[Review+Swatch] New Milani 2015 Lip Products: Color Statement Moisture Matte Lipsticks & More

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Hi, everyone! I'm kind of obsessed with lipsticks as of late, so when these arrived on my doorstep, I couldn't resist trying them.

From Milani's new 2015 release are eight new matte lipsticks that are designed to be smudge-proof and comfortable to wear (#60-67). I also received creme shades from Milani's Color Statement line as well (#45-46). The packaging is sleek and sturdy enough for travel. I love that you can view the color from both the bottom and the side, making each color easy to find.

Catwalk Pink, Power Pink / Innocence, Naked, Blissful, Diva, Orchid, Glam, Passion, Confident

There are the two new Color Statement lip liners that were recently added to the line as well. I swatched all the liners and lipsticks together for you below. Keep scrolling to see my review!

Pretty Pink, Catwalk Pink, Power Pink, Innocence, Naked, Blissful

13 Pretty Pink (lip liner): "soft pink" with a frosty sheen. The subtle frost makes this color a bit sheerer when compared to other lip liner from this line. It's still fairly pigmented, and the soft formula makes it easy to use.
45 Catwalk Pink (creme): "cool, girly pink." It's not as light as the color coded bottom suggests, but this makes it much more wearable. It applies evenly and feel moisturizing on the lips.
46 Power Pink (creme): "bright fuchsia." Applies evenly and does not emphasize dry spots. Leaves behind a stain.
60 Innocence (matte): "pinky nude." This one applies a bit unevenly on me and emphasizes dry spots I didn't even know I had. Even after the exfoliating, the results were rather flaky.
61 Naked (matte): medium brown-toned nude. On my lips it looked more like a brown-rose color. This one's gorgeous with a great formula to boot: good pigmentation and even application. Looks great paired with Pretty Pink.
62 Blissful (matte): "girly blush pink." It's a nice cool-toned dusty pink with a hint of mauve. Same excellent formula.

Diva, Orchid, Glam, Passion, Confident, Bordeaux

63 Diva (matte): "bright fuchsia." It a teeny tiny bit less smooth looking on the lips and can emphasize dry spots. As long as you exfoliate, it will look fine.
64 Orchid (matte): bright, red-toned pink. It's very pigmented, even, and creamy.
65 Glam (matte): warm toned deep plum. This one is noticeably uneven on the lips. Drier spots on your lips will color darker and look more purple.
66 Passion (matte): hot, red-toned orange. Great formula.
67 Confident (matte): "bold brick red." Wonderful application.
12 Bordeaux (lip pencil): rich wine red with a matte finish. Wow, Bordeaux is so soft and pigmented. I love the matte finish and it applies evenly.

Here are all the swatches together! Click or open in new tab to enlarge.

Final Thoughts

The lip pencils are soft, pigmented, and apply easily without tugging. I was particularly wowed by Bordeaux. The creme finish Color Statement lipsticks were also superb in both pigmentation and application.

The matte Color Statement lipsticks had a few misses, but most were excellent. When first applied, they feel very creamy and slightly moisturizing. After about 10 minutes, the lipstick will dry down and set, making it smudge-proof with zero transfer. It can feel a tiny bit dry, but it wasn't something I noticed unless I was focusing on my lips. For the most part I forgot about it, so I would agree that the wear is comfortable. My favorites were hands-down Naked and Confident, although Orchid and Passion are nice too. For reference, I have light-medium warm-toned skin (around NC20-30).

Availability: Milani Color Statement lipsticks retail for $5.99 each per 0.14oz/3.97g. The lip liners retail for $3.49 each per 0.04oz/1.14g. Milani Cosmetics is available at CVS nationwide. You can also order from milanicosmetics.com. Use code XOXO until 2/3/15 to receive 30% off all lipsticks.

[Nail Art] Watercolor Koi with MoYou Suki 09

I Bought This

Hi everyone! Here's another stamped mani I did with Moyou's plates. I used Suki 09 for this one. I also gave advanced stamping another shot, and this one turned out not too badly. 

What I Used

Nicole by OPI Yoga-Then-Yogurt (white base)

Milani Mint Crush, Peri-Wink, Blue Print, Water Front (watercolor effect)

Milani Black Swift (stamping)

OPI Don't Touch My Tutu!

OPI Orange You Going To The Game? (koi coloring)

MoYou London Suki 09 stamping plate

Detail brush + clean up brush

Pure Acetone

I think I'm finally getting the hang of stamping. It helps that the MoYou plates are really well etched. I've also tried some different stampers as well, and found a favorite. I'll show you some other plates and stampers I got in another post. This stamping stuff is dangerous though! There are way too many pretty plates to buy. x)

♥Liz

[Nail Art] DRK Nails Designer 2 Stamping Plate

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Hey guys! I have two different nail art designs for you today. For both looks, I used the Designer 2 plate from DRK Nails. I first saw this plate on Lacquer Lockdown, where Tamira did this gorgeous look with it. I was going to buy Designer 1 too, but ended up only getting D2. So far I love it! 

