... Sarah Claire's Fave 5 Oz polishes of 2011 ...

Everyone else seems to be doing top lists at the moment so I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon. These are my favourite 5 Australian polishes that I've been wearing this year. I've really based this on which colours I wear the most - I don't blog every time I change my polish so a lot of days go unnoticed blogwise but these are definitely the 5 I pull out of the helmer most often. [And I know 2 aren't exactly from 2011 as such but pfffft!!!]

Face of Australia Molten Metallics - White Gold
I will never ever get sick of this entire range but the white gold is definitely my favourite out of the series. Especially in regards to stamping. It just seems to go well with nearly every polish and it is a dream to work with.

Glitter Gal - Purple 3D Holo
I will never regret the day I stumbled into the Perfume Connection and came across Glitter Gal polishes. The bottles may be on the small side [which they are making bigger next year! Hurrah!]. This is a beautiful colour purple regardless but the holographic makes it WOW! A lot of people in real life who are non-polish fantatics have asked about this range and I've probably kept at least 1 eBay seller in business because of this. I hate to think how much I've spent on Glitter Gal this year for people but it's been so worth it.

Cate Ruby - Tate
Seriously ... Cate Ruby was my biggest find for 2011. I stumbled across them via Google and I really need to expand my collection of their polishes in 2012. Tate is the most vibrant pink and as I wear pink the most often out of my vast wardrobe it matches perfectly everytime. I also cannot get enough of the bottles and love the diamonte ring. It is so different and innovative! Also the owner Tracey is extremely lovely and as a new blogger to the scene this year it was such a thrill to get a mention on their Facebook page for reviewing their products - especially without sending a million "look at me" emails! I look forward to seeing what 2012 holds for Cate Ruby

piCture pOlish - Jealousy
I don't know how piCture pOlish manage to do it. I've brought so many glitter polishes this year but none compare to Jealousy and it's smoothness and lack of uncomfortable grittiness! This is my favourite polish to turn too when I know I won't be able to change/remove my polish for a few days just because of how long lasting it is. I never get chips or peels ... just a little tip wear and that's it.

Ozotic Pro 504 Twilight [now just renamed Ozotic 504]
I really need to reswatch this as looking back on my original swatches during my first week of blogging just make me cringe. Oh well - you've got to start somewhere! This is one of my favourite multichromes and it shifts from blue to purple to reddy bronze - beautiful.

... No nails today - showing the December Glossybox! ...

For months I've been seeing all the US girls post about Birchboxes and other equivalents and desperately wanted to have a sample box of my own to love [or whinge about if it wasn't up to scratch] and finally I've gotten one! Hurrah!!

This is Glossybox which apparently used to be called "Beautybox" but for $14.95 they'll send out 5 products to test out and try to your doorstep in the latter half of each month. This is my first month and I figured it was getting lost in the Christmas mail but found it outside under the carport - who knows when they delivered it as there wasn't a note in the letterbox - oh well.

Firstly here is my box all wrapped up - oooh pretty!

Under the lid! Excitement.

And here is my list of products. Without looking much further I'm happy as this has paid for itself just with the Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Base and Top Coat which is over $15 in price - score!!

So all in all was it worth it - well it gets a big yes from me. Total value that I worked out was $71.41! Wow! 3 of the products were full size which is an added bonus.

** Cost Breakdown**
Gorgeous Lip Pencil = $25 [full size]
Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Diamond Shine Base and Top Coat = $16.45 [full size]
John Frieda Frizz-Ease Secret Weapon Flawless Finishing Creme =  $16.99/113g [sample 30ml = $4.51]
Tigi Haircare Manipulator by Bed Head = $23.95 [full size]
Auscreen Sunscreen = $7.49/125ml [sample 15ml = $1.50]

So incase you want to jump on board the link is glossybox.com.au - they do have a referral program but I can't for the life of me work out how to give out a link other than email [although if you would really like me to "refer" you then hit the email link on the right and I'm sure I can send out their standard email for you!]

... No Nails today - just what I got from Santa ...

