steffels.

Contrary Polish The Islands Trio

2012-11-03T14:27:00.000+11:00

Contrary Polish is a new to me brand. The owner Carrie was so nice and sent me a whole bunch to share with you. Today, I have a newer collection from her called The Islands.

The first photo for each polish is taken in the shade. That way, you can see what the shimmer looks like out of direct sun. They're all visible and not at all of the hidden variety.

Aruba. Three coats. Teal blue with green shimmer. The colour is closest to the second photo. The shimmer in this one is the most subtle out of the three, but I think that's mostly because its complementary to the base instead of being contrasting.

Anna Maria. Three coats. Dark blue-teal with gold shimmer. This one was darker and more blue than I expected it to be from the bottle. I love the way it looks though. That gold shimmer is so perfect. I want it in a whole collection!

Santorini. Three coats. Royal blue with flaky shimmer. The shimmer bits are slightly larger than the other two which are much finer. This one is my favourite of the trio. The blue is so, so perfect. I have this on as a pedi right now... the sandals are finally starting to come out for the season ahead!

The formulas on these were all impeccable Really smooth and free flowing. Almost opaque at two coats but all needed three to be completely even. Full size Contrary Polish is available at Llarowe and minis directly from Contrary Polish.

Pastel rainbow gradient

2012-10-23T00:52:00.000+11:00

In case you didn't know, it's Spring here in the southern hemisphere... and today, I'm feeling the season!

This isn't much of a gradient really since the colours don't "blend" into each other. I chose to sponge on the rainbow because I didn't want to mess around with tape and getting straight lines (read: I'm lazy).

What I used:

L to R: OPI What's With the Cattitude, American Apparel L'Esprit, China Glaze Something Sweet, TBN Anna Loves It!, China Glaze Lemon Fizz and China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint. (They look so pretty lined up together!)

All sponged over a coat of Revlon Powder Puff with stars from plate M17.

I'm loving the way it turned out but I kind of wish I'd done the rainbow on the diagonal - I think it would've looked better that way. Still happy though! It's so cheerful :)

Rainbow Honey The Yokai Collection

2012-10-21T10:16:00.000+11:00

Rainbow Honey has a trio out for this year's Halloween and I was graciously sent the three to review so... here they are!

The inspiration for the collection is drawn upon Japanese mythological creatures. Not something I am familiar with but it does sound very cool.

Kitsune. Three coats. Camel with heavy gold shimmer and orange, gold and copper glitter. I've seen this one pull quite yellow on others. It almost looks like a nude on me. Not something I'd usually go for but it worked surprisingly well with my skin. On an additional note, a kitsune is a nine-tailed fox... anyone else jump straight to this?

Kawako. Three coats. Deep denim blue with bright blue shimmer and silver flaky-microglitter. There were also large opalescent flakes which I actually did not warm to. I couldn't really spot them on the nail and they made application a little clumpy.

Oni. Three coats. A black base filled with gold flaky-microglitter and red/purple shimmer. Reminiscent of OPI Holiday Glow. I loved that one and I love this one - it's totally up my alley and my favourite of the three. I especially love how heavy those mini gold flakes are.

The Yokai is limited edition for Halloween 2012. Rainbow Honey is available here.

Halloween gradient

2012-10-18T20:44:00.000+11:00

I did this mani a couple weeks back. I saw this post last year and told myself I *needed* to do it for the coming season. Obviously hers are a whole lot better than my attempt!

It was such an enjoyable manicure! I had several people ask me which salon I went to to get them done. Adorable!

I used China Glaze Light as Air and Ruby Kisses Bold and the Beautiful for the gradient and freehanded the stars with yellow acrylic paint. I konaded some accents including the cat as well as a pumpkin and a bat (not shown) using plate HB28.

Thanks for looking and I hope you are all well.

Some Saturday Spam

2012-10-06T12:54:00.000+10:00

Happy weekend! I hope you get to enjoy it more than I! .... unless anyone wants to write my paper for me? :)

HARE Archipelago. Tricky to apply but IMO, worth it.

Essence A Lovely Secret. The shimmer... it is amazing.

Rainbow Honey A Little Kindness over Sportsgirl Nude.

Jordana Mint Candy. = Milani Dressmaker = Chanel Jade.

Candeo Joker sandwiched between sheer white.

HARE Supernova Springs over Sally Hansen Purple Pizzazz.

Nails Inc. Baker Street. If you're Aussie, it's very similar to Ulta3 Blue Marlin.

KBShimmer Ring Master over Pretty Serious Nightmaren.

Zoya Crystal.

BYS Glamazon. This thing... holy moly. Possibly the zingiest green I own.

Ozotic 505 over black.

