Nails Inc - Topping Lane

If you've been following my blog for a while, you'll notice that I'm a lover of cremes and shimmers. Glitter rarely graces my nails, but I absolutely love it on other people. So today I'm trying something new. This is Topping Lane from the Nails Inc Sprinkles collection, a pink base with pink, blue and silver glitter. The first coat was predictably a little sparse on the glitter front, but the second coat was full and opaque so I stopped there. I could have done a third for an extra glitter splash, but decided against it. I also couldn't decide whether to mattify it or top coat it, so I went with neither. It's a little chunky as you can imagine, but it's not really bothersome because there aren't any sharp edges from the glitter poking out, they lay nice and flat. This isn't a polish that I could wear for more than a day, but it's a fun colour that takes me back to my childish roots :)

2 coats, no top coat.

I bought it off of beautybay.com (free int'l shipping!) - not sure where else it's available.

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Chanel - Distraction

Sorry I haven't posted the last couple of days, but today I'm back with a colour I could of sworn I'd photographed before. I wear Distraction quite often compared to the circulation of my other polishes (i.e. i've worn it more than 3 times) but I'm not really sure if I like it. I mean the colour is amazing, a medium to brighter pink with a coral warmth, but whenever it's on my fingers I'm always just a touch underwhelmed. Anyway, this is 2 coats with 1 coat top coat.

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PS - I've been wearing only pinks these last few days because I'm trying to convince myself that I don't need Dior's Rosy Bow, but at the same time, I'm trying to convince myself that I have nothing like it in my collection. What do you guys think, a must have or a miss? I'm so undecided!

OPI - I Don't Give A Rotterdam!

I broke my pinky nail off a couple of days ago when I was taking off Sprung, so I didn't upload my last manis. But then I thought if you've been reading my blog for awhile, you've seen my nails in worse condition so why not. So here is I Don't Give A Rotterdam! from the Holland collection. This was probably my most wanted colour from that collection, even though I'm not huge on blues, so I was so excited when it came a few weeks ago. But now looking at it on my nails, I'm not the biggest fan. I mean its nice, but the silver shimmer gives the colour almost a watery effect, which makes it look a little splotchy/bald in places, even though I don't think it was. But I'm still glad I gave it a try, I might like it better in winter or with another coat.

2 coats, 1 coat Essie GTG top coat.

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Oh and you know how I was bummed when Chanel's Emprise nail polish was sold out at my local (and only) counter? Who knew you could buy Chanel on eBay! I got it from a seller who had 10,000 positive reviews, so it better not be a fake!

OPI - Sprung

I know absolutely nothing about Mariah Carey and I'm not into textured nail polishes (the whole fish egg, flocking, liquid sand, etc. trends), so I was completely fine at skipping this collection and buying up the whole of the Euro Centrale collection. But somehow I ended up with Sprung and Anti-Bleak, and I'm skipping the entire euro collection - go figure. The foil/glitter/shimmer/whatever formula on this is the one that OPI does so well - this is like the rosy gold/pink cousin of Warm & Fozzie (which leans more antiqued golden as the 'base' colour). I did 3 coats but you could get away with 2 careful coats, and I popped Revlon's Colorstay top coat on top. Note: I took these photos at the end of the day, so I could only capture 1 'sunlight' photo before the sun disappeared.

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Deborah Lippmann - Mermaid's Dream

Today's nail polish pick was Deborah Lippmann's Mermaid's Dream - a nail polish that I only picked up because of meghanrosette. After one coat it was a little gappy but still looked fine. After two coats it was opaque and the gold/yellow tones of the polish stood out a lot more against the green. I did 3 coats to see if it would make a difference, and the green got darker and much more dominant. I liked it at 2 coats, but I liked it better at 3 (just for reference).
Whilst a lot of people fan-girled about the colour of the polish, I just have to take a moment to fan-girl over the formula. This is the only Lippmann polish I've tried to date so I don't know how comparable it is over the entire range, but the formula on this nail polish was perfect. It went exactly where I wanted it to go. I never had too much on the brush, even if I did/didn't wipe it down. It was just amazing. Now, onto the colour. I've gotta be honest, this isn't my favourite colour in the world. Plus, I wasn't a fan of the finish. Very gritty, even after two generous coats of Revlon's colourstay (I did only 1 coat on my other hand and they felt exactly the same. I couldn't be bothered testing a third coat).

