Dazzle Dry - Nail Stories "Blue Fantasy" Collaboration Shade and Mystery Winter 2013 Collection

Hi everyone! Today's post is really special to me as I've had to keep it a secret since early summer. But it's finally being launched today and time to share with you that I've been chosen as one of the bloggers for Dazzle Dry's Winter 2013 Collaboration project. I also have swatches of the other polishes in the collection and which blogger created which shade.

About the polish:
When I was first approached by Dazzle Dry, I was really flattered to be chosen as one of the 5 bloggers to create a shade. It didn't take me long to decide on an electric blue as it's obviously one of my favourite colours.
However, I wanted to add a little extra something to it and it wasn't until my husband showed me some galaxy pictures which he obsesses over in his free time that I saw some amazing colour combos and it struck me! I wanted a vivid blue with small particles of pink shimmer swirling across the entire nail.

Without further ado, here are the beautiful shades the other ladies created:

Artic Sunset by Anutka from wackylaki. A striking white with silver/gold shifting shimmer.

Tiger Lily - a hot pink packed with iridescent shimmer that shifts beautifully. By Jen from The Nail Polish Project.

Moxie - a deep purple based multichrome. It shifts from copper to fuchsia to gold depending on the lighting. By Robin Moses

Feisty - a deep burgundy with pink and silver shimmer. By Rina from Simply Rins.

Dragonfly - a dark forest green shimmer/ foil polish. The duochrome in this one is gorgeous as well, it shifts from teal to gold.

The majority of these polish dry slightly matte because of Dazzle's Dry's super quick dry and Vegan formulas but the colours really come alive with a topcoat!

Availability:
The Dazzle Dry Winter 2013 Collection will be available to purchase from their website www.dazzledry.com or www.dazzledry.co.uk for UK buyers.

*The products featured in this post were sent to me for review.

Cheeky Chat Me Up Nail Paint - Moss-Behaving & KPT Green Awakening

Today I have a very special polish to show you. I loved everything about this polish from the word go! If you haven't heard of the brand "Cheeky" before, you have most probably heard of Cowshed!

"Introducing Cowshed's naughty little sister, Cheeky: the new brand promising to re-write the beauty rules!"

During October, Cheeky is launching a collection of 21 nail paints, 14 body care freshly scented products, hair care, cosmetics and opening a new parlour in Shoreditch which will cater to all things nails and hair. Apparently, if you go in for a 20 minute file and paint, they will offer you a bottle of Chat Me Up Nail Paint worth £7 to take home with you.

Here is a swatch of Moss Behaving, a dark forest green. The formula on this was perfection, I can't fault anything about it! Completely opaque in one coat although I used two just because I always have to use at least two coats of polish when doing my nails. If you like green polish, this one is for you!

Check out urcheeky.com for more details. They are also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

This morning, I remembered that I still had some topper polishes to swatch and one of them would go brilliantly over dark green. I added a coat of Polished by KPT - Green Awakening, a shifting topcoat that shows copper, gold, green and the tiniest hint of teal. Also looks beautiful swatched over black.

You can purchase Polished by KPT directly from Katherine's Big Cartel website, (US & Canada shipping) but they are now also available at Shoppe Eclectic and Harlow & Co. In addition to polish, Katherine also sells beautiful polish jewellery.

*The products featured  in this post were sent to me for review.

Polished by KPT - Plumeria and Fluorescein

Today I have two more Polished by KPT polishes to share with you. A thermal and a bright neon glow polish. Let's get right into the swatches!

Plumeria is a pink holographic thermal. It shifts from a very light baby pink, almost a clear silvery colour when warm, to a bright berry pink when cold. You can see how it transitions in the photos below. This is 3 coats on it's own.

Fluorescein is a neon green jelly packed with scattered holo that glows under UV light. It's a little on the sheer side, the pictures are 2 coats and there is still vnl. You would probably need 3 coats or to wear undies for full coverage.

You can purchase Polished by KPT directly from Katherine's Big Cartel website, (US & Canada shipping) but they are now also available at Shoppe Eclectic and Harlow & Co. In addition to polish, Katherine also sells beautiful polish jewellery.

*The product featured  in this post was sent to me for review.

piCture pOlish - pshiiit

A week doesn't go by that I don't check out Camille's blog. She is super talented, her manis always inspire me and her photography skills are amazing. The polish I am showing you today is one of the collaboration shades and as per Camille's blog, it's called Pshiiit.

