taryn k.

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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19 June 2011, 4:52 PM

The Nail Files #14

Hello my dears! I'm not feeling particularly well this wintery Sunday afternoon, so what else is there to do but blog? My latest nail polish haul from Beautyzone2007 came though about a week ago - I've had a chance to try most of them - and I'm excited to show you what I got. Plus, I have a rather amusing fail to share as well.

Skull and Glossbones, Mermaids' Tears, Steady As She Rose, Sparrow Me The Drama, Lubu Heels, Below Deck, Island Hopping.

All the OPI polishes are from the recent Pirates of The Carribean: On Stranger Tides collection, the others are from the last couple of years. I've worn all of them, besides Skull and Glossbones and Steady As She Rose.

I tried Steady As She Rose as soon as I got the package, but with my cuticles as bad as they are right now it looked terrible. So maybe one day down the track when I manage to stop attacking my poor, innocent cuticles I'll be happier with it.

I feel like Sparrow Me The Drama is a bit of a dupe for Essie's Splash Of Grenadine. I'll have to do an actual swatched comparison. I did enjoy that colour though and I got a few compliments. It chipped pretty quickly and was kind of sheer when first applied.

Lubu Heels is AMAZING. I absolutlely love it. It's a black polish with red glitter and it is gorgeous. From far away it looks like a brown shimmer, but when you get up close you can definately see the dimension and the glitter. Reminds me a lot of My Private Jet by OPI.

Below Deck is pretty much Merino Cool by Essie, so we already know I love that one. It was opaque in one coat so that was great. Chipped a little bit, but nothing drastic.

At the moment I'm wearing Mermaids' Tears.

I love it. I really love the minty green polish trend, but I haven't been able to find a shade that suits my skin tone (I've tried Re-Fresh Mint by China Glaze and Apple by Sportsgirl FYI). MT isn't as minty as the others I've tried, probably more of a spearamint-green-Tiffany's-blue, but I feel like it's within the same family. It actually looks a litt more blue in the photo than it does it real life though.

Now for my nail polish fail. So I bought Island Hopping by Essie. When I already have all of these.

I don't even know which is which, besides Merino Cool and Angora Cardi. I have a problem. *sigh*

Labels: China Glaze, Essie, Nail Polish, OPI, Sportsgirl

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24 April 2011, 10:34 AM

The Nail Files #12

It has come to my attention that I am actually crap at painting my nails, haha. My family and family friends went camping over the Easter weekend and we joined them on Good Friday. My friend Blaire and I were painting our nails (as you do when you're camping) and I noticed that her technique was far superior to mine. Ah well. Practice makes perfect ;)

I thought I'd show you my crackle polish win from a week or so ago. You will remember in my OOTN: Girls Night video I mentioned I'd do a blogpost on my nail look. So here it is. I used Essie's Lapis of Luxury and China Glaze's Broken Hearted, which I love as a combination. I couldn't stop staring at my hands for the three days I was wearing it, and whenever anyone asked about it, I got all geekily excited and started rambling on, far more than necessary.

You will notice no improvement in my cuticles. Sigh. It's going to be a long road.

Labels: China Glaze, Essie, Nail Polish

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16 April 2011, 11:52 PM

OOTN: Girls Night April '11

Hello lovelies! Happy Saturday to you all. I had a pretty low-key Saturday evening this week - I had a lovely dinner at a local resturant with four of my best girlfriends - we hadn't caught up in a while, so it was great to have a chat over cocktails and dinner. I tried to take photos to do an outfit of the day, but I can never get it right, so I just decided to film it instead. The lighting isn't the best, but if you like these style of posts, let me know and I'll sort out a better filming location.

Since going on my beauty and fashion shoppng ban I've been doing a lot of 'shopping my closet', hence most of these items being a little older. I have never worn this combo before though, so it felt like a whole new outfit.

