Fadin' Daze

Well a very Happy New Year to all of you lovelies! I posted today's post on Instagram back when I did it like 11 months ago, intending to create the matching blog post immediately afterward, but you guys know how ridiculously slack I am! So it's been the better part of a full year and I'm just getting round to it now. Big slaps on the wrist for me! I still wanted to do this post though, in the hopes that it serves as evidence and/or inspiration for anyone starting out with nail stuff. Yeah it's another before-and-after, but this time it's Gradient Style! Check it!

I Lied Again...

Hiya, yeah, so, I kinda lied a little bit. You know how I said I had some awesome glittery nails to share last Friday? I'm sort of still editing the photos... I took a LOT of photos 'cause I loved them so hard. Because I don't have the time / patience to edit it them at the moment, "here's one I prepared earlier!". You can consider this a 'from the vault' because it is a few weeks old. I'm sorry I haven't got the glittery goodness ready for you yet! In the mean time, here's some stud-y matte-y nails for you to enjoy.

It's So Fluffy!

Happy Thursday, y'all! I recently invested in a UV nail lamp and some gel polishes because I have a horrible habit of chipping my nail polish while I'm at work. This means I'm not going to be changing my polish as often (it was a serious challenge choosing shades I thought I could wear for over a week without getting bored!) so I've created a huge backlog of mani photos to share with you! I spent a few days creating different designs and playing with some wonderful polishes so that I'll have a decent arsenal while I'm all gelled up XD. Having said that, it means I have an abundance of choice in what to post - for a Libran who can't make decisions to save her life, this is a tricky task for me! For today I've chosen to share a completely different kind of mani - my first 'flocking powder' experience! It's definitely a novelty having fuzzy nails... I loved it!

Click on through for the details =)

OPI Brazil pt2

Hello, lovelies! I have a couple more polishes from the OPI Brazil collection for you today. I think I've got all the ones I want from this collection now, so it's probably the last Brazil post. I've chosen the two I was most intrigued by: I Just Can't Cope-acabana and Red Hot Rio. Check 'em out after the jump!

Pink Wednesday: Nail Vinyls

Happy Wednesday, lovely people! I haven't done a Pink Wednesday post in forever, so I thought it was about time to reinstate the tradition! I have a couple of manis for you today with similar themes: obviously they're both pink, but they both utilise Nail Vinyls as well. Nail Vinyls are the genius brainchild of @teismom and they are absolutely brilliant. I'll explain a bit more about them further on, but first, enjoy some pics!

Amazon...Amazoff

Disclaimer: the terrible pun title was not my creation for once - OPI's naming team is getting worse! 

Hello hello! Looks like the New Zealand nail addicts have been lucky enough to get our nabby little hands on the OPI Brazil collection a little ahead of quite a few places! I'm one of those annoying customers who comes back every few days "Have you got them in yet??!?" but it kinda wasn't my fault this time, because my local Farmers (department store not unlike Target) put the stands and names up, then left them empty! Ultimate tease! Anywho, last Friday I was on a break at work and popped in, and there they were!! They were so new out the codes wouldn't even scan at the till. I could only afford two at the time so I got a stunning perfect nude called Don't Bossa Nova Me Around which I'm sure I'll feature later on sometime, and this amazing "Jungle Green" (OPI), Amazon...Amazoff. I will be heading back for more, trust me. But today I want to share Amazon...Amazoff. Check it!

