Naily News #53

There ain't no party like a Kaz Saturday Swatch Party!

Nicole casts a spell.

Diana's nail art always drags me in.  This time, its an intricate web design that you MUST see.

Ange frankens something that looks JUST like Glitter Gal's green holo.

Halloween Gloriousness from the wonderful Laynie.

Kellie Gonzo bares it all.  We wish.  But there are some nice manicures in here too.

Millie brings the Glitter Gal holo.

Ginger's konad makes me sad because I shall never be as good as this.

OMG, I MUST get these Essies!

If you have a great nail related post to share, paste a link in the comments.

Otherwise, read on after the jump to find out what Chuffy Jack Sparrow and Dick Dastardly Boo got up to during the week that had me waking up the neighbours.

MAC - Bad Fairy

The other lacquer that Carina sent to me was MAC's Bad Fairy. Oh yes. Bad Fairy.

This is just exquisite. A shimmering pink that flashes a red / orange in certain lights. You can see in the above photos, around the edge of each nail, the orange coming through.

This is one bad a** fairy lacquer.  The kind of lacquer worn by fairies who drink Tequila and dance on fairy bars in cowboy boots.

GOSH - Miss Mole

Oh dear, what an unfortunate name for such a beautiful lacquer.

Miss Mole?  Er no.  I'm renaming this Brown is the new Get In My Helmer.  

Catchy.

This is a sophisticated brown that can be worn pretty much anywhere. The formula is a true one-coater and dries to the shine you see here.

Brown is the new Get In My Helmer. Um, get in my Helmer. Stat.

Mavala - Black Velvet

Here in Australia, we don't get much love from Mavala.  Well, we get love but it's of the pink and red variety only.  We get none of the amazing collections or bright colours.  Just the neutrals.

And it's expensive.  Over $10, in my chemist anyway, for a teeny tiny bottle.  I'm not cheap, but I'm not handing over good cash for a size challenged neutral.

But this is a gift from my mother in law and it totally makes me wish Mavala would take a risk on the Aussie market and bring out more of these.

Black Velvet is by no means unique, but it is beautiful.  A deep navy shimmer with a flash of purple that you can see in the third photo.

The formula is wonderfully creamy and you only need two coats to get to opaque.

Seriously, Mavala, we Aussies need more of this goodness.

China Glaze - Awakenings - Halloween 2010

The beautiful Carina, from Gilded Nails, send me some nail polish last week.  I was expecting just the one, but Carina decided to be sneaky and threw in China Glaze's Awakening Collection.  How sweet, right?

She didn't want anything in return, but she made the mistake of putting her address on the package.  So, uh, Carina, expect some goodness in the next week.  No arguments.  I'm older than you.  By multiples.

Click on the jump to see this fantastic collection!

Estee Lauder - Surreal Violet

Now this is, quite simply, one of THE most magnificent lacquers I have ever seen.  Thanks to that fab mother in law of mine who bought this for my birthday.

Estee Lauder's Surreal Violet, which is a limited edition from Tom Pecheux's Pure Color Collection, is an amazing dirty purple with glorious swathe of pinky gold running through it.  Two coats of absolute, pure, blissful lacquer love.

My only qualm is that the bottle is near impossible to pose with!  It's kinda fat, which results in me grasping it awkwardly.  Even Brett was laughing at me trying to take a photo, and he's a very humourless individual.

Anyhoo, enough of the Grandpa Simpson-ing.  This is a spectacular lacquer.  If you chance upon it, buy it, because I suspect this might become a classic.

piCture pOlish - Grape + China Glaze Grape Pop Comparison

This is my first week of swatches using a new macro lens for my DSLR camera. So please forgive any fuzziness as I'm still familiarising myself with the lens. On the bright side, I am thrilled that my photos are 100% colour accurate. On the negative side, I need to take care of my hands better!

The fourth lacquer I have (click here, here and here for the previous reviews) from piCture pOlish is Grape.

