My Dior haul, awesome SA, and other news

I just had to write a post about my awesome SA at Boots.  A couple of years ago, I bought the Dior powder brush and I have experiencing shedding, so when I told the SA at Dior, she was kind enough to replace it for me.  Now that is what you call customer service.  I was so pleased that I splurged on the Amber Diamond that I wanted for quite sometime but was too afraid to pay the £32 price ticket on it. 

Oh well, you only live once right?

Might as well enjoy it :)

Amber Diamond is suppose to be that lovely golden highlighter sheen that all the bloggers are going crazy over, and I can totally see why.  I have used other highlighters yet nobody use to compliment me, yet everyone complimented me when I wore this.  I love it!  I'll get some swatches up soon, but just wanted to quickly show you this.

In other news, the Allure beauty box is back on sale in the states and I died a little inside when I saw the amount of goodies that you got for only $39.95.  SO JEALOUS!

I mean look at all this.....dayum!

• ALOXXI COLOURCARE Leave-In Conditioner
• BIORE Combination Skin Balancing Cleanser
• Burt’s Bees Lip Shimmer
• CERAVE SA Renewing Lotion
• CETAPHIL DERMACONTROL Oil Control Foam Wash
• CETAPHIL DERMACONTROL Oil Control moisturizer SPF 30
• CLEAN & CLEAR MORNING BURST Skin Brightening Facial Cleanser
• DR. LEWINN BY KINERASE Instant Dermal Wrinkle Filler
• FEKKAI GLOSSING Cream
• GILLETTE VENUS & OLAY RAZOR
• NEW! JERGENS NATURAL GLOW & PROTECT Daily Moisturizer with SPF 20
• JOHN FRIEDA FRIZZ-EASE Sheer Solution Lightweight Frizz Control for fine to med. hair
• JOHN FRIEDA FULL REPAIR Style Revival Heat-Activated Styling Spray
• JOHN FRIEDA Sheer Blonde Go Blonder Controlled Lightening Spray
• MISS Nail Lacquer
• NEUTROGENA Ultra Sheer Liquid Daily Sunscreen SPF 70
• NEUTROGENA MoistureShine Lip Soother with SPF 20 in Gleam
• ORLY Nail Lacquer
• OSCAR BLANDI Pronto Dry Shampoo Spray
• PANTENE Normal-Thick Anti-Breakage Shampoo
• PANTENE Normal-Thick Anti-Breakage Conditioner
• PUREOLOGY PERFECT 4 PLATINUM Miracle Filler Treatment
• REDKEN POWDER REFRESH 01 aerosol hair powder/dry shampoo
• TANTOWEL LOOK GOOD NAKED Self-Tan Towelette

A $250 value for $39.99, plus $10 for shipping and handling.$5 from each purchase will be donated to The Skin Cancer Foundation.

Link to Allure Beauty Box 2012

Yeah, I really wish Allure UK would do this :(

I also wanted to show you how similar 17 nail polish in Fury (£2.99) looks like Chanel Peridot.  I picked this up for my friend, but before I sent it to her, I shot this photo.

I am trying my best to not buy dupes, so I didn't pick one up for myself, but this is a great money saving dupe. 

And last but not least, I am selling my only bottle of Gosh Holographic to raise money for my local RSPCA, so please head over there and bid if you love rare polishes, holo & animals :)

Link to Charity Auction

Until next time, take it ez lovelies!

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TUNE OF THE DAY

Keri Hilson - Turn my swag on

CHARITY AUCTION: Gosh Holographics Nail Polish for sale!

Lately, my mind has been focusing on how I can raise money for a local charity where I'm currently living.  I don't have a lot of money, I don't even have a lot of time, but I decided to let something go that is very hard to find in order to raise some money, so if you are hot and heavy for Gosh Holographics, please make your way over to my ebay auction.

So if you love nail polish and you love animals, please check it out :)

Here is the linkage to my auction

Searching for Guerlain's Cruel Gardenia

Attention beauty addicts.

If you have a Cruel Gardenia by Guerlain highlighter, and would like to sell it, please shoot me an email at tokkiandoliver(at)gmail(dot)com.  I'm desperately looking for it :)

UPDATE:  I found one on ebay for below retail :) So happy to have this coming to me :)

Models Own Nail Polish in Champagne

This is one of those colours that I was nervous about buying, because I usually hate the finished texture of foiled nail polishes, but I decided to take a risk and buy it anyways. I'm glad I did.

This polish is a complicated nail polish in terms of colour and texture.  The colour is a combination of silver, platinum, beige/pink undertones.  It compliments my fair skin quite well.  Also, the finished texture feels smooth, but appears gritty.  I love that!

