Solotica Coloured Contact Lenses Review & Swatches (#CreepyEyes)

My first post of the year turned out to be pretty vain, as I took so many photos of my eyes for this. It was kinda embarrassing because workers were chilling (#LookingDodgy) on the roof directly opposite our apartment the whole time I was taking photos!

Anyway, I decided to do this for my own record as well. I'm looking for some new coloured contacts and want to find out if they'll be too similar to what I already have. It's always a good idea to know what your eyes actually look like under different lighting as a guide when comparing, since all advertising photos are photoshopped with crazy bright lighting, alas, FAKE af!

The contacts I'm interested in are from a Korean brand called O-lens, and the colours are Russian Velvet Blue and Brown. My first impression of these lenses from looking at the webpages is that they are the Korean Solotica Hidrocor dupes. Since I'm already late on this bandwagon, you can find some youtube videos featuring swatches under those strong fluorescent halo lighting for the 'live' effect. What's with that lighting, don't people get blinded while filming in their bedroom?! Anyway, the Brown is to Ocre, the Grey is to Cristal and the Blue is a bit different but probably close to Graphite.

I have 4 pairs of Solotica lenses purchased from Parana Lentes, their prices are good and shipping is reasonable. I have 3 pairs of Hidrocors in Ice, Mel and Verde, and 1 pair of Natural Colors in Cristal. I personally think the Hidrocor range looks most natural, as it blends very well with the natural eye colour. They are single coloured lenses; the more colour on the lens, the thicker the lens, the more it pops out on your eyes, and the more obvious/fake they look. I'm not saying that bright blue eyes look natural on Asians, lol! It's just that some look like you have a thick piece of plastic stuck to your eyeball, while the Hidrocors look a bit more subtle. The colour payoff also changes with your natural eye colour, which is really inconvenient for comparison purposes!

Left to Right: Hidrocor Verde, Mel, Ice, NC Cristal

Close up of the lenses: Verde is green but on the slightest blue side, Mel is yellow, Ice is white, Cristal has a faint creamy yellow tint.

Again, my posts are heavily photo based, but what better way is there? I have taken the photos indoor (duh!), but the natural lighting is quite pitiful in this miserable cloudy Dutch winter. I have comparisons with incandescent lighting and camera flash, and contacts on one eye and both eyes to see the effect. 

For reference, I have normal medium-dark brown eyes, not super dark that look almost black, but not light enough to see the difference under normal lighting. Also, the lighting will vary a little as the sun sets early in this part of the world. Hopefully you'll get used to or confused after seeing all those photos anyway. :P

Indoor daylight taken in front of the window, not sunny but strong enough lighting, hence the reflections. My double eyelids are #real, not taped! I don't know why they look so fake in these photos! >.<

Comparison with contact only on the left. Top to bottom order: window daylight, back of the room with flash and Dutch style low incandescent lighting.

Hidrocor Mel

Hidrocor Ice

Hidrocor Verde

Natural Colors Cristal

Comparison with contacts on both eyes under window daylight. Top to bottom order: Verde, Mel, Ice, Cristal and Left Cristal + Right Ice.

As you can see, the lenses don't always sit perfectly on my eyes, probably because I have mild astigmatism. They do tend to move around a little when I move my eyes, and the lighter coloured ones shows up more obviously of course. I find that the Hidrocors fit better than the Natural Colors. 

Ice and Cristal are very similar, Cristal is more grey and Ice is a pretty spot-on ice blue. I like Ice more, it's quite stunning especially with makeup. Verde actually comes off a bit darker in person and is the least obvious. My favourite colour is Mel, it matches my husband's eyes when I wear them. ^^

I'm discarding Mel and Ice because they're old prescriptions, hope their replacements will be just as nice! I always find photos more helpful than videos for contact lenses, so hopefully this post will help whoever is having the same difficult first-world-problem of contact lens colour choices. Lol!

Battle of the Matte Lipsticks: Nars vs. Inglot

So you remember that lipstick I bought while my husband went on a rampage in a toy store? I'm going to do a pretty comprehensive review and  comparison of that and another one in this post.

First, let me present the contestants and the Judge of this battle!

