$OPI It's Real 18K Gold Top Coat: 3 different nail looks.

As you may know, Sephora by OPI ($OPI) jumped on the bandwagon with the whole Real Gold Leaf top coat craze. The difference with this top coat is that the gold leaf pieces are smaller and finer than a lot of the others.

 

I really like the look of this top coat and have worn it over a few different shades to see how I prefer it.  Check out the nail looks I did with the gold leaf top coat below :)

Sinful Colors Social Ladder with 1 coat $OPI It's Real 18K Gold Top Coat

Color Zone unnamed blue polish with 1 coat $OPI It's Real 18K Gold Top Coat on accent nail

Essie Stylenomics with 2 coats $OPI It's Real 18K Gold Top Coat on accent nail

The gold flakes definitely stand out most against the darker polish, but I love the subtle glow it gives the pearly lighter shade and the vibrant look it has against the bright blue. If you prefer a finer look for your gold leaf, this one is definitely the way to go. I think of all the gold leaf top coats I prefer the look of this one and Zoya Gilty, as they aren't as chunky as the others. The $OPI It's Real 18K Gold Top Coat is on sale on the Sephora website for $15 and I've heard some people picked it up at the JC Penny Sephora for only $8!

I think these are gorgeous for the holiday season, but I have a hard time using it, knowing it's actual gold!! I just want to hoard it lol. I'm glad this one came down to $15, because I felt more justified in buying it.

Have you fallen into the Gold Leaf top coat frenzy?

Ulzzang Dolly Eyes! Angel Contacts Geo Magic Black Circle Lenses

Something I've been wanting to try for quite a while are black lenses. There's something about the big dolly eye look that is really appealing to me! When the lovely Brenda of Angel Contacts contacted me, I knew I had to give these a try :)


From the Angel Contacts website:
GEO MAGIC BLACK

Black Circle Lenses

The Look
Big & beautiful. The GEO Magic Circle Lens series gives your eyes a stunning blacked out look. Mysterious and secretive. They will want to find out more about you.

Lens Information
Diameter : 14mm
Base curve : 8.6mm
Center thickness : 0.04mm
Water content : 38%
Lasts up to 1 year after opening.

These are the perfect lenses for achieving that huge, dolly eye look that's so popular with Ulzzangs.

Geo Magic Black Circle Lens

L: Geo Magic Black, R: No lens

Geo Magic Black Circle Lens

These lenses are so ridiculously soft and comfortable. It felt like absolutely nothing on my eye, even though they give a beautiful enlarging effect. I wore them for 8 hours+ and had no drying or discomfort. I am in love with the way it gives a thick black halo around my natural brown when in artificial light, but blends seamlessly in natural light. I had absolutely no problems with insertion and removal, because they're so soft and thin they were extremely easy to use. I would just say be careful because the softer they are, the easier it is to damage them with improper handling. Never handle them with your fingernails! I think these would be great for first time circle lens wearers that are still getting used to wearing cosmetic enlarging lenses.

Yes, I'm wearing a wig in these pictures! I thought the darker hair would look better with the Ulzzang style dolly eyes. I also tried to do more toned down Ulzzang style makeup. What do you think?

Ulzzang Dolly Eye look, Artificial light

I will definitely be wearing these a lot! I love the look they give and how comfortable they are. The quality is extremely good and the shipping was very fast (Angel Contacts currently only ship to the US and Canada). Brenda is lovely to work with and made everything extremely pleasant and easy. I have another pair of lenses (blue ones!) to try, and I will be posting a video of both very soon :) I also re-ombred my hair, so you'll get to see that too!

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving (in the US) and enjoy your weekend :)

Glittering Galaxy Nails!

I can't tell you how much I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this mani! It looks beautiful and it was so easy to do.

First I did two coats of Wet n Wild Black Creme, topped with one coat of butter LONDON Knackered. Then I sponged on Color Club Editorial and First Looks, dotted on Wet n Wild French White Creme with a dotting tool and topped it with a layer of Wet n Wild Kaleidoscope.

