ALL The Colours!!

Well hello there, friends! I have something bright and colourful to share with you today to get back into the swing of blogging. I've been MIA from here for a couple of reasons - 1) my nails took a serious beating when I was working on a construction site a few weeks ago, and I've been waiting for them to grow into something paintable, and 2) I got lazy and decided to post everything straight to Instagram instead of writing it up here - sorry! Last night I did the first properly nail-arty mani I've done in ages, and I knew it was time to share. I give you: ALL the colours!!

This one's pretty pic heavy so click through to see more ^_^

Marvelous Minnie Minis

Hello, lovely people! Today I've got a particularly photo heavy post for you. I couldn't choose which of the four new Couture de Minnie mini polishes I wanted to show you, so I decided to share them all =D. OPI put out a Vintage Minnie collection last(?) year, and I guess they were popular enough to keep that train a-running, so the bright brand spankin' new Couture de Minnie collection appeared. Aside from the four I've got for you today, there's also a glitter polish in the collection that I didn't pick up. It's called Minnie Style and has red, pink and white hexagonal glitter in a clear base. Personally I'm not crazy about large-ish glitters in clear bases so I gave it a miss, but if you're into that kinda thing, I've heard it's got a great, easy-to-place formula. Anyway, onto what I DO have!

I love how OPI's mini bottles are perfect mini-scale versions of their regular bottles - makes me feel like a giant! ^_^

Click through to see swatches of each polish in its own glory.

So The World Will Never Find You

Hi hi hi! A super quick one for you today - I'm just about to head off to rehearsal for Phantom of the Opera! I know I haven't been posting lately so I thought I'd pop one up just to keep things fresh until I have a bit more time. Check out my Masquerade Mani! 

I've discovered Sinful Colors nail polish at my local pharmacy and my gosh - LOVE! This stuff stays on like you wouldn't believe, and the formulas have been something out of a dream. This is two coats of Sinful Colors GoGo Girl. The mask is a water-decal from Born Pretty Store. It's my first time using water-decals and I can already tell these are going to become a staple of the quick and easy nail art pile!

Something was missing, so I added black rhinestones for a bit more darkness ;-).

And that's all I've got time for - sorry loves! If you're in the Wellington (NZ) area, Phantom of the Opera opens this Thursday 13 June, and goes til the 5th July, on at the St James Theatre in Wellington. Come see me! It's a freakin' incredible production - sure to be a massive crowd pleaser! Thank you so much for stopping by, and take care, lovelies ^_^.

Holo, Is It Me You're Looking For?

Well hello to you! I've got a quick one for you today - I'm in hospital at the moment, but I got some day leave today so I did my nails (of course!) and had a play with some polishes that arrived while I've been away. I HAD to share this one!! It's a polish from the China Glaze 'Holographic' collection, called Infra Red. It's my first proper 'holo' and I could NOT stop staring at this absolutely stunning polish!

Even though it's called Infra Red, it's definitely more of a dark pink, don'tcha think?

Look at that rainbow shimmer!! This is what sets 'holo' polishes apart - that breathtaking, ever-stare-worthy flashing rainbow on your tips. This was bad lighting, rushed photography and I had no idea how to photograph to show off the intense holo-ness, but even from these crappy photos, you still get an idea of the amazingness! Yes, I walked into things because I was staring at my nails - we've all done it, and this polish deserves it!

Mmmmmm rainbowy goodness... I used two coats for these photos, and I used INM Out The Door fast-dry top coat... that was a mistake. The holo finish is much MUCH more obvious without topcoat, but as I said, this was a rush job so I didn't bother to take it off and start again... Sorry! Maybe in the future I'll take better snaps - I just had to share!

Yep, I'm hooked, and can you blame me!? I definitely wanna get my greedy little paws on some more holo polishes. There's nothing like this in my collection, and it's getting lonely there by itself =P. Must be time to save up and do a proper haul...

Have you tried a holo polish yet? Were you pleased or disappointed? I'd love to hear any stories you have - I'm always interested in fellow polish-holic experiences! =)

Hopefully I'll be back in full swing soon so keep checkin' in. Hope you're all smiling your lovely smiles! Thanks for reading ^_^

- Ally xx

Suzi's Flowers

Well hello there, friends! Yes, I know I've been AWOL for a loooong while now but I have plans to make it up to you! Without going into too much detail, I've been battling some pretty serious depression and painting my nails just hasn't been at the top of my priority list. I'm on the way up though, and I have plans for a good solid comeback *rubs hands together while emitting evil laugh*.

