Cosmetic Cupcake

I've been so uninspired lately. October is usually a great month because there's pink and Halloween manis to do but I haven't been in the mood to try out anything doh. I did manage to do a quick Halloween drip mani the other day though which I always love doing and always work!!


For my pinky I used 2 coats of Rescue Beauty Lounge Concrete Jungle and dripped essence You've Got the Art; for my ring finger I used 1 coat of Kester Black Cherry Pie* and Cult Nails Nevermore for the drips; for my middle finger I used 2 coats of China Glaze Roguish Red and China Glaze Happy Go Lucky for the drips and for my index finger I used 2 coats of Sinful Colors Mint Apple and China Glaze Grape Pop for the drips.


For my thumb I used 2 coats of OPI Alpine Snow and Kester Black Cherry Pie* for the drips. I think my fave colour combo is my pinky as it looks like slime!



What do you do when you're uninspired? I hate being in a rut and it seems to always happen!

* 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 love new makeup brands and there's a new Aussie brand in town! Colour Theory launched earlier this month consisting of super affordable products starting from only $4 for face, lips, eyes and of course nails! The polishes are made in Australia and are formaldehyde free and come in 22 on trend shades. I was sent some summer polishes to try out and I have my swatches and review for you today!


What they say:

"The hottest accessory is a colourful nail and with 22 playful and sophisticated shades to choose from, Colour Theory makes it simple to nail this trend.

As summer heats up and we steer toward sandals over boots, a perfect pedicure with a bright, on-trend colour is a must.. Colour Theory has a nail polish shade to suit everyone and with a price point of $4, they also suit all budgets!"

I've wanted to try Lime Crime polishes for the longest time and Ange and Anita very kindly picked me up a bottle when they went to IMATS a few weeks back!! I love yellow and they gifted me the cute Crema De Limon and I have some quick swatches for you today.


Crema De Limon is a pale yellow pastel creme. Application wasn't as good as I hoped but I think I rushed when applying it so I had to use 3 coats for opacity. The brush is great to use and it dries quickly to a glossy finish. During the warmer months I can't get enough of yellow so I'm going to be wearing this a lot!



I decided to add some glitter to spice things up a bit! I used 2 coats of Sephora by OPI Only Gold For Me Top Coat.


Thank you so much for my 1st Lime Crime polish ladies!!  You can check out Anita's haul and Ange's haul videos to see what else they bought! Thanks for looking as always =)

Are you ready for summer??! Well for those in the southern hemisphere xp With the new Kester Black Tropicana collection you will be! The collection consists of 5 gorgeous bright shades that will definitely get you in the mood for tropical fruit, cocktails and a beach getaway. It also gets me in the mood for fruit manicures! The shades are super bright so it was hard to capture them accurately but I've tried my best!


Again, Kester Black polishes are 5 Free which means that they're free of Toluene, DBP, Formaldehyde, Formeheldyde Resin and Camphor. They're also carcinogen free so are safe for chemotherapy patients, expectant mothers and children. The polishes are Australian made and owned and is an accredited Cruelty-Free company.

Hello ladies! Today I have some quick swatches of 3 of the polishes from the essence Me & My Ice Cream collection which was released recently. I am a HUGE sucker for the trend edition Essence polishes!! There are 4 polishes in the collection but I only managed to pick up 3 unfortunately. I went to every single Priceline I could to find Icylicious but no luck doh!


What they say:

"I scream: ice cream! essence invites you to make a quick stop at an ice cream cart in October and November 2013 with the trend edition “me & my ice cream”. Soft sorbet shades like beige, vanilla, apricot, pink, lavender and mint as well as awesome products in a cool retro look will melt your heart.. Strawberry, sweet woodruff, blueberry or apricot? The longlasting nail polishes in gorgeous pastel shades like pink, mint, lavender and apricot are sure to put you in the mood for ice cream – and summery nails, of course! "

Ben & Cherries is a gorgeous pastel pinky peach creme with very subtle shimmer through it. Very girly and sweet but it makes me have lobster hands!! Plus how darn cute is the name??! Now I feel like some Ben & Jerry's LOL. 3 coats is pictured.




