O.P.I - Cajan Shrimp

O.P.I - Cajan Shrimp

3 coats

Seche Vite Top Coat

Cajan Shrimp is an orange toned coral colour. This was another mini bottle. The formula started to get a bit thick after the third coat. It might have been because there was such little polish that the air  was able to dry it out faster?

I didn't like wearing it own it's own so I wore it with China Glaze - Black Mesh over the top. I know crackle is so last year but I use it over colours I'm not sure about so they are more wearable for me.

I can't believe January is over already! Don't forget to enter my 50 Follower Giveaway!

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O.P.I - Lincoln Park After Dark

 O.P.I - Lincoln Park After Dark

2 coats

Poshe Top Coat

Lincoln Park After Dark is a very dark plum creme colour. You can tell it's a plum colour on the first coat but after two coats it looks like a dark brown. This started chipping within 24 hours but I was packing boxes again so I was expecting it. I got this in an O.P.I Best of the Best mini set. It's only 3.75ml! Very awkward to hold for the photo. Since I don't own a full size O.P.I bottle I've compared it to a full size China Glaze bottle below. I'm not sure how many manicures this bottle will do but I'm hoping it's a few.

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Essence - Choose Me!

Essence - Choose Me!

2 coats

Seche Vite Top Coat

Choose Me! is a yellow gold shimmer in a green glass fleck base. The gold shimmer is most noticeable in the bottle but also transfers onto the nail. This had a good formula. You can still see a visible nail line after two coats so you might want to try three if you cant stand that. It's very pretty, I really like this one. It's a little stubborn to remove and stained my fingers but worth it for the gorgeous colour. This is a dupe of Orly - Halley's Comet. I've got a comparison picture below. If you've been wanting Halley's Comet then Choose Me! is a cheap alternative.

I got this from Target for $2.55.

Don't forget to enter my 50 Follower Giveaway!

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Butter London - Thames

Butter London - Thames

3 coats

Seche Vite Top Coat

Thames is a deep green shimmer in a grey/green base. This was easy to apply. The bottle shows a blue and purple duo-chrome but that doesn't show on the nail. I forgot to mention yesterday that the rectangle caps of these bottles come off and reveals a grooved round cap to use. This is easy to manage. Sorry that the image above isn't focussed on my nails. I didn't realise my shots were focussing on the bottle.

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Butter London - The Black Knight

 Butter London - The Black Knight

2 coats

Seche Vite Top Coat

The Black Knight is from the Butter London Holiday 2011 Collection. It is a pink and blue round glitter and smaller gold and green glitter in a black base. I stared at this really closely for a while to try and determine the different glitters. From Butter London's promo picture it looked like this had a deep purple base. 

Scrangie did a really great combination of Tart With A Heart (from the same collection) over The Black Knight. I was so tempted to buy it just so I could do the same combination. I realised I wouldn't wear it on it's own and for the price wasn't worth it. I got this from Oz Sale. I think they were about $13 or $14 each.

This lasted about two days on me before it started chipping, but in that time I did a lot of work with my hands. I had been helping my cousins pack boxes so I think it would have lasted longer if I hadn't done that.

 

Don't forget to enter my 50 Follower Giveaway!

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50 Follower Giveaway!!!

I never though that 50 people would ever read my blog. I remember getting so excited when someone from France looked at one of my blog posts because it was the first time someone from the Internet who didn't know me had visited my blog. I am very thankful for all my followers, especially those of you that were here before this post! You aren't here because of a giveaway, you're here because you genuinely want to read my blog. So if you were a follower before this post then you get an extra entry!

I'm giving away Australian brand nail polishes. Most of these are also made in Australia! 
I couldn't think of a better day to announce my Australian nail polish Giveaway than Australia Day!

Prizes: 

1 x Australis - Speck-tacular (Flakie)
1 x Ozotic Pro 505
1 x piCture pOlish - Denim
1 x BYS - Diamond Glitter Amethyst 
1 x Ulta3 - Purple Pumps
1 x Ulta3 - Blue Heaven

I haven't linked to all of them because my swatches are horrible and I don't actually own Diamond Amethyst. The Ozotic Pro - 505 that the winner will receive will be in the new square bottle. I've ordered it but it hasn't arrived yet. I just used my bottle for the picture. Purple Pumps is very hard to photograph colour accurately. It a darker neon purple. More like the purple you see in the Ozotic bottle above.

