4.5.14

Sayuri Nail Lacquer Beyond the Shadows Collection - Swatch & Review

Evening ladies!

I have some brand new polishes from Sayuri Nail Lacquer to show you tonight! These are the first Sayuri shades that I've tried and I'm super impressed with them! The quality is fantastic and Anthea has created some amazing and interesting shades.



About Sayuri 
Sayuri Nail Lacquer is an independent Australian business specialising in hand mixed nail polish. Developed by Anthea Cosentino, Sayuri was launched in March 2013 from a desire to combine her design qualification with her passion for nail polish. Anthea's design aesthetic is often described as 'quirky', and her inspirations are consistently wild and whimsical. [x]

The Beyond the Shadows Collection
Sayuri's newest collection is based around the concept of how different lighting can change the look of a polish. Each shade features glitters that change when exposed to sunlight and when viewed in the shade. The collection heavily features holographic and iridescent glitter as well as some lovely shimmer effects. Beyond the Shadows includes 9 new shades from Sayuri and I have been lucky enough to swatch 5 of them.


Moonbeam Aria
A slate grey crelly with small black hex, tiny white hex and small blue/pruple iridescent hex. This simple but beautiful shade has an amazing formula and was opaque in two coats. It's fast drying but dries rough so a good coat of top coat is needed. The iridescent glitters are not that visible in my photos but they sparkle a lot in real life!
2 coats with top coat


macro, direct sunlight

direct sunlight

direct sunlight

indirect sunlight/shade

indirect sunlight/shade

Refraction
A blue toned teal crelly with small navy hex, silver holographic dust, and heaps of tiny blue/green iridescent hex. It has a great glitter payout and a nice, self leveling formula and is opaque in three easy coats. The holographic and iridescent glitters really come to life in the sun!
3 coats with top coat


macro, direct sunlight

direct sunlight

direct sunlight

indirect sunlight/shade

indirect sunlight/shade


Love's Lustre
This is a dusty pastel pink scattered holo with a beautiful gold shimmer. The formula was really nice and dried to a smooth, glossy finish. Some holos tend to look a bit dull when they're not in the sunlight but the lovely soft gold shimmer flashes in an array of different lights.
3 coats without top coat



direct sunlight

direct sunlight

indirect sunlight/shade

indirect sunlight/shade


Luminous Illusion
A warm toned royal purple crelly with a strong blue shimmer. The striking shimmer effect is really evident when outside in the shade. I did have to be careful when applying this one as it is a bit prone to balding/patchiness but with 3 carefully applied coats, the shade is really stunning and well worth the effort.
3 coats with top coat

macro, indirect sunlight/shade

direct sunlight

direct sunlight

indirect sunlight/shade

indirect sunlight/shade


Rainbow Shards
A gorgeous glitter topper that is filled to the brim with every colour of iridescent flakies available! This lovely rainbow glitter shade will look pretty over any colour but I opted to swatch it over a slate grey creme. It applies really well and the flakies spread evenly and smoothly without the need of pushing/dabbing.
1 coat over a slate grey creme. 


macro, indirect sunlight/shade

direct sunlight

direct sunlight

indirect sunlight/shade

indirect sunlight/shade

Availability
Sayuri's Beyond the Shadows Collection is available to Australian buyers directly from their website. Shades can be purchased individually at $9.95 for standard colours and $10.95 for holographic shades. The entire collection is also available at the discounted price of $79.95. The new collection is not currently available outside Australia but international buyers can purchase previous Sayuri collections from Mei Mei's Signatures.



*Products in this post where provided by Sayuri for my honest review. Read my Disclosure Policy here.
Caitlin, xo



21.4.14

Swatch, Review & Nail Art! Powder Perfect Troubador Collection

Hello again!
I hope you all had a great Easter break and are slowly emerging from your chocolate induced sugar comas! 

I recently had the pleasure of swatching some new shades from Powder Perfect (read that post here). Today, I'll be showing you some creme shades released in February from the Troubador Collection as well as some nail art that features all 4 shades!


About Powder Perfect
Powder Perfect is an Australian owned, handmade, vegan cosmetics company run by the lovely Jacinta. As well as a huge range of 5-free nail polish shades, Jacinta also creates lipsticks, cuticle balms and other skin care products. Powder Perfect also offers mobile makeup services for weddings and special occasions.



The Troubador Collection

The Troubador Collection

Inspired by songs of chivalrous love sung by bards of old called troubadours, this collection features romantic pinks and dreamy pastels. This is a rolling collection, with more colours to be added in the future. You can view the entire collection here at the Powder Perfect website.

Meaning 'love letter', this crelly is a pastel plum/pink-toned mauve and applies like a dream. It is self leveling and needs 3 coats to build opacity and it dries quickly to a glossy finish. 
My swatches show 3 coats with topcoat.







