Birthday Haulage

Whoo hoo, Happy Birthday to me today!  Boo Hoo, my husband is on the road with the Canberra Cavalry baseball team on the other side of Australia, in Perth.  Seriously he couldn't be further away unless he left the country.

So whatis there to pep up a girl?  Awesome nail mail.  The best thing about all this nail mail is that it wasn't even for my birthday, it just arrived in time for my birthday.

First is my Ludurana Aurora Boreal.  I did a swap for these polishes with the sweetest Rafa from Nails Ink.  They were wrapped in the beautiful way with purple bubble wrap and cellophane bags with hearts on them.  It really was like opening a birthday present.  Thank you Rafa!

I didn't get Espetecular, and I see that llarowe doesn't sell it on her site either. But looking at bottle pics it looks very similar to Fascinate.  Rafa also included a Risque polish that looks like a Chanel Paradoxal dupe.  Below are all the holos. Arrrgggggh *wipe drool from mouth*

Next, after seeing Stefs post about Essence being available in Target, I did some googling and discovered that as of Thursday they are now available in every Target in Australia, not just selected stores.  So I hauled arse over to the Canberra city target to check it out.  Canberra ladies, don't bother checking it for a week or two, the display stand was well and truly picked over, with less that 1/3 of polishes left. 

But the polish Gods must have been smiling on me, because there were still two bottles of Blue Addicted left.  Blue Addicted is the dupe for Deborah Lippmann's Across the Universe, which after seeing Carli's post about it, I had to have. STAT!

Sitting next to that is Nfu Oh #51.  I have been trying to get this polish for at least two years.  I had all the other Nfu Oh Flakes through Vivid Nails, but they were never able to get me this last allusive polish.  The most awesome Erina got me this bottle. Thank you so much!!

I received my Cult nails order.  The Superheros collection.  I can't wait to try them.  Clairvoyant. WOW. It may seriously be the most awesome polish ever!  There's a very cool looking duochrome one in there too - Mind Control.  It looks to be a very special collection.

Finally, I had a gathering with my family last weekend to catch up for my birthday and my Dad's, who's was the week earlier.  I baked a cake.  The ladies instantly knew what it was, but one of my brothers was scratching his head for a while.  Not my best decoration, but it did kinda looks like a metallic orange gold bottle of polish.  It tasted yummy too.

I just don't have time at this time of year to do swatching, so it will have to be NOTD for all those bottles above.

Movember Nail Art

Has everyone heard of Movember? It's a great initiative that runs throughout the month of November to raise funds and awareness for some too often ignored men's health issues, and more specifically protate cancer and other cancers that affect the male proportion of the population. 

Guys (or Mo Bros) are encouraged to start the month clean shaven and spend the next 30 days grooming their moustache to perfection, but I know a lot of gentlemen prefer to abstain from any form of grooming instead of going for the perfectly preened moustache!

To find out more and donate to the cause, click here.

I've seen a lot of pictures of Movember nails this month, but I think I've managed to trace the idea back to cutepolish on YouTube. You can see her original video for creating moustaches on your nails here.

I thought I'd add my own touch to this mani so I've used a few different Mo designs!

I used the always classic Cult Nails Cruisin' Nude as my base colour and painted on the Mos with black acrylic paint. All finished with a top coat of NYC Expert Last.

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Half-Moon Nudey

This is another look from New York Fashion Week, this time from the Odilon show. 

The design comes from Minx Nails who, in case you don't know, make a special kind of nail sticker that really bonds to your nail and is normally applied by professionals. However, lots of the designs are easy enough to recreate at home with polish and nail art brushes. 

You may have seen Beyonce, Rihanna and other stars sporting the famous Minx chrome manicures. Hopefully, one day, the powers that be will create a polish that gives you the same effect as the amazing chrome Minxes.

I couldn't find this design on Minx's website but you can click here to see the models sporting the look.

I used Collection 2000 White as a base and Cult Nails Cruisin' Nude for the half moons which I applied using a small nail art brush.

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♪♫ Memories of times and the places that were there

I can't believe it's Friday already! This week has flown by so quickly.

You might have noticed a few changes around here recently. I put up a new banner a little while ago and my pictures have also taken a turn for the better if I do say so myself!

I've been wanting a great lamp with a white fluorescent bulb for a long time after Cris gave me some advice about lighting. They can be a bit pricey but I was lucky enough to find one in the house. It's been sat on the same side table for months and I've gotten so used to seeing it that I just forgot it was there.

I was sat in the lounge one day when I caught a glimpse of it and just had one of those moments where something clicked in my brain and I realised it was exactly what I'd been wanting for weeks!

