Gnarly Gnails: August 2013

Do You Want a Challenge?!

Saturday, August 31, 2013
By Missy
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Gnarly Number Ones for August

Saturday, August 31, 2013
By Missy
0 Comments

Hey folks!
Well - with all of the Guest Posts I've had this month, I imagine this list won't be the most in-depth, but let's jump in and see!

Favorite Tried Polish - I reviewed ALOT of polish this month, luckily this is broken down in mainstream and Indie, so I don't have an even harder choice! For this, my favorite was probably DS Lapis from the new OPI DS Series Raw Granite. I don't say this often, but I do believe every polish lover on earth needs this:

Favorite Untried Polish - I have way too many right now. Like an overwhelming amount. I too took advantage of the awesome ebay listing for 18 American Apparel polishes, so there's a bunch of those I'm itching to try and also the new China Glaze Autumn Nights collection polishes (of which I've got 3 to review for you soon) - so I'll just answer this with ALL THE POLISHES.

Favorite Indie - I swatched some truly awesome Indies this month - but one that has stuck in my brain since I wore it and made me think of countless other ways to wear it is Ruby White Tips' Hail To The Holo:

Favorite Untried Indie - Gah. I don't know? Look in my untried Indies box and pick one for me. Wait, don't. I'm embarrassed. I'll say Femme Fatale Eventide, since it's a polish I wanted for SO SO SO SO long and just finally got my hands on it a few weeks ago.

(Photo Source)

Biggest Milestone - My Tetris Nails got double love this month! They were featured on Gamer Girls Radio as well as on the Tetris Blitz Facebook and Twitter Pages!

Most Viewed Post - The OPI San Francisco Collection Swatch/Review:

Favorite Manicure - I really loved wearing Girly Bits CU Blue with a matte top coat. It changed it into an entirely different animal:

Favorite Product - I'm STILL loving Coconut Oil! And I've also found a renewed love for my Julep Pink Grapefruit Body Frosting - it soaks in SOOOO good and smells divine! I use it every night when I crawl into bed all over my hands.

Favorite New Technique or Tip - Nothing really to be honest...I haven't done much art this month and the new stuff I have been seeing hasn't wowed me enough to try...

Favorite Collection - As collections go, I am pretty excited about the upcoming OPI Holiday Collection:

Favorite New Thing In General - Nothing really new around here...I guess I need to change that!

Favorite TV - Breaking Bad! Dexter! So much good on right now...sadly both are ending this season, but that just means they will both go out with a bang!

Favorite Video Game - Same stuff...Simpsons! Though I want to BADLY get my hands on Saints Row 4. Yes, I said that.

What were your favorite things this month!?

Blogger: Look What the Bats Dragged In

Lets Meet Kierra from Look What the Bats Dragged In!

Friday, August 30, 2013
By Missy
0 Comments

Hey hey hey!!

Today we have our very last of the guest posts series. It has been so much fun seeing what all of these awesome ladies have come up, and they have all been so sweet and said such nice things about me! I had no idea you guys liked me that much!

Today we meet Kierra of Look What the Bats Dragged In. I came across Kierra's blog a few months back and have been smitten ever since - read on and you will see why:

Hi all! I am super excited to be here today as a guest poster for Missy, this is my first guest post so I hope it is up to the amazing standards you've all come to expect from this blog.

This post is a showcase of some of the absolutely amazing polish that is being made by our girls right here in Australia, yes the best of Aussie Indies! I have been wanting to do a post like this for a while now, as Aussie indies are all I seem to be buying! I apologise for the post's length and don't worry, I will have links to where you will be able to get some of these polishes inside and outside of Australia and I will also link you to some of the other Aussie indies available that I don't own yet.

Let's get started!

Alanna Renee was launched in January 2013 and is run single-handedly by Alanna in her spare time after working at her IT job. She also runs the very successful blog Pretty Purple Polish.

Tranquil, a stunning turquoise based polish filled with lavender hex glitter, small light blue and purple hex glitter, large turquoise square glitter and small indigo flakes. It applies easily with 2 coats and smooths easily with 1 coat of Poshe top coat, however I did a second for the photo. Alanna

Alanna Renee can be purchased at her website and Femme Fatale in Australia and internationally at Shoppe Eclecticco and Color4Nails.

Bec from Nail Gun XS started Arcane in April of 2013. It all started with no intention to sell, but more as just a creative outlet, that was until she sneaked a preview of her first complete polish creation to our Aussie Nails group to which the response was a unanimous *throws money in your direction*. After this she caved in a decided to sell her polish and created 10 stand-out shades for her first collection!

Ineffable, a gorgeous dusty purple base filled with magenta microglitter and small and large hex lavender and magenta glitter. Super easy to apply and no fishing for glitter needed. Dries nice and smooth, photo shows 2 coats Ineffable with 1 coat Poshe top coat.

Arcane can be purchased from her Etsy store and Femme Fatale in Australia and soon to be stocked internationally at Llarowe.

Hayley over at Emily de Molly has possibly created some of the most sought after Aussie indies so far! One of those polishes is the incredible Cosmic Forces, it now comes as a trio with Dark Forces and Oceanic Forces, of which I will be showing you the latter.

Oceanic Forces is an incredible teal jelly packed full of small and medium teal holo hexes and large teal holo dots. It's all about the dots ladies! Really gives the polish a special an unique look. The dots come out relatively easy, but can have a tendency to slip off the brush, once on the nail they are very easy to put them into place, the jelly is very smooth and levels well. You can reach opacity in 2 coats, but for long nails I would recommend a base colour. The photo shows 1 coat Ulta3 Get Teal and 2 coats of Oceanic Forces with 1 coat Essence gel look top coat and 1 coat Poshe for a glassy finish.

