May Wishlist

Since I'm on a spending ban in an attempt to save money for my July wedding (and equally important shopping money I can blow while I'm in America), I've decided to make a wishlish that include items I hope to acquire in a couple of months.

May Wishlist

1.  Nars Blush in Gaiety-- I don't have any full size Nars blushes, but oh boy do I want one!  The Foreplay palette has sparked a love for these blushes. I've seen so many reviews and I can't help but want to add one to my collection.  My current lust is Gaiety.  I had my makeup done at Mecca and I asked to have Gaiety put on and I loved it.  I'm on the hunt for a beautiful, cool toned blush, that is quite bright like candy.  If you have any suggestions, please let me know!

2.  Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Exposed-- I bought one of these, Peaceful, off a blog sale and it is fantastic!  Tarte is so difficult to purchase in Australia (nearly impossible without parcel forwarding), so I really want to buy some Tarte items when I have the chance.  Exposed is stunning and so natural and best of all, I have nothing like it in my collection.

3.  Clarins Ever Matte Shine Control Mineral Powder-- I feel I have so many pressed powders that are supposed to control shine and they do, but I still have to reapply.  I suppose I'm still searching to find the perfect powder, which may or may not even exist for my particular skin. 

4.  Stila Eyeshadow Palette in 'In the Know'-- I love my 'In the Light' palette and the fact that 'In the Know' is all matte, intrigues me.  I don't have heaps of mattes so I think this would be a nice addition.  With that said, I don't really know if I need any more eyeshadow, especially I have other ones in mind for upcoming wish lists.  *cough Nars Created The Woman cough*

5.  OPI Polka.com-- OPI make some of my favourite glitter polishes and I like the colour combination in this particular polish.  I plan on picking up quite a few OPI polishes since they're so much cheaper in America.  If you have a favourite shade, please share!

6.  Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner in Turquoise-- I love turquoise.  It's my primary wedding colour so I think this is a need product.

What items are on your wish list?

NotD: Revisiting Old Favourites

Just a quick nail of the day using some of my favourite nail polishes: OPI 'Fly', China Glaze 'For Audrey', and Femme Fatale 'Winter Hyacinth'.  My first experience with 'Winter Hyacinth' wasn't easy, but I loved how it looked.  To make the application easier, I layered it on top of similar-ish shades so I wouldn't need as many applications.

I used two coats of each colour, so each nail had four coats of each colour.  I used a Sally Hansen topcoat to finish off the look.  I'm really happy with how they turned out.

2013 Quarterly Favourites: Summer Edition

I decided to do quarterly favourites instead of monthly favourites because I was finding I wasn't really enjoying doing the posts each month (however, I do love reading them).  For this post, I have found it a bit difficult to narrow down my favourites to ten (that was the number I set myself), but I feel that means these are all products which are genuine favourites of mine.  They will probably be favourites for many more months to come.

The top ten:

These are products I kept coming back to (mostly) everyday since the start of the year.  There are some recently acquired items and they're pretty special to have beat out some other items.

The Faves

Stila In the Light Palette:  I did a review/comparison post here of this palette.  Stila make some fantastic eye shadows (along with other items :)  I'm definitely keen to pick up another palette, most likely In the Know.

Nars Foreplay Palette:  Love these blushes.  The fuchsia one has been my fave this month.  See review here.

OPI Eurso...Euro:  This is a recently acquired nail polish.  I love the formula.  I love the colour and I love that my partner picked it out.  Check out a swatch here.

MAC Blot Powder Pressed:  I'll have a review on this sometime soonish.  I use it to set and touch up my makeup.  Just know, it gets the job done.  Very well.  Great for oily/combination skin.

Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream in 21: I cannot say enough about how much I love this BB cream.  It's amazing.  I wear this about everyday to work.  See review here.

Lancome Teint Idole Ultra 24H in 005:  If I'm not wearing the BB cream, I'm wearing this or another foundation which I'm currently in love with.  I'll reveal the other foundation at another time.  I struggled for a long time finding foundations that match my skin and now I'm obsessed with finding more (even though I don't need anymore :)  I made a mini review about this here.

