August Haul

So I think I went a bit crazy this month after No Buy July. It didn't help that there was the piCture pOlish Blog Fest late last month, a Llarowe restock, Floam came back in stock on Ninja Polish and the new Pretty Serious collection was released! Most of this stuff I got in the last few days. Here's what I hauled this month:

Aussie indie brands Peita's Polish and Gloss n' Sparkle

From left to right: Mermaid Tetris, Zebration, Purpetual Darkness, Pyjamarama, Unicorn Droppings, They Did The Monster Mash, Bruise

My pick from the piCture pOlish Blog Fest polishes plus two others (Sparkle and Electric Blue).

 Ulta3's Spring/Summer collection - Pretty Pastels

Pretty Serious launched it's second collection - In The Night 

From left to right: Nightopia, Into Dreams, Claris, VT100 (Hello World collection)

Dollish Polish Super Mario Bros. Collection (from Llarowe)

Nail-Venturous - Floam (new bottle style) (from Ninja Polish), 

Pretty & Polished - Hearts & Daggers, Pretty & Polished - Jawbreaker (from Llarowe)

Some polishes I've picked up while out shopping.
Australis - Manic Panic, Australis - Fairy Bread, Sally Hansen - Jumpin' Jade,
Sally Hansen - Night Flight, Ulta3 - Earl Grey

If there are any polishes in this haul that you want to see swatched let me know and I'll move them up in my swatch queue. You can also request anything from my collection.

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Barry M - Indigo

Barry M  - Indigo

This one was hard to photograph. In some lights it looks blue and then in others it looks more purple toned, it's a blurple!

This is an old swatch so sorry about the quality. This looks like it's one of my pre light box photos. It's got my old watermark on it too! This is the last swatch I have before I have to move onto photos of the my nubbins (even though my nails in this photo are pretty short). Tomorrows post will be more up to scratch.

Boots and ASOS sell Barry M but they don't currently have Indigo available. I thought I'd include them in the where to buy list anyway.

               NAIL POLISH INFO

Brand: Barry M

Name: Indigo
Coats For Opacity: 2
Colour: Blurple
Finish: Creme
Formula: Big 3 Free and Animal Friendly
Made In: UK
Volume: 10ml
Price:$4.57 - $8.76 (AUD)
Where To Buy: 
Barry M - £2.99
In Love With Fashion - £3.00
Crush Cosmetics $8.76 (AUD)
ASOS - £2.99
Boots - £2.99

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | YouTube

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China Glaze Glimmers Collection Preview

Images source: Everything2K

Yay glitter! I'm on a glitter kick at the moment especially since the PVA base coat discovery! I'll probably get Bling It On, Mosaic Madnes (I wonder if that's an intentional typo) and Graffiti Glitter as purple, blue and green are my top three colours.

This collection will be available in December 2012.

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Artsy Wednesday: Inspired By Jewellery

The theme for Artsy Wednesday this week is Inspired by Jewellery!

This weeks nail art was inspired by a ring my friend made.  She sells her stuff at the markets, she's @belrosedesign on Instagram if you're interested.

My nails don't look very arty but there is actually a bit of layering going on. I started with a base of Secret Peri-Wink-Le then sponged Wisteria over the top. I used a striping brush with Orchid to put some stripes on (this is hard to see in the picture). Then I sponged on Secret Peri-Wink-Le and Wisteria again.

                 NAIL ART INFO

Polish Used:
China Glaze - Secret Peri-Wink-Le
piCture pOlish - Wisteria
Ulta3 - Orchid

Tools Needed:
Striping brush
Sponge

Visit the other Artsy Wednesday blogs for more jewellery inspired manicures:

Michelle - Lab Muffin

Maria - Maria's Nail Art

Tif - Polished Genius

Lyndsey - Nails by Ms. Lizard

Catrine - Unnaked Nails

Melanie - Nail & Polish (out this week)

Jessica - Beauty Gnome

Kamen - KAKA Beauty Blog

Emily  - An Accent Nail

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China Glaze Cirque DuSoleil Worlds Away Collection Preview

Image credit: Everything2K

This collection is due out in November. I haven't got any information on the names of the polishes in this collection. That silver looking bottle behind the blur at the front looks interesting. Can't wait to see some swatches.

