GildedNails

:(

2012-02-26T18:23:00.000+11:00

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.....

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

2012-01-24T16:05:00.000+11:00

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.

OPI The Muppets "Muppettes" Minis

2011-11-05T14:37:00.003+11:00

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.

Ozotic Mish Mash #532 (pic heavy!)

2011-10-31T23:11:00.000+11:00

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?

Bali Bliss!

2011-10-23T18:09:00.014+11:00

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!!

Best-laid plans......

2011-09-26T14:52:00.001+10:00

What's that famous saying??? "The best-laid plans of mice and men / Often go awry".... My best-laid plans definitely went awry in the past few weeks! I don't want to bore you with a million excuses about why I haven't been blogging, so I'll give you the Reader's Digest version - 1. We are trying to buy a house and we had all sorts of issues with that; 2. I have been a little unwell the past few weeks, but thankfully I'm feeling wayyyyy better now; and 3. My mum has been visiting from Hong Kong and had to have surgery..... Unfortunately, that's only the "newsworthy" stuff! There's more!

I know what you are all thinking - "how dare her real life interfere with blogging!!"... Well I'm sure you aren't thinking that, but that is what I am thinking! Anywho, I'm kind of back, again.... kind of... I keep saying I'm back and then I disappear and make another comeback (I feel like John Farnham with his 500000000 comeback tours!)! The reason I say "kind of" is because I am finally going on my honeymoon on Friday, so unless I find time to swatch, edit and upload enough photos before I leave, I wont be posting from Bali. I'd offer to schedule posts, but that is just far too ambitious for me I have realised!

So instead of promising the world, what I think I will say is this.... I have HEAPS to show you guys and I WILL get through it all, but it won't all happen straight away. I would love to do a post showing you my wedding mani and another post on ABBW before I go to Bali, so if I get those two done this week I'll be stoked! When I get back from Bali I can then focus on catching up on all the reviews I want to do. I think this plan is far more realistic and will take some pressure off me and allow me to enjoy my honeymoon without worrying that I have abandoned you all! Hope this is ok!? :) Lots of love!

I'm Back!!!!!

2011-09-01T21:46:00.000+10:00

Hey everyone! Just a quick post to let you all know that I am back from my wedding! Thank you to everyone who sent me messages and tweets on my wedding day! You are all so lovely! <3

Micheal and I had the most amazing day which we will never forget! I don't have any official photos yet, but here a few sneak peek photos that family and friends took!

I have soooo many reviews and posts to catch up on but I don't go on my honeymoon for another 3 weeks so I will definitely be able to get through a bit of it before we go away :D Thank you to all my lovely followers for sticking with me over the past few months. Things will definitely get back on track now and I will start posting more regularly again!

Guest Post on Also Known As - Chanel Peridot

2011-08-18T09:31:00.001+10:00

Hey everyone! Something a little different for today! Last week the lovely Kellie from Also Known As asked me to do a guest post for her and it is now live on her blog! I absolutely love Kellie and her gorgeous nails so I was super honoured to be able to do a guest post!

Check out my review of Chanel Peridot by clicking on the photo below!

Zoya Dannii (and a rant!)

2011-08-15T11:41:00.007+10:00

Hey everyone! Short and sweet post today (if you exclude the rant!) featuring Dannii from the Zoya Intimate Collection.

Dannii is named in honour of the Aussie starlet Dannii Minogue, and like it's namesake it is beautiful and feminine. I love the warmth that the gold shimmer brings to this polish.

I found Dannii to be a little on the thick side in terms of formula, but it was also super opaque so it only needed two coats. I love it when a polish is pigmented and opaque in two coats!

Dannii is available with the rest of the Intimate collection as of today! (Here in Australia that is - it has been available in the USA for a while now). Zoya products are available from Art of Beauty and selected salons, and retail for $17AUD each.

And now for my rant - since some of you may not want to read it, I have decided to put the rant after the jump!

I really had to think long and hard about whether I was going to do this post or not. I have been really disappointed with Zoya as a brand for over a month now. Not because of their products (I love their nail polish!) but with their customer service/public relations people in the USA. I have tried emailing them, tweeting them and sending messages to them on Facebook and have not got one reply!!!!

It is my understanding that Zoya has ceased it's relationship with their Aussie PR firm and I don't know whether they have a new PR here or if they have just stopped doing PR in Australia all together. I want to make it clear that my gripe is not with their former PR people here in Australia, because they have always been completely professional and have always responded to my emails/messages. My issue is with the US Zoya people who don't seem to have any desire to assist or contact any bloggers or customers outside of the USA! I have read that Canadian and European bloggers have also struggled to get a response out of Zoya USA, so I know that my experience is not a one off.

If you read this Zoya, please reconsider your apparent policy of ignoring certain categories of bloggers/customers! I know you read tweets, because I have seen you respond to other blogger's tweets at the exact same time as I have tweeted you! Please don't treat bloggers or your customers like idiots either! They will just take their money elsewhere!

This rant might mean that I never get another product to review, but that doesn't bother me. I don't blog just to get free products, I blog so that my readers can find out about my experiences with certain polishes, and that includes my experiences with the brands as well. If me being honest results in me getting blacklisted from the company, so be it.

So many other nail companies like OPI, Orly, Color Club, Essie and China Glaze all take the time to talk with bloggers/customers, so I don't understand why Zoya can't.

Sorry peeps. I don't normally rant on my blog, but I just coudn't let this one slide.

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

Another Holo Franken with SpectraFlair

2011-08-13T23:03:00.001+10:00

Hey everyone! Today I have another SpectraFlair pigment franken to show you! Just over a month ago, the awesome Chris from Custom Creation Paints sent me a stack of different pigments to use for frankens and he kindly included some SpectraFlair pigment as well. He told me to put the SpectraFlair in a clear polish and use it as a top coat, however my desire to create an OPI My Private Jet dupe trumped his advice! So I grabbed a bottle of China Glaze Liquid Leather and mixed about half a gram of the powder in.

Unlike my first franken, which had a scattered holo effect, the holo with this one was more linear. The holo effect was also not as strong as I would have liked, but it was still beautiful!

Click on the pics to get a better look :)

The light cube photos just weren't doing this franken justice so I took a few photos out of the cube to show you the holo effect. They are blurry, but you get the drift! Look at the rainbow!

It would be remiss of me not to include a little warning in this post in regard to using SpectraFlair for frankens. This powder should be used with caution and I recommend using gloves, a mask and protective eyewear when mixing this product into the polish. Better to be safe than sorry I say!

Overall, I'm quite happy with this franken. I think I still need to get a bottle of holo MPJ at some point but until I am in a position to fork out 75USD (which will be NEVER!) my SpectraFlair frankens will have to do!

Cult Nails Hypnotic Collection Swatches

2011-08-05T14:39:00.001+10:00

Hey everyone! As promised, here is the first of my scheduled "hiatus" posts featuring the Cult Nails Hypnotic collection for Fall 2011.

A few weeks back, the lovely Maria from Cult Nails contacted me to find out if I would be willing to review her new collection. Well duh!! Of course I was willing! I freakin' love Cult Nails polishes! What I didn't know at the time was that I was one of only 8 bloggers chosen to review this collection! You can imagine how excited and honoured I was to learn this!

The thing is, my excitement about this brand doesn't just stem from my unhealthy obsession with nail polish - I really do have a lot of respect for Maria and the success she has achieved with Cult Nails in such a short time! I have always wanted to start my own nail polish company and I know how much hard work is involved (this being the reason I haven't done it yet!) so I am completely in awe of Maria and her fabulous brand! She is living every nail blogger's dream and I can only hope to do the same one day!

Soooooo, now that I have got all that gushing out of my system, let's check out the swatches!

In a Trance - Olive green with green and gold microshimmer. I fell in love with this colour as soon as I saw the press image and I'm glad to say it didn't disappoint! The formula was fantastic – I only used two coats for these photos. For some reason, it looks patchy on my pointer, but I did not see that at all on my nails – it only showed up in the photos. I swear I can see a flash of pink in this as well sometimes, but unfortunately I just couldn't capture it.

Awakening – Dark dusty teal cream. I say 'cream' lightly, because the formula was quite thin and watery, which gave it an almost jelly like consistency. However, with three coats, it was completely opaque. Maria says that she wanted some core colours in her line and this is one of them. I love how glossy the finish is. Gorgeous!

Enigmatic – Dark purple/black with fuschia, blue and purple microshimmer. This one really surprised me! With the first coat, it was pretty patchy and sheer looking, but after the second coat, the microshimmer suddenly popped out! I used three coats and the end result is a gorgeous deep purple shade that has that “glow from within” appearance and a super glossy finish. This is definitely my favourite!

Hypnotize Me – Pale green jelly with blue and green microglitter. I la la love the way this looks in the bottle, however applying it was another story because the formula wasn't great. I found it to be extremely thick so I had to add about 6 drops of thinner to make it more useable. With the thinner, the formula improved a little, but I still think it will require a few more drops before I’m 100% happy with it. Hypnotize Me is intended as a layering polish so I thought I'd show you what it looks like over each of the colours in the collection. I especially loved the way it looked over Awakening.

A blurry shot to you show you the sparkle!

