St Patricks Day

Hi Everyone,

I often find motivation for my manicures from certain times of year. When you have a ridiculously large collection of nail polish (as I willingly admit I do!) it actually gets really hard to pick what to wear next, as the choice can overwhelm you. So my mani for tomorrow is inspired by St Patrick's day:

The first pic is more colour accurate - the second one I just took under direct light to show the detail.

For this I used two coats of Essie Going Incognito, then stamped with China Glaze Metallic Muse with my Bundle Monster plates. A St Patrick's Day mani isn't complete without a bit of Emerald Sparkle (by China Glaze), so I put two coats of this on my ring finger and stamped again with Metallic Muse. I topped it all off with one coat of Seche Vite.

Overall this didn't actually turn out as well as I'd hoped. I had so many ideas, and once this one went on it just didn't really seem as creative as how I had thought of it in my head...if that makes any sense whatsoever. Anyway, its certainly enough to put me in the Irish spirit for tomorrow, and hey, its green, so it works for me :)

I would also like to mention that today is my best friend B's birthday. Happy birthday!!! We have been friends for forever, and she is the most wonderful, supportive, amazing person, and I'm so lucky to know her and have her friendship! She is also very supportive of my nail polish 'habit' and was my very first follower on this blog. So here's to another amazing year, and we'll bring it in in style on Friday!

MCB

Milani Rockstar Heavy Glitter

This is a mani I did while I was playing around with ideas for New Years Eve. I didn't end up going with this one, but I did take some pics:

And a blurry one to show the sparkle:

This was 2 coats of Purple Gleam with 2 coats of Blue Flash on the ring finger. I then stamped with China Glaze 2030 and covered it all with a coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust. The Milani glitters decided to eat through top coat, so I ended up having to do 2 coats of CND Shiney top coat in between 2 coats of Seche Vite! All in all this ended up being 7 coats of polish, not counting the stamping! It was an absolute nightmare to get off, even using the foil method.

That being said, it was so much fun, and a sparkl-o-rama on my nails! The Milani glitters are so blingy in real life - it was hard to truly capture it in pictures. They applied easily and were opaque in only 2 coats. I ordered these online from Cherry Culture, which ships internationally (thank you Cherry Culture!).

MCB

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you're all having/had a wonderful day and shared it with lovely family and friends. It was raining and somewhat cool here, which put me in the very best of moods, because the usual oppressive heat and sun are not my friends!

I thought I'd share my Christmas mani with you. I thought, right up until yesterday, that I would be doing a China Glaze Frosty/Party Hearty/OPI Funny Bunny combo (link to pic here) but at the last minute I decided to go with something different:

Pics are clickable, as always, so you can see the sparkly detail! This is two coats of Cherry Love by Rescue Beauty Lounge topped with one coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust and then Seche Vite top coat. The accent finger is one coat of BYS Matte White stamped with the holly stamp from plate BM12 and topped with a little heart gem (which someone I know will call a 'heartmonte' - ha ha) that I got from my lovely friends C and M in a package for my birthday this year (thanks my darlings :)).

As usual, the photos do not do it justice. It is so sparkly and colourful in real life. Very cute.

MCB

Christmas Konad

I went to a Christmas par-tay the other night, and so I decided to get into the spirit of things with a Christmas mani! I was kind of going for a candy cane look with an accent nail:

I kind of like it, but I think the accent nail doesn't really tie in with the other nails - its like 3 nails from one manicure and a random nail thrown in! Maybe if I'd used a white creme on the accent nail instead of a shimmery polish it might have tied in a bit better...

Anyway, this is one coat of OPI's Ali's Big Break for the red base, and 2 coats of China Glaze Frosty for the ring finger. The one coat of red wouldn't have been sufficient for a normal mani (I'd go with 2 coats) but I knew I'd be using a full nail stamp which would hide the minor imperfections, so I stuck with one.

I then stamped with my BundleMonster stamps - BM20 in Konad Special White Polish for the stripes and BM14 in Konad Green for the holly. I then dotted on the little red berries on the accent finger with a dotting tool and Ali's Big Break.

The only problem with the BundleMonster plates is that their full nail stamps are so damn tiny! You can see on the pics above that they only just cover my middle finger, and I'm glad I don't include my thumbs in the photo cos I tried to join up the stamp across them to make it fit and it was a hot mess :) But for the price, you can't complain really!

