Brighter Than Sunshine - Ulta3 Citris Swatch and Review

I've seen lots of neon in the shops for Spring/Summer 2012-13 so I think I will break out this polish again in the coming months!

Ulta3 is a great Australian brand and their polishes are only around $2-$2.50 depending on where you get it from. Woolies was having a sale where Ulta3s were only $1!! The quality is really good, and I think it rivals the likes of OPI and China Glaze.

Ulta3 Citris is the brightest, most neon yellow you can imagine! It dries matte, like all neons, so a top coat is required. Also, the downside is that it is quite sheer so layering 1-2 coats over a white creme is essential, unless you want dead-looking yellowy nails! Here I have it layered over Revlon White on White.

Sorry that you can see the white polish near my cuticles - it's not noticeable in real life!

Bright than sunshine a highlighter ;P

Ulta3 Citris and Revlon White on White

Pros:
- Cheap cheap cheap! :D
- Available at many chemists, as well as in Target and some Woolworths stores.
- Really outrageously bright fluoro yellow.

Cons:
- Needs to be layered over a white creme.

Overall:
7.5/10 - I love bright colours that stand out and this one is a must have for neon lovers and those who want to make a statement with their nails!

Thanks for reading!

- J

My first jelly sandwich

What is this?? Two posts in one day? Making up for the drought of posts in the past month :P This is just a quick one though!

I don't own many jellies so I've only ever done one jelly sandwich, which I'm going to show you today. It is an accent nail with Essie Sugar Daddy as the pink jelly and Nail Creations #62, which has small fuchsia glitter and larger hex holo glitter in a clear base. Essie Sugar Daddy is the sheerest polish ever... I did seven or eight coats or something ridiculous like that to reach full opacity - in the photos below you can see how thick the polish is on the nails. I'm only going to use it for French manicures and jelly sandwiches in the future! With that said, it is a really lovely baby pink.

A macro of the accent nail. Look at that lovely depth!

Left: Essie Sugar Daddy, Right: Nail Creations #62

I love glitters and I love the depth they have in jelly sandwiches. I really need to buy more jellies so I can do more of these!

Thanks for reading!

- J

Recent shoe purchases Part II (Reds): Wittner Didi and Glamour Gabi

I haven't posted for almost a month... Midsem exams and stuff have taken up all of my time :( Hopefully I'll do a few posts during this one week break.

Here is part 2 of my recent shoe purchases! See Part 1 HERE, in which I reviewed two pairs of black shoes. In this part, both pairs are red - I have an obsession with red shoes. I just think they lift an outfit so much and brighten it up.

Random fact: according to some researchers, you can judge 90% of a stranger's personality by the shoes they wear. Interesting.

On an unrelated note, Birkenstocks and Crocs should be banned... Looking at Birkenstocks makes me feel ill. Sorry if some of you like to wear them but I personally want to burn them. Some of them look okay, like the feminine pink ones. But the grey-brown double strap ones. OMG. Cry. 

ANYWAY. Onto the pretty shoes.

1. Wittner Didi (Size 36) Price: $189.95, I got them for $99.95.

I love boots. I would prefer stiletto boots but they're not practical for everyday wear, so I wear wedge booties instead! These are really really soft real suede.

Sizing: the 36 felt good in the shop but now they feel a little big :( Not too bad though. Probably should have gotten a 35 but they didn't have it in the Wittner that I bought them from. I have to wear them with two pairs of socks LOL.

Review: these are really comfy and I can wear them all day without discomfort. Obviously they're not as comfy as flats but they're still very good. They come with two pairs of laces: red and white.

2. Glamour Gabi (Size 36) Price: $99.95, I got them for $44.98 from Direct Shoe Warehouse.

I am absolutely in love with these shoes. I think they're my favourite shoes ever! They're red, they're hiiiiigh,  they're stiletto heeled, they're pretty comfortable. Sometimes I just randomly pick them up and stare at them. Hmm.

Sizing: these run a little small as I am normally a 35 but the 35 felt really tight and I would not have been able to wear socks with those. As I said in my previous post, I feel that high heel boots are more comfortable if they're a size bigger than usual since there is more room to move and it is less cramped.

Review: they are amazing. The platform at the front means they're not as hard to walk in and not as uncomfortable as they look. The only problem is that I have skinny ankles so the top part of the shoe is loose and chafe when I walk. I have to wear stockings or jeans, otherwise it will start hurting quite badly :( Edit: since writing the draft of this post I've worn them once more and they felt absolutely fine, no chafing at all. I think I just needed to break them in.

