On My Nails

My nails are still in a fragile state and I haven't been too fussed prettying them up with lots of nail art.  These simple nails are form recent days:

 

 

Gosh Holographic

China Glaze Riveting

A pastel gradient with Ulta3 colors and a Nail Bling wrap.

And a failed concoction of a gradient using Duri, Kleencolor and Emily de Molly.

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Shimmering Sharkskin

This Bettie Page dress makes an appearance once or twice a year during Winter.  I am aware it's not the most flattering dress I could wear, with it being double breasted and my breasts being on the large side, but for some reason I don't want to sell it.  Maybe because it shimmers and glistens and makes your eyes go all funny when you try and focus on the gingham pattern.

50's style Dress: Bettie Page
Atomic Brooch: Lucy Luxxe Designs
Shoes: Rebel London

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K-mart's $1 Nail Polish

Can you guys believe this color, simply named Shade 31,  is $1 from Kmart??  It's gorgeous, it's divine and even better.....it stayed on for 4 days without chipping or tip wearing before I removed it.  Seriously.

I don't have Butter London's Wallis anymore but to me it looks pretty much the same.

Who else has bought some of this polish nectar from the Kmart gods??

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I Chopped My Hair and Now Need Help

My hair was dead.  Really, truly dead.  And needed to go.  But it was still a shock, and a week later I am still trying to come to grips with styling and wearing short hair after 20 years of it halfway down my back.

The styling process has gone thru a few horrifying initial stages.......

Like using Hot Sticks.  Fail.  The sticks are much too small, giving me a 30's curl which is a HUGE no-no.

Brushing out a slightly larger stick curl.  The slight frizz curl look was a little bit better than the above Miss Daisy Lou one but still not right......

I used a very large roller and 4 of them sit around my head perfectly.  I rolled to my ears and they simply curled underneath with not much trouble.  The overall effect gives me a slight 15th Century Minstrel Musician look.....but after popping on a headscarf, I think I am quite happy with this hairstyle.

And fabulous glasses makes it look a little better.  But I cannot wear a headscarf every day for the next 6 months.

So, I now need styling tips please!  You can see the length of my hair from the first picture, who can point me to some fabulous styles I need to try and accomplish?

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Prancing Around In Fishnets......It Must Be Winter!

I have admitted defeat.  I have brought my Winter wardrobe back from the dead and pulled out some long sleeved fripperies and my fishnet stockings.

50's Dress: Forever Lovely Vintage, Etsy
Shoes: ASOS
Tights: Myer
Lipstick: MAC Media

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Orly BAKED Collection: Swatches and Nail Art

 

 

ORLY’S INNOVATIVE NEW COLLECTION – BAKED

Transform your winter blues with ORLY’s bold NEW collection – Baked. Inspired by the hot days and balmy nights of seasons gone by, Baked will have you embracing exotic, neon hues to warm your

fingertips up this winter.

A brand new and innovative formula the Baked colour collection has been infused with baked

pigments, specialty micas, vitamins and minerals. The pigment in each Baked shade is milled to a
micro fine particle size and then heat treated at high temperatures to ensure pigment easily disperses
into the base.  Allowing for an ultra-smooth application, maximum colour payoff and superior shine, each polish also contains antioxidant vitamins A and E to help promote healthy nails, while pro-vitamin B5 protects the structure of the natural nail.

What’s more each shade in the Baked Collection is formulated without DBP, Toluene, Formaldehyde and Formaldehyde Resin and are equipped with ORLY’s world famous Gripper Cap for easier application.

Collection features:

• Tropical Pop: Neon Orange
• Ablaze: Bright Orange w/Gold Shimmer
• Lush: Lime Green Jelly w/ Holo Bar Glitter

• Neon Heat: Fuchsia Crème

• Hot Tropics: Bright Purple Shimmer
• Saturated: Violet Crème

Onto the swatches!

Tropical Pop, 3 coats.  I would like to point out that no filters are used in these photos, they really are totally neon in real life.

Ablaze, 2 coats.  This has a gorgeous shimmer in it.  I loved this color.

Lush, 3 coats.  OK, this one is rather......nasty. I didn't like it at all.  It does look much nicer over black as the photos below will show.

Hot Tropics, 2 coats.  This color is my favourite of the bunch.  It's the perfect Tropical shade of Purple and has a beautiful shimmer.

Neon Heat, 2 coats.  This color is explosive and applied like butter.  Gorgeous.

Unfortunately I wasn't sent Saturated, which I will have to remedy as I loved the rest of the collection.... bar Lush!  Maybe if Lush was in a crème base with the glitter it may have worked but it was just too sheer for my liking. 

I did play around with some nail art and decided on a graffiti / comic theme.

Lush looks fab over a black base, and it shows the bar glitter much more clearly.  I used Lush Lacquer Pink Panther for the glitter.

 

 

Orly's BAKED Collection will be available in Australia from July 2014 with a RRP of $18.95.  You can order direct from Orly or check their stockist link for an outlet near you.

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Captain America Nails

So.  My camera got smashed. My nails have been breaking. And I resorted to cutting my cuticles.  My nails are a mess.  This is the best I can do in current circumstances.

 

This is a really semi-on-purpose-rough-gradient of Red, White and Blue with Captain America stamping, as requested by Miss 12.  She took one look at them, shrugged and said "Meh". 
So I'm guessing they aren't all that spectacular.

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