Karine's Birthday Polish - Naiade

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Sadly, this is my last polish from Karine's Birthday Collection. I kept Naiade til last, because I think it'll be the most popular of the 3 I own.

Turquoise/sea green is a very popular colour at the moment; I think it's up there with tangerine and coral as the big colour for Spring/Summer '12. And it's actually pretty easy to wear too, no matter your skintone there is a turquoise colour for everyone. My fav's have a lot more yellow in them, but there's tons for cool toned peeps too!

Naiade - shade

sunlight

sunlight - with topcoat

sunlight - with topcoat

sunlight - macro

Do excuse the brownish specks around the cuticles in the third and fourth photos! I was making some Tom Yum soup for lunch and the chilli seasoning wouldn't wash off!!!
Naiade is a beautiful turquoise/sea green jelly filled with iridescent fine glitter and blue-green-orange colour shifting flakes. It's on the sheer side so I used 3 coats for the photos and there was still noticeable VNL, but I'm sure it would look beautiful over greens and blues if you can't handle the sheerness.
It applied beautifully like all the rest of Karine's polishes. I didn't need to shake it up and there's a great distribution of flakies!!! I am truly in awe of Karine's formula!

Is Naiade your favourite?

xxx
Michaela

Essence Trend: Backstage Ballerina swatches

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Devotees may remember my darling sister sent me some Australian nail mail in early April. Amongst the wee haul were these Backstage Ballerina polishes from Essence. I wish they were in NZ already!!!

OYGT - 3 coats - flash

OYGT- 3 coats - lamp

On Your Gracile Tiptoe is a fun summer coral creme. It reminds me a lot of Cult Nails Scandalous, only it's a bit pinker and brighter. The flash photo is more colour accurate. I had a hard time with the formula because it was quite thick and sticky so I used 3 coats to even it out. It was really humid when I swatched it though, so that could have been what was making the formula difficult to work with. Applying polish in Christchurch is always so much easier than in Auckland, it's a amazing what a few degrees and drop in humidity does to my lacquers!
There's also some tip wear because I think I'd been wearing it for a full day before I took these photos.

GPIB - 2 coats - lamp

GPIB - 2 coats - close up lamp

Grand-plie In Black is a pigmented black jelly with copper/orange small hex glitter. The photos are pretty poor because I was taking photos under a regular lamp at night time, but you get the idea. I only needed 2 coats and it had a really pleasing formula. I wish there was a wee bit more glitter in GPIB but it's still a really cool polish and I can see doing a manicure with an orange/copper accent nail/stamping design looking awesome. I don't think it was gritty and I only used 1 layer of top coat.

Thank you Katie, I love my Ballerina polishes - though I'm not sure they are very ballet coloured!!!

xxx
Michaela

Dollish Polish - Fat Guy in A Little Coat

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This is one of my favourite Dollish Polish lacquers of all time. And it really surprised me because I usually run away from frosty finishes.

Fat Guy in a Little Coat is inspired by a scene in Tommy Boy where Chris Farley puts on David Spade's coat and does a little dance. I just watched the scene myself, it's pretty funny when the coat splits in two! I think the combination of the beige/dessert khaki base and the green and blue glitters mimic the layers of clothing Farley wears in the scene.

white light

white light

macro

I played around with Fat Guy In A Little Coat before I settled on layering it over Essie's Case Study for the swatches above. On it's own the polish is fairly sheer, so you need at least 3 layers to eliminate VNL. By that stage the shimmery beige/khaki base ends up obscuring the blue and green hex glitter and looks very frosty.
On a whim, I put one coat on over Case Study which was the closest match in my stash and I think the result is amazing. FGIALC ended up looking like it does in the bottle, only opaque! The overall effect looks to me like a pith helmet in the jungle!!!

If you don't mind using it as a top coat and you love unique/fugly polishes I definitely recommend getting your hands on FGIALC when Dolly next restocks the store.

Unabashed Puppy Love

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I spent a while trying to coax Charlie up on to my back and was shocked when it actually happened! I think he might actually understand English sometimes, haha! Only he sat on my ample rear end and sort of slowly slid down it! Mum managed to snap some photos first though. And Buster had to get in on the act by attacking my hair (for the hair tie).

This was the day before I went back to Christchurch so they're special pics for me :)

I've been pretty slack with posts but I'll try to stick to a schedule from now on. There are so many swatches waiting to be uploaded! I just can't be bothered with the writing part!!

Feel free to tell me how beautiful the boys are!!!!! And does anyone out there have a supposed 'pure breed' maltese with such a wavy unruly coat like Buster's?

xxx
Michaela

Oui Je Le Veux! Swatches & Review

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Today I have another stunning polish from Karine's Birthday Collection, Oui je le veux!

