Your daily dose of pretty: Closet pink cowl neck dress from Dorothy Perkins

I'm a bit wary of peplums on dresses. Partly because I wore them to death in the 80's and partly because putting a peplum on my figure is a bit like wearing a big sign saying "Check out my Child Bearing Hips, y'all".

The peplum on this dress, however, is nicely understated and possibly even curve friendly and I love the cowl neckline.

It's funny that I love this shade of pink in a dress, but would never wear it as a nail polish.

The Closet Pink Cowl Neck Dress is £30.00 from Dorothy Perkins.

Today's nails: Color Club Poptastic

Poptastic is the final colour in the seven piece Poptastic Collection.

Poptastic is a neon Barbie pink. Good application in two coats and again it has the vinyl-like finish of neons (shown in the pictures however with a topcoat). For me this colour isn't a thriller, but I'm not a pink lover, and where Warhol won me over because of its depth of colour and its unusual orange tinge Poptastic is a fairly standard neon pink. That said, if you're a pink lover I think you'll like this one.

So that wraps up the Poptastic Collection.  All in all a great collection. Formula-wise, with the exception of Almost Famous the polishes had great application, far exceeding what I would expect from a neon. Color Club have done a great job in improving the formula over the old neon collection which Poptastic replaced.

Aside from Poptastic I loved all the colours. If you're a neon lover, or looking to add a pop of bright colour to your summer mani/pedi you should definitely check this collection out.

Thank you once again to Color Club NZ for providing me with this collection for review.

Your daily dose of pretty: Paul & Joe Sparkle Collection Lipsticks

Paul & Joe always do beautiful packaging, and the lipsticks from their latest Sparkle Collection don't disappoint:

Beautiful packaging and lipsticks shaped like cats! Total win!

And also completely pointless. After a couple of uses those cats are going to look like an accident in a nuclear power facility. Never mind how difficult the pointy ears are going to make actual application of the lipstick.

Still, practical aspects aside that is some seriously cute lipstick. A list of Paul & Joe Beaute stockists is on their website, or Zuneta ship them internationally.

Your daily dose of pretty: The Babes Crazy Kiwi Eau de Toilette

Quick lesson for you all.

This:

 (Image: Te Ara Encyclopaedia of New Zealand)

is a Kiwi.

This:

(That's me!)

is also a Kiwi.

This:

(Image Zespri New Zealand)

is a KiwiFRUIT.

Outside of Australasia people tend to refer to the 'Kiwifruit' as a 'Kiwi'. As in "I'm going to eat a Kiwi". Which is actually kinda scary, both for the endangered bird (don't eat it, it's endangered) and the person (don't eat me, I need to buy more shoes).

Likewise, Kiwi-scented products. Seriously, it smells like a Kiwi? The person or the bird? Either way, eewwwwwww. I've met a few kiwis who I wouldn't want to smell like*. And the bird, well it feeds by grubbing around in the dirt. I don't know about you, but earthworm and damp leaf mold doesn't appeal as a fragrance.

Which brings me to today's pretty, which apparently smells like Kiwi. Crazy Kiwi even.

The website is in one of those foreign languages which has way too many K's and G's so I can't read the description, but the packaging is adorable.  And I'm pretty sure it doesn't smell like sweaty Kiwi blokes or earthworms and leaf mold. No guarantees though.

The Babes Crazy Kiwi Eau de Toilette is available here, and costs 149,00kr. I think.

* Disclamer: I've only met a few Kiwis who smell bad. Don't be thinking we're all stinky!

Your daily dose of pretty: Tweety Bird Earrings by Little Shop Of

These little dudes look like they're just testing out their wings for the first time:

Flit ... flit ... crash ... flit ... flit ... fly!

The Tweety Bird Earrings are AU$12.95 from Australian site Little Shop Of, who ship internationally.

Today's nails: Color Club Wham! Pow!

Wham! Pow! (from Color Club's Poptastic Collection) is possibly the most aptly-named polish ever - it's a total assault on the retinas!

My camera took one look at this colour and started quaking at the knees - it just couldn't capture it accurately! The bottle colour in the first photo is probably closest to what it actually looks like on the nail - glowing and neon and BRIGHT! Seriously, this colour is SO bright I swear if I touch my nails they'll be burning hot!

The formula on Wham! Pow! is lovely, thinnish and easy to apply. I used three coats because I thought I could see a little visible nail line, but I think two would probably have been ok. The finish is your typical neon satin, it's shown here with a top coat.

Revlon release new scented polishes for summer

I love Revlon's scented polishes - they really do smell delicious when they dry. Although from experience I can tell you that waving your hand under people's noses and exclaiming "smell my nails" can result in some awkward situations!

I'm thrilled to see that there is a new collection out for Summer 2010 (with apologies to those of you in the Northern Hemisphere heading into winter - sucks to be you!).

Colour-wise I'm liking Grape Icy, Beach, Gum Drop and Ocean Breeze; and I want Orange Pop and Cotton Candy just for the scent!

Last year the scented polishes were released in packs of three which retailed at NZ$28.00 per pack. No news on whether these are being released singly or in packs but you know I'll be heading to the shops to find out. And of course buy!

EDIT: I checked these out in Farmers today and they're selling them singly for NZ$17.00 each, which isn't as good a deal as last year's NZ$28.00 for a pack of three I have to say.

Your daily dose of pretty: Teal Plume clutch bag on Etsy

Yep, I'm looking at bags again:

But this is a clutch bag, rather than a handbag. So that's different, right? Because I'd be able to fit even less of the Mountain of Stuff I Carry Around in it.

Dammit, as a justification that totally didn't work. Still, I love the art nouveau style of the fabric, maybe I can justify it based simply on its prettiness?

The Teal Plume silklined clutch bag is US$75.00 from redrubyrose on Etsy.

Today's nails: Color Club Almost Famous

Today's colour from the Color Club Poptastic Collection is Almost Famous.

I really like yellow polishes, but they don't often like me - yellow's just not a great colour for my skintone. I really like the banana yellow of Almost Famous on me though.

Look at that - bright and cheerful and banana-y!

This was, however, a total pain in the patootie to apply. The formula is quite thick and it pooled at the sides, dragged, and refused to settle into a flat finish. Even after three coats and a top coat of Seche Vite, which normally smooths out an uneven polish, it still looks lumpy and uneven to me, athough it's not so obvious in the photos.

Still, an easy-to-apply yellow is a rarity in my experience, and Almost Famous is a keeper because of it's gorgeous colour.

(My nails haven't suddenly grown longer overnight, by the way. I glued on some acrylic nails last night because my natural nails were so soft and kept breaking off right at the quick. Which explains the state of my cuticles - I may have used a wee smidge too much glue!)

Your daily dose of pretty: Keiko Secret Compartment ring on Etsy

Two words people: Secret. Compartment!

Wearing this I could pretend I was a femme fatale from a Poirot mystery. But shorter. And, umm, wobblier. With a Kiwi accent.

I'm pretty sure none of the Poirot femme fatales were short and wobbly with Kiwi accents...

Did I mention the secret compartment?

The Keiko Secret Compartment ring is US$16.00 from FleurAvenue on Etsy.