Cosmetic Cupcake

I have for you today a simple NOTD using Barry M Dusky Mauve that my dear friend Christina gave me in our last swap. I'm sure you've heard that it's a dupe for the much hyped about Chanel Paradoxal which was released last year. I'm so way behind on colours, I don't really stick to trends with my polish or fashion and just wear whatever I feel like haha =) Anyway, when Paradoxal and her dupes 1st came out I honestly didn't get the hype surrounding it. These sorts of colours are lovely but not reeeeally my kind of thing. However my opinion slowly changed as I saw more swatches of it and finally got to try it out for myself!


Dusky Mauve is a taupe loaded with purple shimmer. It's gorgeous on the nail and I was very surprised that I liked it! Above and below is 2 coats without topcoat.

Close-up:


Of course I couldn't leave it alone so I added 2 coats of OPI Sparkle-icious to my accent fingers for a bit of sparkle! Topped it with a coat of Coffret D'Or gel mode topcoat for a glossy shine. Just a simple NOTD at the end of a busy day!


Do you have any of the Paradoxal dupes? What do you think of these types of colours?

Thanks for looking! Don't forget to enter My Big Birthday Giveaway!

Thank you so much for the well wishes and overwhelming response to my Birthday Giveaway! You guys rock! Just a quick post tonight to show you my celebration manicure to celebrate my 1st blog birthday. Yes I am corny like that and use any excuse to celebrate with a mani OK! I've wanted to do a cupcake manicure for a very long time now but I decided to save it for this blog milestone =D Here is my Cosmetic Cupcake manicure!


I wanted some bling so I went with 3 coats of the awesome Rescue Beauty Lounge Frugalista on all fingers except accents. I hauled this beauty in the 50% off sale last year and am now kicking myself for only purchasing 4 polishes.

Close up:


Frugalista is a gorgeous silver and purple glitter and I now know why Rescue Beauty Lounge polishes are so hyped about! The polishes are just gorgeous and it was easy to apply and quick to dry.


I then freehanded cupcakes on my accent fingers by following Rina's great cupcake tutorial. You might notice that my cupcake is in the same colour scheme as my logo! It by no means looks like the work of art Claude made for me but I tried =p I didn't even attempt the lippie and nail polish bottle as it would have been a fail haha. I am still completely in love with my logo!!

For this design I used a coat of Butter London Pink Ribbon as a sheer base. I then used China Glaze Sugar High to freehand a thick French tip and used Kiss nail art striper in white for vertical stripes to complete the cupcake liner. I then drew a large half circle on top of the cupcake liner using Ulta 3 chocolate cake and added dark red bullions to make sprinkles.


The pic above is of the design on my right hand (which I hardly show) as I actually preferred the way I did the cupcake. I got lazy with my right hand and didn't add the cherry which I did using China Glaze Empowerment. I topped it all with a coat of Coffret D’or gel mode topcoat which Christina gave me in one of our swaps. The topcoat makes my nails so lovely and shiny! I have yet to fully use it properly though.


I'm now trying to think of a mani design for my actual birthday! What would you suggest?

Thanks for looking and don't forget to enter My Big Birthday Giveaway! I'll be catching up on comments tomorrow x)

I want to start off this post by saying that the nail/beauty blogging community is fantastic to be a part of. I think it's so awesome to be able to bond with ladies from all over the world over a shared love of all things nails and beauty! Of course it's not always rainbows and butterflies in the blogging world but I think all you ladies ROCK! One of the many amazing ladies I've had the pleasure of getting to know is Christina from Cels deco nails. This lovely lady is one of a kind! She is an absolute sweetheart and I received another sweet package from her this week! It totally made my week, thank you Christina.


So many pretty items! I'll start with my order from Christina's Etsy store. I have admired and drooled over all the items in Christina's Etsy shop since day 1 - especially her deco iPhone cases. I didn't have an iPhone at the time but when I mentioned to her that my boyfriend was planning on giving me his old iPhone when the iPhone 4 came out(he got an iPhone 4 from work the lucky thing!) she generously offered to custom make me one with all the elements that I wanted which included Hello Kitty and bows. How could I turn down her offer??? She made 2 cases and this is the one I ended up choosing:


It looks even better in real life! It is kawaii, blingy and oh so beautiful and I can't stop showing it off x) I just love the cherry on Hello Kitty and the sparkly bow! Christina has 3 cases for sale at the moment in her Etsy store so do check them out. I am so very happy with my case =D I wish I had her talent and patience to do it myself but alas I don't!


I also ordered these adorable pink polka dot strawberry clips for my boyfriend's niece. She is selling these in red too which are just as cute if not cuter! I chose pink though for a princessy little girl. I really wanted the red pair for myself but I doubt I can pull them off!


Christina also very generously included 2 sets of her hand decorated falsies for me to try along with nail adhesive tape so that they can be reused. These are stunning - beautifully hand painted and decorated! She is selling lots of other beautiful nail designs in her store and I'm especially loving her Jack O' Lantern Halloween nails and the Gothic Black Japanese Style nails.


Christina also sent me some nail polish and nail art goodies mostly from her recent trip to Japan!

From L - R:
Visee RO 602, pa Nail Color Premier in AA12 and AA21, Kanebo BU-20 and Coffret D'or Gel Mode topcoat. The pa glitters are so cute! The pink one has heart shaped glitter in it which is so sweet. I'm very much looking forward to trying out the gel topcoat!


Some Essence nail art goodies (thanks to Christina's brother for picking them up!) and some adorable pa Halloween and floral nail stickers.


Nfu Oh 50 - my very 1st Nfu Oh polish!!!! Oh man this is beyond beautiful and a lovely suprise in the package. I am totally grateful to Christina for fulfilling this lemming for me!!


Korres Shine/Longlasting polish in Cyclamen and Watermelon. These colours are just gorgeous and perfect for the Summer! I'm a total sucker for pinks and reds and these shades are right up my alley. I can already picture the fruity manis I can do with these!


Some cute phone charms! I will need to purchase one of those charm holder thingos from Strapya methinks.


Greek food goodies! The fruity lollies are so yummy =D


Thank you once again Christina for this wonderful package. It came at a time when I was really stressed out from moving and everything else and it couldn't have been more perfect.

Thanks for looking ladies! Make sure to check out Christina's Etsy store! And don't forget to enter my Polished Pink for October giveaway here.