Candy Lacquer Frozen Treats & Twilight Sparkle

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Candy Lacquer makes the best glitter top coats ever! 
She especially has a way with matte glitter, so here are a few to tide you over until my V-day LE polishes arrive. COME ON POSTIE!!! I'm craving me some sparkly hearts!!!! OMG they were just delivered and they are sooooooo choco-block full of glitter!!!! Candy Kisses and Garden of Love are AMAZEBALLS!!!!!!

Candy Lacquer Frozen Treats over Nubar Purple Aster

Frozen Treats is an intense mix of rainbow and white matte glitters - squares, hexes and shredded in multiple sizes - in a clear base. All those bubbles are from my top coat which needed some serious thinning!! I layered 1 coat over Nubar Purple Aster, a pastel purple with subtle pearly white shimmer. The formula is really thick, like uncut suspension base and is absolutely packed with glitter so application requires a bit of expertise and it dries very textured. I used 2 layers of Glitter Gloss to smooth it out and it was quite a mountain in the end.
But, I applied FT in 1 thick coat so way too much glitter ended up on my nails. Next time I will do more dabbing or thinner coats.
It looks seriously awesome!!! I'm gonna try it over a sheer white next!

Candy Lacquer Twilight Sparkle over ChG Naked

 Twilight Sparkle is part of the My Little Pony Collection. I can't really remember MLP but my older sister loved that show and had a lot of the ponies which I do remember playing with. I used to brush their colourful manes and tails!!! I want lots of Candy Lacquer's MLP glitter mixes but the only one I have so far is TS. 

It's a mix of medium pink with pastel, lavender and grape purple matte glitters in a clear base. I've layered it over China Glaze Naked, a warm pink with white shimmer - the perfect pink for my skin tone! The formula was a lot better on this one. There's not so much glitter packed in so you can apply it like a normal polish. I think this was 2 coats. So cute!

I've dramatically cut my polish spending this month. I've only ordered about 5 polishes since February began :( And those were the Candy Lacquer V-day polishes I'm waiting on. I just received. It's killing me because there are so many amazing mainstream collections out right now. China Glaze Avant Garden, OPI Euro Centrale, Zoya Pixie Dust! So fingers crossed my birthday next month brings me stacks of polish or polish moolah!!!!!!!!!!

xxx

NPA

The BATTLE #2: Black vs White

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Yeah, so this post is soooo late, sorry if you were looking forward to it!
It's been a really busy 2 weeks and the blogging has been suffering as a result. My nails have been changing almost daily, but the posting, not so much!

So this is the second challenge: Black vs White:

 OPI Alpine Snow

sun

sun

indirect sunlight

Nubar Black Polka Dot

OPI Metallic 4 Life

Wet n Wild Fergie Tonight's Gonna Be A Good Night

Pahlish Typewriter Keys

For this challenge I went for both black and white. I have heaps of black glitter top coats so I pulled a few of them out for once!!!
I started with 2 coats of OPI Alpine Snow, followed by 2 coats of;  Nubar Black Polka Dot (pinkie), OPI Metallic 4 Life (ring), Wet n Wild Fergie Tonight's Gonna Be A Good Night (middle) and Pahlish Typewriter Keys (index), over top. Then I finished with a coat of NYC GCS top coat.

In the macro shots you can see lots of bubbles, woops! Might need to thin that top coat...

My favourite top coat is the Pahlish. Black and white shredded matte glitter plus iridescent white glitter and shimmer is so gorgeous!


In a battle are you for BLACK or WHITE?

Don't forget to check all the other participants Challenge #2 posts:

Two Matejas Creating
An Indie Girl's Passion
Lacquered Tips
My Wondrous Marvellous Obsession
Cats n Nails
Jibber Jabber
Life in Color!

Annie Suzie 

Polished Polygot

xxx
NPA

NOTD: Whimsical Daisen

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Technically this isn't my 'Nail of the Day', but it was on my nails Sunday-Monday, so close enough :)

Since I'm not too concerned with getting stuff swatched since my nails are looking fug, I've been giving myself some 'creative freedom' with my manis. For starters, I'm keeping them on for a minimum of 2 days. Yes, I know that sounds ridiculous, but for me, that's a giant step into the land of normalcy. Twenty-four hours used to be impressive!!! And I'm trying out the polishes that I haven't really had a chance to wear/couldn't be bothered figuring out what to layer it with.

 For this mani I'm wearing China Glaze Sunset Sail, Nubar Whimsical Coral and Elevation Daisen.

Nubar Whimsical Coral over China Glaze Sunset Sail

sun

sun

 ma

close up

 

Whimsical Coral is a gold-peach sheer shimmer. Over Sunset Sail it looked very golden. I'm not sure if it would be opaque worn alone, but the formula was a bit thick and very heavy on the shimmer so you might get there with enough coats. Here I used 2 coats over 3 coats of Sunset Sail (which has an ultra painful watery, uneven formula!!!).

I got Daisen during the September restock of Elevaion Polish and the copper and pink combination looked like it'd compliment Whimsical Coral perfectly!

