OPI Blue My Mind!

So it's Sunday night and I've just painted my nails. Bright blue. Not exactly appropriate for work but I'm seeing Lady Gaga tomorrow night so I need something out of the ordinary ;-) And I won't have time after work as I need to get out to the Arena asap. So blue nails at work it is!



Well this blue my mind indeed! I felt this was as bright and bold as Purple With a Purpose (ack I have no swatch!) but it's really even more out there. Honestly, the last time I painted my nails metallic blue (oh this polish looks a lot like my car!) was when I was 12 years old and my best friend and I were obsessed with nail polish. She grew up and clearly I didn't :-)



This was only two coats and after a week of applying pastel creamy finishes, this colour was a dream to apply. So smooth, no streaks. But sometimes I think OPI brushes are just so random, you can get real duds (enter my Purple With a Purpose brush - almost want to get a new one). But this one is nice and one nail just looks utterly perfect. Then of course my bf ignored the wails of 'it's not dry!' and smudged a nail when he came to inspect. D'oh.

Currently iTunes hax repeating Lady Gaga - So Happy I Could Die. Why bother. My play count is already 149. Epic sigh. So need to get my emoticons back into the blog.

Clinique Sparkle Skin Body Exfoliating Cream

What a mouthful! I have been trying this body scrub for a couple of weeks and I thought I'd give a quick review. I must admit I'm not into body scrubs, so when I received this relatively large free sample of Clinique Sparkle Skin with my latest Clinique purchase, I wasn't quite sure if I was going to use it. The bottle I got was 30ml but if you buy it you'll get a 250ml pot for 50AUD.



The site suggests you use the scrub on rough areas like your elbows, heels, knees (er I don't remember my knees ever being rough but anyway...) but I have been using it as an all over body scrub, focusing mainly on my arms, neck and feet. It doesn't make your skin sparkly and the description on the website certainly doesn't claim to - it simply says your skin will be sleek and polished.



The scrub is quite rough on your skin and while fragrance free, I do get a menthol or minty fresh kind of smell from it. How it invigorates the skin perhaps. Overall I do like this scrub, my arms were very soft and smooth and it works a treat on the feet. Heh. I've still got a little bit left but I feel this is more of a luxury item rather than a necessity. I think this would make a nice gift.

Speaking of Clinique, the Australian website has free shipping with ANY purchase, using offer code CLTYPE1 (through to CLTYPE4, depending on your clinique skin type). But it ends 11:59pm 29/03/2010 AEST. You get free shipping and a travel size 3 step system. I believe it'll be those little round button packs. We'll see. But it's good because you can also choose other free samples when you check out.

Friday Haul: Chanel Rouge Coco, more OPI

I couldn't resist. I went to David Jones unguarded, the bf off doing something else... My only intention was the OPI nail polish from the Hong Kong collection - meet me on the star ferry, which I have been after for a while. Then while I was at it, decided to get Mod About You (light pink) which was also on my wishlist. And I figured why not make this a haul and get Blue My Mind :-) I *almost* got the Hong Kong blue nail polish Suzi Says Feng Shui but I wanted shimmer!

I also purchased a Chanel Rouge Coco lipstick in 02 (Perle). I just couldn't help myself. I've seen too many blog posts and videos with swatches and other pretty pictures. It was lovely as a swatch on my hand in store, but when I got home I felt it was too brown for me. I thought it would be more pinky, but I probably just needed to apply less. I think I'll give it to mum though, she has greater appreciation for Chanel than I do :-) I am thinking about getting mademoiselle though... hmm.

MAC Coconut Ice Nail Polish

So the previous Kit Cosmetics purple nail polish didn't last long without a top coat. But even with a base coat, it left a very sparkly residue on my nails. Shame it didn't appear until AFTER the colour was removed. So in sticking to the orange, coral theme I've been going for this week, I present the MAC Coconut Ice nail polish from the MAC in Lillyland collection:



As I took photos near sunset (with orange lighting due to some bushfires around)... I have swatches with and without flash:



This colour is simply gorgeous. And it's bright. It was definitely noticed at work today :-) I was asked 'what colour tomorrow Leanne?' and I'm just waaaa? Oh. Nails (sigh). Probably blue?! No seriously. I don't change my nails THAT often. Unless it's chipped shamefully early.



