Spotted: MORE Sally Hansen Diamond Strength No Chip Nail Color

Hey everyone,

So i have posted a 'Spotted' before about the new Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Nail Colors that i saw at Target (see the post here) and i did mention that i was disappointed with the limited selection and the lack of a nice display. 

Well, today i was at Priceline (for the third time in four days LOL) because i wanted to get the Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in Rockstar Pink. While i was there, i was really excited to see a new display for the Diamond Strength Colors right next to the new Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear display. What's even better is that this display had twice as many shades than the ones i'd seen at Target:

There are 17 colours in the display plus a new Diamond Flash Fast Dry Top Coat which i may try after i finish my current Insta-Dri one. Anyway, the colours are:

Front Row L-R:

Flawless

Platinum

Champagne Toast

Must-Have Iris

Honeymoon Red

Nude Shimmer

Antique Bronze

Middle Row L-R:

Black Diamonds

Diamonds

Bride to Be

Princess Cut

Pink Promise

Lavender Marquis

Back Row L-R:

Fuchsia Bling Bling

Royal Romance

Save the Date

Diamond Flash Fast Dry Top Coat

These new Diamond Strength polishes retail for $AUD13.95 at Priceline, and whilst i'm not usually one to pay full price at Priceline (i always wait for things to go on sale, which is very often), i picked up Diamond and Princess Cut. 

Although this isn't the full line of these new Diamond Strength colours, it's a great start, especially with the new Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear colours too. I really love the new shape of the bottles and can't wait for the rest of the colours to be released here :)

Oh, and yes, i did pick up Rockstar Pink!

Have any of my fellow Australian girls seen this in their Pricelines? Let me know what you got!

 - Cathy

Sally Hansen Mint Sorbet

Hellooooo :)

I just had a ton of Lindt chocolate balls, so don't mind me. Anyway, in my last post, i talked about the new Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear polishes that are now available in Australia. As i said, i picked up Grey Area and Mint Sorbet and i knew i was going to have to try Mint Sorbet out asap.

And i'm so glad i did! This is ONE coat with topcoat:

Mint Sorbet is a really beautiful, creamy mint green, as the name suggests. A universally flattering colour, i'd say and perfect for summer/spring! 

However, the formula was a little thicker than i would have liked but it was still very workable and it dried pretty quickly in spite of it. The thickness of the formula was actually what made this a one-coater, but if you don't like thick polishes, a little thinner will fix it :)

So far, i've been really impressed with all the Sally Hansen polishes i've tried and i'm super glad that they're easily accessible and quite affordable, even in Australia.

 - Cathy

Spotted: New Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear Colours

I spent today studying at the library and getting as much work done as possible before i get back to school on Monday :( Where did my holidays go? Sigh...

Anyway, before i went home i decided to browse through Priceline to see if they had anything new and i was so excited when i saw that there were some new colours in the Sally Hansen display! The Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear line is definitely not new in Australia but there were a lot of new colours i had never seen before (at least, not in stores).

It also looks like the Insta-Dri polishes have been restocked too but i'm not particularly drawn to any of the colours in that line so i'm not up to date with any new colours released. I don't think any of them are new though, judging by the fact that they all have their corresponding names on the display.

Take a look...

Ahh the excitement of seeing a newly restocked display :) 

Now i assumed that all the polishes on the right shelf (in the first photo) were not new because they had the display labels underneath whereas the left side with all the new ones did not. So i am assuming that both rows on the left are new, although you may have seen them before in your local stores. 

I do recommend that if you're in Australia and haven't seen these yet, rush out to your nearest Priceline to see if they've restocked :)

I picked up Mint Sorbet and Grey Area because i fell in love with them as soon as i saw swatches and they were the only ones i could get as i was short on time. I'll definitely be going back to slowly peruse the display next time!

UPDATE 25/1/12: I went back to Priceline and saw that they had put out a separate display for these new polishes as well so here's a photo (sorry for the blurriness!):

I have updated the list of colours that are available:

Front Row L-R:

Pink Satin

Bubblegum Pink

Twisted Pink

Sunkissed

Ivy League

The Real Teal

Marine Scene

Blizzard Blue

Blue It

Pacific Blue

Back Row L-R:

Virtual Violet

Purple Potion

Gunmetal

Grey Area

Wet Cement

Golden-I

Plum Power

Rockstar Pink

Red Carpet

Mint Sorbet

*Strobe Light* (not in the special display but is a new colour; next to Rockstar Pink in the third photo)

 - Cathy

50 Follower Giveaway Winner!

Thank you so much to everyone who entered my 50 Follower Giveaway! I really appreciate all the suggestions and feedback for this blog and i will definitely try to improve throughout the course of 2012 :)

Now for the winner...

