Sephora: Full Moon Party

I'm posting a polish from my recent Sephora expedition and considering this shade has probably been around for a while I'm surprised by how few decent swatches are out there!

Full Moon Party is one complex little purple polish, livened up by pink and blue micro-glitter so it appears multidimensional in the light.  It's not in your face but it has interest.  Application was a breeze with the wide, curved edge brush and the polish was almost a one-coater.  I won't say any more. I will let the pictures hopefully do justice to this little gem for purple polish lovers out there...

Indoors

 

 

 

Shade

 

Sun

 

 

 Thanks for looking!

 



My new Tom Ford Lip Color & Lip Color Shines (with lip swatches)

Hello!

 

I've made no secret of my love for Tom Ford's Lip Color line. I've been pretty restrained considering, as until now my collection consisted of just two full sized lipsticks and a complimentary sample sized tube. In actual fact I'd only bought one of these as the other two were gifted by my ever thoughtful husband so I've been really restrained.  Yeah, so I was restrained until I headed overseas and found TF selling for just a little less than our exorbitant Australian prices...

I chose two shades from the traditional Lip Color line and when I spotted the new Lip Color Shines in Hong Kong I opted for one of those as at that time they were yet to release in Australia.  They have since been released down here and are now available in selected David Jones stores. 

 

 Tom Ford Lip Color left to right:

01 Spanish Pink, 22 Forbidden Pink

 

 

I picked some soft warm-toned pinks to balance my little collection of TF bright reds.  Spanish Pink is an almost nude pink cream, while Forbidden Pink is a mid toned salmon pink I've already found very versatile to wear. I've since discovered Forbidden Pink is one of Tom Ford Beauty's Asia-exclusive shades so I'll have to treasure this one, although I think it's going to be difficult to hold me back from wearing it often.  Both of these lipsticks have the creamy comfort and intense pigmentation I'm used to and do not bleed on the lips. I just love them!

 

 

Tom Ford Lip Color Shine:

10 Willful

 

 

 I was excited to swatch these new lightweight, shinier slimline lip shades and I was torn between the  hot pink Ravenous and orange-red Willful but ended up deciding on Willful because it seemed more of a year round kind of shade.  While I really like the look the shiny finish gives to my lips the Lip Color Shines obviously don't have the same staying power as the original Lip Colors  - and may travel outside the lip line over time - so I wouldn't consider them a necessary beauty investment.  Still, if you prefer something which sits between lipstick and gloss and you're a Tom Ford fan this may just be your thing.  If I were to buy another shade I'd personally choose a softer nude or lip toned pink for my mature lips so any bleeding wouldn't be obvious.   

 

****

 

Now - for those of you who requested here are some lip swatches. My makeup is minimal to keep the focus on the lips - just a bit of powder foundation and concealer (not even blush!) on my face, with a little liquid eyeliner and mascara on my top lashes.  Also, please excuse the lack of styled hair - I did these shots this afternoon on a whim!  I'm not in the habit of posting my full face on the blog but I suddenly decided well, why not? Now you can actually see how these lipsticks show up on my NC20 face... 

 



01 Spanish Pink

 

 22 Forbidden Pink

 10 Willful

 Which shade do you prefer?

 

 

Until next time.

China Glaze: Tree Hugger

Flying in the face of our cold winter weather down here in Melbourne I have another - ever so slightly out there - summer colour for this NOTD post.

 

China Glaze's Tree Hugger was one of my Great Singapore Sale buys and was such a fun (fun! FUN!!) shade to wear.  This yellow-based green reminds me of good old Granny Smith apples, right down to the golden shimmery undertones.  The formula was a little on the thick side but didn't cause any major application issues and the finish was ultra smooth in two coats.  My research tells me Tree Hugger was released way back in 2008 as part of an eco-themed collection so it wouldn't surprise me at all if the bottle I bought is pretty old, explaining the thickness of this polish.  

All pictures taken in the Singaporean sun!

 

 

 

This shade definitely has me craving warm weather again!

 

Until next time

 

Revlon Colorstay: Cafe Pink

Wow, it was a long time ago I wore this on my nails! As a matter of fact this was the manicure I gave myself just before heading off on holiday - means it's got sentimental value, right?

Oh, enough of the random rambling and me dragging out my holiday memoirs.  This is all about the polish - Café Pink by Revlon.  Café Pink is one of those classic pink creams I very rarely wear but end up loving when I do.  It's a flattering slightly warm shade of pastel pink, cream but with a barely visible shimmer in the bottle, which of course is invisible on the nail. Two coats gave really good creamy coverage and this manicure stood up to its long wearing claims - those of you following me on Instagram may remember that! I wore it for around 10 days - which must be some kind of record for me - and I had only tip wear to show for it.  Not bad. The perfect choice for a busy sightseeing holiday!

Sun

 

 

 

Shade

 

 

Have you tried Revlon Colorstay Long Wear nail polish?

