Mani Mondays | Orly

This week's theme is NEON!

Some people love their neons, some people hate them. Personally, I love them and this particular neon is my (current) all-time favourite. 

In sunlight

Here on the beautiful, sunny gold coast of Australia, we seem to be saying goodbye to the last vestiges of winter and moving into the gentle warmth of Spring which I am embracing wholeheartedly!

Officially it's not Spring until September 1st but we're two weeks away - nobody's counting. As far as I'm concerned, when our temperatures stay consistently between 22-30 we're in Spring. I love the Gold Coast!! There is no place better.

I love everything about this polish. I love how bright it is - even against pasty pale skin - and I love that it's loud and obnoxious and in your face. It's an absolute must have for anyone who loves pink. Oh hell it's a must have for anyone who loves bright, bold and utterly obnoxious.

Top: Direct Sunlight | Bottom: Shaded Outdoor

Pictures are two coats on the nail, no bottom or top coat. It dries relatively quickly between coats, and unfortunately for me, dents and chips rather easily. It's probably not the fault of the nail polish but more my fault since I'm ridiculously hard on my nails.

And I wonder why I have a hard time with them.

Linking up with the other beautiful Mani Mondays maniacs: Lindsay, Kimberly, Genevieve, Kat, Anca, Jaimie, Marianne and Jessi.

Please feel free to pop over to the Official Facebook Page and join up with us! We would LOVE to have you!! x

Mani Mondays | OPI & Femme Fatale

It's Mani Monday time again and this week's theme is "accent nail".

I have to say I'm not altogether thrilled with the colours I chose for this mani, especially because I wanted to use something with burnt orange.

I don't actually own any burnt oranges.

Ho hum.

Femme Fatale "Nightsong Grotto" over OPI "Lucerne-tainly look marvellous"

If I was after an actual Winter look, I'd be satisfied with this. It's gloomy enough with just a little hint that Spring is on the way (and my Jasmine are blooming, so this mani definitely mimics nature right now) but it's just not what I wanted.

I've gotten lots of compliments though, so I guess I chose well enough.

I'm not entirely thrilled about the patchy application of this OPI polish though. You can see how it's thinner in some areas where my nail is just barely visible. Not a fan of that. And today is the second day I've worn this polish, and already it's showing obvious signs of wear and chipping on some nails. Clearly my Sally Hansen "Double Duty" is no longer doing its job.

Ho hum.

Top left: Direct light | Bottom left: Indirect light

I'll likely end up removing this combination by tomorrow night, in part because I'm not happy with the colours, but also because I'm one of those people who can't wear polish that's chipping and wearing off. And also, Spring is on the way! It really is too glorious of a day to have gloomy hands - whatever was I thinking?

Trouble. Also known as Lyssa. 

One of my three cats. She usually runs from the camera but today she was too interested in trying to get in the way of my shots. She's long and lanky and extremely vocal.

Thanks so much for hanging out with us today!  I'd love to hear any suggestions on burnt oranges (what's your favourite?) and chip/wear resistant top coats!

Linking up with the other beautiful Mani Mondays maniacs: Lindsay, Kimberly, Genevieve, Kat, Anca, Jaimie, Marianne and Jessi.

Please feel free to pop over to the Official Facebook Page and join up with us! We would LOVE to have you!! x

Mani Mondays | OPI "Sprung"

Oh dearest blog, I have neglected thee! I am sorry. I had the best of intentions, truly I did. Every other day I sat down with the intention to do a blog post and then got waylaid doing other things.

Like playing WoW.

And watching my YT girls.

And blog surfing.

And... well... you know how it goes if you have a blog. Or even if you don't but you're a procrastinator. Like me. That was a lot of sentence fragments. If I was using Word, it probably would have exploded.

But back to my neglect. My dear, dear friend Lindsay came up with the outstanding idea of #ManiMondays - and it's even on Facebook so you know it's legit - where she posts a weekly theme and we get off our arses and do it, take a photo and upload it to Instagram, to our blogs, make poster sized images and plaster them all over large obnoxious offices...

This week's theme is "anything goes" which pretty much translates into: Alright, you're on your own this week. Suck it, eh? *

Did I mention Lindsay is Canadian? It's one of the reasons I love her.

