First Day at Work: Essie Lady Like

After some deliberation, I figured out which nail colour to wear to my first day of my new job! (Tomorrow!) I'm going to go with Essie Lady Like...

Lady Like is a really special shade. In the soft light of morning (which is when I took these pictures), it looks rather lilac. In the afternoon sun, it becomes more of a warmer nude-mauve. I first posted about it here when it was first released in 2011 (so much time has passed!! eek!) and at the time I wasn't sure about it. Right now, I'm loving it. It's neutral enough for colour-phobic me, but has enough of a hue to make me feel like I'm actually participating in spring! (Look, I'm even wearing a floral ring - who am I!? This one is from Henri Bendel. I love them for accessories and you can find the ring in various colours here.) 

I'm a bit nervous about my first day. I think it's a good nervous though - I feel like the next part of my life is starting, and I've waited and worked for so long to make it happen! Fingers crossed that I don't majorly screw up though!

What are some of your favourite polishes to wear to work? 

k2k

Lilac of the Moment - Chanel Tenderly

After being a little reticent at first, I have fallen head-over-heels for this colour! Chanel Tenderly is a lilac-grey that leans to the warmer side. It strikes a beautiful seasonal balance between winter and spring. It feels simultaneously feminine and a little edgy.

Application was a charm and the consistency is lovely and creamy - I used two painless coats.

I was initially feeling a little sheepish about my purchase - as you know, Chanel nail polish isn't cheap! - because I have several other colours in this family. However upon comparison, Tenderly has unique qualities that make it a standout in my collection.

L-R: Essie Merino Cool; Chanel Tenderly; OPI Parlez-Vous OPI?

In the bottle, the shades look more similar, but once painted on and dried, you can see that Essie Merino Cool is significantly darker, and OPI Parlez-Vous OPI? is cooler. I think the added warmth in Tenderly makes it worth having, and honestly I think it suits my pale but very warm-toned skin better than the other two. (Not that I don't love them too!) However, if you have any of these in your collection, you might not want to splurge on the Chanel!

I'm truly having a moment with this colour! I know this isn't a makeup blog, but I had to share my latest makeup love/find/obsession that goes perfectly with Chanel Tenderly - Bourjois Colorband Eyeshadow Crayon in Mauve Baroque. It is available HERE, from ASOS.

Not only is the colour gorgeous and very Tenderly-like, the formula seems to really set and wear like iron. I am considering picking up a couple more shades, but honestly Mauve Baroque is the most unique of the bunch.

Is there a particular colour you're really feeling right now?? Let me know what your colour of the moment is - I'm always looking for inspiration!

k2k

Smokey Purple - Chanel Charivari

I probably should have shown you Chanel Tenderly today. I'm in a purple mood and I know that one is new and all, but the fact that companies are releasing Spring collections earlier and earlier is starting to irk me. I'm one of those traditional people that just isn't in the mood for pastels and brights until the sun is out and the air is warm!

Today, the sun is out, but the air is decidedly not warm, so I was in the mood for something a little smokier, and I chose Chanel Charivari. You would think this dark purple with a hint of grey would be easily dupe-able, but I don't have anything else like it in my collection.

I somehow remember this being lighter, but I'm admittedly loving the richness of it.

I hope all of you affected by the snowstorm in the northeastern US are staying safe and warm!

k2k

Chanel Provocation & A Recipe for Chip-Free Chanel!

I very rarely repeat polishes within the same month, but this is an exception. Chanel Provocation is an excellent vampy colour that straddles the boundaries of cool and warm, making it work beautifully with almost any outfit - camel, grey, cranberry, navy, black, etc.

(OK, so maybe I don't wear much colour...but the point remains. It's neutral. And delicious.)

Chanel polishes are notorious for chipping extremely easily. Which is atrocious considering the price-point, and was certainly true for me. Until recently, when I discovered this cocktail of base coat and top coat. Now, my Chanel polishes last a week with zero chipping! A WEEK. I obviously do get tip-wear, but no chipping or peeling. Which is madness.

The base coat in question is Essie All in One. As you can see, it is well-loved by me. I find that it works well with many different polish brands. Surprisingly, the top coat that locks everything in place is Seche Vite. While a classic, it is laden with non-B3F chemicals that typically make it play not-so-nicely with B3F polishes. What can I say though, it works like a charm!

