OPI 2014 Brazil Collection Preview

Over the past two weeks a certain nail polish line has been popping up on my facebook a lot and it did not take long before i was infatuated. I'm not sure if theses are even out here in Oz yet but i will be checking next time i head to the city and hopefully pick up at least one of these lovely shades. So without further ado here is the OPI 2014 Brazil collection;

Next Stop…The Bikini Zone: A purple/pewter duo chrome

Don’t Bossa Nova Me Around: A baby pink toned neutral cream

Taupe-less Beach: A slightly rosey taupe cream

I São Paulo Over There: Another taupe this time with chocolate brown tones.

OPI Scores a Goal!:  A chocolate/burgundy cream.

AmazON…AmazOFF:  An impressive teal with very vivid green and blue tones. A shimmer not a cream.

I Just Can’t Cope-acabana: A bright yellow polish. Nothing hiding in there.

Where Did Suzi’s Man-go?:  A orange/yellow mix cream.

Toucan Do It If You Try: A blood orange color, a mix of orange and deep pink.

Kiss Me I’m Brazilian: A slightly cool toned but still vibrant pink.

Live.Love.Carnaval: A seriously vivid "coral" that borders on red.

Red Hot Rio: Can't have a Brazil collection without a a luscious vivid red.

The ones calling my name are; Don't Bossa Nova Me Around, Taupe-less Beach, and Live.Love.Carnava, how about you?

Haul - Who cares why?

So over the past few days I've acquired a few things, mostly for the purpose of this blog and to try out something a bit different and outside my comfort zone. Specifically a different makeup remover, dark or bright lipsticks and brown eyeliners as opposed to my usual black. Also my Illamasqua blush finally arrived!

So here's what i got and here's where to get it'

Rimmel Lipstick (Kate) in 04
Rimmel Lipstick (Kate) in 20
Australis Color Inject in Foxtrot
Lush 9-5 Cleanser and Makeup Remover with Orchid oil
The Face Shop's Jelly Apple Peeling mask(?)
Illamasqua Cream Blush in Rude (!!!)
Face of Australia Budge Proof Eyeliner  in brown
OPI Liquid Sands Stay the Night
Essence All about Matte compact
Essence Stays waterproof eyeliner in brown
ModelsPrefer Liquid Eyeliner in brilliant brown
Lush Sexy Peel Soap
Lush Fresh Farmacy


Let me know if you have a preference for any reviews :)

Review: OPI Liquid Sands Stay the Night

Look how pretty that bottle is! That's why i picked this up you know, the bottle. I didn't care about the finish, i was just mesmerized by all the dark red glitter floating around in the darkness. It makes me think of magic. Plus i really hadn't felt any attraction to the liquid sands until i saw this, honestly i thought they looked a bit icky and i was pretty sure the texture wasn't for me. I'm glad i saw this color as it helped me branch out a little and try something new.

Turns out i don't actually hate the texture, but i do think it is one you need to see in person to decide if you like it. It's one that makes the glitter stand out much more so then a glossy nail polish  but yes, personal discretion  required. However the texture doesn't bother me when it's on my hands, i was initially worried it would be rough and catch on clothes and things however it's actually a bit soft and not rough against the touch.

Application was a breeze, two coats which actually go on smooth and then after about 40 seconds change texture and roughed up into the gritty sand like texture that is the end result. It also has pretty great staying power compared to regular creams or glitters, i got 5 days wear out of it with only slight wear on the tips and no chipping. I hope this is something the others in this collections can repeat.

I would be interested in trying a few more though probably not the light pinks and blues, however the white shade "Solitaire" from the Bond girls collections is quite intriguing. Have you tried any of the liquid sands?

Price Comparisons

I recently went shopping for my first MAC eyeshadow and realized all over again how terrible our Australian prices are, if your curious i was looking for the eyeshadow "Violet Star" and was planning on purchasing a refill ($22AUD) however in Western Australia there are no MAC 'stores" only counters. Counters as i found out do not sell refills meaning my only choice is to buy offline. Here's the kicker; buying a refill online costs $22 + $10 shipping = $32 OR i could buy the same eyeshadow, as a full size product in pot for $33 at the counter. CRAZY! Why would i ever do that? Not to mention the absurdity of a eyeshadow even costing that much?

 So i thought i would like to take a look at how drastic some of the price changes are, how by crossing international waters products somehow magically gain extra value, here is a breakdown of a few of the most common/most popular products and the price difference which we are forced to endure. 

I think looking at the chart below it's clear MAC and OPI are clearly the worst offenders and LUSH is probably the least terrible, overall though we are getting very much ripped off; there is no reason why the exact same nail polish is worth $20 in Australia and only half that price in the US. Does it magically gain some sort of properties that mean it should cost a customer double the original amount? Keep these prices in mind next time you want to buy these products at a local level.

