Apr 27, 2012

Glitter Me Up Friday


Shaina from SG Nails has started a little Glitter Me Up Friday group, which means every Friday we wear glitter polishes.  Today being our first glitter Friday I thought I'd kick things off with a very special polish my husband made.  Yep He-Who-Buys-Me-Polish made this franken a while ago for Shatter me Claire's FrankenMarch contest.  Contest details here (it was in March), and you can view the entries here.  My entry was the purple one called Iris You Well and my husbands entry was a bit of a surprise.  He'd been franking behind my back, with my supplies and he made a full sized bottle!  I've only ever made minis myself and he went and used one of my (not empty) Sally Hansen Mega Shine, quick dry, top coat bottles.   Anyway I've been meaning to try his polish ever since (there's a lot to use up) but keep getting distracted by new polishes.  I actually planned on wearing it for Easter as chocolate nails but was a bit over chocolate by the time Easter came.

So for Glitter Me Up Friday I present Sparkly Turd by The Provider.
 A rich coppery brown metallic packed with multi sized glitters in gold, copper and even some tiny bits of blue.  He lists the ingredients as Essence Gold Old Buffy, Essence Grand-plie in Black, (both brand new and never worn and he frankened with them!) Face of Australia Molten Lava, BYS Pot of Gold (for some glitter) plus some big and small copper glitter (I think they are some I got from ebay that tested colour stable) and some Travel to Mercury (which gives a bit of a duochrome).
 There must be something else in there that gives it the blue flecks and whatever was left of the Mega Shine.  The glitter holds up well so he either used some of my suspension base or all the glitter polishes he included are doing the same job.
In the shade outside.

It's well pigmented, I could almost get away with one coat but prefer 2.  The glitter is easy to get out of the bottle but I ended up wiping most of the big bits back into the bottle for a subtler look.  The consistency is good, I didn't have any application issues and the glitter sits flat. It's surprisingly smooth and dries fast, probably because of the Mega Shine in it.   I finished with a coat of Seche Vite.
In the sun.

So far it's holding up well and today has been pretty tough on my nails.  My parents left today for 3 months in Sweden (visiting my brother) and on the way to the airport they had to stop in and swap luggage.  Their's broke so they borrowed my big suitcase which means I had to rummage around under the stairs to find it.  Very hard on the nails, (harder on my head that hit the stairs), but no chipping, cracking or shinkage yet.  I also had a lot of hand washing and floor scrubbing today between the toilet training child and my parents cat who is now staying with us and has decided he doesn't want to use the litter tray :(  Yep it's been an appropriate day to wear Sparkly Turd.


Look, I ended up with a star on my right thumb nail.  I had no idea there were stars in there, I can't see any in the bottle.  Sorry for the poor photo.  It is so hard to take a photo of my own right thumb.
Now if you'd like to see the rest of the Glitter Me Up Friday players hurry along to...

Mam Glam from GlamOnTheCheap
and of course
Shaina from SG Nails who started Glitter Me Up Friday

Apr 25, 2012

ANZAC Day Poppies

I didn't make the dawn service (the kids give us a dawn service every day) but I did wear poppies for ANZAC Day and tried to keep it Australian.  The poppy flowers in Turkey in early spring, as it did in April 1915 when the ANZACs landed at Gallipoli.  In Australia wreaths of poppies are traditionally placed at memorials and honour boards on ANZAC Day.

The red polish is an old Australian brand Satin called Poppy.  I've had it for over 10 years and it's my favourite plain red, I call it my plastic red.  It's one of the few polishes I kept when I gave away my collection way back when we were trying to conceive our first child (part of a detox). The base is Australian Ulta3 clear.  The black is another Ulta3, but the made in PRC version that is a single coater.  The greens are no name cheap ebay nail art brush/pens.  I topped it all with INM Out The Door Northern Lights, a top coat with silver holo.  In keeping with the Australian theme I should have used Joss Southern Lights but I don't have any.

Unfortunately the red and black both dragged/bled when I applied the top coat but I don't mind my poppies being of the fringed variety :)

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

John McCrae, May 1915

Apr 24, 2012

Glitter tips

As a update to yesterdays nails I decided to try the I Nuovi Glitterati sparkling cosmetic glitter that arrived in this months Lust Have It pack.  The colour I received is Blonde Fever.

