25 May: Braid

Jersey: Garage @ The Warehouse

Black top: Glassons (worn underneath)

Jeans: Switch @ Farmers

Boots: Garage @ The Warehouse

Earrings: Diva

Make up: Eyes - CoverGirl LashBlastFusion mascara in Very Black; Lips - NYX Black Label lipstick in Citrine; Face - Nivea Visage Young tinted moisturiser, and Australis concealer; Nails - China Glaze Peachy Keen and China Glaze Sugar High

I think this is the first time I have braided my hair in years! I actually tried a fishtail braid to start with but it wasn’t working out so I went with your standard run-of-the-mill plait. It’s a bit wonky because I’m out of practise but hopefully I will do this kind of thing more often.

Today was deemed ‘gradient day’ by a group of polish friends. This is my first attempt at a non-glitter gradient. I used the gradient tutorial that has recently taken the polish world by storm. It was really easy to follow and the results are awesome! It looks a lot better in real life.

Click the image to see what kind of gradients my friends came up with!

22 May: Hey, Sailor!

Dress: Supre via TradeMe (secondhand)

Coat: Garage @ The Warehouse

Tights: I can’t remember!

Boots: Garage @ The Warehouse

Earrings: eBay (new)

Make up: Eyes -CoverGirl LashBlastFusion mascara in Very Black; Lips - NYX Jumbo Lip Pencil in Plush Red; Face - Nivea Visage Young tinted moisturiser, and Australis concealer; Nails - China Glaze First Mate and Zoya America

Ugh, many apologies for the blurry and grainy full outfit shot! For some reason all of my photos came out like that today. I’m not sure whether it was the lighting, or maybe my camera was still on macro mode or something. The boyfriend, a.k.a. the photographer, claims not to have touched any settings, but do we believe him? Anyway, I’m sure we can cope with one yuck photo this time and I’ll make sure the rest from now on are better.

It only just recently occurred to me that blue and red pair well. Well, actually, it occurred to Keiko Lynn quite a while ago, but I’m allowed to live vicariously through her, right? I think it gives a very nautical vibe. Instead of pairing my red with bright blue I went with a navy. I also went a bit more subtle (read: lips and nails) in case the whole thing flopped and I ended up looking more like a walking flag. Which in the case of these shoes, isn’t actually a bad thing, but in terms of attending class and walking the streets around my house, it is.

NOTD: 17 May

Today I have another nail of the day post to share! This was actually supposed to be a daily outfit post. For the last few days I have been debating whether I should or shouldn’t post it - the reason for this being that the photos were very dark and grainy. I haven’t posted an OOTD in what seems like forever so I was really keen to put it up anyway just to give you all something nice to look at! I have decided that they are just too crap, and they don’t do my lovely dress any justice. As an apology though I will add a photo of my new shoes (that I wore for the first time with the outfit I’m talking about) at the end of this post.

Enough talking, on to the pretty polish!

This is Essence Applause Applause from the Circus Circus collection. Applause Applause is a duo-stick polish with a creme at one end and a glitter at the other. Such a cool idea! It’s very odd to paint with though because the top of the bit you’re holding is heavier than the bottom, if you know what I mean. You have to really concentrate on where you’re holding it. The application was flawless though, and I love the brush! I was able to get the perfect amount of polish loaded up on it, and that made for very little clean-up.

In these photos I’m wearing two coats of the creme end, and one coat of the glitter end on my ring finger and thumb as an accent. The glitter is made up of microglitter and squares. Squares, squares! I love square glitter.

Here’s a shot of it in outdoor lighting, on an overcast day. Under artificial lighting the colour is more of a blood red, it’s quite deep and a little dark, but in natural light it’s a bit brighter.

I received this polish from my friend Caroline, who blogs at Good Lack, Nail! She was kind enough to buy me a handful of Essence and Catrice polishes that I was looking for. Isn’t she great?

And now, the promised picture of my new shoes…

Aren’t they just… amazing? They are so badass. I was just browsing at the mall a week or so ago and I spotted these babies and started drooling. They were NZ $70, so a bit more expensive than I would usually spend but I think they are worth it. They make me so super tall too!

NOTD: 15 May

Oh my goodness - a post! It sure has been a while. In between working, university, my birthday, and the onset of winter (rain, wind, and cold, boo!) I haven’t had the time or energy for blogging. But with the end of the semester in sight, things are looking up! Today I have a quick NOTD post for you.

This is two coats of OPI Did You Ear About Van Gogh as a base, with one coat of Nail-Venturous Rustic Remains over the top. Nail-Venturous Lacquers are the baby of Amy who blogs at I’m Feeling Nail-Venturous. She’s probably most well known for her polish named Floam - which you MUST have heard of by now, if not, you need to get yourself out from under that rock! Amy’s polishes can be purchased at her Etsy store, and Ninja Polish also stocks a small range of the popular shades. Unfortunately I read somewhere that Rustic Remains is currently on a hiatus as Amy was having issues sourcing the flakies. Hopefully it comes back soon!

While the lighting in these photos is horrible, they were the best pics to show off the gorgeous shimmer in Rustic Remains. Not only does this polish have bronzey-brown flakies in irregular sizes, but this awesome green and yellow (gold?) sparkle. It’s very obvious in real life, even under artificial lighting.