Emily de Molly is available via her website in Australia and internationally at Llarowe, Mei Mei Signatures, Norway Nails and Sally Magpies.

Femme Fatale is a home based business run by Sophie out of the Brisbane in Australia. They opened in September 2011 and specialise in making custom blend lacquers as well as gorgeously unique eyeshadows and have built a name for themselves nationally and internationally. They where also the first Australian based stockist of national and international based nail polish and sell their products at an incredibly competitive rate. Bonus!

Fatal Attraction is beautiful dark plum/magenta polish filled with purple and plum holo microglitter in a clear base, that being said, it can easily be built up to opacity in 3 coats. There is no words for how incredible this polish is, the colour is just amazing. My photo shows 1 coat Ulta3 Mulberry and 2 coats Fatal Attraction with 2 coats Poshe as this can dry a little gritty. Perfection.

Femme Fatale is available through her own website and internationally at Color4Nails, Norway Nails, Ninja Polish, Harlow & Co, Ledouxnuage and Beauty so Fly.

Lilypad Lacquer is run by the amazing mind of Nicole. Her polishes mainly consist of holos and come in the largest range of colours you have ever seen!

True Blood is a bewitching dark maroon/purple holo that has the colour of congealed blood, cool huh! It was inspired by the TV show of the same name and suits it perfectly. 2 coats of pure perfection, and 1 coat top coat. My photos shows it looking a little more purple than it really is, that it because the holo is on the blue spectrum.

Lilypad Lacquers are available from her Etsy and internationally from Llarowe, Norway Nails, Sally Magpies. and Beauty so Fly.

MckFresh Nail Attire is the brainchild of Kate, and only being a couple of months old she has already created some amazing polishes, including a limited collection based off Pokemon! Safe to say I bought all of them.

The Force is a vampy black jelly polish with matte and holographic purple and teal glitters in differing shapes and sizes, with micro holo dust. I layered this over 1 coat of Ulta3 Black Satin and did 2 dabbed coats of The Force. It smoothed down nicely and I finished it off with 1 coat Essence gel look top coat and 1 coat Poshe.

MckFresh Nail Attire is stocked at her Etsy and soon internationally from Mei Mei Signatures.

The lovely Peita owns and runs Peita's polish, and when she is not making and selling polish she works as a nail technician. Peita makes some incredible glitterbombs, and I am a sucker for some glitter!

Razzamatazz is a clear based polish packed with fuchsia and teal glitters in multiple different sizes. I did not have a suitable undie for this so I opted for 3 coats to reach opacity. A little tricker to apply this way, but the payoff is amazing. 1 coat Essence gel look top coat and 1 coat Poshe.

Peita's Polish is available through her Etsy here in Australia and internationally.

Kaz and her partner Ben are the faces behind Pretty Serious Cosmetics. You would know Kaz from her blog Pretty Random, even though unfortunately she doesn't post to regularly anymore, she spends her time making polish rather than blogging, a fair trade I say as her creations are pure bliss!

Cybernetic is a mix of purple and green micro glitter in a blue base and reaches opacity in 3 coats, dries super smooth and only required 1 coat of Poshe. What can I say about this other than it's perfect, it seems to change colour slightly depending on the light it catches, sometimes you see more of the green sparkle and sometimes more purple.

Pretty Serious Cosmetics are available from their website and soon from Beserk and MakeupExpress in Australia and internationally from Harlow & Co, Pshiiit, Mei Mei Signatures, Llarowe, Norway Nails and Sally Magpies.

Anthea from NailedObsession is the creator of Sayuri. Heavily influenced by Japanese culture, she draws on the different styles to create stunning lacquer of amazing quality.

#108 is a polish that was apart of a limited set that was also brought out in conjunction with the MckFresh Pokemon collection and was inspired by Lickitung! It is a pastel lemon crelly base packed with hex glitters in several shades of pink and white. Perfectly opaque in 2 coats, 1 coat Essence Gel look and 1 coat Poshe. I think this colour is stunning, but unfortunately clashes with my skin tone.

Sayuri is available from her website and internationally from Mei Mei Signatures.

Last but not least we have Shades of Phoenix of which the lovely Teneil from the blog Shades of Phoenix runs!

Zeus is a elegant glitter topper filled with lavender matte glitter, matte white hex's in all sizes with a splash of mini silver hex's and clear purple iridescent glitter. It is so delicate and pretty! Certainly a change from my regular dark glitters. Photo shows 3 coats Essie To Buy or Not To Buy and 1 coat of Zeus topped with 1 coat Essence Gel look and 1 coat Poshe. I need to wear this again ASAP! So pretty!

Shades of Phoenix is available from her Etsy and internationally from Mei Mei Signatures and Color4Nails.

Wow! What a post! If you have read this far, congratulations are in order! Last thing I want to add is some of the other Aussie indies that are available, but I don't own yet. Unfortunately this is still not a complete list, but it's a great start for anyone wanting to get their paws on other brands.

Love Thy Polish is available from Etsy in Australia and internationally via Mei Mei Signatures.

Loki's Lacquer is available from her Etsy and will ship internationally if you PM her.

Smudged is available from Etsy in Australia only.

Glam Polish is available via her website and internationally from Color4Nails, Mei Mei Signatures, Llarowe and Rainbow Connection.

Once again, a huge thanks to Missy for letting me guest post, hope you enjoyed it and it has encouraged you to try some Aussie Indies!

xoxo

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About the Author

Missy has been a nail and beauty blogger since January 2012, residing in South Carolina with her boyfriend and furbaby.

Coloring is MAC NC20.

For more info, please click the about link at the top of the page. Thanks for stopping by!

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