Silver tipped French mani

Hi!

I've been getting busy with work and life lately so I'll keep this post short and sweet.  Last week's work manicure was still going strong on Friday night so rather than repainting I did a fun touch up for the weekend.   I used another old Nail It! polish, the foil silver Bionic to apply the French tips then finished with butterfly stickers for each ring finger.  I think I managed to make a grey manicure look cute!

I hope you're having a great Valentine's day if you're celebrating.  My Hubby bought me a gorgeous little gift which I'll share with you as soon as I have time to take the pics.

Vita :) xoxo

EOTD: MAC Crystal

I've had MAC's Crystal eyeshadow in my make-up collection for ages and only figured how to make it work for me a little while ago.  A wash over the lid of this blue-toned lilac looked a bit too 1970's retro on me but when I applied Crystal as a crease accent it looked a lot more flattering.  I created this cool-toned daytime look using a combination of three MAC shades (Phloof!, Crystal, Satellite Dreams) and was pretty happy with the end result.

Never mind the eyebrows - I was experimenting with the eyebrow pencil and got a little carried away!

To achieve this look I used the following:

• Face of Australia primer (matte) blended over the lids
• Phloof! on lids
• Crystal blended in crease
• Satellite Dreams on outer corners blended to outer V
• MAC Duck Powerpoint pencil on upper and lower lash lines
• Napoleon Perdis Whole Lotta Lash mascara (black) on upper lashes 
• Avon Glimmersticks Brow Definer (blonde) on brows

L - R colours used & swatches:

Phloof!

Crystal

Satellite Dreams

What colour do you find challenging to wear on your eyes?

Until next time.

Vita :)

Nail It! Skeleton

Hello

My hands and nails have copped a bit of abuse this past week.  First I badly tore the cuticle on one of the fingers of my swatching hand at the start of the week, then I went and tore two fingernails down to the quick - fortunately on the other hand.  Result:  I've had to crop these pictures to spare you my cuticle gore, and after the breaking debacle I've had to nubbinise my nails so they look reasonably neat and even. 

OK, enough of my little sob story.  The mani I'm posting is what I wore for my first day back at the office.  I wanted something non-committal to wear so I chose Skeleton, another of my polishes from Sportsgirl's Nail It! range.  This light grey creme reminds me of putty.  It's an on-trend neutral and I wanted to love it but I don't think this shade particularly loves my complexion:

 Outdoors shade

Sun

 

I hope you're enjoying your weekend.

Vita :)

Haul post: Bargain bling!

I've been very disciplined and haven't bought any make-up since declaring my ban.  It hasn't stopped me from picking up few other things during the summer sales though.  A few weeks ago Australian accessories company Lovisa  had a 3 for $10 sale and I managed to find some nice casual pieces of jewellery for the season - I do love a good bargain!  I thought I'd share my latest "splurge" with you so here are the pictures. 

This pendant has a bit of a boho feel to it with its mix of textures and I like the warm colour combination. 

 

The cat's out of the bag here!   If you didn't already know it I'm a Taurean.  I like the description on the backing card of this bangle.  Yes, I'm practical, patient, honourable and sensitive.  It's a lot nicer a description than stubborn, temperamental, and possessive - all true too by the way on occasion...

Turquoise is having a moment and I'm glad so it wasn't a big decision to buy these earrings as my third piece.  Turquoise always looks wonderful against white and I've I recently seen it surprisingly successfully paired with a medium brown patterned dress, giving it a lift.

Thanks for looking!

Vita :)

Glitter time!! Kleancolor - Dolly Girl + Essence - Forget-Me-Not

A quickie post for the end of the week :-)

I was originally planning to dress up Forget-Me-Not with silver glitter when I opened my bathroom cupboard and spotted Dolly Girl from Kleancolor.  My friend aka the Disney Princess bought this along with some other fabulous Kleancolor glitters for me last year.  Dolly Girl comprises lilac-purple glitter in a clear base.  This is two coats:

Full sun

Shade

Now for some bonus bling here's a cute little ring I bought on my beach holiday which just happened to match my manicure. Eeep! My hands look 100 years old at the moment.  I need to apply more hand cream - stat!

