Pine Away

Green is easily my favourite colour to wear on my nails, and I've toyed with deep forest greens along with bright grassy greens over the years. My green polish collection is quite impressive if I do say so myself, but this beauty from Sinful Colors is easily the most perfect foiled green that screams luxe to me (and makes me pine for Christmas time!) I've never had a problem with the formula from Sinful Colors and the affordable price point is certainly welcome in the Australian beauty market - if I feel like snapping up a trend shade, I usually hit up a Sinful Colors stand and strike it lucky! I've even picked up a few from the recent Kylie Jenner release, but we're not here to discuss that today...

 

Introducing, Pine Away. 

The intense silver shimmer fills the bottle so nicely but because of the foil-esque formula this is a cinch to remove, unlike a traditional glitter that takes forever and a day to lift from your nail beds. I personally couldn't think of a more perfect shade of green for the festive season than this one, but with my love of green nails I'd wear this in winter too as a nice pop of luxe to offset my permanently grey and black wardrobe!

Do you have a favourite green polish I need in my collection?

What is your perfect festive nail shade?

Is everyone else excited that Christmas is coming closer, or is it just me?!

-Emma

 



Festive Five #5 - 5 low maintenance red lippies for Christmas Day

Okay, I know I said I wasn’t going to go down the festive red lip route, but I have to be honest and say that I’m tempted to. I don’t want anything high maintenance (there are prawns to eat, people!) so I’ve been ruminating on my 5 favourite reds to wear as a stain or a light wash on the day. Mumma Bovary buys me a new dress to wear on Christmas Day each year and she is continuing the tradition even though I’m married and in my own home now, so yesterday we spent the day together doing last minute Christmas shopping and having some lunch. I’ll be posting a snap of the dress we chose on Instagram no doubt (@emmabovary) but it’s got flashes of red throughout so I think a red lip would look pretty good with it.

1. essence Breaking Dawn Part 2 Lipgloss in Renesmee Red

This smells so fruity and delicious, and the glittery jelly look of it would look perfect dabbed in the middle of a bright red lipstick. I don’t think it would help with the lip longevity but the glitter is drawing me in…

2. essence Tribal Summer Longlasting Lipstick in Waka Waka*

I’ve not worn this red shade before so it might be a bit of gamble, but it does claim to be long-lasting and the colour is a bit closer to a true red than the others pictured here. It also looks like it would complement the Renesmee Red gloss really nicely…

3. Maybelline Color Sensational Lipstick in Neon Red

The quality of this line of lipsticks is so good and this bright cherry red would be a perfect festive touch to my new outfit. I think it’s a bit creamier than I would ideally like for a day of feasting but still…

4. MAC Viva Glam Cyndi (lustre)

My beloved Cyndi, easily one of my favourite lipsticks and one that I need to use more often lest it go off as I admire it in my lipstick drawer. I have a feeling this shade will win out on the day as the almost coral tint to it makes it the most flattering on my super pale skin, and it’s nice and easy to reapply throughout the day, too.

5. Nars Lipgloss in Babe

This mini gloss came in a set I bought at Mecca Maxima, and I adore the formula of these. I’m yet to try the newly repackaged glosses as I’m unsure whether or not the formula is the same…? If anyone can confirm this I would love to know! This is a nice juicy red shade that I wear by itself but it would also work over a red lipstick on the day.

Renesmee Red, Waka Waka, Neon Red, Cyndi, Babe

 

One more sleep! Thanks so much for following along with my Festive Five series, it was nice to do something a bit different on the blog and your comments were all very much appreciated. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and I can't wait to hear what beauty products you all wore on the day!

-Emma

*Product provided for consideration. Honesty, always.

An Easy Festive Forest Green Manicure

Around this time of year, one of my favourite things to see is a cheerful festive manicure! Even my sister-in-law is rocking this amazing red glittery snowflake adorned polish that is making me smile every time I see her! When I went to get my nails done after we returned from overseas I spotted the most beautiful green on my manicurist and that is how I ended up with my first festive mani for the season. Green polishes are most certainly my kryptonite at the moment with more than a few coming home with me from the US, and so this seemed a natural choice for a Christmas green!

 

The polish was a brand called Morgan Taylor which I’d not heard of before, but when we went to paint my acrylics we realised another lady in the salon was getting her nails done with the very same shade! I love knowing that 3 women in the one room had the same beautifully festive nails so I was happy to wait to use the shade, which is adorably named Later Alligator…as if I didn’t already love it enough! I topped my ring fingers with two light coats of Sinful Colours Call You Later which I had just purchased on clearance from Target and I like the way the names fit well together and that the gold and green shimmers bring a bit of pizazz to the forest green crème shade.

I’m currently considering my next festive manicure to take me through Christmas day and I’m not sure if I want to go down the red route or not…would another green mani be crazy?! How much glitter is too much?!

