L.A. Girl Rock Star Collection

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Hey lovely ladies,

Today was a bit flat out and I didn't manage to water marble my nails. Instead I have swatches of my LA Girl Rock Star polishes I got from Cherry Culture a few months ago.

These guys came out in 2009.

Groupie - sunlight

Groupie - indoors

 Groupie - is purple duochrome shimmer along the lines of OPI Ink. - Colour-wise it is predominantly a grape purple with shimmer that shifts between pink and blue (just like OPI Grape...Set...Match. but without the foil like finish). The formula is on the thin side and it needs 3 coats to reach opacity.

Punk - sunlight

Punk - sunlight

Punk - sunlight

 Punk is a blue version of  Groupie. It has a dark blue base (reminds me a little of airforce blue) with shimmer particles that shift between teal and blurple. Again, the formula is thin so it needs 3 coats but it is so worth it! This was my surprise favourite. Punk is like China Glaze Rodeo Fanatic with a different finish! I don't know about you but I love these shimmery flat glitter like particle polishes. I'm sure there's a better name for the finish but either way I prefer it to a straight shimmer. Maybe it's a "sparkly shimmer"?

Party Animal - indoors

Party Animal - sunlight

 Party Animal is a vampy dark, deep maroon creme with sparse, fine silver glitter. This shade is to die for too - and I don't gravitate towards the vampy shades.The only issue I had with this formula was it's tendency towards cuticle drag, so give it a while between coats. I found 2 to be sufficient.

Rock Star - sunlight

Rock Star - indoors

 Rock Star is just as the name promises. A glossy black creme with irregular sized fine glitter flecks that flash pink, purple & gold. I think my photos manage to capture the colour of the glitter correctly. My brush on this one was wonky so application wasn't the best but I think it was just a luck of the draw type thing. I think I used 3 coats here but if I recall correctly, 2 was opaque.

I'm really happy with the polishes (not always the norm, especially when I order online) I chose from the collection as a whole. Not one let me down and I know I'll wear them all. The only downside is that they have a fairly long dry/setting time (especially the 3 coaters) so I recommend a quick dry top coat or drying drops.
 Did I mention what a bargain these guys are too? Only US$2.50 a piece! Gotta love a bargain :)

Fingers crossed I have time to attempt the water marble tomorrow!

xxx
Michaela

31 Day Challenge: Day 19 - GALAXY

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Hello dear readers,

While I was doing this challenge I was stressing majorly because I thought I was just making a huge mess, not a galaxy. But I think it turned out pretty good. I took the photos under a lamp and that played the spaciness up even more!!!  outdoors on an overcast day.

Here's the polishes I used

L-R: OPI Alpine Snow, The 'It' Color, China Glaze Entourage, Meteor Shower, OPI What's With the Cattitude?, Essie Super Bossa Nova, Orly Space Cadet

Check out Cristina & Sam's galaxy nails because they are truly awesome. I want to try out Sam's one when I get the chance, I love all the yellow.

Tomorrow is water marble time. I'm afraid, very, very afraid!!!!!!

xxx
Michaela

31 Day Challenge: Day 18 - HALF MOON

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Hey guys,

Still playing catch-up with these challenge posts...

Here's my half moon mani from Day 18 - without cleanup (cos I'm lazy!)

Ok, so it's not my best but I did this without using guides and it was my first ever attempt at half moons, plus I love the colour combo.

I used 3 coats of Orly Pure Porcelain and 1 coat of Misa Throw Me Something Purple Please.
I really like these colours together and they both dry really glossy for cremes. TMSPP is more purple in real life but it always comes up blue on my camera.

How's everyone's weekend shaping up?

xxx Michaela

31 Day Challenge: Day 17 - GLITTER

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Hey,

2nd post of the day - gotta catch up on all the days I missed.

I decided to keep it simple for the Glitter look. And what just arrived? But, the Color Club Beyond the Mistletoe Collection is all!
I couldn't swatch them all in one go, so instead I picked one of my favourites Sugarplum Fairy to show ya'll. I've left them big but double click to get an even larger view.

These first 3 photos were taken outdoors in the sun. The holo sparkle was seriously strong but as my camera focuses it kills most of the sparkle, sorry.

 The last photo was taken under a lamp - I was trying to capture the intense holo sparkle but my camera still dulled it down. This was the best shot.

Suagrplum Fairy is a lilac/lavender, silver & holo glitter bomb in a clear base. I used 3 thick coats to get to almost complete coverage. One more coat would have eliminated the few bald spots you could see up close. I didn't think it needed any more personally, only I see my nails that close (except all of you lovely readers, that is).
It's easy to apply, thick formula as you can imagine, with all this glitter. Dries fast and needed 2 coats of Seche Vite to feel smooth.