AGNIESZKAZG!

Congratulations! You've won a Chi Chi Crystal Top Coat!

I've already notified the winner via email. If i do not receive a response within 48 hours, i will select another winner.

Thank you again to all entrants and don't forget to enter my current giveaway!

 - Cathy

Essie Jazz + Chi Chi Crystal Top Coat [PIC HEAVY!]

Seems like forever since i did a nail polish post but finally, here's a beautiful combination for you. Now i promise the review and comparison of the Australis and Chi Chi flakies is still coming but i couldn't resist trying one of them out (they were just sitting on my desk, calling to me!). I decided to use the Chi Chi Crystal Top Coat and layered it over Essie Jazz.

Although i do agree that the sheer awesomeness of flakies is fully expressed when layered over dark colours, i do love a subtle flakie :)

Warning: this post is pic heavy. I tried to capture the gorgeous flakies. 

Phew...*wipes forehead*

Both polishes were a dream to apply - easy, smooth application, fast drying time and both dried with a really glossy finish. This was two coats of Essie Jazz - a creamy beige-nude - and one coat of the Chi Chi Crystal Top Coat. I really like this combination - it's subtle but still really beautiful!

What do you think?

 - Cathy

Spotted: Australis Flakie?! Flakie dupes?! Maybelline NY Fashion Limited Edition Baby Lips

This has got to be my longest blog post title yet..

Another exciting 'Spotted' post today! Australis has come out with a new display of polishes. I spotted this display in my local Priceline and haven't seen it anywhere else as of yet.

The display includes a bottle of See Ya Later nail polish remover (apparently with 25% more free!), Crystal Colour Top Coat (Speck-tacular), Black Crackle and three new shades which i have yet to find the names of.

Now you may be drawn to that first bottle of polish in the display and yes, it's true what you're thinking. It does look familiar.

Australis Crystal Top Coat (Speck-tacular) & Chi Chi Crystal Top Coat

Possible dupe?

Seems like Australian companies are really getting on board with the flakie top coats...first piCture pOlish, then Chi Chi, now Australis?

Australis nail polishes retail for $AUD 8.95 at Priceline stores, so i suggest you Aussie ladies rush down to your local Pricelines to check if they have this new collection.

I will be doing a review and comparison of the Australis and Chi Chi flakies soon :)

Oh, and just a quick note for those who are interested in the Maybelline Baby Lips range, i saw this new one at Priceline:

Maybelline Baby Lips Loves NY (Limited NY Fashion Edition)

I picked this one up because i love the packaging and i'm a sucker for lip balms and limited edition products. I haven't heard anything about this new Baby Lips lip balm at all, i just saw it in the display with the rest of them. Sadly, i have yet to see the tinted Baby Lips lip balms in Australia :(

 - Cathy

Spotted: Chi Chi Top Coats

Helloooo :) You may know recently i had my 50 Follower Giveaway (winner will be announced soon, i promise!) in which the prize was a Chi Chi Crystal Top Coat - a supposed dupe for piCture pOlish's Festival. See Little Nails' comparison of the two here.

Chi Chi Crystal Top Coat comes from Chi Chi's new line of top coats featuring the Crystal Top Coat, Silver Crackle, White Crackle, Black Crackle, Gold Crackle and a Matte Top Coat:

These retail for $AUD 12.95 at MYER but there's often a 20-30% sale on Chi Chi. I got mine on 25% off for $AUD 9.71. Although Target also carries Chi Chi, i've only seen these new top coats in MYER.

So if you've been lemming piCture pOlish Festival but don't want to pay shipping, these are a great dupe. Unfortunately you cannot buy Chi Chi online as far as i know and the Chi Chi website has been down for construction for a million years (just kidding!...not really.)

Stay tuned for another Australian flakie :)

 - Cathy

Spotted: Sally Hansen Diamond Strength No Chip Nail Color

So i was in Target hunting for the rest of the Essence Vampire's Love polishes for swaps, and after clearing out the entire display, i asked the sales assistant if there were any more. She gave me a weird look after sneaking a peek at my basket, filled with the 15 or so polishes from the display LOL.

