27 Feb 2014

Sweethearts Duo - PrettyPots Polish


Hello lovelies!
I have something super special to show you today.. the new Sweethearts Duo from Pretty Pots Polish. This set is a collaboration between Pretty Pots and Elissa from Lissa's Loves, to celebrate her engagement/wedding. 
I have had the pleasure of meeting Elissa in person, we live in the same city and are in a few FB groups together.  She is a definite sweetheart!  ;)







'High School Sweethearts' is a sheer pale pink jelly, and 'Happily Ever After' has a clear base with a silver holographic micro-shimmer, pink, lavender, white and silver glitters in various sizes, and silver hearts.  This duo is very pretty, and I think, definitely very Elissa!

They both have a lovely formula, which you don't always find in a sheer pink jelly! The glitter went on lovely, you do need to fish slightly for the hearts, but that is normal with glitter like this, and they were quite easy to find.

This duo is available for pre-order now at Pretty Pots Polish . Official launch is on the 28th February 2014, where both polishes will be available for sale individually. 

PrettyPots Polish can be found on Etsy, and they also have Facebook and Instagram.

I also want to say congratulations to Elissa and Russ on their engagement, they make a lovely couple, and we can't wait to see all your wedding pics!  :)

Till next time!
xo


22 Feb 2014

Girl in the Green Scarf - PrettyPots Polish review


Hello loves!

I know I have been quiet lately.. I have been helping someone with something very special. That's all I can say for now, more details in the next couple of days hopefully.  ;)

Today I am showing you Girl in the Green Scarf by PrettyPots Polish from the Cinematic Collection. This polish is based on Rebecca Bloomwood in the movie 'Confessions of a Shopaholic'. I will admit, I haven't seen the movie, but I have read the whole series of books and love them!

This polish is sooo gorgeous! It has a green jelly base, with matte neon pink hex, periwinkle matte hex, turquoise hex, emerald green micro, and ocean blue holo glitters. 
Although this polish is opaque in 2-3 coats, I decided to layer it. 
On my pointer and middle finger I have Balsam Fir from Revlon, and on my ring and pinkie is Liquid Leather from China Glaze.





I love how this looks layered. Over the black the emerald green micro glitters really pop! The contrast of the green, pink and blue glitters is stunning. Applied lovely and smooth, only needed one coat of topcoat to make it perfect. One of my new favourite polishes for sure.

PrettyPots Polish can be found on Etsy, and they also have Facebook and Instagram.  Looking forward to showing you the rest of the gorgeous polishes.  :)

Till next time!
xo

17 Feb 2014

BellaBox February 2014


Hello lovelies!
I am going to share with you today something a little different. 
I recently re-signed up for BellaBox. If you don't know what that is, basically you pay $15 a month and each month you receive a box of  beauty samples/products.  I was signed up last year, but the boxes just kept going downhill, and then one box I received has a dried up half bottle of nail polish, and a funky smelling lipstick and that was the end for me.
I have been reading a few beauty blogs lately, and the last few boxes looked awesome so I thought I would give them another try.
If you have ordered the February box and don't want to know what you may get, stop reading.... now! ;)


The first thing I noticed was the new box.. they used to come in a really nice, heavy cardboard box. I have actually kept a few of them as they are handy to keep nail stuff in.  Now they just come in a shipping box that has BellaBox printed on the outside with the shipping label. Quite cheap looking to be honest.



This months theme is 'Red Carpet' so the info card was on the back of an Admit One 'ticket'.  Cute.




This is the box right after opening. 6 products plus a 'bonus'.



First product, which is the bonus, is a satchet of Swisspers Naturals Aloe Daily Moisturiser. This says it is for all skin types, so I will definitely give it a try.



Next is the Vaseline Aloe Fresh Daily Body lotion with SPF 15. This is a tiny 25ml, I can't see it lasting more than 3 days if you use it all over your body.



Up next is an Om She Aromatherapy mascara in rich brown.. Umm.. aromatherapy mascara?  I don't even know what that is supposed to mean. Plus, as you can see from the second picture, it looks like there was a seal but it has been peeled off. It's quite sticky around the opening. Its also smells funky, so if that is the 'aromatherapy' aspect of it, then I guess they nailed it. 
Not happy, and have emailed BellaBox about it, I will update you as to what happens.




