Born Pretty


Disclaimer: Affiliate links contained in this post.

Friday 7 February 2014

Pink Punk Americana Nails! GRWM Nail Art Tutorial ft F.U.N Lacquer

I was going to the Kid Rock & Bon Jovi gig that night and needed a manicure to go with my pink punk skirt that I just bought from Dolls Kill. So I found some polishes that went with the tartan fabric, including the hot pink Sally Hansen Magenta, F.U.N Lacquer Aurora and to lighten up that pink, I added some of the Glow Diamond from F.U.N Lacquer too.

I also added some stars and studs from Dollar Nail Art to embellish the nails adding an americana flair and edge. And the Embellie Gellie applicator/manipulator is from scraperfect.com which is very useful if you like to apply rhinestones and stuff like that to your nails.


Also, I do speed tutorials on my Instagram page, so you can get a preview, extra makeup looks & every day shenanigans or find out when my videos or blog posts come out. I'm Michty Maxx on Instagram or you can click here and follow me there.

And if you like what you see, feel free to visit my YouTube Channel, slap & tickle the like/subscribe button, and leave a comment. It would make me smii-iile! ;-D

Enjoy!

Video Tutorial





Products Used


Base coat
OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener
Essie Grow Stronger

First layer
Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear Magenta (2 coats)

Accent nail (Ring Finger)
F.U.N Lacquer Aurora (1 coat)


Second Layer
F.U.N Lacquer Glow Diamond (1 coat) 

Top coat
Seche Vite dry fast top coat

Embellishments
3mm Black Square Studs from Dollar Nail Art
Flat Black Stars from Dollar Nail Art

Embellie Gellie & Stick from Scraperfect


Thursday 6 February 2014

Tiny Tart FOTD Makeup

I've always loved purple makeup and felt like digging into my Eye Kandy glitter stash, so I whipped up this quick FOTD.

I used Eye Kandy's Tiny Tart over Sugarpill's Elemental Chaos from their Cold Chemistry palette and added some Diamond Eyes and MAC Vellum brighten up the inner corners.

And if you're into mysterious shimmery shadows and fabulous mattes, check out Sugarpill here!


Enjoy!

Here's a demo video showing off the glitter!






Products Used

Lid
Bourjois Duochrome eyeliner in Violet Rosé on lid
Sugarpill Cold Chemistry palette eye shadow in Elemental Chaos
Eye Kandy Sprinkles in Tiny Tart (Fine)

Glitter Adhesive
Fyrinnae Pixy Epoxy

Crease
Inglot eyeshadow #113R as transition shadow
Sedona Lace 88 matte palette purple shades to blend out lid
Sugarpill pressed eyeshadow in Dollipop 

Brow highlight
Inglot eyeshadow #113R (lightest shade)

Lower lid
Bourjois Duochrome eyeliner in Violet Rosé along lashline
Inglot matte gel eyeliner in #77 on waterline & tightline 
Sugarpill Cold Chemistry palette eyeshadow in Elemental Chaos along lashline
M.A.C eye shadow in Carbon close to lashes
Inglot eyeshadow #113R to blend out lashline

Tear duct
NYX Jumbo eye Pencil in milk
Sugarpill Cold Chemistry palette eye shadow in Diamond Eyes

Brows
Benefit Gimme brow

Lashes
L'Oréal Telescopic lashes mascara

Lips
Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter in Lollipop
M.A.C Dazzleglass in Funtabulous

Face
Bourjois Healthy mix Concealer in 51 Light Vanilla on centre of face
Purely Cosmetics Diamond Perfect Finish powder

Cheeks 
Benefit High Beam
M.A.C Mineralize blush in Gentle mixed with 
Sleek Candy collection Dolly Mix
Bourjois Healthy Balance Face powder in 56 cheek contour and nose contour


Disclaimer: Affiliate links contained in this post.