piCture pOlish: Siren Song

Sent for Review

Yay it is mid-week!
By way of an update, I have already mixed up enough polish to fill most of the pre-orders for the Catching Fire collection. I am expecting a shipment of the mini bottles today and I will be able to start pouring and packing them - hopefully by the end of the week! I also aim to get the Christmas duos done by this week so I can get them to you before Christmas! :D Pre-orders for the Christmas duos close tomorrow at 9am, SGT.

Enough side tracking! Today, I have another beauty to share with you:

Siren Song. 2 thin coats.

piCture pOlish's Siren Song is a beautiful seafoam green filled with micro silver glitters that give it a most delicate shimmery look. It is no secret that I love seafoam greens and this is just perfect! I must admit I love the name and the tagline too. Rebecca really did a great job with this one.

Application is a little streaky on the first coat but it evens out on the second. The glitters tend to stick to the side of the bottle so I would recommend a good shake before application.

So what do you think of Siren Song?

Siren Song is available at piCture pOlish's website and through its network members. You can follow piCture pOlish on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook for more updates and new releases as well!



**Products were provided for our honest review. Please see our disclosure policy for more information.**

Chanel: Taboo

Purchased By Me

I have some serious backlog here but I didn't have time to do much swatching this weekend :( Instead, I've decided to share a twinsie post that I've done with the lovely Camila (@paintedmimi on IG) a while ago!

And the star of the post? None other than... my very first Chanel - Taboo ♥

To be honest, I wasn't on the hunt for Taboo in particular. Don't get me wrong. It is a gorgeous colour but the price tag always stopped me from getting any Chanels. My resolve wavered when I saw it in Hong Kong and tried it on my friend's nails (mine were painted, of course) and it was love. Thereafter, I hunt for it at every Chanel counter / store I came across. The prices in Hong Kong were still a bit steep at around S$30 so I took a gamble and decided to check it out at Changi Airport instead. The minute I saw that it was S$27, I crumbled, grabbed it in a heartbeat and checked out my purchase before I could stop myself. :P

And I must say, I don't regret it at all! Take a look:

Taboo. 1 glorious coat.
A beautiful deep blue base packed with red shimmers and a scattering of electric blue sparks for that mysterious sultry look. Most of the time, it looks like a deep velvety purple because of the red shimmers in the blue base. Although there are several vampy shimmers in the market, Taboo manages to set itself apart from the rest. I love how the shimmers changed the overall colour. I also love how the random blue sparkles glow against the dark base. It is simply perfection ♥



I thought Taboo couldn't get any more perfect but boy was I wrong. Application was a dream. The formula was buttery smooth and extremely pigmented - one coat was all it needed. The brush was also easy to control and fans out nicely for easy application. To top it all off, the bottle is an elegant square which makes storage a dream! It certainly doesn't hurt that it has a lovely Chanel logo at the top too ;)

To sum up my first Chanel experience? LOVE.

What do you think of Taboo?
Do you have any high-end polishes? What do you think of them - are they worth the price tag?

Need more picture to ogle at? Don't forget to take a look at Taboo on Camila too!

My Ten Friends: Astrochicken & Zero-G

Sent for Review

Happy Sunday everyone!
So sorry for the brief absence! I had been busy with the pre-orders earlier so I didn't have the time to swatch/blog. I really ought to plan my posts in advance >< Anyway, I am happy to say that I have shipped out half of the orders and the other half are packed and ready to be mailed out this week! Keep a lookout at your inbox for email notifications with your tracking numbers!
Thank you for making this pre-order such a success!

With the pre-orders out of the way, I can finally do some swatching and blogging! Boy have I missed playing with all the pretties sitting in my drawers! I have some serious backlog by now so let's jump right into it, shall we?

Today, I have some pretties from a new-to-me indie brand - My Ten Friends - given to me by the lovely Denise from Dazzled!

