OPI: Live And Let Die

Today's dark polish is perfect for the change of season down here - winter seems to have arrived early - and is yet another sophisticated star from the OPI Skyfall collection.  I've loved every shade I've swatched so far and this one is no different.

The rather unusual Live And Let Die is described by OPI as "private jet black".  How can I describe this better for my understanding anyway?  I look at this dark complex polish as an almost murky blackened green with tiny golden flecks glimmering subtly in the mix.  Dark and mysterious this one is...

Sun

Shade

That's it for tonight

Birthday gift: Tom Ford Nail Lacquer Set

I received the most unexpected, clever and glamorous birthday present from my husband a few days ago:  a hand selected collection of Tom Ford nail polish!  True to form he'd done his research and knew this was something I didn't have but very much wanted to try.  Using my blog as a reference point (this is what he told me) he and the Tom Ford SA decided on a selection of nail polish shades they thought I'd like.  They did pretty darn well too I have to say.  

As I said this was totally unexpected so when I unwrapped and held the weighty brown box embellished with Tom Ford on its lid I literally had no idea at all as to what was inside.  The mystery box (covered with my fingerprints I now notice)...

...was opened to reveal four bottles of Tom Ford nail lacquer. I gasped, squealed and had to cover my mouth - I'm serious.  I still get excited like a little girl when I'm surprised by luxe gifts, especially when they're luxury beauty gifts presented as beautifully as this!

Taking a closer look the choices were very thoughtful, taking into account my love of purple obviously, and my love of orange.

Left to Right:
Ginger Fire, African Violet, Bordeaux Lust, Viper

Ginger Fire - is a vibrant red-toned orange with the slightest golden shimmer (the fire perhaps?) which only reveals itself in bright sunlight.  This was the surprise shade of the selection.

African Violet - a magenta-purple cream.

Bordeaux Lust - this deep brown-red cream reminds me of dried blood.  Very vampy.

Viper - Dark aubergine cream. Even vampier. I'm going to feel slightly dangerous wearing this shade.

The swatches (in same order as above): 

I can see myself wearing all of these so at this point don't ask me what my favourite shade is - yet!

EOTD: ModelCo Island Fever trio palette

I've been playing it safe with eye looks lately so I haven't done anything post-worthy for a while but finally(!) I've broken out of my neutral rut.  I got an interesting eyeshadow trio from Australian beauty brand ModelCo in a promotional show bag I bought at the Royal Melbourne Show last year and now I've decided to break it out of its box and play with some serious colour on my eyes!

As this look is based almost entirely on the ModelCo Eyeshadow Trio palette in Island Fever I've taken the opportunity to do a mini review of this palette before getting into the details of my EOTD look.

 Island Fever

The Island Fever palette is made up of a colourful combination of two shimmers and a darker matte shade. From left these are:  Costa Rica (a neutral beige shimmer which is something I personally can't be without in my makeup collection), Positano (a vivid turquoise shimmer which was the shade I was the most intrigued by and I guess nervous about) and Tahiti (described as matte midnight navy, perfect for use as a liner or to create a deep blue smokey eye).  You can see how the interesting mix of shades offers the choice of playing it safe and neutral with a just a hint of colour accent or going all out with a deep, yet vivid smokey eye.

When doing the initial swatching I was impressed with the smooth application of these shadows, the lack of fallout and the depth of pigment, particularly that of matte Tahiti.  These swatches are two swipes on bare skin.

Swatched from top:

Costa Rica, Positano, Tahiti

My play it safe instincts would have me immediately going for a neutral beige eye using the dark matte shade as a coloured liner but I opted to make Positano the focus of my look, and applied it all over my lids while incorporating the other two shades for highlight and definition.  It's not something I'd automatically choose to wear but I did like the way the turquoise Positano seemed to brighten my eyes:

What I applied and where:

• Bloom Eye Base blended all over lid and crease
• Positano brushed all over lid and blended in crease. I also used it as a coloured liner on the inner third of the lower lash line
• Costa Rica on inner corner of lids and brushed lightly over browbones
• Tahiti on outer corners of lids and outer lower lash line
• Mirenesse Tight Liner Hydra Gel Eye Liner (Caviar Black) drawn all along the upper lash line for definition, with Tahiti applied over it with a pencil brush to soften the line
• Bourjois Volume Glamour Ultra Curl Mascara (Black) on upper lashes and outer lower lashes

Have you tried ModelCo products?

Face of Australia: Castle on a Cloud

It feels like I'm showcasing the many moods of nail polish at the moment.  I've gone from fierce and edgy, to cute and fun, and now to subdued.

Castle on a Cloud is one of the last shades I have to show you from Face of Australia's Summer 2012 Pastel collection (I think I have one more somewhere???).  Anyway I was fully expecting to be bored by this shade - and honestly that's why I hadn't worn it until recently - but I ended up quite liking it because it isn't a straight grey as it first appears but it has a rather feminine lavender undertone, and it has the slightest hint of shimmer.  Who knew that grey could actually be pretty? No - Don't answer that! I know, I know...

