Celestial Cosmetics Whimsical Collection

Celestial Cosmetics are launching their second collection, the Whimsical Collection, tomorrow (July 1), and I have 5 of them to show you!

 Pink Posy- The best way to describe this is Barbie pink holo. Seriously. This is Barbie's dream polish! Its become my new favourite pink! The base colour is just fantastic, and the fact that it's got that holo in it really makes it breathtaking! And the holo is quite strong too!

 Poppy's Flower- This looks a bit different in the bottle than it does on the nail, but in this case, that is a GOOD thing. I can easily see the Poppy Flower inspiration in this. The base is a bright red jelly, and in theat is 2 sizes of matte black glitter, and some slightly iridescent red glitters.

Silk Sapphire- This one is a glitter topper, but, as you can see, you can easily wear it alone too! It has a blue shimmery base, blue glitter, with some larger silver glitters. I was surprised by the density of this one, it's going to awesome to do gradients with!

 Liquid Lawn- LOVE this one! Deep green jelly base, with small green hexes, green circles and large green dots. The larger dots were surprisingly easy to get out, I didn't fish them out at all!

*please ignore the colour of my hand. I don't know what happened :/* This polish is a special one. It needs a name. If you go to Celestial's facebook page (linked above), you'll find a picture of it. Leave a name suggestion over there and the winning name will get a prize! Really unique polish too. A peachy, almost pumpkin-y orange base, with red micro glitter and red and white large hexes.

The formula on all of these is really nice- I used 2 coats for the Nameless one, Pink Posy, Silk Sapphire and Poppy's Flower. Liquid Lawn needed three coats. They were all smooth with one coat of Seche Vite.

What do you think of this collection?

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

  *the products mentioned in this post were sent to me for my honest review. This in no way affects my opinion of them*

Born Pretty Store Mixed Studs Review!

I love studs. Today I have an awesome little wheel of studs from Born Pretty Store to show you, and if you are a stud fan, you're gonna need this one!

The wheel comes with 10 different types of studs, mostly gold, with some silver and one type is black. There are circles, squares, triangle, hearts, stars, diamonds, and rectangles. Amazing amount of variety.

Here's a few looks I've worn recently using them:

 China Glazes neons with random stud usage

 CG I'm With The Lifeguard and Femme Fatale Cosmetics Plantar Anomalies with silver squares

China Glaze Something Sweet and For Audrey, Peita's Polish Razza-matazz ad a heart stud.

Everything about these studs is great. They're easy to use, and top coat doesn't affect them. I stick them on with top coats and they last very well with just that. Some of the larger ones may not still on your nail properly, but they are flat, and your nails aren't so that should be expected. They are crazy versatile too. 

Don't forget to check out what amazing nail art equipment Born Pretty has, and feel free to use my 10% off code, AFL91:

Until Next Time!

<3 Bec

  *the products mentioned in this post were sent to me for my honest review. This in no way affects my opinion of them*

Nailene Acrylic Sculpture Kit

My timing in testing kit was perfect. Tragedy struck on Saturday night and I broke one of my nails off. It was very painful and I refused to chop them all down, so I decided it was time to use this Nailene Acrylic Sculpture Kit and fix them up. Due to how painful the break was, and not wanting to go through that pain again, I put an acrylic overlay on all my nails.

 The kit contains 40 tips in natural and white, a 2-sided file/buffer, nail glue, acrylic liquid, acrylic power and a brush to apply it. I used everything here, as well as a primer and nail dehydrator prior to putting these acrylics on. Here's how my nails looked afterwards- you can clearly see which nail it was that broke haha!

I did also use a cover pink powder on my nail beds, purely because I wanted too. So I put the cover pink on the nail beds, then applied the Nailene powder to the free edge and then all over the nail to 'cap' it. The Nailene powder is clear, which means it is very versatile for acrylics.

I painted over my nails with A Engand Perceval, and I think that I did a pretty good job on these acrylics, as most people I spoke to about my nails today couldn't tell until I told them!

