Poppin Pink - Tropez Rose Pearl

It's retro polish time! I recently did a big spring-clean of my polish stash and not only did a massive cull, but reorganised everything (Yes, I have a Helmer now! No, it doesn't fit all my nail polish...) and found a lot of beauties in my stash that I haven't touched for ages!

[Bottle to nail: Tropez Rose Pearl (2 coats)]

This is one of them - Tropez Super Pearl in Rose Pearl. I have a whole bunch of Tropez Super Pearl polishes because I was super impressed with how glowy the shimmer was and ordered heaps from the internet... =p

[2 coats: Tropez Rose Pearl]

Rose Pearl is really an amazingly glowy hot pink. You know when you swipe a shade on and it's just super packed with pigment. I still did two coats anyway as you can see, it looks very slightly jelly.

[2 coats: Tropez Rose Pearl]

It made me very happy seeing this bright pop of colour on my nails, especially on cold winter days! Can't wait to swatch all the other polishes I've rediscovered in my collection~!

Abstract Patriot - Sally Hansen Blue It, Tropez White Hot, Color Club Wish List Red, LA Girl Celebrate

Happy Australia Day! Time for beeer, beaaach and barbequeeee~ =D

[Oyyyyyy~]

I wanted to do something for the occasion and decided to stick to the classic red, white and blue of the flag - so really, it could do for a whooooollle lot of other countries too!

[Bottle to nail: Sally Hansen Blue It (2 coats)]

I started with this gorgeous shade, definitely a "true blue", hehe.... This is Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in Blue It. It seems like just a plain ole shimmer at  first glance but it has this gorgeous glowyness. It looks super sleek - like a racing shade!

[2 coats: Sally Hansen Blue It]

This one seems like just a plain ole shimmer at  first glance but it has this gorgeous glowyness. It looks super sleek - like a racing shade!

[2 coats: Sally Hansen Blue It]

Formula was great. It does take two coats to fully level out, but the results are beautifully smooth!

[Tape manicure: Sally Hansen Blue It, Tropez White Hot, Color Club Wish List Red]

After topcoating the blue base, I taped off half the nail diagonally and added the white using Tropez White Hot, a plain white creme.

[Tape manicure: Sally Hansen Blue It, Tropez White Hot, Color Club Wish List Red]

After the white was dry, I taped again and added the red using Color Club Wish List Red - a bright red jelly with red glitter. This one really popped with the white underneath!

[Gradient manicure: Sally Hansen Blue It, LA Girl Celebrate]

I also did an experimental gradient with LA Girl Glitter Addict in Celebrate, a mix of small and large hexes in red, white, medium blue and magenta. However, I didn't quite like the results as much... Not showy enough for my tastes! =p

Anyway, hope y'all have a great long weekend!

Silly Bats - Halloween Challenge #6: Bats

Here's my entry for Halloween challenge #6 - Bats!

[Drivin' ya batty!]

Inspiration from Nail Craze with Dayze! I added fangs because my silly bats didn't quite look batty enough to me.... and GOOGLY EYES, hehehe~ Mine are definitely are on the sillier side, but do check out her blog for her awesome tute!

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

I started with a nice contrasting base of China Glaze Riveting. If you didn't catch my post from yesterday, I had a much longer babble about this gorgeous polish which you can check out here!

[Base: China Glaze Riveting (2 coats); Nail art: LA Girl Blackout + Tropez White Hot]

I then painted the bats on using LA Girl Blackout, a plain black creme. The eyes were done with a dotting tool, using both Blackout and Tropez White Hot, a plain white creme. I added tiny swipes with Tropez White Hot for the fangs!

[Base: China Glaze Riveting (2 coats); Nail art: LA Girl Blackout + Tropez White Hot]

The fun part was dotting on the eyes, so hilarious! =p Also, couldn't resist putting a bat hanging upside down on the accent  finger...

[Base: China Glaze Riveting (2 coats); Nail art: LA Girl Blackout + Tropez White Hot]

Not just that... it works both ways! Who's being batty now? =D

Burning Bright - Eclipse, WnW, Tropez, Kleancolor Nail to Toe, Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen

I am back from Perth! Yay! I was there for a week to use some exceedingly fancy equipment at UWA. It is a lovely city with equally lovely weather but I'm glad to be back in Sydney, dreary as she is... I will post again soon with all the updates from last week (exciting stuff!!) but first, here's something I rushed out only today as the deadline is in under 24hrs, gosh!

Jme was kind enough to take over the Monday morning post from me so you may have seen her entry to Rebecca Likes Nails' nail art competition! This is a pretty fun one with a range of themes to pick from. I chose gradients and animal print! ROWR!

