Easy Rose Gold Nail Art

 It's been a while since I have done any form of nail art. I had some spare time the other night so I threw myself back into it.

Aussie Indies | Pretty Serious - The Pink One

If you love bright pinks, then the Pink One by Pretty Serious is a must have! The base is an awesomely bright pink, but what sets it apart form all the other bright pinks out there is the vivid blue shimmer in it. (As you could probably see in the bottle above.)

Drugstore Delights | Revlon Parfumerie - China Flower & African Tea Rose

Revlon released a new range recently, called Parfumerie. It's a collection of scented polishes. When Target had a buy one get one free sale recently, I thought I would pick up two - African Tea Rose and China Flower.

I love the bottle shape! It's adorable and luxe, with it's cute little rounded handle. If you can see above, I had them in my bag when I knocked it really hard against something by accident, cracking the corner of China Flower. (insert sad face.)

Ah well, what's more important is the polish inside it! How did I find them?

Illamasqua - Fire Rose from the Glamore Collection

Illamasqua recently released their take on textured polishes, except theirs are called "Shattered Stars" in their Glamore collection. There were four polishes but I only bought one, as I think they were quite similar to some of the OPI ones I already have. The one I'm blogging about today is Fire Rose, a lovely rose pink shade with pink hex glitters.

Aussie Indies | Sayuri - The Cat's Meow

Sayuri nail lacquer is one of my favourite Australian indie brands. She has some awesome polishes that speak to the throbbing heart of the pastel lover in me. My favourite collections are Speakeasy and Crystal Dreams. Today, I'm showing you a polish from Speakeasy, called The Cat's Meow.

Aussie Indies | Mckfresh - Oz from the Sunnydale Collection

Mckfresh Nail Attire, an Australian indie polish brand, released a Buffy inspired collection a while ago, called the Sunnydale Collection. The one I'm showing you today is called Oz, an awesome dark shimmery bronze base with an equally awesome in your face scattered holo. (Awesome.)

OPI Mariah Carey, Spring 2013 - The Impossible

I purchased a mini four pack of the Mariah Carey collection for OPI on a whim. I thought it was a good way to introduce myself to texture polishes. I was hesitant to dip my toes into liquid sands (as OPI calls textured polishes), because any nail polish addict knows what happened after the whirlwind that was shatters, right?

From the four, I put on The Impossible, which has a red jelly base and pink hex glitters. There were also some stars, but I didn't get any on of them on my nails. I didn't make an effort to fish them out, though.

Midweek Mani Mayhem | Easing into gradients & accents

I noticed there was a Monday Manicure hashtag on Twitter, and thought I'd be different and do a Midweek Mani instead. I'm so original, you guizzz.

I saw a mani recently, where their accent nails were their index and middle finger. I always did my thumbs and ring fingers as the accent, so I thought I'd try it out and see if I like it. While I was at it, I thought I'd do a gradient on my ring and pinky, too.

From left to right - Essie Da Bush with Revlon Graceful on tips, Femme Fatale Cosmetics Librarian's Shush

To be honest, I'm not really sure if I like my accent nails being the index and middle! 

I do like the gradient. It's so subtle, you can't tell how horribly inexperienced I am with the technique. It's really easy to do, but needs some practice. The Nailasaurus has some amazing ones, and she has a great tutorial on how to do it, too! I used Essie - Da Bush as a base and dabbed Revlon - Graceful on the tips.

The index and middle finger are an indie polish, Librarian's Shush by Femme Fatale, which has a lovely formula, making it very easy to apply. No dabbing occurred here! If you live in Australia, you can purchase it from their website, otherwise, they have a range of international stockists.

Do you do accent nails?

Do you like it or find it funny?

NOTD | Hits Mari Moon - Artsy swatch

I'm an early bird and normally when I wake up at 5am in the morning, I do stupid things like buy a whole heap of candles online (which ignited my candle obsession, but another story, another post, eh?). 

Anyway, this morning, I painted my nails by the glow of my tablet, and when I decided it was time to go make myself a cup of tea, I realised the awesomeness of the polish when I emerged from the darkness of my room and my hand was basked in the glorious sunlight. (Sydneysiders, is this the first not rainy, albeit still freezing, day we've had all week? I feel like a vampire after not having seen the sun for so long.)

I introduce to you a brand from Brazil called Hits and this is a swatch of Artsy from their Mari Moon collection.

Now in the bottle, it already looks pretty groovy but wait until you see the magic happen on the nails!

Top coat tirade | A England, Sally Hansen, Poshe and more!

I have the patience of a two year old on red cordial. Whenever I painted my nails, I can guarantee you that I smudged them. So when I discovered the magic that is a quick drying top coat, I was hooked. Here are some that I own!

Poshe

I got this mini bottle as a gift, and it was perfect, until it became ridiculously gloopy halfway through. It wasn't even a full size! No thanks!

A-England The Shield

My nails don't chip for a week with this on. The only con is that I think it's quite pricey.

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri

Dries very fast, but not as glossy as I'd like. The bottle lasts a while, and doesn't get gloopy like the Poshe does.

Essence Quick Dry

Bought this on a whim because it's cheap. It's standard, and takes the longest to dry out of everything on this post (like I said, it's cheap so I didn't expect much). I use it to stick nail art stuff onto my nail.

Out The Door

I only just purchased this the other month and I love it so far. I never hear much about this compared to Seche Vite. Unlike what I've heard about Seche Vite, I don't get shrinkage with this. I'll see how I go with this, and whether it will get gloopy as fast as the Poshe did.

I've also used Essie - Good To Go last year, which I loved, but that's expensive-o here. Long story short, but once, while shopping with a friend, I sat down on a seat in the shoe department while she napped and I painted my nails with it. It dried so fast that I fell in love. (Why was she napping in the shoe department? This is life's greatest mystery.)

What are your favourite top coats?

I'm always keen to try a new one!

NOTD | Essie - Bikini So Teeny swatch

I love periwinkle blues like little children love bubbles. I think I have about six bottles in my collection that fall within that colour category. But Essie's Bikini So Teeny, released in Summer 2012, is my favourite.

Swatch: two coats of Essie - Bikini So Teeny

It's got a silvery shimmer that looks amazing in sunlight. And look how shiny it is without top coat! On top of that, it dried super fast. 

It's been hot here in Australia, and I really love how this glows under the sun!

What are your favourite polishes to wear in the summertime?

I'm always open to recommendations!