Hello Friends!!! Don't Forget 500 Followers Giveaway!

Hello! Again, sorry for the hiatus. I just had my acrylic nails taken off (and will NOT be using them again for a while, I just couldn't help myself with the engagement ring!!) and my nails are healing, and ready to be painted beautiful again :) For the last week and change, my nails have been growing out and looked disastrous. Therefore I didn't see it necessary to blog the ickiness that acrylics created. Having them removed was an extremely painful procedure, too! Ouch!! I thought they'd pull my nails right off with them. Luckily, that was not the case.

Moving forward, we are just 75 followers shy of our 500 followers Halfway There mini-giveaway. To refresh your memory, this giveaway is a celebration that we've made it half-way to a thousand. And we strive to keep our followers happy and coming back for more!

Once we reach that 500 mark, it will also launch our 1000 followers MEGA giveaway, which will entail many awesome polishes from 3 of our writers. Myself, Erika, and Renee - which means you will also win a prize with polishes from Japan exclusively!!! We've been prepping for this one for a while now, and are so excited to be able to show you (very soon!) whats in store for that giveaway.

More polish soon, promise :-)

450 polishes swatched

Today I’m sharing a little project that I have been working on for the last few weeks. 

I was sick of not being able to readily see each of my polishes to decide what to wear, what to layer (or stamp) over what. Of course I could look at swatch pictures, but that would take way too long, and what then to do about all those untrieds? I could swatch them all out on colour wheels, but how do I sort them for swatching? Sure I could swatch similar colours on a wheel, but what would I do when I got a new polish, it's not like I could insert it into the colour wheel in it appropriate place if that wheel is full. 

So this was my solution.  I bought many sets of nail art sticks off ebay.  Each tray holds 64 sticks.  The beauty of this system is each stick is totally removable and they can be sorted and moved around on the trays allowing for new polishes at any time.

Here they all are lined up on our dining table. Yes, it took weeks to paint these.

Now here they are in colour groups.

Yes, it took ages to sort these into colour groups. Actually it didn’t take ME very long before I said “that’ll do”, but my mum (as a painter) sat there for hours (upon hours) adjusting and sorting. Anally retentive anyone?

So this is what the little sticks look like. Nice clean and shiny Perspex.

There is even a little flat spot to write on. I wrote numbers, which correspond to numbers listed in a spreadsheet that details brand, polish name and the number of coats. I love the fact that I can look among all my sticks of a similar colour, and then take them over to my outfit and pick the best complementary colour. 

So, what do you think?  Do you have a system in place to see what all your polishes are and to help choose a colour to wear?  I used to paint a falsie and sticky tape that to the top of the bottle.  See some old stash pics.

*edit* for those interested, the ebay seller was "4ushop777", they were called "Nail Art Tips 64 Stick Display Stand Rack Practice Tool" I paid $7.65AUD for each set of 64, with free postage.

Avon Colour Morphing over LA Girls Groupie

Something a little fun today.  I thought it about time to pull out my AVON colour morphing top coat and try it layered over a different polish.  I chose LA Girls Groupie from the Rock Star collection.  There is so much going on with the mani, first the purple flecks from Groupie, then the amazing shifting shimmer from the top coat, going from gold to green.

I was amazed how easy it was to see both gold and green shimmer at the same time, but I wonder if this would have been better over a creme polish rather than a glass fleck one, because the shine coming from groupie started to hide the other two colours.

The green and the purple looked so awesome together.

Aaahhhhh, Colour Morphing top coat, I really love you. We shall never be parted.

Also - received an email from piCture pOlish last night saying they have 10% off Ozotic polishes at the moment (until 6:00pm 5 July Aussie time), as well as saying they have cheaper standard mail for international orders.  I have no idea how much cheaper it makes the international postage, but I thought I should let you know, as they are the only place you can get Ozotics that post internationally (even if their Ozotic prices are a bit higher than some other resellers).

