Monday 13 April 2015

My Elegant New Spectacles from Firmoo.com!!



Hi, Bonjour, Hola, Alo, Hallå, 안녕하세요 (annyeonghaseyo), 你好 (nin hao), こんにちは (Kon'nichiwa)!!!!


I am so excited to share this post with you. I have a new pair of spectacles!!!

I'm not sure if you know, I am (very) short sighted. I wear both glasses (my preference) and contact lenses (when I am filming youtube videos). As I have been on a strict budget recently, I have not been able to update my glasses for 2 years now. SOOO, I was so very delighted when Tina from Firmoo.com contacted me and asked me if I would like to work with them and review their glasses/spectacles and their service.

http://www.firmoo.com/

I took a look at their website first and I was SO impressed! The website is designed so well and is very user friendly and idiot-proof (hahah good for me!). 



This is the pair I chose!




Look at it!! It is so beautiful. I hope my photos do it justice!



I really love the fine craftsmanship. The fine detail of the cut-outs is what drew me to this pair of glasses. Green is also my favourite colour!



I love the classic shape of these glasses. I think they suit any face type. Also, I chose black as they go with everything and always look chic.


This is what drew me to this pair of glasses. Even though they look "plain" from the front, you see amazing graphic designs on the sides in green, silver and black. With the cut-outs, it is even more amazing.


Another unique feature of these glasses is that on the inside of the handles, the graphic design is silver and black. I think it makes a very nice touch. A certain je ne sais quoi. C'est Tres Chic! Magnifique!





Look how gorgeous the details are. I think this design is timeless.



Notice how there are little transparent holes at the end of the handles? I don't know why they are there, but I think they add something to the design!




When my glasses arrived, they came in this beautiful faux leather case! I love the vintage map style embossed on the case. 



And, I was pleasantly surprised by the high quality of the interior of the case. It was encased in very soft pink velvet.

Ordering is so simple and quick!

They have so many styles! 








If you are not sure whether the particular glasses will suit your face shape they have included helpful photos of various faces shapes AND skin tones to help you choose!



They also include helpful specifications of each pair of glasses, so you can use the measurements and compare them against a pair that you already have to get a better idea!





There are just so many styles to choose from, it was so hard for me to choose!




Once you have chosen your pair of glasses, it is then a few easy steps of entering your prescription and away you go!

I thought the three other pairs shown below were very pretty and cool too. :)

Look how lovely this one is. The handles have such an interesting design.

Ohh, I like these ones too! It is very flattering on girls with rounder faces like me! 

This was my second choice! I think it is sooo pretty!

Final Thoughts!

Shipping is affordable. It costs only US$12.95 for express shipping. I received my glasses within 5 days of ordering them. I was super impressed by how quickly they arrived. 

Overall, I thought the whole Firmoo.com shopping experience was very good. Being a very avid and experienced internet shopper, I can safely say this webstore is excellent. The design of the webstore is perfect, as it is user-friendly, easy to navigate and quick. The prices of the glasses available are also very reasonable. I thought mine were of a very high quality and for the price (US$53) I was most impressed. 


Special Offer for just for you!

So, Firmoo was kind enough to provide me with a link just for you so that you can get 50% off your first order!!! 50% off! I think that's a pretty sweet deal.

Here is the link! 50% off your first pair!


That's me, looking all happy with my new glasses! 

That's all folks! Hope you get a new pair of glasses too!

Au Revoir, A Bientot, Arrivederci, さようなら (Sayonara), 再见 (Zàijiàn), La Revedere, 안녕 (Annyeong), Adiós and Good Bye! See you all very very soon! xoxo



Tuesday 31 March 2015

A Review of Illamasqua Nail Polishes - Simply Divine and I want more, more, more, more, more....



Hello Friends! It's been a while since I've done a post and that's because I've been busy testing things out for reviews and taking photos!  

I'm a huge fan of Illamasqua's cosmetics and since slowly collecting their nail polishes, I gotta say, I love them!



Don't they look just DIVINE?


This gem is called "Bacterium". I know, YUCKS. What a name. The colour, though is very very pretty. 


Bacterium by Illamasqua

This shade is very opaque (the nail polishes vary in terms of opaqueness). One coat is enough, without a base coat. I typically use Seche Vite as my quick dry top coat and this shade lasts for about a week and a half, which is pretty good for me as I do a lot of craftwork and house work often without wearing gloves.
Bacterium by Illamasqua
Charisma by Illamasqua
Charisma by Illamasqua

Next up, we have this glorious multi-faceted red (a bordello red ;P). I think they named this perfectly. I wear this colour when I feel confident and when I want to feel like a WOMAN. This shade is not for the shy violets out there! 

Again, very opaque. You can get away without a base coat and use only one coat. The texture of this nail polish is very very smooth. It's not too dry nor too liquid-y. It feels like I'm spreading a very light gel on my nails when I apply this. 

Charisma by Illamasqua
Facet by Illamasqua

Facet by Illamasqua

Facet by Illmasqua

This is one of those almost indescribable colours. I will attempt to do my best (fingers crossed). The photos were all taken in natural daylight at various times of the day and you can see how the colour changes and reflects the light. 