Earrings: Diva
Shirt: Mooloolah
Pants: Valleygirl
Heels: Steve Madden
Ring: Diva (I figured it out!)
Bracelet: Portmans
Watch: Urban Outfitters - still available here
Nails: Essie Lapis of Luxury & China Glaze Broken Hearted (blog post coming soon - probably tomorrow morning)

Hope you're all enjoying you weekend :)

Labels: China Glaze, Essie, Fashion, OOTD, Sportsgirl

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14 March 2011, 7:22 PM

The Nail Files #7

I figure since I'm in the mood today, I might as well post my nail polish of the day. I've stuck with Essie and gone for Bootleg, which I picked up in my most recent haul from BeautyZone2007 (which was a while ago, mind you). I'm not usually a fan of fleshy/pastel pinks on my skintone, but this one is not so bad! I love the formula, it goes on really smoothly and evenly, and is quite opaque after the second coat. It looks quite shimmery in the bottle, but comes out creamy on the nails (which is great for me since I hate shimmer).

I declare this an Essie win.

Labels: Essie, Nail Polish

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13 March 2011, 11:56 AM

The Nail Files #6

Third post of the day - I'm on a roll!!

Nail polish this week is Essie's Lapis of Luxury, from their 2010 Resort Collection (actually it could be 2009). I freakin' love this colour, and I'm not usually a fan of blue polish. This is different - I suppose I would call it a periwinkle blue. The photos don't really capture the

purple-ish undertones as well as I hoped, but I'm sure there are other swatches on the net that use a far superior camera to mine.

Now - it may look like I've been biting my nails, but no. They broke off when I was moving filing cabinets around at work (we just had a refurbishment). They were so long, I was so proud! Ah well, start again.

Labels: Essie, Nail Polish

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26 February 2011, 4:33 PM

The Nail Files # 5

On Valentines Day I painted my nails red with my ring fingers white with a red heart. It was adorable. I left it on for days. And I neglected to photograph it. Fail.

This week I went for Essie. I love Essie. I don't know what it is that makes me love it so much. Maybe it's the fact that they have a lot of murky, in-between colours.

The first was "Angora Cardi". Now, to be honest, I am always so disappointed with the way this dries - in the bottle it looks also maroon, but it dries a plum colour. The plum colour itself isn't bad, but it's never what I'm expecting when I pull the bottle out of my nail polish box.

Please excuse the terrible application, it was really quite rushed and my nails had all recently broken off.

At the moment I'm wearing 'Soiree Mauvee" - I LOVE this colour. The funny thing is, it's almost identical to Angora Cardi, but it's so much better. It's a little bit more on the 'greige' side. In the bottle it actually looks a lot more of a rosy pink, but I much prefer the colour it dries to.

Yay for a nail polish win finally!

I'm going to a Rubik's Cube themed 21st birthday party tonight. In case you haven't heard, the idea of a Rubik's Cube party is to arrive in all the colours on a Rubik's Cube (white, blue, green, yellow, red and orange) then, during the night you swap clothes with other guests until you are dressed all in one colour. It should be a lot of fun. A lot of daggy fun, haha! I'll make sure I take a few photos to share, but for now, here's a preview of my stunning outfit for the night.

Labels: Essie, Nail Polish

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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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24 October 2010, 11:35 PM

October Hauling

So, what did I spend my hard earned dollars on this month? Surprisingly, not a lot, nothing in the way of clothing - not sure what's going on there, but my bank account balance sure is happy.

I had my first online shopping experience with Urban Outfitters this month - and I loved it. I'm going to do a series of posts dedicated to online shopping, but for now, I'll just say my experience was positive. I know we're headed into summer here in Australia, but these boots were only US$29.99. Come on, that's a steal! I've never really been a fan of any type of wedges before, let alone wedge booties, but I've recently been inspired by Dajana at leflassh.com. Girlie has some great shoes and a fun style. I especially love her leopard print booties.

I also purchased some photo frames for my home office and a tortoise-shell watch. The watch hasn't arrived yet (backordered, but should be here mid-November) and I haven't finished mounting the frames yet, so I won't include them in this post.

I got these Mooloola ballet flats as work shoes from City Beach. When I first started my job, I was incredibly enthusiastic and wore sky-scraper heels everyday. That was four years ago (to the day actually) and I have since realised that flats are definitely the way to go. What was I thinking? (actually , pretty sure it was something along the lines of "Yeah, check out my amazing 19 year old legs.")