The only thing I would add is that it took 3 coats to get it looking 'decent'. It is a cream finish so it was quite streaky until I persisted with that third coat. But this colour is love for me. Not quite coconut ice because I originally pictured white/pink blocks of sugary goodness covered in coconut. OK minus the coconut. But Yum.

Currently listening to: Careless Whisper from the George Michael Live in London tour dvd. I freaking LOVE this dvd. Meep.

Love That Look - Spring Colour Forecast

In my previous post I displayed my latest MAC haul from the Spring Colour Forecast Collection. I decided to play with the shadows today and created a very bright, very orange look:



I used the whole Spring Colour 4 quad, as well as Straw Harvest (an orange veluxe pearl) from Spring Colour 2, Too Faced Shadow Insurance as a primer, along with a 213 fluff, 217 blending and 239 shading eye shadow brush:



Since manila paper is a veluxe pearl, I found it better in the corner of the eye instead of a highlight, it would have been too much shimmer. So we have Manila Paper in the very corner, Straw Harvest on the first half of the lid, Aztec Brick on the second half. Creole Beauty in the outer crease/v and to soften the gradient from straw harvest to Aztec Brick - blend together with Flip.



It may not be spring here, but these colours are nicely suited to autumn weather. I love how the leaves of trees change colour here, it doesn't happen up north where I'm from :-)

Anyway, hope you enjoy. Back to my George Michael live in London dvd :-)

MAC Spring Colour Forecast Collection - Electric Fuchsia Lipglass

I restrained myself fairly well with this collection. It was too big to go overboard, so I picked up a couple of things I knew I wanted, and a couple of 'why not' items.



I was mainly after the Electric Fuchsia lip glass and the blush. Then got tempted by the colour 4 quad and went 'ooh pretty' at the single eye shadows (sigh). Above we have the colour 4 quad, Straw Harvest Eye Shadow (veluxe pearl), Electric Fuchsia lipglass and Azalea Blossom blush ombre.



Electric Fuchsia lipglass. Clearly I can't wear this everyday, but it was so bright so vibrant, I had to get it. I love the boldness of this colour, and how it changes in different lights. So much more purple in darker lights, and pink in bright light.



It has this gorgeous blue sparkle to it:



So maybe I won't be wearing this all that often but there's nothing wrong with parading around the house in your track pants whilst wearing it, as I did sunday :-) New and unique MAC lip glasses are for the win. I'm such a neutral makeup hoarder so this lip glass brings something to the collection.



Back to 'safe' purchases. Here we have a great neutral quad. I'm very cautious about buying quads. They have to be pigmented. This quad has two veluxe pearls (one of my favourite finishes): manila paper (top left) and aztec brick (bottom left) and two frosts. This picture is slightly over exposed so refer to the image above for a better colour representation. Manila paper is more yellow-beige than this close up shows. Generally, if there's more than one satin (heh at first wrote satan) in the quad/palette I eye it suspiciously and back away slowly... that said, I *am* lusting after the grey satin finish eye shadow in the upcoming Liberty of London collection.

Regrets? Not getting the crush metal pigment (stack 1). Already sold out online. Then again, am I *really* going to open messy pigment containers on a daily basis? Probably not. And the colours... reds/purples. Me blue eyes. Pass. Then the other stack had greens! Bah!

Juicy Couture EDP Gift Set

I don't really haul perfumes, I have a few (er perhaps more since I moved here and got a job heh). They live on my chest of drawers, getting dusty which I hate. So far I have fallen in love with Armani Code for women and Kenzo Oriental (NOT flower, although I have flower and am rediscovering it so it's not as full on to me anymore). I actually have the solid perfume of Kenzo Flower as well and I love just opening it up and smelling it - it reminds me of an earlier time in my life. Have a few Anna Sui perfumes as well, but not dreams which is what my mum likes and I keep meaning to get. I have a few dolly ones though.

