Essie Spring 2015 Collection - Swatches & Review

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One of the hardest things about swatching for brands is when you have the pretties sitting there staring at you for what seems like forever and not being able to share the straight away because the release date is too far away.  That is what happened with Essie's Spring 2015 Collection.  I have been eyeing off the majority of these shades since they were released in the US and now that I have seen them in person and tried them, they definitely have not disappointed me.  Let's just get straight into the pretties shall we?

Blossom Dandy is described as a mint creme hydrangea.  Such a beautiful colour and definitely one of my favorites from this collection.  The formula is great and has quite even coverage even on the first coat.  I used two coats for my swatch.

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Flowerista is described as a passionate plum dahlia.  Another beautiful colour with a great formula.  This one you can easily get away with doing one coat (especially if you have short nails), as you only will see a visible nail line under direct light.  I used two coats for my swatch.

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Garden Variety is described as a teal blue orchid.  Again, another great colour with a great formula.  I used two coats for my swatch.

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Petal Pushers is described as a smoky stone rose.  I love this colour.  I really am liking grey polishes at the moment.  The formula of this one is very similar to Flowerista.  I used two coats for my swatch.

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Perennial Chic is described as a sumptuous tawny tulip.  The formula on this one is good and only needs two coats to be opaque.  Personally I am not a fan of this colour on my skin tone.

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Picked Perfect is described as a antique almond peony.  Now this type of nude is more up my alley.  The formula is great and only requires two coats to be opaque.

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As mentioned earlier I have been so excited for this collection for a long time and it really didn't disappoint.  I love the formulas (and the wide brushes) and I think the colours are beautiful.  My personal picks would have to be Blossom Dandy, Flowerista and Petal Pushers.

Essie's Spring 2015 Collection will be available from Priceline and select pharmacies in October and November.  These polishes are only available for a limited time so grab them before they disappear.

If you would like to see any comparisons with these polishes left me know in the comments below and I will organize a post as soon as I get all of my polishes back and unpacked.

Femme Fatale Cosmetics September 2015 COTM Sunset Dreams Of Ice Cream - Swatches & Review

Well hello from Melbourne!  It is so great to be back (even though we are still staying in a hotel).  I can't wait to officially be moved in and settled into the new house but that is definitely still a little while off.   Anyway enough about that for now, today I have Femme Fatale's Colour Of The Month polish from this month to share with you.

Sunset Dreams Of Ice Cream is described as having a dark rose jelly base filled with golden glitters and shimmers with neon pink accents.  This polish is very sheer so you do need quite a few coats to get it close to opaque (I did three thick coats and you can still see a slight visible nail line).  I definitely will be layering it over another polish the next time I wear it.  All that being said, it is quite a pretty polish and the formula is easy to work with.

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Picture taken in direct sunlight

Like with all the previous month's, I don't think that this COTM polish is still available.  But never fear, Sophie has another pre-sale of a bunch of gorgeous looking polishes happening October 1st - 5th.  I recommend joining the Femme Fatale Facebook group to keep up to date with all releases etc.

Grace-full Nail Polish Two Peas In A Pod Duo - Swatches & Review

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Today I have another soon to be released duo by Grace-full Nail Polish.  This duo is an exclusive for Grace-full Nail Polish and Ella Ann Cosmetics and is a nod to the relationship that these two brands have developed from across the hemispheres.  You really have to love the internet and the way that it connects people who sometimes would have never met other wise.  

Goodbye Summer is a bright turquoise blue holo with shimmer and was designed by Kristen (Ella Ann Cosmetics).  Soooooo pretty.  I do love this one.  The formula was great and really easy to work with.  I used two coats for me swatch.

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Hello Spring is a bright green holo with a touch of shimmer.  It's lighter than a lime and perfect for spring.  This polish was designed by Theresa (Grace-full Nail Polish).  Such a pretty green and the formula was easy to work with.  I did find it a little sheer so needed three coats to avoid having any visible nail lines.

