Fowl Play by Orly

I'm baaaack! It feels like it's been forever... My nails all broke, my computer gave up on me and I had to return the camera that I was borrowing but I got a brand new camera for Christmas so I can get back to what I love!... Nail Polish! I have a lot of catching up to do, my collection has expanded since the last time I posted not to mention the ones that I got for Christmas. I've decided that my return post should be a good one so I chose my favourite polish from my Christmas haul... Fowl Play by Orly

Oh mah goodness! I love it! It's a very sheer formula took three coats to get it opaque but well worth it. I didn't use a base colour this time but I'm thinking that next time I will try it out to see the difference. I've heard it's a dupe for OPI Merry Midnight but I have not seen it personally so cannot make any comment although it does remind me of Nfu Oh 51. The flakies seem to be bigger and more visible in Fowl Play, I found it easier to apply and it's also a whole lot cheaper. I will do a comparison and update as I am curious to see how close it is myself. What is there to say... I love the purple, I love the flakies... I just love this colour!!

Weekend Manicure: OPI Catherine The Grape

Nothing better then an oldie but a goodie to start the weekend off... OPI Catherine The Grape is from the OPI Russian Collection 2007 and I can't believe I've had it for so long and never tried it out before! I absolutely love it! I've been on a bit of a purple polish trend lately and this is a very unique purple. In the bottle this one doesn't really look that special but on the nails it really surprised me.  It's a warm shimmery plum that flashes gold and bronze depending on the light. The application was what at first looked to be quite thin on first coat but once I had the second coat on I was quite content with the opaqueness. 

 Two coats plus topcoat with Flash

I also finally got my Konad stamping art kit and Bundle Monster plates, tried out a very simple pattern using plate BM-224. Not perfect but I like it!

Blaze UV Color Changing Nail Lacquer Swatches and Review

Finally a sunny day! I've recieved 6 Blaze UV Color Changing nail lacquers and I've been dying to swatch them but the weather has just been miserable the last few days. Blaze polishes are one colour indoors and when exposed to the sunlight UV rays they turn another color. The Blaze line offers over 50 shades of creamy polishes including matte, glitter, pearlescent, and fluorescent colors. All of the ingredients used in Blaze nail lacquer are completely safe and 3 Free. 

The colours that I have swatched are from the Color Collection which is made up of 24 different colours in .25 oz. bottles, 48 if you include the colour that they change into in the sun. The newest line, the Brights Collection consists of 8 matte bright colours in new larger .45 oz. bottles. The formula and brushes are nice and allow for easy and smooth application. The indoor colours are on the lighter side so I used three coats for all of the swatches to get it the opacity in the pictures. I found that two coats was just not quite enough but you could definitely still get away with it if you don't have the time for three.

Ocean Blue to Midnight Purple. This colour is one of my favorites of the bunch. It's a light shimmery blue indoors and outdoors turns into a nice metallic purple. The polish started to change immediately when I put my hand in the sunlight and took about 30 seconds to get to the colour in the picture. FUN!!!

Pinkalicious to Sugar Plum. Another one I enjoyed, it's a very creamy light pink indoors and turns into lovely deep plum outside.

Spiced Lime to Blackberry. This was the most drastic change in colour. Inside it's a light lime green summer colour but outside turns into a deep purple blackberry fall shade.

Clear to Red. I didn't even bother swatching the indoor "colour" since there really was none. It was a clear top coat looking polish. This also made it a bit tricky for the application considering you can't see the outdoor red that it will turn into. Not one of my favorites in this line but I will give it another go with a few more coats.

Flirt to Panzy. A creamy pearl indoors turns into a shimmery berry pink outside. It reminded me a bit of the Sugar Plum but with less of the purple undertones.

Smurf Blue to Purple. It's actually a brighter smurfy blue then in the picture and a deep lavender purple outside. Love both of the colours and the name!

Blaze™ polishes can be purchased online on www.blazenailpolish.com for $7.95 a bottle. For those of you with Twitter follow for updates and news @BlazeLacquer

Disclosure: These products were sent to me for review

More Blues! Sally Hansen: Model Behaviour

I've been a huge fan of the Sally Hansen Salon Manicure line ever since it first came out but have not had a chance to try out many colours. Today, I picked up Model Behaviour from the Sally Hansen Spring 2011 Prabal Gurung Collection. I've been looking for a nice creamy light blue and this one is perfect! I love the brushes this line uses and the formula is nice and creamy. It was very easy to apply, 2 coats and although I used Essie's Good To Go fast dry topcoat it wasn't really needed, the mani looked great on it's own!

Perfectly Polishious WELCOME Giveaway!!

So I'm sitting here thinking about what the best way to get the word out about my new blog and gain some followers at the same time and what better way then to have a giveaway! Today is the first chilly day and has me in the mood for some fall colours which has inspired the grand prize...

There will be one Grand prize.  One winner will receive the following:

3 polishes from OPI European Collection (RARE):

- Can't-a-Berry Have Some Fun?

- Euro-mazing!

