Sunday Spam: China Glaze Summer Neons

Pin It

A few weeks ago I finally got round to showing you the On Safari polishes for Fall 2012. Around the same time I got half of the Summer Neons for Summer 2012 and just last week I managed to finish swatching those too.

Now, the length of time it took for me to try these out, has absolutely no bearing on the affection they elicit!
These are the best brights there are. Satin matte neons with soft shimmer are the be all and end of NEONS!!!!!!

Each swatch shows 2-3 coats without top coat. All look ok after 2 coats but the hint of VNL disappears with a 3rd. Application was a little streaky at first, but once I got the hang of the semi-thick formula I got it on streak free.

China Glaze Pink Plumeria

overcast

overcast

Pink Plumeria is a light pink coral neon. It's brighter than the photo lets on, but it is very much the same soft hue.

China Glaze Flirty Tankini

indoors without flash

indoors without flash

Flirty Tankini is a step up from PP. It's an equally pink and orange coral.

China Glaze Surfin' for Boys

sunshine

sunshine

Surfin' For Boys is another step up from FT. It's a blisteringly bright orange coral! You seriously need to wear sunglasses to even sneak a peak at this bad boy.

China Glaze Love's A Beach

indoors without flash

indoors without flash

Love's a Beach is a super bright pink with just a dash of red. It sort of looks like ChG Pool Party with shimmer.

China Glaze Hang-Ten Toes

indoors without flash

indoors without flash

Hang-Ten Toes is a blue toned neon pink. It screams summer and I really want to wear this at the beach over Christmas!

China Glaze Beach Cruise-r

sunshine

sunshine

Beach Cruise-r is a fuchsia/purple neon. Quite possibly my favourite of the bunch!

I obviously went for the girly shades in this collection. I just figured that while the other colours were AMAZING, I'd never get much wear out of them. All the corals and pinks on the other hand...

Bring on December!!!!!

xxx

NPA

Ozotic Beam 906 Swatches & Review

Pin It

The fabulous Debbie from Gracie Lou sent me Ozotic 906 from the brand new Beam line, for review.

You may not have heard of Gracie Lou, but it is an NZ cosmetic e-tailer that carries a wide range of brands at costs well below retail. They are the official stockist of Picture Polish and Ozotic in NZ, with PP going for $13.50-15.50 and Ozotic for $15.50/bottle. I never thought I'd see these kind of prices here! Gone are the days of haemorrhaging money for these beauts via Llarowe!

I layered 906 over a light and dark base to give you an idea of its versatility. You may want to wear it alone, but that's not really my jam.

Ozotic 906 over OPI Black Onyx

sunshine

sunshine

shade

shade

macro

906 is a opalescent polish "jam-packed with pink & purple sparks!"  Over black it really comes to life, shifting from gold - orange- pink - purple - blue. Amazing! It's got a thick formula which equals intense coverage. This is just 1 coat!!! Next time I will probably thin it out or just apply a teeny tiny amount. 906 des have a kind of long dry time, but that's probably to do with the thickness.

 Ozotic 906 over Barry M Strawberry Icecream

sunshine

sunshine

shade

macro

 

Over a pale shade you get a pretty opalescent shimmer/sparkle. The pictures don't show it, but you still see the pink and purple sparkle in person. My camera just wouldn't pick it up!! Over Strawberry Icecream it makes the polish more blue.purple toned. Again, it looks amazing!

To get your hands on 906 and all the other Sugar and Beam Ozotics, visit Gracie Lou!!!!

It's like frosting for you nails :)

xxx

NPA

Cult Nails Untamed Collection - My Picks

Pin It

Ok, I so wanted Coco's collection as soon as I saw the promo shots, but I just couldn't afford!
So a couple months down the track, I have finally purchased 3 out of 5 lacquers and they have all impressed.

Cult Nails Spontaneous

Spontaneous is a dirty purple with fine matching glitter. It reminds me a little of Butter London No More Waity Katie in that the base can look a little patchy because the glitter is a little sparse and it does dry pretty nastily looking. But, once you get on a good layer of top coat (I used Glitter Tamer), it looks gorgeous!! It needs at least 2 coats.

Cult Nails Untamed

Untamed is the namesake of the collection. A warm, bubblegum-ish pink filled with fine iridescent glitter. It too dries a bit gritty like Spontaneous, but a layer of Glitter Tamer made it super shiny and smooth. I freaking adore Untamed! It's the perfect shade of pink for my skin tone. I think this was 2 coats, but you might prefer 3, as there's still a hint of VNL.

Cult Nails Annalicious

Annalicious  is the perfect shade of red with lots of gold fleck sparkle! It is amazingly opaque too, which I didn't expect. I did 2 coats for the sake of it, but I could easily have gotten away with just 1. I cannot stress how gorgeous Annalicious is.


