Today's nail: Nubar Knight's Armor

You've probably noticed a lack of nail polish posts lately. My nails are in terrible condition at the moment, for a variety of reasons, so while I grow the damage out I'm keeping them nubbin length which I don't think is particularly photogenic. But I've decided to expose my nubbins to the world today because look:

Black jelly base jam-packed full of chunky silver glitter - this is the glory of Nubar Knight's Armor. I love it! The jelly base is relatively sheer, and I used three coats to get to opaque, but there is so much glitter in there that it almost provides the opaqueness on its own!

Of course being full of glitter has one drawback - this was a pain in the patootie to remove. But worth it - so very worth it!

Knight's Armor is from last year's Fortress collection, which was based around greys. I love grey and black based polishes, so you know I'm going to be going to great lengths to get the rest of this collection.

I have a few more polishes I'm dying to show you, including some sparkliness from Color Club's Pardon My French collection, so I guess you'll be seeing more of the nubbins soon!

Today's nails: Eyeko Vampira Polish

Today being Halloween, Eyeko's Vampira Polish seemed the perfect choice for my nails. And folks, this one is a stunner - a black jelly base with ruby coloured shimmer that for me is the perfect vampy colour - dark and sexy and glowing from within:

Because these are not my normal nails-plus-bottle swatch shots (I took them in the car this afternoon while waiting for a bunch of teenage girl zombies - true story), here's a bottle shot from the Eyeko site:

The Eyeko bottles are cute, and a huge improvement over their old bottles which were lovely but had stumpy little caps which were so difficult to work with. The only complaint I have about the bottles is that the brush wands are longer than your standard brush wand, making them just a little more difficult to control during application. The formula on Vampira however was a dream to apply, flowing on to the nail nicely. The first coat was super sheer, but by two coats it was pretty much opaque. I ended up doing three coats simply because when I held my hand up to the light I could still see a little visible nail line.

Like many jelly-based glitters the finish on Vampira, although gorgeously glossy, is a bit bumpy looking. This is easily solved with a good top coat though.

All in all I absolutely love this colour. I know there are many others out there of this ilk, notably China Glaze Lubu Heels which I also have, but have yet to wear. I think I'll be trying it soon though!

And finally, a picture of my front door decorated for Halloween. I made the spider web with dental floss - a minty-fresh spider web!

Today's nails: Beauty UK Lilac Girl

Today's polish is another I picked up in England. Beauty UK is a reasonably priced drugstore brand which is either available in Superdrug or Boots (there were a lot of nail polish purchases, I can't remember where I got them all!).

Lilac doesn't always look the best on my skin tone, but Lilac Girl has enough blue that I like it on me. Lovely application in two coats, this is perfect for spring.

Today's nails: M.A.C Jade Dragon

Ladies and Gentlemen, meet my new favourite green:

M.A.C Jade Dragon is part of the 2010 Jin Soon Collection currently in M.A.C stores. I fell in love with this after seeing swatches of it on other blogs, but in real life it is so much better than that even. A gorgeous dark green jelly shot through with blue shimmer, it had me exclaiming out loud as I applied it.

Two coats, lovely application. M.A.C have knocked it out of the park with this one!

Today's nails: Boots 17 True Blue

Boots 17 is a great range of budget-priced cosmetics by Boots, with some great polish colours in the range. And of course I picked up a few when we were in England.

This is True Blue, and it's gorgeous. I mean it's a no-brainer that I'm going to love a dark blue - it's probably my favourite nail polish shade - but this one is truly stunning.

Apologies for the horrific state of my cuticles - I'd just done housework! Anyway, isn't she a beauty? I have so many blues now that I figure I'd better start learning to tell the different shades apart, so after referring to the Wikipedia Shades of Blue page I think I would describe this as 'Dark Blue'. Yeah, I needed a web page to tell me that. Or maybe 'Ultramarine' - it depends on the lighting. Whatever, I love this blue cream!

Lovely application in two coats - I would call this a must-have if you're a blue polish lover.

Today's nails: Eyeko Coral polish

Now I'm not a big fan of coral polishes. They're often just a little on the 'nana' side for me. Eyeko's Coral Polish isn't bad though, not bad at all:

I don't love it, but I do like it. 15 Year Old Daughter loves it! Coral is very vibrant, and at the redder end of the coral spectrum. Two coats, the only problem I had was that the formula was very runny - so much so that I had to wipe the brush down carefully or it would drip off the brush onto the couch. And my arm. And the carpet. And the dog.

