Saturday, May 15, 2010

Illamasqua polishes!

First off, I thought I was back in the game, but I am not. My life is still very hectic so the blog had to drop to the bottom of my priorities and posting will most likely be very sporadic in the near future, just so you all know whats going on. Now on to some better news! :D

Illamasqua Wink and Blow - Was trying to get creative with the bottle picture :P

The nice people at Illamasqua sent me some polishes to review. I got Blow, which is a pretty pale yellow and Wink, a nice pale purple. These are my first Illamasqua polishes so I'm of course very excited about them. But due to lack of time they have been sitting on top of my Helmer for quite a while but I hope to have worn them both soon. Pictures and reviews should be coming shortly!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010

NOTD: Claire's Dream Catcher

I had been lemming this for soo long, after I had given up on ever finding Chanel Jade anyway.
Thanks to the lovely Ange-Marie over at Scandalously Polished I own this beauty, thank you so much girl! Also got a bunch of other polishes in the swap with her, which I'll show you at a later point. Anyway here's Dream Catcher!

Claire's Dream Catcher

This is a perfect spring colour, it's green, colourful but soft and easy to wear at the same time. I LOVE IT and I already want to wear it again! The picture is showing it to be slightly paler than it really is, but it was the best picture I got of it. Application was good, this is three coats and the formula was really nice to work with. Can definitely see myself breaking my rule with this one, not wearing a polish for a second time before I've gone through all my untrieds.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010

I'M BAAAACK!

Hope you all are doing great, I know some of you have wondered where I had gone to and things have been really hectic lately and doing my nails have felt like a chore rather than something fun and enjoyable. But things are starting to slow down I think, and hopefully nails and blogging will feel fun again :)

Today I have a blue(?) beauty for you guys, looks more lilac in my eyes but her name is Beth's Blue and she comes from Models Own. Maybe Beth is color blind? Or maybe I am, judge for yourselves!

Models Own Beth's Blue

I'm almost embarrased to post this picture, look at my cuticles they're in dire need of some TLC but this colour was great and I had to show it to the world. It's a gorgeous and light colour, very wearable. The best thing about this polish though, it was a one coater and the formula was great, thick but still easy to work with.
I've gotten loads of new polishes while I was MIA which I will show to you soon, it's too much for me to photograph and post in one day. Please bear with me!
Thursday, March 11, 2010

NOTD: H&M Bella's Choice

I wore this beauty for 3 days and I didn't want to take it off! This colour made me truly happy, it's so bright, pretty and cheerful, LOVE IT!

H&M Bella's Choice

This is a super pretty and bright turquoise creme, it's leaning a tiny bit more to the green side than I managed to capture on camera but still pretty close to reality. The application was pretty bad, it was streaky, the brush bristles were kind of hard but after 3 coats and a thick coat of Poshé it looked smooth and even. This colour is totally worth it though, I already feel like wearing it again cause it made me so happy. That's all I had for you today! :)
Thursday, March 4, 2010

NOTD: Isadora Vintage Mint

On my way home from work yesterday I stopped by H&M and I found this beauty, and I just had to have it! It the most perfect mint green I own, it's one tone lighter than in the picture. Lighter than Claire's Dream Catcher and definitely more green than Essie Mint Candy Apple and Eyeko Vintage. It's just lovely!

Isadora Vintage Mint

This gorgeous mint green seem to be a part of the Isadora spring collection, I normally don't buy Isadora cause I think their colours are boring, normally a bunch of reds and pinks, and you get very little polish for the money, 6ml for roughly $11, but I couldn't pass this one up! Definitely a must have for me, especially after being a little dissapointed in all the blue toned mint "greens". This is three thin coats and the application was interesting. First coat was streaky but it got better and smoother with more coats, what was interesting though is their brush. It says Wide Brush on the bottle and they weren't kidding! Imagine OPI's Pro Wide Brush and add 50% to that. It's wide, kind of long and thick and full! I could easily cover a whole nail in one stroak but the way the brush was shaped made it a little hard to get a nice curve around the cuticles. I also ended up fanning the brush a bit too much sometimes and got polish outside of the nail. Took a little clean up after I was done, but maybe with practice I'll learn to use their brush. Overall I'm happy with the polish, and the colour was a nice surprise for an Isadora!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010

NOTD: China Glaze Coconut Kiss and Foil Fail Question

Today I'm wearing this beatuy from China Glaze. A gorgeous medium purple that looks lit from within and super shiny on the nails. Love it!

