Day 25 - Inspired by Fashion

Kester Black Buttercream, Kester Black Blue Raspberry, Kester Black Paradise Punch, Kester Black Tutti Fruity, Ulta3 Citrus, Orly Liquid Vinyl

It's 31 Day Challenge time again and I figure I should attempt to actually finish my 31 day challenge from last year. Day 26 is fashion. I love clothes but I'm not that much of a fashion buff. Honestly, my favourite fashion website is Go Fug Yourself. It's hilarious. One outfit which caught my attention recently was this one worn by AnnaSophia Robb, on the set of The Carrie Diaries.

Neon colours? Check! Crazy triangles? Check! Sheer checkerboard? Check! Perfect for nail art. A little later than scheduled, on day 358, I painted these crazy nails.

Neon and Grey Nails

China Glaze Concrete Catwalk, OPI Alpine Snow, Ulta3 Citrus

Lately it seems that neon yellow is just everywhere! While it's not a colour I'd usually be able to pull off with clothes (apart from the reflective high vis vest I wear while riding my bike home from work, which I totally rock), I love neon nails. I was feeling a bit boring a few days ago and did a regular mani with China Glaze Concrete Catwalk (which, along with CG Recycle are my two all time favourite greys!). Last night I thought i'd neon it up a tad! 

I also tried 'saran wrap' nails, or 'glad wrap' as we Aussies call it (if we're going for the brand name stuff!) on this manicure. I had been a little bit confused about this kind of mani, but after seeing a tutorial for it on Criminal Nails, it all made sense! For some reason when I'd seen photos, I thought you had to use the cling wrap to dab on the nail polish, not use it to take the nail polish off! Silly me. Anyway, once I figured that all out I just had to try it! Those nails were a little too tennis-bally on their own, so I added some dots. I can't wait to try it with different colour combinations!

Ulta3 Enchanted Magnetic

Ulta3 Enchanted

OMG! A magnetic nail polish, a whole stand of them! In Sydney! In front of me for only $5! What's happening? Ulta3 has a magnetic nail polish collection! I need to stop using exclamation marks! 


Anyway, back to the surprise of my Saturday. I didn't know that Ulta3 was releasing a magnetic collection, but I sure am glad they did. I hadn't given into the magnetic nail polish trend yet, mainly because I thought there were other nail polishes that I'd rather have than magnetic ones. I wasn't sure if I liked the look enough to get any. And the fact that I'd never seen a bottle in real life and would have to surely order them from overseas was a bit of a put off. 


Then, miraculously on Saturday as I popped into a chemist on Pitt Street in Sydney (mainly to do my usual check of anywhere that sells Revlon for the still elusive Whimsical, a girl can check can't she?) I saw a little stand of Ulta3 polishes and lo and behold, they were magnetic. And at only $5 each, I couldn't resist! Remember US ladies, you lucky lassies, for a bit of perspective, while your OPI r.r.p may be $9, ours is $19.95, which converts at this very second according to XE, to US$20.12, so $5 is quite the bargain, even for a "drug store" brand! I bought 3, but later gave one to a friend, who has also been obsessing about magnetic polishes.


The whole magnetic thing takes a bit of getting used to. I ditched the Ulta3 magnet straight away, because on my nails I only got 1 or 2 lines and grabbed every kind of magnet off our fridge and went for it! My favourite magnet ended up being one of those thin rectangular ones (it was actually like a business card for the people who fixed our stove).

Effie Trinket - Nail Polish Queen!

China Glaze Strawberry Fields, Barry M 289 Gold, Essence Make It Golden (and a tiny hint on the very edge of the tips of Ulta3 Gold Rush Fever)

Like every other person on the planet I've seen the Hunger Games at the movies in the past week and read the books. And like every other nail polish addict on the planet, I've done a HG manicure! Hooray! 

Because I am not all that skilled with painting intricate designs like Mockingjay birds, or tiny bows and arrows, I did something different. When I saw the movies I loved Effie's nails. I love Elizabeth Banks (they need to bust Avery out of North Korea on 30 Rock so she can be a regular again on the show!) and honestly, Effie was my favourite part of the movie! These nails are inspired by the awesome gradient mani she rocked in the reaping scene:

(hardest thing to find a photo of on the interwebs. They were much more impressive in the movie but you get the idea)

Anyway. They were awesome so obviously I had to have them too! 

Pale Glittery Pink Jelly Mani

OPI Panda-Monium Pink, China Glaze Nova, Ulta3 French Pink

This was my attempt to be slightly creative while I was sick with a cold earlier in the week (the cold is also responsible for me posting today instead of on Monday or Tuesday like normal). I've been seeing a few of the old jelly sandwich manis over the past few weeks and was in the mood for a subtle, pink kind of manicure so this was what I ended up with! 

I bought Ulta3 French Pink a while back during my search for the perfect pink, but it's just too sheer for my liking. It sure came in handy for this mani though!