Your daily dose of pretty: M.A.C Venomous Villains Maleficent Collection

If you're a beauty addict M.A.C's Venomous Villains collection will already be on your radar. Unless you've been living under a rock. And why anybody would want to live under a rock is beyond me. There's probably slugs under there you know.

Venomous Villains comprises four collections, each based around famous evil characters from Disney: Maleficent, Evil Queen, Cruella de Vil and Dr Facilier. Each collection has a variety of eye/face/lip and nail products with packaging featuring the eponymous villain.

There are products in each collection I'm lusting after but I particularly love Maleficent, not just because it's my favourite in terms of the packaging but also because those polishes look gorgeous:

 Picture: maccosmetics.com

Venomous Villains was released in New Zealand on October 4, and in the interests of having money for our soon-to-be-started-if-the-council-ever-gives-us-planning-consent renovations I think it's best if I avoid going anywhere near a M.A.C store for the forseeable future!

Check out the rest of Venomous Villains on the M.A.C website.

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.

Down the rabbit hole

Hands up those of you looking forward to Tim Burtons's Alice in Wonderland? Yup, me too. Tim Burton/Johnny Depp/one of my favourite books of all time - I cannot wait to see what brilliance comes from that combination.  Plus from the photos and trailers released so far it looks like the costumes and makeup are going to be something really special, and it's probably because of this that more than any other movie I can recall there are some really amazing beauty collections being released to tie in with the movie.  Here are some of my favourite Alice-inspired pretties:

First up is O.P.I.'s Alice in Wonderland polish collection:

The four colours in the collection are Off With Her Red (orange/red), Absolutely Alice (blue glitter), Mad As A Hatter (multi-coloured glitter) and Thanks So Muchness (red shimmer).  While neither of the reds appeal (and like many reviewers I'm a little disappointed that O.P.I. chose to have two reds in a four polish collection), the two glitters are on my Must-Have list. Check out All Lacquered Up for swatches of the four colours - Mad As A Hatter is particularly squee-worthy.

Of course once you've painted your nails with Wonderland-worthy colours you're going to want to have some equally pretty colours for your face, and Urban Decay have just the thing:

Pop-ups, people! Pop! Ups!  Even if the makeup in the palette didn't appeal I'd want it just for this utterly beautiful packaging. Luckily the contents of the palette are pretty awesome in their own right, with 16 of Urban Decay's best-selling eyeshadows (renamed with Wonderland-inspired names), two travel size 24/7 Pencils and a bottle of their primer potion.

The Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland Book of Shadows has been released on Urban Decay's website, and will be available in America from Sephora, Ulta and Macys, from 1 February.  English Alice fans will have to wait until March, when it will be available exclusively from Debenhams. Of course none of these retailers ship internationally - *sigh* - so I've already bribed an English friend to snap one up for me!

Finally, Paul & Joe have chosen original Disney illustrations for their Alice in Wonderland collections, and I must have these too.

There are two collections in Paul & Joe's Alice in Wonderland range, Daydream:

And Fantasy:

Each contains a blotting paper, blotting paper refill and Lip Treatment Stick, packaged in an original container. I don't have much information on availability yet, what I do know is that it will be released at Harrods and ASOS in the UK on 5th March and will also be available in the US, although I don't have any US stockist information. More pictures of the collection can be found on Paul & Joe's Facebook page.

So what do you think my pretties? Will you be snapping any of these up? What other Alice tie-ins have you seen?

New Kit nail polishes for Christmas

Kit have released three new limited edition nail polishes for Christmas:



Left to right: Shake Up, Shine On and Fly High.

I'm undecided about this collection. Shake Up looks promising even to this non-red lover, Shine On is not my colour at all but may appeal to 14 Year Old Daughter, and while Fly High looks gorgeous it's hard to tell how close in colour it is to High Roller from the Chalk It Up collection, which I have. Just going by the photos I would say Fly High looks to be more of a crisp mint green, where High Roller is a greyed out mint green.

What do you think my pretties? AU$15.95 each from Kit.

More Eyeko polishes

Eyeko have completed their new collection of five polishes with the release of two new shades - Nude and Purple:

Of course I've already received my set of the first three polishes (Cosmic, Indigo and Lilac) so now I'm going to have to place another order for these two! For today only Eyeko are selling the full set of five polishes for £10.00, which works out to £2.00 per bottle. The bottles are normally £3.00 so that's a nice wee saving.

You may recall me saying that Eyeko would be releasing six new polishes in 2009. Well I wasn't wrong, but the sixth polish (called Vintage) is an ASOS exclusive:


So what do you think of these latest Eyeko polishes my pretties? I'm not sold on Nude, but Purple and Vintage look pretty good, and in the interests of having the complete set I'll probably buy Nude anyway!

