Face of Australia: Have Your Cupcake & Eat It Too

As fortune would have it I've just eaten a mini cupcake (or two) tonight!  I bought a box of mini Halloween themed cupcakes and gave into a little sweet Halloween temptation after dinner.  Isn't that what Halloween's all about?

Onto the polish.  Have Your Cupcake & Eat It Too is, yes, a sweet shade of pink with just a hint of lilac.  As with all the shades I've bought from FOA's Pastels range it's a glossy creme finish and again the coverage was wonderfully opaque in two coats.  I wore this pretty colour as my work mani last week.  I like the idea of pink cupcake nails - totally embracing my inner girly with this one cos it's simply, coyly pretty.  Sure it's not an exciting colour but it's just niiiiiice...

Indoors daylight

Outdoors shade

Sun

Now, which of these little cupcakes did I eat? I had a ghost and a Jack-o'-lantern...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! xo

Vita :)

Coral Colours: Emerald Superstar

I had to squeeze in at least one glitter mani post for the month and this one's a hairy holo glitter!

Australian budget beauty brand Coral Colours have released (without any fanfare) a set of holo bar glitter polishes.  I spotted them in my local chemist so bought one for a bit of crazy layering.  Emerald Superstar is a blue tint polish crammed full of holographic bar glitter which look like tiny holographic needles in the bottle.  I applied a single coat over FOA's After Dinner Mint and it was transformed into a holographically hairy Tiffany blue mani. 

All pictures were photographed in indirect daylight to best capture the holo effect:

I'll finish with a gratuitous bottle shot:

What do you think of this hairy combo?

Until next time.

Vita :)

A care package :)

I received this care package from the wonderfully generous US beauty and nail blogger Kaki last Friday and it couldn't have arrived at a better time - no excuses for me buying anything new this (or the next) week (or month!) and let me tell you I don't have the need to!  I'm feeling thoroughly spoilt having received this lot - Kaki you're my own beauty fairy hands down :)))  This is the proverbial 'kid in a candy store', 'Christmas come early' sort of stuff!

Lip products

Left to Right:

• Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains - Rendezvous, Charm, Darling, Smitten.  These are what started this chain of events.  I was wishing out loud to Kaki that these would hurry up and launch down here in Australia and she kindly offered to send me some! I'm so pleased with these balm stains already - they're richly pigmented and yet feel so light on the lips.  Swatches and review are on the way soon :)
• Wet n Wild lipliner - 666 Brandy Wine. This has arrived just in time as a back up for my old WnW pencil. These pencils are amazingly long, so they last foreverrrrr and 666 is my go to shade.

Nail polish

Left to Right:

• China Glaze - Marry a Millionaire, Swanky Silk, Electric Beat.  I'm always looking to add to my China Glaze collection and these were my picks.
• Wet n Wild - Ferguson Crest Syrah.  This is from the Fergie Collection and was a surprise from Kaki.  It's an amazing duochrome glass-fleck.  Love it!
• Pixel - Mis-Chief-Ous. Another surprise addition to the package and an uber-pretty Spring shade.

Wet n Wild Eyeshadow palettes

Clockwise from top left:

• Comfort Zone - I've been lemming this palette for an eternity!
• Petal Pusher - A surprise addition and perfect for a purple lover like me.
• Walking on Eggshells - Another Kaki pick. Neutrals for every day.

Aside from the Revlon balm stains (which I've already swatched) let me know what you want to see swatched and reviewed and I'll be happy to do so!

That's it for now.

Vita :)

Face of Australia: After Dinner Mint (& more pastel polish bottle spam)

A few months ago all the pastel polish ranges were launching for the Northern Spring and because I was heading towards our Southern Autumn/Fall I just wasn't feeling it - I was all about berry and burgundy and just anything dark, darker and darkest.  Now finally we're well into Spring down here, our local brands are getting in on the act and - yes - with the sun making its appearance higher and brighter in the sky, I'm definitely feeling it!

Australian brand Face of Australia (aka FOA) have just launched their Pastels nail enamel range and I was completely enamored by all of the pretty gelato shades.   It was pretty tough making a choice but I walked away with 4 of the 8 shades (probably just as a start, knowing me!).  The first NOTD I'm posting from this range is the cool mint green creme, aptly named After Dinner Mint.  Every time I look at it I seriously get reminded of mint ice cream - and then I want some, lol!  This polish applied super smoothly, with no flooding or streaking and was perfectly opaque in two coats. 

Sun

Shade

Before I go here's a quick pic of the shades I bought.

Clockwise from top left:

After Dinner Mint, Have Your Cupcake & Eat it Too,

Easy Peazy Lemon Squeezy,  Would You Like Some Orange Sherbet?

What's your favourite pastel shade?

Until next time.

Vita :)

Halloween inspired NOTD (& some fake gore!)