Now we have the BeautyShot Cosmetics Party Prep Serum. Inside this little container is 2 x 3ml bottles.  I tried a little drop on the back of my hand, it rubbed in well, and left no greasiness, so I will give this a try and let you know what I think.



Next up is an Avene soothing moisture mask. This says it's for sensitive skin. I have tried a few Avene products, and am not a fan so this will be getting passed on to someone who will use it.



The last two items are from Alfaparf. The first is a Nutritive mask, and the second is a moisture shampoo. Both items are for dry hair, which I do not have, so again more products that I can't use.




All in all, I am very disappointed with my first box as a re-subscriber.   It doesn't seem 'Red Carpet' to me at all. Hopefully the next one will be better!
Did you get your February 'Red Carpet' BellaBox yet? If you did, what did you think?

Till next time!
xo





16 Feb 2014

PrettyPots Polish - Breakfast At Tiffs review


Hello lovelies.
Today I am reviewing another of the PrettyPots Polishes. 
I realized in my last post I forgot to share the gorgeous box the polish comes in. How awesome is it.. a pretty box for a PrettyPots Polish!   ;)



This is Breakfast At Tiffs from the Cinematic Collection. A gorgeous turquoise-mint crelly filled with crystal glitters and gold holo squares.



This is 3 coats. The formula on this was very nice, went on lovely and smooth. I love the mint colour with the gold glitters, it looks so sparkly!

Pretty Pots Polish can be found on Etsy, and they also have Facebook and Instagram.  Looking forward to showing you the rest of the gorgeous polishes.  :)

Till next time!
xo



14 Feb 2014

Valentines Day mani

Hello lovelies!
Happy Valentines Day to all who celebrate. Hubby and I don't usually bother, but this year he surprised me with the Love Thy Polish Speckled n' Freckled pales collection, plus a custom topper!  Bit excited!


How gorgeous are they!? I'm so spoilt. :)


So even though I don't usually do Valentines Day, I wanted to do a mani. I saved one of my review Sea Siren Cosmetics polishes just for it.
The polishes I used are Cabin Fever, Leucosia and Gossip.



I used Cabin Fever and Leucosia as my base colours and let dry. I top-coated, and painted another thick layer on top. Then using a dotting tool I did two or three dots and then quickly dragged a very thin nail art brush through the dots. My pinkie didn't work out too well, I think I pressed too hard lol
Formula on all of the Sea Siren polishes was awesome, I love how vibrant the red is!

Sea Siren polishes can be purchased here, and be sure to check her out on Facebook and Instagram as well!

Till next time!

12 Feb 2014

PrettyPots Polish - Gatsby Party review


Hello lovelies!

It's been a couple of days since my last post.. it has just been soooo hot here.  Adelaide has actually set a Summer record for extreme heat, with 13 days of 40 degrees celsius or above. Well, yay us. ;)

I was recently contacted by the lovely Jalene from PrettyPots Polish to review some of her polishes. I was impressed with the last ones I reviewed, so of course I said yes!

The first one I will be showing is the gorgeous Gatsby Party. I am a huge black with glitter fan, and this one has shot instantly into my top 5!  It is seriously amazing!  
It has a black jelly base jam packed with navy blue, garnet, holo burgundy, gold, and micro holo silver glitter. Whew!






This is 2 coats layer over China Glaze Liquid Leather. You could wear it alone, but it would take a few coats to be opaque as it's sheer.  I just can't do visible nail line, it gives me the heebie jeebies lol 

Formula on this was perfect, went on nice and smooth. I only needed one coat  of top coat. 

Pretty Pots Polish can be found on Etsy, and they also have Facebook and Instagram.  Can't wait to show you the rest of the gorgeous polishes.  :)

Till next time!
xo


9 Feb 2014

Love Thy Polish - Sonic Blueprint review and swatches

Hello lovelies!

Today I am lucky enough to be able to show you a sneak peek of one of Love Thy Polish's new Speckled n' Freckled collection. 

There will be 10 new polishes in the Speckled n' Freckled collection. It includes 5 pales which are 'I Sea Green, Southern Sky, Smoke & Dust, Pink Sands and Lilacadaisical', and 5 brights named 'Sonic Blueprint, Berry Berry Purple, Fauxreal Fuschia, Vermillion Dollar Baby and Spot the Pink'.  
Plus at the same time there will be 4 holos released - Halo (yellow/gold), One Small Step for Man (black - re-release), Synthesize (purple) and Bringin' Sexy Back (pink). 

