Tuesday, August 30, 2011

My USA Holiday Wishlist

Ok so my husband and I are going to Las Vegas and LA for 10 days in mid September. I am sooooo EXCITED to be going to the "Land of the free gift with purchase". I have been saving my pennies like a mad woman lately and saying "no" to myself every time I have wanted to buy something. But it will all be worth it as I fully plan to unleash my purse in the United States. I figure as the lovely philanthropist I am, I would do my bit to help stimulate the economy.

First on my list is a hot new pair of sunglasses. I have two options I am mulling over....

Oliver Peoples De La Classic:













Or the Tory Burch Square Logo sunglasses:


Next on my wishlist is a good leather everyday handbag. I love my Louis Vuitton Speedy but I am not keen on using it for everyday and also don't want to carry a lot in it, in fear that I will ruin it. So I have decided of one of two different Marc by Marc Jacobs handbags.

Totally Turnlock Lucy in Black

Totally Turnlock Helena in Strawberry Cordial


Next up is cosmetics. My main shopping will be at MAC. I plan on getting 3 x 15 shadow palettes and after hours of culling and compromising, i decided on the following colours:
Satin Taupe, Ricepaper, Woodwinked, Bronze, Handwritten, Paradisco, Expensive Pink, Sushi Flower, Cranberry, Typographic, Print, Knight Divine, Copperplate, Carbon, Grain, Electric Eel, Swimming, Humid, Swiss Chocolate, Sumptuous Olive, Embark, Aquadesiac, Club, Mystery, Tilt, Vanilla, Contrast, Nehru, Moon's Reflection, Electra, Trax, Stars & Rockets, Sketch, Hepcat, Beauty Marked, Fig. 1, Diget, Parfait Amour, Shale, Mylar, All That Glitters, Soft Brown, Cork, Folie.



I also really want another 6 blush palette. The blush colours I want are:
Dollymix, Sunbasque, Pinch O' Peach, Pink Swoon, Blush Baby, Gingerly.


Another MUST HAVE is the Urban Decay Naked Palette....I am so desperate to get my hands on this thing! Sephora better have lots of them in stock!




I also can't get enough watches! There are two Guess watches that I really want for everyday wear.

The Guess Womens Water Pro Glossy White on Steel watch



And the Guess Womens Black Polycarbonate Bracelet Watch


The next stop is the Sketchers Store. I really want to try the new Sketchers Shape Ups. I will be starting a regular walking routine everyday once it starts to get a little lighter outside and why not tone up my legs at the same time. So here is the pair I really want:

Shape Up Liv in Grey/Pink



I just couldn't write up a wishlist without including the new Kardashian for Sears line....i totally LOVE some of these pieces!

Kardashian Kollection Washington DC pumps


Kardashian Kollection Concertina Faux Fur Leaopard Print Frame Wallet


And LAST on my very long wishlist is Tiffany & Co. I really want (and have wanted for ages) The Paloma Picasso Crown Of Hearts pendant.



So there is probably a whole heap that I missed but I can't be too greedy. I am jetting off in two weeks and I am counting down every second!

xox

Monday, August 29, 2011

Update

I know we have been pretty quite lately and we have been keeping very busy with all sorts of things. But just a quick update that a whole lot of nail polish swatches have recently been added to the polish list page.
Also, over the coming week I will add swatches of eyeshadows and lipsticks/glosses as well so be sure to check that out.
I will be going on holidays to the USA with my husband so I will also be compiling a wishlist of all the things i would LOVE to buy (in a dreamer's world....of course). And I will be posting up a MASSIVE haul (may even do a video showing my goodies I would have purchased!)
So many things going on at the moment but stay tuned for lots of exciting stuff.
xox

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Where have we been?

I can't believe it's been 2 months without a post!

We have been busy with all sorts of things.  I've been plagued with sickness and endured a nose/sinus surgery.  This op was purely functional so there were no changes made to the appearance of my nose...although I wouldn't have minded a little tweaking if it had been on offer!

We have been busily hauling like crazy (especially from StrawberryNet) so I think it's about time to do a collective haul post.

The Nail Polish page is in desperate need of an update and so is the wishlist page.  Thanks to StrawberryNet, so many of our lemmings have found their way into our makeup collections.

