Cosmetic Cupcake

Hi ladies! The last 2 weeks have been so intense as its end of semester which means assessment time. It’s been SO crazy! Unfortunately I haven’t had a real chance to blog or do manicures but I’ll get back into it very soon. Since I’ve been really stressed out I’ve been buying a few things here and there lately which is really bad I know, but considering I’ve been working my butt off at both work and uni I thought BUGGER IT I’ll get what I want! =p

YSL Rouge Volupte in no. 1. I have been lemming this absolutely gorgeous shade for the longest time and Myer Sydney finally got it back in stock a while ago! It goes on like a dream and the colour is just beautiful.


A few items from Essie which I’ve been lemming for quite a while – The Spring collection, Sweet time of the year and Wicked and Matte about you duo. I’ve been after a matte topcoat for soooo long!




My 1st Nubar polish:


My 1st Zoya polish:


Some things that the boy very sweetly purchased for me – 3 more polishes from the OPI HK collection; some China Glaze goodies and Bundle Monster plates!! YAY.






A few Sinful Colors - you gotta love cheap and cheerful.


Nailene Acrylic Strong topcoat. The lovely Asami did a review of it here and I’ve been looking for it everywhere since her really positive review in March. I could only ever find the old packaging though but after stalking Kmart, Target, Priceline etc. for what seems like forever I finally found it at Kmart for $13! I’ve seen it elsewhere too now but it’s cheapest at Kmart for any Aussie ladies who might be interested.


Sadly I don't have time to use anything yet so it's all just sitting in my room at the moment, pleading with me to finish my assessments already so I can try them all out. Off to finish my paper now!

Thanks for looking!!

Photo courtesy of damoneroberts.com
I was wondering if any Aussie ladies would like to do a group order with me for Limited Edition OPI Damone Roberts 1968 from his online store? I've been seeing so many lovely swatches and now I need to have this colour! It's selling for $9USD a bottle and the cheapest shipping option starts from $30.50. I've been doing mock orders to check the shipping and 10 bottles including shipping of $40.20 works out to be about only $13USD/bottle. The more bottles the cheaper it is, it's definitely not worth it getting only 1-2 bottles!

If you're interested, please leave me a comment with how many bottles you'd like and your email address so we can work out details.

Thanks for looking!

This is going to be a super short post as I'm assignment-ing =) I purchased a new Ulta 3 polish this week - one of the new foil ones lollypop lilac. It's a very bling lilac colour which applied really smoothly and above is just one coat! In person the nail line was still a tiny bit visible so you could do 2 thin coats or just 1 thick coat.

Thanks for looking!

Here I am procrastinating again by blogging =p This is a NOTD I did a few days ago but am still wearing using one of the Essie polishes from my mega nail haul 2 weeks ago.
Essie Baby Cakes is a very pretty, light lavender colour with shimmer. I found the 1st coat streaky while 2 coats is opaque, but 3 coats is needed for a perfect finish.


I then added flowers from GCOCL F01 plate using Konad Violet pearl topped with a thick coat of Seche Vite.


GCOCL plate FO1
I haven’t posted many food adventures lately as I haven’t been eating out that much lately. But earlier in the week I went for some Vietnamese food at 2 of my favourite places. Pho Anh in Bankstown is a fast food noodle restaurant specialising in delicious Vietnamese noodle soups. You go to your table; order your noodles as you sit down and the noodles come to the table within 3 minutes. Literally!

Pho tai (Rare beef noodle soup)
They do one of the best Pho as the broth is just SO DAMN GOOD. The secret ingredient is dried sandworm apparently ;) I usually order a small pho tai and if I’m extra hungry extra meatballs to go with it. It's great all year round but it's especially nice on a cold winter day, it just warms you right up!

One of my other favourite Vietnamese restaurants is Bau Truong in Cabramatta. It’s tasty, relatively cheap, and is always reliable. I love the bánh xèo (Vietnamese pancake) which is a savoury pancake filled with fatty pork, prawn (shrimp) and bean sprouts which you dip in nuoc nam sauce. It’s nice and crispy on the outside and then you get all the wonderful textures inside.

Bánh xèo (Vietnamese pancake)
I can’t remember the exact name of the dish that the boy had, but essentially it was prawn crackers topped with rice noodles and grilled beef and lots of herbs. Very yummy!!


