Cosmetic Cupcake

Hi ladies!! Just squeezing in my last post for 2011 to show you my New Years Eve manicure. It's a fail! I had no idea what I wanted and ended up doing a whole load of different things that didn't work. But hey, you see the good and the bad on my blog! I recall my New Years Eve mani last year was a fail too ho hum.. curse of New Year perhaps??!!


Thumb: I used 2 coats of Face of Australia Iron Ore* and stamped firework looking design from Bundle Monster plate BM02 using Konad Special Polishes in yellow, purple, blue and pink. I topped it all off with a coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust!

Index finger: I did a purple gradient using Teeez Outta Control on the top 1/3 and some sparse purple glitter on the top 2/3 and a clear glitter over the whole nail.

Middle finger: I used 2 coats of Face of Australia Iron Ore* and stamped star image from Bundle Monster plate BM21 using China Glaze Millenium and added some star dazzlings.

Ring finger: I used 2 coats of Face of Australia Titanium* and added 2 coats of OPI Rainbow Connection*.

Pinky: I used 2 coats of the lovely Teeez Outta Control holo that Marte kindly sent me in our swap.


Thank you all so much for your love and support in 2011. It means the world to me to be able to share my manis and everything in between with you guys. I hope you all have a wonderful, safe and happy New Year! See you in 2012! xx

* Products sent 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.

Another day, another crackle polish for you all! This time it's Sally Hansen who have released their Crackle Overcoat collection in 8 colourful shades. Today I have two of the shades for you - Fractured Foil and Antiqued Gold.


What they say:

"Crackle Overcoats for endless color effects. Always at the forefront of innovative head to toe beauty, Sally Hansen presents the latest in statement-making nails - the new Crackle Overcoat. Available in eight show-stopping shades, each color offers a custom crackle design for instantly intricate nails, no salon visit necessary.

"With Crackle Overcoat the color combo possibilities are endless!" says Sally Hansen manicurist Alison Bowhill-Hayes. "For daytime I love an understated crackle - think nude nails topped with Antiqued Gold - and at night I take it up a notch topping black polish with Distressed Denim."


Onto the swatches! Here I've swatched them over a black and a white creme with no topcoat. I should have taken some pics with topcoat also as it just makes the crackle sparkle like crazy! On another note, the alternating black and white looks FANTASTIC as a mani. I almost didn't want to cover it up with crackle lol.

Fractured Foil is a sparkly silver foil-ish crackle. It looks a lot like OPI Shatter in Silver but at a more wallet friendly price. I think it looks great over the black and over the white creme gives a nice subtle effect.

Hi ladies! How are you all? I hope you're all doing well! I've been in holiday mode these last few days and haven't really been up for much blogging but I wanted to show you an awesome swap I did recently. I swapped with lovely Marte from **Girly - Addictions** for some polishes and beauty items and her package arrived just before Christmas yay! Swapping with international bloggers is SO much fun and I wish I could do it more often. It's so awesome to try products I otherwise would never be able to get my hands on!




Eeeeeek my first Teeez and Kiko polishes! Oh boy the Teeez holos are gorgeous. I did a quick NOTD last night using one of them and it was just amazing. It applied like butter and dried super fast - it's love! The Catrice polish is from the Sydney collection which is so cool!


THANK YOU so much Marte for fulfilling my longtime lemming of OPI Merry Midnight!!!!! ♥ ♥ ♥ She also included an amazing KOH flakie called Green Stardust. It comes in this awesome looking case too hehe.


Some adorable Hello Kitty nail stickers and Essence nail plates!


Catrice Sydney collection eye and cheek palette and a Hema Metallic Shine eyeshadow cream. The shades in the Sydney palette are named after Sydney landmarks like Taronga Zoo, Town Hall and Bondi Beach and the shades are lovely!


Some skincare products!


Marte also included a pair of her favourite and very cute house socks for me as well as some perfume samples and a handy mirror. A girl can never have enough pocket sized mirrors in my opinion because I always seem to misplace mine! Lastly some yummy sweets and cute Hello Kitty items!!! The Hello Kitty Pez is soooooo adorable!


