This week on Instagram

8 May

Hey everyone! This week on Instagram…

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As you can see, I got my swatch sticks! So I’m slowly making my way through my collection. So far I’ve done all my China Glazes and OPIs. The photo of books is a problem I have since starting at the library, I’m addicted to getting millions out lol. I currently have about 25 things out on my card at the moment. Woops!

What have you guys been up to?

-Del xx

Come Lurk With Me On Instagram

30 Apr

Hey guys. I know it’s been several months since I last posted… Woops! I’ve been super busy etc, also I’m lazy and work makes me tired. Then my weekends fill up really fast too! Anyway, I got a new phone at the end of March that finally meant I’m now capable of being a hipster Instagrammer! I’ve been posting almost daily, usually my nails. So if you’re keen, come lurk with me! My username is @delindeldani 🙂

I thought I’d give you a preview of what’s on there, because I’m nice and also I think every blog post needs photos hehe.

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So yeah! If you like any or all of what you see, find me on Instagram @delindeldani. I think I’d quite like to make it a regular thing to share my Instagram posts on here, possibly once a week. I need to make some plans and decide what I’m going to do with this blog, as I still love it to pieces and feel ridiculously guilty about how much I have neglected it.

See you all soon!
-Del xx

P.S. I’m posting this from my phone for the first time ever, hope it goes okay!!

Indie Spotlight On: Paris Sparkles

17 Feb

So a few weeks ago Paris Sparkles posted an amazing offer on their Facebook – 50% off! I jumped at the chance and picked up four beauties for my small-but-growing indie collection.

bottles01L-R: Chataigne ; Cobalt Surprise ; Thanks a Latte ; Wintermint

bottles02L-R: Chataigne ; Cobalt Surprise ; Thanks a Latte ; Wintermint

Lookit all that pretty! Ready for some photos?

chataigne02Chataigne, 3 coats

chataigne01Chataigne, 3 c0ats

chataigne03Chataigne, 3 coats

Phwoar what a beauty! I can’t even begin to explain how in love I am with Chataigne. If you don’t already know, I’m a sucker for nudes, browns and neutrals, but I’m also addicted to glitter. This baby is right up my alley! It was much more opaque than I had been expecting, and truth be told I could have gotten away with two coats but I’m insane and added a third. Formula is a little thick, but it’s the good kind of thick – more coverage and great glitter pay-off, and it doesn’t flood anything. Dry time is good and removal is easier than other glitters I have. This is also one of the only polishes I’ve worn to work that managed to come home unscathed – an extraordinary achievement!

cobaltsurprise01Cobalt Surprise, 3 coats

cobaltsurprise02Cobalt Surprise, 3 coats

cobaltsurprise03Cobalt Surprise, 3 coats

Another absolute stunner! Somewhat reminiscent of China Glaze’s Dorothy Who?, Cobalt Surprise is different in that the glitter is bigger and has some holo in there, as well as some sneaky tiny purple bar glitter (which I guess is the surprise!). I’ll eventually do a comparison between the two, but for now believe me when I say Cobalt Surprise is more intense and a lot more fun! Same comments for formula as Chataigne – a little thick in a good way, great pigmentation and glitter pay-off, good dry time and decent removal. One happy minx over here!

thanksalatte01Thanks a Latte, 3 coats

thanksalatte02Thanks a Latte, 3 coats

thanksalatte03Thanks a Latte, 3 coats

And now for something a little different! Instead of a jelly base like Chataigne and Cobalt Surprise, Thanks a Latte has a soft almost-chocolatey base with silver and aqua holographic glitter in it. Uuummmmm, can you say LOVE?! This was another one that was just screaming to me as I browsed the shop; there was absolutely no way I was checking out without her. It is gorgeous and subtle, but with a bit of kick so it’s not boring at all! If you don’t understand why I love this polish, I don’t think we can be friends anymore xD

wintermint01Wintermint, 3 coats alone

wintermint02Wintermint, 3 coats

And last up is this pretty little baby, Wintermint. I knew from the get-go that Wintermint would be more of a layering polish, but I knew you’d want to see it alone first. Now let’s check out my first layering with Wintermint, and an actual mani I wore to work:

wintermintovermojitoWintermint, 1 coat over Ulta3 Mojito

Oooooh pretty, right? Now here’s some swatches layered over one of MaSucree’s many many greens:

wintermintovertreehugger02Wintermint, 1 coat over China Glaze Tree Hugger

wintermintovertreehugger01Wintermint, 1 coat over China Glaze Tree Hugger

wintermintovertreehugger03Wintermint, 1 coat over China Glaze Tree Hugger

I love how potentially versatile Wintermint is; I already know that it looks great over green and I’m highly anticipating its usefulness over other shades too! I love polishes that I can experiment with! I also think it looks just lovely by itself if you’re after a soft subtle bit of colour and sparkle. So, win-win all round! This was another polish with the easiest application and formula, I just have no bad words at all for Paris Sparkles.

