• Gelous™ Advanced Nail Gel Coat
• CND™ Stickey™ Anchoring Base Coat
• CND™ Colour 582 Dark Amethyst
• CND™ Colour 583 Midnight Sapphire
• CND™ Effects 584 Sheer 24K Sparkle
• Color Club® 852 Revvvolution
• Color Club® 898 Red Velvet
• Color Club® 893 Nothing But Truffle
• Color Club® 902 Covered In Diamonds
• essie® 696 Chinchilly

Unfortunately I found it impossible to photo the three darkest gems from Color Club, but I decided to add photos to the post anyway. Please excuse the quality! As so many times before Neglelakkmani was the one who influenced me into buying some of these nail polishes. This because I trust her opinions and judgement completely, if she recommends something then it's worth checking out. I was already planning on giving Color Club a try, and "Chinchilly" had to be mine because of its name (me having former career as a chinchilla breeder). I decided to ask Karianne over at Neglelakkmani if there was anything else I should get while I was at it, I mean.. you can fit nine nail polishes into a SFRB, I would be an idiot not to take advantage. Right? Right. She told me about the brand new, and limited edition, The Look Fall/Winter 2011 from CND - them being one-coaters and all she knew I'd be intrigued. And boy, I am. If you don't believe me, check out her own swatches. Amazeballs!

CND™ Stickey™ · CND Dark Amethyst · CND Midnight Sapphire · CND Sheer 24K Sparkle

From Color Club I just had to have "Revvvolution" after seeing these swatches, it being a charcoal grey holographic polish. It might seem like this specific polish exist in at least two different versions, but I haven't bothered researching it properly. I've got my one bottle, and I'm content with that. In the bottle I can't see any holographic shimmer at all. None. Zip. Nada. Since we're not blessed with much sunshine nowadays I can't really put it to the test, but I'll get back to you on the matter. I'll be seriously disappointed if it's just.. flat.

The two next polishes from Color Club are from the same collection - Untamed Luxury - and are called "Nothing But Truffle" and "Red Velvet". I'm not sure which one I'd place on top of my list of favorites from this haul, but it's a close one between the three. "Nothing But Truffle" is a blackened base with copper shimmer, and it looks like the perfect mysterious color for the dark months of October and November. "Red Velvet" on the other hand, is a simply gorgeous black jelly base packed with tiny red glitter - and it's pretty similar to China Glaze Lubu Heels, Eyeko Vampira and Milani Spellbound according to The Hungry Asian. As I don't own any of the mentioned polishes from before, I settled on Red Velvet (despite my hate for glitter) and I'm loving it!

Last, but certainly not least, it's the gem of my haul: "Covered in Diamonds", also from Untamed Luxury. I would have to say it's more of a layering polish than one that would work on it's own, with its transparent base bursting with multicolored flakes of glitter resembling tiny shards of glass. I could seriously stare at the magic going on inside the bottle all day! There might be other polishes like this one out there, but I haven't seen one, and I can imagine the most boring nails turning into nails you can't take your eyes off, if you top your manicure off with these "diamonds".

Color Club Revvvolution · Color Club Nothing But Truffle · Color Club Red Velvet · Color Club Covered in Diamonds
essie® Chinchilly

Swatches of "Nothing But Truffle", "Red Velvet" and "Covered in Diamonds" (and the remaining polishes from this collection) can be found at The Hungry Asian.

O·P·I Suede

I also got my hands on the whole O·P·I Suede collection a little while back, solely because Neglelakkmani described them as "sweatpants for the nails", and seriously.. who doesn't want an easy and quick solution for beautiful nails? OK, so I might be easy to persuade then. I did debate whether or not to look for them as I own essie® Matte About You (a top coat for making any nail polish matte), but someone told me that it wouldn't be the same thing - and actually, Scrangie has a post with pictures that shows exactly that. Scroll down to the end of Scrangies post to see the difference between the original, the original with matte top coat, the Suede version and finally the Suede version with a regular top coat. Gabrielle over at The Edge of Sanity has also posted swatches worth taking a closer look at. Was I sold? Oh yes siree!

We'll Always Have Paris · Lincoln Park After Dark · Ink
Russian Navy · You Don't Know Jacques · Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees

I actually wore the gorgeous blue "Russian Navy Suede" on my nails last weekend, and it was immensely easy to work with. It required almost no clean up, which made the whole manicure a real breeze, and one coat was enough to make the color deep and opaque. Unfortunately I noticed tip wear after only 24 hours, but I guess it should be expected for a manicure without base or top coat.