For reference $10 AUD equals to $10.30 (usd) or £6.80 (atm)

* All prices based on official sites from that country or Priceline (AUD) Ulta or Saphora (USA) and Boots (UK)

By the way, i did not end up buying the eyeshadow; i'll wait till mum goes to Singapore this month to pick it up for $10 less then it costs here.

Christmas Wish List

So it's December today :) Which for a lot of people means Christmas. So i thought id start of the celebration early by thinking about some of the things i wouldn't mind seeing under the tree this year. It's always nice to think about what you might like, even if just end up buying it yourself in the boxing day sales!

So here is the list i came up with, in no particular order;  1. Soft Kitty Jumper of Big Bang Theory Fame from Think Geek, 2. NARS Orgasm Blush, 3. Real Techniques Starter Kit Brushes, 4. OPI Skyfall Nail polishes (specifically Skyfall, Live and Let Die, Goldeneye, On Her Majesty's
 Secret Service,The Spy Who Loved Me,and  Die Another Day) 5. Lufthansa Graphic Design (i like graphic design and planes) 6. Marc Jacobs Dot perfume annnnnd 7. Fox Plushie from Etsy.

How cute is that fox right? What's your most lusted for item this year?

Review: Pirouette My Whistle

Some of you may recall i received "Pirouette My Whistle" for my birthday last month, so i felt it was about time to show it off. 

It makes a gorgeous top coat more then a nail polish to be used on it's own. It consists of a pale silver tiny glitter mixed in with larger hexagonal silver glitters. When you put it on top of another polish it provides a faint milky sheer cover so it's a nice way to pale out a bright color and make it that tiny bit more feminine and soft. It also works quite nicely for jelly sandwich manicures.

It's from the New York City ballet collection released early this year; the whole collection is very pretty and girly; soft sheer colors. The formula on this was very good and smooth, the larger glitter is dispersed a bit randomly but it's very workable.

Lovely!

Double the Movies

After i did a post about my nail polish stash here i pointed out that my copy of Not Like the Movies by OPI was the full duochrome version not the lame un-chromy version.

So, as i was asked for (and totally spaced on, sorry Rebecca!) As has been done for a few other OPI's (my private jet anyone?) the original release for "Not Like the Movies" was a lovely duchrome goddess with lavender, silver, blue flashes and pretty metallic-ish microglitter.

Later on, either their suppliers changed or demand was too high but the next and seemingly future releases did not include the duchrome effects and were closer to just a glittery silver polish without the thing that made it special. Hence if you go buy it now, especially from an on-line retailer it's next to impossible to tell which version you will be getting. Though there are a few ways you can tell the difference;

• Firstly the true Duochrome is farm more  sheer in terms of application and the silver glitter is the same size throughout where the non-duo is thicker and has varying size of microglitter.
• The duchrome, because of the bottle shape looks both darker and should, if turned at varying angles should produce a pink/lavender color change.
• The serial code appears to be different as well; 1036AAV appears to indicate the true duochrome while the other code is the silver version.

Not duo/duo

The duochrome on close up

The silver on close up

Th silver version, as you can see it just looks grey/silver. Nice but not that unique.

Sadly my photo of the true duochrome got corrupted so i will need to re-swatch it, but if you want to see it on the nail have a look at this post at Rainbows and Sparkles. But now at least you can tell which is which, and cannot be tricked. 

So which version do you have?

PS. If your looking for a dupe then Essence Where's the Party is a excellent dupe and only costs $2.55

Review: OPI Glitzerland

This is Glitzerland from the Swiss OPI Collection which i believe was released in 2010, I've been wanting a gold nail polish for a while now, the only only one i have is the Essence's Love me Tender from their 50's collection but that one is not very bright and much more toned down then Glitzerland.

Glitzerland is a smooth, slightly sheer polish with great application; it's a color I've been wearing a lot since i got it because as i explained to my boyfriend "it's perfect by being both shimmery bling and neutral cool toned gold". It's a color with a lot of depth; it's shimmery if you look close at it but from further away it's just a cool toned gold perfect for the season change as the moment.

It's a lovely color and i will be wearing a lot in the coming future.

P.s. I have noticed that David Jones has slightly lowered their OPI price from 21.00 to 19.00 a slightly nicer alteration.

Birthday Haul

Hmm i really should have expected that my next post would be a haul what with the birthday and stuff; still two hauls in a row makes me feel much richer then i actually am. ^^

However as all of these things were birthday presents from various friends and family and my wonderful boyfriend i am extremely grateful and feel very lucky to be the recipient of so much love and affection. Thank You.

So the only reason I'm showing these off is because they will all be reviewed (in the fullness of time) so consider this a little preview i suppose.