 

I'm happy with this for now. It's a very feminine and delicate colour, which I usually cringe towards, but I'm still interested in this particular colour.  I think this will be my  I just hope that my brush doesn't come loose like it has with several other of my bottles.

rrp: £5 

I highly recommend waiting for Model's own yearly 50% off sale.  I was going to wait myself, but I was picking up some polishes for a friend, and just wanted to grab something for myself :) you know how that goes lol

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TUNE OF THE DAY
Xscape - Tonight

Chanel nail polish in Blue Rebel

More swatches as promised ladies.  Blue Rebel with a NYC fashion night out exclusive, but has been launched here in the UK.  I guess Chanel figured that it was such a good seller that they would increase their revenues by bringing it across the pond.  I bought Blue Boy when it first came out, and it took over 4 months for it to get to my doorstep from the states.  I jumped on Blue Rebel, because it was on sale at Debenhams.com for £15.75 (10% off of the rrp).  I am a blue gal, and always tend to be attracted to them.  I know that to most cremes are boring, but these are solid cremes.  I just can't tell you how much I love them.  

I feel I need to make an excuse for my nasty cuticles.  I've just been so rough with my hands at work, and I need to get on a better regime with my hand care. Anyways, Blue Rebel is my kind of blue.  There is something subdued about this blue, maybe it's the grey base to it that makes it a "calm" blue for me.  Either way, I love it.

Application: Up to Chanel's high quality standards.  Smooth and easy to apply

Coverage: One coat opaqueness :) my favourite

Packaging: What can I say? I'm a sucker for  anything Chanel. 

Retail: £18 

I sort of want to finish off the collection and buy coco blue.  

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TUNE OF THE DAY

2ne1 - Lonely

YSL Nail Polish in Black Indigo swatches & review

You all know that I'm a sucker for things that are gold right? YSL's packaging always pulls me in.  That gold cap is very alluring.  The only issue is that it picks up thumbprints, so excuse my next couple of shots with my fingerprints on it :)

YSL black indigo was on sale at Debenhams for only £10.01 (odd amount), so I had to grab it.  I really wanted to get the other two as well, but I wanted to show some form of restraint, so I only got one.  I guess I have a thing for blue polish, so naturally this one was purchased.

Application: The formula was quality, but I am not crazy about the brush.  It doesn't allow control of the amount of polish you place on your finger, but I can forgive this.

Coverage:  One coat opaque goodness!

Packaging:  As I mentioned before, I love the gold caps

Retail: £15 for 6ml, but currently £10.01 on debenhams with free postage if you have a beauty card with them.

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TUNE OF THE DAY

Rita Ora - R.I.P (sorry for the repeat, but this really is my tune of the day lol)

Dior Waterlily vs. Illamasqua Nomad Swatches & Review

I think I need to adjust my colour setting on my computer as I swore these two were similar.  They are not at all.  Illamasqua is a bold and bright green and Waterlily is a muted soft jade with a slight blue shimmer.  I am really glad I bought both of these polishes as they are perfect for spring.

Illamasqua on the first two fingers and Dior on the last two.

Here's the lowdown on these two polishes:

Application:  Smooth, consistent, and easy

Coverage:  Very opaque, one coat does the job

Scent:  Dior has a slight rose scent. I didn't get why Dior felt it necessary to try to scent their polishes as who really smells their nails anyways

Packaging:  Love both brands' packaging, but this time Dior placed their limited edition polish into a silver box instead of their traditional dark blue.  I actually like that they did that, as it makes it stand out a bit more and makes it more "collectible"

Retail:  Dior £19 and Illamasqua was £13.50

What's your favourite polish colour for Spring?

TUNE OF THE DAY

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Lana Del Rey - Blue Jeans

Nail Polish Haul - Chanel Blue Rebel, Dior Waterlily, Illamasqua Nomad and YSL Black Indigo

I finally have the next two days off, so I will be doing tons of swatching and listening to music.  I've been in this odd space where my life is moving along, but I feel like I'm not really going anywhere.  Does anyone know what I am talking about?  Music seems to be the only thing that is keeping me going. I'm not very good with words (despite trying to write on this blog), but music helps me express myself.  So I'm actually going to show you my haul from this week, and then I am going to share with you all the songs that have been very close to me this week.

So, I did a massive haul and really splurged on some high priced polishes.  Not the smartest thing for me to do right now, but I really couldn't help myself.  They were all purchased at a discounted price, if that means anything? lol

YSL Black Indigo, Dior Waterlily, Illamasqua Nomad, Chanel Blue Rebel

I think I'm in a very green & blue mood this spring/summer.  I've been a bit naughty, so I'm going to have to chill on the NP haul front.  Plus..I'm running out of drawer space, but I love these.  Swatches up tomorrow.

So onto the tunes that I have on repeat this week...

Nina Sinatra - Bang Bang

Rita Ora - R.I.P. ft. Tinie Tempah

Shirley Bassey - I who have nothing

 

The Shangrilas - Remember Walkin' in the sand

Lana Del Rey - Video Games

Julep Nail Polish in Molly

My lovely friend sent this to me recently, and I couldn't wait to put it on.  My outfit was calling for a bright apple red jelly nail polish, and this one fit the bill.