China Glaze Coconut Kiss

It took 3 super thing coats to get it opaque. I tried doing thicker coats but as the formula is really runny I got a lot of polish pooling around my cuticles, other than that the formula is nice and pigmented. It's a warmer purple than the picture shows, you all know how cameras tend to hate purple and won't photograph it correctly.

I have a question for you readers. I did my first attempt with nail foils earlier this week, and it was a disaster! A real foil fail! I had no issues applying them at all, and they looked great at first then after a while they started to go a bit matte so I slapped on some Poshé on 2 nails to get the shine back and the foil started cracking and lost all of the holo effect it was supposed to have. I then decided to leave the rest of the nails as they were without topcoat. In just a matter of hours they looked worn, I had MASSIVE tipwear and they just looked horrible, almost like the foil had turned sticky and was peeling off. I followed the instructions that came with the foils and it didn't say anything about topcoat or what to do after applying the foils.
Any ideas? Does a regular slow drying topcoat work better with foils than a fast drying? Or is there a trick on how to apply and wear foils without topcoat?
I was really dissapointed cause the foils look great and I keep seeing great foil mani's on other blogs. Would love some help from someone with more foil experience :)
Thursday, February 25, 2010

NOTD: Models Own Slate Green

Oh this is a beauty! I've been lemming Dirty Sexy Money by Misa so I'm thrilled about owning this Models Own polish as it is a pretty close dupe to the Misa. I love this type of colour, dusty and toned down but still bold and colourful.

Models Own Slate Green

This is three coats and application was good. Formula seemed very good but the brush was a bit stiff and the first coat ended up streaky, it was easy to even out with the following coats though. The only real complaint I have really is the smell. All the Models Own polishes I bought have a very strong chemical smell, almost got a headache when I swatched them on a wheel and it wasn't better applying it in 3 coats on all 10 nails. But the colours are really pretty and I'll just have to keep the window open when I use one of them next time
Friday, February 19, 2010

NOTD: China Glaze Rodeo Fanatic

Today I have a lovely blue-green duo chrome for you guys, Rodeo Fanatic by China Glaze. I bought this bottle AGES ago but I haven't worn it and I don't know why. Once I had applied it I just LOVED the colour!

China Glaze Rodeo Fanatic

This is a blue shimmer with a slight green duochrome, I tried to capture it in the picture but I don't know if I was all that successful. The purple flash you see in the bottle is just not there in reality, not on the nail nor in the bottle. This colour makes me think of scarabs, I wish I owned a real scarab coloured duochrome polish, but this is the closest I get with whats in my collection. It applied like a dream, took 2 coats for it to be opaque and it wasn't as runny as blue shimmers tend to be. I took the picture pre-cleanup but I can tell you that clean up also was easier than normal for a blue polish, no smurf fingers!

As you might have noticed the rate of my posting have dropped lately and it's cause of multiple reasons. Some personal reasons but also I'm working on a new blog/website, as I'm planning on moving to my own domain sometime in the near future. There's only so many hours in a day and I try my best to get the everyday things done, work on the new site and still do my nails and blog here. Just bear with me and hopefully I'll get back to my normal posting once the new website is up and running.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Give away Winner!

Ok ladies, I've gone through all of the entries and added them to The Hat program to let it pick my winner, and here it is...



Congratulations to Thess! I'll send you an e-mail!

Thanks to everyone who participated, wish I could give something to every one of you who takes time out of your day to read and comment on my blog. You guys is what makes blogging fun!

Monday, February 15, 2010

NOTD: Pink Zebra

Hey guys!
Hope you all had a great weekend, I've been sick with a fever again! I've been too tired to do my nails so I was rocking No Way Jose for a few days, but yesterday I wanted to do something for valentines. But after paiting the base colour I wasn't feeling the hearts and cute stuff at all so I went with a zebra print instead!


This is 2 coats of Essence Most Wanted with Konad m57 and Konad Princess polish in Black. Most Wanted is a bit darker in reality, but I just couldn't get a good shot of it. The formula is great, was almost opaque in one coat!

My 200 followers/valentines giveaway is now closed! And I hope to bring you the winner tomorrow! Good luck everyone!
Thursday, February 11, 2010

NOTD: China Glaze No Way Jose

I finally got around to wearing the 2nd polish that I am giving away here. This is version 2 of China Glazes popular and discontinued shade No way Jose. It's more pink toned than the original, but has the same pretty glass fleck shimmer. I'm normally not a pink fan unless they're hot or neons but I actually like this one, a lot, it compliments my skin tone and it's just pretty to look at.