I couldn't stop looking at my nails the whole time I was wearing this and kept showing my husband how pretty it was, especially in the light (not like he cares lol). It literally was like a sparkling galaxy of stars on my nails. I will definitely be trying this again maybe for Christmas :)

These are the polishes that I used:

L - R: butter LONDON Knackered, Color Club First Looks, Color Club Editorial, Wet n Wild Black Creme, Wet n Wild French White Creme, Wet n Wild Kaleidoscope.

Have you tried Galaxy Nails yet? I'd love to see your manis, if you try it please link me in the comments!

Beauty Blogazons $500 Holiday Giveaway! 5 Winners.

Happy Holidays!!

The members of the Beauty Blogazons are so excited to bring you a special $500 Holiday Giveaway!

5 people will win a $100 Visa Giftcard and best of all, it is open Internationally! Get an extra $100 just in time for the holidays :) You can enter below, the more entries you have the better your chances of winning! Make sure you check out all the lovely Bloggers who made this giveaway possible:

Glitter.Gloss.Garbage
Beauty and Fashion Tech
Cosmetically Challenged
Midnight Manicures
Lipgloss Break
Beauty By Arielle
Beauty Fiends
Cosmetics Aficionado
The Plastic Diaries
Phyrra
The Fabzilla
Polish Etc
Polarbelle
Karine's Vernis Club
Beauty Info Zone
Makeup Mom
Sincerely Stephanie Nails
Ishah x Beauty
Beauty Think Tank
Makeup Wishes
Beauty by Miss L
Lisa's Nail Obsession
Beauty With a Twist
Lacquer Buzz
Lacquered Lover
The Passenger Element
Beyond Beauty Lounge
In The Red Nails
DeyiMizu

5 WINNERS!

5 x $100 Visa Giftcard, Open Internationally, Ends December 21, 2012.

Good luck everyone!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

My Baby Shower! And being almost at the end.

So my Baby Shower actually happened last month, but I kept forgetting to get the pictures (pregnancy brain), so now you get to see them super late. I'm only 8 days away from my due date!! My other two babies were both 3 days overdue, so I'm hoping this little man is too because there is just so much going on in the next week!

I have a family member arriving from Australia on Monday, Thanksgiving is on Thursday, my car tire is currently blown and I am waiting on one to be special ordered from Houston... It's supposed to arrive this week some time, but they don't know exactly when =_=;; So with everything being kind of hectic, I'm hoping that baby will hold off just a little longer.

Here are the pictures from my shower!

It's a BOY!

Me with Noel and her gorgeous baby boy.

Playing a shower game! Who can drink out of the baby bottle the fastest?

Mai getting her drink on lol.

Baby Shower game 2. How many marshmallows can you stuff in your mouth? Lollll we were the last two standing, but then I got a case of the giggles and couldn't keep all those marshmallows in. You think marshmallows are all soft and fluffy, but the hurrrrrrt my cheeeeeeks!!!!!

One of the lovely baby gifts! I got so many adorable outfits for him :) My friends are lovely.

Activity walker, yay! One of the many useful gifts I got. My friends are seriously awesome, they got me so many baby necessities, I almost don't even have to buy anything.



And then there's this gift....... My BFF decided to get me a head massager LOL. See the before and after.

It feels soooo weird, but good at the same time.

Yoshika (on the left) hosted the shower :) She and a group of my friends organised everything and it was such a great day! It was so nice and relaxing for me.

My lovely group of friends! Thank you guys, I love you all! :)

I had such a fun time, ate lots of yummy food and received so much love and so many wonderful gifts. I feel truly lucky and blessed to have such a great group of people to call my friends!