When I get the time I'll do a collection post with all 6 shades!

xxx,
Michaela

31 Day Challenge: Day 16 - TRIBAL

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Hey guys,

I've been MIA for a few days now and this mani is the reason why! It sucked the happy out of me!

This is my all time low - blogging wise.

2 coats BYS Urban Jungle, stamped with China Glaze Street Chic in sunlight

I attempted this mani several times; the WAHnails print was a disaster (I need bigger nail beds or skinnier brushes/acrylic paint?, and freehand was way too much for me so I went to plan C, stamping. And instead of using a proper stamping polish I used a normal one, that was too thin and a design that didn't cover my entire nails so there's overlap and it's just all over nasty :(

The one positive is that I used BYS Urban Jungle as my base and I love it! I got it at bling! (regrettably) while they were having a buy 2 get 1 free sale on cosmetics - score! I don't have another green like it but I'm thinking it's in the same colour group as Essie Sew Psyched. Will have to compare them.

Sorry for the not so hot mess!

xxx Michaela

China Glaze on NZ SALE

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Hey guys,

For the kiwi readers, NZSALE has a range of China Glaze polishes on sale now for $7.95 each. There are treatments for $9.95 too. Get in now before they all sell out!

31 Day Challenge: Day 15 - DELICATE PRINT

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Hello peoples,

Wahoo, officially at the halfway point of this challenge! From here on out the manicures get so hard!!!!

Today's Delicate Print mani was quite a nice palate cleanser in a way. It's nice to have demure nails every once in a while.

Do you like?
I started with 2 coats of Essie Brooch the Subject, then stamped the floral design using Konad Special White polish & BM 204. Topped it off with SV (seche vite).

The weather is still gorgeous in Auckland - come on super long, hot, summer! I'm off to the supermarket now.

xxx
Michaela

31 Day Challenge: Day 14: FLOWERS

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Hey guys,

Happy Labour Day! And Congratulations ALL BLACKS! They did! NZ is officially the best rugby team in the world - for the next 4 years!!!! Did anyone go to the victory parade on Queen St today?
The weather has been amazing today too. It's been boiling hot here in Papakura

I decided to create a cherry blossom look for the flower theme.

What do you think?

I used:
2 coats Essie Cocktail Bling - background
OPI Suzi Loves Cowboys - branches
OPI Alpine Snow, Sparrow Me The Drama & Ate Berries In The Canaries - blossoms
Seche Vite - top coat

xxx
NPA

31 Day Challenge: Day 13 - ANIMAL PRINT

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I'm a couple days behind with these posts so I'll make this short.

I saw this on Beautopia and decided to give it a go. It's inspired by a manicure Rihanna wore.
I used OPI Alpine Snow as a base and sponged on some China Glaze Classic Camel, OPI Rising Star & Espresso Your Style. Then I stamped on the zebra pattern from plate m57 using Konad Special Black polish. I finished it off with a coat of Seche Vite but the black smeared a bit :(

Tomorrow is flowers yay!

xxx
Michaela

31 Day Challenge: Day 12 - STRIPES

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Hey,

this is my take on Stripes:

I used Milani Holographics in HD, 3D & Digital for the stripes. I inverted the pattern but forgot to do the same with the colours. In my defence, it was after midnight and I was more or less sleep polishing:)

xxx

Michaela

OPI Muppets Holiday Collection 2011 Swatches & Review

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Hey everyone,

How are your weekends going?

My Muppet polishes arrived last week and yesterday I finally had some time to swatch them. I only got 5 of the 12 because they just didn't appeal to me - especially the glitters. I just couldn't see myself wearing them. The shimmers however I LOVE!

Animalistic - a pink meets orange (almost duochromey - or the shimmer gives that effect) = reddish polish with those gorgeous fine flake like glitter/shimmer particles that change between gold and pink. I love this one! My photos don't capture all the different colours it can appear as but it's wonderful. This is unexpectedly a two coater with flawless formula and good dry time.

Meep-meep-meep -  is a bright, deep pink with chunky-ish glitter flakes. This was the one I was most excited for & it is fantastic but the other polishes outshine her a little. My camera couldn't capture it properly (too much shimmer/sparkle & it fails to properly focus). The effect in the bottle is closer to what it looks like on the nail in real life. Another good formula, 2 coats, quick dry time.

