Lady Sings the Blues

Wearing ncLA's Lead Singer, Me

It's been a long time since I've worn a nail polish shade that really excited me. ncLA's Lead Singer, Me, a yet to be released shade, left me utterly speechless when I spied it on Mira's nails, my manicurist, last week - yes please, I'll have exactly that.

Lead Singer, Me features a creamy navy blue base with cerulean blue and greenish flakies. It's a striking shade that helped to cap off a fairly chilly Melbourne winter. Seven days of minor tip wear places Lead Singer, Me in the 'gotta have this polish, right now' category.

It's '5-free', chip resistant, trendy and lasts. Pity a single bottle will set you back $16, but it's worth it.

Lead Singer, Me

Closer

Beauty in a tick: Diorshow Fusion Mono in Chimere

Diorshow Fusion Mono

For me Chimere almost embodies two of the best and basic MAC Pro Longwear Paint Pots, Bare Study and Painterly. However, Chimere is a touch more transformative without being too in your face. To boot, I manage to avoid having to fiddle about with two cream eyeshadows. Trust me when I tell you it's my least favourite thing to do when it comes to applying makeup.

Chimere illuminated by daylight

Swatch of Chimere

According to Urban Dictionary, Chimere is defined as "a dream that you cannot touch." Dior's version of Chimere (a metallic tinged pink) delivers a touch of Chandon Rose without even having to take a swig of champagne; but, if you're offering please do hand me a flute -- sparkling wine will even do.

Chimere looks lovely on its own and even plays well with other eyeshadow formulas.

Wearing Chimere on my eyes

And daydreaming about cookies

To create the look above I first applied a chocolate brown shade from Le Metier De Beaute's Silk Road Kaleidoscope Eye Kit to the outer half of my eyelid with an angled eyeshadow brush (I swear this particular brush cuts my work in half). I then blended out the hard lines and carried excess eyeshadow into my crease to create depth. Finally, I dabbed on Chimere with MAC's 239 on the inner half of my eyelids and lined the lower lash line with Chimere as well.

Black mascara and brown eyeliner (tight lined) tied the rest of this look together.

On my lips I'm wearing Dior Addict Fluid Stick in Mirage. Perhaps, my favourite lip formula ATM.

Chimere isn't a creeper, it stays put like a good eyeshadow should.

The Bagful breakdown:

Total amount for Diorshow Fusion Mono in Chimere:

• $50.00 AUS / $30.00 USD

Value for money spent (performance and quality):

• 9 out of 10 bags — Easy like Sunday morning.

Would another purchase be on the horizon?:

• Working on building up my Fluid Stick collection.

Swatchophile: Diorshow Mono Fusion Mono in Chimere

Swatch of Chimere

More like, c'mere with that glass of bubbles.

Review and look to follow.

This is not a Twilight fix: Chanel's Illusion d'Ombre in New Moon

Chanel's New Moon

I feel like a broken record whenever I review Chanel's Illusion d'Ombre. This particular eye shadow is a huge guilty pleasure of mine and I only splash out so long as the colour is especially unique. 

Let's take a closer look at New Moon (limited edition), one of three new Illusion d'Ombre shades from Chanel's Summer 2014 collection.

Close up of New Moon

New Moon is like a super fancy layer cake or even a fruit-infused molten lava cake. Rich browns mixed with golden flecks and peppered garnet captivate, tempt and truly leave me salivating from all this talk of cake and eyeshadow.

Swatch of New Moon

New Moon on closer inspection

For all of its gloriousness, New Moon isn't without its shortcomings; we're talking hellah fallout. But if you're ok with post-application clean up, well go forth, wield your mightiest brush and prepare yourself for top-notch sparkle and shine. 

Wearing New Moon on my eye lids atop Urban Decay's Limit

The rest of the look. Yep, I'm wearing MAC's Patisserie, too.

The Bagful breakdown:

Total amount for Chanel's New Moon:

• $48.00 AUS /  $36.00 USD

Value for money spent (performance and quality):

• 9 out of 10 bags — Fallout can be really annoying.

Would another purchase be on the horizon?:

• I thought I was going to purchase more, but I managed to restrain myself.