Vintage Musings Of A Modern Pinup

Layla Holographic Flash Black

2012-02-16T04:12:00.000+11:00

Thanks to the super, dooper Cathy from More Nail Polish, us Aussie girls were able to snag some Layla Holographics. I only ordered 2 as I am being a good girl this week.

But after swatching Flash Black, maybe I should of got more?

It is a light grey charcoal color which has a very strong holographic flash in the sun. Almost insanely so. Above was taken inside under artificial light. Below were taken in full sunlight.

Scrumptious.

Recent Vintage Bargains

2012-02-15T07:59:00.002+11:00

This 50's dress looks elegant on with the flared collar and cuffed cleeves. The pattern is a striped illusion.

I really do look super fabulous with these 60's sunglasses on....just sayin'. I got these recently for 50% off on Etsy.

I snagged this vintage floral fruit bowls set for $5 at an Op Shop.

A $25 bargain off eBay that looks super cute on. Love those big pockets.

I was outbid on this 50's dress at the last minute and was mad to find out I had missed out on it by only a couple of dollars! Then it was relisted a week later with a buy it now price of only half of what I bid, so I purchased it....I'm still wondering what the story is. It has since arrived and is way too small, even tho the listing measurements were my size :(

These 40's lucite wedges I scored on eBay for $12. Can someone say BARGAIN?

Who else has snagged some vintage awesome-ness lately?

Lynnderella Ruby Red Ruby

2012-02-14T06:00:00.000+11:00

This is 2 coats of Lynnderella Red Ruby Shoes over a coat of China Glaze Ruby Pumps. After my first frakka of Lynnderella the other day, this one I really like!
Photo above is taken in natural shaded light.

It was super blingy and you could see the sparkle a long way off. Finished with a coat of Glitter Tamer and Seche QD. This makes for a very thickly layered manicure unfortunately.
Photo below was taken in shaded natural light with a flash.

Essence Where Is The Party?

2012-02-13T06:00:00.000+11:00

I'm loving how Target is stocking Essence. The last 2 times I have been I have fluked just newly stocked up displays and have scored a few faves.

This is a gorgeous color called Where Is The Party? At first glance I thought it was a dupe for OPI's Not Like The Movies but once swatched it's completely different. It's also a multichrome and not a duochrome like I first thought, it flashes from a Mauve to silver to Sea green. It's stunning.

I'm just sorry I couldn't capture more color change for you.
I wore it alone for a day then added stamping in China Glaze 2030. It looks like I'm advertising for Cadbury!

The Australian Gumleaf Mafia's Very Own Website!

2012-02-12T04:46:00.000+11:00

If you didn't already know.....Australian nail polish bloggers are awesome.
And we have our own site to prove it!

Kaz from Pretty-Random has worked long and hard to give us Aussie polish bloggers our very own webpage! Each of our posts are uploaded to this site every hour, so you now only have to log into one place!

THE GUMLEAF MAFIA WEBSITE

There are links to all Australian nail polish brands, you can 'meet' us and any aspiring Oz polish bloggers can apply to join the 'Mafia Ranks'. Any giveaways we are hosting will be in the sidebar along with any shop sales and deals we can find.

Why are you still here? Go check it out!

Orly Artifical Sweetener

2012-02-11T04:00:00.000+11:00

Orly sent me a bottle from their upcoming Cool Romance collection. I had fingers crossed that it was Artificial Sweetener as it was the one I was after the most-est!

First of all, I'm showing it with stamping as I think this is the cutest manicure I have done for awhile!

Two coats of Artificial Sweetener and stamped with Konad white for the bows and China Glaze Millenium for the polkas. Finished with a coat of Seche QD.

And by itelf. The dusky rose has a gorgeous shimmer to it which comes out in the sun. I was so glad to receive this color as I knew I didn't own anything remotely close to it.

Which color are you lemming?

The Cool Romance Collection is available in Australia from April 2012.
RRP $18.95
STockist: 1300 769 355

Uncle Fezter Hair Flowers

2012-02-10T06:31:00.001+11:00

As you all know, I am never without a flower in my hair. No matter the Season or occasion, I have a bloom tucked somewhere. So, thru out the years I have owned my good share of flowers made by Indie brand makers, discount chain stores, handmades from the local Craft fair and Chinese factory pump outs.

The Holy Grail of hair flowers are made by Uncle Fezter. To own one is a long, arduous 'dibs-ing' process which I very rarely come out on top of.
But every serious pinup chick needs at least one of Steve's flowers, and I finally got my hands on a few recently.

