Revlon Parfumerie Scented Nail Enamel in Autumn Spice

Revlon Parfumerie Scented Nail Enamel in Autumn Spice

I've had my eye on this color ever since I first saw the Parfumerie collection on Nouveau Cheap.  This particular shade combines several of my favorite things: multichrome/color shifting glass fleck shimmer, dark, vampy color, the words autumn and spice in the name, very attractive packaging, and a gimmick (it's scented!) to make it completely irresistible to me.

Finally found it just last weekend and it's even better than I anticipated.  Color? Gorgeous.  Formula? Excellent.  Scent?  Surprisingly un-artificial and not excessively strong.  Perfect fall polish.  I love it.

I like scented polishes, but sometimes they can be overpowering and headache-inducing.  This one strikes a good balance between being noticeably scented, but not so noticeably scented that it turns your stomach because it's all I can smell.  It has a spicy (duh), rich cinnamon scent.  Very pleasant.

I also grabbed Italian Leather and Sunlit Grass because they were buy two, get one free at Meijer.  Have you tried any of these?  Which other scents are good?  I was thinking about getting the Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream dupe but the mint scent didn't sound too appealing to me.  Should I go back for it?

Depression Awareness 2012

Every year, I like to talk a little bit about an invisible illness that many of us suffer from, but very few people are aware of the facts surrounding it.  That affliction is depression, and it's still very misunderstood by those who have not personally experienced it.

Clinical depression isn't just feeling sad once in a while, or naturally grieving for a period of time after a sad life event.  There's more to it, and it can seriously affect your day to day life.  Here's how it's defined by the National Institute of Mental Health:

"Major depressive disorder, or major depression, is characterized by a combination of symptoms that interfere with a person's ability to work, sleep, study, eat, and enjoy once-pleasurable activities. Major depression is disabling and prevents a person from functioning normally. Some people may experience only a single episode within their lifetime, but more often a person may have multiple episodes."

There are many different forms of depression, some of which are:

Dysthymic disorder, or dysthymia, is characterized by long-term (2 years or longer) symptoms that may not be severe enough to disable a person but can prevent normal functioning or feeling well. People with dysthymia may also experience one or more episodes of major depression during their lifetimes.

Minor depression is characterized by having symptoms for 2 weeks or longer that do not meet full criteria for major depression. Without treatment, people with minor depression are at high risk for developing major depressive disorder.
Some forms of depression are slightly different, or they may develop under unique circumstances. However, not everyone agrees on how to characterize and define these forms of depression. They include:

• Psychotic depression, which occurs when a person has severe depression plus some form of psychosis, such as having disturbing false beliefs or a break with reality (delusions), or hearing or seeing upsetting things that others cannot hear or see (hallucinations).
• Postpartum depression, which is much more serious than the "baby blues" that many women experience after giving birth, when hormonal and physical changes and the new responsibility of caring for a newborn can be overwhelming. It is estimated that 10 to 15 percent of women experience postpartum depression after giving birth.¹
• Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), which is characterized by the onset of depression during the winter months, when there is less natural sunlight. The depression generally lifts during spring and summer. SAD may be effectively treated with light therapy, but nearly half of those with SAD do not get better with light therapy alone. Antidepressant medication and psychotherapy can reduce SAD symptoms, either alone or in combination with light therapy.²

Bipolar disorder, also called manic-depressive illness, is not as common as major depression or dysthymia. Bipolar disorder is characterized by cycling mood changes—from extreme highs (e.g., mania) to extreme lows (e.g., depression). More information about bipolar disorder is available.

What are the signs and symptoms of depression?

People with depressive illnesses do not all experience the same symptoms. The severity, frequency, and duration of symptoms vary depending on the individual and his or her particular illness.
Signs and symptoms include:

• Persistent sad, anxious, or "empty" feelings
• Feelings of hopelessness or pessimism
• Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, or helplessness
• Irritability, restlessness
• Loss of interest in activities or hobbies once pleasurable, including sex
• Fatigue and decreased energy
• Difficulty concentrating, remembering details, and making decisions
• Insomnia, early-morning wakefulness, or excessive sleeping
• Overeating, or appetite loss
• Thoughts of suicide, suicide attempts
• Aches or pains, headaches, cramps, or digestive problems that do not ease even with treatment.

What illnesses often co-exist with depression?

Other illnesses may come on before depression, cause it, or be a consequence of it. But depression and other illnesses interact differently in different people. In any case, co-occurring illnesses need to be diagnosed and treated.

Anxiety disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, social phobia, and generalized anxiety disorder, often accompany depression.  PTSD can occur after a person experiences a terrifying event or ordeal, such as a violent assault, a natural disaster, an accident, terrorism or military combat. People experiening PTSD are especially prone to having co-existing depression.