Ozotic Pro Multi Chromatics

I never mentioned that I ordered the Ozotic Pro Multi Chromatics from piCture pOlish in Australia back in mid-August either. Funny story actually. I was sitting on the fence as usual, waiting for God knows what, and failed to decide whether or not to order these gorgeous multi-chrome polishes - until one of them actually got discontinued. Bah. I hate it when that happens, and apparently I never learn. So I sent a few e-mails, asked around, and managed to find one bottle of the "503 Rainforest" with my name on it. When that was done I figured I could add the rest of the Multi Chromatics to my order while already at it, and as said.. well, as done. After a lot of e-mails back and forth my package was finally on its way from Australia to Norway, and they certainly didn't disappoint me as I ripped open the bubble wrap to reveal them. Since I suffer from a mild case of OCD, it hurt a little inside as I discovered that I had received one of the new bottles, but at least I got them all before it was too late.

• Ozotic Pro Multi Chromatic 502 Sands
• Ozotic Pro Multi Chromatic 503 Rainforest
• Ozotic Pro Multi Chromatic 504 Twilight
• Ozotic Pro Multi Chromatic 505 Eclipse
• Ozotic Pro Multi Chromatic 506 Reef
• Ozotic Pro Multi Chromatic 520 Molten
• Ozotic Pro Multi Chromatic 521 Sunset

502 · 503 · 504 · 505 · 506 · 521 · 520

I might, reluctantly, agree on what many nail bloggers have said many times already, the shipping was a bit steep, but shipping is what it is - glass bottles do weigh a bit. piCture pOlish now offer international shipping through DHL, which means it'll arrive within days even if you're on the other side of the world from Australia. Quite neat if you ask me, and piCture pOlish have the best customer service you could ever ask for.

And as a little bonus I give you the link to two bloggers showing extraordinary swatches of the now discontinued 502 Rainforest and the magnificent 505 Eclipse! If you poke around Google you'll find swatches of most of these polishes, some good - and some.. not so good. Keep in mind that these babies need a black base to shine, as they are too sheer to use on their own.

Le Métier de Beauté Rock 'n' Romance

Having typed this much about nail polish already, I might as well tell you about the limited edition Nordstrom exclusive Le Métier de Beauté Rock 'n' Romance nail polish set I've had sitting on my desk for a couple of months now. I would never have had the chance to get my hands on these beauties if it hadn't been for the sweet and wonderful Blushing Noir - thank you a million times, dear! This set consists of four polishes: "True Romance", "Heat of the Night", "Midnight Rendevouz" and "Chrome Passion", and even though the bottles are indeed tiny (about 4 ml each), they are so.. extravagant. So classy. So sophisticated.

True Romance · Heat of the Night · Midnight Rendevouz · Chrome Passion

If you'd like to read more about these beauties, seeing more pictures and swatches? Please visit Blushing Noir.

Do you indulge in the occasional nail polish haul?

Photos © Shamini Thevarajah '11

Since I'm very aware of having readers who couldn't care less about makeup and shopping, those of you who are interested will have to click "continue reading" for the juicy details, including pictures. I have decided to break it all down into smaller posts, so stay tuned for more.

NAIL POLISH

Top Coat · Rock Coat · 401 St. Tropez · 704 Nirvana · 545 Orange Psychédélique · 638 Aloha

First out are my six Dior Vernis nail polishes. The first one of these beauties to become mine was the Rock Coat, as I figured it would be nice to have the possibility to smoke out any nail color whenever I'm in the mood for a little change. I didn't pay much attention to the remaining colors in this display, but I later ended up buying the smoky teal called "Nirvana" as well. While paying for it I noticed the bright nails of the sales lady, and she told me it was "St. Tropez" she was wearing. "St. Tropez" is a limited edition color, made especially for the opening of their new pop-up boutique in Saint Tropez in June 2011. Back in the hotel I could have kicked myself for the lack of interest in the beautiful vibrant turquoise blue, so I went back with zero hope of finding it (limited and all that jazz).. and I scooored! And with it a bottle of "Orange Psychédélique", which looks a lot more coral than orange to me. Gorgeous colors, don't you think?

