I'm a BAD Blogger!

So, I fail lately. So many challenges, so little time. Plus, I'm sick atm (winter is coming :p ) so I have little energy to do much! So, this is a post of all the things I was meant to post over the last few days.

First up, my Aussie Nails Disney. This week was Beauty and the Beast- not a movie I'm familiar with, so I did what I remember. Please note that this is a massive fail and I actually don't want to post it!

Next We have Aussie Nails Monday, which this week is 'Green' themed. aka Heaven for me! I've had to dig through my archives for photos of this one, going old school!

China Glaze L8R G8R from the OMG collection. I would have taken recent photos for it, but sick, and crappy weather, and all that nonsense... I do love this though... Such a gorgeous polish

And lastly, today's 'post', my final Paint it Blue mani for April. I used 2 of the polishes I got from the AN Adelaide meetup- BYS Kung Fu Blue and Barry M Amethyst Glitter. I also used some of the caviar beads that I got in the BYS Caviar Nails kit to do the diamond outline- it matched the colours in the Barry M PERFECTLY!

There we go! All caught up now :) Back to normal programming!









Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

BYS Caviar for Nails- Walk of Fame

I've never tried Caviar nails before, and when I won a prize from BYS on their Instagram page, I finally have an excuse to try!

The kit I won is called Walk of Fame, and I couldn't be happier! The polish included is called Thunderstruck, from their UV range and an absolute favourite of mine! This jar here will be my 3rd- I really love it. The caviar is not one solid colour, but instead a mix of purple, teals, blue, red and black. Matches the polish perfectly!

These are SUPER easy to do, too. I used 2 coats of Thunderstruck plus topcoat on all fingers bar the ring finger. On my ring fingerI let my first coat dry, and then did a rather thick coat as my 2nd coat and dipped my finger in the pot of beads. These pots are HUGE! Seriously. The size makes it veeeeeeeeery easy to get all of your nail in there and reduces mess significantly. Once I had dipped my nail in, I took it out, and used the brush that is included to brush off the excess and then pressed the beads into my nail gently with a finger, to secure them all.

I wasn't really a fan of the caviar, but after trying it, I have to admit, it's not bad. I also got 2 of the Glitter For Nails sets as a part of my prize that I will show you soon!

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

Cate Ruby Swatches and Review

Cate Ruby is an Australian Artisian brand- similar to an indies, but not handmade. Think like A England, Picture Polish, etc. Tracey, the owner was kind enough to send me 2 of her polishes to review so I'll be showing them to you today!

First of all, how amazing are the bottles?! The bling on them is actually a ring, and it's wearable! 

 The first of the two colours I have is called Midas Touch. It's a very unique gold, very much on the yellower, mustardy side with larger silver shimmer. This was surprisingly opaque, almost a one coater! I have 2 coats plus top coat here.

 The other polish I have is called Poppy G. My first impression was "this looks like China Glaze's Peachy Keen," and it does, but in no way are they dupes. It's lighter in person, and I would describe this one as a 'crelly.' The finish makes this a very interesting polish, it's super versatile and very glossy. I did need 3 coats for this one, plus topcoat.

 I had a sneaking suspicion that these two would look good together, and I was right! I used Midas Touch to do a thin tip over Poppy G.

The formula on both polishes was good. Midas Touch had a similar formula to Picture Polish, thicker, but very easier to work with. Poppy G's formula was a bit thinner and less opaque. The drying time was good, nothing super fast, but I've definitely had slower drying polishes!

Cate Ruby has a list of stockists on her website.

Until Next Time

<3 Bec

*the polishes mentioned in this post were sent to me for my honest review. This in no way affects my opinion of them*

Lilypad Lacquer Swatches and Review

Lilypad Lacquer is another fabulous Aussie Indie that is gearing up for launch on May 1st. Nicole, the mastermind behind Lilypad Lacquer sent me two polishes to try out, and they are fantastic!

First up is Sunkissed. I must mention how great it is to see an indie do neons, don't get me wrong, I love glitterbombs, but this is refreshing...in a retina searing way ;)

This is 2 coats, with top coat and no undies. Seriously, seriously bright! Easily the brightest, most neon orange I have, and I have a lot! There is still a small bit of visible smile line, but eh, I'm not fussed!

