Tuesday, May 31, 2011

by Kitties26 on Tuesday, May 31, 2011 7 comments

Franken Contest Reminder and ABCs

I thought I better do a reminder about my create a franken polish contest. It closes this Thursday - 2 June, and so far I have received ONE entry. So she's a shoe in for the prize at the moment!

And now, I've realised how much I enjoy reading other people's ABC's, so for the first time, I will reveal a little more about myself.

A. Age: 36
B. Bed size: King
C. Chore you hate: All of them, that's why hubby is so good at them.
D. Day: Sunday
E. Essential start to your day: Peeing
F. Favourite colour: Red, but not on my nails.
G. Gold or Silver: Gold.
H. Height: 5'9" or 175cm
I. Instruments: Recorder, triangle, tambourine - anything my 3 year old can play.
J. Job title: Team Leader in a Federal Govt Dpt.
K. Kids: Two, 3yo and 4 months.
L. Live: North Canberra
M. Mum’s name: Dorothy.
N. Nicknames: Caddy, Cath, Wellsy, Wellsette,
O. Overnight hospital stays: Two, to have my bubbies.
P. Pet peeve: Drivers that don't know how to merge.
Q. Quote from a movie: At the moment, Mr Three is totally into the Cars movie, so my favourite quote is Mater saying "He did what in his cup" after McQueen tells them that Doc won three Piston Cups.
R. Right or left handed: Right
S. Siblings: Two older brothers.
T. Time you wake up: 6.30ish
U. Underwear: Always, although I have been known to partake in an occasional 'No undie Sundie'
V. Vegetables you dislike: Jerusalem artichokes & broad beans.
W. What makes you run late: Kids, like Mr three chucking a wobbly, or Miss four months doing a serious mess in her pants, as we walk out the door.
X. X-Rays you’ve had: Wisdom teeth.
Y. Yummy food you make: It's all edible, but my specialties are: tomato savories and cheesies (both family recipes)
Z. Zoo: Love them, but only if the enclosures are appropriate, with plenty of room for the animals.

I like the fact that most other bloggers haven't been specifically tagging people with this, rather, they suggest you do it too if you enjoyed reading it. Jacie, I enjoyed reading yours, so anyone else that wants to do this, please do, and leave a link in the comments so I can have a read.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

by Kitties26 on Sunday, May 29, 2011 2 comments

Nfu Oh 93

I was so totally into my last mani that I just didn't want to take it off. It finally starting chipping on the tips today, so I reluctantly took it off. Then I did some swatching.

This is Nfu Oh 93. I picked it up from Vivid Nails clearance sale for $2.

I really wanted to see this polish on its own. I wanted that bottle colour, no matter how many coats - I can not be beaten!. Six coats later, this is what I got. Love it, great colour, but it would have remained dentable for at least a day! Dented polish really irritates me, so I took it off, and....

layer it over black. Actually I didn't use black, it was Ulta3 midnight, which is the blackest navy blue there is. But one thin coat of midnight is fully opaque, unlike Ulta3 black satin. I did two coats of Nfu Oh 93.

I love it on it's own, but really its a perfect layering polish. I bought quite a few of these really sheer Nfu Oh colours for $2. But I have a feeling that, although they are different shades, they will all look the same over black.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

by Kitties26 on Wednesday, May 25, 2011 15 comments

Last days of Autumn

Well here we are in the last few days of autumn (although it feels like its been winter all month). I received my Bundle Monster plates in the mail yesterday and was rather excited to use them. The problem with so many plates is choosing which design to use.

I used plate BM21, stamping over a gradient striped design of the following colours:

OPI - Meet & Jingle
NYC - Delusion (vintage old metallic duochromish - will swatch one day)
Artmatic - Copper Glow (another super old polish, metallic orange - need to swatch)
China Glaze - Passion
Ozotic - unnamed vintage bottle (circ 2002) green/gold duochrome.

Here is a close up of a nail so you can see the five coloured strips beneath the stamping.

