Our Week In Retro Cam

And can anyone guess where we went below? :

A Big Fat Gold Fail

Ideas in your brain don't always turn out as planned.

I had a Lady Gaga jagged black design idea going on with super blingy gold in my brain and it looked FAB! But it looked truly gross on the nails.

This was 3 coats of Essence Make it Golden. Blechhhh. I should have done a gold base coat, but after 2 coats in on each nail...I just couldn't be bothered starting over.

Then I painted some truly horrid black jagged lines and filled them in. Finished with a coat of Seche QD.......Then quickly took it all off again!!

Essence Time For Romance

Aussie ladies, Target has replenished their Essence stands....run!

This is 2 coats of Time for Romance, a dark dusky rose base packed full of different sized and shaped rose pink glitter. Finished with a coat of Seche QD. Above photo was taken in full sunlight. Below photo was taken in the shade.

Blog Sale Updated

I have added a heap of new polishes to my Blog Sale page and reduced what was already on there. Please help me make some room in my drawers!!

Coastal Scents Cosmic

This was a weird one. A black base but a watery one and required 3 coats to become opaque. The bottle shows rainbow flakies, but on the nail they come out as mainly green with a yellow tinge. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get any orange to peek out.

Still, an interesting color. I think I'll keep it but will be putting a second bottle into the Blog sale section!

It's A Greeny Kind Of Day

Butter London British Racing Green. 2 coats.

Kleencolor Metallic Green. 2 coats.

China Glaze Emerald Sparkle, in sunlight and shade. 2 coats.

Nfu-Oh 56, one coat, over Emerald Sparkle.

The Forest Fairy, a franken by the awesome Steffels.

Besame Red Hot Red Lipstick & Powder Compact

Because I was quite taken with my Cream Rouge from Besame, I decided to try a couple more with a Unique Vintage order when they had 20% off.

It is quite small in size, measuring 45mm in diameter.  This is perfect for me as I intend on using this as my handbag compact.  Refills can also be purchased seperately.

The included velvet pouch means it won't be rattling around inside my precious vintage lucite purses. Ingenious.

The lipstick I agonisingly settled on after much online swatching comparison was Red Hot Red. Gabrielle from Besame says this is the color Marilyn Monroe wore. As with the compact, it comes packaged in a gorgeous gold metal tube with velvet pouch. Again, perfect for transporting in purses!

The sharp flattened sides on this lipstick was a little tricky for me to use at first, as I am used to the typical one flat side only. The sharp sides does mean that you can swipe right up to the corners of your mouth, if you are so inclined. Myself, I use a lipliner only in the corners of my mouth to avoid smears.

It's a bright, creamy Red. See my previous Red Lipstick Comparison post for swatch photos.

Here I am with my 'Light' powder on and my 'Red Hot Red' lips!

And this one is here because the husband is insisting on it. He said if he is going to take 15 minutes taking 100 photos, then his favourite has to be included.  

Eyes: Amuse liquid eyeliner
Cheeks: Illamasqua cream blush in Brazen
Eyeshadow: Inglot
Face: Besame Light powder
Lips: Besame Red Hot Red
Nails: Essence Time For Romance

Anybody else tried any Besame lines?

Vintage Red Lipstick Comparison

The most asked question I get is "What color lipstick are you wearing?" 
I do have a nice selection of Red lippies as I wear a red shade everyday.  I have swatched the 10 I own for you today and will also give their pros and cons.

For me, A typical red lipstick for vintage purposes must be bright in color and matte in texture. Most of these colors are matte and suit my very fair blue toned skin color.  My raves and rants are based on *my* opinion only so what I dislike may not be the general consesus for everyone.

(Please click for huge photos)

Photo taken in natural light. 
From Left to Right: 
Revlon Cherries In The Snow, Illamasqua Encounter, MAC Pro Longwear Lipcreme, Jordana Scarlett Red, MAC Ruby Woo, Besame Red Hot Red, MAC Kanga Rouge, Sleek Stiletto, Evil Shades Devilista and MAC Russian Red.

(Click for huge pics)

Revlon Cherries, Illamasqua Encounter, MAC Pro Longwear Lipcreme, Jordana Scarlett Red and MAC Ruby Woo.

First up, Revlon Cherries in the Snow. This is a creme and is a Raspberry Pink rather than a red. It's not the best on me and I have only used it once. It is popular in vintage circles so have included it for color comparisons.   It is nice and creamy, but also quite shiny.  $8 US, $18 AUD.

Illamasqua Encounter is a rich brick Red and a matte. It's very opaque and needs only one swipe. In comparison, it's the closest to Ruby Woo.  15.50 GBP but currently on sale for 7.50 GBP.

MAC Pro is a bright red and a long wearing creme. If you want a creme version of Ruby Woo, then consider this one.  It does last all day which is great, BUT it is certainly shiny and for this reason I don't reach for it often. $20 US, $39 AUD.

Jordana Scarlett Red is the one I use every day when I'm staying home. It lasts and has the color vibrancy of a MAC lippie. The con is that it needs several layers before it reaches said color vibrancy. The best part? It costs $1.99 US!