This is a great little lacquer.  The formula is superb (two coats) and it dries to an amazing shine. The purple has an almost dusty quality to it, which I quite like.  Classic goodness.

If you haven't entered the October Giveaway as yet, there's still a week to go!  Click here for the rules, and enter using the form below.

Oh, and for those of you looking at Grape and thinking dupes, I have a very close dupe under the cut - China Glaze Grape Pop.

Naily News #52

Well well well, look who's back?  If Kaz thinks she can be the Queen of Aussie Nail Bloggers, she's going to have to coup me first.  I've been enjoying my reign of terror benevolence.

I don't think you can ever have enough Eyekos.  Am I correct?

Kellie Gonzo rocks an Ick-a-body.

When Diana does nail art, the angels sing.  What do they do when I try nail art?  Let's just say it starts with crying, continues with wailing and gnashing teeth, and usually ends up in Tequila land.

This is also hot and I probably can't do it.  If I tried, you'd all laugh at me, not with me.

All Hail McQueen? All Hail Jessika!

Who doesn't love a good red? I like red nail polish too.

Nihrida gets her Mr Big.  And she didn't have to go all the way to Paris to get it!

If you have a nail related post you'd like to share, paste a link in the comments!

Otherwise, I have no smack talk today. But I do have a picture of the scones I made yesterday, completely with a piping hot cup of Milo.  It was delicious.

I hope you are all having a great weekend and that you have a wonderful week ahead.

Boots 17 - Peacock

Today is a quickie post (my aunt is being discharged from ICU and going back to the ward, so I need to get to the hospital) and it's a lacquer I believe I have swatched previously.

I'm as slack as a tyre of an escaping felon's stolen car on 'World's Wildest Police Chases'.

This is a streaky mess but, man, I love the colour.  I could wear it every day of the week and never get bored.

Rimmel - Cranberry Zest

Ooooh, this is lovely.

This is a basic raspberry, which I always love, with a twist.  It smells of Cranberry.  Or at least it's supposed to.  I don't have a sense of smell, so I got Brett to smell this.  He says it smells like cranberry if you were to make it out of a chemical compound, which would make sense, right?

Regardless of the smell, I really like this raspberry.  It's kinda fun, young (which I'm not, so I'm glad this makes me feel younger) and the formula is delightful.

kit - Shop Loves Nude

Kit Cosmetics, I love you, but this I do not love.

Don't get me wrong. The formula is gorgeous and easy to work with.

It's just... well, its the colour. It does not suit me at all. There's just too much orange in it and not enough brown. I imagine that, on people with lighter or even dark skin tones than myself, this would work beautifully.

On the bright side, I didn't pay for this. It came as part of a buy two items, get a nail polish free. And I LOVE those kinds of deals.

Topshop - Copper Coated

Today, it's all about a Topshop flakie, Copper Coated.

Now I imagine your internal dialogue is going something like this: 'What? Topshop has a flakie? Wow... nahhhh.... can't be.  Really? A Topshop flakie?  Man, I have to see this'.

And here it is.  I've taken the photos here in flash, just so you can see how beautiful it is.

This is PHENOMENAL.  A beautiful, almost plum-like copper, with fish food like flakes peaking through.  In my lacquer collection, anyway, this is unique and I love it.  Topshop, I'm not overly religious but I'm feeling a fervour that only usually comes at the end of church.

I had a couple more photos in diffused light under the jump, just in case you want some more browny, flakie goodness.

Miss Sporty - Fatal ?

Another gift from my lovely mother in law, Kath, I don't 100% know the name of this.  I think it might be called Fatal Plum but, if you know, confirm for me in the comments.

This is a stunning purple (I know it's coming off blue in this photos, blame my cantankerous camera).  It has a lovely subtle shimmer running through it and is opaque in two coats.

