Sugar High

My nails have been bare for a while now and I felt like jazzing them up with some pretty colours in time for Easter. After heading out to buy Easter Eggs for all of my nieces and nephews I was in the mood to indulge in some Easter fun while I had the chance! I didn’t want to go back down the super pastel/easter egg look as I’ve done them in the past (speckled nails and a pastel skittle mani!) so I pulled out some brighter shades for a spotty sugary look!

 

I started with a base of China Glaze ‘Sugar High’ and was mighty tempted to leave it be as the bright pink shade is so stunning by itself, but I couldn’t stop myself heading back in with my dotting tools to play around! I covered each nail in dots with essence ‘Grab This Hype’ from the ‘Yes, We Pop’ nail collection (check out this Cosmetic Cupcake post about that!) and I love how the bright teal looks against the pink! I then made the mistake of placing smaller dots on top of the teal with Hello Kitty ‘Lola Lilas’ which is a pale lavender toned pink shade – I wanted to add pastel into the mix but I think it’s too weak to stand against such a bright clash of shades.

 

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I’m hoping to see some gorgeous Easter nail looks on Instagram this year, and indulge in some more delicious plain Cadbury mini-eggs too - they are the perfect sized treat for a non-chocolate lover like me! I love spending time with family over Easter but will be pretty busy this year, so I'm looking forward to seeing how other families celebrate this occasion on Instagram and Twitter.

What traditions do you have for Easter? What chocolate treat is your favourite for this occasion?

-Emma

dolling up a little one

My beautiful niece turned 7 over the weekend, and celebrated with a glamour party with all of her friends. My sister set up a (fake) tattoo parlour, hair curling, coloured hair spray, a nail salon and a makeup spot for the kids to explore, with someone manning each section. Can you guess which I was in charge of?

I gave the kidlets choice when adding some sparkle to their party looks (and don't worry, everything was sanitized and no sticky fingers smooshed my makeup-phew!) They liked having the power to decide what they could wear, and I think overall it went well.

Biggest hit was definitely the BYS Diamond Shadow palette in Miami Beats*, which is chock-full of glitterific pastel shades (the kids went nuts for the pink, lo and behold) The essence Swirlpool blush also went down well, the sheen this gives is a sight to see, one of the prettiest blushes I own for sure. No love for MAC's Full Of Joy blush, the kids aren't fond of lavender it turns out. You learn something new every day!

The only ones who went for the Clinique Strawberry Fudge palette were my older niece and her friend, who weren't excited by the glitter and wanted to wear ladylike shades. The Gold Rush shade in the bottom left hand corner is such a stunner, FYI.

I gave all of the kids the choice of two Vera Wang perfumes (Princess and Glam Princess) and four lipglosses (which I applied onto the back of my hand and then onto their lips with a sanitised brush) The only one that wasn't chosen was the Mirenesse shade, they all wanted brighter pink shades so this fell by the wayside. Hello Kitty's Baby Lip looked great on, and as always my love for the essence stay with me glosses knows no bounds.

What would a 7 year old makeover be without a ton of shimmer? The new L'Occitane Pivoine Delicate Shimmering Powder* comes out with the nicest little 'puff' and the kids thought it was awesome (I think it is awesome as well!) The Vani-T Diamond Dust in Moon & Stars* is something I use on my cheekbones, and when I was finished with them the kids were all glowing like little rays of golden sunshine!

What would you do if asked to make over 30 children?

How often do you shimmer up your makeup routine?

*Marked products were provided, but used in this makeover because they are lovely and suited to occasion perfectly. Honesty, always.



Hello Kitty Cosmetics-Collection Overview and Mini Reviews

A few weeks ago I heard a whisper of a Hello Kitty cosmetics line being brought into Priceline stores. I'm not a mad HK fan by any means, but thought the collection would be cute and so dragged Chris down there when we spent the day in the city together last week. I found the collection in the back corner of the Bourke St. Priceline store opposite Myer, the stand was thin and could be easily missed if you don't have eagle eyes.

Clockwise from left we have:

* Eyeliners ($11.95) khol pencil ($9.95) mascaras ($14.95) and balms ($9.95) 

*Bright polishes in front, pale shades behind them ($9.95)

*Hello Kitty plushie/ears with purchase (buy 2 products get gift free)

*lipsticks ($12.95)

*cheeks ($12.95) and powders ($14.95)

*matte lipsticks ($12.95)

*magnetic gloss ($13.95) diamond gloss ($9.95) Diamond Stars Roll On for Face and Body ($9.95)

*eye shadow singles ($9.95) and duos ($11.95)

*whole stand

I chose two pieces from the Hello Kitty collection, and was eligible to choose from the gift of a plush toy or kitty ears. I chose the ears as I figured I would get more use from them (kitty dress up,haha) This is what I took home with me:

A magnetic gloss in the shade 'Baby Lip' and the blush in 'Venise' with my gorgeous ears!

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The blush compact feels really sturdy

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How cute is the dotted Kitty logo on the lid!

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A heavy swatch



Venise is a warm pink shade that would be a perfect winter blush, and though it can be quite pigmented (as shown above) it's also pretty buildable. Will play around with it a little more before commenting on lasting power and other attributes. Am happy with the purchase, it's a very pretty colour in a cute and sturdy compact.

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ooh magnetic *attracts admiring glances thanks to my gloss*

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Love the subtle and cute HK touches on the prodz

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Not 'Baby Lips', just 'Baby Lip' ;)

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The Magnetic Gloss is the star of the collection in my opinion, it feels wonderful on the lips and has a strong lolly-like smell that I personally like (but I'd give the tester a sniff if you're unsure about scented glosses). Baby Lip reminds me of my Nars Orgasm gloss but a little more sparkly, and on the lip it's not a glitter bomb but more akin to a shimmery loveliness that does indeed have a 'magnetic' effect that draws the eye. It isn't sticky but very moisturising, and lasts a long time on my lips. It's the sort of colour you can whack on without a mirror, which I appreciate as I live in front of the uni library computers at the moment. I think Sanrio have hit the nail on the head with the packaging of the collection, I think it's cute but classy and much less 'cheap-looking' than I thought it might be. I especially love the little dotted Hello Kitty faces that adorn the products, I'm happy to whip these out in public without looking like I've stolen from my niece's makeup bag.

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Have you had a look at the Hello Kitty collection at Priceline?

Are you a Hello Kitty fan?

(*All items were purchased with my own money and I am not sponsored by any of the companies mentioned. Honesty, always.)