Cosmetic Cupcake

Hope you're all having a good start to the week! A very quick post to show you an awesome package I came home to when I arrived back from Hong Kong. Lovely Dutch blogger Marte from Girly Addictions spoilt with some awesome European goodies!


Beautiful Catrice holos! I actually picked up some of the Haute Future collection when I was in Rome last year but so happy to have backups of these pretty shades.


I love essence limited editions and these Come to Town Christmas sets are so sweet! They weren't available here in Aus either so super happy to add them to my stash.


Ciate Velvet Manicure set and gorgeous glitters. I don't have many Ciate lacquers as they're kind of pricey here so very excited for these.


p2 fluffy spot polish and Revlon Enchanting and Electric. The swatches I've seen of the fluffy spot polish look really interesting as it's meant to give a snowflake look.


I love a good face mask and these sound so good coming in flavours like macaron, bubblegum and cupcake. Love the metallic packaging too!


Delicious Dutch snacks including my absolute favourite stroopwafels! They disappeared in no time and went so well with the green tea lemon macaroon flavour which smells AMAZING. And who doesn't love Hello Kitty candy too!


Thank you Marte for the amazing package!

I'm a bit late showing you the latest essence collection oops but better late than never I always say! The Yes, we POP! trend edition is all about nail art which is on trend and right up my alley.


What they say:

"Unique, trendy and full of effects: with the trend edition “yes, we POP!”, essence is offering versatile products for an effect-gel manicure with a true wow-factor in November and December 2014. Nail art is totally hip right now – especially with these nail pieces inspired by the modern, colorful and catchy world of pop art. There are so many ways to decorate your popular high-shine gel-finish in a creative way now! Bright colours, nail toppers, cool effects, funny symbols or nail foils – they are all just waiting to be applied on your gel nails.

The basic products are absolutely essential for an exciting gel manicure – and for a limited time they’re available with an innovative 2in1 formula. With the 2in1 primer & cleanser and the 2in1 peel off gel base & top coat, it’s even easier to create your perfect gel manicure, which lasts up to 10 days. Of course, all of the decorations in this trend edition can also be used without a gel manicure – for endless nail styles!"

A super quick post with my first Christmas mani for the year! I hauled quite a few Moyou London plates recently and I've been wanting to try them out properly and the Festive collection plates are perfect for this time of year.


I used 2 coats of Cult Nails Tempest on all fingers except for my ring finger which I used 2 coats of China Glaze Ruby Deer. I then stamped the full candy cane design from Moyou London Festive collection plate 03 using Konad Special polish in white over the red accent nail and used my new Mundo de Unas stamping polish in red over the white nails. I didn't tape my nails off before stamping the red so it left my skin looking rather pink argh! I topped it all off with a coat of essence glitter topcoat for some very subtle shimmer.


I am loving my Moyou London plates and Mundo de Unas stamping polishes and I'm trying to resist the urge to buy more plates as a present to myself! But it is waaaaaay too tempting when the designs are so awesome.. Are you rocking Christmas nails at the moment? Are there any Christmas designs you want to see?

Thanks for looking as always!

GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED!

Thank you for entering!

Winner will be announced shortly
The last week of my belated 4th blogiversary giveaways is late unfortunately as I've been unwell but better late than never!! This week has been absolutely crazy at work which hasn't left much time for anything and as usual I'm so unorganised haha. This last giveaway is a little random but it consists of some of my favourite products!!


One lucky person will win:

Chanel Peridot
OPI Damone Roberts 1968
Face of Australia Screen Siren collection
Face of Australia Glossy Lip Crayon collection - Apple crumble, Raspberry Coulis, Berry Brulee, Peach Parfait and Pie A La Mode
essence color & go polishes - hello marshmallow!, here's my number, crazy fancy love, me & my lover, date in the moonlight, misty rusty and absolutely blue and essence studio caring nail oil
Chapstick All Things Sweet lipkit
Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Sorbet
Revlon Girly
A huge thank you to Face of Australia for providing the Screen Siren and lip crayon collections for the giveaway!

How to enter:
- simply enter via the Rafflecopter widget thingy below!

Ts & Cs apply:
- open internationally
- must be 18 years and over to enter
- ends 24th August 2014
- winner must respond to notification email within 48 hours

GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

HELLOOOOOOOO everyone!! I am back home and it feels weird after being away for a month. I just want to continue honeymooning! It is nice to not live out of a suitcase but the worst thing about returning home is all the unpacking and laundry that needs to be done! URGH. We had an amazing time and I'll try to post some pics later but for now I have some of my hauls for you! We didn't really do too much shopping as we spent most of our time eating, sightseeing and doing more eating but I did buy a few polishes (of course!) and 2 big ticket items in Paris =D

Today I have the latest essence trend edition collection for you - the metal glam collection! From the name it obviously contains metallic hues. I have a love hate relationship with essence LE products because they always sell out so darn quickly before I can get my hands on the products. I have seen the collection in stores recently so you should still be able to get your hands on the collection ;) The metal glam collection consists of metallic polishes, eyeshadows, lipgloss, a highlighter, cream blush, stick on nail stickers and stick on eyeliner. I was sent a selection of the products to try out so keep reading to see my swatches and review after the jump!


What they say:

"Metallic glam slam! the fall season is going to be dramatic, sparkly and metallic with essence. The trend edition “metal glam” creates awesome beauty looks with a true glamour factor! During the run up to the festive season, it’s ok to go a little over the top – and you’re sure to sparkle with this world of colors consisting of gold, silver, bronze, purple, apricot and green – all with a metallic effect.