Essie x4

Hello, hello! In a recent moment of weakness I bought three new Essie polishes (...and I may or may not have four OPI on their way >.< oops!) and I wanted to share them with you! The three I purchased were Play Date, Lapis Of Luxury, and Turquoise & Caicos. Yeah I know there are four pictured... I already had Cute As A Button from a couple of months back when my local Farmers started stocking the new Essie formulas, and it made sense to 'complete the rainbow' by adding it in as a fourth. Click on through to see swatches and an impromptu watermarble. =)

Simple Stripes: Pastel Edition

Whaaaaaat?? Two posts in two days??? This hasn't happened in months! Woo! Talk about starting off the way you wanna go on XP. Honestly, I just couldn't wait to share this mani - I LOVE how it turned out! Okay, there are still a couple of bumps along the road but this mani was super fun and easy to do, so I had to share straight away! The line-up:

L to R: piCture pOlish Fairy Floss (uh, duh...), Essie Liliacism (new formula, the old one is shite), Color Club Take Me To Your Chateau (haven't I seen that somewhere before...?), and Essie Mint Candy Apple (the one polish in my whole stash I have to stop myself from wearing EVERYDAY cos I luvs it so hard). Click on through to see what I got up to with these bad boys!

New Beginnings

~~Happy New Year!!!~~

I hope you've all had a blast over the course of 2013 and are looking forward to 2014 as much as I am!! 2013 was a bit of a rough one for me, so I'm looking forward to slightly smoother sailing throughout this coming year. In the spirit of new stuff, I've decided to flake out of the ABC challenge (lol, I'm so slack...) and just post whatever I'm inspired by! I found toward the end there that I was resenting *having* to stick to a specific letter when I had so many gorgeous polishes and interesting ideas floating around! Having said that, today's post (first in '14! Woo!) was going to be my 'T' post (obviously...) but I loved it so much that I figured I'd just skip 'S' (which has been in the draft folder for two weeks -.-) and jump ahead with what I really wanted to share. Behold, OPI Tiffany Case and Color Club Take Me To Your Chateau.

ABC Challenge: R

Happy December!! Today's post features China Glaze Ruby Pumps and Running In Circles. Enjoy!

ABC Challenge: Q

Hello, lovely people! Today I have the totally delicious OPI Quarter Of A Cent-Cherry to share with you. This is such a completely yummy deep red creme - if I'd had it over winter it just may have been my go-to shade. Also, today's photos feature my right hand (shock horror!!) as my left hand (which I usually paint / photograph / post) had a couple of boo-boos that made my nails go bye-bye. The nails on my right / dominant hand still had a bit of length to them, and I wanted to keep painting, so you get to see my other hand! For any of you bloggers out there who always photograph your dominant hands, and I know there are a few of you, I salute you!! Photographing your dominant hand is HARD! There was a lot of not particularly flattering balancing going on to get these shots... Anyway, on with the show!

I used two coats of Quarter Of A Cent-Cherry for these photos, and no top coat. Yup, all that glossy goodness is simply the polish. This polish was released by OPI when they hit 25 years old (gee, really, I never would have guessed... XP). Completely delicious, completely creamy and apart from my talent of drowning my cuticles in hard-to-remove colour, it applies like a dream.

Sometime last month, longer ago than I'll care to admit, a good friend of mine sent me a photo on Facebook and said "CAN YOU DO THIS???!!!? It'd be so cool!!!", or words to that effect. I'm sorry it's taken me SOO long, Becky, but here's my version of what you sent me! I know it's not dead on, but I wanted to play, sorry!

The original image was essentially what I've got on my index and pinky fingers - bloody blood drips. This was actually harder than I thought it was going to be - I couldn't get the 'drip' shape, and ended up with kinda awkward bulgy lines instead. Oh well, blood will do what it likes! (Disclaimer: I used nail polish, not blood!).

I'd recently ordered and received the latest Bundle Monster stamping plates and wanted to play with them, so I used a couple for the thumb, middle and ring fingers. This is Quarter Of A Cent-Cherry stamped over two coats of OPI Bubble Bath. I wanted a nice light girly nude under the bloody mess XD.

You see how this would've been great for a Halloween post if I'd gotten my shiz together? *sigh* sometimes I just fail at life LOL. Getting into the Christmas spirit with the next post - there's a sneaky peek up on Instagram but come by and see the full post soon! Thanks for stopping by ^_^.