Before we left home I had my heart set on the two new, or apparently not-so-new, summer nail polish duos called Electric Tropics, but no one seemed to have them in stock. One sales lady even told me that it had been sold out all over France for the last month or so! Well, sold out or not sold out, when I stopped by the Dior counter in the ginormous Sephora on Champs-Elysées I decided give it a shot and ask for it - and what do you know, I was handed the set called "Aloha". Sold out, schmold out. Ask, and you shall have! Unfortunately I was unable to obtain its sister "Paradise" at the time.

South Beach Pink · Vegas Pink · La Paz · Party Time · New Dehli · Mexico

Lamé Gold · Marron Glacé · Mauve Cenrdé · Lagoon · Paradise Blue · Smoky Blue · Black Oyster

Now, Mavala is an unknown brand to me. I found them in an aisle at MonoPrix, so clearly it's a pretty cheap drugstore brand. I really liked the wide selection of colors, and found it somewhat challenging to select only a few of them. These are pretty small with their 5 ml a bottle, which apparently is enough for about ten manicures, so I picked out 13 colors. If I manage to muster up the patience required for such a task I'll swatch them on a nail wheel and share them later on. Please don't hold your breath while waiting.

Peridot · Pêche Nacrée

In addition to the Dior Vernis and the Mavala I've already shown you above, I also bought one Sephora Collection Nail Lacquer in L49 "Deep in Her Eyes" (shimmering blue violet), which I unfortunately forgot to include in any of my photos, a Chanel Vernis in "Pêche Nacrée" from the duty-free store on-board the boat, and a Chanel Vernis in "Peridot" from eBay.

Photos © Shamini Thevarajah '11

She used essie® "Starry Starry Night" for the ring, and Make Up Store "Lava" over a black nail polish for the pendant. These are definitely two pieces of jewelery I'll keep close to my heart. Thank you so very much, Karianne!

Do you wish to see more?
Visit Neglelakkmani or take a look at her Flickr gallery.

Photos © Neglelakkmani

Photo © Shamini Thevarajah '11

It has been really awesome seeing my brother again. I think it's been six years since the last time I saw him. I know, way too long, but that's the way it is when you live at opposite parts of the world. I miss him a lot, he's by far the best big brother out there. We didn't really do anything much because of the bad shape I've been in, but it was nice just hanging around - and we have lots of good laughs while playing cards. My sister needed a bit of a vacation, and seemed to be having a good time while visiting us and our two little rascals. Believe me when I say it was all weird and empty here when they left last Friday.

So today was Valentine's Day. Who cares about Valentine's Day? I certainly don't, so now we have that out of the way. Moving on!

Lucky as I am Mr. Postman came by with a package for me, and that package totally made my day! It contained two O·P·I nail polishes in "Shatter" and "Teenage Dream" from the Katy Perry collaboration. If you want to see how they look, take a peek at this gorgeous manicure by the fabulous Neglelakkmani, who was also kind enough to get me these two beauties. You are such a sweetheart, thank you so much again!

Photo © Shamini Thevarajah '11

Back in October I tested another polish from Illamasqua, and I loved it. Unfortunately I didn't love Load as much, simply because I found it to be hard to apply, difficult to work with, and it took quite an amount of effort to look somewhat even on my nails even though I didn't fully succeed.

Load is described as a "rich cream" which is quite accurate. It has a glossy finish. I might go as far as calling it a very subdued yellow against my skin, which might have to do with my yellow undertones. I applied three coats, the last coat being quite thick, and I had to work quickly to avoid streaking.

The Verdict:
I'm kinda sad to award Load with only three brushes, but the difficulty applying it did disappoint me a bit. By all means, I'm no nail polish guru, but I was hoping for another Jan (nice and easy to work with). On the other hand.. it's a light color, and I think lighter colors are harder to apply flawless in general. As I said I love the name and description of this nail polish, and I do like the color as well. I'm also giving it another plus for drying quickly, despite of the third coat being a bit thick. Load receives three brushes from me, but all-in-all it's a strong three!

Picture was taken indoors in artificial lighting.

Photo © Shamini Thevarajah '11

Black Pearl is one of three nail polishes from Les Perles de Chanel for spring 2011, the other two being Pearl Drop and Pêche Nacrée. I'm not sure if it's a limited edition or not, but the color is certainly too hot not to own! I just hope I won't spark another flame, kindling an addiction to Chanel polishes. It's said to be a slippery slope.

Wanna see swatches?
Take a look at the ones Karen posted.

