a-england: Rose Bower, Order of the Garter & Love is Enough

Sent for Review

Arggggh! I swear the heat is going to kill me one day. It would be a good day for swatching except that my block of flats is being painted at the moment and I don't exactly fancy doing my thang when the painters are hovering outside my window. *awkward*

Thankfully I have some swatches in my camera so I can still blog away!

If you've caught my last post, you would know that I've received some pretties from Dazzled, a new etailer based in Hong Kong. So today, I will be sharing with you some from one of my favourite brands: a-england!

Rose Bower. 2 coats (it is a one-coater but I did 2 anyway)
A gorgeous glowy red base with very subtle holo. Rose Bower is one of the new colours in Adina's latest collection, Burne-Jones Dream, inspired by Burne-Jones' paintings depicting scenes from Sleeping Beauty. Whilst the holo effect is the weakest in Rose Bower, the base colour more than makes up for everything. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the holo sparkles compliment the base perfectly.

Order of the Garter. (3 thin coats)
A sheer deep blue base filled with electric blue glass flecks that shimmer impossibly when they catch the light. I can truly lose myself in the depths within.

Love is Enough. (3 thin coats)
A sheer blackened base filled with shimmery metallic flecks giving it an overall olive hue with gold accents. Extremely glowy, sophisticated and edgy.







As with all the a-englands, the formula and application on these are perfect so no complaints there. In fact, it is one of the reason why I love a-england so much - painting is not just a process to getting pretty nails, it is an enjoyment by itself.

At the moment, a-england only ships within the UK but you can get your hands on these beauties through various distributors including Dazzled. Starting from yesterday, Dazzled is officially offering worldwide shipping (including countries outside Asia) so all you international ladies can satisfy your needs and lemmings too. On top of that, to celebrate 2,500 likes on Facebook, Dazzled is having a storewide discount of 10% with the code "2500FB". The code is valid until 6 September so don't wait! ;)



**Products were provided for our honest review. Please see our disclosure policy for more information.**

Challenge: Stamping Over a Nude Base

Hello dear readers!

Last Sunday's challenge on FB group Adventures in Stamping was to do some stamping nail art on a nude base. I find this group very fun because it stimulates my creativity when I have no inspiration.

Well, here's what I came up with:

More details below....

The base color for this nail art was Palm Springs by American Apparel. Then I did some sponging using other lighter and darker nude tones to give more dimension to the background of my design.

For stamping polishes, I used:

-Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Mint Sprint (leaves and foliage)

-Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Presto Pink (Flowers)

-Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Snappy Sorbet (Flowers on thumb)

-Pop Beauty - Thirty Seven Foggy (Light grey foliage)

-Nabi - Black (Feathers)

For designs, I used:

-XL R plate (Bird on thumb, flowers, big feathers)

-XL F plate (Small flowers, leaves on thumb)

-XL M plate (Big flowers and foliage on ring finger)

-QA23 (Vines on thumb and pinkie)

-A49 (Flowers and leaves on  index)

-m77 (Small feathers and flowers on pinkie)

Here's a detailed picture of what I did on my thumbnail using the stamping decal technique

*I will do a tutorial on this next week

 What do you think of this nail art?

Stay tuned for my tutorial on how to do a nail decal using a stamping design next Monday ;)

♥♥Thank you so much for reading♥♥

American Apparel - Palm Springs

Hello dear readers!

I want to show you swatches of Palm Springs, a nail polish by American Apparel.

Palm springs is a peachy nude color with creme finish. The application was easy, though it was slightly streaky. The opacity of the formula made it easy to even it out by the second coat. The only thing I was not so happy about this nail polish was the drying time. It took longer even after applying Out the Door fast dry top coat.

Do you like the mannequin finish this type of nail polish color gives to nails?

Tomorrow This Wednesday, I'll show you the stamping nail art I did on top of this nail polish ;)

♥♥Thank you for reading♥♥

Pretty & Polished: May Flowers

Sent for Review

Happy weekend!

Thank you all for participating in the giveaway! I apologise for the delay in the announcement of the giveaway winner here as I did not have the time to schedule a post. But if you have been following me on Instagram, you would have already known that a lucky winner has been chosen and she is:

Alison Morrison

Alison has already replied to my email but here's a huge congratulations to you again! I have just finished packing your prize and will be sending them out this coming week. I sure hope you will like them ^_^

Today, I have a short and quick post before I take a break after all that shaking and mixing.