China Glaze No Way Jose

This is three coats and it applied smoothly, no application problems what so ever. Only downside with the formula is that it dries kind of slow, even with quick dry topcoat, almost 2 hours after applying it I managed to dent my right pinky nail a bit. It was hard to get it colour accurate in the pictures, it wanted to come out more bright than it really is. It's a bit more muted or dusty but the actual base colour looks pretty accurate to me. Anywho, it's really pretty. Wish I owned the original but I'm happy I got my hands on this version anyway!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010

NOTD: Make Up Store Siw

Siw is the first Make Up Store polish I ever bought, I've picked up a couple more after painting this on. This is the best holo in my collection, there's no contest. It doesn't look like much in the bottle but I decided to give it a chance anyway. Painted it on, still nothing. Waited a few minutes until it was fully dried and was shocked. Super mega holo goodness! Like superhero holo! These pictures don't do it justice, and I guess the holo extraordinaire freaked my camera out so it didn't pick up much of the base colour, which is a icy blue.

Make Up Store Siw
Overcast daylight

Make Up Store Siw
Flash on lowest setting (mimics sunlight or lamplight)

This is three coats with base and top coat, application wasn't exactly anything to rave about. As you can see I still have some bald spots on my ring and pinky, the only trick to apply this is to have plenty of polish on the brush and work FAST. Never do more than 3 strokes on the nail then let it dry properly before next coat. I didn't have enough patience and got bald spots anyway, but thankfully you can't really see them in person cause of all the holoness going on. Another con is the price, at $16 a bottle I didnt't exactly go shopping crazy even though they had many colours I found pretty. Is it worth the price? For the holo's I'd say yes but I'm a real holo lover and I'm always on the look out for new ones. But for the rest of the collection I'd expect them to apply themselves for $16, you can probably find a much cheaper dupe or atleast a good enough substitute. I did pick up one creme to see what the formula is like, will it apply itself or not? I have yet to find out!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Haul: My First Models Own Polishes

As many others I jumped on the 50% off offer from Models Own, and I picked up 6 bottles. Wanted many more but had to limit myself :P I recieved them yesterday, and here they are:

L to R: Top Turquoise, Slate Green and Emerald City
I loved all these 3 colours, not much else to say about them. Pretty pretty pretty! I only wish the glitter in Emerald City was a bit more dense, tried them on a swatch wheel and I lost count on the coats I had to use to make it opaque.

L to R: Beth's Blue, Lemon Sherbet and Fuzzy Peach
Beth's Blue isn't really blue at all in my eyes, more lilac or maybe a pastel lavender, I'm happy though cause it's exactly how I had hoped it would be. Lemon Sherbet is as bright as in the picture, it's fantastic! Come on spring and summer, I want to wear this baby! Fuzzy Peach was alot darker and brighter than I had hoped, not sure if I like it at all at the moment. Had hoped for a more soft pastel'y peach colour, still need to try it on and see how it looks against my skin tone. Worst come to worst I'll just mix in a bunch of white to lighten it up.

After seeing swatches of some of these over at Plane Beauty I'm bummed I didn't pick up Purple Grey instead of Fuzzy Peach. I was looking at it when I was placing my order, I should have googled for swatches before deciding against it! Maybe next time, cause I'm sure I'll be wanting to shop for more Models Own!
Friday, February 5, 2010

Well, it happened..

What I hoped wouldn't happen, happened. One of the winners of my Viva la Diva giveaway never got back to me to claim her prize. So I was forced to re-draw a winner for the 2nd prize...

And the new 2nd prize winner is...









(I forgot to get a screen shot of The Hat window so just imagine it's here displaying the right name :P)

EVIL ANGEL!

Congratulations! I've sent you an e-mail =)
Thursday, February 4, 2010

Poll and a little Request

Hi everyone!
Hope you're all having a good day! I'm feeling productive, lots of posts today, 3 so far, whew! I have a poll going in the sidebar. Since I've had no motivation for nail art lately I thought maybe it'd be fun to do a nail art contest for inspiration and maybe get some new ideas. I wanted to check on the response from your readers first to see if there's even an interest in one, so please place your vote :) Also feel free to come with suggestions for themes and prizes for such a contest!


