WINNER OF MY ANNIVERSARY GIVEAWAY IS.....

Mare!!! She has a awesome little blog http://justmared.blogspot.com/

I had all the entrants names in a document, and was going to the grand pulling out of the hat; but I ran out of printer ink.  Which is probably a good thing for the environment but no fun hat pics for you :(  So off to random number generator (next time definitely using a form) and came back with the winner!!

Thanks so much to all of you who entered; will probably having another one shortly given my increased polish purchasing and limited space to store them :)

xxx

St Patrick's Day.. Green with Ivanka

I have a obsession when it comes to green nail polish; I have more green than any other colour.. even my beloved purple!!

Zoya; Ivanka

I was saving Ivanka for a special occasion and today definitely counts as an occasion for all things green.  It is a little sheer, I had to do 3 coats and I'm considering doing a 4th!! The finish is great, shiny; sleek and smooth!! The wear is not brilliant, definitely recommend a top coat for colour longevity alone!! But enough of the teensy downfalls just look at that colour!!! (right now I'm making a Homer Simpson-esque guttural drooling noise)

Hope you all have a marvellous St Patrick's Day

xxx

Anniversary Giveaway!! Update!!

Now I have the long arduous task of sorting out all the comments, double checking links and whether anyone has commented twice.. Almost third of the way through.. so shouldnt be too long now

xxx

Zelda Mani

A moody green

A while back I managed to get some claire's Mood polish on eBay; it's not the most dramatic colour change of  the mood polishes but it's still quite fun!!  Halfway through the 2nd day I got China Glaze's Fault Line in the mail and decided to enhance my mani.. Hardly any crackling though the colour is fabulous (it is purple) I'm really hoping that a solid dash of polish restorer will increase it's crackle effect

Crackle FAIL!!

 xxx

Anniversary Giveaway!! Update!!

Giveaway stuffs!!!

Thought I better take a pic of all the stuff in my giveaway together. (I have just realized that I've left Tease-y Does It and You're Golden out of the pic) It's being drawn on the 15th of March (not long now!!), followers only; please leave your email address in the comments  in the original post; also if you blog about it please leave a link as you'll get a bonus entry!!

Full list of stuff!!!

China Glazes~ Four Leaf Clover; Below Deck; Sunset Sail!!
OPI~ Lincoln Park After Dark Suede; OPI Ink Suede; Jade is the New Black  & Tease-y Does It!!
Art/Color Club~ You're Golden
Maybelline SHINEsensational ~ Peach Sorbet
Fauxnad plates~ A01 & A02(it has Hello Kitty!!! squeeeeeee!!)
Rhinestones & Fruit Canes & a Hello Kitty "magic" towel!!

xxx

Jayd Coral Colours Swatches

Sunlight

Indoors/Shade

Artificial light

You can best see the shimmer in this polish in full sun, though it looks more blue than it is that picture also, best pic of the colour is in the shade, as it didn't make my hands look as "lobstery" as the artificial light would suggest. It dries quickly, the first coat was a little streaky but only needed another coat to reach a nice opaque finish. As this is a limited edition shade I would definitely recommend hunting it down at your local chemist.. Or you can buy it straight from the Coral Colours website!!

SHINEsensational lipglosses

top 2 bottom; Minty Sheer; Cherry Bloom; Glamorous Guava

I love lip gloss, mainly because I favour the bold eye and like to balance it out.. but still don't want completely nude lips.  SHINEsensational lip gloss by Maybelline are great, each colour has a different flavour (which is great if your fickle like me and get bored easily, bad if you really like a colour but hate the flavour) they all seem a bit sheer and only add a hint of colour, the pearlised colours (Cherry Bloom) add more colour that the 'clear' colours (Peach Sorbet).

Peach Sorbet; Cherry Bloom; Glamorous Guava

They are a little sticky but they last awhile without the need for reapplication. I not sure what the reatil price individually is for these babies as they seem to vary drastically from store to store.  I picked up the above 3 in a left over Xmas pack for a very reasonable $12 :)

Coral Colours Art Deco

Paradoxos and Jayd

I was passing through my local chemist and happened upon the new collection by Coral Colours.. Art Deco! There sitting right in front of were some blatant Chanel dupes! I picked up Paradoxos and Jayd for the grand price of $5.95 each!! I have yet to do a full set of swatches but the initial impression is that the formula has a good consistency and reasonable pigmentation. Even if they're not perfect duplicates for the Chanel, they are both really pretty colours.. and at a price I can afford!!

