Essence Eclipse Don't Bite Me - Kiss Me NOTD

I like the Twilight series. Yes it is very teenage girl of me but dammit I LOVE a good love story! I read the books long before the movies were even in the works and it definitely brings out the romantic/sappy side of me. I'm not a "twihard" or anything but Edward and Bella's seemingly perfect (but complicated) story just touches a little (alright a big) part of my heart. So sue me! I am a romantic =) I wish I had my very own Edward but I guess my boyfriend will do LOL.

I FINALLY got to see Eclipse today and I wore one of my swap acquired Essence Eclipse polishes in honour of the movie. The Eclipse collection was such a huge lemming for me and I didn't think I would ever own them. I am most grateful to Tina from Fleur's nails&stuff for hunting them down for me and including them in our swap =) My boyfriend thought I was totally mad when I told him I HAD to wear an Eclipse polish to see it but I thought it made total sense! Plus I think he was just being mean because I forced him to come with me and therefore he had to sit through 2 hours of Robert Pattinson being all broody and seductive HA.


I wore Essence Don't Bite Me - Kiss Me as my NOTD. Please excuse the quality of the mani - I did it literally 20 minutes before rushing out the door to watch Eclipse! Don't Bite Me - Kiss Me is a berry polish with purple shimmer. Berry shades are one of my favourites =) It applied relatively well but was a little on the thick side. I did 2 coats for opaqueness and it dried to a semi-matte finish so I topped it off with a coat of Seche Vite as I was in a mad hurry. The colour really reminds me of Orly Once Upon A Time (which you can see in my post here) but with less shimmer.

Thank you to Olivia for tagging me with an award =)


Hope you guys are having a great weekend! Don't forget to enter my 200 followers giveaway here!

Viva La Nails Product sample pack part 2

I decided to add to my Catrice Just Married NOTD by using the other items from the Viva La Nails sample pack they generously sent me. You can see part 1 of my review here.


From thumb - pinky:
Butterfly water decal; flower coloured nail sticker; floral nail sticker with rhinestone; floral water decal and star metallic nail sticker.

I am TOTALLY in love with the water decals! They are so darn simple and easy to use. I had to watch their tutorial on it first which explains the application really well. It literally took less than a minute to apply this gorgeous nail art! I am most definitely going to be stocking up on these after my shopping ban! So many designs, which to choose?!!

The coloured nail stickers and nail stickers with rhinestones are a winner too. They are very cute and come in all sorts of designs. The stickers with rhinestones need a thick coat of topcoat though to stop them snagging on clothing.

I really liked the look of the metallic nail stickers but they seemed to catch on everything as they didn't mold to my nail. Perhaps it was because I put it on my pinky, but it was the smallest size. I used 3 thick coats of Seche Vite to try and prevent it from snagging or breaking off my nail.

Overall, I love the items sent to me in the sample pack. The products are of fantastic quality and the range is extensive catering to the beginner at nail art to the expert. I will definitely be purchasing a few of the items later!!

You can get your free sample from Viva La Nails here.


Thanks for looking!! Don't forget to enter my 200 followers giveaway here!

Catrice Just Married NOTD and Rise Omakase degustation

Thank God it's nearly Friday! I don't know about you but I'm sooooo looking forward to the weekend! I showed you Let's Mauve On! a few posts ago from my fabulous swap with Fleur's nails&stuff and today I tried another pretty Catrice for my NOTD.

Catrice Just Married is a soft pink shade with subtle gold shimmer and a somewhat frosty finish to it. You may not know but I love pink polishes =p The formula is a bit streaky and a little difficult to work with though - the 1st coat was streaky but a 2nd thicker coat evened it up. I had VNL so I applied a 3rd coat and got the full effect of the colour but you could just do 2 if you aren't fussed about VNL. Below is 3 coats without topcoat. I love the name of this polish as it really is a beautiful colour that would be perfect for a special wedding day =)


Last weekend I went to Rise Restaurant with my boyfriend and his family. Rise is a Japanese fusion restaurant located in Darlinghurst, Sydney and specialises in a 7 course Omakase
Degustation. It was my first time sampling fusion cuisine and I must say I was a little disappointed. Don't get me wrong, the food was delicious but there were just too many different flavours all in one hit, a mish mash of flavours. Plus the waiter we had was trying WAY too hard to be funny and the atmosphere was a little lacking in my humble opinion. Here are some piccies for you though! The lighting was very dim so they didn't turn out too great. Only after we'd finished eating did it occur to me to use my mobile flash for lighting =p DOH!