Here is my inspiration for this design, Canberra in autumn. Isn't it just beautiful.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

by Kitties26 on Saturday, May 21, 2011 9 comments

Is there such as thing as too much layering?

I nabbed some awesome Nfu Oh polishes for only $2 during the Vivid Nails clearance sale a month or two back. These are #123 and #124. This was two coats, but I could have got a better richness in colour if I had done three.

Here are the bottle pics, #123 on the left, #124 on the right.

Then I thought I would try another polish layered over the top. This is #83.

One coat of #83 over each of #123 on index and ring and #124 on middle and pinky.

Up close to see the shimmer. I think this polish would franken into something darker very nicely. And for only $2 I'll happily try that out.

Then I wanted to layer a bit more. So out came flaky #54.

A coat of #54 layered over #83 over #123 on index and ring and #124 on middle and pinky. In the full sun.

Same in the shade. I think flaky polishes look way better indoors or in the shade, rather than full sun.

Finally up close.

So, with base coat, two coats of #123 or #124, then one of #83, then one of #54 the top coat = 6 coats. Excessive? maybe. Pretty? definitely.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

by Kitties26 on Thursday, May 19, 2011 18 comments

Franken Polish Contest and my black magnetic holo franken

Entries in the franken polish contest are now closed.

A week or so a go, I created a blue magnetic holographic franken polish. Today I have created a black version. I LOVE it. This was 1/2 magnetic black polish, 1/4 China Glaze Let's do it in 3D and 1/4 Glitter Gal Black Holographic. I've named it 'Magnetwinkle'.

I really love creating franken polishes, it’s relaxing, creative and easy to do.

So I have decided to do a franken polish contest, just to see what beauties you can all come up with.

Here are the rules:

This contest is open internationally
You have to be a GFC follower to submit your entry.
You can submit just one entry.
You must create a franken polish, name it and swatch it on your fingers.
Your franken can be created anyway, mxing poilshes or adding micas, pigments and glitters.
Send your entry to morenailpolish@iinet.net.au and include:

one photo of your nails wearing your franken polish (horizontal please)
The name of your franken polish
The recipe you used to create the franken
Your GFC name
your blog URL – if you have one.
any other description or comments to support your franken polish.

Your entry CANNOT be posted anywhere until I publish all entries here, after that you can go nuts and post your pictures anywhere and ask for votes.

Entries close in two weeks, on 2 June 2011, so get your lab coats on and start frankening.

The winner will be determined via online voting, where each of my GFC followers will be able to vote once for their favourite franken polish.

The winner will receive a brand new, unused bottle of the discontinued and hard to find, Sally Hansen Nail Prisms Turquoise Opal, purchased by me. Here is a swatch of my bottle, I'm giving away my spare.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

by Kitties26 on Wednesday, May 18, 2011 5 comments

Kitty Kreations - Maverick nails

This is our big boy Maverick.

AKA: Mav, Mavie, Mav's a dick, Dicky

Mav was originally my sister in laws cat. She got him at a shelter as a kitten, and shall we just say that Mav has some mental issues. He's a bit of a nut case to say the least and totally weirded out on her to the point that she was going to return him to the shelter.

My husband and I couldn't have him sent back, so we took in him. He definitely had issues and wanted to mark his territory a lot. We tried a few things to help settle him down, Feliway pheromone sprays and diffusers and Clomicalm medication. He doesn't have any of those anymore, since we got the three stray kittens (in 2005). He has become a real mother to them and calmed down so much.

Becoming a mum changes us all, even our male kitties!

So here is my manicure inspired by Mav. I used a combo of stripes as the base using OPI DS Desire and OP My Private Jet (new version) - not that you can really see the stripes. I then stamped with the Zebra print from Konad plate m57 in various directions.

Then I applied painters tape to mask off the white sections and used nail polish remover to actually remove the polish from the tip of the nail. With the tape still in place I applied two coats of white to the tip. I then removed the tape and applied a top coat.

It was a rather crazy many, but rather fun.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

by Kitties26 on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 1 comment

Our favourite polish

I just released that I never posted about everyone's favourite polish in their collection.