Oh yeaa.. They look gorgeous, don't they? My mum walked into my room when I was swatching a bunch of polishes and Astrochicken immediately caught her eye. Her taste in polish is awfully trendy and bold for a woman her age. I am so proud of her ;)

Astrochicken. 3 thin coats.
A sheer yellow base packed with shimmers and a handful of red, lime green and gold glitters in various sizes. As delicious as it may look, I had a nagging suspicion that it is not actually inspired by some space cuisine. So, I had a quick look at google and viola~ The word “astrochicken” is a name given to an egg-like spacecraft imagined by Freeman Dyson, a theoretical physicist, which would be launched into space where it would hatch and move around exploring space. At least, that is what I got from Wikipedia. The rest of the words were beyond me #_# Interesting concept huh? If it were ever constructed, I hope it would look as delicious as this polish does ;)

Zero-G. 3 thin coats.
A sheer black base that simply explodes with silver holo glittery goodness that defy gravity - from hexes to shards. One of those that give you instant galaxy nails. The base is an interesting one and I am not quite sure how to explain it. It is actually a load of tiny black particles suspended in a lightly tinted base. It is apparent on the first coat but it builds up to opacity very quickly on the second/third coat.




Application was good. Although the formula is slightly on the thick side, it is still easy to control and the glitters spread evenly on the nails without any dabbing or placement. No fishing needed to get the glitters out of the bottle either.

So what do you think of these two colours? What are your favourite My Ten Friends' colours?

My Ten Friends polishes are available on their website or through stockists like Dazzled. For more information and updates, you may wish to follow My Ten Friends on Facebook and Twitter.

**Products were provided for our honest review. Please see our disclosure policy for more information.**

The Polish Well: Halloween 2013 - Coraline and more!

Dear broadband, *clears throat to sing* how do I live without you~?
So our internet has been down for the past two days and it is driving us insane. But because I am flying off for a holiday this weekend (whooooohooo), I've decided to tether to my precious mobile broadband for a quickie post tonight to show you none other than... my mini halloween collection based on the movie - Coraline!

Oops! Missing a family shot because it slipped my mind so let's just jump to individual swatches shall we?

Coraline.
A deep blue jelly with a slight green tinge filled with turquoise sparkles and blue-green flecks for the spunky blue nails that Coraline sports. I love the depth of this but be warned - it is a stainer.

To the Other World.
A mysterious and inviting deep blue with blue and purple sparkles that give it a glow-from-within look. This was inspired by the tunnel to the other world - when the other mother was still playing nice of course. One of the more glowy blues that I have in my collection. I wore this as a full manicure once and received quite a few compliments - even my sister thought it looks good and she rarely compliments my frankens ;)

Let Me Go!
A mix of gold sparkles in various shades buried in a rich dark chocolate base inspired by the tunnel when Coraline tries to escape. I do love myself some dark browns especially during this time of the year <3

Evil Witch.
For the other mother of course. A deep green jelly with a mix of green glitters and delicate gold sprinkles. I have been meaning to mix a good green for ages but never really found the right colour mix until recently. Can you tell that dark greens are my weakness?


Hmm... perhaps these are not as halloween-y as I'd hoped it would be. Nonetheless, these colours are very wearable any time of the year and that's always a plus in my books ;)

Interested? Here's the release info:-

• I will be accepting pre-orders for this collection from Sunday, 13 October, 9am SGT to the following Sunday 20 October, 9am SGT. 
• Only available in 12ml sizes at US$10 each
• Limited edition - will not be restocked in the foreseeable future
• Shipping at US$6 + US$1 for each subsequent (SG - flat rate of US$4)
• Link to pre-order form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1MZdJZ4_qmM7ywfNjGuU3OVdNH_Oze7TtiDQo9mVtJEQ/viewform (will only be activated during the dates and times stated above)
• If you have an outstanding pre-order with me, please add a note in the remarks field and I will combine your orders for you. 

