Happy New Year!

Hi lovelies,

Happy New Year! I know, I know, it's a bit late but hey, better late than NEVER, right?!

I'm so sorry that I've been a bit quiet lately..things have been unbelievably hectic. I just got back from a month long trip overseas during which I had my eyes assessed for laser surgery (only to find it unsuitable, hence I will have to start saving up for a much more expensive surgery option), wisdom tooth surgery (painful but finally over and done with, thank goodness) and spent loads of time with family.

I'd been feeling a bit worn out last year, both physically and mentally, and together with the fact that I didn't really have proper access to the internet, made me decide to take a break from blogging and my other internet-based activities. I returned to Melbourne a week ago but between my job as an engineer, settling back into routine here in Melbourne and spending time with family and friends I haven't seen in a while, I haven't had much time for much of anything!

Anyway, back to my beauty blogging...I returned to work to find several pleasant surprises; namely, my November Glossybox (thanks to a problem with the first Nov box, I had to have a replacement box sent out...read about it here), December Glossybox, December Lust Have It box and December Bellabox all arrived while I was away! It was a bit like having Christmas all over again and made being back at work a bit easier to bear. And a couple of days later, my December and January I Love This Box also showed up! Talk about box overload!

I'll be posting updates on each of these boxes and my opinions of them very soon...but in the meantime, I wanted to share a few photos of the manicure I've been rocking over the past ten days. Basically, I painted my nails with OPI 'Lucky Lucky Lavender', which is a pretty, dusky purple. Have a look at the photos below.

Now, it started to chip a couple of days ago, but I was a bit pressed for time and couldn't re-do my polish, so I popped on some gold shatter polish over it, to cover the wearing at the tips. I used a gold shatter polish from a brand called 'I love Sasatinnie', which I picked up while on holiday. I can't recall exactly how much it was, but it was pretty inexpensive, as I think it was less than six Australian dollars (especially because of the conversion rate).

I finished off with a coat of OPI top coat and was ready to dash out the door. I don't know about you, but I honestly hate when my polish starts to chip and/or wear at the tips...it just looks really tacky. I've found that popping a shatter polish over it really helps to camoflage the wear, and also changes the look a little so that you can prolong the life of your manicure a little bit.

This is what Lucky Lucky Lavender (LLL) looks like with a gold shatter overlay:

I think it's really quite pretty. The funny thing is, it totally changes the look of the polish. LLL is really quite a bright colour on it's own, but it turned into quite a pastel shade while wearing the gold shatter on top.

So there you go, not only is the shatter polish a fad, but it's also a really handy way of saving your polish when you're pressed for time but can't bear to go out with untidy nails!

Much love,

MM. 

x

I'm still alive and my very first half moon manicure!

Hello lovelies!

I'm still alive and kicking, I've just been relaxing a wee bit too much on my holiday, so I actually haven't been on a computer since I left Melbourne 3 weeks ago. That's got to be a record for me. I just remembered I could access blogger on my iPhone (although the photos will probably come out wonky), so I decided to upload a quick blogpost on my first ever half moon mani, which I attempted yesterday.

I used Sephora's 'winter in aspen' for the crescent and OPI's 'sparrow me the drama' for the rest, as I didn't want it to have too much contrast. As it's my first attempt, I knew the paint job probably wouldn't be too perfect, but it's the perfect time to experiment as I plan on changing my polish to a more Christmassy one tomorrow anyway!

Here's a peek at some photos and I'll be sure to update with my Christmas manicure soon!

That's it, all done! What did you think? Enjoy the silly season!!

Much love,

MM.

x

Glossybox November Review (Part 1)

Hello lovelies,

If you've noticed the post title, and are wondering why it says 'part 1', allow me to explain.

The first ever Glossybox in Australia arrived at my doorstep today. In case you didn't know, Glossybox is pretty popular, particularly in the United Kingdom, and they joined forces/took over BeautyBox (a company offering a similar product) in October 2011. As a result, there was a wee bit of a mess with subscribers to BB being forced to resubscribe to Glossybox. Those of us who had been with BB previously were awarded 1000 glossydots (the subscription equivalent of a free box) to make up for having been charged twice.

Truthfully, we beauty addicts afficianados were all in dithers waiting for the first box to be shipped out. But owing to the fact that the items were shipped from overseas and then packed in Australia, the boxes only shipped out at the end of November, i.e. the 25th of November.

