Robot Dots & Sad Nail Polish Purchasing News

Orly Rococo A Go-Go, Sally Hansen Celeb City

I did this dotty manicure about a week ago, but then kind of forgot about it. There's only a photo of one hand because my camera battery ran out before I could get the second hand! I'm going to call this mani my robot mani because it's all metallic and robot-like! And I love robots! Strangely, all the comments I got on this manicure were from men! Over the course of my day two guys mentioned my "nice" nails! 

Orly Rococo A Go-Go is such a beautiful shade. I hadn't really intended to get any of the other Mineral FX polishes, but after seeing this one in real life I decided to get Rock It as well! (As well as Androgynie and Fowl Play while I'm buying Orlys). They haven't arrived yet but I'm quite excited! 

On the subject of polishes that have not arrived, I have decided to ban myself from buying nail polish for at least 2 months due to my recent multiple purchasing sprees of epic proportions. I was adding all of my 'in transit' polishes to my spreadsheet of polishes when I realised that at this moment I have 27 nail polishes coming in the mail from various places. 27! That's more than most regular people even own! And I've bought 4 retail in the past week on top of that! 31! That's an even more ridiculous number! I've just been a bit more nail polish crazy lately than usual it seems! Luckily, I've already bought the only polishes I want from OPIs new Holland collection, as well as my picks from the Nicki Minaj collection and China Glaze's Electropop collection. So there's not really anything new coming out for the next little while that I will desperately need. 

So, I am on a purchasing ban until let's say, April 1st, 2012. I wonder how big my 'want' list will be by then!

Spotty Dots

OPI Dating A Royal, OPI Skull & Glossbones, OPI Mermaid's Tears, Essence Forget Me Not, China Glaze Heli-Yum

I've been in a bit of a dotty mood lately, and thought I'd try out some multi coloured dots. I was a bit too dot keen on my left hand (I'm a leftie, so I blame my right hand for not spacing the dots correctly), and they're closer together and a little less great than on my right hand but oh well, they still looked all right.

I had to go into the city today and it was a great trip for nail polish! I randomly found a stand of Barry M's in a chemist (I didn't even know they were available in Australia!) and they were half price! ($5.50 down from $11). I grabbed three, Gold 289, Navy 296 and Vivid Purple 161. It was actually a bit bizarre seeing such boring nail polish names.

Continuing on with my Good Luck Nail Polish Day, in David Jones the OPI Holland collection was on display! They got it in this morning! I was just so excited because I'd been at the Bondi Junction DJs yesterday and the lady there said she thought they were getting it in in a couple of weeks! I'd only been lusting after one colour, I Have A Herring Problem, so I caved and picked that up! 

Happy Hottest 100 Day (AKA Australia Day)

OPI Skull & Glossbones, China Glaze Street Chic, OPI Mermaid's Tears, China Glaze Recycle, China Glaze Go Go Pink

Happy Australia Day everyone! My favourite thing about Australia Day, apart from the fact that you get a day off work, is that it is the day when Triple J does its Hottest 100 countdown! If you're one of my non-Aussie readers, Triple J is a national radio station and every Australia Day they have a countdown of the previous year's 100 top songs, as voted by listeners. This year there were 1,378,869 votes! It's 5pm here in Australia and so far they're up to #39 and two of the songs I voted for have popped up. Hooray!

Anyway, back to the manicure... everyone is guessing that Gotye will take out the top spot this year with his amazing song Somebody That I Used To Know. I voted for it and I really hope it comes in at #1! My manicure is inspired by the video for Somebody That I Used To Know, which you should all watch and listen to. I even stuck it in this post for you so you don't have to go searching for it! 

P.S. I have an increased level of respect for Jane from Nailside and her amazing patience for tape manicures. I did this mani with tape, and because I am an impatient lassie I took most of the sticky out of the sticky tape so I could use it over polish that wasn't 100% dry, so my lines aren't quite as clean as they could've been. 