Ahem.

On today's menu I have a comparison of two OPI pinks - Flower to Flower and Suzi's Hungary Again! - the latter from the relatively recent 'Euro Centrale' collection. First up I just wanna say that I luh-uh-uh-ove the formula for the Euro Centrale cremes - Suzi's Hungary Again!, You're Such a Budapest, Can't Find My Czech-book and My Paprika is Hotter than Yours! all have totally delish two coat creamy formulas that glide like butter and shine like jelly. If you've been eyeing up any of the collection, those are the ones I'd recommend. The others are lovely, but those 4 cremes are something truly special. 

For these photos I used two coats of Suzi's Hungary Again! with a top coat of Seche Vite because I'm as impatient as... Someone who's impatient, I guess!?

As mentioned above this totally delish two coater glides on like heaven, and without a top coat it's just as glossy. There is a very very subtle pink shimmer in this baby that my camera didn't capture (a tone-matching shimmer that's present in My Paprika is Hotter than Yours! too). This doesn't affect the look of the polish or make it any less creamy (read: dreamy), but apparently it's a little trick to get the polish more even in appearance so even those of us who are useless at applying polish evenly can get away with this one.

As I decided where on my shelves of polishes to make this polish's home, it looked pretty darn similar to OPI Flower to Flower which came out in a Spring collection a couple of years ago. I'll use any excuse to paint my nails some more, so I grabbed FtF off the shelf and did a quickie comparison.

They look more similar in their bottles than they do on the nail, granted, but it must've been dim lighting that day because the differences in these two are huge. As you can see SHA gives off a more neon-orangey glow when next to a pink pink, and FtF has a much more obvious silvery shimmer. I used two coats of FtF but didn't bother putting a top coat on.

Even though they look nothing alike in these photos, I'm still happy I decided to check, if only because it meant I got to play with FtF again. It's such a Barbie pink that I hardly ever use it, and haven't brought myself to wear it out of the house yet. Just not my colour... 

Do you have any favourites from the Euro Centrale collection? Can you get away with the PINK Barbie pinks? Look forward to next time - the comeback will officially commence soon! 

Thanks for checking in, lovelies ^_^

Quick n Dirty

Well hello there, strangers. I trust you've all had amazing and relaxing wonderful New Years, Januarys and half Februarys! To crack into the new year of blogging, I've got a couple of quick n' simple silver / grey manis for you. First up: I was feeling musical.

Do you remember how I was in a local production of Hairspray last year? Well the next show is Phantom of the Opera (SO freakin' excited!!!) and yesterday was the presentation for all auditonees to get a snapshot of the new set design / general creative jist of the show. That put me in a super excited musical mood, so I thought I'd share some (poorly) stamped musical nails.

This mani is two coats of China Glaze Pelican Gray, with a coat of OPI Pirouette My Whistle over top. Accent nails are two coats of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls from the Spiderman Collection, stamped in a generic black using fauxnad (Konad knock off) plate m73. All topped off with a coat of Cult Nails Wicked Fast.

Yeeeeah so my stamping was terrible at best, but it gets the point across, don'tcha think? I'm obviously out of practice... Will make an effort to improve, promise!

Next up is the mani I'm still wearing. This is China Glaze Glistening Snow. Freakin' gorgeous!!!

This baby is tricky to capture with my lighting setup (ie: my bedside lamp...) because whenever it's in direct unfiltered lamplight, it just looks silver, and it's NOT! It's every colour ever, in a beautiful sparkly, shimmery, dancing mosaic of gorgeousness. Can you tell I like it?

For these photos I used three coats, with a coat of Wicked Fast to set it. I've found with this one the more coats you use, the more intense the sparkle becomes. I'm so madly in love with this polish, you don't even know. It's become my go-to 'happy polish'. I mean, I like all my polishes, but this one always makes me smile.

My mum and I have an ongoing in-joke about owls (long terrible pun-filled story), and I got her this silver owl ornament for Christmas last year, and he goes perfectly with this polish, so I had to include him in the shoot!

So there ya go, quick n' dirty! What's your favourite polish that can always lift your mood? Do you have a favourite musical? Thanks for stopping by - hope to see you again soon!