I also have a little request, to anyone who happens to live close to a Claire's. Like many others I read Brookes blog, Getcha Naild Did and recently she posted the most fantastic mini collection from Claire's with bright pastels and I NEED it! I'm also on the hunt for Claire's Dream Catcher as I completely missed out on Chanel Jade. So, is anyone out there interested in maybe doing a swap, or could help me shop for them and ship them over here? Pretty please *puppy eyes* If you are willing to do this, please send me an e-mail!

EDIT: I found someone to swap me get the polishes I wanted, BIG thank you to everyone who offered to help. You all ROCK!

Giveaway Roundup!

I'm not the only one having a giveaway right now, here's some other giveaways you all should go enter! These ladies all have lovely blogs!

Kelly from Plane Beauty is celebrating 100 followers! Congrats Kelly! She's giving away lots of great stuff.

Click the Picture above to read the rules and enter!


Gildedangel from Naive Nails is celebrating 300 followers and is giving everyone a chance to win some great Milani holograpic polishes!

Click the picture above to get to her awesome giveaway!


Diana from Painted Lady Fingers teamed up with Color Club and is giving away their new Rebel Debutante Collection, how awesome is that?

Click the picture above to get magically transported to Diana's little corner of the web and to her contest!


Last, but definitely not least, Andrea from Black Nail Polish and Lipgloss hit 300 followers and is celebrating that by giving away some really awesome loot! So much it takes 2 pictures to fit it all, check it!


Click any of the two pictures above to get to her giveaway!


What are you waiting for? GO! NOW!
But come back soon! and don't forget to enter my giveaway :)

NOTD: China Glaze 100 Proof Pink

As promised here's a nail picture of the first of the two colours that you can win in my 200 followers giveaway, the discontinued 100 Proof Pink from China Glaze.

China Glaze 100 Proof Pink

This is three coats of this pretty hot pink colour with silver glass fleck shimmer. This is a colour that makes me happy and feels like a real spring shade. The formula is great, had no application problems at all and it was really easy to control the polish with the brush. Note that this is the old China Glaze formula and it is NOT 3-free as their new polishes are. This isn't anything that bothers me personally but figured it was worth pointing out anyway. I'm really tempted to do some cute nailart on this polish, maybe something fitting for Valentines but I've had no inspiration lately, hope that changes soon!
Wednesday, February 3, 2010

200 Followers/Valentines Giveaway!

***CONTEST CLOSED ***

Things are just happening too fast on my blog! Have barely finished one giveaway before it's time for another, but I'm having alot of fun doing this! This time I'm celebrating 200 followers and that Valentines is coming up so I thought it was a good idea to give away some pink polishes! One lucky person will win 2 discontinued and hard to find China Glaze polishes! I managed to get my hands on doubles of these 2 colours when I was looking for them for myself and with the ammount of polish I own I will never ever finish a bottle of any colour so I'm giving away my unused backups of 100 Proof Pink, hot pink with silver glass fleck shimmer and No Way Jose, this is version 2 which is more pink toned than the original but still gorgeous with the same glass fleck shimmer.
I will post nail pictures of both colours shortly so you get a better idea on what they look like, until then here's a bottle pic!

Left to Right: China Glaze No Way Jose and China Glaze 100 Proof Pink


***CONTEST CLOSED ***

Here's how to enter:
Post a comment where you list your entries and include your e-mail address so I can contact you if you win. Please post only one comment with all entries, this will make it alot easier for me. To make it fair for everyone I will disqualify entries that does not follow the rules or haven't included an e-mail address.


Mandatory:

1. Become a follower, if you are already a follower that's certainly fine! Use your blogger/google friend connect account to post your entry and make sure you're not following privately, that's the only way I can check that this mandatory rule is being followed. (1 entry)

Optional extra entries:

2. Tell me which rare and discontinued nailpolish you most would like to get your hands on! (1 entry)

3. Spread the word! Make a post about the contest on your blog that links back to this page and contain the picture of the prize. Please provide a link in your entry comment. (2 entries)

4. Add me to your blogroll, if I'm already on it that counts too. Please provide a link in your entry comment. (1 entry)


***CONTEST CLOSED***

You can get a total of 5 entries! This contest is open to everyone, doesn't matter where in the world you live, it ends February 14th at midnight GMT+1 (6pm EST).
Good luck ladies! :)

Best Blog Award!

I got tagged by Solveig who has the great blog Nailin' It! Thank you so much Solveig!


The rules of this tag are as follows:

1. To accept the award, you must post it on your blog, with the name of the person who has given you the award, and a link to their blog.
2. Pass the award on to approximately 10-15 blogs that you have recently discovered and think are great!
3. Contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.


