taryn k.

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My name is Taryn. I'm in my twenties. I come from the land down under. I'm married. I work full time. I like pretty things. My favourite food is watermelon. I hate dancing. I like to talk. I tend to contradict myself. I hate snails. I like you for reading my blog.

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21 January 2012, 11:12 AM

Bit of nail chat, bit of interior chat

Trying the capture the sparkli-ness of Chi Chi's Disco Diva, but to no avail. Probably would help to use a real camera and not just my iPhone. You'll just have to trust me that this is the sparkliest mother I have ever seen.

It's a sparkle polish in a clear base with so awesome multicoloured glitter going on. It's also quite opaque - I did two coats to get a chock-a-block full of glitter nail. Worn as an accent over OPI's Skull and Glossbones, which is one of my absolute favourites, definitely the best from the Pirates of the Caribbean collection. I love the way it can look quite different depending on the lighting - indoors it looks a light grey, outdoors it takes on more of a beige-y tone. <3

The plan was to head out to ikea today to pick up some new organisational/storage furniture for around the house, but I've turned into a bit of a lazy bones so I don't think it's going to happen. I want to get these few bits -

Bedside table will be used as a telephone station - at the moment we've got everything piled haphazardly on our kitchen ledge and it just doesn't look pretty. Trolley will go in the main bathroom as extra storage - at the moment the cupboards are filled with out beach towels, but since that will be the baby's bathroom, we're gonna be needing some more space in there. I wish ikea would sort out their online ordering/delivery policy so you could sort it all out online rather than order it, have them ring you with a quote, pay over the phone, then get your goods. Surely if other online stores can do it, so should ikea. Wah wah.

Labels: Baby K, Blah blah blah, Chi Chi, Interiors, Nail Polish, OPI

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07 July 2011, 7:52 PM

The On-Holidays Haul

Weee, I'm on holidays again! Yesterday was my obligatory first-day-of-holidays flop around lazy day, and today was my obligatory holiday shopping day. I didn't really get too much today, but this is what I've picked up over the past few weeks.

Cosmetics first.

Bloom lipgloss in Gypsy, Loreal Telescopic in Carbon Black, Loreal Super Line felt tip liquid liner in Silver Black, Bloom concealer, Batiste Dry Shampoo in Diva, Bloom Thirst Quencher Vitamin E Body Cream, Chi Chi polish in Disco Diva, Manicare Glam Nails top coat in Ice Ice Baby, Bourjois bronzer, Red Earth blush in Cherry Blossom.

I've had the bronzer for a couple of weeks - everyone was raving about it, and my old one had just run out so it seemed like a good idea at the time. I'll admit, it is a nice colour and the scent is delicious, but I'm pretty sure it has been making me break out. I'm assuming it's the scent. Sadface.

The nail polish is gorgeous - I'll have to do a swatch soon to show you, I can't explain it. I wore it to my sisters Winter Wonderland themed birthday party and it was perfect. Looked like ice.

I haven't really had a chance to try out much of anything else, but I'll let you know as we go along. I'm looking forward to the blush :)

I've been obsessed with sideways crosses for a little while now and had been looking for a double ring with the design in gold. Found this is Sportsgirl today, and decided to grab a matching bracelet too :)

I love this shirt - I've recently realised I'm quite partial to white button down shirt. This one is by Bardot, is sheer, with cuffed sleeves and slightly military. What's not to love?

And finally, a pretty pink t-shirt. I can't believe that I'm such a girly-girl, but I don't - and I don't think I have ever - own a pink t-shirt. I love this one from Sportsgirl, mostly because of the little knot. Now I can't wait for summer to come back around so I can wear it with denim cut offs!

Labels: Bardot, Bloom, Chi Chi, Fashion, Hauls, Jewellery, Loreal, Nail Polish, Red Earth Bourjois, Sportsgirl

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16 January 2011, 11:13 AM

The Nail Files #2

Woohoo, here I go following through on my Nail Files idea.

This week I wore a couple of the polishes from Sportsgirl. I think these are both from last years collections, but I'm pretty sure most stores still stock them. I don't mind the consistency of the formula, but I HATE the bottle and and the brush. I find the wand too long and hard to control and work with. Brush size is great (I don't like the large OPI brushes, they're too thick for my nails), quite cheap at around AU$7.00 (bearing in mind OPI and Essie are around AU$20.00 in Australia) and the polish lasted until I was ready to remove it, so there are pros and cons. I have a few other Sportsgirl colours, but these are my favourite two.

First is Concrete. In the bottle is looks a nice charcoal grey, but on the nail it has a deep blue to it, like asphalt, which I like but always surprises me (because I forget about it every time). I love that it is opaque in one coat, unlike other dark colours I have (*cough* You Don't Know Jacques *cough*).

Next is Milkshake, which I am still wearing now. I love this colour - very sophisticated in my opinion. Like the name suggests, a nice chocolate milkshake colour - I even tested this against the REAL chocolate milkshake my friend ordered when we went to dinner last night. Again. nice and opaque in one coat - just how I like it.

And lastly, I wore Essie's Merino Cool for the first part of the week. I had forgotten how much I love this polish. I was flicking through some oldish photos on facebook, saw this on my nails and went "OH, that's right! I love that colour!" and promptly reapplied. It's coming out a little more grey in the photo, there is slightly more of a purple undertone to it than you can see.