Thank you so much Marte for your lovely package!!! I cannot wait to try all the polishes and makeup ^__^

Have you done any swaps lately? Thanks for looking as always!! =)

Merry Christmas my lovely readers!! I hope you've had a wonderful Christmas surrounded by loved ones and filled with great food and lots of pressies.

I had a quiet Christmas lunch and gift opening session at home with my family before going to D's. We had a cold lunch of ham, prawns etc with pavlova of course to finish! Then I headed off to D's for dinner with his family. D made Singapore chilli crab for everyone and some roti to go with it but as I can't eat crab I had oysters mornay mmmmm.


D's sisters friend made some yummy creme brulee for dessert too!


Some pressies from my family and a friend. My sis had ordered the Deborah Lippmann Get This Party Started set for me but unfortunately it didn't arrive in time. But I have something to look forward to after Christmas at least!!!


Pressie from D =) I have Benefit Watts Up YAY!!!!!!!!!!


I'll leave you with some pics of our gingerbread house. The sis and I decorated it (next year we're going to bake our own!) very late one night last week and we reckon we did a pretty damn good job if I do say so myself! We're super proud of it lol. We look forward to doing it every year and it's an awesome sisterly bonding session for us too xp

Front of house
Back of house
What did you get up to today? Thanks for looking as always!!

Hi ladies! Happy Christmas Eve! Just a super quick post to let you know that I guest posted over on the Face of Australia blog this week. I was so thrilled to be asked to do a Christmas manicure using the wonderful range of Face of Australia polishes!


I hope you check out my post as well as the great tutorials on the blog using Face of Australia products! Thanks for looking as always =)

Hi ladies!! How have you all been? I hope you're all in a festive mood and getting ready for a well deserved break (for those who aren't working!). Today I have for you some quick swatches and my review of a lovely mini Christmas nail polish set from Bloom - the Classic mini nail polish collection.


What they say:

"Four classic must-have mini Nail Polish shades in our famous high-shine, chip resistant formula. Contains: Millie, Kim, Edie and Toni."


Millie is a beautiful vampy dark wine jelly. I adore jelly polishes as you might know! I love the colour of Millie but I found application somewhat difficult so please excuse the crappy application and the weird lump on my middle finger. I think it might be the brush for my bottle that made application difficult..? I'm not sure but the formula was OK and like other jellies dried to an amazing shine. You can see my reflection in my nails! 2 coats is pictured.


Close up:

Today's quick Christmas gift idea post features face and body products that I'm lemming! Only one of the products I've tried myself and the others are on my wishlist. Here we go!


Bobbi Brown Party Shimmer Brick: This limited edition Party Shimmer Brick is dressed up in silver and gold and is just so festive and gorgeous. It's even embossed with a martini glass and shaker! WANT.
Available from Myer and David Jones for $85.

Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-hour blush: Tammie helped me get my hands on two a while back and they are the must have blush for the year. Long lasting, super pigmented and gorgeous matte colours. I have Natural Beauty and Dollface and I can't recommend them enough!
Available from Sephora for $25US.

Stella McCartney Lily perfume: I only read about this new addition to Stella McCartney's perfume range the other day and I know I already want it without smelling it! The Stella perfumes are my absolute favourite perfumes in the entire world and are my signature scent. NEED.

Benefit Watts Up highlighter: I LOVE highlighters and I've fallen for this new addition to the Benefit highlighter family. Everyone is raving about it and I really want to try it!
Available from Myer and Adore Beauty for $53.

Kiehl's Crème de Corps limited edition trio: A special limited edition version of the well known Crème de Corps. Kiehl's have collaborated with Australian designers Sass & Bide, Zimmerman & Ksubi for Kiehls and 7.4% of all sales will be donated to Australian children’s charities – THE SHINE COLLECTIVE, a sass & bide and Barnardo’s initiative, for sass & bide; the Starlight Children’s Foundation for Zimmermann, and War Child Australia for ksubi.
Available from Myer and Kiehl's online store for $45.

