steffels.

American Apparel Poppy plus konad

2012-05-24T20:13:00.000+10:00

So even though it is almost Winter here, my desire to wear brights is still going strong. I think it also has something to do with the fact that my nails are slightly longer than usual... I wore a vampy around a week ago and it just didn't feel right!

Two coats of Poppy konaded with fauxnad plate M02. Poppy is such a great colour - bordering on red and orange. I think on my skin it leans more red but I've seen it look very orange on others. Perfect formula also. You can easily get away with one coat if you're careful.

CrowsToes Triple Black Diamond

2012-05-19T15:40:00.002+10:00

I was at a loss trying to figure out what to put this over. It's opaque on it's own at three coats but I wanted a base. In the end I settled for this...

Triple Black Diamond over A-England St George. One coat of each. I didn't want to layer it over black since I thought that might drown out the black glitter, but I also didn't want a very light base either. I thought St George ended up being perfect. I especially love that green-to-blue colour shifting glitter in Triple Black Diamond. It's very cool and the colours work together perfectly.

You can find CrowsToes here: http://crowstoesnailcolor.bigcartel.com

HARE Bisbee and Star Tropics

2012-05-15T19:27:00.000+10:00

I wore these a little while back. I absolutely love the bunny shaped labels that Nikole uses. They are so adorable.

Bisbee. Three coats. Different sized gold hexes in a turquoise jelly. I've seen a lot of pictures where the base is very blue but mine pulls much more green. I am in love. The depth of all that gold glitter... omg.

Star Tropics. Three coats. Silver hexes and squares in a blurple jelly which is significantly more purple than my pictures portray. Again, look at all the depth. Crazy!

I'm not sure if Star Tropics will be available when HARE reopens (here) since there was some issues with the glitter melting and clumping. This is a replacement bottle that I was sent. It also arrived with a surprise stowaway that I need to wear very soon...

Bottle Spam - CrowsToes and Dollish Polish

2012-05-13T20:57:00.000+10:00

Lazy day post :) I've worn some of these already so you should be seeing them soon.

Firstly, Lauri sent me these puppies...

Bunny Slope/Angel Paint

Triple Black Diamond

Cheshire

Absolum - Your potions master

And some nail mail from Dollish Polish.

California Gurl

Urban Camo

Hip Hop Hippity Hop

The Hero of Time

Hylian Princess

Do you see any favourites?

Pretty Serious Hello World Collection

2012-05-12T21:43:00.000+10:00

Sorry for being MIA. The past week has been very busy and stressful. If anyone ever finds a cure for migraines... please, tell me!

Onto some more awesome news. Kaz over at Pretty Random is gearing up for the launch of her line, Pretty Serious Cosmetics. Today I have the polishes from her inaugural collection, Hello World to show you which I won from Kaz's haiku competition last year :D

Check out the lovely packaging!

Now onto the swatches!

Morning Java. Two coats. A shimmery caramel brown with flecks of golden microglitter. My favourite of the collection and also one of my new favourite browns. It's gorgeous. Brown and gold are so good together! This has both shimmer and glitter yet it is not bumpy looking at all. Love.

Forbidden Fruit. Two coats. White creme with iridescent silver shimmer. Actually, it's not a pure white. It has a strong blue-grey cast. Most pretty! The formula on this was a little fluffy - what I mean by that is it felt like the polish had been whipped (haha) and was light and airy. Still creamy and opaque though, only needed two coats. Not too shabby for a white!

Tux. Two coats. Black with a subtle teal shimmer. This is really dark and rich. There was a slight purple duochrome in the bottle but I didn't catch it on the nail. Tux reminds me of a smooth shimmer version of OPI Unripened.

BSOD. Three coats. Fine blue glitter in a cobalt jelly. It's insanely sparkly. One word... depth. If you like blue glitters, you'll definitely love this. Beautiful!

