Cosmetic Cupcake

This post is sponsored by Nuffnang and Skinny Cow.


When I was asked to write a post about over indulgence recently I couldn't decide what to write about! You all know my obsession with nail polish and makeup but food is another huge love of mine which I don't share often enough with you on my blog. Good food is something I never like to scrimp on and it's always a fitting reward after a tough week at work! The boy and I decided to head out to Chatswood last weekend to try out Shanghai Stories 1938 restaurant that his friend Julie recommended. It was well worth the trip over the bridge! Peep the yummy food we ordered below.

Shanghai Xiao Long Bao:


Prawn and pork wonton soup:


House special prawn toast:


Poached pork dumpling in chili oil:


Double seared beef buns:


Egg tarts:


Although we were already stuffed I couldn't resist ordering these adorable steamed red bean panda buns!!! Hello cuteness overload.


It was the perfect way to unwind and there is nothing quite like a day out with your favourite person who also loves food as much as you do.

Speaking of indulging oneself... the new and improved Skinny Cow Ice-Cream cookies are even more indulgent than ever! They're now 15% bigger (110mls per serve compared to the previous 95mls) which is something I won't complain about because it means MORE ice-cream! It will definitely satisfy your sweet cravings without guilt as they are 97% fat free and are low in calories. They contain just enough sugar to make them deliciously sweet but without using any artificial sweeteners!


The new Skinny Cow ice-cream recipe is sandwiched between two delicious chocolate biscuits and is available in three flavours; vanilla, caramel, and brand new for 2012 - delicious chocolate. You can find these yummy ice creams in the health section of the freezer aisle at your local supermarket now. Grab a box to get in on the Skinny Cow month of indulgence!


To win a $150 Westfield voucher, all you have to do is answer the following question:

What is your biggest indulgence?
Leave me a comment with your answer and email address below for your chance to win! The competition is open to Australian residents only and ends at 5pm AEST on June 8th 2012. The winner will be chosen by Nuffnang and Skinny Cow. See Terms & Conditions here.

Good luck!

For my birthday this year, my beautiful friend Judy surprised me with this AMAZING Dior Rosy Glow Healthy Glow Awakening Blush in Petal. She had passed it on to my sis to give to me so I came home one night to find it waiting for me. Seriously how spoiled am I??! It was wrapped so prettily in the Dior bag and ribbon too! No pic sorry x) Here is my review and swatches for you today!


What they say:

"Recreate the look of just-pinched, rosy cheeks with this finely-milled light-pink blush. Petal #001 is flattering on all skintones. Its ultra-fine, powder texture and irresistible rose fragrance offer a moment of pure indulgence with each application.

Rosy Glow reacts with the moisture in each skin type, giving a delicious and subtle blush to the cheeks. When applied, the initially fresh, light colour develops into a rosy blush to suit each individual complexion, for an ultra-natural, tailor-made healthy glow that lasts all day."

Hi ladies! Today I have a simple and loosely inspired nautical manicure for you. I love nautical stuff and I've been meaning to do nautical nails for ages now! I wanted to do more with this mani such as add an anchor and more stripes etc but ran out of time so I had to leave it as is xp


For my pinky and middle fingers I used 2 coats of Essence 50's Girl Reloaded Back to the 50's from my dear friend Christina. It is a GORGEOUS red but my camera found it a bit difficult to capture. It's quite dark in real life and the last pic shows it most accurately.

For my ring finger I used 2 coats of OPI Glitzerland as a base and my favourite gold glitter Milani Jewel FX in gold. My index finger is 3 coats of OPI Alpine Snow and for my thumb I used 2 coats of LAKA 81 which is a super opaque navy creme. I then used my trusty Kiss Nail Art Paint striper in white to draw thick horizontal lines.





What do you think of nautical nails? A full nautical mani to follow soon hopefully!

Thanks for looking as always!

I haven't done a haul post in a while so I thought I'd show you a few recent purchases over the last month or two. I'm on a spending ban so I don't have much at all to show you! Just a few items I had to get haha.


I picked up the WAH nails Book of Nail Art as soon as it was released! I love love love WAH nails designs. I ordered directly from their online shop and it was signed by Sharmadean Reid too! I justify this purchase as research for nail art ;)


I missed out on Chanel Peridot when it came out so I was so happy when I saw it on sale on Ozsale. Even though I was on a spending ban I just had to get it!


