Gaudy Opal - Barielle Elle's Spell, Finger Paints Flecked

Ah, I love flakies, don't you! I've been wearing holos for the past few weeks (months??) but I pulled out an old photoset and fell for flakies all over again~ =)

[Flakie rainbow!]

In the spirit of flakie overload, here's a flake polish topcoated with a flakie topper! Yeaaaahhhh~

[Bottle: Barielle Elle's Spell]

The base was Barielle Elle's Spell, a gorgeous red jelly chockers with gold-to-green duochrome flakies. Jme has posted a great comparison showing a bunch of different red-jellies-with-flakies here, so check it out!

[Bottle: Finger Paints Flecked]

Elle's Spell was a bit thick and doesn't dry that quickly but was opaque in two coats. I then put a layer of Finger Paints Flecked, a blue-to-green flakie topper over my red base.

[Base: Barielle Elle's Spell (2 coats); Topper: Finger Paints Flecked (1 coat)]

Here's the result under diffuse lighting.... Flakie goodness, aaahhh~! It just makes me wanna dig out all my flakies and play around with themmm...

Shades of Purple - Fing’rs Edge Ombre Nails Kit

Time to test out another of my birthday pressies!

You might remember I got Fing’rs Edge Ombre Nails Kit in purple for my birthday. Instead of doing a sponge gradient mani, I decided to do it like this.

[Fing’rs Edge Ombre Nails Kit in purple]

In person, the colours are a little more gray-toned than the photos. I really like these shades, and it's pretty awesome to have a range of purple like this. The only complaint I would have about this kit is that the darkest purple isn't totally creme, like the others. It has a hint of shimmer to it, which is strange since all the others are full creme polishes and this kit is meant for a gradient mani.

Other than that, this is simple and nice. I can't wait to try a sponge gradient mani with it!

Neon Twist - Revlon Powder Puff; Glam Polish Blue Goo, Twister; Lush Lacquer Glowsticks

Today, I bring you a layering experiment that probably didn't need to be quite so convoluted! =p

A slightly subtle take on multicoloured neon glitter that I considered "work-safe"... =p

[Base: Revlon Powder Puff (1 coat); Topper: Glam Polish Twister (1 coat)]

I started out with a sheer white base (Revlon Powder Puff) that you can see on its own here. I then put a layer of Glam Polish Twister over the top. Twister consists of neon matte hexes in varying sizes and colours. Jme has previously used Twister as a topper in this post!

[2 coats: Glam Polish Blue Goo]

I then put two layers of Glam Polish Blue Goo over the top to sheer out the bright neons. Blue Goo itself has some neon glitter in it. This didn't quite work as I planned as the blue creme base in Blue Goo pretty much hid the layer of Twister on the base. Ooops!

[Base: Glam Polish Blue Goo (2 coats); Topper: Lush Lacquer Glowsticks (1 coat)]

Not satisfied, I then put a layer of Lush Lacquer Glowsticks over the top. I adore Glowsticks! It's a clear base filled with many shapes and sizes of neon semi-sheer glitter and the look of it changes depending on how it's layered! Those neon blue bars are my favourite!

In the end, I was pleased with the end result, but I definitely want to try out Twister on its own over a matching base sometime though!

Dreamy Shades - Nubar Indigo Illusion

Birthday nail polish, yessssssssssssssssssssssssssss...

[Nubar Indigo Illusion]

So cool right?? Okay, okay, it's a black and white background because I was wearing a different nail polish so it would have been confusing. Also, that photo above is so gorgeous which is pretty awesome, but it's probably a little prettier than the polish on the nails.

But the nail polish is still really lovely!

[Nubar Indigo Illusion]

Behold Nubar Indigo Illusion! I love it! It's a grayish-purple to green duochrome with a tinge of gold. As you can see, the shift is pretty obvious and the nail polish can look almost entirely purple or green depending on what angle you're looking at the nails.

[Nubar Indigo Illusion]

I have many duochromes but a number of them are actually quite streaky. Not so with this one. Nubar's Indigo Illusion is easy to apply and they're opaque with two coats of polishes. An oldie but total goldie, I love this one.

Birthday pressies to meeeeeeeeee

Happy Birthday to meeeeeeeeeeeee~~~

Ev gave these to me awhile ago but I've only managed to get around to posting photos now!

Purple purple purple woooooohoooooooooo!

Woah, new OPI nail polish, can't wait to try these out with their fancy descriptions.

How pretty are these Orly plishes??

Haha, so it's a misleading box but at least I was given a clue!

Omgggg, old style Nubar duochromes. I've tried two already and I loooooove them.

Seafoam Bubbles - Nyx Be Jeweled, Essence Viva La Green, Orly Luxe, Revlon LilyChrome

I decided to jazz things up a little with some dotticure!

