China Glaze Holiday 2010 - Part I

I was recently fortunate enough to receive the entire China Glaze Holiday 2010 Collection. All 16 bottles of the stuff! You should have seen me opening up the package. It was a mess of bubble wrap, squeeing and lamingtons.  Ok, the lamingtons I was already eating, but still!

To save my poor hands from trying to divorce me on the grounds of cruel and unusual treatment, I will post these over three days, rather than doing them all at once.  And, instead of playing favourites, I'm going to post them in alphabetical order.  I can't have them getting jealous, yo.  Tis the season and all.

Jessica - Perchance to Dream

I really like Jessica polishes but, unfortunately, I do not heart Perchance to Dream as much as the others.

It's another one of those lacquers that looks AMAZING in the bottle, but it just does not translate to the nail.

In the bottle, it is a soft, frosty pink.  On the nail, the pink all but disappears and you're left with a white frost that is... well..... underwhelming.

The formula is, as always with Jessica, sublime, quick to opaque and dries to a lovely shine.  But, yeah, the colour does not perform as it might.

Edited to add: I just realised how horribly maudlin this post is.  So, to keep things happy, my mum arrived from Europe yesterday and I have........ Chanel.

Illamasqua - Velocity Take II

Edit: Alex from Illamasqua contacted me, and the Illamasqua launch is actually now happening on 25th June 2010.  

Today is a very special day because it's the day Illamasqua finally launch in Sydney!

In honour of their arrival, I'm dedicating this manicure to Alex Box and her crew.  I'm in Sydney towards the end of next month and the only 'must do' on my list is to visit Illamasqua.  So, if you're in Sydney at the end of July and you happen to  see some sad girl sobbing at the Illamasqua counter, crying 'I just can't believe you're here.  It's a dream come truuuuuuuue', whilst bewildered (and possibly amused) Illamasqua staff wonder when they should call store security, then it's probably me.

I have swatched Velocity previously, but it's a lacquer that I really wanted to take for another spin.

This is a beautiful lacquer.  You can get away with one thick coat of this but I did two.  I love it like I love carrot cake.

I decided to try this with Prism layered over the top.  Oh man, just click on the jump to see awesomesauce of a thousand flavours.

Illamasqua - Force + Force with Prism

Force is..... a force to be reckoned. Stop groaning. I know you like my funny.

Man, this is a fabulous blue.  The formula is gorgeous.  Two coats and I was done and I didn't even need a top coat.

I promised you guys a layering experiment with Prism, so click on the jump to see it matched with Force.  Prepare for this manicure to dazzle your brains out.

I'm lost in a sea of fricking awesomesauce.

Illamasqua - Prism + Comparison with City Girl 2000 #19

This is one very special bottle of lacquer.

Not just because it's Illamasqua, which automatically makes it super special in my eyes. It's the route, and the time, it took to get to me that makes it special.

This was sent way back in April by the lovely Alex of Illamasqua. It arrived this week. That's two months it took, thanks to the volcanic ash and, for whatever reason, a brief sojourn in Switzerland. Damn lacquer wanted a nice round the world trip before it got to work. ;-)

But, oh, it was so worth the wait.  I couldn't decide which photos I liked, so I've included them all.  Prism-palooza!

Illamasqua seem to have tinkered with their formula a little.  I thought their previous one was good, but this is utter perfection.  Based on this lacquer, I can safely say I have found a lacquer that measures up to Chanel.  Perfection.

This isn't designed to go opaque.  The above swatch is three coats and you can clearly see my nail line.  This is like a CND Effects lacquer in that, although it can be worn by itself, it will transform a lacquer.  I have another Illamasqua coming up later this week where I layer this over the top and the difference is startling.

Of course, as soon as I started applying this, I thought that the City Girl 2000 #19 might be a dupe.  I have lined them up side by side after the jump.

City Girl 2000 - #19

I often equate my approach to a  lacquer with its price.  $50 and it had better be worth it.  $1.50 and I'm expecting it to turn me blind.

So I applied this with all the cheeriness that comes when you're a kamikaze manicurist (seriously, if anyone is looking for a new blog name, Kamikaze Manicurist is an awesome one).

And I didn't go blind!

This is most definitely a layering lacquer.  It might go opaque but the formula is kinda gluggy and thick and slow drying.

This is three coats over a single coat of RBL's Sheer White.  It's a beautiful, pearl-esque lacquer with flashes of blue throughout.  For a lacquer that is super cheap, I'm quite surprised at how lovely this is.

I might use this over another of the manicures later this week, just to show you how it can transform a colour.  I suspect it might not be dissimilar to the CND Colour Effects, albeit alot cheaper.

Rescue Beauty Lounge - Sheer White

The first of the RBL lacquers I want to show you is Sheer White.

Now, you guys may remember that I had some initial issues with this lacquer.  When I first applied this, I applied it over a nude nail.  For the first two coats, it looked AMAZING.  But then I decided to tempt fate and apply a third and fourth coat.  Disaster.  My tips looked yellowed and aged.

I now realise that this lacquer is meant to be worn over a French tip.  Once I did that, all my issues were resolved. 