Other colours that will be made available:

Wrath. (re-release)
Finally... after what seemed like ages, I am finally able to recreate this popular shade from my first collection. A vampy blood red jelly filled with red, gold and black glitters of various shapes and sizes. You likey? ;)

Rose.
A delicate white jelly filled with pink glitters in two shades and a sprinkling of tiny gold sparkles. Inspired by Lee Hi's song of the same name (you need to listen to it - it is hauntingly beautiful). A random bout of inspiration that turned into a shade that I really love.


Yup! That's all from me for now. I need to get myself some rest before my holiday!

What do you think of these colours? Did any catch your eye? :D

Rescue Beauty Lounge: Più Mosso

Purchased By Me

A recent comment on Instagram rekindled my love and yearning for some Rescue Beauty Lounge so I dug through my stash for my precious RBL pretties:

To many, RBL is a high-end luxury brand that is known for their line of understated chic and elegance, most notably, their trademark subtle shimmer in many of their polishes. Much as I indulge in sparkly glitters, I still have a soft spot for delicate shimmers and almost inadvertently sport them on my tips on weekdays. Naturally, I could not keep my eyes, and hands, off RBL. I swear I tried my best to be good but I caved in twice to get these beauties - and never regretted my choice.

I was in the mood for some strong dark colours today so I decided to wear Più Mosso this week. Out of curiosity, I took my new camera for a spin and my eyes nearly popped out when I saw the swatch pictures. There was no way I could not blog about it. Take a look:

Più Mosso. 2 thin coats.
A dusty inky blue that flashes a gorgeous copper when the shimmers catch the light. Più Mosso was inspired by the dark clouds that overtook the sky covering the last ray of sunlight before the storm. Romantic inspiration aside, this literally took my breath away when I stumbled upon swatches of it online. Dusty? Dark? Shimmery? I simply had to have it - it is exactly my cup of tea!

I've worn this a couple of times before this but nothing quite prepared me for what my macro lens captured:

I died - a hundred times over - when I saw the picture on my screen. Isn't it magical!?!

I am very thankful that Ji brought this shade back so I had a chance to get it after missing the first release. At US$20 per bottle (excluding international shipping), this was by no means an ordinary purchase. But it certainly did not disappoint. Not only is the colour wickedly stunning, application was wonderful as well. The formula was smooth and the brush was thin but fans out nicely for easy application.

If there is one RBL you have to get, I would definitely recommend this.

What do you think of Più Mosso? Have you tried any other RBLs?

Wantable Makeup Box Review - September 2013

Hello dear readers!

Today I have something different for you, unboxing and review of the Wantable beauty box.

This month, I was contacted by Wantable to see if I wanted to try one of their boxes. Usually, I'm not a fan of beauty sampling boxes. I used to think that I would receive products that I wont really use... that was until I checked Wantable's website to see how it worked.

What made me decide to try this box was the variety of boxes to choose from: makeup box, accessories box, intimates box and the new Halloween box.
I opted for the makeup box because I love trying new makeup items and who knows? they might include a nail polish to add to my collection :)
One thing I really liked about this makeup box is that you receive 4-5 full size products.
Also, once you sign up on their page, you have fill out a survey about the makeup products that you love, like and dislike. You will never receive the products that you don't like. Pretty cool, right?

Without further ado, here's the September box I got:

*At the end of this post,  I will also include a picture of me with a makeup look using items from this box ;)

Now to the close ups of the makeup items:

Japonesque angled foundation brush (Retail $25)

29 Cosmetics - Reserve moisturizing lipstick in Expressive Rose (Retail $25)

LAQA & CO. nail polish in Burple (Retail $11)

Michael Marcus brow pencil in Brunette (Retail $24)

And that's me with a makeup look using the the angled foundation brush (to apply my BB cream), brow pencil and the lipstick... coincidentally, the nail polish I was wearing matches with my lipcolor :)

Overall, I'm very pleased with this box. I liked all the products from this box and I will continue using them. I think this is thanks to the survey I took on Wantable about my makeup preferences.
The makeup box is $36 for a monthly subscription and $40 for one-time purchase. If you consider the retail price of all the items ($85), it's a very good deal and I got to try makeup brands that I might have not tried otherwise.You can purchase this box here. They ship to the US, Canada and Australia.

