More China Glaze Hauling.

Well it seems to be a weekly habit that we get together and visit the nail supply store on Tuesdays and yesterday was no exception.

Designer Diva limited herself to some Seche Vite (but she has something waaaay more exciting on the way ;-O )

Shoestring Shopaholic got:
Re Fresh Mint
C C Courage
Dorothy Who?
Cowardly Lyin'
Lighthouse
Classic Camel
Flying Dragon
Lasso My Heart
Metallic Muse
Gussied Up Green
Light as Air

Yummy Mummy Got:
C C Courage
Dorothy Who?
Watermelon Rind
Secret Peri-wink-le

Our collective haul

Nail of the week -11 April

Designer Diva

Parlez Vous by OPI from the France Collection

Parlez vous OPI is from the OPI France collection, and is a wonderful deep greyish purple which is very unique. I decided on this colour this week as I wanted a colour that packed a little more punch than Sweetheart, which I wore last week, but was not super obvious as I wave my arms about at work.

Shoestring Shopaholic

Thunderbird by China Glaze from the Retro Diva Collection

I chose this colour because I really love wearing 'jewel' tone nail colours in the autumn/winter months. I think the shades really suit the cold and dark changing weather. So this CG colour thunderbird seems like the perfect deep luscious ruby colour. It's got a slight shimmer but the red colour is so deep and beautiful. Loving this look!

Yummy Mummy

Electric Eel by OPI from the Brights Collection

I've had pinks with black shatter the past 2 weeks so it was time for something different.  Given SS and DD chose red and purple I felt either green or blue was in order.

I went with Electric Eel.  I've been dying to try this one!  I'm not sure whether it qualifies as HTF but it certainly isn't readily available. 

I loveLOVE the irridescent/duochrome effect.  It flashes a gold/pink/orange.  You can't really tell in the pic...also IRL the colour is more intense.  It looks kind of washed out even thought I didn't use a flash. :-(

I applied about 4 coats over natural nails but I've seen it applied over black and it looks AWESOME.  Must try that next!

China Glaze birthday haul

So I had my 27th birthday on Saturday and my workmates all decided to put in and give me some money as a birthday gift. My immediate thought was.....nail polish! I headed down to the nail shop this afternoon and i picked up 6 China Glaze nail polishes.

From left to right: Peachy Keen, Strawberry Fields, Avalanche, Reggae To Riches, Agent Lavender, Ruby Pumps.

All these colours are fairly different from one another and I LOVE them all. A big thank you to all my work friends!

Be The First To Know....Sigma Beauty is getting MAKEUP

Ok, this is VERY exciting news! Sigma Beauty, best known for selling great high quality makeup brushes (comparable to M.A.C!), is introducing makeup to their brand! They did have a range of eyeshadow a year or so ago but it was a small line and they stopped selling it. Now, there is a brand new range coming soon. The very first pictures were put up on Twitter by the creator of Sigma herself so she did say it was ok to spread the word. At this stage, I'm not sure about proper details such as price points, release dates, quality etc but knowing Sigma and how fantastic the brushes are, these will be of the highest quality I am certain. Stay tuned for more info on the release dates......

More Bloggy Giveaways...

Varnish Vixen has some awesome prizes up for grabs!

Carina from Gilded Nails has a couple of bottles of BB Couture up for grabs

Mon coin a moua is having the most awesome giveaway where you can pick from 100 items

Beautyburg is having two giveaways!  The first is for 1000 FB Fans and the second is for Spring

Girly Addictions has a gorgeous gift set up for grabs

Nail Fanatic is spring cleaning and giving away a massive 100+ polishes!

Life and Polishes is giving away China Glaze Island Escape Collection!

Very generous giveaway by Shadow's Nails

Nail Polish Obsession is offering a stunning set of Catrice polishes below:

Online Shopping: MIMCO

Due to the soaring Aussie dollar and the abundance of goodies overseas, its never been a better time to shop internationally online. However, I am on the email list of the fabulous Aussie company of Mimco and get info regarding sales and deals. They were having an amazing online sale on handbags, and as my MIL expressed a desire for a new handbag a while ago, I put 2 and 2 together and found myself buying a gem from Mimco online.

