It's pouring here. Bucketing down. So what's a girl to do when it's a dark, wet and depressing? Organise her nail polish of course!

My collection is fairly large, but I know there is much bigger out there.

Pulling out the bottles and seeing all those colours and finishes makes me happy. You forget that you have some truly amazing polishes when they are tucked away in drawers all the time and you just grab the same colours over and over.

So here's what I'm going to do - swatch them all! Every single one. I think I will do them in brands as opposed to shades if that's ok with you guys, that way you won't be seeing pages of red, matte red, sparkly red, shimmer red, holo red. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but lets break it up a little shall we?

Now where do you want me to start?

I got an awesome package from the ridiculously awesome Jess of Polished Lyrics fame on the weekend. So excited. Full of makeup and polishes and all things oh so fabulous. Total squee moment.

I have the whole collection of OPI Shatters now. This is the blue one over Chine Glaze Papaya Punch which is another new one for me. Love it! Have gotten so many compliments today and the girls in my makeup class as well as my teacher went nuts over it.

One coat of Papaya Punch, let it dry. Then a thin coat of Blue Shatter. It looks really transparent, which worried me, but then I realised that when it shifts when it shatters, it groups together and forms solid chunks of colour so take that into consideration. The thinner the coat of shatter you can apply, the better it is going to crack and ultimately look.

Ok, that's it from me today. My Bloom Giveaway is going up tomorrow morning, so make sure you enter that, it's a ripper. (Which means awesome for you non Aussies)

Be awesome to each other.

This is one of my favourite manis I have ever done. The blue is OPI Blue My Mind which makes me cringe because the name is so lame. I mean, I know that nail polish names are not literary masterpieces, but I swear every polish company has a shade of blue with this name.

This is two coats and then one coat of China Glaze OMG stamped over the top with Konad plate m65.

I love the way this looks. The holo is very subtle and not all the noticeable indoors. It looks like a pale silver and doesn't detract from the blue polish, however when you get outside, it is amazing. The colours in the holo just pop and the blue really stands up well against it. It's not really a colour combo I had really thought about in that I don't wear a lot of bright blue polishes, but it just seemed right.

Have you ever had a polish combo that was so awesome it just "blue you away"? (hahahaha, now I'm lame too!)

That's it from me today.

Be awesome to each other.

Ok, continuing on with random polishes from my "unswatched" pile, this is China Glaze Flying Dragon.

It's a neon that dries to a matte finish and also looks all kinds of fabulous with a glossy top coat too. This is without the t/c.

I don't know if you can see them, but if you click and enlarge the pic, you'll notice that it has neon blue particles scattered throughout the polish. The effect is seriously cool.

I don't see a lot of nail blogs giving this polish a lot of love and I am not really sure why. I mean, sure, it thickens really, really easily but a couple of drops of polish thinner fix that right up.

This is a two coater polish that dries quickly, as we have come to expect of neon polishes.

What are your thoughts on this polish? Or just neons in general?

Make sure you enter my new giveaway here.

That's it from me today.

Be awesome to each other.

Ok, here's a look at some pics of upcoming collections that are floating around out there.

China Glaze Metro Fall is inspired by the city. The collection contains twelve nail polishes with different finishes:
Skyscraper - A glitter midtone blue polish.
CG in the City - Grey nail polish with glitter.
Urban-Night - Creme purple/fushia colored.
Traffic Jam - Dark pink, creme finish.
City Siren - A red siren creme color with a hint of cerise.
Lofty Ambitions - A red an purple shimmer polish.
Brownstone - Brown with shimmer.
Midtown Magic - Deep purple with a hint of red shimmer nail polish.
Street Chic - Taupe, brown and grey colored with a creme finish.
Concrete Catwalk - Creme finish in the color grey.
Westside Warriors - Olive green, creme finish.
Trendsetter - Yellow polish with a green shimmer.

