Sunday, October 31, 2010

China Glaze - 'Tis the Season to be Naughty & Nice


Hey everyone! Once again apologies for not posting as regularly as I should be. I promise this week I will be back on track! :) My camera is only half working at the moment, so bear with me. I will have to buy a new one soon I think. 

I was going to show you a stack of Models Own swatches today, however yesterday when I went to the post office, something was waiting there for me - the polishes I had ordered from China Glaze's Tis the Season collection! So of course I had to show you these first! I only got six of them because I felt that I had similar stuff to the other colours already, but I am so impressed with the ones I chose!

Check out all the holiday goodness after the jump!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Help me win my honeymoon!


Hey everyone! I wouldn't normally do something like this but it's such a massive opportunity I had to ask for your help!

The venue where my fiance & I are getting married are having an absolutely crazy competition on their facebook page where one of the couples that are booked in for a wedding can win a 5 night honeymoon in Bali at Villa Raja

In order for us to be in with a chance to win, people need to go to the Villa Botanica facebook page, "LIKE" the page, and then write on the wall of the page "Carina & Micheal 26/8/11"...... You can only do it once though....

As I said before, I wouldn't normally do something like this, and I still feel a little weird asking everyone... I hope I haven't overstepped the mark here and done something distasteful... :( If I have, please let me know and I will take the post down straight away..

But if you think you would be willing to help us out, then thank you soooooo sooooooo much.... We are eternally grateful for your help!

Edit: Thought I'd post a pic of me and my boy that we took while we were visiting the south coast of NSW a couple months back <3


Edit: I just realized that I somehow linked this post to a photo of me and my sister on her hens night instead of the Villa Botanica website! Haha! I'm so sorry to anyone that had to witness that messiness! :p It should be fixed now :D

Models Own - Lilac Dream

I'm baaaaaack! :D Sorry for not posting over the past few days.. I have been flat out!

Anyway, as I promised, I sat down tonight to do swatches of all the Models Own colours I bought at their 50% off sale.... I put the first colour on, and started snapping away and then...... my battery died.... *cries* ..........and for some reason it wont charge!!!! So I only have pics of one of the colours tonight, Lilac Dream.

First thing tomorrow I'm going to the shops to get a new battery (or maybe a new camera!!! :P)...

Lilac Dream is exactly as the name describes it - a dreamy lilac cream that glides on effortlessly! I used two thin coats and a coat of Poshe.

(Note: This photo is not actually this pink.. I swear! But every time I add it to the page, Blogger makes it darker and redder! What the hell Blogger?!?!?!)

This last photo was without flash but I feel like it gives a more true indication of the colour of this polish.


I really love this colour and if it wasn't for the fact that I am dying to try the rest of the colours I got, I would probably be happy wearing this for days! 

Just a quick reminder that there is only a couple of days left to get your name down for my 50 Follower Giveaway! Thank you to everyone for all your encouragement and thank you to all my new followers! I really appreciate it and promise I will repay your generosity with giveaways well into the New Year! x

Sunday, October 24, 2010

I'm still here!

Sorry for being MIA everyone! I had a very big weekend doing wedding planning stuff for my sister and going to her hens party. I also had to do some final assessments for college :( 

I'll be back on Tuesday with a stack of Models Own swatches! Hope everyone had a fab weekend! x

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Giveaway! Rescue Beauty Lounge - Catherine H

EDIT: THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED! THANKS TO EVERYONE THAT ENTERED! :D

I have another giveaway for everyone! I know... CRAZY! 

This was meant to be a "birthday giveaway", but the stuff didn't arrive in time, so now it's an "end of October, beginning of November giveaway"... Awesome name right? :P 

Enough dribble, on to the good stuff!

Everyone has been losing their minds over the Rescue Beauty Lounge Housewives of Tudor collection, so I thought I'd give away a brand new bottle of my fave colour, Catherine H. You can check out a swatch here!

EDIT: I have extended the deadline to 25th November 2010!