My polishes of the month. L-R: Angora Cardi, Merino Cool, Sew Psyched, Lapis of Luxury and Pink Ribbon. Obviously all Essie and a Butter London. The BL was a freebie with the Harper's Bazaar that I got at the beginning of the month, but I haven't gotten around to wearing it yet. I love all four of the others, though. I've finally had good Essie experiences. I'll do some swatching in the coming month - I think my favourite must be Merino Cool.

So yeah, like I said, not a lot of purchases this month. I do have my eye on a few different pieces and products that I plan on getting in the coming weeks, so maybe next months haul will be slightly more interesting.

Labels: Essie, Hauls, 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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4:45 PM

AFL Grand Final Day = Perfect Day To Go Shopping

So, today was the AFL grand final. Collingwood vs St Kilda.

<sarcasm>

Woo hoo.

</sarcasm>

The great thing about grand final day is that the majority of the nation like to watch it. Come 11.30am, the shops are more or less deserted - which suits me perfectly.

So I took my little self out to my local Westfield for some browsing. I had to pick up a new bottle of foundation (Clinique Anti-Blemish in Fresh Neutral, if you're interested) since I am nearly out, but other than that I wasn't looking for anything in particular.

First thing I see when I walk in the door of Myer - ESSIE!

My Myer has never carried Essie before, so this was very, very exciting for me. The only polishes I ever purchase from Myer are Chi Chi and Bloom, for lack of choice. The range wasn't particularly large, I suppose since they're just starting with it, but still. The price tag was $18.95 - which feels like a joke after all my internet buys lately. It's probably going to be a case of me checking out the colours in store and then nipping home to place an order online at BeautyZone2007. I've actually got an order on the way, so I checked out a couple of the colours I remembered ordering and then went on my merry way.

I ended up getting a few bits and pieces - namely this adorable Ladakh dress;

I'm in love with this dress - I wasn't expecting it to be anything special when I picked it up, but it's incredibly flattering. I love the navy blue with taupe polka dots - not usually into polka dots, but I'm going to have to make an exception.

I also got...

I've purchased this Love ring from Sportsgirl about three times now - I love it but being that it is a cheapy, it fades to greeer wearing a few times. I need to find somewhere that makes it in solid gold. Any suggestions?

The chunky bracelet also came from Sportsgirl. I'm not a huge fan on the padlock, I'm think I'll remove it; but I've been looking for a chain this size for a while now. Claps!

The sideways cross came from Etsy seller Classic Designs (came in the mail yesterday) and is totally stolen from Lollipop26. Love Laura's blog, love her taste. I got the gold fill version of the cross, so hopefully it lasts a little while.

Lastly I picked up this cute little cropped cami top. I'll be wearing this with little denim shorts when summer really hits. Can't wait. Came from Temp for a steal at about $14.50.

All in all I'd say this was a successful shopping trip.

OMG I think Mr Whippy is driving past my house - I must run, icecream beckons!!

Labels: Essie, Fashion

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18 September 2010, 2:52 PM

Tart Deco

Mm, I don't know. Do I love this polish or not?

I've taken this week to go through the polishes from my last haul. I've loved You Don't Know Jacques and Lincoln Park After Dark, had a big disappointment with A Splash Of Grenadine, but am unsure about Tart Deco.

I must first of all point out, this polish chipped like a biatch. I applied on Monday afternoon, all was well. Woke up on Tuesday morning - massive chip on my middle finger. Sad face.

The polish was a little testing to apply. Usually I just slather on two fairly generous coats of colour and then a top coat. I think I did about four v e r y thin, streaky coats to get it to look this opaque and un-splodgy. The first time I tried, the colour just pooled around the nail bed - not a pretty look. I think the colour is quite nice, but is it really worth the effort and the time limit?

Perhaps I'll feel happier about this polish come actual summer.

Please ignore my cuticles in the photo - I am trying sooooooo hard to get better, but just can't seem to shake the habit.

Labels: 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