Fancy Tickled

As I mentioned in my March Favourites, I've been all about OPI polishes lately, especially their impeccable cremes. While I put Panda-Monium Pink as my most loved polish last month, Tickle My France-y was a very close second. I didn't think much of the colour at first, dismissing it as a boring nude that probably wouldn't suit my skin tone. I've gone through so many variations of the neutral nail, but they've either been difficult to work with (bad formula, too sheer) or not flattering (too light, too dark, too red, too grey, too beige, too "blah"). But Tickle My France-y proved to be one of those rare polishes that I didn't think too much of initially, but immediately loved once I put on my nails.

This is exactly the colour that I hoped OPI Dulce De Leche would be on me. I find Dulce De Leche to be a bit too dark and brownish red on my nails, though it's extremely flattering on darker skin tones. Tickle My France-y however, gets the balance right. It's not too light or dark, not too warm or cool. While described as a "gray-brown", I don't detect that much grey on my nails, but rather a rosey-mauve bent.

Tickle My France-y was released as part of La Collection de France for autumn/fall 2008. I actually recall this collection when it first came out, as I was obsessing over the shade You Don’t Know Jacques! (a shade I coveted because of Rumi Neely of Fashion Toast). I additionally purchased Parlez Vous OPI?, also from the collection, but never paid much attention to Tickle My France-y. It now seems that it's become one of OPI's classic colours (at least to warrant inclusion in The Iconic Four minis set).

I have similar colours to Tickle My France-y that could be classified in the "gray-brown" family (like Butter London Yummy Mummy and Revlon Gray Suede), but the OPI is my clear favourite. It's not as taupe or beige, but rather, more pink and minky, which adds a feminine, polished appeal.

March Favourites

March didn't have any particular defining moments, except that it was my birthday month. New season of RuPaul's Drag Race gave me life. I raced through the third season of House of Cards and finished watching the last ever episodes of Parks and Recreation. Along the way, I bought more makeup and nail polish than I have in a while. I also ate a lot of food. Bad, indulgent food. The days of religiously preparing oats with fruit in the mornings and a salad for lunch, while avoiding sugar, deep fried food and carbs, are long over. And forget exercise. That's been nonexistent. I think it's time to become more health-conscious again.

Avene Soothing Moisture Mask
Undoubtedly my #1 discovery for this month. I liked the Soothing Moisture Mask so much that I've already made a mental note to purchase it next time Priceline has its 40% off skin care sale. I was contemplating buying it last time, but the ingredients seemed fairly generic and I had both the Clarins HydraQuench Cream-Mask and Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask at home. But when I tried a sample a friend gave to me, it exceeded my every expectation. My skin's been extremely dry lately, but the Avene has tackled flaky areas and restored moisture to my skin. It is scentless, non-irritating, readily absorbed and instantly hydrating, providing a smoother, more receptive canvas for any makeup that's applied after.

Lush Karma Kream Hand and Body Lotion
I was lucky to receive this as a birthday gift (my friends know me too well) and I was thrilled to finally have a body lotion worthy of replacing my used up Grown Mandarin and Rosemary Leaf Body Cream. Like the vast majority of Lush products, the fragrance of this is pungent and not for everyone. My mother for one, immediately asked what the putrid smell was after I wandered into the kitchen having applied some on my leg moments before. The lotion is based on their citrus-aromatic Karma perfume, with top notes of orange, lavender and lemongrass, middle notes of pine tree, lemon and cassis, and base notes of patchouli, fir resin, elemi and cinnamon. (Don't ask me what elemi is.) It's a kind of warm, spicy, citrusy, yet clean scent. Very unusual and unique. The lotion itself is a good consistency in that it's on the thinner side, but still very moisturising and quite luxurious feeling. Use it all over for a pampering, aromatic experience.

OPI Panda-Monium Pink
After receiving an OPI minis set for my birthday, I was enthusiastically back on the OPI train. After all is said and done, I still believe OPI make the best polishes, period. Perhaps not always the most inspiring shade selection (I'm more of an Essie fan in that department), but the formula and wide brush are hard to beat. I bought a whole bunch of OPI polishes, mainly from Cosmo Cosmetics (can't beat $8 a pop, at least in Australia), and Panda-Monium Pink was my favourite. A cool-toned baby pink with a hint of lilac, it gave my nails a feminine, polished edge while still introducing a touch of the unexpected. See it worn here.