Now, here's what I did and didn't like about the kit:

What I Liked:

• VERY easy to use.
• The tips are really good quality. There's also a great range there in terms of size. Sadly, my nail beds are narrow, so I had to use a size 7 tip and file the edges in a little.
• I love love LOVE Nailene's nail glue. It's the only kind I buy. It dries very quickly and is super sturdy. 
• The liquid and powder are easy to use as well, so long as you read the instructions. It sets pretty quickly and is easy to move into place on the nail. 

What I Didn't Like:

• The brush. It did an okay job, but it's too short for my liking, and the bristles kept falling out while I was using it. 
• The buffer/file isn't the best quality. I preferred to use my actual nail files and buffers.

I think this is a really good kit for at-home acrylics, It's readily available and retails for $24.99.

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

  *the products mentioned in this post were sent to me for my honest review. This in no way affects my opinion of them* 

Aussie Nails Monday- Winter!

I love winter, so I made my mani today to be how I wish Australian Winters were. It does get cold, but it only snows in a few places, and I don't live near there.

I started with 3 coats of BYS Kung Fu Blue, then painted China Glaze For Audrey, BYS KFB and NYC Colors Blue Bird onto a sponge and sponged it onto my nails. Then, 1 coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust, 1 coat of Revlon Stunning, and some snowflakes painted on with white acrylic paint.

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

Makeup Sundays- BYS Blusher in CandyFloss

I'm relatively new to using blushes and bronzers, and I bought this blush recently and fell in love. And at only $4, it is ABSOLUTELY worth the money!

BYS Blusher in Candyfloss. It's a dusty-ish, slightly coral-y pink with shimmer. Very versatile colour. It is also really, really pigmented. The swatch on my arm is a very light one. If you are fairer, like myself, you'll need to use a very light touch when applying this one. This wears quite well too, if you blend it well it will last almost all day before it fades. And it is SO soft to touch. Like silk in texture. It's no powdery either, so it's easier to blend.

Now, I don't have a picture of myself wearing it, but I do have one where I used it on a classmate last week in class...

I used it very lightly on the lovely Jacinta, and look at how much you can see it still! Such an amazing blush for a ridiculously cheap price!

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

Love Thy Polish- Gypsy

Love Thy Polish  is the baby of Emma from Nails in the Desert. I met her earlier this year at the Aussie Nails SA meetup, and she surprised us all with a sneak peek from her latest collection, Gypsy, from the Dreams collection. The Dreams collection was a collaboration between Emma and Tammy from Lacquer and Leather. The collection is Stevie Nicks themed, and each polish is inspired by her somehow. This shade, Gypsy, is described on the LTP website like this: "these colours were inspired by the gorgeous, vibrant colours in the Gypsy video clip."

Oh it is gorgeous! I'm not a huge fan of white based glitters, and this one has jumped into my #1 spot for that category! I have it here at 3 coats on its own with top coat:

White crelly base with  very fine holo glitter, and teal squares and dots with magenta dots. The glitter is easy to get out, the polish is easy to apply, and it doesn't eat top coat. Win, win, win. 

The colours of the glitters really looked 'familiar', so I dug out some polishes that are pretty close to the colours of the glitter and added some 'dream' themed artwork...

I used OPI La Pazitively Hot Matte and China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise, 3 coats of each. And then I painted the dream catchers on with white acrylic paint. Such a fun combo!

Love Thy Polish can be purchased via her website, Femme Fatale Cosmetics (both Australian shipping only) and at Mei Mei's Signatures (international shipping). Go check them out!

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

Nailene Calcium Gel Kit

Of the three products Nailene sent me, the Calcium Gel Kit was the one I was most excited about. However, it is also the one I was most disappointed with.

The kit comes with a 5gram bottle of Gel Overlay, a 7mL bottle of Gel Activator, a dropper, some false tips and a 2 sided buffer. How you apply it is very different for a 'gel' kit, as you need no UV or LED light. I found it very weird after having used proper gel. It is a very easy process though. Two layers of the Gel Overlay, and then 1-2 drops of the Gel Activator on top and let it dry for 2-5 mins. The instructions do say you can go back over and do another layer or two to strengthen.

Here's how my nails look with the Gel kit on the top hand and nothing on the bottom:

You can't see a huge difference (other than the staining :/), just that my nails are shiny. This photo I have on just 2 coats of the Overlay on.