Have a great weekend!  Hubby and I will be celebrating Valentine's Day a little early with a special dinner date on Sunday night.

Vita :)

Making up: My basic face

Everybody has those days when they don't feel like experimenting or doing anything too elaborate with their make-up.  I certainly do and that's why I have my fail-safe no brainer make-up look.  It's one I can turn to when I don't want to think about colour matching and perfect application.  My look is based on neutrals for a simple and natural 'me but better' look.

Here are the ingredients for my basic face:

Base

• Tinted moisturiser (optional) - If I'm not too lazy I'll start with a tinted base if my skin needs a bit of help.  I use Invisible Zinc Tinted Daywear because it's a multi-tasker:   moisturising, perfecting my complexion and protecting my skin from the sun.
• Illuminating concealer - to cover up under-eye circles and minor blemishes.  I can't stand looking tired especially when I am (a lot!) so this step's a must for me.  Lately I've been loving Maybelline's Dream Lumi Touch highlighting concealer because it's great value for money and performs as well as the luxe products for my needs.  I also dab and blend a little of this on my lips as a primer before I apply lipstick!
• Sheer pressed powder - I'll brush a little MAC Select Sheer pressed powder over my face to reduce shine without masking my complexion.
• Soft peach powder blush (optional) -  If I'm looking too pasty and pale I'll use a matte blush in a soft subtle shade to give me a hint of healthy flush.  A soft peach/pink shade such as Essence's Silky Touch Blush in Adorable is perfect for my pale complexion because there's no risk of me OD'ing on the colour and looking like a doll!

Eyes

• Eyeshadow in either a soft shimmery taupe (Maybelline Silken Taupe) or beige (MAC Shroom) -  applied as a wash over my lids up to the crease. Taupe gives me a natural contoured look without the fuss and blending, while beige brightens up my eyes when I'm looking tired.
• Grey/brown eyeliner (optional) - I've been using Duck from MAC on my outer upper lash line to open up my eyes and give them a bit of subtle definition
• Thickening mascara - I like to use a mascara where I only need one swipe to emphasize my lashes.  I have a few different brands on rotation at any one time and honestly, I'll make a random grab for them in the morning.  I've chosen Rimmel's Volume Flash x 10 as an example because it only needs one coat to make a noticeable difference and it's one of the cheapest drugstore mascaras around.

Lips

• Mauve nude lipstick - A shade close to my natural lip colour gives me a fresh natural lip without the need for lipliner.  I have very mauvey toned lips and Rimmel's Asia is definitely a MLBB shade with an added subtle sheen and shimmer.

Oops!  I nearly forgot to photograph some swatches.  Here they are, and you can really see what I mean about these being no fuss shades.  The eyeshadow and blush are so soft against my skin-tone they're literally impossible for me to mess up.  Both photos are taken in natural daylight.

L-R:

MAC Duck Powerpoint eye pencil

Maybelline Silken Taupe eyeshadow

MAC Shroom eyeshadow

Essence Adorable blush

Rimmel Asia lipstick

 

What are the essentials for your basic face?

Until next time.

Vita :)

Essence: Forget-Me-Not

 Happy Wednesday!

This nail polish colour from Essence's recent Blossoms etc collection is very self-explanatory.  Forget-Me-Not is, well, the colour of those pretty little Forget-Me-Not flowers that I remember from my childhood.  It's also my idea of the perfect periwinkle blue I'd been hunting down for the longest time and had just about given up hope on finding.  This soft shade has the subtlest blue shimmer through it but it's near invisible on the nail and impossible to capture in pictures.  I love it regardless because it's THE shade I'd been lemming for most of last year and now it's mine!

Outdoors shade

 

Partial sun

For comparison, here are those pretty little flowers...

[Source]

Until next time.

Vita :)