Chanel #583 Taboo Le Vernis: Swatches & Review

Warning: This post is pic-heavy. But it's so worth it.

As a nail polish addict with over 500 bottles, there reaches a stage where you realise that most polishes are dupes of others, and you already have something extremely similar in your stash. It takes something really special to grab your attention and get you truly excited. Chanel #583 Taboo Le Vernis is one such polish.

The colour is impossible to describe accurately. I would sum this up as a galaxy in a bottle. It has a deep red-based purple base, filled with swirling, shimmering, iridescent flecks of red, violet and pink.

This comes in the classic square Chanel nail polish bottle with a matching square cap. The cap is removable, revealing a second, round cap underneath which is very easy to grip and wield the brush with. The brush itself is medium sized - not a wide brush, but definitely not thin by any means. The brush aids application extremely well. This is evidenced by the swatches below, which required no cleanup.

On the nail, the colour transforms to a darker, bluer based purple. The formula was phenomenal - nothing less than what I have come to expect from Chanel. The polish flowed easily but wasn't too runny, and could easily have been a one coater. I used two coats here just to be sure of complete coverage.

This is such a beautiful, vampy colour, and is perfect for winter. It looks like it would be the perfect base for MaxFactor Fantasy Fire, but I think it's lovely enough on its own. It has a slight shift in hue from red to blue from different angles and lighting, and always seems to glow from within.

Taboo is part of Chanel's core line, and will be available in Australia in June for AU$36. You lucky Americans can already get it online from Nordstrom for US$27.

Do you think Taboo is as unique as I think it is? Will you be splurging on it?

LUSH Lip Scrubs Review

A couple of weeks ago, winter weather arrived in Australia. While it was still autumn, the temperatures suddenly dropped, winds became cuttingly cold and my skin instantly became dry and flaky. Overnight, my lips became chapped and rough. Every dry bit stuck out and did their best to make my lipstick look terrible.

I tried to exfoliate my lips at home, first by using a toothbrush, then with some sugar and oil. Neither method worked, so it was time to call in the big guns that I'd heard so much about - LUSH lip scrubs. As there isn't  LUSH store near my home or work, I sent my boyfriend on an emergency shopping trip (much to his disgust and horror). He bought both the Bubblegum and Mint Juleps lip scrubs for me.

These lip scrubs are essentially a mixture of castor sugar and jojoba oil, with a bit of flavouring added. Bubblegum smells of sickly-sweet lollies, in a good way. If you don't have as much of a sweet tooth, you may prefer Mint Julips, which smells of after dinner mint chocolates. Both are mouth watering, and make me want to eat the whole pot with a spoon.

There is much more sugar than oil in these scrubs, so they have a fairly dry texture. The tiniest amount is enough to exfoliate my lips completely. I just dab my finger lightly into the pot, and rub it into my lips. Those who are more hygiene-conscious can use a cotton bud to apply instead. While you rub it in, the sugar either falls off or absorbs slightly into the oil. Afterwards, I lick it off and it tastes delicious. I then follow up with a thick layer of lip balm.

After using them daily for a few days, I noticed an immediate improvement in the condition of my lips. I still use them daily, but I vary the amount based on how dry my lips are feeling. Now my lips are smooth and kissable! My boyfriend certainly appreciates the emergency shopping trip to get these now.

Although this is a simple mixture that you can easily make yourself at home for a fraction of the cost, I believe the advantage of these LUSH scrubs is the perfect ratio of sugar to oil. The reason why my original attempt at creating a lip scrub failed was because I was using too much oil. These scrubs just make life easier. Because you only need the tiniest amount each time you use it, one pot will last for ages. You can see that even after daily use for a few weeks I've barely made a dent in them.

LUSH lip scrubs are $9.95 for a 25g pot, available from LUSH stores or online.

Lilypad Lacquer Lifesavers Collection - Swatches and Review

I know it's coming up to winter in Australia, but there is always room in my heart for a good neon. Today I'm showing you the Lifesavers collection from Lilypad Lacquer, a collection of eye-searing neon jellies.