I nominate:
Nail-Design
Mon Coin à Moua
Catch the Beauty with Arie
Nails of the Day
The Chain Nail

and everyone else who is on my blogroll and haven't been tagged yet and wants to play!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Viva la Diva Giveaway Winners!

It's been a long wait but now it's finally over and I have drawn the 2 winners!

The second prize winner is..

Polish Passion!

and..

First prize goes to..

GINA!


Congratulations to both of you ladies! I have sent out e-mails to you, please reply as soon as possible. If I for some reason have not gotten a reply within the next 48 hours I will have to re-draw a winner for that prize.

Thank you to all who participated, I had alot of fun doing this and I hope you did too! And soon there will be a new chance to win some rare and discontinued shades!

NOTD: OPI Lincoln Park After Dark Suede

Hello everyone!
Hope you all had a great weekend! Today I'm showing you this beauty, Lincoln Park After Dark from OPI's suede collection.

Lincoln Park After Dark Suede - with topcoat

I love these suede polishes, they have this superpretty silver microglitter in them which makes them different and special. I prefer to wear them with topcoat because I love the shine and dimension it gives. It also helps a great deal on the durability of these polishes. This was 2 coats and application is good if you work somewhat fast, they dry really fast so if you don't cover your whole nail fast enough you might get dragging, streaks etc. but OPI's wide brush really helps with that. I don't own the original LPAD but as far as I know this looks nothing like it, imo they should have named it something new. It's really gorgeous, almost like a slightly blackened purple basecolour, in most lights the egdes look really dark and the middle is purple and the silver glitter brightens it some and makes it interesting to look at.

Coming up: My Viva La Diva giveaway has come to an end, I will draw and post the winners later today and soon I will announce my new 200 followers giveaway!
Saturday, January 30, 2010

NOTD: Glitter Gal 3D Dark Purple

Here's the other holo polish that I recived from Kerry at Glitter Gal. A gorgeous dark purple with chunky holo glitter.

Glitter Gal 3D Dark Purple
Excuse my ghastly pale hands, they're not this bad in reality but for some reason they looked like that in the only colour accurate picture I got

I took the picture using flash on a low setting as it was late and dark, but it looks pretty accurate to how it looks in sunlight and lamplight. It's super pretty and I love how dark it is compared to other purple holo's I own. I had a little application issues with this, it was like it wanted to grab and drag itself and I had some bald spots after the first coat but I waited for a little longer than normal for it to dry before applying 2nd coat and that smoothed it all out and made it perfect. Maybe I should let my basecoat dry for a little longer before using this next time.


*Product courtesy of Glitter Gal
Friday, January 29, 2010

NOTD: Glitter Gal 3D Copper

Today I'm wearing Copper from Glitter Gals 3D collection and it's gorgeous. The finish is definitely compareable to China Glazes OMG collection, which is pretty much as good as a holo can get in my book!

Glitter Gal 3D Copper

As all holo's this one is much more impressive in reality than in pictures but I did my best to catch the effect and get it colour accurate at the same time. This is three coats and application was flawless, I love how there's a full size brush in that little bottle. The colour makes me think salmon pink, not copper. It does look more like copper in the bottle though so it might be my skintone that is changing the colour, but that's only a good thing as I think this colour is much more flattering on me than any copper would be. As usual when wearing Glitter Gals products I feel the need to go shop for more. I'm a sucker for holo's and they have a big range of colours to chose from. Me likey!

Every time I post GG NOTD's I always get asked where to buy them so I figured I'd add it to the post instead :) Glitter Gal polishes can be purchased directly from their website http://www.glittergal.com.au/. They ship worldwide!

*Products courtesy of Glitter Gal

PS. Saw that I've hit 200 followers, there will be a new giveaway starting next week when the first one is over! Keep an eye out for that!!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Coming Up: Glitter Gal Holographic Polishes

Kerry at Glitter Gal sent me 2 of their holographic, or 3D, polishes that I didn't own to review. I'm really excited about both of these colours, check them out!

Left to Right: Glitter Gal 3D Copper and 3D Dark Purple
The white balance on my camera was set all wrong, therefore the yellow'ish background, but the bottle colours still look pretty accurate to me.

The purple has the same chunky holo glitter as in the previous Glitter Gal polishes that I've tried. The copper on the other hand look more like a China Glaze OMG holo in the bottle, with the fine glitter and more of a smooth holographic finish. I'm definitely excited about these, I had been eyeing the purple before and the copper one with the different holo finish definitely looks interesting. Pictures of these on my nails are coming up later this week!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010

NOTD: China Glaze Dorothy Who?

