Once again on the hunt for Nicole OPI

You heard it here first.
I am once again on the hunt for the Nicole OPI Gossip girl collection.



Nicole OPI is not sold in my country and as Gossip girl is one of my favourite tv shows I am keen to get this mini collection.

If you are interested in a swap and getting some BYS goodies from Down Under (as well as some pineapple lumps) let me know and we will organize something.

Lots of Love
Lisa

Nfu Oh #39

Quick post today.

We are unable to get Sally Hanson Hidden Treasure in New Zealand, but Nfu Oh is much easier to get, which for us is pretty lucky as these retail for about $15 which is super cheap for us here.

Nfu Oh #39 over black - Natural light

Nfu Oh #39 over black. This is more green than I thought it would be but in the different lights it has amazing blue as well. I always do two coats of Nfu Oh to get a good amount of flakey bits.

Back to working on the thesis (6 days to go)
Lots of Love
Lisa

Zoya Poppy vs OPI Melon of Troy

So I was trying out some of my untried zoya's (actually almost all of my zoya's are untried, I guess I don't really enjoy any of them as much as I thought I would when I went crazy buying them in America) and I got out Zoya Poppy and thought "ohhh that's a pretty colour - I'll try that"

Zoya Poppy - Sunshine

It is a cute orange peach coral colour from the Bouquet collection. This is three coats and went on perfectly fine. But while I was doing this manicure I kept thinking "I have used this colour not very long ago - it is so similar to Melon of Troy"

So here it is (I redid this on a sunny day so it looks better than the last post in which I posted this here)

OPI Melon of Troy - Sunshine

Melon of Troy is from the 2004 Greek isles collection but is now part of the regular collection so luckily it is easy to get. This is three coats aswell. I find OPI's easier to apply because of the prowide brush.

The light here is slightly different from the light Poppy's photo was taken in (weird because they were on the same day in the same place, but somehow Poppy is in more yellow light) so here is a comparison of each polish on the same hand

Can you tell the difference? It is pretty hard to. I think Poppy is very slightly more yellow than Melon of Troy and Poppy looks slightly more opaque.

I definitely don't think you need both of these (unless you are like me and forget/don't realize you have one before you buy the other). I wouldn't go as far to call them 'dupes' but they are pretty close.

Posts may become a little more infrequent over the next two weeks as I officially hand in my thesis on Thursday the 30th, and I have a lot of work to go before then :S

Lots of Love
Lisa

OPI Mod about you + Konad

I never thought I would say this but I am in love with a creme nail polish. This is OPI Mod about you from the Brights collection.

OPI Mod about you - natural light

This is a gorgeous bubblegum pink creme. Slightly streaky, but a thicker second coat fixes it. It is slightly darker in real life - but my camera didn't want to capture it very accurately.

Then I added some butterflies from Konad plate m36, using Konad black polish. I was in love with the final result.


Hope all your weekends went well.

Lots of Love
Lisa

Sunshine award

This Sunshine Award was given to be by Karen from Frazzle and Aniploish. Karen does lots of great posts with lots of colour accurate pictures and great colour comparisons. Her stash is huge! Shes helping out us lesser known bloggers by linking us to this award.


The rules for this award:
1. Post the image on your blog
2. Link the blogger who gave it to you
3. Pass it on to 12 other bloggers
4. Link those 12 bloggers
5. Let them know you've tagged them by commenting on their blog

I think most people have already had this award. So again I am going to pass this on to the lesser known blogs aswell:

Nail Bean
paillette polish journal
nails_r_us
newbie nails
Ditch the mittens
Polish infatuated

ok so its not 12 but its a start :)

Lots of Love
Lisa

Orly It's up to Blue + China Glaze Atlantis Tips

Just a quick post for today.

This is my manicure from a couple of days ago. I loved it.


Orly It's up to blue (see here for a post on this) with China Glaze Atlantis tips. I had to do a couple of layers of top coat to even and smooth it out a bit. Atlantis is one of my favourite polishes. Also anyone who has Atlantis knows that it sparkles a rainbow in real life - I just couldn't capture it on camera this time.