Thanks for looking! =)

Thankyou so much to the lovely Winnie from Winniwingyi for awarding me with the Sweet Blog Award! I’m very honoured! Her blog is a great read and she also has a giveaway at the moment with some awesome prizes so please check her blog out =)

Rules:
- Give this award to 10 sweet and friendly bloggers
- Make a post about the award including the picture and mention the person who gave it to you
- Put the award on your blog
- Let your nominated 10 know you've awarded them by leaving a comment

I'd like to nominate everyone! Here's who I nominate:

Alice from Absolutely-alice
Anita from love vulcanella
Meme from Inspired by Meme
Mae from Art of nail
Susie from Susie’s home and hobbies
Krissy from Random life of a random girl
Asami from Nails by Asami
Anita from KONADOmania
Anita from Swtexcape
Thriszha from FAB UR NAILS
Phoebe from Xphoebelinax

Each blog is unique and each lady is friendly and sweet!

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Mine will be spent slaving over my research paper =( Here's hoping yours is better! =p

I have a love/hate relationship with winter. I love winter because of the clothing (the boots, jackets and scarves); snow (I’m an avid skier and beginner snowboarder) and all the yummy yet fattening comfort foods like casseroles. I hate winter because there’s no more daylight saving; the fact that it’s freezing when you wake up to go to work and most importantly because it wrecks absolute havoc on my skin.

I have 3 skin conditions which all affect my hands predominantly. I have a whole heap of restrictions for my hands – I can’t use soaps, detergents or alcohols on my hands apart from a few as per the occupational dermatologist my hospital sent me to. During summer and spring I don’t have too many issues but come autumn and winter my hands can get REALLY bad. My hands get so dry, itchy and painful my skin splits and bleeds – it’s like having little paper cuts all over my hands. Sorry for the gross image!

I have tried and tested a multitude of hand creams over the years and have different creams for different purposes. I have a maintenance cream; a heavy maintenance cream and my prescription creams when my hands flare up, but still no good hand cream for “on the go” such as when I’m at work or out and about. I’ve seen Aveeno products before at the shops but I only took notice after seeing ads on TV with the model that has really blue eyes. I’m a complete sucker for trying new products I see advertised and this was no different, so I decided to try out their hand cream.

You only need a tiny amount - less than a 5cent piece is enough.
I picked up Aveeno Intense Relief hand cream and it is a winner!! It’s become my holy grail “on the go” hand cream now. It’s non-greasy which is what I want from a hand cream for work or when I’m out – I hate the greasy feeling of some hand creams that leave grease marks all over everything! As soon as you start rubbing it into your skin it sinks right in and your skin feels lovely and smooth. It’s moisturising for my sensitive hands yet it feels lightweight. It’s also fragrance free and uses natural ingredients such as oats which is fantastic. It keeps my hands moisturised even after I wash my hands so it works similar to barrier creams.


What it says:

Is specially forumulated with natural oatmeal and rich emollients to help repair dry skin and form a protective glove against the elements. AVEENO Intense Relief hand cream is non-greasy and moisturises skin for 24hours. and it continues to moisturise even after washing your hands. This fast-absorbing formula is fragrance free and gentle enough for even sensitive skin. It’s also great for use on elbows, knees and feet – anywhere your dry skin needs extra help.

AVEENO Intense Relief hand cream leaves your hands soft, smooth and naturally healthy-looking.

Ingredients:

Aqua, glycerine, distearyldimonium chloride, petrolatum, isopropyl palmitate, cetyl alcohol, aluminium starch, octenylsuccinate, dimethicone, Avena sativa (oat) kernel flour, benzyl alcohol, sodium chloride – (F#9332-078)

Pros:
* Non-greasy – big + in my book!
* Moisturising but lightweight
* Lasts through hand wash (like barrier cream)
* Fragrance free
* Natural ingredients
* Cost – I purchased mine from Chemist Warehouse for only $8.99 (RRP $11)
* Size – it comes in a 100g tube and a little goes a long way

Cons:
* Size is too large for handbag – me just being picky =p

Would I purchase again?
Yes! I keep my tube handy at work, I just wish it came in a handbag friendly size too ;)

Thanks for looking! If you enjoy reading my blog please follow me =)

I should be doing my paper but here I am procrastinating again! I am so bad =(

Well here is my manicure from yesterday using Dim Sum Plum from the OPI Hong Kong collection. When the collection 1st came out, I wasn’t interested as I’m not a big fan of OPI as I find it chips very easily on me and at $20 a pop definitely not worth it. Then the thought of trying a collection inspired by where my family is from (which also happens to be one of my favourite places in the world!) took over and I looked up the swatches and just fell in love.