I can't wait for Coco's next collection! Do you have any of these?
Cult Nails is available HERE


xxx
NPA

NPA 350 GFC Giveaway Winner

Pin It

Thank you to all the ladies who entered my 350 Follower Giveaway! I'm sorry you couldn't all win!!! Also, welcome to the 80 or so brand new followers. I hope you like what you see and stick around some :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 So congratulations to Joy!

xxx
NPA


 

Revlon Sparkle Aplenty & last chance to enter GVEAWAY

Pin It

Hey girls/ladies/peeps,

The 350 GFC Follower Giveaway is ending in 16 hours, so you have to enter now or miss out on the chance to win a $25 gift voucher to the online store of your choice. Click on the link at the top of the sidebar, to be taken to the rafflecopter form.

I've got Revlon Sparkle Aplenty to show you today. I got it from a blog sale and I'm still not sure why! I saw swatches and it looked fairly awful, but I still wanted it????? Maybe it was just insanely cheap at $2 and I wanted it because it's not out in NZ yet?

Anyway, of course it disappointed, but I had fair warning so what cha gonna do?

Revlon Sparkle Aplenty

 Sparkle Aplenty has a black jelly base with fine pearl/silver glitter and larger hex glitter in the same colour and black. Application was ok, but it just ends up looking patchy. In fairness, I only use 2 coats and a third, may have evened it out. It would have also hidden the other layers of glitter though. Plus, I don't get the point of the black glitter. You can't really see it, it just makes your nails look patchy as with those darker black spots. I topped it off with 1 coat of Seche Vite.

So to conclude, I'd tell my friends to steer clear, unless you like bumpy nail polish that looks uneven too.

xxx

NPA

NPA Kiwi Only Giveaway Winner

Pin It

Hey guys,

It's time to announce the winner of my mini giveaway just for my fellow kiwi lacquerheads.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Congratulations to Ame of GiMiKd Girl!  We've already been in contact so it is done and dusted!

If you haven't heard of Ame's blog you really need to check it out. She's been blogging for 2 years and while she is predominantly a nail blogger, she'll also slip in the odd lippy post, which I love!!! I'm shy about lipstick but I've seen some awesome ones on GiMiKd Girl that have encouraged me to take the plunge!
Ame does great true to life swatches, so I never get a nasty surprise if I check her swatches before I buy. And I'm not sure how she does it, but they are always taken in sunlight! It's like she controls the weather, all from Lower Hutt!

For all of you who didn't win, fear not. My 350 GFC Follower Giveaway is still open for another 4 days. If you haven't already entered, click on the link at the top of my sidebar. You can win a $25 voucher to the online store of your choice. It is open WORLDWIDE!!!!

And here is my moment of Zen for Saturday 22 September...

Dandy Nails Look Around

sunshine

Look Around is a freaking awesome minty sea green meets metallic green scattered holo. Definitely a polish I cannot live without. The formula was a little thick but I only needed 1 1/2 coats for good coverage so, meh. 

Can Sandy  nail it or what? She has a real gift for blue and greens!

xxx

NPA

Piper Polish Holos - Denim Daisy Dukes & Prismatic

Pin It

Hey guys,

I have some more Piper Polish holos for you all today!

I've really fallen in love with Erin's holos. They are just different from the others out there. They have awesome almost pearly shimmer, which I didn't think I'd be in to, but with the holo they look awesome! The formulas are fantastic too, very even and buttery.

Piper Polish Prismatic

lamp

macro

Prismatic is a very brown plum holo. In most lights you don't actually notice the purple, but the neutral tone is gorgeous. This way more holo than some of the other Piper Polish lacquers, akin to Flash Mob. I barely needed the second coat.

 Piper Polish Denim Daisy Dukes

lamp

lamp

macro

Denim Daisy Dukes is a pretty periwinkle blue holo. This sort of does look like light blue denim. Once the gold studs I ordered arrive, I should try a denim mani using DDD! The holo effect isn't that strong, but it's so pretty. I used 2-3 coats.

Piper Polish is available HERE and they have great customer service, Erin is just lovely!

xxx

NPA

Hare Polish Midsummer's Midnight - a.k.a. NAILGASM in a bottle

Pin It

Who else is a huge Hare Polish fan?

I was desperate to get my hands on her jelly glitters last year, but alas she shut down production for some time. So when she reopened this year with a couple of new and amazing collections, I was in it to win it!

I was most excited for Midsummer's Midnight, and it lived up to expectations!

Hare Polish Midsummer's Midnight

lamp

lamp

macro

Midsummer's Midnight (MM) has a charcoal/black jelly base, with a mix of purple, fuchsia, green and blue glitters. My favourite are the blue squares! The  colours are so perfect together and they swim awesomely in the jelly base. I used 2 coats with a layer of Glitter Tamer to smooth out the texture. I love the glass lie finish Glitter Tamer gave!!!

Hare's Fall line is coming our way in a couple of weeks. You can see previews on their Facebook page. They're also re-releasing the original Bisbee, A-Positive and Pegasus!!!! I want me some Bisbee! They have been reformulated and I cannot wait to see what they look like!

HARE Polish is available on Etsy and Llarowe.

My two Giveaways are on the top of the right hand sidebar, so make sure "you're in it to win it!"

xxx

NPA

Nubar Gilded Gold

Pin It

Last week I sported what I imagine liquid gold nails look like.