The weather in Sydney today has been quite un-Australian. It's been pouring rain! I had planned on making a trip to the beach today, but sadly the weather's not really beach appropriate. There's also been a complete lack of sun, so my photos are a bit dodgy today. Sorry!

Update:
GOTYE got #1! Woo! And 8 of the 10 songs I voted for made it in the top 100! Woo!

Off With Her Red!

OPI Off With Her Red

Today I was a bit boring when it came to my mani. A friend commented last week that I never wore classic red nail polish, and it's true. I rarely do. I barely ever even wear pink! So I decided to rock the classic red look for a day, and after a bit of a glitter bomb (which didn't turn out all that great so you won't be seeing it on here) I had a bit of an urge for a simple, traditional, one coloured manicure. By yesterday afternoon I was actually really looking forward to my red nails!

My dilemma with red nails is that I am yet to find my perfect red nail polish. The only true red I own is OPI's Off With Her Red, and I think it might be a little too warm, or a a little too red to be my perfect red. In real life it seems to be quite a lot darker than in this photo. All the other reds I own are really more corals or pinks. 

Can any of my lovely followers recommend good red nail polish? I have olive skin and it seems to be quite tricky! There are just way too many to choose from! At the moment I'm thinking OPI Dutch Tulips or OPI Colour So Hot It Burns. And while we're getting into the nitty gritty, should I get a blue toned red or a yellow toned red?

Oh, Peridot! I'm so glad you're finally mine!

Chanel Peridot

My amazing birthday surprise nail polish was Chanel Peridot. Isn't it gorgeous!!! It was even more amazing in real life. Thanks again to Lucy, the best housemate for buying it for me. Unfortunately, now that I know how amazing Chanel polishes are I may not be able to control myself around them! I always justified not buying them because they were so expensive compared to other good quality nail polishes. I could get one Chanel, which retails for $39 in Australia (US$40.90, yep ladies, 40 bucks!), or I could pay retail for two OPIs, or I could get like, thirteen China Glazes online (not including postage of course)! Why buy one when you can have thirteen? Next time however, now that I know how amazing they are, I may just be tempted!

Peridot was a dream to apply, so smooth and it flowed beautifully! It was everything you want in a nail polish. And it lasted a lot longer than most other polishes. You can see a tiny bit of tip wear, but that was after three days so I think it lasted quite well for me, considering usually when I change my polish after one day the tip wear is just as bad, if not a lot worse!

China Glaze Concrete Catwalk, Chanel Peridot, Bundle Monster BM-203

Even though I should never even think about using a precious polish like Peridot to stamp, I'd seen online somewhere (and of course can't find it anymore) a mani that appeared to use Peridot, or a similar polish as a stamp and it just looked beautiful. Even thought this turned out quite nice, I think from now on I'll keep Peridot on its own, where it looks most beautiful!

Lady Nicki & Crazy Nicki

Lady Nicki

OPI Skull and Glossbones, OPI Fly, Bundle Monster BM-225

Crazy Nicki

OPI Fly, OPI Ate Berries In The Canaries, Essence Make It Golden

I am a massive green / turquoise / blue kind of girl so Fly from OPI's Nicki Minaj was just calling my name. I kind of thought it might be the same as China Glaze Custom Kicks, one of my favourites, just without the gold bits, but it's different enough that it's clear now that I definitely needed it. At the same time I also got Skull & Glossbones. Now, I was all kinds of obsessed over the Pirates of the Caribbean collection when it came out, but thought that Skull & Glossbones was too boring, so I didn't get it. Big mistake Rosie! Then, over the past few weeks I've been seeing it everywhere on the internet, looking all lovely and neutral, so of course I had to have it! 

Today I present to you: Nicki Minaj, two ways. The first mani is my classy lady Nicki Minaj mani. It kind of looks like wallpaper and I love that! And of course to balance out the classy demure Nicki I had to do a crazy Nicki mani. Bright colours? Check. Out there accent nail? Check. Glitter explosion? Check. 

