... Face of Australia Barbados - Party At The Gap ...

Face of Australia Barbados - Party At The Gap

Available from Big W, Priceline, Kmart - $4.95AU

Finally the last one in this beautiful series. This is Party At The Gap and it's a beautiful shimmery charcoal. It took me forever to work out what this actually reminded me of and I ended up deciding it reminded me of art class back in high school. Something about the colour of graphite pencils ... hmmm ... memories!!

This is 3 coats and really I could have got away with just using 2. It's fast drying and everything I expected from the other colours in this series.

** Final Verdict **

I was expecting a lot from this collection and while I don't rate it as highly as the Molten Metallics collection from last year it still is up there. Plenty of variety for everyone. The only thing I didn't find is that it didn't stamp as well as I would have liked it too but that doesn't mean it's going to the swap pile. Definitely going to be ones to keep!

... Face of Australia Barbados - Orange You Glad You Came? ...

Face of Australia Barbados - Orange You Glad I Came

Available from Big W, Priceline, Kmart - $4.95AU

Hello BloggerLand!!
Thanks for being patient and waiting for me to return. Sadly I've been without a computer and I cannot figure out for the life of me how to make a decent blog post using a smartphone ... actually that goes the same for reading blogs. I can read you all via a RSS reader but I cannot reply using it ... and I can't reply using the webpage as it will not let me sign in with my Google Account to comment with sucks badly. [If anyone has a solution for this I'd love you forever!!!]

Anyway now I've got my laptop back I've managed to come down with a bad case of Bronchitis. So between coughing up a lung I'm hoping to get a post up!

So finally I'm getting to the last 2 polishes in the Barbados series and this is a beautiful orange. I was surprised with how much I liked it to be honest as Oranges and I are not always friendly. It has a beautiful shimmer throughout just to add some more magic. As with the other colours it was fast drying with no lumps or bumps.

** Final Verdict **
I found it to be a really happy colour. I enjoyed wearing this on the days where the weather was cold and wet as it made me smile everytime I looked at my nails as it overcame the doom and gloom of the day!

... Face of Australia Barbados - I Like To Mauve It ...

Face of Australia Barbados - I Like To Mauve It

Available from Big W, Priceline, Kmart

So here is another beauty from the Barbados range. I'm quite impressed with this one and who doesn't love a purple shimmer? I guess I would have preferred a less cliched name but what can you do? It's extremely pretty regardless of it's title.

"I Like To Mauve It" is as you'd expect. A mauve. It's a very pretty purple even though my swatches seem to have taken on a pink tone. This is 3 coats and while I did have issues on my thumb I am pretty sure that was purely because of my impatience as the other fingers were fast drying. Again no lumps or bumps but just pure awesomeness.

** Final Verdict **
Up there with my favourite colours from the collection!

... Face of Australia Barbados - Let's Go Scuba Diving ...

Face of Australia Barbados - Let's Go Scuba Diving

Available from Big W

I've been having a bit of a green streak lately. So many pretty shades of wonder! Anyway this is bound to be another favourite.

Let's Go Scuba Diving is a beautiful metallic green with a green shimmer just to add more magnificence to it! As with all the other colours it's fast drying and after yesterdays fun it was great to have a non-stinky polish back on my fingers!

The only downfall I could find is like most greens it isn't friendly towards cuticles so please apply with care. Apart from that - it's gorgeous!!

** Final Verdict **
Beautiful. Simply beautiful.

Before I go ... if anyone wishes to be Facebook friends please leave a message or email me! I don't bite! In recent weeks I've found this most useful in getting info on sales and deals that otherwise I may have overlooked!

... Face of Australia Barbados - Another Daiquiri Please ...

Face of Australia Barbados - Another Daiquiri Please

Available from Big W, Kmart and Priceline

Who doesn't want another Daiquiri? If that's not you then feel free to send it my way!! Frozen Daiquiri are essential in my freezer during the warmer months!!  Another Daiquiri Please is a fierce red with a beautiful golden and red shimmer.

Now I say "red" but honestly it does depend on your lighting to whether you get a red or a dark pink. It's definitely not as neon as Bright Lights Pink City but it's still very bright and not a dull colour at all. I'd actually consider this one to be more of a jelly than a metallic or foil.

Like all the other Barbados colours it's quick drying with no lumps or bumps. Also it's very smooth and again removal is painless. There is a very visible nail line though.

I will say this though as compared to the other polishes in the series. This one really smells. I thought it was just mean until I took my kiddies to school and had a 5 year old in one of the classroom yell "Something smells like nail polish". That's extra bad considering I painted them a few hours before hand. It definitely wasn't noticable while painting ... but the smell just hung around and then lingered a bit longer like an unwanted houseguest.

** Final Verdict **
The bottle colour is so pretty but I'm not sure that this is a colour that suits me. Shame really as it is so beautiful. Also the smell ... that's what's put me off on this. There is nothing worse than being shamed as having smelly polish ... especially by honest children. I'd love to hear if anyone else has this particular colour to see if theirs smells too - or if I just have a dud!

... Face of Australia Barbados - You Blue Me Away ...

