52 Weeks of Beauty: Feature & Get The Look!

Recently, I was lucky enough to be invited to work with a close friend of mine working with nails!

The brief was a retro make-up with quite muted, delicate colours. I was given free rein on the nails! My intention was to use this Konad design (M71) in muted yellows to match the wallpaper. This plate had a design that looked very similar to the wallpaper used in the shoot, but the colours I trialled didn't show up strong enough as I would have liked it to, so I didn't go ahead with it.

What I used for this look was Butter London's Bumster with a small pearl, roughly 3-4mls wide, in the centre of the moon of each nail. Very simple and easy! I dab a little bit of basecoat on top of the nail where I want the pearl to sit, and then dip my dotting tool into the base coat to pick up the pearl and place it on the nail. Give the pearl a little push into the polish to help it stick.

Here is one last peek at the make-up, I absolutely love the sugar on the lips:

Project: 52 Weeks of Beauty

Photographer: Jarrad Mapp Photographer

Hair and Makeup: Paige Best Hair Stylist and Makeup Artist

Nail artist: Steph

Model: Kyra @ JAM

Glitter Gal Holographic in Nude NEW COLLECTION!

Glitter Gal is at it again! Releasing more holographic shades that we are bound to love. It's so hard to not be mesmerised (didn't Essie do a polish called that?) by a holo.

I went to a ball the other night, it was for the Queen's Jubilee and it was held by the New Zealand Army (I think). I kind of went on a blind date with one of the soldiers. AW MAN, what a nice guy. He was from Scotland. I will leave it at that or this post will turn into something else...

And of course your nails have to look nothing less than stunning at a ball! So I chose to wear Glitter Gal's Nude holographic polish. It was nice because my dress was azure blue silk and I didn't want anything to be too clash-y with it. My jewellery was silver, quite large too, with blue topaz coloured gemstones, so I didn't want my nails to compete with the dress or jewellery. I don't think I could have picked anything better than Glitter Gal Nude for the night.

There is something different about the smell and texture of Glitter Gal holographic polishes, I must say. I actually quite like it. The texture is very smooth and... it feels like half-melted honey to me or something. It's like when you're spreading a big chunk of Nutella onto your warm piece toast and it goes from being kind of hard to oh so soft and smooth. Glitter Gals also don't smell overly chemically. I like it.

Seriously, I just want to leave Nude sitting on my window sill so I can stare at it all day. Do you ever have those moments when you've picked a colour to paint your nails, you paint them, and you think to yourself "this is one of the best decisions I've made today"? I had one of those moments with Nude.

This is two coats of Nude. You can keep building and building up the intensity of holo with this one. It's also a good one for layering over other colours as it doesn't contain a base colour, just sparkles.

One, sweet, dainty coat of Nude.

Here's two coats of Nude.

Other Glitter Gal posts:

Glitter Gal Not Another Red (holographic)

Glitter Gal Copper (holographic)

Glitter Gal Belgian Chocolate (holographic, coming soon)

Where to buy Glitter Gal:

http://www.glittergal.com.au/

This collection will be released within a couple of weeks! Here is a picture to see the rest of them:

More Great Color Club Sales for NZ!

Just thought I would take a quick break from my uni work and tell you about these great offers Color Club has for us:

Wicked Sweet 12 Piece Display - $1.00

Wicked Sweet Mini Pack - $9.90

Untamed Luxury Diamond 7 Pack - $19.00

Femme Fatale Mini Pack - $9.90

&

Copy Coats 6 Pack - $9.95!

Kiwis can view the sets here - http://www.usanailsonline.co.nz/categories/color-club-gift-packs

Let me know if you decide to get anything or have any questions!

OPI California Navel

Here's a little beauty i've been storing away in Nail Juice's back burner, OPI's California Navel. I love old. mysterious nail polishes that no one ever really knows anything about. 

I am pretty sure that this one is from OPI's California collection which was released in Australia (?) a good while back. That glow is just stunning.

The formula is very thin and sheer but seems to build up quickly in 2-3 coats.

I also have another from this California collection, Surf's Up! And here is a comparison with Surf and some similar blues.

I've got a break from uni work now so I'll be getting back into blogging very shortly. I have some wonderful things to show you!