-Emma

The Christmas Tag

As soon as I saw this Christmas Tag on Milk Bubble Tea, I knew it was something I wanted to partake in. I absolutely adore Christmas time and all the cheer that comes along with it, and this year I'm not working in retail anymore so I can really enjoy decorating our house and spending family time on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day instead of working!

1. What is your favourite Christmas Movie/s?

I think Home Alone is probably the one that I watch most regularly, but most recently Mister and I watched Arthur Christmas and I thought it was so adorable.

2. Do you open your presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?
Only on Christmas morning! I've never been one to want to peek or open a gift early as it's just not something my family have ever done. I've actually been known to stash my own gifts away to prolong the opening process, as I think my favourite part of gift receiving is the anticipation when you've got a prettily wrapped gift in your mitts.

3. Do you have a favourite Christmas memory?
Each year I would help (aka watch) Mumma Bovary set up the many Christmas trees in our house. She really goes all out!

4. Favourite festive food?
I think it's a combination of all my favourites on the day - my mother in law's okra dish, my Dad's garlic prawns, roast Turkey with vegetables and then eating it all again as leftovers!

5. Favourite Christmas gift?
My most memorable was definitely the year that I received my first mobile phone, from my sister and her husband. I cried like a baby and couldn't wait to start texting everyone despite being in the same room as them, that was a pretty exciting moment for a technologically sheltered child haha.

6. Favourite Christmas scent?
The smell of tinsel! My recent acquisition of Bath and Body Works Vanilla Bean Noel is also pretty festive and smells delicious.

7. Do you have any Christmas Eve traditions?
We used to sit around at Mumma and Pappa Bovary's to watch the Carols, but my years working retail put that to rest for me. This year I'm back in the game and am looking forward to having a very relaxing Christmas Eve indeed!

8. What tops your tree?
A sparkly golden star!

9. As a kid, what was the one (crazy, wild, extravagant) gift you always asked for but never received?
I don't think I was one for crazy or wild gifts - I was more likely to ask for books than anything else and my family normally came through with the goods.

10. What's the best part about Christmas for you?
The general feeling in the air; the excitement surrounding the great food, seeing all of my family and of course, the gifts that are shared (especially all of my niece's and nephews!)

Would love to see your responses to this festive tag - I'm deep into the Christmas spirit at the moment!
Emma x

The Christmas Party



The first of many festive celebrations was on last weekend - Mister Bovary's work Christmas party! Held at a gorgeous venue with views of the sea, I was looking forward to a night of nice finger food, decent company and people watching. I decided to wear a mustard yellow dress with strappy wedges as it was a nice warm night, and naturally I went matchy matchy with Mister Bovary's navy shirt and chose to create a navy smokey eye (my night-time go to!) 

I pulled out a few nude lip options to go with my dark eye look, and in the end Mister Bovary chose for me after I swatched them all for him. I had a few brown toned nudes in there like Revlon Rosy Future* and Clinique Whole Lotta Honey Chubby Stick, but I also had some pink tones like Kardashian Beauty Au Natural Honey Gloss (Kourtney's shade), Laura Mercier Sweetheart, Models Prefer Angel Wings and essence Natural Beauty. Mister Bovary ended up choosing essence Natural Beauty and Laura Mercier Sweetheart.

I had to scrounge for some navy blues as I haven't used them since we moved into the house! The trusty Inglot came out, which houses my very favourite navy shade, but I looked into some of my other palettes from BYS and L'Oreal for other blues to mix in to create a more interesting eye look.

I love palettes in a big, big way...

 I added in some shimmer from the Body Shop*, Clarins Instant Concealer*, Tarte Exposed and my Rimmel Scandaleyes liner and the look was complete! I actually ran out of time before I had the chance to paint my nails even though there are some stunning OPI bottles in this picture - our ride picked us up early so they got a chance to meet Charlie and play with him!

Not exactly a clear makeup look photo, but this is the only blurry snap we managed in the dim light of the swanky bar. We had a great time and I was really happy with my makeup too, I layered my foundation and concealer to really even out my skin tone and it was well worth the effort!

Hope you are all having a relaxed lead up to the crazy part of the festive season - I am almost finished with my shopping and then will be able to practise baking and chill out with the family before my favourite day of the year arrives!

 

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty

 

Festive Red

Pulling out my festive red lipsticks because it just seems like the right thing to do, ya know?

