RAWR!! A Smaug-inspired Manicure - Kleancolor Metallic Purple, Red, Yellow; China Glaze Orange Marmalade

The end (of the year) is nigh! As is my tradition, I go out to the movies with friends on new years eve, so it looks like that's what I'll be doing this year too!

[Testing out the concept...]

This is relevant because today's is a rather old manicure that I put together before watching The Hobbit LAST YEAR (even though Smaug was barely in it...). I was in such a rush but here's the excerpt I used for inspiration:

"There he lay, a vast red-golden dragon, fast asleep...  ...and his long pale belly crusted with gems and fragments of gold from his long lying on his costly bed."

[Draconic underbellies r' us]

So here's my Smaug-inspired manicure! I first created a sponge gradient using the same method used here. The shades used here are Kleancolor Metallic Purple, KC Metallic Red, China Glaze Orange Marmalade and KC Metallic Yellow.

[Glitz and sparkle!]

Using clear polish, I then stuck on various colours and sizes of rhinestones on the tips of my nails before filling in the tips with China Glaze Medallion and Milani Jewel FX Gems! I'm definitely looking forward to seeing Smaug in the second movie... I doubt he'll be quite as tackily glitzy as this mani though..... =p

I guess I'll catch y'all in the new year!! =)

Gift Time - Orly Au Champagne, striping tape

It's a day late, but here's my Christmassy mani! I decided to go for a wrapped present look. :D

[Orly Au Champagne with striping tape]

The base is Orly's Au Champagne, my favourite white nail polish. It's this soft, pearly white that dries semi-matte and looks like snow. I have used striping tape before but more to tape off the base as I put a topcoat over, like this gradient, striping tape mani I did awhile back. This time, I thought I would use the striping tape and seal the tape in. I quite like the result!

[Orly Au Champagne with striping tape]

The tape is actually quite shiny, which I wanted to show with this last pic.

I love the straight lines. The mani looks so neat and clean while Christmassy! The only downside is the mani doesn't last long, because the striping tape starts curling up a little bit at the edges after a day or two and well, it's far too fun to pick at. But otherwise, it's a cute mani. :)

Happy Happy Joy Joy - Mode Vicious Venom, Color Club Wish List Red, Glam Polish Big Bang Theory

HAPPY HOLIDAY-OF-YOUR-CHOICE!! =) Here's a Christmas tree inspired manicure that I slapped together for the silly season.

[Bottle to nail: Glam Polish Big Bang Theory over Mode Vicious Venom, Color Club Wish List Red]

I won't say too much about it, but basically it's a base of 2 coats of Mode Vicious Venom (previously used here) and then Color Club Wish List Red (reviewed here) striped over the top using the tape method.
 

[Base: Mode Vicious Venom (2 coats); Stripes: Color Club Wish List Red (1 coat);
Ring finger: Glam Polish Big Bang Theory (1 coat)]

I then edged the red with LA (previously used here) before topping off the ring finger with a coat of Glam Polish Big Bang Theory! I thought the assortment of round glitters in BBT would look awesome as baubles on the "tree"!

[Base: Mode Vicious Venom (2 coats); Stripes: Color Club Wish List Red (1 coat);
Ring finger: Glam Polish Big Bang Theory (1 coat)]

Hope y'all are having a great time and filling up on yummy food and catch-up time with family and friends! Mwaahhh~!

Fire Rose - China Glaze TTYL

I appear to be going through my collection of holographic polish recently... Here's another one for y'all this hot Sydney summer!

[Bottle to nail: China Glaze TTYL (2 coats)]

This gorgeous polish is China Glaze TTYL from the much-coveted OMG collection. It's a dusty warm pink linear holographic polish.

[2 coats: China Glaze TTYL]

Formula is thin and applies like a dream. These photos are two coats, but you may need three for longer nails.

[2 coats: China Glaze TTYL]

These are quite fine particle holos so you get a gorgeous linear holographic flame in the sunlight. You can see the holo effect slightly indoors as well! A nice "work-safe" shade with added zing!

