Cosmetic Cupcake

I'm trying to make a conscious effort to work through my HUGE pile of untried shades and to swatch them for the blog. I like to swatch using natural light and being winter there's no natural light by the time I get home from work = no swatches. I've been unmotivated to blog since returning home so on my days off I haven't really felt like swatching and taking photos etc. I still polish my nails regularly but I just can't be bothered to take photos - hopefully this phase will pass soon! One shade I made sure I snapped pics of was Erre Due Mirror Effect 996 which is a pretty pink chrome that my dear friend Christina gifted me last year. I'm on a bit of a holo/chrome/glitter/duochrome kick at the moment!


996 is medium pink mirror chrome. How awesome is it?! It has a typical chrome formula so it dries super quickly which means you have to work fast. I used 2 coats here but you could definitely get away with just one as it's pretty darn opaque. The formula is on the runnier side and the shade is pretty unforgiving so I probably should have given my nails a good buff before applying! Chromes stamp really well so I'm dying to test it out to see if I can add it to my stamping polish collection.



What's your favourite chrome polish? Not that I need to add to my already overflowing polish collection.. xp Thanks for looking as always!

Urgh can you believe it's nearly the end of September already??!! This year has gone by waaaaaaaay too quickly! Just like the weekend has haha. Today I have some quick swatches of a GORGEOUS purple which was a gift from my dear friend Christina from Cel's Kawaii Blog. This pretty Erre Due didn't come with a label but I think it's 195.


Erre Due 195 is a gorgeous deep purple with very very subtle blue and red shimmer through it. Perfect in 2 opaque glossy coats.


Close up:


Thank you Christina for sending this beauty my way!!! You know how much I love purples ♥

Thanks for looking as always!! =)

A quick post for you today to share 2 WONDERFUL packages I received from my lovely friend Christina a few weeks back!! she definitely made my week =) She spoiled me absolutely rotten yet again (the naughty thing!!) for my birthday and also gave me a wedding gift!! So much goodness where on earth to start xD


1st off is my adorable wedding present!! A Hello Kitty toiletry bag!! Seriously how freaking adorable is it???! My current toiletry bag is a GWP bag from Clinique and is on its last legs so this gift comes at the perfect time!


So much Erre Due goodness! Erre Due polishes are excellent quality and the special effect ones are especially awesome!! Not to mention the holo base coat too.


So many gorgeous polishes including Catrice Dirty Berry (SQUEAL!!), my 1st BB Couture and ESTESSiMO TINS!!


Eeeeeek thank you for my Nfu Oh lemmings Christina!!! Gosh I love the brand so much xD I've been dying to try their Jelly Syrup polishes for ages now and also their Aqua Base Coat.


Some UK polishes from her travels! How cute are the Top Shop polishes!! Also my 1st Sleek polish and a silver holo from 17. Christina knows just how much I love holos!!


Tommy G holo, glitter and special base coat! I'm very curious about the special base coat =D


NYX glitters which are my 1st NYX polishes actually!


Hello Kitty eyeshadow palette and polish! I sound like a broken record but they're so cute!! How could anyone say no to a Hello Kitty shaped polish bottle??


Some awesome NYX makeup products! I love their eyeshadows and jumbo eye pencils. I really wish NYX was sold in-store here - it's such a great brand at such good pricing.


Christina also sent me a beautiful Dior Holiday lip palette!! ♥ I love the shades but it's way too pretty to actually use lol.


Christina also sent me some of her beautiful handmade creations which you can purchase from her Etsy, Zibbet and Storenvy stores!!


I LOVE Christina's customised iphone cases and she kindly sent me a new Hello Kitty one!! You can purchase them from her online stores too. Her iphone cases and deco items are how we connected in the first place!


And lastly lots of skincare samples from Korres and Apvita!! Plus a gorgeous makeup bag too! I forgot to include the Korres makeup pack she sent me in this photo too.


Thank you dear Christina for the lovely packages!! ♥ You spoil me way too much!!

I hope you're all having a great start to the week! Thanks for looking as always =)

Just some quick swatches for you today of Lynnderella Love, Lace and Lilacs. I'm not sure I love this glitter as much as I like the others I've swatched for you so far which you can see here.


Love, Lace and Lilacs contains different sized hex and bar glitters. It applied very evenly on the nail and 1 coat gives excellent coverage. I wanted extra concentrated glitter so I layered 2 coats over 2 coats of Erre Due 177 which is a really sparkly white with blue and purple shimmer through it (thanks Christina!).


Close up:



I'm going to try it over a different coloured base as you can't really see the glitter too well over the white base. Doh!