In a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded study, researchers found that more than 40 percent of people with PTSD also had depression 4 months after the traumatic event.

Alcohol and other substance abuse or dependence may also co-exist with depression. Research shows that mood disorders and substance abuse commonly occur together.

Depression also may occur with other serious medical illnesses such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, and Parkinson's disease. People who have depression along with another medical illness tend to have more severe symptoms of both depression and the medical illness, more difficulty adapting to their medical condition, and more medical costs than those who do not have co-existing depression. Treating the depression can also help improve the outcome of treating the co-occurring illness.

What causes depression?

Most likely, depression is caused by a combination of genetic, biological, environmental, and psychological factors.

Depressive illnesses are disorders of the brain. Longstanding theories about depression suggest that important neurotransmitters—chemicals that brain cells use to communicate—are out of balance in depression. But it has been difficult to prove this.

Brain-imaging technologies, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), have shown that the brains of people who have depression look different than those of people without depression. The parts of the brain involved in mood, thinking, sleep, appetite, and behavior appear different. But these images do not reveal why the depression has occurred. They also cannot be used to diagnose depression.

Some types of depression tend to run in families. However, depression can occur in people without family histories of depression too. Scientists are studying certain genes that may make some people more prone to depression. Some genetics research indicates that risk for depression results from the influence of several genes acting together with environmental or other factors.

In addition, trauma, loss of a loved one, a difficult relationship, or any stressful situation may trigger a depressive episode. Other depressive episodes may occur with or without an obvious trigger.

For more facts and statistics on depression, visit my previous posts,  helpguide.org and the National Institute of Mental Health. 

If you are experiencing thoughts of suicide, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

Speaking on a personal level, depression deeply affects me.  Sometimes it's this overwhelming weight on my mind and body, a dark cloud over my head and a feeling like I'm carrying the world on my shoulders while walking through deep mud.  It can make even simple tasks seem impossible; it destroys my concentration; it hampers my motivation.

There are many ways to help someone with depression, but you know what really doesn't help?  People who tell me "Snap out of it!,"  "Just cheer up!," "What do you have to be depressed about?  There are people who have it much worse than you!."  "Happiness is a choice!".  Do you really think that I want to be depressed?  That I love feeling like shit?  That I can just flip some magical switch and everything will suddenly become sunshine and rainbows??  That invalidating my feelings will actually somehow make me feel better?  Be kind and supportive toward your friends with depression.  You may not understand what they're going through, but a sympathetic and non-judgmental ear can make a world of difference to them.

Anyway, now that all that uncomfortable personal stuff is out of the way, how about some cheerful nail spam?  The color for depression awareness is green, and that just so happens to be one of my most favorite polish colors.

And for everyone out there reading this that's going through depression, don't despair.  You're not alone in this.  There are people who understand and you don't have to suffer in silence.  We're here for you.

Essie Armed and Ready

 L'Oreal Bijou Gems in B. Strong

 

Pro 10 Camouflage

 

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Chlorophyll

 OPI Damone Roberts 1968

Deborah Lippmann Don't Tell Mama

 

Mavala 126 Electric Green

Calvin Klein Splendid Color in Emerald Green

 

Hard Candy Greed

 Claire's Kelly Green

 Barielle Shades in Lily of the Valley

 

 L'Oreal Wear Extraordinaire in Martini Olive

Confetti My Favorite Martian

Man Glaze Nawsome Sauce

The Painted Nail olive green shimmer (no label)

 Dare to Wear Poison Ivy

 

Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro in Rags to Riches

 

Revlon Colorstay in Rainforest

Color Club Magnetic Force in Sci Fi

Butter London Swinger

 Pretty Serious VT100

Butter London Wallis

 Ninja Polish Zultanite (over black)

A few new cool Fall and Halloween drugstore nail finds!

I found some cool new fall nail stuff while out shopping this week.  I noticed that a lot of the Halloween things are the same as last year's (like the Blue Cross pumpkins and mini polishes and a lot of the Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers stuff), but there were a few new ones.

 
The new 2012 Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers colors:

12487 Nail In The Coffin (black with silver and orange microglitter)

12488  Rest in Pieces (black with purple microglitter)

12489 Once Upon A Time (black with small red glitter and medium red microglitter.  Possible Lippmann Ruby Red Slippers dupe.)

 Revlon Halloween 2012 Nail Collection:

Black Magic (black creme)

Haunted Heart (orange with gold shimmer)

Spooky Skull (white jelly/creme)

Wicked Star (blue-green base with yellow-green duochrome shimmer)

Revlon Halloween nail art stencils in Mustaches, Spiders and Skulls.