What kinds of Christmas manis have you guys been coming up with?

MCB

Snowflake Konad

Now, I know its summer here in the Southern Hemisphere, and temperatures are quicky climbing to their typically stifling and uncomfortable levels as is the norm here in Aus. Christmas day is usually a nightmare - humidity is at about a million percent and walking outside is like wading through hot pea soup. Try putting makeup on and arranging your hair into some sort of socially acceptable style in that!

On that note, here are two random facts about me - firstly, I hate summer. I hate the humidity, the heat, the discomfort and the inability to even breath without sweating and generally looking like you've just walked out of a particularly strenuous session in a Bikram Yoga class. Winter is my bestest friend :) Secondly, and this fact is likely a direct consequence of the first, I love air conditioners. Sweet, sweet air conditioning. Wreaks all types of havoc on your skin and eyes, but removes all that evil heat and humidity and generally makes my world a better place.

So why am I regaling you with these inconsequential and probably uninteresting details? Basically its a long winded introduction to my current mani of snowflakes. Because even though temps outside are climbing, I am taking a leaf out of my Northern Hemisphere girls' books and embracing all that is cold and icy.

Ok enough talk:

This is three coats of Zoya Crystal as a base. I then randomly added snowflake stamps from Konad plate M59 and Bundlemonster plate BM14. Just to make it super sparkly, I topped it off with a coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust and sealed it all with a shiny coat of Seche Vite. The rhinestones on my ring finger were added in between the Fairy Dust and Seche.

As usual, the pics do not do this justice. It is so sparkly and icy in real life. Oh well, even if it is getting hotter here, my nails can remain in denial :)

MCB

Zoya Gaia

Today I've got a polish for you from the amazing Zoya. I only recently started purchasing Zoyas, and I have no idea why I waited so long - every single one that I try is gorgeous!

Here is Gaia:

Gaia is a gorgeous soft white with a luminous gold microshimmer. Its stunning. This is two coats with one coat of Seche Vite on top.

And then I went and ruined it by doing this:

Ew. Konad fail. Looking back on it, pretty much any other colour would have worked except this. Oops.

Lesson learned - if it isn't broken, don't try to fix it :)

MCB.

Konad Time

Hi All,

I've got another quick Konad design here - only one pic because that's all it needs. Sometimes the simplest designs and colours work really well, particularly after lots of fancy, sparkly, bright polishes.

Here is my latest 'palate cleanser':

One coat of BYS Black Satin on all fingers except my ring finger, stamped with Konad Special White Polish and a Bundle Monster Pattern from BM20. Ring finger is BYS Matte White stamped with Konad Special Black. I'm itching to bling it up a bit with a sparkly top coat like China Glaze Fairy Dust or something...but I'm resisting for now.

MCB

Things You Shouldn't Do When You're Old Enough To Know Better...

There are certain things you shouldn't do when you're old enough to know better. For example: eating peanut M&Ms for breakfast...buying a car you can't afford then having to sell it because you can't afford it...and wearing ridiculously over-the-top manicures with too many design elements that would look silly on someone half your age.

And yet, I have done all three. In fact, I do two of them on a regular basis and would probably do the third again if it hadn't been so painful watching my beautiful car driving off into the sunset with someone who could afford it behind the wheel. Sigh.

So here is photographic evidence of too much colour, too many dots and bows, too much glitter, and just...too much!

This started off, innocently enough, with two coats of OPI's Dim Sum Plum from the Hong Kong collection. I then added some Konading from the M56 (the bows) and M79 (the dots) plates in Konad Special White Polish. And because I was already being so ridiculous, I added OPI Show It and Glow It from the Burlesque Collection to my ring finger for a blingy accent. Don't let these pictures fool you - the glitter is outrageously sparkly :)

Too much? Yes. Will that stop me doing something like this again? Nope. I might do my next mani over my peanut M&Ms at breakfast tomorrow :)

MCB

China Glaze Moody Blue

Hi Everyone,

With all the discussion going on in the US and Europe over Chanel's new blue polish, Riva, I thought I'd jump on that bandwagon with a post about a reputed dupe to Chanel's polish - China Glaze Moody Blue.