CGA. Two coats. A medium pink creme with blue-green shimmer. My pictures show this lighter and cooler than it appears IRL. Also, the shimmer looks silver here. I swear it's not! Very lovely but I'm still undecided about how I like it with my skin tone. I'll have to wear it as a full mani to see.

VT100. Two coats. A pine green with heavy gold shimmer. I love yellow based greens! A close second favourite for me. The shimmer makes this polish. It's so dense and almost resembles a glass-fleck or microglitter. Completely droolworthy.

And don't forget, all these shades come in a matching loose eyeshadow and lipgloss! They'll be available for sale on Monday at www.pretty-serious.com. Also be sure to check Kaz's blog (one of my favourites!) to keep updated.

Woohoo for Aussie-based companies! And woohoo for Kaz!

Lynnderella Connect the Heart

2012-05-07T21:41:00.000+10:00

I have a special one for you guys today - another deeply generous gift from Lynn, Connect the Heart.

Connect the Heart is like Connect the Dots but with white, pink and red hearts as well as pink shimmer in a pink-tinted base. I've worn this twice already. The first...

One coat over Australis Bombshell. I'm sorry for the wrinkling. My Glitter Tamer desperately needed thinner and it caused some wrinkles because it was so thick - you couldn't really tell IRL though. Look at that gorgeous shimmer! And those pretty hearts just make my day.

And here's what I've got on now...

Over BYS Rebel Red, a juicy red jelly. I just noticed that the placement of the hearts and the big black hex are almost the same as when I previously wore it LOL. Now I don't get the best wear out of BYS, but I'm hoping to squeeze a few days out of this mani because I love it so so much! ♥

Pretty and Polished Jawbreaker

2012-05-04T23:27:00.001+10:00

When I first saw this, I wasn't really sure what it was supposed to resemble. A quick google told me Jawbreakers were a type of lolly. I think I called them Gobstoppers. The ones I had as a kid were layers of solid colour and made by "Wonka" (which I thought was so cool). Anyway, I digress...

Three coats. I really liked how this looked. The red squares were a pain to get out though. They were thoroughly stuck around the bottom of the bottle. But I definitely think it was worth it - I love the mix and ratio of glitters. I do however kind of hate the new labels. The font and the huge white sticker just don't do it for me... lol.

Layla Flash Black

2012-05-03T00:23:00.000+10:00

Just a quick post today. I haven't been feeling too hot lately and being the silly goose that I am, I still decided to head out to the CBD for dinner in freezing cold, rainy weather. Smart move Stef. Smart move.

Layla Flash Black. Three coats on Aqua Base. Awesomesauce. Darker and more linear than Let's Do It In 3D. Blindingly holo in sunshine. Layla really knocked this one out of the park - it's oh so pretty. (Plus, look at how amazing the label is in the first picture!)

Lynnderella Lovey Dovey, LavenDear and Mlle. Violette de Bleu

2012-04-28T22:05:00.000+10:00

Uhh... I just realised these have been sitting on my computer for so long and I've never posted them. I also realise that I say that quite often. LOL. Sorry.

Lovey Dovey. Two coats over I think Parlez-Vous OPI? I remember someone mentioning that this is kind of like Mercurial in reverse and I agree. Where Mercurial is grey with purple accents, Lovey Dovey is a smokey purple with grey accents. Just lovely and really elegant looking.

LavenDear. Two coats over China Glaze Gamer Glam. LavenDear is a blend of different lavender and what I think are little pink holo glitters. It also has a gorgeous blue shimmer running through it that makes the polish seem more cool-toned in the sun. However, my pictures pull it way too blue. The second picture is the most colour accurate.

Mademoiselle Violette de Bleu. Two coats over Diamond Cosmetics Not Your Hum Drum Plum. Again, my pictures pull this way too blue. MVdB is a mix of different blue glitters with a dash of violet in a blurple base. Really freaking gorgeous and Not Your Hum Drum Plum was perfect under this. Perfect.

