9/29/12

A-Engand - Galahad - Bar Tested!

Hi!

Today I've Galahad to show you from last week (which I've swatched previously here) Bar Tested!! Galahad actually did pretty well, the problem on my thumb was unrelated, the nail broke :(, and it was tested on a Saturday which is a much busier and longer shift! I think I'll come up with some kind of Bar Tested logo, with a thumbs up/thumbs down haha, thoughts?


Bar tested!!
I also had a weird thing happen to my nail, I've never seen this happen before! I was re-stacking those glass tray things (because the other people at the bar apparently don't know how to stack them), and one of them came down on my nail and I think pulled it a little bit from my finger? 

WARNING! NAKED ICKY NAILS!!



Has anything like this ever happened to you guys? I hope it grows out soon because it's becoming really annoying! It doesn't hurt though which is positive.

Also a development with the fake OPI MAAH! I finnaalllyyyyyy managed to get a real version of Mad As A Hatter! I'll probably edit that post and compare the colours, it's shocking how close the fake is to the real one, the only real difference is that the real OPI has more silver glitter.

See you next time!

9/24/12

Butter London - Pillar Box Red - Bar Tested!

Hi!

Today I've got something exciting for Australian viewers! The InStyle Magazine for this month has a free Butter London on it! There are two colours to choose from: Pillar Box Red & Pink Ribbon. I, of course, chose Pillar Box Red because I'm obsessed with finding the perfect red. So if you can pick up a copy of this, you totally should. In Australia Butter London retails for $22! Which I find pretty shocking, I honestly don't see why I would spend more than I would on an OPI for only 11mL of nail polish, it's so annoying how expensive nail polishes are in Australia!

Pillar Box Red is a gorgeous true red creme, for some reason I think the photos came up leaning a little orange, but it definitely doesn't lean that way in real life. The formula was great and you guys will see that it did quite well on the bar test. The only draw back was that the brush was quite short, but the application was fine.

Free full size sample!


Indoors

With flash

I couldn't pass up the chance to buy this, even though I don't regularly buy InStyle, probably because it makes me want to buy heaps of things and do completely irrational things. For example reading through it, I now really want to dye my hair blonde and get it dip dyed blue or something. I'm pretty sure that would look completely wrong on me, but I can dream!!

Bar Tested!!

It did really well at work! I'm quite impressed on how it did actually, with colours like red you can really tell when it chips and here there are only really a couple of noticeable ones plus some tip wear on my thumb. I'm actually still wearing it right now, but the small chips have lead to massive chips, so I'll have to take it off tomorrow.

Long story short, I gave in and bought some Butter Londons on eBay! British Racing Green (so I can finally have an awesome forest green) and Dark Knight are on their way to me as we speak! So excited!

See you next time!
x

9/20/12

Fake OPI Mad As A Hatter :(

Hi!

Before I get into my Bar Testing again I thought I'd do a little post about fake OPI.

The other day I started looking into potentially getting Mad As A Hatter, since then I've realised that they are waaaay too expensive (someone's selling MAAH & Absolutely Alice for $61!). 

So the first one I got (the one in the pictures), I probably should have foreseen that it would be a fake but I'd never heard of anyone selling fake OPI before! I emailed the seller when I got it, suspecting it to be a fake, and he replied "you should note that I never said 100% authenticity guaranteed" (I imagine him speaking in a really douche-y voice), he said that I could send it back for a refund but honestly I don't want someone else to have to buy a pre-used bottle and one of my friends loves the colour and doesn't mind if it's not fake.

The second one I got thinking that it would be real! Again, I must be the most naive person ever! The listing said that she ran a salon and used these in her store and also that these were factory seconds. It was exactly the same as the first bottle but I didn't have the energy to send it back to her and she stuck to her factory seconds story so I just left it.

At least I can use this to make a little tutorial on how to tell if your OPI is real or fake. I've learned quite a bit through my google-ing and I know for a fact that some of the tutorials say that certain things make an OPI fake that aren't true, so hopefully I can cover everything!

Also I used a Kleenex box as the background because the puppies are cute, at least there's something good in the photos haha!