Because these are jellies, I used 4 coats for all them for as much opacity as possible. There was still some very slight VNL, but they're not especially noticeable in person. I applied each coat thickly and waited a bit longer between layers to avoid dragging. The formula was good when applied this way, and I didn't experience any dragging.

Lemon is a highlighter yellow.

Orange is, well, orange. But what an orange it is!

Strawberry is a neon pink.

Raspberry is a neon magenta. It's very similar to Strawberry, but it leans red while Strawberry is more of a pure pink.

Blueberry is a rich blue. It's not strictly a neon, but it's got the same sort of intense colour.

Lime is a bright lime green.

I definitely recommend this collection to anyone who is after the juiciest, brightest jellies they've ever seen. They're only $10 each from the Lilypad Lacquer etsy store, which I think is great value for the quality. Nicole is always adding new colours to the collection as well, so make sure you check back regularly.

These products were provided for review, which did not affect my opinion. For more information, see Disclosure Policy.

ORLY Mayhem Mentality & Pretty Ugly Swatches

ORLY's new Mash Up collection is an eclectic assortment of contrasting colours and finishes. It features cremes, shimmers, chromes, and even a holographic glitter. Today I'm showing you two of the polishes in this collection, Mayhem Mentality and Pretty Ugly.

Mayhem Mentality is a neon orange creme. It's opaque in 2 coats, but I used 3 in these swatches to even out the streakiness. In saying that, it's the nature of neons to be streaky, and this was no worse than any others I've tried. It also dries with a satin finish, so I used top coat here.

Pretty Ugly is a blue-leaning teal/aqua with blue shimmer. At certain angles the shimmer turns purple in the bottle, but I haven't been able to see it on the nail. This is 4 coats for full opacity. The formula was excellent though, and it applied smoothly and evenly. It's a little on the thick side, so I would wait a bit longer between coats to avoid dragging. I really love this colour, and I know that I'll be wearing it a lot in spring and summer. (Probably in autumn and winter too, because I don't really pay attention to seasonally-appropriate colours.)

The great thing about this collection is that although the colours are contrasting, they look great together. I can't wait to try some bold nail art with these two colours.

The ORLY Mash Up collection is being released in August 2013, and will be available from selected pharmacies and salons for RRP AU$18.95.

These products were provided for review, which did not affect my opinion. For more information, see Disclosure Policy.

Vice and Velvet Little Velvet Gift Box Review

I can't remember how I first found Vice & Velvet, an Etsy creator of handmade soaps and bath products. I think one of my friends on facebook liked their page, and then I saw it on a couple of blogs... It was one of the first shops that came to mind when I was trying to think of a mother's day gift. So a couple of weeks ago, I bought a "You're a Gem" jewel soap for my mum, and ended up also buying a Little Velvet gift box for myself. (To make the postage more worthwhile, of course.)

I'll start off by mentioning that Mei's customer service is fantastic. I forgot to enter a discount code when I placed my order, so I sent her a message on etsy. Within minutes, she'd replied, refunded my original purchase, and invited me to reprocess it with the discount code in place. My package was in the post and delivered by courier a few days later. I couldn't have asked for a smoother transaction.

The Little Velvet gift box contains an Envy Soap, Rockpool Bathing Whip, Driftwood Body Polish and Siren Body Mousse. You can choose the type of box and string, which I think adds a nice personal touch.

The first thing I noticed when I unboxed it was that the packaging is simply top notch. The soap was individually wrapped with a professional looking label, and the tubs were all individually sealed. Having bought a number of hand- and home-made bath products before, this was a totally unexpected, yet pleasant, surprise.

Envy Handmade Soap

"Turn green with the clean, fresh scent of pine, cedarwood, rosemary, grapefruit and litsea, finished a touch of earthy patchouli. Black poppy seeds are scattered throughout to scrub away those bad feelings."

