Deborah Lippmann - Across the Universe

 Following on from my "Dancing in the Dark" post comes my next nail polish review of "Across the Universe" (another Deborah Lippmann polish).

Macroshot - no filter/edit

 Now I gotta tell you, I'm so obsessed with these glitter polishes - they're just so divine! One day I will figure out how to capture glitter polishes in photos so that it a true representation of what it actually looks like in real life.

As I suspected, this polish is only good on top of a base coat colour as the polish is more like a jelly polish/topcoat as shown below.

One coat - no base.

Two coats - no base.

 Two coats of polish isn't too bad but it still wasn't as vibrant as I wanted it to be. So, I went to my trusty polish collection and pulled out OPI's "Just Spotted the Lizard" from the Amazing Spiderman Collection.

Macro shot - no filter/edit

 Just Spotted the Lizard is a multichrome colour that reminds me of a peacock feather within the bottle, but once it is on it's more green and gold with not so much visible blue. In hindsight I would've picked a darker colour, or even a plain deep blue for the base colour like Power Dressing by Ciate.

Macro shot - no filter/edit.

 Now that I had the base coat on it was time to layer on "Across the Universe". Even with a base coat, I still needed quite a lot of layers for the glitter to look dense enough but I did love the end result! It's still a win for me even though there is a total of five layers of polish (excluding top coat ;p).

Three layers of glitter polish

 Even in the macro shots the glitter looks quite black but in reality it's more of a vibrant blue. This last shot (even though I have boosted the contrast) is more what it looks like in real life. This is definitely one to add to your collection if you LOVE glitter as much as I do! x

Deborah Lippmann - Dancing in the Dark

While I was in the Philippines two weeks ago, I went a little bit crazy at the Rustan's Department Store (similar to Myer/David Jones). There was MAC, Stila, NARS etc etc and at a much cheaper prices than Australia (only some brands, Bobbi Brown and Laura Mercier were on par).

I had seen Deborah Lippmann polishes online and in blogs but I had yet to come across any in the flesh until I went to Rustan's.

I IMMEDIATELY fell in love with the range of polishes, and I would dare say that it's now taken over as my number one brand (move over China Glaze/OPI!). The range is so classy and I love the colours and the glitter shades are divine and do not look tacky at all!!! LOVE!

So I bought 13 shades and was given an extra polish and nail file as a freebie. I'll be doing a blog post about each individual colour. I didn't know which one to start off with so I just put them all in a bag, shut my eyes and picked one out and the first one was "Dancing in the Dark".

Macro shot (no filter/edit)

 Capturing glitter polish in photos is REALLY hard but I've tried my hardest to show you how nice these glitters are! Dancing in the Dark is a grey glitter polish with multicoloured flecks throughout.

One coat - macro shot no edit.

Two coats no base (macro shot no edit)

 Even though the glitter coat was quite dense after only two coats I still wasn't 100% happy with it so I thought I would try it with a base colour to get more oomph out of it.
To really amp up the glitter/grey in this shade I grabbed OPI Number One Nemesis from the Amazing Spiderman Collection. This was also a really hard colour to capture on camera and is a grey metallic polish with gold flecks.

Number One Nemesis - macro no edit

Two coats of polish - no edit/filter

Two coats (macro shot - no edit/filter)

Once the two coats were dry I applied two coats of Dancing in the Dark and here was the result: AMAZING!!! Absolutely in love! Look at that SPARKLE! <3

Macro shot (no edit/filter)

I would definitely wear this as a top coat over another shade as I didn't really like it as a glitter on its own. The dried texture reminds me of the OPI Mariah Carey Collection without the roughness and without being tacky. This is a definite WIN for Deborah Lippmann!!! <3

Her Fashion Box April 2013

Sorry I'm so behind in posting this!!! Between organizing/sponsoring the Face of Alice Be Curious Competition, my holiday overseas and everyday life, I've been struggling to find time to blog but things are now back to being manageable.

The first of my many many posts to come is the review of the second ever Her Fashion Box.

This is what subscribers received this month:

• 1x Her Fashion Magazine
• 1x Fashion Cuff
• 1x Bondi Sands Self Tanning Foam
• 1x Bondi Sands Tanning Mitt
• 1x Schick Hydro Silk Razor
• 1x ModelCo Lip Duo (Nude Lipstick/Watermelon Gloss)
• 1x Eyedefine Eye Pencil

Now, I just need to add a comment here about HFB's AMAZING customer service!

After reading other subscriber's comments on the HFB facebook page I realized that I didn't receive the ModelCo Lip Duo. I thought, like many other subscription boxes, that you don't receive everything on the list so I sent them a quick message and I instantly got a response from them with an apology. They then advised me that a replacement was on its way to me in the mail and it arrived the next day. Now that's what you call customer service! BIG BROWNIE POINTS FOR HFB! ^_^

As an additional Thank You to those who replied to the survey I also received a deluxe sample of Redken's All Soft Argan-6 Oil. I ADORE this product. It smells divine and makes my hair feel luxurious. Another thing I liked about it was that a little product went a long way (especially when I compare it to the Moroccan Oil). Definitely one to repurchase! 

