Some Vampire's Love...

Hello hello! Yes, I've been lazy again but now that things have quietened down a fair bit, we're back to our regularly scheduled programming.

So, I went through my stash the other night and pulled out all the polishes I am yet to swatch and it turns out that I have 27 of them. TWENTY SEVEN D:!!! This is an all time high for me, so I need to get swatching!

So what I'll be doing is posting things in bunches :3 I have a few CG Tronicas, some Milani holos, some A Englands (omg!) and a buttload of Orlys, plus more to show you...

Today, I've got two colours from Essences Vampires Love collection, now I was really late on the ball for this collection, but I recently managed to find a few in a couple of Targets around the place. I even managed to snag an extra one for Maria, who had been lemming it hardcore, so I swapped her for Revlon Whimsical :D (that one should be arriving this week! and adding to my pile to swatch)

First up, Hunt Me If You Can. (please be warned that the following photos contain something rarely seen, my right hand. Also, I managed to break 2 nails recently so it looks bad :/)

HMIYC is a black with silver shimmer, that in the right light shines purple and green. I unfortunately was unable to capture that, but trust me, it's gorge!

I used 2 coats for this, I think if careful, you could get away with one, but my brush was a bit...wonky. It was extra bristly and harder than most brushes, so it kinda dragged the polish along with it when trying to apply it...

I saved my favourite for last ;D. This is The Dawn Is Broken, and I LOVE it! This is actually the only grey polish I own, and I picked a good one! It's a light, mousy grey creme, with black and silver microglitter. SO GOOD.

Oh that glitter...

Best thing about this polish? I am wearing ONE COAT. It does make my hands look kinda...dead, but I forgive it because I love this polish!

So, there's the first post of my Swatchathon! Now, any requests on what I should do next? Orly, CG, OPI, A England, Milani...? Let me know!

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

Nail School Update! (Plus more!)

So I've mentioned before that I'm currently studying to get my qualifications to be a nail tech, and Tuesday night was the first night of term 2. Quarter way through it! WOO! Last term, we studied basic and deluxe mani/pedis, which I really enjoyed (and passed easily ;D), and this term we're doing acrylics. To be honest, I was a bit nervous, because I really expected to struggle with this... So after a demo in class, I called upon my favourite Client/Hairdresser Cienna, (who has supported me from day 1, and even encouraged me to apply for the course!) for a practice the night after.

Now, for my first time doing acrylics, I gotta say, I'm stoked with how I did. I took notes from the demo, but I barely needed to look at them! So after the entire process (except buffing for the last time), we took a photo (I do apologise for the bad lighting, it was 8pm!)

Not bad huh? And then, just because we can, I polished them.

That's A England Ascalon, with A England Bridal Veil as the accent nails, and it's all topped off with a franken holo topcoat I've made. They look sooooo good! Also, I have a few A Englands to show you soon, just waiting for some sun!

And, to explain why I haven't been posting much, I make and sell acrylic nail sets on etsy (chekkit out here!) and through facebook, and all of a sudden I had a HUGE amount of orders! So my week has been spent doing them, I posted the last one off this morning. And I figured I would share them with you! (not all are from actual orders, some I made for the hell of it)

So that's where I've been! I plan to get some awesome insane amounts of swatching done tomorrow so I guy show y'all some amazing things! (and start posting more!)

Until next time,

<3 Bec

And now for something a bit different...

Yes ladies (and gents!) today is a day that I never thought I would see happen. Today, I'm showing you...

A PINK! It's no secret that I am 'anti-pink', as some people say, but I recently did a swap with the lovely Kim, and she mentioned that she had found a few jars of this. After looking at some swatches, I needed it.

This is OPI La-Pazitively Hot Matte. It came out as a part of the Fall 2009 Matte Collection. I know there is a 'normal' version of it out there, and I kinda want it!

La Paz is a very bright, vibrant pink, matte of course, but it has a hidden shimmer. That was the WOW factor for me.

In terms of application, this was a DREAM! Honestly, it applied like a regular non-matte polish! And after the horror application from Gargantuan Green Grape matte (from the same collection), I was expecting this to be terrible as well, but nope! I only needed two coats to get opacity, and they dried very quickly like most mattes. Wear time wasn't fantastic though, I put this on on Thursday night, and by Friday afternoon it was pretty chipped :/ So I added an extra coat to take these pics on Sunday.

I also decided to add a layer of Ulta3's Top Coat, to see what it would look like... I liked it, but not as much as I like it matte.

And then, because apparently I am never satisfied, I grabbed a black and a white nail art striper and did this:

Simple, but effective! And it makes my nails look longer than they are!

So, I like a pink. I never thought it would happen, but it has, and now I can expand and branch out into more pinks! I actually ordered China Glaze Something Sweet on Saturday!

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

GOSH Holographic (LOTS of pics!)

Oh. My. God.

Checked the mail this morning and in there was a package from the lovely Casey, who I swapped with recently. I had one of her lemmings, and she had one of mine!

Yup, GOSH Holographic! This is supposedly very close to Chanel Holographic, which is LONG gone, and the GOSH itself is discontinued, and pretty pricey (i just saw one on ebay for $80!)

It's so amazing. Even now, at 3am (I really need to stop late night blogging!), in the light of my living room, I can still see the rainbows. And to be honest, it really didn't look like much in the jar, and then I put one thin coat on my thumb and I think my brain nearly exploded!