Revlon Lip Butter in Lollipop:  I love lip butters.  They're my kind of lipstick.  Pigmented and low maintenance.  I've been wearing lollipop a lot this summer.  I'll be posting a FotD soon with this as a star.

L'Oreal NutriBalm Tinted Lip Balm in Nudy Coral: Love. Love. Love.  This is pretty much a lip balm with the slightest amount of colour (emphasis on slight), but it is fantastic!  The subtle colour and shine is great for my work makeup.  I will be writing a post comparing this to YSL Volupte Sheer Candy.

Kosmea Skin Clinic Rescue Balm: I mention when I bought this I loved it as a lip balm; however, I have also seen firsthand it's ability to mend and fade scarring.  My partner cut his nose at work and it has scarred (even after attempts to avoid this during the healing process).  I told him to put the Rescue Balm on it just to see what would happen and what do you know? It has worked.  The scar is slowly, slowly fading, but it is so much better than it was at the start.  I was so mad at him (even though it was a complete accident) because in less than 3 months, we'll be getting married and there will be so many photos!

Finally, Etude House Missing U Hand Cream Harp Seal: This is the most adorable packaging I have ever seen.  I'm obsessed with seals and I couldn't pass this up.  It's supposed to smell like Green Tea (I'm not sure if it actually does, but I also cannot pinpoint what it smells like) and it's actually a pretty good hand cream.  It leaves your hands feeling really smooth.  I will keep this container forever!

Honourable Mentions: 

Okay, so I have cheated, slightly, and included three honourable mentions.  These were products that I have (a) fallen in love with recently, but the blogger world has been loving it forever, (b) loved it for a while now and have used it a lot more this quarter or (c) really like it, but it just narrowly missed the cut.

Honourable mentions

Bioderma: it seems that everyone has an opinion of this.  I thought it was overrated, but after using it for a while now, I cannot see myself without it.

Fine One One: See my review here.  I still love it.

Bellapierre Mineral Blush in Desert Rose: The swatch leans a bit too orange, but it is definitely peachy.  I adore peach blushes and this is a great everyday one.  It's really finely milled and applies extremely well.

Bellapierre Mineral Blush in Desert Rose

Desert Rose swatch

What were your favourites this month/quarter?

NotD: Attempt at Nail Art

These nails were from a while ago.  I just never got around posting about them, but when I stumbled over the photo, I wanted to share them because I really liked them!

This was my first attempt at nail art and I don't think it went too badly.  I used the dotting pens that so many of you either own or have seen.  I really wanted to use the bellapierre nail polishes that I had ordered late last year from OzSale.

I adore the colour.  It's a bit more rose than the first image shows it to be.  The bottom image is more true to life.  I paired it with OPI Ski Teal We Drop simply because I like the contrast.  The glitter bellapierre polish ('Glitter Surprise') looks beautiful on top of the deep teal.  The three colours work really well to create a layered look on my feature nail.

L to R: bellapierre 'Chic Pink,' OPI 'Ski Teal We Drop,' and bellapierre 'Glitter Surprise'

The formula of all three is really nice.  I'm a big fan of OPI, so no surprise there.  I didn't know what to expect from bellapierre, but I can easily say that these polishes are definitely two of my favourites.  They're different from others I own and they apply so easily!

Have you tried any polishes from bellapierre?  I'd love to add some more to my collection.

NotD: Blue Ombré Look

For work, I needed to be dressed in blue.  So of course, my nails had to be blue as well.  I couldn't choose between which blue nail polish I wanted to use, so I decided to do an ombre look with them.  I used six nail polishes.  The one not pictured is Rimmel Disco Ball, which I used to add some sparkle to my feature nail.

The look:

The nails looked much better at the start of the day before all the festivities!


The products:

Thumb to Pinky: Ulta3 Soft Hydrangea, Revlon Blue Lagoon, China Glaze Flyin' High, Ulta3 Calypso Holiday, OPI Ski Teal We Drop

I really like all these polishes, some more than others.  My faves are Ski Teal We Drop (absolutely love the colour) and Flyin' High (absolutely love the formula and colour).  The disappointment is Blue Lagoon.  It looks really pretty in the bottle, but falls a bit flat on the nail.  It also looked (and felt) a bit gritty.  Maybe it was just my nail...this was my first time using it.

