Christmas Giveaway - A Few of my Favourite Things!

I have waited as long as I could to have a giveaway, but I am going away for a week, leaving Wednesday, so I thought this might keep everyone amused until I come back! The giveaway is open internationally and I have a few of my favourite things as prizes - no kittens unfortunately :P

TheBalm Meet Matt(e) Nude palette!

I was recently lucky enough to take advantage of a sale at David Jones and pick up TWO theBalm palettes - the Balm Voyage holiday palette, and Meet Matt(e) Nude!

I will review the Balm Voyage palette shortly, but I was super excited to get my hands on Matt(e) so of course I played with him first! So how did he...um...perform?

Halloween Special Effects Zombie Makeup!

Sooo I decided to have a bit of a giggle and get special effects makeup done for Halloween. I got it done by the lovely and ridiculously beautiful Izzy (Isabelle Faith) at the best store in the whole world, Trash Monkey :D The website is www.trashmonkey.com.au but you live on the Gold Coast or Brisbane you should call in, the store is all kinds of spooky, sexy, rockabilly fun and the staff are awesome and OMG hawt! So....what did I end up looking like?

Quickie Files: OPI Christmas Sets!

I popped into David Jones Queens Plaza (Brisbane CBD) yesterday and I noticed some new OPI Christmas sets - there are actually heaps, but here are the ones that caught my eye (and in one case, my money!)...

October Bellabox - what did I get?

Bellabox has been a bit hit and miss per the past 12 months. I was lucky to score a "good" box this month, I think I got one of the best variations based on what I've seen so far. 

This is what I received:

October Wantable subscription box!

I have posted previously about how much I loved my August and September Wantable boxes here, and I am happy to say that October is another winner! Wantable is fast becoming my favourite beauty box. Being from the USA it costs me around $40 per month, but you can skip a month or two whenever you want, so you can just get a quarterly box if you like.

BYS Sugar for Nails

BYS have had a few different nail sets out - velvet nails, caviar nails - and I've managed to resist, but when I saw the Sugar for Nails set I caved. I thought they looked cute, like jelly crystals or geodes! So how are they in real life?

 

  

NOTD: Love Thy Polish, Zombie Brains (LE)

Zombie Brains by Love Thy Polish is a lovely limited edition Halloween polish that steers away from orange, swamp green and black, and manages to be super pretty while still looking very much like its name!

NOTD: Rainbow Honey: The Power of Love

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have suddenly gone all girly and everything is pastels, glitter, unicorns and rainbows. This polish should, therefore, come as no surprise, because it doesn't get much cuter than Rainbow Honey's "The Power of Love" - it's like someone stuck a bunch of Care Bears in a blender :)

The creamy, musk lolly pink base is home to an astonishing array of glitter of varying sizes, including fine gold sparkles, mixed sizes of red, pink, blue, purple and holo silver sequins, large silver holo hex pieces and silver holo hearts. Two thin coats is plenty, I had no trouble with glitter placement, and the drying time was very fast. It dries smooth, with a glossy finish, obviously there are still some little bumps due to the glitter particles, but they lay flat and don't feel rough or catch on clothes like some glitters can. The Power of Love is limited edition, but Rainbow Honey have plenty of gorgeous polishes, they are available in Australia from Femme Fatale Cosmetics for $11.85 plus postage.

NOTD: Femme Fatale Cosmetics "A Tisket A Tasket"

Femme Fatale Cosmetics is an absolute Utopia for any serious nail polish addict, especially here in Australia. They stock an amazing range of indie polishes from around the world, but they also have their own cosmetics and polishes. I haven't tried the cosmetics, but I picked up two of their polishes to try, and this is the first!

NOTD: Illamasqua Facet

Illamasqua Facet is a new release polish from their Sacred Hour collection. It is described as a "grey crystal", but I would call it a deep taupe (cool-toned brownish grey) base, with fine gold and copper shimmer throughout.