Nostalgic Lacquer Angela

2012-04-26T11:03:00.000+10:00

This was requested by Kris :)

Two coats of Angela over one of ChG Vermillion. It was quite hard to apply. I think it was because it wasn't very dense glitter-wise. I ended up with gloopy spots where I tried to build up the glitter and also bald spots (which you can see in the sun picture) from where I spent too much time trying to arrange the glitter.

I know it was probably designed this way and maybe it's just me... but I do wish it had been a little more dense. Nice colour nonetheless. I wore this when I went to go see The Hunger Games (which was awesome!).

CrowsToes Herat Breaker

2012-04-23T20:25:00.002+10:00

My friend Crow has recently set up shop! This was her first creation. Herat Breaker.

Three coats. It's a dark charcoal-ish purple/green duochrome with tiny holographic and green glitters. It's really stunning. Normally, I'm not at all a fan of dense or fine shimmers with any type of glitter. They look bumpy and yucky. For example, the re-release of the Wizard of Ooh Aah's or more recently, Lippmann's Mermaid Dream. Do not like. However, this.... this works. It is lovely. Not bumpy. Duochrome and sparkly! Very nice.

I won't get into the story behind the name Herat Breaker (no typo!) but it is quite funny :) Anywho, you can find Crow's stuff here. Herat Breaker has been renamed Murder by #'s in case you were wondering :D

Lynnderella Heart Strings

2012-04-21T17:28:00.000+10:00

This is one of the special Valentine Lynnderellas that was gifted to me. I wore this a while ago but being the slacker I am, I'm just getting round to posting the pics.

Heart Strings has a strawberry pink tinted base with silver and red bars as well as tiny silver hexes. It also has a gorgeous blue-ish shimmer that runs through it.

I think this was one coat over Essence Ultimate Pink which is the perfect Barbie pink. So freaking pretty. I know bar glitter seems to skeeve some people out but I love it.

Also, is Heart Strings not the cutest name?! It reminds me of this....

Source

Heartstrings. The Korean drama. Now, I'm not the biggest fan of Korean dramas. They tend to be frighteningly over-acted and I can't help but cringe through every scene. But I must say, the theme song to this one is so catchy. It's uplifting and makes me think happy thoughts. Especially the guitar at the start.

Okay... enough rambling for today. Hope everyone has a nice weekend!

NOTDs - Pahlish, Jessica and HARE

2012-04-18T23:36:00.000+10:00

Some polishes I have worn lately...

Pahlish Toxic and Timeless. Three coats. Amazing. The last picture isn't colour accurate but it shows off the lovely iridescent glitter in the base. My bottle is a much brighter green than other pictures I have seen... but I love it! It kind of reminds me of a plate of seaweed salad :D

Jessica Disco Diva. Two coats. Another lovely silver holo to add to my collection which definitely does not need any more silver holos, lol. I got it here at Feel Unique. Free shipping, people!

HARE A Positive. Three coats. Berry red jelly with three sizes of silver hexes. Yay blood! Yay haemoglobin! For whatever reason, I really like the word haemoglobin. In the same way I absolutely hate the word bunion. Ew. Anywayyy... I had to wear A Positive matte since it looked so cool on Ali.

Here it is with Essie Matte About You. I need to wear more of my glitters matte. So so pretty.

Lynnderella The Bunny Code

2012-04-14T18:33:00.000+10:00

Lynn has made this limited edition shade to help raise funds for Friends of Rabbits, a bunny rescue organisation. You can read more about how the fundraising event works and how you can have a chance to win a bottle of The Bunny Code over here at Sparkly Vernis and directly at Friends of Rabbits.

Go ahead and click the macro. I left it as large as Picasa would allow me to upload.

Three coats of The Bunny Code without any undies. TBC is composed of fine bright green glitter speckled with lots of random glitter pieces of all shapes and sizes in a shimmery clear base. It's reminiscent of jelly beans nestled in Easter grass. Completely and utterly gorgeous. It's very shiny and metallic looking.