Candeo Mallard over L'oréal High Tide.

Here are some links for purchasing. I get lots of questions asking where to buy things so hopefully these will help. List of links:
HARE, Rainbow Honey, Candeo, Pretty Serious, KBShimmer, BYS, Ozotic.

Lynnderella Inner Space

2012-10-01T23:41:00.000+10:00

Not much to say about this except holy crap I love it. In fact, a huge bottle macro is my current desktop wallpaper!

One coat of Inner Space over Bloom Hollywood. I like to think of Inner Space as an amalgamation of Connect the Dots and The Glittering Crowd. It's got a base of the black and white CtD style glitters while all the space in between (inner space?) is filled with colour.

Lynnderella is available here.

Metallic gold leopard konad

2012-09-30T23:27:00.000+10:00

I've been doing a bit of konadery lately. Something I haven't done in a little while. Here is today's KOTD.

Most of the time, I swing between hating animal prints to really enjoying them. Clearly, it is right up my alley today and I am quite fond of this mani. Here's what I used:

I started with a base of China Glaze Passion, konaded the print with plate BM221 and then filled in most of the spots with Essence BBC Golden Sands which I mixed with a varying amounts of Passion to create different shades.

Super Klassy!!

Lynnderella Golden Rules

2012-09-29T14:08:00.001+10:00

Holographic gold glitter goodness! My favourite shapes in this are the lovely golden hearts. I don't think they are as plentiful as the others but I did manage to get two on my right hand :)

One coat of Golden Rules over DR 06. Kind of night sky-ish over such a blue! The blue itself was really strange though... can you see how the colour bled onto some of the glitters making them look 'buried within' and kind of fuzzy around the edges? Strange phenomenon but I think the effect was pretty cool.

Lynnderella is available here.

Lynnderella Salad Days

2012-09-28T00:28:00.001+10:00

It took me a while to narrow down which base colour to use under Salad Days. I can see it working with so many greens (amongst other things). I went with my most favourite Australis ever which of course they discontinued.

One coat of Salad Days over Australis Here Today Gone Tomorrow. Maybe it is just the power of suggestion, but the resemblance of Salad Days to a lovely bowl (or bottle) of real salad is quite uncanny. I mean, I can see the greens, the cherry tomatoes, the carrot sticks.... crazy!

Lynnderella is available here.

Lynnderella 50 Shades of May-Be

2012-09-26T00:15:00.000+10:00

Ahh... 50 Shades. I have not and probably will not read it. Although I am a big devourer of, how would you say, Harlequin romance? The bad kind... Harlequin Presents. LOL. But yes.... it is true. Any other sad souls out there too??

One coat of 50 Shades of May-Be over OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui. Consists of black, white and greys like the name suggests. And if you look closely, you will also see a translucent, large-particle flaky shimmer that runs through it. The glitter is super shiny and I had a hard time taking pictures because I couldn't stop the reflections. Amazing.

Lynnderella is available here.

Lynnderella Pentimento

2012-09-21T13:07:00.000+10:00

Pentimento is one of my very favourites from the Summer Solstice collection. It has a pink hue in the bottle which does not really translate on the nail.

One coat of Pentimento over Elianto S10. Pentimento is a multi-glitter with a heavy dose of white... or maybe it's the other way around. Not too sure. In any case, it is so fun. There is also a hint of shimmer in the base too which ties in with all the microglitter. Super lovely!

Lynnderella is available here.

Lynnderella A Neutral Party

2012-09-19T12:04:00.000+10:00

A manicure of oddities... an apparently "fluoro" blue and a neutral glitter. Huh.

One coat of A Neutral Party over two of TBN Blue Fluoro (which is a laughable name, by the way). A Neutral Party is a gold shimmer base full of earthy glitters in tan, brown, gunmetal, black and white. I loved wearing this. Blues and browns together are one of my vices. Love.

Lynnderella is available here.

Silver glitter gradient

2012-09-18T13:34:00.000+10:00

My current manicure. It's very sparkly but somehow seems kind of subdued and feminine. Lots of fun!

For this mani, I used the Essence Gel-look topcoat (recommended and gifted to me by my bud Kristy) under Poshe to smooth things out and it seems to be a better alternative to Gelous. Everything is glassy smooth.

Here's the rest of what I used.

Left to right: Essence Wear Your Little Tutu, Etude House Glam Pearl, Sally Hansen Celeb City, Etude House Sparkling Silver, The Face Shop SL211

For those interested in a breakdown, it's one coat each of Essence Wear Your Little Tutu and Etude House Glam Pearl as a base. Then SH Celeb City on the tips for opacity and finally the gradient, created with Etude Sparkling Silver and The Face Shop SL211. Easy!