Sigma F82 Round Top Kabuki
As I mentioned earlier, my skin's been really dry this month, which has caused a few headaches in terms of makeup application. I found that using my Real Techniques Multi Task Brush to apply foundation was no longer doing the trick. Rather, the foundation looked streaky and uneven, even when I spent more time trying to blend and buff it into my skin. Enter the Sigma F82. I rarely use this brush because it is SO dense and at times, feels uncomfortably hard and firm on the skin. It's also a challenge to clean, though the discovery of Daiso Detergent for Puff and Sponge has been a life-saver. As I described in my April 2013 Favourites, it's the density of the bristles that makes the F82 the closest thing to using your own hands to blend in foundation. It buffs away any streakiness and ensures a skin-like finish to your base.

Bvlgari Rose Essentielle EDP
A family friend gave me this 25ml bottle a while back, but I only started appreciating this fragrance recently. At first, I dismissed it as a well-made, inoffensive, "grown up" scent that didn't inspire much passion. However, it's really grown on me in the last month. This might sound odd, but I've been enjoying spritzing it on myself before bed. There's something sophisticated, feminine, but comforting about it. It's by no means a loud fragrance, but it has an uplifting brightness and purity to it, while still remaining refined and elegant. I was on the hunt for a good rose perfume to add to my ever-expanding collection (lusting after Tom Ford Private Blend Café Rose and contemplating Jo Malone Red Roses or Kiehl's Patchouli & Fresh Rose), but Rose Essentielle was under my nose this whole time. I think it deserves just as much attention and affection as that other rose perfume that's wildly popular: Chloé by Chloé EDP.

Airy Gleam

I was over nail polish for a while (which may have been evident by the lack of nail polish posts — my last one was almost 6 months ago), but since I was given the OPI "The Iconic Four" minis set for my birthday earlier in the month, I've experienced a major resurgence in interest. A recent trip to Cosmo Cosmetics unearthed a sole, pristine bottle of OPI Last Friday Night, a limited edition polish from the Katy Perry collection all the way back in 2011. I already have all the polishes from that collaboration except for Last Friday Night, which I deliberately didn't purchase as I always thought it was too sheer. But for the sake of completing my collection, and the fact I never thought I'd come across another bottle again, I ended up buying it. I figured I frequently paint 3-4 coats of a light coloured polish to achieve full opacity, so why wouldn't I do the same for a sheer glitter?

OPI Katy Perry Collection

The best way I'd describe Last Friday Night is a translucent, pale cornflower blue jelly polish loaded with glitter reminiscent of China Glaze Snow Globe. There are similar polishes that replicate or come close to achieving the iridescence in Last Friday Night (not only Snow Globe, but Revlon Heavenly, Essie Shine of the Times), but none of them have the same ethereal, barely there blue base. It really adds something extra to the polish and makes it more unique.

I painted 4 coats which I feel is the minimum required to wear the polish on its own, rather than using it as a top coat. I did try it over a navy blue polish, and while the contrast made the glitter pop, I felt it lost the character of the polish. If I wanted a glitter top coat, I'd just use any of the other polishes I mentioned that have a clear base. I get that not everyone will have the desire, patience or time to paint 4 coats (not including base and top coat), but for Last Friday Night, the result is worth it. Surprisingly, my manicure has lasted a few days without any chipping or signs of wear. I'm not sure if this is because of the base and top coat combination I used (Revlon Colorstay Gel-Smooth Base Coat and of course, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri), or whether the polish itself has excellent longevity. Probably a bit of both.

Crystals and Jam

Following my review of Get Your Number from Mariah Carey's first collaboration with OPI, I'm finally posting about another polish from the Liquid Sand minis set I was given for my birthday last March, Stay the Night. Despite looking moody and alluring in the bottle, a jet black base packed with gleaming cranberry glitter, most swatches I'd seen were a letdown. It resembled red-flecked pebbly tar, like charred muck stuck onto the nails with generic sparkly bits peeking through.

With Stay the Night, I'd have to wholeheartedly agree with Cassie's review that only loads of topcoat salvages things. One coat isn't even enough to bring the polish alive, I find I need at least two. Even then, it's still relatively bumpy and uneven in texture. The actual look however, is transformed from ugly and dull to eye-catching and complex, like crushed up ruby crystals in semi-set black jam. The contrast between the colourful, dense glitter and the dark base is amped up, accentuating the appearance of partially translucent layers that give the illusion of depth. The effect was enough for me to describe it as "alarmingly pretty" the first time I wore it, particularly in direct sunlight.