This beauty had been sitting in my untrieds for way too long! Haven't really been in a glitter mood, but decided to wear this one anyway and I'm glad I did! It's gorgeous!


China Glaze Dorothy Who?

China Glaze Dorothy Who?
Blurry to show the glitter

China Glaze Dorothy Who? bottle

This is a blue jelly'ish base packed full with blue and silver glitter. Absolutely gorgeous, no pictures do this polish justice. It took 3 coats to get it opaque which isn't bad at all compared to other glitters I own. I could rave about how pretty this is for hours, but other than that there isn't much to say about it. If you like blue glitters you NEED this!
Sunday, January 24, 2010

Giveaway Reminder!

Hello Ladies!
Just wanted to remind you about my giveaway, there's still one more week to enter! I would also like to thank all of you who already entered, one of the best things about this is all the new blogs I've found by reading all the comments. Awesome blogs I didn't even know exsisted!

This is what you can win:

First Prize
Left to Right: Viva la Diva #1, #2, #3, #5 and #6.

Second Prize
Left to Right: Viva la Diva #2 and #6.


Click any of the pictures above to get to the contest!

I noticed I was getting close to 200 followers and that's the mark for my next giveaway! I won't reveal the prize just yet but I can tell you it's something most of you will recognize but it's also something that is really hard to come by now a days.. curious? ;D
Friday, January 22, 2010

Polish Bloggers Network: Lacquer Link Love 1/22/10


Chromatic Misadventures has put together a wonderful array of swatches that include nail colors from Nails Inc., Zoya, Butter London, Essie, and so many more.


Polish Up brings you the sparkled beauty OPI Blues in the Night.


Can you appreciate a good haul? Well if so, let Black Nail Polish and Lipgloss show off the awesome goodies that she received from Lisa of Glammed Up.


The Nail Nerd has a polish sweet tooth caused by Orly's Sweet Collection.


Happy Vamp Valentines Day! The Swatchaholic shares a wonderful Konad sweet... I mean treat with all of you.


Raz from Manicure Mommasswatches her CND survey goodies and gives you an up close and personal preview.


Are you quite unfond of the scent of polish remover and feel you could live without the smell?! Well if so, Polish Galore gives a wonderful review of the lavendar scented polish removers Seche Erase & Zoya Remove.


Kellie from "Also Known As dazzles us with the gorgeous new shades of OPI's Designer Series featuring polishes infused with diamond dust.


Probably one of the most popular colors in the China Glaze Up & Away Collection, Prim and Polished brings you gorgeous swatches of Four Leaf Clover.


Naive Nails gives us a little Absolutely Alice from OPI's Alice in Wonderland


Green is the hottest color of the season... and polishSWATCHES brings you a shade you'll adore.


and now for the goodies....


Bring on the Network Giveaways!!!


How would you like to add 3 bottles of China Glaze polish to your collection? Well, let Polish Galore show you how!


You'll definitely want to be sure and check out the Nail Nerd Giveaway... she's giving away some gorgeous Viva la Diva Nail Lacquers.


Black Nail Polish and Lipgloss is having a fun and creative contest that you just have to see for yourself. I just can't spill the beans on this one!


And lastly, have you been dying to get your hands on polishes from the China Glaze Up & Away Collection?! Well, if your answer is yes... check out the Polish Freak and she'll be glad to give some to you.

Orly Sweet Swatches

Here they are, what you've all been waiting for! Or even if you didn't, here's swatches of the half of the Sweet collection that I recived.


L to R: Gumdrop, Cotton Candy and Lollipop
This is half of the Sweet collection - available April 2010

Orly Gumdrop
Gumdrop is a turquoise pastel creme. I had expected this to be more mint green for some reason, the promo text says turquoise though and that's exactly what it is. It's really flattering on me and I can definitely see myself wearing this alot later this spring. It took 2 coats for it to be opaque and I had no application issues what so ever, the formula was smooth and easy to work with.


Orly Cotton Candy
This baby was a surprise! As I've said before this wasn't really appealing to me. Never had a thing for light pinks and this one looked like a pig pink in the bottle, the colour a cartoon pig would have, but with a slight peachy tone. My skintone brought out all that peachy goodness though, to my delight. It really is peachy, or like a pastel coral on me. It's a great spring and summer colour. Really want to wear this on my toes. This one was a bit streaky and stringy and it took 3 coats and topcoat for it to be opaque and even.