Availability: on a few websites, cheapest is probably DSW. I have my eye on the leopard ones... Edit: I've bought those leopard print ones since drafting this post... They are incredible! I have to break them in though! I've also bought two more pairs of stiletto pumps which I may do a post on soon :)




Wishlist:

Yves Saint Laurent Tribtoo Red Patent

OMG just look at these... Ultimate sexy siren shoe. Sigh... I will have you one day!

- J

Sportsgirl Nail It! in Emerald City - Swatch and Review

I recently showed two out of three Sportsgirl Nail It! nail polishes that I bought. Check out my swatches and reviews of Cobalt and Phoenix. Today I've got the last of the three, which is the green one called Emerald City.

It is a beautiful shimmery jewel-toned emerald with a slight blue tinge. It is a one-coater but I did two out of habit and to achieve a smoother finish. I topped it off with a coat of Seche Vite.

None of the photos are really colour-accurate, unfortunately. It leans much more green than the photos show. Definitely not a teal but a green, albeit slightly blue-leaning.

You can see a bit of the blue tinge here.

Probably the most colour accurate picture.

This is what my right hand looked like after two days - massive chip!

Pros:

- Nice colour, would be good for Christmas! (It is a medium Christmassy green in real life, not the aqua/teal that my photos show.

- One coater, but I did two out of habit and to smooth it out.

- It is flattering with my skin tone.

Cons:

- Wear time is bad - it chipped after two days. I usually don't mind chipping much since I change manicures around twice a week, but big (and irreparable) chips after only two days is pretty annoying!

- Formula is quite thick, but not terribly hard to work with.

- Slightly brushstrokey.

- It stains badly during removal. I don't like having green fingers and cuticles :(

Overall:

4/10. This is the first polish I've blogged about that I'm not happy with! It is a nice colour but not unique. The formula and wear time were disappointing! I also hate polishes that stain. The colour is nice enough but if I could go back in time I wouldn't buy this.

Availability:

I know that Cobalt is still sold in Sportsgirl stores, and I'm pretty sure Emerald City is too. I think Phoenix has been discontinued but I saw a few bottles of it for $2.95 in the sales area of the Sydney Pitt Street Sportsgirl! 

Thanks for visiting!

- J

Recent Shoe Purchases Part I (Blacks): Jeffrey Campbell Lita in Black Black Suede and ASOS Black Sparkle Peep Toe Heels

I love shoes. I don't buy that many though mainly coz I can't afford to. I am inherently drawn to sky high stilettos that I would only wear a few times - the sensible voice in me says not to waste my money on shoes that I don't wear! I have three pairs in my wardrobe that I have never actually worn out. It's a waste if I buy shoes then never wear them, regardless of how pretty they may be! 

I wanted to show you four pairs of shoes that I bought recently (recently being in the last few months). I originally wanted to put them all in one post but I started to write/rave heaps about the JC Litas and I don't want a super long post so I'll break it up into 2 parts - Black and Red! Part I is black.

1. Jeffrey Campbell Lita in Black Black Suede (Size 6) Price: $159.95

I actually didn't discover these shoes until very recently. I had been looking for this style for ages but I didn't know they were famous. I also didn't know that they have been talked about and featured on the blogosphere sooo much. Apparently almost every fashion blogger owns a pair! The day that I finally found out that they are JC Litas I bought them straight away. Actually they're a gift from my boyfriend but I paid for them initially :P

I got these off www.solestruck.com, which has a ridiculously awesome range of colours and patterns and fabrics for the Litas. I was tossing up between the Black Calf Leather and these suede ones and decided the suede ones could be more easily dressed up since they look more elegant and less casual. These are Black Black Suede since the heel is black, instead of wooden coloured, like the classic black Lita. I personally like the matching black heel.

The heel is a thick 5 inch heel with a 2 inch platform.

A small selection of the many many colours and styles that the Litas come in! The studded ones are so super awesome.

Sizing: 

I normally wear an Australian 5 which corresponds to a US 5 but I wanted to be on the safe side and ordered a size larger. I think high heel boots hurt less if they're a little loose - can't do the same for pumps and peep toe shoes though. So the size 6 is a little big and I need to wear socks with these but they feel great! If I decide to buy another pair (hmm which colour!!) I would go down half a size.