I love these results, its so interesting to see what people love.

OPI DS Glamour 3%

GOSH Holographic 3%
Nfu Oh 51 2%
China Glaze For Audrey 2%
OPI Absolutely Alice 2%
Clarins 230 2%
China Glaze Ruby Pumps 1%
Orly Space Cadet 1%
OPI DS Original 1%
OPI My Private Jet 1%
Chanel Paradoxal 1%
Color Club Fashion Addict 1%
Color Club Wild at Heart 1%
deborah lippmann across the universe 1%
Deborah Lippmann Ruby Red Slippers 1%
MAC Bad Fairy 1%
Nubar 2010 1%
Nubar Reclaim 1%
Celeb City by Sally Hansen 1%
China Glaze 2NITE 1%
China Glaze Atlantis 1%
China Glaze DV8 1%
China Glaze Emerald Sparkle 1%
China Glaze LOL 1%
China Glaze OMG 1%
Color Club revvvolution 1%
Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday 1%
Nfu Oh 63 1%
OPI Black Shatter 1%
OPI DS Extravagance 1%
OPI DS Sapphire 1%
Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure 1%
Sinful Colors San Francisco 1%
Zoya Adina 1%

A note about collecting the data for this one:

I removed it from the list if it was only mentioned once, so if your favourite isn't listed above, then you were the only person that listed that as your favourite polish.
I removed it if you listed a whole collection - CG OMG.
I didn't count it if you just listed a brand - OPI
I didn't include it if you couldn't decided and listed a number of polishes.

So all the above only total 33% of the people who answered this question, so the remaining 66% of people all had a favourite polish that no one else listed as their favourite.

What I found interesting is the OPI DS Glamour came out on top of the list, yet it didn't even have two people listing it at their #1 lemming.

I expected to see Gosh Holographic, Nfu Oh 51 and Clarins 230 up there, but was surprised to see the other three. I imagine if more people owned the above three polishes that they would be even higher in the favourite polishes. I think that's why For Audrey and Absolutely Alice made it into the list, because they are much easier to get your hands on.

That was fun. Thanks to everyone who went to the effort to fill in those questions as part of my giveaway. It was really interesting to see the results.

Monday, May 16, 2011

by Kitties26 on Monday, May 16, 2011 2 comments

Ulta3 Silver Glitter Mark II

A couple of months ago, when the latest Ulta3 colours hit Australian Pharmacies, I read on the Vogue forum that someone (I've now checked and it was 'Shamisen') saw some holographic glitter in the Silver Glitter polish they saw. I was intrigued and set out to find a 'new' bottle of Silver Glitter.

I'm soooo glad I did. I had previously blogged that the Ulta3 Silver Glitter was, well rather shitty. The coverage was terrible and it really was only a top coat at best. But the new silver glitter is simply sensational.

First are some comparison photos. Index and ring finger have one coat of the new silver glitter, middle and pinky one coat of old silver glitter (both over black).

Next is two coats of both the new and old Silver Glitter.

And a picture in full sun to show the great shine and blinginess of the new silver. You can even see some of the holo glitter reflections on the nail.

Here is a bottle comparison. As you can see, there are some little circular holo bits in the bottle, you can see them shining blue and green in the front bottle.

Here is an up close of the new bottle, look there is even some tiny string holo glitter in there.

Huge improvement with this one, totally worth the $2.25 for a new bottle of silver glitter. You can tell if it's a new bottle if it has the flower petal motif in the top right of the label. I 'm going to use my old silver glitter to franken with. Has anyone seen any others that may have changed formula?

Sunday, May 15, 2011

by Kitties26 on Sunday, May 15, 2011 34 comments

AVON Colour Morphing top coat

When I started my re-obsession with polish a year or two ago, my sweet mum pulled a couple of polishes out from an old makeup bag and said, you may as well have these old polishes, I know there are some nice ones among them.

One polish she gave me was an AVON polish called Colour Morphing Top Coat. I kept looking at it in the bottle thinking, yeah that's a nice orange shimmer top coat, I'll have to try it out soon. Two years later I have put it on and HOLY CRAP.