I'm getting kind of nervous now that I'm getting so close to my due date. Every day I am worried that I'll go into labour while my husband is at work (he is over an an hour away) or before my tire gets fixed o_o;; hopefully baby can hold on until my car is operational. I am planning to have a natural, drug free birth and I'm a little nervous about that too. My other two were without epidurals, my last one completely natural, but that was a long time ago lol. Plus he was born within 15 minutes of being at the hospital, so I didn't really have time to be in pain!! Well, hopefully I can try to relax and get through it. I may be posting a bit sporadically, since I'm not sure when it's going to happen.. but follow me on Twitter and Instagram for daily posts :)

Beauty Blogazons Roundup 11/17

Some great holiday gift sets, MAC, Barielle, lots of lovely nail polish and more! Check out the latest posts from the Beauty Blogazons.

• The Beauty Delicacy: My cruelty-free October picks for hair, skin care + makeup!
• The Convenient Beauty: The Convenient Beauty isn't feeling the hype of Giorgio Armani Maestro Foundation.
• Confessions of a Sarcastic Mom: The creamy orange of Barielle Joytini is featured on Confessions of a Sarcastic Mom!
• TheFabZilla: TheFabZilla celebrates her 2nd year in blogging with a huge giveaway. Win fabulous mix of makeups & accessories. Ends November 20.
• Très Beau Glamour: Nay Denise has been embarking on a 7 day lipstick challenge, which was quiet fun for her. Her favorite lip look was one that included Mac's Smoked Purple. It's her new perfect "vampy" lip.
• Lacquer Buzz: Is it matte? Is it shiny? Find out how Catrice's new Brushed Metal Effect looks like!
• My Newest Addiction Beauty Blog: Laura from My Newest Addiction Beauty Blog swatches Chanel Holiday 2012 quad Harmonie Du Soir.
• Mama Fashionista: Mama Fashionista and Pammy Blogs Beauty are starting a brand new series/challenge called "MAC Matters!" See what it's all about (and join in the fun)!
• Love.Life.Beauty.: My picks for the best Holiday 2012 Gift Sets!!!
• Beauty by Miss L: Miss L reviewed monthly subscription box called Adorebox and shared her thoughts of it.
• Midnight Manicures: Join Jeanie at Midnight Manicures as she brings you the second new Barielle Fall/Winter 2012 collection - Times Square.
• Polishy of Truth: Looking for a little something different in a neutral? Polishy of Truth shows you a gorgeous new shade by Elevation Polish that will flatter many skintones!
• Lola's Secret Beauty Blog: Lola's Secret Beauty Blog is crazy about Tweezerman products, but is madly in love with the whimsical and highly effective tweezers and nail files from their Limited Edition Cynthia Rowley Collection!
• Ishah x Beauty: Super cute Hello Kitty holiday collection shoes from JustFab.
• Lisa's Nail Obsession: A comparison of OPI's Did You Ear About Van Gogh? and Essie's Yogaga.
• Polarbelle: Polarbelle has some Mac Cosmetics Glamour Daze eyeshadows to show you this week.
• Baking Beauty: Baking Beauty shows you how to get an easy daytime smoky eye.
• Addicted to OPI-yum: Iovenailpolish got a helping hand naming her very first frankenpolish.
• Beauty Apocalypse: Beauty Apocalypse provides a man's perspective on an Albuquerque day spa!
• Amber Did It!: Amber shares a swatches & a review from Darling Diva Polish.
• datyorkLOVES: Fun twist on a classic manicure.
• Love At First Site!: Latest empties and mini reviews... Avene, Bioten, Caudalie, Fresh Line, Galenic, L'occitane, L'oreal, Lierac.
• SoFlaJo: Celebrate the holidays and well into the new year with the new Party Time collection from indie nail polish maker SoFlaJo.
• The Beauty Think Tank: It's November, and you know what that means, another Birchbox review!
• Beyond Beauty Lounge: Holiday Nail Colors from 365 days of color.
• Lipgloss Break: Angela from Lipgloss Break is giving away Jon Bon Jovi Unplugged Fragrance set - enter to win!
• The Socialite's Closet: Ever wondered about Starbox? The Socialite's Closet shows you hers.
• Cosmetics Aficionado: L'Oreal's The Temptress' Touch nail polish is a golden green gem.
• Peace Love and Glitter: Tarina Tarantino's eyeshadow formula is AMAZING! Check it out in her Emerald Pretty Palette, currently 40% off at Sephora!