Thanks for visiting!

Smitten Polish Candy Kisses

2012-09-16T21:43:00.000+10:00

This is such a cute polish. The name is really appropriate since the exact thing it reminds me of are the pink and purple lollies from a bag of dolly mix. Yummy!

Three coats. A mix of pinks and purples in a white base. The opacity of this is spot on--a good balance between opaque and sheer to allow the glitters to peek through.

Smitten Polish is available here.

Lynnderella I Don't Mean Rhinestones

2012-09-15T19:05:00.000+10:00

This was the first of the Summer Solstice collection that I wore a while back. Props to myself for getting this up so quickly...

One coat of I Don't Mean Rhinestones (but diamonds!) over one of DR 115. Super saturated regular and holographic teal hexes and diamonds. The holo glitters give off a lovely glowing property also makes it look more blue in sunlight. IDMR is loaded with glitter and would probably be opaque by itself in 2-3 coats.

Lynnderella is available here.

Apple Nails

2012-09-12T13:06:00.000+10:00

I saw this mani on Polish Art Addiction who in turn had taken it from this one by Rebecca Likes Nails. She has a lovely little tutorial up and the whole thing is so adorable, I couldn't resist!

Usually I shy away from any form of freehand nail art or I relegate it to an accent nail only. That way I don't have to worry about doing my dominant hand. However, this looked simple enough that I could do it on all my nails so I went ahead. They're kind of messy but at least they look good from a distance!

Here's what I used...

Left to right: Ulta3 Allure, Essie Red Nouveau, OPI Suzi Loves Cowboys, China Glaze Starboard and Misa Heaven White

Again, I followed the tutorial posted by Rebecca Likes Nails except I left out the large apple accent design. Thanks for stopping by!

Lynnderella Deep Blue Seeing

2012-09-09T23:41:00.000+10:00

Deep Blue Seeing was one of the Lynnderella's I could not stop staring at when I first got it. The level of depth is seriously amazing and the name is so very perfect.

One coat of Deep Blue Seeing over three coats of Color Club Chelsea Girl. The whole thing is a couple shades more green than these pictures show. Also, my camera wants to make all the glitter look the same - they're not! Lots and lots of different blues in there. The different textures of glitter give an really interesting yet subtle effect which is best seen in person.

Lynnderella is available here and I've heard there is a new collection on the horizon so I better get cracking posting the rest of the Summer ones!

Top 20 September 2012

2012-09-09T02:03:00.000+10:00

Ozotic Pro 621, Revlon Powder Puff, Rimmel Mania, Glitter Gal Deep Green Sparkle
Australis Here Today Gone Tomorrow, Sparitual Earth Matters, BB Couture Hermosa Surfer Girl, Etude House BL009
Revlon Royal, OPI Absolutely Alice, Nabi Metalic Green, BB Couture Erotic Night
Orly Glitz & Glamour, Clarins 230, Orly Space Cadet, Portmans Teal
The Face Shop BL605, Cult Nails Devious Nature, Ozotic Pro 505, Nfu Oh 119

A spur of the moment post. My current and transient Top 20 from major, manufactured brands. Extremely subject to change... will probably be different tomorrow in fact!

See any of your own favourites?

Lynnderella The Garden of Even

2012-09-06T23:45:00.001+10:00

Just a disclaimer - absolutely none of the following pictures do this polish justice. It's so amazing that my camera couldn't handle it.

The Garden of Even. Two coats over Verity Brilliant Violet. The magenta glitters are holographic and they flash the most amazing colours; shifting between a fiery orange and a vivid blue-purple. I cannot express how utterly gorgeous it is in real life.

Lynnderella is available here.

Pretty Serious In The Night Collection

2012-09-03T21:58:00.000+10:00

The ever lovely Kaz sent me the six polishes from her new In The Night collection which I have for you today. Unfortunately, I don't know much about the video game it's based on.... but now I'm holding out for a collection based on Bust-a-Groove. Kaz?! :D Just kidding.

Into Dreams. Two coats. Deep purple shimmer with pink flecks. Leans more fuchsia than most of my purple shimmers. And like most purples, it is more red-leaning than my pictures show.

Nightopia. Three coats. It was fine at two but I think the third coat gave it more depth. Blue-teal with gold shimmer. Slightly heavier in shimmer when compared to Bloom Bianca/San Fransisco but it's got that same gorgeous green tinge at the edges that I love so much.

Claris. Three coats. Cool pink jelly with gold glass-fleck shimmer. So nice. The pink reminds me of an artificially flavoured and coloured strawberry milkshake! And the gold shimmer warms it enough for me that my hands don't look grey.

