Cosmetic Cupcake

For some reason whenever I want to do a glitter gradient mani I always reach for the Jill Stuart Bare Petal Spring collection polishes I hauled in HK earlier this year. The colours are so pretty and perfect for the warmer months! They're perfect for any time you feel like a girlie colour really haha. Also because they're on the sheer side they show some VNL so glitter tips are perfect.


I used 3 coats of 55 Floret Bud which is a sweet pink with shimmer and applied China Glaze Medallion to 2/3 of my nails, then went back over the top 1/3 and dabbed some Milani Jewel FX Gold here and there too. So easy to do but always looks fantastic!




You might have noticed that I've changed the positioning of my watermarks. I am SICK AND TIRED of people on Instagram/weheartit/all over the internet etc cropping watermarks and claiming blogger's manicures as their own. I hate having to make it so prominent but I'm just over it. OVER IT!!! These people should spend less time making "inspiration" accounts and practising nail art themselves.

anwyay, glitter gradient manicures satisfy some of my need for nail art but I still need to get back into proper nail art! What do you think of glitter gradients? Thanks for looking as always!

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!

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'm currently still compiling my ABBW post for you which is going to take a while so I thought I'd show you the mani I rocked for the weekend first =) My blogging backlog is CRAZY at the moment due to my darn flu so please bear with me!


I didn't know what I wanted so I actually brainstormed mani ideas a few nights before - something I never get around to doing! My sis always tells me to trial manis first on a nail wheel or paper because she's the one who has to help me remove polish if a design goes pear shaped haha! Pic below is what I instagram-ed during my brainstorming ;) (I LURVE instagram so if you have it please let me know! You can follow me too - cosmeticcupcake).


Here's what I used for my mani:


Thumb: I used 2 coats of China Glaze Empowerment as a base and added vertical stripes using Kiss nail art striper in white.

Index finger: I used 2 coats of American Apparel Office and stamped full dot design from Konad plate m79 using Konad Special polish in white.

Middle finger: I used 3 coats of Ulta 3 lily white and stamped full roses design from Konad plate m65 (one of my favourites!) using China Glaze Admire. This colour combo is one of my absolutel favourites. It works EVERY time!

Ring finger: My cupcake! I used 1 coat of Butter London Pink Ribbon for a sheer base. For the cupcake liner, I used China Glaze Empowerment to freehand a thick french tip and added white lines using Kiss nail art striper in white. For the cupcake, I used Ulta 3 chocolate cake and added red bullions for the sprinkles and a pink half pearl as the cherry. Unfortunately the bullions bled!

Pinky: I used 2 coats of OPI Glitzerland and a few coats of Milani Jewel FX in Gold for some bling.


I LOVED how this mani turned out but it didn't last very long due to the excitement of ABBW! I had to do quite a few dodgy touch-up jobs unfortunately and I also broke 2 nails wrestling with suitcases and gift bags xp

What do you think? Thanks for looking as always ladies!

I've been really into doing rose manicures lately (see here and here for examples!) so here's another one to add into the mix =) I hope you don't get bored of seeing my rose manis! My mani today is pink, gold and white themed and uses one of my favourite glitters - Milani Jewel FX Gold.


Here's what I used:


Pinky: I used 2 coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme wear in White On as base colour. I then konaded rose design from fauxnad plate B01 using China Glaze Passion and added a coat of Essence glitter topcoat.

Ring: I used 1 coat of OPI Glitzerland then added 2 coats of Milani Jewel FX in Gold.

Middle: I used 2 coats of China Glaze Something Sweet as base colour. I then konaded full rose design from Konad plate m56 using Konad Special nail polish in white.

Index: I used 2 coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme wear in White On as base colour. I then konaded double rose design from Konad plate m76 using China Glaze Admire and added a pink half pearl to the centre of the roses and added a coat of Essence glitter topcoat.

Thumb: I used 2 coats of China Glaze Something Sweet as base colour. I then konaded rose with chain design from Konad plate m65 using China Glaze Passion. I topped if off with a coat of Essence colour & go in Space Queen.



What have you been inspired by lately? I hope you're all having a lovely weekend! Thanks for looking as always =)

Just a quick post today to show you my March hauls! I’m still on my budget so my haul was relatively mini for March. I did go over my budget a bit however as it was my birthday hehe. I've been mostly good though! In March, I made my 1st Eyeko haul; took advantage of the Cherry Culture sale and D also gifted me with some OPI's!!


I had a really bad day of work early on in the month so I decided to finally get myself and my sis some items from Eyeko. It worked out perfectly because there just happened to be a 20% off code too! Woot! I love when impulse buying works out so well ;) It arrived super quickly too and the products are just as cute as I expected! I got:


Eyeko Love London set: My sis got this set too. It contains Eyeko Punk Polish, Liptastik Hot Lips, Cheeky Colour in Glow Getter, Big Eyes Mascara and Graffiti eyeliner pen in jet black.


