Happy Australia Day!

Australia is a pretty good place to live.

We have great weather, Vegemite, Tim Tams, Hugh Jackman and, of course, the Gum Leaf Mafia.

But possibly the best thing to ever come out of Australia is Haigh's Chocolates.  My work building is right across the road from Haigh's. This is a very bad thing because, on a daily basis, I am haunting the shop, prowling for new flavours and thrills. 

Today, I bought some handmade dark chocolates.  And promptly ate them all.  My favourites were the Rose Cream, Strawberry Cream and the Lemon Myrtle Cream. They were just so cute and delicious that I decided to create a nail art tribute to celebrate a classic Australian brand and to celebrate Australia Day.

To create this, I used RBL's Au Chocolat as the base. Of course.

For the flower, I used Mecca Cosmetica's Luciana and Helen with Sportgirl's Nail It! Apple. To create the flower, I used the end of my nail art brush as a dotting tool and then brushed the leaf on.  It's not the Mona Lisa, but it's definitely not a train wreck.  So I'm happy.

To all of the Gum Leaf Mafia, have a wonderful Australia Day.  To all my international readers, there's nothing in the Australia Day rule book that says that internationals can't celebrate also.   So lift your glasses and toast a great country that provides the world with a plethora of great food, hot men and superfly nail bloggers.

You've Got Duped - Chanel Jade

I mentioned on Sunday that I may have stumbled upon a dupe for the mythical (I call it mythical because I don't have it and - since I am little more than a petulant child - I won't believe it exists until I own it) Chanel Jade.

Sportgirl's Apple is a very close dupe to Chanel Jade, but without the gold-esque shimmer. So I took The Face Shop's YL701 and got to work.

What you see is three coats of Apple with a very light layer of YL701 over the top.

I think the closest to the Chanel Jade colour is on the index finger. With the other fingers, there is just too much yellow in the mix.

So, I know it's not a perfect dupe. YL701 is just that little bit too yellow and I think a clear shimmer might work better. Besides which, I think I'd still fork out the money for Chanel rather than a dupe, but what do you guys think? Am I close or do I need some new glasses?

Sportsgirl Nail It! - Apple

**First of all, thanks to everyone who has become a YGN follower, left me comments, or sent me emails. I'm thrilled that so many of you are enjoying my addiction to nail polish!**

Sportsgirl's range of polishes - entitled Nail It! - are three free and cheap, so you can understand why I might have a (not so secret) lacquer crush on them.

Apple is exactly like it's title. This is a bright, Granny Smith apple green that is almost a dupe for Chanel's Jade, without the shimmer.

My only gripe with this polish is the formula. It is thick and gloopy, which I don't mind so long as the finish is opaque in one to two coats.

Unfortunately, this never became opaque for me. After three coats (as shown in the swatch), there was still a visible nail line, but the lacquer had become so thick on my nail that I didn't want to add another coat for fear that it would never dry! I think it might be worth trying some thinner to see if that might help with the application.

Despite the problems with application, this really is a lovely polish for Spring and, due to its brightness, Summer too. This is my go-to polish when I need a pick-me-up. It never fails to brighten my day!