Photo © Chanel

Since I was already out of the apartment I decided to go to Cubus at the nearest mall for a little pre-Christmas shopping. I wanted to pick up another pair - I now own five pairs, whereas three of them are brand new - of those incredibly soft pajamas they start selling around Christmas. Sometimes I wish I could spend my entire life wearing my pajamas, but unfortunately I like to think I'm a bit more decent than that. PJ's FTW!

Anyway, while at Cubus I noticed the new brand MNY Maybelline and decided to try a few of their nail polishes. I didn't really like the colors in stock, but I ended up picking up a purple shimmer flecked with purple glitter and a gorgeous deep, dark blue shimmer which instantly reminded me of flowing velvet - #557 and #665. I'll try to be a good girl and come up with some swatches.. eventually, but if you're in a hurry you could always try Google. Since my HG mascara is Max Factor False Lash Effect I decided to try out the new Xperience Volumising Mascara in black. I'll let you know how it goes. Even though False Lash Effect is my go-to mascara I did kinda like their Lash Extension Effect for the days when I really want to tone it down. Extreme lengthening? I don't know about that, but still a decent mascara if you ask me.

I also did some eBay shopping. C'mon. You didn't expect me to end my little Christmas shopping post here, did you? I was looking to get the Sweet & Sugar Sparkle duo from CND, but it turned out to be an impossible task. I mean, I did find a seller who were offering both polishes, but 12 seconds before I paid for my purchase I got a message telling me that there had been a mistake, they didn't have them in stock. Bah! I wish I would stop waiting, and just get the items I want.. when I want them. This little setback naturally led me to browsing around eBay without any particular goal, and the whole escapade ended up in me ordering another six nail polishes. Yep. Six. For some reason they ended up being all O·P·I: Paris Couture for Sure (top coat), Changing of the Garnet, Diva of Geneva, Merry Midnight, DS Magic and DS Radiance.

It's important to reward oneself, yes?

I have never tried nail polish from Illamasqua, so I was thrilled to finally get the chance when I received "Jan". She's described as a "light dusky pink" with a glossy finish, but somehow it looks more lilac to me. Maybe it's my skin tone? Or maybe it's just me. A gorgeous color nonetheless!

"Jan" was quite easy deal with and applied evenly. I used two coats for my nails - I seriously love all polishes where I can get away with two coats - and it dried fairly quick, which means I managed to take a picture without messing up anything. It's now been five days with this manicure, no base or top coat, and I'm just starting to see the tiniest sign of wear on the tip of my index finger. I'm amazed with the durability of this nail polish!

The Verdict:
If you're looking for a nice, subtle nail polish where you can get away with two coats, then this is absolutely a polish worth looking into. Even though I'm no expert on applying nail polish, I really think I managed to do a decent job with this one. "Jan" is easy to work with, the texture is nice, I experienced no streaking and it dried quickly (two medium thick coats). The durability is excellent, and I know I need to add a few more Illamasqua nail polishes to my collection. Two thumbs up, and full score from me!

Picture was taken indoors in artificial lighting.

Photo © Shamini Thevarajah '10

I'm not a very Christmas-y person as we all already know, but these polishes ended up giving me warm, fuzzy feelings inside, reminding me of Christmas when I was a kid and actually liked snow.

"Frosty" is a gorgeous white shimmer, totally reminding me of powdery, magical snow. There are six different reds in the collection, but I was instantly drawn to "Sugar Plums", a plum shimmer with glitter - and "Mommy Kissing Santa", a gorgeous rich cranberry shimmer. "Little Drummer Boy" is an absolutely stunning rich blue shimmer - I love the name, and it's also one of very few Christmas songs I like to listen to. "Midnight Kisses" is a pretty gold shimmer, and "Cheers to You" looks like silver shimmer twin. The wild card of my order is "Party Hearty" which is a glitter top coat-mix of red, green, silver and gold glitter - this is not typically a polish I would order, but it looked quite unique, and I'm sure I'll find a way to layer it.

The total price for seven nail polishes? $37 included shipping to Norway by USPS First-Class Mail International ($15.70), or about 213,- NOK with today's exchange rate. They cost a little less than amazing 17,- NOK per bottle! Now I'm just a little anxious to see whether or not Head2Toe declare the shipments correctly (value and shipping separate), or if I have to pay taxes and fees upon arrival.

Choose between the 16 colors, or get all of them from Head2Toe.

Photos © Head2Toe Beauty