Orly Lollipop
This was a colour I thought I would love but I didn't, I like it but I don't love it. It is a pretty purple pastel, but it made my hands look super pale, like I'm undead or something. I have a golden undertone, that shows in the picture but in reality it made my skintone look grey and pale. I will give it another chance when I've developed a little tan, or atleast got more colour on my skin from not being freezing all the time! On the good side it was almost opaque in one coat, had I put a little more polish on the brush to cover my whole nail I would have stopped at that. But I didn't and got some streaks so I needed a 2nd coat to even it out.

Over all I'm happy with these colours, and I want a few more from this collection especially the yellow one, it looks great in the swatches I've seen! I thought the formula was good on all of these, was only Cotton Candy who gave me a little problem but it was easily fixable by applying 3 coats so it was no biggie. I think Gumdrop is my favourite and Cotton Candy as the close 2nd and last Lollipop, but I have a feeling I'll change my mind later on when I try them against more tanned skin. I'm again happy that Orly sent me a colour I would never have picked myself cause I ended up liking it far more than I thought. They came with little lipglosses but one was missing so I decided not to swatch those, I can tell you that they smell GREAT though, like fruity candy, I just love sniffing them, too bad they don't taste as good as they smell! These colours will be available in april so keep your eyes out at your favourite e-tailers!

*Products courtesy of Laforce + Stevens
Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Orly Bloom Swatches

I've finally swatched the Orly polishes I got, all but 2 anyway. So I'll show you the Bloom colours today and Sweet tomorrow


L to R Thorned Rose, Wandering Vine, Blushing Bud
This is half of the Bloom Collection.

Orly Thorned Rose
Thorned Rose was the one colour out of the 3 I didn't find appealing at first. In the bottle it looks like a dark berry red creme, but I was wrong! It's a blood red jelly and it's really pretty on the nail. I can definitely see myself wearing this again, it makes me think of vampires. This is 3 coats, it was kind of opaque after 2 but I had some lighter areas and did another coat to even it out.


Orly Wandering Vine
Wandering Vine is everything I had hoped Enchanted Forest (Orly Fall 2009) would be. I wore that shade once and then I trade it off, it just fell flat on me. This on the other hand is gorgeous! Pretty dark green creme, that looks green in pretty much all lights. It's shiney and I love this colour. Took 2 coats for it to be opaque and it went on smoothly.


Orly Blushing Bud
Blushing Bud is a hot pink creme. Nothing spectacular about it, but I didn't own any pinks like this so it was very welcomed in to my collection. I like pinks, even though I tell myself I don't when I go polish shopping, hardly any pinks end up in my basket and I'm not sure why. This colour looks brighter and almost with a neon touch in some lights and like a regular hot pink creme in others. It would have been opaque in one coat if I had been a little more careful, but I had to do two to even it out. The formula was a little thick and I think I might thin it a little to make it easier to work with next time.


I ended up liking all 3 of the colours Orly sent me from this collection. Wandering Vine was my favourite as I had thought but Thorned Rose was a surprise and is a very close 2nd. I'm really happy they sent it to me cause I would never have bought it myself judging from how it looks in the bottle. Over all the formula was good and they were easy to work with, and the colours were gorgeous even though they kind of feel like fall colours more than spring to me.


*Products courtesy of LaForce + Stevens
Tuesday, January 19, 2010

NOTD: China Glaze Octa Gone Wild

Hi guys!
This weekend has been super hectic, and I didn't manage to get anything done which means no Orly swatches yet =( But I've got tomorrow off work so I'm gonna try and get all of them done in the morning. Today I'm wearing an "old classic", kind of, Octa Gone Wild from China Glaze's Kaleidoscope collection. The only colour I own from that collection, and I regret not buying the rest. Think a few colours are still available at some e-tailers though.