Weekend Haul

I have been so so good to avoid purchasing any beauty items; however, this weekend I decided to reward myself (by justifying the products)!  GWPs are an easy way to justify purchases as well as claiming they're for my wedding makeup.

My first stop was Priceline.  I had a voucher from my reward points and I couldn't pass up the Sally Hansen offer on at the moment.  I picked up two of the Complete Salon Manicure polishes: 220 Cafe Au Lait and 675 Mermaid's Tale.  The GWP included a Complete Salon Manicure in 540 Frutti Petutie, Diamond Shine Base and Top Coat, Diamond Strength Instant Nail Hardener and a Nail Shaper and Buffer.  Such a great deal!!  I also bought another Witch Blemish Stick, but I have to return it because it was dried out.

Here are swatches of the three nail polishes.  The formula is great!!  Frutti Petutie applied so creamy.  The other two were a bit sheer, but built up nicely.  I could have got away with 3 coats of Mermaid's Tale, but the glitter was all clumping at the top, so I added a fourth to make a more equal distribution.  The top coat did burn my finger a bit, which was weird, but it works really nicely.

Top to Bottom: 2 coats of Frutti Petutie, 4 coats of Mermaid's Tale, 3 coats of Cafe Au Lait

The next stop was Myer.  I had a $20 gift card from my Myer One points, plus I had a 10% off voucher for all beauty items.  I stopped by the MAC counter, but the customer service was horrible.  I've never had much luck at the Perth counter, so I end up purchasing items online.  However, the customer service at Lancome has always been stellar.  I've had a few samples of their Teint Idole Ultra 24H Foundation and I decided that I had to have it!  I really really love it because it matches my skin
perfectly.


My shade is the lightest in the range, 005 Beige Ivoire.  This has pink undertones, which I certainly look for in a foundation.  Foundations with too much yellow, make my skin look dirty and orange.  I also love the smell of this foundation!



A lady cut in front of me at the counter, which was lame; however, the Sales Assistant totally saw it and gave me two decent sized samples of some of their skincare products: Hydra Zen Nuit Neurocalm (Soothing Recharging Night Cream) and their well known Genifique Yeux (Youth Activating Eye Concentrate).  These samples eased the blow when I went to David Jones and found out Lancome has a GWP over there when you spend $75.

Swatch of the foundation:

It looks so natural blended in.  

The next stop was David Jones.  I knew I wanted to pick up one of the Mariah Carey OPI polishes and I was pumped when I found out there was an OPI GWP on at the moment.  I've been wanting to try the OPI Drip Dry formula and couldn't pass up the opportunity of receiving one for free.

L to R: 'Get Your Number', 'OPI...Eurso Euro' and Drip Dry

My partner was shopping with me and wasn't too thrilled at all my beauty stops during the day, so I let him pick out my polishes (so he was involved :).  He chose brilliantly!  Of the Mariah Carey collection, he selected 'Get Your Number.'  He also chose 'OPI...Eurso Euro' from the Euro Centrale collection.

Bottom to Top: 'OPI...Eurso Euro,' 'Get Your Number,' and 'French Quarter for Your Thoughts'

These are beautiful polishes and I love the Drip Dry (though, I think the 60 sec touch dry claim is a bit of a stretch).  They apply really nicely and I love the texture of the Liquid Sand.  I highly recommend you trying it out if you haven't already.

I really wanted to pick up the David Jones Sampler Tote after seeing other blog posts about it.  I knew immediately which one I wanted, it was just finding the best OPI Mini nail polish on offer.  In the end, I settled for a grey polish (French Quarter for Your Thoughts--swatch above) and I am so happy I did!  I'm going to have grey nails for my wedding and I have already purchased a grey polish, but I think I may like the OPI one better (at the very least, the formula is better).  I'll be sharing my wedding makeup ideas with you all in the not too distant future :)

The awesome contents!