This black and deep red concoction is glorious and large. It's perfect for the side of my hair.

Each and every own is handmade by Steve and is a one of a kind original. They are extremely well made, with a large strong clip and I am very impressed with the construction.

This Magnolia has a smattering of pink and is huge! This one look especially gorgeous at the back around a chignon.

This one I love as it's reversible! It has differing flowers either side so you get different looks if you clip it on the left or the right.

So, do I now have new competitors in the 'dibs' process for these awesome flowers?!

Flowers: Steve El' Roca (Uncle Fezter) . Prices start at $20.
You need to become his Facebook friend and then watch his page for upcoming sales....be quick, these blooms go quick!

Rainbow Nails,Take 2

2012-02-09T06:00:00.000+11:00

I love doing Rainbow Nails! It makes me happy!

I used: China Glaze Lemon Fizz, Heli-yum, Refreshmint, Flyin High, Instantaneous, Color Club Almost Famous and Vintage Couture and Kleencolor Laven-baby. Two coats each, added french nail strips along the white part of the nails and did 1 coat of the accent color.

Finished with a coat of Seche QD. Cool bananas!

Review & Rant: Lynnderella One Nutty Fruitcake

2012-02-07T09:09:00.000+11:00

I'm a little 'over' Lynnderella polishes. Hear me out.

1. They are way too hard to purchase.

WAY too hard.

I've been trying for months and only managed to purchase 2 of them. Firstly, they weren't available for International sales. Then thanks to a third party they ARE made available but are put up for sale at random times, all of which are in the middle of the night Australian time, or they are put on a lottery system or competition where some get first pick and then sell out, or the shopping cart oversells and most orders are pulled......it's very frustrating.

2. The online fighting as a result of the above is also disheartening. Women are cracking it, beside themselves, saying nasty things to complete strangers and trolling the forum boards and Facebook pages. All this over a bottle of NAIL POLISH. Kids are starving, people are losing their houses, Countries are in chaotic turmoil and some people's blood are boiling over how they can't purchase a bottle of glitter.

As a result I am 'over' trying to purchase said bottle of glitter. And the third reason?
3. I really didn't think One Nutty Fruitcake cut the mustard.

This was 3 coats of One Nutty Fruitcake over Essence You belong to me. Now, after 3 coats of something I am expecting OPAQUENESS.....but this is barely one coats worth of glitter compared with other brands. After the 3rd coat, I even got the brush and fished out the large glitter and stuck them down individually. To me, this was not worth $15. After a coat of Glitter tamer and another coat of Seche QD, my nails looked and felt half an inch thick.

Did I get a bad bottle? Because people RAVE about these glitters.....am I missing something? Am I being overly harsh? I'm a little baffled......

And here is 2 coats of You Belong To Me on it's own. Gorgeous color and it applied wonderfully.

I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts on my Lynnderella rant. Are they too hard to purchase? Are they worth $14.95? Am I the only one disappointed with my purchase?

Blog Love

2012-02-06T07:00:00.000+11:00

I have quite a few blogs on my blogroll that I read as soon as they are updated. These below are blogs that I think that fab and need to get a whole lotta more loving, so please check them out!

Vintage Related

Misfits Vintage Sarah rocks. Full stop.

Butch Wax Vintage Her hair is amazing.

Miss Dollie DeVille This vintage gal is divine and wears the most amazing dresses.

Alice Jean's Kesenya has a gorgeous blog and is a beautiful lady.

Dashfield Vintage Now updated daily with vintage, clothes and life.

Beauty Is A Thing Of The Past This one hasn't been updated for awhile, but it has some great hair ideas and tutorials.

Bright Young Twins I don't care which one, but I want to look like one of these 2 girls!

Classic Retro Glamour Another sporadic blog updater, but her Youtube channel has the best Victory roll tutorials.

The Call of the Jitterbug Doll She is glorious and her hair is perfect.

Nails & Makeup

More Nail Polish If you aren't following Cathy, why not? She is the comparison Queen extroadinare! And she's saved me a stash of money!

Steffels Stef has the most pefect nails. Ever.

Silhouette Screams Makeup extroadinaire and she has the fish lip look perfected.

Pretty-Random Kaz has the biggest nail polish collection on the PLANET. Seriously. And she's awesome.

LipsTitsTeethHips Isn't Aoife gorgeous?

Nailside Scotch tape wonder and her nail art kicks butt.

NailXchange Great, clear and BIG photos of beautiful nails.

