Nail art using eyeballs from KKCenterHK

Yep. Eyeballs 😀

I was allowed to pick another couple of things to review (yay! Thank you!) and I chose these, and some decals you’ll see very soon. I absolutely adore googly eyes, and these reminded me of them, but green (and the pupil bit doesn’t move around).

I made the top of a monster, using Cult Ms. Conduct and put in some rough hairy details with Kleancolor Black. The background green was Color Club Twiggie, with Kleancolor Holo Green on top. I stuck the eyes down into the wet polish, then top coated over them on my right hand. But the top coat made the eyes dull, so I didn’t on this hand 😀

I’d recommend using nail glue as the website suggests, I’d hoped the polish would hold them firm, but I lost one after about an hour. It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye. Sigh.

This was fun! Looking forward to wearing them again, nice to have something silly on nails to laugh at!

You can check out KKCenterHK’s website here, and I think my code is still valid, EVERYSENSORY which gives 10% off 🙂

Have a great day

Ami

first world blogger issues … and Nail Polish Spam!

Morning! Let me share a (non) sob story with whoever has the wish to read further. I have a lot of untried nail polishes. A LOT. Because, well, I buy a fair amount, in spurts, and then I hate to put them on, take photos, and take them straight off again. It feels wasteful to me, and unfair to the polishes who really deserve better 😀 What to do? I think I *may* have a solution!

This post will show a bunch of polishes, which I have swatched only. As in, put on, photographed, taken off. NEXT! BUT….at the end of this I chose my favourites (and with 10 nails I can choose up to 10 hehehe NO RULES!) and put them back on as a proper manicure, and wear that for a while.  Let me know if it works for you, and I’ll let you know if it works for me! 😀

(honestly, I have about 150 polishes that I haven’t even tried. Steps need to be taken.)

SpaRitual Elixir –  3 coats, no top coat, shade photos.

Sheer but pretty, sort of bridal-esque polish with pretty glass flecks. I love this brand, even though I have the worlds most boring colours from them, I just love the bottles and the image of it all.

Banana Republic Black Wisteria – 3 coats, no top coat, shade

Sun… Black Wisteria is a very jellyish polish, and with my application skills this equals streaky. Lovely and glossy though!

Fantasy Makers (by Wet & Wild, snigger at the name) Nail in the Coffin. 3 coats, no top coat.

Very cool bottle, and I love the dark and shimmery brown polishes! Nice one!

Nfu Oh 074 – two coats over black, three coats alone, no top coat

These shimmers are too sheer for me to wear on their own, but I like them over black, the yellow goes olive. Very nice.

Rimmel Grey Matters – 3 coats no top coat

Solid grey creme. Yep. Can always use these, can’t wax too eloquent about them.

Boe Beauty Champagne – 3 coats, no top coat

Pretty shimmer, $2 in The Warehouse, why you so streaky?!

Sabrina Sato Dreams – 3 coats, no top coat

slightly frosty colour duochrome polish, dusty blue/ gold.

Kolt Golden Chip – 2 coats no top coat

Adore this polish. Just, wow. Applies so smoothly, and it’s such a perfect gold shade 🙂

Covergirl midnight magic – 3 coats, no top coat

deep blackened blue with blue shimmer that doesn’t hide too much.

Wet and Wild (snigger) Teal of Fortune – 3 coats no top coat

very pretty polish! Stains, though. Word of warning. Double basecoat and don’t let it touch your cuticles (don’t feed it after midnight, either!).  A bit sheer, as you can probably see for yourself. In real life the shimmer is blinding and it’s not so obviously sheer.

Kleancolor Chunky Holo Black – 1 coat layered over Nail in the Coffin, no top coat

Been meaning to try this one for a year. I actually have two, one I’ll franken though. Nice large iridescent flakes, green/gold/orange/blue.

