... AN Monday - China Glaze LOL ...

Hoorah! Another Aussie Nail Monday coming at ya. Today's theme is "Your oldest to you polish". Now I thought hard about this as I have some old polishes but I thought I'd share again one of the ones that brought me back to the world of nail polish.

It's Christmas, It's 2010, I had only just started to polish my nails again after a long long long break (and buy polishing I mean just that, no nail or anything fancy! Just polish) and I received this gorgeous package from Reece over at Spit and Polish that contained 4 China Glaze polishes, He's going in circles, OMG, TMI and LOL and a note that said "You Need These".

She was right. So right! Without Reece I highly doubt I would have ever started this blog or gotten back into nails. I've told my wallet many times over the years to blame her! But even after all that she is still as awesome as ever!

So Sparkle. Such Fun. Many Rainbow. Very Shiny. Wow. You can really see how I got sucked back in with the beauty of this polish. Holographic polishes were not as common as they are now and I had never ever seen one but this just took my breath away and with that I was hooked!

These shots are 3 coats of LOL with Seche Vite as a top coat in full sun. There is an instant rainbow on each finger like a good holo should!

If you are desperately now after LOL, the sad news is that it's hard to find as it's long been discontinued. It does pop up from time to time on eBay or blogsales but be prepared to fork out a bit of money for it. Something like Dance Legend Cosmic Rainbow might be able to help pass the time while you wait though!

Wanna see more Aussie Nails? Check out these links or check out #anmonday on Instagram!

Lily Jinks - @lilyandjinks

Ann - Nailovelogy

Tracy - @oliviajade19

Holly - @nails_by_holly

Naomi - @nadeekay and Nananaisnails

Erin Wu -  @erinzi and Erin Zi’s Nails

Elissa -@tenlittlenubs and Ten Little Nubs

Kate - Pimped Out Nails

Astrid - @lovessweetas

Sarah Claire - @shattermeclaire or Shatter me Claire

Julia - Fancy Nails and Cups of Tea

Sylvie - @smudgedpolish

Relle - @lazylacquerista or Lazy Lacquerista

Tammy - @ohmygoshpolish

Christinemay - @xtinemayyy or Nails at 2am

Tash Birch - @tashisdead

Nicki - @celestialcosmetics

Briana -

Loz - Polish Patterns

Kelly - @kellyskolors and Kelly's Kolors!

Tara - @lokislacquer or  Osiris and Loki paint their nails

... Love Thy Polish - Peppermint Patty ...

While I'm on a roll, I'm doing another theme. This time is for the lovely lasses at the Australian Indie Polish Appreciation Society (AIPAS) and the theme is "Inspired by a book". After much umming and ahhing I decided to use Peppermint Patty by Love Thy Polish. Peppermint Patty is a character from the Peanuts comics and I figured that was close enough!

I'm being super brave by posting this as I am not confident in my freehand skills so please show some love! (And thank you the super dooper awesome Jen for recognising who this actually was without me having to say so! You rock!!)

This is 3 coats of Peppermint Patty with the middle coat dabbled with a makeup sponge to all that beautiful glitter love happening. Patty herself is on Nails Inc Bag a Bachelor, her hair is a combo of Ulta3 Sunkissed and Antique Gold plus I've used acrylic paints in black and natural skin.

Apart from the pretty glitter polish, the thing I love the most is how tiny I managed to get her freckles! WIN!!! I am so pleased with that. Also I mentioned earlier this week how I need more patience before top coating, this is very much paying off. Not a smudge in sight! Awesome!

For more fantastic Aussie Indie action, check out the blog at http://aussieindies.blogspot.com.au/ or @aussieindies on Instagram.

... Celestial Cosmetics - LE March 2014 ...

Woohoo 3 in a row *high five* I couldn't not share this beauty with the world! Nicki over at Celestial Cosmetics has done it again with a beautiful limited edition holo that's only available in March.

LE March 2014 a beautiful demin blue holographic which I found extremely pretty. It reminded me of Avon Rainbow Blue which I reviewed back in 2012 and has long been discontinued. They are no way dupes but if you are hanging for a denim blue in your holo collection, it's worth the money!

All of these shots are 2 coats of LE March topped with the G&G HK Girl Fast Drying & Super Shiny Top Coat which is also available from Celestial. They are also taken in full natural sunlight for that extra sparkle!

And because I can never leave anything alone, I made an accent finger using Chapel by Celestial which is a silver holographic and then stamped on top using the Emily de Molly EDM02 stamping plate. I thought it stamped reasonably well for a holographic and I was quite impressed on how this turned out.

If LE March looks like your kinda polish then click HERE to purchase your very own bottle now. They will be gone at the end of the month forever (and we all know how hard it is to purchase VHTF bottles of polish!). Not in Australia? No problems! Send Nicki a message on the contact page and I'm sure she'll work something out with you!

Polishes were provided for review but all opinions, Aussie humour and dodgy photography are my own!

... Technique Tuesday - Dots ..

Trying my hand today at Technique Tuesday which is a fortnightly theme. I must admit I'm loving the fact that it's a fortnight. So many AN Monday manis, don't make it to the blog as I don't have time to photo/edit but having that extra week made this so easy! I really hope that this becomes a regular thing.

Anyway, I'm very happy with how these worked out. No smudges, great sized dots! Ah! Awesome!

I used Chi Chi Walkin on Sunshine (woahhhhhhhh-ohhhhhh) as the base and the dots are a combination of Chi Chi Look At Me and Pink Flamingo in the Pool and covered in the Essence Gel Look Top Coat for no dotting bumps!

