Blues who? - Comparison post

Golden Rose is a European brand of cosmetics and they do pretty decent polishes. I have three of their polishes, essentially glitters in a clear base that I've come to add in other glitters to franken :/ But #phail.
Now they can be found at Watsons in Singapore and I sieved through the buckets to find a colour and finish that catches my eye. There was a one for one promo and I snapped up 4 polishes that day.

Im reviewing two of them in which I bought a backup for one of them. You will know why ;)

First up, a look at four polishes that seemed to belong to the same category.

L to R: Golden Rose 55 Frosted Purple, Golden Rose 54 Medium Purple, Sally Hansen DVD, Color Club Alias.

Names of GR are from the USA website, according to the number on the bottle.

I like how GR 55 has more pink and blue than DVD. DVD is more cool toned and a not so defined duochrome touch to it than GR 55.

Alias is totally different on the nail with the green and gold peeking through. It's a tad similar to Orly's Space Cadet. Just a tad.

I layered them all over black since the GR one looked a tad sheer.

GR 54 is not a duochrome but reminds me a lot of Zoya's Mimi. Scattered grainy little specks of pink, blue and deep purple, the last being the base n dominant colour.

Happy to report no dupes or even close matches here! :)

Which do you like? Im impartial!

OPI Movin' Out over Wet n Wild black creme

Decided to show this first, since I have another comparison post coming but the names of the polish escape me. 

This is the very precious to me OPI Movin' Out polish, which looks really pinky and frosty in the bottle but is a gorgeous multi-chrome with sparkles over a dark base.

I used this over my thumb and over Wet n Wild Black Creme.

See the sparkles when blurred?? They glisten in the sun!

You can see a peak of the other 4 others that is in the q for the comparison post...

Orange, green, gold, olive...

Purple too...

Quite like a little nice beetle back in this last photo, eh? 

The polish isnt b3f so it smells a little unpleasant, but it applied quite nicely. This is 2 coats of Movin' Out over the black polish. 

Thank you for scrolling through! :P

10 days to SpaRitual Nail Care Defined Workshop 2011!

*ashamed* more photos of Nubar's Moonshadow + Indigo Illusion

Im so ashamed but these photos caught the best of the multichromes that these Nubars have. I have shown them earlier in a post but here's more like I promised...

Yes, major tipwear. Im sorry I havent had good time/energy (EXCUSES!) to sit down and give myself a fresh coat(s) of paint.

I dont usually push back my cuticles or do any soaking before I give myself a manicure. I jus remove and paint again. LOL.

Work does take a toll on my nails. And wrapping tips with top coat do help to lessen top wear... in this case, I was pretty lazy (sloppy, more like it).

*embarrassed*

But you will forgive me for the lovely colours rightttttt? :D

The lovely yellow shows up alongside the green, purple and indigo base...

Also a golden hue pops out of this almost shimmery (a la Cosmix FX by Orly) kind of duochrome... 

The brown also shows up here.. It's like Space Cadet without the green? 

Vampy duochrome, me like.

On a side note, my nails are thick. LOL. Which makes wrapping tips a little tougher...

Loving these heels :)

And this surprise gift :) 

I might do a manicure inspired by the colours in these last 2 photos... :D 

I havent been out in the sun for some time now... That's cuz Im working 6/7 of the time! Indoors, at the spa. 

*breathes deeply and feels the sunshine* 

Christmas Shopping in Singapore-Give a gift of pure luxury!

It's

27 

days to Christmas!

In the spirit of giving and sharing, I would love to share the launch of a brand new e-store: MyLife-Store! 


Different from most other online stores I know, My Life Store is an online wellness store that sells brands used in high end spas and resorts. 


They include: 

Sundari

VitaMan

SpaRitual

June Jacobs

Naturelle d'Orient 

and homegrown brand Essence Vale.

Read more about the brands here.

The main philosophy of the store and the products brought in lies in Aromatherapy.


Using essential oils extracted in various methods to promote well-being and health with controlled use, aromatherapy is seen as a form of alternative medicine by some.


Essence Vale brand contains a line of essential aromatherapy oils like jasmine, lavender, geranium, lemongrass... You can use them in burners, or mixed with base lotions and oils to give an aromatherapy massage. Or simply bring them in your bag and drop a few drops on a piece of tissue paper and sniff it. 