[Base: Nyx Advanced Salon Formula Be Jeweled
Dots: 1. Essence Viva La Green
2. Orly Luxe
3. Revlon LilyChrome]

The base is Nyx Advanced Salon Formula Be Jeweled, a pretty blue-green gold microglitter duochrome. For the dots, I used Essence Viva La Green which is a mint green, Orly Luxe which is a pale gold foil, and Revlon LilyChrome which is a silver chrome.

[Base: Nyx Advanced Salon Formula Be Jeweled
Dots: 1. Essence Viva La Green
2. Orly Luxe
3. Revlon LilyChrome]

The above photo is under indirect sunlight.

[Base: Nyx Advanced Salon Formula Be Jeweled
Dots: 1. Essence Viva La Green
2. Orly Luxe
3. Revlon LilyChrome]

And this one is under indoor lighting.

This mani reminds me of how much I like Be Jeweled. The dotticure is so easy to do and looks good too!

Morning Brights - Sinful Colors Rise and Shine

Another one of those rarities - a manicure that's actually on my nails right now! =p

[Bottle to nail: Sinful Colors Rise & Shine (2 coats)]

This one is Sinful Colors Rise and Shine, a lovely green-leaning teal creme with very subtle teal shimmer. I've had this one for quite a while but only pulled it out again recently. I'm not sure about the name though? Hmmm... not quite seeing the connection...

[2 coats: Sinful Colors Rise & Shine]

A lot of Sinful Colors polishes... don't have such a great formula... But this one was not too bad! These photos show two coats, although if you're careful, you can get away with one thick one. It does run a little though so beware of flooding!

[2 coats: Sinful Colors Rise & Shine]

I got a lot of (interested?) comments on this shade at work! =S Perhaps it's too bright? I've been avoiding glitter so far.... though to me, it's like... but this shade is so mild! Ooops.... ;p

Rainbow Parade - LA Girl, elianto, Revlon, Orly

Mardi Graaaaaaaaaaaaasssssss!

[Purple: LA Girl Hustle
Blue: elianto unknown
Green: elianto S02
Orange: Orly Orange Punch
Ring finger: Base of Revlon Guava Glam with neon studs on top]

In celebration of Mardi Gras last Saturday, I decided to go with a skittle mani and added rainbow neon studs for the accent nail. The purple on the index finger definitely looks purpler in real life. The previous post contains a swatch of Revlon's Guava Glam, if you're interested to check it out.

I like how the rainbow studs turned out! :D  If I had more patience, I would use the studs for more than just the accent nail.

Sweet Summer Drinks - Revlon Guava Glam

I walked by Gloss at QVB and found out that they were selling Revlon and Sally Hansen polishes for AUD12 for three bottles. I could't resist picking up this one!

[Revlon Guava Glam] 

Revlon Guava Glam is such a nice shade. It's a pale coral-pink shade which is surprisingly opaque at two coats, with a light gold shimmer. I so rarely like pinks that I had to share this one separately! :)

Clingy Jeans - Cling-wrap mani with Milani Antique, Essence Into The Dark, studs

Here's a fun manicure I tried out a year or so ago - a cling-wrap mani (or saran-wrap...) with stud embellishments!

[Additional bling]

I thought it would be pretty cool to use the cling-wrap technique to approximate denim, so here's my attempt!

[Bottle to nail: Milani Antique (2 coats)]

I started out with a base of Milani Antique, a lovely dusty blue creme. I think this was two coats. It dried nice and smooth but not quite opaque at two coats. I wasn't too fussed as I was going to layer the second shade over it.

[Base: Milani Antique (2 coats); Top shade: Essence Into The Dark]

I put Essence Into The Dark from the Vampire's Love trend edition over the top, and quickly pressed over the still-wet polish with some crumpled cling-wrap to make a mottled pattern. I then sealed it over with topcoat as it does dry a bit uneven from where parts have been lifted off.

[Base: Milani Antique (2 coats); Top shade: Essence Into The Dark]

I chose Into The Dark because it's a deeper dusty blue with flecks of silver. It's also amazingly opaque in just one coat. You can see here that I lifted some of the base polish while pressing down so don't press too firmly with your cling-wrap! I guess it could be ripped jeans....

[Base: Milani Antique, Essence Into The Dark; Stitches: Kleancolor Wedding Gown, Tuxedo Black]

I then used some nail art stripers, Kleancolor Wedding Gown and Tuxedo Black to paint on some stitch marks. I first laid a solid line in the black, before marking out the stitches in white. Unfortunately the polish needed a bit more thinning out so my lines weren't as neat as I would have liked!

[Base: Milani Antique, Essence Into The Dark; Stitches: Kleancolor Wedding Gown, Tuxedo Black]

I then dabbed on some clear polish and placed some studs here and there to complete the manicure! Not sure how denim-like the final result really looked, but I did find myself liking the cling-wrap effect - it's a really quick and easy way to make your mani more interesting!