NOTD - OPI Wooden Shoe Like To Know?

Hi lovelies!

I hope you're all keeping warm and dry! I'm rugged up in my PJs, a fluffy sunshine yellow bathrobe and with a cup of hot green tea by my side as I type this! But hey, at least I have pretty nails...which brings me to the topic of this post!

As you may or may not know, I am currently hosting an Instagram challenge over on my Instagram page, #7dayswithmm. I thought it would be a fun way to challenge myself (and whoever decided to join me), and also have a bit of fun along the way! Just to sweeten the pot a little, I'm also giving away a set of Maybelline lipsticks (the ones I wrote about here) and an amazeballs Clinique gift pack! It's not too late to join in if you're so inclined!

Anyhoo, the theme for Day 4 was nails, so here's what I came up with! I used OPI Wooden Shoe Like To Know for my base, OPI Liquid Sand in Honey Ryder for my middle finger, and an accent nail with dry marbling using Revlon Gold Coin and Orly Liquid Vinyl on my ring finger.

What do you think, lovelies? I'd love to hear your feedback!

Much love,
MM.
x

Easter Treats!

Hi lovelies!

I hope you're having an amazing Easter long weekend so far! Now, I'm a big chocolate lover, but I've been noticing an abundance of chocolate everywhere, so I thought it might be fun to come up with a post that outlines some non-edible chocolate related treats...just in case you're a little tired of chocolate (or just want to cut down on the calories), but still want to treat yourself to something along those lines!

Un-edible Easter Chocolate Treats!

1) Try a scented soy candle like Chocolate Cookies from Buddha Bum Soy Candles to help you feel some Easter vibes, and it will make your home smell beautiful, too. Soy candles burn cleaner than other waxes as they don't have as many nasties in them, which means they're less likely to trigger allergies. Soy wax burns at a lower temperature, too, which means that a soy candle will last longer than a paraffin candle, bonus!

2) Indulge in a chocolate infused eyeshadow palette like the Chocolate Bar palettes (either the original or the Semi-Sweet, pictured above, or the new Bon Bons palette) from Too Faced Cosmetics, or any of the chocolate themed palettes (there are five in total!) from Makeup Revolution (the white one above is I ♥ Makeup Naked Chocolate)! They smell beautiful and they'll make you feel gorgeous when you look in the mirror!

3) Try a chocolate coloured polish, the one pictured in the photo above is Wooden Shoe Like To Know by OPI, and it's gorgeous! I feel like I've dipped my nails in milk chocolate every time I wear this.

4) The one food item on my list; it isn't technically edible in itself so I figured it passed...a chocolate infused tea! I'm obsessed with Lamington from T2 teas, but there are stacks of other delicious sounding teas, including a curated box containing several different types of chocolate teas called T2 Choc Selfies!

5) A signature fashion item like a pair of shoes or a bag in chocolate tones will also help you fit right in. Pictured above is my little tote bag from Colette Hayman.

There you have it, lovelies, some cute little ideas that will help you celebrate Easter in a slightly out-of-the-box way!

Now, how will you be celebrating Easter? Are you a big chocolate fan?

Much love,
MM.
x

Pink and purple nail art!

Hi lovelies,

Here's a pink and purple nail art manicure I came up with. I used OPI Pink Friday for the base, and then used a fine tipped brush to draw lines using BYS polish in Ultra Violet. It was really easy and barely took any time at all!

Keep reading after the jump!

OPI Lovely Lips & Tips Review - Big Apple Red!

Hello lovelies,

I'm still walking around Europe, but here's another post I set to publish while I was away.

Do you ever match your lip colour to your nail polish? I do from time to time, purely because it's a fun thing to do! If you've ever wanted to try it but found yourself a little overwhelmed, never fear, for OPI have done the legwork for you, with the Lovely Lips & Tips pack!

The Lovely Lips & Tips pack in Big Apple Red was actually a Christmas gift from OPI, and it came with a pack of dark chocolate covered brazil nuts. Truth be told, I'm not sure which I was more excited about, I love dark chocolate almost as much as I love nail polish!

The lipgloss in the set is really pretty, as it has three different layers (see photo below). I'm not sure if the layers will eventually start to mix after the gloss has been used for a while, but the effect is staying put for now. It comes with a little brush applicator, which makes for easy application on-the-go. 

 
Keep reading after the jump!

OPI San Francisco Collection - Embarca-Dare Ya! & Muir Muir On The Wall.