My son and I were both fooling with Halloween themed things last weekend.  Being in Australia we don't celebrate it in a serious way in our household, nor in the neighbourhood for that matter (I do buy bags of sweet things in anticipation of the trick or treaters who never come), but we do acknowledge it in a small way :)

First up is my Halloween colour themed manicure:  I hacked into some Hollywood tape with my scissors to create jagged edges, stuck it to my nails as a sort of zig-zag stencil then applied black polish to the tips of my orange nails to create black "flames".  It's really rough and ready but hey it was just for fun.  This is Revlon Black Lingerie over Essence C'est La Vie.  I hope you like my little prop, hehe!  My boy's toys are good for more than one thing after all.  They multitask as blogger props...

Now for the gore:  I created a nasty looking "bloodied cut" on my son's hand using nothing more fancy than petroleum jelly, toilet paper, red food colouring, and dusted with a bit of cocoa around the edges to create that lovely grazed look. 

My son's chosen to remain anonymous but my little ol' lady cat Squeaky decided to get in shot:

 And the close up:

 Tell me:  What do you do for Halloween?

 
That's it for now.

Vita :)

My beauty bank...

...is a tale of good intentions, of initial triumph, of tragedy, and finally of redemption (I hope) - yay! How's that for a ridiculous introduction?

Behold the Beauty Bank - complete with my lip print*
(*Lip print courtesy of Napoleon Perdis DeVine Goddess Lipstick - Calypso)

So how does this story go?  It all started with me telling my son I wasn't going to buy any makeup until after Christmas.  Of course, then I set myself some rules and rewards - how I love those! - and I made a public enough declaration on Twitter to make myself accountable and, thank you, I got lots of words of encouragement in return.  So, the rules are quite simple:

1. Put $1 in the Beauty Bank each day I don't buy any makeup items
2. Double the daily deposit and put $2 in the Beauty Bank each day I'm feeling really, REALLY tempted and don't make a makeup purchase
3. Deduct $1 from the Beauty Bank for every unnecessary makeup item purchased

Week 1 I was going great, and despite a few temptations (I really wanted theBalm's Nude 'Tude palette on THAT particular week because the blogosphere was drowning me in it!) I stuck it out.  I thought it was going to be easy!  Well....then I fell off the wagon THREE times!

Oops #1 - courtesy of my husband.  Not his fault okay.  He just told me about an online beauty sale on discount website Catch of the Day.  Of course I looked, and of course I found a bargain in the form of a random selection of eight L'Oreal makeup products for less than $30.  Bargains trip me up every time.  Deduct $8 from the Beauty Bank. That one really hurt.

Oops #2 - a few days later I was seduced by another bargain in the form of a 'buy one get one free' Revlon Super Lustrous lipstick deal at Chemist Warehouse.  Deduct $1 (or should it be $2?) because technically I only purchased one item - I can feel I'm on shaky ground here.

Oops #3 - the MAC Marilyn Monroe collection launched.  Holy moly I just couldn't let that beautiful LE packaging slip me by as Marilyn is one of my icons.  One lipstick and one eyeshadow pan later and I had to deduct another $2...

So that's the sad part of the tale.  For another week or so I felt dejected and didn't think I deserved to deposit anything in my B.Bank because I'd failed on such a major scale - all in the period of a week!

Now I've come to another week.  I'm willing to give it a try and I'm 'fessing up about my failure so I can start afresh.   Let's see how I go from here...

Thanks for reading my (silly, strange) little confession.  It makes me feel better anyway.

Vita :)

OPI: Pamploma Purple

I thought I'd show you the undercoat I used as a base for Fantasy Fire because it also happens to be a lovely, chic polish in its own right.

Pamploma Purple hails from OPI's La Coleccion de España, released way back in 2009, and frankly a gazillion collections ago! I feel like I can't keep up with their releases at the moment but anyway...  Pamploma Purple is a perfectly classic purple creme with that high lacquer finish I love - I only wish I'd worn it alone for more than a day before I dressed it up!  The usual spiel applies when it comes to application:  perfectly smooth, opaque and glassy in two coats.  I felt pretty glam wearing this almost vampy shade. 

Indoors - natural daylight

 

Sun

Shade

Wishing you all a happy Monday!

Vita :)

Max Factor: Fantasy Fire

Ah Fantasy Fire, with a name like that you expect something special, something that looks like a magical flame...

I have to you tell it's true.  The initials FF could equally stand for Freaking Fabulous when it comes to this nail polish and I was very grateful it was gifted to me!  I layered two coats of FF over a deep purple creme base (OPI's Pamploma Purple) and was amazed at how my manicure came to life in the sunlight with its ethereally intense sparkle.  It was a little tricky to photograph though and the true beauty of this polish is best seen in real life - then you get the full sense of the multichrome shimmer.  In sunlight the orange shimmer - the fire - really dominates.  Get ready for a swag of pictures!

Sun

Shade

Thanks again Emma!

Have a great weekend everyone.

Vita :)

Perfect partners: Chanel Insouciance & Rimmel Undressed

When wearing nude lipstick I usually enhance it with a layer of matching gloss to give my (fairly thin) lips a fuller look.  My lips aren't as full as they once were so I need a bit of oomph and as I'm scared of injectables I rely on gloss for the illusion of plump, juicy lipped youth!

