Orly: Teal Unreal

Onto another nail post while I'm on a roll...

 

Teal Unreal is from Orly's Surreal collection launched late in 2013.  It's one of those winter-appropriate brights which provides a slight twist on the usual winter colours.  The name sums it up very well - this is a vibrant teal cream with a strong leaning towards blue.  Application was superb as the formula is so easy to work with (not too thick and not prone to flooding) and what I'm coming to expect from Orly polishes.  The only downside with this shade is the blue colouring can stain the nails and cuticles so be careful when using remover to ensure you sweep the cotton pad down from the base to the tip of the nail to minimise cuticle staining.  The nails themselves clean up well with an extra wipe of good quality remover.

All pictures taken in indirect daylight:

 

 

 

Have you tried Orly nail polish?

 

 

Sportsgirl Nail It! Glitter Envy

Feeling festive?  It's taken me a while to warm up but I'm finally into it so my nails are lately all about festive colours and finishes.

 

Sportsgirl released a gorgeous tinselly green polish some months ago called Glitter Envy.  It's basically very densely packed fine teal green glitter in a green base so it's a standalone polish, although I'm sure a single coat could also be used as a festive topper.  I used three coats plus top coat for a depth of finish.  This polish is utterly perfect for this time of year so I'm so disappointed it's disappeared from Sportgirl's line up.  You may be lucky to find it in their discount bins - very lucky - and if you are that lucky grab it!

 

Sun

 

 

 

Shade

 

 

Until next time.

 



Covergirl: Constant Caribbean

Covergirl's Outlast Stay Brilliant nail polish line has been around in Australia for months now however I hesitated to buy any - it was only when I scored a Priceline voucher that I came down from the fence to try some.  It turns out I should never have worried!

 

Constant Caribbean is one of the most vibrant teal green shimmer polishes I've ever tried and the application was pretty much flawless.  The polish was easy to control and superbly smooth on the nails.  This manicure easily lasted the week too with no chipping and...and I was impressed that a shade like this removed with zero staining!  Seriously, this drugstore polish is a case of what's not to love about it? So it's pretty clear how I feel then!

 

All pictures taken indoors in indirect daylight:

 

 

 

Have you tried Covergirl Outlast nail polish?

What do you think?

Natio: Teal

Natio's Little Treasures nail polish bottles are pretty darn cute so it's no surprise that this particular cute addict bought a handful of them at the Natio warehouse sale (see my warehouse sale post and products purchased list here).  I've tried a few of Natio's polishes before and loved the quality so at a mere $3 a bottle I didn't hesitate to buy every colour that took my fancy.

 

Even though I bought Denim - the prized dupe for Chanel's Blue Boy - Teal was my first choice to wear because it's such a fresh spring colour.  Teal requires no further description other than to say it is a teal cream.  I only needed to apply a single coat of this too - the coverage of this polish was excellent! 

All pictures taken indoors in indirect daylight

 

 

 

I did manage to ruin this gorgeous mani shortly after by applying a top coat which decided to wrinkle and rumple but that is ANOTHER story...

 

Enjoy your Friday!

BYS Magnetic: Neptune

The third polish I'm reviewing from the BYS Magnetic range was unexpectedly interesting.

Neptune is the perfect name for this metallic teal polish because it's the green-blue colour of the sea.  I loved the depth of coverage after one coat, albeit being a little brushstrokey.  I could have so easily worn it as is - and I'll show you a 'before' shot to compare - but of course these polishes are all about the magnetic effect and this one was surprising.  I was expecting the magnetic pattern to be the usual light stripe but this one is black!  The striped pattern kind of reminded me in an off-kilter, off colour way of a bumblebee!?!  For the fun factor alone I like this magnetic polish the best so far!
 

 This is two coats of colour without top coat.  All pictures were taken in cloudy conditions:

Now here's the 'before' shot for comparison:

There are 9 shades in the BYS Magnetic nail enamel range.  BYS polishes are available from discount stores nationally or may be purchased online from FashionAddict.

Until next time.

Vita :)

 (These products have been provided for my consideration.  All comments and opinions are my own.)

OPI: Unfor-Greta-bly Blue

As promised, here's another swatch from OPI's recently released Germany collection.

Unfor-Greta-bly Blue (what a tongue-twister of a name!) is another of the jewel toned metallics in the collection and sat high on my polish radar.  And jewel toned it is indeed as OPI has described this rich, deep blue as "brilliant sapphire".  What I also love about this polish is the added dimension of colour with an ever so subtle hint of teal.  This is 3 coats of colour with top coat for added shine:

Sun

 

Shade

 Lamplight

On a random note, I just noticed that yesterday's post was my 501st!  Wow, that's a lot of rambling to you all, and I've loved every bit of it!  :)


Until my next ramble!

Vita :)

Glitter gradient with OPI Servin' Up Sparkle

I'm getting a bit better at doing glitter gradient mani's so this is just about good enough to share with you.

I used the silver holo glitter mashup Servin' Up Sparkle from last year's Serena Williams Glam Slam! collection to glam up the shimmery teal Yodel Me on My Cell.  I applied one coat of the glitter two-thirds up the nail, then added a second coat half the way up the glitter coat and a final coat of glitter just on the nail tips.  I hope that makes sense?

This is the result.  To perfect it and smooth it out I'd recommend a final layer of topcoat but this mani is photographed without.  All pictures were taken outdoors in cloudy conditions:

 

That's it for tonight.