Paradoxos, ohhh look at that violet shimmer...Mmmmmm!

xxx

Can't wait for this movie...

I loved Spaced when it first aired on ABC back in the day, I remember trying to explain it to peeps who hadn't watched how awesome it was.. Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz were brilliant..needless to say if you haven't guessed by now I'm a huge Pegg/Frost fan.. So now waiting impatiently for April the 14th 

GIR Mani!!!

I love Invader Zim; and so glad my work has tons of Zim/GIR t-shirts!! This afternoon instead of doing something constructive I played around with polish!!! My nail art homage to Gir and his loves..

GIR (in dog suit)

Cupcake!!

PIGGY!!

WAFFLE (or failed attempt at one)

xxx

Old OPI, and a garden visitor

OPI~Can't Help Falling In Love; pinky = Sahara Sapphire

A couple of years ago (when I was still living at the Gold Coast) I happened upon in a local chemist a selection of OPI bottles going for $5 each!! I picked out 3 colours intending to come back the next day and buy the reamining colors but by then they were sold out :(  They are the old formula all chocked full of the nasties but they're still pretty..  Can't Help Falling In Love has been my go to bright pink ever since I bought it, it's non streaky, shimmery high voltage pink.. which makes it rather hard to "capture".. The other two colours I bought at the time were Purple-opolis and My Throne for a Cranberry Scone.. Sahara Sapphire I bought on eBay last year it is a super pretty colour, but streaks like a drunk guy at college.. takes forever to finally dry..one of those purchases I almost regret making..

Bearded Dragon

One of the smaller wild backyard dragons..  occasionally one sees them waving to each other.. not sure what this behaviour means but it's adorable!

xx

Mwah! Lipstick review

My local Jay Jays store has heaps of reduced make-up.. I could resist these lipsticks for only $1 each..

Pink, Red, Wine, Black

Pink

Red

Black

Wine

they all have thin feel, and they all do need a base, and probably a lick of lip liner wouldn't go astray.. but they are definitely worth $1, (even worth the the ridiculous full price of $4!!) The pigment is best with the Pink and Red, the Wine is a much softer colour actually on than in the tube, and the black needs 2 coats to reach opacity. ..

Glitter always makes me happy; Teenage Dream OPI

It has been a long love affair ever since I remember.. it's so pretty, shiny.. in one word GLITTER!!!

 This was only 2 coats of Teenage Dream, the thickest (and almost gluggy) polish of the Katy Perry collection.  It is gorgeous, holographic large pieces swimming in a micro pink sea.... love the colour, only thing is I'm not looking forward to is the removal..

My love of shiny things does not end with my nails; recently purchased Fafi Adidas hi tops! They are dangerously pretty, I almost walked into a few parked cars while on my first parabulation with these distractingly shiny sneaks!! Almost nothing distracts me better than something shiny; though someone saying "Look behind you, a Three-Headed Monkey!" works wonders as well..

xxx

Anniversary Giveaway Update

Since there overwhelming flattering number of entrants I have decided to up the ante and include another 3 polishes!!! (sorry about the fuzzy out of focus pic)
OPI~Tease-y Does It; China Glazes~ Below Deck, Sunset Sail, Art/Color Club~ You're Golden
3 more weeks until I draw the winner, and you haven't entered already please leave your detils with original giveaway post! xxx

NOTD, Cracked over Kisses

 Just a quickie post; every time I wear crackle polish I get complimented on it.. which is nice but it's almost so easy that I don't feel I deserve the attention.. This is what I wore over the w/e; Midnight Kiss from China Glazes holiday collection.. with a quick swipe of OPI Black Shatter..

Dupe or Not....

I got my China Glaze; Sand and Sea 6 polish set in the mail today!! Yay!! But as excited as I was to get Sea Spray and Pelican Gray; I soon realised that Sunset Sail was pretty much a dupe for Revlon's Peach Smoothie.. ok so Sunset Sail is slightly warmer, and has silver shimmer as opposed to the gold in Peach Smoothie.. it's still too close to warrant having them both...