I used some holo gold striping tape to section of the tips of my nails, then painted the tips and dipped them in the glitter while still wet.  For the first 2 nails I used a clear quick dry polish for under the glitter but I found it too hard to see where I'd painted so for the rest I used Sally Hansen Golden Cinnabar (just the first goldish colour I could reach).  Using a coloured polish made it much easier to paint the tips neatly but also helped disguise any gaps where the glitter didn't stick/fell off.  Not that there seem to be any gaps since the first nail (my index finger) which I patched up with more glitter.  Then I pressed the glitter into the polish as it dried (with my fingers) and used a soft brush to clean away the loose glitter.

I coated the tips with a layer of Gelous and then Essie To Dry For.  It still feels rough but not bad really.  If I used a thicker top coat like Essie Good To Go or Seche Vite it would probably be smooth (and thick).
So far it's lasted really well all day.  Dealing with kids and meals and lots of hand washing.  It will be interesting to see how it copes with my morning shower.
The glitter is a bit dangerous though.  I've already scratched my eyelid and just scratched an itch on the top of my nose and removed a chunk of skin :(

Apr 22, 2012

Popular and Enticing

This is 1 coat of Revlon Popular over 3 coats of Cult Nails Enticing from the Divas & Drama collection.  It's not what I planned on wearing and it's a little too thick for my taste but it does look pretty.  You can see how thick it is on the tip of my index finger and there's a stray piece of red glitter on my ring finger.  I have no idea where that came from.
Cult Nails Enticing is a sheer pale pink that's buildable to opaque.  I was hoping to get away with 2 coats but I was rushed for time so I planned on doing 1 coat before I went out for lunch then adding the second later.  I figured I could live with sheer for a few hours.  The problem was the first coat was streaky so I quickly added a second to try and even it out.  Unfortunately that didn't work and I then had 2 wet coats that were streaky and sheer.  So I used some quick dry drops which caused the polish to bubble horribly and then I still managed to bang 3 nails on my way out.  I ended up pressing the tacky polish back into place while it dried in the car.  It looked pretty bad :(
When I got home I had the choice of removing it or adding another coat.  Of course I took the lazy option and did a 3rd coat.  It didn't help, it was getting getting thick on the tips, still had some streaks and the bubbles showed through.   So what did I do, yep the lazy option again, I added another polish.  My favourite fix for a streaky, bubbly polish is glitter, it hides so much.  So I did 1 coat of Revlon Popular (aka Starry Pink).  No more bubbles or streaks and it looked pretty, just too thick.
Popular is a really soft pink with a heap of silver glitter that gives a delicate, greyish look.  It's sheer but buildable too.  The glitter lays flat and the finish is suprisingly smooth for a glitter polish.  It needs 3 coats for opacity but with the glitter to break it up it actually looks pretty good with just 2 coats.   I finished up with a coat of Essie To Dry For, my thinnest quick dry top coat.
I left it at that last night with every intention of removing it this morning but I'm really loving the colour so I think I'll hang on to it for a few more days.  It's a shame though because I was looking forward to wearing a nice simple Enticing manicure but I ruined it by rushing.  I'm going to have to try again soon because I should be able to get it streak free.  The sad thing is my bottle of Enticing is looking 'used' now and I don't have any Enticing nails to show for it.  Sad for my Revlon Popular too.  It doesn't need underwear, it looks best as 2 coats on it's own.  The 2 coats give the glitter a little more depth and it's a softer grey pink without the Enticing underneath.  So I ended up with neither the look of Popular or Enticing and feel like I wasted both.  They do look pretty together though.  I'll just have to try each on their own again.
Oh and lunch was nice :)  We had a BBQ at my parents, a last lunch together before they jet off to Sweden for 3 months to stay with my brother.  I took advantage of the garden to take some photos.

Apr 17, 2012

Innisfree Eco Nail 82

My nails are currently the shortest they've been for a while so it seemed like a good time to wear one of the sheer glitter polishes I got last week.  Short nails mean less visible nail line :)

This is Innisfree Eco Nail 82.  A pale yellow creme with copper and green hex glitter and green micro glitter.  The green glitter has the effect of making the polish look a little limey but it's not (despite my photos), it's really a pastel yellow.  It was as sheer as I expected and streaky but I love it.  I love the soft colour, the creme finish and the sparse glitter.