The Cirque DuSoleil movie is going to be released in late February in Australia so I might take my boyfriend for his birthday. Good thing he doesn't read my blog or it would spoil the surprise!

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Yves Rocher - Bleu Nuit

Yves Rocher - Bleu Nuit

Bleu nuit is French for blue night. 

3ml! I think this is officially the smallest bottle of polish I own. I had used it for a full mani before taking the picture in this post. Look at it compared to the other bottle. I think I'd only get about 4 - 5 manis out of it so I'm going to have to use it sparingly.

Yves Rocher has international online stores but unfortunately not an Australian one. Our best hope of getting our hands on these is eBay or getting a overseas friend to send you some.

I've put a Google search link for the Facebook and Twitter links in the polish info box because there seems to be an account for each country.

               NAIL POLISH INFO

Brand: Yves Rocher

Name: Bleu Nuit
Coats For Opacity: 2
Colour: Blue
Finish: Shimmer
Made In: France
Volume: 3ml | 0.10 fl oz
Price: $3
Where To Buy: 
Yves Rocher International

Website | Facebook | Twitter

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PVA Glue Base Coat Questions and Wear Test

I received a lot of questions regarding the PVA base coat so I thought I'd put the answers together in a post. A lot of you were concerned that it would be harmful for use on your nails so I hope these answers will put you at ease.

What is PVA glue?

PVA stands for Polyvinyl acetate. It's a widely used type of glue. You may know it as wood glue, white glue, craft glue or Elmers glue (especially if you're from the US). Michelle over at Lab Muffin has a great break down of the ingredients in her post.

Is PVA glue bad for your nails?

PVA glue is non toxic. I'm not an expert but based on the safety information for Selleys interior and exterior PVA glue (the brand I used) I'd say this product seems to be safe for use on nails as long as it doesn't irritate your skin. Perhaps you could to a patch test to see if you have a reaction. The information may be different between products so always check the label.

I remember myself and other kids in primary school putting PVA glue all over our hands just so we could peel it off when it dried. I don't remember anyone having bad reactions. Also one reader commented saying she had used PVA glue every day for years to make mosaics. The glue had no affect on her nails.

Is PVA glue more toxic than using acetone for removal?

As I said above PVA glue is non toxic. The amount of PVA needed for the base coat it less than the amount of acetone needed for the foil removal method. Also PVA won't dry out your cuticles.

Does the glue peel off with the polish?

Yes, the glue and polish peel off together. If you're careful you can peel the whole thing off in one chunk.

Does peeling it off damage your nails?

There was no damage to my nails from peeling it off. It doesn't stick to your nails like polish does. It creates a kind of seal and then once the seal is broken it comes off easily. I wouldn't recommend using a metal tool to scrape the polish off as that may damage your nails. I used an orange wood stick.

5 Day Wear Test:

I also received questions about how long it lasted, especially under wet conditions such as hand washing, showering and washing dishes. I did a 5 day wear test during which I washed my hands, showered daily and I washed the dishes twice, without gloves.

I decided to put the PVA glue base coat on my left hand and a regular base coat on my right hand to compare how each one lasted. I also tried the combination of regular base coat then PVA base coat on my thumb.

Left hand:

PVA Base Coat (1 medium coat)

Revlon - Purple Potion (3 coats)

Lynderella - Love Potion no.99 (2 coats)

Seche Vite (1 coat)

Right hand:

Nail Tek II (1 coat)

Revlon - Purple Potion (3 coats)

Lynderella - Love Potion no.99 (2 coats)

Seche Vite (1 coat)

Left Thumb:

Nail Tek II (1 coat)

PVA Base Coat (1 medium coat)

Revlon - Purple Potion (3 coats)

Lynderella - Love Potion no.99 (2 coats)

Seche Vite (1 coat) 

The wear on each hand was about the same. I thought once the PVA base coat started chipping the whole thing would come off but it didn't. It also held up during the hand washing, showering and washing up. I'm sure I could have kept it on for longer than five days but I usually change my polish daily so I was itching to change it. The removal after five days was fine.

