Colour Theory Nails: Spring Collection*

As Sydney is finally starting to get some cooler weather, I'm holding on to thoughts of warmer days with this Spring Collection of nail colours from Colour Theory's SS range "Gelato Dreams"

These are bright, pastel nail colours, that will set you back $4 at any Guardian or AMCAL pharmacy. 

These are made in Australia, are formaldehyde free, are really fast-drying and fairly long lasting.  

L-R: Cool Capri, I Love Bubbelgum, Pistachio Party

These particular colours are a little on the thinner side consistency-wise (especially compared to some other Colour Theory colours I own), but build up to be nice and opaque with a few thin layers. 

I like the packaging of the nailpolish bottles, it reminds me a lot of the Australis nail packaging. The brush bristles are quite short and thin, so it is easier to paint on multiple thin layers, rather than one thick layer. 

The wear time is about three days before chips begin to show; I'm quite rough with my hands as well, so I feel this is pretty good wear time. 

The biggest win for this polish is definitely the price; at only $4 a bottle, you can afford to experiment with colours; and the best thing is, the formula doesn't feel like a "cheap" nailpolish. 

Disclaimer: These polishes were sent to me for editorial consideration by the lovely people at "Colour Theory". They have in no way influenced this review and all opinions are my own. See my disclaimer for further details. 

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Shopping my stash: Ciate Nailpolish in Ivory Queen

Money's been a bit tight around here lately, which means I've been making a conscious effort to "shop my stash". I was looking for a nude polish to wear for work - although I love bright polish, sometimes I think it's just a bit more/ profesh to wear nude nails to court. 

I found this Ciate mini in "Ivory Queen" in my collection, and after trying it out, I've fallen in love. 

"Ivory Queen" is part of Ciate's "Complexion Collection", and is designed to suit all skin-tines. This particular colour is a warm pink and has the slighest shimmer - almost invisible, but adds a really nice sheen. 

This polish is a little bit streaky, and works best when applied with multiple, thin coats. It lasts fairly well, about a week (with top coat) before chipping. 

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My Essie Nailpolish Collection, Part 2

If you missed Part 1 of my Essie nailpolish collection, click here to catch up. 

This post will take you through the brighter colours in my collection. 

Naughty Nautical: A blue-green colour, stunning for spring/summer. This colour has a bit of subtle shimmer to it (only really obvious if the light hits your nails in the right way), making it quite unique. Is opaque in two coats, and I get compliments every time I wear it.

Aruba Blue: A deep, royal blue, perfect to wear all year-round. This is one of my most favourite in my entire nailpolish collection. The formula is quite thick, and is opaque in two coats.

Peach Daiquiri: This colour is a bit tricky to describe, and I don't think I've come across anything like it. It's a dark coral, pinkish, red, it's bold, it's bright. Although the polish is not a thin consistency, I find this one applies best if you put on three thin coats rather than two thicker coats. Love this even more now that the weather is warming up, and have had compliments every time I've worn it to work. 

In Stitches: This is a muted brown-y pink, almost terracotta colour. This applies relatively easy, but I feel like it takes longer to dry than my other colours, even when I have a quick dry topcoat on top. 

Dress to Kilt: This gorgeous red was part of Essie's fall collection last year. Although this colour is stunning in the Winter months, I think it works all year round. This is a true berry red, only takes two coats to get to opacity. 

Scarlett O'Hara: One of my all-time favourites. This red is deeper than dress to kilt, and almost metallic with subtle shimmer throughout. I always get compliments when I wear this colour, and I actually catch myself staring at my fingernails - it shines like wearing rubies. I feel like I can normally get about 5-6 days of wear with this (and a top coat) before it chips. I love wearing this in Winter, and I love wearing it for Christmas. 

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My Essie Nailpolish Collection Part 1

 

Ever since Essie was introduced at Priceline, my collection has slowly grown. 

I really like Essie nailpolishes; they last well on my nails, there is a beautiful colour range, and when on sale, they're pretty reasonably priced.

I own a mix of pastels/muted colours and brights - in this post, I'll talk you through those colours.

Ballet slippers:  this is apparently one of Essie's most famous shades, and was the first Essie polish I ever bought. I was so disappointed with this colour and it really put me off Essie for the longest time. The formula is thin and streaky, and it takes sooo many coats to build up any colour. I also think the colour is too pale for my skintone. 

Tea and Crumpets: this is a much nicer 'nude' colour, and is a bit of a frosted, golden-toned beige. I really like this colour for work. It's pretty sheer, and takes about 2-3 layers to become opaque. 

Chinchilly: I love this grey-slate colour. I think it's super flattering on almost every skintone and I get compliments every time I wear it. The formula isn't too runny, and two coats is all you need for the most perfect opaque-ness. This is also probably the perfect office colour. 