Dream Delight. Two coats. Dense silver glitter in a smoky blue tinted base. The tinted base makes it take on an overall gunmetal shade as well as giving the look of depth in between all the tiny glitters.

Nightmaren. Two coats. Bright red with gold shimmer. This is not as pigmented as a lot of red shimmers which actually works to its advantage. The shimmer doesn't get lost in all the red and actually reads gold. Awesome!

Elliot. Two coats. Bright medium blue with white-silver flaky shimmer. The blue is really saturated and there is no VNL in real life, contrary to what my pictures show.

The Pretty Serious In The Night collection is available now at www.pretty-serious.com. There are also a couple of lip glosses and a loose eyeshadow in the collection as well to match with Into Dreams and Claris.

Lynnderella When the Moon was a Star

2012-09-01T17:45:00.000+10:00

I have a ton of other things to post but I thought it would be nice to show the mani I wore for last night's blue moon.

When the Moon was a Star. One coat over China Glaze Blue Year's Eve. Shades of blue with gold accents as well as stars and moons. The holographic microglitter made it look extra twinkly. Seriously, move over SSN. This is the real starry night.

Do you see that little baby star hiding in the corner there?! SO cute! I didn't even know those guys were in there. It was such an awesome surprise when applying.

Lynnderella is available here.

Lynnderella Kabbalah Bracelet

2012-08-30T19:56:00.000+10:00

You know what we all need? A nice warm bowl of Kabbalah! .... If anyone got that reference, a million brownie points and a great big squee to you!

Lynnderella Kabbalah Bracelet. Over China Glaze Branding Iron. This is one thin coat. And when I say thin, I mean there was almost nothing on the brush--Kabbalah Bracelet is very dense. Short red strings, multi-coloured holo hexes and microglitter. Really fabulous. I love it.

And here is Branding Iron. Dark, glowy red-brown shimmer. I wish I had sun to show off the amazingness of the shimmer.

Lynnderella is available via eBay here.

Lynnderella Common Sense

2012-08-27T01:01:00.000+10:00

I spent a long time pondering what I wanted to wear under Common Sense (oh I do love word play). Pink, copper, peach... so many possibilities. In the end I settled on a soft pink.

One thin coat of Common Sense over Ozotic 601 which is a pale pink scattered holo. Common Sense is a clear base filled with copper and pinks. Crazy pretty and quite flashy for such a colour. It's absolutely packed with glitter and I think I may try wearing it on its own next time.

Over the Ozotic, it takes on a rose gold hue when seen from a distance. Kind of makes me want to wear matching jewellery with it! Anyone want to send that rose gold Michael Kors watch my way? lol

Rainbow Honey The Worst Possible Thing

2012-08-25T16:06:00.000+10:00

"Of all the worst things that could happen! This is..." well, clearly not it. It's quite lovely actually.

One coat over China Glaze Grape Pop. The Worst Possible Thing is my favourite of the collection. It's very busy, but in a subtly sparkly way.

Then I saw Lauren layer this over black and it looked so amazing I had to copy her.

One coat. You can really see the iridescent shards when it's over black. The whole look is kind of galaxy-like, no? Rainbow Honey can be found here.

Lynnderella Spam

2012-08-19T01:16:00.000+10:00

An aggregation of some past NOTDs. Sorry about the fluctuating nail lengths... I've been lazy about filing.

Attitude Adjust-Mint. One coat over Jordana Mint Candy (dupe for Chanel Jade...remember that frenzy?). Last time I wore this, my base was too stark of a mint. I like this much better. Soft and pretty.

Funny Money. One and a half coats over Essie Going Incognito. I wanted a bit more of the multi-glitter in this mani so I dabbed on a few glitters from The Glittering Crowd before going over it again with Funny Money to harmonise everything.

Cauldron Drippings. One coat over Cult Nails Devious Nature. I'm in love with Cauldron Drippings. I've worn it over pink, orange and black. Next time I think it's going to be purple!

Connect the Dots. One coat over Kit Top Gear. Is Top Gear still available? If it is... Aussies, get thee to a Kit store and grab it. It's awesome. This is the new formulation of Connect the Dots. Click here for a bottle shot comparison. But just quickly, the new formula is denser, has a heavier shimmer and more glitter variation. I love both deeply.

I Can Afford It! One coat over Bloom Bahamas. My current NOTD. The sprinkling of orange and purple is so cute. And another PSA for Aussies... make sure you go pick up any B by Blooms you've been eyeing since they're being discontinued from Target. So sad.... I prefer them over the regular Blooms. Good news is that they're only $7 now. Bahamas is an awesome fluoro green. Not as neon as others but it has a perfect, smooth two coat formula.