Friday 30 September 2011

Maybelline Colorama Ruby Rays!!!

Oh my - this is just as awesome as I thought it would be!! Wow! I can't stop looking at my nails.

This is two coats of gorgeous Ruby Rays flakies over two coats of China Glaze Paint the Town Red. I'll let the photos do the talking . . .






Wednesday 28 September 2011

Uh-Oh Roll Down the Window - with stamping

Never one to leave well enough alone, I just had to see what I could stamp on to this polish. I didn't want to do a full nail stamp and detract from it's unique colour so just a small embellishment on the side . . .

Base colour: China Glaze Uh-oh Roll Down the Window
Nail plate: Bundle Monster BM11
Stamp colour: China Glaze 2030
Topped with Essie Good to Go





Tuesday 27 September 2011

Uh-Oh Roll Down the Window

This is OPI's infamous Uh-oh Roll Down the Window. I think the name is hilarious, but then I have two small boys constantly subjecting me to toilet humour! lol

Uh-Oh Roll Down the Window is a dirty olive green creme polish which is unique in itself. I don't have anything else in my collection even slightly similar, so for that reason alone I'm really happy with it. It does apply slightly darker than the bottle, and the bottle has lots of irregular dark swirls in it but that doesn't seem to affect the application.

I saw that most other posters found it easy to apply and had great coverage. I didn't find this to be the case and it took 3 thick coats to be opaque. That said, now that it's on and has a topcoat of Essie Good to Go it looks amazing. It's been a while since I've used an OPI polish and it's reminded me how much I like their brushes for application.

So here's the swatches . . .



Nina Ricci #30 - Coral beauty! - Part 2

Ok so I couldn't help myself - I just had to add a little something else to this glorious colour, but I didn't want to cover it up too much. So . . . this is what I came up with:

Base colour: Nina Ricci #30
Nail plate: Bundle Monster BM12
Stamp colour: China Glaze 2030
Topped with Essie Good to Go



Monday 26 September 2011

Nina Ricci #30 - Coral beauty!

This is another one of the miniature bottles I got in a package of 5. This is No. 30 (I think, it's extremely hard to read the number on the bottom). I've not really heard of this brand, but have just managed to score another 5 pack of mini polishes for an exceptionally good deal of $15.00 (RRP is $131.00 *gasp*)

The website I bought these polishes off says that "Nina Ricci polishes contain UV filter & vitamin E to protect nails from free radicals and they are Formaldehyde free & toluene free. Nina Ricci is a French high end brand with roots in fashion couture. The brand is ultimately renowned for representing femininity through romantic, luxurious designs and capturing the essence of a natural woman in their products."

As far as application goes - this can't be beaten. Aside from the smallish brush which of course is the downside of a mini polish, the formula is outstanding. It's easy to apply and opaque in two coats and the colour pay off is really quite something else. I am in LOVE with this colour.

It's very difficult to photograph the amazingness of this luscious colour and capture the subtle gold shimmer, but you can just see it in the bottle shot.

So who else is familiar with this brand? I can't seem to find any other swatches anywhere . . . . in the meantime, BEHOLD . . . .







Orly zebra stripes

I've been wanted to give some zebra stripes a try for a while now . . . and having done it, I'm really not that thrilled with the result. For some reason I'm just not that struck with how it turned out. Anyway I thought I'd share the final result.

The base is Orly Matte Vinyl which is a lovely opaque formula. It goes on super easily and is quick drying. Then I stamped using China Glaze Millennium which is very nice to stamp with (as long as you are quick!) I finished with Essie Good to Go and then China Glazes Matte Magic on top of that.

Base colour: Orly Matte Vinyl
Nail plate: Konad M57
Stamp colour: China Glaze Millennium



So is it better glossy or matte?

Friday 23 September 2011

Glamour Purse

I'm back! Well skiing is certainly not kind to your nails - all that huffing and puffing to get all your gear on really ruins your manicure AND your nails. So even though my nails are wee little nubbins now I am still pretty happy with how this manicure turned out.

This is Essie's Glamour Purse. It's very easy to apply and covers nicely in two coats. It dries super fast which is a bonus. I stamped with China Glaze Hi-tek and like the contrast between the creme base and metallic stamping. Topped with Essie Good to Go.