Don't even get me started on the lady at my local Priceline who always greets me with a facial expression that reads "oh no, not her again..."

Anyway, today I'm back with another 'Spotted' post - this time about the Sally Hansen Diamond Strength No Chip Nail Color. I was really surprised to see these since i didn't expect them to be coming to Australia so soon. 

I'm not sure how long they've been out but i had never seen these in stores before. I found these at Target and was a little annoyed that they didn't have a separate display for these. Then again, my Target doesn't seem to ever have separate displays for Sally Hansen so i will look around and see if Priceline has them.

I didn't include the labels written underneath for each colour since the colours weren't in the right slots in the display.

From memory the colours that were in the display were:

Flawless

Platinum

Must-Have Iris

Champagne Toast

Nude Shimmer

Antique Bronze

Black Diamonds

Honeymoon Red

Save the Date (older, rounded Diamond Strength bottle)

Blushing Bride (older, rounded Diamond Strength bottle)

Obviously there are more colours in the line and i really hope they bring out the rest of them! I'll definitely have to hunt around Priceline to see if maybe they have brought out this line with more of the colours.

 - Cathy

Revlon Copper Penny & OPI Silver Shatter

Bonjour tout le monde! (Hello everyone!). How are we all today? Good i hope. I'm trying to enjoy my holidays whilst trying to get all my work done before school starts again in two weeks. Sigh...

Anyway, today, we have Revlon Copper Penny which i fell in love with as soon as i saw swatches of it. Every time i saw it in stores, it practically begged me to buy it. Somehow, i managed to hold off until there was a sale and i couldn't wait to try it. I also added some OPI Silver Shatter for an accent nail.

First off, this is two coats of Revlon Copper Penny by itself with top coat. Oh, and there was no sunlight today so these photos are all indoors with artificial lighting :)

I am so in love with this colour and i'm super excited now that it's finally mine *insert photo of Gollum clutching the One Ring "my precioussss..."* Haha, just kidding. 

But Copper Penny is one of the Revlon Metallics and it's a really nice colour that would flatter most skin tones. Personally, i think this would look even more amazing on someone with fair skin or tanned skin, but since i have medium skintone, the coppery-bronze shimmer doesn't stand out as much.

Copper Penny is such a unique colour too, and the best part? You can get away with just one thick coat. I love metallics because they're not just like regular frost/foil finishes that should dry smooth but with obvious brush strokes, they're  a little chunkier and gritty in texture :)

Then i decided to see what it would look like with OPI Silver Shatter on top:

I never really got hyped up for the shatter/crackle trend but i don't dislike them. I think they're great for accent nails and I really like this combination too. Although, i didn't want to use the Silver Shatter over the entire mani because i don't think it would have done any justice to the beauty of Copper Penny :)

What do you think of this combination?

 - Cathy

Zoya Neeka

Hope you're all enjoying your week! I have a gorgeous polish to show you today!

If you don't already know, my favourite nail polish colour is purple and Zoya Neeka is no exception. Neeka is from Zoya's Fall 2010 Smoke and Mirrors collection which just happens to be my favourite collection from Zoya. This is two coats with top coat:

Neeka comes out a bit darker on the nail than it appears in the bottle but it's still a gorgeous colour! It's a lovely dusty, dark blue-toned purple with gold shimmer. The gold looks like it would be glitter in the bottle but once applied it's a more subtle, barely noticeable shimmer.

Zoya describes Neeka as "...a greyed amethyst with subtle red duochrome shimmer and bright gold glitter accents..."

This one applied wonderfully with no bubbles or dragging. Unfortunately i don't know any stores that sell Zoya in Australia so i'd say e-tailers are your best bet. I received mine in a swap over on MUA.

I know Zoya Neeka is a bit of a cult favourite. What's your take on it?

 - Cathy

100 Follower Giveaway! [CLOSED]

Oh My Gosh! 100 followers?! That's crazy! I cannot believe i have reached 100 followers already! Thank you so so so so so much for all your support and feedback to this blog. I really cannot even begin to express my gratitude and appreciation for all my followers.

So, naturally, to celebrate, i'm holding a giveaway!