There were a few other stencil designs, but I don't remember all of them.

 

Sally Hansen Lustre Shine Nail Color Collection for Fall 2012

The entire Lustre Shine collection is duochrome/multichrome. Brings back memories of my beloved Sally Hansen Nail Prisms!  There were a few other colors that I didn't grab because they were dupes of other colors that came out already this year, but I'll probably grab the rest when they go on sale.  But I had to have these:

003 Firefly (mave-bronze-green-gold multichrome)

006 Lava (pink-magenta-bronze-orange glass fleck multichrome)

008 Copperhead (bronze-gold-green-purple-blue multichrome)

  NYC In A New York Color Minute Quick Dry Nail Polish in Python Green.

This was on a new Fall 2012 collection display along with a purple polish that didn't look very interesting and a couple of lipglosses, shadow palettes and eyeliners.  This color was the only thing that caught my eye; it's a golden olive green with a slightly smoky-looking base and a subtle duochrome shift.  

I'm still waiting for all the other Halloween-themed makeup collections to hit the stores, but so far this is all I've found.  Pretty cool, though!

Blue Comparison

Here's a quick comparison of the most vibrant blue shades in my stash. Sorry I didn't have this up before the Rescue Beauty Lounge pre-order :(

Also, before I get to the comparison, has this happened to anyone else?

I had originally planned on including Illamasqua Force in this comparison because I remember it being an amazing bright blue creme, but when I took it out of its box, I saw this:

It turned a faded, dusty purple creme! WTF? I thought I was going crazy because I clearly remember this polish being blue, but I looked through every Illamasqua polish I have just to double check in case I was remembering the name wrong, but no... It was this one and it used to be blue. I don't know how this could have happened. It's been stored in its box, in a drawer, away from sunlight ever since I last wore it in 2010. Would have been worth comparing if it hadn't changed. Anyway. On to the blues.

Left to right (pinkie to index):
Rescue Beauty Lounge IKB:2012, three coats plus topcoat
ORLY Royal Navy, three coats plus topcoat
Revlon Royal, three coats plus topcoat
Rescue Beauty Lounge IKB:2012, three coats plus topcoat

None of these are exact matches to each other, but they are similar. They do come across a bit more bold/crisp/clean in photos than they do in real life- each has a slightly more dusty/soft look to the finish, but they're still very bold.

IKB:2012 has the deepest color and the softest finish. The finish looks dustier compared to Royal, and it's the most opaque of the three. The color itself has a bit of purple to it, like it's so blue that it's just about to tip over into the indigo/violet portion of the spectrum. Out of all three, IKB:2012 has the weirdest application, but I've been told that the final release version will have an improved texture.

Revlon Royal is the brightest, but it's not as bright as something like Nubar Blueberry. It has the sheerest formula (I'd call it a jelly), the runniest texture and the longest dry time. It is an amazing color and if you don't want to spend the $20 on the Rescue polish, I think you'd be satisfied with this one.

Orly Royal Navy isn't really comparable in the sense of being a duplicate, but it does have a similar base color to the other two. Also, if you let your bottle sit without shaking it for a while, all the glitter will settle to the bottom and you'll be able to apply it as a slightly glitter-flecked blue jelly. I had to shake my bottle really, really hard to get this much glitter to show up on my nail. It has a thin but easy to apply formula and the second longest dry time.

Revlon Sheer Pearl over Essie To Buy, Or Not To Buy

Here's a random layering experiment manicure that I wore this week. I already like Revlon Sheer Pearl on its own, but I wanted to see if more colors would come out if I layered it over another color.


Revlon Sheer Pearl (one coat) over Essie To Buy, or Not To Buy (three coats). The pale lilac base doesn't add any real color to the semi-sheer pearl polish, but it does seem to change which colors show up most. By itself, the pink duochrome flash in Sheer Pearl is dominant. But layered over the pastel purple, I get to see more of the purple and turquoise colors in the polish. Layering it over an opaque base also seems to make its large shimmer particles seem even bigger.

I like how this turned out. For some reason I've been really into 'bubble' colors lately. Colors that remind me of soap bubbles... Light colors, even very sheer ones, that have an iridescent/duochrome sheen to them. Love them.

(image source)

New Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter Swatches and Review

Revlon has a new line of lip colors out this month, but they're not your usual lipsticks. They're called Colorburst Lip Butter and what sets them apart from regular lipstick is that they're balm-like and moisturizing while still having bold color. Plus, there's a color for everyone, with shades from pales and neutrals to bold reds and corals.