Hi lovelies,

In light of yesterday's big OPI sale announcement, I have two gorgeous polishes to show you today, Embarca-Dare Ya! and Muir Muir On The Wall from the San Francisco Collection.

Embarca-Dare Ya! is a lovely magenta shimmer which occasionally takes on a rosy hue, depending on the lighting. While not terribly unique, it's a lovely shade and applies like a dream. I used two shades for these photos, topped off with my beloved Poshe topcoat.

OPI Embarca-Dare Ya!

OPI Embarca-Dare Ya!

Keep reading after the jump!

Buy One Get One Free OPI Polish This Weekend - Nationwide!

Hi lovelies!

Do you love OPI as much as I do?!

In that case, I have some excellent news for you! In celebration of the long-standing relationship OPI and David Jones have shared, they are offering a once-off exclusive offer to all those shopping over this coming long weekend; BUY ONE LACQUER, GET ONE FREE all weekend! If you're not living in Sydney, don't fret, this applies NATIONWIDE!

This is exclusive to David Jones stores (does not apply to online sales) and only applies to 15 ml bottles. Valid 05/10/13 - 07/10/13.

Why not pick up some Liquid Sands or perhaps some shades from the new OPI San Francisco collection (swatch photos/review coming soon)! Click here for more shade ideas.

OPI Liquid Sand in Honey Ryder

OPI Liquid Sand in Stay the Night

Get in quick, beauties, remember it's only valid this long weekend, so don't pass this great opportunity up!

Are you tempted by this? What shades are you eyeing?

Much love,
MM.
x

OPI The Bond Girls Liquid Sand Collection - Solitaire, Pussy Galore and Honey Ryder.

Hello lovelies!

I have a review of three gorgeous liquid sand polishes to show you today! They are part of the OPI Bond Girls collection, in commemoration of 50 years of Bond movies!

If you think the term Liquid Sand is familiar, it's because I showed you two beautiful polishes from the same Liquid Sand formula, from the OPI Mariah Carey collection not too long ago. The Bond Girls collection, however, is more about pastels and there are some gorgeous ones on offer, so let's take a look, shall we?

First up, we have Solitaire, a beautiful white polish that tends towards silver, depending on the lighting. It also looks almost translucent in certain lighting. In the photos, it looks like it's not fully opaque on my nails, but that's due to the reflective sparkle particles in the polish.

Solitaire in daylight.

Keep reading after the jump!

OPI Mariah Carey Spring 2013 Collection - Can't Let Go & Stay The Night.

Hello lovelies,

Thank goodness it's the weekend! Hooray for sleeping in and having a whole 2 days off from work!

I have a really overdue post to share today, on two polishes from the Mariah Carey Spring Collection, called Can't Let Go and Stay The Night. They were actually sent to me in December, but then I got sick and got behind on my blogging! Still, better late than never, I say! I was a very big fan of Mariah's music in her earlier days (not so much the later stuff she's been putting out), so I was really keen to check these out.

These polishes are from the unique Liquid Sand formulation, which is exactly what the name infers; a textured polish which dries with a matte and gritty finish, much like... sand! The best way I can think to describe it is to liken it to having fine grade sandpaper on your nails, only way more stylish! These two polishes are not meant to be worn with a topcoat (more on that later on in this post), and they have a very unique beauty of their own.

Can't Let Go is a deep purple microglitter with small light purple hexagonal glitter that tends towards blue (it really freaked my camera out and appears blue in almost all the photos).

OPI Can't Let Go
(see, it appears blue)

OPI Can't Let Go
In direct sunlight.

OPI Can't Let Go
Colour adjusted to give a more accurate representation.

OPI Can't Let Go
Colour adjusted to give a more accurate representation.

Stay The Night is a very unique, black polish with small red hexagonal glitter shot through it. I really love this shade!

OPI Stay The Night

OPI Stay The Night
In daylight

OPI Stay The Night
In daylight

OPI Stay The Night
In daylight

OPI Stay The Night
With flash to show the red microglitter

And here's what I meant when I said it doesn't look that great with topcoat over it. The red glitter flecks are a bit more obvious but it still doesn't have a smooth look thanks to the liquid sand 'drinking' up the topcoat!

OPI Stay The Night
With topcoat over the first two nails and bare on the last two.

The formula on these polishes is quite remarkable, I almost expected the liquid sand range to be hard to work with but they're fully opaque in 2 coats! They also lasted really well, without chipping or undue tip wear, for at least five days before I took them off.

