So This Happened...

I went for a jog with my dog today and she stopped suddenly. The lead caught on my nail as it pulled tight and... well you know the rest. 

I've got a few swatches saved up but after that I'll be doing nail art for a while. I hope you all don't mind. I was wearing China Glaze - Water You Waiting For in the picture above if you were wondering.

Read More

Pretty & Polished - Jawbreaker

Jawbreaker has a mix of red, yellow and blue hex glitter  smaller purple hex glitter and green bar glitter in a white base. The white base builds up nicely and is opaque after three coats.

I had to fish to get the red squares, a lot of them were stuck to the sides of the bottle so that might be why I had so much trouble getting them out of the bottle.

Jawbreaker had been on my wish list for a while and I bought it mid last year. I've finally just gotten around to trying it out. I think it looks really nice. 

               NAIL POLISH INFO 

Brand: Pretty & Polished
Name: Jawbreaker
Coats For Opacity: 3
Colour: Multicolour Glitter
Finish: Glitter
Made In: USA
Volume: 15ml
Price: ~$4.81 - $9.61
Where To Buy: 
Pretty & Polished  $5.00 - $9.00 (USD)
Pretty & Polished Etsy Store $5.00 - $9.50

Shop | Website | Facebook | Pinterest

Read More

Pretty & Polished - Sand Art

Sand Art has a mix of blue, purple  green, yellow and pink hex glitter in a clear base. 

I don't think it's really meant to be worn opaque like this but  I thought I'd give it a go. I had to leave plenty of time in between coats so it would dry properly. It did look a bit thick in the end, especially my middle finger. I can't remember exactly how many coats I used but I think it was 4. 

One of my lovely readers noticed this on my wish list and had a bottle to spare so I was able to buy if off her. Thanks again Sarah! 

               NAIL POLISH INFO 

Brand: Pretty & Polished

Name: Sand Art
Coats For Opacity: 4
Colour: Multicolour Glitter
Finish: Glitter
Made In: USA
Volume: 15ml
Price: ~$4.81 - $9.61
Where To Buy: 
Pretty & Polished  $5.00 - $9.00 (USD)
Pretty & Polished Etsy Store $5.00 - $9.50

Shop | Website | Facebook | Pinterest

Read More

Alanna Renee Restock Today

I am still working on international shipping options so this restock is only available for Australian customers. Keep an eye on the Alanna Renee Facebook page for international updates.

Read More

BK Liner Polish

So far I hadn't bothered to pick up any liner polishes because I have a liner nail art brush that I can dip into any nail polish. Although I think I might pick up some more staple colours as these were very convenient to use. There was no need to clean the brush after each colour. 

The silver liner polish was very opaque. The purple glitter polish obviously isn't opaque but you can still make nice lines with it. 

               NAIL POLISH INFO 

Brand: BK

Number: 4 and 12
Volume: 5ml | .17 fl oz
Price: $3.39
Where To Buy: 
Born Pretty Store 

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Blog | YouTube

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

Read More

$50 Giveaway!

I've got another giveaway for you! My Hair Care have kindly given me a $50 gift voucher to give away. Don't despair polish lovers! My Hair Care sells polish too! They have brands such as Butter London, O.P.I and Nicole by O.P.I.

I have had to change this giveaway to a $50 cash giveaway. The company this giveaway was originally for had confused me, they were not offering me a voucher to give away to one of my readers they just wanted me to promote their website. This became apparent when I showed them the giveaway link and asked for the discount voucher code. Sorry for any inconvenience.

This giveaway is open internationally. Good luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Read More

Artsy Wednesday - Inspired By The View Out Of Your Window

This weeks theme is inspired by the view out of your window. Most of the time the view out of the window of my polish room is my pup Hazel. 

I didn't think I had a chance at drawing a lifelike Hazel on my nails but I could surely stamp some paw prints. I was already wearing Pretty & Polished Jawbreaker so I decided to just stamp over the top. 