Awesome Tammie helped me haul some Real Techniques brushes! I have been lemming these for sooooooooo long and finally bit the bullet and got them - I really needed a brush overhaul. They were 20% off too so even better! THANK YOU as always for helping me get these Tammie =D She also helped me purchase Revlon Whimsical which I swatched for you here.


Some lemmings fulfilled thanks to Apothica - Guerlain Meteorites Perles in Teint Rose 01, Diorskin Poudre Shimmer in Rose Diamond and Paul & Joe lipstick in 26.


My new Asics runners. I haven't done proper exercise in AGES and I am determined to get fit!

Have you hauled anything recently? Thanks for looking as always!

Hello ladies! It feels like ages since I've blogged but I am back! A few weeks ago I was kindly invited to the launch of the Lancome Rouge in Love collection and today I have my review of one of the gorgeous shades - 163M Dans Ses Bras. The beautiful and talented Emma Watson is the face of Rouge in Love and she worked closely with Lancome on the shade range.


What they say:

"High-intensity colour, a featherlight feel. Rouge in Love achieves the perfect balance: radiant shades in a surprisingly light texture. Its secret? The exclusive ‘colour catching’ polymer texture melts on application, leaving an essential concentrate of colour.

Lips feel smooth and soft thanks to the nourishing and repairing oils that provide hydration for up to 6 hours with striking shine. As comforting as a balm, as colourful as a lipstick, as radiant as a mirror… An ultra-light texture for endless tailor-made looks that take you from day to night.

Rouge In Love is like a second skin that satisfies your every desire. In short: love at first sight."


You all know that I'm a sucker for packaging and the packaging for this collection is SOOOOOOO gorgeous! The lipstick is housed in a sleek brushed silver bullet and has a red stocking inspired stitching on the back. Very very sexy.


The shades are divided into three moods:

Jolis Matins - fresh shades for daytime wear which are identified with the letter M in the shade number; Boudoir Time - pop shades for cocktail hour which are identified with the letter B in the shade number and Tonight is My Night - intense shades for magical nights which are identified with the letter N in the shade number.


The shade I have for you is 163M Dan Ses Bras and it's a beautiful raspberry red. In the tube it looks shockingly bright but it's extremely wearable and also very pigmented. The formula of the Rouge in Love lipsticks is a cross between lipstick and lip balm which a lot of companies have been creating lately. I enjoy these formulas the most!


Swatch:


This is ONE swipe on my hand! See how pigmented it is? And glossy too? LOVE.


Overall: A new lipstick addiction has started - the Rouge in Love lipsticks are AMAZING. They are super pigmented - something I don't expect with these hybrid formulas. The formula reminds me of the Chanel Rouge Coco Shine lipsticks but much more moisturizing and long lasting which is fantastic. They claim to last 6 hours which I found to be pretty accurate but I still needed to touch up after a few hours. It leaves a nice stain behind if you don't reapply so you still get a nice hint of colour long after the lipstick has worn off. The lipsticks have a slight scent to them and I love that it feels very lightweight on the lips.

The shade does bleed a little so I find using a liner and applying with a lip brush helps to get a clean finish - for these swatch pics I didn't use liner though. This is slightly annoying when it comes to touch ups on the go but reapplying straight from the tube isn't too difficult.

Details: The Lancome Rouge in Love lipsticks are available now in 21 shades from Myer, David Jones and selected pharmacies for $45.


The product featured in this post was 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 finally got my hands on Revlon Whimsical this week thanks to my US enabler Tammie! She helped me get a few lemmings once again and she very kindly helped me hunt this lovely polish down too. Whimsical is a dupe for Deborah Lippmann's magical Glitter in the Air which I own already but I don't like to use it often because it's so precious haha. I received the package yesterday and had to use it straight away!


I layered two coats of Whimsical over two coats of China Glaze Sea Spray. Whimsical is pretty sheer but I wanted a subtle effect so I only applied 2 coats. Love this combo!


Close up:



Thanks for looking as always =)

Hi ladies! Today I have the new Kiss Nail Dress nail strips for you. Kiss make awesome nail art stripers which you'll have heard me mention many times in my nail art posts (you can read my full review of them here) so I was interested to try these out. I was very kindly sent two designs to try and I have my review of the gorgeous lace design Mini.


What they say:

"Kiss Nail Dress is the ultimate nail fashion, offering more nail strips per kit than any other brand. Available in 18 patterns and textures, there is something for everyone. With so many style options to choose from, let your inner designer shine through with that pop of color. As you would spice up an outfit with some sparkle and shine, you can now “express” yourself by applying jeweled strips to your nails for that extra punch.

