Confetti Conga in Zurich!

I was wanting to try out a raspberry toned manicure for new years eve nail practise, and decided to start with  ‘From A to Zurich’  from the OPI Swiss collection from 2010. The shade is a dark rose berry shade that seems red in some swatches I’ve seen. It is more of a raspberry on me, and I was wearing a raspberry pink cardigan when I applied this and it went nicely with it.

 

I decided to try out one of the glitter polishes that Fashion Addict sent me, and I love the unusual mix of colours that Confetti Conga* contains. Burnt  orange, blue,  hot pink and purple along with silver micro glitter is suspended in a clear base, and I used only a small amount on my ring fingers to jazz up my manicure a little bit.

 

I must admit that though I am partial to a dense opaque glitter polishes, this sort of glitter is something I’m really glad to have in my collection. I am planning on pairing this with a burnt orange or hot pink polish next, to really take advantage of the glitter inside. I love the name of both of the polishes I’ve used, there is nothing worse than loving a shade and it having just a number or forgettable name.

 

 

 

I don’t think this type of glitter goes perfectly with the rosey shade, but I was still happy with the manicure and think I will wear From A to Zurich with a red glitter next time, and Confetti Conga with an orange base.

OPI is available from David Jones, Myer and Petra stores for $19.95. Confetti Conga and other BYS shades are available from $3.75 from Fashion Addict.

What would you pair with these two shades?

*Confetti Conga was kindly sent to me by Fashion Addict.

The Shop Shade // Free Lip Glaze!

Like Doritos and salsa, two greats coming together is a wonderful thing. A long-time lover of Shop Til You Drop magazine and Kit Cosmetics, their now annual collaboration is once again upon us and it is a beauty!

For a number of years now, my brother and sister in law's Christmas gift to me has been a yearly subscription to Shop Til You Drop, which is by far my favourite and most read publication. I love the articles, images and shopping anecdotes which litter the pages, and the thick nature means I feel like it is worth the money. Now that I've gotten a free lipstick with this issue, it is even more worthwhile!

Simply called 'The Shop Shade', this bright pop of raspberry is free with this months magazine (November issue, with Gwyneth on the cover) Details are on page 164, but you basically hand in that page to Kit Cosmetics or Mecca Maxima stores to receive your FREE lip glaze! In previous years they have created nail shades in popular colours, but I must say I am more interested in a free lip glaze.

'The Shop Shade' is a pigmented opaque raspberry with a little bit of stick to it, which helps it last longer on the lips. I am fond of the Kit Cosmetics lip range in general, and this shade is a nice bright shade for spring and summer.

If you are interested in this shade, be sure to race out and grab your November Shop Til You Drop magazine so you can obtain your lip glaze before they run out. For more info, head to the Shop page here.

 

*As stated above, I received this gloss free because I have the November issue of Shop. Hon

Lip Balm Love-Softlips

Happy Valentine's Day =D Today marks the end of my Lip Balm Love Week- I hope all the lovely ladies reading this have got their lips ready for today, whether you be kissing a cute guy or the spoon as you dip into a tub of ice-cream (my vote is for cookies and cream, btw)

I have been roadtesting quite a few balms this week, but found I always came back to my HG, ultimate, cannot-leave-the-house-without balm, Softlips!

The lovely Zoe from Softlips kindly sent me a tube of their new Chai Latte flavour from the organic range they are promoting, and she also threw in a double pack containing Cherry and Coconut Cream. I am coco-crazy for the Coconut one, but the Cherry grew on me as time went on,too. I like the chai stick, but found the scent to be very faint, if ever I caught a whiff at all. Since trying these I have purchased the Raspberry one and the Gelato vanilla, too. Utterly obsessed, and talking everyone I know into buying these.(FYI, you can get these at most Pricelines and supermarkets, and you get change from $4. Win!)

Packaging: As I stated in my Burt's Bees post, I love skinny balm tubes. These fit in my pocket when I'm out without hassle, and though they balm itself begins quite square after a few uses it rounds itself out and is the perfect shape to use.

Taste: Little bit sweet, but not that crazy-sweet artifical type that makes you want to eat your lips off.

Smell: Apart from the subtle scent of the Chai variety, these really do smell like their descriptions! Coconut Cream would be my pick for summer, but this week I have been rocking Cherry and Raspberry quite a bit.

Texture: So ridiculously smooth to put on, and they make my lips tingle just a little, in a pleasant way. Also must be noted that these contain SPF20, yay!

Aesthetics:Not much shine, just soft lips all the way. I found these great in the mornings, I put some on and get busy with the rest of my makeup. By the time I get to my lips they are supple and primed for whatever colour I'm wearing to glide on effortlessly.

Reapplication: These last really well. The 'wet' feel remains as well as the 'soft' (hence the balms name) which makes these perfect for me.

Repuchase: As you can probably tell from the raving about Softlips above, I have and will repurchase these, again and again and again. Although I did receive 3 free of charge, this in no way affects my opinion and I promise in all honesty, that I think these are the bomb=D

So there we have it, Lip Balm Love Week is over and the overall champ is Softlips. I hope you all enjoyed reading my opinions on all of the lip prodz, it was nice to have themed posts that really spurred me on to compare what I own. Hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day, love to all,emmabovary xx