... AN Monday - Australian ...

Bit of a triple whammy today for you!! Firstly I have a review of a beautiful Orly polish, secondly it's Aussie Nail Monday and thirdly like last year, I'm hoping to get into the Aussie spirit and get some Australiana themed manis out there for the week! So make sure you scroll all the way down this post.

So this is Dare To Bare from the latest Orly Blush collection which is described as a musk pink creme and honestly it's a beautiful natural colour.

This is three coats and it's fast drying but you just need to make sure you don't apply too much at once or you'll end up with streaks. So slow and steady!

Now Aussie Nails Mondays theme is "Australian". Aussie Aussie Aussie ... Oi Oi Oi!! To make this into a simple Australia themed mani, I've just gone for a green and gold dot look. I've used acrylic paint for the dots and I think it looks rather striking.

I found Dare to Bare to be such a great base colour for nail art. I need more neutral colours in my helmer!

It's been a long while since I was happy with my dotting attempts. Hoorah! I think it looks great.

The Orly Blush collection consists of 6 pretty colours and you'll be able to find it on Aussie shelves from February 1. This collection is limited edition so don't wait too long to go check them out. To find out your closest stockist or more information, you can visit the Orly Australia website or via Facebook or Twitter.

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

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

And want to see more Australia nails in time for Australia Day! Check out the links below or #anausday on Instagram

... Epic Nails Nail Transfer Foils ...

Quick break from the Christmas Nails today but I'll be back tomorrow with another! Be warned, this is a long post but it's pretty awesome so hang around and learn with me!!

I was contacted recently by the lovely people at Epic Nail to see if I'd be interested in reviewing some nail transfer foils. I was extremely intrigued by the Epic Nail website which states their foils work on Shellac / Gel Polish by using the sticky residue.

I won't lie. I have struggled with transfer foils in the past but no longer! I've ruined a few manis by not transferring them properly and also with having top coats ruin the finish but I'm so glad that I learnt about using gel polishes to help. So let me show you!

Firstly the pack I received was the Essential Kit and it contains everything you need!  Foils, Glue, Cuticle Sticks, Instructions and Information.

There were 6 foils included and even if you are like me and not a foil pro, you'll find you'll get many manicures from them as rolled out, there is a metre on each roll! Plenty of room for practicing! The colours I received are All Laced Up, Winter Is Coming, I Heart You, Nautical, Pipe Dream and In The Jungle.




As I mentioned above, I was extremely intrigued by the fact you can use this in Gel Polish manicures and in the past I've had trouble with top coats dulling the final result so all the fantastic foil designs below were created using Shellac and OPI GelColour gel polishes and top coats

All the following were created by doing some preparation for gel polish, a base coat and a coat or 2 of gel polish and then using the sticky residue I've transferred these designs! Then a top coat to seal the deal!

All  Laced Up

Winter is Coming

I Heart You

 Nautical

 

Pipe Dream

In The Jungle

Like stamping, transfer foils take practice so keep at it! I think you can see with these swatches, which were my first! Once I got the hang of it, it was super easy and fast!!  I definitely found using Shellac helpful as I didn't wreck my whole mani if I made a mistake. Sure you lose your sticky residue when wiping off but you can use the glue and then top coat without losing your underneath colour! Winning!

If you want to give these foils a try, there is free standard shipping on orders over $30 if you use the code BLOGSHATTER on checkout! I know I'll be checking out more colours!

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

... Aussie Nail Holiday Art - Wrapping Gifts ...

Todays Christmas theme is "Wrapping Gifts" and man this was hard!! But who doesn't like a challenge!!

If you are like me, you find wrapping gift hard work! I'll admit I use a gift bag when I can but I recently had these fantastic nail transfer foils sent to me from the legendary people at Epic Nail and thought that they looked similar to wrapping paper. So I added some silver to represent a ribbon and voila! Sure it's not Christmas gift paper but I'd still use it if I came across it!

 

The foils are called "Pipe Dream" and I've used them using Shellac. Super smooth finish! Love it!

While it's not my favourite thing I've ever done, I have had a lot of compliments from people on this design so it must look pretty good!

If you enjoyed these foils, I'll have more to show you tomorrow! I've been very much enjoying using them over the past week, especially with gel polish!

Want to see more Aussie Nail Christmas Nails?? Check out the hashtag #anxmas2013 on Instragram!

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

... Celestial Cosmetics - Part I ...

Time flies when you are having fun the days are all mushed into one big long continuous mess. This post has been a long time in the making and I apologise for that. Some of you may recognise these photos from Instagram last month. Hopefully my blogging mojo will reappear in full soon as I've missed it. I think I've only painted my nails once (and had someone else do them another time). I really do miss myself. Thank you to those who have been looking out for me.

