OPI You Don't Know Jacques Suede

As requested by my swap buddy, Carolina, this is You dont know Jacques in Suede by OPI. 2 coats and dried very quickly to a beautiful finish. I am always loathe to Konad over a suede or matte finish as you then need to add topcoat which ruins the suede finish. So I just added an Olive Konad flower to one ring finger...it didn't really show up and I should have left well enough alone!
First two pics are under artificial light, last pic is in full sunlight with flash (not a true color representation, but it shows my flower stamp off nicely!).


My friend, Deb (aka The Feral), has got to the Semi Finals in this year's Weight Watchers Competition! Yay for Deb!! She had to go to a photo shoot and interview last week for the next WW magazine and these are her nails for that day. Ulta3 Allure for mannequin hands, then Konaded with Warm Black and lots of shiny diamontes at the cuticles.
Good luck Feral!

Don't forget to enter my GLITTER GAL holographics giveaway!!

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China Glaze Stroll

I would describe Stroll as Ruby Pumps sister. It's a darker red but has the same awesome red sparkle. This was 2 thin coats and formula was at the usual China Glaze perfect standard. I frech tip Konaded it with China Glaze 2030 and added stripes of gold glitter. One thick coat of Seche QD. Polish pictures were taken under artificial light, Konad pictures taken in full sunlight.

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Swap with Jen & Claire's Mood Polish

To start off with- I am not a crybaby in general. Example, I do NOT cry at wonderful girl gets awesomely handsome guy soppy movies, I do NOT cry at poor little doggies dying in kid's movies, or at college aged teenagers giving their cherised toys away movies and I don't NOT cry at movies about life long lovers dying in aged care homes movies.

BUT when I opened Jen's swap box, I got a little teary. How can a complete total stranger from the other side of the planet send me SOOOO MUCH stuff?? My best friends and HUSBAND never even get me stuff like this (sorry guys, but I know you never read my blog anyway) and I've never had ANYONE go out of their way before to make sure they got me presents they knew I wanted!

In this case, Jen went thru my wish list and posted me 30...yes, T.H.I.R.T.Y polishes that she knew I was after. Can you believe it?? My wish list was decimated in one swoop! Some of what I got: OPI's Alpine snow, Lincoln park, Wing It, Flit a bit, Cajun shrimp, Feng Shui. Orly's Bailamos, Haleys comet and mini Holiday set (yay!), Borghese Stellar Note!! All the Nubars I wanted including Forest, Peacock Feathers, Wildlife, Iris Dust, Conserve. Zoya Envy, which is divine and Claires mood polishes!

I was in such a dither, I just didn't know what to test first and in the end a mood polish won cause I had wanted Flirty/Shy for ages. I know you have seen a million pictures of it before but here it is MY way!



This polish was so much fun and I pretty much wasted a whole day running my hands under cold then hot water. When cold, the polish turns Flirty, which is a dark denim blue. When hot, it turns a Shy, bright Sea Blue.

Jen's blog can be found here, www.thepolishaholic.com. Thanks so much Jen for swapping with me...I hope you are as happy with your box as I am with mine. Yay for Jen!! xoxoxoxo

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Chna Glaze Mummy May I

This color has been one of the biggest lemmings I've had since I first saw swatches of it. Black with pink glitter, what can be better than that??!
This was 2 coats of Mummy May I, pink diamontes added along every cuticle then 2 coats of Seche QD. The size of the glitter I was a teeny, weeny bit disappointed with...I had big glitter in my mind but I think I was half hoping it would be a decent substitute for Bad Romance....it's not and BR is still HIGH on my Wish List.
One day Lippmann.

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Sally Hansen Complete Manicure Swatches #2

Here are the second set of swatches from my Sally Hansen Complete Manicure haul.


Purple Pulse. A nice flashing purple. This was 3 coats. A color you can pick up from all brands tho.


Thinking of Blue. A Midnight Navy Blue creme. Again, 3 coats. I liked this color but again, I have several other brands around the same shade that only require 2 coats to become opaque.


Fairy Teal. A thick Teal creme. 2 Coats.


Gray By Gray. 2 coats. This was a little surprising as to me it was more of a Slate Blue than a Gray.


Kook-a-mango. 2 coats. This is a bright Coral Orange and was rather nice. Bright Corals suit my skintone.