This polish really brightened up an otherwise very gloomy day.  Other than the awesome colour, the formula was superb on this polish.  It was a one coater, and the formula was very easy to apply.  No complaints here for sure, other than my horrible cuticles in this photo lol.

TUNE OF THE DAY

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GZA - Liquid Swords

My new Alexander Wang Trudy Bag

It has been 3 years since I purchased a bag.  Partially due to the fact that my funds were tied up in my move to England.  I recently decided to treat myself and I couldn't say no this amazing bargain.  So here I am introducing my new bag :)

Big shout out to my girl who mailed this to me from the states xx 

Oh how I love the buttery leather, ample room, and the hardware. I can't tell you how much I love it :)

The rrp is £900 for the trudy (yes I know, absolutely insane).  You can buy yours at outnet.com for £400.  The colour is not the same, but they have two separate brown tone colours.  The stock photo on outnet does not  do this bag justice.  

I'm not saying this to brag, but I was able to nab this beauty for $150 USD.  So this was a bargain of the century for me.  I'm so happy about this, and I have been stroking this bag all day long haha.

I'm such a huge Alexander Wang fan and this is my very first AW bag :) So I couldn't help but share this purchase with you all!

I also figured out my next bag purchase. It will be quite sometime, but this is my next bag.  This is the Alexander Mcqueen clutch RRP £315. Yikes, time to save up lol.

Until next time, take it ez lovely ladies :)

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TUNE OF THE DAY
Mobb Deep - Shook Ones Part II

Elevation Polish - Glittertind, Avalanche!, Alphubel, and Nyamuragira

Hello lovely ladies. Today's review is on the brand new company called Elevation Polish.  Based from the states, I was fortunate to get 4 Elevation polishes recently to test.  

From left to right - Avalance!, Glittertind, Alphubel, and Nyamuragira

Forgive me as I took this photo just before the sun went down, so some of the gorgeous micro glitter has been lost, but trust me it is there.

I instantly put on Nya and Avalanche on top as it was just chocked full of goodies inside.  Nya is a charcoal base with large black hex glitter, and flakies!  yep you heard me right, glitters & flakies.  I love the flakies in this however as it is really reminiscent of the volcano that it is named after.  It's really interesting and very clever.  Avalanche is also my second favourite from this lot, because it is not just your typical heavy glitter topcoat.  There are these micro tiny glitters that the heavy glitters are suspended upon.  I also love these slanted rectangular glitters also, it reminds me of ice shards.

Glittertind is much more gorgeous in real life than what you see in my photos.  It is definitely a topper, but it's a micro multi glittered topper at that.  It just reminds me of what frost and a light snow covering a mountain would look like if it was bottled up.  This one is just beautiful.

Alphubel is just one of those polishes that really catches the sunlight.  At first glance it looks like a baby blue polish, but it's so much more.  When it catches the light, Alphubel has this amazing opalescent shimmer to it.  It is a well made duo chromatic and pearly polish that shifts from baby blue to bright violet.  This one is just as unique as the rest.

The next picture just shows how much fun these polishes are, but my cuticles are just downright nasty.  No excuse, but I do actually have one as I work with my hands quite a bit and it is starting to show, sigh.  But isn't this just gorgy? Nya and avalanche make an instant galaxy nails.  

 

So where to buy elevation polish?  Check out her new website here.  Nya is limited edition so grab yours now.

I also had another gander at her website, and I am in love with Froze to death. Check it out.

 

I have to get my hands on this! I absolutely love it.

And as per usual, here is my tune of the day

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Mary J Blige - I love you

Benefit Foamingly Clean Facial Wash & Triple Performing Facial Emulsion

What is up lovely ladies? Long time! I always have a million things that I want to write, but when I actually sit down to write it, I forget it. Go figure right? Well, I actually had to say goodbye to my favourite Chanel face cleanser.  As sad as that was, I went out and replaced her very quickly with the new Benefit skincare.

I took advantage of the boots 250 bonus points, and bought these products.  For the first time, I actually bought a cleanser and moisturiser from the same company.  I normally don't do that, but I read somewhere that products work better together if they come from the same line.  Is this true? Well we shall see.

First off, superb fun cheerful packaging. I don't want to toss the packaging away.

 

 

 

 

 

The emulsion comes out with a pump.

 

I am in love with the subtle clean, fresh, and slightly fruity scent.  I basically purchased this set based on the scent alone so I really hope that this works on my combination skin.  I will report back to you soon with a review after a month or so of usage.

Basic information:

Foaming facial wash - £16.50 for 127.5g

Facial Emulsion which contains spf 15 - £19 for 50.3 ml

If you are using or have used this, please let me know how you got on with it :)

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TUNE OF THE DAY

Amy Winehouse - Back to Black