A while ago, I received an exciting email about a new stockist that will be based in Hong Kong! Fast forward a few weeks later, DAZZLED is now officially open!

Here's a self-introduction from the founder, Denise:

DAZZLED was born from the passion and obsession of nail colours of founder, Denise - From a nail biter to total obsession. We strive to provide the gorgeous nail polishes to all ladies in Asia from around the world. Here you can find a wide range of indie polish brands just in one stop, with a more affordable shipping price and less waiting time.

I am always happy to hear from ex-nail biters because their stories are so inspiring and a huge motivation for all of us to keep our nails healthy and strong. Of course, I am even happier that Denise has taken her passion to the next level to bring in gorgeous polishes for us all! ;)

Although Dazzled is still new to the polish community, Denise has already gathered a strong line-up with brands such as a-england, Cirque, Happy Hands, NailNation 3000, Pretty & Polished and more!

Denise has kindly sent me some polishes to share with you and boy did they blow my mind when I opened the package. Pretty & Polished's May Flowers was the first that I've tried:

**random rant: Is it just me or does Blogger change the colour of my picture above? It looks really different from the picture in my local drive! >:( Thankfully Flickr doesn't alter my pictures (below).**

May Flowers. 3 thin coats.
Eek! My very first thermal polish! May Flowers has a mix of pink, hot pink, purple, yellow, green glitters in hexes and dots (and even flowers! I didn't manage to get any on my nails but you can see it in the swatch sticks above) in a creme base that shifts from a delicate mint-green when warm to a bright green when cold. In the swatch above, I dunked my index and ring finger in cold water and my middle and pinky in warm water to show the different colours.

When left to its ordinary state, the thermal effect gave my short nails a very subtle gradient french tip effect. Love it so much!

Of course, the effect is more obvious if you have more free-edge but I wasn't ready to sport long nails myself ;)

The formula is perfect. Application was very easy and fuss-free except that the larger glitters (the flowers!) need some fishing.

So what do you think of this or thermal polishes in general?

Pretty & Polished is now available at Dazzled. Denise currently offers flat rate shipping within Asia with free shipping for orders above a certain value. Do hop over to their website to check it out. You may also follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more updates!

Meanwhile, stay tuned for more swatches coming your way! ♥



**Products were provided for our honest review. Please see our disclosure policy for more information.**

Tiger Print Nail Art

Hello dear readers!

This time I just did a simple tiger print on my nails... I'm not into animal prints... but I used a gold nail polish that was calling for something wild and I thought, why not?

I started with a nail polish by Icing called Golden Rule.

It is a gold color with foil finish and holographic micro glitter.

*You can see a 15 sec. video swatch of this nail polish here.

I stamped the tiger print with Kleancolor black using stamping plate QA25 

(Available for purchase in my online store)

As I said previously, looks a bit too wild for my taste especially on this nail lenght... Rawr!! But it's always good to try something different...

What do you think of this design? Too wild? :)

♥♥Thank you for reading♥♥

Nail Art Remake: Ice Cream and Candy Nails & Tutorial

Hello dear readers!

This time I decided to do an improved version of a nail art from last year (see it here).

The nail art you see now was what I had in mind originally, but 1yr. ago, I was either too busy or too lazy to do all the steps...

(↓ Tutorial for this nail art below ↓)

1.Once your nails are prepped with a basecoat, start by applying 1 or 2 layers of white nail polish. 

This is only the base for the pastel colors to look nice & bright.

 

2. Apply lines or dots of different pastel colors onto waxed paper, plastic or aluminum foil.

3.Using a nail stamper press it on top of the nail colors, twisting slightly so that the colors mix up a little bit. You will see the colors transferring to the stamper and ready to apply on your nails.

*You can also paint the pastel color lines directly on your nails with your nail polish brush, whichever is easier for you.

4. Stamp the colors from the stamper onto each nail.(Or paint each color with a nail polish brush). Let it dry.

Don't worry if it doesn't look perfect, it doesn't have to be ;)

My nails look like Easter eggs :D

5. Apply one coat of white crackle nail polish and let it dry to get the cracking effect. Apply clear topcoat to smooth out the nail surface and let dry.