Essential oils vary in prices due to their different methods of distillation as well as the amount of plant parts needed to distil a certain amount of pure essential oil. Also, market forces play an important role in determining the prices. In India for example, they have since banned the export of Sandalwood essential oil. Hence, it has sent prices rising as much as 1million dollars for two drums of it. 


One note of caution, never use essential oils on its own. Always dilute them to maximum 3% of the total volume used. i.e 3ml in 100ml of base lotion or oil. 

For the festive season, they have assembled Gift Sets according to price ranges. They come in a lovely box with a golden ribbon. Have them deliver to your doorstep or the person whom you are gifting it to. 


You may find them on Facebook here.


Some trivia:


I came up with the SpaRitual gift sets, from the conceptualization of the theme, description and items to be included. It was fun! Thinking from various perspectives of the customer and nail polish lover, I hope you find joy in browsing through the gift sets and having someone in mind to give them to :P 


Such is the joy of being the SpaRitual Singapore Ambassador ;P 


What else would you like to see in this e-store? Share!

SpaRitual skittle swatches

Join us at the SpaRitual Singapore Nail Care workshop 2011! Click here to read more.

Working at a Spa has its perks. I get to paint my nails with SpaRitual colours and then I get to blog about them :)

Here is one of the manis I had done at my spa, and I was able to choose up to 5 colours for this! :D
Tip: Check if your salon is able to accomodate to such requests so that you can do an accent nail without paying any extra charges! :)

Without further ado, here are the colours:

From the thumb: Hypnotic, Sage, Delight, Emerald City, Last Tango.

Hypnotic, according to the Chroma Guide is a:

Shimmer finish polish, belonging to the Color Suite- Earthy Low Notes. 

Numerology: 

155 = 1 + 5 + 5 = 11 = 1 + 1 = 2

Sensitivity and Balance. The Diplomat.

The sheer force of your presence is mesmerizing. 

 You possess a hypnotic power over others.

Allow the beauty of nature to captivate your imagination and transcend stagnation.

It has a beautiful silver shimmer running throughout the polish, very fine, very hypnotic to stare into. The dark brown base makes it a very sophisticated shade as well.

This is two coats topped with SpaRitual True Bond Stronghold Topcoat.

Sage, according to the Chroma Guide is a:

Creme finish shade, belonging to the Color Suite- Earthy Low Notes.

Numerology:
144 = 1 + 4 + 4 = 9
Compassion and Giving. The humanitarian.

Knowledge.
You are admired for your wisdom, judgement and experience.
Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice.

(How true!)

This is a lovely taupe/mushroomy colour with a very slight hint of milkiness to it. Unlike Chocolate Moose from OPI, which is a total chocolate milk shade :)

This is two coats topped with SpaRitual True Bond Stronghold Topcoat.

Delight, according to the Chroma Guide is a:

Creme finish shade, belonging to the Color Suite- Cool Contraltos.

Numerology:

377 = 3 + 7 + 7 = 17 = 1 + 7 = 8

Confidence and Power. The Achiever. 

Revel in every lazy Sunday and banana pancakes. (HOW SPOT ON!! Except that Im working on Saturdays now too... :( )

Believe in yourself and you can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneity delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.

Delight in the simple joys of life.

Simple joys like meeting a really nice customer who is friendly back to me :)

A pretty bright creme polish that reminds of a light apple shade I had on my bedroom walls when I was younger. This needed 3 coats to even out properly and achieve good opacity.

Emerald City, according to the Chroma Guide is a:

Creme finish shade, belonging to the Color Suite- Cool Contraltos. 

Numerology: 

383 = 3 + 8 + 3 = 14 = 1 + 4 = 5

Versatility & adventure. The trail blazer.

You are a gem. Beautiful, unique and grounded.

Through your journey of life, you always shine bright. 

You lead the way.

A lovely green jelly shade that builds to good opacity in 2- 3 coats. You can still see a little VNL in the photo above. But the translucence is very luminous, giving it an almost glow.

This is two coats topped with SpaRitual True Bond Stronghold Topcoat.

