Cosmetic Cupcake

Photo in bottom left corner courtesy of Tara from Keeping Up With Me
Hi ladies!! My apologies for my unexplained absence over the last week. I've been out with a nasty cold since last Monday and being the weakling that I am I'm STILL sick! I also attended the inaugural and absolutely AWESOME Australian Beauty Bloggers Weekend (ABBW) over the weekend so it has been pretty darn hectic hence the lack of posts! Normal posting will resume once I'm recovered with a recap of ABBW of course. Hopefully this will be very soon but I'm just too exhausted at the moment to do anything. I do tweet very regularly so follow me on Twitter if you don't already ;)

Thank you all for reading my blog as always ♥

I have a thing for fruit manicures for some reason - see some old manis here, here and here - and today I have an inspired apple manicure for you all! I saw this beautiful apple manicure on Pretty Project tumblr (a fantastic source for nail inspiration) submitted by Rexi Nails and just knew I had to try it out myself. It is so freaking cute!! You can check out Rexi's tumblr here. I've tried googling Rexi Nails but to no avail unfortunately. If someone knows the creator of this pretty manicure please point me to them/their blog/tumblr!!. Here is my version =)


I started off with a base coat of Eyeko Nude polish. I then used a small nail art brush from Born Pretty Store to draw the tops of the apples using China Glaze Phat Santa. I don't have OPI Big Apple Red unfortunately! I then filled in the remainder of the apples using Phat Santa.

For accent ring finger and thumb I added a coat of sparkly China Glaze Ruby Pumps. I used the small nail art brush from Born Pretty Store again and Ulta 3 chocolate cake to draw the stalks. I added a green teardrop rhinestone for the leaf. Final touch was the shine spots which I did using a dotting tool from Born Pretty Store and Kiss nail art striper in white.


Close up of accent ring finger:


My pictures in this post you may notice are from two different cameras. My sister was very nice to help me take some shots using her DSLR! We had a good time doing a little "photo shoot" haha. And gosh you can really notice the difference in quality between the two cameras! I love my camera to pieces but boy do I need to learn how to use a DSLR..




I absolutely love doing inspired nails. I'm not the most imaginative person and I struggle for ideas at times so attempting to recreate a nail masterpiece is always fun and gives me an excellent challenge! It also allows me to link to great blogs and nail enthusiasts!

Where do you get nail inspiration from? Thanks for looking as always!! =)

Oops I totally forgot to announce the winner of my Scunci hair giveaway!! Without further ado, the winner is:


Jasmine!!
Congratulations Jasmine!! I've just sent you an email requesting your details and please respond within 48hours! If I don't receive a response in that time period I will need to redraw the winner..

Thank you to everyone who entered - if you didn't win this time don't be disappointed! I will be holding giveaways in the near future ^_^

Thanks for looking!!

Hi ladies!! A super quick NOTD for you today using one of the Nicole by OPI lacquers I picked up in HK. My Lifesaver is from the Justin Beiber One Less Lonely Girl collection and although I'm not a Beiber fan, darn some of the colours in the collection are pretty!!

My Lifesaver is a gorgeous turquoise cream that reminds me of China Glaze For Audrey. I ADORE colours like this but my camera just hates them ARGH! My camera made the colour look way too blue and I had to tweak the colours to make them even close to accurate. I don't want to show swatches that aren't correct.


It applied relatively well - I don't think I waited long enough between coats so I had some dragging. I must say I am not a fan of the Nicole by OPI brushes and I had some difficulty using it. It's curved and just strange to me! I guess I'll have to get some more polishes so I can practise using the brush ;) 3 coats is pictured and I added a nail sticker for some quick nail art!


Do you love these turquoise colours as much as I do? Thanks for looking as always!!

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Top Speed by Revlon - Lights, Camera, Colour! fashion show for 30 Days of Fashion and Beauty 2011. I was invited along with other bloggers to sit in the front row which was super exciting!! The show was to showcase the gorgeous range of shades in the Top Speed collection that only take 60seconds to dry to go with the season's hottest trend colour blocking.

Now for some shots from the show! Unfortunately these aren't the best shots but I'm sure you'll get the picture ;)


Show stylist Nicole Adolphe with make up artist Elsa Morgan describing the products used for the show and the trends. It's all about colour this season!!







Outfits by Seduce and Dotti, jewellery by Pandora, shoes by Siren and Lipstick, bags by Olga Berg, makeup by REVLON and models from Chic Management.

There are 32 gorgeous shades in the new Revlon Top Speed Quick Dry range and I'll be showing you swatches in the coming days. If you're in Sydney, you can get a super quick Revlon manicure using the new colours in the coming days! The Revlon Top Speed Glam Vans will appear in 4 popular Sydney locations and will be offering free mini manis - as well as giving away full size nail polishes to everyone who ‘checks in’ via Facebook! You can check out the event details here.

