Your daily dose of pretty: Pin Up Girl Suede Peeptoes

I am on a strict shoe-no-buy at the moment. Absolutely no shoe buying for Selina. None. Because of that whole "Oh look we have no hot water for two whole days and have to pay the plumber and the electrician hundreds of dollars which could have bought Selina lots of shoes" thing.

And those two pairs of shoes I ordered in the New Look sale? Well they totally don't count, obviously. Sorry, what's that you say - why don't they count? Well, because ... well they're ... because it's ... because I totally have a good reason, ok?

So, it's a really good thing that these mind-blowingly sexy shoes from Pin Up Girl Clothing are sold out:

Yep, really good thing they're sold out, I don't think I could resist them. Especially since before they sold out they were a very reasonable US$42.00.

But wait! What's that you say? The purple ones aren't sold out?

 Oh. Oh my. Oh goodness.

So, these stunningly gorgeous shoes in this beautiful dusky purple which I am totally Not Buying are also US$42.00 from Pin Up Girl Clothing.

Not buying.

Really, seriously, not buying.

Not clicking on 'Add To Cart'.

Totally having restraint.

Gotta go now, buying shoes.

Today's nail: Rimmel Green Grass, and my Christmas polishes

My polish stash got a few additions on Christmas Day.  The Eccentric English Boyfriend gave 14 Year Old Daughter and me these:

Four Miki minis (hehe - Many Miki Minis - try saying that five times fast!). Miki never name their polishes, or even give them numbers, but aren't they lovely? The two oranges are especially appealing.

Another two from EEB:

A brand called Scandal, who I've never heard of before - no prizes for guessing which brand was the inspiration for their bottles! Hot Orange and Lavender Purple (which is less blue and more purple than it appears in the photo).

From 14 Year Old Daughter:

Own brand polishes from a local bargain store The 1 2 3 Dollar Store, no names, numbers 05, 32 and 22.

And from EEB's sister in England:

Rimmel Blue Vogue and Green Grass. I've seen a few Rimmels here in New Zealand, but never these colours. Proof that what we get here is a limited range.

And here is Rimmel Green Grass:

Argh! Why is that middle photo rotated? What are you doing Blogger?

Anyway, awesome bright bright (very nearly neon) green which my camera didn't capture very well.  The bottom picture is closest, but it's still brighter than that.  Nice application, although a little sheer so it took three coats. I disagree with the name though - Green Grass is totally wrong for it.  If I had naming rights I'd call it something cool like 'Alien Blood' or 'Ectoplasm' because that's what it makes me think of!

Your daily dose of pretty: J Peterman French Liberation Dress

I so need this dress. And also I so need to be about a foot taller to actually wear it!

Oh to be tall and willowy so I could swan around in this feigning a French accent and pretending to be all mysterious. The French Liberation Dress is US148.00 (down from US$199.00) on J Peterman, whose site is well worth checking out for their gorgeous reproductions of vintage clothes, and the lovely descriptions that accompany all their listings.

Today's nail: O.P.I. Merry Midnight

Three words for you my pretties:

Oh.

My.

Goodness-gracious-me!

(That last photo is the blurry "ooooh look at all the pretty sparkly glitteries" photo!)

I want to meet the person at O.P.I. who came up with this colour and I want to give them a great big slobbery kiss.  This colour is amazing - a dark grape coloured base (three coats to opaque) packed with different coloured glitters AND pink flakies. Flakies!  Lovely formula and application - O.P.I. please please pretty please make more polishes like this one!

Merry Midnight is part of the Holiday Wishes 2009 Collection - I picked it up when I was out shopping the other day, even though I normally prefer to order my O.P.I.'s from overseas because even with freight it still works out cheaper than buying them at the ridiculously expensive price they go for here in New Zealand. I'm so glad I caved and bought it!

Today's nail part two: Essie Rock Candy

This is the second of the three polishes in the Essie Sweet Time of the Year Collection - my review of Mint Candy Apple is here.

Rock Candy is a sheer pale pink:

If I was a lover of pinks and sheers I would really like this colour I think. As it is I definitely don't dislike it - if that makes sense. What you see here is four coats and there is still very visible nail line. This would be a lovely colour for french manicures, although it was a little prone to streaking so required careful application. Apart from the streaking the jelly formula was nicely thin and easy to apply.

Your daily dose of pretty: Newport News Plunge Neck Swimdress

Despite what this morning's rain would have us believe, it's summer my pretties. At least here. I apologise to my Northern Hemisphere readers currently swathed in layers of clothes in front of the fire!

Of course summer means swimsuits, and I am desperately in need of a new one. I have a perfectly serviceable tankini - or at least it would be if I weren't a size or two larger now than I was last time I wore it. So, I think my new swimsuit needs to cover the curvy wobbly bits that I'm not really so fond of right at the moment, and this one fits the bill nicely:

I like the ruching at the bust and the not-too-overdone ruffles at the neckine, and the skirt would do a nice job of covering up those curvy wobbly bits.  The Plunge Neck Swimdress is US$39.oo to US$44.00 on Newport News.