Inglot AMC Lip Pencil vs. Nars Pure Matte Lipstick with Judge Sirotan Pirate Henchman. (and my amazing skill at standing him up on his tail for this photo!)

Since I can't somehow insert a table to compare them side by side, we will just start with the short one. Some info about my lips: they are very dry and I bite and lick them a lot. I'm lazy so I don't re-apply much. This makes me a very harsh lipstick critic! ;)

Nars Pure Matte Lipstick

Colour: Bangkok (soft rose)
Thoughts: It is a muted nude pink with gold shimmer, so I don't know how it's classified as matte when the finish has a soft sheen to it?! It is not that pigmented actually, a little on the sheer side for a matte lipstick, so it needs a few swipes for full coverage. I just really like this colour, that's all.

Formula (from their website) : Contains wild mango butter for moisturising properties, long-wear applications, vitamin E and acai oil for antioxidant benefits.
Thoughts: There is no such thing as long-lasting moisturising lipstick, just does not happen with chemistry or physics! It is moisturising, it looks even when applied but actually feels a little gritty for my lips. It doesn't dry my lips out any more than they dry themselves out, lol. It's nowhere close to as long-lasting as the Maybelline one I reviewed last time, there will be no trace of it after lunch and coffee...

Price: $35 for 2 g from Mecca, so on the more expensive end for those with a budget.

Inglot AMC Lip Pencil 

Colour: No. 24
Thoughts: It is a dusty rose pink, and definitely a matte finish. It looks warmer with an orange undertone on the back of the hand and in the tube, but appears to have a neutral-cool tone when applied. It is quite pigmented and looks pretty pink on my lips.

Formula: Not much info on their website, except for avocado oil for a moisturising, long-lasting effect.
Thoughts: Compared to the Nars lipstick, this one is not very moisturising. It is essentially a fat lip pencil, it still sits in the lines of the lips a bit but the application is much smoother. Again, nothing is as long-lasting as my Maybelline one, but this one is pretty good. It fades pretty evenly after lunch and dinner, and the lips look a little stained. The only downside is dryness I guess...

Price: $23 for 1.8 g from Inglot stall, not bad if you don't sharpen and waste it too much. Yes, it comes with a convenient sharpener on the end of the tube.

Pictures time!

Lippies out of the tubes, and Sirotan needed a rest from his previous magical acrobatic stunt!

Swatched on the underside of my forearm, Nars on top and Inglot on the bottom.

Top: Indoor fluorescent light (everything looks yellow! >.<) 

Bottom: left - natural outdoor light (cloudy), right - stain after rubbing off with tissue.

On the lips, Nars on the left and Inglot on the right. The lighting is slightly different but both under natural indoor light.

Inglot still had plenty left after food, but the dryness?! You ask where's Nars? All in my stomach with the food and drinks!

The left-over Inglot lips looked fine from far away, and I really hate the yellow undertone from the fluorescent light! Sirotan and I think Inglot is the winner of this battle, since dryness can be solved by some lip balm, but the lack of lipstick is the end! :p

Lipstick Week: Swatch and Review (Monday)

I am determined to wear a different coloured lipstick for each day of this week, just to annoy my husband because I can.

Apparently a lot of guys don't like kissing girls with lipstick on, I can imagine the reasons but I don't think it's enough to deter girls from wearing them. So suck it up, boys!

For each of the lipstick, I'll do a short review and some of my signature blah blah blahs. Lipstick is one of those really annoying make up items that differs heavily on personal basis, more so than other make up. I have put in a close up of my bare lips and a full mug shot (no make up other than lipstick) for skin tone reference. I try to take photos under the same lighting (bathroom selfie time, lol), so direct comparison can be drawn between the swatches. 

Monday

Maybelline - Super Stay 14Hr Lipstick in Enduring Ruby (#070)

Left: bare lips, Right: Two swipes and lined 

Indoor natural lighting without flash on a relatively sunny day.

