Weekend mani: Ulta 3 - Lagoon

Guess where I am?  Back on the sofa. I went to work, then to the doc's, then back home.  Well there's nothing as cosy as snuggling up with the blanket (and sometimes the cat) on my lap.  I won't be going far from here tomorrow either.

After doing the red nails last week I switched to green for a bit of weekend fun.  I've got quite a collection of polish from super affordable Australian brand Ulta 3 and Lagoon is the first one I chose to wear for you because it's so contrary to the season.  The leaves are turning colour down here but this is such a spring green with its pastel shimmer.  The slight yellow undertone reminds me of green apples too.  This was a surprisingly flattering green and not too streaky for a shimmer polish.

Full sun

Shade

 Until next time.

Vita :)

Fuso: Unlabelled ruby (and Twitter!)

Hello and thanks for all the lovely comments from you on P10P and the sympathy for my cold!  I'm on the mend already so it seems to have been one of those 24hr things.  Finally I can go beauty plundering again - and you know I already have today but I'll keep you in suspense a little while (at least until I time to do the photo's)! 

Onto the NOTD:  This Fuso polish is another oldish Singapore purchase from Watsons about 2 years ago.  The label sticker has dropped off the bottle but from memory it would have been only a number anyway so the description's been left up to me!  This is a cool-toned ruby red with a strong metallic shimmer so it has that wonderful lit from within look.  In my limited experience Fuso nail polish is fantastic quality for a drugstore product as the formula isn't gloopy at all, it applies extremely evenly and looks as smooth as silk in two coats.  Dries quickly too - whenever I get back to Singapore I'll be looking out for these.  Sorry about the less than luminous pictures but the weather was really awful and gloomy when I did the mani.  I've had to resort to artificial lighting to bring out the best of this polish...

Indoors lamplight - to show the glow

Outdoors - cloudy conditions

  

What's your favourite brand of drugstore polish?

On a random note - after some friendly nudging (you know who you are!) I'm now tweeting away on twitter.  Click 'Follow @MakingUpVita' on the sidebar if you want to know what I'm up to!

Until next time.

Vita :)

I've finished Project 10 Pan!

Hi everyone :)

Just a quick post today but I wanted to share this with you on the day it happened - my P10P's done, finished, kaput!!!

Drum roll...The final three items were a lipgloss, a MAC lipstick, and a MAC powder,  all of which I'll talk about when I do my monthly empties review.  I'm a bit foggy in the head today as I've come down with some sort of cold thingy so, wouldn't you know it, no shopping today because I'm curled up on the sofa (unless I go online)! Anyway the evidence is in the photo below:

 I've also qualified for Back 2 MAC with those two MAC empties:

Decisions, decisions - time to revisit the wish list!  Also, I'm thinking about selecting a berry shade of lipstick  as my Back 2 MAC choice - Do you lovelies have any suggestions?


That's it for today.

Vita :)

Essence: Fame Fatal

Sometimes you just feel like being a little classic...

I let the weather and how I was feeling dictate my polish selection for the working week. Colder weather means darker, more classic colours and I was looking for something a bit more glam to wear.  Fame Fatal (a play on femme fatale?) is a blood red creme with a high gloss finish.  It's warm toned but changes its mood a bit, just like blood it can look quite a bit darker and almost a rusty brown in dim light.  Sounds dark and ominous doesn't it but really this is why I like it - even if it gives me whiter than white looking hands!

These pictures were taken in cloudy conditions:

Indirect daylight

Direct (gloomy!) daylight

That's all for now.

Vita :)

EOTD: Purple peacock

 

It was bitterly cold and rainy on this ANZAC Day holiday.  We were all cosy indoors so I had some time to play with colour.  I decided to do a wearable green and purple combination using mostly MAC shades with a little Red Earth and Urban Decay thrown in. 

What I used (and where!):

• Face of Australia primer (matte) blended over the lids
• Red Earth After Eight on outer third of lid and blended to outer V
• MAC Vex on inner lids
• MAC Shale on crease
• MAC Shroom blended on browbone
• Urban Decay 24/7 liner (Ransom) on upper and lower lash lines
• Napoleon - Whole Lotta Lash mascara (black) on upper lashes only

 Thanks for looking!

Vita :)

Layering: Nicole by OPI - Count on Me

When I noticed my bottle of NOPI's Count on Me sitting next to Revlon's Modern Grace in my Helmer the other day it looked like the proverbial perfect match.  It must have been a sign I needed to wear these together so I just had to go with it! 

