Secret Easter Bunny 2013!

So as you all know I organize big nail polish swaps throughout the year. The current one is in full swing and today I got my AMAZING package. It technically came yesterday but I was at work/school and missed the delivery. So I had a VERY VERY VERY long day today waiting anxiously for 5:15 so I could get off work and pick up my package.

Inside the wrapping was this GORGEOUS box. Hand decorated.

Look how much effort my bunny put in to the packaging. I can not get over how gorgeous everything is.

And the sticker sealing the envelope matches everything. Not a single detail was ignored on this package!

And now on to the good stuff. The card I saved to open last! I can't even imagine how much time was put in to the packaging. And I am totally intrigued by the large box. I am going to save that one to last.

Now the tag says this is not part of my gift but if the Avante Garde is the LMDB one that I think it is, I am really really excited to see what this is! I will take a dupe of an LMDB if its just as good!!!

EEK! It is Avante Garde? Did she send me the wrong one? Nope. It turns out its Christmas Town. But its beyond gorgeous  And looks just the same! If you were afraid that this would look almost black (like I did and why I never wanted this one in the first place) it is so far from being an almost black colour. Its gorgeous and shimmery and I am so thankful I got it (who cares if she swatched it?!! She can swatch every polish she sends me for all I care!!) because this is a polish I would NEVER have purchased on my own!

So the next thing I opened was this thing! Not a single idea what could have been in here.

A cute little bunny pen that has been claimed by my mom. Apparently my parents now charge me rent in the house. How lucky is it that this was the exact value of my rent?! LMAO!

Now was this package!

And if you see the OU with the D for Dairy beside it ( I circled it), that is the symbol that says that package is kosher! So no worries there wonderful bunny! I love these and may have already eaten a big portion of the bag!!!!

I was shocked to find this one! I was pretty sure this was a limited edition polish that was gone. But I could be wrong. Either way its been sitting on my wishlist for IONS and its now finally mine :):):)!!

A new spring polish I have been wanting since the minute I saw the first preview swatches of it!

And I can not believe how much more there still is! Next up:

I think this might be my overall favourite brand of polish. It always held a spot high up on my list, right below Dior, but ever since they started making the full sized bottles with these amazing brushes, I think they might just have pushed Dior down to number two. I have yet to find a dud in the brand! And I have A LOT of them!

I must say I have yet to see or try an Elevation Polish I don't love.

A HOLO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So much more to go! Next up is this one! I am so thrilled to get this. I tried to purchase this a dozen times but have never been able to find it outside of a 3 pack, and I always have had the other colours in the package! So finally its MINE!

And another holo!!!!!!!

Now the box that had me on the edge of my seat! WHAT could possibly be in there? Hmmm......

A gorgeous box. Full of origami flowers.

Did she fold these all herself? There are TONS! It must have taken her all day if she did!

In the box were these three packages.

While at Sephora last time I swatched all these but I was really really well behaved and didnt buy them as I promised I was NOT BUYING anything until this exchange was done! Its a good thing! All three Illamasqua polishes I wanted!

And everything from my amazingly generous bunny all together! I can not begin to state how much I love everything!

And who was my wonderful, generous, amazing bunny? None other than the lovely Lauren (AKA GhstDreamer!!!)

BaByliss Pro Perfect Curl

Like many beauty obsessed girls on the net, I have my "list" of blogs I have to check everyday. I happened to stumble across the MOST unique hair tool I have ever seen. I hate curling irons. I really do. And while my hair is a curly frizzy mop, it only goes ONE WAY. My hair can either be straigtened completely, or it looks like this.

There is no "loose" curl. There is no anything. Corkscrew curls or I can straighten it. I have tried straightening and then curling it but traditional curling irons tend to frustrate me beyond words. So I have excepted a super straight hairdo or these corkscrew curls (images from 1997, 2009 and 2004 respectively). They were the first three images I found on my hard drive. But pretty much all of them are like that or they involve my hair in a pony.

So when I spotted the BaByliss Pro Perfect Curl on the ReallyRe blog I felt my heart go a flutter just a bit. I have NO IDEA if its available in North America, or just in the UK, but OH! MY! WORD! I cant get over how EASY this makes curling your hair look.

As you can see, this looks NOTHING like a traditional curling iron.

Perfect Curl automatically draws hair into the ceramic curl chamber where it is held and heated from all directions, gently creating curls. There are three different timer settings and three heat settings up to 230˚C which create looser waves and soft curls as well as more defined curls. Perfect Curl can be used on longer hair to mid-length styles and a range of different hair types from fine, delicate and coloured to thick and wavy hair.

To show you just how this works, here is a video from the company on the details on how you use it!

I am going to try to contact the company and see if I can find any details on where we Canadian/American girls can track it down. But in the mean time, what do you guys think of this?

Mash Up Collection For Orly Summer 2013

And a new summer collection from Orly is coming up. I am not quite as excited about this collection as I am the last one I just posted, but I think I may need the purple one. It looks totally gorgeous and I may be wrong but I think its a duochrome!

And when I got these promo shots I looked up and down all over for more info and found some actual LIVE pictures a blogger posted on her blog. I took this photo from the Chic Profile Blog and if you want to check out a bunch more photos go HERE to see them!

Mega Pixel FX Collection For Orly Spring 2013

Slip on some sparkle this spring with six new shades of pixelated perfection from the MegaPixel FX Collection. ORLY’s innovative 3D formula provides millions of glitter pixels for a multi-dimensional finish. Just two quick drying layers create a long-lasting, hi-res manicure.

