Cosmetic Cupcake

Hellooooooo ladies!! It has been quite a while! I've been pretty sick over the last little while and I've taken on way too much (work, TAFE, salon) but anyhoo I'm posting again. It's finally Spring here in Aus which means it's time to break out the pretty dresses and pastels in preparation for the racing season. I've never been to the races myself but it's on the to do list! Today I have quick swatches of 2 shades from the Sally Hansen Complete Manicure Spring Racing 2014 collection for you - Pink a Card and Barracuda. I really enjoyed last years Spring Racing collection so how did this years shades match up?


What they say:

"Seven Spring Racing inspired shades of premier polish. As the ultimate colour authority, Sally Hansen has always set the trends when it comes to nail shades. This season is no different – the latest Sally Hansen shades are perfect for as a spring racing fashion accessory and are designed to complement any outfit. From pretty pastels to chic neutrals these new shades of Complete Salon Manicure are sure to have you race-day-ready this spring."


Pink a Card is a pastel baby pink creme. Super soft and the perfect baby pink shade that will compliment any outfit. 3 coats is pictured below.




Barracuda is a pale baby blue creme. It was part of last years Spring Racing collection too and I'm glad it was re-released so I could try it out. 3 coats is pictured below.




Overall: Pink a Card and Barracuda are spot on for Spring! I love the Complete Manicure polishes as I love the brushes and there's something about the shape of the bottles that's really appealing. The formula on these were a little tricky to work with as they were on the streaky side and definitely require care when applying but they're worth it. I recommend doing thin coats to avoid streaking and allowing plenty of time to dry in between coats. Barracuda in particular was quite watery unfortunately but the end result is worth it. The shades dried quickly to a high gloss shine. Putting the shades side by side it's as though I'm doing a baby gender reveal or something ha!

Details: The Sally Hansen Spring Racing collection is available now for $9.95 (normal RRP is $14.95!)
from Priceline, Chemist Warehouse, Target, Coles and select pharmacies nationally.


Thanks so much for looking and for keeping up with my totally erratic posting!

The products featured in this post were provided to me for consideration but this in no way influenced my review in any way. As always, my reviews are my 100% honest opinion. My Disclosure Policy can be viewed here.

These pretty Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Spring Racing polishes are more shades I didn't get a chance to share before I left for HK so better late than never right haha. These are limited edition so you might still be able to find them hopefully! The collection consists of 7 gorgeous Spring shades and I have swatches of two of the polishes from the collection - Peach of Cake and Tickle Me Pink.


What they say:

"Seven Spring Racing inspired shades of premier polish. As the ultimate colour authority, Sally Hansen has always set the trends when it comes to nail shades. This season is no different – the latest Sally Hansen shades are perfect for spring and are designed to make a statement. From pretty pastels to chic neutrals these new limited edition shades of Complete Salon Manicure are sure to have you race-day-ready this Spring."

Peach of Cake is a deep pastel peach creme. Any polish with "cake" in its name should be a winner lol. Sadly Peach of Cake isn't a total winner as it's a bit patchy so I recommend thin coats with a few minutes between each coat. 2 coats is pictured.



Tickle Me Pink is a super pigmented magenta creme. Bright and girlie and a very cute name! 2 coats is pictured because I applied it wonky however 1 even coat would definitely suffice!!



Overall: I have been loving the Complete Salon Manicure range this year and I really enjoyed these pretty Spring shades! They dry quickly to the high gloss shine that I love and they wear pretty well. I wish Peach of Cake had been a little less streaky but it's worth being patient with. Tickle Me Pink is that perfect shade for when you're going out but you have naked nails with only 5 minutes before you have to race out the door. One easy coat and you're done! Clearly I have too much time on my hands because yes I have specific shades in my stash that are dedicated to this category Xp

Details: The Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Spring Racing collection is available from Priceline and Priceline Pharmacy for $9.95 for a limited time only. Take a peek and other Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure shades I've swatched here!

The product featured in this post was provided to me for consideration but this in no way influenced my review in any way. As always, my reviews are my 100% honest opinion. My Disclosure Policy can be viewed here.

Some quick nail art for you today! I saw this gorgeous half moon mani by Sam from A Curiousity last week on Instagram and decided to give it a go myself on the weekend. It's such a sweet combo!


I used 2 coats of Hello Darling Sugar & Spice and I freehanded the half moons using a striper brush and Sally Hansen Complete Manicure Golden Rule. It's definitely not the neatest half moons but hey glitter hides a thousand sins!!


