Saturday, January 19, 2013

Blog sale closed and giveaway announced

Hi everyone!

Please note my blog sale is now closed as of 5pm Saturday 19 January. I am also pleased to announce that Jen has won the giveaway - congrats Jen!

All polish orders completed by Friday have been posted today. Later orders will be posted within the next few days. I have also sent out this information on twitter too.

Thanks to everyone who found a new home for one of my polishes!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend

Jac x

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Blog Sale Now Live + giveaway


Here we go:
  • This blog sale is for Australian residents only so prices quoted are in Australian dollars (AUD).
  • Postage is $5AUD for up to 5 items and $10AUD for more than that.
  • Items will be posted on Saturday 19/1/13
  • Sales are final - please feel free to ask questions before buying and I have done my best to show everything as accurately as I can.
  • I am happy to hold something for 24hrs if you need to ask questions or just want time to make up your mind.
  • All polishes are more than 95% full - if they have been worn it's only 1-2 times. All bottles have at least been swatched.
  • Please email me at chloeblue2005@gmail.com to buy something and first in best dressed of course.
  • Free gift - each order will have a free polish (not listed below) included. These are polishes I was either gifted, received for PR consideration or are a mini size. 
  • Giveaway details at the bottom - it's good so scroll through!


The following polishes are $1 a bottle:

 Left to right: Sally hansen Black Diamond (94), Gem Crush Be-jeweled (05), Gem Crush Razzle Dazzle (06), Xtreme wear Blue Me Away! (130), Xtreme wear Purple Potion (350) and Xtreme wear Hot Magenta (120).

Left to right:  Let's go Scuba Diving,  Orange you glad you came?, You blue me away, Ocean Villa



The following polishes are $3 a bottle or 3 bottles for $5:

 Left to right: Emerald Fitzgerald, Outta Bounds, Adore, In the Lime Light (neon), Flyin' High

 Left to right: Little Drummer Boy, First Mate, Sky High-top, Flyin High (duplicate pic)

 Left to right: CG in the city, Dorothy Who?, Skycraper, c-c-courage, Anklets of amethysts

 Left to right: VI, Hey Doll, Yee-Haw!, Good witch?, Rated Holographic (halo)

Left to right: Fast Track, Elephant Walk, Secret Peri-wink-le, Bogie

 Left to right: Color Club Alias, High society, Otherworldly, Gossip Column, Lumin-icecent

Left to right: Rule Breaker, Metamorphosis, Perfect molten, Nouveau vintage, wild and willing



The following polishes are $5 each or 3 for $10:

Left to right: Zoya Jules, Purity, Yara and Bevin

Left to right: Orly Halleys Comet, Ancient jade and Gilded Coral

Left to right: Berlin there done that, Save me, Austin-tatious turquoise, Congeniality is my middle name
 Left to right: Essie cute as a button, School of hard rocks, Sew Psyched, Turquoise & Caicos


 Left to right: Smokin' Hot, Huckle Buckle, Demure Vixen, Topless & Barefoot
 
Picture Polish Denim, Ware house and Watermelon, Rescue Beauty Lounge Jane, Butter London's No More Waity, Katie.

Giveaway Details:
If you purchase and pay for your polishes (including postage costs) before 9am Saturday you will go into the draw to win a Sephora by OPI mini set from their recent Cinderella collection. I'll use random.org to choose the winner. Bottles have been swatched only (tips are on the bottles). 




Happy Shopping!

Jacx

Monday, January 14, 2013

Blog Sale Preview
















Sale starts 5pm Wednesday South Australian time. Australian shipping only. Polishes will be priced in $1, $3 and $5 categories.


See you on Wednesday!

Jacx

Monday, January 7, 2013

SPARKLE: Rescue Beauty Lounge's Aqua Lily.


There are a few nail polishes that get mentioned in hushed tones - Essie's Starry Starry night, China Glaze's OMG collection, OPI's My Private Jet and RBL's Aqua Lily. Well most of those polishes are the stuff of myth and legend these days but luckily for me, RBL decided to re-release Aqua Lily in their most recent 'Bring it Back' event and I snapped it up.

