Sunday, February 26, 2012

:(

Hey everyone! Sorry for the big gap since my last post. My return to GildedNails was a little hampered by some unexpected events - my husband was made redundant from his job a couple weeks ago and then the day after, he was involved in a crazy freak accident at our new house while renovating and hurt his arm very badly. An enourmous 200kg+ aircon unit fell on his arm! I saw the whole thing happen and it was terrible. The final straw, was my laptop packing it in last week! 

After all these crazy and stressful events, I actually decided to just give up on blogging completely. I couldn't see how I could put time into nail polish when so many serious things were going on in my life which required all my energy.  I just feel like I'm full of excuses at the moment for why I'm not blogging and I hate that.... I have neglected my blog so badly over the past few months :( But my husband convinced me I should keep going, so I'm going to try...... I don't know if I will succeed, but it would kill me to have to give this up for good.....

Until my laptop gets fixed, I will be blogging from my iPad, which really isn't that easy. I haven't found a decent photo editing app yet so watermarks and cropping etc is all over the shop! The laptop is being fixed on Thursday so hopefully iPad blogging is only temporary. So apologies in advance for the next post which was done completely on the iPad. Apple really needs to hurry up and figure out some decent apps for blogging! Or maybe I'm an idiot and just haven't looked properly on the App Store. Any suggestions are appreciated.....






Tuesday, January 24, 2012

BYS High Impact Polishes (and an explanation for being MIA!)

Hey everyone! As you may or may not have noticed, I have been MIA since making my "comeback" after my wedding/honeymoon last year. But I really do have a good reason for not blogging over the past couple of months! My hubby and I bought a house at the beginning of November 2011 and since December we have been engaged in a HUGE renovation project. Unfortunately, I have also been a little unwell for the past few months. It wasn't anything life threatening but it was enough to knock me around for a little while. As a result, the thought of blogging while working full time and renovating a house (while still running the house we are living in at the moment) was just completely overwhelming!

Thankfully, the renovations are progressing well, and I'm feeling a little better, so I thought I'd log back in to my little nail blog and write a post! As a result of my haitus, I ended up with a whole stack of polishes that I hadn't reviewed. I considered just starting fresh and not bothering to catch up on the stuff I hadn't reviewed, but a lot of the polishes I have been sent over the past few months are really, really nice! So instead, I'm going to do a few catchup reviews in between showing you some new stuff I have received (like China Glaze ElectroPop! SQUEEEE!).

For my first post back, I'm going to do a "catchup" post featuring swatches of three BYS polishes from the High Impact range. There isn't a lot of info available about this collection online, but from what I can tell, they are a range of brightly coloured polishes which have been released for the Spring/Summer season here in Australia and are being sold by Fashion Addict.  Brightly coloured clothes, shoes and accessories are right on trend at the moment, so I'm loving these polishes!




High Impact Blue - Electric blue frost. Normally I would steer clear of frosts but this is just stunning! Unlike most other frosts I have tried, High Impact Blue applied really well and there were only minimal brush stroke marks. When I first opened the bottle, I was convinced that this polish would be really thin and sheer, but I was pleasantly surprised when I realised I would only need two coats! I have always loved vivid blues like this and will generally wear them with any outfit, but if you really want to be on trend, try pairing this nail polish with some bright orange or lime green clothes and accesories!




High Impact Green - Sheer yellow/green frost with silvery green microshimmer. Unfortunately, High Impact Green isn't for me, only because the colour doesn't suit my skin tone in my opinion. However, I think darker skinned beauties could rock this polish for sure! There was still some VNL after two coats, so it might be worth layering this polish over white or another green if you wanted the colour to really pop and be opaque. With that said, the shimmer is really gorgeous and it has a super glossy finish!



High Impact Purple - Vivid purple with fuschia microshommer. Absolutely gorgeous! I love how bright this polish is and the way the microshimmer flashes in the light. The formula was faultless so I only needed two coats. If you are like me you can't get enough of the colour blocking trend, then pair this polish with orange or lime clothing and accessories. 


You can probably guess that the Blue and Purple are my faves out of the three! But I think the best thing about these polishes is the price. Fashion Addict sells BYS High Impact polishes for only $4.95AUD which is a total bargain! There are three other colours available as well, being Aqua, Orange and Pink. High Impact Orange is calling my name for sure! 

On a final note, I'm really glad to be back blogging again! Over the past few months I kind of forgot how much I love nail polish and the way it allows you to express so much about your personality. I have had so much fun going through my collection the past few days and organising my ideas for future posts. Here's hoping 2012 will allow me to put a lot of energy into my blog and doing something I really love! 


The items featured in this post were provided for review. For further information on GildedNails' Disclosure Policy, please click here.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

OPI The Muppets "Muppettes" Minis


Hey everyone! Today I have swatches of the four OPI Muppets colours featured in the "Muppettes" Mini pack. I have been impatiently waiting for the launch of this collection ever since I saw some swatches at the Touring America launch party I went to back in August and I'm so excited that it is finally available!

The Muppettes Minis pack contains one of the six glitters in the 12 piece collection, Excuse Moi! and three of the other polishes. At first, I was a little disappointed that Rainbow Connection wasn't in the pack, and I wasn't sure I liked the other three polishes in there, but after swatching them I quickly changed my mind!