Salmon tartare with poached quail egg and gochujang miso sauce:

Tom Yum style soup with scallop tortellini and mussle:

Assorted fresh sashimi:


Soy milk flan with shittake sauce; Rice paper rolls of steamed chicken baton, avocado, cucumber and sesame sauce and Fish cake with daikon and wakame salad.

Soba salad with soft shell crab and ponzu vinaigrette:

And I totally forgot to take a photo of the main! But it was Roasted duck breast with polenta and mushroom croquet and red curry sauce. It was quite delicious.

I can't remember exactly what dessert was but essentially it was kaffir lime and chilli granita with mango icecream; and a green tea and chocolate mouse with kumquat jelly. My favourite course by far! The green tea and chocolate mouse was DELISH and I don't even like mousse!


Thank you for stopping by! Hope you guys are having an awesome week =) Don't forget to enter my 200 followers giveaway here!

Review: Kiss Nail Artist Paint & Stencil Kit

Hi ladies!
I have a review for you today on the Kiss Nail Artist Paint & Stencil Kit. The boy purchased this for me from Woolworths (supermarket chain in Aus) of all places and I decided to try it out over Rimmel Double Decker Red that I swatched for you in my last post.


The kit includes 3 striping polishes in black, white and silver glitter and 30 "fashionable stencil designs to make you an instant nail artist!"

Instructions on box:

How to apply polish:
"Gently wipe excess paint from brush upon removing from bottle. Test on paper before trying on nail. Use brush in sweeping motion to create stripes & curves".

How to apply stencils:
"Paint polish and then place stencil & paint."


I'm VERY impressed with the striping polishes. The black and the white are very opaque so there's no need for multiple layers and they're also super easy to use and control and apply very smoothly. I've swatched them below on a piece of paper.


The brushes are also excellent - super thin and they aren't frayed(?) down the bottom like other striping polishes I've tried which can leave a messy finish on a manicure.


Now the stencils are a different matter. Maybe I was using them incorrectly but I found them pretty difficult to use and a bit useless really. I followed the instructions - painted a base colour (let it dry 1st) then applied a stencil on top. The stencils kinda remind me of bandaid material as they're pretty flexible and are sticky on one side.

Crappy pic sorry!
I alternated free handing designs and using the stencils and below is the result:


As you can see, the designs I did using the stencils on my pinky, rude finger and index fingers didn't turn out at all. The polish stuck to the stencil and when I took the stencil off the polish pulled right off the nail. It's a real shame as the designs are so cute! I might give it another go later.

Pros:
* Striping polishes are fantastic quality - opaque colours and smooth to apply
* The brush is thin and easy to use - gives good control when doing nail art
* Colours are a must have in anyone's collection
* Price is reasonable: about $18Aus = $6/polish, cheaper if it's on sale

Cons:
* The stencils are difficult to use

Would I purchase again?
Yes, but only for the striping polishes! The stencils unfortunately were difficult to use.

Thanks for looking =) Don't forget to enter my 200 followers giveaway here!

Reader request: Rimmel Double Decker Red swatch

Hi ladies! I don't have time at the moment for a full manicure so I'll be doing some posts I've wanted to do for a while now. A while ago I did a not so fantastic NOTD here using Rimmel Double Decker Red as my stamping colour. One of my readers Joan requested a swatch of the colour so here it is =)

Double Decker Red is a bright red creme that applies super smoothly and easily. It's very pigmented and one coat would be enough, but I did two below to show you the red and it dried to a high gloss finish. I love the brushes too, they're a good size and I don't need to do cleanup most of the time. I've always found Rimmel polishes fantastic quality and the formula really good but the size is pretty small - you only get 8mls in a bottle.


