Monday 31 December 2012

2012: POLISH, a year in review

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2012 was pretty spectacular in the nail lacquer world.

We saw so many trends emerge: glitter bombs, matte glitter, magnetic nail polish, too many crackle/shatters, gold leaf top coats, and tons of holos, multichromes/duochromes and gorgeous colour shifting shimmers!
There was an explosion of handmade or indie and boutique brand lacquers and mainstream manufacturers crossed over in to the world of nail art and chunky glitters in an attempt to keep up!

I think one of the biggest shifts in 2012 was towards popularising or 'main-streaming' nail art. We have the Ciate Caviar Manicure debacle and their Velvet Manicure (which was pretty drama free), Orly Flash Glam FX, China Glaze's Cirque du Soleil glitters, Sation's I Love Miss-Self glitters, the Nails Inc Sprinkles range and Model's Own Mirrorball glitters. Basically every big company has been trying to 'keep up with the Jonses' of the indie world!
And of course every company and their dog now offer nail wraps and gel manicure lines!

In the year ahead we have 'Liquid Sand' or matte glitters to look forward to, or maybe for some to dread? There will also be many more holos coming out. I for one am really looking forward to China Glaze's Hologram range. The promo shots show less generic shades and they have some spacey names!!!

Was the past year also full of drama or what?!

I have to give the crown to Lynnderella's fairly public assassination of her brand and character which resulted in a split from her distributor Llarowe and an Ebay enterprise that smells a bit fishy. Oy vey!
I don't think I weighed in on the subject at all, publicly. Everyone else was so opinionated in the matter that I figured it was done to death!!! I did love how almost immediately Lynn's were purged through blog sales!!!

The Ciate Caviar Manicure 'cease and desist' thing was also detrimental to the brand's standing in the nail blogger community. And the 'Fish Egg' manis persisted for quite some time, so I'm sure there are some bloggers that will not promote their products in the future...

Sinful Colors (or was it Walgreen's?) also got bombed for the improper usage of blogger's nail art images. It was pretty blatant stealing and misrepresentation (ie. LYING) about how to achieve certain nail art looks with their polishes that saw masses of Sinful polishes listed in blog sales later in the year. Some very shady behaviour from a company/professionals who knew better. Maybe they discounted the bloggers concerned as not being savvy enough to know their legal rights surrounding the use of their images; or perhaps they just didn't give a shit because they knew the victims wouldn't be able to do much about it. Either way it probably outraged me the most this year. I find shady business ethics/practices to be somewhat repugnant. Especially when it comes to sizeable corporations.

And the most prevalent drama of 2012? Has to be curling or 'taco' glitters in indie polish! It's been a recurring theme all year and I'm frankly sick of it!
If you buy a glitter polish, do your research and be prepared for the possibility. Big brands have curling glitters so is it any surprise that handmade polishes have the same issue? Yeah it can be a PITA and I don't like it, but I won't be throwing a tantrum about it. Perhaps that's just the kiwi way or how I was raised... I certainly noticed that many, many woman (whom I can only assume are mainly American, based on the availability of the polish to the rest of the world - and I'm very sorry if this is an incorrect generalisation) vehemently believe they are entitled to the world when it comes to the quality of the polish they purchase, or the customer service they receive. There was an unbelievable amount of nasty facebook and blog comments about curling glitters and the restricted availability of indie polishes which I just could not fathom!!!!!!

I think most of these dramas have petered out now, so for 2013 I'm hoping for a more harmonious polish community! Kindness breeds kindness I hear, so lets all be kind and put some positivity back into the atmosphere :)

Looking Ahead

I plan for 2013 to be a year full of positive change for me.
In March I begin a year long course training to become a qualified vet nurse. After years of struggling to see a future for myself, I'm so thrilled to be working towards a career caring for animals.
I want to exercise, eat right and lose a LOT of weight so that I am happy and healthy in myself.
And I will be setting some blog related goals too!
  • I want to hit the 1000 follower mark. 
  • I want to interact more with all of you, using social media
  • I want to use all my Untrieds and thin out my out of control polish collection!
  • I also want to reign in my polish spending!!!!!
  • And I want to feature nail art on a regular basis and really improve my skills
 So there's some resolutions for you! Lets see how long they last, fingers crossed.

You can also expect a post or two on my favourite polishes released in 2012. It'll have to be a January thing because I'm not as organised as all the other bloggers that have been posting their favs all week. God I love looking at them!!! Now I have to trawl through my stash to pick out the ones have loved the most!

Happy New Year


xxx
NPA

China Glaze Holiday Joy Collection 2012: GLITTER ALL THE WAY, WINTER HOLLY & CHAMPAGNE KISSES

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After some weeks, I'm finally back with the rest of my glittery picks from the China Glaze Holiday Joy Collection.

