Ulta3 Midnight Fever

Yes another royal mani, I just couldn't help myself with all the lovely royal blue dresses parading across the telly.

Initially I reached for my trusy navy shimmer OPI Yoga-ta Get This Blue!, but remembering that I hadn't used this one yet, decided to use it instead. The formula is really exceptional for a polish priced under $3, but I do prefer the OPI as it looks blue in most lights, while this one tends to look black indoors.

Please excuse my messy paint job, i'm currently dabbling in cleanup techniques.

With the cheapie tiara I found in the closet this morning

Showing off the shimmer..

So this is two coats of Midnight Fever which I bought from my local Blooms chemist for AU$2.25 along with Royal (purple creme), Pacific (turquoise shimmer) and Twilight (Chanel Paradoxal dupe), from Ulta3's Autumn 'Floral Fever' collection, all of which I will post about eventually.

In addition to some BYS nail stones that I picked up from Kmart for around AU$3 if I remember correctly, that come in packets of 25 pieces.

China Glaze - Ruby Pumps

 This is my most used polish, and if you own it, it's easy to see why. Inspired by Dorothy's shoes in the 1939 adaptation of The Wizard of Oz, this lacquer hits the nail on the head! This mani lasted me a full week with minor chipping on the seventh day.

Ruby pumps tips with my latest craft project, if you'll ignore my shoddy needle work please :)work in progress.

Because i'm still learning, sadly I haven't nearly caught the real beauty of this little gem in my photos. But in full sun it really does sparkle like this!

If you google this shade i'm sure you'll find much better pictures! If you like this lacquer, it was originally released as part of the China Glaze Wizard of Ooh Ahz collection waaay before I got into polish, but it was re-released in 2009 so you may have some chance of still picking them up. 

So I thought i'd round off this post with this yummy chocolate pudding I made for my grandma's 80th last week. Mmmm...

Featured mani is 3 coats of Ruby Pumps with OPI Nail Envy as base coat and Revlon Colorstay Topcoat.

I purchased this polish from Crush Cosmetics for AU$11.95

Wicked Series-Blue diamonds on a green field

This is a mani I did a few weeks ago in support of my Special Olympics swim team when we travelled to Narooma for the state swim carnival.

I was wearing just the green (Australis Limited Edition 2) initially which showed off the slight blue shimmer in the polish, when dear Mum remarked that I looked like I had boogers on my nails. I was going to take it off then and there, but I then thought of the blue glitter polish i'd bought the day before (Ulta3 Blue Glitter) and we both decide it looked much better this way. Mani salvaged!

The Australis shade has a nice creamy formula that is easy to work with and opaque in two coats. The Ulta3 glitter is meant to be a layering polish. No matter how many layers you paint on, you will still see nail but i'm fine with that.

A note of caution, if you'd like this manicure to last, do not go swimming! I spent an hour in the pool with the athletes mucking around and it started peeling off in chunks. In fact, if you look closely, you can see a chip on my index finger and this was day 2, pre swim.
This picture was two coats of Australis Limited Edition (which I purchased from my local Priceline) and two coats of Ulta3's Blue Glitter (which I picked up from my local Bloom's chemist) with OPI Original Nail Envy as base coat with Revlon Colorstay top coat.

Wicked Series-OPI The Show Must Go On!

So after posting about a wicked green, I thought it was only fair to showcase an equally special pink. This shade is the sole duochrome from OPI's Burlesque holiday collection 2010 and was almost the one that got away! At the stage this lacquer was released, I was wearing greens exclusively. Walked past it several times thinking i'd never wear a flashy colour like that and by the time I decided I wanted it, it was sold out at my main retailer. I then scouted out a few local salons and snapped up the last bottle at a tiny shop, and i'm so glad I did!

The Show Must Go On! is predominantly a hot pink which flashes bronze in certain lighting. This colour screams, 'Over here! No, down here! Yes! Look at meeee!!' Very Galindaesque if I may say so. Although if you were looking for a cheaper and easier to find obnoxious pink, I would recommend Digital by Sally Hansen (which I will most likely be swatching within the next few weeks) which can be found in Pricelines nation wide.

You can sort of see the bronze flash on the index and ring finger but it's a fairly weak effect. Other bloggers have suggested that this polish is a dupe for Mac's Bad Fairy. Although I don't own both, from comparisons i've seen, I would say they are similar but this polish is a much brighter pink.

I absolutely adore this colour but it wore terribly on me. By the end of the second day, I had major chipping and tip wear on three fingers of my left hand! These pictures were 3 coats of colour with OPI Original Nail Envy as base coat and Revlon Colorstay top coat.

Wicked Series-China Glaze Emerald Sparkle

Upon realising last night, that for the past few months my uni oriented life has been shockingly Wicked deprived, i've decided to do a series of Wicked inspired manicures. I also though that these might be useful to those lucky members of the community who are going to the Adelaide and Perth productions and would like a special colour to wear. So, my first colour is a green. Namely my quintessential green, China Glaze Emerald Sparkle. Before you say 'eeeewww, green on my nails?!' have a look at this picture.

Green sparkly awesomeness! Even if you don't like greens, who doesn't want a Christmas colour like THAT? I do apologise for the lack of close up images, but the camera I was using refused to take anything more zoomed in than these.

 Unfortunately the flash in this picture turned my skin orange, but I think it shows off the glitter.

When applying, the first coat will look a little bald and patchy but stay with it!! These pictures were 3 coats with OPI Original Nail Envy as the base coat and Revlon Colorstay Top Coat.

I purchased this polish from Crush Cosmetics for AU$11.95

Not another nail blog!

Well not exactly. Yes i've recently taken up the habit of snapping pics of my latest manis and thought that my experience might help others in making their purchases.
But I will blog about my other interests on the odd occasion. So if you also like horse riding, clothes, Wicked the musical, make up, Harry Potter or other common interests that will become apparent later on, you might find something interesting on this page.
Anyway, hi i'm Julia! Uni student from Sydney that enjoys a bit of colour on her tips. So please don't expect regular posts because I will most likely be fitting them in between assignments :)

So this is a photo of me and my lovely boy Harley.

I hope you enjoy my blog :) Constructive criticism is very welcome!