This is 2 coats of pshiiit. No topcoat. As it's a little on the sheer side, I will probably go for 3 coats next time. The bottle colour transfers onto my nails pretty accurately. It pulls more towards green although that blue jelly base is still visible, making it a nice teal duochrome. There are also some blue/ green flakies in there although I wish there were more of them because they're so hard to capture.

piCture pOlish can be purchased directly from their website - picturepolish.com.au. They do international shipping. You can also purchase it at various etailers throughout the world. Check out their Network page for more info. You can keep updated on any piCture pOlish news via their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

*The product featured  in this post was sent to me for review.

Polished by KPT - Kelvin Bleu and Hot Like Wasabi (thermal polishes)

The wonderful Katherine from Polished by KPT recently sent me some of her polishes to try. If you visit her shop, you'll see an extensive line of bright and dark thermals, funky glitters and toppers as well as holo and neon/ glow polishes.

Today I'm showing you two thermals - Kelvin Bleu and Hot Like Wasabi. All Polished by KPT polishes are 3 free (no toluene, no formaldehyde, dibutyl phthalate) and cruelty free.

Kelvin Bleu is a medium periwinkle blue when "cold". Capturing the transition in this one was easier than the others. My hands were really hot when I applied it, thus the very pale shade of blue...

...but as soon as I dipped my hands in ice cold water, the blue transition became much more evident and darker. In the winter it would permanently look like this as my hands are always cold.

The transition for "Hot Like Wasabi" was much more difficult to capture. Maybe it was because I swatched these when the weather was really, really hot here and by the time I removed my hands from cold water, they were instantly hot again.

Hot Like Wasabi is is a yellow/ green scattered holo thermal polish. I didn't layer this one over white which I think would have made it slightly paler. The first picture is what it would look like "hot" and I just about managed to capture the tips transitioning to a brighter green in the second picture.

You can purchase Polished by KPT directly from their website, (US & Canada shipping) but they are now also available at Shoppe Eclectic and Harlow & Co.

*The product featured  in this post was sent to me for review.

 

2true Pro - Metallica, Salon Shine & 3D Candy

2true Cosmetics and Make-up have recently launched their new range of nail polish, 2true Pro which has 3 parts to it - Edgy (which are a set of 4 caviar beads), Classic (a set of 5 cremes/ crellies) and Metallica (5 metallic polishes).

Today I'm reviewing a little bit of each collection. First up, the metallics. Although I'm not a massive fan of metallic polishes, the good thing about these is that they are completely opaque in one coat. I couldn't imagine having to apply two or more coats of a metallic polish.

Aphrodite - a medium rose pink - 1 coat

Arete - a light lime green - 1 coat

Athena and Noir beads - a dusty blue and black beads - 1 coat

If you read my blog, you will know that I was never into the caviar/ bead/ sprinkles (whatever you want to call them) craze. It was just one of those trends that I didn't get and didn't appeal to me, plus I even had some trouble applying them. They aren't durable and would annoy me every time one fell. I know you can put a top coat over them but I think that makes them look lumpier and they end up falling off anyway! Great look for a nail photo shoot though!

Next up is a polish from the "Classic" collection - Mila. I have to say that this is my favourite of the bunch! I love this shade of orange as all my other oranges have too much red in them. This one actually looks quite coral'ish in person. It applies beautifully in 2 smooth coats.

2true polishes are available now exclusively at Superdrug stores nationwide. They cost £4 each and the beads cost £3.

*The product(s) featured  in this post was sent to me for review.

piCture pOlish - Jade

Today I have another piCture pOlish beauty to show you. This colour is perfect for Summer and its fast becoming one of my favourite greens.

Jade is described as "a bright pastel turquoise shade with a pretty silver shimmer". It's a bit more on the green side than it is blue but it's a stunner nonetheless. The subtle shimmer in it makes a change from all those pastel cream shades of jade I already own.

For this mani, I paired Jade with some white polka dots because I love the combo it creates and added a Born Pretty Store white acrylic bow for extra cuteness.

piCture pOlish can be purchased directly from their website - picturepolish.com.au. They do international shipping. You can also purchase it at various etailers throughout the world. Check out their Network page for more info. You can keep updated on any piCture pOlish news via their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

*The product featured  in this post was sent to me for review.

