Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Bye bye, 2013!

Hello everyone! What are your plans for New Years Eve? I'll be hanging out with a huge bunch of church friends for the night celebrating the past year and looking forward to a brand new 2014 :)

I've decided to go with a casual black for this year's nail look, coupled with some gold and silver accents. I stamped the number image from BM-311 for the countdown we'll definitely be doing closer to midnight.

nye2013

I used Ulta3 Black satin as a black base. OPI Haven't the foggiest is the silver, OPI My favorite ornament the gold glitter and OPI Pure 18k white gold and silver top coat is layered on my index.

nye2013

What are you going to be wearing to celebrate the new year?

Thanks for reading!
~Sharon

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Monday, December 30, 2013

Swatches & review: Orly Blush collection

Hello everyone :) Today I have two beautiful shades from Orly's Blush collection to share with you. I don't know about you, but I find these softer shades to be such great palette cleansers after wearing the bolder and brighter summer shades.


First up I have Cheeky, a light coral with beautiful gold shimmer. The orange undertone clashes horribly with my skin tone but I really don't mind when Cheeky looks this good! This was two coats.

cheeky

cheeky

Naked canvas is a little deceiving when photographed. It may look like just another plain off-white crème, but it actually has an almost hidden purple shimmer running throughout it. It's definitely more apparent in real life than in photos. Two coats were applied.

naked canvas

naked canvas

There are another four nail polishes in the Blush collection:
  • Classic contours: A mauve crème.
  • First blush: A hot pink crème.
  • Dare to bare: Musk pink crème.
  • Flawless flush: Lilac shimmer.
This collection will be available in Australia February 2014 from www.orlybeauty.com.au. Each bottle will retail for $18.95.

Are you a fan of these delicate shades? Which ones will you be picking up?

Thanks for reading.
~Sharon
Products provided for consideration.

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Saturday, December 28, 2013

Swatches and review: Covergirl Glosstinis

Hi ladies~ Recently, Covergirl released a new limited edition collection here in Australia. Outlast Stay Brilliant Glosstinis is a line of mini nail polishes which feature eight summery shades - and they are right up my alley right now!


Pina colada is a pastel yellow. I applied three coats to even out the typical yellow-polish-syndrome (i.e. streaky application).

pina colada

pina colada

Lemon drop is a bright sunny yellow. This was two coats and was tricky to apply. Application was just a little bit better than Pina colada though.

lemon drop

lemon drop

Sangria is a bright orange shade. It's very bold and bright! I applied two thin coats here.

sangria

sangria

Covergirl says that this range of nail polishes are only one coaters and require no top coats; however, you will definitely find that the yellow shades require at least two coats, if not three. Yellows are notorious for their streaky behaviour, so this wouldn't have been a big deal otherwise - Covergirl claims these polishes to be one coaters and that is definitely not the case for these polishes.

The Covergirl Outlast Stay Brilliant Glosstinis is now available in Priceline, Target, Kmart, Big W and selected pharmacies across Australia. This is a limited edition line so if you see anything which catches your eye, definitely grab a hold of them now! Each bottle retails for $4.95.

Do you see anything you need, or do you already own something similar?

Thanks for reading.
~Sharon
Products provided for consideration.

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Friday, December 27, 2013

Purple & holographic ♥

Hi ladies! What more can I say when I put purple and holographic nail polishes together? ;) I used Bourjois 2007 1 Seconde nail enamel as the base purple shade. On my ring and middle fingers, I used China Glaze OMG. This design was inspired by La paillette frondeuse and I much more prefer her version :P

purple & holo skittle nail art

I also layered a coat of Glitter Gal Galaxy holo top coat over the other nails - I actually quite like the look of it here! Maybe I need to find some good base shades to pair it with :P

purple & holo skittle nail art

Thanks for reading.
~Sharon

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Thursday, December 26, 2013

A monochrome look

Hey there :) I've always been meaning to do a monochrome nail look, but never had the inspiration. Luckily it finally hit me a while back and here is the finished look ;)

monochrome

I created a gradient on my ring finger and then layered on Ulta3 Stop the press. The stamp designs are from BM-402.

monochrome

I'm super annoyed that my top coat streaked my nails :( Ah well, all the more reason to do another monochrome look again ;)

Thanks for reading!
~Sharon

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Wednesday, December 25, 2013