Must have been a good girl this year! Santa brought me this beauty - Make Up Store "Britta" [or just "Britt" according to their website ... mmm ... someone must have made a boo-boo]

As always the sun has disappeared because I want to wear a holographic polish - but I promise I'll photo this one sooner rather than later as it really does look pretty and I hope that it comes out as fantastic as it does on photos I've seen on Google.

Make Up Store has recently appeared in my corner of the world and in a good and bad way it's right across the road from my husbands workplace. Good that I can go there easily now for a drool ... Bad cos of the prices. Their beautiful holo polishes will set you back $AUD 26 a piece :( Annoyingly I really want their Aqua Base so I'll have to get saving for next time a treat is in order.

... Essie - Aruba Blue ...

Essie - Aruba Blue

Gifted by Stephanie <--- check out her blog!

I can't believe I've actually had to sit and force myself to do this post. Stupid time - I've had zero time lately to commit to Blogger. I'm so far behind in blogs and I've been debating putting an RSS app on my phone but that's still not going to help me find time to read or comment. Ugh.

Anyway have this gorgeous blue to take your mind off all that. And I mean gorgeous. It's bright and shimmery and vibrant. Something about this reminds me of the deep blue that you get at the beach beyond the waves. Even without that it's a fantastic colour.

This is 3 coats of Aruba Blue but I could have gotten away with 2. Application was flawless and as I was super slack and didn't change my mani it was still spotless 4 days later when I eventually got around to removing it - fantastic for those who don't like to change their polish daily.

For the Aussies - Essies are available from Myer or Hairhouse Warehouse but if you want to save cash then I'd shop around online.

Oh and as it's Christmas I went for some stamping. I know it's summer in Australia and we don't get snow at Christmas etc etc but I went for the standard snowflake anyway. 

The stamping is from plate BM14 and the polish is Essence Multi Dimension XXXL Fall for me

** Final Verdict **

Long lasting, easy to apply and a gorgeous colour. What more do you want?

... Butter London - Yummy Mummy ...

Butter London - Yummy Mummy

Free with Madison Magazine - $AUD 8.95

Firstly ... I has a sad ...

I ripped my middle nail off last week - ouch. Annoying right below the nail line - but this now means that I filing them all down have finally got rid of that pesky orange stain that I've been growing out for months! Hoorah!

So this is the 2nd of the Butter London polishes available with this months Madison magazine called Yummy Mummy. 

Yummy Mummy is a beautiful fawn/beige/netural colour and there is definitely a silver shimmer going on in the bottle [I'm not sure if you can notice the silver streak on the bottle in these shots on the left hand side]. Honestly this colour really isn't what springs to mind when I think "Yummy Mummy"  as I associate the term with more vibrant colours but I've read that this polish seems to suit every skin colour - interesting theory.

This is 3 coats which like Trout Pout was extremely easy to apply which no lumps and quick drying time! Awesome. Being close to your skin colour it was however hard to see how much more to apply but hey - that's the point with natural nails.

** Final Verdict **A beautiful polish. Very easy to wear and definitely easy on the eye. The extreme subtle shimmer makes it stand out from being just another nude varnish.

Also I was lazy when I wore this and went through a phase of not redoing my mani and 3 days later here is the result.

Some slight tip wear but that's about it. Also when it did finally chip it was only noticeable on the white tips - you couldn't notice unless close up on the actual nail. So for those reading who don't like changing their polish often this might be worth a look.

... Butter London - Trout Pout ...

Butter London - Trout Pout

Free with December issue of Madison magazine - $AUD 8.95

So I was late getting onto the train for the free Butter London polishes that came with this months edition of Madison magazine - Thanks to Emma at Nails in the Desert for letting me know about this!!  So I had to remedy that and managed to find both colours to add to my collection.

Sadly there was only 2 colours to pick from but hey - can't complain. The first one I picked up is Trout Pout which is a pretty colour I'd describe as coral. It's not pink yet it's not orange - just a beautiful combo. I've used 3 coats and application was easy with no lumps or unsightly bits and fast drying time.

Annoyingly the photos I've taken seem to show a slight visible nail line which I can't see in real life [if it's there I must need glasses]

** Final Verdict **

It's a beautiful summer colour. Bright, vibrant, tropical. I'll be honest and say I probably wouldn't have picked it up if it wasn't for free but I'm glad I have it. It just seems to be such a happy colour and what made it better was having zero application issues. Awesome!