NOTD: Pretty Serious Cosmetics - Claris

I discovered Pretty Serious Cosmetics nail polishes when I received one in a Lust Have It Eco Box. The colour was called Tux, a black with gorgeous teal shimmer - you can see a swatch of it here on my Facebook page (hint - like my page while you're there? Pretty please?). The formula and wear time were both amazing, and since then I have picked up a few more shades. Claris, however, is in a league of its own, I don't have anything similar and it's one of those colours that makes you feel sooooo pretty!

NARS "Ride Up to the Moon" Palette

I had the chance to stop at Mecca Cosmetica in Melbourne while on my way to Tullamarine airport last Sunday. My fiancé is a pilot and he copiloted the big Russian biplane (pictured below) the Antonov 2, on a 9 hour flight from Brisbane to Lilydale in the Yarra Valley. I tagged along, and consoled myself (between bouts of airsickness and desperately needing to pee) on the long, bumpy and occasionally scary flight by telling myself it would be a romantic weekend spent visiting wineries and restaurants. 

Guess what? I never saw a winery, and our fine dining consisted of room service burgers. I spent the whole time in Yarra Valley at the little aerodrome looking at planes and eating squashed muesli bars I found in the bottom of my handbag. The closest I got to wine was the post-flight beers while they talked macho crap and I died of embarrassment because after the 9 hour flight I was exhausted and looked like I'd been dragged backwards through a hedge. 

Ok to be honest I actually had the time of my life ( I love burgers, beer and planes, and I'm not big on wine), but don't tell my fiancé that, because by the time we hit Melbourne on Sunday afternoon I told him he OWED ME! So I made a beeline for Myer and Mecca Cosmetica, determined to buy myself a present!  

There's no place like home :)

Quickie files: Guerlain Meteorites vs. Essence "Me & My Ice Cream" Shimmer Pearls

When the Essence "Me & My Ice Cream" Shimmer Pearls came out, I thought they looked very similar to Guerlain Meteorites. It took me a while to get my hands on the Essence pearls - they sold like wildfire! - but I finally did, thanks to a wonderful beauty consultant at my local Priceline store who actually found them for me ON HER DAY OFF, how good is that?!?

NOTD: Chanel Taboo and Illamasqua Glitterati

Chanel Taboo - what can I say? She is a beauty! Deep red-toned purple with sparks of bright blue and a slight coppery sheen at some angles. Most of the time it's more spectacular in the bottle than it is on the nail, sadly - in most lights it's just a deep burgundy/purple with a reddish sheen, similar to Illamasqua Baptiste, which I already have in my collection. But when it catches the light just right, those bright blue sparks make me fall in love all over again!

Taboo's staying power is excellent, which is why after a few days I got bored and applied Illamasqua Glitterati over the top!

NOTD: OPI French Quarter for your Thoughts, Ulta3 Stop the Press

OPI French Quarter for your Thoughts is a dusty cement grey with a cool undertone. This was a dream to work with, creamy, smooth and self levelling, and opaque in two coats. It dried quickly with a nice shine.

Ulta3 Stop the Press is a black and white polka dot glitter top coat. It has small black and white glitter pieces, and also larger black and white hex pieces - they have a shiny plastic finish, not metallic at all. This was easy to work with but dried a little slowly, I had to wait a while. Worth it though, I love the finish!

OPI "Peace, Love & OPI"; Pretty Serious Cosmetics "Galaxy Invader"

This is a NOTD I did a few weeks back. The feature nail is Galaxy Invader, a fabulous duochrome shimmer from Pretty Serious Cosmetics, and the other polish is Peace, Love and OPI, from the OPI San Francisco collection.