The Eyeko special is here, or you can buy the polishes separately here. The ASOS exclusive polish is available here.

China Glaze Wizard of Ooh Ahz Returns

If you're on Facebook, check out China Glaze's page for pics of the Wizard of Ooh Ahz Returns collection, including swatches.

Here's the whole collection (which apparently ships this month) to get you started:
Left to right: Ruby Pumps, Cowardly Lyin, The Ten Man, Dorothy Who?, C-C-Courage and Good Witch.

Will you be getting this my pretties? I think I will, although I will then have three bottles of Ruby Pumps! Worth it I think, because I'm coveting Dorothy Who?, C-C-Courage, The Ten Man and Cowardly Lyin.

Today's haul: Kit Dulux collection polishes

Here they are my pretties, my Kit Dulux collection polishes arrived today:



Left to right: Exotic Flower, Hot Calypso, Blue Surf and Kiss, plus a trial size sample of Cosmedicine Medi-Matte Oil Control Lotion with SPF 20, and sample sachets of Cosmedicine Private Nurse Recovery & Repair Cream PM and Primary Care Multi-Tasking Moisturiser with SPF 20.

14 Year Old Daughter has fallen in love with Exotic Flower, which is pretty gorgeous. Blue Surf reminds me a little of Misa's Dirty Sexy Money but bluer. All the colours look promising, even Kiss appeals to this non-pink wearer. It has a slightly dusky quality which I like.

I don't know about you, but I cannot wait to see these on!

Today's nail: China Glaze Emerald Sparkle

This gorgeous colour from the China Glaze Loves You Snow Much collection has featured on virtually every nail polish blog I read, but it was too gorgeous for me not to post for you my pretties:






Emerald green jelly base packed with green glitter - lovely. The photos don't do justice to the sparkliness of this baby.

Three coats to opaque, the very thin formula was a bit streaky on the first two coats but evened out nicely on the third. This will definitely be part of my Christmas Day mani!

All I want for Christmas: number one in an occasional series

I want to brace yourselves my pretties, I have some disturbing news. Are you seated? Ok then: it's going to be Christmas soon.

It's ok, I'll just wait here while you calm down. In through the nose and out through the mouth remember.

As I was saying, 55 days till Christmas my pretties. And this year I'm determined that my Christmas shopping is going to be finished well in advance so that I can avoid the nightmare that is the mall pre-Christmas, and also so that our overseas parcels will be posted prior to New Zealand Post's cut-off of 30 November for international economy post. I still shudder when I think how much our parcels cost to send last year.

While I'm doing all this shopping I'm going to be posting some ideas here as well. From stocking stuffers to big ticket items, hopefully I can help you find something for the pretty people in your life.

First up, if you're in America, have a huge budget and are looking for a gift that a makeup lover will swoon over, then this could be just the thing:

The Makeup For Ever Aqua Eyes Collector Set contains the full range of 25 shades and comes in a collector's metallic case. US$425.00 from Sephora.

Poor little courier man

Our poor courier man, we may have the two friendliest dogs in the whole world but when people come to the door they make a lot of noise. Enough noise that even when he has a 'sign for' parcel he simply drops it on the doorstep and runs. Surely though, if you're going to choose a career as a courier driver, you'd want to not be scared of dogs? Just saying.

Anyway, here's the contents of my parcel from TransDesign:


China Glaze Loves You Snow Much collection. Ruby Pumps, 5 Golden Rings, Tinsel and Emerald Sparkle. Mmmmmm, Emerald Sparkle. Photo doesn't do it justice, the pictures I've seen on other blogs are stunning - can't wait to put it on.


O.P.I. Tattoo Ta-Boo! minis set. Witch Arm?, Glow-ink in the Dark, Tattoo You Want Candy?, I Love Mummy. And super cute Halloween tattoos, those bats are adorable.


Orly La Petite French mani minis set. Orly Bonder base coat, Je T'aime, Sheer Nude and White Out. Not my colours obviously, but I'm doing nails for my little brother's wedding in December and the bride (hehe, I just typed that as 'bridge') has requested french manicures for herself and the bridesmaids so I thought I should have some appropriate shades. The inclusion of a mini Bonder is a bonus, because I've seen it recommended often and wanted to try it out.


Finally a bottle of my trusty CND Stickey base coat, a bottle of CND Air Dry, and a bottle of Poshe. I always like to try out new top coats when I see them recommended. I'm especially interested in trying Poshe, polish lovers seem to fall into two camps - those who love Poshe and those who love Seche Vite. I wonder which side I'll end up on?

Paint your house, paint your nails

Kit Cosmetics have released yet another nail polish range that I have fallen in love with (and by that I obviously mean 'ordered straight away').

