Let me just start by saying this is an exact dupe for yesterday's polish, Sally Hansen Turquoise Opal. The very last photo shows a comparison swatch. The other interesting thing is that I’m sure this is also an exact dupe of Ozotic Pro #505.

Recently when I wrote about ordering these polishes, Kira from over at Kira and Lydia's Makeup, said she was keen to see these as she didn’t want to double up on her Ozotic Pro colours. Well Kira, right you are!

What I find very interesting is that not only do they appear to be the exact same multichromatic polish, but they also have the exact same number! And even more evidence that these are probably from the same Australian manufacturer, is that it’s not just this one polish. I ordered six multichrome polishes (#502, #503, #504, #505, #506 and #508) from Artform Nails. From looking at other people’s swatches and reading the colour descriptions of Ozotics #502, #504, #505, #506, all four of these polishes are exactly the same number and colour as the Artform ones.

So the cool part is that I read a comment from Kaz over at Pretty Random saying that Ozotic Pro #503 and #508 are discontinued. So how cool is it that after looking at the Ozotic Pro colour chart, I have probably located exact dupes of #503 and #508.

Just remember that these actually cost a little more than the Ozotic pro ($10.95 v $8.50). But if you want to get #503 and #508, it’s probably worth the extra few bucks.

Anyway, onto the swatches of Artform #505.  These were all three coats over a black base.

1. You actually look the same on my nail as you do in the bottle
2. Thin, smooth formula
3. Awesome colour changing from turquoise green and blue through to rich royal purple.
4. Smooth glossy finish, top coat not required
5. Magnificant in sunlight and indoors.
6. Sparkley metallic shimmer finish
7. Great durability.

Awesome response to my giveaway already. Thank you to everyone that has filled in the form. I tell you, some of you girls out there have A LOT of nail polish!!  Check it out here if you haven't entered yet.

It would come as no surprise that I love holo polishes.  But one of the biggest problems with some brands (I'm talking about you Nfu Oh) is that they flake and chip so quickly.  I even have this problem with China Glaze OMG and Kaleidoscopes.  I even read something about GOSH holographic being specifically made for party's and as such wasn't designed for longevity.

In doing my blog reading catch up I discovered some blog posts from mid last year talking about nail polish sandwiches.  I thought I would try it out and do a wear test.

For my holo sandwich test I used Nfu Oh 63.  The pink holo.  When I wore this in the past it didn't even last one day.  I had chips at the edges and it just flaked off in big chunks (although I didn't use the Nfu Oh Aqua base, which is meant to help with this too).

My holo sandwich was:

• One coat Nailtek II foundation base coat
• One coat Nfu Oh 63
• One coat Australis top coat (I like this top coat cause it works well when I do foils, doesn't have shrinkage and doesn't chip)
• Two coats of Nfu Oh 63
• One coat Seche Vite top coat

Here it is at the end of Day 1 - a full 24 hours of wear.

CLOSED

Just the other day marked one year since I did my first blog post.  Although I was pretty much on hiatus for six of those twelve months being pregnant and not being able to stand the smell of any nail polish.

Anywho, in honor of my blogs first birthday, I'm giving away eight mini 5ml Artform holographic nail polishes.



You can get up to eleven entries, just fill in the form at the bottom.  Even non-bloggers can get multiple entries by filling in the survey questions.

Open internationally. 

Closes 20 April 2011 - anywhere in the world.

Winner picked by random number generator.

These polishes are only available in Australia, and they don't ship internationally, so here is your chance to try some awesome holographic polishes.  Some of these polishes only just arrived yesterday so I will be posting swatches of them to show you what you can win. But to get started, here are a couple.

Purple

When I started reading nail polish blogs about a year and a half ago, I discovered a whole new vocabulary.  Lets have a quick chat about a few of them today.

Lemming - Ok, so my first thoughts when I saw 'lemming' was a small furry-footed rodent.  But the context of "I'm really lemming this" just didn't work.  My next thought was the lovable green haired characters in the Lemmings game.  Do you remember these little guys?  What a fun mindless game of the 90's.  I finally worked out that a lemming was neither of these, but in fact a longing, yearing, wish, desire etc. 

But now I'm beginning to wonder about the connection between lemmings (the game character) and lemmings (our polish desires).  I mean we get lemmings (polish desires) from seeing awesome polishes on other peoples blogs, and then getting the uncontrollable desire to have that same polish.  It seems that we are maybe a little like those lemmings (games characters) in following what we see other people do.  Umm food for thought.

Stash - So we all know what this one is, and no its not the same one as used during Movember when we say to our mates "Nice stash bro"... (Aussie gals will know what I'm talking about). I just love the way nail polish bloggers use this term.  Instead of having a nail polish collections, we have stashes.  And I just love seeing peoples pictures of the stashes, and how they store and organise them.

