NOTD // Island Hopping

Wow - it's been a while since I did a nail of the day! Talk about a throwback! If you were around when I used to do these once a month...you are an OG fan indeed - thanks for sticking around! ;) Haha! Most of the time I forget to take photos of my manicure while it's still fresh and looks nice (or it's just an old polish that you've probably seen before), but this time I remembered! Here's a few photos of Essie Island Hopping which is a shade I really hadn't heard of before stumbling upon it in Priceline (and promptly buying it!). 

Colour Families // The Vivid Violets

It's been a minute since I've done a colour families post but I fully intend to keep it going! In case you're unfamiliar with my little 'series', I'm going through my collection and rounding up my products according to their colour. I've already done a couple of posts on rusty reds and berries and burgundies. Today, we're all about the vivid violets! Extra snaps when the title has alliteration ;) I have always been a lover of purple but it's been over the past year or so that I've really gotten comfortable wearing them in makeup! I've since moved on to more of the grey-toned purples (you can bet I'll have a post about those), but since summer is still in full swing I figured I'd round up the bright ones. I thought I had a bigger collection of shades like these, but my other purples tended to be more muted. It's basically just lip products and nail polishes because I can't imagine wearing a violet blush or eyeshadow!

Five Spring Nail Polishes

Seeing as spring is basically in full swing, I thought I'd better start getting in the mood for it! When it comes to spring, the very first thing that pops into my head is pastel nail polish! I haven't done a nail related post in a HOT minute, but I've still been wearing nail polish constantly (just not changing it every four days like I used to...wow I've gotten lazy!) and the pastel shades have been a go to (even in the dead of winter :P )! I've also thrown in a couple of brighter shades just so it wasn't all pastel! Let's go!

In The Spotlight // MAC Cosmetics

I'm resurrecting a somewhat "old" series today, and coming at you with a brand spotlight post! I haven't done one of these in a while and I'm not sure why because I still have a lot of brands in my collection that I need to go through and document! Anyway, today I'll be walking you through my MAC collection. MAC is probably the brand you think of when you think of makeup. It's arguably the brand with the widest range of products and shades, and one that I'm sure all of us have had an obsession with at some stage. It was only when I was pooling together my MAC products for this post that I realised I actually have quite a few of their products, but there are only a few that I use really often! Like most brands, there are products that I love and hate from them!

Colour Families // The Berries and Burgundies

Although winter is almost gone for us Aussies, I thought I would squeeze out another colour families post featuring my favourite winter-appropriate hue - berries and burgundies! I absolutely adore these vampy purples and reds on the lips and the nails, so I have quite the collection to share with you all (plus an eyeshadow and a few blushes!). 

H&M Beauty

With it's launch (or re-launch, I suppose), H&M's beauty range sure made a splash in the beauty community. It was kinda sudden, especially because the range is SO huge! Their collection of products ranges from makeup to nails, body and hair - there's so much to choose from! I managed to get my hands on three things while I was in the US - I was restrained! I read somewhere that it's supposed to make its way to Aussie stores this year...but that news was a while ago and I haven't heard any updates since! I really hope it comes soon because I would be hella keen to try out some more from them...

Haul // Priceline 40% Off Cosmetics #2

There's just one more day left of Priceline's 40% off cosmetics sale so get in quick before it ends tonight! I figured I would upload a haul of the loot I picked up yesterday in case you guys needed some last minute inspo heh. I went extra early (like 8am early haha) and managed to get almost everything I wanted! A few things were out of stock though, like the Physician's Formula Nude Shimmer Strips highlighter (why is the PF stand always SO PITIFUL???) and Maybelline Creamy Beige Colour Tattoo. So I was supposed to be on a spending ban but I don't think I went too crazy... Plus a lot of this stuff I didn't buy while I was in the US because I knew I could get it here in the sale! Justifiable enough excuse?

NOTD // Chilled-Out-O

Though summer has officially come to a close, and autumn has begun...it sure don't feel like it! Since coming back from negative winter temps in the US, I've forgotten how to cope in the heat! The last few days have been especially bad as it's been SO hot, but also rainy so the humidity REALLY sticks around. It's like walking through sweat. Eugh. But anyway, a very summery nail polish to have graced my tips this season was Essie Chillato. This was part of their summer 2015 collection which we only got in Australia fairly recently. 

NOTD // Perfect Posy

The whole "two-step-at-home-gel-polishes" have been the rage for quite some time now, but clearly I'm only just getting into them! After all, my last nail post was about the Sally Hansen one, and today I'm sharing one of the shades of the new Rimmel Super Gel polishes. I was sent the shade Perfect Posy* which is such a me shade - I couldn't have picked it better!