Now i know that a lot of people are looking for the Essence Vampire's Love TE Collection which i posted about previously, so, one lucky winner will receive the full set of nail polishes from this collection:

Gold Old Buffy, Into The Dark, True Love, The Dawn Is Broken & Hunt Me If You Can

Alright, so i figured that i would try out Rafflecopter for this giveaway. Let's hope it all goes smoothly! Giveaway closes February 1st 2012 and is open internationally. Good luck to all entrants!

Spotted: Essence Vampire's Love TE Collection

Hey all, i got some good feedback for the last 'Spotted' i did for the Essence Sun Club collection so i'm definitely going to try and continue with these posts and coincidentally i have another Essence collection for you guys.

This one has been out in Australia for a while (at least in my Target) but they recently restocked the display so i quickly snapped a photo for you guys.

Essence Vampire's Love TE Collection

This collection consists of two lip stains (Bloody Mary & True Love), blush gelee (Bloody Mary), shimmer powder (Lil' Vampire), volumizing lash powder (Eye Need You), five nail polishes (Gold Old Buffy, Into the Dark, True Love, The Dawn is Broken, Hunt Me If You Can), an Eau De Toilette (Vampire's Love) and an eyeshadow palette (Love at First Bite)

I love this collection and i picked up 3 of the 5 polishes (all but Gold Old Buffy and Hunt Me If You Can) and i'm still debating whether or not to get the Eau De Toilette.

This collection is very popular at the moment and it is limited edition so if you like what you see i highly recommend getting your hands on them now! If you'd like to swap with me for anything from this collection, let me know and i'll see if i can get most of the products before they start disappearing again :S

 - Cathy

Kreative Blogger Award!

I cannot even believe how good this past week has been for me. First the Liebster Blog Award and now this?

Thank you so much to Nicole @Epitome of Superficiality for tagging me with this lovely award! She's a fellow Aussie blogger and as much as i do love reading blogs from all over the world, it warms my heart to read a blog written by someone who has access to the same brands as i do and seeing their opinions on makeup and nail polish in Australia.

So without further ado, let's get onto the rules of this fantastic Kreative Blogger Award. (Before i do, i must repeat the sentiments of Nicole and say that spelling everything with a K is a little too Kardashian for my liking).

Rules:

1. Link back to the person who gave this award

2. Complete the form below

3. Award 10 other blogs and let them know in a comment or email

4. Share 7 random thoughts about yourself

Form:

1. Name your favourite song:

I don't really have a favourite song of all time but right now, i'm loving It Will Rain - Bruno Mars!

2. Name your favourite dessert:

Ooh difficult choice...probably Cheesecake! Don't make me choose a flavour...

3. What ticks me off:

People opening my bedroom door when walking in and leaving without closing it. Also, when people don't knock or alert me before just walking into my room. (I live with a lot of people, so personal space is a big deal XP)

4. When I'm upset I:

Cry (depending on how upset i am) and distract myself with homework or the internet.

5. My favorite pet:

I've only ever had two fighting fish and they were my dads so i don't really know what to say.

6. Black or white:

Black.

7. Biggest fear:

Being alone - i don't mean eating a meal by myself, i mean living my life without others to share my experiences.

8. Everyday attitude:

It's inevitable that bad things will happen but don't let that stop you from enjoying life. If anything, knowing that bad things will happen should make you appreciate what you've got.

9. What is perfection:

Knowing there is always more but accepting and appreciating what is already yours.

10.Guilty pleasure:

Decadent desserts e.g. macarons.

10 Blogs:

1. Fingers Polish Mania

2. The Color Palette

3. The Polish Haven

4. Aly Loves Lacquer

5. I am Definitely Addicted...

6. The TraceFace Philes

7. Polish Galore

8. Ashley is PolishAddicted

9. Copy That, Copy Cat

10. Midnight Manicures

Check out these lovely blogs if you haven't already!

7 Random Thoughts About Me:

1. I can't do anything if my bed isn't made.

2. My hair almost reaches my hip.

3. My favourite movie of all time is Titanic and i still can't watch it once without crying even though i've watched it literally over 100 times.

4. I made 1000 origami cranes two years ago and i still keep some of them in a glass jar on my desk

5. I have an obsession with rings (i bought twenty in 2011 after purging some at the end of 2010 :S)

6. If i could choose to excel in any skill/talent, it'd be singing.

7. My favourite number is 9 but it doesn't hold any particular significance as a 'lucky' number.

Thanks again to Nicole for giving me this award and congratulations to the ten blogs who have now received it. Enjoy!

 - Cathy