Of course, here in Australia we can't get Riva yet - we Aussie girls usually have to wait about 500 years after the rest of the world has gotten their polish - and also gotten well and truly over it - before we even get a whiff of a trendy collection! Online polish e-tailers are a godsend in this polish backwater, but as far as I know, unless we have friends in the US or Europe willing to ship us some goodies, we will just have to wait to get our paws on Riva down under.

I shouldn't complain - we do have some unique and awesome brands such as BYS, Ozotics and Ulta (not the same as Ulta in the US) that are hard to come by outside of this country...

Anyway, for a comparison of Moody Blue with Riva, you should check out Lacquerized's post on this at: http://www.lacquerized.com/2010/11/chanel-cote-dazur-collection-le-vernis.html 

Here are my pics of Moody Blue:

I do really like this colour - it is soft and sweet and squishy (somebody learned 'alliteration' as a literary tool in high school!). But...this is 5 coats! Eeek! I don't know if it was just me, or if this is sheer for everyone, but I seriously could not be bothered applying 5 coats then top coat.

And given my penchant for some Konad action, you know what's coming up next:

I added the pretty bow stamp from Konad plate M56 in Konad Special White polish. So cute and girly - I loved this design. Could have been a bit neater with the application but after the six coats of polish I had already applied, my patience was wearing thin and the outside light was fading fast!

That's it for now - can't wait to get my hands on Riva so I can compare the two. If it applies in less than five coats, I think it will be a winner for me.

MCB

Dior Vernis Red Dahlia

Hi Everyone!

I picked this Dior lacquer up in an impulsive fashion (very unlike me...not) while I was buying some makeup the other day, and I am so glad I did.

I'm not a huge fan of reds, and although I do have a few in my collection, they have to be pretty special to come out in public. Trust me, this one is special.

I should preface these pics with the caveat that I had some difficulty photographing this colour. I am technologically challenged at the best of times, so I enlisted the help of my dad, who is gifted with photographic skills that have to be seen to be believed. He started telling me about why I was having trouble getting colour accuracy - about the dichroic nature of light and the amount of reflection visible to the naked eye and then I fell asleep and my brain imploded simultaneously and I just kept taking photos in all different sorts of light until I found something that worked.

Of course in the middle of all this I couldn't resist embellishing such a lovely manicure, so I added some Konad...unfortunately none of the pictures I took pre-Konad are the right colour, so I don't have any to show you, but luckily the design doesn't cover the entire nail so you can still get a feel for how the colour  looks on its own.

So here are some reasonably accurate colour pics - bearing in mind that the colour you see on your screen will also depend on your monitor's calibration:

Red Dahlia is a rich, sumptuous, cool blue red, which was so easy to work with it almost applied itself. Smooth, creamy, perfect finish (and you'd want to hope so, given the retail price we have to pay for these in Aus!). This is 2 coats with a Seche Vite top coat.

For the Konad, I used the M45 plate to do the polka dot tips and the M59 plate for the bow, both in Konad Special White polish. I then used a tiny pearl decoration given to me in a sparkly package from my lovely friend the divine Miss M :)

So that is the delicious Red Dahlia...yum.

MCB

Blue Skies

Gonads - I can take them or leave them...but Konads - now that is another matter. It is a rare day that I can resist the temptation to stamp/decorate or otherwise alter the appearance of a perfectly acceptable manicure. So in keeping with this approach, after I had painted my nails with Color Club's Take Me To Your Chateau, I couldn't resist sprucing it up with some stamping and freehand.

I got this idea from Ashley's amazing blog Polish and Konad, and you can see her original here: http://www.polishandkonad.com/2010/06/disney-pixars-up-freehand-mani.html

Here is mine:

I used 2 coats of Color Club Take Me To Your Chateau, Konad plate M79, and Konad Polish in Special White. For the balloons, I used China Glaze Heli-Yum, China Glaze Grape Pop, OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui, Orly Lollipop, Orly Gumdrop and Illamasqua Blow. I then used a Sally Hansen nail art pen in white to create the shine on the balloons, and topped everything off with a coat of Seche Vite.

Cute, but my balloons are a bit messy...I really need to get me a dotting tool, and some ambidexterity :)

MCB