Monday, March 31, 2014

Aussie Nails Monday Autumn.




Hello there everyone!
Today's Aussie Nails Monday theme is Autumn. When I saw this theme I knew exactly what I wanted to do!
I have had some Born Pretty Store water decals sitting here for a bit now and this was the best time for them!!! They are great as they look just like water marbling and as i'm totally crap it water marbling i'm happy to use an alternative.

So I popped the decals over Zoya Jem, which is a lovely rich autumn colour.



Cool right?!! They come is many different colours and are under $1 per packet! you can pick them up HERE. plus dont forget to use my discount code TCPX31 so you get an extra 10% off!! plus free postage world wide.

Until next time......
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Sunday, March 30, 2014

OPI Gwen Stefani collection - part 2


Hi there everyone!  I have the final 3 polishes for you today. We looked at the other 3 HERE so if you missed them check it out!!!
Here is a quick recap of the collection.


Today we have, I sing in color, In true Stefani Fashion and Hey baby! I have to say I loved every polish in this collection. That does not happen very often and so I am hoping that OPI bring out this type of collections more often. All of the polishes went on a dream and the cremes only took 2 coats.

I sing in color-  This is a really dark burgundy colour. Real vampy!! Looking at it I was concerned that it would stain. But it did not so i'm real happy with this. The colour is rich and deep and I had no issue with formula or application. Pics are 2 coats and top coat.



In sun

In shade

Hey Baby!- Is a bright barbie pink creme. I am not a huge pink fan but I have to say that this pink was stunning. Once I put it on my nails I wanted to leave it there and stamp black on it!!! It was a very pretty colour. Both my girls have since worn it on their pinkies too!! Tho my 3 yr old did infom me it "was not minnie mouse pink" but for a 3 yr old Poppy can pick out specific colours from my OPI drawers and tell me what their names are or collection.....which is a little sad.....yes I know! but get them hooked early I say !!
Again 2 coats was more than enough for coverage and I also used a Top Coat. 



In sun
In shade

In true Stefani Fashion-  This is the glitter topper from the collection. It is silver and holo silver glitter in different sizes. The application was good and the glitter payoff on the brush was more than acceptable. I like that I could pop the glitter on with ease. Doing the gradient was a little trickier as I did not want to much clear base to my glitter application, so I dabbed some on a bit of plastic and picked up the glitter that way.



In sun. Over OPI I sing in color

In sun. Over OPI I sing in color (out of focus to see the bling!



In sun. Over OPI Hey baby! (1 coat)

In dappled light. Over OPI Hey baby! (1 coat)

I honestly think that the whole collection is worth picking up. It is a great variety of colours and finishes which I love. The bottle lids are also cute too with the different patterns for each style of finish too. 

You can pick up this whole collection at MYER or DAVID JONES and they retail for $19.95.  
I cannot wait to try different combos with these polishes for sure....

Until next time.......
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*These polishes were provided to me for review. please check my disclosure policy for more information.

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Loki's Lacquer Last indie polish collection.... Zoolander inspired.



Hi there everyone, It saddens me to share this but this weekend is the last weekend of the Indie brand that is...... LOKI'S LACQUER. Loki's Lacquer has been my brainchild for 2 years now and it started in march of 2012.  I was one of the first indie brands in the market along side of gloss n sparkle, femme fatale and emily de molly. I always kept to my self and my market was small. mainly due to the quirky names and color combos I created. It was always a hobby for me rather a full time job, and that is where lies the reason I need to close Loki's Lacquer. As some of you may or may not know I am a proud Mum to some very special girls. I talk about my "Barnicles"all the time, but having 2 children with various special needs, making polish, running 2 blogs, doing my job (which is a writer) and generally running the household has taken its toll and something had to give, and unfortunately, family will always come first, so the indie polish had to go. Im gutted, but I thought i'd go with a bang, so I pulled out the big guns and released  the REALLY REALLY REALLY GOOD LOOKING COLLECTION at the begginning of the year. I have not really posted about it apart from on my FACEBOOK PAGE and a little on IG @lokislacquer. 
So with only a few days to go as i'm closing on the 1st April 10pmEST I thought I would share my last collection with you guys....ok so here we go....

Blue Steel- If you know Zoolander at all you know that Blue Steel is the face of Derek Zoolander. so to represent this epic sytyle I created a blue and holosilver micro glitter in a black/navy base. This is 3 coats by itself and a TC. 

 Ferrari- If you know Zoolander at all you know that ferrari  is one of the faces of Derek Zoolander. so to represent this epic sytyle I created a blue and holo silver micro glitter in a black/navy base. This is 3 coats by itself and a TC. 

Le Tigra- If you know Zoolander at all you know that Le Tigra is one of the faces of Derek Zoolander. so to represent this epic sytyle I created a blue and holo silver micro glitter in a black/navy base. This is 3 coats by itself and a TC. 

* on a side note, yes I spelt Le Tigra different to the movies.... long story about another brand named that and not wanting an issue with them...... also I am sure you Zoolander fans will get the joke with the top 3 polishes :) but you would be surprised on the amount of emails I have had about these 3 polishes!!!

Here is the pic that gave me the inspiration for this polish.




"It's a walk off!"- I love it when Billy Zane says Ït's a Walk off!....it's a walk off....."in the movie. So i had to try and pick something that would represent this major part of the movie with a polish, I ended up making a red/purple/burgundy holo that has a slight gold shift. I did this as Derek Zoolander wore a burgandy number on his walk off! and its all about the style and holo is so "In right now!"


Here is the inspiration behind the polish.


A model..... Idiot? -  That point when all Derek sees a copy of Time in the bin, looks a it and reads it aloud. I took that inspiration and used the colours of the magazine for reference. I have swatched over "its a walk off!"


And a pic of the inspiration for this polish - 



 Merman..(cough) Merman!- Another awesome part of the flick is when Derek retires from the male model industry and decided to go home and help his dad and brothers in the mines. there are some awesome scenes but one that is great is when Derek's family almost completely disown him and take the piss out of the fact he was a mermaid  Merman on TV. He also at the same time seems to think that one day in the mines has given him the black lung, which is exaggerated by his little coughs! (cough cough) so with this all in mind i created a navy/black base with holo silver glitter representing the mining and how dirty he got in one day and at the same time the fashion he wore in the mine! this is 3 coats by itself. plus TC.



Here are some of the pics that I used for inspiration.





Moisture is the essence of wetness- One of the most popular lines from the movie. The add where Derek is a mermaid Merman . I tried so hard to capture the essence of wetness in this polish (LOL) and ended up with a glitter bomb of aqua teal and lilac with a hint of sky blue holo mixed in. there is over 40 different glitters in this mix from circles to stars to hex and square everything!!! I did 2 coats over ChG custom kicks.



And of course the inspiration behind the polish - 



Obey my dog!-  when in the D.A.Y.I.E. spa Derek was brainwashed to kill the prime minister of "micronesia"(lol thats so funny!!)  and part of it was in a silver and white room,and pics of Mugatu and his dog etc. so I took the idea of the dog and the silver and came up with this polish. All the silver and the piecing green eyes of the poodle made for a great combo!! A silver foil based polish with many different silver glitters and then added to the mix 3 different sized lime green holo glitters. 2 coats with TC.



Here is where my inspiration came from.






Orange Mocha Frappuccino!-  Well we all know how this one ended don't we!!!!! A actually goggled this drink and it is in fact orangy in colour!!! So with this in mind I created an orange scattered holo polish that has a slight blue shift and platinum silver flakies through it.



Here is the inspiration behind this polish....* insert Wham here....* 



Relax- This was Dereks "trigger"song. the whole scene involved a lot of blue hues so i took inspiration from that. This polish is a textured polish but you can easily pop on a top coat to make it smooth. It is a combo of blue and silver glitters. 3 coats here for opaque.



What is this..... A Centre For ANTS???- Man I love this line from the movie!! and when it came down to is I had to have it in my collection. The problem was what colours to use. as the scene was very plain and simple. but i chose grey,white black and red as this best represented the scene for me. THis is 3 coats by itself plus TC. 




And of cause the inspiration....




You can derelicte my balls!-  The final polish in the collection, another awesome scene from the movie and yep it is part of the walk off scene! this time i wanted to focus on Hansel and his classic line. So with this in mind i took inspiration from his bright purple shirt,camel coloured jacket and green beads. and combined them in the form of a purple metallic polish with green and gold holo glitter. The combo turned out awesome. I was so happy it worked!!!! this is 2 coats by itself with TC.


And the inspiration........



I really loved creating this collection and am so glad I finished off my indie polish career with a doozie!!!
You can still buy any of these until 10pm 1st April EST and if you message me i am happy to ship overseas. you can purchase them all at Loki's Lacquer. Prices start from $9.50 AUD.
I have to give a huge shout out to all the wonderful people out there who supported me when I started
up in March of 2012 and was printing label on my PC and only selling little mini bottles. I'm sure there are some of you out there who still own bottles of my "2 Ghoul 4 Skool "collection. With out you guys I would never been able to share my love for quirky films and TV and my love of polish. Huge hugs xxxxx
But fear not my blog, Facebook, Twitter and IG will still be around for a long time sharing swatches and gel polish with you all along side nail art and tutorials!!!

And for all the Loki's lacquer fans out there here is magnum for you!!! 


And one final Gif or 2 to leave as it is called Loki's Lacquer after all........






Until next time........
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Friday, March 28, 2014

Sally Hansen Salon Gel polish- Jaded and Karat Cake


Hi there everyone!!
I have 2 more swatches for you from the new Sally Hansen Salon Gel polish collection. The Gel polishes are an LED formulated gel polish and cure in only 30 secs. The bottles are a little smaller than Sally Hansens regular polish and are only 7mls. 


Lets get straight to it!

Jaded- This is a beautiful pale minty green gel polish. It is pretty much the same shade as Jaded in the Salon complete manicure version. The gel was very sheer so I needed to build up 5 cured layers to get opaqueness, tho they were thin coats as the gel cures better when applied thinly.After the 5 coats I used one coat of clear gel top coat to finish it off. I will wear this again for sure but I do not think it will be a good colour for nail art due to its sheerness.But you could use it for undies with nail art.


In sun

In shade

In sun

dappled light


Karat Cake- I am super glad I purchased this colour. The box honestly was not that appealing.It just looked like a plain gold micro glitter which I have in other brands, but I thought i'd give it a go anyway.
When I put the polish on OMG!!! this gel is very complex. depending on what you layer it with the gel looks totally different. There is gold glitter in 2 sizes then a ...what I can only describe as a coppery glass flake in it too, so you cannot really see it much on light colours but on dark colours it is really stunning!!! I will let the pics speak for themselves!!! All swatches are 1 coat over the base colour written in the caption.


In sun over Sally hansen Jaded

In shade over Sally Hansen Jaded

In dappled light over Sally Hansen Jaded

In sun over Sally Hansen Jaded

In dappled light over Gelicious sleep till noon

In shade over Gelicious sleep till noon

In shade over Gelicious sleep till noon

In sun over Gelicious sleep till noon

In shade over Gelicious sleep till noon
How stunning is Karat Cake over black!!!

You can purchase Sally Hansen Salon Gel polish at PRICELINE and they retail for $19.95 a bottle and if you are after a starter kit they retail for under $100 depending if Priceline have an offers on.

Until next time....
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* These polishes were purchased by myself to review.