 

 



The great Singapore vacation haul!

Spare time has been particularly scarce lately which explains why it's taken so long to get this post up.  Here I am apologising again *gulp*.

 

This picture post is another example of my tendency to shop til I drop when I'm overseas - and I didn't waste any opportunities in Singapore! As I said in my Hong Kong post, if I'd known better I probably would have bought some of these products over there rather than Singapore, particularly luxe brands such as Tom Ford and Chanel, but overall I think I fared pretty well  - helped along by the Great Singapore Sale bargains! As always you'll notice I bought a lot of nail polish so that's the logical place to start...

OPI

Left to Right:

A Butterfly Moment

A Definite Moust-Have
DS Magic
Tiffany Case

Three out of four bottles were bought on sale from the OPI Centre in Forum Shopping Mall and Tiffany Case was bought from a big Sasa sale occupying half the ground floor space of Plaza Singapura. Dare I say I might have my doubts about my Sasa buy because the labelling on the bottle base is missing the usual barcode and batch numbers.  We shall see...



 

China Glaze

Left to Right:

Fancy Pants

Glitter Goblin

Tree Hugger

 

These were all bought at the same big Sasa sale for 9.90SGD each.  I don't know if they're fake - I sincerely hope not!  I've worn Tree Hugger so far and while the formula was on the thick side it wore just as well as other China Glaze polishes I've tried.

 

Fuso

Left to Right (no names, just numbers):

75, 94, 56

 

Yes - from the same sale! Fuso polishes are super affordable at 3.30SGD and pretty good quality so these are like the Asian equivalent of Australian bargain brands like Ulta3.



Victoria's Secret

I've never tried anything from the VS fragrance and beauty range so I took advantage of the Great Singapore Sale bargains.  I got the makeup kit heavily reduced at around 22SGD.  Not bad for a blush, eye shadow duo, lip gloss, mascara and nail colour! In retrospect I should have taken more advantage and bought more products from the Amber Romance range as the store was running a 3 for 40SGD offer *sigh* - luggage space was a consideration.

 

Chanel

Left to Right:

Rouge Coco Shine - 467 Pygmalion

Nail Colour - 583 Taboo

Nail Colour - 667 Bel-Argus

 

The Chanel purchases were purely about me utterly spoiling myself! All choices were from the LE collections.  Initially I thought I'd already missed out on the highly sought out Taboo but was lucky enough to find it in stock at the ION Orchard Chanel boutique where I met up with Sophia, the Makeup Blogette.

 



Now for some bottle close ups because it makes me happy...

Tom Ford Lip Colors

Left to Right:

Spanish Pink
Forbidden Pink

I have such an obsession with Mr Ford's lipsticks!  I bought these two in the luxurious Tangs Beauty Hall before we flew to Hong Kong, not realising I'd find Tom Ford selling just that little bit cheaper over there. Oh well - I was happy to later find out Forbidden Pink is an Asian exclusive.  I now have a balanced little TF lipstick collection I think comprising bright fiery reds and softer pinks and corals. Knowing me I'm sure there'll be an occasion to treat myself again *winks*.

 

Sephora & Urban Decay

Clockwise from left:

UD - Naked Basics palette

UD - Naked Palette

Sephora - It's Time To Rock!

Sephora - Full Moon Party

Sephora - City Fog

 

 Feeling like one of the few in the beauty universe who doesn't own a Naked palette, the Urban Decay Naked (or preferably Naked 2) and Naked Basics palettes were always on my wish list.  I badly wanted to score Naked 2 but it was sold out EVERYWHERE(!) so the original Naked was my 'consolation' purchase. Seriously, I'm not complaining though!

The two Sephora brand polishes and mono eye shadow were the impulse buys I guess, after poring over all the shelves, and endless rows of stuff! I seem to be moving into a grey phase with eye shadow so City Fog seemed like a good choice for a matte grey to play with.


Penhaligon's

Sophia introduced me to the scented pleasures of Penhaligon's London boutique in ION Orchard during our brief but productive shopping session. Elizabethan Rose EDT was 50% off, and even though it's a rose scent at its core it doesn't surprise me at all to find the base notes include amber - the fragrance note I'm unconsciously, inevitably drawn to. On top of the discount I also received a sample vial of Peoneve EDP to be tempted by.

 

Drugstore buys (Watsons, Guardian & more Sasa)

Clockwise from top left:

ELF blush - Twinkle Pink

Silkygirl - Magic BB Cream (01 Natural)

Silkygirl - Magic BB Powder Foundation (01 Ivory)

Revlon - Lip Butter (027 Juicy Papaya)

Revlon - Lip Butter (063 Wild Watermelon)

Revlon - Super Lustrous Lipstick (415 Pink In The Afternoon)

Canmake - Cream Cheek (05)

NYX - Cream Blush (05 Glow)



These bits and pieces were accumulated throughout the 10 days we were in Singapore.  The Magic BB powder was actually a backup and I bought the BB cream to try as a cool weather alternative - I'm going to have to set up a supply network for these little drugstore stars!  I went a bit berserk with blush purchases but...they're only drugstore right? Besides I can only buy Canmake, NYX and ELF online in Melbourne (as far as I know).  I do love Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick and was forever searching for the Audrey Hepburn-pink shade Pink In The Afternoon so I pounced on that one - the Lip Butters were shades I'd long been tantalised by on US blogs but wasn't available in Australia. There! I think these are all accounted for!

