Finally The Right White

Some of you may remember my last dabble with a white polish, it was Essie Marshmallow. After being told about it's moderate opacity and jelly-like finish I had high hopes it was going to create that dreamy looking white manicure I was after. Alas, it was never to be. The formula was so bad it was almost impossible to get it to look smooth, and I consider myself to be a fairly seasoned nail painter! I'm willing to deal with something that needs several coats to achieve even coverage but however much patience I had, it just was not happening.

So on the search went for the perfect soft white. For anyone who may not understand what I mean by soft. Imagine taking a bottle of Tipp-ex (correction fluid) and painting your nails with that. That's the opposite of a soft white, it's completely opaque and provides very full nail coverage. If you want that look you can try OPI Alpine Snow, China Glaze White On White or Zoya Purity. Anyway, that wasn't what I was after, (not just because those often chip like a b***h!) I wanted delicate, ethereal looking, very feminine white, white nails.

Well, I have it at last! It's OPI Don't Touch My Tutu from the New York Ballet Collection. I was so happy to find that the formula was pretty good; there was a tiny amount of streaking but with some extra care it wasn't difficult to get it to look smooth. It's quite sheer and does need three coats to look good (in my opinion) but thankfully it dries quite quickly between coats, unlike the Essie which had  horrendously long drying time. The 'sheer factor' of this one also makes it a good polish for 'jelly sandwiches'. Exciting stuff for a glitter addict like me! I was actually close to adding a glittery middle layer with this mani, but the white was just so pretty I thought it'd be nice to just appreciate the simplicity of it, for one manicure at least.

OPI 'Don't Touch My Tutu' // Wearing 3 coats, no top coat.

After three days wear - zero chipping! I added one more coat for almost full cover.
This photo is with indoor lighting, which makes it look slightly creamier in colour.

Outside in moderately bright light - 3 coats.

Overall, I'm sold! I think this is a great polish that's easier to wear than stark white options, and it probably suits most skin tones too. 

I'd say to expect glitter combinations soon but I currently have another five new nail polish colours sat waiting to be worn and reviewed, so perhaps it'll be a while..... Yes, I have a problem.

Happy Friday everyone, I hope you all have a lovely, fun-filled weekend xxx

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Fancy Fingers, Phones and Flights

Hello Ladies, how's the week going? I'm pleased to say it's almost the weekend again. I'm already getting excited about the prospect of more lazing in the park and a bit of al fresco dining!

This week has been rather good for me. The nice weather has meant we've been able to get out and about in the evening for a couple of walks around the nearby parks. Isn't it amazing how good some warm weather and a bit of sunshine can make you feel?!

On Tuesday night I also picked up a new phone. I must have been the only person in all of Korea still using an iPhone 3. As a foreigner it's just too much of a headache to try and sort these kind of things out, so whilst my phone was still functioning I wasn't too bothered about getting a new one. Recently, it's been showing signs of dying so I decided to go upgrade. It only took me two separate visits to the shop, about 15 phone calls to a korean friend of mine and a total of around 5 hours to get an iPhone 4. Haha!

The Mr. surprised me with the cute cover when I got home. Isn't he a sweetie!

'You are wonderful and I love you' iPhone cover - Lost Dog

Another thing I've been excited about this week is my latest addition to my polish collection. Which, by the way, is growing at a shocking and slightly disturbing rate! I fear I may be developing a polish addiction. Okay, that's a lie, I know I have a polish addiction and it's been going on for a long time but I've been in denial.

Still, this new polish from Tony Moly is a dupe of Deborah Lippmann's 'Glitter In The Air' and could not be passed up. I actually ordered 'Glitter In The Air' weeks and weeks ago from an eBay seller (only way I can get it here) but it never arrived. Cue angry, also very disappointed me checking the mail box...every. single. day....TWICE. for the last five weeks. No joke!

Finally I accepted it's never coming, considered crying for a bit, then found out about this dupe available in Korea (Tony Moly is a Korean brand I think...). I headed straight to the store to get it and I'm now pretty chuffed. Can you see what I mean about an addiction going on?! It only cost $3 (versus Lippmann's $18 price tag) and from all the picture comparisons I've made it really does seem to be a near perfect match.

