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.

Pink & Black Makeup Look!

Hello lovelies!

Happy Hump Day! It's Wednesday, which means it's time for another weekly makeup tag look! This week's theme is pink & black, which I was super excited to try.

This post is going to be short and sweet as I spent the whole day in Tasmania for work, waking up at 5am (after a largely sleepless night) and only getting home at 8.30pm, exhausted!

Tried an ombré lip with black and barbie pink (Ulta3 Hot Pink Kisses).

And substituted the lip for the Mirenesse Lip Bomb in #4 for some hot pink goodness...

Before switching back to Ulta3 lipstick in Hot Pink Kisses.

Products used:

Face
Lóreal Paris Nude Magique BB cream
Youngblood pressed mineral foundation in Toffee
Sleek Blush by 3 palette in Pumpkin (I used Squash)

Eyes
*Pink shade from the MeMeMe Fire Eyes quad
Pink shade from the Beauty UK Soho Bright Palette
Black shade from the Beauty UK Soho Palette
Black gel liner from Essence
Revlon false lashes

Lips
Alternated between:
Ulta3 Hot Pink Kisses
Mirenesse Lip Bomb #4

Hope you enjoyed that, lovelies! I thought the pink and black theme was really fun. I think the ómbre lips went better, what do you think? Don't forget to stop by Aqeela's blog and check out what the other girls have done, they are all really talented!

Much love,
MM.
x


Note: Products marked with '*' were provided for my consideration. This has not affected my opinion in any way. For more information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

Product Review: Makeup Academy Single Shadows in #7, #9 and #14.

Hello lovelies,

Sorry for the hiatus since my last post, I've been a bit busy and also a bit under the weather, which is why it's been a bit quiet on the blog front! I'm working on a few little projects though, so stay tuned!

If you follow me on Instagram, you might've seen a recent haul photo I posted from Makeup Academy (MUA). I'm quite obsessed with their brand, I love pretty much everything I've got from there (I have lipsticks, lipglosses, eyeshadow palettes, nail polish, primers, and many, many more). I recently ordered a few more things to add to my MUA collection, which I'll be reviewing soon, amongst which were these three gorgeous pearl eyeshadow singles. I'm not usually a fan of eyeshadow singles because I seldom hit pan on anything, and also because I find palettes easier to store, but these ones were so pretty, I simply couldn't resist!

I picked up the pearl shades #7 (spring green), #9 (duchrome purple/blue) and #14 (forest green with deep black undertones). I was also a really bad beauty blogger and swatched them before I took photos (I'm so sorry, but they were so pretty I couldn't resist dipping a finger in)!

L-R: Shade #14, #7 and #9 (at the bottom).

MUA pearl shadow single #7

MUA pearl shadow single #9

MUA pearl shadow single #14

L-R: #9, #7 and #14.

I must say these gorgeous shadows are amazing; the quality is fantastic and they are very 'buttery' and smooth. I also love that there's very little fallout. The shadow that really stands out to me is #9, it's such a unique shade and I just don't have anything like it in my collection (I've got an upcoming eye makeup/EOTD post featuring this beauty, so please stay tuned)! If you're thinking it looks a little familiar, that's because I used it in my Goth look for last week's makeup tag!

The packaging is great, it's quite sturdy and very easy to open (unlike some that make you fear breaking a nail)! I also like that it's transparent so you can see exactly which shade you're looking at. The best part? The price! These beauties retail for £1.00 on the MUA website, which is roughly equivalent to $1.50 AUD, and they offer worldwide shipping! At that price, you'd be hard pressed not to buy the entire collection!

Overall, I'm well pleased with these shadows, and I'm definitely planning on picking up a few more, they even have matte shadow singles which are well worth a look!

What do you think of these shadows, lovelies? Have you tried any of the MUA single shadows before? Do you have a shade you think I should buy? I'm lusting after shade #26 but it's been out of stock for ages!

Much love,
MM.
x

Goth Makeup Look!

Hi lovelies!

It's time for the weekly makeup tag again, and this week's theme is Goth! Now, I was really excited by this challenge but also really intimidated by it. It's a really tough look to pull off with darker skin!