 

 

Last minute duty free buys...

Left to Right:

Trio Dior Addict Gloss - Princess, Angelique, Diablotine

Chanel - Glossimer (149 Nakkar)

Chanel - Coco Noir EDP

Victoria's Secret - Secret Charm EDT

Victoria's Secret - Secret Charm Hand and Body Cream

 

A 50-50 split of planned and impulse buys on the way out of Singapore! The glosses were all impulse (Gah! I'm such a sucker for pretty...) but I'd always planned on buying a bottle of Coco Noir. I couldn't find any VS Amber Romance products in the store as I'd planned to make up the set so Secret Charm was my next best VS choice. 

 The glosses Left to Right:

Dior - 553 Princess

Dior - 223 Angelique

Dior - 643 Diablotine

Chanel - 149 Nakkar

 

That's enough for now!

 

Overseas trip 2013 - Part 2: Singapore

 

ION Orchard shopping mall after dark

Hello again!

 

Before I get into my Singapore vacation post I have to say there's so much more to Singapore than I'm showing here - and if you're wondering why there aren't any pictures from places like the Singapore Flyer, Universal Studios, Chinatown, or Little India just to name a few it's because we've visited and snapped those on previous trips to Singapore. The photos I've posted just represent our newest experiences in this wonderful place.  After several trips over the years I've developed a genuine love for Singapore so I'd return again in a heartbeat - the climate, the food, the greenery, the shopping, the ever evolving nature of the place, and of course the people - I have a growing circle of Singaporean friends (in Australia too!) so that gives me another reason to love the place...

 

Singapore Zoo

 

 

 

The Singapore Zoo has the most impressive, lush setting so I was just as interested in taking pictures of the vast gardens as the animals.  Seeing the white tigers was a highlight, as was seeing the hippo mama and baby snuggling!
 

 

Marina Bay Sands

The last time I was in Singapore, Marina Bay Sands resort was still under construction and I was incredulous at the design, apparently inspired by a deck of cards (fun fact from Wikipedia).  This time around we did the obvious touristy thing and visited the rooftop Sands SkyPark to take in the view - and maybe check out the iconic infinity pool too.  Well, the rooftop pool can only be accessed by those staying at Marina Bay Sands or a limited number of visitors with special passes so that was out but we did get the view on a relatively clear day.

The cityscape view...

...the two conservatories at Gardens by the Bay...

...and the Singapore Flyer as seen from across the Marina Bay.

My men were checking out the National Day rehearsals down below on the water while I played stealthy paparazzo!  

 

Art Science Museum

Another amazing new building - this one's modelled on the lotus flower and the clever design also captures rainwater which is then recycled for use inside the building.  This was damn difficult to photograph and in retrospect I should have tried to stitch together a panorama to get the whole structure in!  We spent some time inside viewing the current 'Mummy: Secrets of the Tomb' exhibition.

 

One of the many waterlilies in the pond outside. 

 

 

S.E.A. Aquarium

We unluckily chose the very day the local kids were off from school to visit the aquarium so it seemed all of Singapore was in attendance! 

 

Gardens by the Bay - Supertree Grove

 

 

 

I've heard several people refer to the Supertree Grove as being very Avatar-like.  I truly envy the imagination of the person who envisioned this because it seems so prehistoric and other-worldly.  There's a walkway suspended in the air connecting the 16 storey high trees and we paid a measly sum of $5SGD for the privilege.  The trees are also illuminated at night and seeing them all lit up is on my return visit wishlist!

 

Flowerdome

 

 

The Flowerdome is one of the two massive air conditioned conservatories in Gardens by the Bay and was an interesting mix of floral whimsy and other unusual foliage displays including the cactus garden just above.   I've spared you here but for some reason I took a disproportionate (read 'ridiculous') number of pictures of cacti and succulents - probably because they were actually the first things greeting me when I entered the dome!

 

 

Cloud Forest

The Cloud Forest dome was dominated by the cooling 35-metre waterfall spraying fine mist everywhere and the manmade mountain blanketed in rainforest plants. You take an elevator to the top of the mountain then make your way down via the wire walkway encircling it. 


Equinox

To finish I'm sharing the wonderful view of Marina Bay my husband and I enjoyed during our dinner for two at Equinox restaurant, some 70 floors up.


Next post:  The great Singapore beauty haul!