OPI - Sprung | Outdoor

For this week's theme I chose OPI Sprung and goodness gracious is it ever beautiful. I picked this up for a mere $10 at my local Giant Chemist (along with 5 others - previously unhauled so this is a little sneaky peak for you) and I'm ridiculously giddy about it, especially because if you're a polish fanatic and live in Australia, you already know that OPI retails for the ridiculously over-inflated price for $20. Ahaha. No, seriously.

Prior to my unhauled haul I only owned two OPI polish, both liquid sand and both gifted to me from a friend when she returned from her 3 weeks in the US/Canada. But now... oh now I see why so many people rave about OPI polish and why they adore it so.

We do love a good shine, don't we? Isn't it beautiful? If you love shimmery bronze polish, you'll be needing this one. And yes, you may say that I enabled you.

Feel free to follow me on Bloglovin' - link is at the top right. Feel free to join us at Mani Monday's Facebook page, especially if you're a nail blogger or polish junkie and always use the #ManiMonday hashtag on Instagram so we can find your pictures!

Thanks for stopping by!

x

* Totally kidding, eh. This week's theme was simply just an intro post for everyone involved.

#NOTD featuring Femme Fatale {Dragonscale}

The Company: Femme Fatale Cosmetics
The Nail Polish: Dragonscale

Actual product description: Dragonscale is white based translucent nail lacquer with a golden green shine and golden flecks. Dragonscale has a colour shift, changing to a reddish copper depending on the angle of light.

It's difficult for me to start this post without shouting how much I love it: the colours, the finish, the way it looks on my nails. As I sit here typing, it reflects yellow gold because of a lemon EOS lipbalm I have nearby. When I was outside taking pictures, it was the most incredible opalescent colour, not unlike mother of pearl but with less pink and grey hues. 

The consistency is not too thick nor too runny and application is slightly streaky however it dries to a perfectly even finish. 

Top: Direct sunlight | Bottom: Shaded outdoor

Please excuse the mark on my ring fingernail; this is what happens when I'm overly excited to take photos and my polish isn't quite dry enough.

These pictures are two coats on the nail, and even though I typically leave a 2-3min gap between coats, today I was far too impatient and did not. Aside from the fact that I knocked my nail and got an indentation, this polish does dry relatively quickly. (I do not use any type of quick-dry top coat) 

Indoor, indirect light

I absolutely love this colour. It's classy, it's beautiful and it's a definite must-have in my oh so humble opinion.

Base: None
Top: Femme Fatale "Dragonscale"

edit: Day 2 - no visible signs of wear.
edit: Day 3 - visible & obvious signs of wear, minor chipping.

Find me on Instagram for more #notd pictures! Search for "ezriblue" or use the top right link!

#NOTD featuring O.P.I

The Company: O.P.I
The Nail Polish: Tiffany Case (Liquid Sand)

I received this beautiful polish from a very good friend of mine who had just returned from her two week trip to the USA & Canada and since she knows of my penchant for polish, and that I owned precisely zero OPI's, she so kindly picked up two for me. Both Liquid Sand.

I love this polish and I can see why OPI is a favourite brand of so many people. It's fabulous.

Tiffany Case applies thinly, with no streaks. It's an absolutely beautiful sky blue with tiny, shimmery silver particles that dazzle in direct sunlight. (I can only imagine what the gold would look like!) Once it dries, the finish feels like sandpaper, though not as sharp; perhaps well used sandpaper. It's not even a little bit unpleasant.

Top: Outside natural light | Bottom: Inside fluorescent light

Since this is my very first textured polish, I only put one coat on. (Truthfully, despite the fact that I use the foiling method to remove glitter, the very thought of more than one coat on my nails was a little scary) You can see it's slightly transparent in places.

I took these photos less than 24 hours after I applied this polish and you can already see some visible signs of wear (though I don't know if two coats would delay that). Since this polish isn't really designed for a top coat, I can't say I'm terribly disappointed, especially for someone like me who is quite hard on her nails on a daily basis. Just in the last 24 hours, I've washed hair twice, dyed hair once, washed dishes numerous times and done a batch of laundry.

