Ok this post is pretty huge if I do say so myself, it even has two tutorials including a lilac lace nail art… that’s right two!
I’ve been getting a lot of nail polish related requests lately so here is a gigantic post to take care of some of them!
Firstly a lot of people have been asking how many nail polishes I have… the answer is 87. That sounds like a lot… and well it is a lot but I’ve collected those over the last 4 years aaaaand a lot of them were gifts and the ones I bought were all like $2 so it’s not actually the gigantic money pit it sounds like!
Question 2: how do I store them? Well if I’m going to be making a lot of nail art to sell at once then I set them all up on a table organized by colour. Other than that they all live in a draw organized by whatever I shoved in there first.
With that many polishes how do you choose colours that go well together?! Well I make swatches out of old fakes nails and paddle pop sticks like this:
I got the idea from one of your blogs actually… but I can’t for the life of me find the post and I’ve been searching all morning >_< If it was you just let me know in the comments because I want to credit you!! *edit* some has said it was invented by “krisprimps.bradandkris.com” but I haven’t ever been to her blog so I must have seen it somewhere else!*/edit*
A random selection:
I use white nail tips so when I need to test out how opaque a white polish is I paint the tips black first.
So how do you make them? Well let me show you with the new Lilac polish that Eyekowas kind enough to send me 😀
Gather all the items above, you need: -A glue gun -Paddle pop sticks -A pen -Old false nail tips -Various polishes you want to swatch, I try to save them up and do around 10 at a time.
First count how many polishes you have and get that many paddle pop sticks and nail tips.
Heat your glue gun and put some glue on the back curve of one of the nail tips.
Press it down onto the edge of the paddle pop stick. Be very careful not to burn yourself!
Add some extra glue to the back to make sure everything is secure.
Rinse and repeat for how ever many you need…
Now wait until all of that is dry and paint one coat of polish over the whole thing.
Wait for it to dry!
While we’re waiting for it to dry here’s a mini review of the Eyeko polish:
The application was quite good it was a nice consistency and very shiny after application. It was opaque/the colour in the bottle after 2 coats. This next photo is a really good representation of the colour, it’s nice and soft and reminds me a lot of OPI “Do you lilac it?”. I didn’t find the smell of the polish over powering either which was nice.
The packaging is super cute too which is a plus!
The bottle is quite small at 8.5ml for £3 but for a boutique company that seems to be fairly standard. So the verdict = good! Everything they have is themed on a very cute manga which they update on the site every week, here’s some of the cute info they sent through:
Now back to the tutorial! After the first coat is dry write the name and colour of the polish on the other end of the stick!
Just like this 😀
Now time for the second coat, this time you should only paint the top 2/3rds of the nail.
Then leave that to dry. Once it’s dry you should paint one final coat on the top 1/3rd of the nail.
So you should have something like this, the numbers represent the number of coats. This doesn’t mean much for a polish as opaque as this one but when you have a more sheer polish it’s much more useful to know how many coats you’ll need for the finish you want. Now you can see at a glance without having to trial and error it every time.
This is an example of some polishes where the differences are a little more obvious, especially the orange.
So there you have it! Now it’s time for a nail art tutorial 😀 Today we’re going to make a pretty but easy lace finish on a base of the Eyeko Lilac Polish. Video is below!
<div-id= “lilac”>
Hope you enjoyed the double tutorial post! And please let me know if you have any other nail art related questions <3
Let me know what you think of it all especially the lilac lace nail art, I want to do more tutorials ^_^
I’m sure you’re all sick of hearing about it by now! There is one more post coming up about something we did down there but it’s a surprise so I suppose you’ll all just have to deal with hearing about it for a tiny bit longer ^_^ I’ve actually got a lot of other photos from down there to be used in tutorials and the like as well…
But on to the photos!
So on the first day we mostly just rested because we had to be up at 2am that day for the flight.