Pimp My Nailz If the blog name alone doesn't make you want to read her blog, maybe the groovy nail art will.

Shatter Me Claire always has yummy colors!

Thru The Wormhole Fantastic freehand nail art.

Misc

Bead-licious Why yes, I DO have another blog.....please click and follow!

Star Rise Roulette Like cute, kawaii stuff? This girls finds the best!

Did you find some new good ones?
Please let me know if this is a feature you would like to see regularly. I know I always love finding new blogs to read.

A Few Vintage Looks

2012-02-05T08:00:00.000+11:00

This one is in here mainly because my shoes are so freakin FABULOUS!

Nope, not wearing a bullet bra in this photo....obviously.

Dress: Folter
Shoes: Miss L Fire
Hair flower: Uncle Fezter
Cardi: Retail

50s Dress: Bell's Belles Vintage
Shoes: Mollini
Hair cherries: Dynamite-Darlin, eBay

Another variation of my new Happy Valley Bernie Dexter dress. And with my cute 50's floral headband hat below.

And gorgeous 'Cinderella' vintage lucite shoes. Yummy.

Dress: Bernie Dexter
50's hat: Etsy
Lucite Shoes: Etsy
Earrings: Hong Kong
Miss 3's dress: Oilily

Nails Inc Bond St THANX TO THE AWESOME KAZ!

2012-02-04T08:00:00.001+11:00

So when Kaz emailed me the other week and said she had a present for me, I could hardly contain myself. I knew it was going to be GOOD.

And this was totally me when I opened it and saw it was an awesome rhinestone encrusted Nails Inc!

Squeeeeeeee! And it's RED!

This was 2 coats of Bond St, the most flashiest red you will ever paint on your nails. It's this blingy, seriously.

Thanks so much once again Kaz! You KNOW you rock. Can't wait for your new line of makeup to be released.....you clever little chicken you.

Cherry Blossoms!

2012-02-03T04:00:00.000+11:00

And yet another Bernie Dexter dress I can finally pull out of the closet and wear, thanks to some warm weather!

I also had my blonde streak removed this week, my hair cut a lot shorter with a lot of layering done in a near 'Middy' retro style.

(I wasn't angry, just sun squinting)

I'm just a Bernie ho'.

Dress: Bernie Dexter
Shoes: Miss L Fire
Hair Flower: Uncle Fezter (more on these later)
Bracelet: Me
Petticoat: eBay, Hong Kong

Illamasqua Snap

2012-02-02T13:48:00.000+11:00

I am quite taken with this combo, it looks rather groovy in real life!

This is 2 coats of Illamasqua Snap, a dark metallic grey. For some reason, I keep buying grey polishes even tho I know the color looks horrid on me. So I added China Glaze Millenium for the stamping and it turned it rather robotic space-y looking. Luv.

And here is Snap on it's own. Is it a color you like?

A-england Tristam & Australia Speck-tacular

2012-02-01T05:00:00.002+11:00

This was 2 coats of a-england's Tristam. Yeah, it's nice and all that jazz....but shall I say, a little boring???

A coat of Australis Speck-tacular jazzed it up a little more. Specktacular is a multi-colored flakie extravaganza, along the same lines as Picture Polish Festival, Cult Nails Clairvoyant, Finger Paints, etc etc. The best part about this one is that it's only $8.95. Bad part is, it's a little thin on the flakies with one coat. You are going to need two coats for a flakie-gasm.

Our Week In Retro Cam

2012-01-31T03:52:00.002+11:00

And can anyone guess where we went below? :

A Big Fat Gold Fail

2012-01-30T06:00:00.002+11:00

Ideas in your brain don't always turn out as planned.

I had a Lady Gaga jagged black design idea going on with super blingy gold in my brain and it looked FAB! But it looked truly gross on the nails.

This was 3 coats of Essence Make it Golden. Blechhhh. I should have done a gold base coat, but after 2 coats in on each nail...I just couldn't be bothered starting over.

Then I painted some truly horrid black jagged lines and filled them in. Finished with a coat of Seche QD.......Then quickly took it all off again!!

Essence Time For Romance

2012-01-29T07:26:00.003+11:00

Aussie ladies, Target has replenished their Essence stands....run!

This is 2 coats of Time for Romance, a dark dusky rose base packed full of different sized and shaped rose pink glitter. Finished with a coat of Seche QD. Above photo was taken in full sunlight. Below photo was taken in the shade.

Blog Sale Updated

2012-01-28T17:24:00.000+11:00

I have added a heap of new polishes to my Blog Sale page and reduced what was already on there. Please help me make some room in my drawers!!