 Lilacism: Honestly, I am not really a fan of pastels. I think this is colour toes the line nicely between being pale and muted, but also being bright enough that it doesn't quite cross over to "baby purple". This is a thin formula, and takes about 3 thin coats to reach a nice colour on the nails.

Mint Candy Apple: This is another colour that always gets me compliments. J said it looks like the colour of a 60s bathroom. I say it's the perfect 'mint' colour. I love this shade. This colour only takes 2 thin coats to reach the desired opacity and colour on my nails, without being streaky.

 

(L-R: Ballet Slippers, Tea and Crumpets, Chinchilly, Lilacism, Mint Candy Apple)

What's your favourite Essie shade?

 

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Nailpolish Storage

Nailpolish storage is one of those things that's taken me a while to work out. I've stored them in desk drawers, only to never use them because I never look at them. I've stored them out in the open but they get cluttered. 

The different sized bottles can also make storing nailpolish difficult. I've worked out that for me personally, storing by colour rather than by brand works best. When choosing what nailpolish to wear, I tend to pick a general colour, then sort through my collection to find the shade I want to wear that week. 

These acrylic shoe drawers from Howard's Storage World, and acrylic nail stand I got off Catch of the Day store my collection perfectly. 

All my miniature polishes fit in a glass vase. 

I love that I can see all the different colours, yet they're still "away" meaning they won't get too dusty and dirty. 

The plastic is quite thick and strong, so I don't have to worry about the weight from all the polish jars snapping the drawers. 

I swap out my recently purchased and favourite seasonal colours into the acrylic nail stand, to remind myself to use them. Top coats, base coats and nail strengtheners also live in the acrylic stand, to ensure easy access. 

How do you store your nailpolish?

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Sunday Pamper

 

 I love spending my Sunday night preparing for the week ahead; I try to prepare myself for a busy week by spending Sunday really relaxing before I go to bed, and pampering myself. 

This past week, after a really hot shower (and lots of moisturiser after) I cosied up on the lounge with the latest Elle magazine, and a face mask. 

I am currently using the Rejuvenating Masque from Milk&Co. This mask uses fruit extracts, vitamin E and green tea extract to exfoliate and smooth the skin. It warms up on the skin after application, which is a little bit uncomfortable, but totally normal. I found this mask really purifying - which means I did have a couple of pimples surface the day after using it.

 

I also take the opportunity on Sunday to give my hands and feet some love - I always do a fresh manicure for the week ahead. This involves lots of hand cream. This week I coloured my nails in 'Iced Queen' from Maybelline Colour Show - it's a fresh purple.

I also give my feet a good scrub with the Scholl Dry Skin Recovery Cream - this exfoliates and smooths your feet at the same time; done regularly it leaves your feet smooth and beautiful! 

How do you pamper yourself during the week?

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Haul: Priceline 40% off Sale

Even when I feel like I'm restraining myself, I somehow manage to always walk out of Priceline's 40% off sales having spent more than I intended.

There were many more things I convinced myself to not buy than what I did buy, so I am happy about that. Sometimes Priceline's catalogue sales are actually better than 40% off (e.g. when their Maybelline mascaras are $10) so I tried to not get swept away in the hype.

I picked up two colours from Essie's Autumn collection; Dress to Kill (on the left) and the Perfect Cover Up (on the right). TPCU is a really beautiful deep, dark green that almost looks black in low lighting. I was also especially drawn to 'Rule of Plum' from the Sally Hansen Autumn collection. 

Revlon released some new lipsticks; the 'HD Lipstick', so of course I had to get a few shades. I think it's a bit cute that every shade in the collection is named after a flower. 

I was thrilled that my local Priceline still had plenty of the 'Miss Manga' Loreal mascara - I am really keen to test the 'Mega Volume' claims.

Annnnd some practical purchases - I always take these sales as an opportunity to stock up on my favourite foundation (because I refuse to pay RRP and it's always amazing to have backups on hand). 

I have actually been loving the Loreal Volume Million Lashes mascara the past few months, but it was nowhere to be found in-store. So I picked up the trusty old Maybelline Falsies. 

Can you tell I like volumising mascaras? 

What did you pick up in the sales? Share your haul with me in the comments below! 

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The Ultimate, Glittery Party Nails!

I was pleasantly surprised with how pretty this nail polish combo turned out - I wore this for NYE (which feels like ages ago now), and the whole week following. I received so many compliments on this nail polish, it made me sad when it started to chip off (one of the disadvantages of working in retail)

OPI's 'Ogre-the-top Blue' is the base colour, (two coats) with one coat of Revlon's 441 in Radiant painted over the top. 

Sealed with a top coat to prevent chipping and to smooth out the nails - this also ensures there's no glitter chunks sticking up to get snagged. 