This polish holds a special place in my polish collection as it was my first bright colour I bought when I was really getting into nail polish. I've always loved nail polish but I never really got the chance to wear it often and when I did I only ever wore pinks and sheers, so I bought it for something different. I haven't looked back since, I wear ALL sorts of colours now!

It's a great polish to own so I hope you buy it Joan!

Thanks for looking =) Don't forget to enter my 200 followers giveaway here!

Swap with Tina from Fleur's nails&stuff

I have for you today another great swap! When I posted a few weeks back asking if any international ladies wanted to swap polishes with me, the very sweet Tina from Fleur's nails&stuff was the very first of many generous ladies to offer to swap with me. Just want to add that I am very grateful to all the ladies who offered to swap with me and/or are completing a swap with me currently, you are all fantastic and so so generous! I'm totally overjoyed receiving polishes I have no way of accessing here and will be showcasing the colours in the upcoming weeks. I received my package all the way from Slovenia this week and here's a peek at what I received.



OMGISH I nearly died of excitement when I opened up the box!! I was like a kid in a candy store =) It was crammed full of absolutely amazing polishes and Tina also very generously included some cool nail art items and some yummy food with a sweet note. Tina was kind enough to hunt down all 5 of the Essence Eclipse polishes I so desperately wanted and also fulfilled many of the polishes from Europe on my wishlist.


From L - R:
Essence Eclipse polishes - Undead, Thirsty!, Don't Bite Me - Kiss ME, Hide Bella Hide and Ready to be Bitten. Tina also included Eclipse lipgloss in Lunch at Cullen's for me!!


From L - R:
Catrice Ultimate Lacquer polishes in Plum Play With Me, Let's Mauve On!, I Scream Peach! and Just Married. These were all on my wishlist and are now fulfilled!


From L - R:
Joy polishes in 57, 386 and 4. How cute are these bottles!


From L - R:
Essence Nail Art Twins in Bonnie and Clyde, Essence Crazy About Colour in Think Pink, and Essence Colour & Go polishes in Glisten Up! and No More Drama.


From L - R:
S-he Stylezone polishes in 376 and 466.


Tina also included some of her favourite nail art stickers, rhinestones (pictured in one of the 1st pics) and hand cream that she loves and a Essence nail piercing set which I can't wait to try out! The badge is very funky too! She also very thoughtfully included the Essence Nail corrector pen because she read that I love using it so now I have a back up! Thank you so much Tina =)


These sweets and the Frutabela bars were literally gobbled up in a matter of minutes. These Frutabela bars have got to be my absolute favourite bars. They're covered in yoghurt and have berries inside and little crunchy bits, absolutely scrumptious. I could eat a whole box every day but unfortunately I don't think I can't get them here but I may be wrong. If there are any Aussie ladies who have seen these in Aus PLEASE let me know!

I'm going out for dinner tonight with the boy's family so I did a super quick mani using Catrice Let's Mauve On! for something a bit demure. Below is 2 coats without topcoat, reviews later =)


Thank you SO SO much Tina for this awesome swap!! You've fulfilled so many of the polishes on my wishlist and I can't thank you enough =) Every polish is stunning and the colours you've chosen are fantastic, I love every single one of them. You have absolutely spoiled me!

Please check out Tina's blog Fleur's nails&stuff. Her manicures are beautiful (my favourite is her Hello Kitty mani!)and she always creates so many polish lemmings for me! She's also having a great giveaway which ends very soon so check it out!

Thanks for looking =) Enter my 200 followers giveaway here!

Swap with Nikki from .littlegreenheart.

Hi ladies! The last few days I've just been running out of time completely, I get to the end of the day and there's STILL so much to do >.< I haven't had a real chance to catch up on all your wonderful blogs but I will hopefully get to that =) On a good note, I received a lovely package in the post! The very sweet (and totally awesome!) Nikki from .littlegreenheart. emailed me a while back offering to do a polish swap with me. Of course I jumped at the chance!! Nikki lives in Malaysia and she offered to send me some hard to get polishes from Asian brands I have been dying to try .


