Sportsgirl Makeup - Lips & Nails

Sportsgirl makeup is something I've never ever looked into. I'm going to take a wild guess and say that it's due to the fact that I never enter the store because I can't afford the clothing. The other day, however, I was compelled to enter when I saw a heap of makeup significantly reduced and figured it would be a good time to give their beauty products a try.

I'm going to be honest here and acknowledge that I have no idea how it happened, but I ended up paying $1 each for the lipsticks and $2.50 for the nail polish. Bargain! There were very few options in terms of colour selection because only a couple of shades were part of the sale but I think I did a darn good job with my choices!

First up are the lipsticks, and let me tell you, I am a huge fan. They are both matte shades, although I feel that the pink shade 'Doll Face' is slightly less matte than Starlet. Despite this they are both so creamy, easy to apply and so comfortable to wear. I love that they are both so pigmented and have a really good lasting power. The red shade 'Starlet' stains the slightest bit however staining isn't really a property of either of the lipsticks. I believe these retail at full price for $10 and I can tell you they are so worth it! Sportsgirl also has a really great shade range of their 'Pout about it lipsticks' so you really must get your hands on them if you live in Australia.

L-R: Doll Face, Starlet

We then have their nail polishes, and I can't speak on behalf of the entire range since 'Head Start' is the only one I've ever tried, but like the lipsticks it is of a magnificent quality. This will sound really strange (it's a weird beauty blogger logic) but I don't actually particularly like the actual shade, I was more interested in trying out the 'jelly formula' it claims to have. I really love the formulation of this polish and found that it was completely opaque in two coats with high shine. It also lasts really well - the photos in this post were taken three days after application, and as you can see there was minimal wear visible.

So, as you can see, Sportsgirl makeup is bloody great! I have seen a couple of Aussie girls praising the products in the past on their blogs but still didn't take the plunge and actually check them out. I recommend that you do, especially as they seem to be having lots of sales at the moment. It is totally worth your money!

NOTD - Festive all 'round

In my traditional style, I am months (years even?) late to jump on the accent nail bandwagon but whatever, I felt as though this mani called for it and I had been wanting to try out my Rimmel Space Dust polish for so long. I love glitter polishes however I despise having to remove them, so the accent nail was the perfect solution that also meant my nails weren't too OTT. I found Rimmel's polish Aurora absolutely magical! The accent nail in the photo was achieved with one coat, was so dense and beautiful in every way!

The base polish I used was Revlon's Creme Brulee, a gorgeous pale gold shade.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Rosy Outlook

How has everyone been lately? Personally, life has been crazy for me and disappointingly this blog has been on the bottom of my list, hence why it's been so quiet around here. Sadly I don't think that is going to change until I graduate from school at the end of this year! Never mind, I'm here with a NOTD in a beautiful warm pink shade from Sally Hansen called Rosy Outlook. 

I was lucky to receive this in a giveaway prize and I have been using it quite frequently since because it is such a gorgeous pink that covers all the requirements:
- Bright and cheery
- Able to match a large variety of outfits
- Not too eye catching and attention stealing yet still pretty enough for people to admire

- Beautiful formula that is easy to apply

- Lasting power and chip resistance (this lasted four days without chipping)

I am really impressed with this polish and know that when summer comes around it will be on my nails a lot. I also love the shape and size of the bottle, there certainly is a heck of a lot of polish here! I've only ever tried two Sally Hansen polishes but both of them have impressed me immensely.  

Even though Sally Hansen polishes aren't the cheapest polishes on the market I am definitely going to add some more to my collection because they are fantastic. What do you guys think of Sally Hansen polishes?

Essence Nail Art Special Effect Topper in Black Dress and White Tie

The speckled egg nail polish trend is one that I've had my eye on since the gorgeous Illamasqua polishes burst onto the scene. I didn't really feel like spending that much on a polish, especially because I was pretty sure that there would be millions of copies made by more affordable brands in no time at all, so I waited it out.

Of course, as is always the case with me and trends, because of my stingy nature I end up jumping on the bandwagon waaaayyy after it has been and gone. It doesn't really bother me all that much, in fact I was thrilled when I saw that Essence had come out with this alternative for about $3!

I will admit, this isn't exactly a speckled egg kind of polish but it's close enough to satisfy my cravings. In fact, I think it would be better described as a hundreds and thousands kind of polish but nevertheless, whatever you wish to call it...it looks pretty cool.