The bag came within about 10 days of ordering online in a Mimco paper bag within a brown box. Inside, there was a dust cover containg the gorgeous bag. It is the 'Under the Radar' day bag in the colour Fudge. It is made of the softest leather and finished impeccably. Large enough to fit all your daily handbag needs, but not so huge and heavy that you do your shoulder in. I have always loved this style (esp in the colour pancake!) but couldn't justify getting one myself (actually, confession: not true! Was pleasantly "discouraged" by a voice of "reason." Whatever) .

Without flash

With flash

Original price was $399 and the quality makes it worth every cent. However, the sale made this gorgeous bag only $149 with $20 shipping! The shipping is absolutely steep, but when you're getting such a great price on such an amazing bag it is no problem. I think this is an amazing deal and I haven't found this bag sold in Mimco stores anymore, so online may be the only place to get these. I do find that the Mimco online prices are actually much better than instore prices. Anyway, hurry while the deal lasts!!

Origins Vita Zing Moisturiser review

I have been watching a lot of YouTube beauty gurus lately and several of them have been talking about Origins Vita Zing moisturiser with SPF 15. What got me intrigued was that they were all calling this product a "miracle product" and so naturally, I wanted to know why. They were all swearing by it saying that it makes your skin look smooth, flawless and gives it a sun kissed glow. A couple of the gurus were even saying that you could substitute liquid foundation with Vita Zing. This immediately got me interested as i can never find a good foundation that is the right colour for me.

So, after much searching online and having no success, I found a store called Kit Cosmetics on Chapel St in South Yarra that stocked it! Like all cosmetics, I was worried that the price difference between the one in the USA and the one here in Australia would be dramatic...it wasn't! It was around $7 more here than in the USA and you would normally pay more for shipping it here anyway so I snapped it up.

VERDICT: Amazing! Honestly, I'm not joking. This stuff is magical. Its a small 1.7oz/50ml tube but you literally use a small amount (the size of a pea or a little larger depending on your face). It comes out of the tube as a normal white coloured moisturiser, but when you rub it in your skin starts to tingle and you immediately get the smoothest, clear and even complexion with a hint of tan. I am so impressed and I will definitely be re-purchasing this product.

The box that it comes in states that its an energising and multi tasking moisturiser. I would definitely agree. It gives me a tint, moisturises my skin, evens out the discolouration AND controls my oil. You have to try it to believe it!

China Glaze Mini Haul

So we went back to the nail supply shop to check out a few colours IRL before placing a Transdesign order and they've increased the price of OPI by $2/bottle!!

Hmmm...wonder if it has anything to do with the fact we've bought 40+ bottles from them in the past few weeks???

Anyway not happy!

I got (from left to right) Re Fresh Mint which I can't seem to find online along with 3 polishes from the OMG range: GR8, TMI and FYI which aren't available readily online either so all in all I'm pleased!

OPI and Cherry Culture Haul

I'm so excited!

These arrived today:

and I wasn't expecting them so soon...or even on the same day!

I'm not going to do a full on unboxing haul because we'll have way more exciting stuff coming in the mail in the next few weeks. ;-P

So in the first package were 5 OPI polishes I got from Ebay:

From left to right we have: Venus di Violet, Upfront and Personal, What's with the Cattitude?, Black Onyx and Electric Eel.  They are yet to be added to our database.

They arrive in perfect condition and I was so relieved!  I'll be ordering more from this seller  in the next week or two.

The second package was from Cherry Culture.  They were having a sale and already cheap prices were 20% off!

First up we have some eyeliners.  I like autoliners and the two with gold caps are by Jordana and the other is LA Colors.  I haven't tried either of these brands before so we'll see how they go but they were REALLY cheap so worth a try. 

Next we have the NYX eyeshadow base and 2 of the jumbo pencils in Milk and Cottage Cheese

NYX auto lipliners in Coffee, Natural, Auburn and Plum

 

And lastly, my favourite purchase - three NYX trios!

Spring Leaf, Lime Green and Green Tea

Baby Pink, Cotton Candy and Spring Flower

 

Baby Blue, Pacific and Navy

The colours in the pics aren't as accurate as I'd like but they are fairly close.