... Color Club - Diva Driver ...

Color Club - Diva Driver

Gifted from Jeanie

So ... who's missed me???

I seriously envy you girls who keep up nail blogs while working full time - I'm struggling at the moment to even read blogger nevermind make a post. Life is just extremely busy at the moment and days where I used to be able to have a few hours of "me" time have turned into having meetings, doing school events or Christmas shopping. School ends in a fortnight for summer holidays and I have discovered my next free weekend is in mid January - ugh.

Anyway enough ranting ... here is a beautiful colour that I picked out to wear on the weekend for a wedding [yes another wedding!! Tis the season]

This is Color Club Diva Driver and it's a beautiful pinky purple that seems to change which one it is more like depending on the sunlight. It's a very vibrant and bright colour with high gloss without a topcoat.  I've only used 2 coats and it applied perfectly with no lumps or bumps and it dried quickly.

I decided to glam it up with some stamping from Konad plate m82 using Face of Australia Molten Metallics in White Gold [one day i'll get the hang of these flower stamps and make sure they all face the same direction!!]

*Final Verdict*

An extremely easy to use polish that is bright and happy. In hindsight I probably should have stamped in white instead of white gold but the effect still looks fantastic and what I wanted.

Hopefully I'll be back posting regularly again soon - I'm in a bit of Christmas mood now that wedding season has finished and I'll need to have my nails reflecting that!!

... Silver Holo Comparisons ...

I've got a bit of a different post today. I was involved in a conversation regarding basecoats for holographic polishes and which is best.  I've only got 2 out of the many that are out there but hey - gotta start somewhere!

So here is NfuOh Aqua Base and the LA Colors Hardener/Strengthener that I was lucky enough to receive in a swap recently and that I've heard it been raved about being awesome under holos.

I've dug out my stash of silver holos to compare it against as I'm sure all polishes have different formulas to compare. Hopefully this way we'll be able to see some difference!

To play with today I have NfuOh 61,  China Glaze OMG, Glitter Gal Silver, Ozotic 509 and my latest beauty Make Up Store Greta. If you click to make this photo larger you'll notice the Ozotic and Glitter Gal are more prone to holo without direct sunlight shining on the bottles. Oooh pretty!

All photos are of 3 coats of each colour with no colour underneath. Just the bases. I'll start with the Aqua Base ... and apologise for the gross thumb if it appears in any shots [I got into a fight with the garden!]

And cos I'm silly and didn't photo those silver polishes in the correct order here we go again so you know
Thumb - Glitter Gal, then left to right Ozotic, NfuOh, Make Up Store, China Glaze

Indoors under artificial light

Outdoors in natural sunlight

Now for the LA Colors Hardener/Strengthener. Again the order of polishes are Thumb - Glitter Gal, then left to right Ozotic, NfuOh, Make Up Store, China Glaze

Outdoors in natural sunlight

** Final Verdict **

You can see for yourself in the photos if you decide there is any difference between bases. Up close - honestly I didn't notice any difference on the polishes except with NfuOh using the LA Colors base which got a bit of a powdery look and feel to it.

In regards to the actual polishes the Ozotic and Glitter Gal show up the holo fantastically even in little light but they are super sheer compared to the other 3. They are also 100% smooth when applied which the other 3 don't seem to have.

The NfuOh and Make Up Store polishes are definitely more silver than the other 3 and under sunlight show the holo in all it's glory but both polishes are frankly a pain in the butt to work with regardless of which of these 2 bases you choose. They both show bald spots, they both don't like having too much or too little polish on your brush and they both like to make life difficult. The results are definitely worth it but the effort required means that I definitely won't be using it frequently. They also don't like to be super holo unless you are out in full sun.

And the China Glaze just sits right between these 2 groups. It's not sheer and not picky but it's definitely lovable in it's own right.

Hopefully tomorrow the sun will be out again and I'll give you the same polishes with a regular base coat so you can see if these base coats make any difference whatsoever.

... OPI - I Lily Love you ...