I also wanted to quickly mention the Cult Nails bottles and brushes. Personally, I'm not a massive fan of the bottle shape, only because I don't think it reflects the unique beauty of Maria's polishes. However, with that said, I think that she has chosen a great brush! It is a regular looking round brush with long bristles, but it is the perfect density! Not too stiff that you get patches or streaks, but not so soft that you dont have control over the brush. It fans beautifully to make application of the polish quick and easy.

Overall, I think this is a fantastic collection. The formula of Hypnotize Me is not the best, but the originality of the colour more than makes up for this!

The Cult Nails Hypnotic collection will be available to buy online at www.cultnails.com from late August/early September. Each 0.5 fl. oz. bottle sells for $10 USD. Cult Nails lacquers are DBP, Formaldehyde, Toluene, and Camphor free and are not tested on animals.

Just as an aside - I don't have a photo of what I am about to tell you because I didn't want to plug another brand in this review, buuuuuuttttt, when I was doing my swatches I had a certain blue jelly (*cough* Royal *cough*) next to me so I thought I would just quickly try Hypnotize Me over it and HOLY AMAZEBALLS BATMAN! They are a match made in heaven! I will definitely be wearing the combo as a full mani and when I do, I'll take photos and do a separate post on it!

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

OPI Touring America Launch (and Muppets sneak peek!) pic heavy

2011-08-04T10:09:00.000+10:00

Hey everyone! If you follow me on Twitter you will know that I am meant to be on a hiatus in the lead up to my wedding. However, I have sooooooo much stuff to post, I just couldn't stay away! So, what I have decided to do is try and get through my huge backlog of reviews and swatches this weekend, and then schedule posts for the next three weeks until I get married! It is a big task, but I just have so much stuff I need to show you and it just can't wait until after the wedding!

For this post, I have some pic spam from the OPI Touring America launch party which was held at the gorgeous Woollahra Post Office last night. I was ridiculously excited about this event, firstly because of the Touring America collection, but also becuase I was hoping to catch a glimpse of the Muppets holiday collection! The nail polish fairies must have been listening, because they had a full Muppets display and I was lucky enough to even have a mani done with one of the glitters, Rainbow Connection!

Rainbow Connection is a crazy, super blingy multi-coloured glitter polish. There's silver, green, pink, orange, blue and yellow regular and hex glitter all jam packed into a clear base. It is plain and simple awesome. I will definitely be getting a bottle (or two!) of this when it is released and I can't wait to try the other glitters in the collection as well (Gone Gonzo... drool!)

And now for the pics of the products featured at the Touring America launch event!

The Touring America collection, available now at selected beauty salons, spas and David Jones nationally for $19.95RRP.

OPI's new Lemon Tonic Manicure/Pedicure collection and Hibiscus Blossom Avojuice Hand & Body Lotion, available in August/September 2011. These lotions smell absolutely divine!

OPI Nice Stems collection, available in September 2011.

OPI Muppets Holiday Collection, available in October 2011.

The Muppets Holiday Collection collection nail wheel swatches - *DROOL*!

Nicole by OPI Kardashian Kolor collection, available in December 2011.

Some nail wheel swatches of the Kardashian Kolor collection. Having seen the swatches, I am actually really looking forward to this collection now! That soft pink, Kim-pletely in Love, is calling out to me!

The lovely OPI Australia ladies, about to give everyone a fabulous manicure!

Shatter by OPI available now at selected beauty salons, spas and David Jones nationally for $19.95RRP.

Serena Glam Slam! US Open duo, available in August 2011.

Nicole by OPI Texture Coat available in October 2011, and Nicole by OPI Justin Beiber - The One Less Lonely Girl collection, available now at Terry White Chemists and leading pharmacies.

Some of the entertainment at the launch party with Femme De Cirque collection and Pink Shatter.

Femme De Cirque is available now and Pink Shatter will be available in September through to October.

The gorgeous Michelle from Cosmetic Cupcake with the lovely Ruth and Bill McKendrick from International Beauty Supplies/OPI Australia.

And finally, the only photo of the night of me! The downside of taking all my own photos is that I'm never in any! I got this sneaky polaroid taken with one of the "cowboys" at the launch party! ha!

I was lucky enough to get a goodie bag with some samples of the Touring, Nice Stems and Beiber collections so I will definitely be posting those in the coming weeks!

Orly Nailtrition

2011-07-26T17:01:00.000+10:00

Hey everyone! Sorry for the week long hiatus. With just over four weeks left until the wedding, I'm running around like crazy trying to finalise all the outstanding bits and pieces. I am feeling a little stressed and tired, but I'm sure it will all come together nicely on the day!

For today, I have a review of Orly Nailtrition, which I have been using on my nails for the past three weeks. With the added stress of the wedding, I have noticed that my nails are suffering a little, so I was curious to see what this product would do for them.

According to Orly, Nailtrition works to relieve severely damaged, weak and slow-growing nails by stimulating the natural, healthy growth process. Nailtrition is infused with strength-promoting collagen, bamboo extract, protein and keratin which helps prevent and repair peeling, splitting, cracking and chipping. Orly recommends the product be applied daily for two weeks to reveal beautiful, longer and stronger nails.

As I said before, my nails were in pretty bad shape when I got this product. I normally hate extra large photos, but you need to see that they were honestly wrecked! Huge chunks of nail would peel off without any encouragement at all leaving a wafer thin piece of nail which subsequently would split and crack. This meant eternal nubbins and many tears. Check out the carnage below.

As instructed, I applied Nailtrition to my nails on a daily basis. Because it has a pink hue and a subtle shimmer in it, most times I wore it all on its own, but I also used it as a base under other polishes.

After two weeks, I definitely noticed a significant improvement in my nails. My nails felt stronger and the peeling had subsided considerably. I was pretty impressed, but I felt the product could do even more with a little more time, so I extended the trial to a third week. I think the results speak for themselves! The two photos below were taken three weeks after starting the treatment. The first one shows what the polish looks like on the nails, and the second is of my naked nails in all their glory.

You can see how my nails have grown considerably, and the new nail at the base looks pink and healthy! The tips still look a little unattractive, but there is little you can do for a nail at that point, except for file it down and wait for the healthy nail to grow out with the help of Nailtrition!

My verdict? Despite using OPI's Nail Envy for years, I am seriously considering converting to Orly Nailtrition. I'm not going to lie, I was a little skeptical as to whether this product could stop peeling and splitting in my nails, but it seems to have made a real difference to the health of my nails.

Unfortunately, because I have the coordination of a newborn colt, I broke one of my nails last week in a run in with my car door, so I'm back to nubbins again! However, the peeling and splitting is definitely subsiding and my nails are looking healthier every day! Hopefully with continued use, they will be in tip top shape for my wedding!

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

Illamasqua Fern

2011-07-19T02:00:00.000+10:00

Hey everyone! Just a quick post today featuring my new favourite blue polish, Illamasqua Fern! I got this gorgeous polish when I went to the Illamasqua Nails Masterclass back in May and I can't believe it has taken me this long to wear it because it is freakin' awesome!

Fern is a vivid blue cream packed with blue and silver microglitter. The formula was amazing. Two easy, perfect coats! I honestly do not have one complaint about this polish. Bible.

Simply stunning. I can't stop staring at my nails. Illamasqua FTW!

OPI Pink Ribbon Shatter 2011 Press Release

2011-07-18T03:00:00.001+10:00

OPI Pink Ribbon Limited Edition Lacquer: A Shattering Pink Ribbon Partnership!

"Showing your support for breast cancer during the month of October has become a fashion statement; OPI wishes to celebrate their partnership with the National Breast Cancer Foundation with their limited edition Pink Ribbon Shatter texturing treatment product, the new fashion statement in nail art.

During the month of September and October, OPI joins forces with the National Breast Cancer Foundation, for our 7th year as silver sponsors, where 100% of profits from the sale of the limited edition Pink Shatter will be donated to the Foundation.

The revolutionary new Pink Ribbon Shatter is a texturing treatment formula that transforms as it dries on your nails. When applied, OPI’s Pink Shatter begins to shatter and disappear, leaving behind a shattered effect in matte within minutes of it being applied onto an OPI lacquer shade. For a high gloss finish, seal the shatter effect by applying another coat of OPI top coat.

OPI’s Pink Shatter offers a new dimension to nail design, the cracked pattern effect, similar to a pink leopard print, offers another form of fashion statement in nails.

OPI aims to raise another $25,000 for the National Breast Cancer Foundation and assist in their funding of research programs into the prevention and cure of breast cancer, which affects 1 in 9 Australian women.

OPI’s Pink Ribbon Shatter will be available from September through to October at selected beauty salons, spas, and David Jones nationally, $19.95 RRP incl. GST. For your nearest OPI stockists contact 1800 358 999 or visit www.opi.net.au."

Chanel Mimosa Comparison

2011-07-17T06:00:00.005+10:00

Hey everyone! Today I have a comparison post for you featuring Chanel Mimosa vs. Rescue Beauty Lounge Yellow Fever and Revlon Top Speed Electric.

For someone who doesn't like yellow nail polish, I really have quite a few of them! You will see from the photos, the reason I don't like them is because they just don't suit my wintery white skin tone. However, I'm holding out for summer when I have a tan, in the hope that they will look better on me then!

I probably have about 10 yellow nail polishes in my collection but I have chosen to show you the two that I thought were closest to Mimosa. The others, like Barielle's Soul-er Powered, aren't even close, so there was no point in doing a comparison.