So to wrap up!

Things I like:

  • Great coverage for glitter polishes, I was especially surprised at how well pigmented the jelly-based polishes were.
  • Full -sized bottles of 15mL (bow chika wow).
  • Price was pretty decent too – only $8USD a bottle!
  • Great formula and application – thick but in a good way 😀
  • Good drying time and pretty easy removal for glitter – I didn’t even need the foil method.
  • Freakin’ beautiful colours.

Things that could be worked on:

  • Nada. I’m in love and may consider stalking.

So what do you all think? Keen to pick up some pretties? If you follow Paris Sparkles on Facebook, you’ll see that there are many pop-up sales and discount codes, so keep an eye out for an opportunity to snap some up!

Paris Sparkles polishes are available online through their Etsy store for $8 USD apiece.

Lates!

-Del xx

 

MUA Nail Varnish Swatches

16 Feb

Waaaah Worst Blogger Award. I’m full of excuses lately, but the simple fact is I just can’t find time. I paint my nails at night, wake up and leave before the morning light is good enough for photos, then my nails get all mashed and chipped by the end of the work day. It’s exhausting! Soooo, Worst Blogger Award.

About 2 weeks ago (woops) I posted some teaser photos of upcoming hauls. Here’s the first! I placed a MUA order when they were having their massive sale, and yeah. Stuff arrived!

mua02I accidentally left out my Great Lips lip balm in this photo and my BB cream, but pretend you see them… Anyway, that’s a concealer, eyeliner, mascara, 2 eyeshadow palettes, 6 lipsticks, 4 polishes, and an invisible lip balm and BB cream. All for about $30 NZD. Woooo! Best sale evaaah.

While I am by absolutely no means a true beauty blogger, I thought I’d attempt some lipsticks swatches on my hand. I’m sorry XD

mua11L-R: Shade 3, Shade 5, Shade 7, Shade 14 Bare, Shade 15 Juicy, and Shade 16 Nectar

mua12L-R: Shade 3, Shade 5, Shade 7, Shade 14 Bare, Shade 15 Juicy, and Shade 16 Nectar

Anyway, enough of that terrible-ness. Onto the polish!

mua01L-R: Amaretto Crush, Shade 13, Shade 21, Stormy Skies.

I think it’s weird how some are named and some are not, but oh well. Onward!

mua03MUA Amaretto Crush, 2 coats

mua04MUA Amaretto Crush, 2 coats

mua07MUA Shade 13, 2 coats

mua08MUA Shade 13, 2 coats

mua06MUA Shade 21, 2 coats

mua05MUA Shade 21, 2 coats

mua09MUA Stormy Skies, 2 coats

mua10MUA Stormy Skies, 2 coats

Aaaand  that’s all the MUA polish I have for now. I’m waiting on another package from them that I ordered with MaSu, but it sadly hasn’t arrived yet (hmph).

Things I like:

  • Fairly well-pigmented, 2 coats is sufficient for full coverage in person.
  • Price! Only £1, which converts to about $1.80 NZD.
  • Formula was easy to work with.
  • Looooove the colours!

Things that could be worked on:

  • Tiny bottles by my standards (6.2mL).
  • Weirdly stiff brush meant I had to be careful with application – you can see where I’ve messed up.
  • Only some shades have names… This bothers me >_<

All in all I’m pretty happy with these, and I’d buy more! If you’re buying from MUA and you spot a colour you like, don’t hesitate to pick it up. You can’t really go wrong with such a great price.

If you’re curious about the rest of the stuff in the haul, feel free to ask because I probably won’t end up posting about it. I’m pretty happy with all the stuff I picked out, I chose the concealer and BB cream well and the eyeshadows are amazing. No complaints here!

I’ll be back again tomorrow with some Paris Sparkles lovin’ so see you then!

-Del xx

 

 

Coming Up Next Week at DomesticMinxes

3 Feb

Hey guys! I’ve got lots going on at the moment, so I just have two teaser photos for you today. I’m hoping to get to these over the next week in detail 😀

muaMy first MUA haul (and more should be coming in the post!)

parissparklesAnd my first Paris Sparkles polishes!

Something to look forward to?!

-Del xx

What Happens When I Shop… And Some NotD

28 Jan

Soooo now that I’m employed again and I can shop… I’ve kind of gone nuts in the last week or so! I’m waiting on packages from: Paris Sparkles, Glitzology, Head2Toe and 2 packages each from Born Pretty Store and MUA. Then today MaSucree and I went out shopping and I came home with 18 new babies. Woops! Wanna see?

haul08The whole darn lot! In my defense… the four in the middle I stole from MaSu (technically the OPI was my Christmas present).

