Emily de Molly Limited Edtion Polishes - Swatches & Review

To say I am a little with swatching the things I have purchased this year is an understatement.  I am taking a slight step back from purchasing more until I catch up a little bit.  My goal is to swatch all the new release polishes that I have purchased this year before the end of the year.  Prepare yourself for some posts that may seem a little out of order.  For instance, I still haven't swatched the majority of the polishes I purchased from Emily de Molly back in June (yep, June!).  Anyway, today I have the limited edition polishes that were released back in August.  Given that these were limited edition and I can't find them on the site, I'm going to make this post as brief as possible and apologize if you happen to like any of these and didn't manage to get your hands on them.

LE33 - such a pretty polish.  The holo in this one is definitely easier to see in the bottle than on the nail.  I used two coats for my swatch. 

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LE35 - this one I actually forgot to pick up in my first order so had to make a second order just to grab it.  Boy am I glad it did.  It's really pretty and the formula is great.  I used two coats for my swatch.

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LE36 - another really pretty polish with a good formula.  My swatch two coats.

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LE37 - this is a really pretty colour and I love the glitter.  It is easy to use however it is still a little see through at the tips in direct light.  My swatch shows three coats.

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LE38 - ok so this is hands done one of the best LEs that I have.  I actually wore it for a couple of days because I just didn't want to take it off.  The colour is seriously amazing and you could probably get away with one coat.  My swatch shows two coats.

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LE39 - this is another favorite of mine.  The formula is amazing and the colour is to die for.  I used two coats for my swatch, however you could get away with one coat.

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LE41 - this one is seriously gorgeous and so sparkly.  Great formula and opaque in two coats.

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LE42 - another really pretty polish with a great formula.  My swatch shows two coats.

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I'm sure I have mentioned this a million times before but one of the things that I love about Emily de Molly is how consistent and awesome her formulas are.  And we all know I am a huge fan of the colours.  From the limited edition polishes I would have to say that LE38, LE39 and LE41. 

How annoying do you find posts like these where the polishes are hard to find?  As a reader of other blogs I don't mind it so much (although I do get a little jealous because I want all the pretties) but I would love to know your thoughts.  I would hate to be upsetting anyone by sharing these things.

China Glaze The Prowl Collection - Swatches & Review

Each year China Glaze release a Halloween Collection.  I was a HUGE fan of their collection they released last year (you can check my swatches and review of the Ghoul's Night Out Collection here if you are interested) so was definitely really keen to grab their collection this year.  Sadly, it appears that most of these shades, if not all of these shades, are actually from previous older China Glaze collections.  It still worked out for me as I don't own any of these polishes so I grabbed the full collection. 

Concrete Catwalk is a dark grey creme. The formula is awesome and is opaque in one coat (shown in my swatch).  I think it's a great colour and would look fantastic on short nails and mattified!  This polish was originally released as part of the Metro Collection in 2011.  

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Evening Seduction is a deep plum creme.  This polish actually looks lighter in the bottle than it does on the nail.  I was hoping that it wouldn't be so black looking on the nail but sadly it is.  It was actually really hard for me to tell the difference between this shade and Liquid Leather (I did label the pictures so they are definitely correct).  The formula is great and easy to use.  My swatch shows two coats.  This polish was originally released back in 2005 as part of the Visions Of Grandeur Collection.

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Liquid Leather is a black creme.  This one is nice and opaque in one coat.  I did find the formula a little on the runny side so I definitely recommend careful application to avoid having to do a massive amount of cleaning up.    This polish is part of China Glaze's Core Collection.

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Orange Knockout (neon) is a neon orange creme.  I thought this one was a little sheer when I swatched it onto transparent swatch sticks so I swatched it over white.  This one does apply unevenly on the first coat but evens out (not completely but it is passable) on the second coat.  The colour is great and super bright.  My swatch shows two coats over White On White.  This polish was originally released in 2008 as part of the Ink Collection.

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Salsa is a red creme.  The formula is great and applies evenly.  My swatch shows two coats.  Now this one I can't really find much info on about which collection it is from or when it was originally released but I have found posts that date back to 2008, so it has definitely been around for a while.

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White On White is a white creme.  This one is easy to work with and applies relatively evenly.  I used two coats for my swatch but am questioning whether I should have done a third coat.  This polish is also part of China Glaze's Core Line.

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Overall I am a little disappointed with this collection.  There isn't anything wrong with it, I was really hoping for something unique and exciting.  As far as staples go these are a good ones to have.  My personal favorite would have to be Concrete Catwalk.

What do you think of brands re-releasing/re-promoting older polishes? 

Uberchic Beauty Who Gives A Hoot Mini Stamping Plate & Scraping Cards - Swatches & Review

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I'm back with another recent release stamping plate from Uberchic Beauty (the Who Gives A Hoot mini plate) as well as their new scraping cards.  I'm not even sure I have ever really spoken about what I use to scrape my plates when I do my stamping manis.  So that will be a first for my blog.  Let's talk about the stamping plate first.

Who Gives A Hoot

I am a fan of most owl things, especially cutesy looking owls (fun fact: one of my favorite pieces of costume jewellery is actually an owl necklace).  This plate definitely has a lot of cutesy owl images on it and I have particularly loved seeing all the bright manis that other people have done using this plate.  There are some amazing manis out there but I thought that I would go for something a little more simple and subtle. I had no issues with how the images picked up or transferred onto my nails.