First up is Rescue Beauty Lounge Yellow Fever and Chanel Mimosa.

As you can see from the photo, Yellow Fever is a lot brighter than Mimosa and has silvery white microshimmer where as Mimosa has gold microshimmer. The other major difference is the application. While I have never found a yellow polish that applies well, Yellow Fever definitely applies easier than Mimosa. I used two coats of Yellow Fever and three coats of Mimosa for the photo. Mimosa was a streaky hot mess!

The final point of difference is the price. Chanel polishes retail for $25USD ($39AUD), while Rescue Beauty Lounge polishes can be picked up for $18USD (approx $17AUD) on their website. If I had to chose between the two, I would take Yellow Fever without a doubt!

(click on the photo to take a better look)

The second comparison is between Revlon Top Speed Electric (#305) and Chanel Mimosa.

Electric and Mimosa are a lot closer in terms of colour, with Electric being just a little lighter. The shimmer in Electric is also the same colour as the shimmer in Mimosa. Application wise, unfortunately both were streaky and required three coats for even coverage. However, I can forgive Electric for being a little streaky when it only costs $5.99USD ($15.95AUD) compared to the $25USD ($39AUD) for the Chanel.

If I had to pick between the two, I would definitely reach for Electric, not Mimosa!

(click on the photo to take a better look)

As far as I am concerned, if I am going to pay $39AUD for a polish, I want it to glide on my nails and look perfect after two thin coats. Unfortunately, Mimosa just doesn't live up to those expectations, so my recommendation would be to grab Yellow Fever or Electric over the Chanel. Your wallet will thank you and you can still get your fix of yellow nail polish! For those of you that missed out on Mimosa, don't be sad! You are much better off grabbing one of these other polishes!

Cult Nails Hypnotic Collection Pre-Sale

2011-07-16T19:31:00.002+10:00

Hey everyone! I wouldn't normally post twice in one day, but I had to let you guys all know that the Cult Nails Hypnotic collection for Fall 2011 is now available for pre-sale here.

Here is a little bit of information about each shade, taken from the Hypnotic collection press release.

"In a Trance was created and finalized long ago, and I knew it was the shade I’d imagined the moment I saw it. Reminiscent of an aged skeleton key, this color shifts from olive green to muted gold with an enchanting shimmer that brings it to life and draws you in.

"Enigmatic, at first glance, seems so simple. Indoors, the purple base takes on a brown hue and lets the silver shimmer steal the show; but, with a deeper look and a step into the sunlight, it draws flashes of red, blue, pink and purple sparkle and lures you into the wonderful mystery that is Enigmatic.

Each of our collections has a necessary basic: for the Inaugural Collection it was Quench; for A Day at the Races it was Devious Nature; and for the Hypnotic Collection, I give you, Awakening. A muted or dusty teal that has a rich crème finish, dries to that amazing Cult Nails shine, and lends itself to every skin tone in any age group.

The final color is the most mesmerizing and versatile of the collection. Hypnotize Me, a sheer green jelly with vibrant blue and green glitter, looks marvelous over Enigmatic, stunning over In a Trance, and simply breath-taking over Awakening. Hypnotize Me can also be layered for a shade, finish, and effect that is quite hypnotic all on its own. I look forward to seeing our convert’s creations using this spellbinding shade.

Cult Nails™ lacquers are available for sale online at www.cultnails.com. Each 0.5 fl. oz. bottle sells for $10 USD. During the pre-sale event, the Hypnotic Collection will be sold only as a set for $30 USD, a savings of 25% off the regular price. Cult Nails™ lacquers are DBP, Formaldehyde, Toluene, and Camphor free and are not tested on animals."

Will you be taking advantage of the pre-sale?? The pre-sale will run through to 31 July 2011 and will ship late August/early September.

Considering how much I loved the A Day At The Races collection, I will definitely be trying all four of the Hypnotic colours!

1500 Follower Giveaway Winner!

2011-07-16T12:58:00.000+10:00

Hey everyone! Hope you are all enjoying the start of your weekend! It is raining and cold here in Sydney, but I have a pretty relaxed weekend ahead of me, so I don't mind. I'm also looking after my sister's adorable (but very cheeky!) staffy this weekend, so it will be nice to have a dog running around the backyard again....

Anyway, on to the giveaway winners!! Today I am announcing the three winners of my 1500 Follower Giveaway! Thank you so much to everyone who entered! There were over 2000 individual entries and you all wrote such lovely comments about my blog! As you may have noticed, I finished with about 2600 followers by the time the giveaway ended. A little part of me thought that maybe you had all just followed for the giveaway and would disappear once it was done! But in the weeks since the giveaway has ended I have actually gained over another 100 followers! So I'm going to take that as a sign that you are all here for the nails and not for the giveaways!

If I could give every single one of you a prize, I would, because you all mean so much to me! I have been blogging for just under a year (my one year blogiversary is on the 26 July 2011) and in that time I have met the most wonderful people! I appreciate every single follower and each and every comment you leave on my posts. Seeing how much you love my pictures and my reviews makes all the hard work worthwhile! <3

So without further ado, the winners of my 1500 follower giveaway are:

Congratulations MsMidnightBlue! You have won the complete China Glaze OMG set!

Congratulations Alyssa! you have won a complete set of the BYS Color Change polishes!

Congratulations NailsByDesire! You have won a complete set of the Face of Australia Molten Metallics collection!

Please send me an email with your postal address in the next 24 hours! If I don't hear from you within that time frame, I will have to draw another winner, and I would rather not do that!

Congratulations again to the winners, and thank you again to everyone who entered!

Revlon #405 Peachy

2011-07-12T01:00:00.076+10:00

Hey everyone! A couple weeks ago, the lovely Diana from the girl with a bow kindly sent me a bunch of the new Revlon Top Speed polishes that I had been lemming and today I'll be showing you swatches of one of the colours, #405 Peachy.

Peachy is a orange leaning light coral cream. I had to use three coats to get even coverage because it was still patchy after the second coat. Naturally, it dried quickly being a Top Speed!

I can't even express how much I love this polish! It is such a fantastic shade of coral! This is going to sound crazy, but my nails look almost good enough to eat with this polish on! Don't ask me why, but they just do! (I promise I don't make a habit of eating nail polish! ha!).

One thing that really impressed me was the fact that Peachy actually had a pretty glossy finish when it dried, unlike other quick drying polishes I have tried before (including Revlon's Top Speed in Royal) which have dried to a satin, rubbery finish, kind of like the Orly Plastix polishes. I'm not a fan of satin finish polishes, so its great that Peachy doesn't do this.

Peachy also reminds me a little of Essie's Tart Deco. What do you guys think? If I remember, I'll try and do a comparison so we can see how close they are.

Thank you Diana for sending these to me! I love all of them and can't wait to try the others!

P.S Guess what. I am finally announcing the winners of my 1500 follower giveaway in my next post. No joke! <3

OPI Serena Williams Glam Slam! England - Part 2

2011-07-11T10:19:00.000+10:00

Hey Everyone! Today I have swatches of the second set from the Serena Williams Glam Slam! England collection which features Your Royal Shine-ness and Servin' Up Sparkle.

When I first saw the press releases for this set, I was a little disappointed to be honest. I thought it was just another metallic silver with the same glitter top coat as the other set.

Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised by Your Royal Shine-ness (YRS) once I applied it! Unlike the other silver metallics/foils in my collection, YRS has fine gold glitter in it which brings a little warmth to the polish and gives it a kind of "old world" look, like expensive polished silver. It applied very easily, with minimal brush stroke marks and dried very fast. This was two coats, without a topcoat.

I then added two coats of Servin' Up Sparkle, which is a clear "topcoat" polish with silvery holographic glitter and holo hexagonal sequins. In bright lighting, this combo definitely sparkles, however, I think I would have liked a different coloured glitter top coat in this set, so there was a bit of contrast between the base colour and the top coat. It is still a really gorgeous combo, but I feel like Servin' Up Sparkle gets a little lost on top of YRS.

Overall, I'm really diggin' all three of the polishes in the Serena Williams Glam Slam! England collection, but I think the Grape... Set... Match duo is my favourite out of the two.

Which one do you like better?

Glam Slam! England is available in leading salons and David Jones stores nationally July 11th, $19.95RRP. For your nearest OPI stockists contact 1800 358 999 or visit www.opi.net.au.

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

OPI Serena Williams Glam Slam! England - Part 1

2011-07-07T22:48:00.002+10:00

Hey everyone! Today I have swatches of one of the new OPI Serena Glam Slam! England sets featuring Grape... Set... Match and Servin' Up Sparkle.

This duo is part of the third installment of Serena's collection of laquers in collaboration with OPI and I have to say it is my favourite one so far! While I liked the base colours of the French sets and Black Shatter from the Australian set, I'm honestly all crackled out now! So a shimmery purple and a blingy holo glitter is a really nice change of pace!

Grape... Set... Match is a red toned purple, jam packed with purple, blue and pink microglitter. This polish has a kind of duochrome effect as well and you can see the flash of fuchsia in the pic below. I used three coats for these photos but you could easily get away with two. Grape... Set... Match reminds me a little of OPI Ink, so I will try and do a comparison for you over the weekend.