Sight seeing on 2 hrs sleep really isn’t very fun, so we took it easy and just had a little wander around Box Hill shopping center. That night we went out for a yummy dinner and got our first taste of Melbourne traffic, 2 1/2 hours for a 45min trip LOL apparently no one told us that there happened to be an ACDC concert on that night… oh wait that’s not true we were stuck on the flight with a crazy ACDC fan! He had been waiting in line to check in with us and struck up a conversation about how awesome ACDC were and how he was flying around the country to see every concert, we were polite and then somehow we ended up next to him on the flight as well >_< Most awkward 2 hours of pretending to be asleep ever.We also met SuperKawaiiMama‘s adorable children Miss 5 and Miss 2 who have more energy than anyone I’ve ever met! On the Friday we also went shopping… ok yes we did a *lot* of shopping! You’ve already seen the photos from the tea party on the Saturday so now we’re up to Sunday which was Valentines/Chinese New Year!
We went down to China Town for CNY and saw the dragon dances as well as more shopping…
James bumped into Mr Gadget outside and 5min later we bumped into Fashion Hayley! It was so strange to keep bumping into people we knew in a city we didn’t live in!
Our outfits for the day:
People kept asking for photos as well which was quite amusing. Some guy even wanted us to take photos with his kids >_< The strangest part of that day was being hit on by a skeezy old asian guy who apparently thought I was 15… Gross and all kinds of illegal!
Delicious lunch that day:
Mr SKM enjoying the delicious lunch:
Ok yes there was a lot of cam-whoring that day!
The dragon (edit apparently when there are only 2 people it’s a lion) eating up some yummy looking watermelon:
Those fire crackers were so loud!
Of course the whole time I was trying to keep up with you guys online as much as possible!
Including making fun posts like our Valentines Day Entryto the Nuffnang competition. This was taken while I was getting ready ^_^
SuperKawaiiMama’s yard also made a great backdrop for all of the photos. So pretty and green!
And we had a lot of fun being ridiculous!
Jamesdemanded I include this because he thought it was hilarious 😉
Miss 5 decided my make up wasn’t pretty enough one day so she gave me this awesome make over! Ready for a night out yes?
One day we went wandering around the city by ourselves, it was really beautiful.
That night we were supposed to meet up with my awesome old friend Steampunkeriebut I managed to twist my damn ankle on the curb in China Town so we had to cut it short and had drinks instead. I had the weirdest green tea and icecream concoction I’ve ever tasted, it was really yummy though!
That afternoon we caught the train home and were surprised at how clean, easy to use and efficient it was!
Living with another creative girl with similar interests produced a lot of late night crafting sessions 😀
That night we made hair clippies, mine is the rosette on the left ^_^
We ate a RIDICULOUS amount of delicious food there, I don’t think I’ve ever eaten out that much in my life. It was SO good!
So much food!
We did a huge amount of shopping, I loved all of the imported Asian make up stores like The Face Shop and Missha. I’ll have some product reviews for you soon from there once I test everything out 😀
We also visited some Op Shops and got some great bargains! The highlight of which was an old guy stopping his mobility scooter and saying “An old guy like me can say it… YOU LOOK REALLY GROUSE! Really beautiful young lady!” I have to say, I’ve been described as a lot of things but “grouse” is new on my list! For the overseas readers, grouse is really old Australian slang for awesome eg. “This beer tastes grouse mate”.
Jameswas in his element taking photos of everything, I think he really enjoyed having so many locations to shoot at and new interesting back drops!
Here’s another one of his:
On the last day we all ruined our awesome diets with a fantastic meal of McDonalds…
There was a carousel at the airport, so awesome!
After a long awesome filled week it was time for a very sad farewell ;_; (you just need to pretend that I’m not laughing in this photo ok?)
Back to Brisbane and back to the horrible humidity 🙁 On the plus side hopefully we’ll be back in Melbourne sooner than you think!
Thank you so much to all our wonderful friends who made our trip so great! Special thank you to SuperKawaiiMama, Mr SKM, Miss 5 and Miss 2 for letting us stay with you and showing us such a wonderful time! It’s awesome to know that we won’t be alone when we move down!