Coastal Scents Cosmic

2012-01-28T04:49:00.000+11:00

This was a weird one. A black base but a watery one and required 3 coats to become opaque. The bottle shows rainbow flakies, but on the nail they come out as mainly green with a yellow tinge. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get any orange to peek out.

Still, an interesting color. I think I'll keep it but will be putting a second bottle into the Blog sale section!

It's A Greeny Kind Of Day

2012-01-27T06:00:00.000+11:00

Butter London British Racing Green. 2 coats.

Kleencolor Metallic Green. 2 coats.

China Glaze Emerald Sparkle, in sunlight and shade. 2 coats.

Nfu-Oh 56, one coat, over Emerald Sparkle.

The Forest Fairy, a franken by the awesome Steffels.

Besame Red Hot Red Lipstick & Powder Compact

2012-01-26T04:00:00.000+11:00

Because I was quite taken with my Cream Rouge from Besame, I decided to try a couple more with a Unique Vintage order when they had 20% off.

It is quite small in size, measuring 45mm in diameter. This is perfect for me as I intend on using this as my handbag compact. Refills can also be purchased seperately.

The included velvet pouch means it won't be rattling around inside my precious vintage lucite purses. Ingenious.

The lipstick I agonisingly settled on after much online swatching comparison was Red Hot Red. Gabrielle from Besame says this is the color Marilyn Monroe wore. As with the compact, it comes packaged in a gorgeous gold metal tube with velvet pouch. Again, perfect for transporting in purses!

The sharp flattened sides on this lipstick was a little tricky for me to use at first, as I am used to the typical one flat side only. The sharp sides does mean that you can swipe right up to the corners of your mouth, if you are so inclined. Myself, I use a lipliner only in the corners of my mouth to avoid smears.

It's a bright, creamy Red. See my previous Red Lipstick Comparison post for swatch photos.

Here I am with my 'Light' powder on and my 'Red Hot Red' lips!

And this one is here because the husband is insisting on it. He said if he is going to take 15 minutes taking 100 photos, then his favourite has to be included.

Eyes: Amuse liquid eyeliner
Cheeks: Illamasqua cream blush in Brazen
Eyeshadow: Inglot
Face: Besame Light powder
Lips: Besame Red Hot Red
Nails: Essence Time For Romance

Anybody else tried any Besame lines?

Vintage Red Lipstick Comparison

2012-01-24T03:15:00.000+11:00

The most asked question I get is "What color lipstick are you wearing?"
I do have a nice selection of Red lippies as I wear a red shade everyday. I have swatched the 10 I own for you today and will also give their pros and cons.

For me, A typical red lipstick for vintage purposes must be bright in color and matte in texture. Most of these colors are matte and suit my very fair blue toned skin color. My raves and rants are based on *my* opinion only so what I dislike may not be the general consesus for everyone.

(Please click for huge photos)

Photo taken in natural light.
From Left to Right:
Revlon Cherries In The Snow, Illamasqua Encounter, MAC Pro Longwear Lipcreme, Jordana Scarlett Red, MAC Ruby Woo, Besame Red Hot Red, MAC Kanga Rouge, Sleek Stiletto, Evil Shades Devilista and MAC Russian Red.

(Click for huge pics)

Revlon Cherries, Illamasqua Encounter, MAC Pro Longwear Lipcreme, Jordana Scarlett Red and MAC Ruby Woo.

First up, Revlon Cherries in the Snow. This is a creme and is a Raspberry Pink rather than a red. It's not the best on me and I have only used it once. It is popular in vintage circles so have included it for color comparisons. It is nice and creamy, but also quite shiny. $8 US, $18 AUD.

Illamasqua Encounter is a rich brick Red and a matte. It's very opaque and needs only one swipe. In comparison, it's the closest to Ruby Woo. 15.50 GBP but currently on sale for 7.50 GBP.

MAC Pro is a bright red and a long wearing creme. If you want a creme version of Ruby Woo, then consider this one. It does last all day which is great, BUT it is certainly shiny and for this reason I don't reach for it often. $20 US, $39 AUD.

Jordana Scarlett Red is the one I use every day when I'm staying home. It lasts and has the color vibrancy of a MAC lippie. The con is that it needs several layers before it reaches said color vibrancy. The best part? It costs $1.99 US!