Today I'm showing you some beautiful polishes from an Aussie Indie called Celestial Cosmetics. Honestly this is well worth a look. Australia is pushing out some fantastic Aussie Indies at the moment.

First up is Cosmic Ray. It's what happens when you combine a dark blue jelly with silver bar glitter and white flakes.

Anyone who knows me, knows that bar glitter and myself are not friends. Well I thought not until I met this. OMG I stand corrected. Honestly it blew me away on how much I truely enjoyed this polish. The blue is awesome but having those little glitter pieces shining through ... wow.

Next is Your so W-Earth it ... HA HA HA ... Love the pun!! This is one of those colours that likes to change depending on the sunlight. Sometimes it's more a pastel blue, sometimes its more of a light mint. Tricky! It's also chock full of green, blue and white glitters! They really compliment the base colour.

Mercury Rising is a pretty silver shimmer with a speckle of blue glitter throughout. I don't own anything like this and it was a real treat and it was something different to the rest of my collection. I totally love the shimmer and while I'm here I'll point out that even though there is a lot of little glitters, this was a breeze to remove! I was expecting to find little bits still on my nail days later! But no! Definitely a big plus.

The Pink Planet is a really pretty pink that is more towards red on the colour spectrum. It's packed full of holographic hex and little micro glitter. The world needs more pink! This was very easy on the eyes.

Martians have landed is such a me colour. Mmmmmm metallic! Look at that shine!! In the bottle it's more red but outdoors in full sun, its more purple. Either way I love it so much!  I really want to revisit this colour soon and make it matte!

Currently Nicki doesn't ship outside of Australia but I'm sure if you email and ask nicely something can be worked out [or I'm happy to be the middle man!]   I'll be back soon with Part II

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

... Orly - Elation Generation ...

Orly - Elation Generation

$18.95 AUD at selected stockists. Check the Orly Australia website!

This is the last Orly polish I have to show you from the Hope & Freedom Collection and she's a beaut! This is Elation Generation and it's a pink glitter creme.

This is my favourite out of the products I've been reviewing from Orly [it's pink! How can I not love it!] but these pictures definitely don't reflect how seriously stunning it actually is.

Look at all the pretty little holo glitter sparkles!! Oooh. They just are everywhere and while they are a pain to capture in their holographic goodness, they will bring a smile to your face when out in sunlight.

Even though this is showcased as an autumn polish for us down here in the Southern Hemisphere it's definitely bright to shine through on those days as the temperature drops and you just want to spend the day lounging in your tracky dacks and uggs!

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

... Orly - Melodious Utopia ...

Orly - Melodious Utopia

$18.95 AUD at selected stockists. Check the Orly Australia website!

Another pretty from Orly today. This is Melodious Utopia which is described as a "soft yellow creme" but it's definitely not another pale pastel. It's very pretty and I thought it worked really well with my skin tone.

There is a bonus shimmer inside which is a pain to capture but it's definitely there. It's like the hidden surprise that you weren't expecting! So pretty! It seems to appear as a yellow but in certain light it goes towards more of a coral.

I'm not sure why yellows aren't loved as much as they should but if you haven't branched into the happiness that yellow can offer, then I'd recommend trying this one! Like the other polishes in this collection it's 3 free.

If it's too much yellow for you then you can easily tone it down with some nail art. I've gone for some simple dots today and I've dotted using Orly Coachella Dweller that I reviewed in my last post.

I really enjoyed this polish. I try to love all yellows but a lot don't work with my skintone but this one looked fab. I like to wear brighter polishes through autumn before the doom and gloom appears with the cold weather and this one will definitely be on my rotation.

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

... Orly - Coachella Dweller ...

Orly - Coachella Dweller

$18.95 AUD at selected stockists. Check the Orly Australia website!

Howdy everyone! I hope you all enjoyed a spiffy Easter. I've personally had some well deserved time off and now I'm planning to do some major catching up before the school holidays are on top of me!

Today I have this beauty to show you from the Orly Hope & Freedom collection. I was quite excited actually as while I've seen Orly from time to time in Australia, I haven't seen new collections! Woo! Anyway, the Hope & Freedom collection is described as "reminiscent of a crisp Autumn garden with a soft green, two shades of blue, a sunny yellow, pinky red and a milky white making up the pretty palette". They are also 3 free [hoorah!] and come with the soft gripper cap that I love to use as it's super soft [slight problem is my cat seems to love the caps aswell ... probably a good thing that the caps don't come as cat toys or I'd go broke within a week]

So this super pretty number is Coachella Dweller [say that 10 times fast!], which is a pretty green creme and do not be fooled if your bottle is slightly on the more liquid side as I found flowed really smoothly on the nail which was a pleasant surprise!!!