And my favourites were Kolt Golden Chip and Wet &  Wild Teal of Fortune

so I just did some accent nails and reversed the colour in the little rhinestones.

I didn’t get any photos, but my youngest son was also a fan of the Kolt and got me to do his nails, which was fun, it’s been awhile since they’ve let me do that! 😀

Some of these I’ve been given, some I’ve bought. I won’t, personally, by Covergirl or Wet & Wild brands, but I’ll use them if I’ve been given them, and love them too 😀 My personal opinion is that point of purchase is where we can make a difference between buying animal tested (or from a brand who does) and from one who doesn’t. After that, fair game 😀

Have an awesome day!

Ami 🙂

SpaRitual Gilded Age, Wing Dust Zambezi Sunset swatches and layering

a couple bad photos of SpaRitual Gilded Age – two coats, no top coat.

Very sheer, pretty but slightly old fashioned deep peach/orange/salmon polish loaded with gold (real gold, too, apparently, though I think most of what is visible is shimmer – there is pink as well as gold in there). Quite nice, I can’t see me reaching for it all that often, but it will be nice as a base against some of the glitter toppers!

I added Wing Dust Collections Zambezi Sunset to this, as I thought it was close to the base colour of Zambezi Sunset. And it was.

Too close.

I don’t know, I guess it’s pretty, but it leaves me very cold. The glitter didn’t really want to come out, possibly because it’s a mini bottle, but I just thought there was a lot of interest in Zambezi Sunset that was lost against the base.

close up of a tiny bottle – see, loads of interesting glitter in there!

So I layered it over Kleancolor Black. (one coat).

I liked this effect much more, the pinks and orange shimmers stood out much more and the holographic glitters really shone.

And, I guess I just tend to prefer more dramatic looking polish 😀

You can get SpaRitual polishes from Gracie Lou here in NZ, and Wing Dust Collection from Llarowe and her Etsy shop.

Have a wonderful day

Ami

PANZ Week 6 – Jelly!

Week 6 of the weekly Polish Addicts of New Zealand challenges – these are fun. 😀  This one is Jelly – and I thought I’d play with it, in the spirit of that fun 😀

This is mostly based around China Glaze Creative Fantasy, which I picked up in a semi-recent group Head2Toe order. It’s the most gorgeous royal purple jelly! I had two layers of that, then one layer of Nail Pattern Boldness Bitches Brew, then a final layer of Creative Fantasy on most of my nails, and on my accent nails I played with a design of layering painted images on the jelly layers – original manicure can be found here.

And, I didn’t much feel like flowers, so I tried fish. Kinda… sort of missed that one, I feel. I blobbed the fish on with Kleancolor White, and the middle and top layer I also added Ozotic 907 for fishy shimmer and a dot of Kleancolor Black for the eyes. I still think they look a bit like rockets. Or… something else.

Anyway, this was fun! All topped off with Misa BREAKneck.

“ABCD Goldfish?”

“MNO Goldfish.”

“SAR Goldfish, ICDBD I’s!”

Have a great day

Ami 🙂

 

KKCenterHK Review – Plastic Stamping Plate

*Press sample!* In case people think I can be bought for nail polish and nail products… er… I’d love to be offended by that 😀 However, I can assure you that my opinions here will always be genuine, or so help me I’ll stop doing this. 😀

So, the second of the two items sent to me for review by KKCenterHK (heaps of other stuff on here too, not just nail supplies, but lots of beauty goodies, wigs, some clothing etc), was this plastic stamping plate, retailing for US $8.65 – which can be found at this link here:  I found this little round soft plastic circle intriguing because it is a stamper that removes the need for a scraper. One less step? Yeah, o.k, I’m keen to try that!

