Weekly nail review: Hello Darling’s Trumped

April 28, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Hello Darling's Trumped

Hello Darling’s Trumped

Hello Darling’s Trumped isn’t without its luster, shine and golden sparkle. Trumped is opaque after two coats, however I did notice brush strokes in the finish. With that said, this is a common occurrence in most metallic formulas. The only thing I cannot comment on is wear, because I had to remove my polish prior to Erin’s Nail Art Class. From wearing other Hello Darling shades, I can attest their formula lasts at least seven days.

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Scott and I have been a bit obsessed with the TV show Parks and Recreation, more specifically the character progression throughout its latest season. Recently we’ve seen a lot of Councilman Jamm, a dentist by trade who manages to screw things up for the main character Leslie Knope, played by Amy Poehler. Jamm is a bit of an opportunist and usurper — his hijinx entail bribing Leslie out of her office, fighting to bring Ponch Burger to Pawnee, interrupting Leslie and Ben’s wedding, suing Ron for $50 Million and even accepting bribes for votes. Truth be told, he’s a bit of a jerk who exclaims stupid things like, “you’ve been Jammed,” “Retro Jammed!,” etc. I’ve likened this character to Donald Trump (this is how I’ve landed the plane, folks!); they both have bad hair, come up with some lamebrained ideas and don’t mind touting the fact they’re moneyed up.

You can so see Trump saying, “you’ve been Trumped” now, admit it.

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Australia’s own – Hello Darling Nail Lacquer

March 31, 2013 by 4 Comments
From left to right: Fairyfloss, Mint Slice & Tramonto

From left to right: Fairyfloss, Mint Slice & Tramonto

Let me start things off by mentioning how awesome Hello Darling’s nail polish quality is and its longevity is comparable, if not better, than most nail polish brands I’ve tried and use almost religiously.

The kicker here is Hello Darling offers a 5-free formula, “NO toulene, formaldehyde or formaldehyde resin, dibutyl phthalate (DBP) or camphor.” For someone who wears nail polish on a daily basis, the less I expose myself to cancer causing agents, the better! Now if only I could avoid smokers and what they leave behind in their wake.

What else is there to know about Hello Darling? The company was started by two Sydneysiders who bonded over polish and their mutual love for beautiful nails. They don’t test on animals. Their colour naming winks at all things Australian and even extends to favourite holiday escapes. On top of their nail polish range, they also have nail decals, Rockcandy (think caviar) and nail art brush sets!

Recently, I reached out to Hello Darling in order to test a few of their colours — I figured if one of my favourite nail salons is going to stock Hello Darling, then it must be pretty special :)

Hello Darling

Hello Darling

Fairy Floss

Fairy Floss

Fairyfloss (a.k.a. cotton candy) is a soft, sheer light pink with microscopic flecks of silver glitter. While Fairy Floss is quite pretty, it’s translucence was a negative in my book; I applied three coats in order to get decent coverage. With that said, I’d still love to layer Fairyfloss over an opaque white polish in order to see it pop.

Mint Slice

Mint Slice

Mint Slice (named after wicked tasty cookies; the US equivalent would be Thin Mints) is a creamy yellow-based pastel green. It only took two coats to reach full opacity. Mint Slice is fun and so sweet — a breath of fresh air for Spring and Autumn.

Tramonto

Tramonto

Tramonto (the Italian word for sunset) is a creamy blue and also happens to be my favourite shade. Back when Crayola Crayons released 96 colours in one box in the early 90′s, they included cerulean; from then on it changed my approach to colouring the sky, the ocean and rainbows. Silly, but oh so nostalgic. Tramonto is a two coater as well.

A quick word about the brush: put simply, it’s fantastic! Two to three passes is all it takes per nail.

And the polish, it dries fast!

The Bagful breakdown:

Total amount for Hello Darling’s 5-free Nail Lacquer:

  • $18.95 AUS 

Value for money spent (performance and quality):

  • 9 out of 10 bags – quickly becoming my favourite brand of nail polish!

Would another purchase be on the horizon?:

  • Let’s see… definitely!

So, what do you think? What colours ticked your fancy?

*PR sample provided –  Thoughts and ramblings written here are completely my own.

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Fun nails for Tough Bloke

March 23, 2013 by 2 Comments
Ombre in blue

Ombre in blue

Tomorrow I’ll be participating in Tough Bloke, a 7km course filled with running, climbing, mud, more climbing and did I mention mud? As a way to boost my spirits and to help quell my fears during the run, I opted to paint varying shades of blue on my digits.

If you’d like to try this look for yourself, here are the colours I used to complete this look:

Here’s to jumping in mud pits and climbing walls twice my height without taking the girl out of Nicole.

Pictures of my journey to follow.

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Nail colour of the week: Butter London’s Molly Coddled

March 9, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Butter London's Molly Coddled

Butter London’s Molly Coddled

Milky lavender perfection.

I’m slowly working my way through Butter London’s Spring 2013 collection; out of the six shades released Molly Coddled and Jasper are my favourites so far.