Surprisingly, removal wasn't too difficult either! I just used the soak-off method and they came off very quickly.

This OPI range is available from Myer (hello, MyerOne points!), David Jones, Petra Haircare and selected pharmacies, and retails for $19.95 for a full sized bottle or $24.95 for a set of four miniatures. You can also purchase online from Myer by clicking here.

What do you think of these polishes, lovelies? Do they strike your fancy?

Much love,
MM.
x


Note: These products were kindly provided for my consideration. This has not affected my opinion in any way. For more information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

OPI Skyfall Collection - Live and Let Die & Goldeneye

Hi lovelies!

What did everyone get up to over the long weekend/Cup Day? I had Monday off so I just took it easy over the four days, and even gave myself a bit of a blog break! It was so lovely having four days off from work! Did anyone back a winning horse in the Melbourne Cup? Sadly, I didn't have much luck with my bet, which only confirms how terrible I am at gambling! I think I'd best stick to blogging!

I have two gorgeous shades from the OPI Skyfall Collection (also known as the 007 collection) to share with you today, called Live and Let Die and Goldeneye. I previously showed you the 18K gold topcoat called The Man With The Golden Gun, which is also part of this collection.

Live and Let Die is a gorgeous, deep forest green polish with gold and green microshimmer through it. The formula is pretty fantastic, you could probably get away with one coat but I applied two coats purely out of habit! It's actually a really unique polish as you can see a green-gold cast to it in the bottle. It's not as evident on the nails but it's definitely got something unique to it; I actually got lots of compliments wearing this polish. Live and Let Die actually makes me almost regret that we're in spring, as the deep, sexy colour is perfect for fall/autumn as the temperature drops!

Live and Let Die is also a wonderful shade to wear with the 18K gold topcoat (reviewed here), as the deep green is the perfect backdrop for the gold flake topcoat!

Goldeneye on the other hand, is rather a strange polish to try and describe. It's made of tiny, yellow-gold microglitter/flakes, and reminds me of the gold version of OPI Spark de Triomphe (reviewed here), in that it's actually really sheer but completely buildable. One coat of Goldeneye leaves you with highly visible gaps in the polish, two coats evens it up somewhat (but still gives you visible nail layer) and three coats gives you perfectly opaque coverage. What's unique about this shade is it's not just your basic yellow-gold, but it actually reflects back as bronze in some lighting. It's also got a foil-like effect to it, I've been fairly mesmerised by my nails while wearing it, it looks rather like I've dipped my fingers in liquid gold!

Overall, both these shades are completely gorgeous and really unique. I must admit I have my eyes set on at least a couple more of these shades, particularly The World Is Not Enough and On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

What do you think of this collection so far, lovelies? Do you own any of these shades? If not, will you be buying some?

Don't forget to enter my Facebook mini giveaway!

Much love,
MM.
x


Note: This product was kindly provided for my consideration. This has not affected my opinion in any way. For more information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

OPI - The Man With The Golden Gun.

Hi lovelies!

I hope you are all well! I'm SICK! I think I've caught a cold from my colleague and it's set in with a vengeance. :( And here I was, hoping that the flu season would be over now that we're in spring!

Anyway, I just wanted to share this amazing new special effects topcoat from OPI, called The Man With The Golden Gun. It contains real, 18-karat gold leaf flakes embedded in a clear topcoat, which is why it's a little more expensive than normal, retailing at $40. I have to admit that the price tag did make me pause a little, it's probably the most expensive polish I own, but it's so unique, I couldn't resist!

This polish is part of the limited edition James Bond Skyfall range (named after the most recent movie) released to commemorate 007's 50 year anniversary on the big screen, which is why it's packaged in a special collector's box! My only gripe about the gold bottle, is it makes it really hard to see how much polish you have left in the bottle, and if the flakes have settled towards the bottom of the bottle. It's also so reflective, you can see my reflection in it! Quite frankly though, this is a gorgeous range; I'm in love with most of the polishes and really would like to pick a few more up (they have the best names as they are all named after Bond movies)!

Caution, lots of photos ahead!

I wanted to share some photos of this topcoat to show you all how gorgeous it is. I had a bit of a play over several different colours (but didn't photograph it), and as expected, it looks stunning when paired with a contrasting colour, but it's also a really pretty way to dress up a subtle manicure. The flakes are a bit more sparse than I expected, but it's still possible to get great coverage by gently rolling the bottle between your hands between each application. I also found that it was best not to 'wipe' the brush off on the mouth of the bottle as you normally would before applying polish, as you tend to wipe off most of the flakes before putting it on your nail. You can also go back and add in flakes where you have bare spots.