Last Tango, according to the Chroma Guide is a:

Creme finish shade, belonging to the Color Suite- Dramatic High Notes.

Numerology: 

010 = 0 + 1 + 0 = 1

Independence and Ambition. The hero.

Danger. Stop playing it safe.

Dance like you've never danced before.

Life is short.

Break the mold. 

I like this! :D Both the shade and the meanings attributed to it. Floats my boat!

An absolutely stunning shade. Bright orange, leaning towards red. Goes well with my sundress! A totally happy shade.

This is two coats topped with SpaRitual True Bond Stronghold Topcoat. 

Once again, presenting the skittles:

Click to enlarge. 

Which caught your eye?

SpaRitual Singapore presents Nail Care Defined 2011!

Hello all,

Im so excited to share this with all of you! This is one of my babies since I started working with SpaRitual Singapore :)

Ive always wanted to be taught the right ways of buffing and filing. Seeing buffing and filing tutorials on blogs dont exactly help me much cuz I have some difficulty applying what I have read on my nails :P So a trainer who will guide me along as I buff and file will be excellent! :)

Happening on the 17th of December 2011, there will be one such workshop held by SpaRitual Singapore! :D Fees for the workshop is redeemable for products- talk about add-ons ;)

Here is the poster and do sign up quick! Places are very limited and you'll get a goodie bag too!

Click to enlarge! :)

Why SpaRitual?

It is 100% vegan and eco-conscious from the ingredients right down to the materials used in the packaging! With exceptional quality products, learning nail care is more than just acquiring good skills but you will be using spa grade files and cuticle care products to give yourself a good nail prep session at the workshop! It is a hands-on session, very literally. ;)

Our trainer is fantastic and she has helped my yellowed nails to make them look much whiter and presentable in just one session! I am gonna dig out the iPhone photos I taken for this incident and show it to you the stark difference :)

I cant wait for it to happen so do sign up right now :)

Mei Mei Signatures' presents Nubar!

These are long overdue. I have bought them a longggg time ago and have just admired them from time to time while rummaging through my stash :)

So that evening I took out two of them and decided to wear each of them on each hand. Presenting to you: Nubar Indigo Illusion + Nubar Moonshadow...

This needed patience to build up the layers and opacity. (I am not fond of Visible Nail Lines)

I love the teal blue base. And it screams Orly Sky Blue Pink or SpaRitual It's Raining Men to me sometimes. But Nubar is more complex than just blue pink...

More green sometimes.

A true stunner :)

And those are Indigo Illusion.

Moonshadow. Looks like a meh almost metallic purple right?

Hell no.

Ignore the overexposed fingers/skin. Look at the amazing duochrome. :) Love the oranges, red and bronze that the polish has under different angles.

I have more photos of these two. Perhaps I'll save it for another photo spam :) 

Get them at Mei Mei Signatures!

SpaRitual swatches in macro mode.

I have been doing up swatches of some SpaRitual polishes for my job. Fun, eh? :D And I have been cropping them down to the macro shots. And here are some I have already published on the official Facebook Page here: SpaRitual Singapore

This is Howl, from the WILDE Collection (Fall 2011).

This is Blue Moon from TWINKLE Collection (Winter/Seasonal Collection 2011).

These are Spirit Child from WILDE Collection (Fall 2011).

There is a slight duochrome actually. A very glamorous red for the festive season :)

Taken in a slightly different angle. Close up shimmer.

These are close ups of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (Permanent Collection). Yes, same title as the The Beatles song :) Enjoy 

A very demure shade that is interesting to look at...

A soft pink silvery micro shimmer shade. Im thinking of bridal nails for this... What say you?

What surprised me was Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds. Never thought I could pull off this shade and look decently good with it :D 

Enlighten Facial @ Essence Vale Spa, Traders Hotel Singapore

I have been off the radar recently and this aint good. However, before I found myself a full-time job (also known as) a career, I was offered a facial treatment to ease the flaky skin away, in preparation for a SpaRitual media workshop.

It was the first time I did a facial at a Spa and boy, it was fun!

I took a quick photo of the before:

I merely washed my face before I got out of the house that morning, no skincare products applied. 

Dry, flaky and pores pretty much clogged.

