Long Lasting Nail Polish?

It's been a while. I've been busy, with shifting, studies, exams, assignments, you get the idea. Anyways, I'm all settled down now and have been staying in Australia for the last 4 months or so. It's great here, really, except for the lack of international brands in their markets. I've been deprived of my shopping for so long I can't even remember the excitement and adrenaline rush of shopping in a proper shopping mall. People are nice in general. Moderate paced, polite and courteous at most times. A totally different environment from where I spent the last 5 years of my life, which is Kuala Lumpur. Apart from being a shopping haven, I honestly don't think Kuala Lumpur is fit for living.

Anyways, I have all the time in the world now so I better update the beauty products that have made its way home to me. I'm going to list the brands that I've tried here and I'll do individual reviews or combined ones if I see fit. I finally tried Lush, the ever so popular, almost-free-of-preservatives beauty brand. I've discovered Ulta3 that is well-known for their nail polishes. I've also got to experiment with Illamasqua cosmetics, got myself a bottle of their polish, and boy, they wear like steel. Local brands like Australis, Face of Australia (oh, even Napolean Perdis) are not bad at all. Speaking of which, Australis came out with an AC on Tour Contour and Highlight Kit that is very similar to the Anastasia contour kit at a fraction of a price. I've managed to snag myself one last palette I believe and it's been sold out ever since - all the Pricelines I went to did not stock it and it wasn't available on their website either.

And yes, Priceline is a popular drugstore but I feel they're more like a makeup store than a pharmacy, really. You'll see loads of young girls from students to working adults, mostly women, at the makeup aisles who are more concerned with beauty. Other drugstores (or chemists as they call it here) are populated with more mature consumers, from working adults to retirees, both men and women who will be hanging around the fish oil area, or some vitamin / supplements area. I swear the Marketing Research subject is making my brain compartmentalise everything even though the semester is over.

But, it's much easier typing away without having to reference anything and I can do it with passion. I went crazy today and bought myself many bottles of nail polish. I've been wondering these few days, which is the best, long lasting nail polish? Particularly a vampy red shade. Because who would like to re-touch their nail polish every two days? Chipped nails do not only look unkempt, it's disgraceful. I've done some research on the Internet, and lo and behold the best nail polish that in terms of long lasting as voted by consumers is a $2 cheapie, Sinful Colors (In the US, in Australia it's AU$4.95.) The most expensive Chanel nail polish ranked second last in the nominated polishes. Surprise, surprise. Covergirl, Sally Hansen, and Revlon among others made it to the list as well. I particularly liked the video in this link.

I've been asking some friends around for the best long lasting polishes, and I got responses such as Bourjois So Laque and Skinfood (Korean brand) Nail Vita polish. I tried looking for the Bourjois one in Priceline as they had this 2-day 40% off all cosmetics sale. But they've sold out on vampy red shades. I'm a sucker for vampy red shades cause it's sexy. And fierce. And feminine. I could go on. I know this is post is so wordy, but my absence is similar to a friend you haven't seen in ages and there's loads to catch up on!

Here are two pictures of my haul today. I'm really excited about the Ulta3 Watercolour nail polishes that everyone is asking about. They're all the rage! Hint: They're dupes for the OPI Sheer Tints. They're available at Terry White Chemists so hurry and get yours as these are limited edition!

(L-R) Sets: Issey Miyake Pleats Please Nail Polish Set, Ulta3 Special Effects Watercolour Nail Polish Set.

(L-R) Individual Bottles: Maxfactor Nailfinity in Ruby Fruit, Covergirl in Wine Stain, Sinful Colors in Georgia, Sinful Colours in Kissy, Maybelline in Fuchsia Fever, Maybelline in Blue Freeeze.


I believe the Issey Miyake Pleats Please one was a gift with purchase together with the perfume of the same name, but they were selling it in Cosmetics and Fragrances Direct as is. Sinful Colors discontinued the colour that I bought which is Georgia, a deep vampy red. (It's not on their website anymore) I wonder why. It's such a gorgeous, luxurious, timeless, elegant, and expensive looking shade. It's the last bottle in the clearance section and I was so glad I managed to find it. I hope Sinful Colors will consider re-producing Georgia as well as other classic colours like Mirror Mirror and Truth or Dare. It's terribly wrong to discontinue these shades and for such a price and most importantly being long lasting, I would be a loyal consumer. For life!

So, my question to you is, which are the longest lasting nail polishes that you swear by? Comment below, I'd love to hear from you!



Love,

Vicki

Dark Vampy Lips

It's the time of the year again! Time to flaunt those dark, vampy shades of reds, wines and plums on your puckers. It's only normal during autumn / winter seasons. Though I live in a humid country, these bold lips make a statement especially for attending dinner parties that are aplenty during Christmas and the end of the year. I think the lip colours would definitely go hand in hand with the season's heavier fabrics paired with ornate patterns such as velvet, brocade and jacquard. I love, love, LOVE these dark lip colours and would wear them everyday if I could. There's an air of mystery and sophistication about these shades. Let the pictures speak for themselves :

 First up. A bold, deep berry red with slight brown undertones. Looks really good on Asian (yellow-undertone) skin, right? 

Same lip colour with heavier eye makeup as compared to the picture above. I've always read that the only way to balance out a bold lip, is to go easy on the eyes. But I think we need to add on a little drama instead to balance the whole look. We don't have features as distinctive as our European counterparts so the heavier eye makeup would do us justice. (For those with smaller eyes) By heavier eye makeup I mean pile on the neutrals but skip the glitter. 

You wouldn't want your lips to stick out like a sore thumb, would you? The trick is to add depth to eyes; this will create a more balanced look. Skipping eye makeup altogether will make the rest of the face look washed out so beware! 

Another lip colour. This is a very, very dark plum with purple undertones. There is a difference between this and the lip colour above. It looks distinctive in my phone but on my computer screen it's rather similar. Anyways, this is much darker and especially at night, this looks close to a brown-black. But you'll still see some reddish tones due to the purple undertone. Gorgeous colour that brings out brown eyes! 

And you'll never guess where these lip colours are from! You'll be pleasantly surprised just like I am!

Update
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