This is more or less what it looks like in real life… if you can picture it without the glare. Sorry, still experimenting with my new set-up!

Speaking of which, I thoguht I would post a few photos of what it looks like for anyone interseted. It’s totally self-contained and comes with two lights, a tripod and a back drop. Totally awesome!

Hehe, the display pic even shows the same camera that I use! This is me, guys, except I use the grey backdrop… and the toy car would be a bottle of nail polish!

And another shot for those lacking in imagination

ulta3 – wild berry

I love ulta3 polishes! At only $2 a pop, who wouldn’t? I got this from Pulse Pharmacy and was even more delighted when it scanned through at only $1.60. I later discovered that they were having a 20% off sale… and I only got one!! What’s going on? I didn’t even go back inside to buy more. Come to think of it, I haven’t really been buying any polish lately which I suppose, is a good thing.

Anyway, this applied nicely enough in two coats and lasted just as long as other brands. I really love the colour, it’s perfect for when black is just too dark (or too done) or when China Glaze – Recycle is just too light. Well done, ulta3!

China Glaze – Oxygen

I loved this when I was wearing it. Sadly, that was a very long time ago because I have been so diligent in updating my blog (har). I think it was good to go in around 3 coats, but I’m pretty sure I applied more for extra measure. These light colours (sheers? neutrals? I dunno, whatever) are a pain in the arse to get opaque and non-streaky but this one is one of the better ones. I have OPI’s Time-less is more as well and tested it out on my pinky – Oxygen definitely had better coverage.

OPI – Barefoot in Barcelona

Man, I remember wanting this so bad when the España collection first came out. WHHYYYYY? I don’t know either. Perhaps I need to be white, like the people I have seen this look good on. Heh.

Excuse the terribly noisy photo, I got lazy and jacked the ISO up to 400 because I was having trouble keeping my hand still. As you can see, OPI PP and OPI CYDI? are very close. PP is slightly warmer/more red if you look closely but they are practically dupes to each other while the Misa (ring finger) was just in a darker, cooler and more blue league of its own.

Here we have (Index to Pinkie): OPI – Pamplona Purple, OPI – Can You Dig It?, Misa – Sorry Just Can’t Help It and OPI – Pamplona Purple.

Rimmel 60 seconds – Blue Me Away

I wore this colour for all of one day, I guess I wasn’t really in the mood for this one. It’s a lovely colour, though, blue with fine purple shimmer that would be highly visible in the sun. Unfortunately there was none of that when I took these pictures. Appearance aside, I noted that Rimmel’s claim to drying in 60 seconds actually affected my application of it – it would start drying before I was done but that’s probably just user-error because I’m still quite slow at painting.

Outdoors – overcast

An Indoor shot. The shimmer is slightly visible here on the index nail but very noticeable in good light in real life.

Essie – St Lucia Lilac

This is St Lucia Lilac which was good in two coats. Of course, it lived up to Essie’s notoriety of being streaky but I was pleased to find that it evened out nicely by the 2nd coat. I absolutely loooooved this colour and am ever so grateful to Michelyne over at Enamel Coated for sending this over to me in a give away she had a while ago. This is the polish that started a light pastel crème craze for me. I had previously steered clear of them in fears that they would turn out too stark against my skin but I loved this every minute I had it on. I still have China Glaze – Sun Showers to swatch which was a condition of entry for the comp but curiosity to try this one first bowled me over. Oops! Sun Showers is coming soon!

Outdoors – overcast

Indoor shot

And another against white paper. Yep, it’s lilac.

This colour was absolute loooooooove! When the mint green craze started I wasn’t sure if I was going to be participating because I had doubts that it would look any good with my skin tone. Memories came rushing back to me from when I was in Year 4 – I wore a similarly coloured polish to school only to have my teacher ask me if I was ill because apparently my nails made me look like I was I’ve always liked pastel green as a colour, it’s quite soothing to look at so I took a chance with MILF and I’m glad I did. You will have noticed that this particular example leans yellow in comparison to other similar polishes, it’s not a clean, crisp mint but I think this is what made it work for me (and my Asian skin). I absolutely love it!

2 obese coats

Again, in the sunshine

Now, let’s talk application. All I’ve heard about Illamaqua polishes thus far is that their formula is to die for. Buttery smooth and well pigmented. This for me, however, wasn’t the case. It was thick and gloopy and a bit difficult to work with. I was really disappointed because I paid a mint (har!) for this but can’t totally fault it because the colour is awesome and because I’m pretty sure there was just something wrong with my bottle (dried out a little, perhaps?). Despite all that, there was evidence of that legendary formula in there somewhere. I’m sure that it will be fantastic after I add a few drops of thinner – I’m just a bit scared of doing this because I’m still unsure about B3F polishes and non-B3F thinner (which is all I have in possession at the moment). Pigmentation was good and it would’ve been opaque in one coat if I had mad skillz.