Butter London Spring 2013
Which colour do you like best?

 

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It’s been a Butter London kind of year (so far)…

February 9, 2013 by Leave a Comment

I’ve really dropped the ball with keeping you updated about which colour I’m wearing on my nails. Since the start of 2013 I’ve tried several new and old shades from Butter London. Something about their palette and ability to come up with interesting names really lures me in week after week.

A few good colours

A few good colours

Knackered is a whimsical duochrome — one part periwinkle, one part silvery teal and all tied up with holographic glitter. This particular shade is fairly sheer; me thinks it would look awesome over a creamy black, purple, blue or green.

Fash Pack is a creamy caramel-ish taupe swimming in a sea of gold micro glitter. Look fast or you just might miss it.

Kerfuffle leans ‘old lady’ peachy/pink, but on tanner girls this colour turns back the hands of time.

Keeker is that purple-hued pansy. Sweet, happy and simple.

Macbeth, a lovely red/coral, make for a perfect dupe of Essie’s lollipop.

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Essie’s Licorice under Shine of the Times – weekly nail review

November 22, 2012 by 3 Comments

Essie’s Licorice under Shine of the Times

Sparkly/shimmery top coats are transformative. If you ever decide to give them a miss, stop yourself and look again. Do you have a plethora of colours and formulas and are just plain bored of grabbing for the same colours? Instead of buying several on trend colours each season, purchase a sparkly top coat or two.

It’s a budget-friendly solution that can take you from feeling meh to great!

Just when I thought I was getting tired of Essie’s Shine of the Times, I gave it another go last week and had Mira paint it over Licorice. Let’s just say we created quite the nail combination.

In direct sunlight and from another angle

So, what do you think of these “tortoise shell” effect nails?

In other news: have you seen Essie’s repstyle collection?  Oh man!

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Essie’s Flirty Fuchsia – weekly nail review

November 10, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Fluoro, it’s a thing or a fad, you know. And I really don’t foresee it going anywhere for the rest of this spring or summer. While I know it’s a fleeting moment, I refuse to invest in hot pink or green clothing/accessories, but that doesn’t mean my nails can’t have a little fun. Mira and Janice of French Pink sweetly obliged and treated me to an oldie (circa 2009 or so) but a goodie, Essie’s Flirty Fuchsia — highlighter magenta pink.  So shocking, it glows.

Essie’s Flirty Fuchsia

Close up with flash

This creamy pink is no longer sold via Essie, however I managed to find a few notable dupes.

  • Seed’s Candy - a perfect match
  • Chi Chi’s Bimbo - cheap, retails for $5.00 AUS
  • Illamasqua’s Collide - reminds me of Butter London’s Primrose Hill Picnic
  • Essie’s Lights - not as vibrant, but close enough

If Barbie could speak, she’d definitely give this shade her stamp of approval.

 

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Essie’s Tour de Finance – weekly nail review

November 4, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Close your eyes and think to yourself, Barbie pink with sophisticated shimmer. It’s sort of like the moment when I spotted the Barbie section inside of FAO Schwartz when I was ten-years-old; they had these illuminated translucent columns filled with water and thousands of Barbie’s pink plastic heels which slowly floated up and down with glitter and bubbles. It was probably one of the most magical experiences for a kid my age, that and crossing the gate into Disney World.

Essie’s Tour de Finance with flash

Without flash

Essie’s Tour de Finance is the type of colour you want to reach out and touch — it’s like a unicorn floating atop cotton candy and sprinkles. Next to Lovie Dovie and Flirty Fuchsia (review to follow), Tour de Finance is my third most favourite pink from Essie.

 

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Essie’s It’s Genius – weekly nail review

October 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment

“It’s genius!”

That’s what Einstein would’ve exclaimed if he was A.) into polish and B.) concocted this delicious shade himself.

Essie’s It’s genius is a shade I only just learned about two weeks ago when I set my gaze on this once-hidden gem. What’s old is new to me — It’s genius first made its debut back in 2009. This hue is comprised of cranberry shimmer goodness and a small helping of glints of golden micro glitter.

Essie’s It’s Genius

Looking for a playful colour for this holiday season?  Essie’s it’s Genius is the shade which will get your bells ringing.

 

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Butter London’s Gobsmacked – weekly nail review

October 5, 2012 by 2 Comments

Tarred, but not quite feathered.  In a nutshell, that’s the best way to describe Butter London’s Gobsmacked. Gobsmacked is a textural polish with silver micro glitter; the colour hovers somewhere between black and steel grey or as Butter London defined it, “charcoal”.

Gobsmacked is an English adjective used to describe one’s shock, surprise or astonishment.  While I loved this colour, I was gobsmacked by its performance.  Talk about chip city!  The slightly bumpy texture caught on paper and allowed air and water to creep between my nails and the polish, as a result my manicure was hijacked.

Butter London’s Gobsmacked

“Ow, Baby! Salt and Pepa’s here.”

If you don’t mind minimal wear time (four days tops), then Gobsmacked might be for you.

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