My first attempt at advanced stamping. ^^ I accidentally smooshed my pinky at the last minute while transferring it to my nail. T__T One day I will master this!

What I Used

Nicole by OPI Sweet Surrender (base)

Zoya Marney (deep plum; superb for stamping)

Zoya Chanelle (warm brown, colored portion)

Pretty Jelly Shy Girl (pink holo, colored circle)

silver holo pigment

DRK Nails Designer 2 plate

 

Using a different image from the same stamping plate, I created this second look. The stamping's more subtle since the pink is so bright. This is the same pink I used in my Refreshing Cherry Mani. I've been wearing it a lot this summer.

What I Used

Milani Hot Pink Rage

Milani 3D (gold holo base)

Color Club Cherubic (stamping)

BPS BOP 100-103 Water Decals*
DRK Nails Designer 2 plate

I haven't tried all the images from this plate yet, but the etchings are deep and stamp well - even for a noob like me. I had no problems with the plate, and it arrived very quickly. I got it 4 days after I placed my order. The price is not too bad either. $6.50 for the plate and $2.53 for shipping. If you're interested, I would definitely recommend this plate. :)

♥ Liz

[Nail Art] Tie-Dye Floral

Hello!♥ I have a quick nail art post today. I actually wasn't going to post it, because it didn't turn out the way I imagined. But I love the colors anyway, so here's my nail art fail. Haha. Those tie-dye looking blotches are supposed to be flowers if you couldn't tell. :P

Polishes Used

Milani Mint Crush

Milani Peri-Wink

Milani Rainbow Prisms (glitter)

All 4 OPI Sheer Tints

Milani Nail Art Striper in White Canvas

I think I'll give this another try on a darker base. Some better planning with the flowers should yield better results. ^^

Until next time!

Liz

[Nail Art] Refreshing Cherry Mani with BPS Bow Charm

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Hi everyone! I'm back again with a sweet and simple mani today. I was in the mood for some cute nail art, but didn't want to spend too much time on it. This one's great for beginners, because it doesn't use many tools either.

[Review+Swatch] Milani Nail Lacquer for 2014

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Hi everyone! I can't believe it's already March. Sorry, it's been a little quite around here lately. I got caught up in a lot of projects, including new Pretty Jelly collections for spring/summer 2014! There's a preview of one of the collections on FB if you'd like to see it. I'll be posting official swatches on the blog soon, so you can look forward to that. :)

In the meantime, check out these ten new releases from Milani for 2014!

[Nail-Art-A-Go-Go] Day 1: Achromatic

Hey all! Today I'm taking part in a nail art challenge held by the talented blogger behind Gnarly Gnails. I've never finished a challenge from start to finish, so I'm trying my best for this one. Here are the themes I'll be tackling this month:

Today's the first day, so here's what I came up with for "achromatic." :)

Polishes Used

Milani Black Swift

Milani White On The Spot

Milani Sprinkles

Milani Carnival

Don't you just hate it when top coat smears your nail art? If I had more time, I would have redone the cat nail, but alas. Hehe, but I like how grumpy it looks. :P

Hope you enjoyed this post! And be sure to check out all the other blogs participating in this challenge below! :D

[Nail Art] Foxy Valentine

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Hi guys! I can't believe Valentine's day merchandise was already up in stores this year as soon as Christmas ended! Now that it's actually getting closer, I decided to partake in some cutesy nail art. Nothing too pink or red (yet), just some super amazingly adorable fox nail art. ;)

Polishes Used

Pointer | Nicole by OPI Half-Charming Half-Alarming

Fox | Milani Colorful Coral (new 2014)

White details | Milani White (new 2014)

Black details | Milani Black Swift

Ring | OPI Don't Touch My Tutu

Middle + Pinky | China Glaze Kinetic Candy

As expected, the Milani cremes were excellent for nail art due to their high opacity and easy-to-work-with formula. Isn't the coral color just perfect for the fox? Oh, and if you're wondering what "Chu♥" means, it denotes a kissing sound in Korean. Like "mwah" in English. I think it was made popular by Kpop group f(x).

If you're wondering what I used for all the drawings, it's this BPS brush set*! I can't recommend this set enough. It's my favorite from BPS so far, because the brushes give you so much control. I had no problem getting every detail exactly where I wanted. The tips are small and pointed, so you can get some pretty precise lines.