Now, here’s something I discovered when I first got this. MILF was made in Australia! It pains me to know that I waited weeks for this to ship to me from the UK when it was originally made here. I would have saved a buttload in shipping and carbon emissions if I could have just gotten this here! Poo.

OPI – Apricot-cha Cheating

Next up is Apricot-cha Cheating from the Las Vegas Collection 2003 (sadly, discontinued now). I thought the name for this one was a bit weird and lame (trying a bit too hard to play on ‘apricot’, perhaps?) until I realised what the running theme was. But anyway, it’s an apricot creme and I think it was good in 3 coats. Maybe 2, my memory fails me. It’s what I originally wanted Back to the Beach Peach Pit to be (based on pictures I’ve seen) but I have since made peace with that polish and maybe even like it more than this one For those looking for a dupe, I wore this at the same time I painted Robyn’s nails with Color Club – Coral Cascade and they were virtually identical.

China Glaze – Shower Together

Good in two coats. This colour is gorgeous but I can’t see myself wearing it as often as others which is why it was perfect for the camping trip we went on at the beginning of the year. I don’t even  know how to describe it. Bluey-tealish-aqua? I don’t know. My photo is preee-eetty close to what it looked like in real life, though, I edited the pic which is why my hands look like I have boiled them in hot water. Just ignore that

Misa – Fashionista

I kind of went nuts with these kinds of shroomy/taupey colours after falling in love with Channelesque (below) which led to my fling with Fashionista. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out between us because it didn’t look as good as I had hoped with my skin tone. Sorry, but that’s a deal breaker for me. It’s up for swapsies on MUA now, but it doesn’t seem like anyone wants to swap with an Australian girl considering it’s easily accessible through etailers. Boo. This was good in two coats.

China Glaze – Channelesque

Last but not least, my Holy Grail ’shroomer’. A wonderful purpley-grey-taupe with killer application. This my friends, is a one coat wonder. It glided on smooth and buttery and I had no troubles with it whatsoever. Unfortunately, this one, I’m pretty sure, is also discontinued. It’s one of only two colours I have a back-up bottle of in my collection, heh!

One coat wonder! (1.5 coats for me because I am not that good with application). Love! Love! Love!

… Is to have a room like this one day (the library in the castle in Beauty and The Beast). Except instead of books, the walls will be lined with racks housing millions of bottles of nail polish! Weeeeee!!!

Here we have (Pinky – Thumb): Rimmel – Green with Envy, Jordana – Kiss and Teal, ChG – Watermelon Rind, Cover Girl – Mystic Peacock & ChG – Rodeo Fanatic

Another shot with the bottles in the background. How fascinating that they appear to be in height order as well! Ha!

A bit of a close up…

… and a surprise for you all after the jump…

Oh look! It’s Thien! LOL. I swear, his hands look nicer and girlier than mine (and this is after I had cut and filed his nails down)!  He is indeed, the perfect male hand model.
‘On ya for not giving a toss, dood and letting a couple of girls have fun with some nail polish I can’t stand guys who are all “narh, that’s gay, maaaaan!”… but that being said, it’s not cool if your bf looks prettier than you either!

Warning: Pic heavy. Click for MOAR!

Revlon – Coral Heat, Blue Siren, Lush Lime and Glitter Gal – Dark Purple and Red Holo

OPI – Magnifico Mexico; ChG – Grape Juice; Orly- Claypso Breeze; OPI – A Grape Fit!; ChG – Strawberry Fields; OPI – Dating a Royal; ChG – Tantalize Me; OPI – Blue My Mind; OPI – More Time for Me; ChG – Out on Safari (I found this poor little bugger sitting all on his lonesome!!!! Of course, I was more than happy to integrate him into my stash where he now has plenty of friends to play with Best find out of them all, for sure!!)

ChG – V; OPI – Got the Blues for Red, Tropical Punch; ChG – Who’s Wearing What?, Channelesque, No Tan Lines, Masai Red, BFF, Ravishing Dahling & OPI – California Raspberry

Orly – Charged Up; ChG – Lap of Luxury, Channelesque (back up!), Mom’s Chiffon, OPI – Merry Berry Mauve

ChG – Chiffon & Down Under Dusk

Color Club – Electronica, Diva Driver, After Hours, Feel the Beat, Rev’d Up, Naughtycal Navy, Warming Trend, Catwalk Queen

Orly – Emerald Life; CND – Moody Hues, Souvenir Junkie & Tickles; OPI – I’d Like to Thank… & Red Hot Holiday

Orly – Take a Chance & Satin – Handful 3 (a $2 chemist polish). I thought it was weird that this Orly popped up in this chemist since I haven’t seen it anywhere else except for in nail supply stores. There were also a handful of Jessicas but the colours didn’t interest me.

