Tag: beauty

Posted in Beauty Sparks, Fashion Sparks

New Year’s Resolution #7 – the one about nail polish

Posted on by Cate

I’m not really a big fan of serious new year’s resolutions. I have a few things that I tried last year that met with mixed success (see more movies, read more books, run more, lose weight, say yes to more things – in a good way – and so on). Then again, I look back on 2012 as a great year for me, as things came up along the way that I turned into on-the-spot resolutions and saw those through. If I was wedded to my 2012 resolutions, I would have felt like a failure because my September injury meant a fast and dramatic end to my running program; I would have forced myself to see movies that I didn’t like to fill the monthly quota I had set; I would have said no to doing things so that I could finish the books on my bedside table. Granted, that growing pile of books is now threatening to topple on my head in the dead of night, so reading more books is something I’m keen to do in 2013 – if only for survival.

My resolutions have tended to form more of a to-do list for the year ahead, which I don’t think is best practice resolution setting, but it seems to work for me (mostly). I try to make some small, everyday kinda commitments or goals and some bigger (or longer term) resolutions too. And like any good to-do list, the more I put on, the better the chance of crossing something off. Surely.

Anyways, a resolution that I’ve decided to try this year is a very shallow and simple, yet specific, one: wear more nail polish. Because I’m worth it. Really though, I never paint my finger nails as I’ve never seen the point of it when they chip so quickly when you’re busy doing stuff, but this year I’m starting in style. With the yellow, pineapple scented (yes, really) Sportsgirl nail polish that I gave my nieces for Christmas. Sure, I keep thinking I’ve got stickers caught on my fingers or someone has attacked me with highlighters, but these colourful nails are everyday sparks if ever I’ve seen them…

NewYearNails

Posted in Beauty Sparks, Fashion Sparks

Nail it

Posted on by Cate

I’m not really a mani-pedi kinda gal. But sometimes I see people with perfectly groomed nails and I wish I could be so dedicated. And if I were so inclined, there are certainly many ways to bring some personality to the tips of your digits through polish or decals or, you know, metallic caviar beads.

Hail the Nails in the UK sells this bizarre look, which would appear equally at home sprinkled on top of cupcakes (though these ones aren’t edible). There are a few steps to the process – painting the nails, then coating the nails, then sprinkling on the beads. This ‘metallic caviar’ is interesting, but I think I’d prefer 100s and 1000s. Maybe there’s a market for a new look: Fairy Bread Fingers. Maybe…

Or perhaps this poodle decal is more your scene. The Fog Shoppe (and yes, I do always pronounce that “Shop-ee” in my head), feature a few different breeds, so you can wear your favourite. And in case you’re a fickle kinda person whose favourite breed changes regularly, I recommend a nail decal instead of a tattoo.

Then there are these fairly creepy black spider and spider web nails from Inspired Nails. I like to think that somewhere there’s a serious, conservative corporate type prepared to don these for a Board meeting, just to see the reaction. Or the coolest paediatrician in town could impress Spiderman fans with this set.

There’s also a huge collection of Hello Kitty nail decals, if they’re your thing. And lots of moustaches, which is a craze that I still don’t quite get. And chess pieces and sporting team logos and South Park characters and spots and stripes and checks. It’s like a whole other world of fashion out there – and they’re cheap and disposable, so you can change your mind daily.

You can check out Hail the Nails here, The Fog Shoppe here and Inspired Nails here. Or just google ‘nail decals’ and prepare to be amazed. And a little bit scared.

Posted in Beauty Sparks, Sparky gifts

What’s that smell?

Posted on by Cate

They say that our sense of smell is a powerful thing. That one whiff of something can take us back to a place in our memory – good or bad – and make us feel as though we are there again, living it. But if that’s all too deep and meaningful for you, then I’m sure you will at least agree that nice smells are good.

If you like nice smells, you’ll like this collection from the Long Winter Soap Co. Amanda sells her collection of lip balms and perfume oils on etsy. And they’re not your usual run-of-the-mill fragrances – I’d call these perfumes with personality. They’re a little bit different. Like Beach Day, which Amanda says is “a crazy delicious blend of sea breezes (the clean, blue-green kind, not the fishy kind) and sweet buttery coconut.”

And there’s Sunset. For Amanda, that “comes after a hot late summer day, and is accompanied by the cooling of baked earth, the frantic buzz of bees collecting newly released nectar before nightfall, the dampness of moisture settling on soil, and that cup of chai I instinctively reach for. In scent terms, a blend of hay, white musk, beeswax, patchouli, and spiced chai.” Is it just me, or are Amanda’s product descriptions like poetry?

But in case it is just me and you’re not into this at all – here’s what first caught my eye: Unicorn Farts lip gloss. Yes, that’s right – “smells just exactly like real imaginary unicorn farts! Which smell like spearmint and pink cotton candy, everybody knows that.”

One more for the road – just because it sounds too lovely to leave out: the Blue Skies hand and body cream. Blue skies? “The result is super fresh, like running under a clothesline on a sunny day.” Love your work, Amanda of Long Winter Farm!

For all these beauties and more, you can check out Amanda’s fabulous etsy shop here.

Posted in Fashion Sparks

Lashes of style

Posted on by Cate

Apparently, I’m lucky to have nice, long eyelashes. I guess it’s luckier than short, stumpy eyelashes, but I can’t be sure. Although I do know that a lot of women spend a lot of money on mascara that promises to fatten their eyelashes, give their eyelashes volume, or enable their eyelashes to sing and dance. I’ve never worn it as I worry that it looks like I have long legged spiders sitting on my eyes. But then I saw these – goodbye spiders, hello birds or scorpions or fish!

Yes, these are fake eyelashes. MADE OF PAPER. Apparently “inspired by the Chinese art of paper-cutting”, these Paperself eyelashes “blend an element of traditional culture with contemporary design”. And then add a whole heap of creepy. The lashes are reusable (you just re-glue them, as with any craft project) and are available in full-width or half-width, depending on just how scary you want to look.

So, if you’re inspired and want to jazz up your look for a special occasion – and I’m going out on a limb to say these beauties will work for both girls and boys – then consider whacking a paper insect, bird or undersea wonderland on to your eyes. Nothing says I’m serious about this promotion like a scorpion tail on the corner of your eyelid. Or stamp your authority – I’m here from the UN to sort out this crisis – with the deer and butterfly set. Or for someone in a serious profession (dentist, accountant, politician), there’s a clown set. And I know that I’d trust a scalpel-weilding surgeon much more if they were sporting these undersea lashes.

Something for pretty much everyone, then! You can snap ’em up at the Urbanities website here.