So here is the haul:

Essence "Ready for Boarding" Nail polish Set in 01 sending you kisses, 02 beauty on tour, 03 exits on your right, 04 via airmail! and 05 destination sunshine.

Essence "Ready for Boarding" Peel Off Base Coat in 01 carry me home
Essence "Ready for Boarding" Eyeshadow Palette in 01 beauty on tour
Essence "Ready for Boarding" 2in1 kajal pencil in 02 via airmail
Essence "Ready for Boarding" Lip and Cheek Cream in 02 beauty on tour

Essence Clear Eyelash and Brow Gel

I had the option to get the cosmetics bag too but it felt kind of flimsy despite being ultra cute, so i opted out, i have so many from Lust Have it now anyway.

Burjois Blush in Lune D'or (the NARS Orgasm dupe which btw, turns out it's not too shiny for me) Speaking of which, there is currently a 10% off voucher on their website right here which can be used in stores at Priceline

Rimmel Sun Shimmer Maxi Bronzer in 001 Sun Kiss ( i was lured by the pretty shimmery waves, they disappeared after one use)

Korres Lip Butter in Mango (so in love with this, unexpected)

OPI in Pirouette My Whistle

ecotools Bronzer Brush (this thing is amazing)

Real Techniques Blush Brush (this is possible the softest thing i have ever touched)

Australis Intense Eyeshadow Palette in "You Beauty"

Lush "It's Raining Men" Shower Gel (the liquid version of their Honey, I Washed the Kids soap)

and last but oh so totally- not-least are also from Lush, from their Emotional Brilliance Line (first looked at here) and they are; Success (silver eyeliner), Calm (blue eyeliner), Sophisticated (taupe/bronze/pink eyeshadow) and Perspective (a taupe/pink lipcream).

All in all it was an awesome day topped off with Waffles at the Pancake house (mmmmm), so next post up later this week will be about the Revlon Lip Stains and after that it's anyone's guess, but if you have a preference for anything that you see in this post just give a shout.

Have a good week :)

007 OPI Sneek Peek

Here in Australia it takes us a little while to catch on to new collections coming out, usually we receive any new collections anywhere from 3 - 6 months later (if we get it at all). As such it takes a while for any announcements to get around as most companies will make announcements on their web page, and more commonly these days on their American facebook page or twitter.

So i thought i would share some news that (i find) quite exciting. As you may be aware it was a book/movie nail polish tie in that first got me interested in beauty/make up stuffs and it's a constant pain that OPI is crazy expensive at David Jones, and China Glaze is limited to Salons who don't sell the collections. Which is why  i truly hope i can get me hands on some of these when they get released.

So without further adieu, the 50th Anniversary James Bond collection by OPI:

(Photo Credit: OPI Facebook page)

Moonraker

Tomorrow Never Dies

The Spy Who Loved Me

Casino Royal

You Only Live Twice

Die Another Day

Skyfall

GoldenEye

The World Is Not Enough

Live and Let Die

The Living Daylights

On Her Majesty's Secret Service

PLUS: The Man With the Golden Gun 

"Inspired by the world of 007, this stunning, real 18 karat gold top coat contains real 18 karat gold and comes packaged in a special limited edition collectible gold bottle. This luminous, rich top coat adds an additional layer of chic gold leaf texture whether painted over your favorite OPI lacquer shade to create a flecked gold appearance or applied directly onto the nail itself."

The one's I'm totally looking forward to are;  Live and Let Die, The World is Not Enough ( i wonder how this compares with Not Like the Movies), Golden Eye, Tomorrow Never Dies and Moonraker! I'm quite interested in the 18k top coat as well but i might be too intimidated to actually wear it!

Which colors do you like?

Nailpolish Stash

I looked at my box of polishes today, and decided that it would be cool to count how many i had and take some photos to  share with you :)

So with now further adu i present my nail polish stash;

The reason my nail polish has grown in the last 5 months was the China Glaze  Hunger Games collection which sent me spinning into nail polish hording :)

China Glaze; Riveting, Stone Cold, Harvest Moon, Electrify, Smoke and Ashes, and Agro

Riveting is my favorite of these, its sucha beautiful unique color.

China Glaze; Re-fresh Mint, For Audrey, Secret Peri-wik-le, Meteor Shower, and Optical Illusion

I couldn't decide between Re-fresh mint and For Audrey, so i got them both. Bad Me.

OPI; Actually Black Onyx, Just Spotted the Lizard, Sparrow me the Drama, I Don't Give a Rotterdam, and Give me the Moon

 OPI Lincoln Park After Dark, Not like the Movies, DS Reflections, DS Radiance 

Now that i look at the photos side by side im almost 100% sure i mislabeled these, Black Onyx is on top and Lincoln Park after Dark is in the bottom photo. Sorry they look really alike in bottle.