[Tiger tiger: Gradients and Animal Print]

I've done freehand leopard print nails before here, but not tiger print, so despite my current nubbin nails, I thought I'd go with that this time! What do you think? =) Read on for a b-b-b-b-b-breakdown....!!

[Base: Eclipse 414 (1 coat)]

I started with a base of Eclipse 414, an amazing vermillion creme. This is only one coat! Perfect coverage, perfectly smooth.

[Base: Eclipse 414 (1 coat)]

Eclipse is a Korean brand you can purchase at Asian cutesy stores like Morning Glory (maybe ArtBox, I haven't checked). Their shimmers and glitters are not bad, but the cremes are where they shine!

[Base: Eclipse 414 (1 coat); Sponge gradient: WnW Sunny Side Up, Tropez White Hot]

I then sponged 2/3s of the nail with a golden yolk creme (Wet n Wild Sunny Side Up) and 1/3 to the tip with Tropez White Hot, a white creme. I used the same sponge corner for both, to tint the white slightly yellow from the remaining Wet n Wild Sunny Side Up. Note the different pattern for the thumb.

[Striping: Kleancolor Nail to Toe in Garden of KC, Gold Dipped, Wedding Gown White]

With my trusty Kleancolor Nail to Toe nail art polishes, I striped on some green (Garden of KC), gold (Gold Dipped) and white (Wedding Gown White). Again, the thumb was striped a bit differently.

[Close up: Thumbnail design]

Wave your magic wand around (by which I mean Kleancolor Tuxedo Black and Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen in Black), and voila! There's a kitty stalking through the grass!

An extra tip for using the Sally Hansen nail art pens. Wait wait wait till your base layers are dry! I was in such a rush because I didn't have much time that it was even slower going trying not to dent the polish. Oh well, I'm glad I managed to squeeze this one in! =)

[Tiger tiger: Gradient and Animal Print)

And the final manicure again! I don't have more pics because this mani only really works arranged this way and all my photos were pretty repetitive.

My inspiration for this was actually a stone I bought for my sister from a crystal store at Fremantle Markets - it's called a zebra stone and is an orange-to-white stone with rust red stripes running through it! I thought it looked quite tiger-like rather than a zebra!

Look out  for another post from me soon! PHEW! I've been so stressed the last three weeks or so that it'll be great to wind down for a bit...

Think Pink - Maybelline Wet Shine Cuddle Me Mauve, Tropez Super Pearl Pretty Pearl + Tahitian Pearl

Sorry! I was a little busy this week so it's an old one, and a short one!

This is a pink-based sponge gradient manicure that I did last year. Check out Jme's helpful post on sponge gradients here~ =)

[Gradient manicure (cuticle to tip): Maybelline Cuddle Me Mauve, Tropez Pretty Pearl, Tropez Tahitian Pearl]

I started with a base of Maybelline Wet Shine in Cuddle Me Mauve. I really love the finish of Wet Shines but unfortunately I only own just the one. This is a dusty pink creme with fine pale gold shimmer through it - gorgeous!

[Cuticle to Tip: Maybelline Cuddle Me Mauve, Tropez Pretty Pearl, Tropez Tahitian Pearl]

I then sponged from about the halfway point to the tip with Tropez Super Pearl in Pretty Pearl, a fairly bright pink shimmer. I didn't really have a good mid colour for this gradient so I sponged Pretty Pearl on quite sparingly so that Cuddle Me Mauve was still peeking through quite a bit.

[Cuticle to Tip: Maybelline Cuddle Me Mauve, Tropez Pretty Pearl, Tropez Tahitian Pearl]

Finally, I topped off the tips with Tropez Super Pearl in Tahitian Pearl - a reddish-copper pink shimmer.I really like how the shimmers in each polish add to the continuity of the gradient, from the pale gold to the copper-orange at the tips.

I'll have to find some time next week to edit all the photos I've been taking of more recent manicures - I've also been experimenting with a lot of different nail art techniques... but that's something for future posts! ;)

Ev's Past Plischtures - A Catch-up Post

So, we had a rather large lapse of posting, but that doesn't mean we haven't been busy polishing and picture-taking!

However... not all the picture-taking turned out well... But rather than discard the cruddy ones, we decided to have a plish picture (plischtures, oh yeah) catch-up post each... so here goes!
*WARNING: Truly terrible photos taken with an iPod...

French + Nail stamping + Pearl flatbacks[Tropez White Hot, China Glaze Strawberry Fields]

Nail stamping [OPI You Don't Know Jacques (Suede), China Glaze Hi-Tek]

Nail stamping [Sinful Colors Mint Apple, Tropez White Hot]

[LA Splash Golden Seahorse]

Spotting [Wet n Wild Tweetie, Tropez White Hot]

Huh, there were fewer than I thought there would be. Oh well, look out for much better pictures and more wordy reviews coming soon to Plisherrific!! =)