I am back from Holiday - with a Haul picture

I just spent 2 weeks with the husband in Hawaii and it was pretty amazing.  I love the Big Island of Hawaii, and the shopping in Waikiki.

We did all the touristy things including helicopter rides, Pearl Harbour, The Dole Pineapple plantation, Snorkelling and lots of shopping.

I even got to swim with dolphins!

(I can not for the life of me figure out why blogger is turning my pictures sideways)

We don't have a Sephora in New Zealand, so I spent quite a bit of time in there (my husband hates it, but does appreciate the free wifi the stores have). I bought 14 of the new Formula X for Sephora  polishes to try out.

All up my total polish haul was 56 bottles, which for me is very restrained. This included 7 Deborah Lippmanns (and the Wicked set - which I saw three weeks ago in Auckland), 8 Butter Londons and 10 China Glazes.

Unfortunately my nails didnt survive the holiday very well. I am now trying out NailTek II - intensive therapy in a bid to try and save them.  Fingers crossed this treatment works.

Lots of love

Lisa

Ruby Wing Spring Garden Collection

 

The Ruby Wing Spring Garden was released mid 2013 and is a collection of six colour changing polishes that are also scented. Today I have four of this collection to show you.

Ruby Wing Cut Grass - Inside

Ruby Wing Cut Grass - Sunshine

Cut grass is a pastel green that changes to a darker dustier green in the sunshine.  While it doesn't actually smell like fresh cut glass (which the Ruby Wing website says it does), it does smell nice.  To be honest it smells like my shampoo, it is floral scented, but I cant figure out like what flower, either way it smells nicer than grass. This is two coats and the polish applies like a dream. It is not streaky at all.

Ruby Wing Fresh Linen - Inside

Ruby Wing Fresh Linen - Sunshine

This is three coats. It has the thinnest formula of this collection and unfortunately does leave streaks on the nail. This one smells fruity - a lot like lemon, but a clean flowery lemon scent.  This one changes from a shimmery slightly frosty white into a light yellow colour.

Ruby Wing Poppy - Inside

Ruby Wing Poppy - Sunshine

Poppy is a vibrant pink jelly (although not quite as neon as the above picture suggests) which changes into a deeper burgundy colour in the sun.  This is two coats which apply perfectly for full coverage. This one smells rose scented, although I suspect it is actually poppy scented.

Ruby Wing Sunflower - Inside

Ruby Wing Sunflower - Sunshine

Sunflower is the glittery polish in this collection. It is a clear base packed full of gold micro glitter. This one is interesting because the glitter doesn't change colour in the sun, but the base it is in changes from clear into a bright yellow base, which makes the glitter look yellower and more golden.  This is three coats and I was surprised to see that it did actually provide good coverage in those three coats.  This one also smells flowery and shampoo like, although I am pretty sure its not the same scent that sunflowers have.

All in all I am happy with the four polishes I have from this collection and absolutely love that they combined colour changing polishes with scented polishes.  I was wearing Cut Grass all day today, however didn't really get time to get outside (and it was horrible) weather, so I didn't actually get to see it do its magical colour change.

Lots of Love
Lisa

These polishes were provided to me for review.

Pretty Serious Cosmetics Naughty Night Shift Nurse

Pretty Serious Cosmetics Naughty Night Shift Nurse was a special polish designed for Kirsty from The Polish Haven for her birthday as a gift from her friends and released in June 2013.  Originally 100 bottles were made, and sold like crazy.  Last month though, Pretty Serious released another 100 unnumbered bottles of Naughty Night Shift Nurse. And I managed to get one!

Pretty Serious Cosmetics Naughty Night Shift Nurse - Natural Light

This is three coats. It is quite a thin polish.  It is a duochrome fuchsia with lighter iridescent flakies.
It is purple and red duochrome base with added blue shimmer that also changes to orange in the right light, with pink flakies. This is a pretty complex polish, I mean flakies and duochromatic in one bottle!