I am so excited for this release! If you read this blog regularly you know I am a HUGE Love Thy Polish fan, her polishes are always amazing and she has great customer service.
The polish I will be sharing with you today is one of the brights, Sonic Blueprint. I love speckle polishes, and this one is a beauty!



The brights are jellies, so they can be sheer. I like jellies, but am not a fan of visible nail line. So I ended up layering this over a polish that has the same base colour.  This is 2 coats of Sonic Blueprint layered over Australis Neon Crush #playthegame.
I adore this mani!  Sonic Blueprint is gorgeous, the speckles go on perfectly. I cannot wait to try the rest of this awesome new collection!

The new polishes are all released on Sat 15th Feb, and can be purchased from Love Thy Polish's website. Be sure to also follow her on Facebook and Instagram!

Till next time.
xo


7 Feb 2014

Epic Nail - Summertime Shellac Starter Kit Review - part two


Hello lovelies!
Today I have the second part of my Epic Nail Shellac Starter Kit review.  If you missed the first part, you can see it here.

Included in the starter kit was an instruction sheet thankfully, as I had no clue what to do, I have never had shellac nails before.
Here is link to the instructions, which is the same as the ones I received and followed.
Basically it's exactly the same as putting on 'normal' nail polish, but in-between each step you cure the polish. Also, you need to be careful to not get any of the polish on your cuticles etc, I presume so you don't cure it onto your skin lol

I received 6 polishes in the kit, but I decided to go with Big Sky, which is a gorgeous pastel-y blue, and also one of my favourite Kate Bush songs. ;)

This is a pic of just the base coat. It's so shiny!



Below is Big Sky.




What a gorgeous colour! This was so easy to do, I can't believe I have never tried it before. It looks so beautiful and shiny once you are done, and didn't take that long to do at all!
I put this on Monday, it's now Friday and I have zero tip wear or chips. Which, for me is amazing, as I am quite hard on my nails. 
Also, because I have square nail shape, usually by now a corner has broken or the polish is chipped off, but I have none of that! I am definitely a convert, and can't wait to try the rest of the colours. I am even planning on doing it on my toenails. 

Epic Nails shellac kits can be bought on their website at http://www.epicnail.com.au and they also have a Facebook page.

Till next time.
xo


Kindness In Polish Custom & Rare Colors Facebook Auction

This is reposted from Vintage Musings Of A Modern Pinup, with permission.


******************************


The response to my cousin's plight has been incredibly heart warming and inspiring.  I have been amazed at the kindness people extend to others that are complete strangers to them, it has truly humbled me.
One of these awe inspiring actions is to see my wonderful Australian nail community rally together and produce a line of colors that we are going to auction off for one week on the Facebook page Kindness In Polish.

Australia has some extremely talented Indie polish designers and we will be seeing some gorgeous colors being released in honor of Angie and her fight against cervical cancer.  The link is KINDNESS IN POLISH Facebook page, so please make sure you LIKE or follow on Instagram @kindnessinpolish

AND Dead Set Babes asked for me to create a custom polish to donate!  Both the sparkly base and SUPER holographic glitter is TO DIE FOR!

  Not only will one off custom colors be up for auction, but a whole group of us are sending in our RARE and completely hard or impossible to get colors from our collections!  You can see some sneak peaks on the Kindness in Polish Facebook page.

Our auctions will start on the 10th Feb at 8pm AEDT and run through until 8pm 17th Feb AEDT. The highest bidder will have 48 hours to pay for their item and all polishes will be sent out by the makers themselves.

To bid you will either need to put your bid on the photo of the polish that you want to bid on OR you can message this page to put in an anonymous bid. Anon bids will be taken up until 7.30pm on the night of the auctions closing.

Shipping is open internationally.  We made it International so all those Overseas lovelies who expressed interest in helping out can do so.

What else can we do to help this wonderful auction?  I am calling out on all my blogging followers to PLEASE blog about this auction.  The success of it depends on the numbers we reach, so it is vital that we can spread the work as much as we can in the next few days.  If you can't afford to bid, PLEASE write a blog post instead.  The Australian nail community would be so *very* grateful.

Thank you!


