NOTD - Karpati Dito Charismatic

Hi lovelies!

I hope everyone is well, just a quickie post to show you my recent NOTD which was Karpati Dito lacquer in Charismatic, which I received in my March Lust Have It box.

I have to say, this lacquer really didn't live up to my expectations as it was actually quite hard to use! It was a bit of a balancing act trying to hold it between two fingers while also trying to do my nail polish. I can see how it might come in handy if you were on the go and trying to do your nails or touch up your polish, but I have to say I'd probably save this for the rare occasion when I'm actually not doing my nails from the relative comfort of my own home. I have attached a photo below which I feel best describes what I mean.

I took this off Google Images. 

It's a fun concept, it's probably just going to need a bit of an adjustment. I'm not giving up on it just yet but I really hope my technique improves or this will be going into my seldom-used pile. I would say it's a cute concept and I'm so glad I got the chance to try it, as I'd been wanting to for a while, so that's one thing I can cross off my beauty lust list! I'm so glad that I was subscribed to this month's LHI box as I really got the chance to try a few products I wouldn't have gotten the chance to try otherwise!

Overall, I'd give the lacquer about a 7/10 rating. The pigmentation is pretty good, but I did find that I needed two relatively thick coats for complete opacity. Also, the brush isn't the best, in my opinion, so it takes a bit of adjusting balancing the bottle while trying to paint your nails evenly. Lastly, I will say that it didn't have much longevity, even with topcoat and basecoat, as I found chips and wearing on the tips after 2-3 days.

Here are a couple of quick photos. I'm afraid the sun wasn't out properly while I was wearing this so I couldn't take more decent photos. I'll definitely be wearing it again at some point so perhaps I can add to these when I do.

I actually have another shade to try as LHI sent me a replacement lacquer in the mail! It was a bit of a surprise as I had emailed them to ask if mine was faulty, and received no reply back, until the polish miraculously showed up at my door! I received a different shade, Mocha Moments, and this one looks much better as it doesn't have a wonky lid!

Hope you enjoyed my little review and NOTD, lovelies! Have you tried the Karpati Dito polishes? What did you think of it?

Much love,
MM.
x

Impulse buy or fated to be?

Hello lovelies,

As we all know, I love perfume! One of the ones I've been lusting after for a while is Lancome's Tresor Midnight Rose, which I first tried last year in November (I think?) and fell completely in love with. But I also tried Burberry Body and was just a wee bit more in love with that, so that's what I ended up buying in the end.

But when I found out that David Jones was doing a Lancome GWP (I wrote about it here), I popped in straight away to have a quick look and was quite amazed by what great value it was. The only downside was I couldn't decide what to buy; the perfume (which I loved, but didn't NEED, and cost about $110 as they were out of the smaller 30 ml size), a mascara (I'm a big fan of all Lancome mascaras, but at about $55 they are a bit of a luxury buy, plus I'd have had to get something else to make up the minimum spend of $70), or maybe a lipstick (which I definitely didn't need, given the thirty or so lippies I have lying around my flat, but probably would've gotten lots of use out of)...The trouble is, I love Lancome products, but I've been trying to be a bit better about spending (note, I said trying, not succeeding), so I ended up convincing myself that I didn't need it and left.

However, I was browsing with my friend today after work, and we decided to stop by to ask when the promotion was ending, only to be told it was today (i.e. the 10th of March)! So we asked her for the 30 ml perfume, which we both liked, and it just so happens that she had the last two bottles in stock (apparently they completely sold out due to the GWP, but a new shipment had just come in yesterday, and by chance, there were two bottles in it!), so we decided it was fate and we each got one (together with the fab GWP, of course)! I did feel a bit bad about it, seeing as it's rent week and I really should be watching my spending, but, it was such a great deal, how could I resist? And to have it all fall in place at the last minute with the last 2 bottles available, after a spectacularly bad week at work, was like a sign that it was just meant to be! All in all, it wasn't a bad investment at all, I managed to get a perfume I really wanted for $79, plus a great GWP containing 7 products!

Here's a photo of my Lancome GWP haul!

The salesperson did add that the promotion 'may' run until all stocks are sold out, so you might still have time to get one if you want. Otherwise, don't lose heart, I hear Myer will be doing a similar GWP promotion in May, so we'll have to wait and see what comes out. Between you and me, though, I think David Jones usually has better GWPs than Myer does.

Last but not least, I shall leave you with a photo of some Revlon false lashes I won in a competition! Such a generous prize! Completely thrilled and can't wait to try them out, I think I'm going to be completely set for lashes for the next year!

What did you think of this GWP? Are you thinking of getting one? Have you ever splurged out on something you didn't quite need just to get a great GWP?

