China Glaze Holiday 2010 - Part II

If you haven't already seen Part I of this collection, click here to get a slice of that holiday goodness!

After the jump is Part II of the China Glaze Holiday 2010 collection.  If you thought it couldn't get better, strap yourself in for a bumpy ride.

Mavala - Adelaide

Just a quick word on the site transition.  The new You've Got Nail is very nearly ready!  Just a word on comments, I'm still accepting and approving comments on this site, but I won't be responding to them until I've moved everything across.  So if there is a delay, it's not that I don't love you - because I love you guys like I love a cold Pepsi!)

Stop! Caca (Swatch) Time!

Oh Mavala, I thought our first date was a ripper.  We clicked.  We chatted over wine.  We promised to keep in touch.

This was not what I had in mind by keeping in touch.

Let's go through the good things first. *Silence*

Ok, now, onto the bad.  The formula is ok (two coats) but it streaks badly.  And the colour?  It's just not me at all.

Well, it was me in 1988 but so was Rick Astley and Bros and I'm pretty sure I don't want to revisit that hot mess all over again.  Even my kids laughed at the photos of me at my 14th birthday party (I was wearing Dexie's Midnight Runner style overalls, with a striped sailor top underneath).

Mecca Cosmetica - Katharina

When I received Katharina, as part of the Melbourne Beauty Blogger Event, I was fully 'meh'. A pink? Been there. Done that. Got the bored stares of onlookers to show for it.  I fully got my ungrateful wretch on.

Sometimes, though, a lacquer will surprise you. And this one certainly has.

This is a perfect mix, on the nail, of coral and pink.   I tried to Brangelina the mix.  Corink?  Piral?  Let me work on that some more.

In short, superb formula and universally flattering shade.  I heart, and am somewhat embarrassed at my initial reaction, because, really, this is fab.

This lacquer was provided to me for review.  For more information on YGN's Disclosure Policy, please click here.

Sinful Colors - Just You Wait

Sinful Colors' Just You Wait is a sheer pink with an iridescent green flash throughout.

I quite heart the green flash.  It takes what might be quite a boring colour and injects some va-va-va-voom.

On the other hand, I do not heart the sheerness of the pink.  Can you imagine how hot this would look if it were a solid pink creme with the green flash?  I'm having a hot flush just thinking about it.

Orly - Foil FX comes to Australia

I know this collection will be old news for my Northern Hemisphere lovelies, but it's just been released here in Australia. So I figured I would give it another try for those Aussies considering buying it.

In short, a glorious collection with one clear and utterly unique standout.  This collection may be coming later to Australia but it's perfect timing as we lead up to Christmas parties.

 Jump to see more!

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.

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.

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.

piCture pOlish - Mad Magenta

The second in my series of piCture pOlish lacquers is the glorious Mad Magenta.

This is a beautiful bright pink with a strong purple undertone running through it (I found it near impossible to capture this as it really looks.  Hence you might notice different lighting as this was the closest I could get to the real hue).  As you can see, it doesn't dry to a gloss finish and is more a satin matte.  Which I quite like but, if you're a fan of the high gloss, make sure you apply a top coat over the top (which I recommend anyway to extend the durability of your manicure).

Also, The Girls from piCture pOlish have informed me that international shipping is now available. So for those of you not from Australia, you can now purchase freely and excitedly!


Have you entered the piCture pOlish Giveaway as yet?  Read here for the rules of entry and use the entry form below for your chance to win three piCture pOlish lacquers of your choice.




The lacquer in this reviewed was provided by piCture pOlish. For more information on YGN's Disclosure Policy, please click here.

OPI - We'll Always Have Paris Suede

Ahhh, God bless caca swatches. They keep me grounded and stop me from getting cocky.

This week's caca swatch is proudly brought to you by the oil like substance that seems to have invaded my bottle of OPI's We'll Always Have Paris Suede.

I noticed as soon as I started swatching that the milk wasn't clean with this formula.  The oil seemed to have separated the lacquer.

That made it near impossible to apply evenly or cleanly because the lacquer literally sloshed around the nail.

It also resulted in the lacquer drying as a gloss, rather than a suede.  I tried to mattify if by applying Essie's Matte About You and the colour literally slid off the nail.  DISASTER.

Something was definitely wrong with this formula. Maybe I should stop buying OPIs from dusty bins but, like my addiction to buying fried ice-cream from unhygienic street hawkers, I'm not sure I can ever stop.

At least the colour is pretty!

butter LONDON - Pink Ribbon & Fash Pack

If you're an Aussie, October's Harper Bazaar Magazine has a special gift for you.  Yep, it's Gisele Bundchen talking smack about breast feeding!  Oh yeah, and there's a free butter LONDON lacquer included in the $9.95 purchase price.  You can pick from two colours: Pink Ribbon and Fash Pack.