Pepe's Purple Passion - My personal favourite! A deep plummy/brown purple creme with chunky glitter flakes . I've seen that most bloggers aren't fans but I just adore Pepe. I love the way the chunky flakes are a shade or two lighter than the base - they elevate what could have been a boring shade & I'vr never seen this texture before. I personally love the finish on this one two, shiny but a bit bumpy. Application is an interesting experience though! I can only liken it to spreading a thick berry dessert sauce (think boysenberry) over my nails. It's very manageable, just odd. I recommend thinner layers. There was too much polish on the brush when I painted my middle finger and you can see the right side of the nil is raised as a result. It could probably be a 1 coater but I did two to get it even. If you want the surface to be perfectly smooth I recommend 2 layers of a thick top coat eg. Seche Vite

Warm & Fozzie - Fozzie Bear always was my favourite Muppet! I loved Pros & Bronze & now OPI have given us her brother! Made in the same style, Warm & Fozzie is made up of those glittery flake-like particles in brown (I think), antique gold & pink. Even better, it has a thicker/more opaque formula so only takes two coats. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy too...

Excuse Moi! - A pink jelly base filled with pink micro glitter & multicoloured round glitter. This is the only glitter I picked up and I kind of regret it. It has a great formula (probably the best glitter formula I own) and application, again only 2 coats to opacity. But, I'm not sure I'll wear it. What do you think? Stash or Trash?

So there my lovelies are. How do you feel about them? Which ones have you picked up? Do you think Rainbow Connection is a must-have, or like me do you already have a few Happy Birthday dupes & won't waste your money on another? I really want to try out Designer De Better so if anyone has it already I'd love to hear your opinion of it!!!!

What do you think of my mosaic style photo collages? Should I go back to individual pics?

xxx
NPA

Dollish Polish Frankens

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Hey everyone,

I felt like taking a T.O. from the 31 day challenge today cos I'm not feeling too well. Luckily I've been doing some swatching in between each challenge manicure so I have some other goodies to show you!

A few weeks ago I was reading Nails Made Simple, where Maria did a post on a gorgeous looking Franken she had bought off Etsy, named Satine.

I had to have it, so I tracked down the Etsy store Dollish Polish and I've been hauling Dolly's frankens ever since! I'm serious, we've traded emails enough now that we're practically best buds - she's really awesome too! One of the coolest things about Dolly's polishes is that she bases each one on an aspect of a film eg. Satine is for the character Nicole Kidman plays in Moulin Rouge.

My first order I bought just two polishes - just in case I didn't love them. Well, I do love them & have placed a further two orders, since! Here they are:

Satine (2 coats) clockwise from left: Lamp, Overcast, Lamp

This is Satine - a linear holographic deep pink with hints of mauve. When I first put Satine on it reminded me of Zoya Drew - which I wasn't expecting based on Maria's swatch, but I was really pleased because I think Drew is beautiful and feels like a work appropriate pink. Satine was easy to apply, quite a thin but pigmented formula.

Welcome to Forks (2 coats) - all photos in varying degrees of sunlight

Welcome to Forks - inspired by the township of Forks, Washington as portrayed in the Twilight Saga. This is a really interesting ocean green shimmer. It has this mysteriousness about it, (a haziness) like it's namesake - it could be due to the grey pigment in the formula. It can look quite different depending on the lighting too - either forest like or very blue toned. The formula was the same as Satine's, however I added a coat of Orly Glosser top coat which caused it to bubble a bit - it actually just looked bumpy like I had fine bits of gravel/grit on my nails. Glosser has done that to me a few times, even when a polish is pretty dry, hmmmmmm.

Dollish Polish frankens come in 5 ml bottles and the brushes are fairly decent - long, wide-ish and they fan out easily. The price per bottle varies (depending on cost of ingredients) between US$3.25-$4.25. She has some really great ones up at the moment including a Breaking Dawn Part 1 trio of shades that I'm awaiting eagerly!

I think Dolly only makes 4 bottles of each shade so get in quick to check out Dollish Polish on Etsy now! You can also find some nail art supplies, sets of painted fake nails & cellphone charms in the shop.

xxx
NPA

Sinful Green Ocean

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Hey all,

I added Sinful Green Ocean to my polka dot manicure last night. It's a prettytopcoat with blue-green colour shifting mylar flakes and glitter. I put one coat on.

Sunlight

Thoughts?

xx
NPA

31 Day Challenge: Day 11 - POLKA DOTS

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Hey peoples, how are your days going?

I'm happy to report Buster is back in the game after getting fixed yesterday. He bounded out of his crate this morning, determined to make up for the day he lost at the Vet's.

Here are some photos of Charlie and Buster playing in the back yard

Buster needs his eyes cleaned up a bit... woops.

Anyway, I was going to do a Hello Kitty look for today but I didn't feel like having standard polka dots on my nails so instead I opted for a polka dot funky french.
This has a bit of an Easter feeling to it. I like to think of it as a 'Spring' look because of the pastels.

Shade

Overcast

Polka Dot Polishes (l-r): Maybelline Minty, Revlon Pink Ice, China Glaze Peachy Keen & Lemon Fizz, Nubar Purple Aster

 I just used a dotting tool - super simple but I did a very poor job of getting the tips straight. Might pay to place a bit of tape just below the tip to keep it nice and straight. I added a coat of Seche Vite and it bubbled on my middle finger.

