a-England Tristam and Lady of the Lake

Today I have two amazing lacquers from a new company on the scene - a-England. Let me put it this way - I want to marry these two polishes and have their little polish babies. They are absolutely stunning, and I can't wait to buy more of these goodies. Oh, and the customer service and delivery time? Perfect.

On to the pics. First up, Tristam:

And here is Lady of the Lake:

These polishes are divine. Luscious, rich, and with some scattered holo thrown in - what more could you ask for? This is two coats here, but if you were careful you could probably get away with one thick one. And this is with no top coat - look at the shine! I highly recommend you pick up these two medieval beauties - I am definitely going to be ordering some more of the a-England pretties!

MCB

OPI SoftShades 2011 - Femme De Cirque

Today I have the lovely Femme De Cirque from OPI collection. After all the wild and crazy designs I love to wear on my nails, its nice to sometimes have what I call a 'palate cleanser' on hand - a soft, relatively natural, neutral colour that makes my nails look like nails, instead of little congregations of craziness on my fingertips.

OPI's Femme De Cirque collection fits that bill perfectly. Here are the pics:

First up, In the Spot-Light Pink:

First pic is in the sun, the second is in the shade. This was the sheerest of the bunch, so I loaded up four coats here, but you could definitely do less if you wanted a sheerer look. I love the squishy, jelly look of this polish - yum.

Next up, So Many Clowns...So Little Time:

This is two coats here. A gorgeous neutral that I thought would make my nails look like death warmed up, but which, when I had it on, was surprisingly flattering. Plus I quite like the name - cute.

Next we have Step Right Up:

This is two coats. This one was my favourite of the bunch - a divine soft pink which is light without being stark. My new go-to neutral.

Finally, there is I Juggle...Men:

Ummm, yeah...photo skillz FAIL. This is supposed to be a top coat. Its a clear base with a suspension of pinky purply bluey glitter that glistens and flashes as it catches the light. And it really is impossible to capture in a photo.  I tried to show it over (from left to right) Step Right Up, Calypso Blue, Mellow Yellow and Racey Rouge (all by Sally Hansen) and you really can't see anything. But trust me when I tell you that this is beautiful - delicate and delightful and definitely worth picking up.

MCB

I Succumbed to Crack...OPI Black Shatter

Hi Guys,

Well, I really thought it would never happen. I have watched the crackle polish revolution going on in the nail polish community and felt so far removed from it all. Here in my impregnable crack-free fortress I was merrily going about my nail polishing business and then BAM!

It sounds so silly, but I bought it because it had been sold out for weeks and weeks here in Aus, and around the world, and when I saw that lone little bottle of OPI Black Shatter sitting on the shelf the collector in me couldn't just walk past it.

Then I did a mani with it - this is over OPI Not Like the Movies:

And just like that...I was in love with the crack. For me, the reason I like it is that it is SO easy to do and the end result is like edgy nail art but without you having tried. Konading is fun, but I just couldn't be bothered sometimes, whereas this allows you to have something different without the effort. OPI is also bringing out a whole range of colours in their shatter polish, and China Glaze has a crackle line as well. All the other polish companies will be following suit soon, no doubt.

Its a bit of fun, and I have to say, don't knock it until you've tried it. The crack is the shizz.

MCB