Image from Uberchic

Scraping Cards

Uberchic have released a pack of six scraping cards.  As you can see from the image below there is three shimmery cards and three transparent cards.  Does this effect the way the scrape polish from a plate?  Not that I can tell.  Both the shimmery cards and the transparent cards are quite flexible (they are more flexible than a regular credit card) and do a great job removing all excess polish.  The bonus thing about these cards - they create great nail inspiration!  As soon as I saw them I knew I had to do a mani inspired by them.

Image from Uberchic

Both the Who Gives A Hoot mini stamping plates and the scraping cards are available now from Uberchic Beauty.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Spring 2016 Collection - Swatches & Review

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You may have heard me babbling on about my love for Spring and how excited I am for some warmer weather to come (please note: I am still waiting Melbourne!).  It's not just the weather I get excited for, it's also the polishes.  While the rest of the world is starting to bring out all the darker Fall/Winter colours (which I still like) I am so excited for the lighter and brighter shades!  Sally Hansen have just released their Spring Collection and OMG!  The colours are perfection!  If this collection doesn't say Spring then I don't know what does.

I don't think I have tried any of the polishes from Complete Salon Manicure range before (now I could be wrong on this so don't go quoting me) but I am so impressed with the formula of these.  They all are so easy to work and apply like a dream.  I'm not sure if that is the case with the entire Complete Salon Manicure range or just this collection.  This collection is infused with new keratin complex for added strength.  Who doesn't want to have extra strength to their nails?  

Crush On Blue is a corn flower blue creme.  I'm seriously obsessed with this blue!  The colour is amazing and so is the formula.  You could get away with one coat of this if you wanted.  My swatch shows two coats.

Grape Gatsby is a lilac purple creme.  Another gorgeous colour and awesome formula.  My swatch shows two coats.

Happy Daze is a medium pink creme.  Just to sound like a broken record here, the colour of this one is beautiful and the formula is fantastic.  My swatch shows two coats.

No Ifs, Ands, Or Buds is a dusty pink.  This one has a slightly different formula than the others in this collection.  It borders slighty into a jelly formula.  It is super shiny and is a little on the sheer side.  I used three coats for my swatch.

Sky's The Limit is a sky blue creme.  This is another great colour with a great formula.  For my swatch I used two coats.

Overall I am really loving this collection.  I think the colours are gorgeous and the formulas are fantastic.  My personal favorite in this collection is Crush On Blue, very closely followed by Grape Gatsby, Happy Daze and Sky's The Limit.

The Spring Collection is available now from Priceline Chemist Warehouse, Target and selected pharmacies nationally.

 

Uberchic Beauty Halloween 02 Stamping Plate - Swatches & Review

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I'm back with some more Halloween goodies.  This time I have the latest Halloween stamping plate from Uberchic Beauty.  I'm excited that Uberchic have added another plate as I really enjoyed their Halloween plate last year.  You can check out my swatches and review of Halloween 01 (as well as the Zombie Love stamping plate) here if you are interested.  All of the plates are still currently available on the Uberchic site. 

Image from Uberchic Beauty

I haven't used these plate too much as I felt a little odd jumping so quickly into Halloween manis before October.  It's a little bit like how the shops start selling Christmas products in August/September - it just seems so wrong to me.  However, you can bet you will be seeing me use this plate on the lead up to Halloween.  I think there is a great mix of designs both in full nail designs (my personal favorite type of stamping designs) as well as individual images.  I also like that they have some traditional images and some cute ones too (eg.  the little cupcake images).

Like with all other Uberchic plates I own the images pick and transfer well.  I had no issues what so ever.  This plate does have a thick blue plastic to protect which does leave behind a lot of glue/stickiness on the plate.  I believe I have mentioned it before.  It does remove with acetone so it's not really a big deal.  It's just more of a pain that's all.

The Halloween 02 plate is available now from Uberchic Beauty. 

Grace-full Nail Polish SANDS Charity Polishes - Swatches & Review

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As you may be aware October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month.  Along side running the Wave Of Polish Auctions (you can check out the press release here), Theresa from Grace-full Nail Polish has made two special polishes where all profits made from these polishes will be donated to SANDS Australia.  You can never go wrong with beautiful polishes that also raise money for a good cause.  

Angel Princess is a baby pink with silver-blue shimmer.  As this is such a light colour the formula is a little sheer, however it does build up nicely in three coats.  

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Sleeping Prince is medium pastel blue with pink shimmer.  Now this is my personal favorite of the two, which says a lot because we all know I love my pinks.  The formula is easy to use.  My swatch shows three coats, however if you don't mind a very slight visible nail line you can away with two coats.

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Seriously how pretty are both of these polishes?  Not only are they pretty but they also raise money for a good cause.

The SANDS Charity polishes are available now until the end October on the Australian site.  The polishes are also available on the international site, however once these sell out that is it.  Grab them while you can!

31DC2016 Nail Art Challenge - Inspired By...

OMG!  I did it!  For the third year in a row I have officially completed the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge.  I couldn't be happier.  This last section is always such a struggle for me, but that accomplished feeling at the finish line is the best!  If you want to check out the other manis I have done for this challenge this year you can see them here and here.  Each post also has links to previous years manis if you are curious.  I know I enjoy seeing what other people have done in previous years.  Anyway, enough babbling.  Here are the manis I have completed for the inspired by section of this challenge.

Inspired by a colour

Inspired by a song

Inspired by a movie

Inspired by a book

Inspired by fashion

Inspired by a pattern

Inspired by artwork

Inspired by a flag

Inspired by the supernatural

Inspired by a tutorial

Honor nails you love

So another year done and dusted.  Woohoo!  Let's see if I am crazy enough to do it again next year.  If you want to check out the manis I did for this section of the challenge in 2014 and 2015 you can see those here.

Did you do this challenge?  How are you going with it?