Cosmetic Cupcake

Hi ladies! Just some quick swatches today of the original a-england Holy Grail which I hauled a little while ago. I saw lovely Sam's re-swatch of it and I just had to get it!! It is a STUNNING gold but unfortunately I don't think it works with my skintone. Nonetheless I shall be rocking it anyway because that's just how I roll HAHA. There's a new version of Holy Grail out now and I think I might need that too..


Holy Grail is a beautiful warm gold with bronze shimmer through it. Just beautiful! Application was a breeze and the brush was fantastic to use. 2 coats is pictured


Close up:



Details: You can rab this version of Holy Grail for a limited time for £5 with free shipping! You can purchase a-england polishes from a-england.co.uk.

This is my second a-england polish and I seriously need more in my collection! Have you tried any of Adina's lovely polishes? Thanks for looking as always!

Today I have swatches for you of two of the pretty colours from the Essie Spring 2012 collection - Tour de Finance and Olé Caliente. My parents are both boring finance people so the names in this collection amuse me! A Crewed Interest (accrued interest?!) and To Buy or Not to Buy are particularly cute I think ;) What they say: "This spring, Essie pays tribute to the beautiful, ambitious woman of action. Not content to play it safe and hedge her bets during the wintry economic climate, the change in weather perfectly suits her sunnier outlook. In both fashion and finance, she's ready, willing and able to strike out and try something fresh and new. This supremely feminine collection creates the perfect spring wardrobe for every woman on a mission. With skin-flattering brights and power pastels to suit every occasion, she's always at the top of her game with essie color. For those in the vanguard, blazing a trail of glory to new heights, there's Olé Caliente, for a more gentle touch and soft-sell approach, A Crewed Interest is sure to post serious profits. Whatever your strategy, choose one of six ingenious colors that means business."

Hi ladies! I hope you're all doing well =) I'm currently in a blogging rut and I just can't seem to get any blog posts up but I just had to share these quick swatches with you today! My lovely friend Aysh recently sent me over a care package that included the fabulous Boogie Nights glitter from the Models Mirrorball collection. You all know how much I love my glitter (if you don't then I don't want to talk to you! Just joking lol) so of course I couldn't wait to try it out. The collection is described as "nail frostings" but it just seems like a normal glitter..? It does have a little something extra though as they look AH-MAZING!


Boogie Nights consists of different sized blue, fuchsia and purple round and hex glitters and larger irregular shaped shard glitters in a clear base. I LOVE the mix of different glitters! The formula is a little thick but the polish applies relatively evenly. I did have to go back in and "dab" to fill in the gaps. I layered 2 coats of Boogie Nights over 2 coats of Models Own Pure Purple and I got sooooooo many compliments! My pictures just don't do this combo justice. Dry time was a little slow but I use a quick dry topcoat so it wasn't really a problem.


Close up:



Aysh's lovely package! The card was so sweet and of course the choccies disappeared in no time lol.


Bonus bottle shot!


Thank you so much Aysh for sending this gorgeous glitter my way! Have you guys tried out the Mirrorball collection yet? I am sooooo tempted to get the others but the wallet is saying NO! I wonder if Santa will be nice this year and bring me some polish for Xmas.. ;)

Thanks for looking as always!

This post is sponsored by Nuffnang.

When I was in Hong Kong recently, there were promo posters everywhere for Taylor Swift’s upcoming Red album. I’ve always been a fan of her makeup looks – her skin is always glowing and she looks so polished and fresh faced. In this particular pic she’s rocking a cherry red lip, winged liner and paired it with a cute black and white retro top and I loved the look so much I had to recreate it as soon as I got home! She’s been sporting a similar look while out and about on her promo tour for the new album this month and I love seeing the pics as it gives me great beauty inspiration. Her flawless skin and red pout look fantastic and is a look that would suit everyone.