That would still have been fine and I would have been happy waiting, but more issues popped up. We got sent a tracking number, but it didn't include a link by which we could track the parcels. I sent them an email which was ignored, but similar posts on their website were answered, with Glossybox telling subscribers that events would only show up when the box was actually close by and in the courier van ready to be delivered. Pardon my ignorance, but isn't the purpose of tracking being able to actually see where your box is at ALL times? Not just when it's about to land on your doorstep anyway?

Anyhow, my box popped up today, and I was so disappointed when it arrived. First of all, the box arrived encased in a larger cardboard box for protection. Unfortunately, when I opened the outer box, I found black/grey dust all over everything, including my hands and desk. By the time I managed to open the parcel, dust was everywhere, which was really off putting. I couldn't make out if it was from the packing inside the Glossybox or if it was a result of the transport.

And here is where I confess to a major blogger mistake...by the time I got to the actual contents, I was so put off by the dust coating everything, that I barely paid much attention to the contents. I did notice that I received the following items in my box:

Pink jelly beans (look gorgeous but I'm afraid to eat them thanks to the dust coating everything)

Deluxe sample of Bobbi Brown cleansing oil (I'm really not a fan of this, I much prefer the Shu Uemura ones).

Deluxe sample of Jurlique Purely Age-Defying Ultra Firm and Lift Cream

Full sized Bio Oil

Full sized Mirenesse 3D Lip gloss (Not very excited by this colour, it's a deep red, why-oh-why can't I receive a nude gloss?!)

and...

Mini Essie polish in Super Bossa Nova...which was completely dried up and tacky when I opened it. Either I got given a used sample or it hadn't been closed properly because it was completely ruined. It had dried up so much, you could actually see through parts of the bottle, which was a fairly incredibly feat given the hot pink colour of the polish.

So you can probably understand why I lost interest in the box after that. :(
Well, that, and having to mop my desk with dampened tissues to clean up the mess that had been left behind from the dust from the box.

All the same, I'm not 'quite' giving up on them yet...I sent their customer service an email to complain, and included photos of the box. I got a reply within an hour apologising, stating that they weren't responsible for the handling the boxes received during transit, and a promise that a replacement Glossybox would be sent out to me as soon as possible! While encouraging, it's still a bit of a disappointment as I was hoping to receive and review it before I left the country for a month-long trip abroad.

Anyway, do have a look at the photos and stay tuned while I wait for part 2 of the November Glossybox to arrive.

Outer covering

Inner covering

Description of contents...covered in dust.

A view of the contents. Sorry, should have taken more photos
 but lost interest thanks to the dust covering everything,

Look at the dust!

My ruined Essie polish. :(

Look, you can actually see through the bottle,
that's how dried up it was!

My verdict? Disappointed. I haven't quite given up on them yet but I have to say their customer service hasn't been as excellent as, say, I Love This Box, who go above and beyond in the name of customer service, namely answering to emails in a speedy manner, even past midnight!

I have to say, though, that some of my favourite fellow bloggers, Glossybeauty and Beauty in a bottle, have received much better Glossyboxes, and they've written some great reviews which you can read, here and here, respectively. Do check them out. And you can have a look at the different colour options people received in their November Glossybox here.

I'm still holding out that Glossybox might redeem themselves yet...I'll keep you posted.

Much love,
MM.
x

P.S. - I forgot to add that the box came with a voucher for 15% off store-wide (applicable only in stores), which expires/d on 30 November 2011, which disappointed some subscribers as we didn't receive the box in time to actually use the voucher!

Kit Cosmetics Limited Edition Shop Loves Sunset Polish

Hello lovelies,

Today I have a quick polish post to show you.

Kit cosmetics have been having a wee bit of trouble with their website, as they have been doing some upgrading work behind the scenes, and as a result, a lot of customers were having trouble accessing the site. So to make up for the hassle, they offered customers a free nail polish, in a limited edition pastel coral hue called 'shop loves sunset'. I personally think that was really nice of them, and really shows that they value their customers.

You can print off the voucher here. I found out about it from a fellow beauty lover, and it was great timing as I was due to pop in at a store anyway, to pick up a gift.

I managed to redeem it and it's quite a pretty colour. It's a bit more fluorescent than it looks in the bottle, but it does go on quite well. Like most pastel hues, application can be a bit of a pain, but I applied three coats, which more or less evened it out. I quite like this colour, but I'm also really tempted to try mixing some other colours in to tone it down a wee bit, as I think that will be more flattering for my skin tone. I'm also really eager to pop the black shatter on top, I think it will look really pretty with the coral undercoat peeking through.