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My Very First Knockwurst from the Germany collection, my Christmas present from MaSu because she knows how much I love me some nudes 😀

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Nfu.Oh #65 (omggg holo!) ; Nfu.Oh #68 ; China Glaze Luxe & Lush

These were a few that MaSu was a bit meh about so I took them off her hands. I love holos and I’m always keen for a backup of something as awesome as Luxe & Lush!

haul04Mink & Diamonds ; Fiery Diamond

I only have 4 Sally Hansen polishes and they are all from the Insta-dri line, so I’m looking forward to trying these two out! I picked these up for $2 each (!!!) at a cosmetics sale outlet in New Lynn.

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Aurora ; Neon Purple

A couple more Kleancolors that I didn’t already have and picked up for $3 each at a dollar store in Lynn Mall. I have seen Aurora used in so many beautiful manis in the blogosphere so decided I needed my own, and Neon Purple has a pretty subtle shimmer that said “buy me, woman!” when I looked at her.

haul05

Cocktail ; Candy Sprinkles ; Mistletoe

Yes, I already have a bottle of Candy Sprinkles. But it’s so lovely and I’m terrified of running out so I’ve gotten a backup while they’re still available! Cocktail seemed like a pretty soft girly glitter, which I don’t have many of (I usually get outrageous glitters), and Mistletoe looked so odd I had to have it!

haul06w7 polishes: Metallic Jupiter ; Metallic Mercury ; Metallic Neptune

Ever since MaSucree posted about her w7 hauls I have been stalking Postie stores searching for them, but alas! To no avail! So when I had to opportunity to stalk the very store she found them in, I went a bit nuts. They had all the things I wanted and more…

haul07w7 polishes: Metallic Mars ; Metallic Saturn ; Metallic Venus ; Cosmic Green

I couldn’t resist the awesomeness.

Anyway, wasn’t that fun! I can’t wait to try all these out and hopefully (eventually) get some swatching done. It’s much harder now to fit in swatching with full-time work and a terrible lighting set-up at night. I may need to look into making a lightbox or something! It will be strange because I’ve always preferred swatching with natural daylight. But we’ll see what happens 🙂

And so as to leave you with something other than pictures of bottles, here are the nails I wore out shopping!

notdKleancolor Ocean Wave (metallic blue) + China Glaze Pizzazz (rainbow glitter) + Nfu.Oh #03 (sheer white jelly).

I freakin’ love this effect, to me it is *somewhat* reminiscent of the Nails Inc. Sprinkles polishes that I’m still desperately lusting after. Sometimes I have to make do with the hundreds of bottles I have here at home. So sad 😉

Lates!

-Del xx

Pst… I also bought a new mascara, 2 rings, some earrings, and a new dress while we were out… But I thought it was enough to show you all the polish 😉

 

Big Ol’ Potful of Random from December 2012

23 Jan

Haaaai guise! I know I gave you a smidgen of an update a few weeks ago (oops) but I think I’m over being such a terrible blogger. In December my family and I suffered a tragic loss and it really had a negative effect on my desire to blog about stuff. It’s been a tough time and things still hurt, but I’m focussing on happy memories and I’ve been putting a lot of energy into my job, which I started last Monday. If you follow me on Facebook, you might have seen my status saying that yes, I’m still painting my nails every day, but sometimes I don’t catch them on camera! (Like today – woops! I’ll have to re-create today’s look for you at a later date, it was fantastic and gained me many a compliment at work).

Anyway, as a result of my negligence I have quite a backlog of photos to show you. Today’s photos are all from December, with one from November chucked in.

Enjoy!

01nov

2 coats Color Club Ho-Ho-Holly, 1 coat China Glaze Glitter All the Way (this one’s from November)

02dec

2 coats China Glaze Exotic Encounters, 1 coat Nfu Oh 56

Terribly terrible photo, but lovely combo!

03decI received a package from I Love NP: Up to Snow Good and Something About Merry

04dec2 coats China Glaze For Audrey, 1 coat I Love NP Up to Snow Good

05dec2 coats Orly Dazzle, 1 coat I Love NP Something About Merry

After this I drastically chopped off my nails, eep!

06decAnd this is what I wore to the funeral. She would have loved it ❤

2 coats China Glaze Trophy Wife, Liquid Leather for flowers, and rhinestones from BornPretty Store.

07dec2 coats Mode Vicious Venom, gradient using China Glaze Pure Joy and Golden Enchantment

08decChristmas Day nails (awful photo!) using Jessie’s tutorial, China Glaze With Love, Kleancolor White, Jordana Black Mark, and Revlon Gold Coin.

