Roses are Red

To be honest, I don't like red nail polish. Out of my whole collection I think I have three, maybe four red polishes, most of which I got because I felt I would need a red at some point. But last night a rare thing happened; I was in the mood to wear red!!

This is OPI "Bogota Blackberry" and Born Pretty plate m65 and konad white.

P.S. OPI Turquoise Shatter joined my collection today =) stay tuned for swatches

Matte Zigzag

Hey everyone! It has been a little while since I posted. It has been a busy weekend; Saturday was Sam's 21st party, Sunday was recovering from the party and work, Monday was my dad's birthday. But now I'm back and I have some stamping for you. I've had this idea in my head for a while but wasn't sure if it would work. I might have seen in somewhere else but can't be sure. Here it is!

Matte Black with black stamping. I'm really enjoying this one. I like how subtle it is.

I used BYS Black Satin with a top coat of China Glaze Matte Magic then stamping using BM201

P.S. Voting for Leslies "Good Enough to Eat" contest ends on the 28th so if you haven't voted already please do. Click HERE. My entry is number 40 if you want to vote for me =)

I Love Nail Mail

For the last 3 days I have received nail related items in the mail =D
The first day I got OPI Blue Shatter and OPI I Juggle... Men. The next day I got my new stamping plates from Born Pretty and today my China Glaze Crackle Crushed Candy arrived!! Yay for nail mail =D

Today I wanted to use my new Hello Kitty plate and here's what I came up with...

 I used Maybelline mini colo-rama "Bubblegum", OPI "I Juggle...Men" and white konad polish on plates BM 19 and M71

Here's a close up that shows the flecky-ness of "I Juggle...Men". This shot doesn't capture the colour well though. It shines pink, blue and purple in different lights. It's pretty subtle but adds a little something extra.

Top 10 Award

Hey all,
I've been tagged by Fiona and Amanda over at Ha Bisky! Nails for the Top 10 Award so thank you ladies!

Here's the rules:

1. Thank the person who tagged you and link to their blog. 

2. Put the Top 10 Award logo on your blog. 
3. List your top 10 cosmetics.
4. Choose 10 bloggers to tag, link to their blogs, and let them know.

I think this is going to be harder than it looks but here we go

Top 10 Cosmetics:
1. Maybelline Lash Stylist mascara in brownish black. It has quite a different brush than normal mascaras and I know some people don't like it but I reckon it does a really good job. Mascara is probably the one cosmetic I couldn't live without besides nail polish
2. Maybelline Line Stiletto liquid eyeliner
3. Nutrimetics eyeliner (I dont know what special name they call it sorry) in charcoal
4. Nivea Visage Young Control Shine moisturizer  
5. L'Oreal Wear Infinite pressed eye shadow quad #218 Accentuated Taupe
6. Maybelline Baby Lips Menthol
7. Lucas Papaw Ointment
8. Nutrimetics Nutri-Spa Intensive Hand Balm with shea butter and yarrow extract. This smells so nice!
9. L'Oreal Perfect Clean foaming cream wash
10. Sally Hansen Kwik Off. I don't think it really counts as a cosmetic but it is the best thing for removing nail polish I have found! All you do is stick your finger into the sponge, twist it around a couple times and Ta Da! all the nail polish is gone!! And they don't really have that awful smell that some nail polish removers have.


Ok, that wasn't as bad as I though it would be
Here are the 10 bloggers I tag:
More Nail Polish
Oh Me! Oh My!
The Nailasaurus
Colour Me Pretty
NailSide
Groupie Glam
Nails Made Simple
It's Fashion Time!
Ari's Sweet Delight
and YOU!! If you want to do it then go for it! I tag you!
Thanks again Fiona and Amanda

What's That Smell?

To be honest, I was somewhat impressed with the Revlon "Not So Blueberry" scented polish I bought a couple days ago so today I splurged and bought three more. Let's just call it a celebration that I have finished my exams and therefore second year of university. One year to go =). I decided to try "Raspberry Rapture", "Sublime Strawberry" and "Peach Smoothie" and I must say, YUM. Peach Smoothie and Sublime Strawberry smell soo good!! I tried each of them on one nail each but couldn't get a good sense of what Raspberry Rapture was really like so that one could be good too, I just don't know yet.

From left: Not So Blueberry, Raspberry Rapture, Sublime Strawberry and Peach Smoothie.

NAIL MAIL!!