Here's how the removal went on my thumb where I had a coat of Nail Tek II base coat under the PVA glue. I could still scrape it off but there were some areas where the base coat wouldn't come off. I didn't want to risk damaging my nail so I stopped and used nail polish remover to remove the rest of it.

So I think PVA glue is a great to use under glitter polish, the removal is so easy, it lasts just as long as a regular base coat and it's cheap. I hope this post help to answer some of your questions.

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Layla - Purple Diva

Layla - Purple Diva 

I didn't use top coat for this swatch either. 

I'll be testing these three Mirror Effect polishes for stamping this week. Also I've finished doing a 5 day wear test on the PVA base coat. I'll have the results up tomorrow for you all.

               NAIL POLISH INFO

Brand: Layla

Name: Purple Diva
Coats For Opacity: Two
Collection: Mirror Effect
Year: 2012
Colour: Purple
Finish: Chrome
Formula: Big 3 Free
Volume:  10ml
Price: $15.32 - $16.00
Where To Buy: 
Layla Cosmetics Shop - €12.20
Harlow & Co. - $16.00
Zappos - $15.50

Website | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

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Layla - Titanium Sky

Layla - Titanium Sky 

I really like how Titanium Sky looks! I've heard chrome polishes are good for stamping so I'm going to try stamping with these. 

I didn't use any top coat for this swatch. They might not wrinkle if you try a slow drying top coat. I don't own any so I cant test that sorry. One I tried Seche I never went back to my old top coats.

               NAIL POLISH INFO

Brand: Layla

Name: Titanium Sky
Coats For Opacity: Two
Collection: Mirror Effect
Year: 2012
Colour: Blue
Finish: Chrome
Formula: Big 3 Free
Volume:  10ml
Price: $15.32 - $16.00
Where To Buy: 

Layla Cosmetics Shop - €12.20
Harlow & Co. - $16.00
Zappos - $15.50

Website | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

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Layla - Metal Chrome

Layla - Metal Chrome 

I ordered some Layla polishes a few months ago and I'm only just getting around to swatching them! I bought three Mirror Effect polishes so I'll have swatches of those up over the next few days. 

Chrome polishes will exaggerate any imperfections on your nails. I thought I could get away with using a ridge filling base coat but it looked horrible. I ended up using a coat of Seche Vite over my base coat to create a sooth surface under the chrome polish. I wouldn't recommend using a fast dry top coat over these though. I tried it on my pinky nail to see what would happen. Seche Vite caused it to wrinkle. It did smooth out a bit as it dried but not entirely. I didn't put any top coat on the other three nails so you can see the difference in the picture above.

<<Also, what do you think about my new polish info section? 

  NAIL POLISH INFO

Brand: Layla
Name: Metal Chrome
Coats For Opacity: Two
Collection: Mirror Effect
Year: 2012
Colour: Silver
Finish: Chrome
Formula: Big 3 Free
Volume: 10ml
Price: $15.32 - $16.00
Where To Buy: 
Layla Cosmetics Shop - €12.20
Harlow & Co. - $16.00
Zappos - $15.50

Website | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

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Sweet Color - #005

Sweet Color - #005

2 coats

This one had a much nicer formula than the green one I reviewed on Tuesday. It was opaque and had a nice smooth formula. I had no crazy shrinkage problems after using Seche Vite.  

When I saw pictures of these bottles I thought that the lids might have been cork coloured plastic. They are actually textured gold plastic.

This polish is available from Born Pretty Store: http://www.bornprettystore.com/sweet-color-lolita-series-friendly-candy-nail-polish-varnish-p-3989.html 

Don't forget to use my coupon code for 10% off.

The product in this post was provided for review. Please see my disclosure page for more information.

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Nail Art Competition Winner Redraw!

The nail art competition winner never got back to me and I've been meaning to do a redraw for ages now, sorry for the delay. The prize is a $30 Born Pretty Store gift voucher.

I took photos of the redraw:

Congratulations Nidia! You've won the $30 Born Pretty Store gift voucher. Please check your email and respond within 48 hours to claim your prize.

If you're curious, I'm wearing Lynnderella - Love Potion No 99 in the photos.

