Cosmetic Cupcake

Unless you've been living under a rock I'm sure you know that the royal wedding is on today! I don't care too much about the royals (OK maybe I secretly do have a fascination with them) but I am such a hopeless romantic and I absolutely adore a good royal wedding. Weddings are such beautiful events and especially with all the pomp and ceremony it's such a show! Of course I had to do a mani to celebrate the wedding of the year!


I've wanted to do a Union Jack mani for ages so of course this was the perfect opportunity! My mani was a huge hit at work today which was a nice way to brighten up my day =) My British workmate ABSOLUTELY adored it and even took a pic to send home to friends and family which was awesome! xp

I started off with 1 coat of "underwear polish" in Icing Rebellious to prevent staining. I then applied 2 coats of Orly Royal Navy to all fingers except my ring finger.


For my ring finger I wanted to replicate the gorgeous engagement ring. I used 3 coats of Ulta 3 lily white as a base and used Born Pretty dotting tool to dot an oval using China Glaze Up All Night for the sapphire. I then applied silver rhinestones to replicate the diamonds.


For the Union Jack I used Kiss nail art paint striper in white to freehand the white lines and CM nail art striper in red glitter over the white.



I've recently discovered the joys of Instagram so here's a bonus pic which I tweeted last night. Follow me on Twitter for preview pics of my manis as I don't always post about them straight away ;)


Obviously royal weddings aren't for everyone but who doesn't love a fairytale love story?!! Off to watch the ceremony now!! Will you be watching?

Thanks for looking!!

I have for you today a quick manicure using one of the lovely polishes I received in my swap with Freshie that I showed you yesterday. I just could not think of a good title for the post though so boring I shall be! I decided to try out Icing Rebellious first with some added konading as I don't have many colours like this in my collection.


I'm terrible at describing colours but I'd say Icing Rebellious is a pale rose taupe colour. It's not something I would have chosen myself as I find I don't really suit these sorts of taupe/greige/beige colours. Maybe because I'm pale..? After putting it on, I was so pleasantly surprised that the colour actually looks OK on me! I'm so happy that Freshie sent it to me because I LOVE the colour and it's simply gorgeous! That's one of the many wonderful things about swapping - you get to try colours out of your comfort zone and usually it ends in a very pleasant surprise =) Now you would expect this type of colour to be streaky when applying and need at least 2 coats right? Below is just 1 medium coat for opacity!


The formula is a little difficult to control though and I flooded my cuticles a few times but this isn't a huge deal as the colour is so light and a remover pen is always helpful ;) It also dried very quickly to a glossy finish (bonus when you're konading afterwards!). I'm impressed with Icing polishes and I hope the other polishes are just as pigmented and pretty on the nail.

Rebellious is a very work appropriate colour and I got loads of compliments today on the beautiful colour from patients and workmates alike. It is so work appropriate that one of my patients was actually quite taken aback at my mani and said to me: "What, no bright nails today 'chelle?". Haha!


I then used China Glaze Admire to stamp full nail design from Konad plate m64. I then added some small pink rhinestones that I received from Viva La Nails to the middle of the pattern.

Are there colours that you don't tend to wear but are then pleasantly surprised when you find one that suits you?

Thanks for looking!

I completed some swaps this month and I was lucky enough to have 3 swap parcels arrive on Christmas Eve! It was like Christmas morning that afternoon let me tell you! I couldn't wait to open them all up and play with my international goodies. First package I'm going to show you is from lovely Freshie from Polish Freshie.


So many pretty polishes!


From L - R:
Sinful Colors Hottie, Purple Diamond, Dancing Nails and Pinky Glitter. I love Sinful Colors polishes! They are great quality for the price and I only wish these were more readily available in Sydney.


From L - R:
Icing Sunlit, Glitz & Glamour, Rebellious and Paparazzi. My first Icing polishes. The glitter topcoats look like loads of fun!


From L - R:
Color Club Wild Orchid, Untamed Luxury and Ulta Cocktail Waitress. My camera clearly isn't colour accurate haha. Untamed Luxury is a gorgeous green NOT blue as pictured above. I couldn't be bothered to tweak the colour as it would have made the other 2 colours funny. Greens, purples and neons can be such a pain sometimes! x( The Ulta red is simply stunning!


Freshie also included some thoughtful extras. The little bottle is bubbles which I gave to my boyfriend's little niece as she loves them! My sis kidnapped the tube of M & Ms immediately after I opened the package and devoured them within 15mins haha. I didn't even get one!

Thank you Freshie for this fantastic swap package! I love the colours and I can't wait to try them all out =D

Thanks for looking!