The Rules are simple:

1. Be a follower.
2. Leave a comment with your follower name and email.
3. The giveaway is open internationally.
4. Following me on Twitter gives you one extra entry (you gotta tell me your twitter name!)
5. Blogging about the giveaway gives you one extra entry (please leave a link!)
6. Giveaway closes midnight on 25th November 2010. 

Please include all info in one comment only.
Good luck!


And no, this giveaway hasn't been sponsored by the company!  I paid for the bottle with my hard earned pesos!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Eyeko - Punk Polish and Chi Chi Polish


Today I have the other two Eyeko polishes that Carli from Konad-licious sent me in our swap :D

Punk Polish - A super neon pink. This was a little thick, and dried to a satin finish like most neons do. The finished product was quite spectacular though! One of the brightest neon pinks I have seen!


Chi Chi Polish - Rosy pink glitter in a soft baby pink base. This is a really gorgeous glitter, but it definitely needs to be worn over something. This was two coats.


I thought I'd try Chi Chi over Punk to see how it looked but sadly I wasn't a fan :S I think I'd probably like it more if it was layered over a lighter pink polish....

That's all for today! I haven't been sleeping a lot lately so I'm pretty exhausted tonight. Need a good night's sleep x

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Eyeko - Rain Polish (And a swap with Konad-licious!)

Last week I organised to do a swap with the lovely Carli from Konad-licious for three of the new Eyeko polishes that I had been lemming for ages! I was so stoked simply about the fact that she was sending them to me! So, you can imagine how excited I was when I opened the box and found not only the three Eyekos, but all these other amazing goodies as well!!!!


There are so many gorgeous polishes I wanted to try (Milani holo! *drool*) but I was instantly drawn to Eyeko's Rain Polish, so that is what I'm wearing now.


Rain Polish is a light blue grey creme with a subtle shimmer. The shimmer almost disappears on the nail but it provides just enough dimension to the polish that you don't feel like it is just another flat creme. 

Application was a dream. Two thins coats was plenty and it dried in a flash! Not a bad word to be said about this polish!

You may have also noticed that I shortened my nails and changed the shape. I wasn't feeling the super square look anymore, so I went with the trusty squoval shape. What do you think?

Hope you are all having a fab day! Be sure to check out Konad-licious!  x


Deborah Lippmann - Across the Universe

Today I went back to work after having two weeks off for my exams and sitting on my desk were some packages! I ripped them open and was glad to see that it was my long lost orders from KissandMakeupNY that I placed at the beginning of September!!!!  :S

I was pretty happy to be getting my goodies after all this time, but the thing that got me the most excited was that my Deborah Lippmann polishes were in there! 

Lippmann's Across the Universe was my second biggest lemming after Fortune Teller and now that I have both, I have to say, Across the Universe is the clear winner. 

Across the Universe has a dark blue jelly base and is packed with green and blue hex glitter and blue regular glitter. Its fabulous!!! 

Considering that it is a glitter, it applied really well and dried quite quickly with a coat of Poshe top coat. I waited a couple of minutes between coats of ATU so that the glitter didn't move around too much. This is my first experience with Lippmann polishes and now I can understand why everyone raves about them! I got a few other Lippmanns as well, so I will be sure to show them to you over the next couple of days :D


Check out the pic spam of Across the Universe after the jump!

Saturday, October 16, 2010

MAC - Venomous Villains


Today I have swatches of the three nail polishes from MAC's Venomous Villains collection. 

Bad Fairy - MAC describes this as a red with multi-changing red pearl, however there are definitely flashes of gold and pink. It has a distinct foil like finish on the nails as well. This was the only unique colour out of the three. As you are probably all aware, the other two are dupes for two of Orly's Cosmic FX colours.



Check out Formidable! and Mean & Green after the jump!


Friday, October 15, 2010

Rescue Beauty Lounge - Housewives of Tudor England



Hey everyone! Yesterday I finished my exams! After we were done, my friends and I went to a local bar and ended up staying there a little too long.... :( So I was like a bear with a sore head today! Even though I wasn't feeling 100%, it was sooooo good to be able to spend the day resting and watching TV instead of studying!

