US Makeup Haul

If you know anything about the price of makeup in Australia, you would know that is it an absolute rip-off and is something I've ranted about on numerous occasions on my blog. So it really should surprise you that I bought a good amount of makeup while I was there.

I had so much fun checking out all the drugstores and I also visited the e.l.f Studio on Broadway which was awesome. And of course my trip wouldn't have been complete without going to Sephora. I absolutely loved it. Only downside was my holiday was during the weeks leading up to Christmas so the stores were always packed and super crowded. Definitely didn't help that I tended to visit the busier stores i.e. Times Square and the one near Macy's on 34th. Anyway, who doesn't love a makeup haul, so here we go!

• Shiseido Ultimate Sun Protection Cream SPF 50+ for Face
• Maybelline Color Tattoo 24hr Cream Gel Shadow - Barely Branded
• NYC Smooth Skin Bronzing Face Powder - Sunny
• YSL Rouge Pur Couture The Mats Lipstick - 202 Rose Crazy
• Essie Nail Polish - Fiji
• Urban Decay All Nighter Long-Lasting Makeup Setting Spray
• L'Oreal Voluminous False Fiber Lashes (Waterproof)
• Make Up For Ever HD Primer
• Maybelline Color Sensational Lip Liner - Clear
• Make Up For Ever Full Cover Concealer - 7 Sand
• MAC Studio Fix Powder Foundation - C4
• MAC Eyeshadow - All That Glitters
• L'Oreal Voluminous Mascara (Waterproof)
• MAC Sheertone Blush - Gingerly
• Inglot 20 pan palette (empty)
• Inglot Eyeshadows x 3 (most of the shadows I already owned)

• e.l.f Eyelid Primer
• e.l.f Studio Complexion Brush
• e.l.f Studio Powder Brush
• e.l.f Studio Small Stipple Brush
• e.l.f Studio Flawless Concealer Brush
• e.l.f Studio Concealer Brush
• e.l.f Studio Contour Brush
• e.l.f Studio Small Smudge Brush
• e.l.f Daily Brush Cleaner

Hope you enjoyed having a peak at my new stuff.  I will have reviews for some of these items up in the future.  I'm contemplating whether or not to post a haul for all the clothing/accessories I bought.  Anyway I'll see how I go.  Have a good weekend!

Nails of the Week: Flower accent with Ciate Vintage & China Glaze White on White

I started playing with my dotting tool over the weekend which I bought from Daiso a while back.  After a whole lot of experimenting, I settled with a basic flower.  Love it.  So cute and delicate.

The base colour is Ciate Vintage which is a creme deep grey with a blue undertone.  It is practically opaque in one coat.  For the flower, I used China Glaze White on White which is a basic white creme.

May & June 2013 Beauty Haul

Good afternoon!

Just a short post today sharing a bunch of things I've bought over the last couple of months.


Nivea Pure & Natural Milk & Honey lip balm
A friend of mine who is a lipbalm fanatic recommended this to me as one of the best cheap lip balms she's tried.

Lush Mint Julips lip scrub
I seem to be developing a habit of buying lush products when I'm in a crappy mood lol. 

Daiso nail dotting tool

Aveeno Positively Radiant Intensive Night CreamYes, I know I'm on my 'Moisturiser Intervention' but the moisturiser I've been using for night time is almost finished, so I bought this to replace that.  Don't worry, I won't open it until I've finished the other one =P

Lancome Tonique Pure Focus toner
There was this random pop-up sale on Bridge Rd so I picked up this toner.

Moosehead Grubby Putty
I recently got a haircut and the hairdresser styled my hair all messy and I loved it.  But I didn't really want to buy the product he used on me since it was a pretty big tub and was fairly expensive, and knowing me, I won't be styling my hair everyday.  So I found this little tub and Priceline and thought I'd give it a try.

Biore Deep Cleansing Pore Strips - Ultra
I always have these on hand.  No miracle workers but i still like them. (Click here for review)

Bourjois Volume Glamour Max Waterproof mascara

MAC Rebel lipstick
I've been wanting this forever!  So I thought finishing exams was a good enough excuse to reward myself.

Quick update:
I've been a bit M.I.A. recently because I was busy with exams and I was just starting to enjoy my holidays when I was struck down with a cold.  Woohoo... So I'm writing this post from the couch under 100 layers of blankets lol.

Enjoy your week!  And if you're in Melbourne, rug up! brrrrrr.

Nails of the Week: Triangle nails with Essie Merino Cool & Orly Rage

At the moment I have this itty bitty obsession with geometric prints. Whether it be clothes, accessories, jewellery...anything.

I saw this nail design everywhere online so I gave it a go.  It turned out awesome, totally loved it!  Way better than it looks in the photo.  I looked like a weirdo constantly staring at my nails at uni haha.

I applied 2 coats of Essie Merino Cool as a base colour.  The formula of this polish is amazing, so easy to apply and not streaky at all.  Then I used Orly Rage for the triangle.