NOTD // Street Flair

Nail of the days used to be a monthly occurrence round these parts but lately I've just gotten really lazy with my nails! I used to change up my polish every four days (like clockwork!), but lately I've just been letting it chip off and changing it once a week at most. I just can't be bothered really, plus where I work is very hard on my hands as I'm constantly ripping open boxes, etc so my polish really doesn't last very long! I also had a gel manicure which lasted like a month so I didn't use any other polishes then haha :P I have picked up a few new polish shades lately though and have been trying them all out, slowly but surely. I figured I'd squeeze in one last manicure for the year featuring one of Sally Hansen's Miracle Gel polishes in the shade Street Flair. 

Haul // Priceline 40% Off Cosmetics

Another week, another haul - this time of the drugstore variety! If all goes well...I think I'll have another haul going up next week too (Sephoraaaaa hehehh). Yeeeeah I really need to get a handle on my spending. If you guys were unaware though, Priceline currently has their famous 40% off cosmetics sale on! It goes for two days and today is the last day so I thought I'd share the bits I picked up yesterday! I had a list, and I stuck to it! My savings were actually pretty great because the chick accidentally (I think it was an accident...) scanned my payback voucher twice so I got an extra $11 off haha :P Shh... It's been a while since I've hauled from Priceline though. Can't say I've been too eager to shop there since they sacked me :P Can't deny a good sale though and I picked up a few things I've been wanting to try for ages!

NOTD // Penne at the Opera

OPI's latest collection release is their Venice Collection for Autumn/Winter 2015. There are some really lovely shades in this collection and, oddly enough, quite a few pastel and brighter shades which are super appropriate for us Aussies heading into Spring and Summer! I was sent the Venice Little Bambinos mini pack* of shades from the collection and two of the shades particularly jumped out at me - A Great Opera-tunity and Worth a Pretty Penne (see, my random-ass title makes sense now).

Velvet Smooth Nails

As you guys know, I'm a bit of a nail polish junkie. I tend to switch up my nail polish at least once a week which often means my nails aren't always in the best condition! Though it's nothing serious, my nails are often stained, sometimes a bit ridge-y and generally could use a bit of TLC. Sometimes I do a bit of filing and buffing, but let's be real - I'm lazy. I was, however, very intrigued to hear about a new Scholl product called the Electronic Nail Care System* from their Velvet Smooth line. It's basically a three step system incorporated into an electronic pen! Whether it's better than your typical buffing block or file...you'll have to keep reading!

The Minute Manis

Rimmel is not a brand I typically associate with the best nail polishes, but I must admit - they do some pretty great formulas! I have one from their Salon Pro line which I really like, and they recently revamped their 60 Second range with new shades! I'm not sure if they've been reformulated but the line has been given a refresh! I decided to pick up a few in a recent 50% off sale which made them cheap as chips. I was feeling a bit disenchanted with my nail polish collection and these pepped it right up!

NOTD // The Showpo Pink

Very recently, Kit and Mecca created a few nail polish shades in collaboration with beauty gurus and notable beauty icons! They were available as a gift with purchase (yep, I was bad and bought more stuff), and I ended up with this shade by Jane Lu, the CEO of Showpo. I really wanted Michelle's shade but unfortunately they only had Jane's left. Not so unfortunate though because I absolutely adore this colour!

Empties #7

Slowly, but surely, I've been making my way downtown through quite a few products! Sort of justifies the huge amount of hair and skincare products I've come into the possession of...right? Anyway, let's dig into the empties!

NOTD // Hawaii Hangz

Aloha! Although the new Hawaii collection from OPI for Spring/Summer 2015 is very much bright and tropical, there are a few shades peppered through that are very much appropriate for the Autumn weather we're experiencing down under (it's finally starting to cool down a little, at least here in Brisbane!)! I was sent a couple of shades that could definitely be sported all year round.

NOTD // A few Ulta3 Polishes

A little while ago I was lucky enough to win a prize from Tried and Tested blog (thanks so much Snezana!) which was a massive box of (15!) Ulta3 nail polishes! Ulta3 is actually one of my favourite nail polish brands. They have a wide and diverse range of shades, great quality and super cheap at only a few dollars a bottle! The only sucky thing is that it can be hard to find a particular shade since they're display is pretty much just a bin full of nail polish. Needless to say though, they take up the majority of my nail polish collection! I've been slowly trying each of the new shades I won, and decided to share a few!

Throwing Shade on 50 Shades

Not really...But I'll be honest: when I first saw that OPI were bringing out a 50 Shades of Grey nail polish collection I was both amused and uninterested. I have not read the books, nor do I have any intention on seeing the movie. I don't have anything against the whole enterprise (who, let's face it, is really milking it through various makeup/nail/beauty campaigns and collections), but I'm really not an advocate! However, as a nail polish lover, I won't discriminate just because of the theme of a collection! When offered to try a few shades, I thought - why not!?

NOTD // Skimpy Swimwear

So I recently found myself in possession of Essie Bikini So Teeny which I bought for a friend using my work discount (you're welcome Rosa, though shanks for letting me use it). To not let a manicure go to waste - a NOTD post was of course in order!