First up is Glitter All The Way:

China Glaze Glitter All The Way
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Glitter All The Way is an amazing mix of fine gold, purple and red glitter and larger green hex glitter in a clear base. It's so festive and screams party time! I feel like it'd be great for New Years and Mardi Gras too.  Application was really good. I used 3 thin coats which gave complete coverage and the glitter lays very flat to the nail. I think I still used 2 layers of NYC GCS top coat to smooth it out, but it's not gritty at all.


China Glaze Winter Holly
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 Winter Holly is a mix of ultra-fine milled forest green, purple and holographic gold glitter. I didn't actually realise that it contained the purple glitter until I saw he photographs buy I can see that that's what makes Winter Holly so rich and pretty! This has a similar application to all the other same styled glitters ChG has released this year. I applied 3 thin coats for full coverage and a couple layers of Glitter Tamer to make it smooth and shiny.


China Glaze Champagne Kisses
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Champagne Kisses is a mix of ultra-fine golden and pale pink glitters. I didn't really notice any holo glitter in CK but there seems to be a very sparse smattering of them in the macro shot. Overall, it does look to be a champagne shade, but I don't love it. Maybe it's just a bit blah compared to the others? Application is the same as Winter Holly and you need at least 2 layers of viscous top coat to make it smooth and shiny.

Now Champagne Kisses may look very similar to the I'm Not Lion and I Herd That glitters from On Safari (Fall 2012), but it looks quite different in person. I'm compiling a list of comparisons I need to swatch this year (because I NEVER do those posts) and CK will definitely feature in one!

So I only picked up glitters this year, and I'm pretty pleased with all of them. Did anyone buy the creme and shimmers from Holiday Joy? If so, which ones and would you recommend them?


xxx
NPA

Sunday 30 December 2012

Cults Nails Behind Closed Doors Collection Swatches & Review

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I haven't been so excited for the release of a Cult collection since the Let's Get Nekkid Collection at the beginning of the year!
Every single polish appealed to me in this collection so I did the pre-order and it was absolutely worth it!

Note: I wore most of these to work over the course of a week and only photographed them once I got home at night - usually after almost 24 hours of wear time - so there are some which appear a wee bit chipped. They got battered around at work some days and I didn't always remember to wrap my tips, oops.


Cult Nails Disciplined
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Disciplined is a delicate sheer grey jelly with blue, purple and pink sparkling glass flecks. The blue flecks make the grey appear to be blue leaning too but it's pretty neutral. This is a buildable semi-sheer (a finish which Maria seems to be especially fond of!) so you need at least 3 coats for full coverage.
I'm in love with it! The shimmer/sparkle is spectacular but not in your face and I adore all things grey.


Cult Nails Bitten
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 Bitten is a claret with glass fleck shimmer that looks to be either red, pink or purple, depending on the angle/light. It is drop dead gorgeous, super sexy!!!! You only need 2 coats, but I applied 3 because I fudged a couple of nails and needed the extra coat to make them all look even. The formula was good, but beware that the polish gets darker with each coat so try to use the same amount of polish on each nail or they'll appear uneven. I quite like that I can wear Bitten dark or light!


 Cult Nails Afterglow
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 Afterglow has a lot going on! It's a bronze shimmer with an almost duochrome berry coloured shift with gold to pink glass fleck shimmer. Another beauty and quite different from any other polish I own! The formula is great, covers in 2 easy to apply coats.


Cult Nails Coveted
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 Coveted is a beautiful forest green shimmer with silver foil flakes. It's the only polish I was worried about. In some of the swatches I saw, the silver flakes just looked out of place, unnecessary. However I ended up coveting Coveted myself! The micro shimmer in the semi-translucent base is spectacular and it manages to be a rich yet dark green without looking blackish at all. The foil flakes are pretty great too, but they are rather thick and sharp so you may need to fiddle with them so that they lay flat to the nail or they'll scratch you!!! I applied 2 coats and only had an issue with the silver flakes on my ring finger.


Cult Nails Flushed
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Flushed is possibly the star of  a stellar collection. A purple with a heavy pink shimmer in the style of shimmer in  Takko Lacquer Kiss The Sky. It applies like butter in 2 coats and is just stunning! Probably backup worthy!


It is rare for me to find a single nail polish collection wherein every single shade is a keeper. And in Behind Closed Doors not only is every shade a keeper, but absolutely gorgeous and unique too!

Saturday 29 December 2012

The Battle #6: Stripes vs Dots

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I thought candy cane nails would be a great way to incorporate Christmas in to this challenge, so I'm Team Stripes! (Though in reality I'm more drawn to polka dots!!!)


BM207 stripes over BB Couture Santa's Sak
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I'm wearing BB Couture for Men in Santa's Sak (from one of their Christmas Collections) and I stamped it using Konad Special White Polish and plate BM 207.
I prefer the orientation of the design on my index and middle nails, the other way round looks a bit munted on my short nails, the stripes are too close together.

The stamping looks pretty terrible, it was a hot day and I just couldn't get a clean transfer!!! I hate that about the Konad Special Polishes!!! Maybe it happens with other brands too, must see if chromes behave the same way when stamping in the heat?