3 coats, 2 coats colorstay topcoat.

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On another note, I went in to Myer today because I heard the new Chanel spring collection had just come in, and they had already sold out of Emprise! I skipped the other two because looked fairly dupable, but I've been stalking the counter for weeks waiting for Emprise to be mine! I was so mad/disappointed!! If you want Emprise, I suggest going in quick!

OPI - Strawberry Margarita

When this came in the mail yesterday morning, I just knew that it had to be my next manicure. I've heard this talked about so often on youtube that I just had to see what all the fuss was about. In the ebay picture this did look a little more coral toned so that's what I was expecting,  but this definitely is a medium neutral pink. Very pretty nonetheless, and it even survived cleaning the bathroom with only minor tip wear-no chipping!

2 coats, 1 coat Revlon colorstay top coat.

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Zoya - Kimber

This is a polish out of the Surf collection, which I assume came out this past summer for the northern hemisphere (but I don't completely know, I only bought my first Zoya this month so I haven't kept up with collections). To me, this is the epitome of summer - bright pink with gold shimmer! I also have Zoya's Chloe (flakie) on my ring finger...isn't it hilarious that this is the most dramatic I've ever gotten in terms of "accent" nails? I love them on other people but I just never try it for myself. Maybe this is my step in the door.

2 coats Kimber, 1 coat good to go, 2 coats Chloe on ring finger.

PS - I broke my nail nipper and I'm feeling a little self-conscious about my unruly cuticles. To some people, these aren't unruly at all, but to an obsessive nail nipper, they've gone wild!

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Nubar - Baby Sprout

To be completely honest, I'd never given Nubar a second though until I saw talkbeckytalk wear Petunia Sparkle on Fleur's vlog channel. After that, I was so keen to pick that polish up that I ended up making a bit of an order, and Baby Sprout was randomly thrown in my cart. I wasn't sure how comparable this would be to Essie's Absolutely Shore (which I swatched here). Baby Sprout is definitely more of a brighter, more whitened green without any of the dustier tones of Absolutely Shore. Since it was so hot today, I really enjoyed looking down at the bright, almost icyness, of this colour. I really thought I had cleaned up my cuticles better though...haha!

3 coats, 1 coat Good to Go

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Nail Polish Collection: China Glaze [January 2013]

My final collection post - my China Glaze! Now I have a confession to make, all of these were purchased between late May and December 2012. I know, I know, I went a little crazy last year! But I love them all and I'm not in the slightest bit embarrassed about how much money I spent on nail polish last year :) (for all you judging me right now!)

NOTE: I have to mention that I took all my photos in a crudely made lightbox. Well, I don't think you could call it a lightbox...it's two planks of white painted wood and a lamp with a daylight globe! So whilst I tried to get these as colour accurate as I could, some colours may be just a tad off. I'll try to let you know when that happens, otherwise just google image the colour you were looking at. Also, I took these photos freehand so I'm sorry that some are a little crooked..I hope it doesn't bother you as much as it bothered me!

BTW: I'm starting off with the tranzitions and cirque collections because they are in my overflow draw, so they are sorted by collection rather than colour.

L-R: Duplicity/ Altered Reality/ Metallic Metamorphosis

Nail Polish Collection: Essie [January 2013]

Essie is my favourite brand. I love a lot of brands, but in those tags where it says if you could only own one brand, which would you choose? I always pick Essie. I think it's equal parts the bottle and the colour selection. The bottle is elegant, fits nicely in storage because it's square, and has a white cap - all of which I love. The colour selection has definitely gotten better in recent years, and they have so many cremes and shimmers to choose from! They are a little sparse on glitter, but I don't really wear glitter all that often. Plus, that's what China Glaze is for!