The brush, however, is pure, unadulterated, hell.  Put it this way.  This is like applying lacquer with a worn out toilet brush.  It splatters everywhere and it smells funky.  I persevered with it, and engaged in a cleanup of Ben Hur biblical proportions, but I would not recommend using the brush at all.

All up, sometimes bad brushes happen to awesomesauce lacquers.  This is one of those times.

piCture pOlish - Metallic Mush

Metallic Mush is just what it sounds like.  An awesome mash up of metallic goodness, encased in a lacquer bottle and ready to rock its owner.

If you're looking at this and thinking Orly FX, then we're on the same wavelength.  I looked at this and automatically wondered if this was the love child of Shine and Rage.  Check out the comparison after the jump.

Naily News #51 + September Birthday Giveaway Winners!

 

Hands up who is looking at Boo and singing Bronski Beat's Beat Boy in their heads? Not only is Boo protecting his skin from the harsh Australian sun, he's also rocking the 80s in a way that those of us who actually grooved through the 80s can only dream about. LOVE HIM.  And love those dinosaur teefs.

I'm so sad that I didn't pick up Bad Fairy when I had the chance.  Because, really, I'm bad (Michael Jackson bad, in that I burn up the dancefloor) and I'm a fairy (in that I'm magical).

I don't need to to sell this. It's MeganChair.

If I were Ginge's postman, I'd be upping my game.

This manicure made me swear in the most unladylike way. You will swear too when you see it, so get your pirate foul mouth on.

Ange has the brand new Nubars, and they are AMAZING.

Kellie reviews Lady Sings the Blues.

I LOVE this green.

Want another view of Opulent Cloud? Spectacular.

If you have a nail related post to share, paste a link in the comments.

Otherwise, the winners of my September Birthday Giveaway are....

Christian Dior - #999

A quickie today because I'm taking Chuff and Boo shopping.  Both have saved an inordinate amount of cash in their money boxes by doing chores around the house, and it's time for a Lego-palooza!

This is a classic red.  Would suit any skintone.  Two coats and you're done.  Just superb.

Have a great Saturday everyone!

butter LONDON - Muggins

I can't say I wasn't warned.  I have lemming-ed butter LONDON's Muggins for over a year, despite being told by friends that it wasn't as impressive in person as it appeared on the butter LONDON website.

They were right.  I thought this might be a lavender with a strong denim undertone.  As it happens, it's just a lavender.  A lovely lavender but nothing more than that.

One thing that does separate this lacquer from other lavenders, however, is the formula.  Seriously, best pastel formula EVER.  Two coats.  No streaking.  Sublime and utter perfection.

Illamasqua - Scarab

The second lacquer from Illamasqua's Art of Darkness Collection is the glorious and stupendous Scarab.

This is a beautiful red, with strong brown undertones.  It almost has a rusty quality to it.  Beautifully sexy and alluring.

The beauty of both this and Viridian is their multi-facetted appearance.  In some angles, they appear bright and vibrant.  In others, they truly represent darkness.  Illamasqua have totally nailed the lacquers in this collection.  On point and instant classics.

As soon as I started applying this, I immediately thought that Barbara Daly's Envy could be a dupe.  Jump to see if my radar was on target.

Sally Hansen - Opulent Cloud - Take II

I was bitterly disappointed with the last swatch of Sally Hansen's Opulent Cloud.  So much so that I decided to redo it, to see if I could redeem my poor swatching.

I think I have done this justice.  I can absolutely see why this was such a big hit when it came out.  It's the gun metal grey mixed with gold mixed with flashes of purple mixed with a special ingredient called awesomesauce.

Illamasqua - Viridian

Oh, now THIS is something special.

Illamasqua's Viridian, from the Art of Darkness Collection.  This is a beautiful peacock green.  It glides on like a dream and you CAN get away with one coat if you're careful.  Absolutely. Adore.

When applying this, I did start to think of potential dupes.  Jump to see whether this little lovely can be replicated.