Sinful Colors Cinderella and Fergie by Wet n Wild Flossy Flossy

I am so late in posting this manicure, but better late than never.

Today is World Diabetes Day and there are a few bloggers posting blue manicures to raise awareness!

I decided to use the beautiful Sinful Colors Cinderella with an accent nail topped with Fergie by WnW Flossy Flossy. Both of these polishes are beautiful, but both have application issues :(

Cinderella is a gorgeous sky blue with a pink shimmer running through it. Unfortunately it applies streaky and uneven and usually takes 3-4 coats to get it opaque and even then it looks slightly yellow at the tips because it's sheer. Flossy Flossy is such a pretty glitter, but the glitter is sparse and pools at the tips so you have to place it... and then you have to be really careful placing it because it gets air bubbles if you mess with it too much! Overall, these two polishes are a bit of a PITA to apply, but they look pretty.

Have you tried any of the other Fergie polishes? I like the look of them, but if they all have similar application issues I might have to skip them :(

Hello Kitty holiday shoes collection at JustFab

I'm a sucker for anything Hello Kitty.

Put Hello Kitty on anything and I'd probably buy it. So when I saw that JustFab had a Hello Kitty shoe collection for the holidays, I was all over it!

Source: JustFab

Whaaaaaaaaat, sparkly Hello Kitty heels with a bow? Super cute quilted bow patterns??? Please lock up my wallet. At $40 each, they aren't SUPER expensive, but I definitely can't afford to buy all the pairs I would like to. How to narrow them down to one or two pairs? :(

Here are all the styles and colours currently available on JustFab. (Pic heavy!)

Blogazons Roundup 11/09

• My Newest Addiction Beauty Blog: On mornings when Laura is short on time, she relies on It Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye!
• Adore-a-polish: For a slight change of pace, Kristina talks about her VoxBox that she received from Influenster.
• Ishah x Beauty: Want a pretty, soft look for your eyes? Check out the Dueba Max Pure Pink circle lenses.
• Très Beau Glamour: Ever feel like there were no good drugstore moisturizers that really give you that replenished feeling? Nay Denise has found her new holy grail moisturizer. The Garnier Moisture Rescue Refreshing Gel Cream is simply amazing. Check out her review to find out more about the product.
• Vicerimus : Black or White...and Gold all over! Michael, sorry for the intervention! Vicerimus walks the line in her latest nail art, keeping it laconic but hard not to notice.
• Beyond Beauty Lounge : Fashion Sunglasses From Firmoo
• Lacquer Buzz: Who doesn't like a bit of glitter on their tips? But be prepared because this blue glitter is spectacular!
•   Confessions of a Sarcastic Mom: Check out the Ninja Polish Bling! collection at Confessions of a Sarcastic Mom!
•   TheFabZilla: It does snow in Hawaii. Find out where plus TheFabZilla's preppin' her body in time for winter with Herbacin natural skincare products
•   Beauty by Miss L: Check out Miss L´s Fishscale nails done using 2.5mm micro glitter.
•   The Beauty Think Tank: The Too Faced Lash Lining Tool promises eyeliner versatility, but does it deliver? Only TheThink Tank knows!
•   Lola's Secret Beauty Blog: Lola's Secret Beauty blog has determined that the Rouge Bunny Rouge Forever Yours…Long-Lasting Lip Pencil in Roald is the perfect shade of mauvey-pink that goes with just about everything!
•   Lisa's Nail Obsession: Nails ready-made for a spook-tacular Halloween Night.
•   Polarbelle: Polarbelle finds a smooth long lasting delicious nail polish in Pixi Beauty's Classy Cocoa.
• Mama Fashionista: Don't let the change in weather wreak havoc on your skin! Mama Fashionista has 5 tips (and product suggestions) for keeping your skin fantastic all year long!
•   Beauty with a Twist: Given makeup, a few hours and glitter, I turned myself into a Venetian mask.
•   Just Skin, Bones, and Nails: Check out this awesome sponge manicure of deadish nails
•   Trouble-Maker On Heels: Trouble-Maker on Heels is trying Dazzle Dust by Barry M eye shadow - it's all orange :)
•   Love At First Site!: KORRES TONKÁ PURPLE/Dreams Come True and TONKA BROWN/Magic Happens are the names of the two new limited edition fragrances by Korres that promise to take us to magical worlds where dreams come true ... Touché! ;)
•   Addicted to OPI-yum: In case you missed the Halloween Blog Party at Addicted to OPI yum, you can still join in the fun!