That’s right you heard it, 4 outfit posts for the price of 1!
These are some of the outfits I wore while we were in Melbourne! Because were weren’t sure of the weather (which is famously unpredictable) I focused a lot on layering. With each outfit I’ll give you some tips for dressing well while traveling ^_^
Before we get into the outfits though… I totally want to show you my nails!
These nails are very much my favorites of all of the sets I’ve ever done!
Oh no creepy witch hands!
Unfortunately this is the best photo I got of them the whole time and it was taken by Aurora Hime!
Basically they are alternating light blue and pink with silver glitter, then white stripes over the top. They have then been decorated with a mix of diamantes, stars, tiny gold/silver balls, and gigantic 3D pearls (look on the blue thumb, gigantic right?). You can’t see a lot of the details here but these babies were spectacular in the light! Doing them reminded me that bigger is definitely better and inspired me to do more insanely big nail art 😀 Funnily enough because everything was rounded they were one of the least annoying sets I’ve worn because they didn’t catch on anything!
Outfit Number 1:
Skirt: Angelic Pretty Singlet: Some cheap store Cardigan: Ally Shoes: Bodyline Stockings: Myer Necklace: Little Waltz Hair Bow: Uncaring Kitty Other Jewelery: Random places
This outfit was for a day that started with a chill in the air and ended being very very hot! This was the day that we flew back to Brisbane so I picked an outfit that was cute but still comfortable enough for the plane. While the skirt is big, it’s not so big that you can’t move easily through the plane’s aisles and the cardigan sits flat so if needed I can add a thin jacket over the top for extra warmth
With outfits like this, its really all about the accessories! If you took the bows and jewelery away you would have something quite plain but adding the bling makes everything stand out more 😀 When I travel I will always scrimp on the actual clothes and take a lot more accessories. Something always gets lost or ruined on holiday so I would rather have enough accessories that if I have to re-wear an outfit I can make it look completely different with the accessories!
Picking pieces that can coordinate with pretty much any outfit is good too, for example, this bow on my hair is a white/cream so I can wear it with any colour dress because it doesn’t have a strong colour.
Outfit Number 2:
Dress: Target Cardigan: Present from my Mum Blue bow: Angelic Pretty Scarf: Some shop in Bugis in Singapore Beret: Portmans with a bow taken off a Bodyline dress Stockings: Myer Shoes: Bodyline
This outfit is a good example of one that can handle several different temperatures each day. The cardigan has an open weave patten so it breathes in the heat BUT it still provides warmth against a breeze. The scarf is so thin that when worn loose like this you can barely feel it but if it gets chilly you can wrap it several times and stay warm. The beret gives you a chance to rest your hair from all the spray/teasing and keeps you nice and warm, if you get too warm… take it off!
Outfit Number 3:
Skirt: Vintage from Blue Velvet Vintage Shirt: I think it was from Temp or some store, its just a v-neck t-shirt with a small puff sleeve Cardigan: Myer (I think… it was a gift) Hair accessories: Bows are from a Bodyline dress and the roses were made by me! Blue Bow: Angelic Pretty Stockings: Myer Shoes: Bodyline
This outfit was another example when we didn’t know what the weather would be like, the shirt is pretty enough that if it got too warm I could just lose the cardigan. This was my Chinese New Years/Valentines Day outfit 😀
Outfit Number 4:
Dress: Bodyline Cardigan: Op shop Stockings: Swimmer Jewelery: Little Waltz and some randoms Bow: Uncaring Kitty
Ok let’s talk about shoes… I took 3 pairs down for the week and the whole time I only ended up wearing these ones. The other two I took were both high heels, what’s the difference? This pair has a platform base on the front so if you actually measure the *real* height difference from your toes to your heals it’s only a few centimeters… this means that I can walk ALL day in them without getting horrible blisters but they still look awesome! I picked them in white because as well as lengthening the look of my legs (with the white stockings) they go with pretty much anything at all 😀
Taking several pairs of different stockings is another way to change your co-ordinates easily without taking up valuable suitcase space. Pattern stocks are awesome for any occasion as long as you pick the pattern carefully. I’m wearing cupcakes for out tea party 😀
So what’s there to take away from this? Small objects can make a big difference to an outfit!