4 Feb 2014

Sea Siren Cosmetics review



Hello lovelies!
Today I will be showing you four polishes in my Sea Siren Cosmetics review series. I am sad this has nearly  come to an end, I have enjoyed using and showing off these awesome polishes!

The first polishes are Sea Shells, Motion Of The Ocean, and Sea Matte, which is a matte top coat.



I went with a simple stripe mani. The formula is what I have come to expect from Sea Siren polishes, which is just perfect.  On my pointer and middle finger I used the matte topcoat, not too sure how well that shows up in these photos though.


 Next is the lovely Mermaid Tails. I love a good green polish, and I don't really have anything like this in my collection. It is a tad sheer, I ended up doing three coats, only because I cannot stand visible nail line. Most people could get away with two coats.



I love this colour. I did put the matte topcoat on my two middle nails, but again not sure if it is showing up that well.

I have one more Sea Siren polish to show you, but I am saving that for a special Valentines Day mani. ;)

Sea Siren polishes can be purchased here, and be sure to check her out on Facebook and Instagram as well!

Till next time!

3 Feb 2014

Epic Nail - Summertime Shellac Starter Kit Review

Hello lovelies!

Today I am sharing with you the first part of a two part review. Epic Nails contacted me, asking me to review their shellac started kit. I was impressed with the last items I reviewed from them, plus I have always wondered what the fuss over shellac/gel nails was all about, so I jumped at the chance.
I have broken it up into two parts, as I took quite a few photos and didn't want the post to be too long. ;)

Just like the last kit I received, it came in a lovely Epic Nails box. The box has a magnetic front so it stays closed, but is also easily opened.



This is what I saw when I opened it.. omg, so many things! I wasn't expecting so much!



The pack includes 6 shellac polishes, 1 base coat, 1 top coat, plus 1 LED Nail curing lamp - 12 Watt.
 Also free with every kit is 10 cuticle pushers and 20 alcohol wipes.
Epic Nails was also nice enough to send a shellac removal kit, which included 2 acetone bottles, 1 pack of foil removal wraps, 1 pack of alcohol wipes and 1 pack of cuticle sticks.




I was surprised when I took the lamp out of the box, it was definitely bigger than I was expecting.  I have never had shellac/gel nails, so really, I had no idea what they looked like lol



Check out the gorgeous colours I received! Summer Dream has lost their swatch nail, so I have taken a pic of it from the catalogue so you can see it.




All in all, I am stoked with this kit.  Everything you need to do shellac/gel nails, and so many gorgeous colours to choose from!
I will do the next part of this review tomorrow.  :)

Epic Nails shellac kits can be bought on their website at http://www.epicnail.com.au and they also have a Facebook page.

Till next time.
xo


2 Feb 2014

Sea Siren Cosmetics review - part 4


Hello lovelies!
For those of you in Australia, I hope you are staying nice and cool.  It was 46 degrees here today, and for my US readers, that is 114 F!  I have barely left the house in 3 days, and I am definitely over it! Thankfully, its going to be a much cooler 29 tomorrow, and I cannot wait!

Onto the good stuff! I am reviewing two of the Sea Siren Cosmetics polishes today, Code Purple and Midnight Moves.
For some reason, my camera would just not take an accurate photo of Code Purple!  I ended up having to use my phone, so I apologize in advance for the photos.

*with flash*

*sun*


I love purple polish, so Code Purple is a winner for me! I did two coats, and it was perfect. So glossy, even without topcoat!  The black is just as amazing, two coats and it was soo shiny, I honestly could not believe it.


I also received some other goodies to review apart from nail polish, and omg was I excited when I saw them! First up is an adorable travel kit, which contains tweezers, glass nail file and scissors and comes in a black leather case.  It even has the Sea Siren logo stamped on the cover. Love!





The next thing is super exciting for me.. an actual Mont Bleu czech glass nail file!  I have been wanting to try these forever.. I have tried a glass nail file before, but it was a dodgy cheapie one and it was terrible.  But the Mont Bleu one is amazing, I don't think my nails have ever felt so nice after filing.  Plus check out the awesome case it comes in!




I am loving everything I have tried from Sea Siren! 
I have a four polishes left from this brand to show you, I will post them tomorrow.
Sea Siren polishes can be purchased here, and be sure to check her out on Facebook and Instagram as well!

Till next time!