All in all, I think if you're a lover of coral polishes this would be one you'd want to have in your collection.

Today's nails: My birthday mani

I have the Awesomest Kids Ever. Seriously. Apologies to anybody who thinks their kids are the awesomest, but mine bought me nail polish and shoes for my birthday. I repeat: Awesomest. Kids. Ever!

In my imagination, the conversation went something like this:

11YO Son: "Oh sister dearest, what shall we buy our wonderful mother for her birthday?"

15YO Daughter: "Well, brother dearest, she is truly the most wonderful mother, so we must buy her something that she will love and that will express our devotion to her."

11YO Son: "She loves nail polish."

15YO Daughter: "And shoes."

Together: "Let's buy her nail polish AND shoes!"

Apparently in my imagination I have borne Children of the Corn. Great.

So here is the nail polish they bought me. L'Oreal Resist & Shine Titanium No 733.

(I'm still messing around with the macro settings on the camera I got for my birthday and I haven't yet quite perfected it yet so apologies. The camera is awesome, its operator needs some lessons!)

I love the L'Oreal Resist & Shine Titanium polishes - especially this series of black-based colours which come in the bottles with the black lids. 733 is a stunning shimmer that I think I would describe as a black-based plum (I'm not always the best at colour descriptions). This has a beautiful glow to it, and the plum colour is apparent in all lights.

The best part of all: this is ONE coat. Brilliant! The formula was a little tricky to work with - a little on the thick side which meant it was hard to get a nice line at the edges but still - ONE coat!

My only quibble is with the packaging: the chunky, curved bottle design is lovely to look at, and the lid pulls off to reveal a smaller brush handle which is meant to be easier to hold for applying polish (shown below), but it is actually a little bit too small - especially length-wise - so it's a bit fiddly to control. But like I said, that's a small quibble for such a gorgeous one-coater!

Today's nails: Barry M Dusky Mauve

In a stunning display of bad timing, Barry M released two new polishes just weeks after we returned from our UK visit. It's obviously a cunning ploy to get me to buy more stuff, because when I'm buying online I'm not going to pay for delivery to New Zealand just for a couple of nail polishes am I? Of course not. At the very least I'm going to add some eyeliner and lipstick to my order.

Dusky Mauve is one of the two new polishes, and it is a stunner.

These purple/greys are everywhere at the moment, and with its lovely pink shimmer Dusky Mauve may well be a dupe for the much-coveted (and considerably more expensive) Chanel Paradoxal. I don't have Paradoxal, so I'll point you to rijaH, who has some great comparison pics.

I love, love, love this unusual colour. These photos are from a couple of days ago, as far as I can remember this was a two-coater. Certainly it had the usual excellent Barry M application. And for only £2.95 from Barry M compared to whatever the cardiac-inducing price of the Chanel is, it's a great buy!

Today's nails: Eyeko Rain Polish

Rain is perfectly named - this gorgeous grey/blue with a very subtle shimmer is so reminiscent of drizzly skies. In a good way!:

The photo's not the best sorry - I got an awesome new camera for my birthday (yes, today I'm one year away from being 40), and I'm still playing with it.

Without having seen a side-by-side comparison Rain looks very similar to Essie's Sag Harbour, albeit with considerably better application. This was two coats, and although the formula was a wee bit on the thick side and it didn't completely settle to a smooth finish a top coat of Seche Vite smoothed it out beautifully. Absolutely love it.

Today's nails: Color Club Poptastic

Poptastic is the final colour in the seven piece Poptastic Collection.

Poptastic is a neon Barbie pink. Good application in two coats and again it has the vinyl-like finish of neons (shown in the pictures however with a topcoat). For me this colour isn't a thriller, but I'm not a pink lover, and where Warhol won me over because of its depth of colour and its unusual orange tinge Poptastic is a fairly standard neon pink. That said, if you're a pink lover I think you'll like this one.

So that wraps up the Poptastic Collection.  All in all a great collection. Formula-wise, with the exception of Almost Famous the polishes had great application, far exceeding what I would expect from a neon. Color Club have done a great job in improving the formula over the old neon collection which Poptastic replaced.