*This box was sent to me for review purposes.

I hope you liked this review which is actually first time for me to feature makeup items.

What are your thoughts about this box?
♥♥Thank you so much for reading♥♥

Cirque: Cape Liz & Hellebore

 Sent for Review

Hello loves!

I apologise for not blogging as often as I would like. Life got in the way again by way of a new camera and polish supplies! I finally caved in and got myself a sexy Olympus E-P5 last Saturday and spent that Sunday fiddling with it. I have yet to switch my camera for blogging though because I still need to get a macro lens / macro converter for my new camera. I spent this weekend in my lab mixing up some new colours with my new batch of supplies and I must say I am loving the supplies so far ^_^ For a glimpse of what I've been up to, you can hop over to my Instagram where I update more regularly ;)

Anyhow, I've dug up two swatches from my old camera to share with you - my very first Cirque polishes!

Cape Liz. 3 thin coats.
A beautiful light blue-grey with blue and pink shimmer. I super love how delicate it is. Of course, I also love that it does not make me look too washed-out.

Hellebore. 3 thin coats.
A clear base glitter filled with light green glitters in various sizes complete with a scattering of lavender glitters. Technically a glitter bomb but it looks so very delicate on the nails. Dries gritty but two coats of top coat restored its shine and sparkles.






This is my first experience with Cirque and I must say that I am very impressed. Although it is an indie handmade polish, every inch of its being exudes style and glamour of the highest class - from the quality of the lacquer right down to the packaging. The only gripe that I have is that the polishes are scented. I can't quite pinpoint the scent but it gives me a slight headache because I am rather sensitive to some fragrances (yup, I can only wear certain types of perfume for that reason). That said, not everyone is sensitive to scents so I don't think it is of any issue to most of you.

Cirque is available on their website as well as through their stockists such as Dazzled. They ship internationally so my sincere apologies to your wallets in advance. ;)




**Products were provided for our honest review. Please see our disclosure policy for more information.**

a-england: Rose Bower, Order of the Garter & Love is Enough

Sent for Review

Arggggh! I swear the heat is going to kill me one day. It would be a good day for swatching except that my block of flats is being painted at the moment and I don't exactly fancy doing my thang when the painters are hovering outside my window. *awkward*

Thankfully I have some swatches in my camera so I can still blog away!

If you've caught my last post, you would know that I've received some pretties from Dazzled, a new etailer based in Hong Kong. So today, I will be sharing with you some from one of my favourite brands: a-england!

Rose Bower. 2 coats (it is a one-coater but I did 2 anyway)
A gorgeous glowy red base with very subtle holo. Rose Bower is one of the new colours in Adina's latest collection, Burne-Jones Dream, inspired by Burne-Jones' paintings depicting scenes from Sleeping Beauty. Whilst the holo effect is the weakest in Rose Bower, the base colour more than makes up for everything. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the holo sparkles compliment the base perfectly.

Order of the Garter. (3 thin coats)
A sheer deep blue base filled with electric blue glass flecks that shimmer impossibly when they catch the light. I can truly lose myself in the depths within.

Love is Enough. (3 thin coats)
A sheer blackened base filled with shimmery metallic flecks giving it an overall olive hue with gold accents. Extremely glowy, sophisticated and edgy.







As with all the a-englands, the formula and application on these are perfect so no complaints there. In fact, it is one of the reason why I love a-england so much - painting is not just a process to getting pretty nails, it is an enjoyment by itself.