Papaya Punch – orange creme
108 Degrees – glitter
Seniorita Bonita – glitter
Blue Iguana – glitter
Cha Cha Cha – shimmer
Electric Pineapple – creme

Futuristic and edgy, the China Glaze Tronica Specialty Collection is a holographic 3D selection of evolutionary and fun nail colors. These 12 colors are fashion forward, high-tech, bold, sleek and sure to change the face of the nail world! With names such as “Hyper Haute” and “Gamer Glam”, China Glaze combines the two worlds of innovative technology and high fashion color to create a collection that is sure to stimulate all the senses.
Techno Teal – turquoise holographic
Virtual Violet – violet holographic
Electra Magenta – magenta holographic
Gamer Glam – purple holographic
High Def – blue holographic
Hologram – silver holographic
Hyper Haute – raspberry holographic
3D Fantasy – peach pink holographic
Digital Dawn – dusty rose holographic
Cyberspace – taupe holographic
Mega Bite – gold holographic
Laser Lime – lime green holographic

There looks like there is some good stuff coming up, but nothing that I haven't seen before I am afraid. Is it because we have been so spoiled for choice in the last few years that it is going to take something astronomical to knock our socks off?

I am excited about Tronica, but I have heard that they lack the same holo punch as the OMG collection since this is a scattered holo instead of the linear holos we all love.

This is one of my favourite OPI DS shades I own. It's Reflection and it's bottled awesomesauce.

Reflection is a hot pinkish-coral holo polish that then ups the awesome ante with an added bonus of what looks like a gold duo chrome. A stunning, stunning polish and one I think is a must own. I have over 400 polishes and I have never seen ANYTHING like it before. Good in one coat, but I gave it two cause I'm a little OCD.

These are photos taken with the crappy camera from the archives. I am still learning to drive my new fancy schmancy one, it's very different and has so many different buttons! Will re-capture in all its awesome glory when I get some sunshine, patience and the know-how.

I purdied it up after a couple of days with some Konad since I just didn't want to take it off, and it didn't seem to be chipping to badly. I'm pretty sure if you click the photos, they will go nice and big!

I used the M36 plate and stamped the middle design repeatedly on the nail with China Glaze Midnight Kiss which is a fabulous stamping polish. I was super happy with the end result and was quite sad to remove it.

Your thoughts?

Also, something else I want your thoughts on - are you guys interested in seeing the new BYS colour changing polishes (similar to the Claires Mood Polishes) and potentially winning a full set? I'm just trying to see if they are worth my getting.

That's it from me today.

Be awesome to each other.

Today I have a polish to share with you that was blogged about to death over Christmas, so I thought I'd hang on to this one so that you have a while to get over it and then you'll be ready to fully appreciate it again.

This is China Glaze Jolly Holly which was obviously part of the Christmas Collection that CG released. I do love a good dark green polish, as you all well know, so I was particularly excited when I saw the swatches for these in the lead up to Christmas.

I'm not sure I like it when polishes are given seasonal names because I feel slightly weird about wearing them the rest of the year. I think they should come with two names. I originally thought I would re name this one Evergreen, but then I realised that if I am going to re-name a polish, that I was going to go all out - and so, without further ado, I present...

Going Off Like A Frog In A Sock

(Yes, yes, I know it's wordy but I like it and it accurately describes the awesomeness of the shade I think.)



See - a suitably awesome name for a awesome polish!

What would you rename this polish? I am totally curious. Do you have the same feeling of slight weirdness that I do when it comes to wearing Christmas themed things during the rest of the year?

That's it from me today.

Be awesome to each other.

Hi Guys!

Hope you all had a fabulous and safe Christmas (or if you don't celebrate Christmas - a great break from work or study) and New Years. Mine was pretty uneventful, just hung out with my family.

Did everyone get lots of presents? I was spoilt by my family as usual, although I didn't get much in the way of makeup or nail polish. Which is kind of funny. My besties did come through with the beauty products that I did receive. I got a nice Lush haul and the Gumby Movie DVD (Thanks Nomes!) and two Illamasqua polishes which I simply adore. Keep your eyes peeled for those. I think I will be putting those under the heading "Why Megs Is One Of My Favourite People Ever!".

I received a massive haul from the States care of the very fabulous Jess over at Polished Lyrics. I got a ton of polishes in the first box along with a Sephora Palette in the first box she sent over and then my very large Sephora order that Jess very generously placed for me since those meanies over at Sephora don't accept Aussie credit cards, nor do they post goods out this way. So a great big High 5 for you Jess!