Just look at all those beautiful polishes! Thank you SO much for the swap Nikki!! I've been admiring Elianto polishes for so long and now I can try them! I couldn't have picked the colours better myself =) And so beautifully wrapped too but I didn't photograph it because I was too excited and just ripped into the package!

Here's what she included:

From L-R:
In2it polishes in yumgum and jellibean. Totally digging the names of these, and the colours of course!

From L - R:
Elianto Colour polishes in Glitter Shine Red, Thistle and Turqoise. I saw Thistle and Turqoise on Nikki's blog and just lusted after them =) Thanks for crossing them off my list!

From L - R:
Elianto Sparkling Diva polishes in Alice Blue, Lilac and Shimmer Pink. Words cannot describe how gorgeous these are! The bottles are soooo darn pretty and the shimmer and colours are just lemming-worthy.

From L - R:
SkinFood Jojoba Pure Nail polishes in Coral Pink and I think the other is Apricot Gold. As you probably know I'm a sucker for cute bottles! These are no exception =p And the tops of these are made out of cardboard - so funky!

Nikki also very kindly included a handmade bracelet made by the Rungus tribe of Kudat, Sabah. I love beaded bracelets and the combination of colours on the bracelet is so funky =)

Excuse the very dry hand =(
I did a very quick mani using Elianto Sparkling Diva in Shimmering Pink. It is every bit as stunning on the nail as it is in the bottle!!
Shimmering Pink is a light pink loaded with silver shimmer. It's just such a pretty colour =) It glided onto the nail and the brush is awesome - no cleanup needed = BIG yay from me. It is kind of sheer though and you'd need 3 coats to get rid of VNL. Below is 2 coats so you can still see some VNL but I was impatient so didn't do another, however drying time was very quick so 3 coats wouldn't be an issue. Then I just quickly added some nail stickers that my workmate kindly gave me.

I bruised my index finger so please excuse the mark =(
Once again thank you SO much Nikki!! I'm dying to try all the colours out =) Please check our Nikki's blog .littlegreenheart.! She does fantastic manicures and I envy her ability to pull off bright, fun colours so well!

Thanks for looking!

My 1st flakie manicure and good food!

Hi ladies! Sorry for the depressing tone of my last post. The weekend has cheered me up - work still sucks but nothing I can do about it ha! - after spending it eating and relaxing Thank you for all your kind words =) I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

So here is a very quick NOTD to road test my awesome new Nubar 2010 flakies that my sis gave me. I did a test swatch on some nail wheels to see what colours looked best as base colours and I decided to use China Glaze Grape Pop from the Up and Away collection.

Grape Pop is a dark purple creme that is darker than it actually looks in the bottle. As per usual it was an absolute pain in the BUTT to capture correctly and the below picture is the best I could do. I found it a little thick to apply but still fairly easy. Halfway through my mani though I added 2 drops of trusty Seche Restore which did the trick. It's a very pigmented polish so 2 coats is enough for opacity or even 1 with super good application. Below is 2 coats without topcoat and it dried to a nice glossy finish.


I then applied 1 coat of Nubar 2010. I probably could have used another but I am rationing my bottles and using them VERY sparingly! It looks like I have a bald patch of flakies on my ring finger but it's not in real life, my hand just wasn't catching the light properly when I took the pic =p FLAKIES ARE SO AWESOME!! =D


I had lots of fun at the Good Food and Wine Show on Saturday. I went with 2 girlfriends and my sis so I was too busy to take many photos unfortunately! There was just so much yummy food and wine to try. We also watched Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris in the celebrity theatre - those 2 are just hilarious! They kept paying out Matt Moran and Aria haha. For the Aussies who love Masterchef we saw Alvin and Courtney wandering around too! We went to the restaurant for lunch were you could purchase entrees, mains and desserts from 4 celebrity chefs.