• Shade: A cool toned, bright, berry red (colour does not deviate on lips), Satin finish. 
• Formula: Smooth application (glides on easily), moisturising, does not accentuate dryness (not settle in lines), highly pigmented, not sticky, minimal feathering, can easily re-apply, nice berry smell.
• Staying power: slight initial transfer, long lasting (probably can last up to 14 hours), fades evenly, stains lips. 
• Price: Cheap enough = plain packaging, decent quantity (3.3 g)

Left: blotted on tissue for a more matte finish, Right: After drinks, snacks, dinner (Garlic prawns & gnocchi in Arrabiata sauce), fruits, and some gentle smooching with the hubby. ;)

Final verdict: Probably the best drug store lipstick that actually does what is advertised. I know that dark colours will always have better staying power than light/nude colours. That aside, the lack of transfer makes it better than some high-end designer lipsticks, that's a big deciding factor for me. I have tried Giogio Armani Lip Maestro in 400, the amount of lipstick that I vigorously wiped off without affecting the colour on the lips both amazes and scares me... Anyway, can't think of any more to write and being kicked off the computer, Ciao! xo

Nail Polish Collection Part 2

To tell the truth, posting about nail polishes is really no fun compared to doing my nails or buying polishes. Who would've thought?! Duh!! However, I was forbidden to buy a few new ones I've set my eyes on until I posted this one, so here I am. :P 

Meanwhile, I've been spending a lot of time ogling at sexy the Joestar family members for my next art project, specifically Jonathan, Joseph and Jotaro. They are from my favourite manga (now made into anime), JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and are the men of my dreams! ~Swoooooon & Drooooool~ They are super tall (all above 195 cm), super shredded (massive and crazy muscle definition), pretty funny, always able to turn things around when in a pinch, and just absolutely fabulously sexy! If you're interested in my artworks, please come back for them when they're done. I've side tracked way too much here, so I'll get straight into the photos of the rest of my polishes.

Part 2: Non-colour shifting Polishes

This category includes everything that doesn't contain colour-shifting components, which is everything else that you can think of. I don't have a lot of special effect polishes, such as magnetic, soft/velvet finish, sand/sugar finish, and etc., so you won't be seeing any here. Solar and Thermo-active polishes don't really belong to my two categories, they change from one solid colour to another solid colour upon exposure to UV and temperature changes. As I mentioned before, they are chemically and physically different to the optical colour-shifting materials in the previous post, and since I don't have any, I'm not going to worry about them. 

Brand acronyms (recap):

AE - A England

CC - Color Club

CG - China Glaze

DD - Different Dimensions

EL - Estee Lauder

FF - Femme Fetale (Polish)

HP - Hit Polish

LSL - Liquid Sky Lacqure

PP - Picture Polish

1. Smooth Metallics

Needless to say, these polishes have a metallic shine to the finish, which contain a mixture of metal pigments and mica (they are not the same). The silver metallic colour usually comes from Aluminium powder, while Titanium oxide and mica (Silicate) give a pearlescent shine. Due to the low metal content, the finish of the metallic polishes will never be the same as a piece of polished metal, but resembles more of a mineral ore. 

This is when I'd like to emphasize the difference between metallic and chrome finishes. As you can tell from its name, the conventional Chrome finish requires plating of the Chromium metal onto a surface to create a smooth mirror-like surface. This is unachievable for nail polishes as chroming is a chemical process and has health and environmental issues. Therefore, all the so-called *chrome* polishes are not true chrome because they can't reproduce a perfect reflective mirror finish. If you want the REAL chrome effect, go with stickers or acrylics. The closest to a true mirror finish is probably the Layla Mirror Effect polishes. It's still very hard to achieve a smooth finish with these polishes. You'll need to really prep your nails and use a good smoothing base coat. The polishes also tend to drag, so additional coats and top coats are probably desirable if you're not skilled.

AE - Perceval, Chanel - Taboo, EL - Chrome Violet, Chanel - Bel Argus, Australis - Bun of Steel, OPI - Moonraker, Layla - Mirror Effect Metal Chrome, OPI - Birthday Babe, and EL - Brushed Gold.

Kitties26 of More Nail Polish has a very informative blog entry on this, if you'd like some visual assistant to my explanation. Now that is a TRUE nail polish blog, compared to my mishmash of random things.