I like creamy, non shimmery nudes yet for some reason it's so difficult to find the perfect creamy-caramel-nude-NON-shimmery gloss to top off my lipstick - currently my nude lippy of choice is the deliciously caramel toned nude, Undressed by Rimmel. You can imagine how happy I was a few weeks ago *cue one of those little happy jigs!* when I found THE perfect gloss when idly cruising the Chanel counter.

Rimmel Undressed, please meet Chanel Extrait de Gloss 51 Insouciance...

Now I was in one of those moods and found out that 'Insouciance' translates as recklessness so it seems to be the perfect partner for a lipstick named Undressed on that basis alone!

Side by side you can see the close resemblance in shade. 

Swatched Top to Bottom:

Rimmel Undressed

Chanel Insouciant

Insouciant layered over Undressed

As you can see from the swatch Undressed (top) has a creamy semi-matte finish and while it looks a little pink toned on my arm, trust me it's a true caramel nude on my lips.  Chanel's gel formula gloss Insouciance (middle) has fantastic opaque coverage when worn alone but because it's so close in tone to Undressed it layers over Undressed easily, adding shine without any significant change to the colour.  I get the perfect glossy nude lip I'm craving with this combination. 

The lip swatch:

  Undressed topped with Insouciance

Now I'm not the only one with a passion for layering with Chanel nude glosses.  For another great post see Lola's post here..

What's your favourite lip colour combo?

How do you like to wear nude lips?

That's it for now.

Vita :)

BYS Magnetic: Jupiter

Now for the fourth and final instalment in my BYS Magnetic series.

Jupiter is a soft metallic golden bronze, just the sort of shade I'd love in an eyeshadow actually!  It's a lovely antique, autumnal shade and again looks great with or without the magnetic stamping - yes I had the foresight to take before and after shots again.  Being the last magnetic polish I had a bit of a play with the magnet so you can see how the orientation of the stripes has varied slightly from one finger to the next.  There's a guide on one side of the magnet to assist with consistent positioning of the magnetic pattern but I went ahead and did my own thing for a bit of fun as you do...

All pictures taken indoors in cloudy conditions:

And the 'before' shot as promised:

As I've mentioned previously I've only shown you 4 of a range of 9 shades.  The other shades available in the BYS Magnetics collection can be viewed at the Fashion Addict website here.  Each of these shades is available with your choice of magnetic pattern in either horizontal stripe, diagonal stripe or wave patterns.

Until next time.

Vita :)

 (These products have been provided for my consideration.  All comments and opinions are my own.)

A gift, a prize, and a freebie...

 This post is simply about some beauty items I've been lucky enough to receive lately with no spending required.  I've had a bit to be grateful for this month...

The Gift:

Max Factor Max Effect Mini Nail Polish - Fantasy Fire

The lovely Emma of emmabovarybeauty gave me this precious little polish as a thank you gift but I'm taking the opportunity to say thank you right back Emma!  Fantasy Fire has appeared on many blogs because of its incredible flash of colour - in various light the sparkles change from red to gold to green to blue! You can see the rainbow multi-chrome in the bottle and now I've tried it I can tell you it doesn't disappoint on the nails. As a matter of fact I'm wearing it right now and yes, the NOTD post will be coming soon!   I just hope the pictures do it justice.

The Prize:

theBalm Overshadow mineral eyeshadow - Work is Overrated

I put in a spur of the moment entry on a Twitter comp run by theBalm Australia and the next day I found I'd won! Isn't that the best feeling - reminds me of when I put a dollar in a poker/slot machine and it spewed out $100 (a random act with a great result and I knew to walk away)!  Anyway back on to the topic of makeup I don't have a heap of products from theBalm nor do I have a heap of mineral eyeshadow pots so I was happy to win this one to try.  Work is Overrated is described as a "shimmering pink champagne" and looks very bright and light, very Marilyn Monroe to me.  This eyeshadow can be applied wet or dry and the shade's also suitable to use as a cheekbone highlight.  I'm a fan of pale shimmery shades both as highlights and washes of colour so I know I'll get a lot of wear out of this.  A quick wash over the lid, a slick of eyeliner and mascara and I'll be done!


The Freebie:
 Kit lip Glaze - The Shop Shade

The freebie is courtesy of a current promotion with the November issue of Australian Shop Til You Drop magazine and Kit cosmetics.  Kit and Shop magazine have collaborated to produce a lip glaze shade called appropriately "The Shop Shade" which actually translates as a hot raspberry red.  The lip glazes are a recent addition to the Kit line so I was keen to try one.  The finish is very pigmented, with a glassy shine and non-sticky.  I'm loving the colour too!


The Swatches:
Left to Right - The Shop Shade, Work is Overrated, Fantasy Fire

Sun

Shade

Australian readers interested in the Kit Lip Glaze offer can check out details here.

That's it for now.

Vita :)