6. I used Konad's Q1 stamping plate and stamped the candy designs on my nails using Kleancolor black. You can use any other stamp plate design of your choice.

*There are other options for this nail art such as applying nail art stickers or by drawing freehand designs on your nails ;)

I hope you like this nail art tutorial and that it can be useful to you ;)

Which version do you like better? Last year's or this one?

♥♥Thank you so much for reading♥♥

The Polish Well: BANG!

Happy Sunday everyone!
I can't believe the long weekend (we had 2 days of public holidays on thursday and friday) passed by so quickly. I still don't feel adequately rested! T_T

Anyway, I thought I would share some of my new concoctions on the blog today. It has been quite a while but I've finally finalised a new collection that is based on one of my favourite korean bands - Big Bang! I was introduced to Big Bang by my sister earlier this year and have since been hooked onto quite a number of their songs. The idea of a collection came about way back in March when I had a sudden bout of inspiration and created Hallelujah. Since then, I have mulled over the rest of the colours and I am happy to say that I've finally made some headway. Take a look:

p.s. you can click on the lyrics to enjoy the lovely songs on youtube :)

Fantastic Baby.

Jump at the sound of your heartbeat till this comes to an end yeah

I can't baby don't stop this

Just go corrupt today (go crazy and rave) let's go

wow fantastic baby ~ Boom Shakalala

A berry red jelly filled with an assortment of glitters - holos, reds, purples, circles, squares, hexes and a sprinkling of shimmer. I had such hard time coming up with a colour for this song. Every ounce of my instinct told me to throw a bunch of silver holo glitters together for the dance number but I wasn't sure if I could come up with a mix that is better than what is already available in the market. In the end, I scoured through the lyrics and settled on "heartbeat" for my colour inspiration. Even then, it took me several tries before I came up with this. Quite happy with the squishy look. :P

Ego.

You’re so beautiful, I’ve been bewitched

I can’t fall asleep tonight at thoughts of you

You’re so wonderful, I have gone crazy

I can’t snap out of it, I’m getting dizzy 

She killed my ego

Red with gold and holo shimmer. Slightly darker than what it looks in this picture. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to capture much of the shimmer in the picture either - it is slightly more visible IRL :(

Love Dust.

When today passes, you will disappear like dust – what is love?

If I look sad, my tears are like smoke, like dancing smoke

Tomorrow, my day will start like nothing is wrong and I will forget you

I’ll just remain here, smiling, as I pray that you will be happy

A soft salmon pink with peach and gold shimmer. A colour that is very heavily inspired by the melody and what I think love dust looks like.

Haru Haru.

Don't look back and leave

Don't find me again and live (on)

Because I have no regrets from loving you, take only the good memories

I can bear it in some way

I can stand in some way

You should be happy if you are like this

I become dull day by day (eh eh eh eh)

Oh girl I cry, cry

You're my all, say goodbye...

A soft greyish-blue mint with subtle holo. This was partly born from my obsession with turquoises and mint and partly from Deborah's (lovevarnish) request for a soft mint holo. I took a look at the bottle after the shaking and mixing and "Haru Haru" immediately came to mind.

Monster.

I love you baby I’m not a monster

You know how I was in the past

When time passes, it’ll all disappear

Then you will know baby

A sage green with rose flecks and subtle green shimmer. This is not new to the blog and some of you might already know that this was from my feeble attempt at duping Butter London's Two Fingered Salute. I've since gotten my hands on the real deal and they are definitely not dupes. While the base colours are almost, if not exactly, identical, the shimmer and flecks are completely different. Nonetheless, I really like this lab creation and it seems to fit with the song so I've decided to keep it in this collection. :P

Lies.

A late night and rain falling down. 

I bring you back from my memories. 

I promised myself I would be fine without you, but I can’t help it.

A deep teal with a mix of aqua blue and green shimmer. Another song that gave me a difficult time but I am glad I finally had an eureka moment.

Bad Boy.

I was too harsh that night

I didn’t know you would really leave

The words, “I’m sorry”, is too difficult for us that we take it to the end

Because I’m ill-tempered

We fight over stupid things numerous times a day

You take off crying, I look around and think,

‘She’ll come back tomorrow. She’ll definitely call me first in the morning'

A deep blue with a mix of copper, blue and purple shimmer. This was another song that was very challenging to put in a bottle. In the end, I went with the colours of a beautiful sunrise that I happened to catch. I think this one needs a bit more shimmer for the colours to pop.