It's a gorgeous black and white spotty polish with fine silver glitter throughout it. I personally would prefer it without the glitter however it does suit the polish and look quite nice on. I also love that it is actually quite fast drying.

I only applied one coat for the photos but I find two or three coats to be even more effective and eye catching. Speaking of photos, don't look too closely! I must apologise because I took the photos four days after having applied the polish (base and top coat) and therefore there was significant chipping. At least you get the idea of what it looks like, even if it isn't perfect...

I did find that there was a particular technique you could use when applying the polish for better results. I found that by 'pressing' the polish onto the nail I was able to control the amount of glitter and its placement a lot more than the traditional way of painting it on with long strokes. I used the traditional method to achieve the look with the tan coloured base, and the 'pressing' method for the pink base...you can see the significant difference it made.

In regards to the most important thing about a glitter polish, as always it is absolutely horrendous to remove. I had to scrape the glitter off my nails physically as polish remover just wasn't able to do the job.

Despite this, I am so very fond of this polish and think it gives the coolest effect in a really simple and easy way. 

NOTD - Revlon Nail Enamel in Creme Brulee

I've blogged about this little bargain in this post, but in short this polish was $2.50 and who could resist a sale like that when they normally retail for $13.95? 

Revlon polishes I have always found to be of magnificent quality. They are fast drying, chip resistant and have beautiful formulas. Creme Brulee was a welcome addition to my collection and upon further exploration I realised I actually didn't even have a shade quite like it.

I would describe Creme Brulee as a muted antique gold, a shade not terribly well named in my opinion. It's the perfect inbetween in regards to being both subtle yet noticeable in addition to having a metallic shine but not so much that you look like some crazy robot. Having said that, I do feel a little futuristic when wearing this polish and would hesitate to wear it on a regular basis, instead saving it for a party or music festival where it is a little more fitting.

The formula was a little disappointing. Though it was incredibly easy to apply and wonderfully fast drying, it appears to be rather streaky once dry. This is of course due to its metallic nature (almost all metallic polishes do the same thing) but nevertheless it's less than ideal. 

Despite this, it's a lovely polish and for $2.50, an absolute joy to have in my collection.

While I was taking my NOTD photos I managed to capture this lovely moment and though it is very much unrelated I thought I would include it in my post...

NOTD - Face Stockholm nail polish in Want-a-blue

Recently I was really lucky to win the February Wantable box from Shrinking Wallet's Giveaway, and within that was this Face Stockholm polish in the shade Want-a-blue.

Being a blue/grey/lilac kind of shade, it is a very uncharacteristic shade for me to wear however surprisingly I actually really enjoyed the change and am really glad that I received it as part of the prize.

I'd never heard of the brand before so it was lovely to have a new brand to try out. I quite like the plain square shaped bottle which is really simple but effective. The only annoyance I had was that the shade name is not written anywhere on the polish which I find a little strange.

The formulation of this polish is brilliant, a lovely consistency that is completely opaque after two coats. So far so good, but here is where there is a real problem...it chipped on several fingers the same day that I applied it.

Now I understand that polishes have to endure quite a bit of wear and tear, but I don't think I have ever had a polish that has chipped on the same day I applied it! For me, that is pretty poor wear time and I wouldn't bother ever buying a polish that did that as there are so many amazing quality, affordable options out these days.

Nevertheless, it is a pretty polish and I enjoyed the change as I usually stick to pinks, oranges and reds. I also decided to come up with a bit of nail art which I've included at the end of this post! (They are a little bit dodgy but I've never been good at nail art...at least I tried!)

Have you tried any polishes from this brand and did they chip straight away for you?

Face of Australia Glitterati Polish in Studio 54

I've never hunted down a polish with such desperation before. Yep, to someone who isn't a beauty blogger, I agree, it must look absolutely pathetic, but if you are familiar with the feeling of setting your heart on an unreachable product, you know what lengths you will go to, to ensure that it ends up in your clutches.

When Face of Australia came out with their Glitterati polish collection, it was Studio 54 that I was interested in, and Studio 54 alone. Somehow (it was Kmart's fault for having crazy sales) I ended up with basically every polish from the range except Studio 54, and still it wasn't enough. I had to have it.