I'm not going to go into too much detail about all the contents in the bag.  I was excited to receive another Live Clean Argan Oil.  I'd received a sample in one of my LHI Eco boxes and I really enjoyed it.  I'm in love with Kosmea and this rescue balm feels fantastic on dry lips.  Definitely try out this brand if you haven't already.  Their Rose Hip oil is the best I've tested so far.  I'm almost out of my Dermalogica Microfoliant and I was happy to receive another one.  I've been loving the Crabtree & Evelyn hand cream.  This was a brand I always lusted after when I lived in America.  I've used a bit of the David Jones pressed powder and first impression was I really liked it!

If you can, totally pick up this tote!  It's a pretty awesome deal with some excellent brands!

I'm excited to play with these more during my long weekend!

OotD: Nicki Inspired

This past weekend I went to the Nicki Minaj concert.  I'm not the hugest fan of Nicki; it's not really my style of music.  With that said, it was pretty amazing.  Her concert was such a spectacle.  The set amazing.  The lighting amazing.  The special effects amazing.  It was a great night and the support acts offered plenty of opportunities to people watch.  I wanted to share my outfit, make-up and nails for the event!

My dress is from Modcloth.  I love its vibrant, primary colours.  Plus it has a bit of tulle underneath to fill it out on the bottom.
My shoes were from Target.  They're a great pair of navy wedges. 

The key features of my make-up were my bright, aqua eye liner and my bright cheeks.  After seeing Mishelle's post about the Australis 10 hour eye liner, I knew I had to get it!  I paired this with Gold Card and Pretty in Mink eyeshadow from Benefit's She's So Jetset kit and They're Real Mascara.  For my cheeks I used Femme Fatale's Velvet Cupcake.  Stay tuned for a more in-depth post.

For my nails, I had to use colours from the OPI Nicki Minaj collection!  I chose my two favourites from the collection, Fly and Save Me.  I have two coats of Fly with a coat of Save Me painted on top.   I really like the combination.

Have you been to any extravagant concerts lately?

NOTD: Mirenesse Bullet Proof Nail Laquer

As most of you are aware, Mirenesse had teamed with Woman's Day to bring us some sweet GWPs. I picked up some nail polish in Blood Red (after failing to find the silver one).

I used it a few days ago and it is holding up quite well. The formula is really smooth and two coats was all I needed. I would pick up a couple more if they weren't that expensive.

I paired it with an OPI 'I have a herring problem' accent nail.

For those of you who have tried the Mirenesse nail polish, what did you think?

A Rave and a NOTD- Wedding Colours

I am getting married next year and this week marks the day I got engaged a year ago. In honour of that, my partner suggested my nail combo this week....our wedding colours (a blue mint colour and yellow).

L to R: L'oreal 602, OPI Save Me, OPI Candlelight

Most of you know the wonder of OPI, but I also wanted to make sure you knew about the brilliance of L'oreal Colour Riche nail polish. It has a built in top coat which is actually really good. The formula is really smooth and I found it opaque in two coats. It does hold up really well. I have two colours; the one for my NOTD is 602 Perle de Jade.

I paired it with OPI Save Me ( which I love) and Candlelight from the So So Skullicious Collection.

The final product

NOTD: Fly and Lights

I am loving OPI The Living Daylights so much that I kept it as my feature nail.  I have exchanged Rimmel's Wine Not with OPI Fly (from the Nicki Minaj collection).

Fly is a vibrant teal and I adore it!  The formula definitely requires at least two coats, but the colour is beautiful.

Are you loving a particular nail polish/colour at the moment?

October Favourites

Here are my favourite items from this past month.

1.  Witch Blemish Stick: I'm loving this stick.  I don't have too too much trouble with blemishes, but this has made my skin better.  At the first signs of a spot, I put this on and it really does reduce redness and helps it heal faster.  It's not immediate, so I'm still open to other products.

2.  CEDEL blow dry faster heat protector:  One of the things I hate is blow drying my hair; however, if I want to wear it down, I do have to dry it.  This product radically reduces the time it takes to dry while leaving it smoother and shinier.  I will definitely buy this again!

3.  Kosmea Radiance 24/7 Youth Boost: I received this in my Lust Have It! Eco Box.  My first experience wasn't too pleasant--I put too much oil on my skin.  Learning from that, I have grown fond to this product.  It makes my skin feel really smooth and has made it more vibrant and radiant.  I use it at night because I do find it to be a bit heavy.  I'm hoping it lasts a long time!

