POLISH FOR YOUR POLLEX: OPI Alcatraz... Rocks! (Review & Swatches)

Hello,

As the point of Polished Makeup was to bring you makeup AND polish, it's about time I actually blogged about some polish! I have picked up some fairly new OPI's of late, so they will make their way onto the blog in the coming weeks! 

I have been loving the textured polishes over the last little while (namely Zoya's Pixie Dust and OPI's Liquid Sand). At first I was not that enthused, but after actually trying some I was a changed woman - they are pretty awesome!

This post is on 'Alcatraz.. Rocks!' one of the Liquid Sand polishes from OPI's new San Fransisco release. It dries to a matte finish so you simply apply a base coat and two coats and away you go! (They are relatively quick drying too). You can use a top coat with these, but it does ruin the textured finish (they can look quite nice though from swatches I've seen getting around the internet!). If you follow me on instagram (@polishedmakeup) you would know that this pic has been pilfered from my account... I'm all about efficiency ;) haha.

The best way to describe Alcatraz... Rocks! is a navy/denim blue with purple and gold glitter, but there is also flecks of blue and green glitter. It's so glittery that my phone struggled to focus! It is a seriously interesting colour! The only thing I don't like, is that it's been released coming into the Australian Spring/Summer (because it's fall in the States), so it's not likely to get heaps of wear over the next few months! 

It's definitely a two-coat polish. It can look very patchy after one, but evens up perfectly with a second coat. I used OPI's Natural Nail Base Coat as my base coat. I got quite a few days wear before they started chipping - about 3-4 (which is good for me as my nails are pretty weak!). I find the textured polishes wear a lot better on me.

OPI retails in Australia for $19.95 and you can purchase them from selected David Jones and Myer Stores, as well as Salon Stockists.

Have you tried any liquid sand polishes? What are your thoughts?

Love,

Your PM x

NOTM: Bling-Tastic!

Well, not the rhinestone-sparkly bling-tastic you were probably expecting... More the bling that Kayne West and Jamie Foxx would be singing about... haha.

Anyway,

This is a quick-ish little post to share my current polished pollex's with you! Both of these polishes I had purchased a while ago and I had been yet to wear them (until now!)... The chosen ones are..:

L: Zoya Gilty 18K Top Coat and R: OPI DS Mystery

I think I'm a bit behind for the 18K top coat trend... It was all the rage about 6-8 months ago and you don't see much of it at the moment (probably becuase textured polish is the new thing!). I had also purchased DS Mystery at last years Salon Melbourne (for some reason I thought it was brown but looking at it again it's definitely purple! oops!). I thought it was time to give both of them a go!

The Finished Product!

As you can see, the 18K Top Coat looks very effective over the dark base. DS Mystery is a polish from the OPI Designer Series Range, designed to be more sparkly and special than standard OPI polishes! It is a darkened purple with a gold fleck. The gold fleck is much more visible in the bottle than on the nail (but that's ok!). I chose DS Mystery becuase of that gold fleck, I thought it would complement the 18K Top Coat nicely (and I think it does)! It looks really pretty in real life! The 18K Top Coat can be a little fiddly to get on (for me, it wanted to keep hiding in the bottle!) but you can make it work. This NOTM has two coats of OPI and two coats of Zoya. I also used Cult Nails' 'Get It On' base coat (1 coat) and 'Wicked Fast' top coat (2 coats).

You can purchase Zoya in Australia from Art of Beauty (www.zoya.com.au) and OPI from Myer and David Jones and other Authorised Stockists such as www.adorebeauty.com.au! (be very careful where you buy your OPI from, as like MAC they are notorious for rip-offs!). If you can't get your hands on the Zoya 18K top coat, OPI do one as well.

Happy polishing!
Love,

Your PM x

What's On My Nails? Something New!

Good day,

In the interest of fair reporting (as this blog was to be about makeup AND nails!), I have changed my polish so I thought I would quickly share it with you :)

As I picked up some new colours at Salon Melbourne on the weekend, I thought I better start testing them out! (who am I kidding, I was SO excited for my polish to start looking manky so I could change it!). I will of course get around to posting all my new polish goodies soon!

Tonights colour of choice is Zoya Dahlia from their new(ish) Pixie Dust collection. Textured polishes are all the rage this year, so Zoya have come up with a super sparkly version of it! These polishes dry matte, so you don't need a top coat! (You can put one on but it kinda defeats the purpose!). The Zoya website also recommends no base coat, however I had already put one on before I read the instructions... Oopy! It does not seem to have affected my mani though!

Zoya Dahlia

Zoya Dahlia is a black base PACKED with silver glitter! I always thought this one should have been called Ebony! But as you can see, nice and sparkly (thanks macro for helping me out with that!). It took me two coats to get it reasonably black. You can see the texture, and it does feel a little gritty, but nothing like sandpaper! lol. I will report on wear time of this when I post swatches of the lot! :)

I really like these textured polishes for something different! Zoya's summer Pixie Dust collection has not long been released in the US so hopefully we get it over here sometime soon!

In Australia, you can buy Zoya from www.artofbeauty.com.au!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Love,

Your PM xx

Here's Looking at You! FOTD/NOTM

Greetings!

Tonight I am going to share with you my FOTD/NOTM that I had for my trip to Salon Melbourne! I thought I better be all pretty and fancy so I look like I fit in! (no orange tracksuit unfortunately!) I even went to the effort of putting some curls in my hair (and that is a special occasion thing! lol). I had a great time (even though I was only there for about 2 hours!) but I am full of wonderful blogging ideas to share with you over the next little while! (so make sure you visit back regularly!)

Here was my FOTD (Face of the Day):

(Sorry for dodgy iPhone quality - was in a rush so didn't get a camera photo! lol)

FOTD

And for those interested, I used the following products:

FACE

• Napoleon Perdis Auto Pilot Primer
• Kryolan TV Paint Stick in NB1
• Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation in No.6
• Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation in No.1 (for blending into neck)
• Napoleon Perdis Camera Finish Powder in N2

BLUSH

• Napoleon Perdis Eyeshadow in Flamingo Road
• Yes, you read right... Eyeshadow! It is such a pretty colour but I am not the biggest fan of wearing reds on my eyes! (I posted about Flamingo Road in my Multi-Use Products Post)
• NARS Blush in Torrid
• Illamasqua Bronzing Duo (Glint only) as a cheek highlighter

EYES

• Kryolan TV Paint Stick in NB1
• Kryolan Translucent Powder in TL1
• Napoleon Perdis Eyeshadow in Green Living
• Napoleon Perdis Eyeshadow in Queen of the Night
• NYX Eyeshadow Base in White
• OCC Loose Colour Concentrate in Flicker
• Napoleon Perdis Loose Eye Dust in Mosaic Gold
• Napoleon Perdis Mesmer-Eyes Mascara
• Napoleon Perdis China Doll Gel Liner in Equinox
• Eyebrows: Illamasqua Eyebrow Cake in Vehement

LIPS

• MAC Mineralize Lipstick in Lady at Play

PHEW! If you've managed to survive that you'll realise I use alot of products! Sometimes, a little splash of product X or Y can take your makeup from nice to really nice! I really liked my blush in this FOTD. I had Flamingo Road on the outside from my hairline, blending down to mid cheek. Torrid was blended from the apples of my cheeks, up! I then added a touch of Glint from Illamasqua's Bronzing Duo along the top of my cheek for a bit of interest!

Now, nail polish lovers don't be disappointed! Here is my NOTM (Nails of the Moment):



Zoya Kimber

I'm calling it a NOTM rather than a NOTD or similar, becuase I don't know how long they will last! haha. My nails, as mentioned, have the habit of chipping polish like it's nobody's business. However, as I write this (after being on for two days), there is only one tiny chip... amazing! (I think it's becuase they are filed bone short but Murphy's Law is probably not wanting me to try out my new polish yet!) - and yes my hands are still in terrible nick. I'm working on it!

The polish pictured is Zoya Kimber from their Surf Collection (part of Beach and Surf). Surf is such an amazing collection! It's a set of 6 foil-y polishes in fabulous colours! (to date, my fave Zoya collections are Surf, Sunshine and Sparkle! Though, with my newbies I've just picked up I may be adding Ornate when I get a good look at it!) But I'm digressing...

Anyway! Zoya Kimber is a beautiful rasperry red/pink with a foil-y gold shimmer! The bottle in the picture is quite accurate, and the nails show the shimmer up well. I constantly find myself staring at my nails! (and for those wondering I used Cult Nails' 'Get it On' base coat, and two coats of 'Wicked Fast' top coat). Kimber certainly has alot of appeal and would make a great colour for your toes too!

I am full of blogging ideas at the moment, so stay tuned for more posts over the coming days!

Love,

Your PM xx

I've FINALLY painted my nails!

So it's been a few weeks, but I finally got around to painting my nails! (I had done easter nails but they had been nakey since I peeled them off on Easter Sunday... oops!) Being that I am supposed to be blogging about nails as well as makeup I thought I'd quickly share what was on my digits (I say was, because 2 days later I only have 5 left...)

Saturday's polish of choice was ZOYA "Astra", a red and pink glitter with a slight sheer red base from their 'Ultra Glitter' collection. Zoya is not a well known brand in Australia, but they are BIG in America! I love them because a) they were one of the first companies to remove the nasties from their formula and b) they don't recycle the same colours and finishes from season to season! (*cough*OPI*cough*)



Zoya Astra

This is two generous coats, finished off with two coats of CULT NAILS "Wicked Fast", which is a fabulous top coat! (I like applying two coats, becuase I feel it dries faster!). It ended up being so shiny and sparkly, I couldn't stop looking at my fingies!

Also, please excuse my embarrassing nubs of nails... I do keep them short for work (lucky for me I do have long nail beds) but due to the beating they received at tafe last year (while studying for my cert II), they break like nobody's business! lol. Because they are so soft, polish also chips quite easily (the running joke is I look at them and they chip!) and then I end up peeling them off because I HATE the sight of chipped polish! They are also in pretty bad nick, being that I pay them nowhere near as much attention as I should! (Perhaps this should be a 'before' photo and I implement a better nail-care regime! You can tell my cuticles are in need of moisture! I should crack out the Rosebud Salve!)

I aim to blog more about polish in the coming months! If there are any comparisons you would like to see let me know and I'll see what I can do!

What have you got on your digits at the moment? Anything I should try?

Love,

Your PM.