At the moment, a-england only ships within the UK but you can get your hands on these beauties through various distributors including Dazzled. Starting from yesterday, Dazzled is officially offering worldwide shipping (including countries outside Asia) so all you international ladies can satisfy your needs and lemmings too. On top of that, to celebrate 2,500 likes on Facebook, Dazzled is having a storewide discount of 10% with the code "2500FB". The code is valid until 6 September so don't wait! ;)



**Products were provided for our honest review. Please see our disclosure policy for more information.**

American Apparel - Palm Springs

Hello dear readers!

I want to show you swatches of Palm Springs, a nail polish by American Apparel.

Palm springs is a peachy nude color with creme finish. The application was easy, though it was slightly streaky. The opacity of the formula made it easy to even it out by the second coat. The only thing I was not so happy about this nail polish was the drying time. It took longer even after applying Out the Door fast dry top coat.

Do you like the mannequin finish this type of nail polish color gives to nails?

Tomorrow This Wednesday, I'll show you the stamping nail art I did on top of this nail polish ;)

♥♥Thank you for reading♥♥

Pretty & Polished: May Flowers

Sent for Review

Happy weekend!

Thank you all for participating in the giveaway! I apologise for the delay in the announcement of the giveaway winner here as I did not have the time to schedule a post. But if you have been following me on Instagram, you would have already known that a lucky winner has been chosen and she is:

Alison Morrison

Alison has already replied to my email but here's a huge congratulations to you again! I have just finished packing your prize and will be sending them out this coming week. I sure hope you will like them ^_^

Today, I have a short and quick post before I take a break after all that shaking and mixing.

A while ago, I received an exciting email about a new stockist that will be based in Hong Kong! Fast forward a few weeks later, DAZZLED is now officially open!

Here's a self-introduction from the founder, Denise:

DAZZLED was born from the passion and obsession of nail colours of founder, Denise - From a nail biter to total obsession. We strive to provide the gorgeous nail polishes to all ladies in Asia from around the world. Here you can find a wide range of indie polish brands just in one stop, with a more affordable shipping price and less waiting time.

I am always happy to hear from ex-nail biters because their stories are so inspiring and a huge motivation for all of us to keep our nails healthy and strong. Of course, I am even happier that Denise has taken her passion to the next level to bring in gorgeous polishes for us all! ;)

Although Dazzled is still new to the polish community, Denise has already gathered a strong line-up with brands such as a-england, Cirque, Happy Hands, NailNation 3000, Pretty & Polished and more!

Denise has kindly sent me some polishes to share with you and boy did they blow my mind when I opened the package. Pretty & Polished's May Flowers was the first that I've tried:

**random rant: Is it just me or does Blogger change the colour of my picture above? It looks really different from the picture in my local drive! >:( Thankfully Flickr doesn't alter my pictures (below).**

May Flowers. 3 thin coats.
Eek! My very first thermal polish! May Flowers has a mix of pink, hot pink, purple, yellow, green glitters in hexes and dots (and even flowers! I didn't manage to get any on my nails but you can see it in the swatch sticks above) in a creme base that shifts from a delicate mint-green when warm to a bright green when cold. In the swatch above, I dunked my index and ring finger in cold water and my middle and pinky in warm water to show the different colours.

When left to its ordinary state, the thermal effect gave my short nails a very subtle gradient french tip effect. Love it so much!

Of course, the effect is more obvious if you have more free-edge but I wasn't ready to sport long nails myself ;)

The formula is perfect. Application was very easy and fuss-free except that the larger glitters (the flowers!) need some fishing.

So what do you think of this or thermal polishes in general?

Pretty & Polished is now available at Dazzled. Denise currently offers flat rate shipping within Asia with free shipping for orders above a certain value. Do hop over to their website to check it out. You may also follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more updates!

Meanwhile, stay tuned for more swatches coming your way! ♥



**Products were provided for our honest review. Please see our disclosure policy for more information.**