Uberchic Beauty Geek Love 01 - Swatches & Review

I have been lusting after the Uberchic stamping plates for as long as I can possibly remember.  I decided that they would be a great birthday present (my birthday is still a month away) so it has been pure torture for me seeing all the amazing manis everyone has been doing, but the torture has ended as I took the plunge and pretty much order one of everything (the only ones I didn't order was the number and letter designs because I am just not sure I would use them).  Anyway, I thought it would be a great idea to share some paper swatches and a review of the plates (or sets).  I will break these reviews up over the next few weeks.

For today's post I will be showing you the Geek Love 01 plate.  All I can say is I am in love.  The designs are cool and they all pick up perfectly.  I was in a slight excited hurry to swatch these so there are a couple of user errors in the swatches, so ignore those.  For all of my swatches I used Konad Black and my rectangle squishy stamper from Messy Mansion.  

please see below for my mani using the top design

I am so in love with this plate (and all of the Uberchic plates really).  I honestly don't think I could rave on enough about them.  Have you tried any of the plates?  

This plate along with some other great plates are available from Uberchic Beauty.

Random Swatch Spam

Time has gotten away from me a little this week so I haven't had the chance to actual swatch or prepare another blog post.  But never fear!  It occurred to me that I have a bunch of completely random swatches that I have done this year that have just been sitting on my phone/computer so I thought I should pop them into a quick blog post.  Now this post seems to be filled with lots of dark polishes but given it's winter here in Australia I think it is quite fitting.

Chanel Malice. Two coats.

Chanel Taboo. Two coats.

Essie Bobbing For Baubles. Two coats.

piCture pOlish Electric Blue. One coat.

Urban Decay Vice.  Two coats.

OPI Brights 2015 Collection - Swatches & Review

It is no secret that I am a fan of bright polishes, so when I heard that OPI had a new Brights collection I had to have it.  Now a little confusion, I have actually had these sitting in my polish rack waiting to be swatched for quite a few weeks now but honestly they haven't really made my heart sing enough for me to want to dive straight into them.  Sure they are nice, but I just found them a little underwhelming.  Today I will be showing you six of the polishes, but there are actually nine in total (three are re-promotes from last year so I didn't swatch those).

From past experience I have had some comments and some confusion about some of the mainstream releases that I post about.  Being in Australia, some of the collections and polishes do vary to what other countries (especially the US) receive.  To make it clear, these polishes are from the US collection and not the Australian collection.  I believe that the main difference between the two versions is the glitter polish.  Right, now let's get into the swatches.

Can't Hear Myself Pink is a shimmery metallic pink.  I personally think this one is really pretty.  It's definitely my favorite from this collection.  It applies easily but is quite sheer.  I need to use three coats for full coverage.

I Sea You Wear OPI is described as an iridescent metallic blue.  Really pretty colour.  The formula is similar to Can't Hear Myself Pink.  I used three coats for my swatch.

I STOP For Red is a bright red polish.  Nothing super exciting about this polish.  I feel like it's very similar to other bright reds (you can see a comparison of it to the red polish from China Glaze's Desert Escape collection here). It applies evenly, but is quite sheer.  I used three coats of my swatch and there is still a visible nail line (it's more noticeable in person).

My Car Has Navy-gation is described as a deep navy blue.  Personally I don't really understand why this polish is in a "brights" collection.  The formula was quite tricky to work with as well.  It dries as you apply it and drags the polish.  To avoid this, I had to use really thick coats.  I personally wouldn't recommend this polish at all.  I used two coats for my swatch.

On Pinks And Needles is a mix of hot pink glitters in a clear base.  Nothing over the top exciting about this one, but I am sure I will get a bit of use out of it over time.  The glitter payoff is quite good.  I used one dabbed on coat over OPI Alpine Snow.

The Berry Thought Of You is a berry purple creme.  I think it's a pretty colour.  The formula is easy to use but it is one the sheer side.  After two coats you still have a slight visible nail line, so I used three coats for my swatch.

Like I mentioned earlier, these are the six new colours that have been released.  The re-promote polishes are Hotter Than You Pink (which is a hot pink), Down To The Core-al (which is a bright coral) and Life Gave Me Lemons (which is a bright yellow-green).  There are a number of swatches for these polishes available, just google OPI Neons 2014 and they should pop up.  I am happy to swatch these (and do any comparisons) if people would like.  Just let me know. 

What do you think of this collection?  Will you be picking up any of the shades?  

LaBomb Mani Bombs - Review

PRESS SAMPLE

Mani bombs seem to be a huge thing at the moment, so naturally I wanted to try to see what they are about.  I heard through Facebook that there was a new Australian brand coming and that their products were amazing.  I followed on Instagram and liked their Facebook page and patiently waited for LaBomb Mani Bombs to open their doors (so to speak - they are an online store so technically there is no doors but you know what I mean).  Luck was on my side, and Kura (the owner and creator) was calling out for bloggers to review her products.  And here we are.

I was sent six of the bombs (see pics below for names) to try and all I can say I am in love.  I really like all of the scents I received, although they are quite overwhelming sitting together.  Now I should point out that I am not too fussy with scents and I also haven't actually tried any mani bombs or bath bombs before so I am not sure how these compare.    

Choc'bread Men

Cotton Candy

Mutant Mask Men

Nectarine & Honey

Rose Geranium, Orange & Chamomile

Now I also did receive Ahola which I used before I took my pictures.  I blame the excitement!

Packaging:

Each mani bomb comes in a small zip lock bag with a label that has all the ingredients listed for each of the bombs.  All six of the bombs I received were sent wrapped in bubble wrap to minimize any damage.  Mine did have very minimal crumbling but I just tipped those bits straight into the water.