I also changed my watermark and have started stamping it in to the middle of the pictures because I've seen a few of my pictures online with the watermark cropped out and no credit given which is so annoying (and illegal). So, I have to put it in a place where it can't be cropped without slicing up the picture, but I'm trying to keep it as unobtrusive as possible and I hope you guys don't mind too much.

I started out using scotch tape to mark off the black sections at the side but it ruined the mani underneath so I just whipped out a striping brush and freehanded the a line then filled it in after. It's obviously not as crisp a line as you would get using scotch tape but it saves a lot of time and hassle.

Plate: Bundle Monster BM223

Base Colour: Cult Nails - Cruisin' Nude
Stamp Colour: W7 - Black
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Broken Nailed

Consider this a slightly early Pink Wednesday post!

My nails are in a sorry state at the moment due to my dwindling supply of OPI Nail Envy. I need a new bottle and I normally save my credit on Valued Opinions to buy it on Amazon but I've recently neglected my account so I need to do a few more surveys before I have enough virtual pennies.

I've been meaning to write a review of the Nail Envy for a while and this shortage has reminded me how much I love it and need to tell you all about it! Basically, it's the sole reason I have been able to grow my nails and keep them long, I can't recommend it highly enough.

Plate: Bundle Monster BM224 and BM201
Base Colour: Cult Nails - Iconic
Konad Colour: Miss Sporty Zodiac
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Thicken Up

I know it's well documented that polishes will thicken as they get old and used but I definitely notice it most with Barry M polishes. When you first buy them, they are fairly runny and nearly all of them need at least two coats for full coverage but after just a few months, they are thick enough to use for stamping. 

Great for those of us who are always on the lookout for stamping polishes, but perhaps not ideal for people that want their polishes to last until they need to scrape the stuff from the walls of the bottle!

The weather here was kind of crappy today and I could really tell that winter is setting in. Unfortunately that means more pictures with this crummy lighting will be coming very soon as the days get shorter and generally more morose. I got some advice from Cristina about her lighting and I think I need to get some white fluorescent lighting from somewhere so I too can have pretty, colour correct pictures!

Plate: Bundle Monster BM208 and BM209
Base Colour: Cult Nails - My Kind of Cool Aid
Stamp Colour: Barry M - Bright Purple
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Black Tips

This isn't going to be a very talky post. Enjoy the pictures!

Base Colour: Cult Nails Cruisin' Nude
Tip Colour: W7 Black
Pinky to Thumb
BYS Fools Paradise
Barry M Raspberry
Barry M Bright Purple
Jay Jays Ablaze
Barry M Cyan Blue
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Leave It To The Professionals

Sorry for the eerie silence around here. I've been busy this week looking for a full-time job since I don't think I'll be going back to University in September. These are my 'interview' nails, I don't want to wear anything too loud so I went for a nude with some subtle stamping.

Plate: Bundle Monster - BM205

Base Colour: Cult Nails - Cruisin' Nude

Konad Colour: Collection 2000 Hot Looks - Dynasty

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PW Cult Nails Iconic

It's Pink Wednesday and I'm rocking Cult Nails Iconic. I am in loooove with it, I know I say that all the time but this truly is my favourite pink ever!

Konad Plate: Born Pretty M78

Base Colour: Cult Nails - Iconic

Konad Colour: Miss Sporty - Zodiac

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I'm a Peacock, You Gotta 'Let Me Fly'

(context)

Any Mark Whalberg fans in here? Every time I hear the name of this polish, the scene from 'The Other Guys' comes straight to mind and I have to stifle a little giggle!

Konad Plate: Born Pretty M79

Base Colour: Cult Nails - Let Me Fly

Konad Colour: W7 Black

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My Kind of Cool Aid

My Cult Nails order arrived last week and I had to go and pick it up from the sorting office because there was a £13 customs charge to be paid. If you're in the UK and are thinking of purchasing polish from a country outside the EU, consider yourself warned about these charges. I was hesitant to buy these polishes in the first place because it's quite unusual (actually, unheard of) for me to spend so much on polish and in the end they worked out at £9.50 each which makes me cringe every time I think about it!

Wow, way to start on a bum-note but don't get me wrong, I am really, really happy that I decided to bite the bullet and buy these. I went for My Kind of Cool Aid and Iconic from the 'Inaugural' Collection and Let Me Fly and Cruisin' Nude from the 'A Day At The Races' Collection. Every single polish applies like a dream and is perfect in two coats.

Konad Plate: Born Pretty M76

Base Colour: Cult Nails - My Kind of Cool Aid

Konad Colour: BYS - Glittering Purple

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