These are my babies! :D

How pretty is the shoebox!?

Review:

I've worn these out twice and they are really really comfortable! I was a bit sceptical when I was researching and saw that everyone said they are so comfy - come on, they're 5 inch heels! I was so surprised to find that they were indeed very comfy. I don't wear heels often at all but I feel like I could run for miles in these! :D

My experience with Solestruck was excellent. They shipped the shoes 6 hours after I placed the order!! Shipping was free as my purchase was over $150; it was with FedEx with delivery scheduled in 3-5 business days. The tracking was also fantastic. I tracked it from Oregon to California to Hawaii and finally to Sydney. The shoebox is really nice!

The only bad thing I could think of about these shoes is that when dust gets on them it shows up, but this happens to all black suede shoes. I bought a leather and suede spray protector for them because these are the most expensive shoes I own so I want to take good care of them!

I absolutely love these and I've got nothing but good things to say!

Availability: 

These are sold on many websites. Solestruck has the widest range by far. You can also get them from Revolve Clothing. Be careful if buying over eBay coz there are many dupes/fakes out there! The dupes are much cheaper but I don't know if they would be as comfortable or durable since I doubt they would be real leather.

2. ASOS Pink Lady Platform Peep Toe Court Shoes - Black Sparkle (Size 5) Price: $65.06, I got them for $32.44.

When I saw these I knew I had to have them :D Glittery shoes! YAY! I love heels with sparkly rhinestones but they're more expensive so these will have to do! They look like rhinestones from a normal viewing distance anyway and are less likely to fall off hehe. The heel is 13cm with a 2.5cm platform.

I love the way stilettos look from the back.

Sizing:

I got a size 5 but these are actually too big for me and I have to put in a few gel pads in order for them not to fall off when I'm walking!

These are mine :) I think heels look better in a small size hehe - the heel also looks higher than it does in a bigger size (like with the ASOS stock image).

Review: 

I haven't worn these out yet - haven't had the occasion to and also they're not comfortable and are too big. These may have to be one of those shoes that I'm happy just to own and to have them there to look at :P They're just so prettyyyyyyy.

The transaction with ASOS was a breeze as always and delivery was fast.

Availability: 

As far as I know these are sold out. It still has its page on ASOS, where you can see photos and a 360 degree view.



That was fun to write! It has been a nice diversion from all the nail posts. Keep a look out for my shoe purchases Part II. :)

Thanks for visiting!

- J

Essie Sexy Divide - Swatch and Review

This is just a quick review of Essie Sexy Divide which I got in Hong Kong for an equivalent of about $5 Australian dollars. Essie retails for almost $20 in Myer... ridiculous. Anyway, onto the photos and review!

Sexy Divide is a vampy, dark, glowy purple shimmer. On the Essie website they describe it as "a bold deep purple with hints of shimmer". The shimmer consists of small red and blue particles, as you can sort of see in the bottle shot below. In the bottle the purple looks satiny and on the nails it translates into a glowy, lit from within kind of colour. Application was lovely and smooth and I did three coats plus Seche Vite.

I think this was after maybe four or five days of wear and it still looked good!

 Pros:
- Nice formula.
- Classy yet sexy colour.
- Wear time was really good.
- The shimmer is really nice and it's got that lit from within look.

Cons:
- Nothing really... I guess it's not unique but I don't have any dupes in my collection!

Overall:
- 8/10. I think it's a must have for a purple lover. I don't personally love purple polish but I still really liked it.

Thanks for visiting!

- J

Liebster Award

I've been lucky enough to be nominated for the Liebster Award by Jas and Anthea. Thank you so much, girls! The Liebster award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers whom others feel deserve some kind of recognition and support for their contribution. I've only been blogging for about a month so this is really nice :)

In order to to accept the award you must follow a few rules:

1. Each person tagged must post 11 things about themselves.

2. They must also answer the 11 questions the 'tagger' has set for them.

3. They must create 11 more questions to ask bloggers they have decided to tag.

4. They must then choose 11 bloggers with less than 200 followers and tag them in their post.

5. These lucky bloggers must then be told.

6. There's no tag backs.

11 Things about myself

1. I started this blog because my boyfriend encouraged me to since he knows I love nail polish and he thinks I'm good at writing :) Thanks babe <3

2. I never wear sheer polishes because I hate visible nail line. I've been known to do 8+ coats just to get rid of VNL. 

3. I'm a perfectionist.

4. I'm studying a Bachelor of Commerce (Liberal Studies) at the University of Sydney and I've got three semesters left!

5. I love male singers more than female singers. And I'm especially partial to boy bands! Although exceptions include Rihanna and Taylor Swift.

