It's official, I have a new favourite collection of nail polishes.  Here is part one of my swatches of the Layla Hologram Effect nail polishes.  There are eight polishes in the collection and today I am showing the four palest shades.

First up let me say that these appear to have the same holographic pigment that is in the Nfu Oh holos, Gosh Holo and Makeup Store holos.  That is to say they have a different finish to the more 'Spectraflair' appearing holos, like Ozotic, Glitter Gal, Ludurana and Hits.  The spectraflair type ones seem more sparkely, whereas these other sort seem more metallic and rainbow like.  Damn  wish I knew what this pigment was, unfortunately all they have to put on the bottles is "Aluminum powder CI77000".

Jade Groove - very pale green.  Lighter than Nfu Oh 66.

Mercury Twilight - Silver holo. Not sure yet where it fits in with my silver holo comparison.

Mermaid Spell - pale blue. Similar to Nfu Oh 65, but maybe a shade lighter.

Coral Glam - Nude holo (freaking awesome). Similar to Nfu Oh 62, but pinker.

Please let me know if you want to see any comparison photos.

Come back tomorow to see the other four colours, plus I'll tell you about where I got them and what my shopping experience was like. I'll also detail more about the formula on these.  See you then :)

Happy Australia Day  people.

I couldn't help myself, I had to go with the classic flag nail art for Australia Day.

I used a custom blue holo polish I made for the blue base. I stamped individual stars in special white polish using Bundle Monster plate BM11 to make the Southern Crosses.  For the Union Jack, I used a nail art brush and free painted the white and red lines using Nfu Oh 61 (so its actually silver not white) and Hits Ares.  All topped off with a coat of Seche Vite.

This is such an amazing holo mani, but it has been really overcast here today (stupid cold summer!) and I can't get it to show how pretty it is.

Here is an indoor photo I took with a lamp, although it doesn't really show the holo any better.  But it shows how much the blue pops.

Now yesterday, at the end of my post I said I was off to do something a little silly on my nails.  I have an EPIC NAIL FAIL that I'm going to share with you.  I couldn't bear to post this mani in it's own post because its just so god damn awful.  If you have a weak stomach, look away now.

What I was attempting was "shrimp on the barbie". I was happy with the base, which I sponged on grey orange and red holo polishes to represent the coals.  But then I couldn't be bothered using tape to make the grill lines nice and neat so I just freehanded them.  WRONG!

Then I attempted to add the prawns to the BBQ, which I had made using the transparent water decal paper.  The thing is, you really have to have light coloured nails to use the transparent decals. Because you can't print anything white, it relies on the background nail colour to provide the white contrast.  What I tried to do was paint a tiny bit of white on my nail where the decal would go.  FAIL.  I then tried to paint the back of the decal.  I finally got the hang of doing that for the prawn on my pinky!

Here is the prawn on my pinking, this was the only decent looking one.  All the others look like they have way too much butter and garlic on them!!  Arrrggghhh garlic butter prawns *wipes drool from mouth*

Anyway, I hope you have a giggle and my dreadful and epic nail fail.  Aussies, I hope you have a great day off, and to those that are taking tomorrow off too, have a great extra long weekend.

Girls,  I expect to see some links pasted below to your nails for Australia Day!

There is nothing fancy to see here today folks.  We had friends over last night and I didn't get to start doing my mani until 10pm. Which, for a mum of two, who needs to be at work by 8:30 is a very late night!  Thus, I did this real quick Aussie mani last night.

The blue is a custom polish I made using polish tints and spectraflair.  The tip is Ozotic 518.  The white line was done with a nail art brush and white polish tint. The feature nail in Ulta3 Lily White with HITS Hefesto top coat.  The nail sticker is one I got from a Kiosk at my local Westfield about two years ago.

I've got something a little silly planned for tomorrow's nails, so I'm off to work on them now. Have a great night!

Let me tell you folks, this is so much fun doing Aussie themed nail art. I usually find it really hard to come up with ideas for nail art, but having a theme really makes it so easy.  I've got so many ideas and not enough days to fit them in.

Anyway today's nails are something a little different for me.  I've gone with a panorama shot of the beautiful Uluru or Ayres Rock in Central Australia.

Here's my inspiration for the nails.

I actually used the above photo and printed the rock onto water decal paper, then cut it and placed on my nails.  I used Ulta3 Spring Shower as the base, sponged with Ulta3 Blue Heaven.  I then painted a black french tip and put the water decals on.

So what do you think? Does it look like Uluru to you?  Maybe if you cross your eyes a little and treat it like one of the magic eye pictures?   

The only frustrating thing about doing a panoramic scene on your nails is that you have to hold your nail just right to show people, otherwise it looks like nothing!

Here is mani #2 in the lead up to Australia Day this week.  I still can't believe I did these nails.  They are so bogan it's funny!  

I'm not sure how well known this chant is outside of Australia, but every Aussie will be familiar with "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi".  I remember hearing it for the first time as we were herding ourselves out of Sydney Olympic park after the end of a days competition during the 2000 Olympics.

I used three coats of Ulta3 Frangapani with a coat of Seche Vite to try to hurry it up drying so I could apply some tape.  I then taped the diagonals and had to do two coats of Ulta3 Tahitian Lime to get it opaque. Next I applied the text which I again made using water decal paper.  Finally I added a yellow star using konad special polish in yellow and a star from my ENAS stamps.

I'm so happy with how these turned out, I really don't want to take them off tonight to put something else on.  I got quite a lot of comments today on these.  Mainly people asking where I got them done, so it's a nice feeling to tell them I did them myself and seeing their reaction.

Welcome to the start of my Get your Aussie on - Nail Art Marathon.  Ok it's not really a marathon, cause it's only going to be about 5 or 6 manis, but what you will see is some totally bogan and cliched Aussie themed nail art in the lead up to Australia Day on 26 January.

I know that most of my readers are international so I'm planning to pick classic Aussie icons for my nails.  Today's nail art is certainly that.  Kangaroos.  And not just any kangaroos, these are the kangaroos as they appear on our yellow road signs.

I made these using my water decal paper, which I printed the kangaroos on, then cut out and placed on my nails.  That's why each one is so identical and crisp.  There is no way I could free hand anything like this.

Now to share some pictures of real kangaroo road signs. These are a couple from around my area that have been creatively vandalized, so to speak.  This one is on the Tuggeranong Parkway and shows the roo downhill skiing.

And I can't do this post without showing this big boy...

Aussie gals, are you going to do some Aussie nail art too.  If so, when you do, post a link in the comments of any of these posts, we'd all love to see them.

I filed my nails down last night.I'm surprised how much I prefer them short at the moment, looking back at my early blog post my nails look like talons.

This is OPI Warm & Fozzy.  Another stand out from the Muppets Collection.  The general feel of the polish in normal light is brown.  Blah, doesn't sound great does it. But trust me when I say this is sure is a sexy and multidimensional brown!

Zing - look at this in the sun, my eyes, my eyes.  It reminds me of our old 1 and 2 cent pieces, when you found a brand new one!

The different coloured flecks in this almost make it duo-chromey. At least I think it's duo-chromy, not my seared retinas from the sun shot before.

Here you can see some of the different coloured flecks that make up this polish. Mainly the bronze and pink pieces.

Hummmm, me likey you Mr Warm & Fozzy!

And while I think of it, Aussie gals, I'm going to do five straight days of Aussie themed nail art leading up to Australia Day on the 26th.  And when I say nail art, I mean stamping, stickers and decals too! So why don't you join me a get your Aussie on!