There will be photos of everything going up shortly, I promise. I still don't have the internet connected at my new place, so have been driving over the other side of the city to my parents place to upload photos every so often. I have actually been staying at their place for the last week, and had bought a big basket of polish to swatch and photograph, but for some reason, my camera has decided to not let my memory card go back into it. So I will have to look at getting that fixed, or perhaps I may even have to cough up for a new camera.

The Christmas and New Year Giveaway has been going so well, that I have another prize to add into the mix. The very generous people over at UNT Skincare are going to send the winner a pack of 6 polishes from their 2010 Winter/ Fall collection. How awesome is that? I have some of their polishes coming up soon to review, and let me tell you - if you happen to be the lucky winner of my Giveaway, you will not be disappointed! As for the rest of their collection - you can check them out here.

I think that is just about all I needed to mention today. I will wrap this long winded post up with some pictures of my Christmas Nails. I used China Glaze Snow, Mommy Kissing Santa and Jolly Holly - all from the 2010 Holiday Collection.

Be awesome to each other.

I'm sorry about the infrequent posting. I have just moved house over the weekend and everything is still complete and utter chaos for me. I am going to be using one of the spare rooms in the house as a makeup room and I have not had a chance to set it up yet, nor has an Internet connection been set up, so that means another swatch from the archives which are starting to look pretty skint, so I'd best get that Internet connection up and running again quickly.

These pictures are not the best, I did not have my light box handy when I took these.

This is three coats of China Glaze Lubu Heels which is a black jelly based polish with red glitter suspended throughout. It's incredibly vampy and oh so fabulous. It's a very glowy polish. Like fire embers. I think this one is going in my absolute favourites pile alongside Ruby Pumps.

Have you guys used this polish? Love it or loathe it?

I finished the look of with a white flower sticker that was sent to me from Viva La Nails. You should totally check those guys out, their range of nail art stuff in mind blowing.  Sometimes the decals I used are slightly too thick and as a result, I have issues applying them because they don't bend with the curve of the nail, however the thickness of these decals are perfect. I am incredibly happy with everything that I have gotten from there.

Please don't forget to enter my Ozotic Giveaway. It's open for another 2 weeks. You can enter here.

Also, I am trying to figure out what I want to give away for Christmas for you guys. It's gonna be a biggie, so I thought I would ask you guys what you would like to win? I'm open to any and all suggestions.

That's it from me today.

Be awesome to each other.

Sorry about being MIA on Friday, but I was crazy busy. I still am actually. I started my new blog last week, and I have been spending a fair bit of time on that. I am actually a qualified journalist in my real life and I didn't realise how much I missed writing about topics that weren't pure fluff like I do on here, so it's nice to have an outlet for that again. 

The winners for the polish giveaway will be announced tomorrow, so stay tuned for that. 

Today I have Nubar Earth for you, done two ways. The first is with some simple tips stamped on them. I used the M56 plate (which is from WowSoCool) and Konad Sci Fi (which are leaves, just in case you can't tell). I really need some more CG chrome like polishes for stamping. If anyone has any they want to offload, please let me know. 

For the second looks (ie - other hand because I got lazy) I used a holographic top coat. It's CoverGirl City Lights. I picked this one up for $1 (actually I got 5 bottles) at the local discount cosmetics place. Bargain!!!

I have some really cool polishes coming up that I got in recent swaps, including the very awesome Nubar Peacock Feathers which I am rocking today!

That's it from me today.

Be awesome to each other.  

**Konad Stamping Plate was sent to me for review**

I still haven't really gotten around to doing anything exciting for the blog lately, so I am pulling a couple more photos out of the archives that I left there just for occasions such as this.

First up is China Glaze OMG with some pink mesh like stuff over it. This stuff was painful to work with. I will give it another try since I got the laser mesh in every colour. I got the mesh from Dollar Nail Art - their link is on my sidebar. I also ordered a buttload of foils from them, but can't seem to make them work.

This is OPI Yodel Me On My Cell with some stickers that I found on Ebay. I like that the stickers match the polish shade.

And lastly - OPI Flower to Flower. I added a stripe of Orly Shine down the middle and loved this mani. The simplicity is amazing, but the response I got from wearing it was awesome.

