Chi Chi salon formula nail polish: Capital H.I.M.

Chi Chi is an Australian brand known for its bright rainbow of colour cosmetics.  They most certainly have a rainbow of nail polish shades too, although funnily enough I've breezed past the range so many times over the years without buying any - I have absolutely no idea why!  Maybe I thought the stuff was too young and fun for me?  Whatever.  Here I am now deciding not to be ageist toward myself and getting into the Chi Chi thing with this post.

 

Capital H.I.M. is my idea of the perfect lavender purple cream. Chi Chi very plainly describes this shade as a high gloss pretty purple.  They don't mention the lovely but elusive blue shimmer which can be seen in the bottle but disappears on the nails - that mythical shimmer sent to tease me!  Getting onto the application two coats delivered great coverage and I'm also happy to report this nail polish doesn't have strong toxic fumes unlike my last mani so it was a pleasant experience all round.  Not too bad for a $5 polish!

 

Sun

 

Indoors daylight

 

 

Have you tried Chi Chi cosmetics? Any recommendations for me?

 

 

VIDEO POST: Luxe Loves (Chanel, Dior & Tom Ford)

Happy Monday!

This week's video post is dedicated to our favourite luxe products. Ling and I chat about the luxe brand products we would (or have) repurchased and we think are worth the hype!  Does it surprise you that we're all about lips and nails?

 

 

Products featured:
Chanel Glossimer Lip Gloss
Dior Nail Lacquer
Tom Ford Lip Color

Until next time!
 

Nabi: New Gold Pearl

I've been making an effort to revisit my nail polish collection and bring out some older things to wear to mix it up a bit - even if I have the constant temptation of the newest bottles right under my nose!

 

 Nabi - speaking of things under my nose Nabi polish smells horrifically toxic - does have some interesting colours so I have a small handful from their range.  New Gold Pearl is lush with gold micro-glitter and looks like antique gold lamé to me - that flashy fabric woven with gold thread!  The golden sparkly sheen is really something in real life, although in muted light the dark green undertones can dominate and it looks a little dirtier and murkier, as seen in some of the pictures.  I had a bit of fun wearing New Gold Pearl although I think this would look much more effective on darker skintones to do it more justice.

 

Sun

Indirect daylight

 Do you prefer gold or silver on your fingertips?

Until next time
 

OPI Liquid Sand: Tiffany Case

So...

 

Well behind everyone else, I find OPI's Liquid Sand textured polishes are my current obsession. I may have a few more of these in my collection now *cough*.

 

I bought Tiffany Case in a Sasa Singapore sale and at the time I had my doubts over whether it was the genuine OPI article.  I'm still not 100% sure but I did enjoy wearing this flattering shade - it's not quite Tiffany box blue but ever so slightly lighter and this polish has an added sparkle courtesy of silver and blue glitter.  I applied 2 coats and it quickly dried down to the rough textured, glittery finish.  On the negative side I did find this a little more stubborn to remove than Jinx and OMG I had some ugly blue staining too which I was unprepared for.

Sun

Indoors

Until next time!
 

September's farewelled products (2013 edition)

It's been a slower month empties-wise but that's quite frankly a relief to me - and maybe you too! No hard slog for the reader or the writer here this time! I'll try and keep the rambling to a minimum too.

 

 

Skin care

 

 

100) Natio Gentle Cleansing Wipes With Green Tea & Chamomile (24 wipes) - Wipes in a box! These were thick wipes with a natural herbal scent.  Lovely, gently cleansing and left my skin feeling clean without being tight or dry.  If I had to pick on one thing it would be that these could have been just a little wetter.

 

101) Vanedo Beauty Friends Green Tea Essence Mask - I'm loving my sheet masks! This one claims to be "firming, moisturizing, elastic" and I kid you not my forehead looked smoother and relaxed after this mask - at least for a few hours anyway. Who needs botox?

 

102) Skinlite Moisturizing Herb Mask - This sheet mask was formulated for dry skin and promised silky, deeply moisturized skin.  100% yes with this one! My cheeks felt soft and peachy like a baby's butt! Rave, rave, rave!



 

Hand and body care

 

103) Cetaphil Restoraderm Skin Restoring Body Wash (295ml) - I used this body wash to calm my skin after a nasty bout of eczema on my neck erupted in the middle of winter.  Very creamy, fragrance free and super gentle on the skin.  The bottle lasted quite a long time too.  I would definitely repurchase this for a sensitive skin emergency. 

 

104) OPI Expert Touch Lacquer Remover (120ml - 4 Fl. Oz.) - The most expensive of OPI's removers due to its "professional formula" and "superior performance". It did make slightly less work of removal so it's good for those impatient people like me who change their polish frequently and who don't mind paying around $12AUD for a bottle of remover. I still wish OPI would redesign their bottles and make them spill-proof.  I've had so many incidents with tipping bottles!

 

105) MOR Orange Blossom Hand Cream - This hand cream had been forgotten about then rediscovered and loved by me as my overnight hand treatment.  The blossom scent was subtle and the cream was a rich concoction of Vitamin E and Shea Butter.  I believe it's been discontinued although MOR constantly brings out new decadent scents (and luxe packaging!) so I will definitely be buying more MOR!

 

 

Cosmetics

 

 106) MAC Lustre Lipstick (Gem Of Roses) - I've wailed about the demise of this LE lipstick shade everywhere because I loved it.  It's entirely my own fault becoming addicted to it and wearing it every day.  On the plus side, this goes towards my next Back 2 MAC.

 

 

There you go. Short and sweet for September!

 

Ulta3: Gossip

I never feel guilty about buying Ulta3 polishes because they're only $2AUD a pop and come in a rainbow of colours and a multitude of finishes.  To put it into context (and repeat what everyone else around here says) these polishes literally cost less than a cup of coffee - actually I think I might get just over half a small coffee for that piddly amount of change!

 

With that minor expenditure in mind I bought the pretty magenta glitter Gossip - plus four others - from Ulta3's Glitterati collection.  The Glitterati collection was released back in July but I'm still seeing it around so Aussie girls can still snap up bottles of shimmer and sparkle if that's your thing.  Gossip is a standard mix of magenta round glitter and micro-glitter in a clear base and the coverage is sparse to medium so it needs to be used as a top coat for best effect.  I chose to layer two coats of this little drugstore polish over Chanel Taboo of all things - as far away as you can get from a drugstore brand  -  but I was really pleased with this combination!  Taboo makes its presence felt adding a subtle blue sparkle shimmering beneath the glitter so I think this mani looks pretty special.

 

 All pictures taken in cloudy conditions

Perfect partners:

What do you think?
 

VIDEO POST: Bloom Beauty Buys

Hi again :)

 

You may have read my post so now watch me chat about my new Bloom cosmetics bargains with Ling! Ummm...

 

Overall our first impressions were positive although I did say "ummm..." a lot! Don't let that put you off! Ling does a great job of saving me here and this was the second video we did on our first filming session.

 

 

 

Thanks for watching!

 

Remember you can refer back to my Bloom buys blog post here for more product details and swatches.