09dec2 coats LA Colors Candy Sprinkles

Ta-dah! Wasn’t that fun? A mish-mash of random crap is always awesome. You’re welcome!

See you all next time ❤

-Del xx

Tiny Update

2 Jan

Hey guys. Sorry I’ve been away for so long, but there has been a LOT of stressful stuff going on. However I did manage to take a small break at the beach, and by the end of it my nails were all chipped. Woops!

Here’s where I’ve been since just after Christmas:

omapere

This is one of my favourite places ever. Omapere, in the Hokianga Harbour of northern New Zealand. I’ve been going up there since I was a kid because my grandad lives up there! It’s a quiet and beautiful place, and it was a great chance to try to get my mind off things.

However, I’m still pretty stressed. Hopefully my trip to Wellington will help calm the old nerves before I start my new job on the 14th. The Husband and I are jetting off tomorrow morning for our first ever visit to our capital city. We’re looking forward to it 🙂

See you all when I’m back! I’ll have pleeeenty of backlogged nails to share from December.

Love you all, and thanks for sticking around.

-Del xx

 

Even More Nail Mail and NotD!

7 Dec

Wooooooo a string of awesomeness! I got two packages yesterday, one from Llarowe containing some UP Colors holographics and another from Ninja Polish containing two gold flake top coats! Woooooooooooo!!!!!!!

upcolorsL-R: Verde 360 ; Azul Disco

I’ve already tried Verde, and I love it! The holographic effect isn’t as strong as others I’ve tried, but it has a beautiful sparkle in the sun 😀

gooooldL-R: The Midas Touch ; He Went to Jarred

OMG SO IN LOVE. Not only is The Midas Touch cheaper than the “high-end” alternatives available, it’s also higher quality at 24k gold flakes (as opposed to the 18k I’ve seen). The white gold top coat (which everyone has been clamouring for!) is 12k. Super love love!!!

goldnails02So of course I had to try one of them out! I went with gold because I’m still on my Christmas nails kick. This is The Midas Touch over OPI You Only Live Twice.

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*swoon* I’ll be keeping this on for a few days 😀

goldnails01What do you guys think? Keen to pick up any gold flake top coats? The Ninja Polish ones are only $15USD a pop! They’re currently out of stock but you can sign up for stock notifications, which is how I got my bottles. Check them out here.

I’m looking forward to The Husband’s work Christmas do tomorrow night, we’re going to a super fancy restaurant and get free food and drinks 😀

Bye guys~

-Del x

 

Nail Mail and More Christmas Fun!

5 Dec

Sorry for the lack of posting! As I said last time, lots on my mind! I keep putting off posting because I’m waiting for loooots of packages and I keep hoping they’ll arrive. Today I received one from new indie maker, Daily Lacquer! After stalking Ami, I had to have Makoto from the Lovely Moon collection, so I ordered her 😀 Look at the adorable packaging!

packagingWell-wrapped in bubbles and encased in a cute bag with hearts on it ^_^

makoto01And here’s Makoto! A mix of green and pink glitters (hex, bar, square, heart, and moon shapes) in a clear base, Makoto was inspired by Sailor Jupiter from Sailor Moon! As a girl growing up in the 90s, Sailor Moon was a staple in my tv diet. I now have a desire to get the rest of Maggy’s Lovely Moon collection, they all look super amazing and I can now confirm that the formula is great 😀

One awesome surprise was the fact that Maggy threw in a little mini bottle of an unreleased mix called Tink Pink:

tinkpink01It’s a clear base with pink and silver holo hexes, hearts, and butterflies. Adore! I can’t wait to see my niece’s reaction to it as well 😀 I’m not sure whether this is a part of an upcoming collection, so I’ll be keeping an eye out on the Daily Lacquer Facebook page for updates! Super happy with today’s nail mail 😀

Anyway, I thought I’d also share what I’m wearing on my nails. I’m making an effort to venture out of my comfort zone by wearing reds more (fuelled by Christmas fever), but I had to have the old familiar glitter gradient.

snow01This is two coats of China Glaze With Love with a gradient of Glistening Snow (both of these are from the 2012 Holiday Joy collection), and a top coat of Fairy Dust to finish off and add more sparkle.

snow02

Bit of tip wear there, my bad! I’m sad that you can’t see how sparkly this was, but the weather has been complete butt lately (summer my arse!) so there was no sun to bring out the beautiful holo of Glistening Snow and Fairy Dust.

Anyway, I’ll try to make more of an effort to share more often. I’ll have to get some swatches of my new Daily Lacquers for you!

Love you guys :3

-Del x

Pst… I got a new job! I’ll be starting in January 😀