One more thing, Chanel Taboo isn't really metallic, but has copper/gold metallic flakes. Bel Argus is weird, it has a blue to purple colour-shift but is definitely more metallic than the plain colour-shifting polishes, yet the pigment is fine unlike the colour-shifting metal flakes. They're in the metallic just because they're fancy but whatever.

2. Mesh Metallics

Correct me if I'm wrong, I think Picture Polish is probably the first who coined this term for their range of nail polishes. I also think it's a rather accurate description for the appearance, which consists a relatively homogeneous mix of two or more fine metallic glitter (or flakes) suspended in a tinted base. The ones I bought have a smooth finish, but some can dry to a gritty texture, so a nice thick top coat would help. I have added some 0.008" gold and holo gold glitters to Glitzerland; therefore, giving it a more mesh-like finish. I like my version way better! <3

OPI - Glitzerland*, AE - Excalibur (new), Arezia (Sasa HK) - 3rd to last.

The polishes I bought from my HK trip don't have any names because they are cheap and generic, they were less than 1 AUD for a mini 5 mL bottle! :D Haven't worn them yet, but the colour payoff and the formula are not too shabby.

3. Holographics

Or I call it, Rainbow Wonderland! I absolutely love love love these, not just because how shiny and colourful they are, but also the complex chemistry and physics behind it all! I mean light wavefront interference and diffraction, short wavelength X-ray lasers, synchrotrons, metalised PET (polyethylene terephthalate), phase and amplitude modulations are probably scientific terminology you either have never heard of or are just uninterested in, but I thrive on these theories and ideas and fancy equipment, and probably lived with (and for!) during the Ph.D years...

Getting too excited here, lol, all I'm going to say that makes more sense here is that you have two types of final visual effects: linear and scattered. For example, in Futuristica and 2NITE, the glitters are different in size but they all reflect and refract light in the same direction; hence, appearing as one big rainbow. The Oztoic chrome shatters and the OPI designer series (DS) are examples of the scattered effects, where the holographic particles are irregular in size and the light bounces off in all different directions. 

Most linear effect holographic polishes are made with SpectraFlair® pigment, which is an industraial trademark material. The particle sizes (14, 20 and 35 microns) are much smaller than the finest holographic metal flakes (50 microns, or 1/500"). You can still create a linear-ish finish with the metal flakes, it just won't be as smooth and satin-like as the SpectraFlair®, which is expensive and hard to source.

CG - FYI, CC - Harp On It, DD - Black Dahlia, FNUG - Futuristica, CG - 2NITE, Ozotic - Chrome Shatter 914, CG - LOL, OPI - DS Amethyst, Ozotic - 607,  OPI - DS Reserve, and AE - Briar Rose.

4. Glitters

OMG, I need to shut up because this post is getting way too long and boring for some! Anyways, endless combinations of fun and excitement can be created with glitters of all different sizes and finishes. I'll just let the pictures do the talking, which is what I'm supposed to be doing all along...

Medium to Large Glitters: Innisfree - Pro91 and Pro93, HP - Pixie Dust, Peacock Plumage, Lily Pad, Mardi Gras, Light Show, and Funfetti.

OPI - The Living Daylights, FF - Evening Tide, OPI - Pink Yet Lavender, FF - Lucent Ametrine, Suspended Starlight, Galactic Shards, and CG - Techno (over purple base).

Fine Glitters: CG - Glistening Snow, Kleancolor - Holo Blue, Holo Chrome, Midnight Seduction, Kiss Goodbye, and Chi Chi -  Glitterati Purple.

5. Creams & Shimmers

Boring, but you can't live without them. The base of everything and anything, or just something subtle and cute for the lesser attention seekers. For OPI - Gargantuan Green Grape, it was really similar to CG - Refresh-ment but on the thinner and yellower side. I really didn't like it, so I just mixed in a whole bunch of different pigments to get a muted blue-green colour of no name. For Essie - Like To Be Bad, I added a tiny bit of 0.008" Silver holo and Red glitters for extra cuteness.