Always in my Mint is a cute pastel mint creme with subtle shimmer through it too. 3 coats is pictured.




Ice Ice Baby is a soft pastel lavender creme with subtle shimmer through it. 3 coats is pictured.




Overall: There is nothing quite like a collection based on one of my favourite food groups!! I absolutely love these cute shades but that's about all that was really positive about the essence Me & My Ice Cream collection unfortunately. Application wasn't great and they were pretty streaky and it took 3 coats for opacity. The shimmer is really subtle and doesn't show up on the nail sadly.

Details: The essence Me & My Ice Cream collection are available from Priceline for $2.95 each.


Thanks for looking as always!! =)

Happy Sunday! Today I have my last Lynnderella glitter for you =) Today's glitter is the very pretty Angel Whisper which is from the Mixed Feelings collection.


Angel Whisper contains different sized translucent hex, heart and half moon white glitters in a clear base packed with shimmer.


Angel Whisper applied really well and I think it would be perfect for a white Christmas type of mani. Here
I've used 2 coats over 2 coats of Kester Black Peach Melba. Peach isn't really the best shade to layer it over to show it to its full potential so I'll probably use it over a dark blue or green next time.


Close up:


Details: Lynnderella polishes can be purchased from Glitter Connect for $24.95 for Aussie ladies (make sure you like the Glitter Connect Facebook page!), Lynnderella.com for US ladies and Norway Nails for European ladies.


You can check out my other Lynnderella swatches here!! 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.

Earlier this year I got married and as promised I said I'd share the whole experience with you all. These posts have been a long time in the making but I've finally gotten them done!! I blame newly married life lol. I'll be splitting our wedding day into a few posts as there's just so much to cover so be prepared! And yes it's such a cliche but it truly was the most amazing and happiest day of our lives. We had such an absolute blast sharing our special day with our nearest and dearest family and friends. We got engaged in November 2011 and planned our wedding over an 18 month period which I think was fantastic as it gave us plenty of time to plan, organise and save up to make our day exactly how we wanted it.

Our theme for our wedding was "modern Asian" and we couldn't have achieved it without the services of our amazing vendors. I'll do a separate post on them afterwards but I have to give a special mention from the start for Anni Lam and her amazing team from Colour 18 Wedding (Shop 3, 431 Sussex St, NSW 2000) who were absolutely fantastic and went above and beyond to make our wedding amazing!

I hope my posts will be helpful for Sydney brides as I didn't really find all that much info relevant for Sydney brides when we were researching. Weddings can be so confusing with SO much stuff aimed at brides that is really quite unnecessary! We didn't follow those guides that say "Oh it's 6 months before your wedding you need to order your shoes" etc as we did lots of things out of order. But of course they're helpful to check that you haven't missed anything ;) I love love LOVE reading about weddings and I hope you'll all enjoy my posts =) If you don't it's all good and just come back tomorrow then!!

For my wedding series posts there'll be a mix of professional photos by our absolutely amazing photographers Joel and Renata from Tealily Photography and some pics my bridesmaids and I took (watermarked ones).

WARNING: THIS POST IS SUPER PIC HEAVY.

I've mentioned before on my blog that I'm not a fan of subscription boxes. The beauty subscription boxes I've tried in the past contained products I would never use or buy (such as tanning products!) and the samples were TEENY tiny which didn't impress me at all. So I was a very hesitant when the September Her Fashion Box landed on my doorstop a fortnight ago but I was super surprised with what I found inside!!!


Her Fashion Box is a little different from other subscription boxes. For $39.95 each month, you'll receive a box filled with 2-3 on trend fashion accessories which are tailored to your style - classic, feminine or trendy. You'll also receive 4 full size or deluxe sample sized beauty and lifestyle products which can include makeup, skincare, fragrance, hair and my favourite nails of course! Inside September's box:


I'm quite accessory challenged so this little magazine is handy as it contains tips and styling for the products which are included in each months box for each style.


I have a collection of clutches so I'm pretty happy to add this Memories of McQueen clutch (RRP $39.95) to my collection! It's a classic black clutch with gold baubles and different to what I own which is great.