Have you tried any of these products? What face and body products are on your wishlist this year?

Thanks for looking as always!

Hi ladies! Today I have another super simple Christmas manicure for you all. Instagram pics will have to suffice as I didn't get around to taking proper mani pics unfortunately. I had a few late nights in a row last week which totally interfered with my nail schedule!


For my pinky, I used 2 coats of China Glaze Poinsettia and added candy cane stripes using Kiss Nail Art striper in white. For ring fingers and thumbs, I used 2 coats of China Glaze Midnight Kiss (from last years CG holiday collection) and added a present nail decal to my ring finger. For my middle fingers I used 2 coats of China Glaze Glittering Garland which is such a gorgeous shimmery green! Lastly for my index finger I used 2 coats of China Glaze Poinsettia and added 1 coat of China Glaze Snow Globe.

Very simple to do but super fun and festive! I hope you're all having a wonderful start to the week!

Thanks for looking as always =)

Hi ladies! Can you believe it's only a week until Christmas?? Where on earth has the year gone! Each year seems to fly by SO much faster than the last. If you're anything like me, you'll have left most of your Christmas shopping til the last minute. Those were the days when I was so organised I had everything all ready by the start of December! I'm late as usual but today I'm kicking off a few posts on my picks for Christmas gifts for this year. Some items I am crazily lemming myself and others I've tried and tested and highly recommend to my lovely readers. Today's post focuses on my favourite beauty item - nail polishes of course! You'll sense a theme here though haha, I realised afterwards that it's a lot of glitter polishes lol.


Deborah Lippmann Get This Party Started gift set: A gift pack consisting of three of Deborah Lippmann's absolutely freaking amazing glitters - Happy Birthday, Candy Shop and Forget You. NEED I SAY MORE!!!
Availalbe from KissandMakeupNY for $42US and Nordstrom for $52US.

China Glaze Holiday 2011 collection: You all know I ADORE China Glaze and this is the the collection I look forward to the most every year. The colours are always perfect for festive manis and this years colours are wonderful! My top picks are Twinkle Lights, Snow Globe and Poisnetta. You can check out my simple Christmas mani and glittery snowflake mani using the polishes.
Available from Crush Cosmetics. The sets range from $14.95 to $16.95.

OPI Muppets collection: OPI's holiday collection for the year is a winner. 12 polishes consisting of which 6 are awesome glitters = AWESOME. You can check out my swatches of three of the glitters here. My top picks are Rainbow Connection, Gone Gonzo, and Excuse Moi!.
Available from David Jones and selected salons for $19.95.

Milani Jewel FX glitters: These awesome glitters still remain one of my absolute favourite glitters and are perfect for the festive season. Any girl would be stoked to have these in their stocking on Christmas morning!
Available from Cherry Culture for $3.99US (sale price) and Nonpareil Boutique for $4.99US.

Essie Luxeffects glitter topcoat collection: Essie's holiday collection that consists of 5 very droolworthy glitters! These are a really pleasant change from their usual cremes. I'm in love with A Cut Above, Set In Stones and Shine Of The Times.
Available from Transdesign and Aveyou for $8US. Santa please bring me some!!

I've just signed up to Polyvore and created the set using it but I don't really know how to use it haha so bear with me!

What's on your nail wishlist for Christmas?

Thanks for looking as always ladies!!

I LOVE samples and I was super envious when I read all about the sample beauty boxes in the US like Birchbox. Finally it's caught on in Aus and one of these boxes is the new Glossybox (previously known as the Beauty Box). I was very excited to be given the opportunity to receive the first box and here's my review for you today.


A box within a box! You won't believe how excited I was to open it and see what was inside!



Glossybox has such pretty packaging and is packaged super well. It's wrapped prettily and tied up with a ribbon with a card explaining the products.


Surprise!


Goodies!