Today's nail: ASOS Paint by Ciate in Alexa

I finally received my Eyeko ASOS Exclusive Vintage polish.  I ordered it from ASOS and then Eyeko did a promotion where they were giving it away with other orders on their site which was just typically bad timing on my part! Of course there was no way I was going to order just one polish now was there? I mean this is me we're talking about here, who'd ever expect me to be that restrained - I may have included a couple of others in the order. ASOS won't ship nail polish outside of the UK so I had it sent to The Eccentric English Boyfriend's mother and she included it with our Christmas parcel:

At back is an ASOS Paint by Ciate gift set in Sienna and Alexa, and at front is Eyeko Vintage Polish, Nails Inc Portland Place and Nails Inc Duke Street.

And here is ASOS Paint by Ciate Alexa:

Love it! A gorgeous dark navy blue that could almost be a one-coater - I used two though. Really lovely formula that I think I would describe as jelly - it's so dark and pigmented that it's hard to tell. And that colour - well I love navy blues and this one is stunning. Similar to but not quite as dark as Eyeko Vamp Polish, it retains its blue hue in all but the lowest of lights rather than appearing black as some very dark blues can do. This colour has knocked Eyeko Vamp down a couple of notches in my favourites list because of its ease of application and also its gorgeous glossy finish.

Your daily dose of pretty: Flower Cameo necklace

I love cameos, they always make me think of my Great Aunty Thelma, a wonderfully old fashioned Catholic spinster who played a huge part in my upbringing until she died when I was ten. Aunty Thelma taught me many things that still stay with me, including how to properly  'flick' open a fan. Somewhere I still have one of her old fans that she gave to me and I love to imagine what she would have looked like, and what sort of dresses she would have worn, all those decades ago when she was flicking her fan.

The cameo on this gorgeous necklace is particularly pretty:

I love the delicate detailing of the flower. US$20.00 from Adorntonia on Etsy.

Good things come to those who wait for the sale - Smashbox Cream Eyeliner Palette

How often does it happen that something you have been really, really - and I mean really - coveting comes up on sale? In my experience not very often, but somebody was smiling down on me today because while browsing the sale racks at Life Pharmacy I found the Smashbox Cream Eyeliner Palette for NZ$34.00, reduced from NZ$55.00.  Now I've had a serious case of the covets for this for the longest time, even though I've read some mixed reviews of it, but I could never quite bring myself to fork out the money considering how many eyeliners I already own.  But now it's mine, all mine! My Precioussssssss:

Top row left to right: Lava, Picasso, Midnight Purple, Midnight Brown and Putty. Bottom row left to right: Caviar, Thunder, Midnight Green, Deep Bronze and Cameo.

Here's the top row swatched:

Top to bottom: Lava is a charcoal with silver shimmer, Picasso is dark blue grey, Midnight Purple (which looked gorgeous in the palette) is actually a rather disappointingly sheer purple, Midnight Brown is a fairly standard dark brown, and Putty was the surprise of the bunch - in the palette it looks taupe, but it goes on a dark and quite intense brown. 

Bottom row swatched (I had to use my other arm, because the first lot were really hard to remove with baby wipes, which I guess bodes well for it's wear time!):

Top to bottom: Caviar is your bog standard black, Thunder looked boringly brown/grey in the palette but went on much darker - albeit very close in colour to Midnight Brown to my eye, Midnight Green I didn't think I'd like but it's actually a gorgeous dark forest green which unfortunately doesn't photograph well, Deep Bronze is more copper than bronze and has a copper shimmer, and Cameo (another one I didn't expect to like) is a lovely rust brown.

All in all I'm super pleased with my purchase - the formula on these is nice and creamy and applies well and the colours are overall very nice. Whether I would have been so impressed had I paid full price I'm not sure - I think I would rather have seen less browns and perhaps more variations on the blues and purples.

Oh, and the brush that comes with the compact? Throw it out - nasty synthetic thing with too-soft bristles.  I'll be using my trusty M.A.C. eyeliner brushes.

For my fellow kiwis - I got this from the Life Pharmacy in Westcity and it would be well worth your time to check your local Smashbox-stocking Life Pharmacy to see if they're having the same sale - there was a big range of Smashbox products on sale at roughly 40% off, including eyeshadows, blushers, foundations and lippies - I was very restrained just buying the one thing!

Today's nail: Essie Mint Candy Apple

You may (or may not) remember that a while ago I won the Essie Sweet Time of the Year collection from the lovely Mary over at Body & Soul.  Well here they are:

Left to right: Mint Candy Apple, Lollipop and Rock Candy.  Oh and the plant in the background is my latest purchase from the garden centre - a Chilean Guava. I love it's delicate wee flowers, which you can probably see better if you click on the picture to enlarge it, and we get to eat what it produces. Presuming it produces - I'd best not let The Eccentric English Boyfriend near it, he's the Grim Reaper for plants!

I was so excited about Mint Candy Apple - I can't get enough of mint coloured polishes - and it didn't disappoint:

Eeeek - nubbins!  I have a confess to reverting to biting and picking at my nails in recent weeks - something I do when I'm stressed.  Anyway, as always with these sorts of colours the polish is greener in real life than the photos would have you believe, and so very pretty.  But application wise, a total nightmare - which is very typical of virtually all the mint greens I've tried. The formula is quite thick, and not in the slightest bit self-levelling even by the last of the three coats it took to cover without streaking, so I had to rely in my trusty Seche Vite to give it a nice smooth finish.  But that's ok, I love it anyway.