In addition to a touch of shimmer for your eyes, lips, face and nails, this trend edition offers highlights like the stick on eyeliner in dramatic rosé-gold and silver, a blush with a surprising powdery-metallic finish and the stick on jewels for an amazingly glamorous look on your body!"

Hello ladies! It is absolutely STINKING hot in Sydney at the moment - up to 38° in some parts of Sydney! So what better time to do some tropical fruit nail art! You know how much I love my fruit manicures ;) I decided on pineapples because this is the perfect weather for it and because I wanted to try out the cute design from Trophy Wife Nail Art. I seriously love Chelsea Bagan's work!


I used 2 coats of China Glaze Tart-y for the Party from the Avant Garden collection as a base for all nails. I then used Colour Theory Pineapple Express to freehand the body of the pineapple - the shade is SO well named I think! I used Kiss nail art striper in black to outline the pineapple and add the helixes and finished it off by using essence colour & go in the green & the grunge for the crown.


I haven't been able to polish my nails lately because my eczema has flared up really badly making removing polish a nightmare. You can see in the above pic I have a bad patch on my ring finger and my skin is just so dry and yuck X( It's just taking forever to clear up even though I've been hitting it with everything!! Doh!

I hope you guys are all doing well! What do you think of this fruity mani? 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'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.

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 weekend guys!! Soooo I thought I'd do a haul post since I haven't done one in a while. I haven't been hauling much lately so I have to group them all together haha! Of course it's mainly polish xp

More after the jump!

A quick post for you today to share 2 WONDERFUL packages I received from my lovely friend Christina a few weeks back!! she definitely made my week =) She spoiled me absolutely rotten yet again (the naughty thing!!) for my birthday and also gave me a wedding gift!! So much goodness where on earth to start xD


1st off is my adorable wedding present!! A Hello Kitty toiletry bag!! Seriously how freaking adorable is it???! My current toiletry bag is a GWP bag from Clinique and is on its last legs so this gift comes at the perfect time!


So much Erre Due goodness! Erre Due polishes are excellent quality and the special effect ones are especially awesome!! Not to mention the holo base coat too.


So many gorgeous polishes including Catrice Dirty Berry (SQUEAL!!), my 1st BB Couture and ESTESSiMO TINS!!


Eeeeeek thank you for my Nfu Oh lemmings Christina!!! Gosh I love the brand so much xD I've been dying to try their Jelly Syrup polishes for ages now and also their Aqua Base Coat.


Some UK polishes from her travels! How cute are the Top Shop polishes!! Also my 1st Sleek polish and a silver holo from 17. Christina knows just how much I love holos!!


Tommy G holo, glitter and special base coat! I'm very curious about the special base coat =D


NYX glitters which are my 1st NYX polishes actually!


Hello Kitty eyeshadow palette and polish! I sound like a broken record but they're so cute!! How could anyone say no to a Hello Kitty shaped polish bottle??


Some awesome NYX makeup products! I love their eyeshadows and jumbo eye pencils. I really wish NYX was sold in-store here - it's such a great brand at such good pricing.


Christina also sent me a beautiful Dior Holiday lip palette!! ♥ I love the shades but it's way too pretty to actually use lol.


Christina also sent me some of her beautiful handmade creations which you can purchase from her Etsy, Zibbet and Storenvy stores!!


I LOVE Christina's customised iphone cases and she kindly sent me a new Hello Kitty one!! You can purchase them from her online stores too. Her iphone cases and deco items are how we connected in the first place!


And lastly lots of skincare samples from Korres and Apvita!! Plus a gorgeous makeup bag too! I forgot to include the Korres makeup pack she sent me in this photo too.


Thank you dear Christina for the lovely packages!! ♥ You spoil me way too much!!

I hope you're all having a great start to the week! Thanks for looking as always =)

I've been waiting for these Essence Winter Edition hand creams to be released here for ages after Moni mentioned them and they are FINALLY out!! Squeeeeeeeeee. They come in 3 different scents and they are super yummy - Caramel Hot Chocolate, Gingerbread Chai Latte and Apple Cinnamon Punch. And the best part? They are an absolute steal at only $2!!


What they say:

"Do you prefer hot chocolate, chai latte or punch? With the new essence trend edition “24h hand protection balm –hot winter drinks”, the cold winter months are sure to turn into a real pampering experience.. softly fragranced combinations of aromatic hot drinks and wintertime delicacies such as caramel, gingerbread and cinnamon create the flair of cozy coffee shop visits with your best friend – you’ll soon forget the cold, wet weather outside!"

Caramel Hot Chocolate smells divine and just like a warm hot chocolate. I love sweet scented body lotions because you get the amazing smell without all the calories HAHA.


Apple Cinnamon Punch puts me in the mood for hot apple cider! The cinnammon isn't too strong once you apply it but in the tube smells quite strong.


Gingerbread Chai Latte is a mix of spices and does remind me of a chai latte. I can smell more cinnamon in this than the Apple Cinnamon Punch!


Overall: These are an absolute steal and they smell so heavenly!! Good enough to eat!! They smell sweet but not too overpowering or sickly - except for Gingerbread Chai Latte which is my least favourite as I found it a bit too much after a little while. They absorb really quickly and don't leave any sticky residue. They aren't the most moisturising hand creams out there though so these are for on the go and definitely just for the lovely scents. But for $2 I ain't complaining!

They are the perfect handbag size which is fantastic because I can't go anywhere without hand cream. Plus you know I love LE Essence stuff so I just may have bought a few backup tubes and some for swaps Xp My favourite is Caramel Hot Chocolate.

Details: The Essence Winter Edition hand creams are available from Priceline and Target for $1.95.  They haven't sold very quickly so I've seen lots of near full displays!!

Do you like yummy smelling hand creams as much as I do? Thanks for looking as always!!