Today lets have a look at Nubar's "Purple Rain"

Hello all (just kidding- no one reads this blog but I like to pretend hehe).
Anyhoo, today I received two bottles of polish in the mail, Nubar "Purple Rain" and Nubar "Cactus".
It was hard deciding which polish to use as one is purple and sparkly and the other is a fabulous looking green, but I decided to try the glitter polish because why not.

I also recently bought a "peel off" base coat on ebay, so I figured using a glitter heavy polish was also a good time to test this undercoat too (I just spelt out "undercats" haha... I almost adopted a third cat the other day too, but that's for another post).

So, on with the swatches;

Nubar "Purple Rain"

Purple Rain is a sheer dark purple base with lots of bright purple and holographic microglitter. The first two coats had me thinking that it wasn't going to look too good and that it was too patchy to wear without an undie, but a third coat evened everything out and it looks fine now.

with flash (shows off that lovely microglitter)

This was a bit of a surprise, it's a lot darker than I was expecting, but it looks really good on my hands and when sunlight hits my nails the polish goes from "nice" to "woah".
I ended up using two generous coats of Seche Vite to give it a nice glossy finish and overall I'm quite pleased with this polish.

Obviously this is not on the level of, say, Emily De Molly's "Cosmic Forces", but for a $4 polish it's pretty damn good and I am definitely becoming a fan of Nubar- it's just a shame that it's only available through a couple of vendors on ebay (I have the same issue with Color Club, another polish that I really like that's freaking near impossible to buy without paying ridiculous shipping fees).

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed these swatches and keep and eye out for an upcoming post featuring my first Femme Fatale polishes... I am soooo excited for that package to arrive, any day now :D

cat picture spam

I caught the little buggers looking sweet and innocent today and just had to snap a few shots- here's Peanut and Smudge looking like they are the best of friends and would never behave badly ;)

Starry, starry night... a blingy stamped mani over Celestial Cosmetics "Birth of a Star"

Howdy,
I did a nice mani the other day using Celestial Cosmetics "Birth of a Star" but, as per usual, I simply couldn't leave it alone haha

So, I decided to have a play with some of the stamping plates I bought on the Born Pretty website.
I'll be honest, I don't think the plates are that good- the image doesn't seem to have been etched in deep enough, so the stamp doesn't have a strong image to lift.
But this particular stamp was a bit better than the rest and the star image seemed like the perfect companion to the polish, what with all the star references and holographic sparkles.

I decided to throw my Color Club flakie topcoat on over the stamped stars and also applied some tiny silver studs (and a couple of rhinestones on my little finger) to complete the look.

Celestial Cosmetics "Birth of a Star"

I am really pleased with how this mani turned out :D
I'm not too good with nail stamping as I've only played with it a few times and I really need to practice, but this worked out well, if I do say so myself.

Yes, it's blingy and busy and OTT but I don't care- I like it when my nails stand out, it's one of the few really "girly" things I do and I figure if you're gonna do it at all, you might as well do it 110%

TBH I can't wait 'til my nails are long enough to do some serious OTT manicures... the blingier the better *wheeeee!*

Today's swatches Celestial Cosmetics "Birth of a Star" and an update on the law suit

Hello all.
Well, I haven't blogged for a few days and I actually feel guilty- I guess having a routine really is helpful in terms of giving me a sense of purpose while I wait for my next surgery.

Unfortunately I've had a bit of a rough time- my lawyers don't think I have a case against the hospital for screwing up my hip and left leg, and that's quite a blow, especially when you consider how much I have lost since 2012.
But, the laws regarding medical negligence were changed years ago when Jeff Kennett was in power and, as a result, it is extremely difficult to prove negligence now, so what can you do?
I'm not gonna lie, it's really devastating news, but I don't know what I can do about it, so I guess I'll just have to accept the loss of my business and the loss of my physical health and try to make the best of a truly shitty situation.

Anyway, that's enough whinging...onto the swatches;

As you can see, Birth of a Star is a gorgeous grey leaning purple. It has a faint holo effect under normal lighting, but under downlights and with the flash the holo rainbow shines through;

Shiny holo goodness

 This was a very easy polish to apply- fully opaque after two coats, no bald spots or dragging and the formula was a good consistency, neither too thick or thin.

To be honest I wasn't sure if I would like this colour- dusty purples tend to wash me out and make my skin tone look dead, but this is surprisingly flattering on my nails. I think part of that is because it's a darker colour and the grey aspect helps to counter the washed out issue.