The Revlon Glam Vans will be located at:

Customs House Forecourt, Alfred Street - Friday 16 September 4:00- 8:00pm
Bondi Pavilion Forecourt - Sunday 18 September, 12:00- 4:00pm
Cockle Bay Wharf - Friday 23 September, 5:00- 9:00pm
Cockle Bay Wharf - Friday 30 September, 5:00- 9:00pm

Cost is FREE and make sure to turn up early to the Glam Vans and book your appointment. Appointments are approximately 20mins so get in early to avoid disappointment!

Will you be working the colour this season?? I know I'll be trying!! Thanks for looking as always =)

If you follow me on Twitter then you'll have seen my twitpics last week of my ABSOLUTELY beautiful/stunning/adorable business cards created by the awesome team at The Distillery. I was as excited as a kid on Christmas Eve when I went to pick up my cards!! I'm sure you'll understand why after I show you pics ;)


I had been toying with the idea of getting blog business cards made up for a long time and the upcoming Australian Beauty Bloggers Weekend 2011 (ABBW aka the most hotly anticipated weekend packed with beauty EVER!) finally got me into action. I wanted something different for my cards and D sent me links to cards done using letterpress printing. WELL! After seeing pictures of cards made this way I feel in love and set about sourcing myself a place to custom design my cards. I got quotes from a couple of places online - some didn't reply while some were far too expensive at a crazy starting price of $1000 and I didn't really want to go with Etsy. I decided to go with the Aussie team at the The Distillery.


The Distillery are based in North Sydney and are a small team that design and produce letterpress printed products. They specialise in custom design letterpress wedding invitations, business cards and also provide commercial letterpress products to industries around the country. The Distillery are passionate about design and letterpress and it definitely showed in my experience with them. Their products are simply stunning.

Stationary letterpress printed on display at the studio

Yesterday I showed you some pictures from the Illamasqua Theatre of the Nameless collection launch and as promised I have swatches of two of the products for you today. I couldn't resist purchasing two products and Illamasqua were very kind to send us lucky bloggers home with some goodies too! =)


The pretty products I took home! You all know I FREAKING adore blush so I just had to take home the Illamasqua Shimmer Blusher in Ambition. I also purchased the much raved about Skin Base Foundation in 07 and received nail polish in Kink* and False Eye Lashes in Weimar*.


The nail varnishes in this collection are inspired by the Wittenberg Platz's Boot Girls colour-coded specialities (so ummm.. girls who wore different coloured boots so people knew what they specialised in xp). They have a "rubber-look" finish which is somewhere in between a matte and a gloss finish. The caps are also rubber finished to distinguish between the normal gloss finish polishes!

Illamasqua Kink is described as a "bottle green" and is a tad darker in real life. It's very different to any other greens I own and I love the "rubber-look" finish! 2 coats pictured.


Close up:


As always, application and pigmentation was perfect and it was opaque in 2 smooth coats.


I was very kindly given the False Eye Lashes in Weimar which are just stunning. I don't want to use them!!


The Shimmer Blusher in Ambition is Illamasqua's first shimmer powder blusher and I fell head over heels with it when Mikele tried it on me! Egged on by all the lovely ladies I just had to pick it up!


Ambition is a super pretty shimmery neutral blush. It is very pigmented and gives a gorgeous glow to my cheeks ♥


Illamasqua Shimmer Blusher in Ambition


I was colour matched for Skin Base foundation and just had to pick it up too. I love BB creams and Skin Base is inspired by them but better! I also needed another foundation with SPF xp


I hope you enjoyed my quick swatches and review! What do you think of the new "rubber-look" finish? Will you be trying any of the products?

Thanks for looking as always! =)

* Product(s) provided to me for consideration but this in no way influenced my review in any way. As always, my reviews are my 100% honest opinion. My disclosure Policy can be viewed here.

I was very fortunate to attend the launch of the Illamasqua Theatre of the Nameless collection last night. As always with Illamasqua, the collection is just stunning! The collection is inspired by 1920s Berlin and the underworld subcultures that filled its nightlife - exotic dancers, actors and performers, nudists and Boot Girls. The tones are dark and sophisticated in a modern interpretation of the era.

Photo courtesy of Illamasqua
What they say:

"Theatre of the Nameless is a heady mixture of opulent hues, decadent pigments and fearless application. A bruised and burnished pallet that gives a sensual slip that bleeds colour into colour, worn through and kissed off" - Alex Box, Illamasqua Creative Director."

The new Theatre of the Nameless collection consists of:

Two new Intense Lipglosses in Facade (grey pink) and Violate (dark green shimmer) as well as two Lipsticks in Verboten (deep claret) and Kontrol (blue violet).


Four new nail polishes inspired by the Wittenberg Platz's Boot Girls colour-coded specialities - Kink (bottle green), Vice (deep cerise), Faux Pas (blue violet) and Taint (stone brown). These have an awesome new waxy "rubber look" finish!