Each Colorburst Lip Butter comes in a lipstick-style tube with a translucent quilted-pattern cap that resembles frosted glass. My favorite aspect of this packaging is that each cap (and label) is tinted to match the lipstick.


01 Pink Truffle, 05 Sugar Frosting, 010 Raspberry Pie, 015 Tutti Frutti, 020 Brown Sugar, 025 Peach Parfait, 030 Fig Jam.


Swatched with flash and without. Left to right: Pink Truffle, Sugar Frosting, Raspberry Pie, Tutti Frutti, Brown Sugar, Peach Parfait, Fig Jam.


035 Candy Apple, 040 Red Velvet, 045 Cotton Candy, 050 Berry Smoothie, 055 Cupcake, 060 Gumdrop, 065 Creamsicle.


Left to right: Candy Apple, Red Velvet, Cotton Candy, Berry Smoothie, Cupcake, Gumdrop, Creamsicle.


070 Cherry Tart, 075 Lollipop, 080 Strawberry Shortcake, 085 Sugar Plum, 090 Sweet Tart, 095 Creme Brulee, 096 Macaroon.


Left to right: Cherry Tart, Lollipop, Strawberry Shortcake, Sugar Plum, Sweet Tart, Creme Brulee, Macaroon.


Some of the shades have a little bit of shimmer to them, but it's very subtle. For example, here's Gumdrop, the pastel creamy lavender shimmer. The shimmer is there, you can see tiny flecks of it when you're wearing it, but the color doesn't appear shimmery, sparkly or frosty at all.


With such a creamy, buttery, balm-like lip product, you expect it to be sheer, but all of these have a lot of color to them. It's a see-through type of finish rather than a dense opaque cream finish, and it makes the shades a lot easier to wear. This is a single thin layer of Lollipop and the color still pops.

What I liked:

• The formula is super smooth and buttery. They feel awesome on my lips. Very comfortable, not thick or heavy, and never drying. Like a light balm.
  
• They're not too sheer. Each shade can be built up for brighter color or applied lightly for a more sheer tint.
• I love the color-matched packaging. I really am a fan of packaging that's colored to match the product. Especially because it makes it way easier to find the color you're looking for if you have a few of them in your purse.
• Packaging design is cute. I like the quilted cap. It looks retro.
• They have stickers along the side that act as safety seals. Biggest pet peeve about drugstore makeup is going to the store to buy something and finding that everything has already been used because there's no seal (and because people are barbarians and open the packages, stand in the aisle and apply it, and put it back on the shelf without buying it.)
  
• They're unscented. I am disappointed that there aren't scents to match the names, but if it's going to be unscented, it better be unscented. They did a really good job of making these taste and smell like absolutely nothing. No heavily perfumed lipstick scent, no heavy, waxy lanolin smell, no sunscreen smell or taste, nothing. Just a very faint lip balm taste right when you apply it, but after that, no detectable taste or smell.
• Good color selection. Some brights, some pastels, a nude/neutral for nearly every skintone.
• I love the translucent finish. It's colorful but it's not dense and opaque, you can see your lip through it. Sort of like a jelly nail polish, but not as dense looking.
• They don't stain your lips when they wear off.
• They wear for a surprisingly long time for such a light, balmy product (I made it four hours before I wanted to reapply) and they never feel dry or make my lips flake or feel uncomfortable like most lipsticks do.
  

What I didn't like:

• I wish they were scented like their names- Cupcake! Strawberry Shortcake! Brown Sugar! It's nice that they have no scent at all, but I really love scented things, especially cupcake scented things.
  
• The pastel shades are a little too milky and whitish for me to wear. They're my favorite ones to look at, but they just look too white against my lips.

Overall, I think these are awesome. I have no complaints about the formula other than the lack of scents/flavors. I just can't think of anything I truly dislike about them. The colors are nice, they feel fantastic, they're both a balm and a lip color, and they're nice to look at. Since the colors have a sheer/translucent finish, it makes them really easy to wear and apply. Because of that, I've found the first red I feel comfortable wearing on a daily basis: Candy Apple. It is perfect. I have no fear of smudging it all over my face, it won't bleed or feather, and it's sheer enough to apply right out of the tube with no lipliner or extra effort. It's not a crazy bright high-impact red, but it is pretty bold and the sheer finish makes it very forgiving.

My favorites are Candy Apple, Strawberry Shortcake, Lollipop, Cherry Tart, Tutti Frutti and Sweet Tart.

The full line of Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter is available in stores now and it is permanent. They retail in the $6.50-$7.50 range, depending on where you buy them.

(This was sent for review.)