This was my first attempt with playing with it, and I used the floral/swirly nail tip pattern, dropping the corner slightly to give a diagonal effect. Yeah, I totally misplaced where it was on my nail, but I did like the look, so I kept it and am now pretending that I meant to do it. *cough*

Polishes: two coats of Color Club Abyss, and I stamped using Kleancolor Metallic Fuchsia, and some small pink blingies. At this point, I’d paint the pattern, and stamp-stamp-stamp-stamp on a scrap piece of paper, and when the excess had been removed I’d roll my fingernail over it. This worked, but I made it work better later, and I’ll explain soon 🙂

I really did like this pattern, I’d do it again, for sure. And top coat it! It was quite nice and fresh, I think.

Then for my second one, I chose the scale type pattern, which is a full nail one.

Now, by full nail it’s probably o.k for short nails, it just managed to cover most of my shorter nails, and I certainly don’t have long nails.

And, again, there is some evidence of wonkiness. I am a real beginner to stamping, I’ve wanted to do it for ages, but have no skillz yet, please blame the wonkiness on me, not the plate.

The base colour was Essie Coat Azure, and I stamped with Color Club Blue Heaven, which was lots of subtle until the light hit it, when those holographic rainbows made it look like a real fish 😀

So, tips and thoughts!

*instead of stamping the stamper onto the paper, swipe it, instead. Just wipe it back and forward on a (not already wiped on) bit of paper until all the excess has gone, it’s really quick and very effective, and the lines are clearer.

*rolling your nail over the stamp rather than the stamp over your nail means you can line it up better…. mostly 😀

*this is such a brilliant idea. I wish they had a few more patterns, there are quite a few of them on the KKCenterHK site, but not too many different ones. Make more! I do have my eye on the one with the little bird and the dots though, that’s very cute 😀

Thanks to the good people at KKCenterHK for giving me the chance to play with your products, so much fun.

Have a wonderful day

Ami 🙂

Pumpkin Glow In The Dark Nail Polish

My good friend Megan from Two Lacquered Girls recently had a polish destash, and sent a bunch of gorgeous polishes to me. Squueeee! I had a worry that something would happen to it en route, but it was delivered fine, and what an amazing box of goodies it was! All these polishes, plus some amazingly pretty Kiss nail stickers, glitter, and a few lollies too (which didn’t last long, NOM!)

And look, little fluffy chicks! Does she know me, or what?! 😀

Now, I have a strange thing with polishes. I don’t like just plain swatching them, (i.e. paint my nails, take a photo, remove polish). I feel I have to wear them all, properly, get to know them. Buy them flowers. Something. So it takes me quite some time to get through my new polishes, and it’s always fun seeing which one I will try first. And the one that won that dubious honour was this hilarious polish!

It looks like a pumpkin! It’s NEON orange! It glows in the dark!  This photo shows three coats on it’s own, plus a glitter top coat franken of mine to tone down some of the neon. I don’t have many neons, but I adored this. So much so that, not two days later, I put it on again (yeah, sorry, other polishes. Your turns will come).

So, more elaborate! I had Kleancolor White as a base (more NEON!), two coats of the Orange Pumpkin, and Cover Band Sticks ‘n’ Stones. I striped off the accent nail, and that made me want licorice allsorts all day! The other nail has a little nail sticker on it, which looked great until the top coat (Misa BREAKneck) made it curl up. Ah well.

And look, in the dark! Ok, hiding in the kids closet. It was dark enough.

Thank you so much, Megan, for all the pretties! I love them 🙂

Have a wonderful day

Ami

Concealer Comparison: Maybelline, Garnier, and Kleancolor

I’ve thought about doing this post for awhile, then thought hey, why not? So, here is a comparison of three different concealers I have, which I use for trying to disguise the shadows under my eyes. I have different ones for spots/blemishes/melasma (brown patches caused by sunlight) coverage, usually a stick one, MUA at the moment which works very well.