I think it looks gorgeous.  It gives my nails a milky appearance, negates the harshness of the white tip (is it just me or does anyone else HATE french tips without a cream / pink overlay), and is just pure sophistication and elegance.  If you're a French manicure fan, I don't really think you can do without this topcoat.

If you're also someone with stained nails (and don't we all have that problem at some point), this is a great lacquer to hide the yellowing, whilst not continuing to damage and/or stain your nails.  

Finally, just to prove that my initial issues were operator error, and nothing to do with the lacquer, the swatch on the right is Sheer Milk with four coats (and a French tip).

I think it looks even more awesome than two coats - if that's possible - but let me know what you think in the comments.

Bloom - Aspen

Bloom released it's B Collection a few weeks ago.  Despite launching a mammoth 70 shades, I found that a number were repackaged hues from other collections and/or colours that form part of Bloom's core colour range, hence I didn't pick up many.

What I did splurge on was some of the glitters.  I've previously trialled Seoul, whose 'opaque in two coats' grey glitter raised my hopes that all the glitters would be opaque in two coats.

As you can see, however, not all glitters are created equal.  Aspen is a white glitter that, funnily enough, reminds me of snow.

Unlike Seoul, this is not an opaque in two coats glitter.  It's not even an opaque in four coats glitter. The swatch here is four heavy coats and there is still one heck of a visible nail line.

As disappointing as it is that this isn't opaque, not all is lost.  This is a great top coat for creme lacquers.  Because it lacks any yellow undertones, it gives other lacquers a tinsel-esque sheen.  Which makes it perfect for the upcoming holiday season.

So ladies, what do we think of Aspen?

butter LONDON - British Racing Green - Part II

The final nail art I'm trying is Pearly Queen on British Racing Green.

Whilst I'm not convinced that the design itself is a winner, I believe the white on green is a runaway star!

So, what do you guys think of this combination?

More importantly, what do you think of the butter LONDON polishes so far?

In the interests of full disclosure, I will mention that I paid full price for these lacquers. So it's a totally honest and unfettered opinion when I say that butter LONDON is up there with some of the best in terms of colour and quality. But I'm interested in your thoughts about them.

As for me, these are my new obsession. I can't wait to try out some more.

butter LONDON - Pearly Queen - Part II

I love cupcakes. I could eat cupcakes all day.

I share my work space with two of the nicest girls you could ever meet. Because we are all girls in our work area, we have been termed 'The Lady Pod'.

Each week, a member of the Lady Pod will go out and buy the Pod delicious cupcakes from The Cupcake Bakery. There's nothing nicer than a hot cup of tea, delicious cupcakes and great conversation.

So, what does this have to do with today's Konad-icure?

Well, today's nail art has been totally inspired by the lovely ladies I share my day with, and those delicious cupcakes.

This is Scoundrel over Pearly Queen using a design from Konad Plate M3. I love the way the translucent Scoundrel mixes in with the white, creating a very girly-girly manicure.

After an early disaster, I must say that these lacquers really are amazing when used with the Konad. The colours work beautifully together and really gel together as a collection.

What do you ladies think? Is this a manicure you might try?

butter LONDON - Pearly Queen - Part I

I have definitely saved my two favourite butter LONDON Fall 09 Collection lacquers until last.

Today, it's all about Pearly Queen.

I fully expected to be somewhat 'meh' about this colour. It's a white frost which, normally, is just a little too Duran Duran's The Reflex for me. White frosts bring back bad memories of cheap Cutex frosts (which were all I could afford on my sub-teen pocket money) that chipped, flaked and stained.

Pearly Queen, however, is, in a word O-U-T-S-T-A-N-D-I-N-G.

This is unlike any other white frost I've ever seen. It's like silvery snow on my nails. There is not a hint of beige or cream, as I've seen with other white frosts. This is pure, unadulterated, take no prisoners white.

I know Michelle from All Lacquered Up had brush stroke issues with this. And she's right. This can and does apply streaky. The only way around this, I've found, is to apply one thin coat and then follow up with a thicker second coat. For whatever reason, if I apply a thicker second coat, the brush strokes are more forgiving and the streaks tend to disappear. Even if you do have streaks after the second coat, a quick splash of Seche Vite erases all errors in a single brush stroke.

I love it when a polish surprises me. This surprised me and what a glorious revelation it has been.

I've taken another quick photo. This is Pearly Queen holding my first hot chocolate of the day. Sorry for the pinkish undertones coming through on the photo. This photo was taken with my crappy little point and shoot camera that I drag around with me. But, still, how nice does that look?

Mmm, butter LONDON, can we get married and stay together forever and forever because I truly believe you are my nail soul mate.

butter LONDON - Rosie Lee - Part II

I was truly stumped trying to figure out whether I could do a Konad with Rosie Lee.

I tried a couple of designs but, realistically, any design I tried got lost in the glitter orgy that is Rosie Lee.

So, instead, I did a layering experiment with another lacquer from the butter LONDON Fall 09 Collection - Pearly Queen.

This manicure is three coats of Pearly Queen with one coat of Rosie Lee over the top.

I don't think these photos do it much justice but, in person, this looks like so so so pretty. I wore this manicure last week at work for a couple of days and I was constantly complimented on how pretty it looked. This is the perfect manicure if you want a bit of bling without the side eye from the boss.