What you get:

Jurilique Purely Age-Defying Ultra Firm & Lift Cream - sample size: "This high performance anti-aging cream is designed to help promote the regeneration of elastin, collagen and new skin cells."
The full size product retails for $90.

Bio Oil - full size: "Bio-Oil is a specialist skincare oil that is effective for aging as well as dehydrated skin. Also applicable for scars, stretch marks ad uneven skin tones."
It retails for $14.95 for a 60ml bottle.

Essie Summer Nail colour in Meet Me at Sunset - sample size: "It's all about daring, sexy colour with thus super shuck collection inspired by the seductive beauty of Brazil."
The full size polish retails for $18.95.

Mirenesse 3D Forever Gloss in Geisha - full size: "Mirenesse 3D Forever Gloss is filled with botanical moisturizers and antioxidants to give you hydrated and beautiful cushioned lips day and night."
The gloss retails for $39.95.

Lily Loves Pearl Eco mascara: "This 100% natural, Vegan friendly mascara is formulated l nourish, thicken & lengthen lashes. If you want brilliant amazing lashes this is a must-have." Now I believe it's the full size product that's included but I'm not 100% sure as it doesn't say on the tube.
The full size product retails for $36.

Also a packet of jelly beans and a Jurilique 15% off storewide voucher.


Overall: The full size Bio Oil and Mirenesse 3D gloss makes the monthly subscription fee of $14.95 very worthwhile. I'm such a sucker for packaging and Glossybox delivers! I love the pretty packaging and the fact that it has 2 boxes for safe transit. The variety of products is quite reasonable - you get a nail, eye, skincare, body, lip product and some yummy jellybeans too.

While I liked the range of products, I'm not blown away by the first Glossybox. I buy a LOT of products and the items seem to be too readily available to spark a real interest for me. I'd love to try brands I don't see everyday to discover new products. The first box should be an indication of what brands they'll be working with and what future boxes will contain and unfortunately I'm not that excited. The majority of the products are kind of your everyday brands and also in comparison to other beauty sample boxes the product number seems to be slightly less.

I'm also not entirely sure that sample boxes are the right fit for me personally. I just have way too many products and need to use. Sample beauty boxes would be perfect for those just starting out in makeup (eg. my sister) or those who don't have a lot to spend on makeup and want to try before they commit to full size. It would also make a fantastic gift also - it beats the old magazine subscription ANY day! Imagine receiving one every month! I love the surprise element as you have no idea what will be included in the box for that month.

Details: You can subscribe to Glossybox online and costs $14.95 per month which includes delivery.

Have you tried a beauty sample box? What do you think?

Thanks for looking as always!

The product featured in this post was sent 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.

Hi ladies! How have you all been? Please excuse the lack of posts this week. I've been super busy and just haven't been up for blogging much. Unfortunately my blogging mojo leaves me sometimes! As always I have so much to show you but so little time - I must time manage outside of work better next year! Today I have a quick snowflake manicure that I did very late last night. You can tell because I left such a huge gap between my cuticle and the nail bed but you can't really see it in my photos thankfully x)


I started off with 1 coat of Misa High Waist Hue as underwear to prevent staining. I then used 2 coats of China Glaze Blue Year's Eve which is a gorgeous sparkly dark blue polish. I stamped snowflakes from Konad plate m59 using Konad Special Polish in white and added a coat of China Glaze Snowglobe to top it all off for some glitter and sparkle.



Snowglobe is sooooooooooooooo awesome!! It's been on my wishlist FOREVER and I'm so glad they repromoted it xD Below is a dodgy blurry photo I took I've purposely blurred it so you can see the gorgeous multicoloured glitter. You NEED SNOWGLOBE!!



I'm running out of time for Xmas manis doh! Are you rocking something festive on your nails today?

Thanks for looking as always =)

Hi ladies! Here's my first Christmas manicure of the year which I did a few days ago. It's just very simple as I've just been so super busy! But what's new right??! All the polishes are from the China Glaze holiday collection which I look forward to the most every year. Oh how you do holiday collections so well China Glaze!!!!!!