- Amster-damsel in Distress

2 polishes from OPI Russian Collection (RARE):

-Midnight in Moscow

-Ruble For Your Thoughts

- 1 OPI Happy Anniversary SHIMMER from the 25th Anniversary Collection

- 1 Sally Hansen Salon Effects nail strips set in Kitty, Kitty

Happy Anniversary!, Ruble For Your Thoughts, Midnight in Moscow 

Can't-a-Berry Have Some Fun?, Euro-mazing!, Amster-damsel in Distress 

Giveaway Information:


1. Must be a follower of my blog... old or new all are welcome!
2. This giveaway is an international giveaway and open to ALL followers

This giveaway ends on October 30th, 2011 11:59PM EST

Welcome and GOOD LUCK!!! 

Nfu Oh 51!!

It has arrived and it's AMAZING!!! I cannot stop looking at my nails! The colour is so hard to explain, it's a sheer purple almost blue jelly like base with shimmer and flakies that flash yellows, reds and greens in different lights and angles. In artificial light it can almost look red, but in natural light it looks shockingly purple. I used 3 coats of the Nfu Oh 51 and topped it with Essie Good To Go top coat and it turned out wonderful. I found that because of the jelly base drying time was a bit longer then usual but a fast drying top coat seems to do the trick. The colour looks beautiful on it's own although next time I will try layering over a blue or purple polish to save a bit of time on the application and drying time. I can't see anyone being disappointed however you choose to wear this colour!

Indoor

Natural Light

You can find Nfu Oh 51 and other colours on fabuloustreet.com for $12.50 I believe shipping is free in the US. I'm located in Canada and paid $3... not bad and definitely worth it!!

Sally Hansen Salon Effects - Halloween 2011!!!

I can't wait for these to be out in stores! They will be available in September, just in time for Halloween. I'm really looking forward to trying out Spun For You and Wishnets.  I'm already a huge fan of the entire Salon Effects line and happy to see new designs out. Makes me excited to see what they come up with for Christmas!!

           Ghoulie Girl                           Hot Wired            

                  

Numbskull

Spun For You                            Wishnets

OPI Road House Blues - Touring America Collection

If you recall from my last post, I used the OPI Road House Blues for the marble accent nail art and have been dying to try it out on it's own ever since. It's from the OPI Touring America fall collection and I'm really looking forward to getting the rest of the colours. The formula was wonderful, it took two coats and it even looked great without a topcoat. The colour is AMAZING, when indoors it's a rich navy blue but in the light it has deep purple undertones. I love Road House Blues. I usually like to wear bright colours in the summer but with fall around the corner and blue nail polishes being "in" this season, it's just perfect.

I really wish I had a better camera for this post, my camera does this colour NO justice but I couldn't wait to share it, it's absolutely beautiful!! I will definitely be updating with better pics!

Weekend Manicure: China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint With Marble Accent

So I've been buying lots of random colours recently but haven't had a chance to try any out due to my new obsession with the Sally Hansen nail strips. I finally took them off last night, I haven't had regular polish on my nails for over a month!

I decided on a pale green minty colour from the China Glaze Up & Away collection called Re-Fresh Mint. I have a small obsession with accent nails so I decided to attempt some marble nail art, not quite one of my strongest skills. For the accent nail marble I used the CG Re-Fresh Mint and OPI Road House Blues (Touring America Collection) which ended up looking more purple then blue. It's a really nice deep blue with purple undertones. It smudged a bit when I was putting the top coat on so I topped it with OPI Happy Anniversary! which adds a nice shimmer to the nail.

I love, love, love the Re-Fresh Mint, it's a great summer colour and it only took two coats to look amazing! I apologize for the quality of the pictures, I will have a much better camera soon!

Sally Hansen Nail Effects: Love in a Box

I've been hearing about these Sally Hansen Nail Effects and while I'm not usually a fan of nail polish strips I thought I would try them out. I'm always looking for long lasting manicures and the “Lasts Up To 10 Days” claim definitely had me curious. The results were surprisingly amazing!

The selection at the store I was in was not that great, I love a nice accent nail but there were lot of funky patterns which I really have to be in the mood to put on every single nail so I picked up the simplest one I could find, a nice plain gold called Raise A Glass and a nice print called Kitty, Kitty for my accent nail. I later found more selection of shades and patterns at another local drugstore and Walmart. Each package includes 16 strips in varying sizes, a cuticle stick and mini file/buffer as well as easy to understand application instructions.

I began by laying out the strips so that I could see the sizes and carefully selecting the ones I would be using, what’s great about these strips is that each end has a different shape so you can find a good fit for your nail.The leftovers I resealed to prevent drying out and put back in the package.

Once you are ready to begin just peel off the protective film, detach the polish strip from the backing, press onto the nail and use your finger to press/rub firmly (rubbing the strip onto the nail with your fingers helps warms it up and helps to smooth it out for a nicer finish). I find the rubbing/warming technique tends to remove any excess but if it doesn't just use the file provided to file off the excess. While the strips are fine on their own and instructions do not say top coat is required I still went ahead and used Essie's fast Dry top coat to finish them off. Let's just say love at first sight!

They lasted the full 10 days and I really only removed them because of the new growth and I wanted to try another colour. I bought a very bright and pretty pink called It Girl and if you recall I resealed what was left over so I used the Kitty, Kitty strips for my accent nail again. Below is the results! I am on 9th day of wear right now and only issue is new growth!!

Overall I was VERY impressed with the Sally Hansen Nail Effects, the large selection of colors and patterns, the easy application and the long lasting wear have me sold!