Dirty Sexy Money

Maaan, I really suck. I'm sorry I haven't been updating as much lately, the holiday season has really busied me up and on top of that, I have recently been reaching for polishes which I have already shown on my blog so there was no need to blog. But as the festive season draws to an end, I hope to be able to blog more :).

Below is two coats of Misa's Dirty Sexy Money. It's a really pretty dusty turquoise; I can't believe it's taken me this long to put it on!

Thanks for dropping by~
Sharon

Siberian Nights

Woah, has it been almost a week since my last post already? Time flies when you're having fun ^^. I've been pretty busy this past week with Christmas barbeques hehe, hence the lack of posts. But now that things are finally slowing down, I'm back :P. I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, enjoy your holiday!

Today I have OPI's Siberian Nights. This polish is best viewed under direct sunlight since it's such a dark purple that it just looks black indoors and under dimmer lighting. Shown is two coats topped with a top coat. I think the photo was taken on the third day which is why there's some tip wear ^^;;.

I love how the polish comes to life under the sun, but I do wish it looked like this all the time; it's such a beautiful purple shade.

Thanks for dropping by~
Sharon

Glitter tips

This manicure had been planned out differently in my head, but it didn't work out on my nails and so in my frustration, I applied glitter tips instead :P. I used two coats of Ulta3's black satin and added Color Club's Magic attraction to the tips. The mani was then sealed with non chip top coat.

I like how Magic attraction adds a little bling to the tips; I think I'll use this polish as a full mani next time, it's sooo pretty <3.

Thanks for dropping by~
Sharon

Sally Hansen Nail Prisms - Ruby Diamond

Woo, this is holo madness! I went out to the city yesterday and came across some stalls which sold some of the older Sally Hansen polishes. I was absolutely over the moon to discover some of their Nail Prisms polishes :D. Today I have for you Ruby Diamond which is a gorgeous pink holo. I was hoping for a bright red, something along the lines of Nubar Prize, but this one is still very, very pretty.

Below is two coats of Ruby Diamond sealed with non chip top coat. Definitely click on the photos to view them in higher resolution!

Now, is this a beauty or what? :P

Thanks for dropping by~
Sharon

November Haul

I've decided to write up posts of my hauls on a monthly basis now instead of showing them sporadically. I've already shown my first half of my November haul here so here's part II. November was definitely my largest hauling month to date; I spent waaaaay over $100 on nail polish which is a bit over my budget, hehe.

Anyway, here is part II of my haul.

OPI: Yodel me on my cell, Miami Beet, Siberian Nights

Sally Hansen Mosaic Creme, China Glaze Caribbean blue, Finger Paints Art you blue?

Sportsgirl: Commando, Supernatural, matte topcoat

Woah, this brings my polish collection total to 122 bottles! While this may not be large in comparison to many bloggers, it's quite a feat for me since my addiction only started earlier this year ^^.

Thanks for dropping by~
Sharon

Caribbean blue

Like I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I'm not a huge fan of blue polishes. However, after applying China Glaze's Caribbean blue, I take it back simply because this polish is beyond amazing. Some right hand photos return since my index finger has broken and subsequently become a nubbin on my left hand :P.

Two coats of Caribbean blue was applied followed by a top coat. I adored this polish from its pretty sky blue shade to the glorious glass flecked shimmer :).

 Here is the polish taken with flash to show the shimmer better.

And a macro shot, once again showing off the glass flecked shimmer.

Thanks for dropping by~
Sharon

Supernatural, a Chanel Paradoxal dupe?

Is it possible that we Aussie polish lovers may actually have an easily accessible dupe to Chanel Paradoxal?! While the US bloggers are currently loving Revlon's Perplex and the UK/European girls have the Barry M dupe, Australia just seems to be completely MIA with the dupe-wagon. Revlon polishes are sold at inflated prices here in Australia and the polish I'm about to show you may just satiate those who are lemming Paradoxal but are unwilling to fork out the money here down under :). Behold Sportsgirl's Supernatural. This beauty is two coats plus top coat.

The first two photos are taken under direct sunlight. When comparing Supernatural to Paradoxal photos (here and here), you can see that they are indeed very similar. However, I do not own Paradoxal and so I cannot say for sure that they are exact dupes by just looking at swatches.

Photo taken indoors with flashlight:

And a macro shot of Supernatural under indirect sunlight.

So what do you think? Is it similar enough or are you still after Paradoxal? For me, I absolutely adore the polish so I don't actually mind whether it's a dupe or not, hehe. It's a really pretty dark, dusty purple and I'm loving it ♥.

Thanks for dropping by~
Sharon

Yodel me on my cell

I bought some polishes from a blogsale in late November and finally received my package a few days ago - I think I'll put off online shopping until Christmas is over, hehe. Anyway, one of the polishes I picked was OPI's Yodel me on my cell from their recent Swiss Collection.

