Winter Haul! Makeup Goodies & More!

Hello everyone! Back to blogging after my school exams! This week, I'm excited to share with you all my birthday goodies and Christmas presents, all in a haul format. I'd also like to say that I am NOT a rich or spoiled girl, and that I saved up to buy myself a present and the other gifts were given to me by my very lovely friends. I'm truly blessed to have them in my life and I can't imagine what I'd do without them!

First of all, here is a picture of my lovely Christmas bear given to me by my boyfriend Gordon :) I haven't ever had the pleasure of getting such an awesome gift, much less from someone so special! It's the FAO Schwarz 150th Anniversary Collectible Plush Bear, and he comes with a cute varsity jacket that's oh-so-soft and has velour sleeves! I usually don't like stuffed animals, but for something with such sentiment, I'm instantly biased! Absolutely LOVE this gift.

Secondly, makeup goodies! I was lucky enough to snag the Urban Decay NAKED 2 palette at Sephora last Wednesday, right when they had restocked! They were out of stock the last two times I went to the store, so I was excited to be able to get it! I love the shadows included in this palette, and the packaging is super durable, is sleek, and wards off fingerprints well. I will probably include this in a future eye tutorial because I love the combination of looks that can come from it! Urban Decay shadows never fail to disappoint in the pigmentation department and quality- they are buttery smooth and never grainy.

I also got one of my Secret Santa wishlist gifts, which was the OPI Skyfall Bond-ettes Set. It has four mini nail polishes from the OPI Skyfall collection released recently in celebration of 50 years of 007 and the release of Skyfall (amazing movie by the way!) The four colours are GoldenEye, The Spy Who Loved Me, The World Is Not Enough, and Live and Let Die. I currently have The Spy Who Loved Me on my nails and I love it! The same quality of OPI, in mini format, so that I can finally finish a bottle!

Nailing It! Essie in Angora Cardi

Since we are well into the fall season now, I decided I would share my first fall manicure! While looking through my colours, one in particular stood out to me: Essie's Angora Cardi because it was a unique shade of purple, and the name is super cute as well! It's bold without being vampy or edgy at all, and changes between royal purple and burgundy depending on the lighting. It also lasted a week with minimal chipping, and I'm really impressed with this shade! I think it fits in wonderfully with the theme of fall and can easily match any type of outfit, as it doesn't come off as an immature colour.

Overall, I'm really starting to like Essie as a whole now. They have really grown from a pale pastels kind of brand to one that covers the entire colour spectrum!

Nailing It! Essie in Meet Me At Sunset

Summer is still in full swing (even though it's cloudy and the rain is brooding outside as I type this!) and what better way to get in a happy mood than to do your nails, right? Last night, I went with two of my friends to Shoppers Drug Mart and picked up these amazing Essie polishes and I just HAD to blog about them straight away! I'm only wearing one of them right now, but here's a picture of both of them! Pictured are, L to R, Angora Cardi and Meet Me At Sunset, both from Essie:

The one I'm currently wearing is Meet Me At Sunset. It was originally released with their Summer 2011 Braziliant collection, but I think it's made its way into their permanent line. Cute name aside, this polish is representative of the kind of colours I'm just recently getting into, such as corals and oranges. I don't really want to go full-on red with my nail colour, I'm not quite sure why! When I saw this orange-red creme, I gravitated towards it instantly. On my nails, it reminds me of the colour of a tomato and has a great, shiny finish. It only took me one coat of polish to achieve opacity, which means I save lots of time in application! It also dried the fastest of all the polishes I've ever tried, even compared to my other Essies!

I used one coat of Sally Hansen base+top coat, then one coat of Meet Me At Sunset, then a final layer of the same Sally Hansen top coat. It only took me 15 minutes to do these nails, and they were almost dry! I do recommend leaving them alone for at least half an hour afterwards, though, just to avoid ruining your fresh, new manicure!

I will definitely keep wearing this colour well into fall! After that, I think I will switch and try Angora Cardi! Loving my new Essies so far! :)

Nailing It! Essie Mirror Metallics in Penny Talk

With the summer Olympics just beginning, I can't imagine who isn't pumped to represent their country and root for their favourite athletes! The Olympics always bring a cheerful mood and it's really amazing to see all those athletes win their hard-earned and well-deserved medals! With this theme in mind, I'll be bringing to you one of the latest colours from Essie's Mirror Metallics collection, Penny Talk. This is a metallic finish polish that exudes the colour of a brand new penny!

Two coats, with Sally Hansen base + top coat

I rarely rave so much about a metallic polish because the finish can be tricky to work with at times, which is true with this polish as well. With this shade, you have to be extremely careful in application not to go over the same spot twice, until you are sure it is ABSOLUTELY dried and won't budge, otherwise you will end up spreading the polish around, creating unsightly lines and bubbles! That being said, it achieves opacity quickly and no more than two coats should do the trick! The only reason it looks chipped and worn here is because I went to a family friend's farm yesterday and they got a little beat up...I plan on redoing these babies ASAP but I just couldn't wait to share the Penny Talk love!

However, I feel that the rose gold finish of the shade, combined with its uniqueness in the nail polish market, definitely make it worth the slight struggles with application. While metallic finishes are still not my fave (I prefer cremes and jellies) this polish holds a special place in my collection!

Nailing It! Sephora by OPI in How Cute is That?

My rule of thumb for buying a good polish of course involves price, ingredients (3 Free!) and ease of application/removal. However, one of the most important aspects, is, of course, colour! Any shade of nail polish can change easily with opacity and the range of tones I like to use varies with each season. For summer, I like to keep it simple with pastels and bright colours that evoke thoughts of the warm weather and bring a tropical feel. This shade is a perfect coral mix of strong yellow-based pink undertones and orange. On my NC30 skin, it appears more frequently as an orange. This picture was taken in artificial lighting so my skin appears dark, but the polish is true to life.

I did these nails in two coats for a nice opacity, you can barely see the nail whites afterwards! I also used Sally Hansen Ultimate Shield as a base and top coat. I wore it for five or so days and there was no chipping whatsoever. As an added bonus, it's really easy to remove and goes off with a few swipes of remover! I think I will be wearing this a lot!