I had Gary's main of Bastilla of lamb, olives & pine nuts. This was so delicious and you could totally tell it was a Gary recipe! It was warm and hearty comfort food - just the type of food I love ;)


My sis had Tobie Puttock's Polenta Gnocchi with marjoram, tallegio and prosciutto. A little salty because of the proscuitto but the gnocchi was delicious.


I was tempted to buy heaps of food home but refrained. We got a Ritter Sport chocolate bag with 10 chocolate bars and a cute/funny patchwork bag.


Great for grocery shopping! Or chocolate shopping haha
Also some sweets from Treats from Home:


Love Wonka candy!
Thanks for looking! Don't forget to enter my 200 followers giveaway here!

OPI Lucky Lucky Lavender floral NOTD

I've been feeling a bit down and out these last few days due to a combination of work issues and the cold weather =( I'm suffering from a serious lack of motivation for everything for some reason but I'm trying hard to stay upbeat! Plus my hands have flared up so badly I have to go to sleep with my trusty white gloves on so I look like Michael Jackson every night ha! So it's just a simple NOTD until I get some motivation again, please be warned you may be seeing some unimaginative/not so hot manicures coming up =p

I used OPI Lucky Lucky Lavender from the Hong Kong collection. This collection would have to be one of my faves, there are so many pretty colours and the quality is just great. Love that pro-wide brush!
Lucky Lucky Lavender is a pastel lavender-pink colour. The colour is more pink than lavender to me which is kinda annoying because I need a nice lavender polish. It's still very pretty and applied nicely with 2 coats - 1st was streaky and the 2nd evened it out. Below is 2 coats without topcoat.


I then konaded the full nail floral design from Bundle Monster plate B16 using China Glaze OMG for a subtle effect. I probably could have used a darker polish to konad so the design stands out more but I like that you can't see the design unless you're inspecting my nails closely =)


My family have been accidentally cheering me up =p My sister surprised me with 2 bottles of Nubar 2010 today!!!! One to use and one for backup ;) She knows I've been lusting after flakies for AAAAAAAAAAAGES so she tracked some down for me on Ebay for a reasonable price as a surprise! YIPEEEEEEE!


The boy gave me this tiny Tarepanda to cheer me up too =) Isn't he cute?

I know he's not official but I love Tarepanda regardless =)
AND my absolutely awesome Aunty just told me she snagged me MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Stereo Rose! The collection isn't released here yet but even when it is I can't really afford MAC due to the crazy prices here. There's no way I'm paying double when I know in HK the prices are actually reasonable. I won't get my blush until I go to HK in November but just the thought is sustaining me =p Woot! Things are looking up!

Hope everyone has a good weekend planned full of happy and fun activities =) I'm off to the Good Food and Wine Show tomorrow for some tasty food.

Thanks for looking! Don't forget to enter my 200 followers giveaway here!

Viva La Nails product sample pack part I

Hi ladies! I received my Viva La Nails sample pack this week from www.VivaLaNails.co.uk and what a great package! Most of you will know about these sample packs so I'm repeating myself - but for those who don't these packs are offered to all bloggers and YouTube artists free of charge (including shipping) to try and review. Love it!

Here's what I got in my sample pack:


Water decals:

Nail stickers:

Small pearls, flitter, heart rhinestones, fabric flowers and crushed shell:

Drop rhinestones, round rhinestones, heart dazzlings, glitter and star dazzlings:

What a great selection huh! So many different products to try and the colour range is good. I didn't even know WHERE to start so I just played it safe and did a quick mani using China Glaze Up All Night and the pink star dazzlings.

Please excuse my middle finger - I cut myself at work. I'm always so clumsy!
I found the dazzlings easy to use and were really pretty on the nail as they catch the light and look a different colour. The only problem I had was that the dazzlings were inconsistent in thickness so they can very easily catch on clothing etc. I had to do 2 thick coats of Seche Vite to prevent this after losing a dazzling not long after doing the mani as I only did 1 coat of topcoat =p

You can get your free sample from Viva La Nails here.


Thanks for looking!!