Color Club Steel of The Night

Long time, no see! How are you doing? I have been swamped with uni work this year. Not sure if I am excited or scared for next year... 

Today I have Color Club's Steel of the Night to show you!

As you can see, Steel is a magnetic polish. I've been painting a lot of my friends' nails at the moment and they just go nuts over the magnetics! I think they're the most used polishes from my stash at the moment. I adore nail art and this is such an easy way to do it.

To get this effect I applied a reasonably thick coat (just one) and immediately held the magnet over my nail for around 15 seconds. The formula is nice too, not thin or goopy.

I was really surprised that you only needed one coat. As always, I was a little bit skeptical over how it would work but it's just so easy.

They will be available in Amazon surf stores and pharmacies. RRP $21.90. But if you are super lucky, you may win the whole set! 

Just send an email to nailjuice@live.com with the subject "Color Club Magnetic Force Entry" along with your name :) I will email the winner June 30th!

A big thank-you to Color Club New Zealand for sponsoring this :D!

Nail Art: The Hunger Games

Today I have a manicure to show you that is inspired by the book trilogy, Hunger Games. I think the first movie has just come out or is about to come out. I'm all booked to go and see it a day before my birthday! 

For this gradient I used two lovely Misa's called Under My Sunbrella and Endless Keys. These guys were released last year in Misa's summer collection Paradise Shore.

To create this manicure I started with a coat of yellow followed by orange just dabbed on the tips. The formula of these two polishes made it very easy to blend.

These polishes are quite sheer though. This is a huge benefit when doing manicures like this though! I kept adding layers in the order of yellow/orange/yellow/orange. Only painting the yellow half way down the nail though and slowly bringing the orange up on each coat.

This is how I envisioned Katniss's nails and dress to look when she entered the Hunger Games.

Can't wait for the movie! :D

Rimmel Quick Dry Polish Illusion

I don't know if there are any other advertising nuts or optical illusion nuts like me out there in the nail world... But I had to share! An instalment Rimmel set up to advertise their quick dry polishes.

I want one for my room!

Misa Precious Moments Spring Collection 2012

Precious Moments was love at first sight.

Jelly, nude, mauve, minty blue AND a possible Essie Neo-Whimsical dupe?!

Bed Of Roses

What a happy looking nail polish! Bed of Roses reminds me of lip gloss or popsicles, so summery and juicy looking! The first swatch is with two coats and the second having three coats. 

 Sweet Thing

I cannot tell you how long I have been searching for a pale lavender or mauve nail polish. I've been through Essie's Lilacism and Nice is Nice, but they both missed the mark. Sweet Thing is everything I have been after.

 Little Hands

My camera decided that it wouldn't photograph Little Hands in all her glory. It most definitely isn't this chalky looking. It's like... a slightly neon hybrid cross of Essie Mint Candy Apple and China Glaze For Audrey. The bottom photo is what it looks like, but in the sun... If you get what I mean... Little Hands is not a colour to be ignored.

Someone Like You

I always have a soft spot for nudes. Someone Like You is a red toned nude and is very flattering on different skin tones. It reminds me of OPI's Miso Happy and Let Them Eat Rice Cake. Very subtle, chic and work appropriate.

Pinky Promise
It's really hard to choose a favourite from this collection but I think Pinky Promise may be it. I just love milky pinks. I have a comparison between Pinky Promise and Essie's Neo Whimsical that I will be posting shortly.

Note: There was another polish in this collection called Deep Breath that I didn't get. Deep Breath looks to be a light neutral grey creme.

Precious Moments - Overall Thoughts

Formula: this collection was great. They all have that nice thickness, not too thin but not too gluggy either. The polishes give a lot of coverage in minimal coats. The only one that needed more than two was Bed Of Roses, but you can keep layering on the coats til the cows come home with that one. I really had forgotten how lovely Misa polishes are.

Colours: Precious Moments definitely sings Spring but I love the unusual choices of Little Hands and Bed Of Roses. They stop the collection from just being a Spring pastel palette. Which wouldn't even be that bad because I am over the moon with them all anyway. My Mum and Sister have all tried these on too and (they are lighter and darker, redder than me) the colours looked just as pretty and feminine on them.


These are available now and you can buy them from Misa's website, TransDesign, and Head2Toe Beauty.