Vita :)

OPI: Yodel Me on My Cell

Teal, glorious teal - creme or shimmer I love them all and this one's no exception.

Yodel Me on My Cell is from OPI's 2010 Swiss Collection.  I was pretty darn enamored with that collection and have quite a few colours in my stash!  YMOMC is one of my favourites - a bright teal shimmer with just a hint of sparkle.  It's a little on the sheer side and took three coats to build up full opacity but dried quickly with a streak free finish.  One drawback of blue/green shades is they can stain nails badly but this removed cleanly with no horrible green residue.  Such a pretty and vibrant colour for winter for the teal lovers out there and I believe it's still available.

Partial sun (better than no sun!)

Shade

 

Until next time.

Vita :)

Nail It! Show Off

I know that teal polishes were huge last winter and they don't seem to be around as much this year but I still love them!

This quickie post features a deep teal creme from Sportsgirl's polish brand Nail It!  I snapped up Show Off from Sportsgirl's bargain bin last year so it's unfortunately no longer available.  I do mean it when I say unfortunate because this was another lovely polish to apply.  Very smooth, with a lacquer-like shine.  Beautiful depth of coverage in two coats.  I wore this manicure unadorned for quite a few days just because I loved the shininess and vampy impact of it...

Outdoors cloudy conditions

Lamplight

That's all for tonight.

Vita :)

L'Oreal: Magic Croisette

Oh yeah, the weekend's nearly over again but I've had a great one!  I finally took the plunge and met up with two other Melbourne beauty bloggers today for what turned out to be a fun lunch - Thanks Ling from The Best Beauty Blog and Ling from Pork Chop's Nest for a fantastic afternoon :)

Onto the polish - Magic Croisette is another of the awesome shades from L'Oreal's current L'Or Electric collection.  Two out of two for success with these new L'Oreal polishes so far in terms of colour and application.  Firstly the colour is an unusual sea blue shot with gold shimmer so it leans towards teal - gorgeous!!  Second, I put this through a proper application test - I applied two coats in the evening and it dried smoothly and quickly enough for none of the dreaded sheet prints next morning - bonus!  No bubbling either as I've experienced with some of the older Titanium range. 

I'm posting sunlit and lamplit pix to bring out the shimmer:

Full sun

Lamplight

Off I go cos my son's hassling me for the computer....

Until next time.

Vita :)

Essence - Let's Get Lost + China Glaze - White Cap

**Scheduled Post**

While I loved wearing Let's Get Lost alone and unadorned I wanted to see how it would look topped with some golden shimmer.  I added a single coat of China Glaze White Cap and the result was an ethereal shimmery aqua blue.  The crystal-dipped look was instant love for me.  White Cap is probably my favourite layering polish and it never disappoints...

Full sun

Outdoors shade

 

Do you have a favourite layering polish?

That's all  for now.

Vita :)

Essence - Let's Get Lost

 **Scheduled Post**

While you're reading this hopefully I'll be lazing on the beach at Crescent Head on the northern NSW coast!  I'm away for a week with the family and some friends but I've managed to schedule a few posts for you.   Normal posting will resume on the 29th.  Among other things I have a swag of blog awards and a giveaway I won that I need to acknowledge!

Onto the polish...Oh I do love a good peacocky blue creme polish and this one really kicked goals for me!  Let's Get Lost is yet another shade from Essence's Colour & Go line of polishes.   I was jumping for joy when Essence launched nationally in Target stores last November because they increased their colour selection and that meant more shades to add to my collection!  

Let's Get Lost does appear more peacock or teal blue IRL but as a lover of teal shades that's just fine with me.  The only negative with this colour is it stained my nails (and cuticles) terribly when I removed it.  Still, I forgive this because I adore the vibrant colour and the glossy finish.   I applied two coats of colour for fully opaque coverage.

Full sun

Outdoors shade

Have you tried Essence polishes yet?  What are your favourite shades?

Until next time.

Vita :)

OPI: Ski Teal We Drop

Hello :)

Here's another colour I enjoyed wearing last week.  Ski Teal We Drop is a deep teal creme polish from OPI's Swiss Collection released in 2010.  It's a very winter-appropriate shade, and although I wore this on the weekend I'm pretty sure it would be office-appropriate too.  It doesn't make too much of a statement, so it would go with any kind of outfit without being distracting.  Application of the polish was a breeze as usual...

Outdoors - no sun again - Sorry!

Lamplight

That's all for now.

Vita :)

OPI: Turquoise Shatter + Ski Teal We Drop

Sorry for not posting yesterday - I was really busy trying to cram my full weekend into one day - grocery shopping, laundry, off to see the last Harry Potter instalment at the movies with my family, then out to dinner.  Challenging as you can imagine!

This is a quick post to show you Turquoise Shatter over a dark cream shade.  I decided to try it over Ski Teal We Drop from OPI's Swiss Collection.  STWD is a deep teal cream and I thought this would provide a good base for a tone-on-tone look. 

The different shatter finish is really interesting.  To quote an old Australian candy bar commercial (for Violet Crumble bars I think?), "It's the way it shatters that matters..." and this shattered very differently from my last combo with the silver foil.  When Turquoise Shatter dried over STWD it produced a fault line style of cracking rather than the usual meshy effect.  See here:

Outdoors shade

Full sun

Which finish do you prefer?

Until next time - I'm off to the airport in a few minutes!

Vita :)