Love,
MM.
x

March Lust Have It box!

Hey lovelies!

I'm updating from my iPhone so the formatting is going to be a bit crazy till I get home and fix it.

Happy Women's Day! I hope everyone is doing well. In case you didn't know, International Women's Day is globally celebrated on the 8th of March, celebrating economic, political and social achievements of women. It's even a national holiday in some places, I think it's great that some countries allow a public holiday in light of women's contributions to society! Are you doing anything to celebrate? I won't really be doing much but I still think it's a lovely effort.

In other, beauty oriented news...my Lust Have It box just arrived this morning! In case you've been reading my blog regularly and thought I'd mentioned dropping LHI as an opportunity to use some of my older samples, don't fret, you're haven't lost your mind as I had dropped it. Except, I saw a teaser a few days ago on their Facebook wall about there being a Karpati Dito polish in this box, and I have been lusting after one for over a year, so I swallowed my pride and resubscribed! So much for that, I only lasted 2 weeks 'dropping' them! This totally brings substance to my theory that no sooner do I drop a subscription when the next box would've been absolutely fabulous, driving me insane with 'box envy'!

Anyhow, I have to say this box is completely awesome and I am so very glad I renewed my subscription. As usual with LHI, everyone received the same items, with the only variation being the colour of the products received. Here's what I received in mine:

Davroe Moisture Senses Argan Oil (full size)

Mirenesse Pearl Crush Creaseless Shadow palette (full size).
[Everyone gets a different colour, and mine was Bora Pearls. Not sure why I seem to be receiving lots of blue shadow lately but can't complain as I'm currently on a colour kick anyway. :D ]

Karpati Dito nail lacquer (full size)
[Again, everyone gets a different colour and mine was #20, Charismatic, a shimmery purple]

1Skin Solutions lip balm in vanilla (full size)
[This smells unbelievably good!!]

Replenishing Moisture Cream from Kosmea (deluxe sample)


And on to photos:

This is how it arrived.

Pricing card

The goodies! I wasn't sure where to start lol..

L-R: Mirenesse eyeshadow, Davroe argan oil, 1Skin lip balm,
Karpati Dito polish and Kosmea moisturiser.

Does anyone else find that the lid of their
polish doesn't fit properly?

The colours I got.

I was so pleased with the contents of this box, I'm always happy to try new hair products and I quite like argan oil so it will be interesting to see how this compared to the Babyliss argan oil I'm currently using. I'm THRILLED to finally get the Karpati Dito polish since first reading about it over a year ago, and I'm also very happy to receive the Mirenesse shadow palette as I was just looking at it last night on their website. I'm a lip balm addict so a new one will never go astray (although I have to confess I am building up quite a good stockpile of new ones that I refuse to touch until I've finished the multitude of open ones I have lying around everywhere) and the replenishing moisture cream from Kosmea looks interesting as I love Kosmea products. The only (slight) downside is the lid on my polish doesn't quite close properly, so I am a bit concerned that the polish will dry out after a while. Did anyone else have this problem?

VERDICT: Delighted with this box, I absolutely loved it!!! (Yes, I love it so much it deserved 3 exclamation marks). I have to say this box really made up for the last couple of boxes, which I found a bit uninteresting. I do realise that not every box will be to everyone's personal taste but the blend of products in the last couple of boxes was just uninspiring! This box, however, is the perfect blend of skincare, hair care, nail polish and make up, so I imagine most beauty lovers will find at least one thing about it that they like. Here's hoping there'll be many more boxes like this to come!

Did you receive this month's LHI box, and if so, what did you think of it? If you did, drop me a comment to tell me which colours you got for the shadow palette and the polish (and a blog link if you have one), as I love a good stickybeak! :)

Much love,

MM.

x

EOTD - Nude Monday

Hello lovelies!

I just wanted to show you the look I wore to work today. It's quite subtle so it should work very well for most office environments, and you can always add a little black eyeliner underneath or smudge in some darker shadow for a smokey eye, if you're planning on going out after work.

I actually added the aubergine shadow underneath the eye when I got home from work just to see how it would look, it's actually quite pretty in real life but it appears a bit paler in the photos! I think my mistake in this EOTD was I made the under eye liner a bit too thick, it would've been prettier if it had been thinner. Oh well, things to note for next time!

I did this with a matte bone shadow over the entire eyelid (over MAC Painterly, of course), and then smudged a little aubergine into the crease to contour. Finished off with some liquid liner and mascara and I was done! Please ignore the stick straight lashes, I'm trying out a new mascara (Australis Killer Curves, review coming soon) and today I was experimenting with it without using my lash curler first to see how good the curling effect was.