CG, Sunset Sail; Revlon, Peach Smoothie

Revlon, Peach Smoothie; CG Sunset Sail

Seeing as I don't think that this colour polish suits my skin tone and I've hardly worn Peach Smoothie; I've added Sunset Sail into the Giveaway along with the Below Deck that also came with the set!!

Anniversary Giveaway!! Some of my fav polishes!!

It's a belated anniversary; as it was a year of sporadic posting in August.. So I thought I'd wait another 6 months then do one.. These are a selection of my favourite polishes; to the extreme where I bought backups of backups.. China Glazes~ Four Leaf Clover; OPI~ Lincoln Park After Dark Suede; OPI Ink Suede; & Jade is the New Black!!

Followers only; please leave your email address in the comments; also if you blog about it please leave a link as you'll get a bonus entry!!

Winner will be drawn on the 15th March!!

NOTD, Deep Space

I spent Valentines Day, in my room attempting to tidy up my wardrobe.. only to be distracted by my PS3 after a few rounds of Guitar Hero I began to feel guilty about neglecting my sorry state of my clothes.. so I decided that putting a dvd on would allow me to tidy as well as be entertained.. didn't quite do as much as I hoped to do but I did have a very enjoyable day watching the Alien movies. 
Which inspired this mani..
Base; 2 coats of Liquid Leather by China Glaze
followed with; 1 coat of Last Friday Night by OPI
topped off with Matte Magic T/C by China Glaze

before Matte T/C; not quite light absorbing for space..

Hope you all had a great V-Day!! xxx

Blonde again!!

My current hair; blonde with a small blue chunk under my fringe..

My favourite care product is Fudge Violet Toning Shampoo.. It's the best toning shampoo I've tried; a little goes a long long way, the smell is great.. (like berries and a bit vanillary) and easily available in Priceline.. it is basically a purple dye so it does stain ones fingers if you have it on your hands for too long, but it works wonders on brassiness.. The directions recommend that you use it every 2nd wash but I found that I was gradually going lilac when I was using it that frequently, every 3 washes is more that adequate..

It comes in purple packaging too.. :)

So so purply!! this smear was from a tiny drop (roughly 1/4 of a 5c piece)

As for hair dye I use a combination of Manic Panic or Fudge, whatever takes my fancy at the time..

NOTD, Super Quick Valentines Day Mani

Mani Break Down;

Base; OPI Pink of Hearts 2
Tips; Konad plate~ m56 with Konad special polish in White
Design; Heart from Konad plate~m59,
Crossbones from Konad plate~CO1 with Konad special polish in Red

It's messy; but will only be a mayfly mani  (only live for a day)

Crackle!!

I bought Instant Nail Effects Black Crackle by Barry M on eBay sometime around Christmas and after having to chase it up it finally arrived in the mail today!!  This is it over the top of my previous NOTD.. plus a coat of Poshe topcoat to seal it in!  I love it, such a quick way to spruce up a tired mani..

NOTD,

2 coats of CG's Below Deck

1 coat of OPI's Pearl of Wisdom

ohhh it shimmers green as well as pinky purple!!

Simple mani, almost too easy, I love love LOVE the Below Deck coverage, so smooth and creamy almost didn't need a 2nd coat! So glad I bought OPI Pearl of Wisdom almost didn't  as I usually shy away from things I have to layer..

Mini eBay Haul

Zoya; Mimi, Ivanka; OPI; Pearl of Wisdom, Panda-monium Pink; CG; Below Deck.

 Ahhh eBay nemisis to my savings account...After seeing a wonderful green sparkle coming from a fellow bloggers nail polish collection I knew I had to hunt that baby down.. I ordered Zoya Mimi and Ivanka and China Glaze's Below Deck.  Ivanka is gorgeous, a brilliant green with a wonderful golden shimmer (the only reason why I didn't apply it first is because I got wonderfully sunburnt and anything green just exacerbates the redness) Mimi is mindblowingly purple, it's got a purple/reddish shimmer, it's not too dark or too light.. just beautiful!! China Glaze's Below deck is a colour I don't already have in my collection and I do love CG's formula..