I've used 3 coats for these swatches and had some great wear from it aswell for those reading who like longevity in their polish!

Even without a top coat it's shiner than end of the day autumn glare blinding you through the window! Perfect for those who like glossy polishes with that super smooth finish.

And as always, I can't leave anything alone ... here it is with some leopard print stamping! I really liked it as it  being a pastel base. It was striking but not overpowering!

I used the Konad m81 for this funky design with black polish. Easy!

For more information on Orly in Australia, you can find them on Facebook here www.facebook.com/ORLYAustralia and also on Twitter @ORLYAustralia

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

... Easter Collection - Loki's Lacquer ...

Why shouldn't you tell an Easter Egg a joke?

It might crack up!!

Bad jokes aside, today I'm showing the limited edition Easter polishes from Loki's Lacquer.  So grab your easter baskets and get ready for some egg-cellent photos.

Now I've never tried anything from Loki's Lacquer so I'm very curious to see how they measure up. All these shots are 3 coats plus a top coat unless mentioned.

Hey Chicky - Now this polish seriously intrigued me from the start as it's so bright in the bottle and it borders on that yellow/green and honestly I couldn't wait to see what it looked like on my nails.

It's a sparkly yellow gold and while it doesn't look green anymore out of the bottle it definitely is still on the bright side of life [do do ... do do do do do do!]

As a hidden surprise there is some scattered holo action going on. If you are like me and want super smooth nails then you will need to add a top coat. I'd highly suggest the Essence Gel Look top coat - that baby makes anything smooth [and if it doesn't, shove that polish into your swap box!!]

Spring has sprung - While I'll admit I've never had an Easter in the springtime I can see how it relates. I'll admit I found it hard to photo the colour shift in this but it is clearly visible [especially at night] without a dark base colour.

And like Hey Chicky, there is some slight scattered holo action going on. It definitely looks green in the sunlight!

Buddy - The description describes a "pink-silver-green" shift so I'm really really interested so see how this turns out.  The bottle appears more of a purple so lets dive in!

While the shift didn't appear without a base I wanted to show this anyway as I really like the colour - a pale pink.

This is 3 coats over Ulta3 Black Satin and there is definitely pink, green and silver all going on there. Wowsers Batman. My camera decided that it wasn't going to show the scattered holo but it's there in that soft look.

Bluebell - This is an extremely pretty blue. I originally thought it may be a metallic but it's definitely a shimmer. It's not opaque after 3 coats but it's got that old school streaky goodness going on! Oh yeah!

If you look closely you can see little bronze flecks. These are definitely more noticable in real life.

Easter Egg Hunt - I've layered this over Bluebells and I quite like the look. This glitter has multi sizes of hex and squares in all sorts of pastel colours.

Actually it really reminds me of those speckled Cadbury Mini Eggs .. hmmmmm. Om Nom Nom Nom Nom

Photo from Nori's Findings - found via Google Images.

So there you go. Out of these 5 I think "Buddy" would be my top runner as I love that shade of pink. All of these polishes could be layered and the possibilities are endless. You just need to find the best combo for yourself!

Loki's Lacquer is an Australian indie and you can find them on Etsy! The link is -  http://www.etsy.com/shop/Lokislacquer.  Again these polishes are limited edition so if you want any you'd better be quick!

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

... Ozotic 914 Scatter Chrome ...

Ozotic 914 Scatter Chrome

Available from piCture pOlish - $12.00 AUD and other network members

These pretties seem to be talked about a lot on my feed since their release so I'm so happy to have my hands on one!! I'm bringing you this beauty today - Ozotic 914 which is one of the new scatter chromes. As the name suggests "Scatter Chrome" is part scatter holographic and part duochrome or in other words "it's AWESOME".

914 shifts from blue to a violet purple and the holographic appears in sunlight as an extra bonus to drool over. I've given this my best shot but my camera refused to capture the true beauty of the purple but I hope you get an idea regardless.

All my swatch shots are 3 coats and like every other Ozotic I own, there are no bumps, lumps or unsightly bits. Real life friends you need to get this!! You don't need any special base coat [or top coat] and you don't need to wait forever for it dry. Really simple stuff!

The shift starts off with a pretty blue ..

Holo in the sun!!!

Slowly changes towards the dark side

But it's still holo!!

Darker ... darker ...

Super Vibrant PURPLE!!!

** Final Verdict **

I love this - it's pretty, it's holo and it changes colour. What more can you want?? There are a lot more pretty purple combinations that it throws at you but I just couldn't get my camera to pick them up. I definitely have no complaints with this beauty!!

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