Pretty Serious Cosmetics Naughty Night Shift Nurse

This picture was taken underwater to show the colour shifts

The Polish Haven actually swatched this over black, and it makes the polish appear a lot more purple, so I am thinking of trying it out that way.  As it is not really 'me' in this form.

My sister is a nurse and I'm wondering if she would appreciate this one. But I am torn, because it is Limited Edition and I am a nail polish addict, and she is not.

Lots of Love

Lisa

piCture pOlish Mellow Yellow and Ozotic 904

Wow, it has been a while. How are you all doing?
Life has been busy and my nails have been crap, although that did not stop me buying more polishes that I didn't need. My nails were still polished, but it is hard to blog in Winter because I cant take decent pictures and Id rather not blog than show you guys crap.
But it was ok-ish weather over the weekend, so I managed to do some swatching.  My nails still aren't as great as I would like. I am trying Seche Rebuild at the moment, so we will see how that goes.

I am on a massive pastel kick at the moment.  Today I have some pastel yellow polishes to show you.

piCture pOlish Mellow Yellow - Natural Light

piCture pOlish Mellow Yellow - Sunshine

This is three coats of Mellow Yellow, however this is thick enough to easily get away with two coats. It is a nice pastel yellow that applies well, even though it is thick, it doesn't leave dodgy brush marks. I am a fan of piCture pOlishes, however I really dislike their brushes. The fibres in them seem to stick together and not spread over the nail easily (just my opinion).

Ozotic 904 over piCture pOlish Mellow Yellow - Natural Light

Ozotic 904 over piCture pOlish Mellow Yellow - Sunshine

Ozotic 904 is the yellow polish from the 2012 Sugar collection. This is a canary yellow that is full of little glass flecks.  This is one coat over Mellow Yellow. 904 is actually slightly duochromatic switching from yellow to green in the correct light.  Its hard to see over the top of yellow, but layered over black really pops.

Hopefully I can get this blog back on track. Wish me luck.

Lots of Love
Lisa

Can anybody help?

I am the biggest Disney Fan ever!

We don't really get Nicole by OPI polishes in New Zealand and I am in love with the new Tink collection.

Would anyone be able to get me two sets of this collection? I can pay for it and also swap if needed.

Please email me at lnlankshear4@hotmail.com if you can help. Thanks!

Picture from Frazzle and Aniploish

CND Vinylux Review

Vinylux is the latest product released by CND (the brand behind Shellac).  I picked up three of these polishes and a top coat at the recent New Zealand Beauty Expo.

"Vinylux is a breakthrough polish that endures a week of fashion perfection... without a base coat"

Here is a quick over view of Vinylux:

• This polish is a cross between a regular polish and a gel polish that cures under a lamp.  
• It is designed to last three times what a 'normal' polish would last.  
• A base coat is not needed.
• Currently there are 62 colours available
• Use 2 coats of Vinylux and then one coat of Vinylux top coat
• Polish dries under natural light (and no UV lamp is needed)

The first one I tried out was Azure wish. It is a light blue polish. In the bottle it looks like it has shimmer in it, however on the nail the shimmer is not visible.

CND Vinylux Azure Wish - White light

I used three thin coats here. The recommendation is two coats, however the polish was not opaque enough and I felt it needed three to even out the polish on the nail.

This polish cures under natural light. I polished my nails late at night and they dried fine under a regular house light.  I was surprised with how quickly this polish dried, as it was no longer than a regular polish (if not quicker because the coats were quite thin).

The formula was good on this polish.  It was smooth and easy to apply thin coats. The brush is pretty standard and was easy to get a neat finish with.

I wore this polish for four days.  It did chip after two days, but I stuck it out to write this review. Unfortunately the condition it was in after the four days meant that it did not last the stated three times longer than a regular polish, as I can get a great two days out of a regular polish (usually after that I am sick of the colour and want to change it). So it lasted longer than a regular polish, just not three times longer.

