Friday, January 28, 2011

Rescue Beauty Lounge - Stormy

Before I get stuck into today's post I just want to say thank you so much to everyone who sent me well wishes in my last post. I actually inspected my finger again today and the majority of the damage is on the underside of the finger. So I'm hoping I'll be able to get back to swatching sooner than I thought!

In the mean time, today I have photos of Rescue Beauty Lounge's Stormy which I took about a week or so back. A couple of my followers suggested I do an RBL month since I have a few (*cough cough*) RBL polishes and I had started compiling the shots of my collection. So until I get back on track, I think I will show you all the photos of what I have so far!

Stormy is exactly as the name suggests - a stormy grey creme. I absolutely love the colour, but found application was a little streaky - you can see the patches on my ring finger. It has been ridiculously hot here in Sydney the past couple of weeks (think 100°F to 104°F!) so I have a feeling this polish was doing all sorts of crazy things because of the weather!

Apart from that tiny little issue, Stormy dried really quickly and looked fabulous!

Natural Light

Natural Light

Indoor Lighting



Thursday, January 27, 2011

OUCH!

Hey everyone! Sorry for the lack of posts the past couple of days. I was super busy at the beginning of the week and then unfortunately yesterday I cut a finger on my left hand (my swatching hand!!!) really badly, so I don't think I will be able to take some photos for at least a week or so.....  This is really upsetting because I am expecting OPI Texas collection, Katie Perry collection and China Glaze Anchor's Away collection any day now *cries*

This is what my hand looks like at the moment....


No need to watermark that photo! Don't think anyone is going to want to steal that one! Ha!

Luckily, I have some swatches of some other random polishes which I'll post over the coming days, but unfortunately the new collections are going to have to wait until my hand is better! x

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Nubar Charmeuse

Hey everyone! I hate to do this, but this is going to be another quick post. 

Today I'm wearing Charmeuse from Nubar's recent Finest Silks collection.  Charmeuse is a pink creme that leans brown. I used two coats here. This colour is a bit old fashioned I guess, but I love it! I don't own a lot of Nubar polishes, but all of the ones I have tried have applied like a dream and Charmeuse is no exception.

Natural Light

Natural Light

Indoors with flash

Do you love it or loathe it?

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Rimmel Sky High

No chit chat for this post. It was a beautiful sunny day here in Sydney today so I spent the whole day out by the pool and I think I cooked my brain!

Rimmel Sky High is a blue leaning turquoise cream. I applied this really quickly, so apologies for the messiness! Sky High was a little thick for my liking, but it dried very quickly (living up to its name!).  It is the perfect summer colour to compliment the gorgeous weather we are having this weekend. This was two coats.



On a side note, my NARS Giveaway is now closed. Thanks to everyone who entered! I'll have the winner up some time this week. x

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Rescue Beauty Lounge - Smitten

Today I saw this post by Michelle at ALU about Rescue Beauty Lounge's new Spring 2011 collection and my instant reaction was "ohhhhhhhh I must own these!"

And then I remembered that a couple of months ago I went through a bit of an RBL craze and purchased quite a few polishes from the RBL collection... When I saw a few, I mean this many.....


I know... I'm insane.... I don't know why I bought so many.... They are so expensive and I am still paying them off my credit card... But since I have them, I thought that I should give them some more love on my blog, since I haven't really swatched a lot of the colours... And no, I will not be buying the new collection... Even though that dusty lavender is to die for... 

Getting back on track,  today I have Smitten on my nails which is light pink creme. Ji calls it a "light lilac pink creme" on her site, but I'm not seeing the lilac.



 No Flash

No Flash

This polish is a gorgeous colour, but application wasn't great. Being such an opaque creme, it was really streaky, even on the second coat, so I had to add a third. Because the polish is a bit on the thick side, the third coat made my nails look kind of lumpy.

Despite these issues, after a coat of Poshe, it actually dried quite evenly and the end result is fantastic. You can still see some patches in the photos, but you can't see these on my nails. I have a bit of a tan at the moment and Smitten looks fantastic against my skin, so maybe I'm a little biased!

What do you think of this colour?