What do you think? Thanks for looking as always!! =)

Happy weekend guys!! Soooo I thought I'd do a haul post since I haven't done one in a while. I haven't been hauling much lately so I have to group them all together haha! Of course it's mainly polish xp

More after the jump!

Hellooooooooo ladies!! I hope you're all having a good start to the week. I'm getting my blogging mojo back so expect more regular posting from me! I've been making regular trips to Chemist Warehouse lately to buy supplies because I stupidly burnt myself and of course I can't go past the (often random!) beauty bargains that they have there. One of the bargains I came across was the gorgeous Sally Hansen Complete Manicure in Parrot which was only $5!!! It's from the Sally Hansen for Tracey Reese Spring collection from last year which I don't think has ever actually been released here in Aus.


Parrot is a beautiful grass green creme. Isn't it gorgeous and Spring-ish!! It applied really well and is pretty pigmented and dries to a glossy finish. I think it'd make for a nice green apple manicure! 3 coats is pictured and I had to add a coat of Seche Vite to smooth over a dent lol.

Close up:



Details: I bought it for $5 from Chemist Warehouse but it was the last bottle at the store I went to and I haven't seen them at any other Chemist Warehouse stores unfortunately! Best to do a hunt ;) They had a few other shades from the collection but Parrot looked the most interesting.

My blue and green collection is growing nicely now!! What are some of your favourite green polishes? Thanks for looking as always! =)

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Mermaid's Tale is a polish I've been wanting for a while as it's a dupe for my beloved Deborah Lippmann Across the Universe (I used it in my Feeling the Blues mani here) as I like to collect dupes for my favourite polishes for some reason lol. I picked it up when Priceline had their 40% off sale a few weeks back even though I tried REALLY REALLY hard not to buy anything!


Mermaid's Tale is a gorgeous dark blue jelly filled with blue and green hex glitters and smaller blue microglitters. Here I've layered 2 coats over 1 coat of Misa High Waist Hue (my "underwear polish") and 1 coat of my HG navy creme LAKA 81. I don't have many swatches for you unfortunately because 95% of my photos turned out absolutely crap hence only 2 lol. You can see I had a bit of tipwear because I didn't seal my tips and I used Seche Vite which didn't agree, I also took these pics on Day 2.



Bonus bottle pic!


Details: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure polishes are available from Priceline, Target, Kmart, Big W, Price Attack, David Jones and pharmacies for $14.95.

Thanks for looking as always!

I am a glitter polish fiend so I was extremely excited to be given the opportunity to try some of the polishes in the new Sally Hansen Gem Crush nail color collection recently! A collection of 8 pretty glitter polishes? OH YES! I have swatches for you today of Be-Jeweled and Showgirl Chic.


What they say:

"Always at the forefront of nail innovation, Sally Hansen presents the latest in statement-making manicures - the new Gem Crush Nail Color; high impact bling and full coverage glitter polish. Unlike other glitter formulas, Gem Crush Nail Color delivers high-intensity sparkle for a brilliant, multi-dimensional manicure that simply glimmers. Available in eight daring shades, each color brings a major dose of glitz and glamour to your nails."


Be-Jeweled is contains small light purple glitter with larger round pink glitter in a clear base. 3 coats is pictured.


Close up:



Showgirl Chic contains small bright silver glitter with larger medium blue glitter pieces in a clear base. This is super sparkly and looks fantastic! 3 coats if pictured.


Close up:



Overall: Being glitters they are SUPER annoying to remove but well worth the effort! They are super fun and sparkly and there's a great selection of shades in the range - there are bright reds to blues and purple. The formula could be a tiny bit thicker so you don't need as many coats but they dry quickly so it's not too much of an issue. They applied smoothly overall - no clumping or anything and were opaque in 3 coats. The finish is very gritty so I'd suggest a thick topcoat for a smooth finish.

Details: The Sally Hansen Gem Crush nail color collection is available now in 8 shades from Target, Kmart, Priceline, Priceline Pharmacy and selected pharmacies nationally for $9.95. Selected shades are available from Coles and Woolworths.


Will you try these out? Thanks for looking!

The products featured in this post were provided to me for consideration but this in no way influenced my review in any way. As always, my reviews are my 100% honest opinion. My Disclosure Policy can be viewed here.

