DIY: Ombre Nails

Hey pretty ladies :)

I saw this video on the Seventeen magazine website for ombre nails and knew i had to give it a go. 

I can imagine it's a bit hit and miss for some people but I love the look, i think it's fun and I'm liking the ombre trend. So with that said here is my finished version..

This was my first attempt and I could definitely do with some practice! Overall I'm happy though and will probably try it again sometime. There is more variation between the nails than it appears in the photos but I think if i did it again I would probably try to make the nails a bit more different in terms of their shades as there isn't a lot of differences between some of my fingers especially my pinky and ring finger. Oh well lesson learnt.

It was a fairly simple process and here's what I used to get my purple shades.

Orly Bonder, OPI Lincoln Park After Dark, Ulta3 Lily White (which is just a plain white) and Orly Won't Chip. I also used a paper plate, a few toothpicks and a clean nail polish brush. 

Overall the process was relatively easy. Here's what i did;
♥ I started by applying a base coat, i used Orly Bonder
♥ I then started with a coat of plain Lincoln Park After Dark and applied it to my pinky nail
♥ Next I added a drop of white to Lincoln Park After Dark and mixed it with a toothpick on a paper plate and painted my ring finger
♥ I kept adding a bit more white for every new nail until all my fingers were done
♥  I finished off my applying a clear top cop and you're done!

I think Lincoln Park After Dark worked out to be a really good colour to use as it's a dark colour but has a lot of purple in it - i didn't realise how purpley it was until this. Obviously you can you whatever dark shade you like, i think i dark maroon and blue would be great too.

What do you think lovely ladies, love it or leave it?

Thankyou Marie Claire!

This is just a really quick post for all the Australian readers out there. If you don't already know Marie Claire  are giving away an Estee Lauder Pure Color lipgloss with the September issue. I think it's part of their 15th birthday edition. I got mine a little while ago but the issue is still on the shelves so if you want one you better hurry before the October issue hits the shelves. 

 

The magazine is AUD$9.20and the gloss retails for AUD$42 - what a great freebie.

The lipgloss is Pure Colour in number 11 Passion Fruit Shimmer and it's really gorgeous. It's a great coral red shade with a nice fruity smell. I don't really have any other glosses in this shade so I'm very happy :)

 Excuse the other mark on my hand, it's a lipstain that will not come off!

So if you haven't already run out and grab one!

I hope you are all having a wonderful day 

x

Teeny Revlon Haul

Hey girls :)

After lusting after everyone's Revlon Spring/Summer 2010 goodies for months now hey have finally been released in Australia in time for the warmer months ahead. No doubt you have seen them before but I'm excited and wanted to share. 

As you can see I only ended up getting 3 things. I got 2 nail polishes in Lilac Pastelle and Peach Petal and I also picked up a lipgloss in Peach Petal. All the other nail polishes and lipglosses looked really pretty so I'm thinking I might eventually pick some other things up. Maybe the lipgloss in Coral Reef and the nail polish in Gray Suede but we'll see. I haven't tested out the polishes yet but I love the look of the colours.

I haven't really used the lipgloss much yet but from what I can tell so far it seems really nice. As you can see it's a peachy nude that looks nice by itself or over other colours. I love the consistency it's not too sticky but it feels like it won't rub off in 2 minutes. This one retails at AUD$22 (I think) but for all the Aussies girls out there I got mine from Gloss for around AUD$9 so if your after one definitely check Gloss out for a bargain.

Have you tried any of these products? And more importantly do you recommend any of the other products?

Hope you're all having a great day!

:)

Hot Celebs!

Now that uni is back I find myself spending the majority of the time procrastinating on the internet. I thought I'd share this this website which i stumbled across a while ago... 

Hot Celebs Home

Before you wonder why I'm suggesting you check it out, it actually has lots of piccies of celebs in amazing high quality which means you can zoom right in (glad it's them & not me!) and get a really clear look at their makeup! The site does have a lot of pictures that aren't so great for makeup but there are heaps of pics and people to search through.

To show you what I mean here are some pictures I have pinched from the site, click on them to see the fabulous quality. 

So for all those beauty obsessed it's a fantastic site for looking at gorgeous makeup, getting inspiration  and wasting lots of time

:)

Nails of the Day

Essie in Tart Deco (love the name)

Gorgeous orangey coral shade!

The formula was a pain to apply but it's such a lovely shade for the warmer weather which is just around the corner and i wish would hurry up

Have a wonderful day everyone :)

♥

The Second Story

Benefit's Crescent Row second story trio that is. They are the 3 very cute new additions to Benefit's perfume range. The fragrances came out last week and I was lucky enough to get my hands on one at the blogger event a few weeks ago and have been using it ever since.

The 3 new additions are; 
  

Garden of Good & Eva

Lookin' to Rock Rita

So Hooked on Carmella

In usual benefit style they come in very cute packaging each with their own quirky little box. They had the perfumes set up at the blogger event in a cute little stand which was very charming as you can see below.