Revlon - Midnigt Affair, CG - Up All Night, Essence - Forget-Me-Not, Nubar - Faded Jeans, Essie - Barbados Blue, PP - Sky, OPI - Gargantuan Green Grape*, CG - Refresh-Mint, Marcia (Sasa HK), CG - Light As Air, OPI - The Color To Watch, PP - Wisteria, Kleancolor - Cobalt, and b collection by Bloom (Kmart).

CG - Merry Berry, EL - Red Cherry, Inglot - 931, CG - Something Sweet, Essie - Like To Be Bad*, OPI - Princesses Rule!, Inglot - 866, CC - Sun N' Fun, LSL - Cosmic Dust, OPI - Will You Mari-achi Me?, Essie - Rock Candy, PP - Beige, and OPI - Cosmo-Not Tonight Honey.

The extras:

A closer shot of the Korean nail polishes I was raving about, the Innisfree polishes also have an interested and not off-putting fruity smell. Excuse my nails, I can't stand them being long and have crappy cuticles. The pink and blue glitters are slightly on the neon side, but I really enjoy their mix of colour, size and shapes. Way more interesting than OPI has ever offered! Yes OPI is overrated imo, formula is a hit and miss and the colour range can be redundant, so meh meh meh compared to these cuties!

Korean Polishes: Innisfree Eco Color Pro: 93, 91, 69, 72, 73, and A'pieu Aurora VL02.

Pro93 over Cosmic Dust = Super cute! <3

The Storage Unit:

Another contribution from my husband, this is a Magic: the Gathering card storage box. I know, WTF is this nerdy card game! It's made from strong corrugated cardboard and is conveniently sized and segmented for my nail polishes. ;) It's weight tested for 200 lb and the dimensions are 15" (L) x 13" (W) x 4" (H). If you can ever bring yourself to go into one of those nerdy gaming shops, they're cheap and worth your money, only if. LOL!!! Of course mine has been covered by pretty fabrics, so it doesn't look as nerdy as it really is. ^^ 

Where they sleep, day and night, away from sunlight, like a vampire's coffin. :P

Next Post: I might stay away from nail polishes for a while, but I still have some Franken polish stuff to post. There might be some reviews of makeup and skincare products instead, or more of my obsessions with manga and anime and their characters. I have two art projects planned, just can't wait to draw sexy buff men! :P

Nail Polish Collection Part 1

Apparently, the prioritisation of my posts hasn't sat well with my lovely lady friends. To make up for this, these posts are ALL about nail polishes and ALL the pictures of nail polishes that I own. I'm warning you, it's going to be picture heavy and brand-name heavy! Don't blame me if you get headaches from the sparkles, Chemistry kitty is ALL about the sparkles after all! <3

First things first, abbreviations of the brand names if they are too long to type out:

CA - Coco Allure

CG - China Glaze

EP - Enchanted Polish

FF - Femme Fetale (Polish)

HP - Hit Polish

HS - Hits Speciallità

MF - Max Factor

PI - Pure Ice

PP - Picture Polish

PS - Pretty Serious (Polish)

SH - Sally Hansen

I try to not buy polishes that are too similar to each other, so there won't be many dupes in here. However, the nude pink colours appeared to be very similar in the photo but actually have different highlights. If you're interested in those I can make another post as a request.

Moving on, I try to categorise my collection (self-diagnosed OCD) by type and then order by colour. There are a few polishes that don't like to conform to only one category, I have outcasted them as loners!

Photo information: All photos were taken indoor but under natural sunlight (on my dining table next to the window, FYI), they have only been cropped to appropriate size but not edited to enhance colours or finish. I was lucky that the white balance was consistent throughout the photos. Again, if you'd like to see particular polishes under different lighting or the complete colour-shift, just throw me a kibble. ;) 

The Colour-Shifting Multichromes:

1. Opaques

The majority of this set consists of the Hits Speciallità Mari Moon Multigirl Modern (HM) and Unique (HU) sets. They do not have a holographic finish, so I have added a bit of silver holographic metal flakes (1/250" and 1/500") for some additional sparkle effects. Most other polishes were swatches as originals. the altered ones will be denoted with an *, and the alternation will be explained in the description.