Dim Sum Plum is absolutely GORGEOUS!! It’s a rich plum colour which looks fantastic with anything. I love it! It’s very pigmented so you could probably get away with only1 thick coat, however in my manicure I used 2 coats. Keep in mind that the colour can look different in different lighting. The pro wide brush made it super easy to apply and it just glided onto my nail. It also required very minimum clean up which is always great as it cuts down time for someone as time poor as me!

I then used flowery nail stickers from Pink Fin for some quick nail art. I’m definitely going to add more OPI to my nail stash after trying this collection!

I am trying my best to complete a 9000 word research paper by the 1st week of June AND still concentrate with all the crap that’s going on at work so I most likely won’t be posting as frequently until after June. I had a big nail haul this week (for me anyways) and I wanted to share =) I will be doing reviews and manicures with all these products after my paper is completed!

1st off I received a few Konad items I purchased from OC nailart last week. I purchased the Coraline II kit which includes plates C02, C03, C04 and C06; 3 full size Special polishes in Psyche Pink, Yellow and Blue Pearl and custom purple stamper and metal scraper. I can’t wait to try this out!


I also purchased some Konad polishes as I find they do work the best. I got Special polish in Red and Princess polishes in Violet pearl; White and Pop Green.


I will definitely be purchasing again from OC nail art. The delivery was very speedy considering delivery from the States is notoriously slow and the best part was postage is FREE over $40!!! Also the customer service is fantastic – I got a personalised message from most probably Kathleen the owner =)


I should have been buckling down and writing my paper on my day off yesterday but instead I took a little break and headed to my local nail supply shop as I haven’t been there in more than a month. I am seriously addicted to nail polish and makeup and skincare! I felt such an urge to buy nail polish and was having major withdrawal symptoms from not going to the nail supply shop for so long! I usually go fortnightly =p Unfortunately the new China Glaze and Orly collections aren’t available yet.

I purchased 3 polishes from the OPI Hong Kong collection – Jade is the New Black; Dim Sum Plum and Meet Me on the Star Ferry. I have been way behind with this range. When it 1st came out I wasn’t really fussed but then I started seeing swatches and I just fell in love. I had to limit myself to only 3 polishes for the time being.


I also bought Essie Overnight; Baby Cakes and Moon Struck. I just love all of Essie’s pretty pastels and sweet colours.


I purchased China Glaze Strawberry Fields and IV. I am always amazed at all the China Glaze colours and usually spend 15mins or more just trying to figure out which ones I want!


Last but not least I finally found Sinful Colors in Sydney!!!! I had gone to all the Reject Shops in my local and surrounding area without success. However I was in Broadway shopping centre last week and passed this “Global Brands” stall in the middle of the centre – you know the temporary stalls that sell discounted items? Well I was heading to the carpark and I had to do a double take when I saw a whole stand full of Sinful Colours polishes! I only purchased Frenzy and Fiji but am now regretting it. I’m planning to head there after work tomorrow before I go to class to see if they are still there to stock up on more!


What have you hauled this week?

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I finally picked up BYS cracked polish in black last week! I've been dying to try it since I saw it on a few other blogs but I haven't had a chance to go into Gloss cosmetics. I bought the cracked black polish only so I decided to try it on top of different base colours to see what would turn out the best. I broke my nail on my left index finger so please excuse the unevenness of my nails =(

EDIT: I forgot to add a picture of the polish! Here it is:


I used the following colours as base coat for my left hand (thumb to pinky):


I then applied a thin coat of BYS cracked black:


Base colours for right hand (pinky to thumb):


With thin coat of BYS cracked black:


The cracking took a couple of minutes to reach it's full effect and the key I think is to apply it as the base colour is drying. You can see that the ring finger and pinky of my right hand directly above didn't really "crack" much as I applied it quite some time after the base polish was dry.

I think this polish is so COOL! It's a quick and simple way of doing nail art however it may not be to everyone's liking. I wore it to work yesterday and 2 colleagues and at least 2 patients said to me I needed to change my polish because it was cracking! LOL. I had to patiently explain that it was designed like that.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Thanks for looking =)