Winter Nail Art Tutorial - The Winter Smoke Manicure.

Hi lovelies,

Happy Hump Day! We're over the middle of the week, so it's a clear stretch to the weekend now!

I just wanted to let you all know that I have another editorial up on the Lipstick Republic website, it's a tutorial on how to create the manicure below! This one is inspired by the cold, wet and dreary weather in Melbourne of late.

All you need are three different polish shades and a dotting tool (or bobby pin). I chose to use ORLY Mirror Mirror for my base, and Sally Hansen White On and ORLY Liquid Vinyl for the design.

L-R: ORLY Liquid Vinyl, Sally Hansen White On, ORLY Mirror Mirror and dotting tool.

Keep reading after the jump!

June 2014 Violet Box Review!

Hi lovelies!

It's good to be back in the swing of things, and that includes my subscription box reviews! I've missed doing the ones from March-May as I was away (and I think April actually got sent back to the sender), so here are my thoughts on the June 2014 Violet Box.

This month's 'box' arrived sans box, but was instead, packaged in a pretty makeup bag (the gift to commemorate the Violet Box birthday). Here's what was in the box:

ghd Straight & Tame Cream (full sized)

Bioderma Sebium Pore Refiner (deluxe sample)

Chella Brow Pencil in Light Brown (full sized)

Strange Beautiful Nail Polish (deluxe sample, I think?)

Appelles Blackseed Shampoo & Tamanu Conditioner (deluxe samples)

Caddy's Cosmetic Pouch (full sized)

On to photos...

June 2014 Violet Box.

Keep reading after the jump!

The Heartbeat Manicure!

Hi lovelies!

Here's some nail art I did a little while ago, using some Duri polishes I got from the Lust Have It Fashion and Beauty (FAB) box. I've decided to call it the heartbeat manicure!

All I did was use Sleeping Beauty Indigo and Call Me Maybe (don't they have the most adorable names?) by Duri for a base, and then drew freehand designs on it using my Sally Hansen black nail art pen. I tried to fill in the hearts with my Sally Hansen white nail art pen but it got cranky on me so I gave up.

Keep reading after the jump!

Guess who's back? Part 1.

Hi lovelies,

I'm back! First of all, let me apologise for being away for so long. I didn't mean to be. Somehow things...and time...just got away from me, and the longer I was away, the harder it was to come back! Don't get me wrong, I love beauty blogging, but I wanted to share a 'what I've been up to post' before I resumed normal beauty blogging...and for some reason, I just couldn't bring myself to go through the hundreds of photos on my phone (and that does not include the ones on my DSLR - I haven't even looked at those yet). Eep.

Anyhow, I decided to take the plunge and just NIKE. I mean, Just Do It! Consider this your warning because this is going to be quite photo heavy (and it's just Part 1, you can find Part 2 here)! If you read this post, you'll know why I decided to throw caution to the winds and just go. I ended up staying a few days in KL while recovering from the flu, then flew to Geneva (via Abu Dhabi). Sadly, I actually left a mere couple of hours before the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 took off, which means I probably passed the passengers in the hallways while in the airport. I hope we find out what happened one day, it's such a tragedy.

I took so many photos in Europe, you're probably better off just looking at them on my Instagram, where I shared most of them. You can search under the hashtag #mmdoeseurope to see all the Europe photos I shared. However, here are some highlights all neatly summarised in one post.

Keep reading after the jump!

Guess who's back? Part 2.

Hi lovelies,

Welcome to Part 2 of my Euro trip.  If you're interested, you can find Part 1 here.

From Paris:

The very famous Notre Dame cathedral. I'm going to go on photo overload because it was so stunning inside, it actually brought tears to my eyes.

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!