So even though this Battle wasn't a high point, I still enjoyed having candy cane nails. I got my only candy canes this year from my Polish Elf too, so this design feels incredibly apropos!!

Not sure if I'll attempt the polka dots too... we'll see.

Don't forget to see what the other BATTLE participants are up to:
Two Matejas Creating
An Indie Girl's Passion
Lacquered Tips
My Wondrous Marvellous Obsession
Cats n Nails
Jibber Jabber
Life in Color!
Polished Polygot


It's closing in on New Year's Eve now, what are your plans... for your nails, that is?


xxx
NPA

Friday 28 December 2012

Ozotic Beam 908 Swatches & Review

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This is the last of the polishes sent for review by Picture Polish :(
Talk about bittersweet!!!!


This was the polish I was most excited to try out so I saved it till last! This is another colourshifting flake shimmer top coat that is dominantly green and fuchsia.
I've layered it over OPI Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees (because I couldn't locate Black Onyx - my only black creme), a dark charcoal that leans blue. SSITP is a really great softer black if you find blacks to be too harsh.

And NEWS: I got a lightbox for xmas so I took some photos in it of 908!


Ozotic Beam 908 over OPI Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees
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Beam 908 sparkles green, blue, gold, orange, fuchsia, pink and purple. From a distance you really just notice the pearly colour of the top coat and the green and fuchsia flecks but up close you can see the full colour shift that occurs. It's really obvious in the macro photo.
The formula is thickish and flows really nicely. If you want less coverage you may want to thin 908 and use very thin coats.I applied 1 thin coat for these swatches and SV.

I think I'll end up getting the rest of the Beam collection, they're just so fun to play with!!!! Imagine frankening with them!

If you are in NZ you can purchase Ozotic from Gracie Lou for $15.50/15mL bottle.
To find your local reseller visit the piCture pOlish website below.

piCture pOlish
Visit our on-line store - www.picturepolish.com.au
Follow us on Twitter - piCture pOlish
Pin on - Pinterest
xxx
NPA 

Monday 24 December 2012

Christmas with Dollish Polish

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I couldn't resist picking up a couple of Dolly's Christmas collection this year. Last year she released 3 top coats that I wasn't too keen on at the time, but this year she tinkered with them and added a gorgeous red and green base to the A Christmas Story inspired set and "I was in like Flynn"!

I picked up the green, red and the snowflake glitter top coat because I really couldn't pass it by, even though I knew the snowflakes would be too big for my nails!!!
 

Dollish Polish I Can't Put My Arms Down!
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I Can't Put My Arms Down! is a scarlet/vermillion red with fine orange looking glitter. The glitter could well be red too but it glows like orange embers to my eye! I'm head over heels for it! I feel like orange toned reds suit me more than blue reds and Christmas is usually all about the cooler ones, so I'm loving the firey warmth ICPMAD has! I'm wearing 3 coats with 1 layer of SV in these pics, but 2 coats gave good coverage. The formula was a lot thinner than what I'm used to with Dollish Polish lacquers and I welcome it whole heartedly!!! Application was easy peasy.


Dollish Polish Be Sure To Drink Your Ovaltine
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Be Sure To Drink Your Ovaltine is an emerald green shimmer with matching flakies. The polish came out a bit bluer than it is in person, but the micro shimmer intimates the golden green tones that are also present. It's not the kind of green I associate with Christmas, but it turned out to be pretty gorgeous! You're looking at 2 coats with 1 layer of SV. It had a pretty thin formula and I had to watch how much polish was on the brush or I was at risk of cuticle pooling, but once I had that down it applied effortlessly.
I can see this being a great base for mermaid-esque manis too, thanks to the sea green look it has.


Dollish Polish You'll Shoot Yer' Eye Out Kid over Be Sure To Drink Your Ovaltine
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You'll Shoot Your Eye Out Kid is full of iridescent glitters in various shapes and sizes and most excitingly white snowflakes!!! I layered it over BSTDYO, so you don't get as strong an effect from the iridescent glitters (they'd stand out better over a darker base) but the blue and green shades they take on are very complimentary. Before you ask; the snowflakes were a bitch of a bitch to fish out! I think this was mainly because there were so few in the bottle. That was a little disappointing to be honest, it wouldn't take more than maybe 2 manis with a snowflake on every finger to use them all up. I think there should be plenty in there, even if they sink so that you can fish them out if you so desire. I hope I can find more of these confetti snowflakes to add to my bottle. The formula is quick thick (like plain suspension base) and you get a good concentration of iridescent glitters in 1 coat. My nails are narrow so the snowflakes don't sit flat and I used a couple of layers of Glitter Gloss and SV on the problems spots to try and remedy the sticky-outy-ness :) 

Looks pretty awesome right?
Dollish Polish is available here, Overall Beauty and Llarowe

Merry Christmas everyone, I can't wait to open presents in the morning!!!!


xxx
NPA

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