Mani: Glitter Catastrophe!

There's a party happening on my nails and, quite frankly, I wish I'd declined the invitation. Actually, it's more of a Mardi Gras. Except most drag queens have classier nails than the ones I'm sporting. I chose the wrong background colour (Sally Hansen Miracle Gel in Sugar Fix, which on its own looked Ah-mazing, by the way!) then followed that up with another bad choice, my Australis Glitter Top Coat in Fairy Bread. I've had this too long and it had congealed into a thick, sticky, blobby mess. I didn't find this out until I'd started applying it, and by that stage it was too late! Usually I grow to hate my bad mani's, but this time the regret was instantaneous.

Products Used (although unless you're a 10 year old girl, you're probably in no rush to recreate this look):
2 coats of Sally Hansen Miracle Gel in Sugar Fix
Followed by one coat each of the following.....
BYS Glam Glitter in Dazzling
Australis Glitter Top Coat in Fairy Bread
Revlon Nail Art Moon Candy in Galactic

Guys, this is so bad I almost hate glitter now?

Linking this post up to Monday Makeup Madness at Fabulous And Fun Life! 

Disclaimer: This manicure was my idea. I am so, so sorry :(

What's a beauty choice you've instantly regretted making?

Mani: Essie Fifth Avenue Plus Gold Glitter!

Welcome to my latest mani! I wanted to try Fifth Avenue by Essie, which I recently acquired in the Priceline Beauty Bag offer (blogged at the link), because Essie is one brand I haven't had much experience with. I've paired it with Face It dense gold glitter polish in GL111 for a feature nail and used BYS Million Dollar Baby top coat, because the multi-sized gold glitter pieces tie in perfectly with the whole look!

I stuffed up and forgot to leave my ring fingernails bare, covering them in the orangey red lacquer. Oops! So I had to apply two coats of Face It GL111 over the top, and you can still see the red on the edges of those nails, but there's not much I can do about it! I'm happy I thought of a way to use a top coat that matched my theme, because normally I forego this step altogether out of sheer laziness. I'm impressed with the Essie formula; it's smooth and very easy to apply. This is only one coat of red Fifth Avenue!

One coat of Essie Fifth Avenue

Plus two coats of Face It gold polish on the ring finger

Plus one coat of BYS Million Dollar Baby top coat

You can see the red edges under the gold nail. Oops! LOL

Holding my new Lady Gaga Fame fragrance!

What nail polish have you been loving lately?

Revlon Tangerine & OPI Gold Shatter Mani!

I picked these two bottles out of my collection thinking 'oooh this will be pretty'. Then the more I looked at the colours, the more I thought 'my nails are going to look hideous'. I decided to go ahead with Revlon nail enamel in Tangerine followed by OPI nail lacquer in Gold Shatter over the top anyway, and I actually think it looks quite pretty.

This is two coats of Tangerine, which contains tiny sparkles, and one coat of the OPI shatter (remember when crackles and shatters were all the rage?), which has a very thin texture and shattered mildly. I've included a photo of the Tangerine alone so you can see what that looks like applied. If I ever dress up as a pumpkin for Halloween this will be my go-to polish.

Face Of Australia Carnivale Manicure!

This Mani Features:
FOA Carnivale in 'Between The Flags'

I fancied a red mani, so my son and I collected all my red-hued polishes, then I let him choose a bottle. He was most excited by the red glittery 'Between The Flags' from FOA's Carnivale range. Good choice! I am admittedly a little behind with my Face Of Australia nail polish collections, having completely missed the Screen Siren range. But I bought Ferris Wheel and Between The Flags a while back, and still hadn't given them a whirl.

Carnivale nail enamel is textured, giving it a sandy, matte finish that's certainly interesting. On the bottle it says 'gloss finish' but FOA said at the time of release this was a packaging/labelling error. These polishes are 3 Free (Toluene, Formaldehyde, Dibutyl Phthalate free). I'm thinking a top coat would ruin the unique textured finish, and it's really not needed.

The bottle says to apply 2 - 3 coats; I only needed two. I really love how this looks. It feels somewhat sophisticated and stylish, and it's just different to anything I've worn before. I can't stop feeling it to be honest. I think it will wear well, because there's no gloss finish to smudge. The tiny glitter particles shimmer in the light and I'm really digging the red hue. I'm even loving the modern and stylish bottle design. Between The Flags is a winner in my book, and I can't wait to try out my Ferris Wheel Carnivale enamel next!

Disclaimer: This products was bought by me and opinions are my own. This is not a sponsored post.