Zoya; Mimi

The only niggle I have with Zoya is their brush, it's a little short.. no nail polish brush can beat OPI, but I do prefer a longer brush so it can fan out over my nail better..
Speaking of OPI, I had a major nail disaster while down in Sydney, I have been using Orly's Nail rescue for a 3 weeks or so with no problems, but that changed pretty quickly, my thumb nail got slightly squished (someone sat on my hand) and my mail tip decided to disintegrate, as I looked closer at my remaining nails I could see that the nail rescue layer had started to fracture, and by the end of the day had started peeling off (with some nail still attached) .. I headed off to the nearest salon the next day to ask whether they could help my poor ravaged nails.. they suggested a nail tip for my left thumb and a fine layer of acrylic to strengthen my remaining nails and that the only other course of action would be to chop all my nails down (as a polish addict my main concern was whether I could still utilise my collection) after being reassured that I still could; I shelled out a modest $45 and had my 1st professional manicure in 10 years!!  I have been looking for a nice soft pink for a while, not fully pastel and not a hint of sheerness so  I took this opportunity to try out Panda-monium Pink (OPI), fell in love and rushed off (as soon as my mani was dry) to David Jones to purchase it; I also got Pearl of Wisdom (both are from the Hong Kong collection) which is a lovely sheer shimmery polish for layering.  (I'm thinking next mani will be CG below Deck with OPI Pearl of Wisdom over the top!!)

I intially walked passed Inglot (and ended up poorer for going inside..)

I got  AMC lipgloss in 541, Eyeliner Gel in 77 (matte black) and a 10 (square) eyeshadow palette from the Freedom System. 
Firstly the palette; I love the fact you can chose your own colours to put in the case, and there are so many to decide between. Also if you run out of a colour you can buy them separately ($12 for square; $10 for round) The best value for money is the 10 square palette, there more product for a few dollars more.  ($85 for square; $82 for round)   I did attempt to move the shadows around in the palette; but after scraping one pretty badly I left them as they were put in. I had to mainly guess (with the help of google) and try to remember what each shadow was numbered due to the numbers being underneath the pan.  The pigmentation is beyond fantastic, with a eyeshadow base they can last all day!  I wanted a red in this palette but a little afraid and ignorant on how to actually wear red (outside of Halloween)  449 is pinky red, helped by the pearl finish, it's a really pretty color. The girl at the counter told me not to wear it in the inside corner, and paired it up with 488 for a softer look.  The staff are always so helpful and although I've asked many stupid questions they've always given a good answer in such a way not to make me feel like a complete dunce.                               

Top row, 449, 488, 444, 68, 63; Bottom row, 27 72 454 491, 61

The Eyeliner Gel is fantastic!! Great pigmentation, such a solid black!!! You only need a smidge for a great line, and no irritations along the water line either.  Another tip I picked up from the staff is to "set" the eyeliner with the matte black eyeshadow.
As for the lipgloss I should have bought this colour initially, though it looks less impressive in the bottle it's great on the lips, not over bearing but every now and then a bright flash of violet!! once again same formula as my previous one.

Needless to say I will be going back to Inglot, my love affair with their freedom system has only just begun!

NOTD, Tiffany Bow

This is a classic Konad mani, China Galze's For Audrey, finished of with Konad plate m56.

I can't remember where I first saw this; though I do remember where I first found out about Konad, I was a novice at applying false eyelashes so I went to my favourite online teacher for all things make up YouTube!! The most helpfulul vid for me was done by xsparkage aka. Leesha, looking through her other vids I first laid eyes on the Konad stamping system.. It was love at first site!

A Halloween post that got lost somehow...

Hmmm not sure how this happened but I thought I may as well post it anyway... I did get my grubby little mitts on some of the Malefiecent collection by Mac.  I was hoping to get the other nail polishes but I was unable to get to the store before they all sold out. So I had to make up for my overwhelming loss by buying other items...

Starting at the left back Violoetta , Bad Fairy ,Wrong Spell and My Dark Magic down in front. 

The Mineralize Eye Shadow is as good as ever, Wrong Spell is great for layering and contouring the lips, Violetta is a bold purple lipstick need I say more.. Well my work was having a Halloween themed couple of days so below are my efforts for both days. Day 1 was inspired by the Disney Evil Queens,

Next day at work I went for a Zombie Shirley Temple look.. using a broken green eyeshadow mixed in with my foundation to give a nice undead touch.. no normal blush either I used a cheap and nasty blue/green eyeshadow pallette..