Red Zin. 3 coats and still needed more. This was my most anticipated color of the bunch as it's a camp red and a jelly, cool right?? Nope. This sucked. It needs at least 4 coats and counting, and stained my cuticles like mongrels. I had gotten a bit sloppy with application at this stage as Red Zin was my 14th swatch.


Midnight in NY. 2 Coats. This was the one I actually like out of the whole bunch. A deep black with rainbow micro glitter. 2 coats was ample and nicely opaque. But again, I already have a gazillion blacks with rainbow glitter. Eyeko Cosmic is a nicer example with the rainbow glitter showing brighter.


So again, my 2 cents worth. The cremes were nice but definately not worth the $16.95 us Aussie have to fork out for them. We have Ulta3 and Mode with exactly the same colors and they only cost $2 and probably require less costs to make them 'work'.

These are up for sale super cheap on my Blog Sale page if anyone wants to buy them...!

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Sally Hansen Complete Manicure Swatches

I have been succumbing a bit lately to nail polish hauls....ever since I put myself on a no-buy... I always do the opposite anyone ever tells me to, so I guess I am applying that to the voices in *my* head now too.
I bought a 14 polish lot of Sally Hansen Complete Manicure off eBay and it came to around $50 AUD including shipping. This is CHEAP compared to $16.95 EACH for Sally Hansen in our Priceline Parmacy stores.
Neutrals have been posted for today and solids tomorrow.

Onto the swatches.


Naked Ambition. 3 Coats. Nude with sparkle. As you can see, sheer as. Hated it...blechh. My hands just don't do NUDE.


Fairy Wings. 3 Coats. Milky base with pink sparkle. Blechhh.


Cafe Au Lait. 3 Coats. Pale milky brown nude. Blechhh (noticing a trend here?!)


Lavender Cloud. 3 Coats and needed another. There's no lavender in this! Basically a white....blechhh.


Bocha Mocha. Milk Chocolate Brown. 2 Coats. This needs some Konading on top for me to wear it again, so, blechhh.


Gilty Pleasure. Metallic Gold. 3 Coats. This is the nicest of the bunch but with about 5 golds already in my collection this is NOT needed.


Yellow Kitty. 3 Coats and need another. Pale yellow but almost jellyish in formula as it needs at least 4 coats to become opaque. Guessing it?? Bleccchhhh.


So onto my conclusion. If I had paid $16.95 EACH for these, I think I would have committed myself to the insane asylum. If you like sheer nail polish then these little guys are for you. I'm a sucker for a well made bottle and I am in love with the bottle. They sit like gorgeous little soldiers in my drawers and feel great in the hand...but for goodness sake Sally Hansen, give us some decent colors!! Sheesh.

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OPI Diva Of Geneva

Unlike William Tell me about OPI from yesterday, Diva of Geneva lived more up to my standards in color and formula perfection. It's a gorgeous color and has a bonus purple flash in some lights, and it was gorgeous in 2 thin coats. I Konaded it with China Glaze 2030, added some pink diamontes and red glitter for the middle of the flowers, then 1 coat of Seche QD. First picture in full sunlight, rest are under artificial lights.
It looks very Classic and girly which I happen to be in the mood for today, so I am very happy with my handiwork!
Sorry, lots of photos for this yummy goodness.

Thanks again Carolina for sending her to me :)

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William Tell Me About OPI

This somehow found it's way into my shopping cart last week, even tho I had convinced myself none of the OPI new collection really appealed to me and I was going to leave it all.
Nevertheless, it's very ME and I can always have another darker than dark Burgundy Brown Vamp in my drawers.
The downside to this color is that it took 3 coats to become opaque and non streaky. This is too many coats for a creme and I wasn't impressed. It did dry glossy tho. Removal around my cuticles was not easy, as the polish stained them in an instant...so I am hoping that removal is going to be easy and does not involve lemon juice.
I Konaded it with Sally Hansen Chrome in Carnelian and finished with 1 coat of Seche QD. The Konad pictures are in sunlight, polish pictures are under artificial light.

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Looksie What I Got!

My mate Carolina from coloresdecarol.blogspot.com sent me a gorgeous box! She has such awesome taste and always seems to know which colors to get me. And again she spoilt me by getting me some polishes from my wish list which were OPI Diva of Geneva, OPI Jacques Suede, Zoya Nova and Sally Hansen DVD. I can't wait to wear everything...I think I'll do a mani every night this week!
I don't know how she knew my daughter is a Spongebo fanatic AND a novelty eraser collector, but Isabelle is psyching out over the Spongebob jellies and the cute nail polish erasers! She thinks you ROCK Carolina!!

