NotD: Purple Shine and Sparkle

I wanted to share my love for Australis Glitter Strikes Back top coat. I have paired it with purple hues because it looks so fantastic, but also because it reminds me of the sold out 'Look to the Western Sky' by Smitten Polish.

I chose Revlon Royal Cloak, which is a very nice purple. To be honest, I don't like purples that much, but I really like this one. I put Max Factory Fantasy Fire over the top to give it some added depth (and because I don't use it nearly enough).

Are there any combinations you are loving at the moment? Seriously, this is one of my favourite combos.

Collective Haul Part 1

For the first part of the year, I did really well not spending money on things I don't necessarily need. The only lapse was an intended one that I posted about here .(I really did need that foundation).

I am getting married in less than three months now, which means I need to crack down on any superfluous spending. To get set for this extreme ban, I allowed myself some last minute spending. Anything I bought prior to the three month cutoff was okay (I decided this with a day to go) and any items I bought for my birthday. I need to gift myself, right? The one thing I didn't expect was the Priceline 40% off sale. I did indulge, but not too bad. That is at least what I keep telling myself.

I have had a nail polish obsession recently. I often go through phases, but this one may be getting out of hand. I am way behind on the indie nail polish fad, so I think I am compensating. I have had a love for Femme Fatale, but that love has now spread to Pretty Serious and some others. I made an order from Pretty Serious and received my items really quickly. I chose BSOD, Twinkling Lights, Viscous Vampire and another bottle of Mummy Mush for my maid of honour. I will have NotD featuring these soon. BSOD and Twinkling Lights are gorgeous together.

I will have some more nail polishes to share when the rest of my last minute/birthday haul shows up.

Next up are some amazing NARS eyeshadow duos. I chose Portbello and Habanera. These were on my Wishlist for a while as I wanted to use them for my wedding makeup. I bought them now so I could have plenty of time playing with them before the day. I am very close to being 100% happy with my bridal look.

Habanera is really intriguing. I got it for the minty colour on the left because it is fairly close to my wedding colour. I am really happy with the purple shade as it is quite sheer and builds up really nicely.

Portobello looks like a pretty boring duo. That is what I thought until I saw Essie Button rave about it. It makes some awesome everyday looks. The main reason I wanted it for my wedding is because one of the shades is supposed to be similar to MAC Wedge. I only have a 4 pan MAC palette and it is full and I didn't want to have an extra pan or feel the pressure to fill another palette. I don't really need any more eyeshadow.

The Priceline haul. I went in to get a concealer. Recently, my skin has been horrendous and I don't have any concealers that are awesome at hiding these spots. I saw the Almay Clear Complexion concealer with its 'blemish clear technology' and I thought why not. The colour matched okay and I like that it can treat spots as it also covers. I hope these claims hold true.

Along the way, I picked up a Rimmel Stay Matte powder in transparent (I decided whatever I could fit in one hand would be acceptable). This has so much love in the blogging world and I thought, why not? I also bought the Essence lash and brow gel. My brow gel is running low and this has some pretty good reviews. Nail wise, I picked up Essence gel-look top coat as I finished one of mine. I also bought the nail art express dry drops because my OPI ones are half empty and I wanted to see how these compare.

More wedding stuff... The cute little Bourjois nail polishes ($1.20!) had 'Hawaii' on them and I thought they would be great additions to a couple of our wedding welcome bags. I have also been toying with the idea of wearing false eye lashes for the wedding. I am going to experiment with these. I have never tried this brand before.

The one purchase that I slightly regret, but not really, is the Australis glitter top coat in Glitter Strikes Back. I love the colours and the day I bought these, I was wearing coral, yellow and fuchsia nail polish, so I thought it was a sign. I do really love it!

NotD: Flyin' High to the Milky Way

Again, this is an oldie, but I still wanted to share after finding it.  As seen in my blue ombre post, I really like China Glaze Flyin' High and it looks bright, vibrant and creamy here.  I cannot recommend it enough.

As for the other polish, I was really excited when I saw Australis Milky Way.  I love white/milky bases with lots of colourful glitter.  The first bottle of this I bought broke in the bag before I got home.  When I tried to exchange it, I found out how bizarre stores are in Australia.  Being American, I'm used to being able to exchange/return items to any store in the chain.  However, I bought my nail polish at a Priceline in the CBD and couldn't return it to any other one.  So lame.

This looks pretty nice.  Much better than I remember it looking.  In my opinion, it didn't apply very smoothly.  The base isn't sheer enough, so you lose sight of a lot of the glitter, which is a shame.  I honestly, don't think I'd have the patience to deal with it on all ten nails.

L to R: China Glaze 'Flyin' High,' Face of Australia 'Once in a Blue Moon,' and Australis 'Milky Way'

I chose to use FOA nail polish in 'Once in a Blue Moon' as a base for my feature in hopes that I'd only have to use one coat of Milky Way.  That wasn't too successful and I didn't like that polish that much either.  Perhaps, my expectations are too high, especially since I love Flyin' High so much.

Recent Hauls Part 1: Priceline and Target (and Myer)

Recently, I have been spending far too much on beauty products.  School holidays and online shopping the main culprits to blame.  I am thinking about a spending ban, but I don't think it can be cold turkey; there have to be clauses and loop-holes, so stay tuned for the outcome of that.

A week or so ago I went to Priceline and Target just to browse and pick up some red hair dye.  However, I ended up with this:

Here's the break down:

Priceline:

- Bourjois Blushes in 34 Rose d'Or and 16 Rose coup de Foudre (30% off--can't resist that!)
- L'Oreal Prefernce Hair Dye (necessary for my Amy Pond outfit for the Ramble)
- Rimmel Kate Moss Lipstick in 12 and 16 (Buy one get one free)
- Face of Australia Nail Polish in Mystic Iris
- Australis Nail Polish in Fairy Bread (I have done a NOTD with this and Iris here)
- Cedel Blow Dry Faster (This was on-sale and it is AMAZING! Stay tuned for a review)
- Cedel Dry Shampoo (On-sale and I've been dying to try a dry shampoo)

Target:

- Rimmel Nail Polish in Disco Ball and Wine (I really wanted Disco Ball and it was buy one get one 50% off)

Myer:

-Lancome Foundation Teint Idole in 010 (This was a free sample and so far, I really like this!  I'm not sure if I can justify spending so much money on it.  Maybe the next time I'm in America)

NOTD: Purple and Glitter

In preparation for the Rotary Ramble (a super awesome scavenger hunt/amazing race style event) held in Perth, I have painted my nails a beautiful purple colour.  As I have mentioned, purple is not one of my favourite colours; however, Amy Pond has purple nails in 'Flesh and Stone.'  I adore Doctor Who and decided to dress as Amy for the Ramble.  I will have a post with my outfit later this week.

Anyway, back to the nails (sorry that the photos are a bit dark):

L: Australis- Fairy Bread  R: Face of Australia-

 

Feature nail as always

I was really happy with the Face of Australia nail polish.  The above picture has one coat of nail polish on with a top coat.  It's a really nice formula.

I am getting into the glitter craze.  Fairy Bread was more difficult to deal with than others I have played around with, but I think it's mainly due to the size of the glitter.  There are some really big hexagon pieces.  I really want OPI Rainbow Connections, so this is my way of coping until I get it.  Someday.

Have you tried any other colours by these two brands?  Any recommendations?