Paint It Blue! Round Up

As some of you will remember from my posts earlier in the month, April was Autism Awareness Month and a bunch of nail polish enthusiasts including myself were painting our nails blue for the entire month to raise awareness. Due to my hectic uni schedule I didn't get to post most of my blue manis, so now that it's the end of the month I'm putting all these manis together into what I would like to call the 'Paint It Blue! Round Up' post. Here we go!

First blue mani for the month, and a special one for World Autism Day. Some of you will remember from this post that the puzzle piece is from the Light It Up Blue logo. The polishes I used were OPI 'Absolutely Alice' and 'Can't Find My Czechbook', and Revlon 'Blue Lagoon'.

 Second blue mani. This is 2 coats of Hare Polish 'Twilight Savings'.

This is Sayuri 'Mizuiro' layered over A England 'Order Of The Garter'. The paper doll I'm holding is the Mizuiro paper doll from the Sayuri Streets of Tokyo Collection.

Fourth mani, Cinderella from the Disney Princess Nail Art Challenge. This one actually stayed on my nails for 8 WHOLE DAYS with not even the slightest hint of tip wear. The blue I used was Sinful Colors 'Cinderella' and I can safely say that it is the most hard-wearing polish I have ever encountered. You can see my full post for this one here.

Two coats of one of Hare Polish's newest additions 'Rococo Grandeur'. Love love LOVE this polish. I'll try and do a full post for this one somewhere in the near future.

Two coats of Rainbow Honey 'Mare Of The Moon'. This is another polish that I'll try to do a full post for shortly.

Seventh mani! Belle from the Disney Princess Nail Art Challenge. This one isn't completely blue but I wanted to incorporate the blue of the dress that Belle wears for the majority of the movie so that it at least had some blue on it. The glitter polish is Cirque ' Ophelia' and the creme is China Glaze 'My Secret Peri-wink-le'. You can see my full post for this one here.

Kate from Mcfresh Nail Attire sent me this one for review, but it just so happens to be blue! This is Mckfresh 'As The World Falls Down'. You can see my full post here.

Another Mckfresh polish that I was sent for review, this is Mckfresh 'Sarah' layered over China Glaze 'My Secret Peri-wink-le'. You can see my full post here.

And last but not least, blue mani number 10. This is a polish that I made for a uni assignment, but I like it so much that I think it might one day be incorporated into the Sayuri Nail Lacquer family. What do you think? The stamp is from Nailz Craze plate NC03 and was stamped using Essie 'No Place Like Chrome'.

So there you have it, a month of blue! It's been fun but I can't wait to get another colour onto my nails. The problem now is picking which one...

Mckfresh Nail Attire: Part 1

Today I have a new Aussie indie label to introduce to you, Mckfresh Nail Attire. Kate from Mckfresh has provided me with four of her polishes from her first collection to review so I'm going to split this into two parts and show you two polishes in each.

Mckfresh's first collection was inspired by a movie that those of you who were children of the 80's might remember, Labyrinth. I watched this movie for the first time about a month back, and I have to say that I'm actually rather glad I never saw it as a child, it's downright wierd and almost creepy. And what was David Bowie thinking with that hair!?

The two polishes I have to show you today are 'As The World Falls Down', and 'Sarah'. 'As The World Falls Down' was the song that David Bowie sang during the scene with the masquerade ball, and the 'Sarah' polish was inspired by the big ballgown that Sarah wore during that scene. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the movie, here's a video that I prepared *ahem* searched on youtube earlier:

'As The World Falls Down'

This was actually my favourite scene from the movie, so I'm really glad that Kate sent me this polish. 'As The World Falls Down' has a blue jelly base packed with blue and silver holo hexes and short holo silver bars. You could build this one to opacity in about 3 coats, but I've layered it over China Glaze 'Man Hunt'. 'As The World Falls Down' applies smoothly and the blue base coats the nail evenly with no streaking or patchiness. The glitters are all very well behaved, and if you're one of those people who despise bar glitter you should still give this one a go. Because the bars are short there are no issues with applying them. My camera refuses to pick up holo glitters, but rest assured that this one packs a punch in the sun, or any sort of direct light for that matter. Stunning!