According to Google Translate it means 'Yes, I am...' And I suppose that is appropriate, maybe a bit like I am woman, hear me roar! or Hello world, this is me! ? Do you think?
But thanks to Andrea & Nailderella, the correct translation is Yes, I want! Which makes is very appropriate because when I saw it I thought, "Yes, I want!!!"

sunlight

macro

sunlight

shade

 I'm not really sure how to describe the base colour. It's a sort of fleshy faded rose jelly? According to wikipedia it might be a new york pink? Sort of that dirty tone, with a bit of brown?
Anyway, I really like it because it's another unique entry to my collection and the peachy and purple flakes & iridescent glitters are perfect.
I used 3 coats to get a good coverage because it's pretty sheer and there's still some VNL. You'll also need a little top coat to smooth out the flakies :)

xxx

NPA

Face of Australia - Barbados - Orange You Glad You Came swatch and review

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Orange You Glad You Came got in to my hands via my wonderful sister Katie! She sent me a polish package from Australia and this gem stood out.

OYGYC - 2 coats - sunlight

OYGYC - 2 coats -white light

OYGYC - 2 coats -white light

OYGYC - 2 coats - close up

When I first saw it in the bottle I thought, 'yuck' a peach frost. But lo and behold it's a beautiful peachy-apricot with tons of golden shimmer. I think it verges on the frost side of the mountain, but in a good way.
It is surprising opaque at two easy coats and looked really nice next to my skin.

I really want more of these Barbados colours now!

Are there any nail polishes that really surprised and delighted you on the nail versus in the bottle?

xxx
Michaela

Dollish Polish: Welcome to Rapture & Putting on the Ritz

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Happy Saturday guys,

I had another nice afternoon, manicures and late lunch out with the girls! It's been so sunny too, probably got a bit of a tan going!!!

Gotta get ready for a night out so it's going to be a quick post. Got some more Dollish polishes for you.

 

POTR - 1 coat - white light

OTR - 1 coat - white light

Putting on the Ritz is a mixture of small, medium and large black hex glitter and medium and large white hex glitter in a clear base. One coat gives great top coat coverage. I'm wearing one coat over China Glaze Pool Party (red/pink neon) without top coat.

Welcome to Rapture - 1 coat - white light

Welcome to Rapture - 1 coat - macro

Welcome to Rapture - 1 coat - shade

Welcome to Rapture is a mash up of square and hex multi-coloured glitters in a clear base. Very cool, there's green, orange, red, black, blue gold and silver in there. I'm wearing one coat over OPI Ski Teal We Drop.

Have a great night everyone!

xxx
Michaela

Dollish Polish: Heart of Glass & Spank You Very Much Swatches and Review

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Ahoy hoy ladies,

I have done A LOT of swatching since I got back to my lovely lacquer stash!!! It's been oh so dreamy! Especially knocking off a bunch of the 'untrieds'.

Heart of Glass - 1 coat - white light

Heart of Glass - 1 coat - white light

Heart of Glass - 1 coat - macro

Heart of Glass is a dazzling silver linear holographic top coat with the added bonus of silver holo shredded and bar glitters. I wore 1 coat over OPI Roadhouse Blues. Application was easy, only the shredded glitter liked to move with each stroke so they ended up mainly on the sides of my nail I painted last :) I'm sure with a little practice I could even it out. I didn't use a top coat for the photos but you'll need one. I really want to try HoG over a bright pink!!

Spank You Very Much - 1 coat - white light

Spank You Very Much - 1 coat - white light

Spank You Very Much - 1 coat - macro

Spank You Very Much is inspired by Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. I think the colours might correlate to one of his loud shirts! It's a mixture of small green glitter, turquoise small and larger hex glitter and medium purple hex glitter in a clear base. For the photos I'm wearing 1 coat over Barry M Cyan Blue. I've seen pics of this over dark green and it's incredible!! Certainly versatile too with all the glitters. Application was easy.


You can purchase Dollish Polish lacquers at her Big Cartel shop HERE

xxx
NPA

Karine's Pinot Noir - Swatch Fest!

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Greeting from Christchurch,

I arrived home yesterday morning to an INCREDIBLE amount of NAIL MAIL!
It has to be the best welcome home present ever! Especially when it cures your I MISS MY PUPPY-itis :(

Of the 6 parcels, Karine's Birthday Collection flakies was the most AMAZING!!!
I immediately swatched Naiad, Oui je le veux! & Pint Noir on a nail wheel, because I had dark pink on my nails and very limited nail polish remover left!!!
Talk about POW!!!! I mean as in "wow, well blow me away Jeffery!" not prisoner of war, just FYI. And where the heck did Jeffery come from? Odd mind indeed...
Getting back to Karine's lovelies; Pinot was the perfect match for the dress I was wearing so when Lisa came over for a girly catch up, lunch and manicure I put it on!!! Used the very last of the nail polish remover too!