'Milky Way' - Tony Moly, a dupe of 'Glitter In The Air' - Deborah Lippmann and Revlon's 'Whimsical'

'Milky Way' - Tony Moly

It's a pale blue base with pink and blue glitter. It goes on quite smoothly, although it's very sheer so you do need at least three coats if you want solid coverage like my photos. The glitter builds up quite nicely if you do three coats though!

As for the actual Deborah Lippmann one I ordered...I contacted the seller and apparently they've re-shipped it to me, so we'll see if it makes it this time!

Other exciting developments over this way are that we're going to Hong Kong in just over two weeks!! We booked the tickets last night for a four day trip. I've always wanted to visit Hong Kong so I'm really, really excited about it!


Does anyone have any recommendations for places to stay/things to see/restaurants to eat in etc? I'd love to hear them if you do! 

xxx

Lilac Nail Lovin' and The Zara Saga

Lilac nails have always caught my attention but I'd been struggling to find the exact shade I was after. 

You know what it's like when you have an image in your head of how you want something to look. I kept seeing a lot of very pale lilacs like OPI's 'Rumple Wiggin' and dark lilacs like Rimmel's 'Ultra Violet' but never light and bright!

Well the search is over, I've found that illusive perfect shade and for once in my life it wasn't even from an expensive brand.  Introducing (although it's been around yonks) Barry M's Berry I/C Nail Paint!

Barry M Berry I/C - A lovely lilac nail polish

 

Practically perfect pale pastelly purpleness! I'm in love! 

I'm clearly going to need to stock up on this one before heading back to Korea. As you probably spotted in the post, I picked it up in my high-street beauty haul. It was £2.99 so I figured it was worth a shot. Usually a fan of slightly more expensive nail polish brands like OPI, I was surprised by this polish.

I liked the colour but what I wasn't expecting was to like how this polish goes on. It was so easy to apply (a good consistency and streak free) and I only needed two coats when I usually find cheaper polishes need three. Admittedly I still used three coats but that's because I'm a bit OCD about my nails not because it was necessary! I also went ahead and spruced things up just a touch with a coat of China Glaze 'Snow Globe' as an accent nail. I think it's the perfect combo....what do you think?

As if I wasn't chuffed enough with the new polish, I finally (been wanting one for a loooong time) spotted, and of course, promptly bought....a contrasting tuxedo blazer!

I literally went in to Zara, all in a huff, to return the ill-fitting-major-disappointment-waste-of-postage-money-I-am-not-shopping-here-ever-ever-again items from my previous post and then walked back out with this.

Oh Zara...why do you do it to me?! How will I ever give you up?!

Love can be so cruel.

xxx

Day Dreaming: Chloe Enire Scalloped Sunglasses and OPI

The postman has made my day today!

Yep, that's really how dull my days are right now.

Last week, perhaps because of how miserable the weather has been here (and the week-day boredom whilst all my friends and family are at work), I found myself gravitating towards items for my spring/summer wardrobe and ordered a couple of things. One of the things arrived in a stupidly large box for such a small item but they say good things come in small packages, and they're right!

Chloe Erine Sunglasses with gold scalloped detail.

Say hello to my new pair of sunglasses from Chloe's Erine line. They have gorgeous gold scalloped detailing which I think is quite unusual and pretty.

I look at sunglasses, like handbags, as investment pieces that I can keep forever. Sadly, Korea has a high luxury goods tax which makes sunglasses ridiculously overpriced there. Boooooo! So, when I spotted these with 50% off at The Outnet I couldn't pass them up. I'm teeeeeechnically saving myself money here.

The other stuff came today too but I'm going to show you those in another post. Despite the fact I've paid for the things it somehow feels like I'm opening a present as I tear into just delivered cardboard boxes. A bit like Christmas morning all over again.

I love that feeling...but....it's not such a good thing really though, it's addictive! I have to keep reminding myself that I did part with my hard earned cash for these things (even if I did just enter a few numbers on a computer screen from the comfort of my sofa) and they ARE NOT FREE PRESENTS!

I realised today how long it's been since I did any kind of beauty related post, I'm planning to do a post about my everyday make up routine soon but in the meantime here are my nails today, the perfect pale pink polish...

''Privacy Please' - OPI. Accent nail - 'Metallic gold' - The Face Shop (available in my blog shop)

Purple Hooded Sweater - Diesel c/o my brother's wardrobe. Sunnies - Chloe

The rest of my day was spent Gangsta chillin' (see the very, very cool picture above) whilst wearing my new sunnies in a hoody I stole from my brothers wardrobe today. Yep, that's right, I've hit a whole new level of boredom ....