I love everything about this soap - the swirled texture on top, the delicate brown lines running through it, and the smell. Oh, the smell. It has a really fresh, strong scent, perfect for waking you up in the morning. It lathers up nicely, and leaves a squeaky clean feeling.

Rockpool Bathing Whip 100ml

"Close your eyes as you sink into this fresh, ocean like blend of lavender, rosemary, bergamot, pine and litsea."

Now don't try and ask me what litsea is, but apparently that's what I have to thank for the distinctive lemongrass scent of this bathing whip. I've heard some inventive names for bath products - shower jelly, body conditioner - but bathing whip is a new concept to me.

It has a fairly dry and crumbly texture, but upon contact with water it becomes quite runny. I found that it worked best when used with a shower pouf. I used a couple of pea sized chunks, and it lathered up really quickly and easily.

The instructions say it can be used as a shampoo as well, but I'm reluctant to try it on my blue-dyed hair. It's an interesting concept though. According to Mei, the best way to use it as a shampoo is to start with a tiny amount and make a paste by rubbing it between your hands, then adding more water until it lathers up before applying to hair. Add more water or Whip as needed and just rinse and condition as normal. This sounds like a great multipurpose product for taking on holiday.

Driftwood Body Polish 130g

"A calming blend of lavender, cedarwood and rose geranium, with the added warmth of ginger and sandalwood."

This is your classic sugar scrub. The sugar granules are big, and don't melt straight away unlike other scrubs I've tried. This gives you time to really scrub away any dry skin. You do need to use quite a lot for your entire body, but because it's so effective you only need to use it occasionally.

The instructions say to allow time for the butters and oils to soak in, but I didn't feel very buttered up or oily afterwards. On one hand, this is a good thing because I wasn't greasy and slippery, but on the other hand I didn't feel like it was particularly moisturising.

It has a mellow woody scent, which is the mildest out of all the products in this box.

Siren Body Mousse 100ml

"A bold, captivating blend of ylang ylang, rose geranium, litsea, sweet orange and patchouli to bring out your inner siren."

I really like the look of this one. Mousse is the perfect word to describe it. The texture is light and fluffy, like whipped cream, but it's rich and thick upon application. It has a strange texture after being rubbed in though - it becomes somewhat tacky, and the thickness makes it a bit difficult to work with. However, it does its job as a moisturiser really well, and there is no greasy feeling afterwards. It has a mild, pleasant citrus scent.

Overall, I'm really happy with this gift box. The products are indulgent and they smell amazing. The packaging is so professional that you'll quickly forget that they are created by one woman in her Melbourne apartment. The only downside is that they are expensive for such small sizes, which will inevitably get used up quickly - if not by yourself, then by your boyfriend who keeps using them while you're not looking, because they smell so good!

The gift box is $45.55, and individually the soap is $8, bathing whip $9.50, body polish $12.50 and body mousse $12.50. All these products are available from the Vice and Velvet etsy store, with international shipping. 

Lilypad Lacquer Colour My World Holographic Collection Part 2 - Swatches & Review

I posted part 1 of my swatches of the Lilypad Lacquer Colour My World collection last week. I have 15 polishes in total from this collection to show you, so here is part 2.

As with last time, all of these swatches are 2 coats with no base or top coat. The formula was easy to apply, self leveling and quick drying.

Wink of Pink is a pretty mid pink.

Blooming Violets is a vibrant violet pink.

Ruby Slippers is an intense red.

Dripping in Gold is a dusty, buttery gold.

O-live for this Colour is olive green.

Chocollo is a rich chocolate brown.

Ashes to Ashes is a deep charcoal grey.

True Blood is an intense deep burgundy.

There's such a huge range in this single collection. It's a great starting point for anyone who loves holographic polishes and is looking to build their collection. My favourites are True Blood, Ashes to Ashes, Ruby Slippers, Purple People Eater and Steeling Blue.

The bottles are a large 14ml, and cost $11 each from the Lilypad Lacquer etsy store.

These products were provided for review, which did not affect my opinion. For more information, see Disclosure Policy.