NOTE: I have to mention that I took all my photos in a crudely made lightbox. Well, I don't think you could call it a lightbox...it's two planks of white painted wood and a lamp with a daylight globe! So whilst I tried to get these as colour accurate as I could, some colours may be just a tad off. I'll try to let you know when that happens, otherwise just google image the colour you were looking at. Also, I took these photos freehand so I'm sorry that some are a little crooked..I hope it doesn't bother you as much as it bothered me!

MINIS:

L-R: Rock Candy/ Lion Around/ Your Hut Or Mine/ Knockout Pout/ Haute As Hello

Nail Polish Collection: OPI [January 2013]

Almost at the end of my nail polish collection, just a few more posts to go! You might think my OPI collection looks quite small considering how many nail polishes I own, but for the longest time I really disliked OPI because of their brush. Whilst I'm still not a huge fan of their brush, the Holland and Germany collections woke me up to how beautiful some of their colours really are! In fact I have a shipment of OPIs heading to my door right now - gotta love eBay!

NOTE: I have to mention that I took all my photos in a crudely made lightbox. Well, I don't think you could call it a lightbox...it's two planks of white painted wood and a lamp with a daylight globe! So whilst I tried to get these as colour accurate as I could, some colours may be just a tad off. I'll try to let you know when that happens, otherwise just google image the colour you were looking at. Also, I took these photos freehand so I'm sorry that some are a little crooked..I hope it doesn't bother you as much as it bothered me!

L-R: Don't Pretzel My Buttons/ My Very First Knockwurst/ Steady As She Rose/ Significant Other Color, Pink-ing Of You

Nail Polish Collection: High End Misc. [January 2013]

Chanel is one of my favourite brands. Quartz is my favourite nail polish of all time (I know, huge right!) and both Paradoxal and Lilac Sky make my top 10. Coconutty by Leighton Denny also makes it into my top 10, and some of the Butters are getting close! I didn't realise until typing out this post but you can see my fingers in all of the bottle caps! 

NOTE: I have to mention that I took all my photos in a crudely made lightbox. Well, I don't think you could call it a lightbox...it's two planks of white painted wood and a lamp with a daylight globe! So whilst I tried to get these as colour accurate as I could, some colours may be just a tad off. I'll try to let you know when that happens, otherwise just google image the colour you were looking at. Also, I took these photos freehand so I'm sorry that some are a little crooked..I hope it doesn't bother you as much as it bothered me!

Nail Polish Collection: Misc. ''Cheaper'' Polishes [January 2013]

Next up I have the rest of my "cheaper" (chemist/drugstore) brands. I say cheaper in quotation because the Sally Hansen CSM is almost the same price as Essie and OPI here in Australia, but the rest of the polishes included here tend to be under $10.

NOTE: I have to mention that I took all my photos in a crudely made lightbox. Well, I don't think you could call it a lightbox...it's two planks of white painted wood and a lamp with a daylight globe! So whilst I tried to get these as colour accurate as I could, some colours may be just a tad off. I'll try to let you know when that happens, otherwise just google image the colour you were looking at. Also, I took these photos freehand so I'm sorry that some are a little crooked..I hope it doesn't bother you as much as it bothered me!

L-R: Maybelline's Green Park/ Coral Rose/ Candy Apple/ Bubblegum/ Bubblicious/ Sands of Time

Nail Polish Collection: Ulta3 [January 2013]

Hey guys, up next is Ulta3 which is one of my favourite Australian brands. There are some NYC mixed up in there because they are sold together in the Ulta3 bins, so I'm not sure if they're the same brand or it just happens that way in Good Price Pharmacy/Terry White Chemists/etc. I purchased nearly all of these for AU$2, but I heard they went up in price recently. I haven't purchased any in a while, so let me know if there are any new ones that I need!

NOTE: I have to mention that I took all my photos in a crudely made lightbox. Well, I don't think you could call it a lightbox...it's two planks of white painted wood and a lamp with a daylight globe! So whilst I tried to get these as colour accurate as I could, some colours may be just a tad off. I'll try to let you know when that happens, otherwise just google image the colour you were looking at. Also, I took these photos freehand so I'm sorry that some are a little crooked..I hope it doesn't bother you as much as it bothered me!