I'm not exactly sure why I picked it up, I'm not a huge fan of blue polishes, but it's not bad :P. Application was good and shown is two coats of YMOMC plus my usual Ulta3 non chip topcoat. It's a nice blue shimmer polish but I don't think it's a *need* polish for me.

Thanks for dropping by~
Sharon

Nail art #21 - Patchwork design

The second I laid eyes on Chloe's patchwork mani, I knew I had to try it out myself. First photo is taken indoors under natural light and the second under the sun.

Polishes used:
Color Club Revvvolution (I will never tire of this polish!)
OPI Jade is the new black
OPI Here today...Aragon tomorrow


I love the design, but I still need to work on the taping; some polish leaked under and of course when I went to fix it, it just turned out even worse, lol. Taping is definitely something to practise ^^;;.

Thanks for dropping by~
Sharon

Some flakey goodness :)

I decided to try out Nubar's Nubar 2010 over a black polish to see what it looked like. Aaaaand I was blown away by the awesomeness it presented :). Shown is two coats of Ulta3's black satin with one coat of Nubar 2010 layered over it and sealed with non chip top coat. All photos are taken indoors under natural lighting.

I just love how the flakey polish flashes orange, yellow and green at different angles. Can't wait to layer it over different base colours!

Thanks for dropping by~
Sharon

Nail art #20 - Stained glass window

I remember back in primary school we used to cut random holes and shapes out of a black piece of paper and stick all sorts of colourful cellophane to make a stained glass window. With Christmas coming up, I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to try out stained glass window nail art ^^.

The first photo is taken indoors under natural light and the second indoors with flash. Sorry for the tip wear, the photos were taken after heaps of washing up ^^;;

Polishes used - 

Blue: Maybelline Colorama Electric blue

Red: Maybelline Colorama Candy apple

Green: Rimmel Forest

Silver: Ulta3 Snazzle

Gold: Ulta3 Antique copper

Black: Ulta3 Black satin

White: Ulta3 Lily white

I'm not sure I'm entirely happy with the outcome, I think it's a bit over the top to have all five nails looking like this.

Thanks for dropping by~

Sharon

Zoya - Tiffany

Woo, another polish from Zoya's latest Flame Collection :). Tiffany is a pretty peachy pink shade filled with gold glitter throughout it. This was two coats with non chip top coat. Photo was taken indoors under natural light.

My mum has actually taken my camera overseas for the rest of the month so until she gets back, photos will be lower in quality.

Thanks for dropping by~
Sharon

Purple rain

Another notd from the vault today :). I apologise for not posting in the past few days; I was too caught up in post-exams festivities to do much with my nails ^^.

Here are two coats of TBN's Purple rain. Formula was pretty runny, but I think I can bear with it 'cos I love the outcome. The sparse silver glitter really does look like rain; awesome polish, awesome name :).

Now that I'm on holidays, I hope to be able to spend more time on nail art (once I get the hang of it again ><).

Thanks for dropping by~
Sharon

Sooooo psyched

I'm really sick of studying and worrying about my exam tomorrow, so I decided to take another break and blog :P. Today's post is another notd from the vault - I've been dabbling back into nail art the past couple of days and found my skills have deteriorated greatly. I got so annoyed at my failed attempts I just slapped some polish on, hated it, removed it, found my stained nails a sore to look at, and slapped another polish on. In summary, the past few days have not been good polish days. Hence a notd from the vault. Anyway, enough ranting ^^.

I found this polish quite appropriate since it reflects my mood. I am extremely excited for my exams to finally be over and so here is Essie's Sew Psyched. Ok, bad pun :P.

Shown is two coats of Sew Psyched. I love that this is yet another dusty, muted green shade. I'm not great at identifying greens, so I'll just take the description Essie provides, the polish is a "Cashmere-soft sage pewter". This polish if from their Fall Collection 2010 and I'm absolutely in love with it. I'm loving these muted shades and just can't get enough of them.

Thanks for dropping by~
Sharon

Parlez-vous OPI?

I was in a crème mood when choosing a nail polish for my last manicure, so I decided to try out my latest OPI purchase. Parlez-vous OPI? is everything a polish should be - pretty much opaque in one coat and an absolute pleasure to apply. Not only is the polish a beauty to behold, it also applied really, really well. For a purple lover, this is pure purple bliss; this is definitely now my go-to-purple-polish :D. I adore the dusty purple shade a lot. I'm also now on a mission to find more dusty shades for my collection. Currently, I own two - Sinful Colors' Vela and this one ^^.

This beauty is two coats; two smooth, brilliant coats.

Despite the beautiful shade though, I found the crème a tad boring after a day, so I decided to layer on a coat of Nubar 2010. First photo is in the sun while the second one is taken indoors under natural light. Mmm, flakies!

And a macro shot of it.

Thanks for dropping by~
Sharon

Glorious Gloria

Lame title, but I like alliterations :P.