Here's my pup Hazel:

               NAIL ART INFO 

Polish Used:
Pretty & Polished - Jawbreaker
Ulta3 - Black Satin

Tools Needed:
Bundle Monster Plate BM-323
Stamper
Scraper

Visit the other Artsy Wednesday blogs for more window view inspired manicures:

Michelle - Lab Muffin

Maria - Maria's Nail Art

Catrine - Unnaked Nails

Melanie - Nail & Polish

Jessica - Beauty Gnome

Emily  - An Accent Nail

Ameerah - Valiantly Varnished

Read More

BK - Neon Luminous Glow Polish #6

This polish is a green creme by day and a luminous glowing green by night. The glow is quite strong after being exposed to light as you can see from the photo below. I actually forgot that this polish was glow in the dark until I went to bed and my boyfriend grabbed my hand to see what was going on with my nails. 

The formula was thin and sheer but it built up in three coats. It dried kind of matte and a little bit grainy looking, I think that is because of the glow powder. 

There are a few other coloured polishes that I might try out, I've only got green coloured glow polishes.

               NAIL POLISH INFO 

Brand: BK

Number: 6
Coats For Opacity: 3
Colour: Green
Finish: Creme
Volume: 7ml | 0.24 fl oz
Price: $2.99
Where To Buy: 
Born Pretty Store

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Blog | YouTube

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

Read More

Gloss 'n Sparkle - Edge Of The World

Edge Of The World is stunning! It has a mix of different sized blue and green hex glitter and rainbow micro glitter in a green jelly base. The jelly base is quite sheer so I used four coats. The formula was nice and easy to control. the depth of this polish is amazing. If you are a green lover you need Edge Of The World!

               NAIL POLISH INFO 

Brand: Gloss 'n Sparkle

Name: Edge Of The World

Coats: 4

Year: 2012

Colour: Green

Finish: Glitter

Formula: Big 3 Free

Made In: Australia

Volume: 12ml | 0.41 fl oz

Price: $9.00 (AUD)

Where To Buy:  
Gloss 'n Sparkle
Shoppe Eclecticco

Shop | Website | Facebook | Instagram

Read More

OMG Nail Strips

The OMG Butterfly Nail Foil Strips come in a packet of 16. I used the 5 smallest sizes as I have skinny nails and these were still a bit too wide for me, except for my thumb. The foil didn't stretch to the curve of my nails so they creased a little at the sides. Once I had applied them I trimmed the excess length with scissors and filed the edge. 

               NAIL POLISH INFO 

Brand: OMG

Price: $4.29
Where To Buy: 
OMG Nail Strips

Website | Facebook | Twitter

The adhesion was good but filing made the edges a bit raggedy and overnight the edges started to lift up. I only left these on for 24 hours. I really like the butterfly design, I just wish the butterflies were smaller so I could fit more of them on my nails.

The Purple Leopard Nail Polish Strips come in a packet of 14. Again I used the 5 smallest sizes. I think it's neat they they have listed the size of each strip in mm. It was much easier to measure the strip against my nail because they were not stuck on a flat sheet like the foil strips above. You can tear each strip off individually when you are ready to apply it. These strips are made out of nail polish rather than foil stickers so they stretched to fit the curve of my nails without creasing. I trimmed off the excess length with scissors and filed down the rest. I found the nail polish strips had a much neater edge after filing than the foil strips.

After one day I had some tip wear but they didn't lift up at all. I think these would have lasted much better if I used top coat. The instructions said to "carry out a UV seal against the nail sticker". I assumed it meant a UV top coat (which I don't own) so I skipped that step.

I preferred the nail polish strips rather than the nail foil strips as they were easier to apply and lasted longer. They are both reasonably priced too, I think they are the cheapest nail strips I've come across so far.

The products in this post were provided for review. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.

Read More

Ulta3 Nail Stickers

I received these nail stickers from Ulta3 but they didn't include the instructions so I applied them how I though they should be applied.

I started with a base of Ulta3 - Black Satin. Once it was dry I applied the stickers, I put the rounded edge at the base of my nails so most of the gradient would fit. There are 8 cool toned gradient stickers and 8 warm toned gradient stickers so I swapped the stickers on my ring finger and thumb for accent nails.

               NAIL POLISH INFO 

Brand: Ulta3

Where To Buy: 

Blooms The Chemist

Terry White Chemists

Soul Pattinson Chemist

Ulta3 Stocklist Locator (PC only)

Website |  Facebook  |  Twitter

I felt like there was a size missing in between the 4th and 5th sticker and the 5th and 6th stickers look to be the same size. I have narrow nail beds so I usually only need the smallest sizes. I used scissors to trim the length of the sticker to fit my nail because filing these made them raggedy. I wasn't sure if these were intended to have top coat or not so I only applied top coat to my index nail.