Nfu Oh 52

I wish Nfu Oh polishes were more easily available in the UK aside from a single stockist. And slightly cheaper as well. I adore their bottles, their brushes and their formulas.

Today I'm wearing Nfu Oh 52. In fact, I've been wearing it for five days today and there's only a small chip on my thumb.
Although you can't see any purple in there, #52 is actually a purple jelly base chock full of sapphire blue and green shifting flakies. I chose to layer two coats over Miss Sporty Blueberry so it wouldn't look so dark on the nail.

The flakies were really evident and they had such depth to them trapped in that jelly base.

Thanks for reading and commenting.

Spring Swallow with Fake Nail Tattoos

Hi Everyone!

I know it's been a very long time since I've posted anything! Life happens and I won't bore you with the details. I still won't be able to post as regularly as I'd like but I really missed doing my nails and wanted to show you the mani I did with these nail decals/ tattoos sent to me by "Fake Tattoos".

Fake Tattoos is a Scandinavian company that specialises in temporary body and nail tattoos. The tattoos come in sheets of paper backed by plastic. They apply a lot like water decals other than they don't have to be dipped in water prior to applying. You just peel the plastic backing off, apply the image to the nail and press or carefully rub with a damp paper towel. The tattoo will transfer onto the nail and voila!

I created a mix and match mani using the swallow image. I used one of my favourite greens for spring - Essie Navigate Her as well as China Glaze Polarized on the ring finger to add a bit of sparkle. For the thumb, I opted for various sized polka dots in pink and white.

You can order Fake Tattoos directly from their website. They offer free worldwide shipping!

*The product featured  in this post was sent to me for review.

Fuchsia Garden - Terrestrial Nails

Today I have a somewhat bright mani to show you, featuring an indie polish from Terrestrial Nails called Fuchsia Garden. It was sent to me by a wonderful lady on Instagram (@nic_tchelly) and you can also find the creator of Terrestrial Nails on Instagram (@newieee), on Etsy and on Facebook.

Fuchsia Garden is a medium green base with mircro and medium hex fuchsia glitter. You need 3 coats for full opacity but you can also layer it over any green or teal polish to achieve instant opacity. One thing I like about this polish is definitely the colour combo, it's different and original as I haven't seen a lot of green bases with fuchsia glitter. I just wish there were a bit more of the larger hex glitter swimming around in it.

I used a bright neon purple polish to complement the glitters in this polish and to also break up the green a little bit. It's by Justy Cosmetics No.422. This polish was only €1 and I absolutely love the colour and the formula. I'll have to do a full mani with it soon.

Jade +Teal = Mix + Match

Can you guess which blogger today's mani is inspired by? Of course you can! She has the most perfect nails and her designs are always fantastic and inspiring - it's Amy Grace from The Polished Perfectionist.

I didn't have all the polishes or the stamping plate that Amy Grace used so I chose the following products instead. By the way, how amazing is CG Atlantis? Can't believe this is the first time I'm wearing it!

pinky and thumb: Rimmel London Misty Jade
ring: Nails Inc Electric Teal, BM221, Konad Special Nail Polish in White
middle: one coat of Nails Inc Electric Teal, two coats of China Glaze Atlantis
index: OPI Alpine Snow, Rimmel London Misty Jade, dotting tool

Thanks for reading and commenting :)

My Fall Polishes: A-England St.George

My autumn/ winter polish picks wouldn't be complete without an A-England beauty. This is St. George, my favourite from "The Legend" collection which has often been called "teal perfection"! The smallest scattered holographic particles are mesmerising and it's smooth, buttery formula make this polish a dream to work with.

The consistency is so perfect, I didn't even have to do any clean-up. It's pretty much a one-coater if applied carefully and thickly enough. I can easily run out of positive adjectives to describe this polish, those of you who have tried Adina's holos know what I'm talking about.

OPI - Live And Let Die (James Bond 007 Skyfall Collection 2012)

Today I have another one of my picks from the OPI Skyfall James Bond Collection to show you. This dark shade really captured my attention. It's a blackened green creme packed with gold flecks. It is very dark but the green tinges are still visible, even in dim lighting. A perfect winter colour in my opinion, I can see myself using this shade a lot in the coming months. I can't say a single bad thing about the formula either. It's buttery perfection in one coat.

I thought that adding a little extra gold wouldn't go amiss so inspired by one of my Instagram friends, Nic, I added chevrons to the accent nail and some loose gold glitter.