A England Gloriana with Stamping

Orange holographic polish - need I say more?! Gloriana is from the A England brand and is a glittery orange red.

Sorry my watches show tip wear - the photo was an after thought :)

I usually stamp with my trusty CG 2030 but it was nice for a change to use black - although I never like the clean up with black. The effect is pretty clean and crisp though.

Base colour: A England Gloriana
Nail plate: Konad M93
Stamp colour: Konad Black Special Polish
Topped with Essie Good to Go

Color Club Look Book with BP-L007 stamping

Todays stamping mani is using the very bold Look Book from Color Club. This is a vibrant blue based red which applies effortlessly and is opaque in two coats.

I used another Born Pretty stamping plate and I'm pretty happy with the results!

Base colour: Color Club Look Book
Nail plate: BP- L007
Stamp colour: China Glaze 2030
Topped with Essie Good to Go

3rd from left, bottom row

CG Short & Sassy with BM 314 stamping

CG Short & Sassy is one of my all time favourite polishes. It's a classical elegant burgundy and I wanted to embellish it but not detract from it's gorgeous deep colour. I randomly stamped images from the BM314 plate in various positions.

Base colour: China Glaze Short & Sassy
Nail plate: Bundle Monster BM 314
Stamp colour: China Glaze 2030
Topped with Essie Good to Go

Essie Silken Cord with CC Fame & Fortune Flakies!!

Today I'd like to show you the vibrant Silken Cord from Essie. This is such a gorgeous coral red that is perfect for spring (which officially starts tomorrow here!) As expected the formula is creamy and easy to apply.

Two coats - no topcoat

Taken in my lightbox which detracts a bit from its shininess

I was kindly sent this gorgeous bottle of polish from USANailsOnline and I'm delighted to show off this amazing bottle of holographic flakiness! Fame & Fortune is from the Backstage Pass collection.

Look at those flakies!!!

This is one coat over Silken Cord.

In fact I enjoyed this combo so much I made it into a pendant!

OPI I Brake for Manicures with stamping

Today's manicure is one from my haul post and it's OPI's I Brake for Manicures. This has a really nice formula, easy to use and I'm always reminded how much I enjoy using the brushes from OPI. They make for quick - simple application. I Brake for Manicures is a dark purple based taupe and it is opaque in two coats.

Base colour: OPI I Brake for Manicures

Nail plate: Konad M70
Stamp colour: China Glaze 2030
Topped with Essie Good to Go

A England Perceval with flakies

Today I'd like to share with you the lovely Perceval from A England. Unfortunately my brain wasn't in gear and I didn't get any photos of it on it's own so you'll just have to take my word for it about how lovely it is! I applied a thick coat of Essie Shine of the Times and this was the result . . .

Please excuse the short nubbins and tip wear - washing the car does not bode well for a perfect manicure! And then as mentioned that my brain was not in gear I performed this amazing feat . . .

*Mental note to self* remove hand before slamming the car door! Doh! On the upside, it's not my swatching hand and hey, I didn't chip my polish!

Essie Masquerade Belle

The weather is cooling off here and time to bring out some warm autumn colours. This is Essie Masquerade Belle which is a rich brown burgundy. My hubby even thought this was a nice colour lol Masquerade Belle applied beautifully although this shows three coats just because I have issues with it looking lighter around the cuticles. I completely flooded one cuticle and removed it straight away but from that I can tell this is going to stain like mad when I remove it. Fortunately my trusty OPI Expert Touch remover has just arrived in the post - yippee!

I didn't get a chance to stamp it but some gold stamping would have looked nice I reckon . . .

Butter London Old Blighty with Stamping Konad M85

I've had the Konad M85 plate for a while now and finally got around to using it. The image sizes are great and transfer is excellent so no complaints. This is three coats of Butter London Old Blighty stamped with China Glaze 2030. Quite a milestone there actually, as I've used up my first entire bottle of 2030 and will have to start the laborious task of hunting out some more of my trusty old favourite! Ebay here I come! lol

Base colour: Butter London Old Blighty

Nail plate: Konad M85
Stamp colour: China Glaze 2030
Topped with Essie Good to Go

Butter London Old Blighty

Today's polish is Butter London Old Blighty (love the name!). I would describe this is a rustic brick red creme. Old Blighty has a very gel like formula and applies easily. I find the Butter London brushes very easy to load up and manoeuvre. This shows three coats just to tidy up and make sure my entire nail is opaque.

I'm also trialling Zoya Remove polish remover. My thoughts so far are that I definitely do not like the smell which is extremely overpowering and the formula is not as moisturising as OPI Expert Touch remover.

Also I've changed the width of my blog page to enlarge the photos (as per your requests!) Do you  prefer the larger pictures or is smaller ok? Do they take too long to load? Your comments appreciated!

Essie Limited Addiction with new stamping plate

Todays polish is a gorgeous, racy, garnet red creme from Essie called Limited Addition. It's an amazing formula that goes on like butter and is opaque in two coats.

Base colour: Essie Limited Addition

Nail plate: QA16
Stamp colour: China Glaze Hi-Tek
Topped with Essie Good to Go

I've been dying to try out these new plates I got from Ebay - this one is called QA16 and I bought it from samuelwsk333. I'm unsure who makes them but they do sell individually.

Butter London MacBeth with stamping

I couldn't wait to try out this gorgeous colour from Butter London. This lovely is called MacBeth and it's a vibrant coral red jelly. The pictures really don't do this justice as it's nearly neon and super shiny. The formula is easy to use but needs three coats to be opaque. This isn't my swatching hand but I'd already started stamping my left hand and wanted to show MacBeth on its own.

With stamping . . . I love how loud and vibrant this turned out! In fact I even have it on my toes. lol Perfect for our summer days just starting to peak in.

Base colour: Butter London MacBeth

Nail plate: Bundle Monster BM-224
Stamp colour: China Glaze 2030
Topped with Essie Good to Go

Maybelline flakies!

I'd just like to start off by saying how impressed I am with the pigmentation in this polish. For such a tiny bottle of colour it certainly packs enormous presence! This gorgeous blue based creme red is almost opaque in one coat and super quick drying - in fact almost too quick. These pictures show Candy Apply from Maybelline Mini Colorama and topped with Pink Pinata also from the Mini Colorama range. I'm very impressed and looking forward to trying the other colours.

PS just thought I'd add that colour is how we spell color in New Zealand :) for those of you who thought my spell check is on the blink lol