Before I sign off, just a quick reminder that there are only a few more hours left to get your name down for my NARS Zulu Giveaway, so make sure you check it out! x

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

China Glaze LOL

Hey everyone! 

Today I have another holo polish for you - China Glaze's LOL from the OMG collection. 

Before I get to the polish, I just want to say sorry for not writing back to comments at the moment! I have been soooo busy with work and wedding planning, and my comment replies are definitely suffering. Things should be a little quieter at work tomorrow so I will try and reply to all the comments then! 

Ok, back to the polish! LOL is a gorgeous holographic purple polish. In regular lighting the holo effect isn't that prominent but in bright lighting it really shines! I have read over and over again that LOL is a PITA to apply, but I honestly did not have any problems whatsoever with application. I actually found it to be really smooth and easy to apply! I used two coats, with no base or top coat. What do you think?




On the topic of holo polishes, I have been searching high and low on the internet for China Glaze's Tronica collection but cannot find it *cries*.... If any lovely US bloggers would be willing to help me get my hands on it, please send me an email at gildednails@hotmail.com. I would be eternally grateful! x

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

OPI Back to the Beach Peach

Hey everyone! The past couple of days I have been super busy with wedding stuff, but I had to take a quick break from it to show you this gem I found on evilBay a couple of weeks back.

I had been on a no buy for over a month and then one day I found an old post on a blog featuring peach and coral colours and it made me start lemming discontinued OPI polishes!

OPI's Back to the Beach Peach is from the 2006 Flip Flop Fabulous collection from what I can tell, so it is a long discontinued colour. I wouldn't normally post discontinued colours, but this baby is hot!

In some lighting it appears really coral, and then in others it is more of an orange peach and then in other lighting it is flat out pink! I love polishes that do that! It stops me from getting bored with them!

I have included a whole bunch of photos in differnt lighting to try and give you an idea of how this colour changes.

Before the photos, just a quick reminder that my NARS New Year Giveaway closes in three days so make sure you get your name down for it! I clicked over the 400 follower mark today, so stay tuned for another giveaway really soon to celebrate this milestone!!



More photos after the jump!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Stylish Blogger Award

The other day I got tagged by the lovely Jenny from Polishology for the Stylish Blogger Award! 


Thank you so much Jenny! I am still a little shocked that people even read my blog, so to get an award from a fellow blogger is a fantastic affirmation of the work I put into this page! I really love blogging and I love all the comments and feedback I get from all of my fantastic followers as well! 

The Rules for this award are as follows:
1.  Thank and link the person who gave you this award.
2.  Share 7 things about yourself.
3.  Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers
4.  Contact these bloggers to tell them about this award!
 
So here goes with the 7 little facts about me:

1. I am legally qualified and will be admitted as a lawyer in February. I also work as a makeup artist on the side.

2. I am obsessed with blush and have nearly 80 different blushes... So I tend to look "flushed" all the time! ha!

3. I used to own a pet rat called Ratamus.. I'm so creative huh?

4. If I watch a horror flick, I have to sleep with my bedside lamp on for at least a week afterward (in all honesty, it's probably more like three weeks!).
 
5. I have a phobia of feet.... they are down right GROSS!

6. I'm a secret Twi-hard (Team Edward!), and more recently have become obsessed with The Vampire Diaries... but I don't tell anyone this, because it could damage my street-cred, so keep this one to yourself....

7. I love eating. I eat all the time. I don't eat to live, I live to eat..... Seriously, I start planning dinner at breakfast!

And now on to the people I am tagging! I tried to put as many new bloggers in there as I could, but there were some that I just couldn't leave out of the list!


Make sure you check these blogs out! x

Monday, January 10, 2011

Borghese Stellar Notte

Today I have some swatches of Borghese Stellar Notte which I received from the lovely Carli aka Konad-licious in a recent swap.

I hate swatching a nail polish when my nails aren't perfect (according to my standards anyway!) but I hate not posting on here even more! So, on to the swatches!

Stellar Notte is a really complex and unique polish. It's a little hard to describe as well! The base is definitely blue/green and it is packed with purple, green and blue shimmer. 


Of course, such a complex colour was a total PITA to photograph! So I have included a stack of photos in different lighting to give you an idea of how gorgeous it is!