The second polish in the set, Servin' Up Sparkle, is a clear polish packed with tons of silvery holographic glitter and holo hexagonal sequins. This polish is meant as a layering polish so I haven't done a swatch of it on its own. But as you can see, over Grape... Set... Match it is ridiculously blingy! This is two coats of Servin' Up Sparkle.

You can really see how sparkly this polish is in the blurry photo below.

I honestly couldn't fault Grape... Set... Match, but I did have a little gripe with Servin' Up Sparkle in that there weren't as many larger hex sequins as I would have liked. This meant that they applied unevenly on each nail. You can see in the photos above that I ended up with a ton of them on my ring finger but not that many on my middle finger. But I think with a little care when applying the polish, this wouldn't be a problem at all.

OPI must have realised how awesome Servin' Up Sparkle is because they also teamed it up with the silver foil Your Royal Shine-ness, in the other duo pack which I will be showing you in the next post.

What do you guys think of this set? Do you like the glitter top coat? Or do you prefer the Shatter top coats that were included in the other sets?

Glam Slam! England is available in leading salons and David Jones stores nationally July 11th, $19.95RRP. For your nearest OPI stockists contact 1800 358 999 or visit www.opi.net.au.

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

Aussie Beauty Blogger Link Love

2011-07-06T20:21:00.000+10:00

Hey everyone! Just a quick post to let you all know that the lovely Lara (aka swatchgirl.com) has recently put together a fantastic list of Aussie Beauty Bloggers which I really want to share with you.

Aussie Beauty Blogger Link Love

Please click on the link above and show these Aussie Beauty Bloggers some love! While you are there, check out and follow swatchgirl.com as well! Her photos are fantastic and I honestly blame her for my excessive lip product purchases because she makes every colour look amazing (case in point, look at her photos of Illamasqua Fable!! To die for!)

OPI Serena Williams Glam Slam! US Open Sneak Peek

2011-07-04T20:39:00.004+10:00

Grandstand Finale!

Serena’s Glam Slam! U.S.

The final game-set-match in the winning partnership between Serena Williams and OPI, Glam Slam! U.S. features a duo-pack with two high-shine shades in shimmering red and glittering bronze.

OPI and tennis superstar Serena Williams announces the two final lacquers in the 2011 Glam Slam! Collection timed in conjunction with the fourth Grand Slam Tournament – the U.S. Open. Glam Slam! U.S. features a duo-pack with two high-shine shades: shimmering red, Love is a Racket, and glittering bronze, Pros & Bronze.

OPI and Serena return for the final launch with these two bright, feminine lacquers, packed with red and gold micas for intense luster, the Glam Slam! series finishes with two classic, glamorous colours.

Whether worn alone or with Pros & Bronze layered over Love is a Racket for a golden glow, these two shades have rich hues that are perfect for transitioning from summer to autumn.

Glam Slam! U.S is available in leading salons and David Jones stores nationally in August, $19.95RRP.

For your nearest OPI stockists contact 1800 358 999 or visit www.opi.net.au.

Pros & Bronze

Love is a Racket

Giveaway Update & Blog Sales!

2011-06-30T11:53:00.002+10:00

Hey everyone! Just a quick update on a couple of things........

Giveaway Winner Announcement

I haven't forgotten about the announcement of my 1500 Follower Givwaway winner! I promise! I've had a few emails from people asking when it is going to be announced and the answer is, SOON! :P You wont believe it but there were over 2000 individual entries for this giveaway!!! When you add in all the additional entries we are talking nearly 5000 entries! hahahaha! INSANITY! So please be patient with me. I will announce the winner really soon!

Blog Sale

EDIT: 10pm - Just added some more brand new polishes! More to come tomorrow!

In other news, I have finally posted my makeup and nail polish blog sales! You can check them out here:

MAKEUP BLOG SALE

NAIL POLISH BLOG SALE

I have also added tabs for the sales at the top of my blog.

Just so you know, this is only a start of what I will be selling. There is a stack more nail polish to come, including some HTF's as well as more MAC makeup! I have been hoarding MAC makeup for about three years now and I just dont use it all, so I have decided it is best I find some new homes for my lovelies!

That's all for now. Stay tuned for some OPI Serena swatches and a Chanel Mimosa comparison!

Illamasqua Stagnate

2011-06-29T21:05:00.005+10:00

Hey everyone! Today I have swatches of another lacquer from the recent Illamasqua Toxic Nature collection. I have previously reviewed Radium & Purity from the same collection, and today I'll be showing you Stagnate.

The name Stagnate conjures images of, well, something kind of stale and swamp like! But this lacquer couldn't be any further from that! Stagnate is in fact a delicious creamy purple taupe. The formula was a touch watery, so I used three coats for these swatches.

Soooooo, I'll admit it, I'm a real sucker for taupes! Sure, it isn't the most original colour ever released, but I love how versatile this colour is. Stagnate is both edgy and classy all at the same time! I can see me wearing this polish with a number of my recent clothing acquisitions.....

Now for the one little downside of this polish - the cost. Here in Australia, one Illamasqua polish will cost you $34. To put it into perspective, an OPI will cost you about $20 and a Chanel polish will set you back $39. So Illamasqua is on the higher end of the pricing spectrum. However, in my opinion, I think it is worth the price tag because I honestly can't fault any of the polishes I have tried from their range. Their formula is always consistent and generally above average and their colours are exciting and on trend.

So, yes, this is me declaring my undying love for Illamasqua! I was lucky enough to get this polish from Illamasqua for review, but all my other Illamasqua's have been purchased with my hard earned cash and will I most definitely continue to buy their polishes!

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

OPI Touring America Collection Sneak Peek Swatches

2011-06-27T23:02:00.001+10:00

Hey everyone! Sorry for the gaps between posts. With only 60 days until the wedding I’m in planning overdrive! But it is all coming together, so the hard work is paying off!

I have so much stuff to swatch and review but today I just had to show you guys some sneak peek swatches of the upcoming OPI Touring America collection!

The Touring America collection is OPI’s tribute to America’s unique landscape, cultural heritage and diversity, and iconic locations such as Hollywood, Memphis, Milwaukee, New Orleans and New York City.

I have been lucky enough to travel to the USA twice and can honestly say it is one of my favourite travel destinations, so naturally I am really excited about this collection!

The Touring America collection features twelve new shades:

I Eat Mainely Lobster – Rich coral with golden microshimmer

My Address is “Hollywood” – Rose pink with golden microshimmer

Are We There Yet? – Bright melon with golden microshimmer

Honk if You Love OPI – Dark vampy grape creme

Road House Blues – Dark blue creme

Color to Diner For – Rosy red with golden microshimmer

I Brake for Manicures – Eggplant-plum creme

Suzi Takes the Wheel – Grey-green creme

French Quarter for Your Thoughts – True grey creme

A-taupe the Space Needle – Creamy rich taupe creme

Get in the Expresso Lane – Dark brown creme

Uh-Oh Roll Down the Window – Olive green creme

It is winter here in Australia, so you would think I would be drawn to the darker shades, but the microshimmer in the four reds/corals just makes me swoon! Based on these swatches, I must own Are We There Yet?, My Address is "Hollywood" and I Eat Mainely Lobster!

Touring America will be available from 1st August 2011, at selected beauty salons, spas, and David Jones nationally for $19.95 RRP incl. GST.

For your nearest OPI stockists contact 1800 358 999 or visit www.opi.net.au.

Misa - Push Up Bra

2011-06-22T21:33:00.001+10:00

Hey everyone! I thought it was about time I took a break from wearing holo polish, so today I have a gorgeous cream to show you.

I haven't had the pleasure of trying a lot of Misa polishes because until recently, I didn't even know the brand was sold in Australia! However, Le Beauty now stocks Misa polishes and their awesome managing director offered to send me a couple to try, so today I'm showing you Push Up Bra.

Apart from having a freakin awesome name (I giggle like a school girl every time I say it), Push Up Bra is a gorgeous bright coral cream that applies flawlessly. I used two coats because I can't help myself, but honestly, one would have been sufficient! (edit: I haven't used any top coat for these pics. It dries to a really glossy finish).

What really stood out to me was the fantastic brush, which I'm guessing is part of the reason this polish applies so well. (edit: I'll try and add a photo of the brush tomorrow). The cap was also a really good size and was comfortable to hold while applying the polish. However, I did notice that the polish had a fairly strong smell. I'm not usually bothered by polish smells, but this one stood out a little.

Aside from that little issue, I really love this colour on my hands and I can also see Push Up Bra being an amazing pedi colour! I've already decided I'm packing this for the honeymoon! Tanned toes + coral polish = hot!

Misa polishes are "big 3 free" and the company does not test on animals. My Aussie readers can pick up Misa polishes from the Le Beauty website simply by registering and then logging in.

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

Glitter Gal 3D Holographic Blue

2011-06-20T23:33:00.004+10:00

Hey everyone! If you are getting tired of my holo posts, you might want to close the window now. However, if like me, you are totally addicted to holographic polishes, READ ON, because I have a spectacular holo to show you today.

Since my holo obsession started, I have been on a search for the best holographic polishes on the market. As a lot of you would know, this is a hard lemming to fulfill because not many companies make holographic polishes at the moment.

However, about a month ago, my search led me to the Australian brand Glitter Gal and today I have one of their 3D Holographic polishes to show you guys.

3D Holographic Blue is a light blue polish with a strong holographic effect. I used three thin coats for these photos, with no basecoat or topcoat.