Disclaimer: Yes, I know. Body chemistry is individual, and this might not work for everyone! I just thought I'd share because I know that so many people share the same problem with Chanel polishes, so I thought maybe this might be the solution for at least a few of them.

These little gems are readily available and I'm willing to bet that quite a few of you have them hanging around. If you have a Chanel chipping problem, I say give it a shot! (And report back, I would love to know if this works for anyone else!)

k2k

Shades of Phoenix We're All Mad Here

Here's a polish I knew I had to buy the moment I saw it - Shades of Phoenix's We're All Mad Here, inspired by the colours of the Cheshire Cat from the Disney version of Alice in Wonderland.

I've always loved Lewis Carroll - Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass are such timeless books. I've been re-reading them since I was about 7. They never get old.

This polish is not quite opaque enough for me to wear on its own - I've layered 2 coats of this over ulta3 Flirty Bikini. I really like the contrast between the orange/yellow hexes, and the subtlety of the furry little purple bars!

Gold leaf nail art over Mckfresh Angel

Mckfresh Nail Attire is one of my favourite Aussie indie brands, made by a pretty damn cool chick. The Sunnydale collection was one of my favourites last year, and Angel in particular was one of most unique. It's a blackened purple base, with tiny silver specks and big blue iridescent bars, which are super thin and don't have any of the won't-lay-flat, looks-like-hair crappiness of many bar glitters. You can check out the swatch of Angel alone in my original post on the Buffy collection, but today I wanted to show you an experiment with gold leaf from Born Pretty.

I don't actually own a gold leaf topper yet, so I tried to make do with some shredded gold foil from Born Pretty. I used larger pieces in a mani for Artsy Wednesday a while ago, and it turns out that using smaller pieces is both better AND worse. Better, because you can pulverise the crap out of the foil. Worse, because it's super fiddly to apply. I used a cotton bud, much like the way I do glitter gradients, but since the foil is dry, I painted a slow-drying top coat over the original manicure first, to give it something to stick to.

Overall? I like the effect, but it seems like it would be so much faster just to cave and get a gold leaf top coat! I'm also considering dropping some of the foil into polish and seeing how stable it is - I've seen some nasty concoctions made from not-real-gold foil corroding in organic solvents though. We'll see!

Tony Moly Shooting Star

Here's one I love but haven't posted - Tony Moly Shooting Star. It's one of their Revlon Whimsical-looking line - a purple creme base with rainbow glitters. I used this combo in one of my first jelly sandwich manicures, so it was nice to finally pick it up in one-pot form from the Tony Moly stall in Sydney's Market City.

I love the pastel prettiness, and the cheerful multicoloured glitter! I think I'd prefer a slightly bluer purple though.

I've been really impressed with all the Korean polishes I have so far, which makes me think I should really buy more - they're affordable, and have lovely formulas!

Lab Muffin's Top 13 Polishes of 2013 Part 1: Mainstream and Boutique Brands

2013 was a big year of swatching for me, and it was the year where I think Australian indie polishes really blossomed. It was very difficult to pick just 13 polishes that I loved, but I certainly tried! I limited myself to one polish per brand only, and to polishes that I discovered in 2013 (though they weren't necessarily released last year). Here we go, with the mainstream and boutique (i.e. small company but not hand-mixed) picks...

First, I obviously have to mention my collaboration shade, piCture pOlish Ultra Violence. The literary amongst you will know that the name is inspired by Anthony Burgess's book A Clockwork Orange. I love the holo iridescent glitter against the rich purple! I've included a bottle of Ultra Violence in my 2nd blogiversary giveaway here.

I blogged about the stunningly pretty Pretty Serious BSOD here earlier. What happened next was that while wearing it, my laptop did actually have a heart-stopping BSOD moment, in the middle of thesis-writing! Luckily I didn't lose anything, but Kaz was too sweet, and in her usual above-and-beyond customer service style, she sent me a few polishes to dull the pain.

OPI Keeping Suzi At Bay is a gorgeous blue creme that is both interesting and elegant. It may be my favourite creme shade ever. I think dark blue is actually quite work safe, but definitely not boring.

ulta3 Triple Threat was a big surprise for me. This is a complex holo glitter jelly that's indie-worthy, but comes at the ridiculously budget-friendly price of $2.

Orly Digital Glitter is one of my top 5 Orly polishes, ever. I usually think of Orly as a brand which does salon-friendly classic polishes well, but whenever they come out with something a bit different it's usually ridiculously cool (Fowl Play! Space Cadet!). I love the unlikely brown/purple/red combination - it's a bit steampunk in my opinion, and makes me think of Neal Stephenson novels. To top it off, the purple shimmer is duochrome.