This is three coats which built up just the right amount of glitter to accent the colour without overwhelming it.  Apart from the streakiness, application was smooth, not too thick or thin.  Easily controlled and normal drying time.  The only thing I had a little difficulty with was the short brush.  I don't usually have any problems with short brushes, I have a lot of mini franken bottles, but they have small lids.  This lid is as wide as the bottle so it's difficult to see the brush tip past the lid while painting (if you paint from above like I do).

It's still a bit sheer but for this polish I like it.  I would have stopped at two or even one coat if it wasn't so streaky.  The sheerness worked with the delicate colour.

Photographing it was tricky.  There was no sun to work with yesterday, so low light and slow exposures gave me blurry red fingers, and today was even worse with the rain.
My 3yo helped me take photos and was excited that the polish was yellow.  It's his favourite colour this week.
He tried to show me that it was the same colour as his hair by holding it up next to his face.
Nope not quite a dupe :)

Apr 16, 2012

Nail polish jewellery

I thought I'd share some pics of a piece of jewellery I made yesterday.  OK it's a lot of pics but I was trying to catch all the colour shifts :)
This is a bracelet made with Pretty & Polished Jealous over a franken I made with Sinful Colors San Francisco, Ozotic 507, some black and another green (but I can't remember which because I didn't write it down when I made it).




This was made to match a ring I made a while ago but I forgot to include the ring in the photos.


The lovely slim arm in the photos belongs to my 7yo son.  My wrist is the hairy one.  I had trouble getting the camera far enough away to photograph my own wrist and when I saw all that hair in macro I decided to enlist the boy.  Poor kid had to be dragged away from watching Doctor Who but he does have a lovely arm :)  The bracelet looks huge on his little arm.
It was an overcast day so I didn't have quite enough sun to bring out the full effect of the gold shift.  The ring shows a lot more gold but the bracelet has higher domed glass which seems to bring out the blue more.




One crazy mega giveaway!

Nope sorry it's not mine, I am planning one when I get to 100 followers, but it wont be this mega.
Carly from Vintage Musings of a Modern Pinup / Konadlicious is having an amazing 3000 follower giveaway.  The prizes are full of awesomeness!  You definitely don't want to miss your chance at this.
While you're there have a good read through her blog too.  It's one of my favourites I look forward to reading each day.  Carly has an amazing sense of style and beautiful nails :)
Blog here http://konadlicious.blogspot.com.au
Giveaway here http://konadlicious.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/konadlicious-500-awesome-3000-followers.html

Apr 15, 2012

A week of nail mail

I had a great week of nail mail so I thought I'd share some pics.  I've swatched all these on a nail wheel but haven't worn any yet.  Some are dupes of each other, or polishes I already have, so I'm looking forward to doing some comparison posts.  I also received 2 custom Dalek coffee mugs I ordered and some more nail polish jewellery making supplies this week.  It's been a good week (except for the hairdresser bleaching my hair orange!).

My latest ozsale order arrived Tuesday while I was out which meant having to wait until the next day to pick them up from the post office.  I wasn't too impressed when I dragged junior out to the post office Wednesday only to find that my parcel had been taken to another post office (quite a bit further away) because the local post office doesn't have room for parcels.  Really not impressed!
This package was actually really well packed with plenty of bubble wrap, unlike my last polish order from ozsale which was sent as loose bottles in a bag with no wrapping.   I must admit I was a bit worried about what state these would arrive in.  I'm so glad there were no breaks or leaks.
This order was all Revlons.  I've mostly overlooked Revlons in my collection.  Something about the dated bottle shape just doesn't appeal to me which means I don't bother looking when I come across Revlons.  I really don't know why, it's actually quite a practical bottle shape, the wider base makes it nice and stable while using, but I'm a visual person and the look just doesn't work for me.  Plus Revlons have a high retail price here for something so readily available (like OPI).  These ones were only $4 each though so I grabbed a few that I've been curious about.
Here's Modern grace, Super Nature and Glitz & Glam  All look pretty good with 1 coat.