Elevation Daisen over Nubar Whimsical Coral 

sun

sun

macro

Daisen has a clear base with fine iridescent glitter and copper, pale and medium pink circle glitter in varying sizes. Application isn't too bad, you may need to moved the circles around a little bit though so they don't overlap. The circles are fairly thick so you'll need a viscous top coat to smooth it.

xxx

NPA

Nubar Gilded Gold

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

Nubar Gilded Gold

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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

OPI It's Totally Fort Worth It - I'm trying so hard to love you!

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It's true, I've been trying my darnedest to love It's Totally Fort Worth It since the beginning of 2011.
Alas, wanting to feel a certain way and the way I truly feel, are basically mutually exclusive.

OPI It's Totally Fort Worth It over Revlon Winter Mist

It's just so damned sheer!!!! I have to ask, who the heck suits a sheer grey? I saw all the swatches of OPI My Pointe Exactly and absolutely NO ONE pulled it off on its own. It just gave them zombie hands!!! And ITFWI needs at least 4 coats to cover VNL, so I used a light grey creme for a base and 2 coats of ITFWI for the photo above.

I love how pretty the pink/blue flakes of shimmer look and I almost don't mind the brush stroke look, but it still doesn't knock my socks off :)

I won't be getting rid of it any time soon either, but it's only mediocre in my books. I hate being so negative about a polish but I give plenty of good reviews so I suppose you've earned this one!

I did a little bit of glitter layering when I wore this mani so here are those steps:

With a layer of Nubar White Polka Dot it looks like a snowy sky!

The Black Polka Dot kind of gives a dirty snow scum look, but I do love my black glitter!!!

I shall return with a happier post soon!

xxx
NPA

Nubar Toasted Marshmallow

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Hey guys,

Hope you're enjoying the weekend.

I got Toasted Marshmallow because I like ugly colours. But this might be a little too ugly or me!!!

Toasted Marshmallow - 3 coats - sunlight

Toasted Marshmallow - 3 coats -shade

Toasted Marshmallow has that baby poo taint to it! It does make me think of the Jelly Belly jelly beans though!! I needed 3 coats for a good even coverage, but I'm sure with a more careful application you could get it in 2.

It clashes with my skin tone, sadly! Perhaps a bit of a tan would help me pull it off?

What do you think?

xxx
NPA

Nubar Elegant Indigo

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Hello

Only 4 more sleeps til I'm back home with my dogs!!! Cannot wait. Spent about an hour last night looking at pictures of Buster and Charlie. Boy, do I know how to procrastinate?!

Today we have Nubar in Elegant Indigo. EI is part of the Polished Chic Fall Collection 2011. I yearned for it for months and was finally able to purchase it a month or so ago.

Elegant Indigo - 2 coats - white light

Elegant Indigo - 2 coats - white light

Elegant Indigo - 2 coats - white light

Elegant Indigo - 2 coats - macro

Is EI beautiful or what?! With it's deep blackened blue/purple/charcoal grey base and blue to purple colour shifting shimmer flecks it's one of my favourite darks!!!
It didn't receive the best reviews from fellow bloggers, namely because they thought the duochrome was very obvious in the bottle but not on the nail. I on the other hand, think that the colour shift is great on the nail. Perhaps not as strong as n the bottle but I can see it just fine.
Application was ok, I needed the full two coats and the formula wasn't quite as watery as usual for Nubar.

Do you like it too?

xxx
NPA

St Paddy's Day Manis - PART 2

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Hey ladies,

As promised my St Patrick's Day manicure:

Nubar Reclaim - 2 coats - white light

Nubar Reclaim - 2 coats - white light

Nubar Reclaim - 2 coats - white light

Pot of gold - closeup

 I picked Nubar Reclaim to wear for St Patty's Day. 1) it's an amazing linear holo. 2) I never get a chance to wear it so what better time than on St Patrick's Day?!
Reclaim has a fantastic formula unlike most holos and went on perfectly in 2 coats. I used Out the Door topcoat.

My accent nails were pots of gold at the end of a rainbow. I blocked out the details in OPI Alpine Snow then added the rainbow 1 strip at a time top to bottom using:
OPI Keys To My Karma
OPI A Roll In The Hague
OPI The 'It' Color
OPI Don't Mess With OPI
Barry M Cobalt Blue
China Glaze Urban Night
Next I painted on the pot using Nubar Midnight Sky (matte) and made the gold coins using a dollop of China Glaze Passion (gold chrome) and Solar Flare for the glitter hex.

I was pretty proud of these nails. I kept it simple because I was in a time crunch but they looked really good in person and I didn't have any dents or scratches to ruin it like usual!!!! But I partied with all guys so I didn't get any compliments!!!! Guts. haha

What are you wearing for the Saint's day?

xxx
NPA

Nubar Boyfriend Jeans

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Hello ladies,

Just a quick swatch tonight.
I got the Nubar Jeans collection last year while doing the 31 Day Challenge and never really got round to wearing them! So, over the last few days I've been trying them out.
So here is Boyfriend Jeans (my fav of the 3):

Boyfriend Jeans - lamp - 2 coats

Boyfriend Jeans - lamp - 2 coats

LOVE IT! Formula is a bit thin but builds nicely in 2 coats. It is a shade or so darker than the photos show. I love this type of hazy blue, it actually looks like denim to me. I think it's technically an air force blue? Dries really glossy. And it's way cheaper than the Chanel version!

xxx
NPA

Epic Polish Wins of 2011 - GLITTERS

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Hey everyone,

Happy New Year!