Left to right: Unconventional (HU), Dreamer (HM), Artsy (HU), Pupa - Iridescent P157, Cutie Pie (HM), Darling (HU), Chameleon (HM), Cool (HM), Trendy (HU), and EP - I Am The Walrus,
Top row: Swatched on its own with 2-3 coats,
Second row: Swatched 1-2 coats over CG - Black Leather,
Extra (bottom): EP Octopus's Garden - dupe of Dreamer.

Colour-shift effect 

Personally, I prefer these polishes over a dark polish, as it really brings out the colour-shifting effects of the pigment. I also prefer the formula of the Hits polishes, they spread better and smoother than my Enchanted polishes and are cheaper. EP does have a better colour selection and a better holographic finish. That's just my experience with the ones I have, it'll probably differ with batches.

2. Flakies 

This type of colour-shifting polishes have relatively large and irregular particle size. Particle size explains the physical light-reflecting properties of these materials, i.e. larger particle size = more sparkly and smaller particle size = more shimmery. The coating (thermal, UV colour-changing types) also affects the colour and reflectivity of the particles, but that's a different and more complicated story. The 2 left ones in the photo below are more like iridescent glitter but who cares, but they look right at home next to the flakies. :p 

HP - Irisation, CG - Snow Globe, PP - Festival, SH - Hidden Treasure (old), Inglot - 205, HS - Jazz (matte top coat), HS - Valsa, Innisfree - Pro69, and Inglot - 204 (matte top coat).

Since most flakies are duochrome but not multichrome, I really like to mixed up ALL the colours to get a unicorn vomit (like PPs Festival but MORE)! =D 

3. Glitters

Colour-shifting glitters have a much more limited colour range compared to the pigments and flakies. So far, I've only seen four opaque metallic multichrome glitters, and the rest are actually clear/iridescent. I don't have all of them, and don't think I will, they always look prettier in photos and the bottle than in real life. 

Ozotic - 529, HS - Seapunk Mermaid, CA - Jupiter Aurora, PI - Heart Breaker*, Glam Nails (from Target), Marcia (Sasa HK), Kleancolor - Chunky Holo Bluebell, and MF - Fantasy Fire.

Ozotic doesn't make the multichrome glitter polishes anymore, but FF stocks an indie brand (Indigo Bananas) that has all four colours, if you're in Australia. Seapunk Mermaid is actually a mix between Jupiter Aurora and Ozotic 529, but Jupiter Aurora has the highest glitter density among them. Heart Breaker is a very fine green to blue duochrome shimmer, so I added some 0.008" green to blue shifting glitter to jazz it up again.

4. Glass Flakes

These ultra-thin particles are called glass flakes because they are made from borosilicate. Due to their thinness (didn't think it's real word, but it's in the dictionary), the application of the polishes is extremely smooth and the desired opacity is easy to achieve by additional coats. The flakes themselves are again transparent, but they are much more sparkly than  the other types of colour-shifting materials.

A'pieu - Aurora VL02, Ozotic - Sugar 903, Ozotic - Beam 905, TKB Starbite pigments*: Marinda Star,  Cherika Moon, Sharina Sun, Innisfree - Pro72 and Pro 73.

Covergirl - Midnight Magic, Maybelline - Brocades, PS - Galaxy Invader and Phantom Planet on its own and over black.

As you can see, the polishes in the bottom photo have smaller flakes than the ones in the photos above; therefore, creating a smoother, more metallic shimmer. I thought the Maybelline one was colour-shifting, but it's NOT. Oh well, it only cost 2 bux!

Sorry I didn't swatch the Innisfree polishes over black, I know it makes the colour-shift hard to see, but you won't be able to see the cute mixture of glitters if I did. I'm really impressed with the quality of these Korean nail polishes, they are also reasonably priced! I'll definitely be making another post just for them! <3

I have to stop here because my husband warned me that I'm screwing myself out of writing material. I think this is enough nail polishes in one post. I know there seemed to be a few pop ups of polish alterations of my own; again, I'll make a different post for  those and 'Franken' polish supplies.

I'm going to watch Supernatural now! It's finally back after the break! xoxoxo