Friday 31 December 2010

NOTD - New Years Eve Mani


while most people are doing a Glitter gradient mani for New Years Eve, I thought I would go in a different direction.

For those of you who just cant wait to get your hands on OPI Black Shatter, I give you Barry M's Nail Effects...




For the base coat I used 1 coat Glitzerland with 2 light coats of Bring on the Bling, this was the first time I have worn BotB from the Burlesque holiday collection and I must say I was pleasantly surprised! I was expecting chav-tastic gold glitter. But instead what you see on the nail is more complex, a blend of gold, green and orange glitter that's quite chunky and really stands out.

You can't see it in the photo but I promise you it is there. It makes a really nice nail colour by itself, it was almost a shame to use the nail effects over the top.

Whats your New Years Eve manicure??

2010 - A Year in OPI. The Winners and the Losers



I am sure it will not come as a surprise to you that OPI has fast become my nail laquer brand of choice, and this year has seen my collection grow.




Here are my picks from this years collections from OPI

(wow it doent look that much in the photo, but in person I'm sat here thinking "why do I need all this polish lol).

Starting from the tip of the 2 we have -

Alice in Wonderland Collection.
Off With her Red, Mad as a Hatter, Absolutly Alice, and Thanks so Muchness.

Hong Kong Collection.
Dim Sum Plum, Hot and Spicy, Suzi Says Feng Shui, Jade is the new Black, Pearl of Wisdom, Meet me at the Star Ferry (moving onto the 0), Lucky Lucky Lavender, Panda-modium Pink.

Shrek Collection.
Rumples Wiggin, Funky Dunkey (why wasn't it called Re-donkulous???), Whats with the Cattitude? Fiercley Fiona, Ogre the Top Blue, Who the Shrek are you?

Summer Flutter.
Catch me in your Net, Flit a Bit,

Halloween/Coture Colleciton.
Unrippened (promotional bottle),

Pink of Hearts 2010,

(1)
Glitzerland, Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous, Ski Teal We Drop, Willaim Tell me about OPI, Cuckoo for This Colour, Yodel Me on My Cell,

(0)
Burlesque Holiday 2010.
Bring On the Bling, Glow Up Already! Extra-va-vaganza! Simmer & Shimmer, Show It & Glow It!, Sparkle-icious, Rising Star, Take the Stage, The Show Must Go On! Let Me Entertain You, Ali’s Big Break, Tease-y Does It

Now may I presents ...


The Winners of 2010



Mad as A Hatter. This one had to be included didn't it? this multi glitter polish is amazing!

Whats with the Cattitude? Probably my favourite release of this year, it is the perfect baby blue.

Catch Me in Your Net. Although it is said to have many dupes (Zoya Charla for one) this has to be my fave, but in any form this colour rocks!

Teasey Does It. My fave dark from this year, just wish it looked exactivcally like it does in the bottle on your nails


The Losers


Ski Teal we Drop. Just didn' t like it :( wish I did, this one sits unworn.

William Tell Me About OPI. I hoped it to be lighter than Lincoln Park after Dark, which it is, just not light enough!

Unrippened. I searched for this one everywhere, and paid over the top for it, and its just not as special as the hype, and has a dupe in Nicole by OPI :(


What are your winners and losers from 2010 collections??


Saturday 25 December 2010

Merry Christmas!!




Merry Christmas everyone!

I hope you are all enjoying the holiday season.

Its Christmas morning here in the UK, which means just one thing! presents! lol but first I wanted to show you my Christmas day manicure.





This is 2 coats for China Glaze For Audrey, a gorgeous colour I'm sure everyone is familiar with.
To that I added some snowflake nail decals, 2 on each finger and 3 on my thumb.



To give it that little added sparkle I used Sinful Colours Pearl Harbor, clear polish with lots of turquoise and silver? possible pink? glitters. When I first saw this polish about a month ago I knew it would look perfect over CD For Audrey, and have been fighting with myself as whether to get it or not. Yesterday I finally gave it, well it is Christmas after all!





Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas xoxo



I'm off to open my presents with my family.

Wednesday 22 December 2010

NOTD - Get Lea Michele's Emmy's Nail look





For Lea's Emmy manicure Deborah Lippman used Lady Sings the Blues on fingers and toes - a deep navy base with cobalt blue large glitters, and silver and blue micro glitter.

My version of this looks isn't quite the same, it has more silver glitters, but this look cost under £6 instead of the normal £14 for a Deborah Lippman polish and that's always a bonus!



First I painted 2 coats of Barry M Navy no:292 to give a nice dark navy blue base to the nail, like that of Lady Sings the Blues. Then once that was dry I used 2 coats of Revlon Galaxy top coat as I found 1 coat to be a little lacking on the glitter.



Overall I was happy with the effect. I am in LOVE with Barry M Navy so I think this was always going to be a winner in my eyes, although I did find that the Barry M lost its metallic effect a tad once the top coat had been added. Maybe it was just the lighting or my eyes?

I have also decided that glitter is an absolute bitch to remove! especially the Revlon top coats and CG Party Hearty which is a shame as I love them so much. The past few days I have had to resort to having robot fingers (using Sayanythingbr00ke method of glitter removal). I may have looked ridiculous but it works!!

Thursday 9 December 2010

NOTD - GingerBells



This is 2 coats of Ginger Bells by OPI with 2 coats of Take the Stage on my ring finger.

Sorry for the quality of the photo, I think I need to change my camera batteries :)

NOTD - Ruffian




Here we have a Ruffian inspired Manicure. I did mine freehand and found it much easier than using french manicure templates, although it does give a much cleaner line.

The Ruffian first premiered at NY Fashion week and it has taken off! So I thought it was time to try it.

First I did 2 coats of OPI Glitzerland from the Swiss collection as a base. Then I used Barry M's Navy no: 292 to paint over. I just love this combination!








Tuesday 7 December 2010

Christmas Haul



Today I have for you a disgusting sized haul. I don't know what on earth possessed me! I certainly did not need to buy this much polish.

But it does look pretty!



OPI Burlesque Collection.
Yes I needed all 12 colours okay :p



China Glaze:
(from top going clockwise)
Party Hearty <3>
Frosty
Sugar Plums
Mistletoe Kisses
Ruby Pumps
Ingrid




Little gingerbread man pendant.
I found him on a Christmas market in the city and fell in love. Isn't he cute?!
I seem to acquired an obsession with gingerbread. Its a little odd I admit.



Snowflake Pendant.
(maybe a bit more work appropriate than Mr gingerbread)


What items have you been buying in preparation for the festive season? and what are your must have Holday manicure colours??


Monday 6 December 2010

Its CHRISTMAS!!

or at least it will be very soon. yay!

and that can only mean 2 things
Christmas manicures and cute decorations!


This is 2 coats of China Glaze Mistletoe Kisses with a top coat of seche vite



Unfortunately these photos just don't do the polish justice, its a gorgeous icy mint green and totally unique. I would defiantly recommend picking this one up before they all sell out!!