Anyway, I love Juicy Couture handbags and I spotted the Juicy Couture EDP in David Jones last holiday season and I thought hey this isn't bad! Then I saw this gift set and I was just omg that's so cute! Cute packaging really works on me. My boyfriend picked it up and 'saved' it as a gift for later. Perhaps an anniversary or for when he's done something wrong to which I was just :-| at him. Anyway, he brought it out last week during our anniversary day of the month as a gift for being so 'brave' as he put it with my dental surgery ordeal.



Isn't this cute! It reminded me of a fancy shoe box or something. I personally like the scent and it's good because I don't have anything similar in my collection. I can't describe it but a quick Google is telling me it's got all sorts of fruits in it amongst numerous other sweet things. Can't say I'm picking them up individually. It just smells richly sweet to me.



Look at that bling! Baaaaaling! I love it! Lucky my boyfriend hid it after he bought it otherwise I would have been all sad going can I try? can I try? every five minutes. Out of sight, out of mind :-) But speaking of which, the lady at the counter didn't remove the security properly. You know when the tag is on the inside and they swipe it over the counter? Well that didn't work so it went off at the security gate and the other lady working the entrance was NOT friendly. Yes just assume I'm walking straight out of DJs with a big ass box of Juicy for which I haven't paid :-| We just wanted to leave actually - we were going straight home after that but after she checked the receipt she made a big song and dance about it going off in every other store we were going to walk into (which we weren't). So we had to go back (in Christmas rush hour season) and get it removed - again. Yes I remember you girl and neither my boyfriend or I were impressed with your attitude. Grr. But I digress.

Overall I'm really happy with this perfume and it will take me a while to get through as it's 100mL. And of course there's a 10mL travel sized version :-) I'm not a big fan of the body lotions they always put in perfume gift sets, but we'll see.

OT: I'm currently trying to upload a ridiculously large HD video of Canberra Skyfire 2010. I used my flip and it came out quite good so I wanted to share. But youtube errored on me :-( I am trying again and my net is now slow as hell because of the upload but I think it'll fail again. It's under 2gb so I don't know what I've done wrong... It is 17mins though :-S Long fireworks HD video for the win? I might have to upload a lower quality version. Boo. No point then really.

Currently listening to (and rediscovering): Mike & The Mechanics - The Livings Years

Colour Me Purple: Miss Shop and Kit Cosmetics Nail Polish

I had been perusing the sister site of Mecca Cosmetica, Kit Cosmetics for a while now and was building up a list for a haul. Brands I wanted to try included Korres, Too Faced and of course their own brand kit cosmetics.

I'll save the haul for another time but I did pick up a couple of their whiter shades of pale nail polish. So I tried it out today to go with my new Miss Shop shirt ($20 from Myer, bargain!)



Purple IS my favourite colour but I am slightly disappointed by mister streaky Free Fall (iced lavendar) nail polish:



It really is a pale lavendar, and excuse the messy nails, I clearly suck at applying nail polish today. I think this is one of those consistencies that if you get it right the first time, it looks brilliant (as did one nail) and if you screw up, well... :-S But two *thick* coats to avoid streaks and it's not bad. I think it just looks so messy to me because it's so pale and obvious. I was a bit cranky because I ordered the mint green one purely for St Patrick's day, and it didn't arrive on time so I was left greenless. Oh well!

Beauty Haul preview

Bad Leanne! Meant to be saving for holidays and what do I do? Oh let me show you:



Particularly exxy purchases include NARS Cruising lipstick from the Spring collection, the By Terry Baume de rose and a number of benefit things... What's worse is that I have an online kit cosmetics purchase still to come. Gah!

I'm yet to try the By Terry, but I have already fallen in love with Cruising. I am thankful I don't already have something similar in my collection. Even the bf noticed the new shade!

