Nail Shields: Take Two

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I recently tried some nail shields from Hex Nail Jewelry and while they were alright, they looked funny with my square nails and were a little wide for my nail plate.

I got some advice in the comment section that I should wear them with the oval end at my cuticles. It worked!!! They look infinitely better, dare I say, "AWESOME!"

 Barielle Buddha-ful & Nail Shields

I like wearing them with a soft mani too.

Thank you to Arachne646 for the tip!

xxx

NPA

Takko Lacquer Winter Collection 2012

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Hello my lovelies,

I'm enjoying cuddles in bed with two furry white boys! They're keeping me warm in lieu of an actual human male on this rainy Sunday! The downside? They don't understand the whole personal 'bubble' boundary thing. Buster is tucked up leaning on my right side and Charlie is in my lap with his head resting on my right arm and he refuses to move it!!! Typing isn't the easiest and my arms starting to go numb, but his real mummy (my mum) is away for a whole month so I feel bad for him. Damn my feminine need to indulge him!!

I have been meaning to post these Takko Lacquers since January! Sheryl released these in November/December (I think) last year.

Takko Lacquer Va-Va-Voom

Va-Va-Voom is a russet red - orange duochrome with a soft scattered holographic sparkle. It photographs a little more orange than it is, but it i definitely not a red red! The application and formula was great, I needed just two coats for full coverage. I'm not sure I'm sold on the colour though...

Takko Lacquer We're All Mad Here

We're All Mad Here is a deep royal blue jelly with ultra fine red shimmer (it might actually be red-green colour morphing powder) that glows, and blue/green/aqua flakies that sparkle like fish in the sea!!!

It's gobsmackingly beautiful, with a dream application. My tips were visible in the photos but not in person, after 2 coats.

I loved how amazing the red shimmer looked with the blue, so I added a flakie with red on top of WAMH

Finger Paints Asylum over Takko Lacquer WAMH

 Holy S*** it looks even more incredible with Asylum on top, right?!!! I love love love the red/pink flakes it introduces :)

Takko has its own website now and is restocking on May 22, so mark your calendars now.

There are a couple of links to international distributors on the shop site too.

Are you as mesmerized by WAMH as me?

Tell me in the comments!

xxx

NPA

Mid Week Spam-a-lam-a-damn-thon!

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Howdy Pardners!

Feeling a little loopy, bam-a-lam!
Just watched The Mindy Project; wahoo Mindy is finally cottoning on to her feelings for Dr Castellano!!!! Seriously, if Chris Messina worked with me I'd be trying 24/7 to make him fall in love with me!! He's sooooo ggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, meow, honk, honk!

I told you I was feeling cray cray.
I cleared out my 'edited' photo folder so you are about to see swatches from as far back as August-December 31st 2012. That's just plain lazy :)

Enjoy - after the jump!

The wretched right hand makes an appearance

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I keep all my small and mini bottles of polish in a separate area from my full sized bottles. When I was in Christchurch, they sat in a desk rack; but since I moved back to Auckland they have been sitting in a box all jumbled together and forgotten!!!

All of my amazing Specialita Hits polishes have been shunned since November and truth be told for the second half of last year too.
So when I was choosing which polish to wear on my first day of Course, I decided the Hits had to make a comeback!

I ended up picking the orange jelly flakie Hula from the Mundo de Dancas Collection. I'd never worn it and the orange is eye-searingly bright and summery, so it was the obvious choice.

Specialita Hits Hula with Butter London West End Wonderful gradient

 Hula is a scorching orange jelly with orange flakies. It almost attacks your eyes it's so saturated. I applied 3 thin coats and there was still slight VNL.

On the second day I added a gold glitter gradient to the tips - just to hide them really!!! I'm not great at the glitter gradient and am yet to try a real gradient using The Nailasaurus' method so it's pretty messy, but change is good! Gotta keep stepping out of my nail comfort zone :)

 The first two photos were of my right hand, yikes! They look so back to front!! I once swatched on both hands but it has been a few years and I am severely rusty and shaky with the photos!!! I just can't position my right hand nicely for photos.

Have you mastered the Glitter Gradient yet? Feel free to give me pointers guys!!!!! Please?


xxx
NPA

Red and Sparkly: Elevation Polish MATSUDA & Sea Lore ARISTA

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It has been a very busy week ladies...