Haul - Another word that I just love how nail polish bloggers use.  When we get nail polish in the mail, its not just a delivery, its a haul.  "Look what I just hauled in", like you've just been fishing and you caught a fish 'this big'.

Shrinkage - Alright, when I first saw someone writing on their blog about shrinkage, I had a little giggle like a school girl, just like Homer Simpson when he says 'titmouse' tee hee hee.  Seriously now, last time I heard the word shrinkage was from my husband after jumping into our pool and finding it A LOT colder than expected. But now I understand, in the nail polish world this means where the polish dries and pulled back from the edge of the nail, thus shrinking as it dries.

Konad - Another word that when I first saw it, I was like "what, are you serious, you named your product Konad".  When I told my husband I bought some Konad plates online, he did a double take and said "you bought what...", "Konad" I said, "not Gonad".  Google it if you don't know what I mean.

And now, because this is a nail polish blog, here are some pretty sparkly nails.
This is Nubar Violet Sparkle, three coats with base and top coat. Very beautiful, bitch to remove.

Last year, when I purchased my Artform holographic nail polishes, also found on their website a few bottles of five way colour changing mood polishes under the brand name of Dare2Wear.  I ordered all five at the time, but two were out of stock, and sorry, they don't seem to have them at all any more.  But I still thought I would share.

So, these polishes are meant to have five colours.  A cold colour indoors, warm colour indoors, cold colour in the sun, warm colour in the sun and glow in the dark.  How awesome do they sound!!  They had me, hook, line and sinker.

Unfortunately, they didn't quite live up to what I had hoped.  This one is suppose to be Luscious Lavender on the nail, and Baby Blue on the tip indoors, then change to Mystic Beige on the nail and Lime Gold on the tip in the sun. Finally, it's suppose to go Neon Green in the dark.

WOW, awesome response to the Ulta3 giveaway yesterday.  They are all but gone.  There are five polishes left and if no one takes them in the next day or so, I might pull them and create some much better frankenpolishes with them, and given those away instead?  What do you think?  Especially as the leftover ones are three glitters (which the coverage is pretty poor) and two neons.

Speaking of Frankenpolishes, here is my latest, which I have named Aurora Australis. 

The Aurora Australis are the southern hemisphere version of the Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis, and are generally only viewable from Antarctica, but can also be seen from Tasmania.  I picked this name because, well I live in Australia and because this polish is a black jelly with holographic glitter.  The black jelly is like the night sky and the holo glitter is like the multicoloured lights that appear over the south pole.

This one is only for the Aussies, sorry everyone else. I have plans for a giveaway for my blogs first birthday coming up soon, and that one will be open internationally.


This is kind of like a blog sale, except there is no sale part.  You just need to pay for your postage. Postage to anywhere in Australia will be a flat rate of $6.00 for 1-5 polishes.

My only restriction is no more than five polishes to any one person, that way at least 8 people get to share the polishes.


Here is a list of all the polishes available, there are some multiples:

***All polishes are now GONE***

antique copper  - GONE
antique copper - GONE
berry - speed dry - GONE
blue glitter - GONE
bo peep - GONE
bottle green - GONE
brandy wine - GONE
burgundy - GONE
charmed - GONE
citrus - GONE
confetti - GONE
confetti - GONE
confetti - GONE
crazy - GONE
delight - GONE
earl grey - GONE
earl grey - GONE
elegant mauve - GONE
english rose - GONE
fire truck - speed dry - GONE
foxy russset - GONE
foxy russset - GONE
hollywood - GONE
jelly - GONE
little boy blue - GONE
midnight - GONE
pearly grape - GONE
pepper pot - GONE
pink colada - GONE
pink pistol - speed dry - GONE
plum violet - missing label  - GONE
royal - speed dry - GONE
snazzle - GONE
spring blossom - GONE
spring shower - GONE
stardust - GONE
sunset coral - speed dry - GONE
sunkissed - GONE
waterlily - GONE
wild berry - GONE 

If you want to grab five free polishes, please follow these instructions:

1. Leave a comment on this post listing the names of the polishes you are after (no more than five) and your email address.  
2. Please read other peoples comments to make sure the polishes you want aren't already requested by someone else.  This will be a case of first in, best dressed (or polished in this case).
3. I will confirm via email (make sure the email address you leave in your comment is one I can contact you on) and provide you with payment options for the postage. You can either pay the $6 via Paypal or direct debit into my bank account.
4. I will mark polishes ON HOLD on the list as quick as I can and will mark them as GONE when I receive postage payment.  If postage payment is not received in 48 hours after I email you, then the polishes will be released again.

Items will be posted in padded satchels by regular Australia Post. If you want the polishes sent by Express Post the cost is $8.40, and guarantees next day delivery.

First in gets the lacquers, so be quick!