..CUH-RAAAZY!!

Seriously though now...being alone with nothing at all to do sure is good for a little while but I'm actually getting excited about getting back to Korea and starting work again, too much time alone is sometimes not a good thing, it can send you a little loopy!  

Do you know what I mean? Please don't say that's just me!!

xxx

Get This Party Started - Deborah Lippmann Nail Polish

 

 

If you read my blog regularly you might remember I mentioned Deborah Lippmann's Get This Party Started set in my New Year's Eve post. I showed you one colour from the set and promised to do a post on the full set soon. 

Well, it's been two weeks already and I'll tell you why I didn't get around to this sooner. I needed to make sure I have the entire afternoon free to scrub the glitter off after I've done the swatches. No, I'm kidding, it's not that bad. It only took me about 45 minutes when I did all my nails for NYE! Awesome fun. Okay, okay...pain in the neck removal aside....I do really, really love this set! 

The set includes three full size (15ml) Deborah Lippmann glitter polishes. The glitter is the same in each polish, a rainbow glitter with both large hexagonal pieces and smaller too. Each polish has a different base colour though.

Happy Birthday - Deborah Lippmann

'Happy Birthday' has a clear base and can be worn over any other polish to add some pizazz. This baby is going over a hot pink later today!

Candy Shop

Then there is my favourite, 'Candy Shop' which you can see on my nails in this post. Candy Shop has a soft pink coloured base. It's slightly translucent so you can choose how bold you want the pink to be. One coat gives a subtle pink colour and three coats will give you a solid pink nail.

Forget You

Finally there is 'Forget You', a black base with the amazing multicolored glitter. Again, you'll need two coats for a solid black coverage. This one actually goes on a little uneven, with streaks unless you do use two coats.

I don't usually like to wear a dark nail colour, it's just not me, but this one I'll be making an exception for. I mean, look at all that glitter, it's not exactly dark or dull is it?!

Now, you can call me lazy if you want, but in the end I opted to do just one hand, one time, to show you all the colours. To be honest, I didn't fancy spending my entire Saturday getting glitter everywhere by trying to get it off. So here are the three colours with two coats of each:

 

 

I had seen this set on a blog a while ago but I had a hard time tracking it down especially from UK stores. In the end I found it for a little under £26 from Amazon.co.uk. It's also on Amazon.com in the US for just over $40.

In short, I think this set is great. I'm all about a bit of sparkle but I tend to find sparkles or glitter on clothes just comes off looking tacky. Glitter on the nails however, seems like just the right amount, playful but subtle! The glitter is distributed fairly thickly and evenly through the polish and it isn't difficult to apply. One coat is enough but if you layer it you can get an amazing, very shimmery overall effect on your nails.

So what do you think? What other glitter polishes can you ladies recommend? Let me know whilst I spend the next 30 minutes trying to get these off! Haha!

xxx

PS: Does anyone have any useful tips for glitter polish removal?

China Glaze Snow Globe, Blue Years Eve & Let It Snow Winner

Silver charm bracelet - Links of London. Silver ring and Bangle - Mont Blanc.

This was my main reason for purchasing the China Glaze 'Let It Snow' gift set. I'd been eying up the color Snow Globe and thinking about how it would look layered over white. As we all know by now I'm a big advocate of a little sparkle, on nails in particular! So when I spotted a swatch of the white, very iridescent Snow Globe I had to get it. Up close it has gorgeous flecks of pink, blue and soft yellow glitter.

I had a vision in my head of a white base coat with a thick coat of the glitter over the top turning out like a snowy looking type of nail.

Well....I think it worked! I'm sort of surprised because usually my imagination does a better job than I can ever do in real life. Sadly, as with most glitter polishes, the pictures don't capture how it twinkles under the light. But let me tell you, it's very eye catching and...I love it! It looks like winter, in my head anyway. What do you reckon?

White polish base coat with China Glaze 'Snow Globe'.

Before going ahead and doing this I actually tested out both of the colours (Snow Globe and Blue Years Eve) in the 'Let It Snow' gift set. I get a bit over excited about new polishes and have to try them as soon as possible.