At first I saw the golden glitter polish everywhere, but when you've been purchasing polishes for 75c due to '$4 off' sales, you kind of expect that you will never pay full price for anything ever again. By the time I realised that maybe I would have to fork out $5 if I truly wanted Studio 54 (which is actually a very reasonable price compared to brands like OPI and Essie) I couldn't find it anywhere. Certainly everywhere I went it was always the only one that had completely sold out. It seemed like every resident in Adelaide owned my polish except me! Next thing you know, Face of Australia has moved on with another limited edition range and I am left simply begging the makeup Gods to just gift to me my one polish with my promise that if such a small wish were to be fulfilled I would forever be content (until I fell in love with a new, un-purchasable polish, of course).

I didn't give up though. This crazy beauty obsessed girl perfectly reasonable blogger wouldn't be deterred by obvious facts like that Studio 54 was gone forever and would never be painted across my prepped nails. Nope, I continued to search high and low willing to do just about anything.

Christmas came and went, boxing day arrived and I found myself wandering the aisles of Priceline in a little country town where I was holidaying. Who could resist a good post-Christmas sale, right?

And there it was. Rammed behind the spotlight-stealing Carnivale polishes was my one and only, Studio 54. Could it really be true? Absolutely, and it was picked up and paid for before you could say 'Eureka,' safe in the confines of my bottomless bag. Sure, I may have paid $7 for it (more than the original retail price) and it may have been opened and used by someone too inconsiderate to use the dedicated tester, but does it really matter when I can finally sleep without waking in the night haunted by dreams of lacklustre nails begging for a coat of sparkly gold glitter? It's totally worth it. Totally.

What do you think of my polish of all time?

*When writing this post I may have gotten a little carried away with the hyperboles but the general premise of the story was absolutely true - I wanted this polish a heck of a lot. Don't worry, I'm not really as crazy as I sound, and the absence of this polish my life most definitely did not interfere with my sleep!*

NOTD - Glitter gradient with Maybelline's Colour Show Sequins polish in Rose Bling

How are all my fellow Aussie readers enjoying this weather? I myself am a huge fan of summer and the heat, but a 42 degree heatwave for a week is pushing it a little. Luckily for me, we recently purchased one of those swinging outdoor seats (you know the ones I'm talking about, right?) and so I've been reading books in the shade. It's been lovely! Anyhow, that's not what this post is about at all!

Something weird is going on. I've never been a nail polish kind of person, despite my makeup loving character. Though I'd drool over a pink lipstick or bright blush, polish really didn't capture my attention. I blame the sudden interest on Face of Australia who then started to come out with some killer limited edition ranges (and if there's something I can't resist it's limited editon products) but even so, I still couldn't care less about glitter polish. I'd read other people's NOTD posts featuring some of the most beautfiul glitters, I would admire it on their nails and then click out of it, not feeling any need to have some myself. Then out of the blue I started to go crazy, wanting to buy literally every glittery lacquer known to man. I hardly even wear glitter and I despise having to take it off because it's absolute hell, so why oh why is glitter polish calling out my name?!

Ahhh, I don't know the answer to that question but I do know that Maybelline's Colour Show Sequins Polish in Rose Bling is the newest addition to my glitter collection. I felt bad about all the glitter accumulating so I decided to actually wear some of it for a change, hence why my first ever gradient manicure was born.

Surprisingly, creating a glitter gradient was not nearly as challenging as I had anticipated and I actually love the results. I think what put me off of glitter was that it was just so overpowering, and at times a little tacky, but with a gradient I find it to be slightly more tasteful and toned down. Is that just me or can other people relate?

Anyhow, this NOTD was so easily achieved and I've decided that Rose Bling is really quite a pretty polish with its fine and small hexagon shaped baby pink glitter and a few larger hot pink ones floating around. Subtle (if you could ever call a glitter subtle) and sweet.

I layered this over Face of Australia's pastel polish in I'll take you to the Candy Shop (which was also featured in this NOTD here) and I think it is a perfect combination.

Lastly I do need to mention the fact that this was the most challenging polish I've ever had to remove. It honestly took me about thirty five minutes of scrubbing and attempting to peel it off, which was very frustrating. I expect this was due to both the polish and the fact that I had multiple layers of it on.

Overall I'm still very confused about my new obsession for glittery polishes, but I guess I'll just go with it and create some more pretty glitter gradients!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway here.