4.  OPI The Living Daylights:  I adore this nail polish.  It really is fantastic.  See a quick review of it here.  Be sure to get this while you can!

5.  Swisspers Blot-Off Oil Tissues:  This are a fantastic way to touch up your skin during the day.  Having combination/oily skin, I can use these to absorb the oil my face creates during the day.  They're easy to use and come in a cool carrying case.
 
6.  Benefit POREfessional:  I got this travel size tube in my She's So Jetset kit and to say the least, I love this primer.  I find it really does reduce the size of your pores.  It's not a perfect reduction, but far less visible.  If you're looking for a miracle product, this may not be for you.  I will have some before and after pictures as soon as I can.

7.  Rimmel Kate Moss Lipstick in 16:  I really like these lipsticks.  I now own 4.  This colour is a bright pink.  I am looking forward to wearing it a lot this summer.   

Eye without any makeup

The amazing They're Real Mascara Brush

Eye with One Coat of They're Real and Benefit and Bourjois Eye Shadow Pot in 10

8.  Benefit They're Real Mascara:  This also came in my She's So Jetset kit (I highly recommend the entire kit).  I am completely in love with this mascara!  It is excellent!!  I love how it lengthens and curls.  I don't have anything close to it and I have quite a few mascaras.

9.  Bourjois Eye Shadow Pot in 10:  This is a beautiful eye shadow in a glittery champagne colour.  This is my go to colour of eye shadow and I love the shimmer this one possesses.  Totally worth a purchase if you don't mind glitter.

What were your favourites this month?

NOTD: Wine and Sparkle

I bought OPI The Living Daylights from the new Skyfall collection and I've been dying to try it out.  It's an amazing glitter polish that immediately caught my eye.  I've received several compliments on it (and I've only been wearing it for a day and a half).

I used it for my feature nail.  I was really happy with the formula.  It applied really smoothly, much better than Australis Fairy Bread which I tried out a while ago (review here).

On my other nails I used Rimmel's Wine Not.  I wasn't as happy with this polish.  It was far too runny for my liking and it was messy to apply.  The colour is nice though...

Each nail has two coats of polish with a top coat.

I am tempted to try some other polishes in the Skyfall collection.  Any suggestions?

NOTD: OPI Nicki Minaj Pink Friday and Save Me

I used to be obsessed with nail polish but it hasn't been until recently that I have regained that interest and excitement.  A week or so ago, I went on a mini OPI shopping spree at David Jones.  Who can pass up by two items get the third free?  Gifts with purchases are my weakness.  Here is a shot of my haul:

I love mini things.  Especially nail polish.  I find I can never get through a whole bottle anyways and I think it's more fun to have lots of shades for the price of one (especially considering the prices here in Australia).  I chose to get the Nicki Minaj collection (like seriously, was there any option not to?), the Holland collection (I've been dying to try 'I have a herring problem') and the So So Skullicious collection because Halloween is fast approaching (and I wanted an orange nail polish).

Here are the two polishes I used today: 'Pink Friday' and 'Save Me' from the Nicki Minaj collection.

 L: 'Save Me'  R: 'Pink Friday'

I really like these two colours.  'Save Me' is definitely my favourite of the two.  It's a lovely glitter polish that has really fine silver glitter and thin strips of blue and gold glitter.  It applies really smoothly and looks great on its own.  'Pink Friday' is a great light pink.  It is bright, but not in-your-face if you get what I mean.  It's subtle.  The only thing I'm not too fond of is how it looks with my skin.  I am quite fair-skinned so the pink sort of blends in, but this wouldn't be applicable to a majority of the population.  

With Flash

I am loving the feature nail trend, so you will see that quite often in my NOTDs.  It's fun and let's me subtly use two nail polishes.  I have only applied two coats of each of the nail polishes.  A third would make it perfectly opaque, but I was content with two coats.

No Flash

I am looking forward to playing with 'Save Me' again in the future.

What do you think of these colours?  Do you have any others in the Nicki Minaj collection?  I cannot wait to try out 'Fly' and 'Did it on 'Em'.