Nail of the Week - 4 April

Designer Diva

Sweetheart by OPI from their Softshades Collection

"I'm wearing sweetheart, because I have a job interview on Tues and want to look a bit more conservative, plus I haven't worn it since I got it and I love it"

Shoestring Shopaholic

Nicole By OPI's Virtuous Violet

"I actually didn't happen to choose this gorgeous deep "Cadbury" colour
purple for my nails this week....my husband did! It was his birthday on
Thursday and to mark the special occasion I told him he could pick any
colour of nail polish I had and that I would paint my nails in that colour.
He loves purple and even though I had a few purples to choose from, he chose
this particular one. So, my nails are kind of dedicated to him this week."

Yummy Mummy

Teenage Dream and Black Shatter by OPI from the Katy Perry Collection

This week I'm trying the Back Shatter again.  I had been reading about other people's experiences with it and it had been suggested it only worked properly with the Katy Perry range of polishes.

I wanted to try this out!

I started applying it thin and streaky like last time and got a very similar result so I don't buy that theory.

I tried applying it thicker and got a much better result so I think I just applied it too thinly and it doesn't have anything to do with the polish.

I LOVE Teenage Dream so much that I couldn't bear to cover it all with the black so I only did every second finger.

Katies sale: Mini haul!

I got an email from Katies telling me that they were having a 2-day massive 30% - 70% off sale and if you had a Katies Privellage Card then you would receive an extra 25% off the already reduced price....BARGAIN! I just could not say no to this temptation, even though I had already told myself that I have purchased enough in the last fortnight.

So I went to Katies and to my purse's luck, there was not a huge range of stuff left (I went on the 2nd/final day of the sale). I rummaged through and found a few items that were really good mix-and-match staple pieces. I got:

* 2x tank tops - in blue and red. These were from $15 down to $4.50 each.

* Cute little crocheted bolero style cardi in cream. From $59 down to $17.50.

* White baby doll style top with detail around the neckline. From $30 down to $7.50

I didn't go as crazy as I would have liked but I am so happy with the pieces I bought. There is a heap in my wardrobe already that will really tie in nicely with these new pieces.

OPI Black Shatter Review

This is the first time I've tried anything like this.

I have the flu so my hands are a little shaky hence all the polish on my skin.  I'll go back later and clean it off with a cotton tip once it's all hard but you get the idea.

I applied it over OPI Strawberry Margarita.  It could have done with an extra coat of pink but I was impatient!

The formula is quite different to a normal polish.  It dries very fast and I noticed it goes kind of gluggy and lumpy on the stick.  I wonder whether the bottle will become full of lumps with time??

Less is more for a better effect so a thin streaky coat is fine.

It also dries very matte so a top coat for a nice shine is essential.

I can't wait for the new shatter colours to come out!  I'll also be trying China Glaze's Crackle range and comparing them.

I also realized this effect looks best with an opaque, creme polish and most of mine are shimmery, frosted or sparkly so looks like I'll need to go shopping again!

Net-a-Porter Delivery: Alexander McQueen skull scarf

I have long been trawling Net-a-Porter and drooling over the designer fabulousness. Its such a great online store, very reputable for selling genuine designer labels, and always cheaper than what you would pay in Australia in a real-life store. Having the Aussie dollar so strong at the moment, it really makes online shopping extremely attractive for us.

I've also been weirdly drawn to the now classic Alexander McQueen signature skull print silk scarves, which add a great element of punk/rock chick-ness to any outfit. So when I found a perfect one on Net-a Porter, I just had to have it!

The scarf arrived in the iconic Net-a-Porter black box tied up in a bow! They included a little bag with my scarf as you see above, containing a size guide and tape measure with inches on one side and cm on the other--very handy for online shopping.

Then---the scarf! It is the most beautiful soft silk, in an ivory/cream colour with the black skulls. It is quite big and can be quite easily wrapped loosely around the neck. Being such an ordinary colour combination makes it go with nearly all the clothes I own, but you can get it in crazy reds, golds, purples etc.

The icing on the cake of this wonderous purchase is the price. I couldn't find the scarf in DJs or any boutique in Australia, so I can't directly compare with Australian prices, but GBP 119 converts to approx AUS$190. And I snapped it up during a free shipping promotion, so I saved about AUS$32 there. Smiles all round!!!