Gleaming Green Apples - LA Girl Watermelon Splash, Elianto S02

As Christmas draws nearer, I've started picking Christmassy colours! Today, I picked bright green!

[LA Girl Watermelon Splash over Elianto S02]

I swatched Elianto S02 here if you're interested, but I mainly wanted to try LA Girl's Watermelon Splash from their Fruity Scented line. Watermelon Splash has green and gold tiny flakes in green jelly polish. It smells sweet on the nails even days after application. It's a pretty polish, but sadly, so sheer that even four coats of it wouldn't get it close to opaque, which is why I used a base.

[Under indoor fluorescent lights]

Slightly blurry photos to show you the shiny flakes! It's not super glittery but the tiny flakes make for a nice gleam. All in all, I like how bright and shiny and nice-smelling this combo is! :D

Gold Bar - Orly Lavish Bash

A twinkly glitter polish for the party season - this is ORLY Lavish Bash from the Secret Society collection.

[Bottle to nail: Orly Lavish Bash (2 coats over matching base)]

Excuse the strange colour of these images. The polish on my nails is quite close to how it looks in real life but I had to correct it so the background is tinged rather blue.

[2 coats: Orly Lavish Bash (over China Glaze GR8)]

Lavish Bash is a clear base jammed with heaps of tiny gold glitter and small silver holographic bars. You can wear it alone but it would have to be built up to 3-4 coats for opacity, I think. I put two coats over China Glaze GR8 which matches really well!

[2 coats: Orly Lavish Bash (over China Glaze GR8)]

The holographic sparkle is quite subtle so while it is sparkly, the small particles and overall champagne look tones it down from all-out glitter. An interesting polish, for sure! I might try it over black sometime!!

Glint and Glimmer - LA Colors NP392 Amethyst

I was looking through my old photos and I found these photos, but I couldn't figure out what nail polish this was. I was convinced it was a Revlon and looked through my stash, but I couldn't find a match until after a lot of digging.

[LA Colors NP392 Amethyst]

As the title obviously gave away already, it's LA Colors nail polish, NP392 Amethyst. I had to swatch it again to match it for sure. :)  It's a rather lovely plum-ish jelly polish with tiny blue and purple flakes, and I'm quite happy to rediscover it!

Ribbity Romp - Glam Polish Leapfrog

I'm loving neon glitter in creme bases and this here is one of my favourite polishes at the moment!

[Bottle to nail: Glam Polish Leapfrog (2 coats)]

This is Glam Polish Leapfrog, an aqua creme base filled with neon pink, yellow and green hexes of varying sizes. Application was great and these pics show Leapfrog at two coats (no base shade).

[2 coats: Glam Polish Leapfrog]

I love how pigmented the creme base is without dulling the pops of colour from the neon glitter. It is a bit muted in its participation in the neon trend, but great if you're dipping your toes and trying out some neon on your nails!

Field of Stars - LA Girl Teal Dimension

I don't have many photos of this nail polish, but it's absolutely gorgeous!

[LA Girl Teal Dimension]

This is LA Girl's Teal Dimension. I swatched another nail polish from the same collection here, and they're both lovely. Teal Dimension is a deep teal-green packed with small, irregular shaped chunky holo glitter.

There isn't much more to add to this except that I really like Teal Dimension and how glittery it is against such a rich green colour. Rather than just a straight-out normal glitter, these almost-flakes add an additional edge to the polish. :D  I'm really loving the nail polishes from this collection.

Perfect Chaos - Emily de Molly Turbulence

This is the absolutely gorgeous Turbulence by Emily de Molly that was among a truckload of polishes that Jme gave me for my birthday this year! A whole bunch of glitter in different shapes and sizes, yet everything goes together so well!

[Bottle to nail: Emily de Molly Turbulence (2 coats)]

The base colour is a deep blue jelly, just the right consistency for the glitter to layer nicely and give excellent depth. These are just two coats, so great coverage too!

[2 coats: Emily de Molly Turbulence]

My favourite bits are the hints of red and green, although there's actually quite a bit of holo glitter in the mix as well. A very complex combination - I'm super impressed!!