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Artsy Wednesday: Framed

The theme for Artsy Wednesday this week is Framed!

Colours used:

Ulta3 - Bewitched
Essie - Steeling The Scene

I really liked a dotted version of the framed mani I saw on Nail Loopy so when the Framed theme for Artsy Wedneday came around I tried it out. This was really simple to do. I painted a base of Bewitched. Bewitched is actually a magnetic polish but I didn't apply the magnet. Then I used a dotting tool to put dots of Steeling The Scene around the edged to frame the base.

Visit the other Artsy Wednesday blogs for more framed manicures:

Michelle - Lab Muffin

Maria - Maria's Nail Art

Tif - Polished Genius

Lyndsey - Nails by Ms. Lizard

Catrine - Unnaked Nails

Melanie - Nail & Polish

Jessica - Beauty Gnome

Kamen - KAKA Beauty Blog

Emily  - An Accent Nail

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Sweet Color - #009

I don't think this polish has a name. I couldn't find one anywhere. I don't like it when polishes don't have names or even numbers. On the Born Pretty Store website this is listed as #009 but there's nothing on the bottle to confirm that number. I really like the bottle though. It has square edges so they fit nicely next to each other.

Sweet Color - #009

4 coats

This one was sheer, the photo above is 3-4 coats. I can't remember exactly how many coats and forgot to write it down. Edit: Turns out I did write it down, I found it written halfway though my notebook. This swatch is 4 coats. Probably because there's no room on my polish desk for my notepad at the moment. The formula was thick so with 3-4 coats it was slow to dry. I didn't wait for it to dry and applied Seche Vite. I wrapped my nails with both the Sweet Color polish and Seche Vite but I still got shrinkage. I'm talking about crazy shrinkage on all sides of my nails not just the tips! The surface of the polish was really wrinkled too! I took the above photo while my nails were still wet so that's why you can't see any of the wrinkly mess. I would suggest waiting for this one to dry completely before using a quick dry top coat.

This polish is available from Born Pretty Store: http://www.bornprettystore.com/sweet-color-lolita-series-friendly-candy-nail-polish-varnish-p-3990.html

Don't forget to use my coupon code for 10% off.

The product in this post was provided for review. Please see my disclosure page for more information.

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Peel Off Base Coat for Easy Glitter Polish Removal

Essence Ready for Boarding collection has just been released in Australia. Lauren from the Aussie Nails Facebook group picked up the Essence Peel Off Base Coat and gave it a review. She had suspicions that it was just PVA glue in a polish bottle. Michelle (Lab Muffin) had a look at the ingredients and confirmed that it was PVA glue, water and some preservatives. 

I thought I'd test out how well real PVA glue worked as a peel off base coat so I headed over to my local Bunnings Warehouse (a hardware store) and picked up a 100ml bottle of Selleys PVA glue for $4.66. That gives me about 6.7 bottles of peel off base coat for 70c each! 

I chose Sally Hansen Gem Crush - Glitz Gal for the test. Glitz Gal is a very gritty glitter polish I had been putting off wearing because I knew it would be a pain in the bum to remove. Here it is on my sad little nubbins.

Here's how to make your own peel off base coat:

Step 1 - Put some PVA glue in a clean polish bottle.

Step 2 - Apply a coat of PVA glue and wait for it to dry. It will turn clear when it's dry. It should take about 5 - 10 minutes to dry depending on the thickness of the coat applied.

Step 3 - Apply that glitter polish you've been ignoring and finish with top coat. I used Seche Vite.

Step 4 - When you're ready to remove the polish scrape it off with an orange wood stick starting at the base of the nail. You'll need to use a some force to begin with.

It seriously took about 2 second per nail for removal. If you are careful you can remove it all in one big chunk like in the picture below.

I wore this manicure for 24 hours before removing it. I had no chips or peeling. This is by far the easiest glitter removal method I have tried. I will be using PVA glue as a base for all my future glitter manis. I'm going to try it under other polishes like shimmers and cremes. Another great thing about this is if it thickens up you just need to add water. 

What do you think about PVA as a base coat for easy glitter removal? Will you give this a go?

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