I was so excited about the effect, I kept shoving my nails under mums nose saying; 'look at this, look at all the colours'. Of course her reply was, 'I know darling, I told you there were some nice polishes in there'

I've tried googling it to find out more about it, but can't really find anything at all. It's either a UK or Australian release because of the spelling of 'colour' on the bottle.

It is a milky clear top coat with an amazing colour shifting shimmer in it, which goes from golden bronze to bright green. The shimmer particles are nice and dense. This was one coat of the top coat over black.

This photo you can see the start of the green shift.

And it gets greener as I stand and spin in circles.

Now my nails look like the emerald city.

Then it shifts darker and starts showing blue.

Sorry about the sun reflections, but here you can see blue.

How freaking awesome is this. I can't wait to try it over other colours. There must be others out there with this polish. Anyone, Bueller, Bueller?

Saturday, May 14, 2011

by Kitties26 on Saturday, May 14, 2011 13 comments

Gosh vs Nfu Oh 61 - Who wins the holodown?

I posted this two days ago, but with the problems with blogger it disappeared and went back to draft. Not sure if or when the awesome comments I received on this will be restored though!

It's time for the showdown - GOSH Holographic vs Nfu Oh 61.
Who will win? And does top coat dull the holo effect, you be the judge.

First, my index finger has a tea bag patch which made the left side bulgy and look curved at the front. It wasn't noticeable with any other polish, except when I put a holo on and the linear effect showed every imperfection.

Rightyo now. Two fingers have GOSH holographic and two fingers have Nfu Oh 61. After staring at them all day and examining the photos I CAN notice two differences.

This was two coats over Nfu Oh Aqua Base for each polish. I will share what I see, but first, have a good hard look. Which two nails do you think are matching pairs. Can you tell which two nails have top coat? Does the holo look dull on any? I've done two pictures for you to help decide.

I think that one polish has a slightly more pastel holo effect with an orange cast; and
I think that the other polish has a stronger blue cast at the centre of the nail.

In these close ups I see the right nail being slightly more pastel and the left nail having a stronger blue sparkle in the centre of the nail. There are three close ups, just to show that its not just that picture or angle.

So which is which?

I used Seche Vite as my top coat. If you could see a difference because of top coat, good for you. But I can't, so top coat it is to make it last longer.

The winner? In my opinion Nfu Oh 61. But only, as my husband would say, by a bee's dick.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

by Kitties26 on Wednesday, May 11, 2011 9 comments

OPI DS Original

A quick one today cause my little bubby is not feeling well and just wants cuddles. I'll quickly post this while she sleeps.

When I posted about my favourite purples, I said this was at the top of the list. OPI DS Original.

This was the first holographic polish I ever purchased and it holds a special place in my heart, I love it.

This is one of my 'go to' polishes, which goes on like a dream, dries super fast and looks fabulous with anything you wear. It always makes me feel happy when I wear it. Do you have a HAPPY polish?

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

by Kitties26 on Tuesday, May 10, 2011 14 comments

How big is yours?

Ok girls, we have a serious polish problem here.

Below are the stats (collected from my recent giveaway) of how many polishes were in peoples stashes.

A note about the data for this one:

if you said 200+, then I put 200.
if you said around 30, I put 30.
if you said between 250-300, I put 275.

Holy crap, thats over 70,000 polishes just between the people that entered my giveaway! The average was 189 polishes. The minimum was 2 and there was someone out there with 6000! How the heck do you store that many polishes?

For the record, I'm just over 450.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

by Kitties26 on Sunday, May 08, 2011 14 comments

Magnetic holo franken

After my last post I had to don my white coat a try to franken up a magnetic holographic polish.

I chose to do a blue franken because I have most holographic polishes in blue, and if it didn't work then I had only used up a common colour in my stash.

So here it is. I only mixed up a tiny bit (about 3ml all up), in case it didn't work, but the ratios were, 1/2 magnetic polish, 1/4 OPI DS Glamour, 1/4 Nfu Oh 65.