So, let's see what I got: OPI Couture mini set, 2 China Glaze, some Ulta's and Sally Girl minis, Savvy glass slipper, some Sinfuls, nail stickers and glitters and a cute pumpkin glow in the dark glitter. And the BESTEST sugarfree gum I have ever tasted, it's a yummy pineapple and mint flavour..it's divine! Did I mention the Milky Ways with CARAMEL in the middle?? Swoon.

Check out Carolina's blog, she posts everyday and always seems to get the latest collection super quick and swatched for us all to see ASAP.

Thanks heaps again Carolina, you are these bestest swap buddy! ;)
(Running off now to finish the Milky Way's before DH comes home...)

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ChG High Maintenance

This manicure I am psyched about, it's awesome! If I do say so myself...cough.
I am trying to go thru my untrieds and this one has been sitting in the drawer for months. Hubby requested a Sexy Red so here is 2 coats of China Glaze High Maintenance. My pics show this red on the light side, but it's a dark red jelly and it was an absolute delight to apply. Wonderful in 2 thin coats. First Konad pic is in sunlight, second pic under articial light and flash.

I Konaded it with Sally Hansen Chrome Burmese Ruby, then stuck on some red diamontes along my cuticles and added 2 coats of Chimera Quick Dry.
It looks pretty good, as I said, and I am getting heaps of comments on it!

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** Glitter Gal Giveaway ** CLOSED!

This giveaway has now closed. Thanks to all!


First up, a teaser.....

Unique to Glitter Gal is a truly extraordinary Australian 3D range of Holographic & Sparkle nail polishes.

◦When the 3D Holographic colours are seen under lights or sunlight these high impact polishes show the full spectrum of sparkling Holographic colours. All the Holographic polishes show this same rainbow effect. It is truly magical to see.

◦Our 3D Sparkle Range is a fashionable array of colours which show off a beautiful sparkling metallic light reflection which just bursts with dazzle appeal.


Interested yet....?!

That's right! This month's giveaway is sponsored by the lovely ladies at Glitter Gal, www.glittergal.com.au, thanks so much guys!

And even better YOU get to pick YOUR prize!

They are giving away 2 HOLOGRAPHIC polishes *or* 2 polishes from their 3D SPARKLE range... and you get to pick your colors!

◦Select from 15 different Holographic colours and/or Select from 16 different Sparkle colours.

Choose your colors and drool over everything else here: www.glittergal.com.au/nails/products_nails3D.html.

And they also ship International!

I for one would grab Marine Blue as it's supposed to be BETTER than OPI DS Glamour and Not Another Red for a TRUE Red Holo. Yummo. But don't worry cause you don't have to pick your colors now, you can take your time if you have won!

To enter:
*Be a follower & leave an email address (mandatory)

*Tell me one other product you would love to purchase from their website at glittergal.com.au (mandatory)

*Blog and/or Tweet about this giveaway and leave me the link (optional, 1 extra entry each)

*Go again to the glittergal.com.au website and tell me who these lovely ladies names are that is giving away free polish! (optional, 1 extra entry)

No Annonymous entries will be accepted, so make sure you are signed in! Giveaway ends 10th October.
Good luck guys!

On another note; I am aiming to have a giveaway every month, so I am open to suggestions about this and if you all think this is a good idea. Or would you like to see a large giveaway every few months instead?

If anyone wants to sponsor a giveaway, please contact me on the email address to the right.

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Giveaway Winner...& New Giveaway!

The winner of the BYS Crackle poslishes is.... Freshie!
Her nail blog can be found here: http://polishfreshie.blogspot.com/

Congrats girl and please email me back ASAP!

***** I have a new Giveaway ready to start tomorrow...stay tuned! *****

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Sinful Colors Tucana

This is probably my favourite shade of Purple, a deep Grape colored creme. Sinful Colors usually tends to be on the sheer side but this was perfect in 2 coats. My camera can't grasp Purples 100% accurately, IRL color is a close dupe to OPI Can U Dig It? So if you can't find this OPI or want a cheaper alternative, Sinful Tucana is awesome.
I Konaded it with Nubar Reclaim, a beautiful green holographic. Excuse my gnarly cuticles...too much swatching lately.

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