Chanel Beauty Shopping & I'm Back... I Think?

I'm sorry I've been neglecting this blog. Between work, exams and then starting my full time job, I've been way less excited about makeup and nail polish. Which is shocking, seeing how all I ever used to think about was makeup & nail polish!

That being said, there has been a product I've been wanting to try for a longggg time. And I finally got it, to celebrate the first month at my big girl job (I've been doing an awful lot of celebrating actually).

I got two things, can you guess what they are? 

Yep, I FINALLY got the CC cream I've been lusting over. That and the eyeshadow quad in Seduction.   I also wanted to pick up the Les Beige powder but the lady at the counter said they're sold out in most places :( Oh well, maybe next time. 

I love Chanel's sleek and simple packaging. Always a win. (The Les Beige powder comes in a beige compact, SO MUCH WANT.)

I've been meaning to pick up one of the Chanel quads just to try their eyeshadows but I haven't seen one that I want badly enough to fork out US$60 for so I held back. This purchase was completely spur of the moment, I hope I don't regret it! 

It seems like it'd be a good combination of colors for me. I have more neutral eyeshadow palettes than I can remember so I didn't want to get another one with just different shades of brown. 

Seduction is perfect because it has a deeper red-toned shade (top left) and a light champagne (top right) and a pretty peachy shade (bottom left). It's not too far out of my box but still slightly more colorful than most palettes I own. I can't say I'll get much use out of the darkest brown shade but I'll try to use it as eyeliner!

So excited to wear these out tomorrow, hopefully I won't be disappointed!

More Chevrons Please!

{China Glaze's Kinetic Candy, Liquid Leather & I'm Not Lion}

I loved & missed my previous chevron manicure so much (you can see it here), I asked my friend if she'd paint them for me again. Voila! I love how these turned out, and my left hand looks even better, but I can't seem to take pictures with my left hand.

{OPI's My Vampire Is Buff, Pirouette My Whistle & When Monkeys Fly!}

I know I said I was on a shopping ban, but unfortunately, that hasn't happened. I keep getting tempted by new collections & makeup I see :(

I bought these OPI nail polishes the other day, I couldn't resist, they're soooo pretty! I want to wear My Vampire Is Buff and When Monkeys Fly so much but I don't want to remove my chevrons :( #firstworldproblems

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Also placed an order with Teavana for the very first time and I LOVE the selection of tea they have, they all sound delicious and the ones I got taste amazing. I'm not really loving loose leaf teas though, they're much more inconvenient than tea bags.

Inglot!

I visited an Inglot store today! Look at the rows and rows and rows of nail polish, in every color & shade of the rainbow and MORE. I was drooling when I saw the display :O 

I also made my first Inglot Freedom palette (only 3 pans of eyeshadow but still...), I'll blog about it soon!

Ice Cream Nails!

Dark colors are all I've been wearing lately, I've been stuck in a dark red polish rut (I own 11 dark red colors, the last time I counted). 

Then I decided to force myself out of my comfort zone and go completely pastel. And... I loved it!

L to R: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear's Lacey Lilac, OPI's Panda-monium Pink, China Glaze's Kinetic Candy, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear's Mint Sorbet and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear's Lacey Lilac again.

All my favourite colors on my fingers. Just looking at this picture makes me happy (:

Then, I had some time on my hands and decided to add something fun to my manicure.

Yep, I painted ice cream on my nails!

Honestly, my nails are having a bit of an identity crisis. They can't decide if they're ice cream or cupcakes. Help them out?

New Nail Swatches!

I know I said that I'm on a no-buy, but I bought a couple bottles of Essie polish before that started. And I also have a bunch of stuff coming in the mail, just putting it out there so no one thinks I'm a loser who can't stick to a no-buy!

Anyway, I was on the search for the Essie topcoat (the one with the shiny metallic cap) but I couldn't find it anywhere so I ended up getting 2 polishes instead. 

I've seen Chinchilly all over Tumblr and I loved it. The formula isn't amazing though. It went on a little goopy and sheer in places. I had to paint my nails twice because I messed up the first time, I painted it on too thickly and it wouldn't dry and it started creasing. Using two or three thin coats worked better for me. It's wearing pretty well, 4 days and no chips yet!

I love love love dark reds but I don't think I own one that's so obviously a jelly polish. I adore this color and the formula is pretty great for a jelly polish, I used 3 coats.

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And, on a completely unrelated note, my friend came back from a semester abroad and she bought me...

A STARBUCKS EAR CAP!!!

I've been wanting one for a while but they have been pretty pricey (more than I want to pay for a ear cap anyway) where I've seen them. Isn't it adorable? I'm so in love with it and I'm going to try my best not to misplace it like I usually do.

Oh you know...

Just the things I want but can't buy because I'm supposed to be saving up for a big purchase. I'm going on a no-buy soon. & It so happens that just as I've decided to go on a no-buy, all my favourite companies come up the the most amazing things. 

I've been the biggest fan of Archie comics ever since I was a kid, I was obsessed with collecting & reading them. I'm definitely Team Betty though, are you? 

I knew I wanted to own pieces from this collection when I first saw it (hello blushes & eyeshadow quad & face powder!). The packaging is too cute ♥

MAC is releasing EIGHT new pro longwear paint pots! :O I think I've said it more than enough, but paint pots are my absolute favourite thing from MAC (the MSFs come a very close second). Look at the gorgeous shade on the top row, I need them all! 

I know I'm definitely going to get Vintage Selection & Let Me Pop (3rd & 4th ones in the top row). These were first seen in the Champale collection in 2010 and I didn't get them because I wasn't into wearing much eye makeup then.

And finaaaaally, the pastels from China Glaze's Avant Garden collection. I'm a sucker for pastels. I haven't looked up swatches yet, but I probably have something similar to the lilac & periwinkle colours in my collection. I'm pretty sure I'm going to get the darker pink, mint & white colour though. 

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I just need a teeny bit of self control, I'll pick out a couple of things to buy from each collection and I won't go overboard :/

Essie's Turquoise & Caicos & China Glaze's Whirled Away!

I purchased a couple of the polishes from the China Glaze Cirque du Soleil collection a month ago (I posted it on Instagram), but I completely forgot about them until I chanced upon swatches recently. I loved Whirled Away the moment I saw it but I had no idea how to wear it. 

I looked through the swatches on Google and decided that I liked it best over a pastel/light colored base so I whipped out Essie's Turquoise & Caicos ♥

Turquoise & Caicos has to be one of my favourite mint green/turquoise nail polishes. It's SO gorgeous & the formula is pretty great. The first coat may look sheer and patchy, but the second coat evens everything out. I have no problems with the formula at all. 

I had a bit of trouble applying Whirled Away though. In all the swatches I've seen, all the "glitter" pieces seemed to be well distributed & even. However, when I tried to paint it on, it was pretty hard to get the pieces to go on evenly. I actually had to fish out the white hexagonal pieces and put them on using a dotting tool.

I really love how unique Whirled Away is and I love how these two polishes look together. Whirled Away is definitely worth the extra effort it takes.