Bauble Bounty

Another Christmas, another festive nail art. This year, I felt a strong pull towards red which I ordinarily never wear. I've recently enjoyed sporting both OPI The Impossible from the first Mariah Carey collection and OPI The Spy Who Loved Me from the James Bond Skyfall collection, which I purchased as part of The Bondettes Mini Nail Lacquers set. I came across these Christmas nail designs from Amy and was particularly drawn to the Christmas tree. I've attempted my own take on it, of course with ridiculous amounts of bling.

To achieve my look, I first started with a base of OPI The Spy Who Loved Me, a bright, juicy red with subtle gold shimmer. I then stuck two pieces of sticky tape diagonally to either side of the nail to create a triangle shape in the middle. Inside that area outlined by the sticky tape, I painted Sinful Colors Envy (960) to form my tree. After two coats of the dark green polish, I carefully and slowly peeled off the sticky tape to reveal clean, straight edges for the tree. I then painted a small dot at the apex of the tree (right in the middle just below the the tip of my nail) with the spectacular OPI GoldenEye to make my star.

Next comes the labour-intensive, patience-testing part of 'decorating' the tree. Essentially I used two glitter polishes in a clear base, OPI The Living Daylights and OPI Polka.com, and fished out the glitter pieces in each with a toothpick. I then dotted them onto the green section of the nail as evenly as possible to mimic the look of shiny baubles hung from the tree. I probably was a touch overenthusiastic with the glitter and ended up with a higher density of glitter than ideal, in effect obscuring much of the green background of the tree. But whatever, it's Christmas. Excess is all part and parcel of the holiday season.

As if that wasn't enough razzle dazzle, I then painted a layer of the gold flake topper Essie As Gold As It Gets for that extra touch of luxe. To finish, I applied a generous coat of my favourite top coat ever, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri, to smooth things over, lock everything in place and impart an ultra-glossy finish.

I normally don't go for anything this elaborate but I figured when else but Christmas. I've received numerous compliments (from girls) and some teasing for evidently having too much time on my hands (from a guy). As I mentioned last year, my family isn't big on Christmas and we've certainly never had a Christmas tree in our home, so I'll have to be content with these ones on my nails. Hope you all have a lovely Christmas with your nearest and dearest!

Nightlife Sparkle

I wasn't sure if I was tiring of glitter polishes when OPI Polka.com came out from their Spring 2013 Euro Centrale Collection. After buying all the polishes from the limited edition Face of Australia Glitterati Collection, I felt a bit over glitter (shock, horror). There was something cheap, tacky and increasingly unimaginative about them — not to mention being a total nightmare to remove. David Jones recently had a buy one, get one free offer on OPI nail lacquers. The last time they held the same promotion, my friend and I selected a polish each for half the normal price and I picked the nude OPI Loves David Jones. This time around (possibly inspired by Mishelle's picks), I felt a strong pull back towards my glitter roots.

Polka.com consists of turquoise, hot pink and royal purple hexagonal glitter of uniform size with royal purple glitter dots in a clear base. Here, I chose to pair it with a dark navy base (two coats of Rimmel 60 Seconds nail polish in Aye, Aye, Sailor). I wanted a more indigo, slightly brighter (but still deep) blue, but the inky Aye, Aye, Sailor was the next closest thing.

I'm often immediately drawn to how a glitter polish looks like in the bottle and want to replicate the same effect on my nails. For that reason, I often prefer to wear glitter polishes on their own, even if the process calls upon a great deal of patience in painting multiple coats to achieve the density of glitter required. Polka.com however, seems more suited to being a glitter top coat. Its unique mix of coloured glitter can subtly transform the look of an entire manicure depending on what colour is selected as the base. I feel darker colours really complement and harmonise with Polka.com, giving the illusion of depth, compared with lighter, more pastel colours where the glitter appears disjointed, busy and very flat on the nail.

I've always been impressed with the superior quality of OPI glitter polishes (Teenage Dream, The Living Daylights and Lights of Emerald City are some of my favourites) and Polka.com is no exception. It may be a random observation, but the polish paired with Aye, Aye, Sailor brought to mind the bokeh-inspired packaging of the Revlon Lash Potion by Grow Luscious mascara (minus the green). It's a glitter concoction that recalls the energy of modern nightlife and the multicoloured lights of the city after dark.

