And I said what about.....?

This post is in honour of my friend whose wedding I am lucky enough to be attending this weekend.  

We went to Make-up school together and she always complains I wear too many neutral eye looks.  So this weekend with her Breakfast at Tiffanys themed reception I have definitely got to bust out the winged eye liner skills, or lack thereof.  I really need practice!

Back to the star of this post, the infamous China Glaze For Audrey.  

TBH I had seen this polish so many times and it never really grabbed me but when I managed to get it cheap, I decided to see what the fuss was about.

China Glaze For Audrey

This gorgeous turquoise is amazing and I now completely understand why everyone raves about it!  It is just the right shade of blue/green to look good against my skin.
It was a bit thick to apply but covered well in 2 coats and was excellent at masking my ridges. 

I think it would look good paired with A England's Galahad.

Now to practice that eyeliner and decide if I could get away with this polish to a wedding...?

Try it on Tuesday - Color Club Worth the Risque

It's Tuesday again! Well to be honest in the part of the world I live its halfway through Wednesday.  Technicalities aside, here's my mani of a polish I haven't previously used.

 Color Club Worth the Risque

Ok so I have only had this polish for a week so it's not like it's a long term untried or anything. 
I scored a Color Club Femme Fatale mini pack cheap which included 2 holos, a black and a white. I decided to try the silver holo first. It didn't disappoint! And in the sunshine..... Boy did it sparkle. I'm really looking forward to trying the other holo in this pack revvvoloution which I have wanted for aaages. And from swatching the black and white on a nail wheel, they seem thick enough for some stamping.
Yay finally a mani without a ring figure accent!

And of course what holo post would be complete without the blurry pic to show the rainbow goodness?

Thanks for visiting xox

Try it on Tuesday - Color Club Disco Dress

This is my first contribution to Try it on Tuesday.  

Participating will help with one of the biggest aims of starting my blog, that is to encourage the use of so many products I haven’t shown enough or even any love to.  

Thanks for setting this challenge ladies and for making all of us feel welcome to join in.  

To see a list Jilltastic is keeping on her blog of those participating, click here.

I’m going to show 2 untrieds today.  A nail polish and a lipstick.

First up is the Nail polish - Color Club Disco Dress.

 Color Club Disco Dress with Color Club Pucci-Licious as an accent on ring finger

As neons do it dries to a matte finish.  I have left my index finger without top coat so you can see the original finish of it.  The ring finger accent is another Color Club from an earlier purchase it's Pucci-Licious which I love.

I was lucky enough to score an absolute bargain from the best place to get Color Club polishes in New Zealand, Usanailsonline.  They recently had a deal to buy the entire 23 Poptastic collection for under NZ$60.  I couldn't resist the bargain even though I already have so many neons from Color Club.  During a previous special they had 24 for $24. Needless to say I ordered 2 lots and got 48 polishes only 5 of which were duplicates. I know I don't need that many neons but they make my storage rack look like such a pretty & bright rainbow :)  

Photo Taken before I acquired the Poptastic Collection

Next up is a lipstick I craved after seeing a review and swatches on Vampy Varnish here.
Bite Beauty Luminous Creme Lipstick in Cava.  But alas I knew it was a brand I would never be able to obtain. That is until NZSale had Bite beauty available.  But would they have Cava?  I opened the sale with so much anticipation and Yuss! they had Cava and so many others it took me a while to decide on what to buy.  The shipping cost makes it better to purchase a few products rather than just one, or thats what we tell ourselves right?  

Bite Beauty Luminous Creme Lipstick in Cava

Cava is a nude that is on the pink and even slightly mauve side.  So really the picture is not at all colour acurate and therefore is just to show you how cute tube is that it comes in.

WARNING close up of my lips coming!  Oops too late.

I love these sorts of shades for everyday wear as I think they really suit my colouring.  This is more colour accurate though it is less pink and more neutral in real life.

It is incredibly creamy on my lips though not in a moisturising way because it sits on your lips rather than being soaked up therefore it stays on well.  

Gosh I feel like that was such a  long post and the photos are a bit of a mish-mash but I just had a bit  to share and a few photos backing up.