Peace, Love and OPI is a slightly greenish gunmetal grey with a pink and green multichrome shift. The shift is more evident in the bottle than it is on the nail, but the formula is fabulous and like all OPI polishes, it lasts well without chipping.
Galaxy Invader is from Pretty Serious Cosmetics, an Australian Indie brand with some wonderfully unique polishes - and gorgeous artwork as well! Galaxy Invader is a purple/blue/teal multichrome with a foil finish and a dreamy formula, smooth, glossy and long lasting. I plan to buy more Pretty Serious polishes in the very near future!

Shopping My Stash: duping the Christian Dior Bonne Etoile palette

I fell in love with Christian Dior's Bonne Etoile Palette at first sight. I mean, do you blame me? Look at it:

Le sigh.

However, a few things stood in the way of our ever being together. The first was the fact that I have never been that sold on the quality of CD shadows - I have had a couple of the 5 Coleurs palettes and gave them away because they just weren't pigmented enough. The second was the price - $103?? Sure they have pretty stars stamped into them, but still...wow. So I decided I'd try to find all five colours within the myriad of shadows I already own - in beauty jargon, "shop my stash".

NOTD: Rainbow Honey, The Kraken

I am a nail polish addict - I will write a comprehensive review on polishes from time to time if they're particularly good (or really bad!), but my NOTD tag will be for posts like this, a quick description and a photo of the nail polish I'm wearing right now - I am happy to respond to questions if you would like to know more! 

The Kraken by Rainbow Honey is far and away the prettiest polish I've laid eyes on in a long time, so it gets to be first!

 

The Kraken makes me think of scuba diving in the crystal aqua waters of the Caribbean and discovering a sunken treasure chest spilling over with gold and emeralds. It's truly stunning, and it dries quite smooth and shiny for such a glitter-packed polish - I didn't use a top coat and normally I'd use a couple of layers over a glitter. It gets a little bit thick once you're doing the second coat, but it's very easy to work with and dries super fast. It is absolutely packed with glitter - I used two coats for the pic above.

I received this polish in a Wantable beauty subscription box, but they are available for purchase in Australia (for AUD$11.85) from Femme Fatale, a fantastic site for international and indie brands (A England polishes are available from there at great prices too).

Quickie files: Tony Moly Korean cosmetics!

Holy Moly! Cat-shaped cosmetics under $10?

 asdfasjdfgjkldkjfasbgdhdhjk!!!!!

 

Wantable - the beauty box that REALLY delivers!

I am a beauty box addict. I love getting the little surprise in the mail each month from Lust Have It, Bellabox, Violet Box and the like. I've always stuck with the Australian boxes, but I took a chance recently and signed up for the Wantable beauty box - it's more expensive than other boxes at a total of $45 per month, but is it worth it?

The short answer is YES! I received both my July AND August boxes on Friday, so although it was a long and at times frustrating wait, I had twice as much fun going through it all, and I'm thrilled to bits! I have listed the pros and cons at the end, which I hope you read, but I know what you really want to know is:

Don't worry Brad, this time it's not Gwyneth Paltrow's head. It's prettier and far less annoying.

Lush Caca Noir Henna - tutorial and review

Henna is not just for hippies! I recently let some hairdressing students trash my lovely long dark hair with bleach (see my previous post), and I am pulling out all the stops to bring it back to life. I decided the way to go would be to first do a protein treatment to reconstruct the hair shaft, and then colour it with Lush Caca Noir, because every time I use it, my hair is phenomenal afterwards. I haven't used it for about 4 years, but I'm happy to say it hasn't changed!

Home Made Protein Hair Treatment

I remember back in the early 1980s, mum had a recipe for a protein hair treatment you could make at home. I used to use it quite a bit (when I've had hair - chemo and whatnot), changing the recipe and adding bits and pieces, but it's been years since the last time. A bad bleaching experience recently left me desperately racking my brains for how to save my hair, and I suddenly remembered this DIY protein fix!