March Favourites

As the song goes, two is better than one, and March has been about combinations. I've come to appreciate the value in mixing and layering individual eyeshadows, lipstick and nail polishes to produce different shades and effects. Certain products you barely use on their own could transform into exactly what you were after when put together. All it takes it a little experimentation and a good look at what you already have. I've also been loving two particular scents and the added functionality of a pump to my existing favourite foundation.

OPI Lights of Emerald City
You know when you persevere with a nail polish after two failed attempts, it must be something special. I wore this happily for most of March, including a stretch of a whole week before it started to peel, which is saying a lot since I usually get fed up of a nail polish after 1-2 days. Pairs perfectly with Revlon Pale Cashmere, though Sally Hansen Insta-Dri is a must in the process as the application is admittedly tedious.

Lush Twilight Shower Gel (Limited Edition)
This has become one of my favourite shower gels, except I only have this tiny 100g bottle to last me until the next time they sell it, if they ever do. It contains lavender flower infusion, lavender oil, benzoin resinoid, tonka absolute and ylang ylang oil. The scent is mainly sweet, a little woody with a touch of spice. It's warm, relaxing and enveloping, and best of all, the fragrance lasts on your skin after you get out of the shower. So annoyed I didn't pick up a bigger bottle at 50% off during the post-Christmas sales.

Too Faced Like a Virgin (Naked Eye palette) + Revlon Illuminance Crème Shadow in Wild Orchids (701)
Earlier in the month I dabbled in mattes, but my most worn eyeshadow these past couple of weeks has actually been a combination of a matte powder eyeshadow and a shimmery cream. I've been applying as a base the second shade from the Revlon Illuminance Crème Shadow in Wild Orchids, a sheer, cool violet with silvery-gold shimmer, then layering Too Faced Like a Virgin from the Naked Eye palette over it. The pairing reminds me of a darker, cooler, more purple-grey version of Laura Mercier African Violet. The lighter, shimmery base adds more warmth and depth to Like a Virgin, which can be too dark and grey on its own.

Kai Perfume Oil
Still obsessed. All other fragrances pale in comparison. I just haven't been interested in anything else. If I'm rushing out the door, I don't need to worry about selecting a perfume that I wouldn't mind spritzing on as I know I have this in my purse that I'll actually look forward to dabbing on my wrists.

BYS Longwear Lipstick in Beautifully Bare (L211) + Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Ginger Rose (131)
Another combination that I stumbled upon in March. I was re-watching My Everyday Makeup Tutorial from Jenn Im of clothesencounters and loved her lip colour in that video (Wet n Wild Bare It All). Not having that exact shade, I wanted to recreate something similar from my lipstick collection. I first tried on BYS Beautifully Bare, but it was too nude and didn't have the soft, natural rosiness I was after. So I decided to layer over it a lipstick that I rarely touch, Revlon Ginger Rose, which I've always found a bit too dark and mature-looking. I was surprised at how much I liked the end result, especially the way it just worked for my skin tone. Mixing lipstick can be a tricky affair, especially if two formulations aren't compatible, but these two melded together like a single colour. My newest go-to daytime neutral shade.

Foundation pump for NARS Sheer Glow
This doesn't really count as a favourite, but I finally remembered to pick up a NARS foundation pump from Mecca Cosmetica. It was only $4 which was cheaper than expected. Makes using my Sheer Glow so much easier as one pump is more than enough to cover my whole face and I feel I'm not wasting as much product.

And while we're talking about it, my love for NARS Sheer Glow only increases with time. It's my favourite of all the foundations I own, the best foundation I've used overall, and despite frequent comparisons to cheaper alternatives, they simply don't come close. It's actually much higher coverage than I initially gave it credit for. When used with a primer (I like Clarins Beauty Flash Balm for when I want my skin to look extra nice), it gives the most flawless, brightening finish. My only complaint is that it can look slightly cakey just above my chin if I scrutinise my face in the mirror, but that's a very minor issue.

l-r: Too Faced Like a Virgin, Revlon Wild Orchids (2nd shade), Like a Virgin and Wild Orchids layered together, BYS Beautifully Bare, Revlon Ginger Rose, Beautifully Bare and Ginger Rose layered together