My mini obsession: OPI minis!

Here's a little stash post for you!

Over the years I've bought (and been gifted with) a few of those cute OPI mini collections.  I think they're a great idea because it's a bit of a 'try before you buy' a full size bottle.  Turns out I've got nine of those minis.  It doesn't sound like a huge number, especially to a nail polish lover/addict but they still look impressive when they're all put together. 

It's a bit like being in a candy store :)

These little cuties are...

Tiny Treats

L - R:

A-Rose at Dawn...Broke by Noon

Pompeii Purple

(Not in picture - Cajun Shrimp)

Take "Note" of My Toes

L - R:

Purple with a Purpose

Alter Ego

That's Berry Daring

Boomerang Babies - Australia Collection

L - R:

Suzi Loves Sydney

Didgeridoo Your Nails?

Don't Melbourne the Toast

Irre-Swiss-Ables - Swiss Collection

L - R:

Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous

Yodel Me on My Cell

Color So Hot it Berns

Bright Pair

L - R:

A Grape Fit

Shorts Story

On the Same Paige

Mini Merries

L - R:

Comet Loves Cupid

All A-bordeaux the Sled!

Holiday Glow

Shim-mery Chic

Mini Melodies

L - R:

Symphony in Gold

Opus in Amber

Sonata in Bronze

Glitter Bit of Music - Top coat

Little Teasers - Burlesque Collection

L - R:

Rising Star

Take the Stage

The Show Must Go On!

Ali's Big Break

Tiny Takeouts - Hong Kong Collection

L - R:

Suzi Says Feng Shui

Red My Fortune Cookie

Dim Sum Plum

That adds up to 29 mini bottles of polish!

Until my next post.

Vita :)



An old favourite: Temptress - Delilah

Here's an old, cheap 'n' cheerful nail polish that always gets compliments when I wear it.  It's one of those bottles I grabbed out of the $2 bin at the chemist years ago and I know I'll use to the last drop.  The brand is Temptress.  The shade is called Delilah!

Just look at the gorgeous deep burgundy shimmer.  This is the colour I reach for when I'm on a hot date with the Husband ;) *growls*  It's sexy, it's vampy and lit from within:

Vampy in the shade

Glows in the sun



...and in the flash photo



For me it's all about the colour with this one!

That's all for now.

Vita :)

Bargain beauty: Essence eyeshadow

I figured you might be a little tired of the Essence nail polish posts so I thought I'd give you a look at the Essence eyeshadow pans I picked up for a song at Priceline instead...

02 Dance All Night (sparkling effect)

35 Party All Night (metallic effect)



14 Irresistable (metallic effect)



According to the packaging these eyeshadows are "super-soft & long-lasting".  I swatched them over eye base on the back of my hand and they do have a silky soft texture and are well pigmented.  As I haven't worn them yet I can't comment on the durability of wear. 

Clockwise from left:

02 Dance All Night

35 Party All Night

14 Irresistable

Essence cosmetics are manufactured in Germany and their eyeshadows have a solid following in the European beauty blogging community.  At $3.95AUD each I think these eyeshadow pans are a bargain and there's a good range of colours available, including pastels, metallics and neutrals.  I look forward to experimenting with these! 

The Essence line of cosmetics is available at selected Priceline stores.

That's all for now.

Vita :)

NOTD: Essence - Just in Case

Happy Monday :)

Here's this week's work appropriate mani and the third polish from my little Essence collection, called Just in Case.  I know I've been posting a lot of creme polishes but I actually prefer metallics.  I had high hopes for this metallic polish based on my limited experience with the Essence range but unfortunately this was a bit of a fail for me.

Just in Case is a cool bronze shade.  The colour reminds me a little of my oldest OPI shade Kalahari Khaki.  While the colour was a winner for me the formula wasn't.  The polish was thick and gloopy and applied somewhat unevenly.  As a result it took an eternity to dry - even with quick dry top coat AND drip dry drops!  I have some little dents in my manicure to prove it.  It's a shame because I think this is a great colour for the change of season:

Sunlight

 I'll try some thinning drops and see if that fixes the formula problem.

Until my next post.

Vita :)

Glitter accent: OPI - Simmer & Shimmer

Yesterday's mani was a bit underwhelming for me.  I was a little disappointed with the lack of shimmer in the polish.  Well, that was yesterday.  Today I decided to glitz it up a bit with - of course! - a glitter accent on the ring finger.  I just felt like a bit of fun without being OTT.

