Daring Digits Before Color

Always a sucker for Indie polishes, especially one with large black round glequins mixed into smaller white hex glitters, I was most excited to get my paws on Daring Digits Before Color. After using a few other Daring Digits polishes I had high hopes for this polish, unfortunately it fell very short of my expectations.

I layered Before Color over Zoya Kristi, a bright fire engine red with a blue base. 

The application of Before Color was HORRENDOUS! It may be the worst polish in my collection application wise. Trying to use the brush was just pointless, no large black dots would come out unless I dug for them. Even after storing the bottle upside down for 10 minutes it was still so difficult to get the large black dots out. So I resorted to using a toothpick to pick out the black dots then apply them individually. As for the white hexagon glitters....arrrgh! They came out fine using the brush however they were often stacked one on top of each other so on application when I tried to spread them out they wouldn't come apart as the base had kind of glued them together, you can see in the picture how the white hexagons are close together on the nail... that's why. When I did try to pull them apart it dug into the red polish and smeared it, fail!

I love the concept of this polish, the colours...right up my alley but when you have to spend half an hour individually placing the glitters you may as well just use free glitter and glue them on with top coat. Sad Panda...I wanted this polish to be great.

Galaxy Nails Tutorial

Galaxy Nails, a hugely popular trend which continues to evolve into other designs such as galaxy drips or galaxy tips.

Galaxy nails can either look amazing or can be a big messy blob of colours. By following a few simple steps you too can create this look as it really isn't too hard. Perhaps the most important piece of advice, go easy with the white dots/stars at the end, less is definitely more.

If you try out this design we would love to see so please share on our Facebook page. 

Color Club Halo Hues Collection

Today on the blog the Color Club Halo Hues Collection. Stunning, gorgeous, amazing I could go on and on. But I wont't because I know you just wanna drool over the pics. Scroll down for my review.

My experiences with linear holographic polishes is that they can be quite temperamental to work with and are not very long lasting. In most cases you have to apply them without a base coat to enable you to be able to paint a somewhat streak free layer. After applying topcoat they seem to be prone to flaking or chipping off in big sheets. So I was really impressed when I tried this collection.

Color Club is not really regarded as one of the better brands of nail polish around, however they have really nailed it with this formula. I used the polishes with and without a basecoat and it applied equally well. The first layer did appear to have some thin spots or bald patches after the first coat, however with the second coat is evened out perfectly using the 3 stroke nail painting technique. I wore the silver polish Harp On It for 2 days and it didn't chip or flake off at all.

976 Harp On It - silver holo

977 Cloud Nine - dusty lilac holo

978 Halo-graphic - pink holo

979 Blue Heaven - blue holo

980 Cherubic - nude/taupe holo

981 Angel Kiss -  aquamarine/green holo

There are similarities between the dusty lilac Cloud Nine and pink Halo-Graphic, with the latter having a brighter pink finish. I love all the colours and the formula for each one was really excellent  If you haven't invested in any holographic polishes yet I would seriously consider this collection. This collection and single colours are available from www.dramaqueennails.com

Aussie Christmas Challenge: day 9 - green

Aussie Christmas Challenge: day 9 - green. I had intended to do some art over the top of this green but it was just so sparkly and glittery I couldn't cover it up. China Glaze Running In Circles. 

The formula for this polish from the Cirque De Soleil collection is really good. The glitter spreads evenly without being streaky. It is opaque in 2 thick coats. It wears well and is relatively easy to remove considering how difficult some glitters can be. This picture was taken in sunlight.

We will be stocking the heart sequins in the shop at www.dramaqueennails.com from January 2013.

Aussie Christmas Challenge Day 7: Aussie Sunset

You're looking so hot today Rhonda......like a sunrise! (Aussie joke). So here we are on day 7 of the ACC. I love gradients and there is nothing more beautiful as the colours that melt together in the sky as the sun is setting.

For the gradient I used:

• Zoya Pippa - banana yellow creme
• China Glaze Japanese Koi (neon) - dark orange neon creme
• China Glaze Love's a Beach - hot pink neon shimmer

For the water marble I used:

• China Glaze Japanese Koi (neon) - dark orange neon creme
• China Glaze Love's a Beach - hot pink neon shimmer
• Zoya Yummy - a sky blue creme
• China Glaze Sun Kissed - a neon yellow shimmer

 I have added my gradient tutorial in for everyone as I used this method for this design just added another line of colour.

Saturday Market Workshops | Striping Tape | 15th Dec 2012

After a hugely successful first Saturday morning workshop, we are looking forward to seeing what everyone comes up with next Saturday morning. Please click the link below for all the details about the workshops and how you can attend. Next Saturdays topic is striping tape. Here are just a few looks you can create using tape.

Saturday Market Workshops | Striping Tape | 15th Dec 2012

Aussie Christmas Challenge: 6 white poodles

And now for something completely ridiculous,  6 white poodles! Aussie Christmas challenge Day 3: 6 White Boomers. I had no idea what to do but every time the song came into my head I somehow managed to change the words to 6 white poodles.

...those who know me understand my poody love and my tendency to make up silly songs about my pets and sing them at the top of my lungs for all the neighbours lol 

China Glaze Glistening Snow (silver) China Glaze Water You Waiting For (blue) stamped with Konad white and BM04. Above picture with flash, below in sunlight. 