A skittled Christmas manicure

Hi everyone~ Merry Christmas! I've been spending my day stuffed with bbq food, what about you? For today, I've come up with a Christmas skittled nail look - it's simple, but effective at the same time :)

Pinky: Two coats of China Glaze Poinsettia. Glitter gradient created with Shimmer Polish Candace.
Ring: Two coats of OPI Servin' up sparkle.
Middle: Two coats of Ulta3 lily white. The tree was created using China Glaze Holly-day.
Index: Two coats of Ulta3 black satin. I layered Candace over it.
Thumb: Two coats of Holly-day and then created a glitter gradient with Shimmer Polish Kelly.

christmas nails

Have a Merry Christmas everyone! :)

Thanks for reading.
~Sharon

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Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Christmas nails: China Glaze Emerald Sparkle

Hello ladies ^^ There's only one more sleep until Christmas! This year I have relatives from overseas over so we're going to be having a huge barbecue. Which also means I haven't had much time creating Christmas nails as I've become a busy host :P

To remedy that, I've pulled out China Glaze Emerald Sparkle to wear. It's such a classic Christmas green shade and will always draw compliments ;)

emerald sparkle

emerald sparkle

I also wore this shade last year around Christmas and I know I will be doing that come December 2014 :)

Thanks for reading!
~Sharon

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Monday, December 23, 2013

Neutral skittle

Hello hello ^^ Neutral really seems to be calling me recently. It's a nice palette cleanser after wearing some brighter manicures, at least :P

neutral skittle

I applied two coats of OPI Did you 'ear about Van Gough. For my ring finger, I have two coats of Shimmer Polish Irene. For my middle finger, I stamped a design from BM-404.

neutral skittle

Love how it's neutral but also a little flashy at the same time ;)

Thanks for reading!
~Sharon

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Sunday, December 22, 2013

Simple purple & gold skittle

Hello :) Here is a quick post featuring a simple purple & gold skittle look I wore a while back. The purple is Nicole by OPI Love song and the gold Hello Kitty Golden girl. I added a pearl and some bullion beads for a more blingy accent nail and created a glitter gradient with Essence Make it golden.

simple purple & gold skittle

simple purple & gold skittle

simple purple & gold skittle

What do you do when you want to dress up your nails a bit more than a plain colour, but feel a bit too lazy to do so? :P

Thanks for reading!

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Saturday, December 21, 2013

Soft, glitter gradient

Hi there :) A little while back, I attended a dinner with a Kingdom theme. I went dressed up as Cinderella and to match her more neutral nails, I decided to go with OPI Don't burst my bubble.

soft glitter gradient

I still wanted to jazz this look up a bit though, so I added a glitter gradient tip with OPI In true Stefani fashion.

soft glitter gradient

A very simple and clean look, matching the rest of my look :)

Thanks for reading.
~Sharon

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Thursday, December 19, 2013

Swatches & review: Glitter Gal She's Cactus & Galaxy Holo Top Coat

Hi ladies! Australian nail polish brand Glitter Gal recently launched two new collections with an Australian theme. I have She's cactus from the Celebrate - Sydney Style collection to share with you today. The name She's cactus is actually Australian slang for 'something dead or broken'.

she's cactus

The green shade is bright and almost leans on neon. It's definitely not something I normally would pick up, but I'm glad to have it in my stash now :) This was two coats and sealed with Glitter Gal Gloss Boss, which is super shiny and super quick drying.

she's cactus

I decided to layer over a coat of Galaxy holo top coat to add some rainbow sparkles. I have to say that I was a little disappointed with the holographic effect - it's definitely not as in your face as I would have liked! It's more subtle and definitely adds interest to an otherwise 'plain' manicure. I might add a second coat next time and see if that makes a difference.

galaxy holo top coat

Glitter Gal crème nail polishes retail for $9.95 for 10ml. The Galaxy holo top coat is $11.95 for a 10ml bottle.

Do you own any Glitter Gal nail polishes? Which one is your favourite?

Thanks for reading!
~Sharon
Products provided for consideration.

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Tuesday, December 17, 2013

More one stroke flower nails

Hi everyone :) You may remember my base glitter sandwich manicure from a previous post. I used OPI My vampire is buff and created the glitter sandwich with OPI Polka.com and Flormar #20. I decided to create a one stroke flower nail art look aver it using some acrylic paint but wasn't too sure about the end result. Which is partly why it took me so long to publish this post :P

one stroke flower over glitter sandwich

one stroke flower over glitter sandwich

one stroke flower over glitter sandwich

I'm not 100% liking the way the flowers came out; my one stroke painting definitely needs more practice. Have you tried this technique before?