6. I'm a TV show junkie... Shows I've watched or am currently watching (in no particular order and I'm only including shows where I've seen every single episode...): White Collar, Gossip Girl, Dexter, Pretty Little Liars, The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, Once Upon a Time, True Blood, The Vampire Diaries, The Lying Game, Merlin, How I Met Your Mother, Prison Break, Revenge, 2 Broke Girls, Arrested Development, Suburgatory. My favourites at the moment are The Vampire Diaries and Dexter.

7. I love red shoes!

8. I really enjoy driving. Most of the time I don't even mind being in heavy traffic (unless I'm late) because I just like being in the car.

9. Icecream makes me so happy!

10. When it comes to doing things, I either don't do it, or if I start something I will always make sure I finish it.

11. Eleven is my favourite number :)

11 Questions for me to answer (compiled from both Jas and Anthea)

1. One piece or bikini? 

Definitely bikini, unless I'm swimming actual laps in an actual pool haha.

2. What can you do better than anyone else?

Probably look at the little details in things, such as picking up spelling mistakes in restaurant menus and such.

3. What is your all time fav nail polish?

China Glaze Atlantis. So stunning! I could stare at it for hours.

4. Favorite movie of all time?

I don't really have one... So hard to pick just one! Maybe The Departed, Memento or The Notebook. Or the Batman Trilogy. Or Lord of the Rings...

5. Favourite book?

Again, so hard to pick a favourite! The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, or The Notebook by Nicolas Sparks, or one of the Dexter books by Jeff Lindsay. I have varied tastes haha.

6. What was the first CD/cassette tape you owned?

I'm not old enough to have owned cassettes! First CD was an Atomic Kitten single I think!

7. What could you eat everyday without getting sick of it?

Thai foooood. Pad Thai. NOM.

8. What are your pet peeves?

I really hate it when girls who aren't considered skinny or who have curves are called "real women". This implies that everyone else is "fake". It completely goes against the point of promoting positive body-image. It's just stupid and ridiculous! If someone is fat, call them fat, don't veil it in terms like "real" and "curvy". I'm not saying that skinny is necessarily good. Obviously anorexia, bulimia and extreme dieting are unhealthy and problematic, but girls who are naturally slim should not be made to feel that they are somehow unaccepted and "fake" just because they are not blessed with the curves that some other women have. "Real women have curves" is just ridiculous. I'm sorry that I'm fake because I wasn't born with curves. Okay. Breathe. End rant.

9. If you could travel anywhere in the world where would it be?

Assuming world means the universe, I would travel to a distant star or planet! If world means the Earth, probably somewhere in Europe coz I've never been!

10. If you were stranded on a desert island what 5 things would you take?

Water, food, a boat to get back home, a GPS/phone that works with satellite, nail polish so my nails won't be bare :P Oh I suppose clothes would've been a better choice but oh well!

11. What do most people not know about you?

My room is a constant mess... :(

Questions for you

1. If you could only wear one nail polish for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?

2. Which fashion or beauty trend do you wish would just go away?

3. Why did you start blogging?

4. Favourite beverage?

5. If you could do anything without worrying about money, what would you do?

6. Are you superstitious?

7. What is one thing, apart from necessities like water, food and shelter, do you feel you could not live without? 8. Do you ever leave home without manicured nails?

9. What is your favourite item in your wardrobe?

10. Which song have you listened to this most in your life, or in your iTunes?

11. Who is your favourite celebrity and who is your least favourite?

I tag... see what I mean about being a perfectionist, I had to put these in alphabetical order. Okay maybe that's just OCD.

Jaztee

The Khromazone

Kitsch Snitch

Kittensilks

Maisky

Manisuccess

Nails by KayBel

Nail n' Dazzle

Parisian Blue Sky

Plisherrific

Polished Peripherals

That was fun for me to write but probably not as fun for you to read! Next post will return to nails :) or maybe it will my first shoe post ;)

- J

China Glaze Mistletoe Kisses Swatch and Review

I loved this polish sooo much more than I thought I would. China Glaze Mistletoe Kisses is from the Holiday 2010 Collection but I only recently acquired it. I actually bought it as an afterthought while purchasing my long-time lemming China Glaze Emerald Sparkle!! It is to my absolute surprise that I think I like it even more than Emerald Sparkle... :O Anyway, onto the swatches and review!