This is one coat of OPI's Simmer & Shimmer from the recent Burlesque limited edition collection. This is predominantly blue glitter mixed with silver, gold and red.  It's a very densely packed glitter polish so one coat gave full coverage:

I really like this combination.  What do you think?

Vita :)

NOTD: Essence - Underwater

Hi again!

I chose Underwater from my recent Essence haul for this weekend's mani.  Underwater is a denim grey-blue creme with the barest hint of blue microglitter.  I can't emphasise 'barest hint' enough.  It's basically indetectable in most light!  As with my previous Essence mani, two coats gives great coverage and this polish dries quickly to a high shine.

Apologies for the lack of sunlit pictures.  The sun just doesn't want to come out from behind the clouds today:

Flash

Lamplight

 Now this picture is just to prove the existence of the microglitter!  You can just see it in the bottle...

Hope you're enjoying your weekend.

Vita :)

REVIEW: Burt's Bees

Here's a quick review of the Burt's Bees goodies I picked up a few weekends ago.

Lemon Butter Cuticle Creme

This stuff smells absolutely edible and reminds me of lemon curd - Yum!  Its ingredients include sweet almond oil, beeswax, lemon oil, cocoa butter and Vitamin E.  Apart from the scent I like the way this feels on the skin.  It's quite velvety, not oily or shiny and makes the cuticles immediately look and feel softer.  This product is 95% natural and not tested on animals. 

As you can see I've been dipping into this one a bit!

Lip Shimmer - Rhubarb

I like the idea of a lip balm that also gives a decent amount of colour to the lips and Lip Shimmer does that.  What I don't really love is the way it feels on my lips when I first slick it on.  Because this contains peppermint oil it has that intense cooling (yet also burning?) sensation on my lips that reminds me of my husband's Blistex lip balm.  It does feel moisturising after the initial sensation fades and this particular shade is flattering on my lips.  Lip Shimmer's ingredients also include castor seed oil, sunflower seed oil and beeswax.  This product is 100% natural and not tested on animals.

Burt's Bees products are available at David Jones, Priceline stores and selected pharmacies.

For more information on the full range see the Burt's Bees website here.

That's all for now.

Vita :)

Something borrowed: OPI Black Shatter

I know I'm  behind everyone else on this bandwagon but I was finally lucky enough to try one of the new crackle top coats today.  OPI Black Shatter is courtesy of one of the kind girls in my office who bought this a little while ago.

I couldn't help myself and I tried it immediately over my current Essence mani (Walk of Fame).  I think this combination works - it looks kind of reptilian to me.  For the few who haven't tried a crackle polish it shrinks back as it dries to reveal cracks where the base colour can peep through.  This dried very quickly and I chose to leave it without any additional top coat as I liked the textured finish:

My 'personal stylist' aka my 9 year old son suggested Black Shatter would look effective over a deep purple base.

Do you have any favourite crackle combinations?  Should I take the plunge and buy a bottle?

Until next time.

Vita :)

EOTD: Pink

Here's a quick EOTD from last weekend.  The weather was beautiful and sunny so I did a light and feminine look using pink, plum and pearl.

For this look I used:

• Bloom Eye Base blended all over lid
• Revlon Tickled pink on lid and browbone
• Anna Sui Eye Color Accent (302 - pink) blended in crease
• The Face Shop Color Nuance (WH004 - pearl) in inner corner of lid
• L'oreal Subtle Berries Quad, (plum shade only) on outer upper & lower lash line
• Lancome Definicils mascara (Black)

Until my next post.

Vita :)

Autumn gold foil: Zoya - Richelle

Here's an oldie from my picture archives.

Zoya Richelle is a decadent coppery gold foil and is one of the shades from Zoya's gorgeous Flourish autumn collection launched about two years ago.  I happened to snap up the entire collection at half price online from Art of Beauty about a year ago so I'll be able to wear and post all of the shades for you. 

I took the pictures for this post last year when my nails were at their longest:

Indoors daylight

Flash

Zoya nail polish can be purchased by Australian customers from the Art of Beauty Australia website :  http://www.artofbeauty.com.au/

That's all for now.

Vita :)

NOTD: Essence - Walk of Fame

This is the first of my Essence nail polishes I've tried as a full mani.  I chose Walk of Fame as a warm neutral to wear to the office this week and it passed the 'office appropriate' test with flying colours. During a discussion my boss stopped mid-sentence to compliment me on my nail polish colour!

Walk of Fame is a warm grey (aka greige) creme with a high gloss finish.  The formula was on the thicker side but easy to control with the wide brush.  Two coats provided more than ample coverage for this polish.