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Her Fashion Box: November

 

I received the November HFB well into December,  so apologies for this being seemingly late. I didn't receive the HFB Magazine in my box, so I have no idea what these products are valued at.

 

Jewellery items this month...I love the simplicity of both of these pieces. The bangle is really pretty on and looks like two straight gold bracelets.. I am in two minds about the necklace - there's no clasp so the bar just feeds through the ring and then hangs. It's pretty, but I don't like that the length can easily change / the necklace can come undone. I think this would have been so much nicer with the bar as a pendant and a clasp to actually keep the necklace on.

 

HFB have released their own version of the "tangle teezer". I hate this style of hairbrush as it absolutely destroys my fine hair, so this one will be a miss for me. If this type of brush works well for your hair, then you will probably love this. 

We also received two cookies from  Byron Bay Cookies - I love these cookies so was pretty pleased to see them in my box. 

Onto the beauty products, and we received a lipstick from Coral Colours. I received a cool-toned red. I'm not really a fan of the scent of this product, but the staying power is better than I expected it to be.

 

In other beauty products... more press-on nails. These are the type you get as a kid in "play makeup sets", where you peel off the backing sheet and stick it directly on to your nail. Apparently you just need to peel the nail off to remove, so I hardly see them lasting long. The colour is really pretty though and I can see these being used if you were in a rush and didnt have time to apply nailpolish. These come in a durable plastic container as well, which is nice. 

Lastly, I also received a bee venom and active manuka honey eye cream from Bee-Bio. I'm not allergic to bees, yet the thought of this being infused with bee venom kind of scares me. This product smells really nice though, and I'll definitely give it a try.

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Nails of the Week: Green-Blue and Gold Glitter

It has been far too long since my last nails post.
I love these colours together, they're so bright and festive and just scream "holidays" at me.
The green is OPI's 'Fly', and the gold glitter nail is an exclusive shade from Colour Theory, called 'Happy Birthday'. Only 100 of these were made, and I was super lucky to receive one at the launch to their new skincare range (side note: launched this week. Check out their website here for details).

Michelle from Lab Muffin warned me that 'Fly' is notorious for staining, but I've never experienced staining with this shade. I always wear a base coat, so not sure if that's something to do with it.


(NB: I was given the 'Happy Birthday' nail polish from the lovely team at Colour Theory. They've not asked me to write about this polish, or to mention their skincare line. Further details at my disclaimer here)



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Recently, in Pictures #57

How did it become October so quickly?



In less than 6 weeks I will have finished my final exams, and be finished with my Undergrad degrees. I've been precariously balancing studying for my undergrad with my postgrad diploma, as well as working long hours at two jobs. It will all be worth it when I have those three, very expensive, bits of paper though. Or so I tell myself.
Unwinding with frivolous reading and beautiful candles has been a necessity.

J's brother and sister-in-law stayed with us last weekend. We finally got around to checking out Cornersmith in Marrickville. J had the poached eggs, I had the meatloaf. All produce is locally sourced, which is awesome. So many noms. 

Rommy, always sleeping on clean washing. We recently discovered he actually really likes hiding on top of the fridge, which is super naughty. The first time we caught him up there was hilarious - we were kind of in shock to see him up there, and he knew he was being naughty. As soon as we called out his name, he sheepishly jumped down and ran away to hide so he wouldn't get in trouble hahaha. 

Finally getting the "hang" part of handstanding. I am perfectly fine freebalancing in front of a wall now. Take away that wall though, and it's like my hips completely forget how to go over my head. 

 

The pole studio I attend has a show on next week at the Factory Theatre, called "Elements". I'm helping out on the night as a pole cleaner, so have been lucky enough to attend all the rehearsals. Oh my god, talk about inspiring. Watching all these incredible dancers has kicked my butt into gear, and I'm training lots and lots lately. Not for anything in particular, just to push my own strength. 

 

In beauty news, I was lucky enough to attend Colour Theory's launch of their new skincare line, Skin Theory. The launch was on the brand's first birthday, so there were lots of fun things, like a make-up bar, nail bar and brow bar. I am won over by all their pretty spring nail polish colours - and $4 each!! 

I also have so many new and exciting things to share on the blog in the upcoming months. New packages, new products, new looks...

The weather has been so warm and beautiful lately, I cannot even explain how happy the sun is making me (although I am apparently very deficient in Vit D according to my Dr so maybe that's why?) Spring is my favourite season, ever. And our mulberry tree started fruiting again - yum! 

And the doggies played in the NRL Grand Final last night against the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Ran into my little bro in the street so of course had to get a selfie with him, of us both wearing our jerseys.
I watched the game with my cousin at the Erko...which is in South Sydney land. Things got awkward being the only blue jersey in the pub... I felt very outnumbered haha.
We sadly lost, but I like the Rabbits so it's not all bad.



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