How to use:

These bombs can be used on both hands and feet (and also in baths if you like) and are really simple to use.  Simply put warm water into a (preferably glass) bowl big enough to submerge your hands/feet, add the bomb and watch it (and hear it) fizz into liquid goodness.  Soak hands/feet for about 5-10 minutes, and then pat dry with a paper towel.  Allow the oils to absorb into the skin for half an hour and then rinse off.

Choc'bread Men dissolving in water

My experience:

I decided to test two of the bombs - Choc'bread Men on my hands and Aloha on my feet.  Both dissolved in the water within a minute, and both gave off great fragrance that wasn't too over powering.  After patting dry my hands and feet I didn't notice that they looked oily but they did look well moisturized and felt soft and smooth (and they still look and feel good a day later too).

Like I mentioned earlier, I am in love with these bombs and definitely will be buying more in the future.  My favorite scents of the ones I received are Nectarine & Honey and Choc'bread Men.

These are available now from LaBomb Mani Bombs and range from $1.80 to $2.20 each.  There is a huge variety of scents and shapes but they appear to be selling out rather quickly, so grab some while you can.

Feature on hitched.com.uk

Ok guys, I have a really super quick and super exciting (well it is super exciting for me) post for you today.  As you can see by the title of this post, I was featured on hitched.com.uk.  They contacted me and asked me if they could use some of my nail designs are part of a wedding nail art feature they are doing.  Of course, I said yes.  My nails are featured along with some amazing artists (including some of my favorites) so I couldn't be happier.  Check out the post here and tell me what you think.  Which of the designs would you wear on your big day?

China Glaze Desert Escape Collection - Comparisons

I'm back with another comparison post.  It feels like forever since I have done one of these but I am fixing that right now.  Today I have some comparison swatches with the new China Glaze Desert Escape Collection.  Let's just jump right in shall we?

China Glaze Don't Mesa With My Heart vs OPI Shorts Story

Definitely no dupes with these two.  The OPI is much darker in comparison.  Both are pretty colours and have similar formulas.  I used two coats of each polish for my swatch.  Do you need both?  Sure, why not?  You can never have too many pinks in my opinion.

China Glaze Meet Me In The Mirage vs Orly Rage

Now these are most definitely not dupes and don't even look close but given they are both rose gold polishes I thought it would be interesting to compare.  I am actually quite surprised at how gold Rage looks in comparison (it really is a rose gold I promise).  Both have great formulas and required two coats to be opaque.  Do you need both?  Absolutely.  I love them both (although I need to wear Rage in a full mani because until this comparison it has been sitting untried in my drawers).

China Glaze Rain Dance The Night Away vs Essie In The Cab-ana

These two aren't except dupes (the China Glaze has a more opaque formula and is slightly brighter than the Essie).  My swatch shows two coats of each polish.  Do you need both?  Probably not.  

China Glaze The Heat Is On vs OPI I STOP For Red

These two are definitely the closest of the ones I swatched.  There is the tiniest difference but honestly these are so close I wouldn't worry about getting both.  I would pick the China Glaze.  It's more opaque (it only needs two coats where the OPI needs three to be opaque) and I think applies easier.

China Glaze What's She Dune? vs OPI Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh? vs OPI Do You Take Lei Away?

No dupes with these three but they are the closest of the nudes that I own.  Formula wise they are all pretty similar - the main difference is that the China Glaze only needs one coat.  I did use two coats of all polishes to see if that would make a difference in the colours.  Do you need them all?  Well that's a tricky one.  It really depends on your love for nudes and your skin tone.  I personally love them all.

So there you have it.  Not really any exact dupes but two of them are so close to other polishes that you probably can skip them and use the money towards some other pretties instead.  

Orly Adrenaline Rush Collection - Swatches & Review

It dawned on the me last week while I was playing with the Orly Adrenaline Rush collection that I hadn't yet swatched or reviewed them.  If you follow me on Instagram you would have already seen me use this collection a few times (and I even got featured on Orly's Instagram account so that is super exciting for me) and would have heard me talk about how in love with this collection I am.  But let's make it official and I'll go into more details for my love of these polishes.

Now to save myself repeating the same thing over and over about the formulas - let me just say that they are awesome.  They all are so easy to work with and most are so close to being a one coater that if you were in a hurry or don't mind slight visible nail lines then you could easily get away with one coat.  Or if you have short nails, then you could definitely get away with just one coat.  I also found that these dried rather quickly.  Now let's get into the individual colours.

Be Daring is a purple neon creme.  I absolutely love everything about this polish.  I used one coat for my swatch.

Fireball is a red neon shimmer.  So pretty and I'm not usually a fan of reds.  I used two coats for my swatch.

On The Edge is a blue-ish purple neon creme.  Love this one too.  It's like the perfect winter neon.  I used two coats for my swatch although I could have left it at one. 

Push The Limit is a coral neon creme.  I am obsessed with this polish.  You have been warned.  I used two coats for my swatch.

Risky Behavior is described as a fuschia neon creme.  Now this one does photograph brighter and more pinky toned that it looks in person.  Either way, I love it both in person and in photos.  I used two coats for my swatch.

Thrill Seeker is described as a lime neon creme.  I really like this one too.  The formula of this one is slightly different than the others in this collection.  It does apply slightly patchy but I assume that is because it is a lighter colour.  I used three coats for my swatch.

How amazing is this collection?  Are you loving it like me?  I am pretty sure that this in a collection that I will need to be buying back up bottles of.  If I had to pick my absolute favorites (which is hard because I really do love them all) I would say Push The Limit, Be Daring and Risky Behavior.

I haven't really looked into my collection to see if there is anything in there that would be worth doing some swatch comparisons of but if there is anything you would like me to do comparisons of just let me know and I'll do a post.