 CUFF LOVE

Trendy Cuff $39.95

Ear cuffs, hair cuffs, ankle cuffs - cuffs everywhere! So it's fitting that the accessory for the April box is a wrist cuff. Once again I found myself wanting the other style accessories (LOVING the feminine one - floral lace inspired).

The Trendy jewellery piece is once again a spike studded piece (March box Trendy subscribers received a spike hair cuff and a neon/spike necklace...). The cuff is solid and is well made and I was surprised that it fit over my wrists (I'm a big girl).

While I wasn't IN LOVE with it, I didn't hate it. I think I'll see what the next box brings me in terms of accessories and then decide whether or not I switch over to a Feminine or Classic subscription.

 (Cuffs pictured on the right, top to bottom: Classic, Trendy, Feminine)

 BONDI SANDS SELF TANNER

 (Self Tanning Foam 200ml $19.95 * Tanning Mitt $9.95)

 I didn't try this product as I just can't bring myself to put on fake tan. I'm actually quite dark already (being of Filipino descent, and also just returning from a week on the beach in the Philippines) so I just didn't see that there was a need to try this either. What I CAN say though it that it is the nicest smelling tanner I have come across. After working with Comptan.com.au for the FitX Competition I can say that I have smelt my fair share of fake tanning products and nothing smelt as nice as this! ^_^. If you were interested to see people's reviews of this product head on over to HFB review section to have a read.

 SCHICK HYDRO SILK RAZOR

Schick Hydro Silk Razor $10.00

 This was another miss for me. To be honest, I find the Schick/Gilette razors to be overpriced and underachieving. I find that they don't stay sharp for very long and the cartridge refills are just too pricey. As something that comes in a package it's great but I won't be going out to buy one in a hurry.

MODELCO LIP DUO & EYEDEFINE EYE PENCIL

 (Eyedefine Eye Pencil BLACK01 $26.00 * Lip Duo Nude Lipstick / Watermelon Gloss $24.00)

 I didn't know what to expect of the ModelCo makeup range when I opened it but boy did it sure surprise me! The end result - good AND bad.

Here's the good: The Eyedefine Eye Pencil in BLACK01 is extremely pigmented and soft. There is nothing that I hate more than when you buy an eye pencil and no matter how hard you press the pencil won't draw. This pencil is just AMAZING! It is a true black pencil that is so nice and smooth and smudges so nicely.

Eyedefine Black01 swatch on the back of my hand (macro shot - no filter)

No filter/edit - look at how black that liner is!! Excuse my face -there's no makeup on besides the pencil ;p

AND NOW.... for the BAD:

The attached sharpener that is on the lid, while it is a good sharpener, is SOOOOO hard to clean! I sharpened the pencil after testing this out and look at the mess it left (below). I even took out the little pencil sharpener cleaner at the very tip of the lid and no luck. I also tried a cotton bud but still nothing. If anything I think it made it worse.

Macro shot - soOOOooOo much to clean with no way of being able to!

BUT - it sharpened it very nicely! ^_^

The final thing that has thrown me off repurchasing this pencil is the fact that it is made in China (Made in PRC = People's Republic of China) and retails for $26.00! To give you some idea, other brands that have products made in China such as NYX, e.l.f, LA Colours etc sell their pencils at $4-6 each.

Now I'm not saying that you need to be a makeup brand snob ( I LOVE NYX) but I think that this pencil is well overpriced for the size as well as from a manufacturing stand point. Even though this pencil was great, I know of other branded pencils that are much larger with great payoff that are cheaper and do a better job.

I really wanted to look past the fact that it was made in China but I just can't. However, if it retailed for say $10.00 I would have definitely bought this again. Who knows? I may fall in love with it the more that I use it but for that price I highly doubt it.... it's disappointing.
.

I have the same problem in liking this lipstick..... $24.00 for a cosmetic product made in China. Once again there were good things about this product and bad.

Watermelon Gloss Only

 Watermelon Lip Gloss - the smell/taste of this gloss is so YUMMY! I just want to eat it all - lol! The gloss is very thin and didn't really last long on my lips. It was nice but I wouldn't rush out to buy it. I used to be a HUGE fan of their lip plumping gloss but I think they've changed their recipe for it because it's not as good as it used to be (I'm talking about 10 years ago when it first launched).

Nude Lipstick

The consistency of this lipstick was very creamy and quite messy. You'll definitely need a primer under this one as it moved quite a lot. I'm a huge fan of this colour but I found myself needing to have to reapply this one constantly and that's just irritating! So it would be a pass on this product!

Nude Lipstick & Watermelon Gloss together

Adding the gloss to the already creamy lipstick is a definite NO! The lipstick moved even more with the gloss on top and it also started to look patchy and uneven.... not a fan!

I really wanted to like this, I really did, especially after HFB went to the extra trouble of resending one to me but I just couldn't.

Here's hoping that the next makeup products they send me end up being good ones! ^_^

Jolz xxx