Check out the pics after the jump!

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Born Pretty Discount Code


Hey everyone!

The lovely Jessica at Born Pretty Store contacted me during the week to offer my readers a coupon code for a discount when purchasing items from their store. 

Born Pretty Store has a whole stack of nail art items at very reasonable prices and they also ship worldwide for FREE!

Simply enter GILDEDK31 at the checkout to receive a 10% on your purchase! The coupon is valid until 31 March 2011 so you have a bit of time to browse their store and figure out what to buy. 

Happy shopping! x

Saturday, January 8, 2011

China Glaze Strawberry Fields

Quick post today! I'm super tired!

China Glaze Strawberry Fields graced my nubbins today (my poor middle finger - it looks so sad!).

This polish is a gorgeous warm pink with gold glass flecks. I love it enough that I think I'll re-swatch it when my nails grow out again!

This was three coats.



I'm off to bed now! x

Thursday, January 6, 2011

China Glaze TTYL and CG Tronica

I still have ugly nubbins after that bad break the other day, so I have gone into the vault for today's post.

TTYL is a light peach holo from the China Glaze Spring 2008 OMG! collection.



I absolutely love holos but sadly I don't own that many. I wasn't into nails when the OMG! collection or Kaleidoscope collection came out in 2008 and 2009. I have tried to track down as many as I can on eBay but I can't bring myself to pay the 25-30USD that most sellers want for the polishes.

However, I won't have to despair for much longer because China Glaze is bringing out another limited holographic nail polish collection in the next few weeks called Tronica.

The collection will contain the following 12 colours:
  • Techno Teal – Turquoise Holographic
  • Virtual Violet – Violet Holographic
  • Electra Magnenta – Magenta Holographic
  • Gamer Glam – Purple Holographic
  • High Def -  Blue Holographic
  • Hologram -  Silver Holographic
  • Hyper Haute – Rasberry Holographic
  • 3D Fantasy – Peachy Pink Holographic
  • Digital Dawn – Dusty Rose Holographic
  • Cyberspace – Taupe Holographic
  • Mega Bite – Gold Holographic
  • Laser Lime – Lime Green Holographic
I am meant to be on a no-buy at the moment but I will definitely be ordering the entire collection when it is released! Which ones do you have your eye on? 

Don't forget to put your name down for my NARS Zulu Giveaway! x

Monday, January 3, 2011

Essie Winter 2010 Part 2


Hey Everyone!

How are all your New Year resolutions coming along? I don't generally make any resolutions, but I promised myself I would start eating healthy now and exercise more so that I'm in good shape for the wedding. Unfortunately it has been hard to stick to this while on holidays! I head back home in a couple of days, so I'll jump on the wagon then!

Today I have Part 2 of the Essie Winter 2010 Collection for you.

Being the genius I am, I didn't realise I had stained cuticles from other swatches when I took these photos. Freakin awesomeness! I was going to re-do them, but of course, I broke a nail today - double awesomeness! 

Check out my mega craptastic swatches after the jump! 

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Deborah Lippmann - Bad Romance

Happy New Year Everyone!

For my first post of 2011 I was going to show you Part 2 of the Essie Winter Collection, but my swatches didn't turn out the best, so I'm going to show you my NYE mani instead!!

I am currently in Queensland visiting family, so a crazy nail art design was out of the question. However, I still wanted something a little bit special for the night so I decided to wear Deborah Lippmann's Bad Romance. I'm sure you have all seen it a million times before, but here it is all the same!


Bad Romance has a sheer black jelly base with small purple glitter and larger purple hex glitter.

The first coat is a little streaky and patchy but a second coat evens it out perfectly. I suggest you wait for the first coat to dry before adding the second coat otherwise the hex glitter moves around and ends up lumping up at the end of the nail. I only used two coats but a third wouldn't hurt.

Sadly, BR chipped on my pinky and pointer after only a few hours but I think it is because I used Poshe instead of Seche QD.


Here is a pic in different light, which gives a better indication of the colour of the glitter.


I promise I'll get those Essie swatches up asap!
 
I hope you all had a fabulous New Years Eve and that 2011 is a year filled with joy, happiness and success! x