Face of Australia Barbados - You Blue Me Away

Available from selected stores such as Big W, Priceline and Kmart

Unlike the Sally Hansen polish with the similar name ... this is a blue metallic with silver shimmer polish and for some reason it keeps reminding me of the colour periwinkle. I'm not sure that's what I'd accurately describe it as but it keeps popping back into my mind.

As it's becoming a trend with this range - it's super fast drying and there were no unwanted lumps or bumps. I found the silver shimmer in this so friendly towards any ridges or imperfections in your nails. It just covered that right up! It also dried super smooth and I found it quite sturdy against those housework jobs without resorting to chipping. I'll be trying this one next time I head to the chlorine infested pool to see if it'll survive the ultimate test.

** Final Verdict **
I can see this polish being one of my favourites in the future. It's a beautiful colour and those silver flecks just make it something different. Also I was expecting removal to be painful but I was pleasantly surprised that it just came straight off. Definitely my fave polish of the collection so far!

[edit] OK did anyone else laugh immaturely at the link for this post ... no? It's just me with the humour of a 13 year old then!

... Face of Australia Barbados - Bright Lights, Pink City ...

Face of Australia Barbados - Bright Lights, Pink City

Purchased from Big W [again $3 off sale! Get there!!!]

Firstly bare with me today ... I'm struggling with the change that is the new Blogger interface. I'm sure it'll grow on me but being sleep deprived and ill means I don't have the patience for new things.

Out of all the colours in the range I was unsure about this one. I dunno why as I generally love pink, maybe it was because of how fluro it looks but I definitely changed my mind once I was wearing it. Anyway "Bright Lights, Pink City" is a bright neon pink but with a beautiful golden shimmer throughout.

This is 3 coats and unfortunately there is visible nail line. I'm sure that could be sorted out with a nude as a base coat but it didn't bother me as much as it does with other colours. Also like Calypso Gold it was super fast drying. I'm ashamed to say that I painted them in the local Westfield last night while waiting for a friend to appear and I was expecting horror results as I generally end up with a mess of polish if I try and do them in a rush as it doesn't dry and then I smudge it everywhere *sad* but wow! It was awesome.

** Final Verdict **

I love a polish that surprises you by appearing a lot more fantastic than you thought it would. If you are a fan of pink or something that's super bright then you may wanna give this one a try.

... Modelista Flash Nails - On Location Berlin ...

Please bare with me for this post as I've been trying to figure out photoshop and have no idea what I'm doing. I need to simplify the way I've been doing my photos as I definitely have been wasting way too much time on it lately as the program I use is rather slow and likes to appear with errors. There needs to be a 1 button does all for impatient people like me!! Argh! Comments or Tips on Photoshop really appreciated!!!!!!! Thanks in advance!!

Modelista Flash Nails - On Location Berlin

Purchased from Target [clearance bin!] - $4.89 AUD

Apparently Modelista is an Australian brand but I've never crossed paths with it before but it's obviously been around a bit judging from the date on swatches I pulled from google. Couldn't seem to find anything on this particular colour though.

First things first - On Location Berlin is a black polish with a subtle blueish silver shimmer throughout. I've used 2 coats for this swatch but I'm sure 3 wouldn't harm it. It is surpringly quick drying and I didn't find any lumps or bumps and it definitely dries smooth without a top coat.

 Heads up - this one is a bit of a stinker. The smell hits you as soon as you open the bottle which I'm sure will be a bit off putting to some users. Also the polish itself is a tad runny. I had to make sure I had super steady hands for this as we all know that removing mistakes in dark polish colours is generally a pain in the butt!

 ** Final Verdict **
If you can see past the stench and have patience to apply [or remove!] then it's not a bad polish. The colour is beautiful with that shimmer surprise inside. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on some other colours from this line,

Oh and as promised here are some holiday vacation shots ... we only travelled to Victor Harbor which isn't too far away from home but hey - time away is good wherever you are!

Our temporary home ... which collapsed by half way due to strong winds! Whoops - either new poles or a new tent is needed before the next trip. The caravan park was really good with decent kids activities aswell.

It's the Southern Ocean - next stop Antartica!! Figure most of you never would have seen this particular ocean before.

And the pretty horse drawn tram with a carriage full of tourists that day - was choc-a-block as it was finally a cooler day after 3 days over 37'C [100'F]

... Franken Week - Royal Red Jelly

** Post #2 for today - Enjoy **

Something I've always wanted to know is ... can you make a Jelly duochrome? While I'm still not sure of the answer on that - still I'm definitely happy with this jelly that I've created. So pretty.

Now on it's own BYS Garnet is a deep red jelly but added with the colour changing pigment turned it into a fantastic deep red jelly with a red shimmer throughout! I've really struggled to actually show this in photos so bare with me. I also struggled with a name since most of the things I associate with red shimmery polish have already been used by corporations so I don't want to be sued or anything.

[Edit] Some sun appeared this afternoon for like 5 minutes so I quickly grabbed my phone for some more shimmer ... all those spotty shimmer bits are the green trying to escape but they honestly look more gold than green. Pretty regardless though. Oh and the top picture is closer in colour than the bottom.

** Recipe **
1 bottle BYS Garnet
4 spoonfuls of Green-Red pigment [available from Cathy HERE]