Today I have the most recent collection from Rescue Beauty Lounge, Housewives of Tudor England. The collection consists of four colours named after some of the wives of King Henry VIII. 

Check out swatches after the jump! 

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

OPI - Tease-y Does It

I wasn't going to do a swatch tonight because I'm meant to be studying, but sadly, my precious Fortune Teller chipped like crazy today. So of course I repainted them tonight and I thought, if I'm going to repaint them, I might as well take photos.... And if I'm going to take photos, well heck, I might as well do a blog post! :P Sure, my entire legal career rests on me passing my final exam tomorrow, but who wants to leave the house with chipped nail polish right!? :P

OPI Tease-y Does It is my second favourite Burlesque - a vampy, brownish plum colour with stacks of red micro-glitter. In the bottle, it has flashes of gold and looks like it could be a duochrome, but this doesn't translate to the nail. That's ok though, because this colour is glorious! 


Check out more pics of this beauty after the jump! 

Tips and Tales - Blog Wrap #4

Hey everyone! I don't think I will have time for swatching today so I thought I'd throw some link lovin' your way instead :D


Reading this made me feel a little sick because I just received a rather substantial order I placed with Rescue Beauty Lounge last week. Totally killed my joy. 

I promised myself I wouldn't buy any of Holiday collections (except for Burlesque) but these swatches are tempting me big time!

Hmmmmmmm taupe heaven!

Living in Australia and not having easy access to Deborah Lippmann really sucks sometimes!

I have resisted placing an order for OPI Holos for weeks now... Until I saw this!

Sadly, this is not a joke...


I think that's all for today... I have two verbal assessments this afternoon and then a final exam tomorrow, and I am done! x

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

China Glaze - Fortune Teller


Ok........ This is a big deal... A big, big, big, big, deal! 

I have been lemming China Glaze Fortune Teller for agessssss! It was numero uno on my lemming list, but I could not find it anywhere.. Not even evilbay had it.... And then the other day, I decided to search for it again, and BANG! THERE IT WAS! So I shelled out the dosh and then started counting the days until my little baby arrived... 

Here is a picture of what it was like when I got Fortune Teller....


So of course I had to put it on straight away.... 

Behold, MY PRECIOUS..... ! Haha!


Check out the pic spam after the jump!

Monday, October 11, 2010

OPI - Extra-Va-Vaganza!

Ok I couldn't resist! I had to try out one of the OPI Burlesque colours tonight! I chose Extra-Va-Vaganza! because it's the one I have been the most excited about! 

And wowzers! This glitter is outstanding! I used one coat of Zoya Trixie and then three coats of Extra-Va-Vaganza and my nails are on fire! I took a bajillion photos in different lighting, but I just added a couple here :D



And here is a blurry one to show how sparkly and glittery and FREAKIN AMAZING this polish is! 


And a closeup for good measure!


Ok, I'm off to keep studying! Hope you are all having a great day! x

Bottle Spam #2 - OPI Burlesque, Zoya Fire & Ice and Mac Venomous Villains


Just my luck, three of my recent hauls turned up today! And of course, I can't swatch them because I have to study *cries* One of them is a makeup haul, MAC's Venomous Villains, but the goodies are so gorgeous, I had to include those as well!

In the mean time, I thought I'd treat you all with some bottle pics until I can get the swatches done. I'm so excited, I don't know which ones to do first!

OPI Burlesque

Check out more pics after the jump!

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Orly - Lunar Eclipse


I am so late to the party with this one. Orly Lunar Eclipse was part of the recent Cosmic FX collection that everyone LOST THEIR FREAKIN MINDS over... including myself :D

I had read that some of the colours were more impressive in the bottle than they were on the nails. However, this was not the case with Lunar Eclipse. This is a vivid blue with a purple/pink duochrome effect, however the effect is more visible in outdoor lighting that inside. This took three coats to become opaque. 


Lunar Eclipse was very hard to capture in indoor lighting! However, I managed to get one semi decent photo outside though, which shows the amazing duochrome effect! Yay!!!! Excuse the cuticles. I have sorely neglected my poor little fingers with all this studying. 