Lots of Love
Lisa

PS. Farmers has buy 2 get one free on Orly polishes at the moment :)

P.P.S. saw a blog with same back ground and colours as mine and got freaked out so had to change mine again - sorry if it catches you off guard :) Hopefully ill find a look I like that I can keep for awhile

Hello Zoya.....

OMG zoya you read my letter?
I knew I could count on you to pull through and finally name a polish after me :)
Thanks so much
Lots of Love
Lisa

Thanks to karlasugar for this awesome news and the picture :)
This is from the Fire & Ice collection due out in October.

Revlon Scents of Summer Collection

Woohooo I am so excited about this collection. Not only has Revlon produced some good bright coloured shimmer polishes for summer this years summer, but once they dry - they smell yummy on your fingers!

I saw these in a brand spanking new display yesterday at a pharmacy. They are selling for NZ$18. Orange pop looked like a gorgeous orange with yellow/gold shimmer. That is the first one on my list to get.

Has any one tried these yet? I am keen to know how long they stay scented for, and how nice they smell.

Lots of Love
Lisa

Color Club Tangerine Scream + Nfu-Oh #49

It is (meant to be) coming into summer and writing that post on Neons the other day reminded me how much I love Color Club Tangerine Scream.

Color Club Tangerine Scream - sunshine

I love this polish (and whole collection) so much. The blue shimmer in them is amazing.

I put this on the other night and then thought I should do something extra to it. So I added a couple of coats of Nfu-Oh #49.


Click on the pictures to enlarge so you can see the effect of #49 better. (sorry about the tip wear)

This was cool but it cancelled out all the cool blue shimmer from Tangerine Scream. I wore this for two days before I got bored of it.

It was weird wearing such a bright colour on my nails while its still raining and horrible outside. I wore all black the other day, and it was raining and I was walking to the bus and just felt odd with such bright nails, while the weather is still so bad. Weird huh? I think its still too early to be wearing summer polishes here - there is a huge storm coming over the next few days and it sure as hell is no where near summer here yet.

Do you feel weird wearing polishes out of season? Maybe its just me..........

Lots of Love
Lisa

Upcoming Summer Trends: #5 Flakie Polish

The big polish of the American Summer this year was Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure.

This polish was HUGE in America. People layered it on top of EVERYTHING and then mattified it afterwards to make a whole different look to their manicures

This however is going to be a hard trend to follow in New Zealand. As Sally Hansen polishes are not available in New Zealand (we do get their treatments and other nail bits and pieces).

And to make it worse alot of the other flakie polishes are not available in New Zealand.

Color Club Covered in Diamonds top coat was release as part of the fall/winter untamed luxury collection (another 6 months away for New Zealand). Check out ebay if you can not wait 6 months and don't mind paying for the shipping.

Nubar 2010 - Best bet for this is to have a look online. I got my Nubar Sparkle collection online at Beverly Beaute.

But never fear all those whose hearts have just sunk at the prospect of not getting any of these gorgeous flakey nail polishes ............. Nfu-Oh is available in New Zealand.

I registered an account at the New Zealand Nail Academy, where you can order Nfu-Oh polishes from New Zealand.


The three I own (and as soon as I get a job I will be getting more of these!) are #52, #49, #39.
Nfu-Oh Flakiey polishes are slightly different to the others just mentioned as there is more than one of them and they are all tinted with different colours. $52 is blue/purple, #49 is pink/orange and #39 is green/white. I do love these polishes and try to match them to different base coats all the time (some posts on this coming up soon).

So that is it. The five big summer trends from the other side of the world this year. Hopefully we can carry them on into our summer here.

Lots of Love
Lisa

Upcoming Summer Trends: #4 Mint Green

Mint green was huge this summer in America - fueled by a need for Chanel's Jade.