Thanks for visiting
Jewells xox

Warming up with A Roll in the Hague

Today I have a super-hot manicure for you.   I just love orange polish of every shade from pastel to neon.   I’m pretty sure it is the colour I have the most bottles of. 

 OPI -A Roll in the Hague

I was inspired by a fellow New Zealand blogger Michaela over at Nail Polish Anon. That blog name kills me!  To me it’s like the complete opposite of a support group, I feel so encouraged in my addiction with every post she writes! So I took inspiration when she posted her mani of OPI - A Roll in the Hague last week here.  

I have only ever used this polish once when I first got it but not again since.  I found it a bit thick to work with that first time however my polish skills have improved a lot in the last couple of months so I was able to place the Polish on better and was happy enough at just 1 coat.  I then added China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat but honestly it was this shiny even before the top coat.  Love it!

 

 Down in the Southern Hemisphere it’s pretty chilly and dreary right now as we’re into Winter.  Having something bright on my nails really lifted my spirits this week.   It  was also helped by the accent nail I created by adding a coat of Essie Shine of the Times.  It reminds me of flames.  I just love Shine of the times it looks good layered over everything or sandwiched or mattified, the list goes on.

And i just had to include a couple of shots I managed to snap as the sun came out a couple of hours later and I was napping.

Don't you just love how polish colour and texture can change your mood?

Jewells x

Oh Baby! Pink!

Hey hey hey!

To share with you today I have a manicure inspired by a my cousin's baby shower I attended and more specifically the fact that she is having a girl. I am super excited to meet my new little second cousin when she arrives in the next month or so.
So what does one think of for a baby girl...  baby pink of course!
I started with a base coat of China Glaze Ridge Filler which I'm quite keen on, it evens out my ridges nicely and definitely helps with wear time. The pink comes from 2 coats of AEngland Iseult and for that little bit of sparkle, actually a lot of sparkle, a recent aquisition, Milani Pink Flare as an accent on my ring finger. I also topped it off with China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat which works well with the base coat.

I just LOVE Milani Pink Flare. It is so sparkly and girly and packed with glitter. Application was easy. Iseult on the other hand is a bit tricky. I found it quite streaky and really could have done with a third coat to be opaque but then it would have taken too long to dry. I also quite the look though of being able to see my natural nails through it.  It makes such a change for me as I very rarely wear neutrals, even during the work week I wear bright colours.
How about you, can you get away with bright colours at work?

(Sorry for the complete amateur photos I can only manage at the moment using my iphone.  That and my poses need practise!  We all gotta start somewhere though right?)

My Bare Nails

To start off here's a peek at my nails with nothing on. I have a confession, I was a bit of a nail biter in my teens and that included nibbling at the skin around them. Gross! When I stopped biting they just never really grew well. They chipped and peeled and my cuticles were not happy.  For a lover of nail polish like me this was frustrating. So what changed? Well I'll tell you...

A couple of years ago now I went to have acrylics done at a local salon and the girls there suggested I have silk nails instead and that they were much better for your nails than acrylics. They even went so far as to tell me my nails would eventually grow stronger naturally.
There was a customer sat next to me that backed them up and said she much preferred the silks. So gulping at the difference in price, I think acrylics were NZD$80 and Silks were NZD$110 for a full set, I sat down for my first application.
 I had the silks back filled a few times and the last time I had them done the manager there said to me "you know if you really want to grow your own nails you can" and something about that just clicked and I realized how much I really wanted to grow my own nails.
So once I had them removed, it still took time for the rough nail to grow out like with acrylics but my natural nails did grow stronger! I was even able to paint my own nails with a soft French tip for my wedding day. With a little help from a bridesmaid for my right hand! So with my natural nails now healthy and strong my love for nail polish has grown into a bit of an addiction really. I usually manage to paint my nails 3-4 times a week and my collection has grown to a be a bit ridiculous for one person really.
So there it is my first nail post.  My photography skills can only get better right? 
I look forward to sharing some of my manicures in the future.
Ciao for now.
Jewells

The first post

So I guess the first idea is to write a little intro and greeting to those who might stumble across my ramblings. However I think it will be while before that happens so I will just launch into things by posting the type of posts I look for. Feel free to drop me a comment.