Birth of a Star was a freebie to celebrate Celestial Cosmetics birthday, so I'm not sure if it's available to buy in their online store.
Regardless, if this is a fair representation of their holo polishes I would not hesitate to buy another, as this really is a lovely polish that seems to be free of the issues that can make holo polishes difficult to use- I even put a coat of Seche Vite over the polish and there's been no dulling of the holographic aspect (at least, as far as I can tell).

More Celestial Cosmetics "Nomad"

Here's a bit more picture spam- the gorgeous Celestial Cosmetics Nomad polish, helped along here by the soft, fluffy goodness that is smudge;

Celestial Cosmetics "Nomad"

I must say, Nomad looks great against the grey of Smudge's fur

I can tell that I'll be really bummed out when I eventually run out of this polish...

Changing the blog around... and cat spam

Eh, I thought I'd have a play with the blog's set up and have made it a lot brighter and more "feminine". I'm not sure if I like it yet- although I'd love to have those cushions on my bed haha
What do you think, non-readers of my blog who don't comment because you don't exist?
Nay or Yay?

Speaking of kids (ahaha, see I wasn't, but it doesn't matter as no one else is reading this, so random subject changes are irrelevant) my little one has been away for over a week now. It's weird because I haven't really spoken to another person in all that time, except for a couple of phone calls and one outing to the supermarket.
I need to get out there more, it's just too easy for me to stay at home and exist exclusively online.
I do talk to my cats though, so that counts for something right? Guys?

Smudge

Peanut

Being cute together

I have no idea

Bendy cat is adorable

Giveaway links

Also, here's some links to some awesome giveaways that are going on at the moment;

Set in Lacquer have an indie polish box

It's All About The Polish have several great giveaways going

I'll update this if more come to my attention (there are others, but they're for U.S residents only, so I didn't bother to include them).

Some old polishes that deserve a mention- the Coral Colours "Princess" collection

Hi there folks, happy Easter if you're into celebrating that, and happy weekend if you're not.
I have some pics I'd like to share of a Coral Colours polish collection that came out last spring (or the one before that?)- I think it was called the Princess collection, but I can't find any info online to confirm that.
Anyway, this collection is soooo pretty- all sparkly, soft, shimmery and colourful.

The polish is best described as a very finely milled glitter polish in a tinted base, although truth be told I have never come across a polish quite like it, even amongst glitter polishes.
The application is great, it isn't too thick like some glitter polishes can be and the distribution of glitter is so even it applies almost like a normal creme, albeit a creme on the thinner side.
Three coats gets you to full opacity, although you can get away with two with some of the brighter colours.
The polish dries to a smooth finish and is incredibly sparkly, even in muted light. In fact, in the pictures I've included here I'm not even wearing a top coat- I didn't even own a proper top coat back then- and it still has a smooth, deep shine to it.
Of course, like all glitters, it's an absolute pain in the arse to remove, so I'll definitely try using one of those "peel off" undercoats next time I decide to use them.

Here's come pics of the bottles;

Pretty!

One of my favourite ways to wear them is as a rainbow gradient, and I did these manicures long before I heard of ombre nails or of sponging nails to achieve the same look (which I'm sure would have made it a hell of a lot easier).
So these were done by very carefully layering one colour over the next and by doing my best to make the transition between the colours look as smooth as possible;

Coral Colours nail polish

As you can see, the polish is super sparkly, but the colours are still quite soft at the same time.
Here are two absolutely terrible pics I took while swatching the polishes in various colour combinations;

Like I said, terrible swatches!

These also work really well as a glitter gradient over a creme base and can really make a basic colour pop that way.
The polish is, however, a little too dense to use as a glitter top coat imho, as it tends to cover up the underlying polish too thoroughly, so gradients and accent nails are definitely the way to go when using this line.

Having looked at these photographs again I really feel like I should do a proper swatch of each colour, because they are just so lovely- they definitely deserve to be shown properly.

It's such a shame Coral Colours discontinued this line because I think it's one of their best collections to date- the quality was spot on and I think the range could have done really well if they'd managed to get the word out amongst Australian nail bloggers.

Hopefully they'll decide to come up with something similar again, maybe a darker, more Autumnal range (I would be all over that!). TBQH I wish I had bought up more bottles than I did when they were still available- the thought of running out makes me quite frugal with them as it is :\

What do you think? Would you give them a go if they released this line again? I know I would... I'm just imagining a deep red polish using the same formula *yes please!*

Hope you're having an awesome weekend :D
Em x

Celestial Cosmetics "Nomad"

Just a quick blog about Celestial Cosmetics "Nomad" nail polish.
It's a very sheer red jelly with very small red glitter and larger reflective circles that seem to float on the nail.