Kit have teamed up with paint manufacturer Dulux to create the Limited Edition Dulux Nail Polish collection. Kit say: Previewing 2010/2011 trends from Dulux’s just-released colour forecast, these nail polishes match four of Dulux’s hottest summer paint hues.



Left to right: DULUX Hot Calypso (pure coral), DULUX Blue Surf (ocean blue), DULUX Kiss (summer musk), DULUX Exotic Flower (sunset orange). AU$15.95 each.

I don't know about you my pretties but I'm in love (obviously, since I just ordered them all!). I'm especially looking forward to seeing Blue Surf and Exotic Flower on.

Now I wonder if I can convince The Eccentric English Boyfriend that we need to paint the house to match my nails ...

Your daily dose of pretty: Eight Hour Cream Vintage Edition 1960's

Hello my pretties, my aplogies for the extended absence. No particular reason I'm afraid, although it being school holidays the children's bedtimes are much more relaxed and they're often still on the computers at night when I normally do my posts.

Elizabeth Arden's Eight Hour Cream is a cult beauty item of the highest order. Created in 1930 by Ms Arden herself, it is beloved of beauty junkies worldwide, and with good reason. I bought my first tube in duty free on my Melbourne trip and I love it - it has so many uses. Although, am I the only one who thinks it smells a little bit like cow poop?

Last year Elizabeth Arden released the Vintage Edition 1950's cream, packaged with a gorgeous American diner inspired jar, and this year they continued the Vintage Edition series with this gorgeous Vintage Edition 1960's limited edition:



How funkylicious is that packaging? US$25.00 on the Elizabeth Arden site, or wherever Elizabeth Arden is stocked, for a limited time.

This is what last year's 1950's Limited Edition looked like, you can still find it around if you do a bit of hunting. It's so cute, I might just have to collect the set!

Ooooooooooooh smelly!

Now before any of you say anything, my nail polish buying moratorium (which in hindsight was pretty unsuccessful) was only in place before I went to Melbourne. So now that I'm back I'm totally allowed to buy more nail polish. Ok?

And here's what I bought:



More Revlon scented polishes. I couldn't help it, 14 Year Old Daughter loves them! She had them all on her nails the other day and smelled like a little ole fruit salad. The polishes are left to right: Mon Cherry, Pretty in Papaya and Mad About Mango. From a distance I wasn't blown away by the colours but up close Mon Cherry and Mad About Mango really appeal.

According to the Revlon website there are eight colours in this collection. Interestingly enough they only show seven, how that works I don't know. I've only seen them in packs of three though so regardless of whether there's seven or eight I'm going to end up doubling up if I want to get the whole set.

The other bottle in the photo is a neon orange (Shade 2) from Coral Colours. Oh and a partially empty cup of coffee. I didn't buy that, I just made it sit in the corner because it's completely failing to wake me up and I'm cross with it.

Melbourne: I came, I shopped, I ... shopped some more

Well my pretties, I promised you pictures of my Melbourne shopping haul, so make yourself a cup of tea (or coffee, or a glass of wine), pull up a chair and away we go.

Saturday my friend Nic (also known as the most patient person in the world) and I spent several hours exploring Chadstone Mall. It's always interesting as a New Zealander shopping the malls in Australia and seeing which shops have reached New Zealand's shores. The likes of Cotton On, Jay Jays, Diva and many others have become fairly ubiquitous whichever side of of the Tasman you're on, but Australia offers many more shops that we don't (yet) have in New Zealand, including some pretty good department stores. By which I mean some pretty good department stores which stock makeup brands almost impossible to find in New Zealand - Myer, David Jones and Target, how much do I love your beauty departments, let me count the ways.

I blogged previously about the High Velocity polish range from Kit, and it was obviously a total given that I was going to buy them wasn't it? Lucky there was a Kit stand in Myer then wasn't it?



Look at those pretty colours (left to right: Speed Demon, Top Gear and Full Throttle). And, a Lipstick Queen Chinatown Glossy Pencil in Thriller. This is a product I've had on my To Blog list for some time, and I never got around to writing a post about it. Available in five colours, these chunky pencils are described as a 'draw on gloss' and they are amazing. They apply smoothly and feel so soft and creamy on - highly recommended. At AU$34.95 each I could really only justify buying one and I chose Thriller, which looks scarily bright red in the tube but on the lips it is a beautiful sheer pinkish red which I just love (and I have a terrible time finding reds for my lips that suit me).

But wait, there's more:


Burt's Bees and Benefit are also almost impossible to find in New Zealand. I've been wanting the Burt's Bees cuticle balm for ages, having read so much about it, and this kit containing the cuticle balm, a lip balm and sample sizes of hand creams, body lotions and foot lotion was AU$24.95 at David Jones. I love the cuticle balm and it smells truly gorgeous, but neither of the hand creams appeal. One is banana scented and the other almond scented, and both scents are so overpowering that wearing them makes me feel quite ill - admittedly both banana and almond are high on my most disliked fragrance list! The other products are lovely though.

