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!