You too can get flawless red carpet ready skin at home with the Clearasil PerfectaWash which I’ve introduced to you previously. Celebrities may have their makeup artists to help them look picture perfect but makeup can only hide so much. It’s important to start off with good basics like cleansing and moisturising twice daily and making sure to remove all traces of makeup at the end of the night to help achieve a healthy and glowing complexion.


While trialling the Clearasil PerfectaWash I must say my skin has been behaving itself and I haven’t experienced as many breakouts as usual. I’ve been rocking the natural look as much as I can so I started off with a sheer base by using Make Up For Ever Face and Body foundation in 20. I skipped powder and just used MAC Select Moisture Cover concealer in NW20 to conceal my dark circles (lack of sleep!). Taylor only has a hint of colour on her cheeks as the lip colour is so strong so I contoured my cheeks using Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess and skipped the blush.


I applied a wash of Illamasqua Cream Pigment in Hollow and winged out my Face of Australia liquid liner for a small cat eye. On the lower lash line I smudged Make Up For Ever Aqua Eyes liner in black on the outer third of my eye and I finished with Dolly Wink Long mascara.

For my bright red lips I lined my lips using Shisheido The Makeup Lip Liner & Pencil in Red Rouge and applied Tom Ford Lip Color in Cherry Lush!


I have another Clearasil PerfectaWash Dispenser & Refill to give away to ONE luck reader! If you didn't win last time here's another chance to get your hands on one. All you have to do is answer the following question:

Have you tried the new Clearasil PerfectaWash, what were your thoughts?
Leave me a comment with your answer below for your chance to win! Easy! The competition is open to Australian residents only and ends at 5pm AEST on November 22nd 2012. The winner will be chosen by Nuffnang. See Terms & Conditions here.

GOOD LUCK!!

The winner of my last Clearasil PerfectaWash giveaway was Crepe and her prize is on it's way to her now!

Today I have some quick swatches for you of Ozotic Pro 904 - one of the brand new polishes from their new Sugar collection. The Sugar polishes are inspired by "'adding a tiny drop of food colouring to icing sugar' hence the sugary sweet looking colours". Let me warn you it is pretty amazing!


904 is a bright yellow polish containing colour changing crystal flecks that aren't really apparent in the bottle. When layered over black it really comes to life! The crystal flecks shift from green to blue to a teeny bit of yellow depending on your lighting. I layered 1 thin coat over 2 coats of Glitter Gal Serpent Black.


Close up:


The polish dried quite quickly and the brush was great to use. I recommend working quickly and applying thin coats as you can get patchiness. I had to redo my swatches as I worked too slowly and had to add more coats of 904 to even things out which didn't look too good especially when on macro!





Overall I think it's a really unique polish! I love that it transforms a boring black polish into something really unusual. I got lots of lovely compliments when I wore it so definitely one worth trying out for yourself! The new Ozotic Pro Sugar & Beam collection is available in 8 shades and can be purchased from Picture Polish for $12.

What do you think of these new Sugar polishes? 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.

A quick swatch for you today of Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream which I picked up recently while I was in Hong Kong. I am a sucker for her polishes and it takes every ounce of my self control not to go crazy and just buy every single one of them!!


Mermaid's Dream is a shimmery pale green/blue foil with gold and blue glitter through it. It is just gorgeous and really reminds me of mermaids and the sea. It's pretty pigmented so you could get away with 1 thickish coat but I used 2 coats which is pictured here. It dries to a gritty finish so I suggest a thick topcoat.


Close up:



Bonus bottle shot:


I picked this up from Joyce Beauty in HK but you can purchase it from Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus or Kiss and Makeup NY.

Thanks for looking as always!

Some food porn for you all today! In September my foodie friends Anita, Jade and I headed to Guillaume at Bennelong for dinner. It had been months of planning and after a few reschedules we FINALLY made it there! We decided to go with the degustation but in particular we were after their famous Paris mash and let me tell you - it was freaking AMAZING and the meal did not disappoint. As usual, I'm not responsible for any drooling caused by my pics!