Just Another Manicure Monday : Revlon Whimsical

Rimmel 'Sky High' $4.95 + Revlon 'Whimsical' $13.90 + Seche Vite Top Coat $14.95

Blue and Pink or Boys and Girls is one of my favorite colour combos. Its sickeningly sweet and cheesy  -  but that's my style sometimes. The big baller in this combo is Revlon's Whimsical, a baby blue jelly base with large pink and blue hexagonal glitter as well as smaller iridescent spray glitter pieces. To apply Whimsical on its own it would take 6 or so coats to achieve the opacity it looks in the bottle.

If you applied Whimsical over a lighter base the blue jelly base would show up a little more I suppose. Maybe I am just not good with subtlety? Its just that with all the amazingly dense glitter polishes on the market now Whimsical feels a like the puney kid that gets picked last for the basketball team. Step your game up Revlon!

Just Another Manicure Monday : Cobalt Mermaid Tips

Revlon Top Speed ' Royal' $13.99 Deborah Lippmann 'Across the Universe' $25.00 Seche Vite Top Coat $14.95

I am so crazy for cobalt in general - Cobalt 541 C in pantone just incase anyone needed to know. Revlon's Royal is a true bright cobalt it is a dream to apply, opaque in 2 coats. The brush on Revlon polishes isn't my favorite but it's easy to get the hang of once you're up to your third nail or so. It dries to a semi matte and but glosses up nicely with a top coat if you want to wear it on its own BUT this is Manicure Monday so like hell I am wearing it on its own! Glitter tips are a cute edition to jazz up your average nail, apply glitter with either a sponge or several layers of glitter top coat. The end result is as pretty a mermaids tail.

Just Another Manicure Monday : Monet Nails

Rimmel 60 second's - Sunny Days $4.95 Essie - Mint Candy Apple $16.90 OPI - Play the Peonies - $15.95 Chanel - June 539 US$26.00 ( Zip lock plastic bags ) Seche Vite Top Coat $14.95

My ultimate job would be to invent nail polish colours and come up with the completely crazy names - can you imagine how cool that would be, unfortunately I haven't found any jobs matching that description on Seek.com recently. 

So my nail polish creativity is being let out by following nail tutorials on youTube and attempting them at home. My latest obsession is 'Water colour nails' or as I have dubbed them 'Monet Nails' and they are a real piece of cake to do - Just follow Jen's youTube instructions  *warning* she does make it look alot easier than it is and it can get quite messy so put down some scrap paper and do not do this on your white carpet wearing your new white cashmere jumper. I used similar pastel colours because they blened well but you could choose which ever colours you liked.

If you do try your own version of 'Monet Nails' I would love to see them posted on instagram and tag me @nellavanveenendaal. 

'Meadows at giverny - Monet'

Just Another Manicure Monday : Revlon Tropicana

This weeks manicure Monday is slightly more restrained than the previous one, I have lots of thing on this week a funeral, a birthday dinner, NPA and a Shoot. So I wanted a flat colour with no shimmer, no glitter, no accent nail just a straight up bright to take me through the week.

Revlon's 'Tropicana' ($4.95- $13.00 depending where you buy it) is a bright orange coral, this is a great alternative if you want something that isn't red. Revlon nail polishes are hit and miss with consistency, Tropicana is a hit - opaque in 2 coats and it is really easy to apply. Because I want it to last through the week I used Seche Vite as a top coat and applied it over the top tip to avoid chips. But I'm sure by Wednesday I'll get some chipping from general wear and tear.

NAIL POLISH ANNONYMOUS ANNOUCEMENT:

We are holding the second NPA meeting this Thursday 28th June from 6.30pm onwards at the Cricketers Arms Hotel in Surry Hills, Sydney. 

Bring any of your favorite nail polishes or your not so favorites to trade them with other polished possessed ladies. It is a really fun night, so if you are interested please join us, all nail polish junkies are welcome.

Winter Nail Combos : Across the Universe

It's taken a while but I have finally found my favorite winter nail glitter combo.

Last winter it was all about a deep red with a high gloss topcoat, but since I have been totally addicted to glitter polishes I was desperate to find a combo that would match the cooler weather.

The above is my absolute favorite:

1. Revlon Top Speed Black

If you are using any glitter polish with a jelly base to make it pop - do your base in flat colour that matches. Navy would also work well with this look. Because there are going to be quite a few layers choose one which will give you total opacity in one coat and a quick dryer otherwise you are going to waiting around for ages not being able to do anything stuck in the hands in the air drying stance.

2. Deborah Lippmann Across the Universe

This is a total nail splurge! Could I have shopped around and got a dupe? Yes. I saw it and fell in love and before I knew it I was paying $14 shipping for it to come from Jamaica on Ebay. Oh well. Thank goodness I LOVE IT! It's a jelly so if applied on its own it would take 5 coats to be opaque. The blues and green glitter are so pretty and my nails kind of look like beetle wings. On saturday really cute hunk told me my nails looked like 'Galaxy's' - Which was the last confirmation I needed to know this was the ultimate winter nail combo.

3. Seche Vite Fast Dry Topcoat

Holy water of a Topcoat, this will change your life. It takes about 10mins dry time but then its done and not budging, the result is super super shiny. Apparently it has loads of chemicals in it and isn't the best for you - just a heads up!

So excited to debut this out of control 'Galaxy' look at the next N.P.A meeting.