Pro Tip: MegaPixel FX can be worn two ways

• For a 3D, textured finish, do not apply topcoat 
• To smooth out the texture, apply 1-2 coats of topcoat for a glossy shine 

The six lacquers in the MegaPixel FX Collection include:

1. Silver Pixel: Silver 3D Glitter Nail Lacquer with a Pixelated Finish 
2. Rose Pixel: Rose 3D Glitter Nail Lacquer with a Pixelated Finish 
3. Pink Pixel: Pink 3D Glitter Nail Lacquer with a Pixelated Finish 
4. Aqua Pixel: Aqua 3D Glitter Nail Lacquer with a Pixelated Finish 
5. Plum Pixel: Plum 3D Glitter Nail Lacquer with a Pixelated Finish 
6. Black Pixel: Black 3D Glitter Nail Lacquer with a Pixelated Finish

I think I need the four middle ones of these! The rose and pink ones can go to someone else. I DON'T need them!

Hayley Williams Collection for MAC Spring 2013

Now that MAC has shown us all what is a part of the Hayley Williams collection that is coming up, I see two things I really like. I am not so sure I would WEAR the lipstick, but I sure like it! And while I do love the polish, I dont think it is unique enough or special enough for me to forget how much I HATE MAC NAIL POLISHES!! I mean, you all know it happens. At least twice a year I find a MAC polish that I love so much I grab it only to remember that they are the most inconsistent and disappointing of all the polish brands. And the price tags just keep climbing. But I do like these two!

Also in the collection are:

• MAC Hayley Williams Lipstick in Sounds Like Noise (bright true orange matte) $15
• MAC Hayley Williams Eye Shadow in Daydreaming (frosted mid-tone coral) $15
• MAC Mineralize Skinfinish $29 in Lightscapade (soft candlelit beige with multidimensional shimmer) $29
• MAC Hayley Williams Nail Lacquer in Riot Gear (bright true orange) $16

New Pantone Emerald Polishes From Sephora

So while in the store the other day I swatched the Pantone Universe Emerald polishes. Above are the three from the mini set (metallic, shimmer, and glitter in order from left to right). And below is the Emerald polish that comes alone. (as you can see it has a weird kind of matte shimmer in it).

And here the single is in between the ones from the trio. I have it raised in all the photos so you can see it compared to the ones in the set. As you see, its different (just barely) than the matte metallic or the shimmer.

Yves Saint Laurent Bleu Majorelle

So I got this polish during the last VIB sale. At 20% off the price tag is still pretty hard to swallow, but the YSL polishes are GREAT. The brush on them is above average. Its firm enough but not too firm, wider than many but not too wide, and the application is impeccable. I can best describe the brush as being Dior-ish but not quite. I would have loved to pick up ALL of them, but at this point in time my store only carries three. And the other two did not in any way shape or from interest me. But I am digging this shade and thought I would share it with you. I highly recommend you picking this up. Its the PERFECT bright blue. 

Now I didn't know before I bought this, but this colour has a very special story behind it. I found this on Ommorphia Beauty Bar and thought I would share it with you:

"There’s an interesting connection/history behind this particular blue shade, and the house of YSL; M. Saint Laurent who often visited Marrakech, Morocco for design inspiration, fell in love with a botanical garden there created by French artist Jacques Majorelle. Along with his partner Pierre Pergé, M. Saint Laurent then bought the garden 1980 and not only lovingly restored it all, but added a new design to it with each visit, preserved it as a museum of Islamic art, and eventually had his ashes scattered there when he passed away in 2008. 

The original garden was created in 1924 by French artist Jacques Majorelle, who drew inspiration from the blue colour found in local Moroccan tiles, and he used this colour throughout the garden, painting the walls, fountains, and features of the villa in this intensely blue shade, finally trademarking the name “Majorelle Blue”.

And before ending this post, I found this promo pic from when the collection it was in first came out and loved it so much I just wanted to share it all with you.

Free Shaving Cream, Razors & A Year Supply Of Blades!

So there's this new thing called Harry's, and when you sign up (free -- just enter your email) and refer a certain amount of friends, you will get free stuff. 5 referrals = free shave cream, 10 = free razor/handle, etc.Here's my referral link for anyone interested. Thanks in advance. 

 

http://prelaunch.harrys.com/?ref=494c16d605

Julep Rock Candy Swatches & Illamasqua Speckled Nail Polish!

So I was in Sephora today and they did not yet have the speckled poslishes in stock but they had the testers for four of the five colours and so I thought I would swatch them All for you! The blue is Fragile, the purple is Speckle, The Green is Mottle and the Pink is Scarce.

The green looks EXACTLY like mint chocolate chip ice cream to me. And that is the best way I can describe the little dots in the polishes. Picture Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream and then change the mint green colour and you get the different polishes!

And here are the Sephora Rock Candy swatches. I owe you all a big apology. I almost didnt post these since they are so messy. I put them in my bag when I thought they were dry..... but they were not yet fully dry and it made a MESS!!! Big time mess! So I really do apologize!

But these are terrible (in my opinion). The jellys are very thick and goopy and with the exception of Wendy the colours are more than just sheer. I thought these would be like the Zoya jellies that were buildable. These are not really going to be buildable at all. Yeah.. sorry. Not much else to say about them. I am just not feeling these AT ALL!