I've got some reviews I've been meaning to write up and am in the middle of a depotting frenzy but more on that soon!

xxx

Monday, May 16, 2011

My Scarf Mini Haul


I recently went to Target for a window shop and i came across some really pretty scarves. Most of them were all full price but i did find some that were drastically reduced. I ended up buying two satin-style printed scarves that were originally $17 and i got them for $4.80 each! I also bought a really pretty tan and gold flecked knit infinity scarf for $17. So if you are in the market for a gorgeous inexpensive scarf to keep you toasty this winter, check out Target for some must-have deals!

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Online Shopping: The Outnet



Hubby just got word that he passed his exams, so now we can look forward to his graduation at the end of May, Yay!! Of COURSE I had no doubt that he'd be graduating, and a month ago I noticed a beautiful dark blue Catherine Malandrino dress on theoutnet.com that I thought would be perfect for his graduation ceremony. The outnet is the outlet online store for net-a-porter.com, and you can find some really terrific designer bargains there.

Because its the outlet store for net-a-porter, it arrived without the classic black box packaging :(, but still very carefully and professionally packaged in white tissue in a plain cardboard box. The tissue was sealed with the cutest stickers (above).
So here's the dress! To be honest, when I opened the tissue to find the dress I was quite disappointed. It is made of very thin rayon, which felt a little cheap, and seemed to hang very baggily on the hanger. I was after a sleek, clingy dress, that was knee length and had a nice cowl neckline. At this point I was thinking, well, at least I didn't pay that much, and this is the risk you take when shopping online.

However, then I tried it on...
...and breathed a sign of relief, as it looks better on! It is clingy, but somehow flattering, it doesn't pull excessively to produce those horrible horizontal stress lines at the wider parts of your body (admittedly, this mirror above I call my 'forgiving mirror') It has some lovely ruching on the side for interest and the cowl neck is actually not too bad. All in all a deceptively nice dress. And it cost me 85 quid, which with shipping turned out to be AUS$150, original price I think was around $300. Check back at the outnet often, as stock rolls over frequently.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

This week's nail polish haul!

I am so utterly obsessed in nail polish now that I seriously think i have issues lol. But i did visit the nail shop again this week.....TWICE! I went on Tuesday and Today and bought the following china Glaze colours:


From left to right: Goin' My Way, Passion, Fiji Fling, Cowgirl Up




From left to right: Watermelon Rind, Secret Peri-wink-le, Treat Me Like A Queen, Bare If You Dare


From left to right: Sea Spray, Coconut Kiss, Heart Of Africa, Afterglow



From left to right: Something Sweet, Masai Red, Passion In The Pacific, Sunset Sail





From left to right: I Wanna Lei Ya, Midnight Mission, Paper Chasing





I also got some of the new OPI Pirates Of The Caribbean collection.

From left to right: Scull and Glossbones, Mermaid's Tears, Steady As She Rose, Sparrow Me The Drama.

Friday, April 29, 2011

Royal Wedding Themed manis!



The day is here and us Beautyholics can't wait.

We've decided to paint our nails to mark the occasion.

Yummy Mummy

I agonized over the choice. I had polishes with really obvious names like Blushingham Palace or Who Needs a Prince? but I decided to go with Aphrodite's Pink Nightie and Show it and Glow it on my bling finger (all by OPI). Why??

Well firstly it's rumoured the royal couple may honeymoon in Corfu so Aphrodite's Pink Nightie (APN) being from the Greek Isles Collection seems perfect. The similarities don't end there! Aphrodite is the Greek Goddess of love and beauty which is apt for a honeymoon as are pink nighties!

Show it and Glow it from the Burlesque Collection is also pink and if I had Diana's sapphire and diamond engagement ring it's definitely be showing and glowing!


My version of APN (and I've seen a few thanks to OPI's bad quality control!) is on the lighter side and very frosty. This made application a royal pain! It's also sheer so I needed about 4 coats which made for soft polish which shows brush marks and smudges easily. I fixed a few fingers then gave up. I'm on meds which make my hands shake worse than usual so please excuse the poor application in the photo!


