... When acetone is not your friend - Part 3 ...

Quite a few people have suggested using peel off base on my injured nail. I love the idea that it's able to be removed easily without acetone but I've been trying to use it sparingly because of the deep dent/scratch. I don't want it to seep in or get stuck or cause more injury but if you just have a bruise or a cut on the skin then this would be ideal.

This is Femme Fatale Twilight Meteorite over a base coat of peel off base. Application is really easy on the peel off base, don't be shocked when it comes out white. Just remember the good old days of school and aquadhere! Just be patient and it will dry and become clear before your eyes. Once it's clear you are good to go and paint as normal.

Pros - Easy to remove! No acetone required! You can paint your nails as normal and no one will know

Cons -  If manage to get any peel off base on your skin or catch the polish it may peel off before your eyes in a big piece. This is not always handy when you are out and about.

I'll be back tomorrow with another suggestion! Any tips or hints? Keep them coming!

... Essence - Fall For Me ...

Essence Multi Dimension XXXL Shine - 74 Fall for Me

Essence is available from Target and Priceline in Australia but this bottle was gifted!

I pulled this beauty out my pile recently. A beauty - a shiny sky blue that I was given last year by a dear friend. I honestly regret not trying this earlier!!

There was some slight bubbling but apart from that there were no issues. It was fast drying and everything you expect from Essence polishes. All these photos are 3 coats.

I can definitely see myself wearing this again but I thought it would make a great base for some nail art which I'll hopefully show you tomorrow!

** Final Verdict **
A pretty polish that is super easy to apply and fast drying. It's a shame about the bubbles but that's easily fixed with some creative thinking!!

Ask Shatter me Claire - My fave polishes under $5

While I had some time off I've been thinking about where I want my blog to be in the next 12 months. I only have to look back at my first posts to see where I've come [and then cringe with embarrassment over how bad they are!!!].

I could easy continue to putt along posting swatches and trying to own every polish known to mankind or I could actually set myself some boundaries - limit myself to a single helmer and remind myself that I could wear my favourite polish everyday if I wanted too and that I don't have to wear something new and unswatched daily.

Anyway it's become clear to me that majority of the people who ask me questions and keep my inbox feeling loved are those people who I know in real life or have worked with online ... they are everyday people who don't visit many blogs, don't own a vast variety of polishes and have many questions. So I'm going back to basics and collating questions that I get asked.

I'm going to start with what I think is my most asked question ... that is "What is your favourite polish brand?"  and honestly that's like the hardest question in the world. I have so many that I love dearly from different collections so I'm going to seriously narrow it down ... so this is my under $5 list of polishes you can find in stores without resorting to eBay bargains! [$5 Australian that is ... sorry for those overseas].

Having a good polish doesn't mean going down to David Jones and forking out $20 for an OPI. Just because the price is expensive doesn't mean you are getting a better product. There are plenty of great brands in Australia that you can afford that will not break the bank or your budget.

Ulta 3/ NYC Color

Don't let the price fool you on these. Cheap doesn't mean nasty!! While there are some that aren't worth a second glance - for around $2 why not give it a try as there are some beautiful colours in these bins if you have time to dig around for them!

Essence

I am amazed that a brand from overseas can arrive here in Australia and be so cheap in price!! Why can't others learn from this example? The racks at my local Target are generally empty as soon as it's restocked! Also I enjoy these smaller bottles and the larger ones are usually limited editions and cost slightly more but they are generally still worth investing in.

Face of Australia

I really do love this range as it seems to pretty much do anything. I use FoA for nail art and stamping aswell as just painting my nails. 

Apart from this there are many other brands around that fall into the $5 category when on sale!! Things like Chi Chi, Rimmel and Maybelline spring to mind.

End of the day - if you like the colour ... just buy it!!

** As we live in the age of smartphones - if you are worried that the bottle will not look like the finished product then just google the name and look at the images. There is generally some sort of swatch for all the brands I'm listing below. I used to be the biggest dud finder. If I had a dollar for everytime I brought something that looked pretty in the bottle but didn't translate in real life then I'd have some serious savings going on. So if you have the time before heading to the checkout then do this!! **

I'll continue this series in the future on other favourite brands that cost that bit more!

... 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!

... 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?

... Essence Colour & Go - Choose Me! with stripe mani ...

It's been awhile since I rocked some stripes so here goes. Obviously this is over yesterdays mani of Essence Colour & Go in Choose Me! The silver is piCture pOlish Heavy Metal which goes on easily over everything but as you can see from the photo can be a bit difficult to clean up afterwards.

I had to put a few layers of top coat on this just because Heavy Metal is rather gritty and I like the smooth feel but I was quite pleased with how this looked - especially with the blue and gold glitter pieces in Choose Me! Fantastic.

Tape maincures are really really easy to do - all you need is a base polish, a contrasting top polish, some sharp scissors and some regular every day sticky tape.

Simply paint a base polish and wait for it to completely dry.
Cut some strips of sticky in whatever thickness you desire and place on your nail.
Make sure it's all stuck down completely
Paint over your entire nail with the top polish
Wait a minute
Pull the sticky tape off
Wait for the top polish to dry
Voila!