So, that's my polishes for this week. Nothing brand new or fancy, but great colours nonetheless. I'm on holidays again this week, so I might be posting a little more often that usual, fingers crossed. My mum is coming during the week to help me paint the living area of our house, so I'll probably be overdosing on Scandinavian interior blogs and sharing my favourite inspirations.

Hope you have a great Sunday! Talk to you soon :)

Labels: Chi Chi, Essie, Nail Polish, Sportsgirl

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08 January 2011, 5:21 PM

The Nail Files

Hehe, do you see what I did there?

I've decided I should be doing a regular Nail Polish post, since they are so easy to do and I tend to change my polish two or three times a week. These posts are going to be called "The Nail Files". I still haven't quite gotten the hang of this swatch photography, but hopefully I'll get lighting sorted soon so I can show you some more high quality photos.

So this is Chi Chi's "High Heeled Housewife". This is one of the first nail colours I bought when I started trying to grow my nails late 2009 and I wore it to death back then. I gave it a rest for most of 2010, since I was really building my collection and had so many others I wanted to try. But I've brought it out of retirement this week and I remembering just how much I love it. It amuses me, because it is pretty much the same colour as my cat Rosie.

So without further ado...High Heeled Housewife.

As a comparison, I've included Sportsgirl "Milkshake" and OPI "You Don't Know Jacques" although these polishes are a little more brown than High Heeled Housewife.

I'll probably post again tomorrow - the weekend always brings it out in me :)

For now I'm going to go enjoy a Chinese food and DVD night with my lovely husband :) Happy Saturday!

Labels: Chi Chi, Nail Polish

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25 September 2010, 5:03 PM

Pink Polish Makes Me Happy

...as does black, brown, red, purple, teal, grey, glittery...

The last couple of days I've been wearing Essie's "Splash Of Grenadine" from their Resort Collection and my last haul.

Photo proof -

You will notice some chippage on my thumb *sad face*
I was so, so, SO excited when I ordered this polish. I'd seen a lot of blogs/videos featuring this colour and it seemed to be the perfect summery Barbie doll pink to end my search. It arrived looking gorgeous in the bottle. I applied it. Meh.

This is my second Essie polish to not live up to my expectations. Two out of two. That's bad.

Don't get me wrong, it's not that it's a bad colour, it's just that it's nothing special, doesn't translate well out of the bottle. Plus it chips.

I have a nice little comparison for you. Chi Chi's "On The Prowl" and "Label Queen".

I think "On The Prowl" is a damn good dupe - just slightly less lilac. "Label Queen'" is one of my favourite polishes from Chi Chi, and I just feel like it has a similar depth to it.

Again, sorry for the blurriness, but the colours are accurate. L -R: On The Prowl, A Splash Of Grenadine, Label Queen.

Okay, so I do like "A Splash Or Grenadine". I just wish I wasn't expecting so much of it. I gotta stop doing that.

Labels: Chi Chi, Essie, Nail Polish

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12 September 2010, 11:59 AM

Nail Polish Haul

Oh, Ebay. How I love thee.

I've only recently jumped on the nail polish band wagon. I've been a nail/cuticle biter all my life. That's about a twenty year habit right there. Somewhere late last year, however, I decided that enough is enough, I'm gonna stop biting my nails. It's been tough. I find that whenever I'm deeply absorbed in a novel my nails will magically just end up in my teeth. Grr. Actually, scratch that - nail biting has pretty much ceased. It's the cuticles that are the problem.

So I started painting my nails pretty colours to try and deter myself. No one likes to look a cheap, nasty looking chipped nail polish right? And once my nails started growing a little, I decided I quite liked the shape of them, so I'm encouraged to keep going. I like to keep them fairly short and square, mind you, but at least now they're more than a centimetre long.

I've built up quite a collection in the last few months - mostly Chi Chi and Sportsgirl polishes, since those are the most readily available to me and are reasonably priced. But I've recently discovered the Ebay Nail Polish Holy Grail Store. They ship from the US, so the shipping is pricier, but at about US$4.50 a pop for OPI, Essie, China Glaze and many more, as long as you order a few, it all works out nicely in the end. My order came in the mail within two weeks as well - I think it was ten days, but don't quote me.

Seller is Beautyzone2007, store is Top Nail Store. They have quite a range of colour and lots of accessories/nail tools to browse and purchase. They also have sales regularly so you can really grab a bargain.

So what did I get?

L-R: Lincoln Park After Dark (OPI), You Don't Know Jacques (OPI), Vodka And Caviar (OPI), Baguette Me Not (OPI), Dulce De Leche (OPI), Jade Is The New Black (OP), Tart Deco (Essi), Splash Of Grenadine (Essie)

A couple of these colours are going to be Christmas presents, but I will be keeping Lincoln Park, Jacques, Tart Deco and Grenadine. I'm wearing You Don't Know Jacques today and I am quite enjoying it. Honestly, the formula consistency isn't what I was expecting. It was a lot sheerer than I thought, so I used three coats to make sure it was completely opaque.

Sorry for the blurriness, but the colour is fairly accurate. I have Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat on as well.

As a comparison, I have Milkshake from Sportsgirl and High Heeled Housewife from Chi Chi. Milkshake tends to dry almost identical to You Don't Know Jacques although it doesn't look it in the photo.

I'll do some more comparisons and reviews on the other colours another day. Enjoy what's left of the weekend!

Labels: Chi Chi, Ebay, Essie, Hauls, Nail Polish, OPI, Sportsgirl