The polishes as modeled on lovely Mandi:


There are two new Cream Pigments in Androgen and Depravity and three new Pure Pigments in Zeitgeist, Beguile and Berber. Also two beautiful Shimmer blushers in Ambition (which I purchased!) and Morale which unfortunately won't be released in Aus is available now!


Lastly, a new Masquara in Raven (midnight black) and Precision Ink in Havoc (aubergine) and two sets of new false eyelashes named Grandeur and Weimar.


Some of the fabulous products used for a look on gorgeous Francis:


I'm not into dark hues all that much so I won't be getting the lip products but I am really loving the cream pigments, shimmer blushers, polishes and pure pigments in this collection!! Such pretty colours and so versatile too as with other Illamasqua products.

The Theatre of the Nameless collection is available from September 8th 2011 for Aussie ladies and available from Myer.

What do you think of the collection? See anything you fancy? Come back tomorrow to see some swatches from the collection!! Hint: A gorgeous blusher and a Kink-y polish ;)

Thanks for looking as always =)

* I attended the launch as a guest of Illamasqua.

Hi ladies!! A super quick post for you all today so apologies for the very unimaginative title xp Here's a mani I did a few days ago using one of the AWESOME Art Deco polishes my dear Christina sent me a few swaps back. You can check out the other stunning Art Deco polish she sent me in my birthday card inspired mani here.


Art Deco 275 is a medium purple polish with microglitter. It also looks like a duochrome in the bottle with flashes of gold and green however it doesn't translate on the nail unfortunately. It was slightly sheer so 3 coats was needed. Application and formula were great!! Dry time is super quick for these polishes too. EEK I so need more of these beauties from this range!


I added an accent nail of Deborah Lippmann Bad Romance and stamped full lace (sort of) design from Konad plate m71 using China Glaze Millenium.




Thanks for looking!!

Hi ladies!! Today I have another gem of a polish I picked up from HK!! Sasatinnie FCGL002 is a very similar to OPI Merry Midnight but not a dupe which is why I'm calling it Merry Midnight's younger sister as it has one of those stupid Asian number names. I discovered this polish when awesome Abby (aka the blog ninja!! xp) from Nothing Personail did a great comparison of the two polishes which you can check out here. After reading her post I knew I had to hunt for it when I went to HK this year!


My swatch pics are a bit below standard from my usual I'm afraid as I did these very late at night x( FCGL002 is a blue/purple based polish with red flakies and blue and silver glitter. The polish is quite sheer so three coats was needed for opacity which is pictured here. It applied reasonably well however the brush is ridiculously short which took a second to get used to!

Close up:




OPI Merry Midnight is one of those polishes I wish I owned that wouldn't set me back some ridiculous $30+ on eBay. There's the new Orly Fowl Play which is touted as a dupe but I've yet to get my hands on it. So does FCGL002 satisfy my lemming for Merry Midnight? Yes pretty much seeing as I'm sure I won't get my hands on an elusive bottle anytime soon. And it was only a fraction of the price too!


Have you tried any or know of any Merry Midnight dupes? Let me know!! I also may have purchased one or two bottles to give away to some loyal readers too in the future.. ;)

Thanks for looking as always =)

It's officially SPRING in Australia!!! WOOT!! I just love Spring as it's not too hot and not too cold - perfect for my temperamental skin. It also means bright colours, pastels, pretty dresses and pretty heels!! I don't really follow seasons when it comes to my manicures (I wear brights in Winter and dark colours in Summer!) but the start of Spring calls for pastel polishes to be broken out. Not like I EVER need any excuse to haha. Here's my striped Spring manicure to get you in the mood for warmer weather!!


For my pinkys, I used 2 coats of China Glaze Light As Air; for ring fingers I used 3 coats of OPI What's with the Cattitude; for middle fingers I used 2 coats of China Glaze Lemon Fizz; for index fingers I used 2 coats of China Glaze Peachy Keen and thumbs I used 2 coats of China Glaze Something Sweet. PHEW!!

I then used Kiss nail art striper in white to draw about 4- 5 vertical lines on each nail and added a corresponding coloured fimo slice. You can check out my fimo tutorial here.



If you'd like to find out how I achieved this look, you can check out my step by step tutorial for this manicure which I did as part of the 2threads Dove Diaries campaign as their featured beauty blogger this week!


What's your must have colour for Spring this year? Thanks for looking as always ladies!! =) Have a wonderful weekend!

Hi ladies!! Time to announce the winner of my $50 Apothica giftcard giveaway! Without further ado, the winner is:

Bhumika!!
Congratulations Bhumika!! I've just sent you an email requesting your details and please respond within 48hours! If I don't receive a response in that time period I will need to redraw the winner..

Thank you to everyone who entered - if you didn't win this time don't be disappointed! I will be holding giveaways in the near future ^_^

Thanks for looking!!