In my opinion it is far too sheer to wear alone, so I layered 3 coast over Ultra3's Chilli (Ultra3 is a great low end Australian nail polish that has some fab colours).
Again, my swatches need practice and I only have my phone's camera to work with, but these should give you an idea of what Nomad looks like- I reckon it's awesome, the glitter and jelly combo makes it look as if it's lit from within when light hits it and it has that fantastic jelly depth and squishiness that I love.
Anyway, on to the swatches;

Celestial Cosmetics "Nomad"

So, what do you think? I love it, although I think this will be a bit like a good wine and get better with age as the polish thickens up a little bit.

And I think my mum would have loved it too <3

My first foray into the world of Celestial Cosmetics

Hello non readers of my obscure blog, how goes it?
Today I received a bundle of joy in the form of a post pack envelope.
And inside? Lots and lots of lovely polish :D

I like the little personal note on the back of the Celestial Cosmetics card

 Not only were my 4 ordered polishes in there, but there was an additional polish called "Birth of a Star", a beautiful grey leaning, dusty purple holo




I actually emailed Celestial Cosmetics as I thought they had accidentally added the polish to my order, but they emailed me back to let me know it's part of their birthday celebrations and that all orders receive a bottle until the 25th of April.
Awesome!

Birth of a Star

So, apart from Birth of a Star I also received Nomad, Charming, Crow Eater and Neon Nights (Nomad, Charming and Crow Eater are all from the Sons of Anarchy collection). Both Crow Eater and Neon Nights are very different polishes to what I normally buy, so it wasn't surprising that Nomad and Charming are my faves as they're very much my type of colours.

Nomad

Charming

Crow Eater

Neon Nights

Application wise they varied quite a bit, with Neon Nights being the thickest formula and Nomad being the sheerest. Both Crow Eater and Charming applied in a similar fashion and had the nicest consistency to work with, although all were good.

Now, for some reason I don't wear blue polish- the closest I'll get is turquoise, but a true blue is just something I have never been drawn to. Crow Eater has actually got me reconsidering this- it is a gorgeous polish and looks fabulous on;

Excuse the shitty swatches- I only have a camera phone right now

Next up is Nomad, which is quite sheer and thin when applying, so I used two coats of it over one of Ultra3 Chilli. That undie made all the difference and allowed Nomad to really come to life on the nail. It has a gorgeous depth to it and that great squishiness that jellies have;

Nomad over Ultra3 Chilli

Then there's Charmed, which is tied with Nomad as my favourite. This is a simply glorious green that looks great after two coats, although three would probably give it even more depth. I love this colour, it's bright, vibrant and fresh... it really has charmed me;

Charming

Next up is Neon Nights. To be honest I'm not sure how I feel about this one. I have never worn a white polish- ever. I know, right?! So it feels really odd having such a light, bright colour on my nail.
Part of it is also my age- I suspect this would suit a younger person. I also think it would look better on my during the warmer months when my hands are tanned.
Aside from my own inexperience in wearing those sorts of colours the polish itself was easy to apply and was opaque in only two coats;

Neon Nights

And finally there's Birth of a Star, the lovely surprise polish :)
This is a beautiful grey leaning, dusty purple holo with lots of colour complexity depending on the light. Again, two coats was enough to get full opacity and I even threw on a top coat with no dulling effect.
And being a holo it was, of course, bloody tricky to capture, but here's what I managed to get;

Birth of a Star

Now, I know these swatches are less than stellar and these two didn't help matters either

I'd get a great angle and suddenly a cat tail would block the light, and Peanut was determined to eat my boot for some reason.
here is Smudge enjoying the swatched fingers;

Anyway, all in all I am absolutely rapt with my first Celestial Cosmetics encounter and I look forward to adding to my collection as time goes on.

I've also decided to wear Nomad to the gallery opening that is being held in honour of my mum's passing- she will have died a year ago on the 29th of this month and my sister has organised for a showing of some of my mum's photographic work in honour of this first anniversary.
I've decided to wear Nomad because my mum always wore red nail polish, and her nails were done even during those last weeks and days of her life.
In fact, her nails were still perfect while I held her hand as she passed away, far too young and from preventable cancer (so please, don't forget to have your annual pap smears).
I think she would have loved the colour and it's just a little something my sister and I can smile about together on a night that is bound to be a tad emotional.

And now, before I get all emotional writing this, I shall sign off.

I hope you've enjoyed the review and I would definitely recommend adding some of Celestial's polishes to your collection- and I will certainly take some more pics of my fully manicured hands wearing Nomad too.

Cheers,
Em x