Benefit Benetint is another product I've read plenty of good things about, so I bought myself the pocket sized version for AU$38.00 at Myer. Too early for a review of this one yet, I'm interested to see if it lives up to its long-wearing claims, especially since I'm in the habit of eating lipstick like it's chocolate!



These Revlon scented polishes are available in New Zealand, but I grabbed them in David Jones anyway for AU$24.95.

Here they are on 14 Year Old Daughter's fingers (I think I need to give her some polish applying lessons!):



The polishes do exactly what they say on the packet, when they're dry they have a fruity scent reminiscent of fruit candies. Being Revlon the application is lovely - the formula is thin in a good way and flows over the nail beautifully and bottle colour was achieved in two coats. I have to say the colours aren't my cup of tea and they aren't anything special, you'll find dupes of these all over the place from many other brands, but 14 Year Old Daughter loves them and the scent is a fun gimmick.



This cute tote and accompanying bag of goodies was AU$19.95 with any beauty purchase at David Jones. The goodie bag contains all sorts of fun things, including a full size David Jones body wash and sample size hair care and skin care products from the likes of Revlon, Ojon, John Frieda, Priore, L'Occitane, A'kin and Ultraceuticals. Lots of the brands are new to me, so I'm going to be having some fun trying these out!

Now we all know by now about my difficulties finding flat shoes I like, so you can imagine how happy I was with these little cuties:


They were AU$34.99 in Target and I love, love, love them! I even had a complete stranger in a lift compliment me on them!

Sunday we went to St Kilda which has some lovely boutiquey wee shops along its main street which are well worth a browse. Oh and a Hairhouse Warehouse, which is another of those shops I really wish we had here in New Zealand. Not only do they have a huge range of reasonably priced hair products, but they also stock makeup, including the bamboo makeup brush range from ecotools which I have been reading a lot about recently.



AU$29.95, which is a jolly good price for a good quality five piece makeup brush set complete with brush roll. I've given these to 14 Year Old Daughter who is a vegetarian and likes these because they don't use animal hair.

Oh and look at the colour of that nail polish by le Beauty, AU$4.95 also at Hairhouse Warehouse.


That's the entrance to Luna Park in St Kilda. I love that decades ago someone thought this would entice people in to the park. "Step into my mouth little ones, don't be scared." It's enough to give me nightmares!

After lunch we checked out the St Kilda Esplanade Market, which is on every Sunday from 10am to 5pm.


The market stretches along the waterfront at St Kilda and features over 150 stallholders selling everything you'd expect to find at an artisan market: jewellery, clothing, photos, paintings, ceramics, handcrafts and so much more. Definitely worth a look if you're in the area, I picked up quite a few lovely gift items.

Oh and look what else we got (for afternoon tea at a friend's house):


The cupcake trend hasn't quite taken off in New Zealand yet, so when I saw these in a bakery I HAD to get some. They were delicious - I want a whole bucket of the buttercream icing to myself!

Lastly, for a little bit of cute:


That's my friend Nic's cat Max. He has a bag obsession and loved to investigate my shopping when we returned, so I emptied out a bag especially for him!

And this is Buster the dog:


He's actually quite a lot naughtier than that face would have you believe, but so adorable!

That's not even all of what I bought - there were lots of gifts for the kids and EEB and other goodies. I had an awesome time and will definitely be returning, and for much longer next time!

Revlon Pure Confection collection

Here in the Antipodes spring starts in two days. The weather's beginning to warm up, end of winter sales are on everywhere and the spring/summer collections are beginning to appear in shops.

Revlon's offering for spring 2009 is the Pure Confection range. Revlon says:

Candy inspired colours are evident this season with romantic lips in soft corals and reds. Eyes are decorated in shades of sage, beiges and pink and nails are the perfect accessory ranging in shades from boldest purple to fresh mango.

The range consists of five Colorstay Soft & Smooth Lipcolors in:

Smooth Nude

Pink Indulgence

Plush Pink

Luscious Rose

Ripened Red

Three Colorstay Overtime Lipcolors in:

Non-Stop Cherry

On-Going Flame

Perennial Plum

A limited edition ColorStay 12 Hour Eye Shadow in Wildflower:



Four nail enamels in:

Pink Again

Sweet Tart

Make Mine Mango

No Shrinking Violet

Some of those lip colours look quite appealing and I'm loving the colours of the Wildfire eyeshadow pallette. And of course it goes without saying that the nail enamel in No Shrinking Violet has gone on my must-buy list. What about you my pretties? Which colours in this range would you 'spring' for?*

* Worst. Pun. Ever.