I did some research and learnt that Goth doesn't mean super pale skin, it just means a paler version of what you already have, so I used a pressed powder heavily over my skin, and then just played up my eyes and lips. I also skipped bronzer and blush for obvious reasons. 

I had planned to wear black on my lips but the 'research' I did said not to go too dark on both eyes and lips, so I compromised by using a deep plum on the lips with an outline of black eyeliner. Products used are at the bottom of the post. I also saw some goth images with pretty patterns drawn on so couldn't resist trying that too! Looking forward to hearing what you think of my Goth effort.

And this is where I decided to get into drawing some pretty lines all over. :P

My eyes look just a wee bit evil in the photo below, I think...I love it!

Products used:

Face
Lóreal Paris Nude Magique BB cream
Lóreal Paris Nude Magique BB powder (see review here)
MUA pressed powder in shade #2

Eyes
Models Prefer Infinite Colour shadow pencil in black (these are the bomb, I must review it soon)
MUA single shadow in #9
MUA black eyeshadow
Maybelline Master Precise eyeliner
Maybelline The Falsies waterproof mascara
Modelco fibrelash mascara (on top of the waterproof one, can't say more because the labelling has worn off)
Revlon false lashes (incidentally the same ones that gave me trouble in my last makeup tag look)

Lips
Camouflage Colours skin crayons in #37 (from my May LHI box reviewed here)
Mirenesse Forever Diamonds lipstick in Pierre
Prestige Total Intensity eyeliner in black

Gosh, writing this made me realise just how far behind I am in my product reviews! I'm so sorry!

I hope you enjoyed this tag. I'm not really sure I did this look justice, I'm thinking it looks a bit more vampy than Goth? Perhaps I ought to have gone with black lipstick after all! What do you think?

Don't forget to check out Aqeela's blog to see what gorgeous looks the other girls have come up with!

Much love,
MM.
x

Think Positive Week!

Hello lovelies!

I hope you've all had a fantastic Easter break!

I wanted to take a wee break from beauty blogging to share a wellbeing post as I've decided I could use more positive thinking in my life. As a result, I decided to do #thinkpositiveweek on Instagram.

I looked up positive quotes befitting the mood I was in each day and read through all the quotes I could find, before selecting one to put on Instagram. I did this because reading the quotes put me in a positive state of mind, and reminded me that everything, be it good or bad, comes to an end. Posting it on my Instagram was my way of committing to being more positive and hopefully, spreading the positive thinking! I've often found that when I'm feeling a certain way, I'll randomly come across something that relates to how I'm feeling, and it never fails to lighten the load.

Here are the eight quotes I came up with for #thinkpositiveweek.

Taken from 'Exercise as a power source'.

It's not the journey that matters, but the end point. We may not always be where we want to be in life, but what's important is we keep trying.

Author unknown, photo my own.

Let's hope that the dreams we have eventually come true!

Elbert Hubbard quote.

Negativity gets us nowhere. Being positive may not always get us results but at least we'll be happier and more peaceful along the way. 

J. Petit Senn quote.

Happiness is a state of being and starts with appreciating what we have, instead of continually searching for bigger and better things.

Roald Dahl quote.

My friend R sent this to me, and if this isn't a reflection of inner beauty, I don't know what is! Also, who doesn't love Roald Dahl?!

Elbert Hubbard quote.

  Speaks for itself, I think this is one of the most beautiful and simple quotes I read all week. :)

Author unknown. Sourced from awesomeivor tumblr.

I've always believed that we should gather all the information we can, and then make a decision based on personal beliefs. This may not please everyone but at the end of the day, YOU are the one who has to live with your decisions.

Reposted from @clairekentt.

Most important quote of all, and a great quote to end on! I reposted this from my gorgeous friend, Claire. I could really relate to this, as I said in my birthday post last year (click here to read it), it's possible to miss having someone in your life and yet still not want them in it. You might occasionally feel a tug of sorrow at their absence, but it's better than wading through the sludge of emotional trauma they bring into your life.

I hope you could relate to some of these, lovelies. I feel much better for having done this!

Never fear, I'll be back to normal beauty blogging tomorrow. :)

Much love,
MM.
x