Things I still want but don't have: the NARS Kuala Lumpur duo eyeshadow and the NARS Orgasm illuminator. Sigh.

Clinique Quick Eyes Cream Shadow

I was having a pretty average afternoon (teeth or moreso lack thereof) so I walked down to the shops for more up & go drinks. I perused the Clinique counter of Myer on the way out and couldn't help but pick up these two cream shadows I have been lusting after:



These are Starlit Pink and Sparling Nude. Rock Violet is also shown below. Didn't buy rock violet but it's very nice! I have been going on a bit of a spending spree lately so I need to curb the spending and save for my Hawaii holiday in June :-)



I had two eye shadows in mind when I bought these cream shadows: MAC Ego and Grand Entrance (not sure which collection but they're the starflash finishes). I want to use less of my precious limited edition shadow and brighten them up a bit. I have just tried starlit pink under Ego and it works well. Definitely brighter. These supposedly have a 10 hour staying power but we shall see :-| I did notice the swatch on my hand go a bit crumbly, but it was more evenly distributed on my eyes. So hopefully it just doesn't peel off as I'm imagining! The only off putting thing for me is the smell of these shadows. I have a very sensitive sense of smell so the chemical whiff I get from these is a disappointment. But hey, after being spoilt by the apricot souffle scent of Benefit's FY Eye primer, you'd be disappointed too :-) Overall these are very nice cream shadows and at 37AUD, swatch and choose carefully!

The swatches: MAC Viva Glam, Too Fabulous, Mary Kay

So finally feeling more like myself again and have been able to take some better photos of my latest makeup haul :-) Here we have a look at MAC's Too Fabulous collection. I got two of the mineralize blush duos. This is Rhapsody in two:



Definitely the 'safe' purchase for me. The colours are light, coraly pink and not too heavy. Nice for my pale skin. This next one was a bit of a gamble for me, but I could not resist these colours! Two virtues:



I was using a dodgey clinique freebie brush of some kind to do these swatches and I really struggled to get the two virtues purple on my skin. Very crumbly these blushes:



I think these are a bit expensive for what they are! They were 50AUD each and they are much smaller than a MSF which is 46AUD. But still, new makeup to play with :-) Definitely cheered me up post surgery!



Here we have the Creme D' Nude, Viva Glam Gaga and Viva Glam Cyndi swatches. I was so worried about getting the nude lippie, but it actually looks nice on my lips! Then again I am going through that nude phase :-P Gaga however, does not. It's a bright blue pink lippie but I knew that it probably wouldn't suit, I just bought it because it's Lady Gaga and I love her music. Can't wait to see her in concert this month too! I was fully :-O at the telephone video clip. Ahem. Where was I. The Cyndi lippie is much more wearable (for me at least) and naturally these swatches are quite built up so a bit of a swipe of these lustre lippies isn't going to make you look horrible. I actually stuck the Mary Kay cream & sugar gloss over the gaga lippie and it looked very nice. Speaking of which:



These are both lovely lip glosses. The price is shocking to me although I don't know why, it's still less than MAC (25AUD vs 34AUD and I believe Mary Kay has more product). I originally just wanted a pink diamonds replacement but I decided to get another to try out :-) They are very perfumed! It smells a bit sickly sweet vanillary to me but I don't mind it. Just like I don't mind the sickly sweetness of Lush Snow Fairy shower gel! But it may not be for all. The glosses have decent pigmentation and are not thick and sticky. So that's a win for me. Definitely *some* stickiness but nothing like clinique lip glosses which I hate because they are so sticky. Or even MAC stickiness. Honestly I go on a swearing fit if I'm stuck wearing lipgloss on a windy day and I haven't tied my hair back. It fires me up so much!



The glosses are more moisturizing than MAC and for me they feel much nicer to wear if you can get past the strong scent. I actually had to get these through my mum because she was the only one who knew a Mary Kay consultant (sigh). I'm interested to try more colours but I shouldn't because I already have too many lip glosses... and they do go off after a while.