The coral was so cheerful it even inspired me to pop on a similar shade of lippie! I'm feeling very summery today!

Have a look at the photos below.

Much love,
MM.
x

A touch of the blues...

Hello lovelies!

So, today I have a blue crackle to show you, from the Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoat range.

I was fortunate enough to get accepted into a VIP review run by my favourite beauty website, Primped, and they sent out a blue shatter, called Distressed Denim, and a greigy colour, called Slick Slate, for me to review. I was pretty excited to receive the blue crackle because I already own a black and a silver shatter from OPI (which I'll review soon), and it was wonderful to get a coloured crackle to play with. Plus, I'd been hearing good things about the SH crackle and couldn't wait to try it!

 Now, I wouldn't necessarily have paired a deep blue/navy crackle with a greigy undercoat, so I decided to try it with my pale, pastel mint polish from Essence Cosmetics (called You Belong To Me).

The Essence colours are quite lovely, and go on quite well for pastels, but I do feel they look best with 3 coats if they're worn on their own. As I was pairing mine with the crackle, however, I just did two coats (plus I was rushing to get out of the house to meet friends - am I the only one whose polish chips just as I'm about to step out the door?!).

So here we go; first up, photos of the Essence polish. You can see a bit of visible nail layer (VNL), but it looks fine worn under the crackle.

Next, I applied a thin layer of the Sally Hansen Distressed Denim crackle over it. I experimented a bit and decided I liked the way the thin layers looked as opposed to the thick layers. I will say the crackle works a bit differently from my OPI shatters, but I quite liked the way it looked anyway! I'd say the crackle has a mind of its own, each finger came out differently although I used the same application technique and relatively same amount with each finger!

Here are the photos:

So what do you think? Would you be keen on trying a coloured crackle polish out? I actually really liked this... I was pleasantly surprised by how well it turned out. When I first opened it, I was taken aback by the tiny brush and relatively runny consistency of the crackle polish, but it applies really well! I finished off the manicure with my OPI top coat and some OPI drip dry drops to help the polish dry quicker. Now, to get my hands on some of the other colours in the range, like fuschia shock and antiqued gold... ;)

Hope you enjoyed the post! It's been two days so far and it's wearing quite well (despite having soaked my hands in lots of water today), with no obvious chipping!

Much love,
MM.
x

November I Love This Box Review!

Hello lovelies,

I'm back again, but this will be a quickie post as I'm really tired and battling a bad headache to boot.

So, it was like Christmas coming early today as I received both my Bellabox and my I Love This Box (ILTB)
today! In case you haven't already checked it out, my Bellabox review can be found here.

Now, this is the first ever ILTB sent out here in Australia, and man, does it live up to the hype! I'll be completely honest, I had a few doubts as the company did not disclose where they were based, which brands were specifically associated with them or any other information, but as they seemed really great with customer feedback (answering questions through Facebook and email), and as payment was taken through Paypal, I decided to go ahead with it and boy, was I rewarded!

First of all, I was pleasantly surprised by how heavy the box was when I picked it up...Naturally, I couldn't wait to tear into it, so let's have a look at some photos before we look at the contents. The box arrived in a gorgeous lilac coloured outer box, which you then peel back to reveal the off-white ILTB inside. The first thing that struck me as I opened the box was a gorgeous scent that wafted out as soon as I lifted the lid. I'm not sure if it was due to scented padding paper or merely the box contents, but trust me when I say it just added to the experience.

On to the contents, which are:

Caudalie Paris: Set of 3 facial care samples (moisturiser, anti-wrinkle ultra mourishing cream, and anti-wrinkle ultra serum).

Certified organic by nature, Nvey Eco's Taupe Eyeshadow: a really pretty, shimmery brown (this should look beautiful applied wet and blended with some other neutral shadows I own).

Essie French Affair's Spring 2011 Nail Polish Collection: Topless and Barefoot.

Keratinology by Sunsilk Salon Perfection Hair Collection: Detoxifying Shampoo and Conditioner.

POD - Liquid Tan Gradual Tanning Face Serum

Verdict? Loved it, I think this box was excellent value for money and cannot get past the amazing scent! I can't say I'm a fan of the POD serum and will possibly pass this on to someone else (or do a giveaway here at some point), but otherwise, I quite loved this box! Can't wait to see what they come up with for December!


Much love,
MM.
x