Triple Glitter Manicure!

Because too much glitter is never enough! I used three Australis Glitter Top Coats on my nails; first Glitter Strikes Back, followed by Rio Riot, then Fairy Bread, with no other polish as a base. I also skipped the plain Top Coat because I thought four top coats might be pushing it. I think the first mani photo might have been taken after only two coats, because basically, I couldn't wait to get my hands on Rob. Can you blame me?

Products used:
Australis Glitter Top Coat in Glitter Strikes Back
Australis Glitter Top Coat in Rio Riot
Australis Glitter Top Coat in Fairy Bread

Glitter nails would be great for parties, evenings out or your next hot date. I don't do any of those things, so I'm choosing triple glitter nails for everyday wear. This look would also be suitable for any upcoming court appearances, Sunday morning church and of course, funerals.

It's best not to think about what a bitch this will be to get off.

Disclaimer: All products were bought by me, because you can never have enough glitter. Am I right?

Glittery Christmas Manicure!

Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas! Here's my festive Glittery Christmas manicure!

Products Used (left - right):
The Face Shop Face It in  GL111
Models Prefer nail enamel in VIP
BYS nail enamel in Million Dollar Baby

Disclaimer: All products were bought by me. Merry Christmas!

Tutorial: Zoya Yara Mani with Gold-Dipped Tips!

It's becoming clear I like to paint my nails. My nail polish collection has swelled recently, and I feel compelled to see what all these pretty polishes, glitters and special top coats look like on my talons.

So here's yet another Mani, lovelies!

ZOYA YARA MANI WITH GOLD-DIPPED TIPS

Products Used......
Zoya in Yara
BYS in Million Dollar Baby
The Face Shop Face It in GL111
Max Factor Nailfinity Glossy Top Coat

How To Create This Look
1. Apply two coats of Zoya Yara. Allow to dry.
2. Apply BYS Million Dollar Baby to half of each nail, starting in the middle and going towards the tip. Allow to dry.
3. Apply Face It GL111 unevenly to the nail tips. Try not to cover many of the large BYS glitter pieces you've applied. Allow to dry.
4. Apply Glossy Top Coat to seal it all in and extend the life of your manicure.

Step 1: Zoya Yara

Step 2: Add BYS Million Dollar Baby to half nails only

Step 3: Apply Face It GL111 unevenly to tips

Step 4: Apply Top Coat

Close-up of the finished look!

Australis Fairy Bread Glitter Manicure!

The first of the glitter nail polish mani's today! After a lot of thought I decided on Bourjois 1 Seconde Gel Texture polish in Rose Cupcake for the base and Australis Fairy Bread Glitter Top Coat over the top. I actually wish I'd used a different base colour, because as soon as I applied Rose Cupcake I really didn't like it! But the main purpose was to get an idea of how Fairy Bread looked and applied and I do have some thoughts on that.

This manicure features one coat of Bourjois Rose Cupcake and two coats of Australis Fairy Bread. Fairy Bread went on easily for the first hand, but began going gloopy when I applied it to the second hand. The bottle definitely needed some shaking in between coats and from the first hand to the second. The formula is quite thick and not the easiest polish to work with, but it more than makes up for this in PRETTY GLITTER SPARKLE! And that's the main thing!

Products Used
Bourjois 1 Seconde Gel Texture in Rose Cupcake
Australis Glitter Top Coat in Fairy Bread

Are you a glitter freak too?

Disclaimer: I won the Bourjois polish and paid for the Australis polish. Opinions, as always, are my own.

Sparkle with a Glitter Heavy Nail Polish Haul!

Confession: I am currently completely and utterly OBSESSED with Glitter Nail Polish! I missed out on the Limited Edition OPI Rainbow Connection multi-coloured sparkle polish from The Muppets collection. So I went on a crazy spree, dedicating nearly an entire afternoon solely to glitter nail polish. A few of the following are nail polishes of the non-glitter variety. I saw them and I HTH (Had To Have). 

Sparkle, glitter-lovers!!

The Whole She-Bang!

Epic Glitter Polish Tower!

Rimmel Green With Envy; BYS Baby Bloom

BYS Gold Finger, Glam Glitter Dazzling, Million Dollar Baby

OPI Gold Shatter, Navy Shatter, Red Shatter

Australis Glitter Strikes Back Top Coat; Australis Milky Way

Australis Crystal Speck-tacular Top Coat; Fairy Bread Top Coat

Disclaimer: I bought all of these products with my own money. Yes, I'm insane.

What's your favourite glitter polish?