Puzzle your friends with your amazing nails

Rubik's Cube! I had to throw these up here even though I did them a while ago as I still get heaps of questions about them from my followers on IG and FB. How did you do these? How did you get them so neat?

Simple answer...they took agesssssss! I will do a tutorial for them when I have more time but for now here is a quick explanation.

1. Paint your nails black. Wait for them to dry COMPLETELY or apply a fast drying top coat to cheat a little and get them to dry fast.
2. Cut up 30 pieces of striping tape
3. 3. Lay them in a tic-tac-toe arrangement however also add a strip to the top and bottom of the nail
4. Fill in all the little square spaces with a small detail brush. 
5. Remove tape in the reverse order to how you applied it - super important! 
6. Use a black striping brush/polish to run over the lines if they are a little messy and add some black to each side of the nail.
7. Wait for at least 10 min before applying top coat so that your lines or colours don't smudge or smear.

It's really not too hard just a little time consuming :) As for the polishes I used, well I kinda mixed and matched a few polishes together to get the right hue for the Rubik's Cube colours. If you give them a try I would love to see so please share. On a side note...I had a Rubik's cube when I was little and for the life of me I could never work it out and drove me to despair that I couldn't solve it lol 

China Glaze Cirque de Soleil Collection

My another super naughty polish splurge has arrived. The Cirque De Soleil World's Away Collection.  I am beyond happy that I weakened for this collection because I love every colour. Scroll down to see the names of the polishes. The collection contains 5 glitters, 3 chunky and 2 small glitters. The rest of the polishes are cremes, except for the red which is a shimmer.

Aussie Christmas Challenge Day 1: Red

Aussie Xmas Challenge Day 1: Red. 

I love challenges...I respond well to pressure and having a theme guides my decision making process and the nail art evolves from finger to finger. That's my favourite way of putting things together vs. going in with a set plan for a design.

• OPI Danke-shiny Red from the OPI Germany Collection is a shimmering medium red polish.
• OPI Gettin Miss Piggy With It from The Muppets Collection, a clear base glitter with tiny red glitter pieces mixed with red and silver hexagon glitter. Layered over DL Fashion.
• Deborah Lippman Fashion is the nude base colour, a mushroom brown with pink undertones.

Many wins here; I got to use some of my new studs, 2 new polishes and have ended up with another awesome nude to add to my collection that suits my skin tone.

I think these are super fab! Pity they have to die tomorrow to make way for six white boomers! Dang the song is back in my head now. 

Aussie Christmas Challange

Just in time....with everything else going on right now in my life I was stumped for ideas for new nails as my brain is melting from the heat and just thinking about too many things that need to get done in the next couple of weeks (running the shop, manicures at the markets, packing my classroom and moving it all to a new school, picking bathroom things for our upcoming reno, getting ready for Christmas etc etc). Thanks to this great challenge by Elissa Sinclair from lissaspolishaddiction.blogspot.com.au no thinking is required...just doing! I'm already 2 posts behind (great way to start!), but I'm sure Ill catch up with challenges only due every couple of days. Anyone keen on joining in? And now I've got six white boomers in my head....aarrrgh!

Neon Heart

Sometimes a girl has limited time for nail art...life gets in the way. The solution? Sequins! Neon sequins even! This mani took about 10 minutes all up. The base colour is OPI Nein Nein Nein OK Fine, a dark charcoal grey creme. It looks black in this sunlight picture however in the bottle picture you can see its grey. I got these sequins from dollarnailart.com. You can buy individual colours for $1 each or a 10 pack of different colours for $7.99. I placed each heart using a small dotting tool then applied 2 coats of Seche Vite over the top to flatten and seal in the sequins. They were a little raised above the nail which gave them this cool 3D effect. Expect lots of sequins, I've got so many to try XD

Giveaway!

It's Giveaway Time! To say thank you to our fabulous DQ buddies we are having a giveaway on our Facebook Page. To take part in the giveaway you must share the giveaway picture from our Facebook page to either your timeline or page. Open to Aussie's only. You can gain an extra entry by following this blog. Bonus!

Thank you so much to everyone who has supported us on our crazy nail lady adventures. It's been a blast and we hope to keep on surprising you with funky fresh nail ideas. So what are you waiting for? Check out the giveaway pics then head on over to our Facebook page.  Good luck!

Zoya Base Coat  Zoya Top Coat  3 double ended nail art pens, striping tape, a stamping plate, black and silver dotty nail foils China Glaze Champagne Bubbles, 50 shades of no grey (an indie black and white glitter with love hearts!!) Good luck everyone...we love you guys, thanks for all the support :)

OPI Germany Collection

OPI Germany Collection. I know I'm a little late to get this but better late then never right? I decided to get this collection after buying a mini set and stumbling upon Don't Pretzel My Buttons. It turned out to be my perfect nude. Then I tried the charcoal grey and the purple and it was all over...they had to be mine. I love buying collections as the colours compliment each other really well for nail art. There is also the crazy nail lady factor where I have to have them all lined up together. I really love all of the colours and OPI brushes are just the best. Sagenhaft! That's German for legend----ary!

Here are the names of the polishes in the collection.

OPI Don't Pretzel My Buttons.