MAC Ruby Woo. This is MY color. This shade of Red looks the prettiest on me and it's my most used lipstick. The first con is that it is very drying, so be sure to do a dab of lipbalm underneath. The second con is that because it is a dry lipstick, it does 'ball' on the lips and will need to be retouched up with a fresh layer even tho the color hasn't shifted much on the lips. I quite happily put up with these little nigglies. RRP $20 US, $39 AUD.

(Click for huge pics)

Besame Red Hot Red, MAC Kanga Rouge, Sleek Stiletto, Evil Shades Devilista and MAC Russian Red

Besame Red Hot Red. Comes beautifully packed in a gold engraved bullet tube and velvet pouch, so you will quite happily touch up your lips all day in public. This is a very smooth, creme formula and applies in one coat. Advertised as the color Marilyn Monroe wore. Con: a teeny tiny bit shiny for me and it would have been perfect if more matte in finish. $22 US.

MAC Kanga Rouge. Dame Edna has great taste in lippie! Kanga-Rouge is a fiery bright red, wonderfully creamy and applies in one quick coat. Matches MAC Cherry lipliner perfectly. This is a cream and I reach for this one when in a 'shiny mood'. Con: it's been discontinued but an still be found on eBay sometimes. I paid $14 US.

Sleek Stiletto. I love Sleek products as the pigmentation in everything is of a very high quality for very small dollars. Stiletto is a warm brick red and a matte. The closest in color to this is MAC Russian Red. This color lasts all day on my lips and if I didn't already have 2 backups of Russian Red, this would probably take it's place. Cons: It does require a couple of coats to become rich in color. $6 US.

Evil Shades Devilista. This is the creamiest and most pigmented of all my red lipsticks....insanely so. You need a very light one coat for it to become a very dark Brick red matte. Because it is the darkest red I own, I reserve this for night time use. Con: Discontinued.

And lastly, the famed MAC Russian Red. It does deserve it's fame as it really is a gorgeous lipstick. The texture is perfect, it doesn't dry or ball on the lips and lasts literally all day. It also suits both blue and yellow skin tones. When asked which red lipstick I recommend, I always say Russian Red. I also get stopped the most when wearing this by ladies asking what color it is. Matches MAC Brick lipliner. $19 US, $39 AU.

I hope this was of some use to those in search of the 'perfect' Vintage Red. My search for red lippie is very far from over, I do have several Illamsquas I would love to try and Besame has a couple more I have added to my list. There are also small branded Companies like Rockalily that apparently have gorgeous reds. Anyone got any more suggestions for me?

I would love to know what Reds you guys wear and what YOUR perfect shade of Red is.

Just Kill Me Now.....Hot Rod Shoes!

2012-01-23T06:00:00.002+11:00

From Prada's 2012 Sping/Summer collection come these ridiculously awesome shoes.

So...would I have to sell just one of my children or both of them to afford one of each pair, do you think?

The Black Knight & Tart With A Heart

2012-01-22T04:00:00.000+11:00

Major Lemming fulfilled! In Australia, Butter London sells for $22. So needless to say I've never puchased their brand even tho I have a few lemmings. Recently, Ozsale had a sale on them and they were all reduced to $13.95. This made a still bitter pill a *little* easier to swallow so I got some!

This is 2 coats of The Black Knight. It is much nicer IRL than my photos show. I was layering this so these pics are shown with no top coat. It becomes a glossy, smooth finish afterwards.

Then a coat of Tart with A Heart. It becomes a glittery mash of wonderfulness.
Thanks to Scrangie for bringing this color combo to my attention!

Vintage Musings Of A Modern Pinup

Layla Holographic Flash Black

Recent Vintage Bargains

Lynnderella Ruby Red Ruby

Essence Where Is The Party?

The Australian Gumleaf Mafia's Very Own Website!

Orly Artifical Sweetener

Uncle Fezter Hair Flowers

Rainbow Nails,Take 2

Review & Rant: Lynnderella One Nutty Fruitcake

Blog Love

A Few Vintage Looks

Nails Inc Bond St *THANX TO THE AWESOME KAZ!*

Cherry Blossoms!

Illamasqua Snap

A-england Tristam & Australia Speck-tacular

Our Week In Retro Cam

A Big Fat Gold Fail

Essence Time For Romance

Blog Sale Updated

Coastal Scents Cosmic

It's A Greeny Kind Of Day

Besame Red Hot Red Lipstick & Powder Compact

Vintage Red Lipstick Comparison

Just Kill Me Now.....Hot Rod Shoes!

The Black Knight & Tart With A Heart

Nails Inc Bond St THANX TO THE AWESOME KAZ!