Tonight.

I look for you, oh-eh-oh (tonight), below that moonlight that illuminates me (such a beautiful night)

I look for you oh-eh-oh-oh-oh I don’t know where the end is but (good night)

A deep plum jelly with gold, royal blue and purple shimmer-flecks. This was an accidental mix that came about because I was curious what I would get if I mixed all my shimmers together. I didn't go further than these three colours when I fell in love and abandoned my initial quest. I will toy with that again in future - though I suspect it may not look fantastic.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, I'm falling, I'm falling, falling

Within those collapsed buildings (yeah)

Hallelujah (yes) I'm falling (yes), I'm falling, falling

A mix of holo silver, gunmetal and lavendar glitters and with a smattering of purple shimmer falling within the depths of the black jelly. My very first colour of the collection and one which I still love.

Blue.

The winter's gone

And the spring has come

We've withered away

And our hearts are torn from the yesterdays

(I'm singing the blue)

I'm used to the tears, the doubt and the fears that hold me back, oh

(I'm singing the blue)

I hope you can see, I'm losin' my grip on you, oh oh

A slate grey with blue, green and silver shimmer. Inspired by the very first Big Bang song that I fell for. My sister had been playing Big Bang songs for ages but this was the very first that caught my attention. Unlikely most other korean songs that my sister played, this was unusually mellow and emotional. Till now, it is still one of my favourite songs by Big Bang so there was no way I could leave this song out. 

Phew. That was quite a whole lot of polishes, wasn't it? 

Now that you've seen them, which one(s) caught your eye?

As you might have noticed, I have temporarily placed my shop on hiatus and I am no longer taking any orders at the moment. Although I've enjoyed creating these new colours, I have yet to firm up any plans for my store so these polishes (together with the other colours) are not available for sale at the moment. I will post an update once I have a plan. 

So why am I showing these new colours to you, you ask? 

Well... apart from the fact that I couldn't wait to show you my creations, I've also decided to throw a small giveaway to celebrate my birthday this week! ^_^

The prize? The entire unreleased BANG! collection (minis) for one lucky winner!

The giveaway is open on this blog (details in the rafflecopter widget) and on Instagram (details on my IG post). All entries will be collated for the draw so you need not enter twice - duplicate entries will be deleted before the draw.
The usual rules apply so fire away!
Giveaway closes in a week's time on 18 August 2013 at 12am, SGT. Good luck!

Giveaway has ended

New & Upcoming Collections for Fall / Winter / Holiday 2013!

Happy August!
Gosh time really flies, doesn't it? Just a few minutes ago, I chanced upon some press releases on new collections and it hit me that I had completely neglected to keep up to date with the developments in the nail world! Now that is simply unbecoming of a nail polish addict, right? So... how about another TPW bumper round-up post for your weekend indulgence? ;)

OPI Fall 2013: San Francisco 

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San Francisco by OPI brings street chic style with West Coast flair to nails and toes for Fall/Winter 2013. This new collection features a palette ranging from sky and sea-colored hues of blues and gray to reds, burgundies and browns inspired by some of the city’s most iconic elements – Chinatown, the Golden Gate bridge and the Embarcadero.

Many of you would have seen swatches of this collection floating around. Very standard fall colours that are strong and rich. Some metallic ones (too frosty for my liking, some crellies (yup, they sure did catch my eye), some liquid sands and even a duochrome (Peace & Love & OPI).
My picks would be Alcatraz, Keeping Suzi at Bay, In the Cable Car-Pool Lane and maybe Lost on Lombard... Still considering the rest ;)

Zoya Fall 2013: Cashmeres & Satins

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Oh those cremes are killing me. I don't know what got into me but I am all for cremes these days. Make them in dark rich colours and you've got my heart. The satins are in metallic finish which some of you may like - I don't really like this finish but I have to admit the colours are looking really rich and glowy.
No surprise that I am eyeing Hunter (dark sea creme), Pepper (brick red creme), Sailor (dark navy creme) and Flynn (camel brown nude creme).