As many of you know, I love bunnies. I do. And how can this post be without my precious guy?

Mario just being his usual cool self. Lounging about on his favourite towel, hanging with his bud Pooh.

Again, please check here for more information on how to win a bottle of The Bunny Code. You can also donate directly to Friends of Rabbits any time without entering the draw here.... because dear BunBuns deserve our friendship <3

Lynnderella Snow Angel Gradient

2012-04-13T00:56:00.000+10:00

This was a pre-Easter mani that I did last week. I only snapped this one picture of it so this is going to be quite a short post.

Alternating bases of China Glaze Light as Air and Something Sweet. Then I added a gradient with Snow Angel.

Can you see the shrinkage I got especially on my ring finger? It's because the tips of my nails were SO thick. Think: base, two coats of colour, three layers of Snow Angel, clear, Glitter Tamer and Poshe.

I think it also chipped in less than a day. No bueno. But it was cute while it lasted. Haha!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

2012-04-12T23:39:00.000+10:00

Thank you everybody who participated! And for the lovely comments and suggestions you left. I didn't expect so many people to take the time to write something. I'm having so much fun going through them! If you left a question, I'll be sure to get in touch with an answer soon.

Enough jibber jabber now..... here are the resluts *snigger*

And who is lucky No. 126? ...

Elizabeth from Life and Polish! Congratulations! *\o/* Go check your email girly :)

Bottle Spam - Pretty and Polished, HARE and Nostalgic

2012-04-10T21:31:00.002+10:00

I'm really loving making these bottle spam posts. It means I can show you all the pretties while keeping my current mani intact. Right now I'm wearing The Glittering Crowd over Revlon Royal and it is just too pretty to take off any time soon. But please, feel free to let me know if you think these posts are boring and pointless.

From Pretty and Polished on Etsy...

Party on my Yacht

Tart (swatched here)

Hello Dolly

Jawbreaker

Candy Coated

Custom polish from Chelsea I named "Dolly Boy"

HARE. Nikole's shop isn't open yet but you can sign up for email alerts here.

Pegasus

Archipelago

A Positive

Bisbee

Bio-Exorcist

Dead Man's Bones

Supernova Springs

Star Tropics

Asteroid Turf

Cosmo Blossoms

And finally, from Nostalgic Lacquer.

Jem

Blane

Duckie

Andie

Jordan

Angela

Rayanne

*sigh* I do so love nail mail :D

Reader Appreciation Giveaway - CLOSED

2012-04-10T01:39:00.000+10:00

I've decided to hold a small giveaway in honour of all you lovely individuals who take the time to visit and read this blog. It is much more fun writing this when I know there is a charming audience to interact with.

To enter, you just have to be subscribed somehow. I don't mind which method you choose since everyone has their own preferences.

Thank you everybody for sticking with me - whether it has been from the start of this venture or yesterday.

Pretty and Polished Tart

2012-04-09T22:09:00.000+10:00

Now that my belly has swelled two sizes from all the Cadbury Creme Eggs I've eaten, let's take a break from all that chocolate and instead have some Tart ;)

Two coats of Tart on China Glaze Light as Air. Blue, yellow, purple, red, white and neon pink and purple glitter in a sheer lavender base. It's also got a subtle blue shimmer that I couldn't capture. My bottle seems a bit different from the original with the addition of the white and red glitter. I still very much like it though!

You can check out Pretty and Polished on Etsy although I don't think Chelsea is putting up regular restocks of Tart which is a bummer.

Happy Easter!

2012-04-07T17:24:00.000+10:00

I hope the Easter Bunny is generous to you all!

My Easter NOTD is Missha BL002 sponged with Missha GR001 and then a free hand bunny for an accent. It's pretty messy and you can see all the mistakes in the close up but I think it turned out pretty good.