OPI – Time-less is More & Color Club – Watermelon Candy Pink; Coral Cascade & Poker Face

My Blacktown haul, hooo (minus the Color Clubs and Chi Chi set – back row)! Who would have known that this place was a nail polish gold mine? I admit, that the majority were $2 chemist buys (front row) but still, I have never managed to buy more than this from a non nail supply joint.
First Row: Ulta3 – Names on the bottles – click for enlarged image
Second Row: Revlon – Passion Punch Shimmer, Guava Glam; Jordana – Purple Punch, Island Fuschia, Kiss and Teal; Versace – V2060, V2055; Color Club – Overboard, Regatta Red & Power Play
Third Row: Chi Chi polish set that I received for Christmas with some Crabtree and Evelyn cuticle cream

My H2T order
Misa – Fashionista, Girls Night Out, Sorry Just Can’t Help It, On the Edge, Love Bite; Color Club – Ultra Violet & Wild at Heart

Here are a few past NOTD’s, including what I wore for Christmas.

Christmas Mani

I thought I would get into the festive spirit this year with the classic green and red combo. I had Illamasqua – Rampage on my ring fingers and OPI – Little Red Wagon on the others. Not the most original but hey, fun nonetheless!

OPI – A Grape Fit!

From the Bright Pair collection, this is a wonderful purple creme. I had the urge to wear a lighter purple (the majority of purples I own are darker like Lourve Me, Lourve Me Not) and was consistently drawn to Parlez Vous OPI (which I have already worn) but was hesitant about it because I have so many untrieds to get through. This was until I remembered I had this little beauty as a part of the mini set for this collection. It was perfect (and virginal)! I would call this PVO’s brighter summery cousin. I loved it so much I went out and got the full size bottle. Weird thing about the minis, I seem to forget they’re a part of my stash and unconsciously leave them off my spreadsheet, heh! I used to love the idea of getting a little sample of colours but I now have this thing about uniformity across my nail racks (it just looks better). Full size China Glaze polishes stick together, as do the Color Clubs and OPIs. Opting for full sized bottles means I can integrate them into my stash in a more visually pleasing manner.

Color Club – Brrr-Red

This picture is soooooooo inaccurate! I don’t even know why I’m posting it. It appears much darker and deeper in real life with a jelly-ish finish to it. I’m still trying to get my head around the concept of jelly finishes. I can see what is meant whilst applying it because it has that glossy, translucent look to it between coats but I wouldn’t be able to tell a ‘jelly’ apart from a creme at full bottle colour. Who knows!

China Glaze – Recycle

A medium grey creme. I got this as a part of China Glaze’s eCollection and have to admit that I was a little unsure about how much I would like it at that time. The thing about having a million untrieds is that it gives colours plenty of time to grow on you before you get around to wearing them. I loved this! I think I have a thing for these ‘chic’,  ‘fashion forward’ taupey, mushroomy and grey cremes. This will definitely be coming out to play more in autumn/winter.

OPI – Miami Beet

Eep! Again, I shouldn’t be posting this because this is much deeper in real life. The name for this one is spot on, it makes your finger tips look like they are covered in slices of beetroot! It’s another one of those colours that play mind games. It’s not quite red. Not quite magenta. I don’t know, but I like them complicated!

Beginning of November

OPI – Pamplona Purple; My Private Jet (non-holo); Bright Lights, Big Color; You Don’t Know Jacques

China Glaze – Rodeo Diva, Bare if You Dare, Calypso Blue

23.11.09

OPI – We’ll Always Have Paris, Green-wich Village, China Glaze – Wagon Trail, Flying Dragon and OPI – Man of La Mancha

26.11.09

Loreal Jet Set Lacquer – 650 ($2 at The Reject Shop! A woop here!) and Rimmel – Pompous, Green With Envy, Blue Me Away (3 for 2 special at Priceline! And a  woop here!)

27.11.09

Versace – V2077, V2045, V2056 and Jordana – Fuchsia Foil

02.12.09

OPI – At Your Quebec and Call, Flashbulb Fuchsia, All A-Bordeaux the Sled!, China Glaze – Blk-Bila-Bong and OPI – Glove You So Much

China Glaze – X, OPI – Purple with a Purpose, Holiday Glow and China Glaze – Watermelon Rind

Stash at 02.12.09