(How odd, I just noticed that the liquid liner is reflecting in the light from the flash and looking like an uneven application, but I guarantee it looked normal and even in real life! And do ignore the undereye circles/bags, will you? I really need to be getting more beauty sleep)!

Much love,
MM.
x

My Euro Haul!

Hey lovelies,

Is everyone doing well today, the first day of autumn? Gosh, this year is speeding by, isn't it?

So a few weeks ago I had some cousins and an aunt who trotted off to Europe for a wee bit so I asked them to do a bit of duty free shopping for me, and wow, can I just say that the salespeople in Britain/duty free/Geneva are way more generous than their Australian counterparts seem to be?

I basically stocked up on my usual Holy Grail (HG) products, but I also picked up one or two extras. I had asked my aunt to ask the salespeople for samples but this surpassed even my expectations!

Here's what I got.

Shu Uemura: My cleansing oil in 'fresh' (I bought the last one in January and I'm already halfway through it) and the long lusted for lash curler! And I received a BUMPER 15 samples of cleansing oil, cream, serum and moisturiser.

Shu Uemura stash.

Clinique: Two chubby sticks in Fuller Fig and Mega Melon (I bought Fuller Fig in January as well and I finished it halfway through February)! I don't think I've finished a lipstick/gloss that quickly before. And I received a cute sample pack of the 3 step system, 2 samples of laser wear cream, and an eye cream sample.

Clinique stash.

Lancome: Oscillation powerbooster (lash primer, apparently they're phasing this out *sob*). And they gave me a sample of the new foundation, Tresor Midnight Rose (which I LOVE), and Vissionaire sample.

Lancome stash.

And some miscellaneous goodies:

MAC: Paint Pot in 'Painterly'. I've been dying to get my hands on this for ages! Can't wait to try putting some coloured shadow on tomorrow!

Painterly paint pot.

Australis Eyebrow Kit: I really wanted a little palette with a wax and I heard this was a really good one, so I searched EVERYWHERE for it and finally found it at BigW (it's a limited edition gift with purchase, and it was sold out everywhere else) only to find it wouldn't scan through! So they told me to come back the next day once they had a chance to discuss it with their manager. They rang me back the next day and agreed to sell it to me for $5! What a bargain, I snapped it up quick smart!

This is adorable, with two powders, brow wax,
a dual brush (which I won't use) and mini tweezers.

And last but not least, a geranium and rose shower gel which was a gift, together with some imported Kit Kat chocolates from the UK! All in all, I think it was a great haul and I'm so happy to get stuck into creating some new looks! :)

What did you think of my HG haul? I've been lusting after some of these products for so long, it's just so satisfying to get my hands on them at last! Have you used and do you like any of them? I'll be doing some reviews soon!

Much love,
MM.
x

38 degree meltdown and a hen's night!

Hey lovelies!

I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend. The weather has been absolutely crazy in Melbourne this weekend, reaching the top 30's and it's been pretty unbearable! I've been having a quiet weekend, not doing too much, as it's just too hot to do anything. I did have a friend's hen's night last night, which was really nice. It was held in a penthouse apartment in the city, and there were gorgeous views to enjoy as we ate and drank on the balcony. The only downside is it was rather warm, so we were all feeling the heat. Luckily it finally cooled down a bit when the sun set, so we managed to have a nice evening after all!

The theme of the hen's night was 'law and order', but the police theme was reserved for the bridal party, so I dressed in a corset top, black mini skirt and fishnet stockings (although they were a bit more like tights, it was all I could find at the time). And I finished the look off with some high heels.

In anticipation of the heat, I made certain I had on a primer, anything to help my make up stay on! Truthfully, my makeup actually survived the heat, and it looked pretty decent when I got home at 2 am, but the only downside is I have hardly any decent photos! I took some photos with my iphone camera in the car (as I was running a bit late), but the colouring has turned out really funny. I tried playing around a bit with photo editing software but it's not really doing much so I'm just giving up.

For this look, I used:
Face: Smashbox light primer, Harlotte Afterglow foundation, BYS bronzer and Youngblood rice powder to set.
Eyes:  Urban Decay Primer Potion, BYS palette in Metallic Browns, Maybelline Line Stiletto liquid liner, and Benefit They're Real mascara. I also used my Harlotte half lashes.
Cheeks: Youngblood lunar dust in Sunset and I mixed two blushers, Bobbi Brown Sand Pink and Sleek Rose Gold.

That was it! I've attached some photos below, sorry again that the photos didn't really come out too well! :(

On the way, in the car. Sorry it looks so washed out.

 

With the gorgeous bride to be, I'm wearing her hat.
(This was taken with a proper camera so it's
halfway decent).

At the end of the night, in Silk Road.

Much love,
MM.
x