My first exam is tomorrow. Wish me luck... I need it :(

Friday, October 8, 2010

OPI - Glitzerland

Super quick post today! Sorry for not being able to post every day at the moment! My studies are keeping me really busy :( But only a week to go and I will be all finished! :D

Sadly, my birthday manicure was a disaster so I didn't take any photos. I decided to take it off today and put something quick and simple on, so I chose Glitzerland :p

Glitzerland is a cool toned gold with lots of sparkle! I had to use three coats to get good coverage. I topped it off with a coat of Seche. For some reason my hands photographed really red :S



And here is a photo of a gorgeous rose that my boy brought home for me yesterday. He is such a sweetie :D


Thanks for stopping by! Oh and don't forget about my Giveaway! x

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

It's My Birthday!


Another year older, but not necessarily any wiser :P 

Thanks to my studies, I haven't even had the chance to do a "birthday manicure" but hopefully I can get one done later today. We are going out to dinner tonight, and naturally, I need to have fantastic nails for the occasion! 

I mentioned a few posts back that I was going to have a small giveaway to celebrate my birthday, but sadly the giveaway goodies haven't arrived yet. But I promise that as soon as they do, I will post the giveaway!

In the mean time, don't forget to follow and get your name down for my 50 Follower Giveaway!

I have also started a Twitter account, so click on the icon on the right ------> to follow me! My first and only follower so far is Kellie from Also Known As...! Thanks Kellie! :D

Monday, October 4, 2010

Zoya - Cheryl

Hey everyone! Today I'm wearing Zoya Cheryl from their recent Wicked & Wonderful collection.

Cheryl has a dark brown/chocolate base with tons and tons of copper and gold microglitter. It is one of those "lit from within" colours which I absolutely love. Cheryl applies so well! If you were really careful with your application you could probably get away with one coat. I did two coats just to be safe and added one coat of Seche. Absolutely stunning!

You can really see the copper and gold micro glitter in this closeup.

 I have exams over the next couple of weeks, so I might be MIA for the next few days, but I will try my best to post as often as I can! :D

Don't forget to get your name down for my 50 Follower Giveaway!

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Color Club - Pucci-licious

Craptastic swatch of the week! I was painting my nails while watching the Australian Rugby League grand final and my team, St George Dragons, were winning after being down at half time,  so I was a little excited..... and my nails reflect my level of excitement! :P 

Purely for my own pleasure, I have included a photo of the boys with their trophy! 


So anyway, Pucci-licious is an amazing colour, but it probably could have done with a third coat, which I didn't realise until I had taken the photos. It doesn't seem patchy when I look at my nails, but the camera tells a different story. 


Also, my camera just couldn't capture this purple creme accurately. My photos all came out too blue. It is definitely more purple... And being a neon, it dried to a matte/satin finish, but I added a coat of Seche Quick Dry because I'm not a fan of that satiny look... 

I should have done a red and white look to celebrate the mighty Dragons win! :P

Oh and I was being so demented after the win, I broke my thumb nail. Snapped it right off.. Check out the carnage! 


Thankfully Mr Thumb never makes it into my swatch photos... :P Hope you are all having a great weekend! x

Saturday, October 2, 2010

CND Night Factory - Urban Oasis and Teal Sparkle



Today I had to do a makeup job for a friend who was attending a wedding and I wanted my nails to look special, so I chose CND's new "The Look" Night Factory Duo for Fall/Winter '10.

The set consists of a dark teal creme polish, Urban Oasis, and a sparkly teal microglitter "effects" polish, aptly named Teal Sparkle.


Check out the swatches of this amazing duo after the jump!

Friday, October 1, 2010

My First Giveaway - Winner!!!!!

I'm so excited! I have the winner of my first giveaway! So here goes........




CONGRATULATIONS MILLIE!

I have sent you an email asking for your address details. Please make sure you respond within 24 hours, so I can send out your prize asap!
 
Congratulations again and thank you to everyone who participated!
 
Don't forget to get your name down for my new Giveaway! It is open until 31 October 2010!