Boy was Pinot worth it, though!
I couldn't pick my favourite photos so here is a whole bunch for you to marvel over.

overcast

overcast

overcast

overcast

overcast with flash

overcast with flash

white light - macro

white light

white light - macro

I barely have words. Pinot Noir is a jelly wine/pinky maroon base with iridescent fine glitters and flakies in violet, green & red/orange/yellow(?). Two medium coats gave complete coverage and the formula was great, on the thicker side, spread really well and didn't even need shaking!!! That might be my favourite thing about Karine's polishes - no shaking!
Actually my favourite thing about Pinot is that it is perfectly named. It's just like a glass of red wine only sparkly!!!

I cannot wait to show you more of her beauties.

For ordering info click HERE

xxx
Michaela

A Dollish Polish Glitterfest

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Hey guys,

It's my last night in Auckland. My last night with my babies Charlie & Buster :(,,,,
For a special last walk this arvo, I let Buster off the lead to play with another puppy we met called Rosie - a black little toy poodle/shih-tzu cross. She was a 4 month old bundle a energy!!! Dominated the heck out of Buster and was already bigger than him so she must have a lot of shih-tzu in her. They ran around in circles chasing each other for at least 15 minutes, it was fantastic! I didn't have to walk for more than 1 km myself :) And Rosie's owner gave Buster some of her treats too!!!!

I can't believe Buster is 10 months old already. The next time I see him he'll be over a year old!!!! He's laying on the couch beside me right now falling asleep like the little angel he isn't!!!!

So nail polish...
Happily I'll be going home to a LOT of NAIL MAIL!!!!!!

So keep tuned!!!

Tonight I have some Dollish Polish glitters for your viewing pleasure - did you manage to get your hands on any when she restocked yesterday? I missed out completely :( I really want GTL!!!!!!

3BFTAEH - 1 coat over silver - sunlight

3BFTAEH - 1 coat over silver - macro

3 Best Friends That Anyone Ever Had - is of course inspired by The Hangover. It's a mix of silver holo glitters ( there's hexes & bar glitter & micro glitters) and a sprinkling of medium sized blue hex glitter. I layered 1 thickish coat over China Glaze Millennium - a silver chrome. It's a fairly dense glitter so I'd say 3 coats would definitely make it opaque on its own, but it's fairly thick so I think you're best off treating it as a top coat.
The pictures play down the holo effect - it's pretty awesome and it's special to me because I don't own any other bar glitters!

Dark Elf - 2 coats - sunlight

Dark Elf - 2 coats - sunlight

Dark Elf - 2 coats -macro

Dark Elf - reminds me of the Girly Bits glitters Razzle Dazzle & Purple Potion in that it really glows with little iridescent glitters in almost all lighting conditions. It has these little bits of glitter that glow red and really bring the glitter to life! I think it's a mix of purple holo and copper-orange glitter. It's very cool and it looks great layered over purple polish. I tried it over Zoya Dannii and it was AMAZING!!!
For the photos I used 2-3 thin coats. I should have added a little extra to my index finger because it's a bit bald looking in the photos!! Dark Elf is really hungry so I recommend some glitter tamer. I used 1 coat of Poshe Fast Dry Base Coat & 2 coats of Seche Vite for a smooth and shiny finish.

IHWSH - 3 coats - sunlight

IHWSH - 3 coats - sunlight

IHWSH - 3 coats - sunlight

IHWSH - 3 coats -macro

IHWSH - 3 coats -shade - macro

I'll Have What She's Having - is possibly the hardest ever polish to photograph. These photos are from the 5th and final attempt! That means that I painted my left hand (and sometimes the right too!) on 5 different occasions and these photos were the best/most accurate I got!
It's so much prettier in real life :( I promise! This When Harry Met Sally polish is made up of micro and hex light rose glitter & light fuchsia small square glitter set in a clear base. It's rather thick so I'll be treating it as a top coat in the future, but for the pics I used 3 thin (well as thin as possible) coats for complete coverage.
She's another hungry lass so you'll be needing lashings of top coat too! It's one of Dolly's more girlish creations and I'm a big fan. I think it'd tickle any little lady's fancy for sure!

These 3 polishes joined Dolly's collection in late Feb - early March and I'm pretty sure they'll be sticking around for her next restock.
To find out more about Dolly's polish visit her shop powered by Big Cartel.

xxx
Michaela