Photo from Maxted Thomas PR

Blogging about perfume is a funny sort of thing which is actually really hard and I am hopeless at describing scents but will do the best I can! Its top notes are rhubarb, lemon and grapefruit with cyclamen, peony and tiare flower middle notes and vanilla, sandalwood and amber bottom notes. So it's a florally vanillery smell which is sweet but balanced out nicely so it's not over the top. 

The thing that caught my attention (or should i say nose) about Carmella was the fact that it had rhubarb in it. I love rhubarb and love the idea. The scent is really quite unusual and unlike anything i have smelt before. A friend said it reminded her of creaming soda and I can totally see what she means. 
 

Photo from google images

I think this scent is unusual and quite different from other perfumes. I can imagine that it would not be for everyone. I'm not sure if I would buy this perfume again but I am liking it at the moment and will be checking out the others, particularly Lookin' to Rock Rita. I think Carmella needs a next door neighbour!

Obviously you're not going to race out and buy one based on my lousy description but I would recommend you go take a sniff, if nothing else you get to have a peek at the cute display and packaging! 

:) 

Beauty Blogger Event!

Hello hello, 

I was over the moon to be invited by Maxted Thomas PR to beauty bloggers event at Brad Ngata's hair salon in Surry Hills. I took my lovely friend Marianne and had a great day. I somehow managed to forget my camera so i have pinched some from MTPR for your viewing pleasure.

We arrived at the cute salon on Sunday afternoon and were greeted by the happy Maxted Thomas team, name tags, champagne and most importantly masses of makeup everywhere we looked. We were told to head on in and look around the various stations they had set up for each brand so away we went.

Orly - First stop was Orly to get our nails done by the wonderful Orly team. They did their thing - filed, buffed and polished and after much deliberation over what colour (talk about a tough choice - so many gorgeous colours to choose from) i settled on Prince Charming which was a lovely browny taupey colour which was very fitting for winter. Marianne on the other hand went with a bright bubblegum bluey greeney colour called gumdrop which was really cute. I actually don't have much experience with Orly and haven't really seen them around so it was great to have first hand experience with their products. My initial impressions are good - my nail polish wish list has just massively increased!

Getting our nails done :)

Benefit - Next stop was Benefit which was just fab. I love benefit and the benefit girls or benebabes were lovely and so much fun! They gave Marianne and I mini makeovers and did a great job. After the event we were taken to the Benefit Boutique and had our eyebrows waxed and tinted along with false lashes applied. My eyebrows now look amazing - thanks benefit! I think Benefit is a great brand which i really don't have enough of.

Marianne and I (Really should have put the glass out of the snap, oh well at least it was after 12 :P)

Jane Iredale - This is a brand which i was not at all familiar with. They had makeup artists set up doing mini makeovers and makeup demonstrations with lots of their  products on display. Having not heard of them it was nice to have a play with their products. The makeup artist was telling me that they only sell in salons and plastic surgeons offices which makes sense as to why i have not seen them. They are a mineral makeup brand and i love the concept of no harsh chemicals on the skin at the same time as doing a great job of covering roscaea and other skin problems.

Trilogy - I was so exited that trilogy was there. I jumped on the rosehip oil bandwagon about 2 months ago and have been using their rosehip oil religiously since. Seeing as i have been focussed on the rosehip oil i had overlooked their other products. They have a wide range of products from mens to anti aging to sensitive so no one misses out.

 

Nivea - We were welcomed by the nivea team and given a quiz to determine which product was best for us which was a bit of fun. We then listened to a talk by Nivea representatives who actyally gave a really interesting talk. There was a lot of focus on the Q-10 range and a new exciting product coming out soon which i will have to post about. Where would i be in winter without their moisturiser!

Getting the Nivea spiel

Brad Ngata - He was at the salon working his magic on lots of the girls. Can that guy use a GHD, talk about jealous, if only i could do that. One day when i'm not a poor uni student this is where i'm heading!

It was a fantastic day and i would like to thank everyone at MaxtedThomasPR for organising it. Everyone was so lovely and it's great that they have acknowledged the role of beauty bloggers :)

NOTD Red

Hello everyone, 

Here's a quick nail of the day. 

I'm back at uni and have been sick all week (hence the lack of blog posts) so i decided a pop of red would brighten my day.

  

This is Haute Red courtesy of Orly. I'm not normally a red nail polish fan but i really like this colour, it's not too dark and adds a bit of oomph to my amazingly drab winter wardrobe. The colour is a bit darker in real life than what it looks in the snap but you get the idea. I still can't find my camera so to make up for the poor quality photos I pinched this swatch from the Orly website.

This is my first Orly polish and i must say i am impressed. It applied like a dream and i only had to apply one coat which never happens with other brands! One of the things i love the most is the bottle and the lid. It has more grip than brands like OPI which means it's easier to open and nice to hold. 

Anyway my first experience with Orly gets a big thumbs up, i will have to hunt down some more. Exciting post on the Beauty blogger coming soon!

 

 :)