The Spa uses Kerstin Florian (http://www.kerstinflorianusa.com/) items and for my customized facial, the products used were:

1. Cleanse

- Rejuvenating Cleansing Gel

- Rehydrating Neroli Cleansing Milk

2. Tone

- Rejuvenating Thermal Tonic

- Aromatheraphy Rose Water

3. Treatment

- Correcting Hyaluronic Serum

- Clarifying Serum (used after extraction to treat blemishes)

- Capilar Essence 

- Organic Aromatherapy Calm Mind (part of the pre-ritual)

4. Moisturize

- Rejuvenating 24-hr Moisture Creme

5. Eyes

- Rejuvenating Eye Creme

For my body: 

There were gentle hand, foot, shoulder, back and scalp massages..

- Myrrh Nail Oil (which I bought eventually to treat my fungus-ridden toenails :( )

- Krauter Fub Balm

6. Spa Sun

- Sun Protection SPF 30 for face and body

It was all in all a treat. Good products with great skills of the therapist gave my face a new lease of life. 

Here is how I looked after:

I have milia seeds on my eyelids and she attempted with my strong approval to get rid of them (safely). Not too bad :D

I looked much happier and I felt much better!

See the open milia seed? It healed in a few days, it is still there but much smaller in size. This milia used to give me triple eyelid when I had drier eyelid too. 

The clogged pores on my chin that gave me periodical pimples were also gone after this facial. And has been gone for 2 whole months now!!!!!!

My skin stayed flake-free for two whole weeks after the facial! The results were downright amazing.

And I say so because one month later I joined another Spa Salon and have since signed a package there (DONT ASK). I needed to go back every 2 weeks to have my flaky skin controlled. I leave the Spa with flaky skin still there though. Sigh. But they do eyebrow trimming for me... so.... :) I'll talk about this other Spa Salon again, someday. I have 6 sessions left.

So, some of you might already know now that I am now a Spa Manager (in training) at this Essence Vale Spa! It has been an almost 2 months now and I joined because I was impressed with the treatment and service and facilities :) 

Take my review as you will; I acknowledge it may be biased but my friends and family who see me daily will have noticed the improvement of my skin after the treatment then :) 

You may ask why didnt I go back and have my facials done at my workplace? Cuz I just felt uncomfortable to have my face worked on by my colleagues :P But I go to them for quick fix extractions for pimples and clogged pores :) They give the best advice!

To visit the spa (and meet me to have a little beauty chat!), come down to Traders Hotel Level 4, Health Club and Spa. Or call: 6831 4349 to make an appointment!

Check out this review: 

A Dreamscape- CLEO

One last look at Chanel's Peridot + Graphite... I swear!

Applauds Chanel's team for bringing me two lovely lovely lacquers that just keep making me lem. LEM.

I have been to the store to swatch them TWICE, on two separate occasions, almost weeks apart.

As we speak, Noel collection for Xmas has hit Singapore's shores now and Im still thinking about dear Peridot and Graphite.

Here are the swatches I did over my OPI Here Today, Aragon Tomorrow... Suede.

They matter, cuz graphite does looks different layered (heavily) over it.

I am pretty sure Peridot's green edges got a greater kick from this layering.

I am also looking at Jessica's Peacock collection that had a great looking duochrome with a hint of blue in the gold/green colour shifting lacquer... yummy. Peridot lemming therefore, is put on hold.

Here is magnificent Graphite. A totally chic, luxe lacquer shade that looks even better layered. Hmmm. 

I was working on a pair of hands that already had Graphite on them and spruced up her lovely long nails with black studs and crystal bling. Total rock chic drool worthy. And staring at close range her nails, made me want Graphite....

So. TELL ME WHAT TO DO.

Last I checked these lacquers are still in store! :D

<3 muchos besos when u do!

Studio M- Purple Medallion + Slamming Red

Wow Wee. I managed to swap for these two precioussssssss on MUA. And I am loving them! However gritty they may feel. The glitters in them are great and the base colours are actually very rich and jeweled.

Here's the photo spam:

Slamming Red was gloopy when I opened the bottle. It has been used before I got it. No big deal, I added some Seche Restore to thin it but mostly I just scooped it out and applied it :P