Onto the pics:

Outdoors shade

Sun

I'll keep this mani all week to see if the Essence polish passes the wear test.  Loving the colour!  Not bad for $2.95!

That's all for now.

Vita :)

REVIEW: Bloom's Beauty Bag - Part 2

Hello again :)

Here are the last two products in the Beauty Bag for review:  Sheer Colour Cream (Tint) and Lip Gloss (also in Tint)

Sheer Colour Cream (Tint)

This product is a multi-purpose make-up item that can be used on lips, cheeks and eyes.  Whilst it looks rather dark in the pan it's actually quite a sheer colour when swatched on the skin:


The first thing that struck me when I opened this was the essential oil scent which I quite like.  Looking at the packaging this product contains a number of natural oils including Jojoba seed oil, Calendula flower oil, and Evening Primrose oil.

I tried this on my lips and my cheeks and the colour is a very natural healthy flush (I didn't try it on my eyes because I didn't think red on my eyelids would be flattering with my natural colouring).  The other thing I like about this is the packaging.  I find it is easier to get the right (tiny) amount running your fingertip across this cream pan rather than potentially squeezing too much product from a tube.  I think this would be a great product to have in your collection particularly if you're travelling and don't want to weigh down the make-up bag!

Lip Gloss (Tint)

Again, this lip gloss looks deceptively dark in the tube but is actually a very sheer berry red when applied to the skin:



I'm already a fan of Tint lip gloss as I've bought this shade in the past.  I also own a few other lip gloss shades in the Bloom range.  This gloss is flavoured with mandarin and vanilla oils so it smells and tastes divinely yummy on the lips.  It has a light texture, is not tacky on the lips and it lasts reasonably well.  Tint has a particularly sheer, glassy texture and there are other creamier, more pigmented colours in the range for those who prefer a more opaque gloss.

Overall, in my opinion I don't think there is a weak link in any of the products so it seems to me Bloom have made a clever selection of product highlights in their beauty bag.  If anything lets this down, it's the make-up bag itself.  It's a sheer black mesh purse held closed by a single snap fastener.  I'd be a bit concerned about things falling out of it as it's not as secure as a zipper.  Oh well, maybe I'm just being picky.

The Bloom Beauty Bag is available as a gift with purchase to David Jones Australia customers who spend $38 on any Bloom products for a limited time only. 

Until next time.

Vita :)

REVIEW: Bloom's Beauty Bag - Part 1

Happy Saturday to you!

I've had the chance to road test three of the goodies in my Bloom gift bag so here's a rundown starting with the nail polish, lip fix and eye base:

First up, the nail polish shade, Lucille - I've found this one to be ridiculously pretty!  It's a watermelon pink base, loaded with fine silver glitter.  The application was a dream.  Whilst I applied two coats, one coat was almost sufficient to achieve full coverage.  Because of the fne glitter this does not have as rough a texture as some glitter polishes and looks quite smooth with only one layer of top coat.  Technically it may be a bit 'young' for me but I'm in love, love, love with it!!

 Lucille

Shade

Gorgeous in the sunlight!




Lip Fix

Let me start by saying that yes, I am a lipliner person.  Over the years I've converted from matching my lipliner to my lipstick shade, to now using nude lipliner to match the natural colour of my lips.  And now here I am trying invisible lipliner!  I tried this over a few days and found that it works just as well as my usual lipliner in preventing bleeding lipstick and also, being invisible it allows the lipstick's hue to stay true on my lips.  I suppose the concern would be for those used to 'colouring within the lines' as there is no visible line to colour within!  Also, it might not suit those with an uneven or not well defined natural lip line.  As for me, yes I would look at buying this product again.  I also like the twist up packaging, so there's no need for a sharpener.

Eye Fix

Confession - I've never used an eye base or primer before!  Today is the first time I've tried one so obviously I won't be able to give you a comparison with another product.  According to the packaging this product is meant to provide, "an even base to the eyelid to ensure the perfect eye shadow application and improved staying power of eye-shadow colour."

I did a quick comparison on the back of my hand first up to test the difference and as you can see there's a marked difference in the depth of eyeshadow coverage when applied over the eye base on the left swatch compared to that on the right:

I'm wearing the eye base now and after several hours there has been absolutely no creasing or fading of my eyeshadow so it seems to work, but is this the best product on the market?  I don't know.  I'll  have to continue using this and see how it stands up in warmer weather and when I exercise at the gym!  Then I'll be open to suggestions from you as to what other products like this would be worth trying.

Hope you found this review useful.

Until next time.

Vita :)