White Rabbit Cosmetics - Swatches & Review

Hi guys! I know its been AGES since my last post - this time of the year is a bit crazy for me with the end of school / preschool etc (for us in NZ Christmas is our summer vacation), not to mention getting sick for nearly a week in the middle of it all! While I was sick though, I received a surprise package in the mail from the lovely Brooke of White Rabbit Cosmetics! It made my day so much better and I can't thank her enough - it was a complete surprise and super generous!

White Rabbit is a relatively new indie company that runs out of Glasgow, Scotland.  I've been eyeing up her Doctor Who gift set for a while so this was a great chance to try her makeup :) She sent me 4 full size eyeshadows which arrived sealed with a shrink band, as well as sifter seals. I love the labels, they're gorgeous!

All swatches are shown over pixie epoxy, and in natural light.

So Long (thanks for all the fish): 'a beautiful sea green with a shimmer!'

This is my fave of the bunch - its just such a pretty shade of green. This one is vegan too!

Earl Grey: Earl Grey is a deep brown with a rich glow and glitter highlights!

I like this one a lot more than I thought I would at first glance, brown isn't normally my thing but I'm really enjoying the sparkles here, it adds a lot of depth to the shade.

Exacitically: 'a cornflower color loaded with glitter!'
You can't see it in this pic as much as I would like but this is definitely loaded with glitter! Cute little tiny rainbow glitters! I recommend a sticky base for this one due to all the sparkles. Not vegan.

Love Potion: a creamy neutral absolutely loaded with gold glitter!
This looks a little more gold here than it is in person - this is my second fave of the bunch! And its vegan too!

I'm glad I'm finally getting a chance to share these with you because I'm really happy with them. If Brooke is making shadows like this already I'm going to be interested to watch what she produces in the future. I adore that green - its found its way onto my eyelids a few times in the last week :)

White Rabbit Cosmetics are available on Etsy, and are offered seperately or in various gift set options. The Alice in Wonderland themed boxes are super cute. I didn't order these so can't comment on customer service, but the fact that she sent these over as a surprise and expecting nothing in return says a lot! I definitely won't hesitate to order in the future, I've got my eye on some other shades already.

You can also follow White Rabbit Cosmetics on Facebook.

Thanks for reading my post, I have a lot to catch up on so I'll try and get a few more out in the next couple of days :) xx

Black Rose Minerals - Swatches (Part 2)

Hey guys! Turns out the weather didn't agree that I should have this post up yesterday, because there was no sun to be seen! As soon as it peeked out today I ran off to finish up these swatches! You can find my first few swatches and overall review here. The 30% off sale at Black Rose Minerals is on until Monday at Midnight PST, so you still have a bit of time to get an order in :) In the interest of getting this post up speedily I'll leave out my comments on each shade, and just tell you my faves at the end. I will include the offical descriptions though. On to the pretties!!!

Into the Void: "Black base glitters with violet and green sparkles"

Lady of Light: "A sheer white with a golden sheen"

Crazy on You: "A soft green with a golden glow reminiscent of the moonlight. And a bit of silver sparkles sprinkled throughout."

Follow You into the Dark: "Dark grey with warm sparkles."

Blood Moon: "An eerie ethereal bluish-lavender with loads of red and purple shimmer and a pinkish/reddish/coppery/purple shift."

(Left to Right: Into the Void, Lady of Light, Crazy on You, Follow You into the Dark, Blood Moon)

Venom: "This shimmery violet has magenta hues shimmering under pink iridescent glitter"

Nobodies: "A deep, shimmery electric blue"

Hell Hammer: "This bright bloody red shimmers with highlights of red sparkles"

Wise Wizard: "A silvery grey with a white sheen."

Grape Drank: "It doesn't get much more purple than this. If this were a drink, it would taste purple."

(Left to Right: Venom, Nobodies, Hell Hammer, Wise Wizard, Grape Drank)

Leela: "this electric violet shimmers with female charm and prowess. Not for the faint of heart, this one is sheer and sparkly dry and a deep glowing violet when wet."

Bittersweet: "A mid tone orange with slight pink highlights and greeny gold sparkles." Note: The green hid from my camera, but it was there and it was so pretty!

Bender: "This silver shines with a touch of blue."

Luna: "A sheer ethereal light purple with lots of blue, red and purple shimmer."

(Left to Right: Leela, Bittersweet, Bender, Luna)

Phew! Lucky that sun hung around for a bit :P Hopefully this helps you make your decision on what to order from Black Rose Minerals, as I said yesterday I really recommend this company - the formula is superb. 
My faves of this bunch are: Into the Void (makes a great liner), Lady of Light (great highlight), Follow You into the Dark, Nobodies, Hell Hammer and Blood Moon. As you can tell I had some trouble narrowing my faves down lol, they're all great shades!