Being the ridiculously addicted to lacquer individual that I am, I naturally bought two copies of said magazine just to get the two colours, which I've swatched here.  Excuse the smudge marks on the bottles.  These lacquers make me grabby.

The first, Pink Ribbon, is a sheer pink.  And when I say sheer, this was five coats.  This has its place as the perfect accompaniment to a French Manicure but I wouldn't wear it on its own. 

It's Fash Pack that's the clear winner and the one I would recommend if you are thinking of buying.  Peep it after the jump.

Eyeko - Punk & Chi Chi + Rosie Lee Comparison

I think I must be the 432nd blogger to post these so... I don't know... just pretend to be surprised and in awe.

Punk and Chi Chi are two limited edition lacquers that continue Eyeko's legacy of developing on trend lacquers.  Punk is a glorious bubble gum pink that is creamy and delicious.  Chi Chi is a pink glitter in a milky base.

I must say, the formula on Eyeko lacquers just keep on getting better and better.  When I compare Punk and Chi Chi to the original lacquers released last year, you could really be talking about two different brands.

Peep Punk and Chi Chi after the jump. Also, I've lined up Chi Chi and butter LONDON's Rosie Lee, since many have thought that Chi Chi might be a cheap dupe.

China Glaze - BFF

Another super quickie from me today. I'm kinda behind on... well.... EVERYTHING....  Plus my Director is overseas next week so I'm trying to get a whole lot done before he heads off tomorrow night.

Not that I need to sell the following.

Whoever came up with the idea for this collection..... well I just hope they got the world's biggest performance bonus ever.  Off the chain.

BYS - UV Nail Polish Collection - Part II

If you haven't seen Part I of this collection, click here.

Under the jump is Part II of the BYS UV Nail Polish Collection.  And my favourites. :-)

Just a comment on the formula.  This is an extremely thin formula, with the exception of Thunderstruck which was very thick.  So none of them ever get completely opaque, even with multiple coats (I did four for each swatch bar Thunderstruck, where I only needed two).  This doesn't bother me because they work beautifully under the UV and, really, that's their main purpose.

In terms of wear, they will last so long as you wrap the ends and use a good top coat (which doesn't seem to impact the UV-ability of the lacquer, although BYS do have a UV top coat available). Because the formula is thin, they can chip easily if there is no top coat over the top.

So read on to see some more UV goodness.  Peep it!

Scandal - Disco Purple

Today, I have another Scandal for you.  This one is called Disco Purple although, in reality, it's a pink.  So someone at Scandal HQ buggered up the name unless, for whatever reason, in discos, purples are really pink.  I don't go to discos so I can't really comment.

Ok, enough Grandpa Simpson-ing already Jacie!

This is..... ok.  I quite like the pink base but the glitter is a little one dimensional.  Unlike Green Pearl, this just doesn't have any depth to it, making it nice but bland.  Which is a damn shame because it looks so promising in the bottle.

Better luck next time, right?

Borghese - Bellisima Rose

A very quick one today because I'm a little frantic at work and my boss will start giving me the side-eye if I don't get a report to him by the end of the day.

It's pink.  It's a creme. It's opaque in two coats.  What's not to love?

Sally Hansen - Pink Pearl

Ahhh, you didn't think we'd have a week WITHOUT a caca swatch did you?

This week, it's Sally Hansen's Pink Pearl.

I think this is a good polish.  It's just not good on me.  Four coats, very visible nail line, dries to a satin matte finish.  For many reasons, I do not heart.

Stay tuned because I have another post coming up today.  A rehash of Borghese's Stellar Notte that is far superior to my initial caca swatch.  It's the nail blogosphere good story of the year!  You won't want to miss it.

Wet 'n Wild - Glitz + a Boosh Mosh Up

It's a special day, as this is my very first Wet 'n Wild!

And what a fab lacquer Craze Glitz is (thanks to Halifax in the comments for correcting my dumb a** on the name of this).  Ok, it's a glitter which means it's a pain in the a** to both apply and remove but.... hot damn, I love this.

This works well on its own (the above is four coats) and as a layering lacquer.  Jump to see a Craze Glitz / Boosh Mosh Up.

China Glaze - TTYL

Sick of holos yet?  If your answer is 'yes', then close this window STAT because here comes another one.  If you're still here, drag up a chair and enjoy the show.

This is one of CG's more subtle holos but, for that reason, I reckon it's a great beginner holo.  If you're not too sure about holos, this is perfect.  It's also a great holo for those of us working in conservative office environments. 

Love it.