So far so good right? Weeeeell... I've tried this product 3 times in 3 different ways on myself, and once on someone else and every time the same thing has happened. The longest I've been able to keep these on so far was about a day and a half. It makes my nails ACHE. My nails become incredibly sore when I have the Gel Kit on. I don't know why, how, or what would cause this. Its very strange. For the first few hours it's fine, but then it starts. It feels like pressure is being put on my smile line (where the free edge meets the nail bed) and I can't touch my nails without pain. I tried to ignore it when I left it on for the longest, but the pain got a bit too much and I had to remove them. Also, I looked at my nails while wearing the Overlay, and my c-curve (the curve of the nail) was flattening out! This is strange, because my nails are quite curved.

So, I'll give you my likes and dislikes, because it's not ALL bad!

What I liked:

• Easy application
• Quick dry time
• Gel-like nails without needing a lamp! 
• Easy removal- comes off with the good old foil method! 
• Resonably priced. This kits is $22.99
• It's a creative idea! 

What I didn't like:

• Everything in the last paragraph.
• The 'Gel Overlay' looks, feels, smells and applies like nail glue. 
• Using the dropper can be a bit messy. I point my fingers downwards over a paper towel and drop onto the cuticle end of my nail, letting it run down.

I have incredibly mixed feelings about this product. I like it, I do, but because I am yet to have a successful experience with it on my own nails or someone elses, I can't say I'll be using it again.

Until Next Time!

<3 Bec

  *the products mentioned in this post were sent to me for my honest review. This in no way affects my opinion of them*

Quickie NOTD!

I am super tired and lost track of time, so tonight I'm quickly showing you a fun mani I wore this time last week!

My base is 3 coats of Deborah Lippmann Almost Paradise. Love the colour, but the formula could be better. Very streaky. And on top of that, using a q-tip, I dabbed on some Gloss n' Sparkle Pixel Perfect.

I got heaps of compliments on this mani, and it was a lot of fun to wear!

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

Aussie Nails Monday- Music!

One of my favourite things about Aussie Nails Monday is that we can tailor the themes to suit who we are, and this weeks theme, Music, is a perfect example of that! Music is a fiddly theme, so I went with a band I've listened to since I was a teenager...

Misfits! I decided to directly copy their famous logo, and it was a lot trickier than it looked!

I used 2 coats of Ulta3's Black Satin for the base, then top coated it and painted on the detailing with white acrylic paint. I had to re-do the 'skull' a few times, it didn't want to work for me! Haha!

Let me know what some of your fave bands are!

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

Makeup Sundays- Giorgio Armani Lip Maestro #400

I love me a good red lip. It's classic! And the red I'm showing you today is definitely a keeper!

 Giorgio Armani Lip Maestro in #400 (Sample size). A liquid lipstick with a doe foot applicator. It is insanely pigmented, this sample size is 1.5ml, but it may last me a while! The product gliiiiiiiiides on your lips, is super smooth on, and dries to a satin finish. Not matte, not glossy. I only lightly swiped the applicator over my lips and got perfect, opaque coverage. It's a blue toned red, and it IS a little darker than it is in the photos. But it's a long-lasting, non drying red that will suit everyone. What more to love?!

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

Meet RY.com.au!

RY.com.au are an Australian based Makeup/Beauty/Skincare/Haircare online store. They have a huge range of stuff and they very kindly sent me some stuff to have a play with and tell you guys about! So, let's get started...

Starting with a product I can't gt much use out of- Juuce Extra Tone Ulitmate Blonde Shampoo. I used to be blonde, but now I've got black hair, quite the opposite! I gave it to my housemate who is blonde, and they did quite like this shampoo. Apparently it smells quite nice!

Caron Bump Eraiser. This is an AWESOME product idea. I use Caron's wax brand at my beauty school, and it's really good wax, so unsurprisingly this was quite good too! It's for putting on top of any bums/ingrown hairs that come up after waxing. It's quite a common problem, and this kind of product is a godsend! It did help reduce a bump I had so I will keep using this one!

ASAP Gentle Cleansing Gel. I have really oily skin, so I do have to be careful using facial cleansers.
Luckily, this one didn't make me extra oily, but it didn't help take away any oil afterwards. It did leave my skin feeling nice for a few hours though, so that's something. I'm sure it would work better on a different skin type!