MAC Ruby Woo.   This is MY color. This shade of Red looks the prettiest on me and it's my most used lipstick. The first con is that it is very drying, so be sure to do a dab of lipbalm underneath. The second con is that because it is a dry lipstick, it does 'ball' on the lips and will need to be retouched up with a fresh layer even tho the color hasn't shifted much on the lips. I quite happily put up with these little nigglies.  RRP $20 US, $39 AUD.

(Click for huge pics)

Besame Red Hot Red, MAC Kanga Rouge, Sleek Stiletto, Evil Shades Devilista and MAC Russian Red

Besame Red Hot Red. Comes beautifully packed in a gold engraved bullet tube and velvet pouch, so you will quite happily touch up your lips all day in public. This is a very smooth, creme formula and applies in one coat. Advertised as the color Marilyn Monroe wore.  Con: a teeny tiny bit shiny for me and it would have been perfect if more matte in finish.  $22 US.

MAC Kanga Rouge.  Dame Edna has great taste in lippie!  Kanga-Rouge is a fiery bright red, wonderfully creamy and applies in one quick coat. Matches MAC Cherry lipliner perfectly. This is a cream and I reach for this one when in a 'shiny mood'.   Con: it's been discontinued but an still be found on eBay sometimes.  I paid $14 US.

Sleek Stiletto. I love Sleek products as the pigmentation in everything is of a very high quality for very small dollars. Stiletto is a warm brick red and a matte. The closest in color to this is MAC Russian Red. This color lasts all day on my lips and if I didn't already have 2 backups of Russian Red, this would probably take it's place. Cons: It does require a couple of coats to become rich in color. $6 US.

Evil Shades Devilista. This is the creamiest and most pigmented of all my red lipsticks....insanely so. You need a very light one coat for it to become a very dark Brick red matte. Because it is the darkest red I own, I reserve this for night time use. Con: Discontinued.

And lastly, the famed MAC Russian Red. It does deserve it's fame as it really is a gorgeous lipstick. The texture is perfect, it doesn't dry or ball on the lips and lasts literally all day. It also suits both blue and yellow skin tones. When asked which red lipstick I recommend, I always say Russian Red. I also get stopped the most when wearing this by ladies asking what color it is. Matches MAC Brick lipliner. $19 US, $39 AU.

I hope this was of some use to those in search of the 'perfect' Vintage Red.  My search for red lippie is very far from over, I do have several Illamsquas I would love to try and Besame has a couple more I have added to my list.  There are also small branded Companies like Rockalily that apparently have gorgeous reds.  Anyone got any more suggestions for me?

I would love to know what Reds you guys wear and what YOUR perfect shade of Red is.

Just Kill Me Now.....Hot Rod Shoes!

From Prada's 2012 Sping/Summer collection come these ridiculously awesome shoes.

So...would I have to sell just one of my children or both of them to afford one of each pair, do you think?

The Black Knight & Tart With A Heart

Major Lemming fulfilled! In Australia, Butter London sells for $22. So needless to say I've never puchased their brand even tho I have a few lemmings. Recently, Ozsale had a sale on them and they were all reduced to $13.95. This made a still bitter pill a *little* easier to swallow so I got some!

This is 2 coats of The Black Knight.  It is much nicer IRL than my photos show. I was layering this so these pics are shown with no top coat. It becomes a glossy, smooth finish afterwards.

Then a coat of Tart with A Heart. It becomes a glittery mash of wonderfulness.
Thanks to Scrangie for bringing this color combo to my attention!

Familiar, Yes?

This is probably already doing the rounds, but we got a good laugh out of it.

Happy Valley!

OK, despite STILL being fat, I've decided to show off my new Bernie Dexter dress.   And despite thinking I would never wear it without a bolero, I've actually gone sleeveless!   Shock!

(Doing the Flamingo)

Even tho they aren't authentic Vintage, this is my sixth Bernie Dexter dress. The fit is perfect, the styles are flattering...I just love them. Bernie picks out the most amazing Landscape patterns for her fabric. I recently purchased the Koi fish print dress and hopefully I'll get to pull that one out soon too.

Dress: Bernie Dexter.
Unique Vintage currently have a sale on some Bernie Dexter lines.
Shoes: K-mart
Hair Flower: Dynamite-darlin, eBay

Illamasqua Scarab

I've had a few Illamasqua's on my wish list forever but really didn't want to spend the money on them. I have never paid any more than $20 for a polish, and I really loved that one, so it was justified. Normally tho, I have a $10 limit.

That being said, Illamasqua had a sale recently and while adding cheap items to my cart, I decided to conquer my top Lemming and add Scarab as well, seeing as I was already paying for shipping anyway!

I am totally blown away by how gorgeous this color is. It immediately made it to my Favourites list.

This was 2 coats. One coat would have been sufficient but my base coat is rough and one coat came thru scratchy.  Top photos taken in sunlight.  Below photos taken in shaded natural light.

Le sigh.

HITS Salsa

First up, this polish was a nightmare to photograph. I couldn't get the color to come as as the actual color on my nails...think slightly darker than what you see here.

This was 3 coats of Salsa.

And altho it's pretty as is, and if you didn't like anything overly fancy, this is fine as is. But of course, I needed stamping.

Much better.