Overall I am not disappointed. Given the chance I would happily buy some more of these, though of course not at Australia's ridiculously over inflated prices. $20/bottle? Hahaha no.

Base Coat: None
Top Coat: OPI "Tiffany Case"

Are you following me on Instagram? Top right for link!

#NOTD featuring Femme Fatale {Gilded Rose}

Gilded Rose (right)

The Company: Femme Fatale Cosmetics
The Nail Polish: Gilded Rose [Discontinued]

Actual product description: Gilded Rose is a clear base glitter topper absolutely jam packed full of gold holo, rose and garnet in various shapes/sizes.

This polish was included as a complimentary sample, and at first I wasn't sure I'd ever wear it. It seemed too froofie for me somehow; too much pink and gold for my taste. Originally I had planned on giving it away, however as I was sitting having coffee one afternoon with a friend of mine, we started going through my stash and it dawned on me that I could use it over gold and it might look quite nice. I would not use it over black; that would be too much of a contrast for me, and definitely not my style.

I grabbed my Face of Australia nail polish in Calypso Gold which is an absolutely beautiful pale champagne colour. This was the result:

Over Face of Australia Calypso Gold (indoor lighting)

Not bad, but definitely not my style. I'd tried layering it over lavender as well as a hot pink and neither of those looked particularly good in my opinion. The gold had the most promise, but even still - far too sweet looking; too feminine for my taste.

It applied well, and I didn't find the consistency hard to work with. The glitter did not disperse evenly, so some finagling was required but it's nothing I would consider a deterrent. I also did not find it particularly globby.

On my ring finger you can see where the glitter star has lifted, despite using two coats of Sally Hansen Double Duty. Of course it irritated me as the day wore on, and I was forever playing with it, flicking my fingers across it, until I had driven myself crazy enough to just pull it off altogether. It did not even last a full day.

Unfortunately this polish is a complete miss for me. While it is a lovely blend of pink and gold glitters, it's just not for me. Luckily, I do have a friend who is absolutely in love with it, and who will give it a very well loved home.

Base: Face of Australia "Calypso Gold"
Top: Sally Hansen Double Duty
Glitter: Femme Fatale "Gilded Rose"

Are you following me on Instagram yet? Top right for link!

#NOTD featuring Femme Fatale {Displaced Dreams}

The Company: Femme Fatale Cosmetics
The Nail Polish: Displaced Dreams

Actual product description: A sheer pink base filled with squares in various sizes/colours, highlighted by a scattering of iridescence. This polish is suited for layering, wearing alone may require extra coats.

I don't remember how I heard about Femme Fatale, but after having a few friends on YouTube who buy a lot of indie makeup, my transition to the world of indie polish just seemed natural. I found and followed them on Facebook and Instagram, and spent a while on the website drooling over the polish choices and never quite knowing which to choose first.

A few weeks later, I saw a post on their facebook page announcing a new upcoming collection, and my eyes widened! They would be releasing a collection of polish based on a MMORPG that I had been playing since beta: World of Warcraft. I immediately told my husband I would be buying some (if not all) of the collection and he readily agreed. (As an aside, he's still waiting for me to buy the indie made Optimus Primer eyeshadow base)

This was my first foray into the world of indie nail polish, and I have not been disappointed. I made a large purchase - eleven polishes total - and received two mini samples which are just adorable.

Femme Fatale is an Aussie based indie company and I am all for supporting my Aussie sisters. The fact they sent me two free samples really hit a good spot with me - it's all but unheard of in this country. Big label web stores don't generally include free samples, so to get two from an indie company was a big deal for me.

When I finally narrowed down which of the eleven to put on first, I selected a base and got to work. 

Over Revlon "Candy"

Like the bottle shows, the base of Displaced Dreams is a very sheer lavender-pink colour, however it's not terribly noticeable over Revlon's "Candy" pink and dries almost completely transparent. This is only one coat of both polish on the nails, and no top coat.

Displaced Dreams is not as thick as I originally thought it would be. It's not a thin polish by any means, and does require some glitter adjustment when brushing it onto the nails but it's nothing that requires effort and is definitely not a deterrent.

The index finger received the most glitter (my own fault for randomly globbing it on) and in the left picture you can see the sheer lavender-pink base has pooled almost at the end of the nail. I would not be so careless in future applications. ;) Live and learn.