Count on Me is one of those ridiculously, excessively pretty polishes.  The Nicole by OPI website describes this sheer polish as:  "A pearlessence of lilac and pink blended".  It's an accurate description although I can also see a strong blue shift in this polish.  In my mind I could see how these would compliment the grey/blue/lavender creme base of Modern Grace and, yep, it turned out as I expected.  I applied two coats to really transform this look from creme to duochrome and dreamy...

Sun

Indoors

I'll definitely be wearing Count on Me in further combos.  Any suggestions?

Vita :)

Revlon Top Speed: Modern Grace

The shade I'm sharing with you in this post is one I picked up when I was on a periwinkle hunt last year.  I was looking for anything that looked remotely periwinkle blue and Revlon's Modern Grace looked rather blue when I saw it in the fluorescent lighting of the pharmacy...

Ah well, it turns out it's rather more of a greyish, bluish lilac to my eye (wow, what a description eh?) than a true periwinkle blue but never mind.  It's still rather pretty!  The formula was pretty fantastic too and while I did my customary two coats, honestly one coat could have easily sufficed here.  Dry time was excellent too and I didn't use my usual quick-drying topcoat because I didn't feel I needed to.  Perhaps I should get me some more of these Top Speed polishes, hmm?

Sun

Shade

What do you see?  Periwinkle or purple?

To tell you the truth now I'm seeing both.

Until next time.

Vita :)

My beauty wishlist - April edition

As Project 10 Pan's nearly complete I'm getting that itch to spend on cosmetics again.  I don't discriminate between luxe and budget items but my rationale for the rest of this year will be to try to buy fewer but truly gorgeous items for my return to the beauty consumer world rather than going overboard with quantity.  I'd like to continue being just a little discretionary with how I spend my beauty dollar this year...

Here are some department store items on my beauty radar at the moment.  It doesn't cost anything to dream:

MAC Extra Dimension Collection

[Source]

All the blog posts I've been reading lately about these eyeshadows and skin finishes have whipped me up into a bit of a frenzy.  I love the colours and the shimmery, metallic finish.  These look like the perfect jewel tones for the cooler months.  Not to mention the gorgeous sculpted finish in the pan - irresistible!

MAC blush - Immortal Flower

[Source]

This is one of the blush shades from another new MAC collection: Tres Cheek.  I love the soft peach/pink tone.  This matte blush would be a great goof-proof colour, so perfect for a soft hint of health on paler cheeked gals like me.

Tom Ford eyeshadow palette

[Source]

I'm really stretching it here but as I said my dreams don't charge me anything!  I'd just love to add one of these gorgeously sleek TF palettes to my collection. Simply covetable.

Chanel Glossimer Lip Gloss

[Source]

This will have to wait until I've completed my lip gloss ban.  I've decided my next lip gloss will be a Glossimer.  I have one lonely interlinked C gloss and love it - it needs a friend!

  What's on your wishlist??

Have a great weekend!

Vita :)

An old OPI: Jewel of India

Happy Friday everyone! 

This week I've been sporting an old black label OPI on my nails.  Jewel of India is from a collection called the Far East released way back in 2000.  Now, I know I've had this one a while but I'm pretty sure I haven't owned it quite that long!  I was looking for something in my polish stash along the line of plums and autumn berries to wear and this lovely satiny magenta-plum was it.  The coverage was lovely and even in two coats and the colour just glows.  This one's a classic glam shade - reference to jewels fits it beautifully.  If I have to complain it's about my own shoddy application.  I'm so used to the Pro-wide brush I have trouble controlling the old skinny brushes so there's bit of cuticle flooding here.  Forgive me...

Sun

Shade

This finish does remind me of glowy satin fabric!

That's all for now.

Vita :)

Tom Ford Lip Color: Wild Ginger

First things first:  I did not break my lipstick ban.  I did not buy this lipstick - It was a little anniversary gift from my ever cheeky, lovely husband.  I think that gets my guilt out of the way (I hope). 

So now my tiny Tom Ford lipstick collection has doubled with the introduction of this beauty.  Introducing Wild Ginger:

I'm in love with the mahogany packaging...