Removal was very easy. Vinylux was very easily removed with acetone based nail polish remover.  

I am currently putting on Black Pool, which is the Black creme Vinylux polish. I will be trying this out with a glitter layer in between the polish and the Vinylux top coat.

Lots of Love

Lisa

Darling Diva Polish Zen Pool

 Zen Pool is one of the more recent releases from Darling Diva Polish.  

Darling Diva Polish Zen Pool - sunshine

This is three coats, and still leaves a visible nail line as it is not fully opaque.  This polish has a teal shimmer crelly base with teal micro glitter, small round teal and fuchsia glitter, medium white hexagon glitter, bigger fuchsia and white round glitters and giant white hexagon glitter.  

The formula was ok, the hardest part was fishing out the bigger pieces of glitter.  Also some of the bigger bits of glitter had stuck together so when it was swiped on the nail, you ended up with multiple pieces the same.

Darling Diva Polish Zen Pool (over OPI Can't Find My Czechbook) - sunshine

I found I liked this polish much better with a base underneath.  This is two coats of Zen pool over two coats of Can't Find My Czechbook.  These two are a perfect match for each other. I wore this to work the other day and got quite a lot of comments about it. 

Lots of Love

Lisa

OPI Euro Centrale Collection

I finally finished swatching the 11 of the 12 OPI Euro Centrale Collection polishes that I own.  This is my all time favourite OPI collection. I love the cremes and the shimmers, as well as the glitter. The whole collection is perfect for summer and even though it is winter here I have been getting a lot of wear out of them. I have often been wearing these polishes as bases for glitter top coats (indie ones - as you can see in some of my previous posts).

OPI A Woman's Prague-ative 

 

OPI Can't Find My Czechbook

OPI - OPI...Eurso Euro 

OPI My Vampire is Buff

OPI Oy - Another Polish Joke

OPI Vant to Bite My Neck?

OPI You're Such a Budapest

OPI Suzi's Hungary Again

OPI I Saw... U Saw... We Saw... Warsaw

OPI Polka.com 

(over OPI I Saw... U Saw... We Saw... Warsaw)

OPI My Paprika is Hotter than Yours!

Lots of Love
Lisa

Different Dimension Gnarly

Different Dimension Gnarly is from the 80's Baby Collection.   It is a neon green scattered holographic polish.  The formula on this is great. Two coats gives perfect coverage.  The holographic particles in this one are scattered and subtle so are hard to capture on camera, so this is a polish that does look better in real life.  

Different Dimension Gnarly - Sunshine

Different Dimension Gnarly - Shade

This polish is totally unique in my collection, I can honestly say that I do not have any other holographic polishes this bright!

This was my first experience with Different Dimension polishes, and I love it.  I think I will have to get some more.  You can purchase Different Dimension Polishes here on Etsy or from llarowe.

Lots of Love
Lisa

Spotted in NZ: Sally Hansen Lustre Shine Colletion

I spotted the new Sally Hansen Lustre Shine collection in Farmers on Friday. This is a collection of duochrome polishes, similar to the China Glaze Bohemian Collection. 

These polishes are "An intense and radiant nail lacquer infused with real silver. Inspired by the lustrous color flip of molten, liquid metal and the iridescence of a peacock feather. Creates an iridescent effect on the nail."

These are retailing for NZ$12.99, which isn't bad because when I was in America last year I saw these for about US$7.99.  However do note that these bottles are only 10mls (regular polishes are 15mls)

Lots of Love

Lisa

Spotted in NZ: OPI Couture de Minnie Collection

I spotted the OPI Couture de Minnie Collection in Farmers yesterday.

This is the second collection OPI has done with Minnie Mouse, with the last one, OPI Vintage Minnie Mouse Collection, being released at the same time last year.