EmerginC Vitality Mask. I loooooooooved this! I don't use face masks a lot, but I do want to use them more often. This guy made my skin feel amazing after using it. Just beware though, it made my face super pale because as it dries on your face, it does go sorta white. My boyfriend thought I was ill for a moment!

AlphaH Essential Hydration Cream and Balancing Cleanser. Unlike the face cleanser above, this one, I found, worked quite well on my skin. Not enough to be replaced by my HG cleanser, but it is very nice. Especially when you use the two together. The Essential Hydration Cream works really well with my regular cleanser, which causes my skin to dry out a bit. It's very smooth and smells nice.

Dermalogica Daytime Radiance Travel Pack. I love Dermologica products, and this is no exception. The pack comes with a MultiVitamin Power Firm (wrinkle cream), a Dynamic Skin Recovery SPF30 (SPF Daytime Moisturiser) and a Skin Perfect Primer SPF30 (face/foundation primer). I really love the moisturiser. It's very creamy and you only need a very small amount to cover your whole face!

And finally, OPI Nail Lacquers in Silver Shatter and Chocolate Moose.

Silver Shatter is originally from the Pirates collection, and is something I already own, so, I have saved my bottle from Ry.com.au for a mini giveaway soon and for the photo above I used my own jar! We all know how crackles work and how they look. Most people think the crackle boat is gone, but I don't mind them. Sometimes they look great.

Chocolate Moose is from the Canada Collection I believe, and the black label version is apparently HTF. This is a green label, but it is a great colour! A rich, creamy chocolate brown. Super opaque- barely needed a second coat and it looks delicious! Why can't we have flavoured polish?! Haha!

As for RY.com.au themselves, their customer service is very good, quick responses and friendly staff. Prices are air and competitive for the Australian market, and they shipped the parcel quickly and packaged it nicely! The polishes were very, very bubblewrapped- no chance of a break there! If any of these products interest you, go check them out, support local business!

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

  *the products mentioned in this post were sent to me for my honest review. This in no way affects my opinion of them*
 

Celestial Cosmetics Galactic Holo!

I have a mini whinge for you guys with a happy ending. Kind of. Today's my 23rd birthday, and it was a horrible day. I've been having toothaches for a week or so now, and today of all days I woke up and my face was so swollen I looked like a chipmunk! So I spent my whole day in an emergency dental hospital waiting to see a doctor, and when I did, they pulled my tooth out. SO all in all, a pretty horrid birthday. BUT, when I got home there was a package waiting for me from Nicki at Celestial Cosmetics! It included some of her new, not-yet-released collection that I'll be showing you soon (closer to the release date!), and a special gift from her first collection. I have two others that I need to show you, and I promise I will very soon!

I finally got to paint my nails when I got home- I was naked all day, eep! And I had to put this one on as soon as I could! Galactic Holo is a delicious dark blue holo that has satisfied my need for OPI's DS Glamour! And that's saying something!

How stunning is it?! This is 2 coats, without top coat. I cannot stop staring at my nails! I had absolutely no issues applying this, it's got no balding/dragging issues and it dried very quickly. Perfection in a jar!

I urge you all to go check out Celestial Cosmetics, it's definitely worth it!

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

Nailene 'So Natural' Everyday French

Recently, Nailene Australia sent me 3 of their products to review. I have been using Nailene products for years, so this was very exciting for me! I looooooooove their  nail glue, it's all I use on clients.

I'm showing you not only one of the products today, but I enlisted some 'help' in the form of my lovely friend Katerina! The reason I needed to have her come help, is simply because my nails are far too long for this product! So, it's not Nailenes fault at all!

The So Natural Everyday French kit is a press-on/glue-on (optional, depending on your wants/needs) french manicure nail set. In the kit, you get 24 differently sized nails, a small tube of nail glue, a mini buffer and a small plastic cuticle pusher. I was also given some sticky tabs to us with them. I'll be showing you pictures before and after, and then listing what I did and didn't like..

Before (bare nails- apologies for the blurry pic!)