Been MIA for almost a week and am finally getting back in to the blogosphere! I went away for a few days at New Year for the Highlife event in Matakana - actually really enjoyed myself (thanks LISA!).
Had my friend staying with me for a few more days which was nice and now I'm back on my lonesome... Actually I have a LOT of polish to keep me company!!!

Now it's time to get back to my favourite polishes from last year. Today it's the fabulous glitters that just kept on coming last year:

No More Waity, Katie - 3 coats

Butter London's No More Waity, Katie was a bit of a love it or leave it but for my part, I love it. I will try layering it over a grurple (grey/purple) in the future so that it looks nice and even up close, but I don't mind the sort of bald looking spots. Needs a top coat for smooth surface.

The Dark Knight - 2 coats

Butter London's The Dark Knight is a gorgeous black base with blue, pink, red & silver/gold glitter. It was a holiday release that I couldn't stop myself buying! Dries very gritty so 2 coats of SV was a must.

Holiday Splendor - 2 coats

Color Club's Holiday Splendor is a holo glitter version of the earlier Untamed Luxury. It was the only polish from the holiday collection to have a tinted base so it had a superior formula and great coverage. The bright sea green is beautiful, as are the holo sparkles.

Black Polka Dots - 2 thin coats

I really love that Nubar's Black Polka Dots is a black hex glitter. It also contains small black glitter. I learned to do thicker coats to get way better coverage, but it's still a layering polish, not a wear alone. My one and only black glitter, will definitely treasure her.

Love Is A Racket - 2 coats

Love Is A Racket - 2 coats

Maybe some would consider this a shimmer but something about the large flakes in Love Is A Racket (from the Serena US Glam Slam release) scream  hybrid to me. Apart from the awesomeness of it's shimmer & shine; it is the most incredible pink/red colour - almost duo chromatic (but not quite). Great dry time too!

Temptation - 3 coats

OPI DS Temptation was one of the new Designer Series releases. A violet tinted base with blue, purple & fuchsia glitter. Looks amazing, no pics would do it justice. Needs lots of top coat because it is ultra gritty.

Pepe's Purple Passion - 2 coats

Yum, yum, boysenberry glittery/shimmer delight. OPI's Pepe's Purple Passion IMO was the stand out of the Muppet's Holiday Collection. Super opaque, it is a dark burgundy/maroon with flakes of winey glitter or shimmer. This seems to have the same sort of flaked pieces as Love Is A Racket. It dries to an odd texture and likes its top coat. The shimmer it gives off is so pretty in the sun.

It's Alive - 2 coats

China Glaze's Halloween glitter offering It's Alive blew me away. From the promo shots I thought it was just a renamed Zombie Zest - turns out it's an awesome dark green base with swamp green micro glitter & medium hex glitter to boot. Amazing coverage & application too! I can't wait til next Halloween when I'll be rocking it again!

Are there some glitters you went gaga over last year that didn't make it onto my list? Do share!

xxx
NPA

Purple Power

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Howdy lady folk,

Today we're going to take a look at some purple polish spam - one of my favourite polish shades. I just can't seem to get enough.

MAC Reign of Flowers - lamp

MAC Reign of Flowers - lamp

MAC Reign of Flowers - natural light

MAC Reign of Flowers is my one and only MAC lacquer. Very pretty colour but so dark. Love the glitter particles cos they shine blue or fuchsia depending on the light, The base is a really dark royal purple - I love red based purples!!! A little cuticle drag and this is 3 coats.

Revlon Royal Cloak - natural light

Revlon Royal Cloak - lamp

Revlon Royal Cloak has those gorgeous white glitter flakey flecks that I adore. The purple leans blue (you can see the pink tone by my cuticles). This was just 2 coats. Very cool and pretty.

Revlon Grape Fizz - lamp

Revlon Grape Fizz - lamp

 
Revlon Grape Fizz i a really sheer pinkish purple with lots of fine flaky glitter that shines pink, purple & blue. I used 4 coats to get it almost opaque. This smells strongly of grape candy. Kinda of wish it wasn't scented but that won't stop me wearing it. I want to try layering Grape Fizz over some purple and blues.

Nubar Purple Rain - indirect sunlight

Nubar Purple Rain - direct sunlight

Nubar Purple Rain is an ultra dark blue toned purple with purple and holographic micro glitter. Dries ultra gritty so a couple of layers of top coat is a must. This was 2 or 3 coats. Kind of on the fence - I wanted it to be more obviously purple. Hmmm.


What nail polish colour can you never say NO! to?
xxx
NPA