These are Apple-tini Fizz, Mint Fizz, Grape Fizz and Orange Fizz.

The fizzes are scented.  I've never tried scented polish before so I'm surprised at how strong these are.  Really stinky!  Not unpleasant but strong.  I swatched each of these on a nail wheel and left it sitting on my desk and it wasn't long before I had a headache.  So I'm not sure about these.  I'm not a fan of wearing food scented products and I sleep at night with my hands under my chin which means anything on my nails is really noticeable (I choose my nightly hand cream by scent).  The smell hasn't really faded after 4 days but maybe a top coat will tame the scent.  They are really sheer (which I expected) but they have an interesting depth that builds up over many layers and they work well over black.  The Apple-tini Fizz looks good over Super Nature and Grape Fizz looks good over Modern Grace. 

I also finally received most of my order from Ninja Polish  I ordered these on the 3rd March and everything was shown as in stock at the time so I'm confused as to why they have taken so long and I'm still waiting on 1 polish.   These weren't shipped until the 27th.  I understand that popular polishes can sell out quickly but they were in stock when the website let me order and at no point was I told they weren't in stock or that there would be any delay.   The polish I'm still waiting on is a NerdLacquer that I could have ordered from Etsy since.  I've placed and received a NerdLacquer order from Etsy in the time I've been waiting for this order.  I was excited to see another site offering a range of polishes with reasonable international shipping but I am really confused about how the Ninja Polish ordering system works :(
This is Nail-Venturous Floam, the controversial Sticks 'n Stones (yes I have the original too), Up Colors Banho de Mar! flakie and Jessica Iridescent Eye (the Chanel dupe).

Jessica Starry Night and Superstar glitters and  Hologram Chic Disco Diva and Retro Revival base coat

The glitters were included as freebies as compensation for the wait which is really nice but I think I would have preferred to be told there was a delay. Waiting is easier if you know why (at least it is for me). 
The Disco Diva and Retro Revival come as a boxed set.  I've never tried a special base for holos before so this will be interesting.  Disco Diva is one of those holos that doesn't show while wet so in the bottle it looks like silver but when dry it holos beautifully (at least it did on the nail wheel).  The instructions say not to use a top coat so of course I had to try one.  The holo vanished when I put the top coat on but as soon as it dried it looked just as holo as without, but shinier :)

I also received a very special order from Cristina at The Cutest Makeup www.thecutestmakeup.com and I cannot recommend her highly enough!  Wonderful customer service, great communication and everything was very well packed.  Cristina's blog has all those cute Asian cosmetics that you wish you could get your hands on but can't find locally and if you find a website selling them you can't read it (google translate just doesn't work that well for shopping).  Cristina is in Korea and has access to these goodies.  So you can read her blog with all these wonderful products, with prices and photos, then fill in her order and request form and she will shop for you.  It's like having a personal shopper.  It's so easy I may have gone a bit overboard :)  All the way through the process she keeps you updated including sending photos of your goodies once she's got them.  Payment is via paypal and she offers different shipping options.  I chose the fast EMS shipping for this lot because I just didn't want to wait.  Regular shipping from Korea has been taking around 6 weeks lately (from ebay).
I am so thrilled with this order, the products and the service.  I'm already making a mental list for my next order from Cristina.  I'm getting low on my Etude House Missing U Hand cream so if I order soon I can get the cheaper shipping option and hopefully it will get here before I run out.  That's if it's still available, I hope so, I use the green tea/baby seal one and it smells divine!  I put it on at night and when I get up in the morning my hands feel soft (and not greasy).  One of these days I should do a blog post about all the different hand and cuticle creams I have.
So what did I get?  Sorry I'm going by number here, and google for names, because I can't read the names on the labels (if there are any).  Here's Skin Food Nail Vita VI408 (Violet Stone?),  Peripera Perfume Nails P018 (Crystal Blue?),  The Face Shop WH003,  Etude House Petite Darling  PK015 (Romantic Pink?) and BL505 (Ocean Blue or Oh So Blue?)
The Face Shop WH003 and  Etude House PK015 were surprise gifts from Cristina and are just perfect for my recent pink mood.  WH003 is a sparse holo glitter with pretty pink hearts, very delicate and PK015 has a shimmer to it that doesn't show in the photo.
The Peripera is scented but it's subtle, not overwhelming like the Revlons.  On the nail wheel I can only just smell it next to the other polishes.  I actually wanted Peripera P027 but it wasn't available so I left it up to Cristina to pick another colour for me, I just really wanted one of these cute cat bottles. I'm really pleased with this blue she chose, it has a very pretty shimmer to it.
Next we have Innisfree Eco Nail 42, 43 and 73.  All interesting layering glitters.  43 has these large iridescent hex pieces that look amazing over black.