After apply the nails with the Ultra Tabs:

What I liked:

• VERY easy to apply
• Good range of sizes
• The sticky tabs are AMAZING. No lie. They are gel like in texture, and thicker than the  tabs you usually get with press on nails. These tabs are easy to put on, and they really help the nail stick to the natural nail. Colour me impressed.
• They look very natural. Especially on Kat's hands, they don't make a HUGE difference, but they look natural, and classy in a way. Very elegant.
• Easy to remove. Just pull the nail off, and remove any leftover tab with polish remover. 
• Reusable!

What I don't like:

• Too sort for me. Not the nail's fault, but it means I don't get to play with them! 
• They are pricey. This kit is $16.99AUD and the tabs are $8.99AUD
• if you have too wide or too narrow nail beds you may struggle with the sizes of these. 

So, I do like these and I do absolutely recommend them to any one considering them. They are a great idea for a night out, or a special occasion where you have little time and want nice nails. Nailene products can be found in stores like Priceline, Big W, Kmart, Target, chemists etc.

Until Next Time!

<3 Bec

  *the products mentioned in this post were sent to me for my honest review. This in no way affects my opinion of them*

Aussie Nails Monday- Pink

I'm not gonna lie, I was dreading this weeks theme. I struggle with the colour pink. So I thought, "f*ck it, all or nothing!", and I actually quite like what I came up with, so much so that I did it yesterday and am still wearing it!

Heres a quick rundown on what each finger contains:

Index Finger: BYS Pink in a Blink (3 coats) with a pink rhinestone gradient.

Middle Finger: Gradient with China Glaze Something Sweet and Ulta3 Hot Spring, with a thin coat of my spectraflair franken on top.

Ring Finger: Peita's Polish Pocket Full Of Posies (3 coats) 

Pinky Finger: Base of Ulta3 Lily White, Ulta3 Fruit Tingle on top, and stamped with a Bundle Monster plate using Born Pretty's White Stamping polish.

This may actually be my favourite skittle mani that I have done. I wanted to hate it SO bad, but this is just how it goes I guess! I'd love to hear what you all think! 

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

Australis Totes Smokin Eyeshadow Palette

I hereby dub Sunday's "Make Up Day" here at LacquerDreams. So, every Sunday I will (try!) do a make up post for you.

Today, I have a palette from an Australian brand, Australis, that has been one of the BEST makeup purchases I've ever made! And that's a pretty big call! I picked this baby up for an absolute steal during a Target sale, I paid $4.83 for it. Bargain!

The 'Totes Smokin' palette comes with 8 colours, all of them very, very versatile colours. Obviously, the intention of the palette is to create smoky eyes, and you can totally do that, but you can also use the colours for plenty of other looks- subtle neutral, work/office appropriate, anything!

 The palette itself is black plastic, with a large mirror on the inside of the lid. It's not small either, almost as big as my hand! The outside of the palette is glossy black (and clearly picks up ALL the fingerprints!) with the brand name in metallic pink on the front. It comes with a double ended sponge applicator, but I always immediately throw those out and use a brush.

 with flash

without flash- this is almost 100% colour accurate

The shadows are fairly big, and they are quite pigmented, especially the darker colours. I was surprised at how much pigment they have! Apparently you can also use these wet, but I haven't tried that, yet!

 top row

bottom row

I really love these eyeshadows. They all compliment each other very nicely. They blend and apply very easily, and aren't powdery, nor do I have any fallout problems. My one gripe? No mattes! I have 'hooded' eyelids, so matte colours work better in my crease. The second colour on the top row is the closest to a matte there, and I do like using it in my crease.I also really like using the darkest brown through my eyebrows, the shimmer doesn't show much so it's wearable!

As usual, here's a few looks done using the palette, for reference, I've named the shadows 1-8. 1 is the first one on the top, 8 is last on the bottom etc.:

 Shadow 1 all over the lid, 2 in the crease, and 6 on the outer corner.

 Shadow 5 all over the lid, 1 on the inner corner and 7 on the outer corner

 Shadow 3 on the inner corner, 8 lightly all over the lid, and then heavier on the outer corner. Shadow 4 smudged on the upper and lower lash lines.

Overall, I do think this is a really great palette that you all should check out! 

Until Next Time, 

<3 Bec