Eyeko VIP set: Contains Eyeko canvas tote bag (my sis stole this as soon as it came!), Petite Polish, Vintage Polish, Eyeko Creme with Extra Glow, Magic Mascara, Graffiti eyeliner pen in purple, London Lips Knightsbridge and Fat Balm in Strawberry.


I took advantage of Cherry Culture's 20% off sale and crossed off these Milani lacquers from my wishlist in one go!! Milani Jewel FX in Gems and Silver and Milani One Coat Glitter in Purple Gleam and Blue Flash.


D crossed these off my wish list yay!! Gotta love a man who pays attention to my nail polish lemmings =p OPI DS Signature and OPI Man of La Mancha.


Lastly I picked up Ulta 3 twilight fever which is another supposed dupe for Chanel Paradoxal but for a fraction of the price. I just had to pick it up, I mean it was only $2!

A word of warning - work has been extra busy lately and I have to take some models of care and assessment crap reading home to study so I won't be posting as regularly for the time being. It really annoys me when I have to take work home because a) I'm not paid for it and b) my free time is my own! And I have to do it because I'm going to be assessed on it in a few weeks GRRRR. I will probably be whiny on Twitter lol. Apologies in advance! Replies to comments will be a little slow too =(

Have you tried Eyeko products before? What are you favourites? Have you hauled anything in March? Thanks for looking as always and don't forget to enter my Glitter Gal giveaway!

On Saturday I had the pleasure of attending the Sydney beauty blogger yumcha swap meet along with 17 other beautiful bloggers which was organised by the absolutely AWESOME Kimmi from The Plastic Diaries. This girl is amazing and was still at her organisational best even though she was so sick. It was so wonderful finally putting a face to the blog/twitter to the ladies I hadn't met before!

We had delicious yumcha lunch at Marigold Restaurant followed by the much anticipated beauty swap! This involved bringing in our unwanted beauty items to swap and just LOOK at all the stuff! The other tables must have thought we were crazy lol.


I walked away with some lovely items! I was a bit slow to pick up anything else haha. I got:

Sally Hansen Nail effects in Fly with Me, Zoya Astra, Zoya Andi, Zoya Trixie, Milani 3D Holographic Hi-Res, Dr Formula Intensive Wrinkle Reduction Serum 7 min eraser and Rimmel London Colour Rush Duo Eyeshadow in Fever.


A huge thank you to Face of Australia who surprised us with awesome goodie bags!! Hopefully you can join us next time Tina ;)


In my goodie bag I received Face of Australia Opulent Eyes shadow in Diamonds and Pearls, Luxe nail polish in Minty Mojito and Mineral Lip Shine in Oyster Shell.

I had so much fun! I can't wait until the next one =) Thanks for organising it Kimmi!! I hope you're feeling better hun ;)

Thanks for looking =) Don't forget to enter my Glitter Gal giveaway!

Hi ladies! Tomorrow is my 25th birthday (OMG!) and I want to show you my manicure that I spent most of my night doing instead of doing pre-coursework for my training day on Thursday =p This post will be light on words as I must get to bed!


I tried to incorporate birthday things that I love! Glitter, cake, sweets, icecream and flowers amongst many other things =)


Here's what I used:

Pinky: I applied 2 coats of OPI What's with the Cattitude? and added icecream nail stickers I got from HK and 1 coat of Essence Glitter topcoat.

Ring fingers: I applied 1 coat of NYC Color Snazzle and 2 coats of Milani Jewel FX in Silver.

Middle fingers: I applied 2 coats of American Apparel Office (I love this colour! Thanks Alice!) and added cake and candy nail stickers also from HK. I then applied some half pearls and silver rhinestones. The design on my right hand is slightly different.

Index fingers: 2 coats of China Glaze Empowerment and floral nail sticker.

Thumb: 2 coats of Illamasqua Wink. I then konaded the present design from fauxnad plate b34 using Konad Special polish in white and added a purple clay bow. The design is upside down doh!



The boy came by late tonight to give me my birthday gift early! He told me he had a "cake" for me and pulled this out:


Eeeeeeek how adorable is it! You should have seen the huge grin on my face when I saw it lol. He always makes such a huge effort to surprise me and he's so thoughtful and creative with his gifts! He definitely puts me to shame when it comes to gift giving xD He takes my blog so seriously and he knows my love of cupcakes haha. The cupcake liner even matched the Tiffany blue!


I love charms and I've been lemming this particular cupcake one for aaaaaages but I can never justify the price. Actually I can never justify the price of Tiffany jewellery (especially here in Aus) but anyway it's now mine!!