See how the label on the Kleancolor has worn off? That happened within 5 mins of trying to use it. Odd. The rest has stayed on! 😀

It’s funny, because concealer is the only makeup I will use everyday. We have Maybelline Instant Age Rewind (fair), Garnier Roll-on, and Kleancolor Morning Confession (natural). Side note to Kleancolor should any peoples from that place happen across this wee blog, please make a blush called Morning Glory. I would RUN to buy that.

Anyway! Two of these, the Garnier and Maybelline, are from companies that test on animals. This makes me sad. It’s very hard to buy concealer (affordable concealer!) from places that don’t test, and because I’m kinda addicted to the stuff when I see some on sale, I buy it. THEN I think about it, by which stage it’s too late. I’m sorry. I was super excited to see the Kleancolor version, because roller ball (which I love in the Garnier one), and they don’t test. Yay! But…

Left-Right: Kleancolor, Garnier, and Maybelline concealer swatches, no primer.

Here they are, on the back of my hand. It’s hard to get a small amount of the Maybelline out, and that tends to go chalky and cake if too much is used. A tiny bit on the inner corner of the eye is nice. The Garnier goes on beautifully, and the Kleancolor… does nawt.  The ball doesn’t roll, the make-up doesn’t come out, and when it does it’s patchy. Sigh

So, to demonstrate: here, on my forearm, I have drawn a suitcase – using eyeliner pencil. Why? Because some people have bags under their eyes,; I have suitcases. 😀

Now I popped on a smudge of the concealer: left to right: Kleancolor, Garnier, Maybelline.

Then rubbed it in a bit

left-right: Kleancolor, Garnier, Maybelline

Then a bit more.

left-right: Kleancolor, Garnier, Maybelline

I think this demonstrates how they work pretty accurately – although there was some smudging. The Maybelline worked  but left too much obvious residue behind, the Garnier is my favourite, best colour for me and hides without leaving too much behind, and the Kleancolor barely does a thing.

So, although it’s my fav, I’m not going to buy more of the Garnier Roll-on. Because my brain is working now. When I run out of it, I’ll pull that ball out and refill it with some of my foundation, which is gorgeous and not tested on animals and should work well. Shame about the Kleancolour, but I’ll get a wee brush one day and use it with that and see..

Have a bright-eyed day!

Ami 🙂

Smitten Polish: Wicked, Tricksy, False!

Another polish that has become an instant favourite, this is Smitten Polish Wicked, Tricksy, False! Which I always say, in my head, in Gollums’ voice 😀

I bought this from Lani in one of her legendary de-stashes, weee!

And I love it. Did I mention? These photos show two coats over one coat of Kleancolor Black, topped with Misa BREAKneck.

The formula was great, easy to apply – I would imagine it would be opaque in three coats on it’s own, but I haven’t tried it, and I tend to prefer the look of the black-based polishes layered over black, to give it that oomph. Dry time was fast, it’s pretty strong with only minor tip wear after hours of soldering, moving wood, welding and wire work, and it’s also pretty smooth to the touch with the normal top coat.

I love how this sparks in the sun, and the squares give great visual interest – talk about moody, vampy, strong polish! LOVE!

Have a fantastic day

Ami 🙂

Lipstick Swatches – Revlon, Kleancolor, MUA, and Indies

I decided to do something different, and catalog some of my lipsticks (and some lipglosses) by brand.

MUA

L-R (on my arm, no primer)

• Bare – soooo pale and chalky like death on me.
• 11 -my favourite of these lipsticks, flattering on my olive-ish skin tone, not chalky, very moisturising. Doesn’t stay on long , but easy to reapply.
• 7 – looks almost like 11, but it’s more orange and patchy.
• Nectar – PEACH! wow. Sort of a strange texture, sticks around on any rough skin areas like a party overstayer. Best blended with another lipstick!
• Intense Kisses Gloss – Stolen Kisses (from Shan, thank you so much!) – I love this, a little goes a long way as it’s very pigmented, smells a bit like sweet vanilla, and the colour hangs around for longer than most glosses do.
• Out There Plumping Lipgloss – Pin Up Pink. Silly design, very long thin tube = very long thin applicator, makes putting it on tricky. Well, unless you just take the gloss off with your finger, which you have to do, because the long thin applicator is all flooopy and wobbly. Sigh. Also, the gloss smells like yucky plastic. Not my favourite gloss ever, though the colour is quite nice. Wears off almost instantly. Does it plump lips? It does not. None of them do. And yet I still try… sigh.
• Sheer Finish gloss – Some Me Time. Just like real life ‘me time’, disappears instantly. Sheer, smells generically sweet fruity, nice enough.