David Jones Deluxe Sampler Tote

Hi everyone! This is just a little quick post about the David Jones Deluxe Sampler Tote, available at the moment at David Jones stores - it was available online but I had heard a rumour that it had sold out :(
 It is well worth making the trek to your nearest store though, it costs $19.95 with ANY beauty purchase - yep a $5 lip balm counts - and it's full of all kinds of goodies. There is a choice of two types, with a few product variations, and the goodie bag is clear so you can snoop through them all and pick the nail polish colour you want!

TheBalm Shady Lady Vol 2 & 3 review and swatches

At the moment David Jones has an amazing theBalm gwp - spend AUD$27.95 and get your choice of Shady Lady Vol 2 or Vol 3 free! Volume 3 is pictured below:

The Shady lady palettes retail at AUD$49.95 and represent outstanding value, with nine eyeshadows and a big mirror included. Read on after the jump for swatches of both palettes:

From Bitten to Smitten: 10 Tips to Help You Quit Nail Biting and Love Your Nails!

I remember looking at my nails and thinking, they're always going to be ugly, so why even bother? I'm so glad I did! I'm not an expert, just an ordinary chick with a 35 year nail biting habit that I finally managed to overcome. I thought it was time to share my tips and tricks on how to go from Nibbled Nubbins to Killer Claws!

 Tabbzoid, one of my former foster kittens, showing how it's done.

Read on for my top ten tips:

Ooh La La! Payot Creme Riche Dermo-Apaisante review!

I was lucky enough recently to be included in a trial team of Payot Creme Riche Dermo-Apaisante courtesy of The Facial Company, an Australian online store that stocks a huge range of quality skincare, including harder-to-find brands. They often have discounts and specials, as well as regular Facebook promotions like this one. Payot Creme Riche Dermo-Apaisante has a rrp of AUD$95 for a 50ml jar.

 Payot Creme Riche Dermo-Apaisante

I trialled this cream for 3 weeks - read on after the jump for review and photos:

Smashbox "Click You're It" Holiday palette review and giveaway!

The Smashbox "Click, You're It" palette was released for Christmas 2011, and with 15 shadows and 5 cream eyeliners it represents excellent value for money, especially from the Smashbox brand!

Read on for photographs, swatches, and a GIVEAWAY!

Ciate Chalkboard Manicure kit review and demo

The Ciate Chalkboard Manicure set is an interesting innovation - it includes a matte black base polish, matte top coat, and 4 coloured pens (similar to felt tip pens) to create all kinds of artwork on your nails!

Of course this was too cute an idea for me to pass up, so I snapped it up the very first day it was available. Do I love it? I love it the way my fiance loves me - I'm difficult, irritating, and downright disastrous at times, but much too adorable to give up on!

Interested? Read on after the jump!

Skin Physics Pore Away Mattifying Base Primer

Skin Physics is an Australian skincare and beauty brand which, although relatively new (established in 2009), has a small but interesting range of products. They have fun electronics like a photon LED skin rejuvenation device and a well-priced sonic cleansing brush for face and body, an unusual"facial sculpting gel" called Dragon's Blood (eep!) and skincare ranges called Cellugen and Pore Away. I haven't tried any of their other products yet, but I was lucky enough to win their Pore Away Mattifying Base Primer through a Facebook promotion, and I really like it!

Read on for my review:

Easy Peasy Smoky Eyes!

I love makeup, skincare and everything girly, so the hardest part of writing my first blog article is, what topic do I choose? I finally hit on the one thing I’m known for – smoky eyes. I have small eyes, which I hate, so I try every trick in the book to make them look bigger and more dramatic. I wear smoky eyes every day, and do my makeup on the train (it buys me an extra 30 minutes sleep!). Because I’m travelling and don’t want to take a brush roll and 300 shadows with me every day, I had to choose my “bare essentials” and trim my technique as well. It showed me how little I need, and how little effort it is, to get the smoky look I love. So without further ado, let me share my technique with you for easy-peasy smoky eyes! 

Click through to read more: