PassionForPolish: June 2012

Saturday, June 30, 2012

N.Nail Water Decals WDBLE1395 Changing Base

I wrote that I would be trying those N.Nail water decals from KKcenterHK again and I meant it :) I was really annoyed with that one decal out of the 20 that got stuck to the paper so I was determined to use them again to see if it was a one off problem.

I applied the water decals as I normally do. I have previously done a tutorial here on how to apply these water decals. After applying each of the decals I applied a coat of Revlon Colorstay top coat. And done!

Again I used my previous mani, Essie Super Bossa Nova :) And pretty pictures!

N.Nail Water Decal WDBLE1395 in Artificial Light

We had intermittant rain and sunshine so I was constantly stopping what I was doing to run outside and try to get photos in the sunlight :) Ah the effort we go to for those sunlight photos!

N.Nail Water Decal WDBLE1395 in Natural Light

Oh look more pretties!

N.Nail Water Decal WDBLE1395 in the Shade

Which combo do you like better? Over Essie Braziliant or Essie Super Bossa Nova? I'm not sure which combo is my favourite but I do like these butterflies over the bright pink :)

As before don't forget the coupon code for 10% off supplied by KKcenterHK.

Coupon Code : passionforpolish

*Products in this post were sent for review in return for my honest opinion. For more information see my Disclosure page.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Essie Super Bossa Nova

The other mini polish in the Essie set was also screaming my name so I had to put it on :) Also from the Essie Braziliant collection is Super Bossa Nova!

I did my usual one coat of Sally Hansen Triple Strong as a base coat. I then followed this with two coats of Super Bossa Nova. You could probably get away with only using one coat because it is very opaque but I have a habit of always using two coats. I finished my mani off with a coat of Revlon Colorstay top coat.

I was having a bit of trouble photographing this one too because it is really bright!

Essie Super Bossa Nova in Artificial Light

And still not bright enough :(

Essie Super Bossa Nova in Natural Light

Essie Super Bossa Nova in the Shade with flash

Ooh you can see a bit of that gorgeous shimmer I was talking about!

Essie Super Bossa Nova in the Shade

Love, love, love! Yet another shade that screams summer which I desperately need in this dreary freezing cold weather. Super Bossa Nova is a stunningly bright pink with a gorgeous subtle magenta shimmer. This shimmer also hides like that of Braziliant :( This is really beautiful! Again if you get this in the right light and that shimmer comes to play its amazing!

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

N.NAIL Water Decals - WDBLE1395 (Pic Heavy)

I was sent some more N.Nail Water Decals from KKcenterHK for review and decided to layer them over my previous manicure :) I chose these orange and pink butterfly water decals from N.Nail to review.

N.Nail Water Decals - WDBLE1395

The N.Nail Water Decals came in a zip-lock bag with 20 decals on a sheet and costs about AUD$2.79 (USD$2.82). I have a tutorial here on how to apply these water decals. The only problem I has was with one of the decals that I was going to place on my middle finger. After removing the decal from the water I slide the design as usual but only the top half of the decal came off! I tried leaving the other half of the decal in the water for longer but it still refused to slide off and seemed stuck onto the paper. Finally I gave up because the water decal was ripped beyond use. I then sealed them in with Revlon Colorstay top coat.

I've never had any problems with N.Nails water decals before so I can only assume that particular individual water decal became stuck to the paper somehow. You don't have to use these water decals for a whole mani, you can use them for accent nails but I wanted to show the different designs that come in the packet.

Here the decals are in artificial light.

N.Nail Water Decals - WDBLE1395 - in Artificial Light

And to take advantage of actual sunlight!

N.Nail Water Decals - WDBLE1395 - in Natural Light

Sorry about the awkward hand position but I was trying to show the design on my thumb.

N.Nail Water Decals - WDBLE1395 - in the Shade

I have since used these same decals again for another full mani and I had no problems with the application. All the water decals slide off from the backing paper with no problem. I love these water decals but I think I should have put them over a softer base colour.

I'm in love with water decals! They're such a quick and easy way to spice up a mani :) KKcenterHK has a very large selection to chose from and I was like a kid in a candy store when picking out which decals to review.

Don't forget to use the 10% off coupon code that KKcenterHK has also generously supplied.

Coupon Code : passionforpolish

Products in this post were sent for review in return for my honest* opinion. For more information see my Disclosure page.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Weekly Giveaway Round Up!

Giveaways.....giveaways....giveaways....

Rainbowify Me is having a 250 Follower Giveaway!

Prize 1 includes:

Gosh Amber
Gosh Golden Bronze
Gosh Sparkle

Prize 2 includes:

Gosh Peony
Gosh Sweet Peach

There will be two very lucky winners! This giveaway is open internationally and ends 3rd July 2012. To enter click HERE.

Piece Of Pie is having a Llarowe Gift Certificate Giveaway!

The prize is:

$25.00 Gift Certificate from shop.llarowe

There will be one very lucky winners! This giveaway is open internationally and ends 12th July 2012. To enter click HERE.

Polished Criminails is having a 1200 Follower Giveaway!

The prizes are:

eye CANDY Magnetic Quilt polish in Arctic
eye CANDY Magnetic Quilt polish in Peacock
eye CANDY Colour Flip polish in Green With Envy

There will be one very lucky winners! This giveaway is open internationally and ends 30th June 2012. To enter click HERE.

Glitter Obsession is having a 1300 Follower Giveaway!

The prizes are:

50USD certificate to llarowe.com
30USD certificate to llarowe.com
10USD certificate to llarowe.com

There will be three very lucky winners! This giveaway is open internationally and ends 13th July 2012. To enter click HERE.

The Nail Network is celebrating their 1st Birthday Giveaway!

The first prize is:

Lynnderella Connect the Dots
Sonnetarium Snowfall mini

The second prize is:

Sonnetarium Snowfall
Candeo Colors Orchid mini

The third prize is:

Custom piece of nail polish jewelry

There will be three very lucky winners! This giveaway is open internationally and ends 5th July 2012. To enter click HERE.

Hot Pink Aurora is having a 300th Post Giveaway!

The prizes are:

Kleancolor Blue Satin
Kleancolor Holo Green
Kleancolor Golden Nightmare
Kleancolor Luscious Lilac
Kleancolor Tahiti Sunset
Kleancolor Red Sparkle
Kleancolor Starry Meteor
Kleancolor Moon Dance

There will be one very lucky winner! This giveaway is open internationally and ends 30th June 2012. To enter click HERE.

Whimsical Glam is having a 250 Follower Giveaway!

The prize is :

$10 Llarowe Gift Certificate

There will be one very lucky winners This giveaway is open internationally and ends 15th July 2012. To enter click HERE.

Electric Allure is having a Blogiversary Giveaway!

The prizes are:

3 Zoya Nail Polishes of your choice
Zoya Gift Box

There will be one lucky winner! This giveaway is open internationally and ends 5th July 2012. To enter click HERE.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Essie Braziliant

I couldn't wait to try the new Essie poishes that I picked up and Braziliant was calling my name! Braziliant is a gorgeous bright orange polish.

I applied a base coat of Sally Hansen Triple Strong and then two coats of Essie Braziliant. Braziliant was a breeze to apply, perfect smooth formula. I finished off with a coat of Revlon Colorstay Top Coat.

I did the best I could with the pictures but between the bright colour and intermitant sunlight it was a bit of a pain.

See this is what all my pictures kept looking like :(

Essie Braziliant in Artificial Light

But finally I got this one yay ):

Essie Braziliant in Artificial Light

Essie Braziliant in Natural Light

Essie Braziliant in the Shade

I love this colour! It's crazy bright, not quite a neon in my opinion but it certainly screams summer. Braziliant has a beautiful coral orange shimmer that is mostly hidden but when it comes out to play - WOW! Definitely can't wait to wear this again when we have lots of actual sunlight :)

Friday, June 22, 2012

Nail Mail from Karine!

So I've been meaning to post this since FOREVER but kept pushing it back in favour of my nails posts. But at least the time has come :)

I won a giveaway over at Karinea0a and the package actually arrived on my birthday :) BEST BIRTHDAY PRESENT EVER!

My beauties all carefully wrapped!

Oh my precious!

Ok so my photo really sucks as Cutie Pie and Trendy have amazing colour shifts. Can I just say I was jumping off the walls when I got these! My first HITS polishes!!! The first HITS I ever saw were swatches of the No Olimpo collection and I instantly fell in love! I'm so crazy happy to add these amazing polishes to my collection!

HITS Cutie Pie, HITS Trendy, HITS Progressivo and HITS Brit Pop

The lovely note from Karine :) I'm such a sucker for these notes!

Awwwww

Thank You so much Karine!! I can't express how happy I am to have these polishes in my possession. I have been wanting to buy HITS polishes for ages but haven't had the money so winning this giveaway was unbelievable and the package arriving on my birthday was like the icing on the cake!

Now on a random note to any of my readers that might be in/near/around Perth, have any of you been to the new Coventry Square Markets in Morley? I am in love with that place! There's a stall there called Save A Lot that I visit every time I go there. They sell toiletries, personal care products, cosmetics and perfumes - but I'm sure you can guess what I look for :) The sell Maybelline and Revlon polishes for AUD$5 that you often see on Ozsale. They also have a display of older Sinful Colors polishes - the first SC I've seen in Perth. The have Sally Hansen, Essie and a bunch of other brands of nail polish that I hadn't seen before and can't remember right now lol! They had full sized bottle of Essie Braziliant for AUD$5!!

Essie Braziliant and Super Bossa Nova, Revlon Royal, Essie Meet Me At Sunset and Smooth Sailing

I got these two Essie mini packs, each were AUD$7, and the Revlon polish was only AUD$5. When I was there they were having a stocktake sale so they had 20% off everything in store!

Even though the sale is now finished this is the cheapest I have ever seen these polishes. As you might have guessed I can't wait to head back and see what new stock they have as they were still filling the shelves when I was there last.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Black and White Dots

This is the final design I attempted before choosing my Black and White flower design to submit. I saw this design at Pshiiit and immediately wanted to try it.

I started with a coat of Ulta3 base coat then applied two coats of Ulta3 Lily White to all nails by my thumb and ring to which I applied a single coat of BYS Black Satin. Then I used my medium dotting tool in the opposite colour to the base colour and added a large amount of dots to the tip and then less as I got further down the nail. I sealed the design with a coat of Revlon Colorstay top coat.

Pictures ahead :) I managed to knock my ring finger and you can see my print on the design :(

Black and White Dots in Artificial Light

Black and White Dots in Natural Light

Black and White Dots in the Shade

Although I really love how this turned out I preferred my flower design for entering the competition. I really love the simplicity of this design and it was so quick and easy to do! This is definitely a design I'll try again with actual colour :)

Monday, June 18, 2012

Black and White Flowers

Next up on my black and white ideas for the competition that Berry Polished was running is black and white flowers! I got the idea for this mani from Nails Art Mani.

To start off I used one coat of Ulta3 Base Coat and then two coats of Ulta3 Lily White on my index, middle and pinky fingers. On my ring and thumb fingers I applied one coat of BYS Black Satin. I then freehanded half each nail in the opposite colour. Then using a small nail art brush i drew the white half of the flowers on the black side using the polish from my Konad White Nail Art Pen since it more opaque. Then I added the stripes using the striper from the Konad pen and a small dotting tool to added the dots using the Konad white also. Once that was dry I used the BYS black to add to the inside of the white half of the flower. I then repeated the entire process in opposite colours on the white half of the flowers :) I finished off with Revlon Colorstay top coat!

Photo time :) I apologise in advance, I got a bit photo happy! My poor thumbs both sides of both my thumbs broke :'(

Black and White Flowers in Artificial Light

Black and White Flowers in Natural Light

Black and White Flowers in the Shade

I love the orinigal design but I'm really not happy with my own attempt. Again this is because of how horrible my brush strokes are. If I was to try this again I would use acrylic paint to form the design instead of nail polish because it really wasn't opaque enough to work with. This is the design I chose to submit but I have one more design left to show you :)