Designer Diva
I chose Agent Lavender by China Glaze to honour the royal wedding. The Agent part reminds me of my favourite British spy, James Bond, and the Lavender reminds me of the lovely lavender-blue dresses that my bridesmaids wore for my wedding four and a half years ago.
Agent Lavender is my favourite mauve nail polish. It goes on opaque and lasts for at least 4 days with a top coat. Above is 2 coats. The closest in colour I have seen is Liacism from Essie, where the formula is crap, it goes on streaky and takes forever to dry. Happy wedding fever!


Shoestring Shopaholic

For the Royal Wedding, I decided to go with the very apt Dating A Royal by OPI. Its the most beautiful rich royal blue colour and it is a creme finish. I love OPI in general and love the extra wide brush. It makes it so much easier to apply. But back to the Royal Wedding.....Dating A Royal is so appropriate.




Kate Middleton was dating Prince William all through their university days and the couple finally wed this week. It just goes to show that anyone can 'date a royal'.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Nail of the week -25 April




Designer Diva

 




















I recently bought Fifth Avenue by China Glaze. I love dusty pink, and I picked it off the shelf because it looked like the perfect deep dusty pink colour. When I saw the name I was sold!

While the colour is really pretty in the bottle, it came out a little too reddish on my nails (above with 2 coats). Perhaps another coat might have made it more true, but I don't mind the colour at all!



Shoestring Shopaholic



This week I have chosen China Glaze’s Light As Air from their Up And Away collection. It’s a soft crème pastel pinky lilac colour soooooo PRETTY! I think it will be my new favourite colour. Its girly, its soft and completely wearable. It would also look fantastic under a black crackle nail polish.

My Easter gift this year

Instead of going on my usual Easter egg chocolate crawl from shop to shop, trying to look for 50% off chocolate eggs, I decided on getting myself a new Pandora bead. There was a particular Easter bead that i was dying to get this year and i decided that since i was giving up my usual chocolate haul, this bead would be soooo much better. The bead is of a little baby Easter chicken coming out of an Easter egg....SO adorable!


Here is a photo of my bracelet with the new Easter bead.....

ANOTHER China Glaze haul!

aI have given up buying my takeaway coffee in the morning just so i can put that money towards nail polish....sounds crazy but lately I have been getting so much enjoyment out of my nail polish collection and there are soooo many pretty colours out there! This time hubby took me and I bought 6 bottles.

Here is a pic of the 6 bottles:




Here are some close up photos and the names of the colours I got:
From left to right: Don't Touch My Tiara, Rainbow, Caribbean Blue.




Left to right: Prize Winning Mare, Admire, Eyes Like Sapphires.


I LOVE nail polish!!!!!!!

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Easter egg inspired nails


I was inspired by a posting by Elle Fowler of elleandblair.com, who suggested OPI sweetheart with a layer of Teenage dream over the top. So pastel, so pink and so Eastery!

Friday, April 22, 2011

Last week's nail polish haul

I rather spoiled myself and visited the nail shop 3 times last week! I worked really hard the last couple of weeks at work and had some long and crazy shifts so i decided to go and get some nice new polishes. I wanted the most for my buck so i stuck with China Glaze polishes. I am excited to expand my collection with CG nail polishes and this was such a good opportunity.

I got:Left to right: Joy, Coral Star, Black Diamond


Left to right: Lemon Fizz, Jetstream, Hybrid


Left to right: Custom Kicks, Tempest, Conga To My Cabana


Left to right: Good Witch?, Four Leaf Clover, Midnight Ride

All in all, i love these colours and just cannot wait to be able to wear them all one by one!

Monday, April 18, 2011

My Fragrance Collection!