Wocka Wocka!
- Rich red with microshimmer. Normally, I wouldn't gravitate towards a red like this because I feel like shimmery reds can sometimes be a little dated, but Wokka Wokka! was pure red perfection. Not only did it look fabulous on my nails, it applied flawlessly with one coat! I used two for the pics just for consistency. I did notice however that the shimmer is more pronounced in the bottle than on the nail, but you could still see flashes of it once applied. There was only one small problem with this polish - it stained my nails big time! You definitely need to wear a base coat with this polish. Overall though, a really great Christmas red!



Excuse Moi!
- Warm pink jelly-ish base with silver microglitter and tonnes of multi-coloured hex glitter - green, blue, pink, orange, yellow and silver. Without a doubt, one of the best glitters OPI has ever created. The base colour was ridiculously opaque and the glitter applied evenly over the nail without clumping or dragging. This was only two coats. So pretty!



Designer... de Better!
- Pale gold/silver foil with sparse copper foil particles. I have about a dozen silver foils in my collection, but nothing like this! I'm really loving this variation on the classic silver foil. It applied really smoothly and only required two thin coats.



Warm & Fozzie
- Brown-bronze, gold and pink foil particles with a slight duochrome effect suspended in a dark black/brown base. This is a really unusual colour and I was a little unsure whether I would like it or not, but it actually works! Once applied, the foil particles kind of meld together to give an overall gold foil effect with flashes of the other colours. The first coat was a little thin, and I was thinking that three would be necessary, but it only needed two coats in the end.



Overall, I'm pretty impressed with this Minis pack. Warm & Fozzie is probably my favourite out of the four because I don't really have anything like it, but Excuse Moi! comes a close second! Since I liked these four so much, I decided to purchase the whole collection! Naturally, when I get those in the mail, I'll do some more swatches.

This OPI Muppettes Minis pack is part of the limited edition Muppets Collection which is available at selected salons and David Jones nationally, for $24.95RRP incl. GST. For stockists phone 1800 358 999 or visit www.opi.net.au.

Which ones have you picked up??






The items featured in this post were provided for review. For further information on GildedNails' Disclosure Policy, please click here.


Monday, October 31, 2011

Ozotic Mish Mash #532 (pic heavy!)


Hey everyone! Hope you have all had a fantastic weekend! For my first post back I have swatches of one of the new Ozotic polishes I picked up last week from piCture pOlish.

Ozotic #532 is one of four new polishes in the "Mish Mash" range - aka, the most freakin awesome range of polishes ever! I honestly couldnt believe my eyes when I saw the bottle - it's like Ozotic Holographic #509 had a baby with Ozotic Multi Chromatic #505. Yes, you heard right - linear holo AND multichromatic!!!

Depending on the angle and lighting, #532 flashes either a bright turquoise or lilac and the holo effect is outstanding, even in low lighting. This was two coats over a coat of OPI Black Onyx. I had no issues with application - the polish was the perfect consistency and applied smoothly, without pooling or dragging.









I thought I'd try out #532 on its own as well and although it achieved opacity after three coats, I am inclined to say that this polish should be layered over an opaque base colour. I think it would also look great over a dark blue or purple base.



Being a holo addict, I am completely in awe of this polish! The photos just don't do it justice. I adore the combination of holo and multichromatic and for this reason, this is hands down the best holo in my collection now!

There's only one downside to this polish - it was not cheap!! This one set me back $14AUD which is a little steep. However, for such a unique creation, I'm willing to fork out the extra cash! Naturally, I couldnt resist and I bought the other three Mish Mash polishes in the range as well, so I will try and get swatches of those done asap!

What do you think of #532? 

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Bali Bliss!

 
Hey everyone! After two amazing weeks in Bali, my husband (still sounds weird to say that haha) and I are back home! We had the most fabulous time on our honeymoon! After all the stress of the wedding, my health issues and trying to buy a house straight after the wedding, it was so nice to get away from it all and spend some time relaxing and enjoying life!

I have some pics of our honeymoon to show you but before I get to my happy snaps, I just want to say how grateful I am to all my loyal readers and followers. In all honesty, I have avoided logging into my blog for the past couple of months because I was worried that I would see readers disappearing and my blog slowly dying as a result of the lack of posts. But you are all still here! I am so humbled by your by your continuing support of my blog while I got married and dealt with my other issues! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Well I should probably stop gushing and get to the pics! Micheal and I spent the first five days of the honeymoon at the gorgeous Villa Raja, in Canggu. This was the part of the honeymoon that you all helped us win last year! Villa Raja has very traditional Balinese architecture with an amazing pool that overlooks luscious rice fields. We were also very lucky to have a private chef at Villa Raja who cooked the most delicious Balinese food I have ever eaten!

For the rest of the time, we were at Sentosa Villas & Spa in Seminyak. These Villas were sooo luxurious! I have never stayed in such a swish hotel! Most nights we headed out to restaurants in the area to have dinner and drinks, but for my birthday, Micheal organised a private breakfast and dinner in the Villa and during the day, we went to a spa for a day of pampering. It was without a doubt, the most amazing birthday ever! 




(I can't get this slideshow to centre! I have tried everything and nothing is working. If anyone has any tips, let me know! :P)

Now that I'm back, I'm not putting any pressure on myself with the blog (because if I'm stressed about it, what's the point of doing it!), but I have a list of reviews to get through, so I'll be back with another blog post really soon!!