Mistletoe Kisses is a light green base with really dense silver microglitter. The translucent green base gives the polish depth and makes some of the glitter look green. It is a lovely full coverage glitter and I used three coats plus Seche Vite top coat.

I thought this photo looked really cool haha. The lines are due to my light - for some reason it just ends up having dark bars in photos.

Pros:
- Easy application, completely opaque at three coats.
- Really sparkly!
- Relatively smooth for a glitter.
- Wear time was good - around 5 days with minimal chipping and next to no tipwear.

Cons:
- Can't think of anything lol. I wish this formula came with every shade under the rainbow!
- Oh removal wasn't too fun but that's to be expected with a glitter and it was actually better than most other full coverage glitters.

Overall:
9/10

Thanks for stopping by!


- J

Pastel rainbow skittles!

Today I've got a pastel rainbow skittles mani to show you :) Not much to say about it but I've always wanted to do a skittles mani - I thought rainbow pastel colours would look nice together!

Polishes used: (from left to right)

- Eleanor (I got this in Hong Kong but it says it's formulated in France... the bottle is pretty hehe) No. 51: light pink with subtle sheen.

- China Glaze Peachy Keen: light orange creme.

- Revlon Lemon Fizz: this one gave me some problems, it was thick and didn't want to smooth out evenly. Light yellow with subtle silver shimmer.

- China Glaze Refresh-Mint: mint creme.

- Revlon Blue Lagoon: light blue with subtle silver shimmer - looks like the same shimmer as Lemon Fizz.

 I like how this turned out :) Maybe when I get enough neon polishes I will do a neon version!

Thanks for stopping by!

- J

Festive manicure

I wore this to one of my best friend's 21st party about two weeks ago. The day before I was at work and one of the students that I tutor said that my nails looked "festive". I think that's a pretty good description! So I'm calling this manicure a festive mani :P

This was a base of Milani Gold Glitz from the One Coat Glitter collection, which I absolutely adoreeee. I have all of the original ones from the collection, and the new ones look awesome! I waited for the glitter to completely dry. Then I used normal sticky tape and cut out thin long triangles, which I put over the areas that I want to keep gold. I painted Zoya Lisa over the top and removed the tape while the polish was still wet. I topped it off with Seche Vite for a completely smooth and glossy finish. Sorry the mani doesn't look very glossy, I probably should've done another coat before taking the photos since we all know top coat is glitter's favourite food!

Blurry photo to show how glittery it is in real life.

Polishes used: Zoya Lisa and Milani Gold Glitz.

I think this look would be great for something like a Christmas or a NYE party! I loved this mani and I'm looking forward to trying different colour combinations! Which colours do you guys think would look good together? I think a basic black and white would look cool.

Thanks for stopping by!

- J

Oh starry starry night...

I'm sure most of you have come across the elusive Essie Starry Starry Night somewhere in the blogosphere. Unfortunately I caught the polish bug too late and I completely missed the time when this was available. So in an attempt to dupe it, I created my own layered version of this polish!

I used a base of OPI Yoga-ta Get This Blue and topped it with a very very thin layer of China Glaze Dorothy Who. The thin layer is so that the blue base in Dorothy Who would not lighten the dark blue. I finished off with a coat of Seche Vite.

I think this photo makes it look the most like a starry night sky :)

The polishes used: OPI Yoga-ta Get This Blue! and China Glaze Dorothy Who?
Wow I've gone through a lot of Dorothy Who.

Under artificial light.

Blurry picture to show how glittery it is.

If you haven't come across the original Starry Starry Night, here are two beautiful swatches of this stunning polish from two fellow bloggers! Omg look at that blue and the depthhh.... Utterly stunning... sighh.

This swatch belongs to Katee from e-polishblog

This swatch belongs to Kaz from Pretty Random!

Kaz from Pretty Random has a really excellent comparison of "night sky" polishes here.

My layering combo does not give the same amount of depth nor does it have the right colour, but I was still happy with it! :) Maybe Essie Starry Starry Night will be mine one day... one day...

- J