China Glaze Octa Gone Wild

China Glaze Octa Gone Wild -low light

China Glaze Octa Gone Wild - Bottle

This is the holographic collection that came out before China Glaze's OMG collection, if you compare the two Kaleidoscope has bigger holographic particles versus OMG who is much more fine. They both have that real holographic finish though, it's not just holo glitter or shimmer in a coloured base. It is super interesting to look at, you can see the holo effect even in low light but it's in sunlight or direct light this polish really pops. It applied smoothly and I didn't have any problem with dragging when appyling multiple coats, like some have experienced with holo polishes. By the time I got to the last nail on the hand the first one was already dry enough to apply next coat. After 2 coats some nails were opaque while others weren't so I did 3 coats on all. Would probably have been enough with 2 if I had applying more even coats. I topped it off with Poshé as I always do, some say topcoat lessen the holo effect but that isn't anything I have noticed. At first when you apply the topcat it will lessen, but as soon as it's fully dry all that holo goodness is back again and I need topcoat or I'd have all nails chipped within 15minutes at work :P
Friday, January 15, 2010

Polish Bloggers Network: Lacquer Link Love 1/15/10


Get prepared as The Swatchaholic shows off her Konad skills. Bringing you her fabulous "throwback" Hello Kitty Manicure inspired by MAC's Love Lace collection.


As Magic-Maid takes you to the Land of Oh Ahz and makes you think twice about clicking your heels to leave.


For those of you who have been pining over Chanel's Jade nail color, PolishFreak brings you a possible dupe. And if that particular green wasn't enough for your color fix check out Polish Up's shade from Charlotte Russe.


The Nail Nerd gives us a little "Viva la Diva" .... as Helens Nice Things shows off a lust worthy Holographic polish from H & M.


Bright Lights Big Color shows us how to "Step Outside the Box" all while Phreshmentality shows us that a little money dedicated to our nails never hurt anybody.


Also, check out Network Giveaways....


PolishFreak is giving away a set of American Apparel's backordered nail polishes.


Polish Galore is giving away Cina Glaze's Up & Away Grape Pop, Seche Vite Top Coat, and a bottle of Matte Magic.


The Swatchaholic is giving away a host of different polishes along with some nail jewel accessories.


and Body Soul Beauty is hosting her weekly Friday Freebie giveaway.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

NOTD: Viva la Diva Fall #4 + Konad

Hi guys!
The Orly colours will have to wait until the weekend when I'll have more daylight hours to swatch on. Today I'm wearing a polish from the Viva la Diva collection I'm giving away here. Of course I had to pick the only colour not in the contest, but #5 is a very close relative to this one. I wanted to add some Konad and it took 5 (yes, five!) tries to get the little bow straight, don't know what was up with me when I was trying to do this. Didn't clean up the old stamps enough either so after adding topcoat I saw the whole nail had a thin coat of silver shimmer. It would look nice, if it was on all nails!

Viva la Diva Fall 2008 #4

Viva la Diva Fall 2008 #4 Bottle

I've said it before but it's worth saying again, I really like this collection! The colours are nice and dusty, wearable almost all year around and they are opaque in one to two coats, I did 2 coats for this manicure. This purple is super pretty, I would call it a dusty grape. It's slightly more dusty than it shows in the picture, looks closer to the bottle picture. I was pretty uninspired with the Konad, but I really wanted some decoration so I used China Glaze Sci-Fi and m56 on the ring fingers and finished off by placing a little rhinestone in the center of the bow. That's all I had today, have a nice thursday everyone!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Coming up: Orly Spring and Summer Collections

I know you guys might have already seen these, but I am super excited about these colours. Orly was super kind and sent me 3 bottles each from the Bloom (Spring 2010) and Sweet (Summer 2010) collections to try out. They look great, most of them are colours I had planned on buying, and the rest looks much better in real life than in the pictures I had seen so I'm excited about them too!

Here is what I got

Orly Bloom Collection - Available now
Left to Right: Thorned Rose, Wandering Vine and Blushing Bud

Orly Sweet Collection - Available April 2010
Left to Right: Gumdrop, Cotton Candy, Lollipop

Out of the Bloom collection I had already been eyeing and thinking about buying Wandering Vine and Blushing Bud, they look great in the bottles! Thorned Rose is not a colour I would have picked myself, it is pretty though and look better in reality than in pictures. I don't own anything like it so it'll definitely be interesting to try it out. I'm a sucker for pastels so I've been looking forward to the Sweet collection. Gumdrop and Lollipop are my spontanious favourites out of the three I recieved. I hadn't planned on buying Cotton Candy at all as I thought it'd be a straight pastel pink, but it kind of has a peachy tone which makes it much more appealing to me. Going to be interesting to see how these look on the nails!

*Products courtesy of LaForce + Stevens

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Anna
Naptown, La La Land, Sweden
Nail Nerd by day, Ninja by night! My favourite things are informercials and thumb tacs... NO! It's nails of course! and ninjas. Nails and ninjas.. yup!
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