Make sure you've entered my polish giveaway here, there are only a few days left.

That's it from me today.

Be awesome to each other.

China Glaze has released pictures of their upcoming Christmas Collection. What do you think?

Snow

Shimmery sheer white.

Cheers to You

Shimmery tinsel-like silver.

Jingle Bells

Nudish, champagne shimmer.

Naughty and Nice

Deep, dark wine shade.

Phat Santa

Luscious red creme.

Mistletoe Kisses

Green glitter! (Might be similar to Nubar Meadow Sparkle? Not sure)

Ruby Deer

Bright creamy red.

Mrs Claus

Fun, glittery red.

Little Drummer Boy

Navy shimmer.

Jolly Holly

Forest green shimmer.

Mommy Kissing Santa

Deep cherry-red shimmer. (Possible dupe for Zoya Isla?)

Sugar Plums

Plum shimmer with microglitter.

Party Hearty

Flecks of green, gold and red glitter.

Midnight Kiss

Shiny gold shimmer.

Frosty

Sheer shimmery white. (Looks very similar to Snow, maybe even the same photo? Maybe they posted the wrong photo for one of them?)

Peace on Earth

Olive toned green shimmer.

***All pictures from China Glaze***

There are only a couple of days left to enter my MAC Giveaway. If you haven't already, you can enter here.

Will be back a little later with some more new releases.

Be awesome to each other.

Just a quick post today.

This was my mani a couple of days ago.

I used China Glaze Black Diamond, a gunmetal grey with strong shimmer, totally not black. I don't think this polish gets enough love, I quite like it and would wear it more except that for some reason it is always really messy to apply. You have to layer this one over another black polish otherwise it seems to get a faded look. I do love the blue/ green/ purple shimmer. It's very subtle, and I have never managed to photograph it well until now.

I used Color Club Wham! Pow! as an accent nail on each hand because I thought the colour might be too much on its own, although I think that since I stamped over the top it became more wearable and not too in your face.

What are your thoughts? A whole mani using Wham! Pow! Or is the colour just too bright on it's own?

Make sure you're entered in my MAC Giveaway. If you aren't you can enter here.

That's it from me. Be awesome to each other.

Hi Guys!

I have a wedding to go to this weekend and will be getting boring French Tips done for that, so I won't get a chance to do a cool mani like I normally do. So to make up for that, I thought I might post some photos of some manis I have done in the last few weeks.
I should warn you now that the photo quality is not fantastic. The pics were taken with my phone primarily to show one of my friends what I had done. The lighting is also not so awesome as most of them were taken at my desk at work. But anyway, here then come, in all their dodgy glory.


Ok, so this is what I am currently rocking, although it is somewhat chipped. However I have gotten about 5 days wear out of this one.
I love it, it reminds me a little of snake skin to tell you the truth.
The colour is 3 coats of China Glaze Paper Chasing with Konad Black and the use of templates m57 for the pattern and m19 for the tips.
I do realise it is upside down, but for once my right hand turned out better then my left. Go figure.
Also, the lighting for this makes the green look much darker than it actually is. I will have to swatch this one in better lighting. Actually, I will do that for all these as the lighting is just atrocious on these.



This one was Zoya Reece with Konad White and template m24. This lighting really does not do this polish justice. It is a stunning pink with a very strong gold shimmer to it. It looked fabulous.



This was Zoya Isla which is one of my current favourite colours, however that changes pretty often. Again with Konad Black on templates m57 and m19. This mani had a very predatory feel to it. I loved it.



This one was my first venture into the world of Konad, which I will detail more in later posts. I tried to do tips, as you can see from the thumb and second finger and failed miserably, so I gave up and put the design on different parts and actually loved the effect in the end.
This is one of my oldest nail polishes, so old that you can barely see the label on the bottle. Its Revlon Super Top Speed Chrome in 311, whatever that means. Then I put some Konad White over top using template m44. Not to shabby for a first foray, even if I do say so myself.

So that's all I have for you today. Maybe I'll post my wedding toenails for you. I will be using the fabulous Zoya Yasmeen and of course some Konad to liven things up. I'm not sure if you can tell I'm a Konad addict just yet.
Anyway, until next time, have a fabulously awesome day!