Some times this comes across brownish gold. Some times it is purplish with tiny tiny gold flecks. 

I love colours like these. The effect is always subtle yet catches the eye. 

Whenever I wear this, I get compliments. Even the guy at the newspaper stand commented on it one time saying "hey, nice colour!".
Facet by Illamasqua

Hemlock by Illamasqua

Hemlock by Illamasqua
Hemlock Plant
Hemlock by Illamasqua

Hemlock by Illamasqua

Another complex and multi-faceted colour (I think I am just drawn to such colours as I have a fairly large collection of nail polishes). The Hemlock plant (see photo above) is a very poisonous plant, and yet is used for medicinal purposes (see this interesting tidbit from webmd). 

So I think, yet again, Illamasqua has ruled in naming this colour. It looks like a beige, almost egg shell like shade but it does have green and gold running through it, colours from the Hemlock plant itself. 

Very opaque polish. Lasts (with top coat) a good 10 - 12 days on hands accustomed to much work (like craftwork and housework).

Glitterati by Illamasqua

Glitterati by Illamasqua
Glitterati by Illamasqua

I had high hopes for this colour. It has that Burgundy wine red to it with very pretty glitter. Unfortunately, this was a flop for me. 

No matter how well I shook the bottle, or even if I used a very fine steel needle to mix the contents, I would not get a good mix of glitter and polish. If there was any glitter coming out, it would be covered by the polish and the brilliance of the glitter shown in the bottle was dulled by the polish as you can see in the photos.

A Total FLOP (so sorry).


Glitterati by Illamasqua

Viridian by Illamasqua

Viridian by Illamasqua
Viridian by Illamasqua


Viridian by Illamasqua

The word "Viridian" simply refers to a shade of green. Yes, this is a green colour but much, much, much more.  

It is jewel-like, more a deep sapphire bluish green than a pure dark green. I think that's why I like it so much.

Very opaque as well. Performs brilliantly, looks amazing on all skin tones. 

Long lasting with a top coat like Seche Vite. Expect to receive compliments. I wear mine for nights out in my little black dress.

Marquise by Illamasqua

Marquise by Illamasqau
Marquise by Illamasqua


I cannot think of a more humorous or fun job that one could possible have than to be the namer of makeup or nail polish shades. 

I did a quick google search for the meaning of "Marquise" and arrived at Urban Dictionary's very amusing definition: "handsome young man with a large _____ known to be a real funny character. Also great ______, very intelligent but also lazy" (I have censored the "X-Rated" definition for the sake of the under 18's that might stumble on this blog - see full definition by clicking  Urban Dictionary's Definition).   

As you can see from the photos, this colour is not joking around. It has very very fine particles of glitter in it, both gold and multi coloured ones and it is a real stunner. 

Amazingly, it is very very opaque. So opaque for a glitter polish that one coat is enough. When I saw this, I just thought in my head "FIRE IN A BOTTLE". I just had to grab it and luckily, like a lot of the nail polishes you see in this post, I got it on sale!!! 

Marquise by Illamasqau

Trilliant by Illamasqua

Trilliant by Illamasqua


Very nice. Very very nice. That's what i mumble to myself every single time, I pull this polish out. Very nice.

Another glitter polish, this one's glittery bits are a tad bit bigger than Marquise (see above). When I run my finger over my nails, even with my Seche Vite top coat on, I can feel that slight grittiness.

Other than that, this is a very lovely colour. A nice neutral glitter, that you can definitely get away with wearing to the Office (I've done so), because it's neutral and subtle. 

Again, a good performer. Very satisfied and happy with this one. I think it would also look very nice on a bride!


Trilliant by Illamasqua

Melange by Illamasqua

Melange by Illamasqua 

I like to save the best for last. Don't we all? I could do a whole blog post on Melange, and then some. What is there to say really? It is truly the perfect blend (that's one meaning of the word "Melange") of colour, texture, playfulness, music, art, style, design, poetry... ahh!! I can't describe it anymore.

I think this was a limited edition one. I'm pretty sure it is, but you can always hunt it down on Ebay or Amazon, or you could, like me, write to Illamasqua asking them to add this to their permanent line. 


It looks a lot like Oxidised Copper. That antique patina that I love to look at.




Melange by Illamasqua

Little quirks

Oddly, the tops of the bottles when close shut never align properly with the bottle. I've heard that this is something that has occurred in the production of the bottles since 2-3 years ago?

These are not your drugstore price polishes (though in Australia, they cost almost the same as a Revlon or Sally Hansen nail polish - ridiculous I know). So I do take extra care to make sure the bottles are tightly closed. 

And they end up looking like this (see photo below).

A very odd little quirk.

They look like their looking over their shoulder at their neighbour!


So dear friends I leave you now, with a photo of my top three from my little collection of nine. I can say I will be picking up more, for sure!

Trilliant; Melange & Facet


Au Revoir, A Bientot, Arrivederci, さようなら (Sayonara), 再见 (Zàijiàn), La Revedere, 안녕 (Annyeong), Adiós and Good Bye! See you all very very soon! xoxo