Rules:
This Giveaway is open internationally.
You must be over 18 years or have your parents permission to enter.
Giveaway ends Tuesday 9th February 2012 12:01am Eastern Standard Time (NOT Australian Eastern Standard Time - Raffecopter only has one time zone)
The winner will be chosen at random via Rafflecopter.
The winner will have 48 hours to respond to my email otherwise a new winner will be chosen.


Click the read more button to enter via the Rafflecopter widget below, you might need to wait for it to load. Good luck everyone and thanks for your support!

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Australia Day Mani

I hope all my Australian followers are having a great Australia Day! I was actually surprised at how well this turned out. I planned it in my head and was sure it wouldn't turn out at all. I know my pointer finger isn't perfect but that was so fiddly. 

The first thing I did was paint my pointer finger with two coats of BYS - Rebel Red. I painted my other fingers with two coats of piCture pOlish - Bombshell.

Next I taped off sections on my pointer finger and painted over that with a coat of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Whirlwind White:

Once that had dried I taped off the same sections with slightly wider bits of tape so the white wouldn't get covered. I then painted over that with two coats of piCture pOlish - Bombshell:

Then I stamped the stars using Sally Hansen - Insta-Dri - Whirlwind White and Bundle Monster plate number BM14 (first set) on my middle, ring and pinky fingers. For the Star on my thumb I used the star from Bundle Monster plate number BM-206 (second set) and then filled in the sections with a small nail art brush and more Whirlwind White. I topped it all off with a coat of Sech Vite.

Just in case you don't recognise it yet this is supposed to be the Australian flag. The stars on my pointer, middle and ring fingers are in the formation of the Southern Cross going sideways. Here is a picture of the Australian flag for comparison:

Image Source: www.australian-flag.org

There will be one more post today, so stay tuned!

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Ulta3 - Blue Heaven

Ulta3 - Blue Heaven

2 coats

Seche Vite Top Coat

Blue Heaven is from the Ulta3 - Gelato Collection 2012. It is a light blue creme polish. The formula is a thick, could do with some thinner. The bottle I bought had a defective brush. I put a photo of the brush on Twitter and the lovely Naomi who runs The Heat Group's Twitter saw it and recognised the brush. She ended up sending me out a replacement! Thanks again Naomi! The replacement's brush was fine. 

Sorry about my stained cuticles in the picture, I think this was just after I had been wearing a black base for flakies.

Because I didn't post a picture of the collection together at the beginning like I usually do, here it is:

Blue Heaven was provided to me by the distributing company. Please see my About Me page for more information.

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Cult Nails Pre Sale Event

This just landed in my inbox:

 

Pre-sale starts January and ends 1st February 2012. You can only purchase the full collection at this time. Will you be getting the collection?

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Ulta3 - Lemon Tart

 Ulta3 - Lemon Tart

3 coats

Seche Vite Top Coat

Lemon Tart is from the Ulta3 - Gelato Collection. I'm not really sure what colour this is any more. It seems to change with the lighting. The photo above it what it looked like in my lightbox and the bottle picture below is what it looks like under a normal light. It's a pastel yellow. This one had a good formula. I can see myself using this colour for an Easter mani this year. Sorry about the smudge on my pointer finger, I bumped it just before the photo.

The product in this post was provided to me by the distributing company.

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Ulta3 - Mango Mayhem

 Ulta3 - Mango Mayhem

2 coats

Seche Vite Top Coat

Mango Mayhem is from the Ulta3 - Gelato Collection 2012. It is a muted orange creme. Not quite pastel but not bright either. It had a good formula, easy to apply. I'm having fun trying to photograph these so they are colour accurate. That means playing around with the settings on my camera but I'm learning at the same time. This one is colour accurate!