This is the usual two coats with top coat and again this FOA polish gave wonderful opaque coverage for a pastel.

 Shade

Partial sun

Full sun

Do you like edgy, cute or subdued manicures or do you like to mix it up like me?

w7: Lava Flow

I'm now finally venturing into the milky-glitter polish experience!

A little while ago I bought a small bundle of w7 polishes because:  they were cute;  I'd never tried w7 before;  and they were very cheap at $2.99AUD a bottle.  w7 is a UK budget beauty brand and I'm keeping within my comfort zone of trying their nail polish range first.   Lava Flow is from w7's Sprinkle range and is a milky white polish sprinkled (obviously) with a smattering of red and dark blue glitter.  I applied two easy coats and then fell in love with this fun manicure.  My last posted mani was described as "fierce" - well this one is just plain fun!

Indoors

Sun

Until next time!

April's farewelled products (2013 edition)

My empties posts are getting later and later each month.  Here's hoping I post my May empties before the end of June!  I'll try not to ramble too much this month because I have quite a few products that bit the dust as you'll see...

Skin care

30) Australis 3 in 1 wipes make-up remover (25 wipes) - So these are soap, alcohol and fragrance free and infused with aloe vera and chamomile but...they were dry! Someone tell me I bought a dud package (please!) because otherwise I'll tell you these are uselessly dry - except for the last 2 or 3 wipes at the bottom of the pack.  I resorted to wetting them to get some use out of them.  Repurchase? A resounding NO.

31) Maybelline Express Care Eye & Lip Makeup Remover (90ml) - Inexpensive, gentle and reliable at removing my makeup but this was the last bottle I'll use in this particular formula.  Maybelline have recently released a new reformulated and repackaged version which I'm using now.

32) Avene Cleanance Gel Soapless Cleanser (200ml/6.76 fl.oz) - This cleansing gel is targeted at cleansing oily, blemish-prone skin but I found it very gentle at cleansing my combination/occasionally dry skin during my morning shower.  As far as cleansing gels go this rinsed off very quickly and easily too.  Loved it. 

 

Hand and body care

33) Crabtree & Evelyn Rosewater Hand Therapy (25g/0.9 oz) - This hand cream smells literally of rose petals and feels richly moisturising without being greasy.  A gorgeously soothing product for winter-parched hands with my favourite magic ingredient included:  Shea butter! 

34) China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat (14ml/.5 fl.oz) - Dries my nails in a few minutes without dissolving the colour beneath.  One gripe? You can tell when it's getting too thick and old because it can wrinkle your manicure.

35) OPI Original Polish Remover (120ml - 4 fl.oz) - I've been mixing it up a bit of late but this is my nail polish remover of choice.

36) Vaseline Total Moisture Aloe Fresh Daily Light Lotion SPF 15 (200ml) - Great concept with the built-in SPF but terrible formula! The thick white lotion took an eternity to rub in to my skin and I don't have the time or patience for spending minutes on body moisturising in the morning.  I have SPF 30 products which absorb in less than half the time so I won't be buying this any time soon.

37) The Body Shop Chocomania Body Scrub (200ml/7.75 oz) - This indulged my chocolate-loving senses in the shower! I love how it exfoliates and moisturises the skin at the same time and I have bought another tub already.  Be warned - you might have to clean the shower afterwards - but it will smell delicious!

 

Hair care

38) L'Oreal Volume Expand Volumising Root Lift Spray (125ml/4.2 fl. oz) - The only product I use for my fine hair is a root lift spray for volume without any crunch.  I use 4 quick sprays on my damp hair before I dry it, then blow-dry and - Voila!  I look like I have more hair!  I used this bottle daily and it lasted months and months.  Yes, I have bought another bottle.  

 

Cosmetics

39) theBalm Sexy Mama anti-shine, translucent powder (7.08g/0.25 oz) - I did a full review of this powder when I bought it last year (here). I was a little on the fence about it at that time but I love how natural and lightweight this powder was on my skin and considering I used it daily it lasted a very long time.  A good value mattifying powder and after finishing it I can now say I would buy it again.

40) MAC Powerpoint Eyeliner Pencil (Duck) - This was the perfect brown-grey hybrid pencil.  If I didn't have such a glut of eyeliner pencils I would definitely repurchase.

That's it for the latest empties!  

 

Nail It! - Purple Haze

Hello :)

I love purple AND I love glitter so I was head over heels when I spotted Sportsgirl's purple glitter polish shade Purple Haze in their Nail It! line late last year. Typically this polish was another 'blink and you'll miss it' LE polish so I apologize for posting it so very late. 

Purple Haze is a mix of predominantly purple hex glitter, with blue and red hex glitter and some larger silver diamond shaped glitter thrown in. I wore two coats over a dark blue base (Maybelline Sapphire Siren) and topped it with two generous layers of top coat to even it out a little. 

All pictures were taken in cloudy conditions:

What do you think of this combination?