There were 2 pieces of jewellery included - The Midas Touch ring (RRP $24.94) and the Androgychic ID bracelet (RRP $29.95). I LOVE the ring and it's something I would buy if I saw in the shops myself and I've already worn it out to my friend's wedding!! It's plated with gold and has little diamantes and adds a nice bit of understated bling to any outfit. The bracelet is also plated with gold but it's not my style so I've passed it on to my sis.


The way to my heart is through polish and the September box included 2 Maybelline Color Show polishes (RRP $5.95)!! I received Onyx Rush and Iced Queen. You can never go wrong with a classic black and blurple creme!


Also included is a deluxe sample sized pot of PureTAN Pure Moisture Organic Extra Virgin 100% Coconut oil (65ml RRP $11.95 and 125ml RRP $23.95). I've been wanting to try coconut oil for ages now so this is perfect!! My sis raves about it but I never got off my butt to try it too as I've been finishing up lots of body moisturisers before I try anything new. I love these little pots as they're great for travelling and I'll definitely be taking it to road test when I'm off to HK next month!


Some makeup! Designer Brands Chubby Lip Crayon in Dollface Pink (RRP $$7.99) and Kohl Pencil in Black (RRP $4.99). Designer Brands is a super affordable Aussie brand which I haven't tried before and these look promising. I had no idea they had a chubby lip product!


And lastly is a C2 Collagen firming and moisturising facial mask (RRP $29 for 5 masks). I have quite a collection of sheet masks and I love trying new brands and adding to my neverending stash lol.


Overall: I am really really pleasantly surprised at how much I like the products included in my first Her Fashion Box. Like I said earlier I was very wary when I received it as I've been very underwhelmed with past subscription boxes. The products are ones I would actually purchase myself so I am pretty impressed. I love accessories but I'm so accessory challenged it's not funny lol. I go into Colette or Lovisa intending to grab myself a few items and almost always walk out totally overwhelmed by the choices so I think it's a fantastic idea to have them selected for you in the style you like!!

For me, I think more accessories and less beauty products would actually be better since I'm quite picky with my beauty products whereas I'd love the surprise of new accessories each month. The ring and clutch are fun and one can never have too many for each occasion! I like that full size beauty and skincare products are included instead of teeny sample sizes. I also love that they include polish!!

Is it worth the monthly $39.95 subscription fee? It's on the pricier side for a subscription box but from this box I think it is as the clutch alone retails for $39.95 already. However it's really dependent on the products included for each months box so it would vary from month to month and that's the gamble you take with subscription boxes.

Details: Her Fashion Box is available from www.herfashionbox.com for $39.95 per month for 2-3 fashion accessories and 4 beauty and lifestyle products. You can also purchase Her Fashion Boxette for $24.94 for 2 fashion accessories and 2 beauty products.

Have you tried Her Fashion Box or other subscription boxes like it? Thanks for looking as always!! =)

The products featured in this post were 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.

Sooooooooo this manicure is inspired by my favourite Samantha Wills Bohemian Bardot ring in turquoise gunmetal. Unfortunately it was a fail so it's a VERY loosely inspired manicure! I probably should have used a lighter shade to stamp with and also because it's not really a splatter design AT ALL but once I'd started I couldn't be bothered to take it all off and do it again LOL. Oh well!


I used 2 coats of Hema Long Lasting in 81 and stamped the splatter design from Konad plate m70 using Konad Special polish in black.




It was still a fun mani to rock with my gorgeous ring but not the exact look I was after!! Thanks for looking as always!

Today I have swatches of the Kester Black Sweet Shop collection for you! As you can tell from my blog I obviously love sweet things so this collection is right up my alley! I love the names and the shades =)


Kester Black polishes are 5 Free which means that they're free of Toluene, DBP, Formaldehyde, Formeheldyde Resin and Camphor. They're also carcinogen free so are safe for chemotherapy patients, expectant mothers and children. The polishes are Australian made and owned and is an accredited Cruelty-Free company which is absolutely fantastic!!

WARNING: this post is picture heavy!!

Full swatches and review after the jump!