Zoya PixieDust for Fall 2013

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Ahhhhh... I die for Carter.

China Glaze: On the Horizon

This free-spirited specialty collection introduces six unique lacquers using interwoven matte particles to create a feathered finish. The multi-coloured palette features both bright and earthy tones, reminiscent of the sky at dawn and dusk. Achieve opacity with two coats, or layer over a complementary base color for a fresh, colorful manicure.

Bar glitters! From what I gather, this is either a strong yay or a nay. I am not a fan of bar glitters - awkwardly hairy. But I have to give it to China Glaze for coming up with an interesting mix of colours.

China Glaze Fall 2013: Autumn Nights

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Metallics, shimmers, foils and two cremes. Not usually a fan of the metallics but the colours look really rich. I do like the look of Goldie but Goodie and Rendezvous with You. 

Essie Fall 2013: For the Twill of it

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For the Twill of It... it does remind me of OPI's Peace & Love & OPI, no? The rest of the colours look extremely comfy and perfect for fall/winter. Of these, I am loving Vested Interest. After School Boy Blazer did catch my eye initially but it looks a little too close to black on the swatches I've seen.

Orly Fall 2013: Surreal

(Launch Date: September 2013)

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A very interesting dreamy fall collection I must say. Except for the dark teal, none of the colours look like the standard fall fare. Leaving that aside, I must say the shimmers really do look delicate and surreal. I will have to see swatches before deciding though. 

Color Club Fall 2013: Girl About Town

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[L-R: Silver Lake, Williamsburg, East Austin, The Uptown, Wicker Park, Pearl District]

You should know which colour caught my eye - that duochrome flakie in a purple base looks absolutely stunning. I hardly use flakies but The Uptown sure does make me feel like putting them on again. 

China Glaze Fall/Winter 2013: Monsters Ball

(Launch Date: October 2013)

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[L-R: Howl You Doin', Bat My Eyes, Boo-Gie Down, Fang-tastic; Bump in the Night (texture)]

Monsters Ball. I really do love this collection for its presentation. The names... the artwork (yup by Abigail Larson again! I am really loving her style ♥)... I am not good at describing but it does look like a whole bunch of classy fun. As for the colours, my eyes are drawn to Howl You Doin' and Bat My Eyes.

China Glaze Winter 2013: Crinkled Chrome

(Removed from post on request as collection is not finalised)

Essie Winter 2013: Shearling Darling

(Launch Date: TBA)

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Hmmm that luscious shimmery red. I hope it doesn't disappoint. I am also loving that pastel blue/grey.

Essie Holiday 2013: Luxeffects

(Available: November 2013)

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Thanks to Tavia of Chic Profile (honestly, her blog has the latest news of everything! I love it ♥), I came to know of Essie's Holiday collection. If some of the polishes look familiar, it is because you have already seen them before! Almost everything except Sparkle On Top and Jazzy Jubiliant have already been released previously.

Orly Holiday 2013: Secret Society

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[L-R: Lavish Bash; Voyeuristic Adventure; What's the Password; Masked Ceremony; Macabre Masquerade; Risque Encounter]

I've seen some swatches floating around for this collection as well. I love Masked Ceremony. Macabre Masquerade caught me by surprise (really you ought to check out the swatches) and I am most curious about Lavish Bash.

China Glaze Holiday 2013: HoliGlaze

(Launch Date: November 2013)

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[T - texture; G - glitter; A - aluminium]

Last but not least... a holiday collection by China Glaze! There wasn't much information I could find about this so most of what I know is from Rica. She has swatches here! Bells will be Blinging, This is Tree-mendous, Put A Bow on It and All Wrapped Up look promising. Apart from these, there will also be a Colour Travel Top Coat that is said to create an iridescent effect - shimmer top coat perhaps? We'll see ;)

OPI: Mariah Carey Holiday Collection

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Oops. Can't believe I left out this one. Another collaboration with Mariah Carey with some real gorgeous pretties and some really interesting shades within. My eyes are drawn to those hella sparkly glitters and the nudish liquid sands - so so good. urgh. I need them. 

China Glaze: Sea Goddess

(Removed from post on request as collection is not finalised)

Phew! That was a long post! I hope I did not miss anything out - do feel free to drop me a note below to let me know if I did!

And now, for the grand finale: Which colours caught your eye? :D