Thanks for reading.
~Sharon

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Sunday, December 15, 2013

A-England Tristam ♥

Hello ladies. It's a little sad that I always skim over my A-England nail polishes- how is it possible that I can forget how gorgeous these holographic polishes are? Whenever I pull one out to wear, I am instantly reminded of its beauty.

tristam

This is two coats of A-England Tristam.

tristam

tristam

What a stunning polish ♥

Thanks for reading.
~Sharon

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Saturday, December 14, 2013

Pot of gold in Incognito in Sausalito

Hello hello :) I decided to go for a darker nail shade despite the warm weather (who says we can't wear dark shades in summer? :P) and pulled out OPI Incognito in Sausalito. I then added a glitter gradient at the tips using Ulta3 Pot of gold.

blue with gold tips

blue with gold tips

Sometimes, a simple glitter gradient does the trick ;) What do you think?

Thanks for reading!
~Sharon

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Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Bejewelled nails

Hi ladies! What to do when in the mood for some blinged out nails? Why, dig out all the 3D accessories you own and go to town with them :D

I started this manicure with two coats of Australis Peek-a-boo. It's a very camera shy shade and leans way too blue in photos than it is in real life. It's definitely more of a blurple. On my ring and index fingers, I added a glitter gradient using Nicole by OPI Inner sparkle.

bejewelled nails

bejewelled nails

My nails were super bumpy, but definitely blingy ^^ Are you a fan of this type of excessive 3D nail art?

Thanks for reading!
~Sharon

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Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Christmas wrapped nails

Hi everyone! ^^ Here is a very simple and unintentionally Christmassy nail look I wore a couple of weeks back. I started with two coats of China Glaze Don't make me wine and China Glaze Goldie but goodie on my middle finger. I then stamped stamped with BM-406 and Goldie but goodie on my ring finger.

christmas wrapping paper nails

I'm not usually a holiday-themed-nail-art person, so I can't guarantee there'll be any more Christmas nails :P Unless some sort of inspiration strikes!

Thanks for reading.
~Sharon

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Monday, December 9, 2013

Call me Gwen-ever roses

Hello there :) I have always wanted to stamp the rose image from BM-306. so I finally pulled it out and paired it with a double accent look.

call me gwen-ever roses

When I first thought of this manicure, I had intended to use a coral shade. At the last minute, I decided to pull out OPI Call me Gwen-ever instead and paired with the black, making it kind of look more like a Halloween manicure. Oops! :P

call me gwen-ever roses

The silver is OPI Haven't the foggiest, which I also used to stamp with over Ulta3 black satin. I tied in the look with some black studs on my pinky and index.

call me gwen-ever roses

It's a little Halloween looking, but I still liked how it came together so well :) What do you think?

Thanks for reading.
~Sharon

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Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Swatches & review: OPI Gwen Stefani collection (Part 1)

Hi ladies. Today, I have the distinct pleasure to share with you some of the nail polishes included in OPI's Gwen Stefani collection. (Check out part 2 here.)


First up, I have Love. Angel. Music. Baby. This is a satin gold with a little silver shimmer flecks. I applied two coats and it still looks a little thin on some nails, so it definitely would have benefited from a third coat.

love angel music baby

love angel music baby

Here it is with a glossy top coat over it. The photo doesn't show a great difference, but the glossy nature is more apparent in real life.

love angel music baby (glossy)

Next is Over & over a-Gwen, a medium red shade which totally screams Gwen! Two easy and opaque coats, but beware this one may stain if you don't wear a base coat. I only had this on for a short time while swatching, but my nails were left with a red tint after I removed it.

over & over a-Gwen

over & over a-Gwen

Finally, here is In true Stefani style, a pretty silver glitter concoction made up of square shaped glitter pieces mixed with smaller holographic pieces. I layered one coat over Over & over a-Gwen.

in true Stefani style

in true Stefani style

The Gwen Stefani collection will be hitting stores in January 2014. Australian ladies can find them in David Jones and selected salons. Myer will also be stocking the collection later in the season. Each bottle retails for $19.95.

Are you excited for this collection? What shades do you think you may have to get? ;)

Thanks for reading!
~Sharon
Products provided for consideration.

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