In other news, today just happens to be my birthday and my awesome housemate Lucy surprised me with a very special nail polish, which I am sure will be featured heavily in Monday's post. I'll give you some hints... it's one of the most talked about polishes of 2011 (in my humble opinion), it changes colour, it is amazing and it comes in a square bottle. I have it on my nails as I type this, and I just can't tear my eyes away from my fingers! Have you guessed it yet????

Stampy Flowers Everywhere!

China Glaze Peachy Keen, China Glaze Grape Pop, Bundle Monster BM-205

Argh, I just can't get over how awesome stamping is. I keep on adding it to manicures, but it's made me become a little lazy in the nail art department.

I was quite excited about this colour combination, and I assumed that Grape Pop would be fabulous for stamping because it's such an opaque colour, but it wasn't as impressive as I'd hoped. Does anyone have any suggestions for polishes that are great for stamping? I think I at least need a super good black and white to stamp with, but I can't be bothered to get the Konad polishes.

Purple Patchworks

OPI Planks A Lot, OPI Teal The Cows Come Home, China Glaze First Mate, OPI DS Extravagance, BYS Metallic Violet Striper

I've been seeing oodles of theses geometric patchwork nails all over the interwebs over the past few days. So many of them look super awesome because they've used what appears to be really thin metallic tape to make the lines (or they're awesome at using sticky tape!) I don't have any of this tape, but I did recently buy a metallic purple striper so I used that instead! This was really fun to do, I just did patches of different coloured nail polish over my base coat (Planks a Lot) and then covered the messy joins with the striper. No having to wait for the base to dry before sticking on the tape, and no worry about messy edges! 

Pretty Zombie Girl Nails?

OPI Moon Over Mumbai, OPI Mermaid's Tears, OPI Planks A Lot, OPI What's With The Cattitude?, Bundle Monster BM-201

I'm still not sure if I like this manicure or not. I bought Moon Over Mumbai before Christmas is my eternal search for the perfect wearable white, and it ended up being more of a grey than a white. It's still a beautiful colour but it was a bit sheer, so after the third coat I decided to chuck a bit of stamping over the top. Keeping with the whole pale, dusty grey theme I used Mermaid's Tears and Planks A Lot. Believe it or not there is a stamp of What's With The Cattitude over the top in there. It's just very well disguised it seems. 

I think it ended up quite pretty, but it also kind of looks like I have the hands of a zombie or something, with weird little nail polish veins going on all over there.

Also, I'm going to try and get back into a regular posting schedule, hopefully three times a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from now on. Hooray!

Minty Spots

Essie Mint Candy Apple, Ulta3 Gold Rush Fever, Bundle Monster BM-211

Again with the new polishes! This whole living in the city, having access to lots of nail polish is not good for my bank account! Myer was having a sale and Essie was 30% off. I only have one Essie polish and Matt About You, but I've always wanted Mint Candy Apple. I've been really into green nail polish lately, which is a bit strange because I used to have so few greens now I have about a billion of them! Mint Candy Apple is a beautiful mint colour, but was a little b*tch to apply. It was a bit goopy, a bit chalky, kept on making little bald spots, not levelling properly and just generally being annoying. But I forgive it because it's so pretty! Might add a few drops of thinner and see how it goes next time. Of course, I couldn't resist so I stamped a spotty pattern from BM-211 over the top too. 

More flakies!

OPI Black Onyx, Inglot 204

It's official. I am on a flakie spree! I can't wait for winter when I can wear dark nail polish constantly. It always feels a bit weird wearing super vampy colours when it's super hot outside. I spotted an Inglot store the other day and carefully looked at the whole place for the famous flakies. I couldn't find them so I asked the girl working there, and she had some that weren't on display that she let me have a look at. Even though they're $16 for a teensie bottle I couldn't resist! 204 is amazingly blue and I've always wanted a really blue flakie.

Sorry about the lack of actual nail art recently. Hopefully I'll have some cool stuff coming up soon!