As you can see from these photos, the holographic effect is very strong in all the different lighting situations, unlike the polishes in some other recent “holographic” collections (*cough* tronica *cough*). I did find the formula a little thin with this one, but three coats gave pretty good coverage..... and LOOK AT THAT HOLO!!! I honestly can't stop staring at my nails!

Now, I have to point out, the bottles are smaller than your regular bottle of polish (9ml/0.3 fl.oz), but there is a good reason for that. Kerry and Anna, the brains behind Glitter Gal, insist on only using “true” holographic particles in their formulation. This one ingredient is 30 times more expensive than any other nail polish ingredient, but this means that their holographic nail polishes are of the highest quality possible. Another big plus is that their holographic polishes are “Big 3 Free” as well.

If that wasn't enough, there are 27 holographic polishes in their range, including a black holo which I must get my hands on!

Glitter Gal 3D Holographic polishes retail for $11.95AUD and you will be pleased to know that they ship internationally!

So what do you guys think of this polish? Will you be ordering some of these? The other 26 colours in their range have already made it to the top of my wishlist!

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

My first franken!

2011-06-16T23:36:00.001+10:00

Hey everyone! If you can't already tell, I'm kinda obsessed with holo polish at the moment. And when I say kinda, I mean A LOT!

So naturally I have another holo polish to show you today! But it's not any regular holo - it's my very first franken! And it's a black holo! Gah! I can barely contain how excited I am about this little creation of mine.

I honestly can't provide an accurate recipe because I was mixing all sorts of things together like a mad scientist but I know I put the following products in there:

China Glaze Liquid Leather
OPI DS Desire
OPI DS Original
OPI My Private Jet (non-holo)
Spectra Flair Flex Liquid Silver Powder (from ebay)

I have been searching for an amazing black holo for ages and I think this might fill the void!

Sorry for the blurry pics. The holo effect made my camera freak out!

So what do you guys think of my first franken attempt? I suck at naming things, so maybe you can suggest a suitable name for this one?? :D

Nfu Oh #61

2011-06-13T23:20:00.000+10:00

Hey everyone! Sorry for the lack of posts over the weekend. It has been a looooong weekend. Saturday morning I had to take my bridesmaids for their dress fittings and then after lunch my mum fell over in a shopping centre and had to be taken to hospital! Spent the next 8 hours in the emergency ward waiting for her to be treated! To top it all off, yesterday I had my bridal shower. A crazy, busy weekend!

As you can imagine, I'm exhausted now, so I'll keep the chit chat to a minimum and just show you some spam of the amazing Nfu Oh #61 today.

Giveaway Reminder!

2011-06-10T15:34:00.001+10:00

Hey everyone! Just a quick reminder that there are only a few days left to enter my
1500 Follower Giveaway!

You could win one of these awesome prizes!!

Click HERE to enter!

Chanel Summer 2011 – Les Fleurs d’Ete de Chanel - Mimosa & Morning Rose

2011-06-08T23:21:00.000+10:00

Hey everyone! Today I have swatches of Mimosa and Morning Rose, which are two polishes from the new Chanel Summer 2011 Collection, Les Fleurs d’Ete de Chanel.

There is also a third lacquer in this collection, Beige Petale, but I didn't buy it because in all honesty, regardless of how bad my Chanel addiction is, $39AUD is a lot of money for a sheer beige polish!

Mimosa - Bright yellow cream with golden shimmer. I could stare at this colour in the bottle for hours on end and never get tired of it's beauty, but on my nails, it's just meh! I think my skin tone ruins it - I need to have a stronger tan for this to work. Sadly, the formula was also a little disappointing for a Chanel polish - a little on the thick side (which is the reason for the shonky application on my middle finger!) and it was still streaky after three coats.

Morning Rose - Warm pink cream with fine gold glitter. Now this is more like it! The warmth in this polish makes it really flattering for my skin tone, and for this reason alone, I love it wayyyy more than Mimosa! Add to this the fact that application and formula was a lot better than Mimosa (only required two coats) and we have ourselves a winner!

So, did you splurge on one of these polishes? What are your thoughts on the yellow polish trend???

Face of Australia is now available on Fashion Addict!!!

2011-06-06T22:59:00.004+10:00

Hey everyone! Today I have some really exciting news to share with you all! A few weeks back, one of my favourite online beauty e-tailers, Fashion Addict, joined forces with the amazing Aussie brand Face of Australia!

Face of Australia has traditionally only been stocked in stores like Priceline, Kmart and BigW. This meant that if you didn't live near one of those stores, it could be hard to get your hands on their amazing products.

Not anymore!!!! Fashion Addict now stocks the entire Face of Australia range!! The best part is that if you spend $40 or more you get free shipping within Australia! If that wasn't enough incentive to check out some Face of Australia products, Fashion Addict is also giving away a free Face Base Primer when you purchase any two Face of Australia products!!

I am personally super excited about the fact that Fashion Addict is now stocking the awesome Molten Metallics nail polish collection as well as the Luxe and Brights collections. All these collections can be bought as individual bottles or as full sets.

Now, I can imagine that all you international ladies are probably thinking "Well that's great Carina but I still can't get these products"! Think again my lovelies! Fashion Addict also ships internationally, which means EVERYONE can get their Face of Australia fix now!!!

I am so excited about this collaboration and will definitely be getting my hands on those Luxe and Brights collections! Which products you will be picking up from Fashion Addict??

N.B. Images used with the permission of Face of Australia. I also note that I have not received any compensation for this post! :)

OPI Merry Midnight v ORLY Fowl Play

2011-06-05T17:45:00.000+10:00

Hey everyone! Sorry for the week long hiatus. This past week has been really stressful for me (I won't bore you with the details!) and as a result, I just didn't feel up to blogging. I feel a bit better today, so I'm back with a comparison post featuring OPI Merry Midnight and ORLY Fowl Play.

Merry Midnight is a now HTF polish that was released with the OPI Holiday Wishes collection in 2009. It features a dark purple jelly base with blue/purple glitter and silver microshimmer, and irregular flakies that flash orange, red, green and yellow.

Fowl Play is from the upcoming Birds of a Feather collection and features a deep purple jelly base that is packed with irregular flakie particles that flash orange, red, yellow and green, silver microshimmer and blue/purple glitter.

On the description alone, you can tell that there are going to be similarities. When you put them on the nail it is pretty hard to tell them apart!

To my eyes, Merry Midnight's base is a touch brighter and redder. And the finish of Merry Midnight seems more glossy than Fowl Play but a good top coat would fix this. However, these differences are quite negligible and when looking at my nails in natural and artificial light, I honestly couldn't tell the difference between the two.

Fowl Play isn't an exact dupe for Merry Midnight, but it's close enough that you should be hunting down a bottle if you have been lemming Merry Midnight.

China Glaze - Let's Do It In 3-D

2011-05-29T20:43:00.000+10:00

Hey everyone! Today I have swatches of one of my all time favourite polishes, China Glaze Let's Do It In 3-D.

I first fell in love with this polish at the beginning of last year when I found Scrangie's swatches of the Kaleidoscope collection. It went straight to the top of my lemming list and stayed there for over a year because I could never find it online for a reasonable price. However, a couple of weeks ago,
I realised this polish was only going to get more expensive as time passed, so I decided to take the plunge and buy it! And I don't regret it at all, because it is uh-mazing!!!

Let's Do It In 3-D has a dark grey base with a scattered holo effect. This is two coats over a coat of Nfu Oh Aqua Base. No words can express its beauty so I will let the pics do the talking!

Cult Nails - A Day at the Races Swatches

2011-05-29T01:50:00.002+10:00

Hey everyone! Today I have swatches of the new Cult Nails collection, A Day At The Races!

I have been lemming Cult Nails polishes since the day Maria announced she would be creating her own line! I initially held off buying them, but when this collection was released for pre-order I gave in and bought them all!

Crusin' Nude - Nude cream with pink microshimmer. The formula was a little thick with this one, but it evened out really well and only needed two coats. The pink shimmer is really unique and sets it apart from the other nudes in my collection.

Devious Nature - Pink cream with berry undertones. This glided on perfectly and only needed two coats. The formula is great - almost jelly like, but it is definitely a cream. I love the glossy finish with this one! You almost don't need a top coat!

Let Me Fly - Dusty teal with silver shimmer. There are no words to describe how much I love this! I think I actually squealed with joy when I put it on! It is extremely opaque with one coat, but I used two for consistency. Simply gorgeous!

Always Winning - Frosty green with gold and holo glitter. Unfortunately, this polish wasn't a winner for me. It was the sheerest out of the collection and I needed three coats for these photos. However I believe it is intended to be a layering polish, so the sheerness isn't really an issue when that is taken into account. However, the thing that really stood out to me was the smell of this polish. It was very, very strong smelling! Those of you who are sensitive to the smell of polish would be advised to steer clear of this one.

Captivated - Bright coral jelly with gold and coral glitter. To my eye, there are also some smaller glitter particles that flash blue and green. This one was fairly thick, so it required some precision and patience when applying it. However, the final effect was outstanding and deserved a second picture!! I don't think I have ever seen a polish like this before! My nails look like they are alight! This was two coats.

With the one exception, I am totally in love with the polishes in this collection and I think Maria has done an outstanding job! I applaud her for following her dream and creating her own line! I would love to do the same one day....