Alexander McQueen, RIP

Beauty Confession: *I spent almost $200 on a scarf*

Bloggy Giveaways!

There are some really generous beauty prizes out there just waiting for some beautyholic to take them home and love on them.

First up we have Tara2Tara's giveaway which end 6 April so you still have time to enter!

Next there is Ria at Serious-Shiny with a really generous giveaway but you only have until 1 April to enter so hurry!

Jen at PolishAholic has 4 really awesome prizes to choose from.  Open until 14 April so loads of time to enter.  I really want to win this one!

This post will be updated as I add more giveaways so keep checking!

Ebay Clinique Purchase

One of my most favourite lipsticks...ever...is Clinique's Bamboo Pink.

I first discovered this colour as a sample in a gift pack so a full size followed shortly after.

Sadly it didn't last long since a certain little boy decided to grind it (and a variety of other creams and cosmetics) into the carpet.

So not really wanting to pay full price (again!) for the lipstick I had a look on ebay and found this gift pack with a full sized lipstick!  The whole thing including postage was less than the cost of the lipstick if I had bought it by itself! Woohoo!

I just LOVE the two make up bags!  They're a little smaller than I hoped though.

The set also comes with an eye shadow trio in Totally Neutral, Shimmering Stripes blusher in Peony, 3 make up brushes and mascara.

I've never seen Clinique do an eyeshadow sample in a round compact with the mirror on top.  The size of the eye colour is TINY though:-(

Overall I'm really happy!  I have my favourite lippy back and a whole lot of other goodies!

More OPI

I went back to the nail supplies place to pick up some nail wheels to use for swatching.  We'll be doing that next week so look out for them!

I picked up a pump bottle for polish remover and a few extra OPIs at the same time.

I didn't use a flash but besides the the two left-most bottles (and maybe the third) the colours are still not very true.  This is starting to annoy me!

The colours are: The Color to Watch, Blue My Mind, Black Cherry Chutney, And This Little Piggy, Meet Me on the Star Ferry and Pearl of Wisdom

SERIOUS Nail Polish Haul

I'm kind of speechless actually.

Since the Spa Day at Ella Bache, I've had an overwhelming need to increase my OPI collection from 2 to...well as many as I could get.  My pedi is still perfect 10 days on!

Yesterday I happened to come across a kiosk selling them for just under $12/bottle.  I got 5.  They didn't have as good a range as I hoped and several colours I had on my wishlist from online googling simply didn't look the same in real life.

From left to right:  It's all Greek to Me, Louvre Me Louvre Me Not, Melon of Troy, Overexposed in South Beach and Aphrodite's Pink Nightie.

The colours in the photo don't look anything like the real deal!  They're MUCH nicer in person.

Moving along to today...We gathered at Annette's place since she found a place near her selling OPI for $10!  Just as we're about to pull into to the carpark she informs us that at least that's what the post on a forum from 2008 said!

Obviously no nail outlet anywhere so dejected we go home and cook lunch.  I investigated the matter further since I wasn't going home without nail polish!  More thorough reading showed the place had moved and was still very close by.

Success!!!!!!!  OPI for $11/bottle.  Very comparable to the USA after you take postage into account.  They also had other brands like China Glaze, Essie, Orly, Seche etc and all manner of nail art accessories.

Below is the combined result of our trip there.

Alex Got:

OPI An Affair in Red Square

OPI Blushingham Palace

OPI Cuckoo for This Colour

OPI My Private Jet

OPI Not Like the Movies

OPI Pompeii Purple

OPI Purple With a Purpose

OPI Russian Navy

OPI Significant Other Color

OPI Strawberry Margarita

OPI Teenage Dream

OPI Teal the Cows Come Home

OPI Who Needs a Prince

OPI Black Shatter

OPI Natural Base Coat

OPI Top Coat

China Glaze Lubu Heels

Nails Alive Aromatherapy Drying Drops

Annette Got:

OPI Sweetheart

OPI Glitzerland

OPI Moon Over Mumbai

China Glaze Lubu Heels

Helene Got:

OPI Sweetheart

OPI Cajun Shrimp

OPI Fiji-Weejee-Fawn

OPI Jade is the New Black

China Glaze Thistle

China Glaze Her Fabulousness

China Glaze For Audrey

China Glaze Bermuda Breakaway

China Glaze Lubu Heels

Beauty confession...*I spent $250 on nail polish in less than 24 hours*

Stay tuned for swatches!!