This polish is now selling for incredible prices on ebay. INSANE I tell you! (most people were able to satisfy this lemming with Milani Dress maker - but this is not available in New Zealand - typical)

Anywho........... There are other options if you want to take part in this trend and not go bankrupt while doing it.

Color Club Twiggie from the new summer Poptastic Collection available in store from the start of September. See the Color Club website for stockists (I get mine from Life Pharmacies for about $17)

As I am still on a "No Buy" at the moment due to a serious lack of funds this is the only one I have to show you. But you can also check out:

Revlon Minted (available at pharmacies and department stores for around $17)

Essie Mint Candy Apple (available at Radius Pharmacies and some Salons for around $23)

Bloom Kitty (available at Farmers for around $15)

BYS Mint Condition or Pretty Pastel Peppermint (available from Cosmetics Plus for around $8)

Lots of Love
Lisa

Upcoming Summer Trends: #3 Neon

Neon is a regular summer trend and you can see why - these colours are designed to be fun and brighten up your summer manicure (and pedicure). Think highlighters and if you pick up a colour and it reminds you of a highlighter then it is perfect for this summer.

A couple of my favourite Neons are:

Color Club Tangerine Scream

Tangerine Scream is from the Electro Candy collection and is just amazing!!!!!
Color Club New Zealand has this collection still listed as available in stores this summer (I have never managed to find this collection in store so if you do let me know asap as I'm still missing 4 of this collection)

Orly Oh Cabana Boy

This is from the Hot Stuff collection. Orly is now available at Farmers for around $23. They have quite a big display there now :)

Orly Hook up

I have the mini bottle of this polish and wish I had the big one. It is a great yellow shimmer, that doesn't require heaps of coats and just makes me smile and feel sunny when I wear it (sorry no swatches) This is also from the Hot Stuff collection. The mini polishes are also available at Farmers for about $9 or $10.

Left to Right: Almost Famous, Wham! Pow!, Poptastic, Warhol, Pucci-licious, Twiggie, Chelsea Girl

Color Club Warhol

The Color Club Poptastic Collection has 20 bright neon shades available in store from the start of September . See my previous posts on the Poptastic collection for swatches and reviews of this collection. See the Color Club website for stockists (I get mine from Life Pharmacies for about $17)

Anti-clockwise: Neon Fire (orange), In di club (blue), Get ink, make it pink (pink), Fatal Attraction (green), the right bright (Yellow)

The BYS Neon Collection is available from Cosmetics Plus for around $8 each. BYS has also just released a collection of UV polishes. Check out You've Got Nail for swatches and reviews of these new polishes.

Essie Pink Parka

A Shocking Bright Pink - needs to be seen to be believed (available at pharmacies and salons for around $23)

Lots of Love
Lisa

Upcoming Summer Trends: #2 Coral

Trend number two is one I am more excited about. Coral - Peach, Pink, Shimmer and Creme.

OPI Dancing in the Isles

This is from the 2004 Greek Isles Collection, it might still be available online but I don't think you'll find it in the shops.

BYS Pink Splash

Ive had this polish for a couple of years now so I don't think it is available anymore - but as an example of this trend it is a good one. This actually has a yellow shimmer to it (Click the picture to make it bigger to see)

OPI Melon of Troy

One of my favourites. Slightly more orange but still in line with this trend. This is also from the 2004 Greek isles collection but is now part of the regular collection (available at Department stores and pharmacies for $25)

Other polishes to try for this summer trend which are available in New Zealand are:

Essie Haute as Hello (available at Radius Pharmacies and some Salons for around $23)

Revlon Tropical Temptation (available at pharmacies and department stores for around $17)


BYS Caribbean Crush (available from Cosmetics Plus for around $8)

Bloom Bettina (available at Farmers for around $15)

More Summer trends to come :)
Lots of Love
Lisa

Upcoming Summer Trends: #1 Taupe

The next 5 posts will be about the up coming summer trends for New Zealand (and other southern hemisphere countries) based on what was hot around the rest of the world this summer.