Matte Purple Gradient mani for Nov 8 NOH8 Day!

As some of you may know, there has been a bit of nastiness in the blogging community lately, specifically the nail polish blogosphere. I am all for constructive criticism, but when a group of you are banding together and making people feel bad about something they should enjoy (ie nail blogging) that just smacks of straight up bullying and clique-iness. To play it off as a joke is easy, but jokes that make people feel bad and put down their self-confidence are still bullying. Giving advice and encouraging new bloggers to give it their best and improve is the ONLY way we should be doing things. Therefore, I have joined the Nov 8 NOH8 Day initiative!

Source: Eradicateh8.blogspot.com

Bullying is not funny. It is not cool. It is not right. And more importantly, it is not okay. 
Most of us are, thankfully, residents of countries that support tolerance and many of our families have settled in these places simply for that reason. Generations later, it is our responsibility to perpetuate that message of tolerance across our new social platforms, including the internet.
As members of the nail polish (and beauty) blogging community, we all share a love of beauty, color, and lacquer. Other than that, we are remarkably different: from our race to our religion to our hair color...even to our polish application techniques. To marginalize anyone because of those differences is completely unacceptable and today I take a stand against that. I refuse to allow other people's view of "normal" dictate how I behave, believe, and blog. 
In solidarity with a multitude of bloggers linked below, my purple manicure represents my proud commitment to the No H8 movement. Today, November 8, I dedicate my post to ending bullying of any kind and to encouraging diversity and imperfection among our colorful community.

Here is my purple mani! I did a matte purple and white sponge gradient, with a white heart accent nail... because as a community, we should be about LOVE :D So cheesy, but I mean it! I love my blogging community, there are many awesome people that I have met and that have supported me in this journey. I am not perfect, there are many times when someone could have cut me down and said nasty things, but I have been lucky in receiving only constructive criticism.

Check out the other posts for Nov 8 NOH8 Day.

Polish Days - MAN-icure: Butter London All Hail The Queen matte with glossy tips

The theme for this month's Polish Days is in support of a good cause; Men's Health! In particular, testicular cancer. Since it's 'Movember', it's a great month to get out there and spread awareness and encourage the men in your life to look after their health.

I was thinking about doing a 'Movember Mustache' mani, but I was doing it late at night and I guess tiredness was preventing me from getting the little 'mo' just right.. After a couple of failed attempts, I went with a crown design instead, which reminds me of a man's crest or insignia that was used mainly in England and Europe. How fitting that the base colour for this manicure is Butter London All Hail The Queen. I mattified it with Butter London Matte Finish Top Coat, because matte manis look a little more masculine to me, but did a glossy tip just for some variation.

It's sort of abstract, but I do feel that the overall feel of this manicure is more masculine. The matte beige and the crown make me think of a crown insignia on a medal, button or coat of arms.

Source: Etsy

I really like the outcome of this mani, it's different to what I would usually do and I have been wanting to try the matte nail/glossy tip look for a while now.

Check out the other posts in this month's Polish Days: MAN-icure theme!