I am totally embracing that cliché 'gold eyes and red lips for Christmas' that seems to be around at this time of the year. I am quite fond of wearing gloss during the hotter seasons so will probably save these traditional lipstick shades for a night out or the cooler evenings when we have festive drinks at our place. Here is what I am showcasing today!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Revlon Lip Butter in Candy Apple
Australis Go Long Longwear Lipstick in Diva*
Lancôme Rouge in Love 163M Dans Ses Bras (In His Arms)* (original post is here)
Lacura Beauty 370
Maybelline 645 Red Revival
BYS Matte Lipstick in Celebrity Status*
The Body Shop Colourglide Shine in 12*

I adore the feeling of the Lancôme Rouge in Love in 163M Dans Ses Bras (In His Arms)* because it applies so smoothly which is a treat when it comes to red lipsticks. The most exciting shade in this line up for me at the moment is The Body Shop Colourglide Shine in 12* but why oh why do pretty glittery and glossy colours like this not have a cute and memorable name to match? Numbers don't work for me, I need to connect with my shades on a personal level, ya feel me? Anyone else feel the same?


swatched in order mentioned above! last shade is the lovely Body Shop 12 ;)

For a glossy lip look this season I am definitely going to turn to my Nars gloss mini's that I bought from Mecca Maxima a year or two ago - the Nars gloss formula is my favourite, and I'm fond of a wee sheer red that won't melt in my handbag at family BBQ's! As an aside - do any of my readers keep their lipsticks in the fridge when the heat hits? Would really love to hear how you cope with lipsticks in the heat!

Do you despise numbered lipstick shades, or does the name of a colour mean little to you?

How do you take care of your lipsticks in the hot weather?

 

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty

 

*Products were provided for consideration, with festive honesty always. 

 

 

Dior Fairy Golds Eyeshadow Palette // Grand Bal Collection

Each time the holiday season rolls around, the luxe makeup brands whip up some pretty limited edition goodies that never fail to tempt me. I tend to hold back and spend all of my extra cash on all the kidlets in my life at this time of the year, but when I locked eyes with the new Dior Grand Bal collection, I knew it was made for me. The two quints were the most exciting aspect of the new CD stash in my eyes. I spent quite a while swatching and considering whether my love for the darker palette (Night Golds) would prevail, or my love for the lighter palette (Fairy Golds) would win my heart. Ultimately they were too similar to both come home to chez Emma, so Fairy Golds flew into my makeup drawers and has been getting a lot of love ever since.

 

 

I’ve found that the mix of shades in this palette can make the perfect transition from daytime look into a festive night look, but the shades are something I will definitely be wearing all year round. From the top left, the first shade is a pinky tinged champagne beige that reminds me of Urban Decay Sin, but is lighter. The shade is soft and buttery, and I’ve been wearing it all over the lid with a darker crease colour quite a bit lately. The second shade along is the glitterbomb of the palette, and is almost like a stack of gold leaf pressed down into a shadow. Applies better than I expected it to, and is a paler gold when compared to something like the gold within the Clarins Odyssey palette. The shade is closer to L’Oreal Infallible 027 Goldmine but less buttery, and more sparkly in an almost overlay sort of effect.

 

The darkest shade in the palette is a a deep chocolately brown with red undertones, brilliant pigmentation and one I will use often. I hardly have any red toned dark brown shades in my collection to compare with this, and I am really impressed with how a light touch can produce such a deep colour. The next shade along in the bottom left hand corner is what I call the taupe of the palette! A mauvey neutral shade, it reminds me of Urban Decay’s Sidecar, but when I swatched them side by side I saw that they are very different. Dior's is much lighter and Sidecar is much more brown in comparison. This shade is my favourite in the palette by far, and was the deciding factor in my palette choice.

 

 

The last and centre shade is a pink tinged white which is very glittery and somewhat chunky in the pan, but applies well and is pretty as an inner corner highlight for dramatic looks. I do wish they had’ve put a matte highlight shade in this palette, which was also noted by Christine of Temptalia, but I suppose you can't fit everything into a quint.

 

The shades are much more vibrant and pigmented in reality, they just blend so well into the skin!

 

Direct sunlight.

 

Indoor swatch, window lighting.

 

 

I find Fairy Golds to be very wearable and lovely quality, and seeing as it is my first Dior eyeshadow purchase I am very pleased with it. I’ve been calling it my ‘festive season palette’, as I can throw the shades on before a long shift at work and they last without creasing longer than any shadow I’ve used before.

Fairy Golds retails for $59 USD and $99 AUD and in Australia is available from Myer and David Jones.

Have you deemed some makeup your 'festive makeup'? Do you tend to wear similar looks now that it is the festive season, or are you one of those lucky ones who gets holidays at this this time of the year?

 

Instagramming #1



1.Trying out the Nuxe Shimmering Dry Oil at Mr. Masons 2. Mum’s el cheapo face creams 3. Motel breakfast of champions 4. French goodies I’m using from Nuxe & Clarins

1. Rocking my new Revlon Kissable Balm Stain in Smitten 2. The Philosophy set that is on my wishlist, ‘The Bake Shoppe’ 3. Festive nails with essence 113 do you speak love? 4. Clearin’ out the pores with Biore!

1. My pick from the new The Body Shop festive range, Vanilla Bliss 2. Heading to a faux-raceday BBQ to hang with some beautiful souls 3. Planning a cheeky holiday 4. Celebrating Christmas with launch of The Body Shop’s new range.

 

If you'd like to follow me on Instagram, my username is EmmaBovary!