Just for fun: essence glossy lipbalm

I've got to confess I've been just a little bit infatuated with essence cosmetics since discovering their cheap and cheerful line at Priceline a few months ago.  I've pretty much loved their nail polish and eyeshadow and for $2.95AUD each I could easily justify trying one of their little tubes of glossy lipbalm.  It started with just one, but after trying it I went back and bought the whole lot!  How old am I again??  Not too old to have some girly fun!

Here are the cute little tubes (0.28fl.oz/8,5ml each) and some swatches on the back of  my hand:

From left to right these are:

• Sparkling cherry - the picture doesn't show it but this cherry-scented gloss does have a very subtle sparkle
• Sweet strawberry - very sweet strawberry scent, pale, virtually colourless shimmer on the lips
• Toffee frappucino - the most opaque in this range, a shimmery caramel gloss, with a sweet coffee scent
• Berry sorbet - this was the first tube in my collection.  Gorgeous deep blue-pink shimmery gloss with a delicious sugary lolly scent.  Aussie girls should know what I mean when I say it smells just like Redskin lollies - Yummy!
• Pink dragonfruit - deep red-pink sparkle, smells like dragonfruit?!?

These are all very wet glosses and therefore they need constant reapplication but I don't think that's an issue considering the price.  They're great to throw in your jeans pocket or purse for a bit of inexpensive fun - and they're suitable for girly girls of all ages.

Until my next post.

Vita :)

Mini haul: China Glaze

Hello!

Another quick post to share my new China Glaze polishes with you.  I love these colours because they're all rich and opulent.  I think they'll be great to wear this winter.

From left to right these are:  Midnight Mission, Stella, and Draped in Velvet

And up close:

 

I'm thinking of ordering some more China Glaze from Trans Design because of the cheaper prices and huge range.  Can anyone give me their opinion/experiences with Trans Design?  Good idea?  Are they a reliable etailer?  I'd appreciate to hear your thoughts.

That's all for now.

 

Vita :)



NOTD: LA Girl - Platforms

As I was saying the other day I had a craving for colour.  Today's a gorgeous sunny day, I've got the day off, so let's go for some serious colour - neon fuschia creme!

I bought LA Girl Platforms last year, inspired by the Juicy Couture's advertising campaign for Viva La Juicy perfume.  The girl in the magazine ad had the most amazing screaming fuschia nails which stood out against her blonde hair and alabaster skin.  The ad caught my attention but obviously not in the way it was intended!

Platform is a shade from LA Girl's Disco Brites range.  It's a black light nail polish intended to glow at the nightclub.  I don't have any black lightbulbs to test it and show you but I'm happy enough with the colour during the daylight!!   This was two coats:

To pretty this up a little more I added some Essence nail stickers to my ringer fingers:



And...Here was my inspiration for hunting down this colour!

[Source]

I purchased my LA Girls nail polish for around $5AUD from Groove Accessories.  Australian readers can access their website here

Until my next post.

Vita :)

Freebie alert for Aussie girls: Kit nail polish

This is a quickie post to let you know - just in case you don't already cos it came out last week - about the freebie deal in this month's issue of Shop Til You Drop magazine.

Shop mag and Kit cosmetics have collaborated to produce a limited edition free nail polish shade called SHOP Loves Sunset, described on Shop mag's website as a "creamy blend of lolly pink and peach".  I've picked one up myself and I think it's a pretty accurate description although I've not had the chance to wear it - Yet!

If you love Kit nail polish then pick up the May issue of Shop Til You Drop and head down to your nearest Kit store!

That's all for now.

Vita :)

Vintage MAC polish: Abstract

Abstract is the last of my vintage MAC polishes.  This is definitely the quiet, retiring shade of the bunch, bordering on boring actually.  Abstract is a dusty mauve-pink satin shimmer which blends in with my hands.  I can imagine I bought it as a safe shade to wear to work - pretty but doesn't draw any attention to itself.

I applied two coats of colour but I still noticed some uneven patches on the nail.  Oh well, this is a bit of  fail for me:

After three days of wearing this to the office I'm craving some colour!

That's all for now.

Vita :)

EOTD: Witchery palette

Wow!  My How much is your face worth? post certainly provoked a lot of interest - Great!

I thought I'd push it a bit further with a few more posts along this theme. The first one will be on the cost of my weekday (office) face just to scare you girls a bit more about the price of beauty *sniggers*. The other post will be a personal challenge post to see how low I can go in price without skimping on quality.  This one will be a retail rather than online purchase challenge just because I like to try and then buy on the spot!


Anyway, moving on to today's post.   I was having a girly afternoon with some close friends a few weekends ago.  You know what I mean - a long lazy gossipy lunch, followed by wandering in and out of stores, finding little treasures long the way...

We were browsing around the Witchery women's fashion store when I spied their eyeshadow palettes at the checkout register selling at $19.95AUD.  I love chic packaging, so I fell in love with the minimalist presentation of this palette and the neutral shades:

Unfortunately this palette has no name!

I created a quick daytime look using a combination of all of these shades over eye base and this was the result:

I was reasonably happy with the soft neutral look but found that this eyeshadow had creased a little at the end of the day (even with eye base). Hmmm.

I also picked up some bling in the form of yet another pair of silver earrings!!  These cost $12.95AUD.

Funnily enough, I didn't actually buy any clothes!
That's all for now.

Vita :)

NOTD: Vintage MAC Luxurious + OPI Black Shatter

So, here's vintage MAC polish number three in my collection - Luxurious.

Luxurious really blew me out of the water when I applied it and I can't believe I haven't worn this shade before.  This chrome mauvey pink is luminous, blingy and definitely out there - it lives up to its name! Two coats gave good even coverage with minimal streaking.  Chrome polishes tend to be unforgiving, showing up every little ridge on the nail so I gave mine a good buffing and applied a thick base coat before applying colour. 

Here's the result.  All photos were taken outdoors:

Full sun

Shade

As gorgeous as this was on its own I wondered how it would look with coat of OPI's Black Shatter.  I wasn't disappointed! 

Until my next post.

Vita :)