Holographic is a bright silver with a CRAZY linear holo effect. Application on this one was, frankly, a bitch! I used 2 thin coats, but had to touch a few spots up, due to balding. Note to self, do NOT try to paint over wet polish with this one! I've heard that GOSH's Aqua Fix (or Nfu Oh's Aqua Fix) Base Coats are made for these kind of polishes, but I don't have either, so I used my trusty OPI Ridge Filler Base Coat. And I do believe it helped, after hearing from others experiences. But, besides the balding and thin formula, it applied quite nicely and dried nice and quick!

My favourite thing about this polish is the holo effect itself. On certain angles, it shimmers the most awesome bright green I have ever seen in a polish, however, I couldn't manage to capture it! It really is the coolest thing though, you can see hints of the green in the photos, but to see it almost all over the nails is a totally different thing!

I think the only downsides to the polish are;
1: WHY ARE YOU DISCONTINUED?!
2: Sadly, it's only an 8ml/0.3fl oz jar.

I think what really needs to be said is, "GOSH, bring it back and make it bigger!"

So with that, I must go! (the boyfriend wants to go to bed lol!) I will just put the rest of the pics in, and let you drool over them :p

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

Color Club - Revvvolution! (pic heavy)

Enough v's for you? Haha! I did this swatch a while ago, (I'm talking well over a month!) and for some reason haven't posted it yet... I'm sorry for neglecting you swatch :(

Mmmm so pretty! I am such a sucker for black/dark polishes, and holos (obviously!) so this is PERFECT for me!

Look at the bottle in the sunlight. Amazing. So much sparkle and holo and rainbows and everything.

I really love the way this polish sparkles in the sunlight. It totally blew my mind. It was not what I was expecting, as I had heard around that there were 'dud' versions of this going around, and mine is definitely no dud! (although, if it were, imagine how cool the non-dud would be!)

The formula on this one was flawless. It was almost opaque in one coat, had to add a very thin second coat, but only because I was rushing around to get ready for nail school, so I kinda slapped it on lol. I don't doubt that it could be opaque in one coat if you are careful. It dried quickly, which was lucky, and it doesn't dry as matte as some holos tend to. And after using it in my course, I have learnt that a top coat doesn't dull the holo.

Color Club really surprised me with this one, I only have one other CC polish, Glitter Envy, and thats mainly because they aren't readily available in Australia, and when I do find them, they're $15 a jar- which is ridiculous. I know they have a few other holos out, so I think I need to track them down!

One last picture, because its nearly 3am (who doesn't love late night blogging? LOL)!

Until next time lovlies!

<3 Bec

The Best Giveaway EVER?!

Quite Possibly! but, it's not mine! Head over to KONADLICIOUS to check out the AMAZING giveaway!

I Have The Best Boyfriend Ever...

I really do... He surprised me with a polish gift one day, and it was the most generous gift I've ever gotten...

Yes, that's right. OPI DS Original. ORIGINAL. UGH ITS SO PRETTY.  I'm not even gonna apologize for the amount of pics going into this post, because I have no regrets lol.

DS Original is a lilac-y light purple linear holo with a strong holo effect. It is a bit on the sheer side, I'm wearing two coats here, but could have used a third. Or a base colour. This is too precious to waste with lots of layers :p

The formula on this is pretty thin, and kinda watery. It flooded my cuticles a little, but not too much that it was disastrous. It was manageable, but only if you have a steady hand!

It really doesn't look like much in the shade though does it? But wait until you get full sunlight, because then, you get this...

Amazing right? SO MUCH HOLO! I had to stop myself from staring. And drooling! Haha!

Anyway, I should go clean up my drool off the keyboard now!

Until next time,

<3 Bec

We Have A Winner!

The winner of my Peacock Feathers Giveaway is...

Marta K!

Congrats Marta!

Psst!

I owe you some manis from the end of the challenge, I know! They will come tomorrow...


I will also be announcing the winner of my giveaway within the next few days, so if you entered, stay tuned!

Gave the blog a makeover just now (because thats what all sane people do at 3am!), and I must say, she is MUCH prettier now! What do you think?

And just quickly, Happy Easter to those that celebrate it, and those that celebrate it, have a good day no matter what!

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

Day 17 - Gradient

Inspired by a 50’s poodle skirt…

PS, I broke my pinky nail changing the cat tray :( gonna need to trim them all down now...

Day 16 - Rainbow

Yup, nyan cat! busy day and no sun = no time for a new mani :p

Day 15- Favourite Band

This one was hard, I love so many bands. I’m a headbanger at heart, the heavier the better. But Van Halen have been a favourite of mine since I was 7 or so.

I used my red holo franken for the base, BYS Black Satin, NYC Colors Casper and Orly Dazzle for the art

Day 14- Funky French

Zoya Mitzi and Ulta 3 Pearly Grape topped off with Essie Matte About You

Creative Lacquer Challenge Day 13 - VEGAS!!

I’m really happy with how these turned out! And yes, that is a stripper :p

Creative Lacquer Challenge Day 12- Neon

I was going to do a rainbow gradient and failed, so i went with my trusty old leopard print!

Creative Lacquer Challenge Day 11- A nail art fad you dislike

Yeah… never liked this style of tribal print. I thought maybe once I tried it, it would grow on me, but it hasn’t.
I do like the colour combo though - China Glaze Peachy Keen and B Cosmetics 288.