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!). 

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).

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.

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!?

Half as Fancy

Hi guys! So I got back from my trip to Hong Kong and Vietnam yesterday! If you hadn't gathered, the posts from the last two weeks were scheduled and now I can finally sit down and write my semi-formal post! My grade 11 Graduation Dinner Dance (a.k.a Semi-Formal) was on the 30th of November (the day before I flew out!) and I wanted to share my outfit and makeup!

Products used:

Laura Mercier Foundation Primer

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Dark Circle Eraser in Brightener

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in 53 and Revlon Colourstay Foundation for Oily/combo skin in Natural Beige

Sonia Kashuk Concealer Palette

Rimmel Stay Matte Powder in Transparent

I used a mix of two foundations as the Bourjois is slightly too light while the Revlon is a tad too dark. Also I find the Revlon can be a bit heavy on its own, they both don't contain SPF (well the Colourstay has SPF 6) so they didn't flash back in flash photography!

For the Eyes:

Lorac Behind the Scenes Eyeshadow Primer

The Balm Balm Jovi Palette shade Metallica 

Chi Chi Nudes Palette, second last shade

MAC Iridescent Loose Powder in Silver Dusk

Rimmel Scandaleyes Eyeliner in Black

The Body Shop Eye Definer in Moonstone

Dolly Wink Liquid Eyeliner

L'oreal Telescopic Waterproof Mascara

Ardell 120 Lashes and Lash Grip

Because my dress is black with some silvery jewels (photos down below!!) I chose to go for a mainly silver eye with a gunmetally shade in the outer corner/crease - sort of smokey but not. I popped the MAC powder over top for a bit more sparkle (also in the inner corner and browbone). I did some winged liner and put on false lashes! I actually did a practice run of the makeup which was my first time putting on falsies and I was suprised at how well I did it haha, went pretty smoothly on the day too! I don't particularly love the mascara I used but it's waterproof (didn't want any smudging!) and I was wearing falsies anyway. I tightlined with black liner and put some champagne coloured liner on my waterline. 

Face and Brows:

Dolly Wink Eyebrow Powder in Dark Chocolate

Essence Lash and Brow Clear Mascara

Sleek Contour Kit in Light

BYS Blush Trio in Coral Me In

MAC Iridescent Loose Powder in Silver Dusk

I contoured and highlighted with the Sleek kit to eek out my non-existent cheekbones. I also topped off the highlight with the MAC powder for a little extra glow and the silver shade complements the rest of my makeup, accessories, etc. I opted for a blush that would complement the lipstick shade I wore and I used the far right shade which is a rather bright coral. I applied it extremely lightly though so it didn't detract from the rest of the makeup.

Lips and Nails:

Yardley Lip Definer in Pillar Box Red

Maybelline Colour Sensational Vivids in Vibrant Mandarin

OPI Nail polish (shade unknown)

I wanted to go all matchy matchy with my lips and nails but sadly the nail polish actually dried more red than in the bottle - oh well! Haha, they were similar enough. I wanted to go for a rather bright and bold lip as my outfit was all black and I wanted to add more colour! 

YEaaH...those selfies...haha

These photos are actually from my practice run of makeup a couple of days before so my hair isn't done here! It looked pretty much exactly the same on the day. I'm glad I took these photos though because it was pretty hectic on the day because I actually did two of my friends' makeup! Yep, it was like Salon Tasha up in here, haha! 

Onto my dress! Please excuse that the photos are not up to par with most fashion bloggers - I'm not one and my mum was behind the camera, haha. The dress is from ASOS and I actually bought it near the beginning of the year (risky, because it might not fit come the day or tastes may change, but luckily neither of those happened but it was pretty tight...). It has an open back and jewelled detailing on the front so I opted for minimal jewellery and an up-do. It also has a tulle skirt which was VERY puffy and big, so my mum ended up cutting a layer off and sewing it down at points to the lining haha. You can't tell it's been altered and I like it much better! My friend Tam did my hair in exchange that I did her makeup hehe! It's a french braid crown essentially and I really like it so thanks Tam! I borrowed both the clutch which is from Mimco and the wedges which are from Wittner from my sister. I really like the detailed wedge (which you can't really see) but it's gunmetal so it matched other bits of my outfit!

The earrings are my mum's and the rings I got from Lovisa. I really like the assortment of midi and normal rings and I think they added just the right amount of pizzazz.

