She's a Bad Muffuletta - OPI New Orleans Collection

As soon as I caught wind of the OPI New Orleans collection, I knew I was going to indulge in a bottle or two. I love their travel collections and after binge-watching Hart of Dixie I had popped New Orleans onto my travel bucket list, so the timing was perfect for me. I made my way into Myer planning on perhaps getting the the green I'm Sooo Swamped shade and the bright blue Rich Girls and Po' Boys - but as you can see from this post, the full bottle I purchased couldn't be further from those shades! I chose the hot red crème She's A Bad Muffuletta - but she isn't just an ordinary red...

I had never heard the word muffuletta before this collection launched, and I had to look up what it was after I purchased this polish. This is what Wikipedia taught me:
The muffuletta is both a type of round Sicilian sesame bread and a popular sandwich originating among Italian immigrants in New Orleans, Louisiana using the same bread.
That wasn't really what I had predicted but it makes me laugh that I love a sandwich on my nails ;) In some lights this throws a pink edge and in others it looks more red (also noted in this swatch post) but the tone is definitely flattering on my pale skin and a red that I desperately needed in my collection - I'm often quite scared to wear red despite loving the shade on others, so this was the pep up I needed to brave the colour myself.

I'm really glad I chose a full bottle of this, I can see it working as both a warm and cool weather colour and I would have run through the mini bottle too quickly. I also picked up the OPI New Orleans mini pack when I went to Myer, so expect to see those shades on me at some point, too.

Next on my hit-list is Got Myself Into a Jam-balaya from the same collection as I just can't get the peach coral out of my head, and I don't think the mini bottle I have in the pack will suffice.

 

Did anything from the OPI New Orleans collection catch your eye?

What is your ultimate red nail polish?

-Emma x

A Mint of Spring

I'm well into my 'at home gel nail' phase after purchasing my Sensationail kit, and in my recent Salon Melbourne haul I picked up my first Gelish colour gel. I really wanted to add a pale mint green to my relatively small gel nail offering, and after looking through the crazy amount of Gelish nail swatches on offer I ended up throwing A Mint of Spring into my basket. 

In the bottle it appears a light minty colour, but on the nails it is a tad more teal than I perhaps originally wanted. It is definitely a spring shade, but I threw caution to the wind and chose it for my long weekend away in autumn anyway!

 Shown is 3 coats, though 2 would probably have been fine.

I treated myself to the lastest edition of Elle Australia which served as a great back drop for my hastily snapped nail post, don't you think? Emma Watson is making me crave some major winged liner with my minty fresh nails!

 

I bought my Gelish A Mint of Spring for $17 and it is definitely the brightest in my gel collection to date!

 

What mint shade do you swear by?

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty

Love Birds - This Gold Finch is Melting My Matchy-Matchy Heart

When I saw that Napoleon Perdis has jumped onto the matchy-matchy train, I was all aboard! My weakness for matching colours has been well documented on the blog (recently with a rosy Chanel blush and earlier with an American theme...) and seeing the pretty glosses that matched the varnish bottles made my heart leap! I quite liked the idea of getting a stunningly designed makeup bag with the products too, so was elated when the Gold Finch* duo hit my desk. If I was handing over my dollars for this collection, Flamingo would be my first pick for sure, with Gold Finch coming in runner up!

 That pop of blue totally has my heart singing - get it? Ha!

I love nude polishes that flatter my hand, this one is a pale beige with an oh-so-subtle shot of fine golden shimmer in it which gives a nice bit of depth while keeping it totally office appropriate if that's your thang. I feel really hot when I wear nude nails like this - is this strange or totally common...?

 Accent nail is two coats of Illamasqua Blizzard*, because sometimes I just can't stop myself dipping into some glitter.

 Lately I'm all about the gloss, and frequently I go through stages where all I look at while shopping is squeezy tube lipglosses. Keeping in mind the fact that I hardly ever use this style applicator, the madness continues and I think my mind finds them more 'fun' than wand style applicators. You only need a tiny bit of the Napoleon Perdis Gold Finch lipgloss otherwise the nude shade can look a bit stark, and I like how the tackiness prolongs the wear time on the lips. Overall I don't think I'd go out of my way just for the gloss in this shade, but the nail polish is a cutie and I'm very fond of the Felicia Aroney bag that the duo comes with.

Bird themes ahoy! If I were creating a duo I'd want to base it around a swamp hen, because they are the birds I see most frequently around my place and they are pretty snazzy.

What do think of matching lips to nails? An easy way to tie a look together or something you never think about?

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty

*Love Birds set was provided for consideration. Honesty, always.