Thanks for viewing my post, hope you're having a great day :)

Peacock Pie - Custom Pendant + Extra Goodies!

Hi guys!!! Happy Halloween! By far the most fun day of the year in my opinion - even if we don't celebrate it much in New Zealand, its still Halloween at my house!

A couple of week ago I asked Serra from Peacock Pie if she would be able to paint me a bat pendant - I said I wanted 3 bats, one for each of my kiddies lol. When she asked me why my kids are bats, I have to admit - I didn't know how to answer, but I came up with 'Because they're awesome... and noctornal'. Anyway! Look what I received!

*squeal* I love it so much! And how adorable is the little peacock charm? Its even better than I had pictured. I left it up to Serra to come up with the backing polish - I gave her the guidline of 'purple' lol, and I think she did a fantastic job. This is Nostalgic Lacquer 'Rayanne'. And as if that wasn't enough, today I received this in the mail:

"What magic is this?" you ask? Why thats a bat RING to match my bat pendant! I am overcome with happiness, Serra is so lovely and talented! What a lovely Halloween pressie :)

Oh, and look at my special extra! This is a pendant painted with Emily de Molly 'Dark Forces' - I think this looks amazing, I sat there and stared at it for a while when I first got it lol.

If you would like to see what else Serra has available, or order your own custom pendant you can visit her on Etsy here, or follow Peacock Pie on facebook here. All pendants are handpainted in New Zealand using only cruelty free polishes, and her prices are amazing - starting at only $9 NZD + post.

Hope you have enjoyed this post, and have a fantastic halloween!!!

Penelope Luz 'Pandora' - Swatches & Review

I recently purchased my first polish from the Brazilian Brand Penelope Luz. I chose Pandora which is described as 'a wine base polish with fine magenta, red and black glitters'.

These photos show three coats of Pandora with one coat of Glitter Food, and one coat of Rica Glossy Glam. You will need a couple of coats of top coat for this one because it does dry a little gritty.

This is a beautiful polish, the only thing I will mention is that I felt like it wasn't overly unique for an indie polish. I could get a similar polish from a brand such as Essie or China Glaze and pay less. I also didn't feel that the black glitter was noticeable unless I really looked for it. Having said that, I did really enjoy wearing this polish, and the formula and application was fantastic. 

I purchased this from Color4Nails - Check out Penelope's Blog for some stunning swatches.

Thanks for viewing my post! xx

Pahlish 'Moats and Boats and Waterfalls' - Swatches & Review

Pahlish released this limited edition beauty recently and I couldn't resist the combination of the teal base and the purple glitter. The swatches below show three coats with one layer of Jordana Quick Shine topcoat.

Moats and Boats and Waterfalls is described as a 'turquoise jelly base with purple holographic hex, light purple hex, and small chartreuse glitter'. The formula was smooth and application was good - my only complaint is that I felt the purple glitter got a bit lost in the dark colored base - I would have been happier if it had stood out a bit more.

Pahlish have recently left Etsy and opened their own website which is fantastic! They will be releasing their fall collection at on Friday 11th October. By the time you read this its probably already been released so head over and take a look - theres some beautiful polishes in the collection. Pahlish ships worldwide!

Thanks for viewing my post - enjoy your weekend! xx

'Peacock Pie' Nail Polish Jewellery - Pics & Review

I have something very special to share today - Nail Polish Jewellery handmade in New Zealand by the gorgeous Serra of Peacock Pie! Imagine how excited I was to receive this in the mail:

Serra used Emily de Molly 'Cosmic Forces' in my pendant, and I am in love. The necklace is extremely well made, you can really see the love she puts into each piece. Its a fantastic way to appreciate those indie nail polishes - it never chips, and I never have to remove it :) Also it sparkles away brilliantly in the sun! I am so proud to wear it, I've had it on every day since I received it and gotten a bunch of compliments!

Serra has recently opened her shop on Etsy and the prices are amazing, ranging from NZD $9 to $13 depending on the polish and detail in the piece. She paints some gorgeous designs and is happy to take custom requests - Serra is a lovely person and will work with you to get the piece just right. I highly recommend you check her store out - I'm already planning a few more ... a bat design, a butterfly for my mother, a nightsong grotto piece... ahh the possibilities!!! Shipping is available worldwide and the jewellery comes beautifully packaged with a chain and in a box. :) Head on over and take a look at all of her stunning work! Peacock Pie is also on Facebook.

Glam Polish 'She Had a Lipstick Taser!' & 'Bubble Breeze'

Hey guys! Today I have swatches of a couple of Glam Polishes. I'd been drooling over a few colors and finally strength failed me and I placed an order :) I am glad I did though, because look at these pretties!

She Had a Lipstick Taser: 'White Matte hex, Watermelon hex & dots in a blue crelly base'. This shade is from the Mayhem & Madness collection which is inspired by the characters from Despicable Me 2. (Awesome movie btw, but back to the nail polish....)