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Ulta3 - Strawberry Sundae

 Ulta3 - Strawberry Sundae

3 coats

Seche Vite Top Coat

Strawberry Sundae is from the Ulta3 - Gelato Collection 2012. It is a light pink creme colour. I'm not usually a fan of pinks but I like this one and am looking forward to wearing it again. It's not a bright and in your face pink. This had a good formula. All the names of the Gelato collection nail polishes make them sound so yummy. They should have made these scented. Mmmmm, strawberry sundae om nom nom!

The product in this post was provided to me by the distributing company.

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Ulta3 - Violet Rumble

Ulta3 - Violet Rumble

3 coats

Seche Vite Top Coat

Violet Rumble is a pastel purple creme. It's a little bit lighter than it looks in my pictures. The formula was fine. It seems like the Ulta3's formula is hit or miss since production went overseas. I'm glad the purple was fine! I can't wait to wear this one again.

P.S. We found a really nice property to rent and the owner is a dog person! Everybody cross your fingers, toes, arms, legs and eyes and hope that our application is approved.

The product in this post was provided to me by the distributing company.

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Ulta3 - Kiwi Kaos

This is a really rushed post, I've been up all night preparing rental applications. I'm applying for 3 houses tomorrow, wish me luck!

 Ulta3 - Kiwi Kaos

3 Coats

Seche Vite Top Coat

Kiwi Kaos is from the Ulta3 Gelato 2012 Collection. It's a light green creme colour. This one had a strange formula. I kept finding grains like sand in the polish and I'm pretty sure they weren't coming from my polish area. You can see some of them on my ring finger. Does anyone else have this colour and have the same strange formula? Other than the grains the formula was a little bit thick but still workable.

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Australis - Speck-tacular VS piCture pOlish - Festival

I'm starting to collect a few flakie polishes now and wanted to compare two that looked like they contained the same colours. Here's Australis - Speck-tacular VS piCture pOlish - Festival:

This is two coats of each over KleanColor - Neon sapphire from yesterday's post. They both look the same, the colours range from blue, green, orange and yellow. They seem to have the same amount of flakies for two coats. I'd say they are pretty good dupes. You probably don't need both. The Australis one is cheaper at $8.95.

I was asked what Speck-tacular looks like on a natural nail. But I warn you, my natural nails aren't pretty. They are stained. Occupational hazard of being a nail blogger. So women and small children turn away now!

As you can see the flakie effect isn't as strong as it is over a dark colour. I don't know why exactly but I bet Lab Muffin knows how it works! She did a really great post on how holographic nail polishes work.

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2012's Most Swoon-Worthy Nail Polish Trends - Blue

Holly from Hooked! has organised for myself and a few other bloggers to work together showing 2012's Most Swoon-Worthy Nail Polish Trends. I thought this was a great idea! Check out Holly's post for links to the blogs showing the other trends. Don't forget to enter Holly's 50 Something Follower Giveaway too!The trend that I'll be featuring is Blue!

 KleanColor - (unknown)

2 coats

Seche Vite Top Coat

I don't actually know the name of this first blue. I bought this from Paddy's Markets and didn't check if it had a sticker. If one of you has a similar KleanColor nail polish and can suggest what this one might be please let me know in the comments below. Link me to your swatch if you have one. I had a look on the KleanColor website and I think it might be #15 Neon Sapphire but their bottle picture looks a little too light.

Anyway, this unknown blue is a dark navy blue creme polish. It's really nice. I might try putting some flakies over it.

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Brisk Blue
2 Coats
Seche Vite Top Coat

Brisk Blue is a light blue creme. This was almost opaque in one coat. This stained my fingers  when I cleaned up my cuticles. Can you see the blue tinge on my ring finger? It was even worse when I removed it completely, I had Smurf fingers!

Ulta3 - Hollywood

3 Coats

Seche Vite Top coat

Hollywood is a medium blue shimmer. This is a really pretty blue. I'm not happy with my picture quality but I didn't feel like re-doing it. I've been having taking photos in Manual mode ever since the sunrise camera course but I haven't quite got the hang of it yet. If you have an SLR camera and are using auto mode I suggest you go to a class. You learn so much. It's not as complicated as it looks!

So what do you think of the blue trend this year? I like it! Blue is my second favourite nail polish colour so bring on the blues!

