Berry Nice

I have never really been a fan of dark polishes. It used to be associated with the "goth" crowd but over the past few years, celebrities like Hilary Duff, Fergie and Ashlee Simpson can be seen wearing this trend even with formal attire. Although I am not brave enough to wear black polish, I have ventured into the berry/purple shades. This is a big step for me as I usually wear sheer pink or nude colours and only last year ventured into bright red for the toes. During my trip to Vancouver, I was a maid of honour with a deep purple gown. We bought OPI's Jewel of India which was a perfect match to my dress. I was quite amazed that it looked so nice so I went in search for some other berry/purple polishes.

I found Rimmel Underground's new polishes had great reviews so I went out and purchased #430 Hard Edged and #420 Rave.

These are the first nail polishes that I have purchased from Rimmel. I am quite impressed with the quality as they dry quite quickly to a shiny/glossy finish. The brush design is flat and wide (like OPI's new Pro-wide brush introduced in 2006) which makes it very easy to apply the polish in a few quick strokes. The formula isn't clumpy or goopy so it makes it easy to give yourself a professional looking manicure or pedicure. With the darker colours, I would recommend 2-3 coats for best results and I would follow up with a top coat of clear polish after a few days to keep up the shiny top coat.

Hard Edged (pictured above or bottom left) is unassuming in the bottle but on your hands, it is a bold and chic blackened purple with lots of brown, red, plum shimmer with green and gold popping through in the right lighting. Just look at the collage of pictures I made above. These pictures are all of my bottle but just in different lighting and angles. I tried to capture various angles so you can see the complexity. You can definitely see the dark purple, green, gold, and blackened shimmer in these pictures. I am quite happy to have this colour in my collection (which is basically all nude pinks and a red and a few bright pinks/corals...so if I can get into this shade, anyone can).

Rave (pictured top right and in the collage) is a beautiful berry. While it is not as complex as Hard Edged, it is a beautiful berry / blackened burgundy with shimmer and lots of shine. Two-three coats is all you need for gorgeous nails. As you can see in the picture, I kept my nails short and rounded to pull off this look.

Oh and did I mention Rimmel's playfast polishes dry FAST? Much faster then Revlon, Salley Hansen, Revlon, and Maybelline. This stuff dries so fast that I was waiting around after doing my nails trying not to mess them up when I jammed my hand in something 5 minutes after applying and expected my nail to be damaged but they were completely dry and not damaged so I was quite impressed!

Also, the next day after I applied this polish for the first time, I went on a long and strenuous hike in Whistler, B.C. where you need to climb over rocks and grab onto branches and dirt to make your way up the steep mountain. Half-way up the mountain I regretted giving myself a manicure the day before because I thought it would just be "chip city". There is a part where you need to grab onto metal chains to prevent falling off the mountain and climb up ladders etc. While I may have been dirty, my nails were in great shape and no chipping whatsoever!!! Quite impressed. This never would happen with Revlon polish. Two-three coats is all you need for gorgeous nails.

Overall: I am very impressed by these polishes. The formula is great, they don't chip, they dry fast and I love the colour. I would definitely buy more nailpolishes from Rimmel.

Price: The best part is I picked these up for $3.99 Canadian but the price varies so you can get it even cheaper. These are comparable to OPI in my opinion and I am in love with both colours.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

I know I haven't posted for a while but I was overseas at my sister's wedding. I had a great time back home but was so busy with parties and visiting friends and family that I didn't have time to blog. In honour of flying, this post is dedicated to things you should bring on the plane in order to look beautiful and fresh when you arrive.

Please note that different guidelines apply depending on what county you are flying from as to what you are allowed and not allowed to bring aboard so check your local rules first as I am not responsible if your beloved Dior lip gloss gets tossed by Airport Security. For instance, Israel's airport still lets me bring water but Canada's airport security will take it from you. Weird.

Let's start with the face. Before I leave the house I usually apply a long lasting eyeliner like MAC's fluidliner in Blitz & Glitz or Clinique's Egyptian Cream Liner (seen below) to define my eyes.

This will stay on the entire flight basically even if you rub your eyes so you don't need to worry about jabbing yourself in the eye in the tiny washroom 30,000 feet in the air during turbulence. I usually apply a light moisturizing lip balm and a neutral shade of eyeshadow and neutral cream blush as my skin will appear more dewy and stay slightly more moisturized then using powder blush. When I am at the airport I usually check out the duty free and spay one or two new fragrances so I don't have to bring fragrance in my carry-on. This way I let the perfume sit on my skin for a while, and if I am doing a stopover and still enjoy the scent then I will buy it in the next countries duty-free. I'm not really an impulse buyer at all.Here are some imperatives for the long flight:

1. Moisturizer. This is a must. Plane air is dry and recirculated so you have dry flaky skin by the end of your flight (also a strong chance you will get sick so take a shower immediately upon arrival). Reapply every few hours for best results. I carry a small moisturizer. I don't really have a specific one to recommend but just make sure it is not greasy and will sink into your skin. I usualy bring a gift with purchase sample I have lying around or I pump some moisturizer to a clear case so its not the end of the world if I have to toss it. I would not recommend bringing 200ml's of moisturizer on the plane as it might get taken away from you.

2. Lip balm: I either bring Smith's Rosebud salve (really great and multipurpose. I can use it on my cuticles or any dry area on my face or on top of minor scrapes), Carmex (great for moisturizing) or a tinted lip balm like MAC's Tinted Lip Colour pot. This contains spf 15 and is very moisturizing and adds a pop of colour to your face without being sticky or goopy.

3. I would recommend bringing along a multi-purpose palette for makeup needs. I love my Christian Dior makeup palette set which my husband bought me on our trip to Thailand. Usually I like to wear bright colours and lots of shimmer on my eyes but this is a nice neutral set that doesn't necessarily advertise that you are wearing makeup. It contains a face powder, a neutral pink blush, 4 eye shadows (shimmery black, neutral brown, cream highlight and a light pink) a bronze lip gloss and a pink lipstick as well as a blush brush, a sponge-tip eyeshadow brush and a small lip brush. This is all I need on my flight and its almost fool-proof to come up with a great look.

4. Travel tooth brush and tooth paste; no need for any further explanation

5. Drink plenty of water to hydrate your skin and body.

6. Don't forget to stretch. Walk around the cabin as much as possible. I usually go to the back of the plane when most people are sleeping and do some stretches. It's hard to sit in one place for 6-9 hours!

Tips for when you arrive:
Try to take a shower immediately. I know when I have just traveled 23 hours from my home in Tel Aviv to my home in Vancouver, the last thing I want to do is stand up and take a shower. But trust me, you will feel a lot better once you have washed off this dirty feeling you get from being on a plane for hours. Try using a citrusy body wash such as The Body Shops Satsuma body gel which is an instant pick me up or try applying the body butter. The scent is so strong but really satisfying. I love this stuff as it helps me overcome the sluggish, sleepy feeling brought on by long-distance flying.