I’ve only recently come to accept browns as being ‘pretty’. Before, I would pass them up for bright blues, or gem-toned greens and purples. But I have a new appreciation for the colour now, and not only in polish, but in make-up and clothes too. I’m so glad I bought a bottle of Rustic Remains while I had the chance. It is a seriously beautiful polish, and one that is highly underrated! It’s very, very unique. I hope Amy finds a way around the flakie issue and sells more of this in the future.

19 April: Autumn Floral

Dress: Supre

Cardy: Garage @ The Warehouse

Tights: Garage @ The Warehouse

Shoes: Garage @ The Warehouse

Earrings: The Warehouse

Make up: Eyes - NYX Eyeshadow Base in Skin Tone, Sugarpill Chromalust loose eyeshadow in Tipsy, NYX Ultra Pearl Mania pigment in Grass Pearl, and CoverGirl LashBlastFusion mascara in Very Black; Lips - Darling Girl Cosmetics Rolling In The Deep; Face - Nivea Visage Young tinted moisturiser, and Australis concealer; Nails - OPI DS Reflection

There’s not really a lot to say about this outfit - it’s casual and not very exciting, but comfortable for a lazy Autumn day! I go back to uni on Monday. The last two weeks have gone too fast…

NOTD: Water Marble

A few days ago, some girls in a nail polish Facebook group I’m a member of decided that we should do a group water marble on a particular day. That day was Monday just gone, so here’s my marble!

I used Zoya Kristen as a base, and then marbled with Kristen, as well as Zoya Skylar and Zoya Yummy. I think it came out great. Have a close up!

The shimmery particles from Skylar look so cool up close.

Click below to check out what the other girls came up with!

15 April: Jeans and Flats

Purple top: Supre (worn underneath)

Patterned top: Supre

Cardy: Garage @ The Warehouse

Jeans: Switch @ Farmers

Shoes: Garage @ The Warehouse

Earrings: Dollar store

Make up: Eyes - Lime Crime Candy Eyed Eyeshadow Helper, Lime Crime Magic Dust eyeshadow in Empress, and CoverGirl LashBlastFusion mascara in Very Black; Lips - Wet n Wild Megalast lip colour in Mauve Outta Here; Face - Nivea Visage Young tinted moisturiser, and Australis concealer; Nails - China Glaze Polarized

This is the first time I have ever worn flats with skinny jeans. I can’t usually bring myself to do it - I think it looks ugly. I have long, oddly proportioned feet. I also like the way boots help to even out my hips when wearing skinny jeans! These jeans have somewhat changed my mind, however. Something about the cut of them makes wearing flats look better. I still don’t think it looks great, but it was a mild day and boots were too much even though the warmth from the jeans was perfect. I think it’s because they aren’t too tight around the lower leg and ankle. I scored them for $10 on clearance and with a sale on top so not bad for a random impulse buy!

NOTD: 8 April

Happy Easter everyone! Today I have a short post for you. Here are my Easter nails!

They are supposed to look like chocolate eggs with the foil ripped off them. I used Color Club Positively Posh and Essie Matte About You topcoat for the ‘chocolate’ and freehanded some foil on my tips with Kleancolor Metallic Pink, Metallic Jungle, Metallic Yellow, Metallic Purple, and Nicole by OPI Give Me The First Dance. I think it came out looking great. Next time I would use a brown that was more chocolate-toned, but I worked with what I had. Surprisingly I have very few brown polishes in my collection! Thanks to the boyfriend for helping with ideas for this mani.

5 April: Windy

Top: Garage @ The Warehouse

Skirt: Supre

Shoes: Garage @ The Warehouse

Earrings: Bling (gift)

Make up: Eyes - CoverGirl LashBlastFusion mascara in Very Black; Lips - Wet n Wild Megalast lip colour in Mauve Outta Here; Face - Nivea Visage Young tinted moisturiser, and Australis concealer; Nails - Hits Afrodite

As you can tell by the last photo, it was super windy here today! It was really cool having this skirt billow out behind me when I walked. I love this style, with the short part in the front and the long part at the back, although I have heard some people call them ‘mullet skirts’. I guess it’s not a bad description!

Giveaway Win: Nothing Personail

That’s right - another giveaway win! This one was hosted by Abby at Nothing Personail, and was a bit different to the regular giveaways seen on blogs. This was a ‘guess the polish’ contest. Each day, a new photo of the same polish was posted, with a clue, and to enter you had to guess what you thought the polish was. I was very, very lucky because I managed to work out the name of the polish on the first day (I didn’t know this for sure until the end, but each subsequent clue brought me to the same answer so I thought I must be on to something!). This meant that each day I guessed the right answer I got an entry into Abby’s giveaway, so by the end I probably had something like 8 or 9 entries.

The prize was a selection of polishes from some of the brands and stores Abby can access, and it was up to the winner to choose what they wanted! I was so excited when I found out I won but I was also so lost… where do you start!? I ended up giving Abby a huge list of polishes I liked to make things easier for her, so if she couldn’t find something specific I had listed she had others she could look for, and it also gave her a good idea of what kinds of polishes I like generally.

Click through to see what I got!

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