Aside from Poptastic I loved all the colours. If you're a neon lover, or looking to add a pop of bright colour to your summer mani/pedi you should definitely check this collection out.

Thank you once again to Color Club NZ for providing me with this collection for review.

Today's nails: Color Club Wham! Pow!

Wham! Pow! (from Color Club's Poptastic Collection) is possibly the most aptly-named polish ever - it's a total assault on the retinas!

My camera took one look at this colour and started quaking at the knees - it just couldn't capture it accurately! The bottle colour in the first photo is probably closest to what it actually looks like on the nail - glowing and neon and BRIGHT! Seriously, this colour is SO bright I swear if I touch my nails they'll be burning hot!

The formula on Wham! Pow! is lovely, thinnish and easy to apply. I used three coats because I thought I could see a little visible nail line, but I think two would probably have been ok. The finish is your typical neon satin, it's shown here with a top coat.

Today's nails: Color Club Almost Famous

Today's colour from the Color Club Poptastic Collection is Almost Famous.

I really like yellow polishes, but they don't often like me - yellow's just not a great colour for my skintone. I really like the banana yellow of Almost Famous on me though.

Look at that - bright and cheerful and banana-y!

This was, however, a total pain in the patootie to apply. The formula is quite thick and it pooled at the sides, dragged, and refused to settle into a flat finish. Even after three coats and a top coat of Seche Vite, which normally smooths out an uneven polish, it still looks lumpy and uneven to me, athough it's not so obvious in the photos.

Still, an easy-to-apply yellow is a rarity in my experience, and Almost Famous is a keeper because of it's gorgeous colour.

(My nails haven't suddenly grown longer overnight, by the way. I glued on some acrylic nails last night because my natural nails were so soft and kept breaking off right at the quick. Which explains the state of my cuticles - I may have used a wee smidge too much glue!)

Today's nails: Color Club Chelsea Girl and Warhol

Today I have two more colours from the Color Club Poptastic Collection for you. First up Chelsea Girl:

Brighter and darker than this photo shows (ain't that always the way), this is a vibrant jellyish royal blue. The formula on this was thinner than the others from this collection that I've tried so far and had a tendency to either pool at the sides or go on quite sheer. By the second coat, however, coverage was good and the thinness of the formula didn't make application particularly difficult. (I wore this a few days ago now, and I can't for the life of me remember whether it was two or three coats in the end - I think it was only two though.) This was another colour that I got heaps of compliments on.

Warhol:

Now I make no secret of my dislike for pink nail polishes, but dammit if I don't love this one. Warhol is a bright, hot pink that has an amazing orange glow to it which is not evident in the photo. A true neon (blindingly so), application on this was absolutely lovely.

Both colours are shown with top coat, without they again have the satiny finish of neons.  To give you a bit more of an idea of how it looks on, and also so you can fall about laughing, here I am rocking Warhol on my nails dressed as Madonna circa Desperately Seeking Susan for 15 Year Old Daughter's birthday party in the weekend:

The theme of the party was 'Backstage Pass' and 15 Year Old Daughter insisted that I had to dress up too. I suspect she ended up regretting that. 11 Year Old Son's reaction was to yell "NOOOOOOOOOOOO" and run away. But the highlight of the evening was forgetting I was in costume when I opened the door to the pizza man. To say he looked startled would be the understatement of the year!

Today's nails: Color Club Pucci-licious and Twiggie

Color Club's Poptastic range was released into New Zealand stores at the start of September, and Color Club New Zealand very kindly sent me out a seven piece pack for review.

Left to right: Almost Famous, Wham! Pow!, Poptastic, Warhol, Pucci-licious, Twiggie and Chelsea Girl.

The Poptastic Collection replaces the Flower Power Neon range and contains 20 shades in all. Some favourite shades from the Neons have been kept and renamed, and several new shades have been introduced.

The first two shades I swatched were Pucci-licious and Twiggie and both colours surprised me with their fabulous application - I generally expect neons to be trouble to apply but not these two. Both are highly pigmented and the formula on Pucci-licious was lovely and smooth, going on evenly and only requiring two coats. In fact I suspect if I applied it again I could make it a one coat application. Twiggie was a little thicker in consistency so required slightly more careful application but went on in one coat, something I've never had before with a neon.

First up Pucci-licious, which being a purple was beyond impossible to capture, photographing more dusky and with more blue than it has in real life.

