When Blogs Collide – an introduction to Yarrrn

Not sure if you've noticed the lovely skull and crossbones in my sidebar, but that is my other love. Yarncrafting.

I'm not all lipgloss and hairspray, ya know. ;)

I'm trying to balance my life between my two passions—beauty and yarn. Case in point, I went shopping yesterday and this is what I came home with.

This is pretty representative of my excursions.

So there it is. My other half. A blog full of knitting and crochet and nerdy craftiness. And I love it.

What's Hot – MAC Fashion Sets

It's not a big surprise that I have soft spot for MAC Cosmetics. The majority of my makeup is MAC so I use it in all my tutorials.

The downfall of MAC? They tend to come out with a lot of temporary collections. So if you fall in love with something, there's a chance you'll never see it again. Case in point.

MAC Fashion Sets

MAC just came out with 3-piece mini collections (lipstick, lipglass, and nail lacquer) based on the must-have lipsticks from around the globe. Since some of them are temporary, I thought I'd show what lipsticks from the collections were available in my neck of the woods just days before the sets were released.

MAC Lipsticks 

1. MYTH—light neutral nude (satin)
2. RAVISHING—clean light peachy coral (cremesheen)
3. MORANGE—loudmouth orange (amplified)
4. RUSSIAN RED—intense bluish-red (matte)
5. PLEASE ME—muted-rosy-tinted pink (matte)
6. IMPASSIONED—amped-up fuschia (amplified)
7. SNOB—light neutral pink (satin)
8. PINK NOUVEAU—bright pink (satin)
9. GIRL ABOUT TOWN—bright blue fushia (amplified)
10. REBEL—midtonal cream plum (satin)

I went ahead and swatched them so you could see what they look like on my extremely pale skin.

FYI, never try a lip color on anyplace other than your lips. As you can see, none of these look horrific on my arm, but believe me, some of them look really bad on my lips.These are some of the most popular shades of lipstick around the world. And if you want them, you'll be able to find them! These are in MAC's permanent collection.

Comment with which shades you fancy and I'll tell you where they're bestsellers!

China Glaze Prismatic Chroma Glitters

I'm a sucker for glitter, so when I saw the China Glaze Chroma Glitters at the beauty supply, I was smitten.

China Glaze Prismatic Chroma Glitters

These are the shiniest things I've seen in a while! They have teeny, tiny little pieces of glitter that create an insane amount of sparkle as well as define the color of each individual polish. Couple that with the varying colors of larger glitter and it adds great dimension. The larger glitters are the same in each color—pink, green and silver.

As you can see, there are six Chroma Glitters. The photo above shows their intensity. The swatches below show what they look like in sunlight. In shadow, they're closer to the colors above. I used one coat on each swatch.

China Glaze Prismatic Swatches

1. OPTICAL ILLUSION—This is one of my favorites. I think because it's rare to see a green glitter that doesn't look too Christmas-y.
2. LIQUID CRYSTAL—Another favorite. It's not baby blue but it's not crazy bright either. I think it would go with almost anything.
3. FULL SPECTRUM—I really liked how this looked in the bottle. It didn't translate as well on the nail, though. I was wishing the pink would have stood out more. It almost comes across as a neutral.
4. RAY-DIANT—This one is kind of hard to define. It teeny sparkles are gold, but it doesn't really look gold on. It's kind of like Full Spectrum, where it's more of a neutral.
5. PRISM—I gravitated toward this one since it was purple, but, like the previous two, it just didn't come across as well. You can tell it's purple when it's on, but it's very muted.
6. POLARIZED—With all that silver sparkle, this is a favorite too. Plus the colored glitter makes it interesting.

This is a fun collection. If I had to choose only two to get, I'd go with Optical Illusion and Liquid Crystal.

Optical Illusion / Liquid CrystalThese two are the most unique. I really own nothing like them.

With all the polishes in this collection, I would use two coats. Especially with the lighter ones. Also, beware that every glitter polish (especially China Glaze) tends to peel and flake off within a day or two, even with a good topcoat. So if you're wanting the China Glaze Chroma Glitters to last, I'd use them on your toes instead of your hands. You'll get more wear out of them.

On Trend – Colored Denim

I'm sure you've seen all the colored denim out there right now. Maybe you've rocked it yourself. At the conference I visited last month, I was surrounded by jeans in every color of the rainbow. It was a little bit like this.

Second Skin by Hudson JeansI, unfortunately, cannot take part in this trend. Not in pant form anyway. (No one needs to see me looking like a bright-colored construction barrel.) But there is a way for me to wear something besides blue jeans this spring.

Enter…the colored denim jacket.

They're available plenty of colors and price points. So if you're a chunky monkey like me, try one of these on for size!

$138 @ Nordstrom$69.95 @ Gap$24.90 @ Forever 21What color of denim do you fancy?

China Glaze Magnetix Review

China Glaze Cling On & Magnet

I first ran across magnetic nail poish at Sephora and tried it on my neice. It didn't work. So I was less than enthused when I saw the China Glaze Magnetix display a month later at another location. The workers assured me, however, that it really did work and should give it a shot.

A big thanks to my neice for being my guinea pig…again!

Cling OnI started with a base coat of Cling On. The application is really smooth and as a stand-alone polish, would work with just two coats.

Close UpIsn't this a pretty avocado green?

Magnetix MagnetThe magnet comes with three designs: chevron, star and diagonal lines. I tried out all three to see how they looked on the nail.

Using the MagnetWorking on one nail at a time, I added another coat of polish. Immediately after, I placed the magnet above the nail, making sure I wasn't too close. The magnet helps with this. There is a ridge above each of the magnets to set against your finger. Still be cautious. If your second coat of polish is too thick, the magnet will pick it right up off your nail!

Magnet Designs

Here are my opinions on each design.

The star is really cool and versatile. Changing where you hold the magnet changes the entire design.

The diagonal lines create a really neat effect. To get the lines to reach clear across the nail, however, you have to move the magnet. Too slow and the polish will dry before the design is made. Too fast and the design doesn't have time to come out.

The chevron pattern is lame. Lame, lame, lame! As you can see, it just looks a little jagged like I messed up. I wouldn't even bother with it.

I let my neice decide her favorite design and she chose the diagonal lines. So here's the finished look!

Finished NailsI couldn't help but do an accent nail on her ring finger. (It's an addiction.) I love how the star adds some interest, but doesn't detract from the unique effect on the other nails.

Here's a closer look at the accent nail.

Star Accent NailI really love the Magnetix line. The polish alone is quality. Add the magnetic effects to it and you have nails people are sure to notice.

The Magnetix line comes in six colors. The magnet and polish retails for $10 each.