Kleancolor

L-R , bare arm, no primer

• 743 Pink
• 747 Soft Rose – gorgeous every day colour
• 709 Toastie Taupe
• 704 Mocha Cream – can be used to give a soft wash of colour, not just dark brown.

These are all very soft and smooth, easy to apply, and give good colour payoff. They also disappear very quickly, but reapplication is easy. They smell nice, sweet and fruity, and my eldest boy likes to eat them. sigh. Don’t leave them in the car, they melt in the heat.

Revlon

left to right, bare skin, no primer 🙂

• 230 – Super Lustrous Lipstick – Flesh Tone
• 007 – Matte Lipstick – In The Red
• 050 – Hazelnut
• 080 – Coral (it’s a very red coral!)

My sad pitiful collection of Indies..

Left to right, no primer

• Evil Shades Deviant Lipstick – Jenaveve
• Geek Chic Chrysalis
• Geek Chic Banished (gloss).

I was a bit concerned my Geek Chic‘s would be like the Evil Shades  – you know, ok, but nothing special. WRONG. The swatches don’t really show how metallic Chrysalis looks, but it does show the amazing-ness of Banished.

The thing is… I can’t, really, go around wearing these on their own to school and kindy and, you know, boring ol town. Well, if I had lips like MaSucree’s  I might, but I don’t… 😀  HOWEVER, both the lipstick and the gloss can be patted on to change other colours: I use Banished a lot to darken the light MUA lipsticks, and make them last longer. I don’t know if I could wear it on it’s own, the formula is really thick and sticky, and goes patchy. But with practice, I’m sure it’s do-able, just only use a tiny bit!

Have a great day

Ami

All That Glitters Plum & Plummer Layering and Swatches.

I bought this All That Glitters polish from one of the lovely ladies from our Nail Polish Addicts group – and I can’t remember who! *wails*. If you are reading this, and it was you, let me know so I can credit your awesomeness, ok? 😀 I took one look at it in the bottle, and decided to layer it – firstly over another new to me polish-  this one from my Sister V – this is L.A. Colors Metallic Purple.

It is metallic, and it is purple. A lilac kind of purple.

Very pretty, and the two coats shown here covered very nicely. Blingy in the sunlight like foils are, I do enjoy that!

And then… with one thin coat of Plum and Plummer.

Ewwwww.

Sorry, I know this is not the polishes fault, it’s the combo and the fact I cannot apply an even coat, but this did NOTHING for me. SO, added another coat of Plum  &  Plummer, to try and even out the patchiness, but that didn’t help a lot.

two coats of Plum & Plummer

Probably doesn’t help that I don’t like pink THAT much. No top coat, and plenty of glitter on my cuticles. ARGH! WHERE HAVE MY SKILLZ GONE!

2 coats Plum & Plummer

So, ok, rip it off quickly and put Plum and Plummer over one coat of Kleancolor Black, plus China Glaze Fast Forward.

This did look much better, even with black cuticles caused by afore-lamented lack of skillz.

One thing that annoyed me about Plum & Plummer is the strange plum glitters. I’m guessing they are what gave the polish it’s name, but they are LUMPY! Like little pretty rocks. Which is a shame because I do like their colour, it’s quite unique I think.

Maybe I’ll try this over a plum next time, and matchy match it 🙂

Have a great day

Ami