After a few hours they had started to lift up at the edges and I couldn't help but pick at them and make them worse so I only left them on for one day. My index nail with the top coat on did last longer and the top coat didn't cause any wrinkling so I would suggest using top cot with these stickers.

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

Read More

Groupon Giveaway Winners!

Congratulations to Cathy and Mum of Aussie Kids for winning my $30 Groupon voucher giveaway! I have emailed both of you so please check your inboxes. You'll need to respond within 48 hours to claim your prize.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Read More

Artsy Wednesday: Earthquake

Earthquake nails are not something I've seen a lot of but I like them. I asked my boyfriend to pick the colours and this is what he chose, I think he did well. 

To create this look you need to paint one colour on your nails as normal and then paint the other colour down one side of your nails only. Don't worry about getting the line too neat. Use a nail art brush to create the jagged line down the middle and that's it. It's very simple.

               NAIL ART INFO 

Polish Used:
China Glaze - Frostbite
RARE Nails - Thief
Ulta3 - Black Satin

Tools Needed:
Nail Art Brush

Visit the other Artsy Wednesday blogs for more earthquake manicures:

Michelle - Lab Muffin

Maria - Maria's Nail Art

Catrine - Unnaked Nails

Melanie - Nail & Polish

Jessica - Beauty Gnome

Emily  - An Accent Nail

Ameerah - Valiantly Varnished

Read More

Gloss 'n Sparkle - Cookie Dough

Cookie Dough is a delicious looking creamy polish with brown hex glitter and small brown micro glitter. Unfortunately the larger brown hex glitter curls. You can see how the edges stick out of the cream base more then the centre. I was able to smooth out the polish with two coats of Seche Vite though. 

The formula was fine though. It was opaque after two coats. I really like the look of this polish. It really does look delicious!

               NAIL POLISH INFO 

Brand: Gloss 'n Sparkle

Name: Cookie Dough

Coats: 2

Year: 2012

Colour: Brown

Finish: Glitter

Formula: Big 3 Free

Made In: Australia

Volume: 12ml | 0.41 fl oz

Price: $9.00 (AUD)

Where To Buy:  
Gloss 'n Sparkle
Shoppe Eclecticco

Shop | Website | Facebook | Instagram

Read More

Gloss 'n Sparkle - Goblins Grave

Goblins Grave has a mix of holo green hex, turquoise hex and black hex and charcoal hex in a green jelly base. I can't tell if all the  hex glitters are holo because every time I look at the bottle under a light all I see is holo! The black definitely isn't holo. My swatch doesn't show the holo very well, sorry about that, it really is very evident in person. 

Goblins grave has a green jelly base but it built up nicely after three coats. This polish is different to the original version produced, the original version did not include the charcoal glitter. 

               NAIL POLISH INFO 

Brand: Gloss 'n Sparkle

Name: Goblins Grave

Coats: 3

Year: 2012

Colour: Green

Finish: Glitter

Formula: Big 3 Free

Made In: Australia

Volume: 12ml | 0.41 fl oz

Price: $9.00 (AUD)

Where To Buy:  
Gloss 'n Sparkle
Shoppe Eclecticco

Shop | Website | Facebook | Instagram

Don't forget to enter my $30 Groupon Voucher Giveaway (open to Australian residents only).

Read More

Lynnderella - Connect The Dots

Connect The Dots has a mix of different sized black hex glitter, black bar glitter, black square glitter, white hex glitter, white bar glitter and microglitter shimmery flakes that seem to flash different colours depending on the nge of  the light. 

Connect The Dots is a polish I'd had my eye on for a while now. I never got around to putting it on my wish list because it's so hard for us Aussie to get our hands on Lynnderella polishes. I was very lucky to receive this as a gift from Cathy for guest posting on her blog - More Nail Polish. Thank you so much Cathy! I'll guest post for you any time!

               NAIL POLISH INFO 

Brand: Lynnderella

Name: Connect The Dots
Coats: 1 (over Ulta3 - Peach Paradise)
Colour: Black and White
Finish: Glitter
Made In: USA
Where To Buy: 
eBay

Blog | Store

Don't forget to enter my $30 Groupon Voucher Giveaway (open to Australian residents only).

Read More