Hello Chi Chi, you look familiar...

I was in Myer yesterday, perusing the beauty area when this little Chi Chi polish caught my eye. A flakie! For only $12.95! And 30% off! Right in my hot little hand! How could I say no? In the shop I had a great suspicion that Chi Chi Crystal Top Coat was a dupe for piCture pOlish Festival. I still bought it, because well, who can say no to multi coloured flakies?  

Both piCture pOlish and Chi Chi are Australian brands, both bottles are labeled "Made in Australia"and I'm wondering if both these polishes actually came from the same big vat of nail polish in whatever factory they're made in. Both polishes are pretty much the same price, $11.90 for Festival from the piCture pOlish website, and $12.95 for Crystal Top Coat from stores that stock Chi Chi. Apart from the different lids, it seems like these are the exact same thing. Not that I'm complaining. It's always good to have spare flakies!

Now... onto the swatch!

Which one do you think is which? They're pretty much the same aren't they!

So this was two coats of both Chi Chi Crystal Top Coat and piCture pOlish Festival and as you can see they're pretty much the exact same. I'm not sure how easy it is to get Chi Chi outside of Australia, but for us Aussie girls, if you don't live near a Myer or a Target (who also stock Chi Chi, but when I checked didn't have it) you can get Festival online, and if you don't like buying online you can get Crystal Top Coat in store! 

Flakies for everyone!!! Hooray!!! 

I will never have plain nails again!

China Glaze For Audrey, China Glaze Custom Kicks, Bundle Monster BM-206

Stamping is just the best thing ever! This was my first whole mani attempt (after a couple of practice/playing around nails) and I was so happy with how it turned out. I was really expecting to have to redo at least a couple of my nails but they all turned out pretty good! For this first attempt I stuck to a very subtle combination in case of any mistakes. My hands are a mess in this photo. Just goes to show how much of a difference regular moisturising makes on your hands.

OPI Teal The Cows Come Home, China Glaze Heli-Yum, OPI The It Colour, Bundle Monster BM-221

Because I've been super slack all year (it sounds funny to say that since it's only been a week!) I thought I'd chuck in my second stamping attempt too. I went with a bit of a more contrasting/out there colour combination and I just love it! I also bought a tub of Lush Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter which I'd been reading about online and was desperate to have. It totally lives up to all the hype and smells just delicious. Lemon is one of my all time favourite smells/flavours and you so rarely see it in beauty products so I was super excited to get something lemony smelling that I'll be able to use every day.

I Lily Love You Festival

China Glaze First Mate, OPI I Lily Love You, piCture pOlish Festival

It's been a hectic start to the new year so far. With all the moving and unpacking and building flat-packed furniture I haven't had any time to do my nails. I've been keeping my eye out for I Lily Love You for a while now and just as it always happens, the second you start looking for something it'll disappear. Finally I found it a couple of days ago at DJs (have I mentioned I love living in the city!), the last bottle too! 

This mani was just thrown together. I wanted a darker base for I Lily Love You and I hadn't tried out First Mate yet so they were thrown on. It turned out to be quite an awesome combo! Definitely needed a shade photo as well as a sun photo to show off the awesomeness of I Lily Love You. Then, just to make it a little bit more special I added a smidge of Festival on top. 

And exciting news... I finally joined the stamping madness! I ordered the second set of Bundle Monster plates and a Konad stamper and scraper and they both arrived in the mail yesterday. I can't wait to try them out!

Patchwork Stripes

China Glaze Heli-Yum, China Glaze Custom Kicks, China Glaze Grape Pop, BYS Black Nail Striper

I was looking at some of the amazing manicures that Erika over at Chloe's Nails has created when I came across her patchwork mani tutorial. When I tried it out I felt like something was missing from my nails, so I grabbed my trusty black nail striper and went on a striping spree! I absolutely loved how they looked in the end and I think I'll definitely be playing around with this whole patchwork thing again soon!