I used this tutorial by leighannsays as a guide.  I definitely recommend using scotch tape like she suggests because regular tape is just too strong and rips off all your good work (Tip: If the tape does rip off a bit of the base polish, top coat will smooth it out).  I also thought removing the tape in the opposite direction to what she did helped because it gave me a cleaner point.

Hope you enjoyed this nail look.

Review & Swatches: Ciate Cookies and Cream

I love this colour! I am so surprised. I was never into the nude look because I thought it would just make your hands look dead and flat.  Of course it doesn't make your hands look as alive as a nice pink or red would, but it still looks pulled together and clean.

Cookies and Cream is a beigey nude colour with a bit of a greyish tone.  It is a creme polish (no shimmer at all), has a smooth easy-to-apply formula and is opaque in 2 thick coats (pictured above).

Nails of the Week: Gradient with OPI At First Sight & OPI Designer...de Better!

I love this nail look. So subtle but still with a bit of oomph, without being all up in your business lol.

I used 2 coats of OPI At First Sight for the neutral creamy base. Then used a makeup sponge to dab on OPI Designer...De Better! in layers, with each layer more concentrated at the nail tip.

Hope you're having a great Easter!

By the way, if you haven't noticed, my sister revamped my blog. It looks so much better than what I had before. I was getting so sick of the old look and I just felt it looked so tacky (with my crappy designing skills). But anyway, now it feels so fresh and bright and I'm very happy with it.

OPI At First Sight

I finished Sem 1 exams on Tuesday (Thank goodness!), still haven't recovered from my sleep deprivation though, since I worked Wednesday-Saturday straight, I finally have some down time.  But I now have a cold...how convenient...  Anyway thought it would be a good time to write a review while I'm stuck in bed all day.


OPI At First Sight is a pale nude kind of colour with very subtly gold shimmer. It practically looks like a creme finish polish. The gold shimmer is only noticeable under direct light.

I have 2 coats on in the photos. It is a sheer polish. As you can see, you can still see the tips of my nails. But by no means is it one of those horribly sheer ones that look like you have nothing but a clear polish on. A 3rd coat would get you pretty close to an opaque finish.

I really like this colour. It looks really clean. A good alternative to pale pinks. The shimmer adds some extra subtle dimension to it and warms it up so it looks good on my yellow toned skin.

Cutex Long Wear Top Coat - Review

This top coat is pretty cheap, leaves a nice glossy finish, helps your nail polish last a fraction longer but that's where the good things stop.

Firstly, I do not like the brush. I find the bristles to be too hard and scratchy. So after slaving over your nails and making sure your nail polish goes on perfectly smooth, you go in with this top coat and it rubs it off! Where you apply only one coat of polish, you are sometimes left with lines of your bare nail peaking through due to the roughness of the brush.

A few days after applying the top coat, I find that these weird kind of cracks/wrinkles start appearing on the tips of my nails. It's hard to describe, but it just makes your nails look terrible.

Lastly, I find that it takes so long to dry. When I first starting using this top coat, it took a decent time to dry, no biggie. But as the bottle got older and I used it more, the consistency of the top coat was fine (it didn't go thick and gluggy) but the drying time was ridiculous! I would finish doing my nails, wait 1-2 hours, go to bed and in the morning they're all dented and uneven! It just made painting my nails such a chore because I would have to plan when I wanted to do my nails and sit around for hours, waiting for it to dry.

Definitely not repurchasing.

Post-Christmas Splurge: Essie Polishes

This post is going to be the first of a mini series covering all the things I picked up in the post Christmas sales. I tend to go a little nutty at this time of year, taking on the crowds and diving into sale racks.

Anyway, I went to Myer in Highpoint the day after Boxing Day. I had no intention at all to look in the beauty section, but I happened to walk past a sale table and saw a pile of Essie nail polishes and I seriously flipped out. They were around half price! I'd never seen these on sale before so I started grabbing just about every bottle they had on the table. A sales assistant saw me and just started giggling because I looked so ridiculous trying to balance all of them in my arms. At that point, my brain got over the excitment and I cut down on what I had lol. So here's what made it home with me:


Escapades and Van D'go


The Resort Collection 2011 (mini set) - Fair Game, Your Hut or Mine, Lion Around and Da Bush

Fall Collection 2010 (mini set) - Limited Addiction, Sew Psyched, Merino Cool and Little Brown Dress

This is my first time trying out Essie polishes. I've worn a few of them now and I am very impressed. The mini sets were also amazing value. I am often more conservative with nail polish colours, so these were great for me as they gave me the opportunity to try many different colours and finishes.

I will gradually post photos and detailed reviews about each of these nail polishes. If you haven't seen it yet, I already have a post up about Da Bush.

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend and for those who are watching or attending the Australian Open, hope you are enjoying the tennis! Men's final tomorrow night!

Christmas pressies

I received some lovely Christmas presents from my sister this year (as always).