And now for Mario's annual Easter appearance :)

*nose boop*

Pahlish Train Underwater and some bottle spam

2012-04-04T23:58:00.000+10:00

Not too much jabber today.... mostly pics :)

Three coats of Train Underwater. It's darker than the pictures above (which make it look very bright). I absolutely love the pink and red glitters against the blue. Very complex. I'm very excited to try the others I got. In fact, I already have a second order on it's way :D Pahlish can be found on Etsy here.

Now for some bottle spam. Firstly, of course, Pahlish.

Pianos Filled with Flames

Train Underwater

Bixby Canyon Bridge

Sitting in a Tin Can

Total Eclipse of the Heart

Tony Moly's...

Milky Way

Shooting Star

Pinky Star

And finally, a franken by Crowstoes.

Herat Breaker

It's almost Easter which means.... chocolate! And bunnies!

(\_/)
(='.'=)
(")(")o

A-England Perceval and Lippmann Ruby Red Slippers

2012-03-29T00:03:00.000+11:00

Adina from A-England recently contacted me to see whether I would like to review one of her polishes. Since I already own and love quite a few of her polishes, of course I said yes! So here is what I chose, Perceval...

Glowy, metallic red shimmer. Very dense and pigmented. It's opaque in one coat but I used two for depth.

And because I've been unable to resist glitter lately. I slapped on a coat of Lippmann RRS.

The black base in RRS looks lovely over red. The whole look is very deep and vampy. I did a mani like this I think for Christmas back in 09.

Perceval is available directly through A-England's website. And um, three words: Free. International. Shipping.

Lynnderella Boy-Girl Party

2012-03-25T21:23:00.000+11:00

Somehow, I lost my original pics with Boy-Girl Party so I decided to put it back on today.

One coat over China Glaze Fly. Boy-Girl Party is filled with blue, teal, red, fuchsia and pink glitters in a pink-tinted base. The glitter is also really dense and applies easily so there's no messing around with placement. Glorious! Fun Fact: ChG Fly has been sitting around in my untrieds since I bought it back in 2009 when it was released. That's a really long time... o.O

And after that swatch, I put it back on again for a mani...

This is one coat of Boy-Girl Party sandwiched between Ulta3 Blossom Fever as a base and Rimmel French Rose on top. I have fairy floss nails! So pretty! I think I'm beginning to appreciate pinks more and more. I've worn many pinks this month and I can't get enough of really girly looking manis.

NerdLacquer FROM SPAAAAAACE Collection

2012-03-25T00:06:00.000+11:00

My favourite collection from NerdLacquer...

Can you see the sizeable dent in Nebula? No points for guessing which one is my favourite out of the three!

Nebula. Three coats. Red, pink and holographic silver glitters in a dark reddish-maroon jelly. Such a rich colour and also the most jelly out of the trio. The bases of the other two are very creme-y looking compared to Nebula.

Event Horizon. Two coats. Blue, turquoise and holographic silver glitters in a dusty teal base. I know this is supposed to be a collection inspired by space, but Event Horizon totally reminds me of the deep sea.

Quasar. Two coats. Several shades of green and holographic silver glitter in a blackened green base. I thought this would be similar to Tony Moly Neptune but it's definitely different. Quasar is darker and murkier.

Such a lovely trio. Makes me want more NerdLacquers!

Lynnderella Sweets to the Sweet and Ribbon Candy

2012-03-23T20:40:00.000+11:00

Another Lynnderella post... :)

Sweets to the Sweet. One thick coat over The Face Shop BL602. DIPPIN DOTS!!! This is Dippin Dots in nail polish form. I am salivating just thinking about it. *drool*

Ribbon Candy. Two coats over Essence Wear Your Little Tutu. Ribbon Candy is kind of like the Christmas edition of Sweets to the Sweet - same idea except.... Christmassy. I received this as a gift last year and I wasn't going to post it but I recently received a request. So this one is for you Jessie!

Speaking of requests, I am always open to them! Feel free to email me if there's something you would like to see and I'll do my best :)