Compared to OPI Pirouette My Whistle

Off centre label

Lid touches bottle on the fake

Off centre label


Real OPI on the left, different brushes

Real OPI on the left, fake has a thinner lid

Colour shot


Colour shot

All in all this is a pretty good fake, the colour is really similar to the real MAAH although I can't compare to a real one. It even had the OPI engraved onto the brush! The main thing that was different was the smell, it didn't really smell like any of my other OPIs. One of the main things that people comment on for fake MAAHs is that instead of having magenta and teal glitter they have red and green glitter, this one I would say that there is definitely teal glitter, but there's red glitter too.

Main things to look out for in Fake OPIs:

  1. Height difference in comparison to real OPIs.
  2. Different lid's to OPIs, this can include a lighter lid, thinner lid, no 'cog' like markings on the inside of the lid. If there is no gap between the bottle and the lid, it's most likely a fake.
  3. Some cheap fakes don't have OPI engraved on the white part of the brush.
  4. Missing a label on the bottom of the bottle (some have just the top label with the 'peel here' part and some have just the label underneath).
  5. There are heaps of websites that say that if your OPI doesn't have 4 warning signs on the back then it's a fake, this is WRONG! I have bought OPIs from David Jones, Hairhouse Warehouse, other beauty stores, and TransDesign. None of these have 4 warning signs, actually I think there might be one in my entire collection that has 4 warning signs. The extra one warning sign is to say that there's more information on the bottom of the bottle. So it doesn't mean that your collection is fake if none of them have it.
That's all I've got at the moment. Have you guys ever encountered fake OPIs? What did they look like? I've heard some people say that theirs are laughably fake, like wrong colours etc.

See you next time!
x

9/16/12

Pretty & Polished - Jawbreaker

Hi!

So right now I've gone into some kind of Etsy and Llarowe buying frenzy. Can you believe that when I started this blog, I didn't have any indie polishes, and now I have 32 with more on the way! Today I've got Pretty & Polished's Jawbreaker to show you, a gorgeous white jelly base with different sizes of red, blue and yellow glitter! It also completely looks like a jawbreaker!

Direct sunlight


Direct Sunlight


Indoors


With Flash


Up close
Formula was amazing! This is three coats but you could do it with two, I just wanted to see how much the glitter would peek through.

You can get Jawbreaker from Llarowe for $12 plus shipping when it's in stock.

So I've decided to do a new segment! In marketing we're always taught that you need to have something to differentiate your brand from another. So the other day at work I was looking down at my chipped nails (which I'd painted that day!) and wondering which nail polishes would be able to last at work! Everyone's nails chip in the bar, I think it's the combination of alcohol and having to open so many bottles that does it. So now I introduce to you....THE BAR TEST! 

The rules:
1. All have to have a base coat and a top coat
2. Polish has to be applied that day


Bar tested!!
Sorry for the low quality photos, I take them as soon as I get home (around 5.30am) and there's no light :(. Jawbreaker did pretty well! Especially considering the glitter, glitter always chips like crazy! I feel like it correlates to the amount of days it would wear in normal life, I'd say one night at the bar would be similar to a couple days of day wear.

Have you guys gotten any indie polishes? Any recommendations?

See you next time!
x

9/10/12

A-England - Princess Sabra & Dragon

Hi!

Sadly today we reach the end of the SWATCH-STRAVAGANZA :( Hopefully once I get my hands on some Gothic Beauties, I'll be able to show you more A-England!

These are two amazing holographics from the Legends collection. First up is Princess Sabra, a yellow-bronze (?) holographic. I was sooo close to not buying this, but once I heard the story of how it's supposed to be the same colour as Adina's cat, Tristam's, eyes, I had to have it! They completely remind me of the colour of a cats eyes and I tried to take a photo of this polish next to one of the cats, but they weren't having it! Oh well.

Two coats in all the photos below.

Direct Sunlight


Indoors


Flash


Flash

Plus a picture of one of the kittens that we only looked after for one night before they went to their foster carer. I don't think we even named this little guy, but I think he was part of a litter that we had to give a bath and we separated the ones that loved the water and hated the water into Cray Cray's and Normies. It's so weird when kittens like being bathed especially because it was the first time I'd seen it in real life!


Pretty sure this one was a Cray Cray haha

The final Legend I have for you guys is Dragon! It's a green holographic, similar to Saint George, but Saint George is more of an emerald green/teal while Dragon is lighter and more....Dragon-y. Honestly I don't think you can look at this and not think 'Dragon', it reminds me of all the movies where the dragon flies around and the sun shines off their scales.