I didn't pay much attention to drying time since I was busy playing World of Warcraft anyway (damn Nat Pagle quest fish) but I did wait an easy five to seven minutes between hands and they were quite dry by then.

I've had this on my nails now for two days and there are no signs of wear. Some of the larger glitter squares curled upward and out of irritation I removed them, but adding a top coat may prevent that; something to remember for future applications.

I am not 'easy' on my nails at all and the polish has held up well under hair washing, dish washing, clothes washing, counter scrubbing, sink cleaning - you get the idea: general household duties. Considering there are certain Big Name polishes *cough*ButterLondon*cough* that fail under much less pressure, Displaced Dreams has earned a spot in my polish rack.

Base line: I love this polish. And I'm pretty certain I'm going to love the entire line!

Base: Revlon "Candy"
Top: Femme Fatale "Displaced Dreams"

Are you following me on Instagram yet? Top right for link!

#NOTD featuring Australis

Australis Milky Way

First let me say I love Australis polish, so much so that I have bought and shipped various colours to my friends worldwide. And it just so happened I was in Priceline today, looking for some polish for a friend when I saw this particular bottle.

Since it reminded me so much of the speckled polishes that are all the rage right now, I had to grab the last bottle on the shelf. I could hardly wait to get it home and on my nails!

Application is streaky but it dries to a flawless finish. The polish is quite transparent though thick and if you're not careful, the glitter pieces slide right off your nail and back onto the brush. You almost have to "lay" the colour on your nail (placing the brush against your nail and pressing lightly, rather than a typical brush motion) to get the glitter pieces to stay on.

This is two coats on the nail, and it dried relatively quickly. For only having applied it a few hours ago, it's held up well under dish washing and shampooing/conditioning; so far no signs of wear and no chipping. But, that's completely typical of Australis nail polish - it's just that good.

What I don't particularly like is the consistency of it. It's too gluggy/globby for my personal taste however that would not deter me from buying anymore should they release any new colours. I also do not like the milky white base the glitter is suspended in but again, that is just my personal taste. I would prefer a stark base - in this case, flat white - that would allow the glitter to stand out against it. But then, I really am an in-your-face-glitter girl.

I think if you prefer the subtle glitters with not much sparkle or pizazz then you would really enjoy this one. For me (by itself) it's a miss unfortunately, though I will try layering it over some other pastel colours (or black) to see what can be done with it. If that fails, I'll just add more glitter. You can't go wrong with more glitter.

Base: Natural nail
Top: Australis "Milky Way"

Are you following me on Instagram yet? Top right for link!

* edit: Wearing for 2 days and it's starting to show some wear along the tips and sides. May have better longevity with a top coat. *

#NOTD featuring Flower Beauty

Today's beautiful polish comes direct from the USA (as with all my polish so far...hmmm) from my fabulous friend Heather (she hooked me up I tell you!) and I present to you probably the most amazing pink nail polish I've ever seen. This is "Cosmos-politan" from Drew Barrymore's range of cosmetics called, Flower. I love this nail polish so much!

It applies beautifully - two coats for perfect opacity. It's ridiculously bright and cheerful and is the most outrageous Summer colour. In fact, it's rivalling my previous all-time favourite pink which was "Beach Cruiser" by Orly. This is just... more vibrant, more lush, more... pink. And I love that.

I wish, wish, WISH Flower was available in Australia. I would buy every single colour available... which, you know, is probably just as well it's not available here. Sigh.

But really, isn't it just beautiful? Get your hands on it if you can, girls. It's Summer in a bottle.

Base: Sally Hansen Double Duty
Top: Flower "Cosmos-Politan"

Are you following me on Instagram yet? Top right for link!

#NOTD featuring Butter London & Revlon

I was inspired to do this combination because of the amount of drool I've lost since finding out about Femme Fatale Cosmetics which is an Aussie indie cosmetics & nail polish company... and good LORD will you go and take a look at those nail polishes?

Heavens to Betsy.

Yes you can believe I'll have some of those soon. But today is not about Femme Fatale. Today is about Butter London & Revlon.