As I mentioned in the top paragraph, I generally smudge dots or don't get them looking round. I've realised lately that this is simply due to my lack of patience. I just want to get in there, get it done and hope for the best. This time, I took my time and voila! I'm so pleased with how they are looking. It's like someone else painted my nails for me.

I know yellow nails aren't for everyone but I really liked how bright and vibrant they are. I'm also so glad that the pink and the magenta colours worked so well together. And I'll leave you with a shot under UV light. Mmmm Glowy! 

... AN Monday - St Patricks Day ...

Happy St Patricks Day people! And I'm definitely glad I gave AN Monday a go this week as I don't think I've managed to actually do a St Pattys Day mani since I've started blogging and I really wanted to fix that!

Long term followers will know that I have a bit of a warped sense of humour and when I was flicking through my stamping plates to find something suitable for today, I came across something that I just had to use!

Ah Patrick Star, you legend! Patrick is from the Fun11 plate from FabUrNails which is seriously fast becoming my favourite stamping plate because of all the awesomeness that it seems to include! So many fantastic characters! The 4 leaf clovers are from the Mash18 plate.

All the polishes used today are from the fab range over at Ulta3. The base colour is Emerald Inten-City and the glitter is appropriately Luck Of The Irish. Patrick is made from Strawberry Sundae, Sizzling Red, Jelly and Purple Pumps. I've also used Lily White and Black Satin for the stamping.

Wanna see more Aussie Nails? Check out these links or check out #anmonday on Instagram!

Lily Jinks - @lilyandjinks

Ann - Nailovelogy

Tracy - @oliviajade19

Holly - @nails_by_holly

Naomi - @nadeekay and Nananaisnails

Erin Wu -  @erinzi and Erin Zi’s Nails

Elissa -@tenlittlenubs and Ten Little Nubs

Kate - Pimped Out Nails

Astrid - @lovessweetas

Sarah Claire - @shattermeclaire or Shatter me Claire

Julia - Fancy Nails and Cups of Tea

Sylvie - @smudgedpolish

Relle - @lazylacquerista or Lazy Lacquerista

Tammy - @ohmygoshpolish

Christinemay - @xtinemayyy or Nails at 2am

Tash Birch - @tashisdead

Nicki - @celestialcosmetics

Briana -

Loz - Polish Patterns

Kelly - @kellyskolors and Kelly's Kolors!

Tara - @lokislacquer or  Osiris and Loki paint their nails

... Piglet Nails ...

Hi! My name is Sarah Claire and I hate using striping tape. There. I said it!! It's something that I just cannot get right and it frustrates me greatly. It's fiddly and it never goes where I want it too. If I ever get it positioned right, it will move or leak under the edges. Ugh! One day I'll work out how to conquer the stripes! I'm determined. So this is todays attempt which I feel is getting better but let's not dwell on the frustration, onto the cuteness!!

So this is Zoya Barbie and Zoya Lara with the cute piglet from the FUN11 stamping plate (yes! Reverse stamped as always. That technique has changed my life!). Zoya Barbie is my #1 most used Zoya as it seems to work for a lot of things. It's the perfect pink!

So even though I'm not happy with my stripes, I still love the cuteness of this and think it's rather awesome. If you haven't invested in some of the plates from the FUN range, then go check them out. So many cute characters for your money and I've had no issues with them not stamping perfectly every time.

Hurrah!  Now I've also been a bit of a busy bee, reorganising polishes and stash lists and I'm starting to clean out polishes again as I am overflowing and space is becoming a real issue. I've put my blogsale back up on the toolbar and am slowly adding things in that need rehoming. Hard work!

... AN Monday - Bridal Nails ...

YAY! Aussie Nail Monday! Todays theme is Bridal Nails and I was quite looking forward to trying these. I hate to say it but when I got married, I don't think I had anything on my nails. I was 21 and definitely not in a polish phase. I do regret this but I'm making up for that period!

I decided to use Illamasqua Pink Raindrops with stamping from Konad plate m82. I'm happy with the results. Simple yet classy. I'll definitely have to try Pink Raindrops again in the future as it was really pretty.

I think next time I need to line up the stamping a little bit better but I'm happy that I managed to get the image all the correct way around! Hoorah for small steps!

Now ... speaking of wedding! Have a selfie of moi after attending a wedding over the weekend for my cousin!

Super rare treat for you right there! Aren't you glad you checked the blog! I only appear every 12 months or so as I usually just keep to the nails. Feel the love!!

Wanna see more Aussie Nails? Check out these links or check out #anmonday on Instagram!

Lily Jinks - @lilyandjinks

Ann - Nailovelogy

Tracy - @oliviajade19

Holly - @nails_by_holly

Naomi - @nadeekay and Nananaisnails

Erin Wu -  @erinzi and Erin Zi’s Nails

Elissa -@tenlittlenubs and Ten Little Nubs

Kate - Pimped Out Nails

Astrid - @lovessweetas

Sarah Claire - @shattermeclaire or Shatter me Claire

Julia - Fancy Nails and Cups of Tea

Sylvie - @smudgedpolish

Relle - @lazylacquerista or Lazy Lacquerista

Tammy - @ohmygoshpolish

Christinemay - @xtinemayyy or Nails at 2am

Tash Birch - @tashisdead

Nicki - @celestialcosmetics

Briana -

Loz - Polish Patterns

Kelly - @kellyskolors and Kelly's Kolors!

Tara - @lokislacquer or  Osiris and Loki paint their nails