Ozotic 502 v Ozotic 520

Another comparison today, this time between Oztoic 502 Sands and Ozotic 520 Molten.  In the bottle these two do look quite different. Sands on the right shows more duochrome colours around the edge of the bottle.

 

Here is a swatch of both colours, two coats over black, in the shade outside.  I had a hard time picking between these colours in the shade.

But when you see them in the sun, you can see the difference.  520 Molten is redder, where 502 Sands is pinker.

Here is the orange shift, which is similar, but not identical.

This comparison shows it best. 520 Molten has a burnt orange finish, whereas 502 Sand is more of a green yellow finish.

When I wore these seperately, I thought they were dupy, except that I preferred Molten on me.  Which was silly given they were both so similar.  But because I preferred one over the other I thought there had to be a difference.  And there was.

Barry M - Pink Flamingo + Konad M64

It's an amazing sunny and hot day, so this morning I decided I wanted summery nails! I'm wearing a beautiful nail polish from Barry M, Pink Flamingo. A coral leaning pink creme; bright, but also milky looking (does this make any sense? It's kinda hard to describe, lol). The formula was somewhat thick, but warm weather can affect the consistency of a nail polish, so it can be different on a colder day. I used three coats. For the stamping I used one of my favourite designs from imageplate M64 and Konad Special Nail Polish in White. As you can see I had some trouble placing the design the same way on all nails.. ah well. I love the colours together and from a distance it looks pretty neat. :O 

Thanks for watching! 

Artform/Ozotic 508 v Ozotic 521

I had a request to do a comparison swatch between Artform/Ozotic 508 and Ozotic 521.  These swatches are two coats over black and show 508 on the index and ring and 521 on middle and pinky.  

As you can see, both have a purple base colour.  Here it is outdoors (with the sun behind my fat head - as you can see in the reflection).

Here in the direct sun.

Both polishes shift through shades of pinks, reds and maroons.

 

And finally shift to a burnt orange gold.

To my eye, I couldn't tell any difference.  So I have no idea why they would re-release this is a seperate number.  I notice that in the B-range of polishes (believed to be another private label from lymineye) that they have both shades (508 & 521) listed for sale.  

If you have one, you probably don't need the other.

Jia, I hope this was helpful.  I certainly found it interesting.

Ozotic 520 Molten

Another spectacular multichrome from ozotic today. #520 Molten.  I have the whole collection now, so I will put together a quick reference colour guide in the near future.

I feel this is rather similar to #502 Sands, although they look totally different in the bottle they have a similar base colour and shift colour - if that makes sense. #520 Molten is a burgundy rust red shifting to amber, orange and gold.

This photo was taken in full sun, two coats over black.

Next photo taken outdoors, in the shade with the LED camera light on to show the shimmer and multichrome colour effect.

Outdoors, sun behind a cloud.

Full sun, different angle.  I love this shot, the colours in the polish make it look like its late afternoon in summer with a hot sun setting, whereas it was actually about 11am and 10 degrees.  I love that it makes me feel warm when it's so damn freezing at the moment.

I will do a comparison swatch of this and 502 just to see the differences on the nail.

Ozotic Mosaic

Up until two days ago, I didn't own a crackle or shatter polish... and I still don't.  No, I have a 'Mosaic' one.  Seriously why can't nail polish companies stick with a consistent name for these sorts of polishes?

Anyway, this is the new Ozotic Mosiac polish, which for all intents and purposes (man I love using cliches - I might just have to pull a few more of them out of my hat) sorry where was I, oh yes, it works the same way as China Glaze Crackle, OPI Shatter, BarryM Instant Nail Effects etc.

So here are my baby gaga nails with mosaic on top. Application was a piece of cake and these crackle polishes are kinda fun to play around with. Then, waiting with baited breath to see what effect it will create when it crackles.