Innisfree Eco Nail 81, 82, 83, 84, 85.  Look how pretty they are!  I couldn't pick just one.

Missha The Style Crystal Nail Polish HGR01 and JPK01.  Tony Moly Nail Glitter GS08 and GS09

I also ordered this new BB cream from Cristina.  I've been using a different Skin Food BB cream but I'm running out so I thought I'd try their Good Afternoon Berry Berry Tea.  This one was hard to track down.  Berry Berry is the one that seems best for older skin.
In this photo I've included a cheap red magnetic polish I ordered from ebay which came this week, after 6 weeks.  It was only a few dollars with 2 magnets so I thought it was worth a try.  Initial testing on the nail wheel is disappointing.  It isn't as red as it looks in the bottle, it dries to an almost matte finish and the magnets are really weak.  Even with the magnets from my Laylas it doesn't make much of a pattern.  I'll try it again though.  It was very well packaged with free shipping though :)
Cristina also included some nail stickers and samples which I can't wait to try.  I might just find some new products I 'need' :) 
My problem now is what to wear first.  I cut my nails short today.  The break on my middle nail had finally grown out far enough to cut it off.  It feels strange having short nails.  So does anyone have any suggestions which to wear first, any requests?  I will probably do a comparison post with Chanel Peridot, Jessica Iridescent Eye, Missha HGR01 and other similars like Ozotic/Chemistry, and I think I need to compare Lynnderella Connect the Dots with Sticks and Stones (preferring Lynnderella so far) and probably the Tony Moly GS08 with Innisfree 84.  Oh and I could compare the Jessica with a heap of other holos (Layla is still my favourite) and Up Colors with my other flakies.
Other than that what should I wear?

Apr 11, 2012

Pink tips

I still haven't found the perfect pale pink creme but I was in the mood for some pretty pink nails.  The only pale pink creme I have is a streaky mess so I used it to get my base colour and layered a couple of other polishes to hide/blend the streaks.

The end result isn't a creme but I was pretty pleased with the frosty pink.  Surprisingly the colour looked good with my skin tone.

Unfortunately all the layers made this a little thick, especially at the tips, so I didn't wear it long.
Why can't I find a nice pale pink that isn't streaky and only needs 2 coats?

Yep that's my right hand, it looked better than my left.  All these polish layers didn't sit well over my wrapped broken nail.

This thick pink armour was 3 coats of a Diffi polish without a name or number, 1 coat of an OPI mini without a name or number, and 1 coat of Nfu-Oh 48.
Can anyone recommend a pale pink creme please?

Apr 9, 2012

Easter Green

I was so sure I was going to wear chocolate for Easter, in particular a glittery brown franken my husband made, but I just couldn't get this beautiful green out of my mind.  The brown can wait for another day.  This weekend I wore NerdLacquer No Medal for Chewie.
Green is my favourite colour.  I am constantly on the hunt for the perfect green and currently this is it!   Not just because I love the the green but the glitter balance is perfect, the finish is smooth and it's wonderfully opaque in 2 coats.

My husband said it looks like Easter eggs in grass, which is exactly what we had all over the backyard yesterday and my nails matched beautifully.

I think it's more like the late afternoon sun dancing on wet grass after a sunshower.
Actually this green is pretty much the same as my bathroom towels (without the glitter, though things get a bit glittery after I've been frankening).
No Medal for Chewie went on evenly without any streaking or dragging, dried pretty quickly and felt smooth to the touch but I added a coat of Essie Good to Go for a nice glassy finish.
I looooooove this green!

and if anyone is curious the background in that last shot is  from a canvas I made yesterday.

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