This is such a classic Mad Men shade in the bullet.  It's a very vibrant, orange/red hybrid and I was a little concerned that it was going to be very similar to my original TF purchase, True Coral.  My canny husband actually took note of True Coral and armed with that information he was swayed to Wild Ginger by the salesperson.  Apparently it was a case of, "If she loves that, she'll love this..."  Well, yes I do, too.

To compare I've photographed my two lipsticks side by side, with a corresponding daylight swatch and they are quite different.

L - R:

Wild Ginger, True Coral

Swatched (same order as above):

  

Wild Ginger has that definite orange tone to it while True Coral is exactly as it's named.  It is a true coral shade with that slight pink undertone, and it's also slightly lighter than Wild Ginger probably making it more of a S/S shade.  There's enough of a difference for me to justify having them both in my lipstick wardrobe.

I have to say again that while this lipstick is very expensive ($65AUD) it really is a gorgeous product and I just love the way it feels on my lips:  creamy and velvety, and you have that comforting, confidence boosting feeling of your lips wearing something, feeling 'dressed'.  The pigmentation is intense and you get full coverage in one swipe.  If you want to read my previous rapturous review on TF lipstick click here.

Until next time.

Vita :)

T.B.N: Glitter 908

Hello :)

I had to try and salvage my underwhelming YSL mani so I added my favourite extra ingredient - glitter!

This is two coats of iridescent Glitter 908 from the cheap 'n' cheerful Australian brand T.B.N aka Totally Beautiful Nails.  Yes there's a little bit of tip shrinkage but I still think this polish has improved the look.  There's just enough coverage to hide the brushstrokes and just enough glitter to give the original mani a little bit of extra bling.  Once again I must say thanks to the Glitter Fairy!

Sun

Shade

What do you think?

Vita :)

Designer polish disappointment...

Let's start with the promise of prettiness in the bottle.  I bought this YSL polish years ago because I thought it would be an ethereally pretty shade to wear -

YSL Pure Colour Lacquer 96

In the bottle YSL's 96 is a warm ivory shimmer with just the right mix of silver micro-glitter.   I finally got around to wearing it last weekend for a date night with hubby.  I was expecting it to be soft and pretty but it just turned out to be disappointing as a manicure.  Three coats of colour resulted in a white, streaky mess and not the soft look I was going for at all.  It actually succeeded in making my hands look grimy!  Of course you can hardly see the silver glitter at all.

Here's the evidence:

I'm sure I bought this one on sale and now I can understand why.  Verdict:  FAIL!!!

That's all for now.

Vita 

A mini Missha haul

I've been sticking faithfully to my P10P and as of today I've only got two more empties to go *pats back*.  Even though my ban only applied to makeup I tried to stay away from hauling nail polish for as long as possible too but I cracked a little while back.  I was out shopping with my Hubby in suburban Box Hill a few weekends ago when I spotted the sole Melbourne located Missha store.  Missha is a Korean cosmetics brand which I don't know much about so curious me had to check it out.  I didn't dare go near any of the cosmetics but made a beeline for the nail polish and came away with four bottles.  I did spot some amazing chunky glitters but went for the safer options this time.  It just means there's a reason to go back!

The individual colours are not very descriptively titled with their generic codes and numbers so I'll add my little explanation for each:

Lucid Nail Polish VL04

Grape purple with gold sparkle

Lucid Nail Polish SV02

Gunmetal grey with silver sparkle

 

Lucid Nail Polish CR03

Peach cream with pearl shimmer

Crystal Nail Polish GVL01

Magenta/silver micro-glitter in a purple base

As the weather was sunny yesterday I did some quick tape swatches to get a good indication of the colours as they'll appear on the nail.  These are the widest swatches I've ever done because the brushes are surprising wide and stumpy, so the real test will be application on the nail.  In terms of colour I'm really happy with all of these shades, but especially in love with both of the purples!

Swatched L - R:

VL04, SV02, CR03, GVL01

Have you tried Missha makeup or nail polish?

Until next time.

Vita :)

The Face Shop: Celestial Light Nail Color 03

Hello :)

I'm so glad I decided to do a full manicure of The Face Shop's Celestial Light 03 because now I can appreciate the stunning shimmer in the sun!  I used this colour as one of my Easter egg skittles (here) and a few of you singled it out in your comments, so this post is for you.  Without further ado this is two coats of sparkly yellow gold foil in all its glory.  Behold gilt fingertips...

Sun

Shade

This is the most vibrant gold polish in my collection without a doubt!

That's all for now.

Vita :)