Island Girl Nail Color: Mahalo Color

Being the last day of summer down here in Melbourne I have no choice but to post the most summery nail swatch I can find!

 

When I was in Hawaii last year I finally came face to face with the Island Girl range of polishes and despite the vast array of summery colours I was uncharacteristically disciplined and only chose two.  For whatever reason I was suffering nail polish fatigue but these things happen.  In any case...

 

Mahalo Girl is one of those obvious picks for a beachside mani or pedi as it's a neon watermelon pink and instantly sets off or gives the impression of a tan.  While some neon polishes can be quite sheer and demand a white polish base this polish was as opaque as the average non-neon variety so I got away with two coats for complete coverage.  If only I knew that back in Hawaii I may have reconsidered my conservative shopping and grabbed a few more! An excuse for a return visit perhaps? *winks* 

 

Shade

 

 

Sun

 

Is there anything you regret not buying on holiday?

 

 



Australis: bethatgirl

The nail polish I'm featuring today has gone straight to the top of my favourites list because - this is a rarity - I've worn it more than once this summer on my fingers AND toes!!!

 

I've found Australis nail polishes to be either hit or miss in the past so I've tended to overlook them unless they were on sale and so that's how I came to buy bethatgirl.  Bethatgirl is a neon purple cream from their Limited Edition range and it delivers in colour punch and coverage.  Two coats glided on and with the customary topcoat wear time has been easily a week on my fingernails and 3 weeks on my tootsies!  It's all about the colour of course, and being a neon it was a complete diva to photograph colour true but this is the most gloriously vibrant pink-purple in real life.  I think it will translate well for the change of season too.

 

 

Shade 

 

 

Sun

 

 

Bethatgirl is still available on the Australis Cosmetics website here.

 

 

Until next time!

Maybelline Color Sensational Bleached Neons: Coral Heat

Welcome to 2015 everyone!

 

Before I do my final 2014 empties post I'm squeezing in a very quick, very summery nail polish from Maybelline's recently released Bleached Neons collection.  I was fooled by this polish - not really taking the 'neon' hint obviously - because I thought it looked more like a pastel and I even thought it might actually be subdued? Hah!! Who was I kidding?

 

A name like Coral Heat is meant to be taken seriously because, yup, this is a rather glowingly neon pink-orange shade.  Yes it's light but it's still kind of bright. This isn't quite the scarily vivid orange worn on safety gear but not too far off it either - I felt a bit conspicuous wearing Coral Heat around the office, and half expected it to glow in the dark too.  No, of course it didn't glow in the dark but this polish really contrasted with my skin and gave me an instant 'tan'.

 

Application-wise this went on like a dream too!

 

All pictures taken in indirect daylight:

 

 

 

It's very summer holiday appropriate though, don't you think?

 

 



L'Oreal: Flaming Lilac

Hello again!
 

My mini vacation/hiatus is over and I'm easing back in to the blogging routine with a quick nail swatch post before I launch into any detailed product reviews...of which I have a few up my sleeve...

 

L'Oreal's Flaming Lilac is a vibrant neon lilac from their Color Riche Neons collection released late 2013.  This shade is bordering on Radiant Orchid for me with its distinctly pink-purple hue - and that makes it instant love for me!  Flaming Lilac was very nearly a one-coater and was easily applied with the broad flattened brush. 

All pictures taken in cloudy conditions

 

 

 

Thanks for looking as always!

 

Neon camouflage manicure (BYS and Ulta3)

Another looooong gap between posts - whoops!

 

When I was housebound during the peak of our January 40+ Celsius heatwave I actually had the time to experiment and do some nail art. I knew I wanted to do something interesting with hot neons (influenced by the hot weather maybe?) and it was a case of "pinspiration" as I was inspired by a colourful Pinterest post. Lots of splashes of neon colour looked like a good idea and here's my interpretation.  Deliberately messy and lots of fun!

 

I applied overlapping splotches of neon yellow (Ulta3 - neon yellow mini), pink (Ulta3 - neon pink mini) and orange (BYS - Clowning Around) over my Sally Hansen White On base:

 

 

 

 

To give you an idea of the work in progress this is how I started out, applying the alternating neon colours initially from the base of the nail.  I almost stopped at this point - What do you think?

 

 

Until next time - I'm off to get started on last month's empties before March rolls around!