Monday, August 10, 2009

48: Sydney International Spa & Beauty Expo and NOTD

Hi Everyone!

I'm super happy to be updating right now. Some of you might know that I've been totally hyped up since Thursday about going to the Expo. Well Sunday arrived and I dashed to Darling Harbour (where the Expo took place). Gosh I was so surprised to see everybody there! This was my first time at an Expo or Convention so I really didn't know what to expect. There was everything from makeup to organic skincare and of course nail essentials..




Essie



OPI



This is Yuka! She works at LE M Nail Boutique (where I'm currently taking nail classes) and she entered a competition at the Expo. She ended up taking home a trophy for 3rd place in french nail and clear nail sculpting. She's such a talented and funny girl I love her!

I managed to squeeze my way through the mob of nail fanatics and picked up some goodies! Some of the more recognizable brands were OPI, Essie, CND, Zoya, Young Nails, Nfu.Oh and Japanese brand Eternal and PA (which are well known for nail art).. I bought mostly nail polishes although I did treat myself to a CND sculptor brush! There was a promotion going on (buy any brush and recieve an aluminium brush case for free!) so I couldn't pass it up :p Also I tried out Zoya's Remove + and ended up buying the regular size which is 240ml and an extra 960ml refill :D It was 50% off so I had to jump at the offer..




My student badge and Expo pass :)



My haul! Yayyy.



China Glaze @ $6 each



OPI @ $10 each. They had a promotion offer which was buy 12 get 1 free. So of course I had to buy 12 because I'm a sucker for 'free' things :)



Essie neon @ $10 each
Discontinued colour @ $5
Matte About You Top Coat @ $11



CND Aluminium Brush Case @ FREE!
Sensations Hand Wash @ $10



CND Crystal Touch Sculptor #6 @ $64 :(((



CND @ $5 each :)))



Zoya Twist Collection @ $42 (works out to be $7 a bottle)



Zoya Remove + @ $13-$14 (I can't remember the exact price)



Zoya Remove + @ $32-$33 (I can't remember the exact price for this either)


Nail Art Star @ $14


Nail Art Heart @ $14


Empty Stackable Containers @ $5 each


Just so you know this Expo was very exclusive and I wasn't allowed to enter until they checked my details on their system and confirmed that I was a student. I could understand why because these are all very serious distributors looking for placement and they most likely didn't want someone like me wasting their time only buying $100 worth each time so I'm very thankful I got the chance to experience something like this! I wanted to buy some acrylic powders but I want to finish what I already have before moving on to something else. This Expo was for me to pick up goodies and complete my collections not necessarily to see the new products out there. Although I did learn about CND's newest Citrus Spa. NOTE* I believe all the products listed at the Sydney International Spa & Beauty Expo was at least 40-50% off the suggested retail price. NOTE** One of the downpoints about living in Australia is that we're very behind on releases. VERY! I asked about OPI's Banana Bandana and Gale (a rep from OPI) told me that I would have to wait a few more months.


This NOTD is 3 coats of Zoya's Barbie. It has a great finish but I found the polish itself to be a bit thick.

PS. My boyfriend and I passed our Australian Citizenship Test today! To celebrate here's a picture I took while I was my nail class. HELLO KITTY NAIL POLISH! :D


PPS. I recieved my package from BF-Beauty a while ago but I haven't had time to play with it yet. I'll try to get pictures up as soon as I can.

xx
Joyce

11 comments:

  1. 0o0o0o wow joyce you scored some greattt things.looks like u had fun!Congratz on ur citizenship w0ot w0ot

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  2. OMG.

    The end.

    Lol ok jk but really I'm so speechless jealous! Amazing haul, that looked super fun! And just when I thought your post was over, HK nail polish?!?!

    Grats on y our bf passing his test. when my japanese passport expires in 9 years I might get naturalized myself, that feels like a lifetime away tho!

    I can't wait to see you wear your new np!

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  3. That looks like it was so much fun! I would love to go to one of those expos!

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  4. Oh Joyce that looks like heaven ! LOL

    It sounds (and looks) like you had such a great time and what an awesome haul !!!

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  5. Hi Skye!

    Thank you I'm now a proud Australian :D
    I'm so excited about my haul. I can't wait to swatch everything xx

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  6. Kae Kae!

    HAHAHA your comment made me laugh! I can't wait to swatch my new polishes. I knoooow I was so surprised when I saw the HK nail polishes! My teacher told me she has a lot of Japanese students so they bought those for her. She doesn't want to use them because it's so pretty :D

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  7. Hi Brooke!

    You should keep an eye out for any expos near your place. I think the States have the BEST expos ever! All products are launched first in the US I'm so jealous :p Also I think there are many expos that welcome visitors so you can get to go and experience it. I had a lot of fun!

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  8. Hi Tuli!

    You're absolutely right I felt like I was at Disneyland! All those nail polishes and colours gosh I was so happy. I spent around 3-4 hours there circling the place over and over again just to make sure I didn't miss anything lol! I'll try to swatch everything soon so you can see the colours xx

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  9. Hi Joyce:)
    Your huge haul made me jealous, i wish i can get that much nail stuff in a time and play on them non stop. >v<
    Hope to see you wearing them soon! ^^

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  10. Hi Rachel!

    Honestly I am very happy with my huge haul but I don't think I'll have the time to swatch them all on my fingers :( Instead I've been swatching them on nail displays so hopefully I can take pictures of that soon to show you!
    PS. I love your nail blog! I found it through Kae's blog a while back :)

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  11. Congrats on passing your citzenship test. What fun the Expo must have been. You bought some amazing nail polishes. I hope free samples were given out at the Expo. Those Hello Kitty polishes are so adorable. I don't think I would use them either.

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