Thanks for looking as always! =)

My birthday isn't for another 2 weeks but I received 2 wonderful early birthday packages from my dear friend Christina this week! I always have loads of fun swapping with Christina but the packages she sent me this time were just SO extra special and were an absolute delight to open up as always!!


18 beautiful polishes plus yummy Greek treats too!! ^_^ OMG!! She included lots of polishes with pretty finishes that I don't have many of because I always buy the same old ones so I'm excited to try them! See the cute black and red polka gift box amongst the goodies? Christina made me 3 absolutely beautiful pieces of jewellery with nail polish as my birthday gift that I'll show you in my next post - they are simply stunning and deserve a post of their own!

From L - R: Art Deco 275 and 280, Erre Due pink and red (no names), Irine 74 and Deborah Shine Tech 19 and 36.

From L - R: Essence goodies! Essence Denim Wanted! High Waist Pink, Colour & Go Fabuless, Glitter topcoat and multi dimension purple dimension. Also some French glam nail stickers, French manicure and pedicure pen and a Sparkling cherry lipgloss.

From L - R: Golden Rose Nail art polishes in 109, 120 and 112, Beauty Line Cosmetics 511, Urban Decay polish and H & M Razzle Dazzle.

Thank you so so very much my dearest Christina for an absolutely wonderful birthday package <3 It feels like my birthday is here already because of you!

Thanks for looking! =D

Nail swapping is so much fun! It's so wonderful getting to know ladies from across the globe over a shared love of nail polish. I now have SO many untried polishes now that I am determined not to purchase any new polishes until I go to HK in November! We'll see how I go sticking to it lol but I just have so many lovely overseas lacquers to try yay! Here's my quick NOTD using the Greek polishes I received from Christina from Cel's blog.

I used Adamo 83 which is a gorgeous bright pink creme. The formula is a little thick so I added 1 drop of Seche Restore which did the trick. I had to be careful to not go over my strokes as it would create tiny bald spots but nothing too difficult =) The 1st coat was streaky so I did 2 coats which is pictured below without topcoat and it dried to a high gloss finish. It's such a pretty pink! It's just bright enough without being too in your face. I also love the fact that these bottles contain a whopping 16mls of polish! Most polishes are between 10-15mls only. Just a little trivia!


I then konaded the full nail leaf design from Bundle Monster plate BM20 using Erre Due 197. 197 is a frosty silver polish that stamped really well for me. Over the pink it came out very subtly which is great for the Bundle Monster full nail designs as they cover so much of the nail. You can just see the design as it catches the light =)


Hope you like it! Don't forget to enter my 200 followers giveaway here! It ends tomorrow!

Hi ladies! I am so unbelievably happy that it is Friday today because this week at work has been pretty crap. I am totally tired so unfortunately no manicures for today. Bring on the weekend I say!

I have for you today an amazing swap which I just completed with the very lovely and talented Christina from Cel's blog. Christina is an absolute sweetheart and I love exchanging emails with her =) She has the cutest blog and manicures too and creates the most awesome deco products! Her Etsy store is totally droolworthy and I covet nearly every single item >.< Christina sent me some lovely Greek polishes as well as my 1st British polishes which she kindly got for me on her trip to London. She also included some wonderful extras and lots of food goodies for me!

From L - R:
Adamo polish in 83 and 86. 86 is similar to OPI Do You Lilac It which I was lemming from Christina's purple graduation mani!
And Art Deco polishes in 85, 83, 51 and 70. How cute are these bottles!


From L - R:
Erre Due polishes in 197, 94 and 109. These polishes look so pretty! Christina says the silver is perfect for konading which is great because I need a good konad silver. The pink glitter with hearts is so sweet!


From L - R:
Collection 2000 Hot Looks polishes in Button Moon and BMX Bandit and GOSH polishes in Rainbow and Gasoline. FLAKIES omg!!! Thank you for hauling this for me Christina!! =D


From L - R:
Barry M polishes in Strawberry Icecream, Blueberry Icecream and Pink Iridescent. My 1st Barry M's! A lemming fulfilled =)


Claire's mini polishes. These mini bottles are so super cute!


She also included a cute pair of tweezers and nail files (perfect size for my makeup bag yay!), and some BB cream samples. I've never tried BB creams so this is great!


So many Greek food goodies!!! She included sweets, biscuits, very luscious looking Greek honey and her hubby also included his favourite gum.

Thank you so much for this wonderful swap Christina! I cannot thank you enough and also for the blog award =D I love reading your blog so I award you back! I really look forward to our future swaps!


Thanks for looking ladies =) Don't forget to enter my 200 followers giveaway here!