Today's NOTD is a wonderful polish from Zoya's recent Flame Collection. I'm really in love with this polish and it's such a beauty, especially under the sun ^^. Gloria is a pretty, medium red jelly polish with gold flecks suspended in it. Prepare for some pic spamming! :P

Here are two coats of Zoya Gloria with non chip top coat under the sun. Look at the beautiful gold flecks peeking through the polish!

In the photos below, you can have a better look at the brilliant gold flecks in the polish. I'm in love with it, I am ♥.

I also realise that I haven't done much nail art recently and believe me, I'm itching for it. Unfortunately, I still have two more exams to go and I feel guilty enough already when I turn to polishing my nails (and blogging!) for procrastination ^^;;. My last exam's on the 27th though, so I'll be delving back into nail art shortly!

Thanks for dropping by~
Sharon

Giveaway win ^^

Just a quick post before I hit the books again - I'm currently in the middle of exams and really shouldn't be blogging, but hey, procrastination strikes and here I am :P.

I was recently informed that I won a giveaway over at Gilded Nails' blog ^^. These sort of things never happen to me, I never win any contests or raffles or anything in real life, so I was pretty over the moon when I received my package.

 Left to right:
China Glaze - Mummy may I?
Nubar - Nubar 2010
Orly - Fiesta

BYS - Cracked finish red, Fatal attraction
Ulta3 - Wild berrry
le beauty - #76

Alrighty, now I need to return to my study hole :(. Don't forget to enter my giveaway here.

Thanks for dropping by~
Sharon

Ulta3 - Watermelon

Taking a break from polish received in the mail and coming back to good old Aussie polish :). I have today a NOTD from last week, which was extremely hot and summer like btw, and influenced my choice of nail polish :P.

Ulta3's Watermelon is a salmon-y coral shade and totally ideal for a summer manicure. Shown is two coats plus Non-chip top coat.

While Watermelon was nice to apply to begin with, I found that it grew more and more gluggy over time. I'm not sure if it was because it was such a hot day and it affected the polish or what. Still, it's a lovely shade and I'm willing to tackle the thicker formula again for another summery manicure haha.

Thanks for dropping by~
Sharon

Harlow + top coat = ....

You get a glorious, fan-spanking-tastic result. I decided last minute to see what Harlow would look like with a top coat on it and I'm not regretting that decision at all. (You can see the original matte polish here.) Absolutely yummy. Can you see that shimmer or what?!

So what do you think, matte or glossy? Honestly, despite how the polish just comes to life with the top coat, I'm leaning more to the matte side. Mostly because I find it matches my skin tone better :).

Thanks for dropping by~
Sharon

My first Zoya!

Since it was such a cloudy day yesterday, I decided to play safe and chose a matte polish to try first. And it was no disappointment at all! :D Behold, Zoya's Harlow.

Unfortunately, my camera wasn't able to capture this shade properly so I had to edit the photo a bit to show this wonderful magenta/berry polish. Shown is two coats of Harlow and obviously no top coat. I did find the polish dried really quickly and I guess that's both a pro and con depending on how you look at it, but I think once I get used to it, it won't be too much of a problem. Now I can't wait to try out my other Zoyas :P.

Thanks for dropping by~
Sharon

Nail mail!

And who doesn't love them? :P

A little over a week ago, I went on an ebay shopping spree and the polishes finally arrived today. I'm exaggerating slightly though, shipping only took a week ^^;;. On the spree, I decided to kill a few of my Zoya lemmings and also got myself a hold of a flakey polish. Yes, flakey!!! I was super excited for this package to arrive :).

The first photo is taken in natural light indoors and the following two with flash - apparently the sun will not be hanging around much this week :(.

Essie - Sew Psyched
Nubar - Nubar 2010
OPI - Parlez-vous OPI? and  Lincoln Park after dark suede

Zoya - Harlow, Crystal, Valerie, Tiffany, Gloria, Edyta

I can't wait to try these polishes out, but I think I may wait for the sun to reappear so I can wear these in their fullest glory! :D

Thanks for dropping by~
Sharon

Nail art #19 - Lights go on again

It's really been awhile since I've done some nail art - I blame this mostly on hectic Uni business, but I've also be really, really uninspired. However, the Korean boy band B2ST recently released a music video called 'Lights go on again' and I absolutely adore the smartly dressed suit concept ♥. Of course I had to do a mani on that, hehe.

I started off with three coats of Ulta3's Lily white as the base for my thumb, third and fourth fingers. I then used Maybelline NY's Electric blue for the heart and outlined it with Ulta3's Snazzle. For the suit jackets and bowties I used Ulta3's Black satin and Snazzle for the buttons. On my index and pinky I applied two coats of an Arezia polish which is nameless. It's a black base saturated with yellow glitter particles. I bought this polish in Hong Kong earlier this year and is also the cause of my infatuation with nail polish :P.

The Arezia polish represents the lights and obviously the suits are straight from their concept. Midnight blue happens to be their balloon colour, hence the blue heart <3.

The image which inspired my nails (screen shot of the mv which you can watch here)~

And a macro shot of the Arezia polish

Thanks for dropping by~
Sharon