OPI Couture de Minnie Collection

This collection has 5 polishes. One of which is glitter and one is a liquid sands polish.

Left to Right: Chic From Ears To Tail, A Definite Moust-Have, Minnie Style, 

Innie Minnie Mightie Bow, Magazine Cover Mouse

These are NZ$26.99 at Farmers. But can always be found cheaper online.

I am the biggest Disney fan, and need to own every polish that is even remotely Disney related. However I am sitting on the fence about this collection.  I think I will end up getting them just because of the names, but not so much because of the colours or finishes.

Lots of Love

Lisa

OPI Can't Find My Czechbook + Lush Lacquer Party Rockin

OPI Can't Find My Czechbook - sunshine

OPI Can't Find My Czechbook is the teal crème polish from the OPI Euro Centrale collection.  This is three coats, but you could easily get away with two coats. It applies easily and its not streaky.  It appears dustier coloured in the bottle than it does on the nail, where is seems brighter.

Lush Lacquer Party Rockin - Shade

Lush Lacquer Party Rockin - Sunshine

This is one coat of Lush Lacquer Party Rockin over OPI Can't Find My Czechbook.  Party Rockin is a reasonably packed mixture of small orange and dark pink glitter, with bigger hexagon medium toned teal glitter and larger dark teal hexagon glitter in a clear base.  I love this mixture of colours, and I think it works well because teal/blue and orange are opposites on the colour wheel.

Unfortunately Lush Lacquer announced today on Facebook that they will be stopping international shipping at the end of Wednesday (22 March). SO RUN! NOW! and get some while you still can!

Lots of Love

Lisa

Spotted in NZ: MAC Baking Beauties

"Exquisite. Scrumptious. Utterly indulgent. The artistry of cake decoration is a world filled with tempting creation, as is our colour collection inspired by the most couture of cakes. Gorgeous shades, from Mooncake and Pistachio Crème to Pink Buttercream, transform into a succulent showcase of confections for eyes, face, lips and nails." (from the MAC website)

Kirkaldie and Stains in Wellington held an event last week in store to celebrate the release of the MAC Baking Beauties collection.  Complete with painted lady (she is supposed to look like a cake).

Picture from the Kirkaldie & Stains Facebook page

The Collection has three nail polishes:

• Blue Velvet - Light periwinkle blue (Cream)
• Confectionery - Light blue pink (Cream)
• Pistachio Creme - Light teal mint (Cream)

These are not overlly unique, but I adore the baking theme.

Lots of Love

Lisa

OPI Vant to Bite My Neck? + Darling Diva Polish Baby Got Back

Vant to Bite My Neck? is another polish from the 2013 Euro Centrale Collection, which I am working my way through. This is definitely my favourite OPI collection in a long time.

OPI Vant to Bite My Neck? - Sunshine

Love this polish. This is three coats, although two is fine for this polish. Vant to Bite my Neck? is a dark purple crème  This one is interesting as it seems to be a straight purple (it doesn't really lean blue or pink toned).  I know this is from the summer collection in the Northern Hemisphere, but it is a nice winter colour for those of us in the Southern Hemisphere.

Darling Diva Polish Baby got Back (over OPI Vant to Bite My Neck?) - sunshine

Darling Diva Polish Baby got Back (over OPI Vant to Bite My Neck?) - shade

This is one coat of Darling Diva Polish Baby got Back over OPI Vant to Bite My Neck?. Baby got Back is an awesome mix of purple, pink and teal glitters. It was hard to capture the complexity of this polish on camera.  It has teeny tiny light pink glitter, and larger hexagon pink glitter, with medium sized teal and fuchsia glitter.  The teal in this polish makes it super pretty and transforms it from just a regular pink/purple glitter.  

Darling Diva Polish Baby got Back (over OPI Vant to Bite My Neck?) - yellow light 

Looks a bit weird but I was trying to capture the teal better

Have a great weekend!

Lots of Love

Lisa