Hi ladies! Last month I received some lovely packages from 2 of my awesome blogger friends and it's about time I shared them with you! The first package was a wonderful (and very naughty!) surprise birthday package from my gorgeous British pal Aysh!! ♥


Not only did Aysh include a very sweet card and 2 packs of delicious Hotel Chocolat choccies (polished off very quickly by my family!) but yes you see right - she gifted me the amazing MAX Factor Fantasy Fire and also Meteorite!!!! *faints*


The 2nd package was from lovely Monika who sent me an awesome New Year/Chinese New Year package from sunny Singapore!


Nail polish!!!! Some fabulous polishes from Sasatinnie, Canmake, Etude House, Flormar, Disney Villians and my first Paul & Joe! Eeeeek! The Paul & Joe polish is from their Meow! collection and is sooooooo pretty. I had to use it the night I received Moni's package! I still haven't posted swatches though doh. Also a pretty purple Za lipstick and a Konad plate. It was all wrapped so nicely too =)


Moni also included some great skincare for me! The masks are too cute to use lol.


Thank you both SO MUCH for your wonderful packages =) It really brightened my month!

This year Sally Hansen released some ADORABLE limited edition designs in their Salon Effects real nail polish strips range for Easter. I very excitedly tweeted about them when I came across them in Chemist Warehouse last month so you imagine my excitement when I was kindly sent some to try out! Squealing may have ensued haha. There are 5 designs available - All-A-Flutter, Pink-A-Dot, Mad For Plaid, Not A Peep and Checker Out.


What they say:

"Salon Hansen's revolutionary nail design product SALON EFFECTS introduces new designs to celebrate Easter. These 5 Easter themed looks for your nails, are easy to achieve at home and offer incredible, ten day staying power.

Peel and apply strips of real, long-lasting nail polish in just minutes at any time, any place to dress up your nails with no mess and no hassle. Complete your cute and chirpy look with fun designs that would take hours in the salon to create but are possible in minutes at home. Each strip is a quick and easy fashion statement for your finger tips."

Another day, another crackle polish for you all! This time it's Sally Hansen who have released their Crackle Overcoat collection in 8 colourful shades. Today I have two of the shades for you - Fractured Foil and Antiqued Gold.


What they say:

"Crackle Overcoats for endless color effects. Always at the forefront of innovative head to toe beauty, Sally Hansen presents the latest in statement-making nails - the new Crackle Overcoat. Available in eight show-stopping shades, each color offers a custom crackle design for instantly intricate nails, no salon visit necessary.

"With Crackle Overcoat the color combo possibilities are endless!" says Sally Hansen manicurist Alison Bowhill-Hayes. "For daytime I love an understated crackle - think nude nails topped with Antiqued Gold - and at night I take it up a notch topping black polish with Distressed Denim."


Onto the swatches! Here I've swatched them over a black and a white creme with no topcoat. I should have taken some pics with topcoat also as it just makes the crackle sparkle like crazy! On another note, the alternating black and white looks FANTASTIC as a mani. I almost didn't want to cover it up with crackle lol.

Fractured Foil is a sparkly silver foil-ish crackle. It looks a lot like OPI Shatter in Silver but at a more wallet friendly price. I think it looks great over the black and over the white creme gives a nice subtle effect.

I've been really into doing rose manicures lately (see here and here for examples!) so here's another one to add into the mix =) I hope you don't get bored of seeing my rose manis! My mani today is pink, gold and white themed and uses one of my favourite glitters - Milani Jewel FX Gold.


Here's what I used:


Pinky: I used 2 coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme wear in White On as base colour. I then konaded rose design from fauxnad plate B01 using China Glaze Passion and added a coat of Essence glitter topcoat.

Ring: I used 1 coat of OPI Glitzerland then added 2 coats of Milani Jewel FX in Gold.

Middle: I used 2 coats of China Glaze Something Sweet as base colour. I then konaded full rose design from Konad plate m56 using Konad Special nail polish in white.

Index: I used 2 coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme wear in White On as base colour. I then konaded double rose design from Konad plate m76 using China Glaze Admire and added a pink half pearl to the centre of the roses and added a coat of Essence glitter topcoat.

Thumb: I used 2 coats of China Glaze Something Sweet as base colour. I then konaded rose with chain design from Konad plate m65 using China Glaze Passion. I topped if off with a coat of Essence colour & go in Space Queen.



What have you been inspired by lately? I hope you're all having a lovely weekend! Thanks for looking as always =)