The Gal Pals!

I hope you found this post somewhat interesting as I spent a while compiling this post! I had a really great night and it was an amazing way to end the year off - heaps of fun! It was pretty exciting to get all glammed up haha! Now to start hunting for a formal dress...

NOTD | Snowflakes

Hi guys! Today I have NOTD which is very light and delicate. It's mainly a white nail polish look which combined with the glitter topping, I think is quite Spring appropriate but is something that would looks great all year round and would go with any outfit! I've also been noticing a lot of people wearing white nail polish, I'm not sure if it's an actual trend, but I've noticed it a lot!

On all of my nails I have Sportsgirl Snow which is a beautiful shade! This might be discontinued as Sportsgirl tends to switch out their nail colours with the seasons, and I picked this up a while ago on sale. Where white nail polish is concerned, they are notorious for having bad formulas. Sportsgirl have quite hit and miss formulas, and Snow was sadly more of a miss. It took three coats to opacity and was quite streaky and uneven on the first two coats, so it had to be applied with care! I tend to not really go for white polishes all over as they can look a bit stark and jarring against my skin tone, especially those really bright whites that look chalky and almost as if white-out has been painted on the nails (yuck!). Snow is a slightly pinky-grey leaning off-white which is accentuated by the faint golden-red duochromatic shimmer running through it. It's a bit hard to see but it overall gives the shade a softer look. 

On my thumb and ring finger, I've used OPI Pirouette my Whistle as an accent glitter top coat. I was going for a very delicate, light, barely there look and this seemed to go perfectly. It consists of light silver-grey hexagonal glitters and smaller silver glitter particles. It's very dainty on the nails and it goes well over both dark and light colours. Also the formula is very nice, the glitter is rather densely packed so not too much fishing is needed! 

I ended up liking this mani a lot more than I thought I would, and I wore it for almost a week (also because I was too lazy to change it, haha)! I think it's really pretty and feminine and would suit a bridal look or something of that sort really well! 

Are you a fan of white nails?

NOTD | Pastel Pixels

Hey Guys! I've got a NOTD for you all today! This one is slightly Spring inspired, I cannot wait for the warmer weather to arrive! That, and I just really love pastel colours.

The look features a skittle-ish manicure using multiple pastel shades, with a glitter topcoat over all of them. The star of the show is definitely the glitter topcoat which is OPI Lights of Emerald City. It contains large white square glitters and smaller irridescent squares suspended in a clear base. It looks absolutely gorgeous on the nail however the formula leaves a lot to be desired. There isn't a good clear polish to glitter ratio (if you know me in real life, I love ma ratios) as there is way to much polish and it is quite thick. So, you don't get very much glitter on the nail and too much clear polish. It was a bit of a pain to apply and there was quite a bit of fishing to get a minimum amount of glitters.

All three of the pastel polished are from China Glaze. I wasn't sure which to layer under the glitter, so I did all of them! They are Peachy Keen, Something Sweet and Refresh Mint. I absolutely love these pastel shades and they go together really well. The formula on these is quite consistent. They take two coats to opacity, the first is a bit streaky, but the second evens everything out. 

The mani wore really well for about 4 days, no chips, topped with Revlon Colorstay Topcoat as almost always. It leaves a glassy, smooth finish and helps the wear time.

I really love this mani and I think it is so pretty! Next time I'll try layering the glitter over something darker so that both the irridescent and white glitters pop and contrast more. But, overall, I'm super excited to get back into pastels and Spring makeup!

What's your favourite pastel nail polish?

NOTD | Crushed Coral

Hey guys! Today I have a NOTD which is quite bright and summery despite the fact that we are deep in the midst of Winter! What can I say, I lurve ma brights. It features the OPI Liquid Sand nail polish in the shade Jinx from their latest Bond Girls collection.

Honestly, most of the liquid sand and textured polishes did NOT appeal to me. Some of the cream ones from other brands to me legit look like someone spilt nail polish on the bitumen - lumpy and weird. The glitter ones look a lot better in my opinion like the lumps are meant to be there! I still really didn't love them though. The only 'textured' polishes that I genuinely liked were the Zoya Pixie Dust polishes which look so pretty! They look like finely crushed crystals and exactly as the name would suggest. But, alas, Zoya is not easy to get over here. When I saw swatches of the Bond Girls collection, a Blogger mentioned that Jinx's finish was very similar to that of the Pixie Dust. So I decided to grab it!