Happy Thanksgiving to all the USA readers, I hope you are enjoying your holiday or the Olympics of retail shopping???

When I wore Arista over Matsuda so many people told me they loved my nails (from little girls to the elderly!), that I raced home and took some photos in the late afternoon sun.

Sea Lore Arista over Elevation Polish Matsuda

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 Arista is part of the Triton's Daughters Collection from Sea Lore. It is a pink leaning red base with glowing flakies and holographic silver hex and small red glitter. It is the most opaque of the collection as I could get it opaque in 2 thick coats. In the photos I layered 1 thick coat of Arista over Matsuda from Elevation Polish. I added a layer of NYC GCS top coat too.

Elevation Polish Matsuda

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Matsuda is a deep red with hints of pink and brown. It has an almost hidden purple shimmer and is a build-able jelly. I wore 3 coats for good coverage. The formula is nice, non-streaky and dries in a reasonable time. This is part of the Japan Collection and maker Lulu's ideal red lacquer.
I found it to be very flattering on me.


That's all folks, off to beddy-byes,


xxx
NPA

Takko Lacquer Fall Collection Swatches & Review

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Ooooh do I have a doozie of a post for you today... the newest collection from Takko Lacquer!!!

I was completely blown away by Sheryl's inaugural collection, she has an amazing way with shimmer that I just cannot get enough of!
And now she's back with an offering of 4 beautiful, new polishes.

Takko Lacquer Jimi's Jacket

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 Jimi's Jacket is a royal blue jelly with real gold and glitter flecks. In the sun the flecks look multicoloured, but in the shade they look very gold. It is beautiful and covers nicely in 2 coats. I did have a little VNL though so I might layer it or use a ridgefilling base coat next time I wear Jimi.

 Takko Lacquer Ooh La La!

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 Ooh La La! is a mauve purple with a strong flash of blue shimmer and flakies a la Nubar 2010 or Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure. I wasn't too sure how I felt about the combination, but I couldn't stop staring at the gorgeous and ever-changing flakies that I wore OLL! as a mani for 2 1/2 days. I'm wearing 3 thin coats.

Takko Lacquer Strangely Delicious

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 Strangely Delicious is a peachy hue with a strong flash of green shimmer/turquoise shimmer. It is a tad sheer so I applied 3 coats, which almost completely covered my VNL. It looks quite pretty semi-sheer and a ridgefiller would probably hide my smile line completely.

Takko Lacquer To Infinity and Beyond

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To Infinity and Beyond is another scattered holo duochrome!!! It shifts between a gunmetal leaning purple and sea green. F*** me, I love it!! The application was a wee bit trying, if I went over the same area more than once the polish would wipe off, so I had to be careful. I ended up using 2-3 coats with this one (the nails I screwed up needing a 3rd coat/some dabbing to look even).


The formulas on these guys were all fairly thick so you might want to add some thinner.

Sheryl's customer service was once again top notch, I cannot recommend Takko Lacquer enough guys, so do visit her store.


xxx
NPA

Orly Preamp - it's a love story

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We were both young when I first saw you
I close my eyes
And the flashback starts
I'm standing there
On a balcony in summer air

See the lights
See the party, the ball gowns
See you make your way through the crowd
And say hello, little did I know

They say true love lasts a lifetime...

Orly Preamp

Well, I'm ready to commit.

Preamp is part of the 4 piece Electronica Fall 2012 Collection from Orly. This actually turned up in NZ before it came out in the States! I picked it up while I was on my Uni break in Auckland. It was worth paying full price at Farmers!!!

It's a really pretty purple toned pink (sort of a dirty lilac leaning pink) full of flakie shimmer (a bit like Dollish Polish Purple Haze), that glows pink/orange/gold depending on the lighting situation. It's not duochromey or anything, it just sort of picks up different levels of warmth. The shimmer really warms up the base so I think it'll suit all skin tones.

Application was decent. I can't remember if this was 2 or 3 coats, but I do remember liking the formula and getting decent coverage.

God, I love it so so so so so soooooooooooooooooooooooo much!

Have I told you that flakie shimmers are my favourite nail polish finishes?! And that's the 2nd in a row. Boo-yah!

Hey it's also Wednesday, so Happy Pink Wednesday ladies!!!

Do you have Preamp? Are you drooling over it?
Fingers, can you deal with the pink?

xxx
NPA