Rilakkuma has a little suction thingy at the back so he's going on my mirror =)


Thanks for looking as always!

I have for you today a manicure inspired by a design I saw in Nail Up's 2011 book which I picked up in HK last year and just had to try for myself. I am seriously addicted to these magazines and their wonderful designs!! I always have trouble naming these manicures but this design had "Minx" at the bottom of it so let's just go with that!

I wore this yesterday when I went to a fabulous blogger meetup organised by lovely Tara from Keeping Up With Me. It was awesome to finally meet the lovely Sydney blogger ladies Jenny from My Funny Valentine, Anita from Love Vulcanella and Kimmi from The Plastic Diaries in the flesh after reading their wonderful blogs and talking to them on Twitter!! The day went by FAR too quickly and I'm so excited for the next meetup which will hopefully be very soon! Jenny wrote a great post with some gorgeous pics of what we got up to here.


The inspiration below for my mani. I didn't have all the elements that they used in the design unfortunately so as usual I did it with my own twist!


What I used:


Pinkies: I used 3 coats of China Glaze Lemon Fizz and applied a black star, silver and pink rhinestones.

Ring fingers: I used 2 coats of Ozotic Pro 604 (a gold scattered holo!!) and a few coats of Milani Jewel FX in gold.

Middle fingers: I used 2 coats of BYS Black Satin as a base. I then konaded full nail dots image from Konad plate m79 with white polish but it wasn't as opaque as I liked so I used a dotting tool and went over the dots with Nfu Oh acrylic paint in white.

Index fingers: I used 2 coats of China Glaze Something Sweet and then applied a black star and silver rhinestones and half pearls to the bottom of my nail.

Thumbs: Same design as middle fingers.


It didn't take me very long to do at all actually and I loved the result! The black and white polka dot would have to be my favourite and reminds me of a Minx design. Would you be interested in seeing me do some more inspired Japanese nail magazine manicures in the future? Many designs use acrylics which I can't do but the other designs are surprisingly doable! Let me know in the comments below what you think!

Thanks for looking as always! Don't forget to enter My Big Birthday Giveaway!

I was dying to try out the gorgeous Milani Jewel Fx in Gold I won from Michy and to use some of the new nail art things I received so I decided to change my polish and incorporate them into my next mani. I didn't want a full mani using Gold because I knew it would be hell to remove so I went for something pink but still blingy!


I used 3 coats of Essie Pop Art Pink as a base on all fingers except accent finger. I only have the mini of Pop Art Pink which I hauled ages ago from the Art of Spring collection. It's a lovely pastel pink jelly that takes a few coats to reach opacity but it doesn't feel thick at all on the nail. I forgot to take a swatch picture of it doh!

I then used Milani Jewel Fx Gold on accent fingers. It was really hard to apply as the glitter is really chunky and is difficult to lay flat so I had to use a few coats to cover my whole nail. But the effect is SO worth it! Just look how blingy this awesome glitter is:


I then added some pink, purple, gold and silver rhinestones, gold beads and half pearls to my thumbs. Unfortunately the gold beads bleed =( I drew 2 curved stripes on my index fingers using Art Deco striper polish in gold and added pink, purple and silver rhinestones again. Topped it all off with a coat of Color Club Vivid Color Intensifying topcoat!


I love the Milani Jewel Fx glitters and I want the others now! Do you have any? What's the easiest way of applying them?

Thanks for looking! =D

I was lucky enough to win giveaways from another 2 lovely and talented ladies recently which is so exciting!! It totally made my month and the prizes arrived last week yay! I won 2nd prize in Michy from Original Wacky's giveaway and I was also one of the winners in Deniz from Emerald Sparkled's Born Pretty Store giveaway.


You might remember that Michy won my Polished Pink for October giveaway in October last year and we were both so shocked that I won hers! What are the odds. I squealed when I opened her package – not only are the polishes awesome but the strawberry lollies Michy included are some of my faves and are kind of hard to find here.


L – R: Claire’s Grape Popsicle, Wet n Wild Cheers and Tipsy. Michy featured similar scented Claire’s polishes on her blog and I was so envious. Now I get to try one out for myself!! =D


L – R: Milani Jewel FX Gold, elf Metal Madness and Matte finisher. The Jewel FX polishes have been on my wishlist ever since I saw swatches online and I can’t believe she included one!! She also included some very yummy smelling Lipsmackers balms =)


I was one of the 5 lucky winners to score a $20 coupon to Born Pretty Store from Deniz's giveaway. I've been wanting to purchase some items from there for a while so I got some pearls, striping tape and assorted fimo sticks to add to my nail art collection! I also bought some acrylic paints too =)



I can't wait to try them all out for my upcoming manis! A big thank you to both ladies for these wonderful prizes!

What exciting packages have you received in the mail recently?

Thanks for looking!