Each manicure is unique with asymmetrical designs. Nail Dress gives you the ability to customize your nails as Nail Art. You can mix and match any texture and pattern by cutting up Nail Dress and applying the strips in any shape or form desired to revamp any look, day or night."


Each pack contains instructions, a nail file and 28 nail strips in 14 different sizes. Plenty in case you mess a few up!


I thought I'd do a little step by step on how to apply them!

Step 1: Select size that fits your nail


Step 2: Smooth and fold over edge


Step 3: File excess


Done!


Overall: I think this design looks absolutely fantastic! I love lace patterns and these look really elegant without the hassle of dealing with lace or stamping. I was complimented SO many times when I wore these! There is a great range of sizes provided in the packs and I found sizes that fit my nails perfectly. I have huge nail beds and I find the strips of other brands are either too small or too large. I had no overlap with my cuticle and no huge gap which is great.

They are very simple to remove as well - just peel off and no remover is needed and don't leave a sticky residue when you remove them. I wore these for about 4 days and had no lifting so I think would last a good few days longer.

I found these nail strips slightly easier to apply than other nail strips I've tried before as they are thicker which makes them easy to position and less likely to tear. But because these are quite thick I found it quite tricky to file the excess down which meant it took longer than I expected to apply. The edge also felt quite course after filing down so they caught onto my clothing which was very annoying. They also felt quite thick on the nail to me but this is a personal thing.


Details: Kiss Nail Dress are available now from Priceline and selected pharmacies nationwide for $13.95.

What do you think? Have you tried these before? Thanks for looking as always!

The product featured in this post was 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.

Hello ladies! Tomorrow is Mother's Day and OPI have released the cute The Happy Couple Mother's Day pack which would be a great present for any polish loving mum! If you've left it until the last minute to get your mum a present this pack would be a great idea - it consists of two pink OPI shades and a cosmetic bag. I had meant to get these swatched earlier but time ran away from me as usual!


What they say:

"Show mum that you care with OPI’s The Happy Couple cosmetic pack this Mothers Day and you will be rewarded with freshly ironed shirts all year. The OPI Happy Couple is a stylish little pack that comes complete with two loved-up bottles of OPI’s pink shades, OPI Passion a soft pink nude and a more vibrant pink, OPI Pompeii Purple. All neatly packaged in an über chic white cosmetic bag with a black trim.

The desirable little pack is all she needs to feel pampered."

Hi ladies! I am embarrassingly behind on posts at the moment oops so I'm trying madly to catch up. I was lucky enough to attend the launch of the Illamasqua Human Fundametalism launch a few weeks back and as always Illamasqua never failed to impress with their latest product additions! Illamasqua very kindly gifted us with some products from the collection to take home and I have a quick overview of them for you today.


What they say:

"Get ready for a startling celebration of humanity's connection with colour. Introducing the Human Fundamentalism collection, where blinding flashes of pigment provide a sharp contrast to neutral tones, creating a saturated palette that catapults your alter ego to new levels of self-expression. Mix contrasting textures to express your true self, spiralling from rich metallic to pale matt shades. This nonconformity at its most fundamental - at its unpredictable best."

Today's manicure is inspired by this adorable peter pan collar nail tutorial over at The Beauty Department. They do some really cute nail and makeup tutorials! I only discovered the site a little while ago so clearly I've been living under a rock haha. I'm kind of stuck in a nail art rut at the moment so I thought I would try the design out! It's a dodgy job as you can clearly see the black peeking out from beneath the white collars and my index finger is stuffed up. Oh well! I also completely stuffed up my right hand so it looks like I painted in the dark or something haha!


I stuck pretty closely to the easy to follow tutorial. I used binder reinforcements to section off my nail and used 2 coats of Color Club Where's the Soiree for the shirt. I then used a small nail art brush and Kiss nail art striper in white to draw the collars. I then added 3 gold bullions down the centre of each nail.

For my thumb I used 2 coats of Color Club Where's the Soiree and 1 coat of China Glaze Medallion.


I could have done a much better job at cleaning up but couldn't be bothered oops! Also I need some new nail art brushes as mine are getting a bit tattered so they don't give a clean line.




I look terribly silly in peter pan collar shirts but I loved wearing them on my nails instead! XD What do you think?

Thanks for looking as always!