Awesome Aussie August: Natio Brandy and Daring Digits Robin

Without realising it, I seem to have been using Australian nail polishes so far since August began. Perhaps I am subconsciously channelling the Great Aussie Polish Challenge.

Natio is a brand that does not seem to get much attention. I have only one polish from this brand and the other polishes available at my local chemist do not inspire me. All of the colours are safe colours for the mainstream of nudes, reds and pinks.

Brandy was bought on eBay. At the time I was looking for the perfect nude colour. It applies well and it looks good. I was using this to go under OPI Fit for a Queensland. Unfortunately I can't show that final manicure idea because I didn't capture the pink shimmer on camera. Before I could stamp over Fit for a Queensland I scraped off two of my nails by scratching my leg. Ooops. Those layers refused to dry.

I had one last Daring Digits nail polish to try out so I layered it over Brandy. Robin is a perfect nail polish for Christmas and it behaved perfectly. This one is the only one I bought that did not have large glitters so it was not a learning curve in being able to apply it.

Look at all of those lovely glitters in the bottle. The small gold hexes, the red hexes and the fine green. Next time I will probably do more than one coat. It is a pity I did not receive this polish earlier as I could have used it for Christmas in July.

Awesome Aussie August: Chi Chi Gimme Gimme a Man and Darling Digits True Love

Oh dear, have a look at what I used - Gimme Gimme a Man True Love. Ooops. When I looked at my latest additions, I thought that I would layer Daring Digits True Love over one of the blues since I already used the orchid pink/purple.

I need more practice with large glitters in polish but this time around it was slightly easier since I had some idea of how it would behave. It was easy to get some of the hearts out with the gold glitter without needing to fish for them. The gold glitter in True Love is comprised of two different sizes of gold hex glitter.

Gimme Gimme a Man applied as well as could be expected from a pale colour. I like the colour but I am not sure how well it suits my skin. It can be difficult to tell how a colour looks with my skin at this time of year because it is cold. Are the tips of my fingers red because I am cold? I took the first set of pictures in the shade where there was still frost.

Brrrrrr! Can you see the frosty leaves behind my hand there?

Awesome Aussie August: Chi Chi Cradle Snatcher and Daring Digits First Love

Decisions, decisions. It was tough trying to decide what to use first out of my latest haul. I wanted to try First Love from Daring Digits. Considering what I bought, Chi Chi Cradle Snatcher would have to be the best match as a base for First Love's shimmer.

Cradle Snatcher is an orchid pink/purple. This was my first time using Chi Chi and I can't complain about the formula or anything in this $5 polish. I used two coats as I painted my nails in a sleepy and half darkness.

Over the top of my index and ring fingers I applied First Love. I have never used a large glitter like this before and so it was a new experience. In future I think I will apply the shimmer after removing all of the hearts. Then I would place the hearts on with a tooth pick, dotting tool or some similar implement. The magenta shimmer goes well over this polish and I had many compliments about my manicure today and that makes me happy.

Overload! Nail Polish everywhere. (Picture Heavy)

A trip to the city! Hurray! I had a wonderful trip away and I managed to steal some time to oggle nail polish. There is not much available locally and I went into overload when I saw what one Target had. Sadly, I did not get a good look because I had to take someone to the toilet before heading off again.

Finally, I was able to bash my credit card around at Target, Priceline and Terry White Chemist. There was also a side trip to browse at Myer. Sadly, none of the assistants were interested in helping me there. That is probably a good thing because I may have caused my credit card to commit suicide with Illamasqua. I did have trouble deciding what to get because I think I already have a lot of polish. Admittedly I do not have as much as some people out there but... I need to remember that I have to store it somewhere. Miss L had to take her own picture of the haul.

I was thrilled with finally seeing essence branded polish. Although the bottle is small at 5 ml, I did not realise that it would be cheap as well at $2.55. Some time soon I think I will have to try Absolutely Blue to see what it is like. There was also a "Gel Look" top coat that I grabbed. I have since tried essence gel-look and it did not seem any different to the shine of the Seche Vite on my other hand.

There were a few deals in Priceline and one enabled me to finally get some of Revlon's Quick Dry Top Coat. I had read a good review on this and thought that it was worth trying since it was something I could buy in a hurry if I ran out until I could get other top coats. While I was there I also bought a Colorstay Base Coat.

Also at Priceline, I bought two L'Oreal polishes. Normally I do not buy L'Oreal but Miss L and I liked 613 Blue Reef and 211 Opulent Pink. Blue Reef is more teal than blue and a good addition since all of my teal polishes tend to have some kind of shimmer and are not a creme finish. Opulent Pink was chosen because I want to try a manicure idea with that type of shade. It is not quite the strawberry pink-red shade I wanted but close enough.

Miss L chose two Nicole of by OPI polishes in purple. I adore purple and so does Miss L. These are One Less Lonely Glitter and Virtuous Violet.

Almost there! We have two Chi Chi polishes next. My friend asked me if I was trying to tell her something when I showed her the name of the polishes I chose - Gimme Gimme a Man and Cradle Snatcher. Should I admit I had a giggle over the names and bought them in part because of this? I have an orchid pink in the same colour family as Cradle Snatcher and I hoped for a better formula than the Models Prefer one I have. I am very happy to report that the brush from Chi Chi is much better and the polish stays better.

Finally...

These came from Daring Digits when she had a sale in July. The bottles are 12 ml each and are very elegant. I bought Robin because I thought he would make a good Christmas polish. The other two have hearts in them. Awww, how sweet. The level in First Love is lower because I had to re-take the pictures when I had already used it.

Phew! Done!