DIOR 2011 cannage collection

A few weeks back I got back from Bali and did a bit of a post on some bits and pieces I picked up from IMAT's and other places and mentioned my big Bali beauty splurge was the Dior Cannage collection palette for 2011.  I'd love to Link you to the Dior site with all the info on products and pricing etc, but I still haven't had  any luck finding the cannage collections on the Dior website.

I spotted this baby at the duty free in Sydney selling for $99 AUD and had every intention of scoring it at Sydney airport on the way back in, but flight delays at Dempasar airport in Bali left me with just enough time to check out Dior duty free in Bali, which was a great idea as it was retailing at around $75 Aud when the currency conversion was done, so I was super pleased I made the effort to look for it!

I bought last years edition duty free while on a Royal Caribbean ship and the review and swatches are here. 

As with last years edition this one comes in a quilted re-useable purse for when you finish the products, unfortunately this one doesn't have the silver Dior logo on the front and it is housed in a slightly plastic shiny black quilted bag ( definitely not as pretty as last years edition )  The palette itself holds 6 shadows sorted in 2 groups of  3 colours with the colours set out so as you have a base colour, lid colour, and dark shade which is handy and really takes the guesswork out of what colour to put where.  One set is pinks and purples and the other is basic nude and smoky theme.  It also contains a small square of powder which is set out in 3 strips with the top colour designed as illuminator, then a sculpting shade plus a shade to unify the 2. In this small size those strips are pretty much useless on their own, which is how you are supposed to use the full size version, but with the small one its easiest to just swirl the colours together and use them as one.  This is followed up with 4 lipgoss shades set in 2 groups of 2 shades, the first being a balm and a sheer gloss, and the other set having a lipstick and matching gloss, again taking all guesswork out of what to use where.   It also comes with the stock standard and pretty useless applicators and a mini Diorshow Extase mascara.  This palette also comes with a nice little leaflet explain what all the colours do and where to use them, very handy if you are a little unsure.

 1st set of shadows

2nd set

3 colour sculpting and illuminating powders

lipgosses

love the cute Dior logo in the gloss :)

L-R, balm, lipgloss, lipstick and lipgloss

As expected the colours are gorgeous, and superb quality .... typically Dior!

OPI - Best of the best christmas gift pack

I've been jumping  on the OPI bandwagon a bit lately, but as much as I love their polishes I hate the high price tag that us nail addicts in Aus pay for them, so when I saw the Best of the Best gift pack advertised in the David Jones catalogue I felt I just needed to grab it.

As far as I know "the best of the best " is a DJ's exclusive gift pack, it sells in store here for $39.95 and contains 10 mini OPI polishes, each polish is 3.75ml or 1/8 F/L Oz. 

The colours included in the set are -
Alpine Snow - sheer white
Bubble bath - very natural nude sheer pink
Tickle my  France-y -  sheer pale natural taupe
Strawberry Margarita - mid toned cool pink
Cajun shrimp - hot Coral red
big apple red - true vamp red
I'm not really a waitress - deeper shimmery blood red
You don't know Jacques - mid brown taupe
Russian navy  -  deep purple blue
Lincoln park after dark - deep plum purple

Alpine snow, Bubble bath, tickle my France-y, Strawberry margarita and Cajun shrimp

Big apple red, I'm not really a waitress, you don't know Jacques!, Russian navy and Lincoln park after dark

When I hotfooted it into DJ's to pick this pack up they had none in stock and the SA took my name on a list  to give me a call when it arrived, which took approx 2 weeks, but was worth the wait after all 10 OPI's for 40  bucks :) that's a winner and seeing as I have never finished a full polish it's even better!

I'm not sure just yet what my favourite will turn out to be but Cajun shrimp caught my eye straight away  and I'm now sport ting some Bright coral red toesies :)

Does anyone have a favourite out of those 10 colours and why?