Along with the texture, the colour also really appeals to me! It is a really beautiful corally orange with small gold glitter particles. The texture and shimmer of this polish is very refined and actually feels sort of smooth on the nail. I can't really describe it, but it is gritty, but a very fine grit? It really does look like crushed gems or something, and sparkles like it too!

It was interesting to apply as well. It went on like a normal polish, but as it dried (which is does quite quickly) the glitter bits rise up to the surface. It only took 2 coats to opacity. The wear time was pretty good, barely any chips and minor tip wear by the fourth day, also considering I obviously didn't use a top coat! It actually wasn't that hard to remove either. Removal was akin to that of a very metallic/foil polish.

I decided to do a little bit of nail art to add a bit of interest, inspired by Sarah from Chalkboard Nails' look here. I had a polish that was pretty much spot on in terms of colour, but obviously without the glitter and texture. It is Sportsgirl Phoenix which is discontinued. It is a super metallic, coral orange with a gold foil. I did some stripes and other techniques using tape to get the clean and crisp edges.

Overall, while I am a fan of this particular texture as opposed to the lumpy and chunky ones, I probably won't be grabbing any more. Unless, of course, any cheaper brands available in Australia bring out Pixie Dust type textures. I do however really love the shade of Jinx and it was fun to try out the textured polish trend!

Are you a fan of the textured trend?

Haul | A Hop to the Shop

Today I have a haul post of some things I have picked up recently - and a cute little visitor who you'll see at the end! Almost everything here was purchased on sale/at a discounted price - we all know how much I love me some budget beauty!

First up for some nail polish (as per the usual):

My sister who works for a hair magazine recently went to Hair Expo in Sydney. At hair expo they have booths with brands selling their products and OPI was there selling their polishes for $10 each! I decided to take advantage of the half price discount and pick up a couple. I went for unique polishes as $10 is still quite expensive (for me) haha. 

I've been wanting to try out the liquid sand formula for some time, however none of them really appealed to me except for Jinx which is from the latest Bond Girls collection. I'll have a NOTD up soon-ish for it!

I also grabbed Lights of Emerald city from the Oz the Great and Powerful collection as the unique glitter combo appealed to me and it looked so amazing from sleepandwater's photos!

I also grabbed the milky glitters from the Face of Australia glitterati collection that I really wanted. There aren't very many milky glitters on the market, let alone at such a good price point. I got these for $3.70 each on sale at Big W. The shades are Funky Town, Heart of Glass (already worn and it looks so pretty!) and Boogie Wonderland.

For the few makeup bits:

I managed to grab the Revlon Multi-use palette from my Myer. This is quite an old product from some 3 years ago - but have no fear it was still sealed and in perfect condition! I was, you could call it, 'discount diving' in what seemed like the mountain of clearanced products in my Myer and stumbled across it for a mere $1! I could not leave the store without it, and I had seen a few good things about it particularly on sleepandwater's blog (seriously, an amazing blog!). 

I picked up this Lip gloss wand from Witchery which may seem like an odd place to be beauty shopping and I've never heard/read anything about their products (I do own a couple of nail polishes which are pretty good). The reason I bought this was because of the Witchery club thing. If you (Aussies) aren't already signed up I highly urge you to as during your birthday month you get a $20 gift voucher! No strings attached, just basically free cash to spend there. You can become a member here. They have a small collection of products like the lip glosses, lip sticks, nail polishes, perfumes, body cream and wash, candles and hand creams. I believe all of which are under $20 - might as well get a free product! Or you can always put it toward a piece of clothing or whatnot. A few of the products were on sale at the time of my purchase. The lip gloss full price is $14.95 (I think) but it was on sale for $7.95. I was initially going to get three of these in different shades, but turns out I had $40 on my card! $20 for my birthday and another $20 from some other reward - I don't know where from but I certainly wasn't asking questions! So I got a sweater which was reduced to $35 and this gloss in the shade Blossom. I'll have a review up but - spoiler alert - I love it!

Lastly, a couple of Rimmel things from Target. I bought the Lash Accelerator Endless Mascara (which has garnered many positive reviews from the UK) which was on introductory offer for $11.95 (RRP 17.95). But what really pushed me to the register was that it came with a bonus Rimmel Scandaleyes Eyeliner in shade Black. These retail for something like $9 so I thought that was an awesome bargain and I've been wanting to try these liners for a while.