P.S This is on a completely different note but I am looking for a new hairdresser! If you can recommend anyone in Brisbane (or even Melbourne so I can add to the list of reasons to move) then please let me know. They need to be awesome with colour and possibly extensions because I’m interested in that too. If you’re a hair dresser in Brisbane/Melbourne either leave a comment or contact me at [email protected] <3 <3 <3
Recently we held a tea party at the new Cristina Re store and it was so beautifully decorated I couldn’t wait to post the photos!
When we decided to take a trip to Melbourne, the one thing I *really* wanted to do was have a big meet up where I could catch up with all of my blogging friends and everyone else we knew in Melbourne ^_^
SuperKawaiiMama was completely awesome about the idea and organised a tea party for us at the new Cristina Re flagship store. I had only heard of Cristina Re in the sense that she makes the beautiful scrap-booking supplies and stationary and I had no idea that there was a beautiful little cafe attached!
The cafe was decorated with beautiful butterflies:
We had a great turn out! From left to right below:
Being that we were pretty much all bloggers we had a huuuge amount of photos by the end of the day!
There were two token boys there as well, Kitty’s Drawing’s partner Johnny and Jameswho was being the photographer for the day ^_^
Here he is!
Everyone was dressed so immaculately!
The setting was delightful and oh my god the food… the food!
There was so much food! We had spinach quiche…
Macarons:
Tiny delicious cupcakes:
And the most beautiful hand made chocolates:
James ate about a billion of the delicious sandwiches!
Everywhere you looked there was something else beautifully presented!
It was quite funny, not many of the people who came had actually met in real life before but I don’t think there was an awkward pause the whole time! We bloggers sure can chat!
SuperKawaiiMamaand I chatting to our hostess, who was the friendliest person in the entire world!
I so love this photo:
We ended up staying right up until closing time because we were having so much fun 😀
There were several yummy teas served that day including mint, lemon, chamomile, fruit and others that I’ve forgotten. We had a lot of fun trying to work out which tea was which because they all came in the same tea pots XD Lucky dip tea!
I was totally jealous of Aurora Hime’snails, they had little bunnies on them!
More food… because I just can’t get enough of it! The service at the cafe was really great, and they just kept bringing more tea as we drank it all.
I wanted to take this chandelier home with me!
We had such a wonderful time that day, it was a really lovely introduction to Melbourne and it was great to finally meet some of the people I’ve been chatting online to for years! I can’t wait to go back!!
Thanks so much to everyone who came to have tea with us at the Cristina Re store! <3 <3 <3
I am still spending much too much time having fun here in Melbourne so I’m going to photo spam your a little bit. I promise there are going to be a bunch of tutorials when I get back so you’ll all just have to put up with it 😀 You guys are totally going to love the photos from the tea party too!
Basically it’s a gigantic warehouse that has a whole bunch of smaller shops inside it selling all manner of antiques and pretty things.
Here are a few photos from the day!
I spent so much time looking around at everything, I swear I could lose days in antiques stores 😀
We found some awesome old roller skates that I really wanted to buy!
So many jewelery display cases, so little time >_<
There were so many beautiful scarves, I wanted to take them all home!
Bonus picture of the day, at the vintage hair setter 😀
By the time you’re reading this I’ll probably be on a plane on the way home back to my own bed and back into the swing of normal blogging ^_^ Hopefully we can get back to visit the Woolloongabba Antiques Center again!
Illustrator. Strong tea, knitting, watercolours, and making a video game called Moonlight in Garland. Living with her adorable husband Jimmy, fluffy puppy Miss Lottie and Bergamot Bunny in Melbourne, Australia.
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