Below  is another quick mani I did as soon as my polish arrived in the mail.  Initially, I was a little disappointed with the crackling effect, but then I did some reading about crackle polishes (specifically this post from the lacquerista) and realised I should have waited longer for the base to dry.

I've only used this crackle polish twice, but both times I had that crack line just below the tip of my nail, on every nail.  Interesting. I think my thumb was the driest in the picture below and cracked to my liking the best.

So, while its a case of seen one, seen them all, I'm pretty happy with my Ozotic Mosaic and don't feel the need to try any other brand.

You can buy ozoitc mosaic from a number of etailers, with prices ranging from $5.95 - $12.95.  Just Google 'ozotic mosaic' and you'll find them.  Although I think only piCture pOlish ship internationally.

On another note, I was looking at the Artform website the other day and noticed that they no longer list their private label holographic or multichrome polishes.  I guess you girls bought them all out!  I also read on the Makeup Ally Nail board, a few girls ordered a polish from Artform and had an Ozotic Pro delivered.  

I guess I was right in saying their polishes were exact dupes of each other (using the same numbers etc), or more accurately, that the Artform polishes were a private label produced by Lumineye, whose proprietary brand is Oztoic. Looks like Artform will be supplying Ozotics to Aussies soon, and I think their prices will be a little better than piCture pOlish too.

Oh and sorry, I can't help it. Must. Use. More. Cliches.

Color Club - Fashion Addict

I'm having a rough week and my energy level is pretty low, so I'll keep this post short. The nail polish I'm wearing today is Fashion Addict from Color Club, a pale lilac prismatic polish. I've heard new bottles contain a flat, less sparkly version of the old Fashion Addict, boo! :@ I bought my bottle quite a while ago, but I'm not sure if I own the old or the new version. The prismatic effect looks pretty awesome to me, so that's a good thing! What do you think, old or new?

The application wasn't great, I needed three coats (no topcoat) to cover all the bald spots. A different basecoat, like the Aqua Base from Nfu Oh, could make the application easier. I'll try it the next time I wear this pretty. :) 

Thanks for watching!

Baby Gaga nails

Last night I was inspired by my daughters stripy jumpsuit to paint my nails.  This is the result.

Skyla was being very cute yesterday giggling and laughing, so I grabbed the camera and snapped a couple of pics of her (which is a good thing, because being #2 child there are only 1/10th the number of photos of her than of her brother!). Skyla has two nicknames at home, 'Poppet' (a name we started using after she was born) and 'Gaga', which is what her big brother calls her, as he can't seem to pronounce Skyla.  So more often than not, she is now called Baby Gaga.

Polishes used in this were, base layer of Ulta3 'bon bon', then strips applied using Ulta3 'poppy' and 'lagoon'.

The photos were taken under the bathroom light last night and appear a little bumpy, this is because they don't have a top coat.  I wanted to leave it top coat free as I was going to put a crackle over the top.  I'll show you those pictures tomorrow.

150 Follower Giveaway * CLOSED *

Hey there,

We would like to say a big THANK YOU to all of you for following Accropolish. We have now more than 150 followers which is unbelievable. We really enjoy reading your comments and thoughts and are more than pleased to get to know some of you.

We would like to do a little giveaway to let you know how much we appreciate your support. We know that a lot of you are from the US so we choose some european brands for this giveaway.

One lucky winner will get this:

• To start with, some swiss chocolate of course...
• Catrice LE - Looking Greyt
• Catrice LE - Purposely Purple
• Essence Nail Art Special Effect Topper - Mystic Mermaid (amazing !)
• Essence Nail Art Special Effect Topper - Circus Confetti
• Essence Colour & Go - Glisten Up! (gorgeous !)
• Essence Colour & Go - Where Is The Party ?
• Fing'rs Lifestyle Nail & Body Art stickers
• And some other surprises...

Now all you have to do is be a public follower via GFC and that's all (well you have to complete the form below). You can earn extra entries by adding Accropolish to your blogroll and by blogging about this giveaway.