 I'm wearing the lovely Guinevere from A England's The Mythicals Collection. It's such a beautiful polish - 2 coats is buttery perfection. Great brush - it's round and thick, long & spreads just the right amount. Okay, is it just me or did that description get a little dirty?

Sunlight

Don't you love the dusky lavender goodness that is Guinevere?
My cuticles are having a mere at the moment, might need to get a manicure to sort them out - I'm really bad at trimming them/hangnails.

Ciao,
NPA

31 Day Challenge: Day 10 - GRADIENT

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Yes, today was the challenge of the gradient nails.

I've never done a proper gradient mani before, so I was more than ready to get cracking on this one. I forgot to take photos of the process but I'm sure you'll live -

Overcast

Overcast - with a tiny hint of sun

Artificial Lighting

Polishes used l-r: OPI Lucky Lucky Lavender, Mode XOXO, Mode Glamazon, Sinful Colors Daddy's Girl & LA Colors Color Craze in Star Light

I started off with 3 thin coats of LLL, then I sponged 2/3 way down my nails with XOXO. Next, I sponged 1/3 way down my nail with Glamazon. It wasn't looking opaque enough on the tip so I added a little Dddy's Girl to the tips of the nails. I finished up by introducing some sparkles to the gradient - 1 coat of Star Light.

Starlight
Can you give me the fame
Can you hurl me the game
Oh oh starlight
(Starlight have what you need)


Did that just pop in to anyone else's head?!

I, of course sealed the sucker with a coat of SV. Dunzo.
I wish that the holo glitter was a bit more sparse/a wee bit finer (like Out the Door Silver Holo top coat), but other than that I'm pretty happy with how this turned out.


But more importantly, what do you think of my gradient attempt?


On a completely unrelated note, my baby Buster went to the vets to get neutered today. I finally understand why some guys get really touchy about having their dogs fixed. For me I feel really guilty subjecting him to the pain - and guys have a unique perspective on that!!! I'm all for neutering/spaying non-breeding dogs and cats but I don't want him to have to go through it all!!! Makes me wonder how hard it is for parents whose kids have to have operations - especially when they're only wee bubs :(


I get to pick him up in a half hour, can't wait! I'm just hoping they give him an Elizabethan collar so he can't get the stitches all wet and dirty - I do not want the poor man to get an infection down there!


Alright, til tomorrow,


xxx
NPA

31 Day Challenge: Day 9 - RAINBOW

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Today's  challenge was rainbow nails. I had a wee think and decided to do some bona fide nail art.
It's rather messy but it's kind of fun too. These pics were taken under a lamp.

So the concept was 'A pot of gold at the end of the rainbow'.

After painting the rainbow, I had lots of space to fill in on my middle and ring fingers so I tried to freehand some tree like greenery in there, but I couldn't be bothered getting a brown polish so made do with the black for tree trunks. Oh so lazy!

I just did a rainbow flag on my thumb because it was plain all on it's lonesome.

I topped this mani off with some Seche Vite - didn't do any cleanup so my cuticles look a bit rough - they're not that bad in real life. I PROMISE!

Polish used:
Base: OPI What's With The Cattitude?
Trees: Black striping polish, NYX Alaskan Wild
Pot of Gold: OPI Black Onyx & China Glaze Solar Flare
Rainbows: Zoya Sooki (Thumb only), Red striping polish, Miki mini - orange (no name), OPI The 'It' Color, NYX Alaskan Wild, Essie Mesmerize,  Miki mini - purple (no name)

xxx
NPA

31 Day Challenge: Day 8 - METALLIC

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Hey guys,

I'm grumpy today! (but yay the All Blacks won on Sunday night! Finals here we come. FOUR MORE YEARS, FOUR MORE YEARS!)

Mega grumpy so here is what was on my nails yesterday - didn't get a chance to photograph it cos I didn't get a spare min to paint it on til after 10pm and nowhere in my house can I accurately photograph foils with artificial light.

Indoors

Sunlight

Sunlight

Sunlight

This was an attempt at a ruffian manicure using my Color Club Foiled Collection polishes- but I didn't like the light pink foil ones so I decided to add one more layer and decided I still didn't like the light pink tips in comparison to the bright pink.
I also put this on with very low light and couldn't see how messy the lines were. Oh well.

I used 2 coats of Lumin-icecent as a base, then 1 coat of Hot Like Lava/Foil Me Once for the ruffians.

Sorry I'm a grumpy B today - self inflicted food poisoning tends to make me angry. And "you wouldn't like me when I'm angry". I may not turn in to a hulking green beast, but I'm hardly enjoyable company.

Peace,
NPA