I bought a few Soap & Glory skincare bits from ebay. The seller I used was very good and it arrived in about a week from the UK. I got the Fab Pore Hot Cloth Cleanser which I've wanted for a while. I couldn't find it in my Mecca or Kit and I don't believe they stocked it but I do know it is available online and probably in other stores. I picked it up for $22 (incl. shipping), but here it retails for $28. I also bought the Night in shining armour Cream while I was there. I was led to this from reading reviews on the cleanser - it got a 4.6 on makeupalley which I think is pretty dang good (makeupalley can be vicious sometimes!). I've been after a good night cream now that we're in winter so hopefully this'll be good! This cost around $28 (incl. shipping) but I don't believe this is available in Australia.

Lastly I picked up this Essence 24h hand protection balm in the scent Caramel Hot Chocolate. This was only $1.95 and it is limited edition so I thought I'd pick it up. Smells just like how I imagine the drink on the front would. 

And finally the little visitor I had yesterday whilst taking photos. I didn't want to get too close to scare him off so I had my camera at full zoom! An adorable wallaby just chillin' in my backyard munching on some grass. Hehe. And yes he inspired the title to this post :P

Anyways, that's all of it! Hope you enjoyed the post and reviews will be up in due time!

Any cute animals lurk your backyard?

Little Luxuries

Hello everyone! Today I have a bit of a different post all about samples - or rather those adorable deluxe sized ones that are mini versions of the full size. I have quite the collection of these (more than you see here), mainly due to the lot my mum has accumulated over the years. I seriously love the idea of these minis - they are completely free, some come in boxes with information pamphlets and sometimes they even give you a little baggie! It feels like you just bought something, but you didn't! They give you a great opportunity and a decent amount of product to try something a bit more expensive and get an idea of whether you like it, or it works for you. Most of my minis have been acquired either by asking, or through Gift With Purchases. 

Most of the bits are skincare, so I will start of with them.

Skincare is probably the easiest to get samples of, as it's definitely something that may not work or have an adverse reaction to your skin, in which case you definitely wouldn't want to have paid full price!

Clinique Moisture Surge Intense:

This little pot contains 7mL of product and I have been using it for the past 2 weeks and am only halfway! This is a really beautiful moisturiser - it is a gel-creme formulation which is super lightweight and fast absorbing, though very hydrating. It works well for my combination skin as a night cream, also as my skin is starting to get a bit dryer now that it is Winter. This could work well for dryer skins even as a day cream as it is not too heavy. It really helps moisturise those dry flaky patches. If I were to splurge on a moisturiser, this would be an option!

Estee Lauder Idealist:

This is supposed to be a serum that evens out the skintone and illuminates the complexion. I had funny feelings about this when I initially opened it as it contains sparkles. They are actually very pretty - almost like a iridescent pearl. After reading reviews online, I saw that many people said it didn't work well even after using a whole full-sized bottle. I figured I wasn't going to see any drastic results from my 7mL sample, so I decided to put the shimmer to use. I now almost use it as if it were a liquid illuminator, the shimmer it gives off is very subtle and natural. I like mixing it with matte foundations/BB creams and it makes the base a bit more dewy, and suprisingly doesn't affect the wear time or oil-controlling abilities. Obviously, I wouldn't suggest buying the full size to use as an illuminator, but maybe if you have the sample at home you can put it to a new use. 

Blob, blended

 Estee Lauder Daywear:

This little tube is 5mL which I find lasts a really good while. This is a really lovely day moisturiser that contains SPF 15. It's a lovely texture that sinks in well, is not heavy and is suitable for normal and combination skin. I really like this moisturiser and it mixes well with foundations.

SKII Cellumination Essence:

SKII is a very expensive Japanese brand that my mum has gotten quite a few samples from, haha. The two I've tried though I will be talking about. The first is this serum which is supposed to brighten the complexion. I've been using it for the past 2 weeks and honestly haven't noticed a difference. My skin looks slightly brighter but nothing really noticeable. The texture is very thin and sinks in immediately. It has no other benefits - it isn't moisturising or anything else. Not worth the money to be honest.

SKII Whitening Source Derm Brightener:

This is a moisturiser that I've been using mainly to help lighten dark spots. It is a thick cream that almost feels velvety when applied. For such a texture, It is not as moisturising as I thought. I have noticed the slightest lightening of my acne scars but for the price, I find the Garnier Dark Spot Correcter does a better job and is a much nicer texture and provides other benefits to the skin.