This is open internationally. New followers are more than welcome ! This giveaway is open until July 30th.

Good luck everyone !

xoxo

Blast from the past!

Hey, remember when stores like Old Navy and The Gap sold make up and nail polish? I do! But I mean they weren't anything to write home about(or even blog about!) but I recently spent a few days in the Catskills with the family I nanny for and we visited the mall that isnt that far from where they have a house. Of course I had to go into Old navy because 1. they have really cute graphic tees and 2. I spotted nail polish by the register!

I could not believe my eyes when I saw the display with nail polish. Yes, the colors were not exactly unique. But I did buy two just to see how they were. I bought a creme and a shimmer.

The red is a shimmer polish with hints of gold in it. I love red so I knew I had to get a red polish. The other one that I bought was a color that shockingly I do not own. I have teals, but very light ones. This was a medium almost dark teal. Now the application. The brush is small, but not to shabby. The color went on like a dream. And dried very fast! About 5 minutes including my seche vite topcoat.

Hey, is that a green flower? Why yes it is.

I am going to put the red color on my toe nails, because what is summer without red toe nails. Now if I only had none scary feet! Ahh a girl can dream;)

Overall, I rate this polish a B+ for color and appication and an A for price. Each bottle cost 3.50$ Next time I hip up Old Navy, I will def. be picking up more colors since I know they are worth the price. But back to work for now,
Tata!

Vegemite nails

Like 48 other nail art enthusiasts, I entered Nail Polish Art Addiction's Good enough to eat contest.

I created vegemite nails.

Please check out her post and vote (for whomever you like)!

Hi everyone!

I got the Pirates of the Caribbean Silver Shatter about a month ago, and I've been dying to swatch it ever since. I was waiting to get another OPI color to swatch it over so I could add it to my Flickr OPI album.

Speaking of Flickr, has anyone noticed how weird it's been acting lately? Since the other day it is giving me hell when I try to post pics, one time it says it doesn't go through, and another it says it went through but I don't see anything.. (so if this gets double posted.. you'll know why.)

Anyway, so I found a drug store that has some OPI polishes CHEAP, (and they were running out) so I grabbed Chicago Champagne Toast while the getting was good so I could swatch it with the Silver Shatter.

First, a swatch of Chicago Champagne Toast:

It's a really pretty metallic mauvey-pink. It looks great on it's own, but I was dying to swatch the shatter polish. Now the mani:

As always, thanks for looking!!

My two new nail polish Addicts:)

Yes, it's me. Your fair weather nail polish friend;)

I have been pretty busy lately so I apologize for the lack of postage! Who knew that having a full time job and going to school part time would make you boring? I for one did not! I kid, though.

I bring just one manicure for you, and it's funny because its the same color that Julie posted right down below, the periwinkle one. It's a gorgeous creamy blu-iesh purple, but it chipped so fast! Even with Seche. China Glaze, you are letting me down!

I also have managed to make two more people obsessed with nail polish, the two little girls I nanny for:

 That's gina, do not let the sweet smile fool you. She is a handful! But she asks me everyday to polish her nails. If you look very very closely at the picture, you can see she is wearing "Back to the Fuschia" by Wet n Wild.

And here is Nicole on the side of Gina. She is my
little helper, always helping me clean up or telling her sister too. But once again, told let the scrunchy face fool you, she's a real handful too! You can't see her nails but she is wearing one of the Insta-Dri Nail polishes called "Lovely Lilac" By Sally Hansen.
So two new nail polish addicts to add to the universe!
And to anyone who is wondering, yes I did get mom's permission to post pics. Also If anyone is a fan of the movie Eat Pray Love, Gina played the baby at the end.

Okay, here is my manicure from last week, its the same periwinkle that Julie used. But with a dusting of fairy dust by CG.. (Word play, aha!)

 Mind the smudging, I always seem to do this when I take a picture with my camera. Anyway, it's getting late and well I'm lazy. Ta ta for now!