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I love this duo.  I love that they are both brighter holos and definitely perfect for the warmer weather us Aussies are going to be having soon (unless you are in a warmer state like Queensland).

The Two Peas In A Pod Duo will be available on the 28th September at 7pm.  You will only be able to get your hands on these from Grace-Full Nail Polish or Ella Ann Cosmetics.

Uberchic Beauty Collection Five Stamping Plates - Swatches & Review

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Today I am officially on my way back to Melbourne!  I am so excited and can't wait to be all moved in and back to some sort of routine.  Our removalists are still estimating that our belongings will arrive on Wednesday so fingers crossed that is the case (and that all of my polishes survive the trip again).

For my post today I am excited to share with you Uberchic's Collection Five stamping plates.  I think this set may be my favorite of the plates that I received.  It is a tough call.  I do love them all.  Like with the other Uberchic plates I own these all pick up and stamp beautifully.  Uberchic definitely seem to be very consistent with their quality of plates.  I am very impressed and look forward to collecting more of their plates.

Plate 5-01

Mani done using plate 5-01

Plate 5-02

Mani done using plate 5-02

Plate 5-03

Mani done using plate 5-03

If you have missed my previous reviews of Uberchic Plates before you can see them here:

Collection One

Collection Two 

Collection Three

Collection Four

Hipster 01

Geek Love 01

Fairytale 01

Collection Five plates (and all of the plates listed above plus some new ones) are available from Uberchic Beauty.  I also recommend grabbing the Uber Mat as well.  The mat is awesome and I can't wait to play with mine again. 

Grace-full Nail Polish Halloween Duo - Swatches & Review

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Before I jump into today's post, I just wanted to give you a little life update.  For those of you who follow me on Instagram you may have noticed that for the last couple of weeks I have been quieter than usual.  Why?  Because I have been packing up our house ready for our big move back to Melbourne.  I am so exciting to be moving back, although I will miss Margaret and the sunshine (luckily for me Melbourne should start warming up so it's great timing really).  Anyway, as you read this all of our belongings will be being loaded into the truck to start the journey to the new house.  I have got a few posts scheduled so I won't fully disappear, however there won't be as many as I usually have over the next couple of weeks.  So bare with me while I unpack and get myself back into a routine.

Now back to the polishes!  Today I have Grace-full Nail Polish's Halloween Duo to share with you.  Now if you are a purple fan than these polishes are right up your alley.  They are both completely different and don't necessarily scream Halloween (well to me anyway), but I think that is a great thing.  It means you won't feel so restricted with when you wear them.  I know I personally stay away from gold, red and green glitter mixes because they say Christmas to me.

 

Gretchen's Grape is a bright violet based with deep purple shimmer through out and lime green and orange small holo glitters.  The formula is great and easy to use.  I used two coats for my swatch.  The tone of purple is definitely like the light box picture than in direct sunlight, but the sunlight shows of the glitters better.

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Picture taken in direct sunlight

Sugar Plum Nightmare is a very deep purple linear holo.  Super easy to work with formula and pretty colour.

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Picture taken in direct sunlight

I am a fan of this duo, particularly that they don't scream Halloween and can be worn all year round.

The Halloween duo is being released on Grace-full Nail Polish's site September 28th at 7pm AEST.  This duo will also be available from Ella Ann Cosmetics and Rainbow Connection.

Uberchic Beauty Collection Four Stamping Plates - Swatches & Review

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I'm back with another three piece collection of plates from Uberchic Beauty.  I have previous swatched and reviewed collections one, two and three and my opinion hasn't changed with Collection Four.   Honestly this would have to be one of the shortest reviews I probably could ever write.  I love the mix of the designs that are in the sets and they all stamp beautifully.  You can bet that you will be seeing a lot of manis using these plates on Instagram.

Plate 4-01

Mani done using Plate 4-01

Plate 4-02

Mani done using plate 4-02

Plate 4-03

Mani done using plate 4-03

How pretty are these designs?  I am a huge fan.  But I also quite like girly things.  That being said your imagination can really go wild with these designs.