This shade is an amasing aqua with a contrasting purple shimmer. Aqua Lily was one of the shades in RBL's first fan collection - which means that the idea was submitted into a competition to be created into a polish. I've actually got 2 polishes from the original fan collection now - Aqua Lily and Cuprum. If you want to find out more about the fan collection and what inspired the shades Scrangie did a great post with swatches (as always).


Anyways back to this beauty. This polish applied nicely, the brush is easy to use and is not especially thick or thin. It is a little slower to dry than some of my other polishes so I used Sally Hansen's Insta Dry top coat on top. I feel like the top coat has diminished some of the shimmer - the tip on my bottle shot shows more shimmer as it is 2 coats of the polish alone.





All photos are taken with 2 coats of Aqua Lily with 1 coat of the top coat. I just love shades like this. Sadly this is sold out again but you can go on RBL's mailing list to be advised of future pre-sales in case this one comes up again. In the meantime there are a number of dupe posts if you want to create a version of your own on google - I haven't tried any so can't recommend them either way.

Happy Monday

Jac x


Sunday, January 6, 2013

Current nail polish wish list




What else do you do when you are on a no buy except look at things you do want to purchase:

OPI:
  • Servin' Up Sparkle
  • Sprung is a copper shimmer
  • Mermaid's tears
  • Metallic For Life
  • Pirouette my Whistle

Zoya:
  •  Isla
  • Verushka
  • Pasha
  • Vanessa

China Glaze:
  • Four leaf clover
  • Gothic lolita

KBShimmer:
  • Band Geek*
  • Jack
  • Elle*
  • Shipwreck* 
  • Oh splat!* 
  • Showgirl*
  • Snow Way!

Hare:
  • Atolla
  • Bisbee*
  • Cosmo blossoms*
  • Dead Man's Bones*
  • Medusa Luminosa*
  • Monster
  • Pegasus*

Emily De Molly:
  • Black forest* 
  • Muted Madness*

A England:
  • St George*
  • Tristam
Enchanted Nail Polish
  • Across the universe
  • Octopus's garden

* currently sold out.

Those indie nail polishes are hard to get your hands on. Items that have been crossed out have been subsequently acquired by me *evil grin*


Happy Sunday

Jac x

P.S. I am periodically coming back in here to cross off when I get my hands on these polishes.

Friday, January 4, 2013

Blog: 12 things I'll remember about 2012

Rather than doing a favourite post or series of posts I thought I'd summarise the big things I'll remember from 2012.

1. Good health is everything
Trust me I couldn't even tell you all the health things that went wrong with me in 2012 without sounding like a crazy hypochondriac so I'm not even going to try. What I will say is that having pretty consistent health issues this year reminded me that health is something to be treasured and worked on. I'm doing what I can even now to ensure I have a healthier 2013.

2. Learn patience now or life will teach you anyway
I have often joked that I have so many other virtues that I didn't need to learn patience - I WAS WRONG. From being part of a recruitment process that started in April and is yet to be finalised, to having to wait for my husband so I could get dressed (ah yes broken arm I am still bitter about that) I was quite the ball of angry for part of this year. But at the end of the day I learned that while I can stress all I like, the things I do not control don't care if I am stressing so it's better to spend that energy doing something else.

3. I love travelling
I had suspected that I would love going to the US this year but OMG I LOVED it so much that we are planning to go back in 2015 (we have a cruise in October to get through first). I loved using different money, seeing different stores and landmarks and mostly I loved vacating my life for a short period of time. Having said that we saved every dollar before leaving and I would not go into debt for a holiday.

4. I love my husband
Being away in the US and leaving all of our everyday stresses (total #firstworldproblems) behind gave me time to realise how much I genuinely enjoy spending time with my husband and how lucky I am to feel just as in love with him as when we met. I know it's smushy but it's true so deal with it lol.

5. Friends are worth more than gold
While I was in a negative tailspin with the constant dramas and health issues of 2012, I had friends who listened to me whinge, made me laugh, made me feel special (even while I was covered in shingles) and generally kept me going. To those people I want you to know how thankful I am and how much your friendships have meant to me. Thanks especially to Sarah (still the smartest person I've ever met), Tara and Dee.