China Glaze 'Let It Snow' nail polish set - 'Snow Globe' and 'Blue Year's Eve'.

I'm a big fan of the blue on it's own as a block color. It has a very metallic foil like finish. For me it doesn't seem to work with Snow globe though. I feel like it's too fussy and the colors don't seem to compliment one another. Just my two cents. I'm excited to try Snow globe over a lilac though. I think it will go well with the soft pastel colors in the glitter. I've seen it over black too which looked cool so I may possibly try that at some point.

One lucky person has won the giveaway for a China Glaze 'Let It Snow' gift set all for them. The lucky lady is...

Bri!

Congratulations Bri! I hope you like the colors and find a way you like wearing them best.

Thank you to everyone else for entering and for all of your support. Reading everyone's lovely comments is what keeps me blogging so thank you all very much!

xxx

It's Duty Free - OPI Polishes, Chloe Perfume and MAC {of course!}

My sleep patterns are almost back to normal now and I'm getting used to being back home now. At first it felt quite strange, almost like a reverse culture shock. I guess I really had been away for a very long time! It's so lovely to see everyone I haven't seen in so long though. It's quite a change of pace from the busy hustle and bustle of Seoul but I think I could get used to it!

Coming through Duty Free a spot of shopping is always unavoidable for me. It's the lure of the discounted prices! I was so close to splashing out on a Miu Miu Vitello bag. It was in a hot pink colour which the sales assistant told me was a new colour. Perhaps that was just in a bid to sell to me but the 30% off that day made it very very tempting. I was already a little late for the flight by this point though and I couldn't make such a snap decision to buy. So I left empty handed. I really regret it now. I'm hoping they'll be another opportunity to get it at such a good price because I've been lusting after that bag for a very long time and we all know how I love pink!

Here are the goodies I picked up.

Chloe Perfume by Chloe. A very light, soft floral scent, very pretty...if a scent can be pretty??!

I can never avoid MAC. Yes, it's a bit of a problem! Eyebrows Pencil - 'Fling'. MAC Eyeshadow - 'Gleam' (A soft shimmery golden shade - perfect for a subtle day look)

My growing obsession, OPI Nail Polishes!
From left to right: 'Significant Other Color', 'Bubble Bath' (I heard it's the perfect nude shade, I'll do my nails with it soon and post the verdict) & 'Holy Pink Pagoda' (already used it on my toes,  it's a great bright bold coral/pink shade.

A very dolly mixture like pink nail polish from OPI - 'Mod About You'.

I'm very pleased with the purchases, I could have gone crazy with the OPI polish buying, there was a whole wall of colours. Somehow I found willpower I didn't really know I had!

Let me know what you think, do you like my buys? Hope Monday treats you well!

xxx

Care Bears and O.P.I Shorts Story Nails.

When I tell people I'm living in Korea (you knew that right?!) they tend to think of the Korean War and a lot of people assume that it's not very developed here. They usually ask if I can get (insert rather basic everyday item) here. At which point I tell them I'm only living on the other side of the world not an entirely different planet. Think of Tokyo, it's the most similar (well known) city to Seoul I think.

The major brands are all here so I can get most of the stuff I could back in England. There are however some exceptions. One of these is O.P.I nail polishes. In England I'd become a tincy bit of an O.P.I addict. It's not cheap but it also doesn't streak when you apply it (annoying), chip within the first day of wearing it (very annoying) and the bottle doesn't go all sticky after a month or two (very very annoying). 

I looked around Seoul for it but couldn't find it. I bought a couple of colors online but I much prefer to see them in a store. I love to look at the rows of polish and consider, for way too long, all the varying shades of each color, you know?!

They say when you stop looking for something you find it. Well I guess it must be true because I finally found it! Rows and rows of it. Yey! I purchased a fab hot pink called 'Shorts Story' and a bottle of top coat.

Expect more O.P.I swatches in the future!

Another good thing getting me through Tuesday - The Care Bears! I forgot I bought this earlier this year. It was hiding in my wardrobe.

Ironically cool...no??  Oh well, I like it, you know I'm a big kid. It helps the nostalgia, a lot like the cupcakes. I'm starting to think I have issues with growing up...do I need to see someone?!!

Somewhere I have a My Little Pony Tee...hmmmm...

I hope you have a great day! Remember, stop looking for that something and maybe you'll find it!

xxx