If you are thinking about grabbing a couple of these colours, I suggest you head over to Cult Nails ASAP because these polishes are limited and considering how awesome they are, I am certain they will sell out fast!

P.S I think I have finally figured out my lightbox and new lighting. What do you guys think of the pictures? x

MAC Quite Cute - Ice Cream Cake & Mischievous Mint

2011-05-26T23:28:00.003+10:00

Hey everyone! Today I have swatches of two of the colours from the recent MAC Quite Cute collection. Unfortunately I don't have Little Girl Type as MAC Pro was already sold out of that one when I placed my order.

Apologies for the nubbins! My nails were looking amazing after my mani with Mandi from Illamasqua last week and then unfortunately, the next day I had a MEGA break on my ring finger. I can't handle having different length nails, so I filed them all down!

Ice Cream Cake - Creamy blue pink. I love this colour! It was a little streaky so I did three coats to even it out, but who cares - it's freakin hot! Surprisingly enough, even though it is a pink cream (which are a dime a dozen in the nail polish world!!) I don't have a lot of dupes in my collection. The only one I could find that comes close is Zoya Sweet, however Sweet a little lighter and more dusty. Ice Cream Cake is therefore a must have!

Mischievous Mint - Creamy pale blue mint. This colour gave me the most wicked case of lobster hands I have had in a while! It doesn't really suit my skin tone, but I still find myself attracted to the colour! Mischievous Mint isn't the most original colour, but the formula on this was pretty good compared to other mint creams I have tried. I only needed to use two coats for these pics! I have one complaint about this polish - the brush was craptastic! The bristles were sticking out everywhere! It looked like someone had gone at it with a pair of scissors! However, the great formula made up for the brush woes!

That's all for today. Still recovering from a killer two day migraine so I'm off to get some sleep in the hope I feel up to going to work tomorrow.

Barielle Karma Collection - Soul-er Powered and Do Unto Others

2011-05-26T09:00:00.002+10:00

Hey everyone! Today I have swatches of two of the colours from the upcoming Barielle Karma collection.

Soul-er Powered - Warm toned yellow cream with gold micro shimmer. This needed three coats because it was still patchy after the second coat. Yellow polish seems to be quite popular at the moment (Chanel Mimosa, Lippmann Yellow Brick Road, RBL Yellow Fever) however, I'm not sure how I feel about this trend. I'm not convinced this colour really suits me, but I can see myself loving yellow polishes when summer comes back and I have a tan! I have Mimosa and Yellow Fever, so I will try and do a comparison between the three if that is something you would all be interested in? P.s - I have no idea why my hands look so wrinkly in these photos!!!

Do Unto Others - Turquoise cream. For some reason my photos make this look like a neon, which it isn't. The colour is a little more muted and darker than it looks in the photos, but it is still a vibrant shade of turquoise. I only used two coats here. Not the most original shade, but applied like a dream, so no complaints here!

This crappy photo probably shows the polish a little more true to colour....

This was the first time I have ever tried Barielle and I was quite impressed with these two colours. As I said, I'm not convinced yellow is my thing, but I definitely love the turquoise shade and the formula of the polishes. I was also sent Blossom to review which I will do separately - Blossom has been a long time lemming of mine so I'm really excited to try it out! I have also been lemming Elle's Spell, but I can't find it anywhere :( If anyone knows where I could get one, please, please drop me a line!

On a side note, for some reason, Barielle didn't send me an info sheet about the Karma collection, so I don't have a great deal of info about the other colours in the collection or the collection's exact release date. There doesn't seem to be a lot of press about it on the net either. However, Barielle did contact me on Twitter the other day to say that this collection would be available on their website shortly, so hopefully we will all know more soon! I could be wrong, but I heard rumours that one of the other colours was a flakie...

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

ORLY and Dion Lee at RAFW - Backstage Beauty Report

2011-05-23T23:10:00.005+10:00

Hey everyone! At the recent Rosemount Australian Fashion Week, ORLY partnered with Dion Lee for his runway show, and today I have the backstage goss on how to replicate the gorgeous nail look ORLY created for the show!

To complement the block colours used by Dion Lee, ORLY painted the fingers and toes of all 30 models with the limited edition Pure Porcelain, a creamy beige polish from the recent Precious Collection. Pure Porcelain is chic, striking and right on trend with this season’s hottest colours!

Check out how to achieve this look after the jump!
To get your own piece of Dion Lee's SS11/12 Collection you're going to need these three products, plus Pure Porcelain:

1. File nails into soft square shape - use the end of the fingertip as a length guide. Then, buff the surface of the nail using ORLY Double-Time Shine buffer, using only the coarse side to remove ridges and shine from nail.

2. Treat cuticles with ORLY Cutique to gently soften and remove dead tissue from cuticle area. Push back cuticles gently with a cuticle stick.

3. Cleanse the nail plate using a cotton pad moistened with a nail prep (such as ORLY Clean Prep) to remove any residual oil.

4. Apply one coat of ORLY Bonder Rubberized Base Coat.

5. Apply two coats of ORLY Pure Porcelain. Allow to set for five minutes.

6. Seal with ORLY Glosser top coat to perfect the look. (If you need this mani to dry quickly, use a drop of ORLY Flash Dry on each nail).

7. That’s it. You now have catwalk ready digits

WELL ALMOST!

I personally think another step should be added to the list!

8. Once your mani is dry, use a small amount of ORLY Rich Renewal Ultra Hydrating Creme for Hands, Feet & Body. This ultra luxurious, super moisturising cream works wonders on my ridiculously dry winter hands. It's not greasy at all, and the amazing spicy Vanilla scent lingers on your hands for hours!

Some general comments - I'm not an avid user of base coats (I know, shock horror!) because I honestly don't think they make a difference when you change your polish as often as I do. HOWEVER, I really liked ORLY Bonder Rubberized Base Coat and found that it made a difference with wear time. I think this is because, like the name suggests, it dries to a rubbery finish which helps the polish adhere. This is different to other base coats I have used which tend to have a glossy finish on the nail. So if you are looking for a good base coat, I definitely recommend this one!

In regard to the ORLY Cutique, I found that this made my cuticles "sting" the tiniest little bit. I have used a number of different cuticle removers/softeners and never really had this issue before, so I'm wondering if there is a different ingredient in this one compared to other cuticle removers. Or perhaps it has something to do with the "stain removing" component. I'm going to research the ingredients and get back to you all on this one.

Orly Cutique was purchased by me. The other products in this post were provided for my consideration. For further information on GildedNails' Disclosure Policy, please click here.

Illamasqua Nails Masterclass with Mandi Levanah

2011-05-21T01:29:00.002+10:00

Hey everyone! Sorry for being MIA this past week! Unfortunately I had some wedding related dramas this week, so I haven't really been in the mood to blog....

However, last night, I was lucky enough to attend one of the first ever Illamasqua Nails Masterclasses held in Australia with the celebrity manicurist Mandi Levanah, and I just had to get online to tell you guys about the class and show you the pics!

The aim of the masterclass was to teach us how to achieve a lasting manicure as well as providing tips on different colour combinations and how to create some fun nail art designs. Mandi's amazing work has graced the pages of Vogue and Harper's Bazaar and she has also worked with Rhianna, Pink, the Pussycat Dolls and Nicole Richi, so this lady knows what she is talking about!

Here is a quick run down of Mandi's tips from the Masterclass:

When filing the nail, it is best to use one with a 'fine' abrasive surface such as a 240 grit file. This will prevent damage occurring to the nail when filing which can cause the nail to peel on the tips.
The most flattering nail shape for a person is usually one that mirrors the natural contours of the base of the nail. However, she noted that it also depends on fashion and your preferences, so choose a shape that makes you happy!
Don't paint your nails straight after soaking them in water or having a shower. Water relaxes and changes the shape of the nail and if you paint them when they are still damp and relaxed, as they dry and reshape, the nail polish can crack, peel and bubble. As such, the best time to paint your nails to ensure a lasting manicure is when they are completely dry!
Use a nail prep whenever possible so that all moisture and surface oils are removed and you have a clean, dry base to work with.
ALWAYS use a base coat before applying your polish.
When applying the polish, use the three stroke technique (for a pretty good demo of this technique, check out this post) and don't load the brush with too much colour, otherwise it will run down the brush and flood the nail.
Always leave a 1-2 millimetre gap between the polish and your cuticles.
If you get polish on your cuticles or too close to the cuticles, use a small, fine makeup brush dipped in acetone to clean up the cuticle area (I use the technique in this post).
Always use a top coat to ensure your mani lasts. If you want it to last for at least a week, refresh your top coat every second day.

I think the best tip I got from Mandi was to be creative and not be afraid to use colour and mix things up a little with some nail art and funky colour combinations!

Now here are a few pics of the master at work!

(Free hand marbling! She made it look too easy!)

Finally, here is a quick shot of Mandi doing my nails! I'm pretty camera shy, but I thought it would be a shame not to get at least one shot of her working on my nails! A big thank you to the lovely Frances from the Illamasqua counter, who kinldy touched up my blush and lippie so that I didn't look like a wreck in the photo!

The toughest part of the night was choosing which colour to paint my nails! They all looked so gorgeous!

So in the end we decided the only real option was to do a skittle mani, and this is what I ended up with! Haha!