I'm not normally a fan of Butter London - in fact, I don't care for the brand at all - but this is one colour that I actually do like. And I like it even more because it stays on my nails for longer than 24 hours without showing signs of wear.

Chimney Sweep is a beautiful gun metal grey and is probably my all-time favourite grey. It (unfortunately) has a narrow brush so if I'm not careful, it swerves all over my nail and sometimes ends up looking wonky and imperfect. (see picture above, first two fingers) I dislike that. But that's my own doing, not the polish, so no points deducted for user error.

This is one of four Butter London polishes I own, and is the only one that does not chip or wear within 24 hours regardless of base or top coat used. Since I've been spending obscene amounts of time at a certain indie cosmetic website, I decided to grab one of my glitters to use as a top coat. And I didn't want to just have an accent nail.

Enter, Revlon "Slipper". It's a Christmas polish, clear with red and silver glitter. It's the closest thing I have to a chunky glitter (I know how sad and depressing that is) but I was really pleased with the outcome. And I've gotten quite a few compliments on it! Evidently it's not a colour combination most people use.

Now I think I might do some online shopping. At a certain indie cosmetics company. Excuse me.

Base: Sally Hansen Double Duty
Top: Butter London "Chimney Sweep"
Glitter: Revlon "Slipper"

Are you following me on Instagram yet? Top right for link!

#NOTD featuring Wet'n Wild

This was my first time using the Wet'n Wild nailpolish in Blue Eyed Soul (Fergie Collection), sent to me by my amazing friend Heather who lives in Florida. (Unfortunately we cannot buy Wet'n Wild in Australia - grrr)

Application was an absolute dream. These polishes have a wide brush which makes applying the colour completely effortless. It applies flawlessly and is opaque in just one coat. I love that. I drew the little silver heart freehand with a raw spaghetti noodle (ahaha!) and used Going Platinum, also from the Fergie Collection.

This combo stayed on my nails for about 3 days before it began showing very obvious signs of wear. Removal was a little harder than I initially thought it would be, though not as tough as actual glitter polish. I'm not complaining; I love these polishes and I would happily buy more of them if I could.

Base: Sally Hansen Double Duty
Top: Wet'n Wild Fergie "Blue Eyed Soul"
Accent: Wet'n Wild Fergie "Going Platinum"

Are you following me on Instagram yet? Top right for links!

#NOTD featuring Wet'n Wild & Zoya

This combination was an instant hit! This was the very first Wet'n Wild nail polish I used, and this is in "I Need a Refresh-Mint". The accent nail polka dots came courtesy of Zoya "Charla" and I absolutely love the contrasting colours.

The WnW polish has a nice, wide brush which makes application flawless and ridiculously easy; two strokes for most nails. It does not go on streaky and dries relatively quickly. It's creamy but not overly thick and looks beautiful.

The Zoya polish has a narrow, standard width brush which I don't care for, though since the polka dots were done using a raw spaghetti noodle, it didn't much matter.

Removal of both polish was quick and easy, taking no extra time because of the glitter in Charla.

Base: Sally Hansen Double Duty
Top: Wet'n Wild "I Need A Refresh-Mint"
Accent: Zoya "Charla"

Are you following me on Instagram yet? Top right for the link! 

Nail of the Week: Calypso Gold

Face of Australia Barbados Collection

Calypso Gold (2 coats on the acrylic nail)

When I saw this at BigW (months ago), it was the only one on the shelf so I picked it up and literally carried it around the store for the length of time I was there, just trying to decide if I should buy it. I'm pretty sure the price was less than $5 but I didn't know whether or not I would like it. Just looking at the bottle I was sure it was going to be quite sheer, and I didn't want a sheer gold.

But, since it was less than $5 I decided to buy it. It took me months to get around to painting the acrylic nail and when I finally did, I was so happy to see it wasn't sheer at all!

It applies so beautifully and smoothly, and it looks fantastic.

2 coats w/Sally Hansen's "Double Duty" top coat

I've had this on for three days and it's only just started showing signs of wear on two nails though it does seem to "dent" very easily even when dry. I don't like that so much, but I do love the colour and I think the wearability is quite decent!

I have a couple of other colours from this collection, and now I'm excited to see how I go with them!

Aggie x