I will be back soon with some of my indie picks of 2013 - hold onto your wallets!

Ulta: Celebutante + Rainbow Honey: Magic Cake

The moment I saw the glitter polish by Rainbow Honey, I wanted it. I held off for a while, though, but finally purchased it a while ago.

The formula leaves something to be desired, but I know that's something that comes with the territory of big glitter. Of course, that means another chunky manicure. But it looked really good!

Magic Cake consists of different neon glitters, big pink hexes and square, neon blue and lime green. There's also a shimmer. It's a really fun glitter combination and with some more careful application, could look less "thick" :) I think I did one coat of Magic Cake and then started manually placing glitter afterwards.

Information: Facebook // Website

Pretty Serious Naughty Night Shift Nurse

You may have heard that Aussie indie brand Pretty Serious recently released a limited edition polish, Naughty Night Shift Nurse, that sold out in 10 minutes. Luckily, my friend and fellow blogger Rose (Every Little Polish) ninjaed me one, and I arrived just in time for my birthday! I used it as the base for my birthday nail art (click to see the DIY nail decal tutorial I made).

Here it is in its full glory, over multichrome-boosting black:

It's a stunning purple-to-red multichrome with red-green multichrome flakies thrown in (I believe they're the same ones as those in Essie Shine of the Times, Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure, Nubar 2010 et al.).

Naughty Night Shift Nurse was originally a custom created for Aussie nail blogger Kristy (The Polish Haven) who, you guessed it, is a nurse. She was generous enough to share her creation with us, but unfortunately due to ingredient supply issues, NNSN is a limited edition. There will be a second batch released later this year, along with Emma Louise, another PS limited edition.
Here's my birthday mani:

The DIY nail decal technique I used is now my favourite nail art trick - it lets you split up your nail painting into multiple sessions, which is great if you're time-poor or a bit ADD!

Purple Use-Up-the-Polish mani number 2

Here's my second mani to try to get through a few untrieds - China Glaze Marry a Millionaire and Nubar Peacock Feathers. I didn't think I wanted Marry a Millionaire based on swatches I saw online, but when I went to the mythical Pro Nail Supply in Sydney and saw it glowing in the corner, I had to have it! The green bits of bar glitter look stunning against the grey tinged purple (grurple?).

Peacock Feathers was a lemming of mine, and while it's not the most stunning multichrome, I love all the colours it contains.

I'm not sure if these shades really work together - they're both not really on the same spectrum of purple. But it was a very visually interesting mani to wear!

Purple Use-Up-the-Polish mani number 1

During my Helmer clean out, I discovered that I have an obscene amount of purple polishes I haven't even tried. Obviously, this needed rectifying, so here's the first of my half/half manis where I jam two purple polishes together and try to make them work in a manicure.

First is Gloss 'n Sparkle Purpetual Darkness paired with OPI DS Original (two coats layered over Models Prefer Beam Me Up). DS Original is the most linear holo I own, but it's really sheer. I really liked this mani - it was interesting enough to last me a couple of days, but not too exciting that they'd become a conversation starter. For some reason I hate when talk centres around my nails, it makes me feel really awkward! Do other nail addicts have this problem?

Pretty Serious Poltergeist Puddle

Pretty Serious are one of my favourite boutique brands - their polishes aren't the standard chunky indie glitterbomb fare, but refined shades with excellent formulas, and the packaging is gorgeous. I've posted some of my favourites here before. Poltergeist Puddle is a new favourite that I've recently tried out from the Monster Mash Halloween collection (I posted the first one, Gargoyle Ganache, here).

It's a cool purple dense shimmer, with pink and blue sparks. I love how vivid this is! One of my top three PS polishes. This was 2 coats on its own.

This collection comes in adorable holographic green themed boxes, and are available along with all the other Pretty Serious products here (with worldwide shipping!). Customer service is awesome, and there are also eyeshadows and lip glosses available (though discontinued) - I recently picked up three eyeshadows, and they're amazing!

Purple/gold gradient

I've always done gradients with two cremes, so I decided to mix it up a bit recently and tried a gradient with a creme (OPI Vant to Bite My Neck?) and a foily metallic gold (Hello Darling likeomg).