It's been an exciting couple of days for nail mail. Yesterday my OPI Blue Shatter and OPI "I Juggle...Men" arrived. And just now, as I was writing about scented polishes, my sister came in with my package from www.bornprettystore.com. In that package there are three stamping plates M71 (Hello Kitty!! EXCITED!!), M77 and M65 as well as some other things but I cant say that because it's a present. Because they have just arrived, I haven't tried the new plates out yet so I will most likely do another post tonight after work. In the mean time, I'll show you OPI Blue Shatter over BYS Matte White

I had some trouble getting an accurate colour photo of this. I also had some trouble getting smooth, even coverage and it ended up being too thick and didn't crack as well as it could have. I'll give it another go soon.

Here is Blue Shatter over Raspberry Rapture

That's it from me for now. I just want to say one more thing before I go..

Happy 21st Birthday Sam!! xo =D

Leslie's Contest

I've entered into Leslie's "Good Enough to Eat" contest on her blog. My entry is number 40 and is inspired by martinis. I would love it if you could pop over to her page and vote for me if you think mine is the best. You don't have to be a follower but you should anyway because Leslie's nails are awesome =D

If you would like to know what polishes I used leave a comment and I'll let you know.

It would mean a lot to me if you voted.

Number 40

40

....

40

=D

Feelin' a Little Blue-berry?

Here's the swatch I promised in my last post. On Friday I was at the mall and stumbled across Revlon's range of scented nail polish. I am so surprised at how many there are! There were 16!! I chose "Not So Blueberry". It is a mid-light purply blue with an almost glittery shimmer. Wow that was a bad description haha, I'll just show you the picture

And yes, it's scented! Once it is dry, it has a blueberry perfume smell, even through a coat of Seche Vite.

I didn't have a lot of time to do arty things to this so shatter it is, OPI Silver Shatter to be specific.

For some reason my camera didn't want to take good photos of this

So after two top coats and a coat of shatter it still smells the same as it did without the added layers. I'm keen to try out another colour/flavour soon

It's in the bag

As you may know, there has been a 'what's in your purse' tag going around and in an attempt to procrastinate I'm going to give it a go.
You're suppose to empty out your bag and answer some questions.

~Where did you get your purse, and how long have you had it?

I got my bag when I was in Auckland with my friend Erike in January 2010. We went up for a music festival :)

~What are 3 must-haves in your purse? (Not including keys and wallet)

iPod/headphones (I hate it when I have my iPod but not headphones or vise versa lol), perfume, lipbalm

~What is something you should have in your purse right now, but don't?

I need to put a couple pens in there and a hair tie 

~What is the thing you have the most of in your purse right now?

Nail polishes =P

There it is! Ill go through it all now...

Wallet, keys, phone, iPod and a cat purse/pouch which has nail polish in it

There's the contents of the cat purse:

OPI: Mermaids Tears, Sparrow Me the Drama, Silver Shatter, Red Shatter, Rally Pretty Pink, Dating a Royal and Last Friday Night

Revlon: Emerald City and Not So Blueberry (I found the scented Revlon range!! Will do a swatch soon)

Nubar: Dewdrop, China Glaze: Spontaneous and Seche Vite top coat 

Here is some Dettol hand sanitizer, pandora bracelet, bobby pins, Nivea pink guava lip balm, Sarah Jessica Parker "NYC" perfume (<3), sunglasses, mouse shaped memory card, skittles (I went to the movies last week and the bag of skittles went all through my bag =P) and my card holder which I decorated with flowers (done with nail polish of course)

And some receipts.

I tag whoever wants to do this!! I hope you all enjoyed having a peek in my bag. I know I'm nosy enough to have a look at everyone else's bag posts =)

Emerald City

Hey everyone! I hope you've all had a good week. Mine has been fairly uneventful. I've just been studying for my last exam on Tuesday.
Today I'm going to share with you Revlon "Emerald City" Matte Suede. I've been looking at it in stores for a while and thinking how much I like the colour. Well today I bought it =) I don't have anything else quite like it in my collection. I'm lacking in the green department.
Here it is

Isn't it preeetttty?! It covers perfectly with just one coat. This is without a topcoat.

The difference between the two is greater in real life and the shimmer isn't as noticeable. Then again is night time so it may be more evident in daylight. 

I love the forest green! I wanted to do something else to it but not cover it up completely so I did some stamping on the ring finger and thumb using BM213 and silver konad polish

What d'ya think?!

The Best Water Marble I've Ever Done

I had to do a second post today because I couldn't wait until tomorrow. I've had my gradient zebra nails on since Wednesday. They lasted really well; they only has a couple of chips and lasted through two shifts at work =)

Last week I saw a post using the OPI Pirates of the Caribbean collection to marble and of course I had to try it! Here is the original post.