Ok, I LOVE perfume! In fact I love it so much that I thought I would share my entire perfume collection with you all. There are so many fragrances out there to choose from and sometimes its really hard choosing a scent that is right for you. Personally, I like to wear a different scent every day. So I make sure that I have at least 3 or 4 at a time to choose from. The only down side to having this many is that the perfumes can go 'bad' or start smelling a little different to how they originally do. My favourite kinds of scents are florals, sweet vanilla scents and also fresh spring scents. I LOVE my collection and there are some fragrances that I would hate to run out of so I hope they always make them!
So, without further ado, here is my collection!!
Back Row: Tommy Girl - Tommy Hilfiger, Lola - Marc Jacobs, Paris Hilton (self titled), Glow - Jennifer Lopez
Third Row: With Love - Hilary Duff, Princess - Vera Wang, Daisy - Marc Jacobs
Second Row: Curious - Britney Spears, Brit - Burberry, Bright Crystal - Versace
Front Row: Touch - Burberry, Kim Kardashian (self titled), Lovely - Sarah Jessica Parker

Nail of the week -18 April

Designer Diva

Significant Other Color by OPI from the Brights Collection 2005

I had a shortlist of colours to choose from this week and my nephew picked this one for me!



Shoestring Shopaholic

You Can by Nicole by OPI

This week I have chosen Nicole By OPI's You Can. It's a gorgeous frosted
blush peach/nude colour. I felt like I needed some more subtle this week
since I had bright red a few days ago. I needed something more
work-appropriate as well because we will be getting a visit from upper
management this week. This is the first time I have worn this nail polish
colour and I am really happy with it...super cute!



Yummy Mummy

Black Cherry Chutney by OPI from the India Collection

I wanted something dark and a little more sophisticated than what I'd been wearing lately.  I'm not super thrilled with the pic thought.  It looks like a creme but this polish does have a red shimmer and is a gorgeous dark cherry colour.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Yummy Mummy's Sigma Unboxing Haul

My brushes from Sigma have arrived!!!

I'm so grateful to our postie for timing her package deliveries a good hour after DH leaves for work.

First some rambling...

I've been wanting to try these for some time now and what better opportunity now that the last of my cheap-and-nasty brushes got ruined.

That would be by the same person who ground several Clinique lipsticks, creams and perfumes into the carpet...and the same person who dusts his toy cars with MAC Studio Fix to get a rugged, desert look.  

Anyway the decision on what to choose was SO hard!

Initially I thought either the Complete Kit or the Premium Professional Kit were the way to go buuuuut...I wanted some of the brushes from BOTH kits.

I briefly entertained the thought of buying both but I'd end up with 27 different brushes!  Several were very very similar and given I'm not a professional MUA, I wouldn't benefit from the subtle differences...plus I didn't want to spend that much on brushes I'd never tried before.

I also didn't want to buy individual brushes since the kits are much better value.

That's when I noticed the Travel Kit and Premium Travel Kit.

There were 2 kits - one to complement each of the above brush kits and each contained 7 most popular brushes from full sized kit.

There were other advantages...the main one being these kits come in the lovely pale pink colour I love.

Another plus is that each kit comes with an extra free brush so it makes a total of 16 different brushes - the best of both kits.

The only downside for some people might be that the brushes are travel sized.  This turns out to be another plus for me.  I frequently am rushing around and often the only time left to do makeup is while driving to wherever it is that I'm going.

Well maybe not exactly while driving...more like red lights and traffic jams.

If I like the travel kits enough and need more brushes then I can always buy the full sized sets in the future and not worry about doubling up since they'll be for use at home as opposed to in the car etc.

Now onto the exciting bit!

Once I cut through all the tape this is what I saw:

The free E25 from the Premium Travel kit was just jumping out of the box!


I love how the brush sets are packed!


Starting with the Premium Travel Kit since the E25 was so eager to get out.  Each kit comes with a brush guide and care instructions


All the brushes come in plastic sleeves with bristle covers


Close up of the brushes with the free E25 at the top.



Now for the regular Travel Kit.  Love the organza bags they use for packaging!



Just as nice as the other one...


With the free foundation brush!


To summarize, the Travel kit comes with the following brushes:
Pencil - E30
Tapered Blending - E40
Eye Shading - E55
Large Powder - F30
Large Angled Contour - F40

Duo Fibre - F50
Concealer - F70
          Free Travel sized F60 Foundation brush

The Premium Travel kit comes with:

Small Eye Liner - E10
Short Shader - E20

Small Tapered Blending - E45
Large Fluff - E50

Duo Fibre Powder/Blush - F15
 
Tapered face -F25
Large Concealer - F65   
Free travel size E25 blending brush
I'm so happy with these brushes!  They so soft and feel heavy in your hand.

BBL with a review!