I really loved this on my nails, and I'm definitely going to try it out more often! I usually hate how foils look on my fingers, but this was spectacular, and my right hand looked awesome, so this is going to be my foil-wearing design of choice.

How do you wear polishes you don't "do"?

Pretty Serious - Gargoyle Ganache

I love multichrome polishes! Pretty Serious Gargoyle Ganache is a multichrome with a difference - the multichrome partieles flash purple, gold and green in a grey base.

If you haven't got any Pretty Serious polishes, you should rectify this ASAP! Kaz knows what she's doing, and her polishes are gorgeous with excellent formulas. I've shown off BSOD and VT100 from the nerderiffic Hello World collection here before - BSOD remains my favourite, even if it seems to come with a curse!

Perfect glitter/duochrome pairing?

You know when you put on a polish and just think, "meh"? I had that moment with Nubar Indigo Illusion. It's a beautiful polish, and I'm usually crazy for duochromes, but when it was on my nails, I just couldn't get into it. Maybe I'm just too much of a glitter whore now.

So what's a glitter whore to do? Layer a glitter over it of course! So I picked up Darling Diva Vegas Showgirl because I wasn't too taken with it in the bottle, so if it turned out bad I could just take it all off without regret. And BOOM. Suddenly I was in love with my mani.

The green and purple in both polishes just work off each other so well! "When in doubt just add glitter"? Yes. Yes indeed.

Glam Polish Indigo - A surprise favourite

Rachel of the blog Glam Polish has recently started making her own polish (shop here), and being a polish fiend, I think we all expected that her polish would be amazing! I was lucky enough to be sent a bottle of Glam Polish Indigo to try. It looked a bit sheer, but 3-4 coats was enough to give full coverage:

Indigo contains fuchsia pink and light blue dot and small glitter in an indigo jelly base with subtle pink shimmer. I'm not a huge fan of pink glitter, since I feel like it makes me look too girly, but I love the result on my nails - the indigo base really tones it down. The dot glitter was also a surprise - they look a bit like hexes from a distance, but close up they're perfectly round, quite unusual. I don't think I own any other polishes with this sort of glitter in it!

Some of the other Glam Polishes are seriously covetable - the glitter combinations are amazing, and Rachel takes the best macro shots! Look at Lucy, for instance:

*drool*

Unfortunately I've been a bit of a tease to you international girls - Glam Polish is only shipping in Australia at the moment, so find a swap buddy stat! :P Aussie girls, she's just done a restock - click here to get in on the action!

OPI Tomorrow Never Dies

Perfection, thy name is shiny violet nail polish!

I can never resist snagging glowy colours for Autumn (Illamasqua Scarab and Viridian being two of my favourites) and so this was instantly on my 'need' list from the Skyfall collection. It really didn't disappoint - like those two, it glows from within with this incredible understated sheen. Beyond gorgeous. The colour is a very inky purple - it's a blurple, really, but a blurple by virtue of the fact that it's purple with a dark blue base. It looks like a deep indigo and some lights, and a screaming purple in others. It's also completely reminded me of my violet obsession - it's probably my favourite colour, but one that doesn't really suit my colouring, so I try to keep it away from my face -  on nails it's perfect.

The only problem I had was that it was a bit tricky to apply. I think it didn't like my base coat (the Illamasqua bog standard one) because the first two coats were sliding everywhere and dragging streaks and gaps. Fortunately the third coat sorted that out, but I'd recommend a grippy ridge filling base coat since I reckon you could probably get away with two coats that way.

I should also apologise for the scraggy cuticles and lack of clean-up - I'm powering away on the PhD at the moment and that, plus teaching, is sucking up all my time. So I'm nearly always applying my polish late at night before work (in this case, at 12.30am in front of the second Harry Potter film) when I can't see what I'm doing. I always intend to clean up up the next morning but when the alarm goes I'm too frazzled to remember! The tribulations of being an academic and a nail blogger... :)

A polish for all seasons - OPI Miami Beet

I am one of those people that follows seasons. I wear certain polishes in accordance with the weather. I know I should probably have more of a "wear whatever you want to!" attitude, but I can't help it - I WANT to wear seasonally appropriate colours! This polish is one of the few that I feel is appropriate year-round.

OPI Miami Beet...


The brightness of this polish does well in spring and summer, but the richness and berry tone makes it equally fall and winter appropriate. If you're looking for a succulent red-purple-berry polish, this is an oldie but a goodie!

Do you wear whatever year-round, or do you follow seasons like me?

kittytokaren