I'm wearing three coats of The Man With The Golden Gun over two coats of Rimmel Black Cherries, and I can't stop staring at my nails, it's such a pretty manicure!

I planned to take a few more photos of this polish over different base polishes to show just how stunning it is, but being sick has set me back a little! Stay tuned for more posts soon!

I bought mine from David Jones, but I have also heard that it's available from Petra, Hairhouse Warehouse and nail salons stocking OPI polishes. Did you know that Myer has now begun stocking OPI polishes? I was so excited to see that, but the problem is they seem quite behind on their collections, as they only have the Dutch Collection in stock.

What do you think, lovelies? Will you be loving it, or leaving it? Are you keen on getting any of the other shades?

I'm eyeing Golden Eye, Casino Royale, Live and Let Die and The World Is Not Enough! You can view the colours in the range, here and on Plastic Diaries blog, here.


Much love,
MM.
x

Christmas in July Blog Swap Goodies!

Hi lovelies,

Yes, you read that title right, it does say July, and yes, we are in September. So what happened is in early July, the gorgeous Samantha Smith sent out a call asking if anyone was interested in participating in an Australian version of the Christmas in July Swap. A few of us responded and I was duly paired up with the lovely Jasmine from Sweetaholic-Beauty, which was quite meaningful as we do enjoy stalking reading each others blogs.

As we both live in Melbourne and chat almost daily via Twitter (which reminds me, are you following me yet?), we decided to use this as an excellent chance to catch up in person and exchange swap goodies! The only problem is we both had rather busy schedules and with one thing leading to another, we only managed to meet up a couple of weeks ago to exchange goodies! And I've been a bit busy of late which is why this post is even later, but hey, better late than never, right?!

As you might imagine, there's nothing harder than buying presents for a beauty blogger; as odds are they already have what you've bought them. Jasmine did a fantastic job with my goodies as they were all items I'd probably have chosen for myself. Let's take a look at what she got me..please excuse the shocking photos as I kept waiting for some natural light, and finally just gave up and took them in my bedroom, which has rather appalling lighting.

All the items were individually wrapped up in gorgeous purple tissue paper and packaged in a cute gift bag, so it really felt like Christmas!

Jasmine's pretty gift bag!

The first item was a Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick by Kate Moss - No.19. Now, I love this range and have four lipsticks from it, but the others are all brights/reds and this is a nude lipstick! I love it, I'd describe it as a rose brown nude, and it's so flattering. This is the kind of shade I'd have picked myself!

Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick by Kate Moss No. 19.

Next, we have an OPI polish from the Dutch Collection, called Wooden Shoe Like To Know? I have already worn it and loved it, it reminds me of milk chocolate (although it looks more pinky in this photo)! I will have a NOTD post up soon with this little beauty. Again, love this and I actually don't have very many browns in my polish collection!

OPI nail polish: Wooden Shoe Like To Know?

The third item she chose for me was a Savvy trio eyeshadow in Emerald City. Now, I've actually wanted this for a while as I love that green shade but I hadn't gotten around to buying it, so she did the job for me! Love that this has a highlighter and contouring shade to go with the green, it will make it very handy for travelling with. 

Savvy trio eyeshadow in Emerald City.

She also gave me a Savvy liner in Indigo. I love Savvy products and own a few but not this, and we all know how much I love eyeliners...!

Savvy eyeliner in Indigo.

Last of all, she gave me the Avon palette in Earth Tones that we got from the BH Open Day (that reminds me, I'm awfully late with my Open Day review and now I feel quite bad about posting it. Are you guys still keen to see it?). We had been chatting on Twitter when I mentioned how much I liked it, so she thoughtfully threw it in for me, isn't she a sweetie?! I love this palette and it's perfect for wearing to work.

Avon eyeshadow quad in Earth Tones.

Here's a last photo showing all the gorgeous goodies she got me!

My blog swap goodies!

I just want to say a big thank you to Jasmine, I love that she took the time to get a feel for what I like and she spoilt me thoroughly! I quite felt like it was Christmas come early, and it was a lot of fun picking out items for her.

I can't wait to do another blog swap as it's a great way to get to meet new friends and try new products! Click here if you'd like to see what I got her!

I hope you enjoyed that post, lovelies, have/would you be keen on participating in a blog swap? I'd love to try an international one next!

Much love,
MM.
x