Dragon can indeed be a one coater to all people who are in a rush! On my pointer and middle finger I've got 1 coat and on my ring and little finger I've got two. The extra coat makes it sightly darker and makes the holographic stand out a little bit more, but the difference isn't that big.


Direct Sunlight


Indoors


Flash
So no more A-England :( Well until I give in and buy all the Gothic Beauties + Bridal Veil!

You can buy A-England from their website here with free shipping, or you can go to Llarowe where she has some of the Gothic Beauties up already!

Next up I've got all the indie polishes that arrived in the past couple of weeks when I went nuts buying from Llarowe and Etsy haha.

See you next time!

x

9/8/12

A-England - Ascalon & Princess Tears


Hi again!


Today I've got two amazing colours from A-England's Legends Collection Ascalon & Princess Sabra. 


First up is Ascalon! A great grey-lavender with scattered holographic particles. For some reason the direct sunlight didn't show any of the purple tones but you can see it in the pictures in the shade. All these pictures are taken with 2 coats, no top coat or base coat (naughty).




Direct Sunlight


Indoors


Indirect Sunlight


Flash


Oh my god, Princess Tears! It's a stunning lilac toned holographic polish! Even though I don't work in an office, I think that this could be one of the rare holographics that are work appropriate. Again, only two coats needed for the pictures below.



Flash


Indoors
Direct Sunlight


Direct Sunlight


 As with all the A-Englands these have a great formula, not being too thick or too thin and super opaque. I did think that they were going to be more of a linear holographic, but they're more scattered. It's not a bad thing, but I've seen heaps of photos where people have gotten stronger linear holographic photos.

In my opinion, you can never have too many holographics, and the only bad thing about them is that you can't see it indoors!


Tomorrow I've got some more Legends for you as we reach the end of the *insert game show music here* SWATCH-STRAVAGANZA!


See you tomorrow!


x

9/6/12

A-England - Lady of the Lake & Tristam

Hi!

Finally! The two holographics of the Mythicals Collection! Tristam was one of the other polishes I got in my first A-England haul a few months ago, and I just had to get his purple sister Lady of the Lake!

Unfortunately they're more of a scattered holo instead of linear, but that doesn't make them any less beautiful! Both of them have great application & drying time going on in two easy coats and drying in about 15 minutes without a quick dry top coat!

Onto the pictures! First up is Lady of the Lake:

Direct Sunlight
Indirect Sunlight
Flash
Flash
Isn't it pretty! I loooove purples, but for some reason I don't wear them that much, which is crazy! Next up is the gorgeous Tristam! The best way to describe this colour is denim. This looks exactly like blue jeans, and would be great for Jeans for Genes Day (is that a day in America? I think it's sometime in October here).


Direct Sunlight
Direct Sunlight
Shadow
Flash
One thing that I've completely forgotten to mention in previous posts is removal. These didn't stain my nails at all even though they were super pigmented. Although I've never really had staining problems except for reds & China Glaze Atlantis.

Tomorrow I'll show the first half of my Legends collection! I'll leave you with a photo of the new phone covers I got from eBay this week. A kitty and chocolate! Best things in the world I think haha!




x

9/5/12

A-England - Elaine & Guinevere

Hi!

Omg! I completely forgot to post yesterday. Uni's been so annoying. Group work = death!

Continuing on the A-England SWATCH-STRAVAGANZA, I've got two beautiful purples from the Mythicals collection.

First up is Elaine (not the one from Seinfeld, although I'm sure she'd rock this colour), a gorgeous dark purple creme, it's kind of eggplant-y (?) and would be great for autumn I think. This is two easy coats. No idea why this made my hand look so red in the sunlight again, but it didn't look like that in real life haha

Direct Sunlight

Flash
Now, one of my favourites of the bunch, Guinevere! A light grey-purple/lilac creme. The perfect counterpart to Elaine because I think this one would rock spring. Or winter. Or any season haha. Again, two easy coats.

Direct Sunlight
Indoors

Flash

Flash
Purple has to be on of my favourite colours, it goes with every outfit and suits everyone!

Now I'll have to get back to this stupid assignment! See you tomorrow!

x