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Australis - Speck-tacular

I was in Priceline the other day and as always wandered into to cosmetics aisle just to have a look and I spotted a little nail polish stand in the Australis section. I've never noticed this polish before so I have no idea when it was released. I can't find anything on their website.

 Australis - Speck-tacular

2 Coats over black

Poshe Top Coat

Speck-tacular is a multicoloured flakie polish. The colours range from blue, green, orange and yellow. This wasn't particularly opaque but I was happy with the coverage of two coats. You might notice some tip wear in the photos, I had been wearing it for 24 hours already. I will compare this to the other flakies I own soon. Has anyone else spotted this in stores? I wonder if any of the other brands that are cheap and easily available in Australia will release flakies. I got this from Priceline for $8.95.

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Essie - Steel-ing The Scene

Shade

Sun

Essie - Steeling The Scene

3 coats

Seche Vite Top Coat

Steel-ing the scene is described on the Essie website as a burnished pewter creme. I think it's more of a shimmery pewter frost. The brush stroke marks are very visible so try to keep them straight. Frost nail polishes always give me that Grandma-ish feeling. Just noticed that I should have held the bottle the other way around so the word "essie" wasn't upside-down in all my photos. Whoops!

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Nail Polish Wars 250 Follower Giveaway!

Source: Nail Polish Wars

One of my favourite nail bloggers; Nicole from Nail Polish Wars is having a 250 follower giveaway! Congratulations on 250 followers Nicole!

In case you don't already know, Nicole has started her own line of nail polish; Elixir Lacquers and they will be available soon. I've already put my name down for a bottle of With a K. 

This give away is open internationally and closes Sunday, January 29th at 11:50pm.

The prizes include:

1 x Elixir Lacquers - With a K

1 x Elixir Lacquers - Kind of Connery

1 x Gold Antique Finish Double Heart Necklace

1 x Polka Dot Pedi-Sox

1 x Red Clutch

1 x Pair of Bleached Peacock Feather Earrings

For more information on the giveaway go to Nail Polish Wars.

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Bundle Monster Stamping - BM-223

Lightbox

Base: Ulta3 - Frangipani, Ulta3 - Sunset Pink, Ulta 3 - Blue Marlin

Stamp: e - Black (no name)

Plate: BM-223

For the base I sponged on Ulta3 - Frangipani on the tip at an angle. Then I sponged on Ulta3 - Sunset Pink on the same angle across the middle. Lastly I sponged on Ulta3 - Blue Marlin on the base following the same angle. I stamped the zebra stripes over the top from Bundle Monster plate BM-223 with my cheap dollar shop black. I got the inspiration for this from a lunch cooler bag in a back to school catalogue. I can't find the catalogue to show you.

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Sally Hasen Insta-Dri - Slick Slate

Sun

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Slick Slate

2 coats

Sech Vite Top Coat

Slick Slate is a slightly purple toned light brown creme. The only colour accurate photo I took was in the sunlight. Nice formula and dry to touch in about 4 minutes depending on how thick of a coat you use. I used a fairly thick coat when I tested the dry time. Looks like I forgot my middle   finger when doing clean up, whoops! Well, it gives you an example of what my nails look like pre clean up.

I'm getting up very early today, earlier than this post is scheduled to be published. I'm doing a sunrise photography course. I'm leaving my house at 3:30am because the course is an hour and a half away! I hope I get some good photos. I'll share them if I take any good ones. I hope the sun's out when I get home so I can do some swatching!

I went to the Harry Potter exhibition yesterday. It was very good, it's a shame you can't take photos. If any of you are going I suggest you check the price of merchandise on eBay. They were charging about double the price at the exhibition shop. I'm going to buy a few of the things on eBay and save my money.

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Essie - Trophy Wife

Lightbox

Shade

Sun

Essie - Trophy Wife

3 coats

Seche Vite Top Coat

Trophy Wife is a medium green shimmer. It's more green toned and less blue toned than in my photos. This one just didn't want to photograph correctly. It's closer to the colour of Sally Hansen - Pixel Pretty if you have that one. The brush strokes are slightly visible after drying. I got this from Trans Design for $4.


I've changed the layout of my blog slightly and made the pictures bigger. What do you think? I'd love to hear your feedback, whether it's good or bad.

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