For my pinky and index finger I used 2 coats of China Glaze Holly-Day. For accent finger I used 2 coats of China Glaze Midnight Kiss (from last years holiday collection) and 1 coat of China Glaze Twinkle Lights. For middle finger and thumb I used 2 coats of China Glaze Poinsettia.


Simple but festive and it took me less than 10 minutes to do =) What's not to love about Christmas!

Thanks for looking as always!

Today I have some swatches for you from the Nicole by OPI Kardashian Kolors collection for Holiday 2011. I haven't seen all that many episodes of the Kardashians but I was pretty excited for this collection because it contains glitters!!! GLITTER!! Plus I just love holiday collections. There are 14 polishes in the collection and I have swatches of four for you - Kendall on the Katwalk, Kim-pletely in Love, Disco Dolls and All Kendall-ed Up today. All swatches are without topcoat.


What they say:

"Nicole by OPI joins the Kardashian family in announcing the launch of the Kardashian Kolor range; 14 effervescent shades inspired by each six members of this TV family.

Kim, Kourtney, Khloe, Kylie, Kendall and Kris, each recognised for their fashion forward style, have chosen their favourite colour shade which best reflect their personalities. If these girls are not featuring in the social pages, twittering or staring their reality TV show, they are getting their nails done.

Kardashian Kolor offers a diverse collection of shades, ranging from high-shine and sparkly hues; from frosty white to dark chocolate brown, from a blue-green shimmer to a lipstick red, to neutral taupe to a pinkish coral. The names alone are enough to make your spell-check spontaneously combust."


Kendall on the Katwalk is a stunning blue, purple and green glitter. I adore blue glitters and this one is so unique as it has blue and purple in it too. It is just so gorgeous I didn't want to take it off! Definitely my favourite. It's on the sheer side and 3 coats was needed for opacity which is pictured.


Close up:




Kim-pletely in Love is a sheer light pink with subtle blue microglitter through it. It is SOOOOOO pretty! It looks like a boring pink but the microglitter makes it special. It would be a perfect wedding colour! Unfortunately my camera wouldn't pick up the microglitter properly. I found application a little difficult as the formula is a little on the thin side - I experienced some cuticle flooding and I also had some major dragging but a few coats did the trick. 3 coats is pictured.


Close up:




Disco Dolls is a gold glitter with silver, purple and bronze hex glitter in a bronzey gold base. It's a very unique glitter and is very holiday inspired which I love. It's super opaque and 1 thick coat would be enough however I used 2 coats which is pictured.


Close up:




All Kendall-ed Up is a super bright pink creme. It's slightly darker in real life than my pics but you get the picture. It's not the most unique colour but it's bright and fun and perfect for summer. I'm currently wearing it as my pedi colour with some Nicole by OPI Love Your Life glitter hearts ;) I experienced some dragging so I needed 3 coats which is pictured. It dries super glossy!


Close up:




Overall: I really enjoyed the polishes! Kendall on the Katwalk and Disco Dolls are obviously my favourites as I can't go past glitter! I love that they're unique glitter colours and the formula is excellent and dried very smooth.

I had some dragging issues with Kim-pletely in Love and All Kendall-ed Up but all in all they applied reasonably. I find with sheer pinks and certain cremes there is always some degree of dragging sadly. Dry time for the lacquers was good and the brush was easy to use. I REALLY dislike the "Perfect Stroke" brush they had for some polishes - it nearly gave me a stroke using it!!

I'm not sure how holiday some colours are for example All Kendall-ed Up but the pretty glitters make the collection. I would have loved an entire collection of glitters!

Details: Kardashian Kolor collection will be available soon at selected pharmacies and Terry White Chemists and The Nail File Shop for $14.95. For stockists contact 1800 358 999 or visit www.nicolebyopi.com.

Do you like holiday collections as much as I do? Will you be purchasing any of these colours? Thanks for looking as always!

The products featured in this post were sent 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.