Next is Make A Wish. I have a fair few pics of this one to share, and with good reason!

Make a Wish is a green-purple duochrome. Ohhhhhhhhhhh man, she is pretty! The duo flecks are larger, and the base is a grey-ish, purple-green hybrid. Complex to describe, but super pretty! The colour shift in this one is very strong too, and its opaque in 2 coats.

The formula on both was superb. On the thicker side, but very easy to control and I had very little clean up to do. They dried quickly and were very pigmented.

I can't wait to get me some more of these babies!

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

*the polishes mentioned in this post were sent to me for my honest review. This in no way affects my opinion of them*

Paint it Blue Tuesday!

This weeks Paint It Blue mani had me stumped for ideas, so I dove into my untrieds drawer and pulled out some polishes for a glitter gradient!

I used 2 coats of Barry M Navy as a base, and OH MY GOD, what an amazing dark blue shimmer! This is instantly one of my favourite blues- the best of any of the dark shimmery blues I've tried. And then I sponged on some Ulta3 Blue Years Eve. My camera failed to capture the full amazingness of the way this glitter looked over Navy. It was phenomenal!

Until Next Time!

<3 Bec

Aussie Nails Monday - Floral!

Todays ANM is floral themed, and I was inspired by this amazing tutorial by Gnarly Gnails. I didn't copy it exactly, because I like to put my own spin on it, and I am in LOVE with the results!

Instead of sponging over the tape, I did my stripes fully, let them dry and then sponged over the inner corners of my nails. I used Ulta3's Lily White and Black Satin, and the roses are Illamasqua Baptitse, which I will have a full swatch of soon for you!

I feel like I've been in a slump with nail art lately, and this is easily the best thing I've done lately!

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

Aussie Nails Disney - Pocahontas!

I was meant to post this yesterday, but I have a very good reason for not doing so! Some of the Adelaide ladies from the Aussie Nails group had a meetup yesterday! We had lunch, swapped polish and other goodies, and got to know each other- it was a fabulous day out!

Obligatory nail shot ;) Mine are the green ones at the bottom, I'm wearing Bondi NYC's The Limelight with a glitter gradient using Peita's Polish Zebration. And this is what I came home with...

LOTS OF STUFF! I made the girls all a 'nail art goodie bag', and a few of the other girls did special things too- Kelly made us all a polish keyring, Margie gave us all some delicious Rocky Road, and Emma surprised us with a polish from her new collection (not pictured), which I will show you during the week!

Annnnnnnnnnnnyway, onto my Disney mani! I really liked this one, and I always did love Pocahontas!

I LOVE how Meeko turned out, he made me want a raccoon for a friend! The nails are (from L-R); Meeko, her necklace, her arm tattoo-thingy, and her clothing.

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

(Late) Paint it Blue Tuesday mani!

I am terrible. I have SO MUCH stuff to post, and keep forgetting to post it! This weeks PiB mani  was meant to be something completely different, but it looked horrid so I went to restart it, and fell in love with how it looked so I left it as is!

 I started by putting a piece of striping tape down the center of each (unpolished) nail. Then I added 2 coats each of Ylta3 Blue Marlin and BYS Blue Bang. Removed the tape, and then used a striping brush and Orly Dazzle to add some bling to the center!

Also, I changed my nail shape! Did you notice?! I am LOVING them like this, and really think that this design would look nowhere near as nice with my old square shape! I'd love to hear what you think!

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

Aussie Nails Monday- Polka Dots!

I don't know how I feel about dots. Some look good, some look not so good. And I'm not very good at dots. But, I soldiered on and made this weeks ANM into 2 things I don't do enough.

Half mooned, glittery, pastel polka dots! I used all China Glazes for this - Lemon Fizz, Something Sweet and Fairy Dust.I freehanded the 'moons' with a smallish nail art brush. Not easy to get them all lined up evenly!

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

Dead Set Babes Swatches and Review!

Dead Set Babes is a new Aussie Indie, based in Sydney, and run by two friends, Emma and Bella. They kindly sent me 4 of their polishes to review and I'll be showing you them today!