A big thank you goes out to Mandi for sharing her knowledge and expertise and for being so lovely and friendly, and also to the awesome staff at the Myer Illamasqua counter! If you guys have the opportunity to attend one of these Masterclasses in the future, I definitely recommend you check it out!

Cult Nails - A Day at the Races Collection

2011-05-17T10:40:00.000+10:00

Get excited!!! A Day at the Races collection from Cult Nails is now available to buy! I pre-ordered the collection and it has already been shipped to me, so hopefully I will have swatches really soon! I'm so excited! The colours look absolutely gorgeous! Which ones will you be buying?

piCture pOlish - Peaches n' Cream

2011-05-16T22:15:00.000+10:00

Hey everyone! In keeping with my Public Action List, today I have swatches of one of the piCture pOlish colours I bought recently.

Peaches n' Cream is as the name suggests, a gorgeous, creamy, light pastel peach. The formula on this one was a little bit thick, which meant that I had some issues with patchiness, so used three coats to get even coverage. However, this is a common issue with pastel creams, so it wasn't a big deal to me. I then added a coat of Poshe and the result is beautiful! I kept staring at my nails all day today because they just looked so pretty!!

This is the first piCture pOlish I have tried and I'm quite impressed! I also bought Denim and Coral Reef which I will try and swatch over the next week. What do you guys think???

On a side note, I just wanted to say that I am totally blown away by the interest my 1500 Follower Giveaway has generated! I have already had 470 individual entries in less than 24 hours!!! INSANE!! Keep them coming! :D

1500 Follower Giveaway! NOW CLOSED

2011-05-15T23:51:00.005+10:00

Hey everyone! As I mentioned on Tuesday, last weekend my blog clicked over the 1500 follower mark and to celebrate I'm holding another giveaway!

I'm so excited about this giveaway because I have THREE awesome prizes this time! And thanks to Director Dave from Fashion Addict, this giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY! So let's check out the prizes.

First Prize - A brand new, complete set of the hard to find China Glaze OMG collection! You guys all lost your minds when I found those complete sets a few months back, so instead of selling one of the sets for an exorbitant price on eBay, I decided I'd give it away!

Second Prize - A brand new, complete set of the BYS Colour Change collection, kindly donated by Director Dave from Fashion Addict! Thank you David!

Third Prize - A brand new, complete set of the Face of Australia Molten Metallics collection, kindly donated by Face of Australia! Thank you Tina!

Please complete the form below to have a chance to win one of these awesome prizes! Providing your follower name and email address will get you one entry. For extra entries, follow me on Twitter or Facebook or blog about this giveaway!

The giveaway will close on 15 June 2011.

Good luck!

BB Couture Giveaway Winner

2011-05-14T17:45:00.001+10:00

Hey everyone! Sorry for the lack of posts, but as most of you probably know, Blogger has been down for the past few days so I couldn't update the blog at all. This post was meant to go up on Wednesday night but I think that's when all the issues started so it wasn't published.

So now that we are up and running again, I can finally announce the winner of my BB Couture Giveaway!

The lucky follower who will be receiving two brand new bottles of BB Couture nail polish is:

Congratulations! I will send you an email now to confirm you have won. Please email me with you address within 24 hours or I will have to draw another winner.

Thank you to everyone who entered and left a funny joke or comment for me! Some of them were absolutely hilarious and I thoroughly enjoyed reading all of them!

I will be posting my 1500 Follower Giveaway very shortly, so make sure you check back soon for that.

ORLY Fowl Play - Birds of a Feather Collection

2011-05-11T21:53:00.000+10:00

Hey everyone! Today I have swatches of another polish from the upcoming ORLY Birds of a Feather Collection.

Fowl Play is described by ORLY as a "purple sparkle" but what they should have told us is that it is a FLAKIE! This purple stunner has a jelly base and is packed with irregular flakie particles that flash orange, red, yellow and green, silver microshimmer and what appears to be smaller flakie particles (but maybe it is glitter??) that flash vivid blue/purple. UH-MAZING!

I had to use three coats to get an even finish, because there were still a few patches after the second coat, but as you can see, the final product is glorious! I strongly encourage you to click on the images and take a closer look.

Now, you are probably thinking "hey I've seen this polish before!" and that's because Fowl Play appears to be very similar to OPI's Merry Midnight from the limited edition 2009 Holiday Wishes collection. However, after comparing the two, I don't think they are exactly the same. I will try and do a proper comparison with photos in the next week, but the biggest difference I noticed between the two was actually wear time. Every time I have worn Merry Midnight it has chipped within a day of putting it on. However, Fowl Play is a completely different story and I got 4 days wear out of it without one chip!

So the verdict - this flakie polish is beautiful and wears like a dream. Formula wasn't 100% but as I said, three coats gives you a great finish. If you missed out on Merry Midnight you should definitely run out and grab Fowl Play when it is released because I can see it selling out fast!

Birds of a Feather will be available in June for $18.95AUD each. For stockists visit www.orlybeauty.com.au.

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

1500 Followers, a Public Action List, plus other ramblings and an Award!

2011-05-10T21:58:00.001+10:00

Hey everyone! If you follow on me on Twitter, you would have seen that over the weekend I clicked over the 1500 follower mark on my blog!! I am super excited about this and I have decided to organise an awesome international giveaway to celebrate this milestone! I know people normally celebrate 1000, 2000 followers etc, but since I did a 500 follower giveaway, I thought I'd stick to my unconventional milestones and celebrate 1500!

I was hoping to have the giveaway up for you today (as well as announce the winner of the BB Couture Giveaway) but I have had such a busy (and stressful) week at work that I haven't had a chance to get the giveaway together yet. But I promise it will be up soon!

I have also made a lot of progress with organising the lacquers for my nail polish/makeup blog sale and I hope to have that listed soon as well!

Until I get my giveaway post up, I thought I would give you guys a sneak peek of some of the products that will be included in the giveaway! Those of you on Twitter probably have a good idea of what I'm giving away, but for everyone else, can you guess!?!?!

To motivate myself during this stressful time, I am creating a public action list for the next couple of weeks as follows:

* Orly Birds of a Feather - Fowl Play

* BB Couture Winner

* 1500 Follower Giveaway announcement

* Blog Sale

* Essie Borrowed and Blue post

* Review of Nivea Hand Cream

* Ozotic Elytras post

* Picture Polish post

* Le Beauty post
* ORLY RAFW Dion Lee "How To"

If I'm slacking and haven't posted these things over the next couple of weeks, get on my case ok! :P Seriously, I get all these awesome ideas for posts and then I get busy and I forget to do them. (Like my second lot of China Glaze Anchor's Away swatches! I still cant believe I forgot those!). So hopefully this will help me stay on track!

I also wanted to thank Cristina from Let Them Have Polish, Amy from Gotham Polish, Cynthia from Nailsszone and Giuditta from Giuditta's Nails and Beauty for passing on the Kreativ Blogger Award to me! If I have forgotten anyone, please let me know and I will add a link to your blog as well!

I am going to be a massive slacker and skip the 10 facts about me, because I'm feeling rather crappy and very uninteresting at the moment :(

As I'm late to the party with this award, I won't pass it on per se, but I will list some blogs I'm loving at the moment.

That's all for tonight my lovelies! I'm off to bed to get some much needed rest!

OPI DS Original

2011-05-07T22:34:00.000+10:00

Hey everyone! Today I made the long trip to the nail supply store where I got the China Glaze OMG's from last time. Today's visit was just as successful as the last one! I found a stack of HTF polishes including China Glaze Channelesque, OPI DS Sapphire, OPI DS Desire, OPI Glacier Bay Blues and the polish I'm showing you now, OPI DS Original.

I have been lemming DS Original since I first got into nail polish. Well I have been lemming alllll the old DS polishes, but I never wanted to pay the prices they were asking on evilbay. So when I walked into the store and saw those polishes selling for $10, I had to grab them (and a couple of backups!)

DS Original is a lavender holographic polish. I used three coats to get good coverage because I found the formula a little thin, but even with three coats it dried lightning fast. The holo effect is quite scattered as opposed to the linear OMG holos. In regular lighting, the holo is subtle but still visible, but in bright lighting and daylight, it is spectacular! I have included photos with two different types of lighting. Behold, DS Original holo heaven!

I am totally in love with this polish and I can't wait to try DS Desire and DS Sapphire now. I am officially holo-addicted!

On a side note, I took your advice and softened out the edges of my nails to make a more feminine squoval shape. They seem more manageable at this length and with this shape, so I'll give it a go for a while! Thanks for all your advice everyone! :)

Essie Autumn 2011 Comparisons

2011-05-06T23:09:00.002+10:00

Hey everyone! When I posted my Essie Autumn 2011 swatches last week, a few of you asked about whether Merino Cool and In Stitches were similar to some other polishes. So I thought I'd do a quick comparison post for everyone to help you decided which ones to get. I also did comparisons with Little Brown Dress and Sew Psyched.

In Stitches Comparison

Left to Right - China Glaze Fifth Avenue, Eyeko Tea Rose Polish, OPI Kreme de la Kremlin, Essie In Stitches

In Stitches v. China Glaze Fifth Avenue. As you can see, Fifth Avenue has a subtle shimmer and is lighter and more pink than In Stitches.

In Stitches v. Eyeko Tea Rose Polish. I have no idea why I thought these two would be similar!! Tea Rose is so much lighter and almost looks like a candy pink next to In Stitches! But I swear, Tea Rose is a dusty rose coloured polish!