Collection Four plates are available from Uberchic Beauty.   I highly recommend checking out their other plates (the sets and the individual plates) as well as the Uber Mat.  I LOVE the Uber Mat.

Have you picked up any of the Uberchic plates?

Uberchic Beauty Fairytale Plate 01 - Swatches & Review

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Last week I mentioned that I received a number of Uberchic Beauty plates to swatch and review along with the Uber Mat (you can see it in action in this post - I am seriously in love with this mat.  It is definitely a must have for all nail peeps).  Well today I am here to share with you the Fairytale Plate 01.

I love that this plate has a mix of various fairytale themed images and not heavily leaning towards one particular fairytale.  I also love that there is a good mix of full images, individual images and some writing.  You definitely could make a story using a bunch of these images over different manis.  

I have done a couple of manis using this plate (and have tested out a couple of the images) and they all pick up well.  You may notice that I have some parts missing on my manis below but that was because I was a little slow transferring the image.

Now while this isn't going to be my go to plate (I tend to favor more full nail designs) I do love it for specially themed nails.  I really want to try and do a mani using the fairy image.  I am just yet to work out how I want to use it.  Let me know what you think I should do or if there are any other images you would like to see me use.

The Fairytale Plate 01 is available from Uberchic Beauty.  While you are there I recommend checking out the other plates (especially the sets - they are some of my most used plates) and the Uber Mat.

Powder Perfect Quest For Paradise Collection - Swatches & Review

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 Sail the seven seas and search for your polish paradise with Powder Perfect this September!

Happy Monday everyone.  Hope you all had a great weekend.  Mine wasn't very exciting but definitely very productive, but that is a story for another day.  You may recall the other day I mentioned in my Powder Perfect Halloween post that there were some more new release polishes coming.  Well today I am excited to share with you the Quest For Paradise Collection.  This is a five piece collection that is really exciting.  I am a huge fan of these, and the formulas are fantastic.  I absolutely love how Jacinta has written the press release descriptions so I am going to share those with you as well.  So let's dive in shall we?

Crystal clear waters are inviting you to take a dip.  Will you find any sparkling gems in the lagoon's depths? 

Lagoon is an aqua holographic polish with a myriad of sparkling blue glitters.  Such a stunning polish.  I used three coats for my swatch, however you can get away with two coats if you don't mind a slight visible nail line in direct light.

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 Mark your maps "There Be Mermaids" so other buccaneers are not lured by these ladies of the ocean!  

There Be Mermaids is a turquoise holographic crelly lacquer with a smattering of glitter.  Now this polish definitely screams mermaid to me.  I used two coats for my swatch.

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Picture taken in direct sunlight

What does you heart desire to find hidden within the buried treasure chest? A colour shifting bounty with a hint of sparkle?

Treasure Chest is an amazing polish with a strong multi-coloured shift from violet to bronze to forest green.  I have so much love for this polish.  I used two coats for my swatch.

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 Sail the seven seas and discover uncharted territory

Uncharted Territory is a light magenta holographic polish.  Stunning!  I used two coats for my swatch.

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When you are stranded on a deserted island you better hope that your rum doesn't run out!  

Why Is The Rum Always Gone? is a polish as beautiful as the amber liquid herself.  It is a holographic delight with subtle flakies throughout.  So pretty.  I used three coats for my swatch but you can get away with two coats if you don't mind a slightly visible nail line (and if you don't bump your nails like I did).

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Picture taken in direct sunlight

Picture taken in direct sunlight

I would happily go on a quest to paradise with these babies.  They are all just so pretty and the formulas are fantastic.  Normally I would tell you which are my personal favorites but I honestly can't narrow it down.  I really love them all.

The Quest For Paradise Collection is available for pre-sale on September 24th at 10am from Powder Perfect.  You will also receive 10% off pre-orders from 24th -30th September.