Chocolate Nail Polish Comparison

Apparently it was Chocolate Week this week. I've not had nearly enough chocolate to celebrate this fact so to make up for it I'm giving you a whole lot of chocolatey nails. I no longer have Rimmel Chocolate Factory which is a shame as it would have been fitting. Though I do have quite a few similar polishes as it turns out, I never released what a collector I had become!

The nail varnishes shown here are: (on the top row from left to right) Chanel Khaki Rose, BECCA Billy Tea, OPI Over the Taupe, Nails Inc. Eagle Street, (bottom row left to right) Orly Prince Charming, Filthy Gorgeous Satchel, Max Factor Soft Toffee, Sephora by OPI Metro Chic.

On the nail wheel the colours are: 1. Nails Inc. Eagle Street 2. Orly Prince Charming 3. Chanel Khaki Rose 4. BECCA Billy Tea 5. OPI Over the Taupe 6. Filthy Gorgeous Satchel 7. Max Factor Soft Toffee 8. Sephora by OPI Metro Chic. It was rather interesting applying them one after the other as the differences in consistency and the brush size and shape were very noticeable. Eagle Street, Prince Charming, Khaki Rose and Satchel all had a thicker consistency and were near opaque with a single coat. Billy Tea, Over the Taupe and Metro Chic all seemed very thin in comparison.

The four colours that were most noticeably similar when applied were Orly Prince Charming, Chanel Khaki Rose, BECCA Billy Tea and OPI Over the Taupe. There are subtle difference, Khaki Rose is more yellow in undertone whereas Billy Tea is more chocolate-y with a hint of mauve. I don't think anyone would really require all four, certainly if I showed the Biochemist he would wonder why I had four identical bottles. I'd say we're in 'no dupes but near enough' territory. Billy Tea is the only colour currently available so if you've missed out on any of the others, this would be a good alternative.

Are you a fab of chocolate brown nails? Or do you think these colours stray into another less appealing category?

More BECCA Lost Weekend

I've been mean meaning to return to the BECCA Lost Weekend collection for a couple of weeks now. I have already shown the palette and my recreation of the promo look. As well as the Lost Weekend palette the collection includes three new nail colours, two new mineral blushers, a lip balm and Fig Beach Tint.

The Fig Beach Tint is actually part of the permanent line and I have reviewed this in a guest post on Zuneta previously. The Beach Tints are somewhere between a cream and gel formula and are water-resitant. I find they last very well as a cheek colour but I can always feel it on my skin. Fig is a mauve-pink colour and fits very well with the other colours in this collection.

From the moment I clapped eyes on Billy Tea, I knew I had to have it. Whilst the other items I have shown you were press samples, Billy Tea is something I bought for myself. Billy Tea is a chocolate brown creme, it reminds me of OPI's Over The Taupe. I have a number of similar colours and I can do a colour comparison if this would be of use to anyone. As with Tangerine Dreams, I like the brush and the rubberised handles of the BECCA polishes. The fact that they are free from formaldehyde, toluene, camphor and dibutyl phthalate is good news too. The two other colours from this collection are Saddle Up, a caramel nude and Toasted Marshmellow, a pinky brown.

I do not have any of the mineral blushes to show you. Both colours are quite muted, nude shades and fit well with the natural look of the collection. I did get opportunity to swatch these and they have a nice finely milled texture. Sweet Pea is described as a rosy plum nude and Wild Honey, a peachy nude. I may cave on one of these as I love a neutral blusher to sculpt the cheek.

I love the lip butter balm that was released with the collection. I'm not ashamed to admit that my favourite things about it are the fact that it's a stick so there's no need to get my fingers sticky and the packaging is sleeker than your average balm. It's packaged as a lipstick with a screw down lid and I'm assuming this is the same packaging as their sheer lipsticks. The balm also smells and feels very good. It has good staying power and no petroleum.

The Lost Weekend collection is available from BECCA counters now. If you don't have a counter nearby it is also available online from their website, Zuneta and other online stockists.



Disclosure: I bought the nail polish, the other items shown are press samples.

Lost Weekend Look

I thought I would have a go at re-creating the look from the BECCA Lost Weekend promotional pictures. In the breakdown of the look it says to use the Eye Tint in Baroque as a base. I don't have this so instead I used the Automatic liner in Goa as a base along the upper and lower lash line. I applied the darkest colour, Chino, all over the lid taking it quite high and beyond the crease. I used the lightest shade, Moleskin, to blend out above the crease. I used the shimmery shade Moiré in the crease and also ran it along the lower lashline. I applied more of the Goa liner along the upper lash line and also used a small amount of the black Majorca pencil at the outer corner and underneath the lashes. I smudged any harsh lines with a pencil brush.

No matter how much I tried, I couldn't get the colour quite as dark as in the promo pictures above. I think it would really require a darker base to do this. My apologies for all the frowny face pictures. The sun was quite bright when I took these photographs and I was squinting rather than trying to look intentionally moody!

Face
BECCA Luminous Skin Colour in Sand
MAC Studio Finish concealer in NC20
MAC Select Moisturecover in NW20
BECCA Beach Tint in Fig
Shu Uemura Brow Pencil

Eyes
BECCA Lost Weekend Palette
BECCA Automatic Liners in Goa and Majorca
MUFE Smoky Lash

Lips
RBR Decadent Duo in Flamenco Duende lipgloss


Disclosure: The BECCA items used in this look were all provided without charge.

BECCA Lost Weekend Eyeshadow Palette

Full marks to you all for correctly guessing that yesterday's pictures were of the Lost Weekend palette from BECCA's soon to be released Autumn collection. It has been a struggle to keep quiet about this one as I suspect this trio of eyeshadows will be extremely popular.

The colours in the palette are Moleskin - a soft matte stone, Chino - a matte, chocolate brown and Moiré - a shimmery mushroom brown with hints of pink and maybe even slight mauve undertones. I find Moiré hardest to describe yet it's definitely my favourite. I'm obviously fighting the urge to call it taupe!

In direct sunlight to catch the shimmer in Moiré

At first glance, the Lost Weekend palette looks similar to the Enigma palette. However, side by side the differences are obvious. Enigma is cooler and more grey toned to Lost Weekend's warmer and more caramel and chocolate hues. The colours are also a touch lighter in the Lost Weekend palette.

L - Lost Weekend, R - Enigma

L - Enigma, R - Lost Weekend

Left-hand swatches - Enigma, Right-hand swatches - Lost Weekend

Left-hand swatches - Enigma, Right-hand swatches - Lost Weekend

The texture of the eyeshadows is similar to that of Enigma. The eyeshadows are quite dry (though not at all chalky) rather than having a creamy consistency. Chino is the most pigmented of the three colours. Moleskin and Moiré have medium pigmentation but they're buildable.

I find the Lost Weekend palette is perfect for creating pretty, relaxed daytime looks. It's possible to make a darker more smoky look similar to that shown in the promo images by pairing with the BECCA automatic pencils. I really like the colours but I have to admit that I find the warm brown of Chino a little tricky with my colouring. I think this palette will certainly appeal to neutral fans. The colours work nicely together and I think the fact that you can produce different looks using the three colours is appealing.

The BECCA Lost Weekend collection will be released exclusively in Fenwicks on 29th August. It is due for national release in September. I believe it will also be available in America sometime in September. The palette will cost £35. I will do a separate post about the other items that are coming out with this collection and I will also make an attempt to re-create the promo look when my camera returns!


Disclosure: I received this item without cost for review purposes.