Full sunlight

Full sunlight

'Sarah'

I knew the moment I saw this polish that I was going to like it. 'Sarah' is a versatile clear based glitter topper full of gold, silver and iridescent glitters of different shapes and sizes. In addition to what you see on my nails there are also larger holo squares in the polish, but I couldn't manage to fish them out of my mini bottle. I definitely recommend getting a full sized bottle of this one, it's so pretty you'll definitely wear it more than once, and unfortunately my photos couldn't capture it's true beauty. 'Sarah' was easy to apply, with only minor glitter placement required. I did have to fish a little for the larger glitters, but I suspect this would have been easier if I had a full size bottle (can you tell I'm not a fan of minis?). If you're a fan of holo and iridescent glitters like I am this is one that you need in your collection. My photos show 'Sarah' layered over China Glaze 'Secret Peri-wink-le'.

Overcast lighting

Full sunlight

Mckfresh polishes are available from their etsy store for $5.50 for a 6ml mini bottle, or $10 for a full sized 12ml bottle. Unfortunately due to strict shipping laws Mckfresh polishes are only available within Australia at this time (sorry international ladies!). To stay up to date you can follow the facebook page. Stay tuned, I'll have two more Mckfresh polishes to show you later in the week!

Disclosure note: The product/s in this post were provided for review. This did not affect my opinion of the product/s.

Disney Princess: Belle

It's Saturday! Disney Princess time! Yes I know I missed Pocahontas last week, I had a design in mind but after a hellish week I opted for a girl's night instead. I might do Pocahontas and Mulan at the end of the challenge depending how I feel (are either of them really even princesses!?). Moving on. This week's princess is Belle from Beauty and the Beast.

Full sunlight

Full sunlight

This didn't turn out exactly how I'd hoped. I had further plans for my ring fingers but it ended up looking silly and I was getting tired so I ended up taking the polish off those nails all together and just doing a simple stamp. As always I've used a temporary tattoo layered over white polish on my middle finger. My index finger and pinkie are China Glaze 'Lemon Fizz' with Cirque 'Ophelia' on top, and my ring finger is China Glaze 'Secret Peri-wink-le' with the rose from plate M65 stamped using China Glaze 'Emotion'. The yellow was inspired by Belle's princess dress and the blue is the colour she wears for the majority of the movie. The rose of course is an important part of the movie as Belle must learn to love the Beast/Prince before the last petal falls or he'll remain a beast forever.

As always, check out the other participants in the Disney Princess Nail Art Challenge:

Strawbrie

LabMuffin
It's All About The Polish
ErinZi's Nails
WalkInMyEyeshadow
Ten Little Nubs
Nailed Obsession
Every Little Polish
For the Love of Lacquer
Nailoveology
Maeday Nails
LacquerDreams

MckFresh

Dead Set Babes

Hey guys, sorry for my absence!  My uni workload has calmed down again now so it's back to blogging on a regular basis, and to get back in to the swing of things I have a review of three polishes from an exciting new Aussie indie label, Dead Set Babes.

'Confetti Cupcake'

Partial sunlight

Partial sunlight

'Confetti Cupcake' bottle shot

'Confetti Cupcake' is a fun, bright polish consisting of fuchsia, turquoise, orange, and holo glitters in a vibrant hot pink jelly base. This one looks super squishy when applied, just the way I like my jellies. My photos show two thin coats of 'Confetti Cupcake', and as is to be expected with a jelly polish there is still a subtle VNL. If you want to avoid VNL you could easily add a third coat or layer it over a pink polish. Application was smooth and manageable, and I didn't have to fish around for the larger glitters. My only small gripe with this one is the fact that the pink base mottles the colour of the blue and orange glitters. I usually find that applying thin coats solves this problem, but it just didn't work with this one. This isn't to say that everyone will have the same problem, this may have just been an application issue on my behalf as the swatches on the Dead Set Babes store show the glitters perfectly.