Taupe was huge this summer. It is a trend that I will not be taking part in though. For this post I had to borrow some Taupe polishes off my best friend to show you. Taupe is a brown grey colour. To me it seems more like an autumn colour but nether the less here it is for summer.

OPI Over the Taupe - Sunshine

This is from last years Bright Pair collection (A little hard to find in NZ but have a look on trade me for it)OPI You're a doll! - sunshine

This is from the 2008 Holiday in Toyland collection - its a light taupe with micro red copper glitter.

Other polishes to try for this summer trend which are available in New Zealand are:

Bloom Bette (available at Farmers for around $15)

BYS White with one (available from Cosmetics Plus for around $8)

Revlon Grey Suede (available at pharmacies and department stores for around $17)

Orly Coffee Break (available at Farmers for $23)

More Summer trends to come :)
Lots of Love
Lisa

OPI Cuckoo for this color + Nfu Oh 52 Layering

This is the last of the three polishes I got from the OPI 2010 Swiss Collection.

OPI Cuckoo for this color - sunshine

It is a dark shimmery green, with silver shimmer through it. Application was easy, this was three coats. I had this on for a couple of hours, but it wasn't making me as happy as it should. It seemed to be missing something.

So I added 2 coats of Nfu-oh 52 (posts on this polish to come at a later date)

Click on the pictures to enlarge so you can see the flakey amazingness of this combination.

This was sooooo cool. It is like a dark green version of OPI Merry Midnight. Different lights brought out the different colours of the Nfu-Oh - you can see the green and blue versions in the two photos above.

How did you feel about Cuckoo for this color by itself?

I'm crazy busy at the moment trying to finish my thesis (I was at uni till 10pm last night) but I'm getting there - Just need to find a job now.

Lots of Love
Lisa

Tags and a plea for help

I was tagged with these two awards by Lacquer Ware for Tips and Toes (sorry hun I dont know your real name). she made the effort to tag those of use who have blogs that she likes but are unknown to many others out there. Thanks so much - I appreciate any one who can help get awareness out about my blog and my little country at the bottom of the world (New Zealand - and no we are not part of Australia)


So the 10 things I like most in the world at the moment:

1. Nail Polish (I think this is obvious but I am deadly serious, I have developed serious shakes at the moment because I have had no money to buy any more)
2. Chris - My Fiance (Hes had a hard time lately and gotten sick, but we are dealing with it. Its been 8 years and I still love him to pieces)
3. Keera - my beautiful black cat. She is my baby and I love her to pieces, I worry when she goes outside at night and I love it when I come home and all she wants to do is cuddle.
4. Farmville - yes that annoying game on facebook - I am completely addicted, I have been playing since the start and it is a great waste of time, but a good way to procrastinate at Uni.
5. The Big Bang Theory - This is the most hilarious TV show ever. LOVE it. If you haven't seen it you are seriously missing out. even watching the dvd for the 8th time I still love it and cant stop laughing.
6. Disney - Anything Disney - I grew up as a Disney kid, I have all their animated movies on DVD and still love watching them. The one problem is we don't have any Disney shops in New Zealand so no cool Disney merchandise :(
7. Reading - I read at least one book a week, cant go to sleep without reading. And I like my books in paper format.
8. Sleep - enough said - especially when Chris isn't snoring :)
9. Caramel Slice - Gooey chocolatey caramely goodness
10. Gossip Girl - The drama, the passion its all amazing (I was a huge fan of the OC and this is just as great)

So I hope you learned a little about me this way. I am going to tag anyone who hasn't already done this and wants to :)

And on that note I am going to make a plea to anyone living in America - Here in New Zealand we do not get Nicole OPI polishes and I am desperate for the Gossip Girl Collection.


I will gladly make a swap/or pay for these polishes If any one can get a hold of a set of these, I will be forever grateful. For anyone interested I can easily get BYS and Nfu-Oh polishes here in New Zealand.

Lots of Love
Lisa