Whatshername - (2 coats over white) 3 different sizes of greenish-goldish glitter in a bright green base. You could probably wear this alone, but I decided to layer it over white to show the true colours of the glitter and the base. I really loved this one! The formula was great, I didn't need to dab any glitter on, nor did I need to fish any out.

True Blue - (1 coat over B #327) Bright blue, White and a darker Blue glitters in multiple sizes in a clear base. This was again, a very nice formula, dense but not dense enough to wear alone, but the layering possibilities with this one are endless!

Discotheque - (1 coat over Revlon Royal) Now this one is COOL! Bright, medium sized matte hexes (white, orange, yellow, light green, dark green, pink and purple) in a clear base. Such an eyecatching, bright glitter topper, that again, would look awesome over a lot of colours! The formula on this was good, not as good as the previous two, and I did have to dab some of the glitters on. But this one is really worth the effort!

Teenage Crime - (1 coat over China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise) This was my favourite glitter mix- 2 shades of purple and white matte glitter, multiple sizes of hexes in a clear base. However, this one did lack compared to the others in terms of formula. The base seems thinner, and I did need to fish and dab some of the glitter. Beautiful glitter, but the base needs to be a bit thicker.

All of these swatches have 1 coat of Seche Vite, and they were all very smooth once dry. They didn't take long to dry either. And I ADORE the brands logo. I'm not sure why, but I love it! And aside from the formula trouble of Teenage Crime, these are AMAZING indies. I'm already eyeing some more off!

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

*the polishes mentioned in this post were sent to me for my honest review. This in no way affects my opinon of them*

Aussie Nails Disney- Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella!

I can finally post last weeks AND challenge mani, as well as this weeks!

Last week was Sleeping Beauty

 I was never a huge fan, and can honestly not remeber actually watching it.. So I googled and this was the result. Her 'peasant' dress, her gown, Malificent, and her hair.

This weeks, Cinderella, MASSIVE FAIL. She looks quite drunk, but hey, I tried I guess!

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

Illamasqua Rampage

You might know that Illamasqua had a MASSIVE sale in January. I organized a huge group order with Aussie ladies and of course, after we ordered, the whole Royal Mail shipping debacle happened, and the customer service I got from Illamasqua was less than satisfactory. I know a few girls who are STILL trying to get a reply alone from them, which is terrible! This was my very first Illamasqua purchase and I'm not sure I will be ordering again anytime soon, especially when their polishes are made HERE, in Australia, and we still pay a ridiculous amount for them!

Anyway, I ordered 2 polishes for myself, Baptiste and Rampage, which I will be showing you today.

Rampage is a forest green creme. It's dark, but never is it dark enough to look black, which I like. The formula is perfect, this is 2 easy, streak free coats. It dries quickly, and is super shiny without top coat (this does have SV on top though)!

Such a beautiful, perfect polish. It almost makes up for the bad experience I had with Illamasqua!

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

Toya-Jade Swatches and Review!

Toya-Jade is a new Aussie indie, and today I have 3 of her polishes to show you!

I will say first of all that the formula on all three was the same- and it was BEAUTIFUL. Smooth, even and very easy to apply. I used 3 coats for every polish, and they all dried quickly. And all are finished off with Seche Vite.

Innocence is a sheer, shimmery white. The shimmer in it has larger particles, and it has a lovely sparkle to it. (I think this would have looked better had my nails not been stained...) I think this one would look amazing layered over pastels, or even black.

Molly's Lipstick is a warm pink with shimmer. I detected a very subtle holo shimmer in this one, added a very delicate touch to it! I was a bit scared to try this one, I thought it would look horrible on my skin tone, but I was pleasantly surprised! I think this is a very unique pink, one that I have already worn more than once!

And last but not least, we have Black Star. This is a black base with holo shimmer. I'm a sucker for black + holo so this is an instant favourite for me! The holo in this is interesting, it is very subtle but when the right light hits, WOW! Sadly, it was a little difficult to capture the awesomeness of it in my photos...

I really like all three of these, they are all unique and all very pretty. I have no complaints about any of them, and recommend them to all of you! Sadly, they are only available to Australians at the moment, sorry international ladies!

Until Next Time,

<3 Bec

*the products in this post were sent for my honest review. This in no way affects my opinion on them*