MAC Viva Glam, Too Fabulous and Mary Kay

Hello! I survived my dental surgery (went under to get all four wisdom teeth removed). Only one had partially broken through but they were all so the wrong way I had to get them out. I'm not out of the woods yet but so far, so good... My bf has been looking after me so well, so thankful to have someone to get me through this! It sucks not having parents in the same state as you :-( The pain is terrible, but I'm fairly drugged at the moment and I've just had a nestle choccy mousse, so with 5 minutes of energy, let me share with you what arrived in the mail today:



My mum (love her) sent me my requested Mary Kay lip glosses in Pink Diamonds and Cream & Sugar. I first got Pink Diamonds years ago when it was in much funkier packaging. Slightly disappointed with the repackaged look but oh well, same product! And it still smells the same so that's good (quite vanilla-ery I believe).



Monday (the day before surgery) I noticed Viva Glam was finally up - I've been holding out on the Too Fabulous blushes because I was waiting for my precious lady gaga lipstick. And with the free shipping for orders over $60, it was a nice present to cheer myself up with. I of course got both Lady Gaga and Cyndi Lauper lustre lippies (swatches to come when I'm not so swollen/miserable). I also got Creme D' Nude but with the pale lips I woke up with today, one wonders why I even bothered :-P But seriously, my lips SHOULD return to their natural darker shade when everything has healed a bit better. I can't even shut my mouth right now so I look fairly dopey.



Here is another close up so you can appreciate the gorgeousness of the gaga lippie. I was only going to get the Rhapsody in Two blush, but then I googled for a Two Virtues swatch and I was sold! Although I feel it will be similar to the spring forecast blushes that I also desire. We shall see...

Well my 5 minutes is up and I'm starting to feel pain again. Time to lie back down and continue my bed riddeness :-(

February Faves... blog style!

I thought I'd do a quick blog post of my feb faves. More of a 2010 faves the way I've been going with these products ;-)



My faves include:

• MAC eye shadows in Ego, Shale and Shroom: I've been wearing this combo for a while now with Ego over the lid, focusing on the inner corner, shale on the crease and blending out towards the brow with Shroom. Shroom + Shale = really pretty. It's subtle but noticeable.


• MAC 239 brush. This brush really packs on colour. It's my new fave brush. Don't worry 213 fluff brush, I still love you!


• Hue lipstick - Brought this back from Perth and have been wearing it everyday to work since. Better swatch down below so you can appreciate its loveliness.


• Runway fave lipglass - A nude gloss that I was wearing before I got Hue :-)


• So sweet, so easy - Cremeblend blush that came out with the online only collection MAC in lillyland. VERY pink so you only need a little bit. It's nice on my pale white skin without my yellow based makeup. Gives a nice natural flush.


• By candlelight MSF - I wear this every single day, I love it. Mind you I don't have any others to choose from :-P Highlight across checks on top of the blush is just perfect. Photographs nicely too!


• Clinique bewitched eye shadow - I got this YEARS ago but I was rummaging around in my clinique drawer (yes there's a whole drawer) and I rediscovered this little freebie. It's nice because it has two shadows plus a mirror! I used to use the peach colour a lot but I was looking for a dark matte brown to use with my MAC 266 brush. I wanted to darken my brows with my new blonde foils. This colour has been really good for that.

As you can see above, so sweet, so easy is very bright. Although I imagine not as bright as florida would have been. I've been looking for a pinker blush, I seem to have mostly peachy corals. I'm planning on getting well dressed soon so I'll compare that to this blush.



Currently thinking I need to purchase an Ego backup. It was limited edition though but the starflash shadows are SO nice. Bit too much fallout, but nicely pigmented and shimmery. Got my grand entrance backup, Ego to follow? Hmm...

Well this will be the last from me for a little while. Probably til next weekend so not really that long :-P I have surgery on Tuesday (more info when/IF I come out ok). I have been freaking out for the last, oh, 2 months :-| Excuse me while I re-read this scary booklet titled Anaesthesia & you :-(

Currently listening to: Like a drug - Kylie Minogue