OPI - I Lily Love You

Gifted from Jen

I can't believe I hadn't got around to photographing this beauty yet. I've worn it a few times but always forgotten to capture it until after it's chipped - whoops.

This is 2 coats of I Lily Love You over OPI Lincoln Park at Midnight. I Lily Love You is a gorgeous super pale pink jelly polish that includes lots of glitter and mica flakies. And man ... there is a lot of colour appearing on those glitter/flakie pieces!! Red, Gold, Blue, Purple, Green, Orange - really it's just a fantastic collage of colour all coming together.

I found it easy to apply. Being a nearly clear polish it is extremely easy to layer these glitter and flakie pieces. It also dries quick and without streaks - bonus!!

** Final Verdict **
I'm such a flakies girl! I think they are beautiful and combined with the sparkle filled glitter it's sure to bring a smile to your face. It's an easy layering polish that is extremely pretty and brings something special to the party.

... No Nails today - just a bit of some housekeeping! ...

Hiya guys

Just a bit of a quick ramble post for you today. Firstly I've hit 200 followers which is extremely exciting! Thank you everyone for reading my rants and raves.

Secondly - I've been asked lately about how to get on my blogroll. Well it's simple really - if you are one of my readers I'll gladly include you! I try to add automatically if I see your GFC if it has a blog connected but I miss heaps so please let me know. I often check there before my dashboard if I'm short of time to read.

I'll leave you with a pretty daylilly pic from my garden. They have been loving this burst of summer weather and have all decided to bloom.

... OPI - DS Classic ...

OPI - DS Classic

Gifted from Jamie

 I recently came into possession of a few OPI DS polishes - and they are so lovely. The first one I've tried is DS Classic which really is a classic neutral polish ... but with extra holo goodness!

It's a beautiful warm brown with a scattered holographic surprise and the colour is just gorgeous. This is 3 coats and I found it dried quick and without any unsightly bits. It also dries super smooth - hoorah!

Neutral Indoors

Scattered bling outside

** Final Verdict **

When I go back to work this is going to be a favourite polish. Seriously. It is just so cool and neutral inside but it's so beautiful in the sun when you least expect it.

... Chemistry 515 ...

Chemistry 515

Available from Essential Beauty / Essential Distribution - $12.35 AUD

The weather has been really warming up here so I've been trying to take advantage of the sunlight and pull out the holos!

This is Chemistry 515 and for those not in the know - this is the exact same as Ozotic 515 but just cheaper.  Chemistry polishes come out of this funky little warehouse [and I mean little] but there is like a whole WALL of this series. Unfortunately being a warehouse it is often hit and miss to what they have in stock.

Chemistry 515 is a linear blue holo and it's extremely pretty [find me a linear that isn't!]. As with all the Chemistry line it dries fast and it's not a tricky polish to work with at all - bonus. I actually really like this colour blue ... it's not light and it's not dark ... just a nice vibrant blue.

Inside looking pretty.

Pretty holo - clickity for more to drool over

** Final Verdict **

This is a gorgeous polish with a fantastic holo. If you are in Australia then check out the Chemistry brand of polishes - and if you are in Adelaide get your butt to the warehouse pronto!! They are extremely nice and you are guaranteed to walk out with a stack of goodies!

... Butter London - West End Wonderland

Butter London - West End Wonderland

Gifted from Alexandra RC [check out her blog! *hint hint*] 

Hi guys - miss me?? I've had a few camera issues lately plus my internet speed dropped to dial up speeds which made it next to impossible to view anything never mind upload things. The sad thing is I remember the day when I upgraded from 33k dialup to 56k ... it was like Christmas! Sadly I'd long forgotten what it was like to have time to make a cup of coffee before the page loads.

Anyway onto this beauty which is my first [and only!] Butter London in my collection and she is gorgeous!! This is West End Wonderland which is a beautiful glitter and honestly reminds me of the Australian beach especially the beach at Christmas time ... there is something about it to me that makes my mind think Christmas! It's fantastic gold shades with a hint of red and white.

This is 3 coats of West End Wonderland without a base colour. I found it dried quickly and was easy to work with.

For a glitter it isn't totally gritty by itself and that took me by surprise. I won't say it dries 100% smooth but it's smoother than majority of my glitters and as always a topcoat will sort that out for you if it's an issue.

Blurry for sparkly colours that my camera didn't want to pic up otherwise!

** Final Verdict **

Love love love - I can see myself wearing this a lot over the summer. It's not in your face blingy but it's still happy and full of sparkle. Definitely give this one a go.

... No Nails today - just the Giveaway WINNER ....

Ooooh ... exciting!!!! My prediction for Halloween was correct - a big fat ZERO trick or treaters! Their loss - I had a nice packet of chocolates waiting ... oh well. Into my tummy they'll go!

So the pumpkin cost giveaway - thank you everyone who entered! I wanted to do something outside the box for a giveaway and I want to thank everyone for being so accepting of something different.

Here in Australia, pumpkins are sold generally via the kilo so here is the weight and price per kilo shot.

So $3.98 x 6.215kg = $24.74 [or $24.75 rounded up as Aussies have 5c as their lowest coin value]

And the winner is ......

Vicki.Lowe with her guess of $25 even

Congratulations!!!

As promised the prize is 3 of my favourite polishes - Inglot 202, Chi Chi Moondust [the rare blue one! Woo!] and Glitter Gal Suede. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Oh ... and the pumpkin? Well it turned into this - RAWR! We found it was even more impressive if you dump a whole lot of sparklers in and sparks shoot out the mouth! The kids had fun with it anyway and that's the main thing.

... Halloween Nails ...

Really quick post today as I'm exhausted! Firstly just under 22 hours left to guess the cost of my pumpkin!! Click on the link on the right! I'd love to have a few more guesses entered :) I have carved my pumpkin but I'll wait to show it when the winner is announced!

So here are my Halloween Nails. As always I forgot to take photos when I did them so here is the end of the day tatty version [and blurry half asleep version]. As I've mentioned before Halloween is not big here - I had no trick or treaters visit and I only really did my nails today as I have been seeing so many great Halloween nails on blogger and I wanted to join the fun!

Anyway it's 2 coats of Ulta3 - Crazy with 1 coat of piCture pOlish - Popsicle over the top ... stamping was using Bundle Monster plates BM213 and BM224 and I used Konad Black for the polish.

... Cate Ruby - Tate plus OPI - Gone Gonzo ...

And now for something completely different *queue Monty Python music*

This is yesterdays mani of Cate Ruby - Tate with OPI - Gone Gonzo glitter over the top. I think it's quite striking and I'm pleased with how it turned out. The pink seems to work really well with the blue and I've had to put a thick layer of top coat on to smooth it all out or I sit and pick at the hex pieces!

From what I've been reading you are either a huge fan of the Muppet Glitters or you aren't. I quite like them and they look great layered. I can understand being disappointed if you wanted it to be a polish you can wear by itself though.

This is 2 coats of Gone Gonzo. I probably could have gone for 3 but I quite like how scattered the glitter pieces are so I left it. Do any of you guys have Gone Gonzo? What colours do you think it lookgs good layered over?

... Cate Ruby - Tate ...

Cate Ruby -Tate

Purchased from Cate Ruby Online - $14.95 AUD

 Miss me?? I've been feeling a bit bleh the last few days and not up to doing my nails. Originally I thought I must have drunk a lot more than I thought I had - more than likely I had some sort of flu bug instead. Ugh. Incidentally those wedding nails last 5 days before tip wear got the better of it ... nice one!

So to get myself out of the funk here is a beautiful vibrant pink. This is "Tate" by Cate Ruby and as always - I LOVE the bottle! I'm showing 2 coats of awesomeness on this swatch. It applies beautifully with no streaks or lumps and has such a beautiful glossy finish to it. Plus it's pink ... how can pink not make you smile?

** Final Verdict **
Easy to apply, great to look at, fantastic colour and hopefully going to help me smile for the rest of the day instead of lying on my sickbed. Hoorah!

... Wedding Nails ...

I apologise in advance for the strange week of posts. I don't often swatch in advance so when things get busy I'm often stuck without posts.

Anyhoo ... my brother got married on the weekend so here are my wedding nails. If I had thought ahead I would have photographed this the day before instead of going "oh i haven't done that yet" a day later.

I basically wanted something that wasn't in your face and that would match my dress! I was originally going for DS Classic but as the weather has been tempermental I wasn't too sure I wanted to go holo as my rule of thumb is "if you want it to rain it's guaranteed as soon as you put a holo polish on"

I ended up deciding on this ... it's not my best work but I was too tired after putting my hair in curlers to set overnight to redo it.

Zoya Dove with stamping in NYC Color - Magneta [tips] and Face of Australia Molten Metallic [base] - Amethyst using Konad plate m65

Oh and here's me in my flowery dress ... not the best pic but the only one I could find wear I wasn't wearing a jacket over the top.

Oh and a photo of the bridal party [taken from the gavin male webpage]

Oh yeah - if you haven't already gone to enter my Pumpking Guessing Contest then head that way now!!! DO IT!!

... Guess the cost of my Pumpkin! ... CLOSED!!!!!

So ... I'm over 30 and never celebrated Halloween. There - you have it. Being Australian it is a real non-event. While in the past few years the supermarket chains have tried to push more and more Halloween stuff out the doors but it's not happening.

Originally I was going to say "Guess how many Trick or Treaters I get this year for a prize" but really if you said a big fat zero you'd be on the money. In the past 5 years I might have had 2 Trick or Treaters ... in total.

Last week I saw my first Halloween pumpkin of the season appear in the shop. Now ... we have pumpkins here but they just aren't big fat round and orange. Queensland Blue pumpkins are the most common round ones and ... well like the name says - they are blue on the outside [well a light blue/grey].

I was excited to see the first few orange pumpkins for October filter through last week - we don't often get them ... and instead of writing something snarky on FB about it I thought I'd make you guys do the guessing first on the cost!

So this giveaway is really simple ...all you need to do is ... Guess how much this Pumpkin costs!

The closest guess wins! Easy! Any follower on Blogger or FB can enter ... there are no extra entries for following me on Facebook or Twitter or posting about this giveaway [but feel free too anyway! I'll love you for it!]

If it helps you the answer will be in Australian Dollars and Cents 

Currently $1 US = 96c Australian [not much in it!]

Even if smart Aussies figure out the shop I was in - you still don't know the weight - ha ha ha

The Prize will be 3 of my favourite polishes - wrapped up and delivered to your door with love! I can't offer you anything Halloweeny but I can offer you a chocolate Caramello Koala! Nom nom nom! [Picture of the prize will be shown on the post where I announce the winner]

Facebook Followers who don't have a GFC are encouraged to enter aswell!

*Fine Print fun*

This giveaway is open to all readers of Shatter me Claire

[new followers welcome!]

This giveaway is OPEN INTERNATIONALLY!

ENTRIES CLOSED!!!!

[I'll accept entries until everywhere in the world is past this day!]

Winner/s will be whoever picks the correct price or closest too the correct price.

I shouldn't have to say this but just incase - all products are brand new and untried.

Also all items were purchased by me with my own $$


Multiple entries or multiple accounts will be excluded - please play fair!


Any questions?? Please leave a comment on this post or hit the email button and I'll get back to you

* International participants please read!! *

Please be aware that sometimes parcels get sent back [especially when sending to the USA] and I'm only prepared to send this out once and if it comes back to me then I won't be able to resend but I'm more than happy to eat your chocolate!! Nom nom nom!!

* * * * * *

... Kleancolor - Holo Chrome ..

Kleancolor - Holo Chrome

Gifted from Jamie

This beauty is Kleancolor Holo Chrome that I received recently. The colour of the polish is actually more of a purple than blue but is in that selection of blurple polishes that refuses to photograph correctly. Anyway as soon as you pick the bottle up all you can see is gorgeous flashes of red, blue and green. Holo Love!!

This is 3 coats but I probably could have gotten away with 2 and it's beautiful blue color regardless of the holo. No bumps, lumps or uneven marks. Just pure awesomeness. It also dried super smooth.

I'm disappointed with how these photos turned out - when I get my camera back I'll reswatch.

Indoors

Outdoors

** Final Verdict **
A beautiful blue holo that is super easy to apply and sparkles in the sunlight for you. I can definitely see this one again and again appearing on my nails over summer.