Nail Polish Collection: Revlon [January 2013]

Hey guys! This is my Revlon nail polish collection. Revlon was the first brand I started seriously "collecting" when I started to get into nail polish. Whilst I threw out most of my older polishes back before I knew you could easily revive polishes, I have been accumulating Revlon for years and is one of my favourite chemist (drugstore) brands. In Australia, Revlon polishes run for RRP $13.99 or $14.99 (can't remember which) but I got most of these on sales at around $8 - $10.

NOTE: I have to mention that I took all my photos in a crudely made lightbox. Well, I don't think you could call it a lightbox...it's two planks of white painted wood and a lamp with a daylight globe! So whilst I tried to get these as colour accurate as I could, some colours may be just a tad off. I'll try to let you know when that happens, otherwise just google image the colour you were looking at. Also, I took these photos freehand so I'm sorry that some are a little crooked..I hope it doesn't bother you as much as it bothered me!

Onto the collection!

L-R: Punk/ Lush Lime/ Minted/ Wind Fall/ Jaded Night

Nail Care Collection & Review [January 2013]

These are the products that I currently have in my stash, though some items do change rather regularly.

Nail Polish Storage [January 2013]

A sort of disclaimer: I've been wanting to do a nail polish collection and storage post for quite a while now, but I always kept changing my mind on how I would do it. Video? Photos? Photos and swatches? I finally decided this morning that I just needed to get it done, and the quickest (and most hassle-free) way was photos. Some day I might do nail or nail wheel swatches, but I just don't have the time to swatch hundreds of nail polishes at the moment!

main storage unit

Butter London - All Hail the Queen

My swatches don't do this polish justice. In the sun, the holo just "bursts to life" if you will. Unfortunately, the sun was setting so I only got one shot of my nails in the sun and it didn't nearly capture the sparkly-ness :( 2 coats covered perfectly, with 1 coat top coat (Deb Lippman Addicted to Speed) shown in the pictures.

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China Glaze - Spontaneous

Today's nail is my go-to medium purple creme. I've worn this a few times, and sometimes you can get away with 2 coats, sometimes you need 3. I did 2 in these photos, but you can see it's a little bald on my ring finger so I should've done a 3rd. Also, there is a bubble on my middle fingure which was my fault, not the polish. No top coat.

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Illamasqua - Creator

I have enormous respect for Illamasqua because of their fight for fair prices here in Australia, which is why when I saw Creator featured on Temptalia I knew I had to pick it up at some point.
Application wise, this polish was lovely - not too thick, not too thin. I did have a little trouble getting the silver glitter off when I was cleaning up my cuticles so I expect it will be a little troublesome taking off, but I'll have to update that later.
Colour wise, I don't think it would be that hard to find a black polish with silver glitter but I don't have anything like it in my stash because the glitters are "shards" rather than hexagonal/circular/etc. The glitter isn't rough, and one thin coat of Good to Go top coat was enough to create a totally smooth surface, which I definitely appreciate.
Overall, I agree with Temptalia in giving this an A+ and I'm really glad I picked it up (from Myer [online] for AU$21 - not sure if you can get it cheaper anywhere else). 2 coats, 1 coat topcoat.

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Essie - Cascade Cool

Sorry about the lack of posts lately but as some of you may have heard, Australia is burning. My state has been particularly hard hit, but my heart and prayers go out to all those within Australia who have lost loved ones, property and/or their livelihood (esp. the farms).

 Onto today's nail - Essie's Cascade Cool which came out in the summer 2012 collection. This was nice, nothing groundbreaking or unique but a really nice colour nonetheless. 2 coats, no top coat.

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China Glaze - Turned Up Turquoise

Before I get into the review I need to state that the photos aren't quite colour accurate. That being said, this is a nail of the day blog and there are so many swatches of this polish online that I didn't mind posting this anyway. The polish should look a little 'deeper' and a little more green. It was a thin but nice formula, though I only did 2 coats and you can just make out my nail line so if that bothers you, you might want to do 3. No top coat.

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