Base colour: Essie Glamour Purse
Nail plate: Konad M63
Stamp colour: China Glaze Hi Tek








Thursday 8 September 2011

Hey Doll with Robotika stamping

Hey Doll from China Glaze is a lovely dusty pink with a gorgeous shimmer. I'm not normally a big fan of frosty pinks but I really like this one. It's pretty subtle and very wearable. The formula is only ok with needing two good coats to be opaque.

I had some trouble with this stamp plate from Bundle Monster. Most of the time it didn't transfer well, but we got there in the end - just had to be super quick!

Base colour: China Glaze Hey Doll
Nail plate: Bundle Monster BM 210
Stamp colour: China Glaze Robotika



Wednesday 7 September 2011

China Glaze Street Chic - part 2

Today's stamping is a subtle look using Konad plate M78 for a tone on tone effect.

Base colour: China Glaze Street Chic
Nail plate: Konad M78
Stamp colour: China Glaze Prize Winning Mare



Tuesday 6 September 2011

China Glaze Street Chic

Today's polish is Street Chic from the China Glaze Metro collection. This is very similar to OPI Over the Taupe. I found the polish pretty streaky to apply, this is two thick coats and it's still not opaque in some places. Love the colour though! It's a very wearable dark taupe with a purplish undertone.



Monday 5 September 2011

Taupe Comparision

I'm working my way through the polishes from my last haul and it occurred to me that China Glazes Street Chic looks remarkably similar to OPI's Over the Taupe . . . so what do you think?

OPI's You Don't Know Jacques is also pretty similar - just slightly darker, and not helped by the angle of my pointer finger in these pictures.

I've never really thought about it before, but I definitely prefer OPI brushes over China Glaze. Way easier to apply!

Click on the pictures to enlarge . . .



Saturday 3 September 2011

Essie Very Structured - Part 2

Well it lasted half a day just plain polish . . . and then I just had to do something to it! lol Not that I don't love the colour, it's just that, well, it needed something else. No stamping this time - today I broke out the delightful Nubar Golden Glow - wow!



Ok, but now I feel I might have overdone it a wee bit, so out with China Glazes Matte Magic. Ahhhh much better!





Essie Very Structured

This is my first time using an Essie polish as they're not widely available in New Zealand. This came from my NaildeRoyale haul.

Very Structured is a burnt orange creme. It applies super easily and dries almost too fast and was opaque in two coats. I love this colour, it's definitely one of my favourites and I see myself wearing this a lot.

This was taken inside, no flash.




Outside in the sun. Haha love how the sun caught this and gave my nails their own little solar flares!

Thursday 1 September 2011

Oh Boy - Hauls - Hauls - Hauls!!

Well today is my lucky day - I've been merrily shopping away online (giving my credit card a workout!) and today all my hauls arrived at once! Wow, I've been really naughty!

Sooooo here we go . . . thought I'd share . . .

NaildeRoyale haul



Thanks to Chitchat Nails review I decided to give this website a go and they are amazing. I got such a great bargain. Nail Polish here in NZ is expensive ($27 for OPI and $15 for China Glaze) so with the exchange rate how it is, and only $13.95 for international shipping - it's all good for me!

So this is what arrived . . .






Items were extremely well packaged (almost annoyingly so!) and they threw in a free nail file and Touring America colour sheet.

(L-R): OPI: Blue My Mind, Teal The Cows Come Home, Prize Winning Mare, Brownstone, Far Out, Street Chic, Essie (my first Essie polishes): Very Structured, Glamour Purse - Seche Base and Top coat

Ebay Haul

Then my ebay haul arrived . . .


Both of these brands are a first for me.

(L-R): Nubar: Golden Glow, Zoya: Colette, Irene, Charla, Ivanka, Veruschka (matte)
Wow - I can't wait to try these!

Designer Brands Haul

While I was at the pharmacy I saw these lovely polishes and since they specified they were Formaldehyde and Toulene free I thought I'd give them a go. I might add that this was before I got home and discovered all my other treasures!


(L-R) Rouge Bronze, Glitterama, Mauve Delight

China Glaze Haul

And last but not least my China Glaze items arrived which I purchased at a great price (for NZ anyway) off a website called www.nzsale.co.nz




(L-R): Foxy, Swing Baby, Hey Doll, Below Deck, White Out, Custom Kicks, Emerald Fitzgerald and the China Glaze Gel Fortifier

Wow - so do you think that's enough?? lol I think I should hand in my credit card and be good for a long time!


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