Hawaiian Skittle - OPI Lost My Bikini In Molokini & That’s Hula-rious

I was so excited about the new OPI Hawaii collection that I decided to start off my swatch-fest with not one, but two of the shades contained in the mini-pack! I've always loved a purple and green combination but it isn't the easiest to incorporate into a makeup look (though I am tempted to try it out now) so I was excited to put these together for this little skittle mani. Loving the Hawaiian daydreams ;)

Lost My Bikini in Molokini* is a stunning mid-tone violet creme, and I'm happy to note that I don't have anything like it in my nail polish collection. It was a dream to apply, needing only two coats for opaque coverage and even on my unkempt and stubby nails I think it's a good looking polish. It's a purple with a bit of an edge, which is just the way I like my purples most of the time. It's definitely one of the nicer shades from the tropical-inspired release, some of them were actually quite dubious like the frosty yellow Pineapples Have Peelings Too! which you can see over at All Lacquered Up.

That's Hula-rious* is a pale peppermint crème that needed quite a few coats to become opaque - I think it took 4 thin coats before I was content with how the shade looked on my nails and all of the bald patches were eradicated. I think that multiples coats are common with pale shades like this though - it definitely has been in the past for me! I can appreciate a peppermint/mint shade like this, but don't think it's a colour that would be worn frequently on my tips as I tend to favour deep and moody shades, or very bright ones!

 

Overall I'm quite pleased with my OPI Hawaiian adventure thus far - if only wearing the shades would really take me back to the islands *swoon* Next up will probably be the mouth-watering Aloha from Hawaii*, so stay tuned!

 

-Emma

 

*Provided for consideration. Honesty, always.

Pushing into Purple

Do you have one of those colours that you just never reach for? I think green and blue are quite elusive eye shadow shades for most people I know, though personally I love a good navy for my smoky eye and am not afraid of a little pale blue on the eyes if it is anchored down with some eyeliner! 

 

The elusive shade for me? Purple! While I can definitely see the appeal and think that it is a pretty colour, I just find it needs more effort to look good on me than other colours. I have had some success with some lilac and violet shades though, as evidenced by the things I've rounded up to play with here.

 The Colour Theory palette in Verry Berry (not a fan of the name...) is really pretty and I'm totally loving that brand at the moment. A shadow duo I am yet to try is the Nars duo in Marie-Galante which I tend to just take out and stare at rather than actually use. I think Taylor Swift Wonderstruck rollerball fell into this image because I am interested in the new scent she has out, I think all of her fragrances are really lovely.

 

Purple lips totally remind me of Angela from One Skim Mocha Please who I just adore, and my brave lip choice is MAC Sheen Supreme in Asian Flower, which is ultra glossy and a beautiful lilac shade. For a deeper and more wearable purple lip I turn to the Covergirl Jumbo Gloss Balm in 260 Plum Twist*. 

 

I have a lot of fun playing with colours despite them sometimes being a bit daunting - that is what makeup is all about, right?

What colour do you find hard to wear?

 

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty 

Violet Candy Styler - ghd's new Candy Collection!

Sometimes a beauty product is so hyped up that you cannot help but overthink things when you get to use it for the first time. I think it often helps to step back from the details and think about how a product makes you personally feel when organising a written piece about it, so when I was send a beautiful Candy ghd styler* to trial recently I did just that.

 

During my high school years, hair straightening was just about the coolest thing you could do in the beauty realm. Not many girls wore much makeup at my high school (bar a little bit of eyeliner and maybe some gloss) but if you had your hair straightened, you were the coolest! I didn’t have a straightener for a long time, but we would all go to one of my friend’s houses and she would painstakingly run the ghd over our locks before we would head out to our underage discos. I used to practise not putting my hair behind my ears so that I wouldn’t cause kinks, and if we were heading out to the shops the next day I would sleep stiff as a board so I woke up with my hair still glossy and lovely.

 

I always yearned for a ‘proper straightener’, which of course is the ghd branded one! My sister lovingly bought me a Vidal Sassoon straightener (which I still use and love!) but I still wished for the sleek style and ‘cool girl persona’ that comes along with a ghd. It wasn’t until this year (in my early 20’s!) that I finally got my wish! The Violet Candy ghd Styler is a thing of beauty, and though I am an adult and should know better – I am totally feeling like the ‘cool girl’ right now!

before (photos were taken before I darkened my hair)

After using the GHD Candy Styler

This glides over my long (and crazy!) locks really easily, and because the styler isn’t very heavy it doesn’t cause pain in my weak wrists that are prone to sprains. The packaging is absolutely stunning (of course!) and if you were looking at getting a beauty gift for somebody, this gives a great wow factor and is something that is luxe but totally useful at the same time. I admit that I am hardly what you would call creative with my hair styling, but for a simple straight look this totally hits it out of the park for me. Having a blow wave or freshly straightened hair always has a positive effect on my mood, and this made my hair really silky (I also used the ghd Heat Protect Spray* beforehand)

For more creative hair styles with the ghd Candy Styler, ghd have put together a great bunch of ideas and inspiration here – my personal favourite? The Power Beehive!  I'm not sure that it would totally suit my chipmunk cheeks, but I'd still love to rock that one night To check out the other stylers that are available (the Pink Diamond Styler is so pretty!) head over here!

Did you have a fascination with ghd stylers in high school?

How often do you straighten or curl your hair? Only on weekends, or during the week too?

*Provided for consideration, but all childhood flashbacks belong to me ;) Honesty, always.

purple people eater

 

I've never been much of a purple girl. My favourite colour is orange, and I wear warm colours (or black) the majority of the time. In recent weeks, however, I've fallen in love with purple-toned taupes and browns, shimmering dark violet shades and most heavily for lilac. Here I share with you a selection of my brighter purple shades, and I'd love for you to share your picks in the comments!

 

 

The first shadow is In Deep by Kit Cosmetics, which I bought on sale as a brave move to step into the world of purple AND darker eye shadows! The next one along is Quartz by Face of Australia, which is a stunning lilac shade. My MAC Dame Edna palette is next, which I love for the inclusion of three version different types of purple.

 

 

Another beautiful palette I own which contains very different types of purple shades is my Elianto palette. The beautiful Emily from Emily's Anthology brought this back from Malaysia for me quite some time ago. I fell in love with Elianto when I visited Malaysia for the first time, and I am so happy to own this beautiful palette. This palette was customisable, and I love the shades I chose and really need to use them more.

 

 

You can see the various intensities and shades here.

 

 Quartz is so so pretty!

Elianto have such beautifully pigmented colours, I highly recommend visiting them if you're in Malaysia! 

 

I have a post with my newer purple acquisitions coming up, featuring beauties from Laura Mercier and Illamasqua, among many others!

 

Do you have a colour that you gravitate to in your makeup?

Which shade of purple stands out most to you?

 

I bought all of these shadows myself. Honesty, always.