I don't have "Planks a Lot" because it's very similar to OPI "Do You Lilac It?" which I already had so couldn't justify buying it.

I used OPI "Sparrow Me The Drama", "Mermaids Tears" and "Do You Lilac It?"

LOVE! <3

Here's the mess when I was half way through. And if you're wondering what the green claw thing on the left hand side is, it's my nail clippers =)

Here's the right hand too

<3

This Week's Haul + Guest Nails

Hey everyone!
I haven't been posting as much this last week as I'm in  the middle of exams. One more to go and then I have three weeks off.
I've gone a bit overboard with polish purchases this week! But in my defence they were all either on sale or given to me.

Top row: China Glaze "Spontaneous", OPI "Dating a Royal", BYS "Matte White", Sally Hansen "Spark", Sally Hansen "Flair"

Bottom row: Rubi "Emerald City", "Disco Nights" and "Taupe" and Revlon "Perplex"

"Dating a Royal" was a gift from my Mum. She gave it to me after I finished my first exam <3. I was running low on BYS "Matte White" so bought a back up. The two Sally Hansen and the Revlon were on sale at a discount make up sale I went to on Wednesday. I can't wait to try out the Sally Hansen polishes. The colours are so pretty!

Click to enlarge and see all the different colours =)

Yesterday I hung out with one of my oldest friends, Erike! We have been friends since primary school; a total of 14 years! For her mani I used Revlon "Perplex" 

This only one coat of Perplex. It covers really well and I had no problems with application.

Then I stamped using white konad polish and plate BM 206

Thanks for reading =)

I like Rebecca's nails too

Hey guys,
Thank you to those who have voted for me in Swaafie's nail art contest =) I don't know if I'll make it to the next round but fingers crossed. I also want to say welcome to all my new followers!! Thanks for joining =D It really makes my day when I check my blog and see more people have joined.
On to the nails! Since I stumbled upon Rebecca's blog "Rebecca likes nails" I have loved her signature gradient zebra nails (see the post here). So last night while browsing her new facebook fan page I decided to give it a try. and  here it is....

I didn't have the exact colours Rebecca used but close enough. I used OPI "Sparrow Me the Drama", China Glaze "Spontaneous" and China Glaze "Secret Peri-Winkle" then stamped using konad plate m57 with black konad polish.

I took photos after each step while doing the gradient

All topped off with Seche Vite!! 

There ya have it! I hope I did you proud Rebecca!

Nail Art Contest

Hey guys,
I've entered Swaafie's Get Inspired Contest and I would love love love you to vote for me! My entry is number 7; my cubist mani influence by Piet Mondrian. For the contest, you have to pick your favourite three designs and it would be great if you could include me in your top three =D
Thank you!

Spontaneous Marbling

Today I was out at the mall with my friend and found a nail salon and found that they sold china glaze!! I have found no where else in New Zealand that sells china glaze nail polish and I am so excited that I've finally found somewhere. So I bought China Glaze Spontaneous =D

I've been wanting to do some more marbling for a while now and today I had the time. I used China Glaze "Spontaneous", Essie "Mint Candy Apple" and BYS "Matte White"

Here's both hands. I like the pinky and thumb of the left hand and the middle finger on the right hand.

Here's a shot of my fingers before cleaning up

They didn't turn out as well as my first effort here. I still like it though.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend =D

Rally Pretty Pink and Red Shatter

Hey everyone. I hope you're all having a good week. I handed in my last assignment today, with eight minutes to spare! So now I'm two exams away from a small holiday.
In order to get my assignment done on time I didn't let myself change my mani until it was finished. So now its done and I tried out OPI Rally Pretty Pink.

It is a bit more gold in reality, my flash blew it out weird. It's really pretty and shimmery. I'm guessing it will be stunning in the sun, I'll test out that theory tomorrow. Then it was time to add OPI Red Shatter

Without top coat

With top coat

I'm not so sure about the combination of the purple/gold and red. I think the red shatter will look good over white or silver. I'll try that soon. Next, I tested out what Rally Pretty Pink looks like under other shatters.

Index: OPI Black Shatter

Middle: OPI Silver Shatter

Ring: China Glaze Cracked Concrete

Pinky: OPI Red Shatter

I like Black Shatter and Cracked Concrete the most. The base colour shows through the best whereas the others tend to overshadow its shimmery goodness.

All topped off with one coat of Seche Vite, my new favourite top coat =P