• Rose gold studs by Von Treskow. I have been obsessed and always on the lookout for rose gold anything ever since I got my Fossil rose gold watch. I absolutely love these. They are basic ball studs and they are a good larger size so they make a bit of a statement.
• OPI Designer...De Better! from the Muppets Collection. This colour is so gorgeous! I love foiled-finish polishes and love gold tones. No doubt, a winner in my book.
• French Pink voucher for a Mademoiselle exprés manicure and a French Pink Essential pedicure. I have never had a professional manicure or pedicure in my life so I'm a bit anxious but very excited. Now just have to find the right time and occassion to use the voucher.
• Satin robe. Yes, that luxurious, satin, red with small white dot pattern background is in fact a robe lol. It looks and feels so amazing and luxurious on my skin. When I sit down to do my hair and makeup for special occassions, I always throw on an old button-up shirt I have, so it's easy to change out of without ruining all your hard work. So this is definitely an upgrade haha. Can't help but feel rich and sexy in this!

Thank you sister! =P

Enjoy your weekend!

Essie - Da Bush - Review

I found a bunch Essie nail polishes on sale at Myer so I grabbed 2 mini sets of 4 as well as a couple of full sized ones (which you will see in a later post). A bit risky considering I'd never tried Essie nail polishes before but with all the great reviews around and great reputation, it was a pretty safe bet =).

Da Bush is from Essie's Resort Collection 2011. I got this in a mini size with 3 others in a set. It's a pale greyish green creme. It requires 2 coats to be opaque. Excuse the scratches and air bubbles on my nails, I painted them while I was half asleep and fell asleep while they were still a bit wet lol.


Have a good weekend!

NOTD: The Face Shop - GL112

I am in looove with this colour at the moment. I've been searching for a nice rose gold polish for a while. As far as I'm aware, a lot of the commonly suggested rose gold polishes (e.g. Orly - Rage) are not available in Australia.


This polish is in the same colour family but not quite rose gold. It's a metallic, pale-ish, golden shade but has pinkish tones like rose gold. (I don't think the photo is really picking up the pink tones). It's a pretty subtle colour but super shimmery/sparkly and metallic which I love. Foiled polishes have to be my all time favourite. This polish takes 2 coats to be totally opaque. Unfortunately The Face Shop polishes aren't very good quality. They start chipping on the 1st/2nd day of wear, but for $3 you can't ask for too much I guess lol.

Hope you're having a great start to the week!

NOTD: OPI Suzi and the Lifeguard (review & swatches)

Just a little something cute and girly =)

I used OPI's Suzi and the Lifeguard (3 coats). It's a pale cool pink with slight shimmer. It's pretty sheer hence I needed at least 3 coats to get it looking more opaque.

I love using nail lace stickers, so easy to use! All you need to do is cut the strips into size then stick them on!



By the way for those who are interested, the result for election is... there was no result LOL Apparently this hasn't happened since WWII! Basically the votes were sooo evenly split that no one was able to gain a majority of seats. So we have to wait a couple of weeks for the candidates to do a bit of wheelin' and dealin' before a result is determined. Crazy huh? (Don't ask me too many questions about this because I really don't know that much about politics lol)

Have a great night guys!

Girly pink & silver zebra nails

Hey guys! sorry I haven't been posting regularly, I just haven't been able to find the time but I will try my hardest =)

This nail look a did a couple of weeks ago. I had seen many vids on youtube and pics of people doing black and white zebra nails so this is just my little twist on them.

I used just a cheap random pale pearly pink polish and my L.A. Colors Art Deco polish in silver.

Hope you like!

also featuring my new pink cover that I got for my phone =P

Vine nail design and L.A. Colors Art Deco Nail Laquer Review

Continuing with more products from my Cherry Culture haul. Today I'll be reviewing L.A. Colors Art Deco Nail Lacquer. You guys have already seen me use these with my Christmas nails a few posts ago. I LOVE these! These polishes come with a really long thin brush that allow you to do all kinds of pretty designs with ease, all you need is some creativity =)

I bought 4 of these in black, white, silver and silver glitter for $1.80USD each. They are so easy to use, you only need a single coat and they dry pretty quickly. There is a massive range of colours to choose from and at that price why not give them a try?

I did these vine designs using a cheap pale pink polish and the black and silver glitter L.A. Colors Art Deco Nail Lacquer. I took these photos before cleaning up the edges around my nails oops lol. Hope you like it!

Holiday spirit to the tips of my fingers

I recently received my order from Cherry Culture (hopefully doing a haul post soon) so I wanted to try out some of my newest purchases. Love these L.A. Colors Art Deco polishes. I used it to draw the bows. Aren't they cute? Just like little Christmas presents lol By they way, the red is Maybelline Salon Expert in Unforgettable Red.

Hope you guys are enjoying your holidays and the last couple of days of '09! Happy (Early) New Year!

Fading Nails

I love nail art. Love looking at pretty designs but I don't have all the skills. So simple designs are my thing lol I found pictures of fading nails (I think they are also known as gradient nails), I thought it looked really cool and simple so I gave it a try.

The name pretty much tells you what fading nails are. It's where one colour fades into another or into a different shade of the same colour. There are quite a few different ways to do it. I used a similar technique to this video I found on Youtube:

Well here are some photos of my fading nails.

More obvious fade:

Subtle fade: