... Cate Ruby - New Yorker ...

Cate Ruby - New Yorker

Purchased from Cate Ruby - $14.95 AUD [with free shipping!]

♫ Start spreading the news ♫

♫ I am leaving today ♫

♫ I want to be a part of it ♫

♫ New York ... New York ♫

This is the latest polish from Cate Ruby. Isn't she pretty!! A beautiful bright red to sweep the blues away [ooh - bad colour pun]

Anyway ... it's fast drying and honestly you could get away with a single coat if you wanted too. I've used 2 for these photos but only cos I wanted too. Application was a dream ... smooth and painless.

For some reason my camera hates reds [and blues, and purples ... ugh] so the actual colour is more like the original bottle shot that I've shown. I was hoping to rephoto this on my husbands camera tonight but I've just managed to snag a nail so I'm back to nubbins *sad*

It came wrapped in a pretty bag! How cute is this!

** Final Verdict **

A beautiful red that is bright and happy. I've had a love/hate relationship with reds as a lot don't play nice with my skin tone but this one definitely does.

PS - Excuse the blog mess ... I decided for some reason in the middle of the night to get up and fiddle with the blog settings and lets just say I now wish I'd just let it be. Bare with me!

... 7 days - 7 ways! Day 7 ...

7 days - 7 ways

Free hand zigzags and dots

Coral Colours - Black Sateen

Final day people! I'll round off this series with some free hand nail art. I've just done some black zigzags or as my 5 year old puts it "M's with dots".  Super easy to do with a thin brush, dotting tool or something thin like a toothpick! Just follow the flow! Big thick stripes! Fun! Reminds me of the drizzle on chocolate bars! Mmmmm

I hope you enjoy my little week long series and that it gives you some other ideas on getting the most out of a single colour.  I'll definitely do this again in the future but I'm planning something big for March so stay tuned!!

... 7 days - 7 ways! Day 6 ...

7 days - 7 ways!

Day 6 - Tips

Coral Colours - Black Sateen

I've been feeling extremely unwell and I'm not good at blogging in advance so you'll have to put up with a simple half assed effort today.

Thought I'd rock some black tips. There are numerous ways you can go for this look from freehand to sticky tape but I've always found the easiest way is with tape you can buy for French Tips. Manicure does a great pack of 20 that only costs $3 that you can buy from places like Priceline and Kmart.

Really easy - paint and add tips. Done!

Hopefully you are still reading! I haven't managed to blog daily for a week in a LONG time! Only one more day to go ... Woohoo!

... 7 days - 7 ways! Day 5 ...

7 days - 7 ways!

Day 5 - Striping Tape

I find using striping tape relaxing to use and the possibilities of designs are basically endless. Striping tape is super thin tape that comes in various colours on these little wheels. They are super cheap to pick up from eBay - like under $2 including postage.

So how to use? All you need to do is paint your nails like normally and then pick your colour of tape and place it sticky side down on your nail - duh! Lastly add a top coat. Easy! Well easy in theory. Obviously I still need a lot of practice but I had fun which is the main thing.

... 7 days - 7 ways! Day 4 ...

7 days - 7 ways!

Day 4 - Glitter top coat

Mode Cosmetics - Diamante

Hurrah - over half way there and I've still got plenty of ideas to show you. In fact I'm considering having another series or two in the future with more ways to get the most out of your polish.

Today is really simple and it's a glitter top coat. I've chosen to use Mode Cosmetics in Diamante. If you used Diamante on it's on you are sure to be disappointed as it's basically just a clear polish with glitter but if you layer it over an existing polish that's where the fun starts.  I had quick look on Google for swatches for this polish and I think it's been given a rough go as really it's beautiful.

This is 2 coats of Diamante over Bo Peep and I won't lie - this looks WAY better in real life. The glitter reflects red, green and gold in certain light which I struggled to catch on camera - I originally thought it may be a holo but each glitter piece always reflects the same regardless of where you move.  Heads up that you will need a clear top coat if you want it to be smooth as the glitter pieces are slightly bumpy.

Mode is another one of those cheaper brands that live in selected Chemists around the country. RRP is $2.45 which isn't going to break the budget and it's well worth a try

... 7 days - 7 ways! Day 3 ...

7 days - 7 ways!

Day 3 - Stripes

Rimmel I ♥ Lasting Finish - 239 Your Majesty

Good ol' stripes! Way to bring something funky to the party.  Firstly - don't be running for the hills just yet ... this idea is seriously easy and is honestly the best way to cover up chips if you can't be bothered to find the polish remover!

** Seriously Simple Steps **

1 - Find 2 contrasting polishes, some scissors and some regular stationery tape [yes the clear stuff!]

2 - If your nails are already painted then skip ahead to step 5!

3 - Paint your nails fully in 1 of the polishes. Do a few coats for good 

4 - Wait for polish to fully dry

5 - When it's dry grab your scissors and sticky tape and cut a few lines off. The thickness is totally up to you.

6 - Place the sticky on your nail where you want it [do not cover up any chips or wear and tear that you want to cover up]

7 - Repeat steps 5 and 6 until you are happy with how your nail is covered

8 - Make sure your tape is fully pressed down on all nails [double check the edges]

9 - Grab your 2nd colour and paint your nails as normal - yes right over the top of the tape

10 - Repeat step 9 if you need a second coat of the top layer

11 - Pull all the sticky tape off [do this sooner rather than later or you run the risk of pulling off the base colour aswell]

12 - Add a top coat so it feels smooth

13 - Sit back and admire your handy work!!

If you didn't get all that and need pictures then click this link to a tutorial by Jane at Nailside - she shows you want I'm trying to explain in pictures rather than just words! [Obviously I've just gone for bold stripes rather than the look she's showing but you get the idea!]

Rimmel polishes are available at Big W, Priceline, Kmart, Target plus many others I'm sure.

... 7 days - 7 ways! Day 2 ...

7 days - 7 ways! 

Day 2 - Shattered Look

Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoat - Antiqued Gold

Call it what you want ... crackle, mosaic, shatter ... it's all the same. This craze has been and gone overseas but has been hitting the shelves here lately and more people in real life have been asking about this lately so I wanted to include it in this series.  Personally I don't mind the look but there is only so much you can do with it before you become bored.

This is Antiqued Gold which is a bit different than the regular crackles as it's a metallic and brings something a little extra to the party. I personally find with the Sally Hansen range to wait until your polish underneath is completely dry before adding the crackle. In this case it was left overnight before applying. Results will always vary and you'll never get the same result which can be frustrating if you get little to no crackle happening.

I found that the gold worked well with the bright pink and even in the spots where I didn't get a great coat coverage you can still see the pink peeping through. Heads up to try and not get this on your skin when painting as those little metallic glitter particles like to stick around and are a pain to remove even with remover.

I've so far found the range of Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoats at Target and Priceline.

... 7 days - 7 ways! Day 1 ...

Ok I was asked to do this series of posts by someone I know in real life. I often forget that this blog is visited frequently by non-bloggers and I thank my friends for reminding this on occasions. So I am doing this just for you - you know who you are!!

The question I was presented with simply is this ... "I have a seriously small polish collection so how can I manage to keep my nails looking fresh and different without having to resort to purchasing an entire shop of colours"

So I'm going to accept this challenge and show you 1 polish out of my collection and proceed to show 7 different ways to wear it over the next few days and hope that it will give some ideas!  As majority of people who visit "Shatter me Claire" are Aussies I'm showing polish that is easily available here - so advanced apologies to the international visitors to this site.

I've chosen this to be my test subject - Ulta 3 Bo Peep just because this range seems to be a staple in any Aussies polish stash.

Ulta3 is found at various chemists in those huge bins that you need to wade through to find the colour you want. Best thing about Ultra3 polishes is the price! At $2 a pop it's not going to break the bank and you won't cry tears if you end up discarding it in the future or if you decide to only wear it once and it wasn't for you.

Bo Peep is also the same colour known as NYC Magneta which can be found at Woolworths, Big W and Woolies Petrol stores across the country. It's the exact same colour from the same company - just under a different brand name!

Ulta3s are slightly on the smelly side of polish but they are fast drying and there are never any issues with application.

So here is Day 1 and the look is plain and simple ... just polished nails. I'll be back for the next 6 days with the same polish in different ways ... well that's the plan anyway!

... Cate Ruby - Fudge ...

Cate Ruby - Fudge

Purchased from Cate Ruby - $14.95 AUD

 This little beauty is Fudge which is from the Commando Cate range over at Cate Ruby and the best way I can describe the colour is simply that it is the colour of fudge. Mmmmm fudge!  I have a few pieces of caramel fudge from Darrell Lea in the fridge at the moment and it pretty much matches perfectly in colour.

This is 3 coats of "Fudge". It's an enjoyable neutral brown that has a slight silver shimmer throughout. It's definitely safe for work and pretty enough not to be boring and plain. I found it easy to apply with no unsightly lumps or bumps. As always it comes in the gorgeous bottle with the removable diamante ring.

If a plain netural doesn't work for you then you can always spice it up a bit with some nail art. Hopefully you are a lot better at it than me but this is combined with other Cate Ruby colours - Mulberry and Lollipop.

Oh - and the best part about this brand is that it's free shipping with online orders!! If you are like me there is nothing more disappointing than having to fork out shipping costs when you could buy another polish with that money!  Also they are always perfectly giftwrapped and beautiful when you pull it out of the box. No more unexciting bubblewrap staring you in the face ... just a pretty present full of polish!

** Final Verdict **
Gorgeous shade for those days when you really need a neutral colour on your nails.

And for the Aussies in the room ... Today only [Sunday Feb 19] you can get a free bottle of Cate Ruby with any order placed! Awesome - what you waiting for! Tell them Shatter me Claire sent you :)

... Glossybox - Part 2 ...

I could have sworn that my 2 Glossyboxes were exactly the same. Obviously I'm just going a bit senile and have opened the same box twice and gone "oh it's the same". Slightly embarrassing but moving on ...

Mainly for my memory for when I want to refer back to it in the future.
I received ...

* Proactive Deep Cleansing Wash - sample size 60ml
* Face of Australia Mineral Lip Shine in Starlight - full size 4.5g
* Langlois Lip Balm - full size 5g
* Star and Rose Emergency Nail Files - 12 pack
* Polished London Polish in Bitten Red - 10ml

All up the total value of my box is $36 plus the nail files which don't specify a cost. As always the box itself costs $15 so that's not bad going.

If you are considering subscribing I would check out the wall on their Facebook page and read others comments and reviews and make your own decision. It's all luck of the draw to see what you receive in your box. I've got good and bad things to say so yeah ... read and be informed.

... No Nails ... Just a random meme ...

It's been awhile since I've done one of these so enjoy ... they don't happen often!  I was tagged by Michelle at  Lab Muffin ... seriously go check it out. It's one of those small sites under 100 followers that is just waiting for people to discover it! Go go go ... I'll wait for you here!

Rules:
Answer the questions
Tag 5 other bloggers
Let the bloggers know that they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their page

1. How many polishes do you have?
Oh god knows! Too many I'm sure. WAYYYY more than what is listed above in my stash [yes I'll be updating that soon.

2. What is your favourite brand of nail polish?
That's so not fair! How can I choose 1?? :(  I have a soft spot for any Australian polish. Go Aussie!

3. Do you like Crackle polish or hate it?
I don't mind it. I think it's handy for those days when you don't have time to fix up your nails and you can just layer it on top and go ... but I can see why people are over it. There is only so much you can do with that look.

4. What was your first nail polish brand?
No idea! I was rather big into polish back in my teens and had a wide and wonderful assortment back then [wish I'd kept them all now though]

5. If you are going to have a nail polish line, what are you going to name it?
Probably something rude or swear words so people would be intrigued by it! I've just started branding my frankens as "Little Roo"

6. What nail polish colours do not compliment you?
Those that make me look like I have lobster hands!! Mainly orange/red combos.

7.What nail polish colours do compliment you?
Holos! That's a colour right? I think they compliment everyone!

8. Name two of your best nail art friends?
It's hard to keep it at 2 as there are so many gorgeous people I speak too in the polish world. The beautiful Reece at Spit & Polish deserves the credit for encouraging the polish-addict in me to reappear in the world. And Em at Nails in the Desert is the Aussie blogger that I speak to the most and she is always super helpful and fantastic!

9. What was the best nail polish gift you ever received?
I love any nail mail - I'll accept it with loving arms and give it a good home. I get very excited when parcels arrive!

10. Make a speech thanking the blogger who gave you this tag
Flick back up the top!

11. What is your second favourite nail polish company?
I'm sure it would be another Aussie brand!

12. Glitter or no glitter?
I love glitter - but really it would have to depend on my mood as lets face it - glitters are a bitch to remove!

13. OPI, China Glaze or Essie?
I have a soft spot for China Glaze

14. When do you change your nail polish?
When it starts to chip usually

15. What's your favourite colour on your nails?
Blue or Purple

16. Darks or Brights?
Brights at the moment since it's summer!

17. What are you wearing on your nails right this moment?
A England - Perceval from yesterday!!

18. Matte nails - in or out?
I like them ... just not all the time!

19. French Manicure?
I think they look ok but i'm not a fan of the acrylic french manicure look with the stark white and often white below where it should be on your nail line.

20. Favourite winter colour?
Oooh - I dunno. I'm sure it would be blue and purple like my regular favourite polish colours!

I'm supposed to tag 6 people but a] I'm lazy and b] I don't want to hurt any feelings by leaving people out so here's the deal! If you want to do it ... then do it! Make sure you leave me a link so I can swing by and read all about you though!!

... A England - Perceval ...

A England - Perceval

Purchased from A England - £9.00 [Aussie price depends on exchange rates]

I can't believe I had this sitting in my Helmer still with the bubblewrap on for so long. This is Perceval and it's a beautiful dark metallic red.

This is 3 coats and it's gorgeous. It's glossy and shiny and really pretty. I found it easy to apply and fast drying but if you have ridges I would highly recommend going for a base filler before hand as being a metallic it does like to show imperfections.  The true colour is slightly darker than what the picture shows [well on my folks monitor anyway!]

** Final Verdict **
If you like bright shiny reds on your fingertips then you'll want this one for your collection and with free shipping if you buy from A England site it's worthwhile waiting for a great day on the exchange rates!

... No Nails but a Facebook Giveaway - Hurrah! ...

As always I have good news and bad news for you girls today.

Bad news first - the power supply for my laptop has broken *sad* This means that while my lappy still works I have zero power going to it and a flat battery.  This will mean random posts from here for up to a month as it seems I'm going to have to source my replacement cord from overseas for some reason.

Really in all honesty you probably won't notice much difference as I suck at blogging daily anyway!

And the good news is I'm having a Facebook giveaway! So get your butt over there! You pretty much have some good odds to win. When I looked this morning my FB page only had 80 followers so get on it!

I often forget my FB page and apart from the program that automatically posts when a blogger posts appear I don't really interact. Sorry about that. Now that I can't really get into blogger much I am hoping to be around more often there!!

So ... what can you win??  Well I subscribed to Glossybox and for some reason this month I received 2 boxes ... they both look identical so hey! Giveaway for you guys. I don't really need 2.

In a Shatter Me Claire first this box does NOT include any polish - sorry about that. I can throw in a franken if you really want ;)

So this is the Valentines Day Glossybox that comes in that beautiful pink box - personally I've been finding the boxes to be awesome. They are sturdy and a great size to put items in. Currently I have a previous months box in my car with stamping plates, polish and remover in it.

All you have to do is "like" Shatter me Claire on Facebook and then "like" the wall post about the giveaway. Really easy!! A couple of clicks and you are done!  I will also give you extra entries if you hit the "share" button!

Included in the box are the following 5 items ...

Carmex Satin Gloss Lip Balm - full size 2g

Proactive Deep Cleansing Wash - sample size 60ml

Face of Australia Lip Shine in Starlight - full size 4.5g

Palmers Skin Therapy Oil with Rosehip - full size 60ml

Star and Rose emergency nail files - 12 nail files

Oh and there are some love heart lollies [candy for those non-Aussies] in the box aswell - although that may be swapped for a Carmello Koala as lets face it - chocolate is better!

RRP for this box is at least $37!! [I have no idea on what the nail files are worth]  Entries close 12.01am on Saturday GMT time [websites like THIS will help you on working out what time this is in your part of the globe]

This is also open WORLDWIDE! No discrimination here to where you live. So go enter!

Also for some fine print - I should haven't to say it but all items are brand new and still in the original packaging where applicable. Apart from when it was packed at Glossybox the only other time it's been open was when I was taking the photos for this post.

An questions just ask!

==

Before I go ... I just want to just show the nail files separately. Firstly because they are cute with the lovebirds on them but secondly as I've never seen nail files that basically look like a matchbook. I'm not sure if these are big in your part of the world but I'd love to learn more about these just because of how cute and interesting they are!

... Essence Sun Club - 05 BBC Golden Sands ...

Essence Sun Club - 05 BBC Golden Sands

Purchased from Target - $3.50 AUD

Woohoo! Lucky last!  This is Golden Sands and if you buy the whole collection this one stands out straight away. Mainly because the other 4 polishes are all cremes while this is definitely a foil.  I'm torn on whether it was a good or bad marketing ploy to have 1 totally different as I love the fact it's so beautiful but I don't like the fact that it's so different from the other 4. I love the fact that it stands out but I don't like how it looks out of place. Ah - the never ending cycle.

So this is 3 coats of Golden Sands and it's a gorgeous metallic brown with brown glitter and there appears to be a handful of gold flakes included. The name of this polish definitely fits though. Golden Sands. Mmmmm Beach!

Photo sourced from Google Images - http://www.virtualbay.co.nz

As the other polishes it dried quickly but being a foil it likes to show any nail imperfections. If you have bad ridges a ridge filler would be the way to go underneath. Also removal is not as easy as the cremes due to those little flakes that like to cling to the nail.

** Final Verdict **
This a beautiful foil. A fantastic colour that screams beach and definitely reflects summer. I can see that this is going to be a well worn colour for me ... well if summer decides to return *looks outside at overcast weather*

... Essence Sun Club - 04 BBC Orange Sunset ...

Essence Sun Club - 04 BBC Orange Sunset

Purchased at Target - $3.50 AUD

Colour number 4 is Orange Sunset and well it's definitely orange. I'm generally not a huge fan of extremely bright colours and tend to use it mainly for nail art but this grew on me. Especially as it hides a lot of imperfections and just looks fantastically bright and happy.

This is 3 coats and as with Pink Heat - you need 3 or you will have a visible nail line showing. This applied like a dream and as you would expect from Essence is fast drying and awesome.

** Final Verdict **
If bright polishes don't scare you then give this a go! To me it is a happy and fun polish so give your nails some summer brightness!

... Essence Sun Club - 03 BBC Splash Refresh ...

Essence Sun Club - 03 BBC Splash Refresh

Purchased from Target - $3.50 AUD

 And we continue on from where we left off yesterday - we're up to polish 3 in the Bondi Beach Collection and I'm quite liking this one. This is Splash Refresh and it's a Aqua colour that seems to shift from more green to more blue depending on your lighting. Definitely reminds me of the Pacific Ocean!

As with the other colours so far - this is 3 coats with quick drying time. No lumps and definitely not watery like yesterdays effort!

 Looking more blue

And the same polish looking more green.

** Final Verdict **

My favourite polish from this collection so far. I love the way the colour changes depending on the light and I really like how beautiful it is!

... Essence Sun Club - 02 BBC Chasing Waves ...

Essence Sun Club - 02 BBC Chasing Waves

Purchased from Target - $3.50 AUD

Chasing Waves is the 2nd polish from the Essence Sun Club "Bondi Beach Collection" [I can see why they shortened it to BBC! That's a mouthful!]. It's a rather pretty pastel green. I'm not sure how that relates to waves at Bondi though as I'd be seriously worried if I was to go swimming in something this particular colour. It's not exactly a sea green. I guess if I squint it kinda looks the same.

[Photo sourced by Google Images - care of bondibeach.com]

Enough of that - this is 3 coats of Chasing Waves and first impressions are that the polish is slightly runny but that seems to work in its favour as it's easy to eliminate any streaks. As with majority of Essence polishes the dry time was rather quick which is great if you are in a hurry.

** Final Verdict **
If you have the patience and don't mind working with a runny polish then you might want to pick this up if you are in need of a green. Really green is understated and there should be more green polishes in the world! It's a pretty colour [even if I don't agree totally with the name] and the price on all these Essences is enough to really make you want to go and try it without breaking the budget.

... Essence Sun Club - 01 BBC Pink Heat ...

Essence Sun Club - 01  BBC Pink Heat

Purchased from Target - $3.50 AUD

So ... strolling through my closest Target I came across this beautiful stand of goodies! Now Essence is fast becoming on of my favourite overseas brands ... simply because their products don't seem to be marked up a billion times for us Aussies.

Obviously this was the stand before I attacked it!! Bah ha ha!

The first polish in the series is Pink Heat. According to my little swatch doofy it matches the colour Magenta of my colour printer but it's a strange one as it definitely looks red on my nails [which I'll explain in a minute]. Also this is one of those pain in the butt polishes that doesn't like to photograph in the correct colour!

Application was a breeze. Three coats which were super fast drying and no unsightly bits. If you apply a nude underneath you could possibly get away with 2 coats as that pesky visible nail line seems to appear without it.

** Final Verdict **

Apart from having issues capturing the true colour - this polish is easy to wear and is a fun summer colour.

In my search for what I could actually compare this colour too to actually represent the true colour and I found this ...

Old Spice Nails? Look at the polish ... now back at me ... now back at the nails ... now back at me! Anyway I think it's pretty damn close and really shows that it's more of a red than a pink.

Also ... I've started a Facebook group for any Aussie chicks who want to talk nails!! I totally love the groups I'm currently in but I thought I'd put it out there for a Aussie only group.  I'm sure I'm not the only one who has to result to sending emails or asking on Blogger for advice [especially on where to buy things] as it's hard to track down another Aussie throughout the 100s names. So join - I don't bite! Should be fun!!  The link is Aussie Nails! See you there!