6. Sephora is indeed a wonderland
Well they couldn't all be deep and meaningful lol. OMG when I walked into Sephora at the intersection of Hollywood and Highland I swear I heard angels singing. It was big, glorious, clean, not too crowded and had a nail bar right at the front luring me in like a magnet. I am going back there again and it has to be said the service was incredible!

7. I gave into the polish addiction
I actually spent the 31/1/12 entering all of my nail polishes into a spreadsheet as my newest fear is that I will begin buying dupes. Too late - I discovered I had already done that twice and that I didn't own a polish I was 100% sure that I did. Anyways once I catalogued all 302 shades it occurred to me that 1. I have an addiction and 2. that's ok. I don't drink, smoke or have any other expensive hobbies so polish is it for me. That being said I am not interested in buying just for the sake of it, there has to be something different or unusual. Edit: as of the 04/01/2013 I now own 316 - I don't want to talk about it ;)

8. I discovered indie nail polish
So Hare polish has been on my radar for a while but I really discovered it after Rhada and Jen on twitter got me looking at 2 websites - Llarowe and Harlow and Co. OMG seriously look at those sites and tell me that indie nail polish isn't something really exciting in the polish world. Not sure where to start then look at A England, Hare and KBShimmer.

9. Skincare that works
I have to thank Dee for introducing me to Paula's Choice a few years ago but I really only got on the bandwagon a couple of months ago. I really enjoy using their products and particularly appreciate being able to use a moisturiser with SPF that doesn't break me out. I use mostly the skin recovery and earth choice ranges and have very little issues with congestion (unless I am lazy and use makeup wipes at night to take my makeup off).

10. I am not entitled
One of the things that I hate hearing more and more in the public domain is how we are entitled to things. I deserve baby bonus as I pay taxes and had a baby, I paid taxes so I deserve an age pension, we need better roads but I want a tax cut and so on. I earn a good wage, I have a strong social conscience (which I thank my parents for) so I am ok with my taxes going towards the roads I use, the hospitals I visit and welfare payments for those in need. After working for the government for more than 10 years and seeing the shame people feel for claiming payments they are eligible for, I don't buy into the "I want to spend my money how I want" argument. I am part of a society and I believe I should actively participate and contribute. Just my opinion.

11. Chanel Vitamlumire Aqua did not change my life
I bought it, I use it and it's lovely BUT so is Nars Sheer Glow. This is a good foundation that I believe has been overhyped (a pet peeve of mine) and is certainly not worth the $80+ AUD price tag it has in Australia. Its best selling point is that it disappears into the skin and has a sunscreen. Oh and the packaging is travel friendly. Meh.

12. Jo'mina was worth waiting for
This polish by Illamasqua has been on my wish list for years (at least it feels that way) and it was worth the wait. It is just as gorgeous as you expect it to be. Highly recommend!

It's a personal decision of mine that I try and find something to learn about everything that happens to me but as I work in learning that is no real surprise. Welcome 2013 - I look forward to seeing what you have to offer too.

Anything special you'll remember about 2012?

Jacx

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Buy: My most recent Hop Shop Go experience.


Hop Shop Go (HSG) is one of the many mail redirection sites that have entered to market to fill the need of redirecting parcels from the US to other locations such as Australia. I have ordered through this website before and recently went through the experience again to see how it would be this time.

My order consisted of the Urban Decay Vice palette (which I had in my hand while in the US and put back down again - STUPID!!!), a MUFE cream eyeshadow and a Tarina Tarintino Eyeshadow duo. Unfortunately when it arrived the duo and vice palette had broken shadows. I was devastated as TT is no longer sold at Sephora - waaah.

So I dutifully sent photos to HSG asking if they could compensate or replace my broken items. I was issued a claim form which I filled in. My claim took about 9 working days to process but I received an email yesterday to advise that the amount would be credited back to my account.

So would I recommend HSG - I would. You pay through the nose for shipping and you always risk items breaking but through my claim process I found their communication extremely polite and timely. As far as mail redirection services go I found them easy to use in terms of organising my order too. I was compensated the full amount of my damaged items meaning that I could purchase them again if desired. I would hesitate to order palettes again in the future though.

If you are in need of a mail redirection service, I think HSG deserves a look at.

Do you have any redirection services to recommend below?

Jacx