A bit of a haul...

I've gone on a bit of a make-up binge in the past fortnight and here is the aftermath...

Cheap and Cheerful

Rimmel Eyeshadow quads and trios on clearance from the chemist.  I haven't used this brand before, but for $6 each I figured it was worth a try even if they aren't as pigmented as I would like.  Stay tuned for a road test coming up soon!

Clinique Gift Time at Myer

My skin had changed and become more oily and prone to breakouts so I'm switching over to  higher strength 3 Step Daily Skin Care and incorporating some of the Anti Blemish range too.

No better time to stock up than Gift Time!  I was almost out of Clarifying Lotion so DH (of all people!) suggested I get more.  I decided to go from a #2 to a #3 rather than #4 or Anti Blemish.  We'll see if it's strong enough!  I still have plenty of the soap and moisturiser so I'll use them up before switching over.

The other thing I got which I'm totally in love with is the Anti Blemish Solutions Liquid Foundation.  It contains salicylic acid so it fights those spots while hiding them instead of making my skin worse.  It's a little on the sheer side so a powder on top would work for days when more coverage is needed but what I love most is how it feels.  My skin feels much nicer and cleaner with it on.  I can't feel it and it doesn't make me itch.

The gift set contains:

All about Eyes Serum.  I'm in love with this stuff and am waiting on an order from Cosmetic America to arrive with a full size tube of this stuff!

Superdefense SPF 25 Age Defense Moisturizer.  I'm really impressed with the size for a sample.  Haven't tried it yet since I'm busy defending my face against spots at the moment.

Dramatically Different Moisturizer.  What Clinique gift set is complete without it?  I must have a handful of various sized containers of this stuff.  I'll probably give them away and switch to the anti blemish moisturizer.  Again, a really generous size for a sample.

Deep Comfort Body Lotion.  You can never have too many body lotions lying around...especially with winter on its' way and the drying effect ducted heating has on skin.

High Impact Mascara.  I never have to buy mascara these days!  It's always in one gift pack or another.

Take The Day Off Make Up Remover.  For lids, lashes and lips.  These are the areas I struggle to remove make up from.  I'll be buying a full sized bottle for sure!

Long Last Glosswear in Air Kiss.  Very sheer and nude. I prefer something that shows up better but it's SPF 15 and can be worn everyday and goes with all colours.

Colour Surge Eyeshadow Duo in Peach Plum and Blush in Smouldering Plum.  Awesome colours!  Love them all.  I wasn't sure how well the peach and plum would play together but they do.  Very wearable colours and great for travel.

The Bag.  Love these bags that hang on the back of the door.  Great for travel where storage space is tight.  I would have loved this when I was in hospital.  I had to put my toiletry bag next to the small sink and it barely fit and was impossible to find what I needed.

NYX Eyeshadow Palettes

My sisters introduced me to NYX this month.  An affordable yet highly pigmented range of makeup.

I got a couple of gorgeous eye shadow palettes from the new Caribbean Collection:

I Dream of Barbados - Pinks, purples and silver/charcoals

I Dream of Antigua - Green/blues and silver/greys

Haven't really played much with them because I'm holding out for new make up brushes.

Ella Bache

Last Saturday we all got together with Mum for a girly afternoon at a Day Spa.  We went to Ella Bache in Melbourne Central for some much needed pampering.

I had a deluxe pedicure with paraffin wax, brow shape and signature facial.  EB are a little on the pricey side but it's well worth it.

Service was great and they're very thorough and take their time.  Everything was very professional and hygienic.

I totally loved the special pedicure chair with built in sink.   I'm really happy I chose a pedi since my feet have been quite sore lately.  The hot paraffin wax felt amazing!

The pedi finished with an OPI polish.  I picked Pompeii Purple which is now on my OPI wish list.

They applied the polish after my facial even though they did the pedi first to ensure it didn't get messed up.  Little things like this contributed to the fantastic service.

The great thing about the Signature Facial is that it's tailored to your individual skin type.  I lost count of all the different products that were smeared on and off my face.  The acupressure massage was amazing!

I can't wait to go back for more!