In Stitches v. Kreme de la Kremlin. These two are nothing alike either! Kreme de la Kremlin is a gorgeous nude pink cream that is significantly lighter than In Stitches.

Merino Cool Comparison

Left to Right - China Glaze Below Deck, Sally Hansen Commander in Chic, Sephora by OPI Metro Chic, Essie Merino Cool

Merino Cool v. China Glaze Below Deck. To my eyes, Below Deck is a tad lighter than Merino Cool and leans more purple, where as Merino Cool leans more grey.

Merino Cool v. Sally Hansen Commander in Chic.These two are pretty close, but I would say that Commander in Chic is a little darker and browner than Merino Cool.

Merino Cool v. Sephora by OPI Metro Chic. These two were also quite close. Metro Chic is a touch lighter, but if you already have it, you probably don't need Merino Cool.

Sew Psyched Comparison

Left to Right - Rescue Beauty Lounge, Essie Sew Psyched

Sew Psyched v. RBL Diddy Mow. If you can tell the difference between these two, you have better eyes than me! I feel like Sew Psyched is a touch dustier than Diddy Mow, but I could be wrong.

Little Brown Dress Comparison

Left to Right - OPI Suzi Loves Cowboys, Essie Little Brown Dress

Little Brown Dress v. OPI Suzi Loves Cowboys. As I'm not generally a fan of brown polish, I only had Suzi Loves Cowboys to compare it to, and you can see that Little Brown Dress is darker and deeper than Suzi Loves Cowboys.

I didn't end up doing comparisons of Velvet Voyeur and Limited Addiction because, in all honesty, you can all probably think of a few dupes right off the top of your head for those colours!

I hope this post has been helpful!

China Glaze - Island Escape Collection

2011-05-04T23:21:00.003+10:00

Hey everyone! Last week, the awesome Jacie from You've Got Nail was kind enough to send me the China Glaze Island Escape collection to swatch for you guys! I missed out on getting samples of this collection, and I was super bummed about it, so when she offered to send them my way, I was over the moon!

The Island Escape collection consists of 6 bright, summery shades with a few different finishes - creams, glass flecked, a frost and a FLAKIE!!

As you can see, I tried out different lighting for these photos. It is a lot brighter and I think it shows the colour more accurately. I actually ordered an OttLite to use for my pics and it arrived today, but it was broken so I have to send it back to Amazon :( So I will have to keep using this other light until I get a new OttLite.....

108 Degrees - Raspberry pink with fuchsia glass flecks. This isn't the most unique colour, but it is still beautiful! I love how the fuchsia flecks are so prominent. However, it was a little sheer so there was still VNL after three coats. As such I think it would look great as a top coat over an opaque pink or red.

Electric Pineapple - Chartreuse cream. I love this! Unusual colour, but I think it is just gorgeous. It applied like a dream and only needed two coats. I reckon this would be hot on you ladies with darker skin tones! I can't wait to wear this in summer when I have a tan.

Blue Iguana - Medium blue glass flecked polish. Like 108 Degrees, this was a little too sheer for my liking. But it sparkles so much on the nails, I got over the VNL pretty quickly! This was three coats, but you could probably do four to get a more opaque finish.

Papaya Punch - Super bright, almost neon orange cream. For some reason this one dried a little darker than the bottle colour which I found disappointing because I adored the colour in the bottle! This was two coats.

Cha Cha Cha - Frosty green with yellow micro-shimmer. Not a fan! It applied like a dream, but I can never see myself loving frosty greens. This was three coats.

Senorita Bonita - Purple glass flecked polish with flakies! This is the star of the collection, but the flakies were hard to capture, so I have included a third pic that gives you a better idea of how gorgeous they are! Make sure you click on the third pic! However, like 108 Degrees and Blue Iguana, it was a little sheer, so I had to use four coats for these photos.

Overall, I would have to say that Senorita Bonita was my favourite with Papaya Punch and Electric Pineapple tying for second place. Except for Electric Pineapple, the colours in the collection aren't the most original, but the flakies in Senorita Bonita make it a must-have, and of course, it is hard to fault the China Glaze formula!

Thank you again Jacie!!

That's all for today! I'm off to get some much needed sleep! x

Rescue Beauty Lounge - Bangin

2011-05-02T20:09:00.001+10:00

Hey everyone! How was your weekend? I had a super lazy weekend, which was a nice change. I got to do a whole bunch of swatching yesterday so now I have stuff to post for the rest of the week! Yay!

Today I'm showing you Bangin by Rescue Beauty Lounge which was from the Spring 2010 collection. Bangin is a super bright coral red cream. The formula was a little on the thin side, so I still had slight VNL after two coats, but it wasn't a deal breaker. I don't wear colours like this all that often, but this is really gorgeous! For some reason, red nails remind me of going to the nail salon with my mum as a little girl and sitting there while she had he acrylics done. I can't even remember if she wore red nail polish, but every time I wear red polish I think of that!

Now you will have to excuse my cuticles in these photos. I took these pics about a week and half ago when my cuticles were ragged from the cold weather. Apart from showing you the colour, the other reason I wanted to post the pics was because I had a different nail shape in them. Should I use this nail shape again or stick with my square nails? I feel like I want a more natural shape, but I also feel like my nails and fingers look longer with square nails. I am so ridiculously undecided about it I thought I would ask you guys! For a good example of me with square nails, check out this post.

Let me know what you think in the comments!

ORLY Sea Gurl - Birds of a Feather Collection

2011-05-01T15:01:00.000+10:00

Hey everyone! In the middle of April, I told you guys about an upcoming ORLY collection called Birds of a Feather. Last week, I was lucky enough to get my hands on a bottle from the collection to swatch for you guys!

Sea Gurl is described by ORLY simply as a "grey shimmer". This polish has a dark grey base and is packed with tons of silvery micro shimmer, that in my opinion, gives the polish more of a metallic finish. This was two coats.

You can't see it in these photos, but in certain light, this polish almost had a dark forest green tinge to it. What you can see in these photos are some brush strokes, but they didn't appear this prominent on the nails.

Sea Gurl's forumla was great! It had the perfect consistency that applied easily and only required two coats for even coverage.

What do you guys think? Will you be picking this one up? I'm dying to see some swatches of the other colours, in particular, Fowl Play and Nite Owl. You can also check out swatches of Peachy Parrot over at Konad-licious.

Birds of a Feather will be available in June for $18.95AUD each. For stockists visit www.orlybeauty.com.au.

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

Polish-aholics Anonymous on Facebook!

2011-05-01T12:30:00.000+10:00

Hey everyone! Just a quick post to tell you about this group I joined on Facebook. Traci from The Trace Face Philes has got this cool little group going on Facebook, where all us lacquerheads can get together to chat about nail polish, tips and tricks, upcoming collections and blogs that we all love reading!

Head over to Polish-aholics Anonymous and click the button to join! I have already joined this morning and I received the warmest welcome from the girls! See you there!

GildedNails

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

OPI The Muppets "Muppettes" Minis

Ozotic Mish Mash #532 (pic heavy!)

Bali Bliss!

Best-laid plans......

I'm Back!!!!!

Guest Post on Also Known As - Chanel Peridot

Zoya Dannii (and a rant!)

Another Holo Franken with SpectraFlair

Cult Nails Hypnotic Collection Swatches

OPI Touring America Launch (and Muppets sneak peek!) *pic heavy*

Orly Nailtrition

Illamasqua Fern

OPI Pink Ribbon Shatter 2011 Press Release

Chanel Mimosa Comparison

Cult Nails Hypnotic Collection Pre-Sale

1500 Follower Giveaway Winner!

Revlon #405 Peachy

OPI Serena Williams Glam Slam! England - Part 2

OPI Serena Williams Glam Slam! England - Part 1

Aussie Beauty Blogger Link Love

OPI Serena Williams Glam Slam! US Open Sneak Peek

Giveaway Update & Blog Sales!

Illamasqua Stagnate

OPI Touring America Collection Sneak Peek Swatches

Misa - Push Up Bra

Glitter Gal 3D Holographic Blue

My first franken!

Nfu Oh #61

Giveaway Reminder!

Chanel Summer 2011 – Les Fleurs d’Ete de Chanel - Mimosa & Morning Rose

Face of Australia is now available on Fashion Addict!!!

OPI Merry Midnight v ORLY Fowl Play

China Glaze - Let's Do It In 3-D

Cult Nails - A Day at the Races Swatches

MAC Quite Cute - Ice Cream Cake & Mischievous Mint

Barielle Karma Collection - Soul-er Powered and Do Unto Others

ORLY and Dion Lee at RAFW - Backstage Beauty Report

Illamasqua Nails Masterclass with Mandi Levanah

Cult Nails - A Day at the Races Collection

piCture pOlish - Peaches n' Cream

1500 Follower Giveaway! NOW CLOSED

BB Couture Giveaway Winner

ORLY Fowl Play - Birds of a Feather Collection

1500 Followers, a Public Action List, plus other ramblings and an Award!

OPI DS Original

Essie Autumn 2011 Comparisons

China Glaze - Island Escape Collection

Rescue Beauty Lounge - Bangin

ORLY Sea Gurl - Birds of a Feather Collection

Polish-aholics Anonymous on Facebook!

OPI Touring America Launch (and Muppets sneak peek!) pic heavy