The mixed colour was gorgeous. A holoie cornflour blue. Then the big test, did it still work with the magnets?

Yes, it did. Not as pronounced as it is on its own, but it was definitely magnetic.

Here it is up close to show the holo a bit better.

Here is a comparison swatch of just the magnetic polish next to my franken.

If I hadn't added the Nfu Oh 65, and just used DS Glamour, it would have been darker, but I really wanted a bit of linear holo in the mix too.

I think I will definitely do more of these. My next will probably be a mix of my two favourite purples. I'm just not sure if Im prepared to franken with my OPI DS Original. Other combos I could do are:

Black magnetic with Lets to it in 3D or Nfu Oh 61

Green magnetic with L8R G8R or Artform green holo.

Red magnetic with Artform red holo

So its nothing like what I would like a 'real' magnetic holo to do, but its still beautiful.

Friday, May 6, 2011

by Kitties26 on Friday, May 06, 2011 7 comments

Our #1 lemming

Well no surprises here. Clarins #230 makes the top of the list for our most lemmed after polish.

But before I go on, I'm going to vent. See that middle one below titled 'Lemming'. Well that percentage of people wrote something along the lines of "I don't know what a lemming is". Seriously, when I did my giveaway, the post that was only two days before it was about nail blogger lingo, and explained what a lemming was. I just love people that waft in, enter my giveaway, leave and don't read another damn thing. There like someone in the supermarket that walks down a isle, farts and keeps walking. But for those that are still reading, thank you!

Any who, I've listed below the top lemmed polishes, with the following notes abut the data

I removed it from the list if it was only mentioned by one person
I remove it if it was only a general brand comment "would love to try Deborah Lippmann or RBL"
I removed it if it was only a general finish comment "any holo or duochromes"
If it was a whole collection, I added it under the most popular polish for that collection, eg OMG collection under OMG, NFU holo, under 61
I removed if it was not a nail polish - yes, there were some entries that had lemmings other than nail polish!

China Glaze DV8 1%

China Glaze LOL 1%
Deborah Lippmann - Across the Universe. 1%
Hidden Treasure 1%
Nfu Oh 51 1%
OPI Sanderella 1%
Red Holo 1%
Liquid Euphoria Bliss 1%
OPI Absolutely Alice 1%
OPI Creme De Menthe 1%
OPI Mad As A Hatter 1%
RBL Scrangie 1%
OPI Black Shatter 1%
OPI Merry Midnight 1%
Deborah Lippmann - Glitter in the Air 2%
Chanel Holographic 2%
Essie Starry Starry Night 2%
Ozotic Pro 505 2%
OPI DS Original 3%
Nfu Oh 61 3%
Lemming? 3%
MPJ HOLO 5%
China Glaze OMG 6%
GOSH Holographic 6%
Clarins 230 11%

A total of only 58%, so the remaining 42% of people all lem for a polish that no one else did.

I was lemming GOSH Holographic, but now its 230.

Finally, there was only one mention of this, but there is another kindred spirit out there who said they lemmed a "Magnetic Holo", that’s exactly what I said when Scrangie did her post about what sort of polishes we want to see more of. How freaking awesome would a magnetic holo be!!

Here is my photoshoped version of a magnetic holo. I wanted to do a star shape, but my photoshop skills aren't good enough, and although I can imagine it in my head, I couldn't exactly work out how to create the various light and shadow reflections for a star, so a circle it is.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

by Kitties26 on Thursday, May 05, 2011 3 comments

Our favourite polish colour

I love that purples and blues topped out the favourite polish colour in the survey part of my last giveaway. I thought it would have been pink, as there seems to always be a plethora of pinks in every collection.

A note about the data on this one, a few people said they loved all colours, or whatever colour they picked at that moment, so I didn't include those in my list.

For this post, I thought I would post a swatch of my favourite polish (or two, if I can't decide) that I own, from the top favourite colours.

Purple - Magnetic Purple or OPI DS Original (I don't think I have ever swatched this on its own, I will have to do it).