ABC Challenge: O

Hello there! I know, slack blogger is still slack, but I've had SO many new beautiful new babies to play with lately (ordered online, and also my local Farmers (NZ equivalent of Target) has just started stocking Essie polishes - previously unavailable in stores here!!) so I haven't been concentrating on getting blog posts ready - sorry! >.< I'd like to say I'll get better but in all honesty, there's a strong likelihood that I'll stay as slack as ever especially as we get into the crazy holiday retail season! Anywho, today I have a nice bold PINK to share with you for 'O'. Presenting Sinful Colors Oasis.

We Interrupt This Programme...

... to bring you the most intensely pic-heavy post you ever did see. I was completely committed to continuing with the Alphabet Challenge, but then those scheming little devils at OPI went and released a bright shiny new Christmas collection!! Wahh!! 

I picked up six of the 18 available polishes - three of the 'core' shades and three of the Liquid Sands. Click on through, but get your scrolling finger ready - there's a LOT to look at!

ABC Challenge: N

Hidey ho there, reader! I finally got a day off so I thought it was about time I post somethin' new! We're up to the letter 'N', and I (finally) settled on OPI No Room For The Blues. More over the jump!

ABC Challenge: M

Hiya! Two posts in two days? Woah!! I know, I'm shocked too XD. Let's get on with it! I've got a double whammy for you today - M is for OPI My Paprika Is Hotter Than Yours and My Chihuahua Bites!

ABC Challenge: K

K? K! Hiya guys! Today's post is brought to you by the letter 'K'! Our featured polish is China Glaze Kinetic Candy. Onwards!

ABC Challenge: I

Hello! Yes, I've been slack again, my bad! We suddenly lost two full-timers at work so I've been covering a LOT of hours (yay more money for polish!!) so I just haven't had the time to polish / post! I've got a few posts lined up now so we should be good for a wee while =P.

Right - we're up to 'I', and I chose OPI In The Cable Car-Pool Lane from the San Francisco collection. This is definitely a Fall / Winter colour, but I'm rocking it in Spring, 'cause I can XD click through to see how I made it more Spring-friendly ^_^

ABC Challenge: E

Hello, lovely people! Super super quick post today - I didn't even do any nail art for this feature polish because it's SO darn gorgeous on its own! I present to you - OPI Every Month Is Octoberfest!

I used ONE COAT for these photos - how cool is that?? I don't even know how to describe this polish... It's like a deep blue base with red micro glitter, I guess? Which makes it look purple, but it's still blue and red separately at the same time... Yeah... XD

The shimmer in this is crazy beautiful. For me it was visible in all different lighting, which is almost unheard of for shimmer! I didn't use a top coat - all that shiiiiine is just the polish.

It's a bit darker than polishes I like to wear on an every day basis, but as far as one-coat Autumn/Winter shades go, this is hard to beat. Flawless application (even with my terribly lazy unsteady method of slathering it on) and the shimmer really lifts it so it's not *so* dark. Completely wearable if you're a bit bolder than I am!

And a nice close up of that yummy deep red shimmer to finish up. Sorry it's such a plain post tonight - I'll be back into nail-arting for tomorrow's post ^_^. Thanks for stopping by!!

ABC Challenge: C

Well hello again, friends! Welcome to day 3 of my ABC Challenge! As mentioned at the end of yesterday's post, I had no idea what I was gonna do for 'C', and since I'm crazy-indecisive, I decided to jam two (and a half) polishes into this post so I didn't have to choose which one to showcase. I'mma make today's one nice and quick - here's OPI Can't Find My Czechbook and Charged Up Cherry!

ABC Challenge: B

Hi hi! Okay so I lied a little bit, I'm a day late with this post, but I have a legit reason! I know it sounds stupid, but my cat walked across my keyboard while I was editing in Photoshop and kinda reset all my settings, and changed some I didn't even know about. It took some pretty serious Googling to get everything back, but I'm sorted now, so on with the challenge!