These swatches show two coats of 'She Had a Lipstick Taser' over two coats of China Glaze 'Bahamian Escape' with one coat of Jordana Quick Shine. I did try building this to opacity alone but it took four coats, so I prefer it layered. 

The watermelon glitter in this is such a unique color - I don't think I have anything else in my collection with this particular shade of glitter. The combo of that with the blue base and smalller white glitter looked great - I really enjoyed wearing this one and am happy to have it in my collection.

Bubble Breeze: 'Silver holo dots, large ocean holo dots & blue holo micro glitter in an ocean blue base'. This is from the 'Me Oh My Collection' inspired by all things cute & fun!

The pics show three coats of Bubble Breeze with one coat of Jordana Quick Shine. Formula was good - not thick at all, but I did have to do a little bit of fishing to get the bigger dots out. How adorable is this though? It actually looks like I have little pools of water for nails with bubbles floating round in them - I love the effect :) Circle glitter is always a winner with me!

I picked these up from Llarowe as the Glam Polish website ships within Australia only. They are also available from the following retailers: Norway Nails, Color 4 Nails, Rainbow Connection and Mei Mei's Signatures.

Thanks for viewing my post, enjoy your day! :) xx

Femme Fatale Nail Lacquer - Swatches & Review!

Hi Guys! I was lucky enough to receive a polish press pack from Femme Fatale Cosmetics, so I have some swatches to share with you . I received Noble Garden, The Other Side of the World, Spindleweb and Fatal Attraction, and I already had swatches of Abracadaver so I've included those too.

All swatches are shown at 3 coats with no undies, 1 coat of glitter food, and 1 coat of Jordana quick shine topcoat. I borrowed the descriptions from the Femme Fatale site - they describe them better than I could!

Abracadaver

'a dusty purple crelly with a scattering of pinks, reds and black'

Sophie from Femme Fatale comes up with the best names for her products! I really like the way this one looks, but it did take some work to get there, the glitter is very dense so it can be a bit diffucult to get the base color even and the glitter positioned properly. Definitely worth it though! Femme Fatale suggests layering this one over a base of a similar color and I think that would work really well.

Noble Garden

'A dense blend of greens in complimentary finishes and sizes; speckled with orange, teal and pink.'

I couldn't find a suitable polish to wear this over when I went to try it so I just decided to see how it would go on its own. It built to opacity in 3 coats and I love how it looks. This shade was originally part of the Easter Trio it was designed to resemble brightly colored eggs hiding among the greenery. That is definitely what it makes me think of! I admire the way Sophie can take an idea like that and turn it into polish form. If you love green you need this one.

The Other Side of the World

'A sheer purple base with red tones and shimmers, highlighted by various orange, iridescent, purple and pink glitters'

This one built up to opacity easily in 3 coats. The polish is slightly thick due to the sheer amount of glitter packed into it, but I'd much prefer that than having to fish for glitter! It took a bit of patience to apply evenly but I'm happy with the results. I really like the orange glitters in this one - they make it really unique.

Spindleweb

'A sheer deep jewel toned blue with strong green shimmers, suitable for layering over other shades rather than wearing alone, and filled with scatterings of blue, green and iridescence in various sizes'.

I actually really liked the look of this one alone - it had great depth, but I can see it being just as pretty layered over another shade. This one is a favourite of mine and again Sophie took her inspiration and turned it into polish form. HOW DOES SHE DO THIS SO WELL? :P Having experienced trying to make nail polish myself, I can tell you that this is a talent!

Fatal Attraction

'a deep magenta polish with scattered holographic particles in a rich burgundy'

Oooooo.... prettttty... I love everything about this polish, it was easy to apply, a gorgeous color and the holographic sparkle looks amazing. This was part of the Valentines trio. 

I've also previously reviewed Nightsong Grotto and Aqueous.

I'm excited about all the Femme Fatale polishes I've received. They do take some patience to apply if you want them to look their best, but I find thats the norm for any indie glitter polishes, and as I said its worth it for the glitter payoff that you get. I'm so impressed by Sophie's creativity - she is consistently bringing out gorgeous polishes and has now just released her first holos as well as 12 new glitters!

If you're a regular reader of my blog you will know that I'm also a fan of Femme Fatale's fabulous powder cosmetics - she shows the same amount of creativity in these, particularly the duochromes she produces. All Femme Fatale products can be ordered on her site (now shipping internationally!) or at the following retailers worldwide:

Ninja Polish (coming soon)

Harlow & Co.

Color 4 Nails

Beauty So Fly

Norway Nails

Thanks for reading my post! I hope its been helpful :) I take no responsibility for any lemmings created :x

All polishes in this review (besides Abracadaver) were provided for my honest review.