This picture was taken before I applied top coat, and you can see the semi-matte satin finish common to many neons.

Because that picture is so completely inaccurate in representing the colour, check it out y'all - my mad Paint skills:

Makes me look like I have the world's worst fake tan! Still not particularly representive, you'll just have to trust me that Pucci-licious is a gorgeous bright grape purple which I got heaps of compliments on.

Twiggie is bright, summery green somewhere between mint green and pea green.

A real stand-out colour that you can't help noticing - love it.

Today's nail: a polish from England - Barry M Grey

I already had several Barry M polishes in my stash prior to our trip to England, and of course I added to their number. Barry M almost never disappoint me with their application, and the creatively named 'Grey' is no exception.

(I've a feeling they don't pay their polish naming person enough!)

Grey leans slightly warmer in real life than the pictures show, and to my eye would be wearable on most skin tones. I'm a huge fan of grey nail polish and this one makes my heart go pitter patter.

Application-wise the only way this polish could have been more perfect was if it went on in one coat. This is two coats of smooth, buttery, creme goodness. Barry M have yet again knocked it out of the park for me.

Today's nail: Color Club Electronica

Today's polish from Color Club's Dance to the Musique collection is Electronica, a vibrant blurple jelly packed with pink shimmer:

Of course the camera captured this leaning towards blue, but it is more purple (see the collection shot at the top of the post for a better example of the colour) and it didn't even begin to capture the gorgeous shimmer properly. I never get sick of colours like this. There are many of them around - some of which are more dupe-ish than others - but Electronica is a fabulous example and definitely a standout. Two lovely coats to apply, if you're a blurple/shimmer fan you need this baby in your collection!

Today's nail: Color Club Feel the Beat

Today's polish from the Dance to the Musique collection is Feel the Beat. I wasn't sure about this one in the bottle, it looked like it could be a bit too 'safe' for my liking, but actually on the nail it's not bad at all. (Before you look, I apologise for the state of my cuticles - moisturiser STAT!):

Feel the Beat is a coppery-orange almost metallic that reminds me of glowing embers in a fire. (Poetic, yes?) Two coats and nice application that was just the tiniest bit brush-strokey.  I did notice this morning there are a couple of bald spots near my cuticles - the polish probably took one look at the state of my cuticles and tried to run away. Also, note to self: stop anthr... anthropo... anthromo... giving nail polishes human characteristics.

Today's nail part two: Color Club Groove Thang

The second collection released by Color Club for the New Zealand winter 2010 season is Dance to the Musique, which Color Club NZ generously provided me with to swatch for you:

Left to right: Feel the Beat, Velvet Rope, Slow Jam, Electronica, Groove Thang and After Hours.

Groove Thang intrigued me in the bottle with its purple shimmer and hints of peacock blues and greens. Somewhat disappointingly though the blues and greens fail to make an appearance on the nail.

Groove Thang does redeem itself in my eyes by being a gorgeous dark dark purple jelly (of the "so dark it's almost black" ilk) with a lighter purple shimmer packed into it that really shines when the light hits it, and I do love it, even if I am a bit disappointed that it didn't turn out like it promised in the bottle.

Lovely formula that only required two coats, and it could possibly be a one coater if you apply your polish thicker than I. And also, how gorgeous does it look with my new ring?

More to the point: how gorgeous is my new ring?

Today's nail: Color Club Love 'Em Leave 'Em

Love 'Em Leave 'Em is the last of the six polishes in the Wild At Heart collection, and the one with a true holographic glitter which is just gorgeous in the light.

There was, however, a reason I left Love 'Em Leave 'Em till last to swatch - the holo may be beautiful but the beige base colour is so totally not me. The whole day I was wearing it I would catch a glimpse of my nails and think "meh, beige". It's nothing personal against this polish - I just don't do beige. If you do though I recommend this polish, especially if you're looking for something work-appropriate but with a bit of fun. Lovely application in two coats.

That wraps up the Wild At Heart Collection, and as a whole I absolutely love it. Five glitter bombs and one metallic and (with the exception of Love 'Em Leave 'Em) some gorgeously dramatic colours - this could well qualify as my favourite collection ever, with Wild At Heart being my favourite colour-wise and Wild And Willing getting my vote for most unusual. If you like your glitters go get this collection, it won't disappoint.