I don't have very many 'makeup' items and these you generally can't get for free outright, most are from GWP.

Lancome Hypnose Precious Cells Mascara:

I find these little sample tubes actually last a really long time. I absolutely love this mascara!  It is pretty much everything I look for in one - lengthening, defining and just in general making it look like I have more lashes. It gives that really fluttery lash look. It doesn't hold a curl but it's not waterproof, but it doesn't smudge or flake on me either. The wand is really cool and I think really helps with application. On one side it has shorter bristles and the other has longer ones. I apply with the shorter bristles then rotate and comb through with the longer ones to get good separation.

Longer, shorter

Shiseido Advanced Perfomance lipstick in Mauve Breeze:

Actually not a fan at all of this shade, and maybe it's just old but the formula is hard and sticky - yuck. The colour is an orangey-brown which would completely clash with my skintone. I had to include it though, because I have no other mini makeup, it's so darn cute in mini size!

Marc Jacobs Dot Perfume:

This vial size of perfume is really common and these you can get for free. I find they are really good for in the handbag or travel. I have a heap of these, Dot is a really lovely floral.

Estee Lauder Sensuous Nude:

These sizes are generally in GWP, but you can get them for free sometimes. These are also good for handbag or travel and are so cute in their mini bottles! I like Sensuous Nude better than the original, it's a very demure, subtle, classy scent.

OPI Nail lacquers:

These you can't get for free, they can be purchased in sets of four. They contain a tiny amount of 3.75mL which I think is probably the smallest you can get without being ridiculous. I like the idea of mini nail polish but I think these should be 5mL, rounds it off and the bottle wouldn't be so tiny. Tiny bottle = tiny brush. Also they aren't labelled which is so annoying!

L'Occitane Almond Milk Concentrate:

This was in a GWP, and is their very famous body lotion. It smells DIVINE. It's like a dollop cream consistency - so nicee! Ruth Crilly has named this the best body lotion ever so...

I hope this post wasn't too long! These are the minis I've been using lately, and I assure you there are more where they came from...

Do you have a lot of minis? Do you like the idea of them?

NOTD | Studio Sparkle

Hey y'all! Today I have another Nail of the Day featuring one of the beautiful Face of Australia Glitterati Nail enamels. The collection features eight limited edition shades, ranging from multicoloured glitters, to milky pastel glitter mixes. I finally managed to snag the three milky ones at Big W on sale at 25% off. They are still very affordable otherwise at $4.75-95 and I highly recommend picking them up if you have the chance! 

The shade I'm using today is Studio 54 which is a really pretty glitter polish filled with a mix of two different sizes of rose gold glitter. For this look I've done my first attempt at a glitter gradient where the glitter gradually gets thicker towards the tip of the nail. There is a good amount of glitter packed into the polish so you don't have to go fishing around for it. It worked quite well for this look as you could get a good amount of 'fade'. 

To do the glitter gradient I simply painted half of my nail as normal, though I did clear off a lot of the polish from the brush. To build up the glitter at the edge, I used the 'dabbing method' which gave me a good amount at the tips. As the glitter is quite densely packed, there wasn't a huge blob of clear polish on my nail (good clear polish to glitter ratio!). I made sure it was completely dry before topping off with my Revlon Colorstay top coat to seal in the glitter and even out the nail.

For my base colour, I used an OPI shade which I have in a mini. Sadly, as it is a mini, it is not labelled and I have no idea what it is called! :( It is a nice light mushroom-beige with pinky undertones. It doesn't clash too much with my yellow toned skin, but doesn't look like I have no fingernails either! The formula was lovely and self-levelling - a bit of a crelly (creme-jelly) as it was slightly sheer (but easily opaque in 2 coats) and very shiny. I thought this colour would complement the rose gold quite nicely.

These are the polishes I used for the look. Quick mention about the Essence peel off basecoat. If you are a lover and frequent wearer of glitter polish, but hate having to remove it, you NEED this in your life! It was a limited edition and probably not available anymore but there is an alternative! It's as easy as PVA glue! Just pop it into an old polish bottle and you're good to go! I opted for the Essence simply as I didn't have any empty bottles haha. If you would like more info check these posts here and here, or google!

I'm very pleased with my first glitter gradient and will definitely be trying out this technique in future looks!