BTW my version of Not Like the Movies is the proper duochrome!!! I previously owed the dud version but once i got this one i gave the old bottle to mum. But if anyone wants to see the two side by side just let me know!

Also I'm sad the OPI DS Range is no longer holographic : ( Their holo range predates my love of nail polishes.

Chi Chi; Doris Day, Choose Chi Chi, Before you Go Go, Boom Boom Boom, Relax Don't Do it and Jitterbug

Got this set as a gift, havent tried any of them yet, but i might try a skittle mani when it warms up a little :) Thie quite cute. But calling one of their own polishes "Choose Chi Chi" seems a little arrogant to me.

Essence; Grand-ple in black, Gold old Buffy, The Dawn is broke x2, and Hunt me if you Can

I think it's no secret that when it comes to Essence I'm a little obsessed, so here are my Vampire and one Ballerina nail polishes; among them my all time favorite polish; The Dawn is broken. Hence why it's the only polish i have which i have a back up of, i adore this color; it's edgy, different, not traditionally pretty but when you look closer it's absolutely gorgeous.

Essence; Back to the 50's, I'm a Martine Girl, Love me Tender, Love Peace and Purple, My best nude friends and me. Just the nude of us, Brightmates, and We are all Bright

Most of these i've shown before; the exception being Love Peace and Purple which i have tried to put on about 10 times and every time i finish a single nail i look at the color and hate it so i immediatley remove it. I really need to trey give it a better chance. Also i added "My best nude friends and me" to my collection of the extremes trend, i like it but not as much as "Just the Nude of Us".

Essence; Sparkling Water Lilly, Make it Golden, Fateful Desire, Better late then never, Meet me Now, Where is the Party, Absolutely Blue, Hard to Resist, Blue Addicted, and Galactic Black.

The essence permanents  that got me hooked by their cheap cheap price! I particularly love Better late then never and blue addicted. Meanwhile Make it golden is an awesome addition to any mani.

Revlon; Cherry Crush, Royal, Popular, Scandalous, and Electric

I'm never sure if i like the Revlon polishes; some are gorgeous and some are so vanilla i feel I've seen them everywhere before. My all time favorite from these is Popular it's a beautiful jelly sandwich in a bottle. (This color i have it on good authority used to be called Starry Pink which i think i kind of like better) In the same vein of though i've been searching for it's baby brother "Whimsical" but havent seen it anywhere. Does anyone know if this polish even made it down under?

Rimmel; Green with Envy, Red Carpet, and Princess Pink

Eh Rimmel polished don't really wow me. Their nice, good application and brush.

Sally Hansen; Pixel Pretty, Blu, Lady Luck, Showgirl
Chic, Blue it, and Antique Gold Crackle.

I've owned many Sally Hansen polishes in my life, until about 6 months ago i didn't really care. But i like their brand, it's very reliable quality and they usually do a nice mix of things and bring out something interesting every now and again. BTW i a) didn't know what a crackle coat was when i bought  this, b) i don't really care for the effect. Now that i see the gem the gem crushes seem to be separating a bit oddly in the bottle.

So why is it the most used?....geek moment; i and a friend painted a Dungeons and Dragons miniature with it.

Ulta3 Bewitched, Layla Turquois Wave, BYS In Da Club, BYS Magenta, and Miss Shop Edward Dare

I like magnetics but their formula generally seems to be very thick which is a little difficult to work with. Don't really like either of the BYS polishes probably won't repurchase any new polishes from that brand unless something really unique shows up, and the Miss Shop was a gift. The color on it is nice but the formula is very watery.

MODE Soho, Mode High Fashion, Faceshop Wh003, Pk103, Wh002, and Tickled Pink by Savvy

My most random polishes. The first two are my most recent purchases both picked out by my boyfried to match my new haircut ^^ The faceshop ones are quite good, i love the little glitter harts one and the PK103 is awesome to give shimmer to nay manicure as it's so incredibly sheer.

Color Club Fashion Addict,  Color Club Worth the Risque, Essie Lilacism, and Australis Speck-tacular Top Coat 

My first and (currently) only Holos!!!!!!!

I got them in the middle of winter and haven't had a chance to try them with any sort of reasonable sunny day though :(

My only essie is much treasured, i wore it for a week straight when i got it (only the dawn is broken has achieved the same status) yet i havent bought nay more essie, i think their brand is lovely and neutral but when i have the chance to buy a higher end polishes i try to get something more unique i guess.

BTW this top coat, if you like flakies is the bomb.

So let's count them shall we? 78? not bad for 6 months right?

Let me know if you would like to see a swatch or review for any of these :)