'Lost In Love'

Full sunlight

Full sunlight

'Lost In Love' bottle shot

 'Lost In Love' is a clear based glitter topper containing matte red, hot pink and baby pink hearts, matte white hexes, and matte baby pink squares. This one is super cute and would be perfect for Valentine's Day when it finally rolls around again next year. My photos show one dabbed layer over OPI 'You're Such A Budapest'. Unfortunately, the consistency of this one wasn't great. The base is super runny, which meant that it often pooled in my cuticles if I tried to apply it as I normally would and you will need to be prepared to fish for the glitters because they slide off the brush faster than you can pull it out of the bottle. An adorable polish, but you'll need a bit of patience for this one.

'Science Fair'

Partial sunlight

Partial sunlight

'Science Fair' bottle shot

'Science Fair' is another glitter topper with matte glitters in a clear base. It contains mint, lavender and teal stars, dark purple medium hexes, and smaller white, lavender and teal hexes. I absolutely love the combination of this one and I think the name is very fitting. My photos show one dabbed coat over OPI 'Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous'. Unfortunately this one has the same runny base as 'Lost In Love', so once again it's a polish that you'll need a bit of patience to apply. Despite this though it's my favourite of the three polishes I received for review and I'll definitely be using it again sometime.

Dead Set Babes polishes are available from their etsy store for $9 AUD each, and yes they do ship internationally. A portion of their sales also goes to the RSPCA, which is something I can definitely get behind being the animal lover that I am. For updates you can follow their facebook page or find them on Instagram @DeadSetBabes.

Disclosure note: The product/s in this post were provided for review. This did not affect my opinion of the product/s.

Custom Blues For Autism Auction

The auction has officially commenced! As I have mentioned previously, this auction is to raise funds for ASPECT Australia as part of Autism Awareness Month (see my previous post if you want more info on that!).

There are 17 different custom polishes up for grabs that have been donated by both Australian and international indie polish makers including Gloss 'n Sparkle, Emily de Molly, Femme Fatale Cosmetics, Pretty Serious, Enchanted Polish, Lynnderella, Dollish Polish, Shades of Phoenix, Alanna Renee, Loki's Lacquer, Loony Lacquer, Love Thy Polish, Dead Set Babes, Mckfresh Nail Attire, Celestial Cosmetics, and of course my own brand, Sayuri Nail Lacquer.

Bidding is open internationally, and will close at 9pm AEST on April 30th 2013 and the terms and conditions can be found on the website. Good luck!

Disney Princess: Cinderella

Bippity Boppity Boo! It's Disney Princess Nail Art Challenge time! This week's princess was Cinderella. I didn't have a lot of time to put this one together, but I'm still pretty happy with how it turned out. I'll let the photos do most of the talking.

Full sunlight

Full sunlight

Full sunlight

As in previous weeks, I've layered a temporary tattoo over white polish on my middle finger. My remaining nails show 3 coats of Sinful Colors 'Cinderella' (come on, how could I not use this polish for this challenge?) and rhinestones in pink, baby blue and navy.

Just a reminder that I'm insanely busy with uni this coming week (2 exams, an oral, and a written report due before the 21st, eep!), so I won't have another post up until next weekend. Sorry guys! Everything will be back to normal after the 21st :)

And as always, check out the other particpants in the Disney Princess Nail Art Challenge:

Strawbrie

LabMuffin
It's All About The Polish
ErinZi's Nails
WalkInMyEyeshadow
Ten Little Nubs
Nailed Obsession
Every Little Polish
For the Love of Lacquer
Nailoveology
Maeday Nails
LacquerDreams

MckFresh