Nubar Gilded Gold

.

sunshine

sunshine

macro

Gilded Gold is a light gold shimmer full of gold flakes. In the sun you could see pinkish sparkles too. It's a bit sheer needing at least 3 coats to hide the smile line, but it applies nicely. You end up with a sort of textured effect from the golden flakes, so I recommend a thick top coat. I used INM Out the Door for these photos.

Don't forget to enter my giveaways! For the international ladies you can enter HERE. For the Kiwi girls, you can enter HERE and HERE!

xxx
NPA

Nail Polish Anon 350 Follower Giveaway - Open WORLDWDE

Pin It

Yay, GFC finally ticked over to 350 followers, so as a token of my appreciation I'm giving one of you the chance to win a $25 gift voucher to the online polish store of your choice!

Blogging has been my creative outlet over the last year and it means so much to me, that you have all stopped by to have a squizz. I'm especially grateful to the lovely ladies who leave comments, because I love interacting with all of you.

This giveaway is open to every follower (whether through GFC or Facebook) worldwide. Entries will close 1 week from now  - Monday 26 September. I will announce the winner here on my blog and also make contact via email. The winner will have 48 hours to respond, or a new winner will be drawn.

Just fill out the Rafflecopter widget below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

xxx
NPA 

KB Shimmer Proud Peacock

Pin It

When I posted a chunk of KB Shimmer polishes I forgot all about Proud Peacock!

So here he is a little late - looking fab for Spring!

KB Shimmer Proud Peacock

sunlight

sunshine

macro

Proud Peacock  is a blue/jade jelly base with white, black, blue, holo and fuschia bar and hex glitter. It is pretty thick, but the glitter is really well suspended, so much so that I didn't actually need to shake up the bottle.  It dries fairly bumpy so I used 2 coats of Glitter Gloss to smooth it out.

You can get your hands on KB Shimmer via their website (US only) or Harlow & Co.

PP isn't my favourite lacquer, but it is fun and the mix of colours make me think of Summer at the beach!

If you live in NZ and haven't entered my giveaway yet, ENTER NOW

xxx

NPA

China Glaze On Safari Swatches & Review

Pin It

Oh my god, I cannot believe it has taken me so long to swatch this collection! Talk about my obsession with indie polishes setting me back!

I chose just 6 of the 12 polishes in China Glaze's On Safari Fall 2012 collection. I tried my hardest to only buy the ones I didn't have anything similar to already. And the only polish from On Safari I'm still lemming is Elephant Walk!

China Glaze Call of the Wild

lamp

lamp

 Call of the Wild is a beautifully rich dark brown creme with enough red to make it look like molten chocolate! All my other brown cremes (ok I only have like 2) lean yellow so they look fairly flat, so COTW is my new fav!

China Glaze Exotic Encounters

lamp

lamp

China Glaze Kalahari Kiss

lamp

lamp

Kalahari Kiss reminds of a desert khaki pith helmet! The best way I can describe it is as a yellowed beige creme. It's certainly one of those fugly colours that very few people will actually want to wear, but I love that China Glaze keeps knocking one of these out each year! I have Classic Camel from 2010, Trendsetter from 2011 and now this one!

China Glaze Jungle Queen

sunlight

flash

macro

Jungle Queen is a smoky purple with subtle shimmer. This is the Chanel Paradoxal dupe. The only difference between the two is that JQ is contains less shimmer. It's beautiful and for $3 the price was right!

China Glaze I'm Not Lion

lamp

lamp

macro

 I'm Not Lion is a ultra fine mix of light gold and silver holo glitter. I've layered 1 coat over Exotic Encounters, because I haven't seen this layering combination anywhere else. I think with 2-3 layers on its own, INL would be opaque. I topped this off with 1 coat of Glitter Gloss for glass like shine and smoothness!

China Glaze I Herd That

lamp

lamp

macro

I Herd That is a mix of ultra fine gold, orange and holo glitter. 'm wearing 1 coat layered over Call of the Wild. It's basically a warm version of INL. Again in 2-3 coats on its own it would be opaque. One coat of Glitter Gloss gave a fabulous finish on this one too. I thought it would be very similar to the Ulta exclusive Fireside Glow (from Christmas 2011), but the glitter in FG is even finer and is very coppery (and when I say coppery, I mean that true pinky copper colour the real metal is).

Formula:

The formulas of the cremes (except COTW) were thick, but FLAWLESS! If you were in a rush, 1 coat would do because they are so pigmented. I used 2 coats myself, and they applied like butter! Do give it a few minutes between coats though, to avoid bubbling.

Call of the Wild was a bit thinner than the other cremes. It was still opaque after 2 coats, but you have to watch out for cuticle drag.

Jungle Queen is a solid 2 coater and application was good, it has a slightly thick consistency.

The glitters applied really nicely. I probably prefer them alone or over like colours though.

My picks from On Safari really did impress me. I love the colours and the top notch formulas make me so happy!!!

It's Sunday yet again, so I wish you luck for the week ahead.

If you are a NZ reader, please enter my giveaway HERE

xxx

NPA