One half of the ill-fated couple Tristan and Isolde. Before King Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot there was King Mark, Isolde and Tristan. This shade is a gorgeous blue-leaning mint green creme. The first coat does apply a little streaky but that's to be expected from pastels. You need to be careful when applying it to get a smooth, even coat but your patience will be rewarded as this is a truly beautiful colour.
My swatches show 3 coats with top coat.







Isodle
Married to the Irish King, Isolde conducts an ongoing affair with his nephew named Tristan which eventually leads to their demise. This polish is a pastel pink creme with silver holographic micro glitter. As pretty as this shade looks in the bottle, it doesn't really translate onto the nail because of the opaque creme formula. The glitter is for the most part lost beneath the pastel base when applied. Although it does look quite different on the nail, it is still a pretty shade of pink and the glitter effect is subtle. I think this shade would have worked better with the glitter in a crelly base like Salut D'Amor. It applies nicely and dries to a slightly textured finish so top coat is a must.
My swatches show 3 coats with top coat.








Aquitaine is the birthplace of the troubadour. This polish is a yellow-tone bone/creme/nude creme. I was pleasantly surprised by this shade as it actually compliments my skin tone! I tend to have very red toned fingers and most nudes look awful on me but the yellow undertones in this shade really work for me! 
The formula is very similar to Tristan and you do need to apply it carefully to avoid streakiness or dragging. It was actually opaque in two coats but I decided to do an third coat to even it out completely. 
My swatches show 3 coats with top coat.








And now for some nail art! When I first saw these shades all lined up next to each other, I thought that they complimented each other so well and would work together in a gradient! I started with a thin coat of Aquataine then blended the other colour onto a damp makeup sponge (see my gradient tutorials here and here) and dabbed it on my nails. For the accent nail, I applied 3 coats of Aquataine and added some lace water decals from the Born Pretty Store.










Availability
The Troubador Collection is available now from the PowderPefect.com.au website as well as some international stockists. Each 13ml bottle is $10.00 or you can buy the whole collection for $36.00.
Caitlin, xo



8.4.14

Swatch & Review: Powder Perfect 'Exhilaration' & 'Delight

Hello everyone!
I'm back again after another hiatus! I'm back at uni again so I'm afraid my blogging will be a bit sporadic, sorry! You can 'Like' Muggle Manicures on Facebook to be updated when I make a new post.

Today I have some beautiful new shades from Powder Perfect to share with you. This was my first experience with Powder Perfect polishes and I have to say that I'm really impressed! Amazing quality and serious sparkly wow-factor.



About Powder Perfect
Powder Perfect is an Australian owned, handmade, vegan cosmetics company run by the lovely Jacinta. As well as a huge range of 5-free nail polish shades, Jacinta also creates lipsticks, cuticle balms and other skin care products. Powder Perfect also offers mobile makeup services for weddings and special occasions.

The Euphoria Collection
This new offering from Powder Perfect is titled the 'Euphoria Collection' and features four gorgeous glittery shades. The four shades in this collection, Bliss, DelightExhilaration, and Elation, are all jelly based polishes that are densely packed with holographic micro glitter that compliments the colour of the base. I have been sent two polishes from the collection to review. You can view the other two shades, Bliss and Elation here.

"The Eu•pho•ri•a Collection was inspired by the emotions that we experience during life’s most enjoyable moments, the moments that we cling to." - from PowderPerfect.com.au

This collection is the first half of a two part collection with the second half, entitled 'Melancholia', to be released later this year.

'Exhilaration'
A deep plum jelly shade with holographic micro glitter in silver, lilac, and magenta. This gorgeous warm toned purple has a super pigmented base, applies easily and is almost opaque in one coat! However, I used two coats for my swatches to create more depth.




Being so packed full of glitter, this shade does dry to a textured finish. You could opt to skip the topcoat and wear it like this but I highly recommend that you get out your glitter food (ie thick, glossy top coat) and get a glassy finish to show off the incredible sparkle that this shade offers. Once you add a few coats of top coat (I used Essence Gel Look with Seche Vite on top), you get to experience a deep, multifaceted depth of glitter. When the sunlight hits it, you can even see flashes of red!






'Delight'
This sparkly shade has a medium sky blue jelly base with micro holographic blue and silver glitter. It has the same easy formula as Exhilaration, though not as pigmented. This shade can be worn alone and reaches opacity in two coats or you could wear it over a dark blue base to create a deeper look.





This shade also dries to a textured finish and as with Exhilaration, a glassy top coat is must as it brings out all the tiny holo sparkles.

Availability
The Euphoria Collection is available for pre-order now at the discounted price of $9.00 for each 13ml bottle or as a set for $33. The collection is officially released on April 14 and pre-orders will not ship until this date.

Stay tuned as later this week I will be reviewing another collection from Powder Perfect!

*These products were provided for my honest review. Read my Disclosure Policy here.
Caitlin, xo