As always, you can use my code F10X31 to get 10% off your order. :)

What do you think? Are you a fan of Vday nail art? :)

♡ Liz

[Nail Art] Painterly Stars

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Today's look was inspired by the blue details in my last nail art look. I love how well Milani Blue Zoom and Aqua Brisk mixes together, so I expanded that look onto the full nail. I also added in some gold accents to pull the whole look together.

What I Used

Milani Blue Zoom

Milani Aqua Brisk

China Glaze Mingle With Kringle (gold accent)

Born Pretty Store gold star studs*

BPS drawing brush*

To get this look, I started out by painting my nails with 2 coats of Blue Zoom. Once it was dry, I added a drop of Blue Zoom and Aqua Brisk next to each other on a piece of paper. After lightly swirling the colors together, I used rough brush strokes to create the mixed effect. I finished off the look, by adding light strokes of gold to complement the gold studs and accents.

By the way, these gold star studs are the same as the neon ones I used here. These are much more versatile since they're gold. They also hold up well to acetone - so yay for recycling. :) If you're interested in purchasing them, use my code F10X31 to receive 10% off your order.

What do you think? Is this a look you would wear?

Liz

[Nail Art] Hello!

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Have you guys seen the new 2014 lacquers from Milani? I love using Milani's cremes for nail art because they are usually opaque in 1-2 coats. So I put together this quick nail art look with a few of the new shades.

Polishes Used

Base: Peach Innocence + Vanilla Almond

Hello: Power Periwinkle + Blue Zoom

Arrows: Aqua Brisk + Blue Zoom

Glitter: Sugar High

This color combo kind of reminds me of a desert sunrise. I'm pretty sure MS Word Art is responsible for me making that association. I used to play around with it quite a bit for my elementary/middle school projects. Oh, dear. Haha.

By the way, the cremes I used here were all opaque in 2 coats! I'll have my full review up in a few days, so look forward to it! :)

♥ Liz

Milani Retro Glam Swatches

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Hey all!  Milani recently came out with two new collections.  If you missed my first review, you can find it here.  In this post, I'm showing you the second collection, Retro Glam. :)

Strawberry Shake, 3 coats: light pink creme.  This color actually has some shimmer in it, but once it becomes opaque it disappears.  Top coat will help make it just barely visible, but for the most part it looks like a creme.  Formula-wise, it was thin and a tiny bit streaky.  However, the third coat will even everything out.

Milani Fantastical Plumage Swatches

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Hi all!  Milani recently came out with two new collection featuring pretty cremes and glitter top coats.  Here's the first one named after colorful birds!

Scarlet Ibis, 2 coats: bright orange creme with red undertones.  This seems more orange than red to me - a very intense orange.  The formula was on the thin side, but still very easy to control.  It applied smoothly and the pigmentation was excellent.

New 2013 Milani High Speed Fast Dry One Coat Shades

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Milani recently added a few more shades to their High Speed Fast Dry collection.  Here they are all lined up! :)  My swatches are all shown without top coat.

Milani Limited Edition Textured Creams Collection Review

Hey all!  Today I have swatches of the new limited edition texture creams from Milani!  They're so bright and fun looking, so I thought I'd give them a try. :)  They're also different from all the other "textured" polishes we've seen because they don't contain any glitter.

Milani Fall Fashion Trends: Haute Rod

Sorry I've been MIA!  There's a crazy amount of these giant grass bugs outside.  They're always around the front door, so I haven't been swatching as much because they keep sneaking in. :(  That and cloudy weather and shorter days.  But I still love fall!  Don't you? :)

Today, I have my final design for Milani.  This one's called Haute Rod, so I made red-orange flames using the needle marbling technique.  If you'd like to recreate this look, you can check out my needle marbling tutorial here!  Have any of you seen the Milani promotion display around at your local stores?  You should be able to find all the polishes I used at those displays. :)

 Polishes used (all Milani):

Black Swift

Rapid Cherry

Jiffy Orange

Red Sparkle

That's it!  What do you think?

Liz

*Polishes used in this post were provided by Milani.

Please view my Disclosure Policy for more info.

Milani Fall Fashion Trends: Gilded Rebel

 Polishes used (all Milani):

White on the Spot

Black Swift

Gold Glitz

Jewel Fx Gold

I decided take the term 'gold leaf' literally and draw gold leaves for this design.  To make it edgier, I made black tape designs on my other nails.  For this design, I did have to use a striping brush to draw the leaves.  You can also use a striping polish in black if you don't have a brush.  Or... you can enter my giveaway and win one. ^__^

I think this look would be great for winter.  The gold on white makes me think of wrapping paper.

What do you think of this design?  Let me know in the comments! :)


Liz

*Polishes used in this post were provided by Milani.

Please view my Disclosure Policy for more info.