'Kay I'm gonna be totally anal right off the bat here and say that I am annoyed that I couldn't get a completely white background on the above pic without making the little white flower lids disappear. Cute, but now I hate them.

I also hate that Goldie Polishes don't have names. C'mon people. It's not hard. Now I'm going to have to name them myself, and we all know where that will be heading. Somewhere completely inappropriate most likely.

But that's all the hating I am doing on these gorgeous little polishes. These were a gift from Scrangie (who I miss heaps!) and they are almost as awesome as she is. This is only three of this eight pack. Lets start with the red one. First I guess I gotta think of a name.

Goldie - I Got Caught Staring At The Hot Guy's Butt

First up in my newly christened Goldie "LOLWUT Collection", is "I Got Caught Staring At The Hot Guy's Butt". Cause let's face it. We've all been there. A hot guy walks past you on his way to the bar, you notice that he's a fox and try to watch him without giving yourself away, he orders his drink and your eyes drift downwards. He turns around and you manage the deer in headlights expression before pretending that you're looking somewhere else. In the process you manage to knock your friends drink over and he leaves with a smirk on his face. Fail.

This polish is the exact same shade of red you will turn in this instance. It is beautiful though. I love jellies like this one. Pigmented and smooth. Very even which is rare for a jelly.

Goldie - Dude Looks Like A Lady

This next number in my Goldie "LOLWUT Collection" goes out to all the fellas out there who have fooled by very pretty gals who aren't quite gals. I call this one "Dude Looks Like A Lady". Ever been working a retail job and serving what appears to be an attractive woman only to have her ask in a deep gravelly voice "How much'll that be darl"?

Yes. LOL WUT?

I had a male friend in high school who once told us that he thought the chick from Placebo was a bit of alright. We let him prattle on for half an hour before telling him it was a dude. He didn't live that one down for quite a while.

This is a fuchsia foil/jelly/shimmer/I really don't know. I love foils. And shimmers. Goldie does great ones. Not much more to say really. This is really nice. Well done Goldie. *gives a sticker and a pat on the head*

Who the hell makes Goldie by the way? I swear I knew and I have somehow forgotten. Must be the carb coma I am in as a sit and write this. MMM potato.

Goldie - A Bit Chilly In Here

Final entry in this collection is a lovely blue holo that I'm calling "A Bit Chilly In Here". The sun is shining and you decide to head out without a jacket, then that blasted cool change hits and all of a sudden you're happy to see everyone. You spend the next four hours uncomfortably trying to cross your arms over your girls, and everyone around you knows that you're attempting to hide the high beams but says nothing, except for that one guy who watches you with this face: waiting for you to have to move an arm to scratch or reach for a drink. Pervert.

Goldie does good jellies as you can plainly see, and I gotta say that I don't really mind the VNL with this number. Even though my nail beds are horribly uneven and rather crap. I still feel somewhat covered by the awesomeness of this shade. This is three coats.

I was going make a seperate music related post, but I figured since we've all come this far I might as well tack this on to the end. I turned Genius on within my itunes. Here's the first five songs it picked out for me. Cos getting to know you posts are FUN!

NO REALLY! I mean it!

Where did you all go? Do you all only want me for my nails and my stash? I'm crushed. CRUSHED.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6WhV5gWjJE
Skid Row - Youth Gone Wild
Sebastian Bach fits into my "Dude Looks Like A Lady" analogy.
SEE WHAT I DID THERE?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6vVP91C3Iw
The Cure - Let's Go To Bed
I have kind of a crush on Robert Smith. Holy shit I have a crush on EVERYONE. (I have a crush on every boy!) My fave Cure song would have to be Burn though. Amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9BfvPjsXXw
Nine Inch Nails - We're In This Together
This song grabs my heartstrings. I'm not sure if it is absolutely beautiful or incredibly creepy. Bit o' trivia for y'all, Trent Reznor is a shortass (that's so not PC of me!) and all the people running with him are shorter to make him look normal sized. I think he's like 5'4" or something? Midget hotness. (Even more un-PC )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqiVvOXotyw
Static-X - I'm With Stupid
I think embedding is disabled so you have to go to the youtube page to see it, but it's worth it. This is one of my fave videos of all time.

Even though I have no idea what it's about.

Wayne Static has the greatest hair EVER.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnZ1Ft20pHw
Foo Fighters - Hey, Johnny Park!
This song wasn't a single and it has no video, but it is hands down my favorite Foo Fighters song ever. I went to both Sydney shows in 2008 and on the second night they played this in the encore. I nearly lost my mind!

Well this "quickie" post has now taken an hour and a half of my night. Have a good weekend everyone!

So today I was going to do up a post with my three Rescue Beauty Lounge Glitters. But on second thought I decided that I didn't like my swatches. My Locavore looks good, but I need to re-do the two others. I've actually been sitting on them for the past two weeks, but never got there. I guess in my heart I knew they were sub par.

So here's me modelling Claire's Jazz instead. Funny story about Jazz. I had wanted it for years. Seen swatches of it, drooled. Lusted. Etc. Claires (and Icings) are hard to come by if you don't have a store close by, and when they are gone, they're gone. Jazz is probably about three years old. Maybe older. Long gone. I took it off my wishlist (because I'm a bit of an organisational freak like that). Two days later, it arrived with a package from the lovely KonadTheBarbarian. Crazy. I love that gal.

Last night I had a really weird dream that I was watching (or was I on?) some terrible MTV Hills-Esque reality show. Jesse Bradford was also in this dream. He was this faux-gay guy, who was trying to convince everyone he was gay, but I knew that he wasn't. How? I don't know. But he wasn't gay. I have no idea why he wanted everyone to think he was gay. He was trying to launch his pop music career and believed Britney Spears was sabotaging him. I was tring to convince him that he had made dodgy contacts and his agent was to blame.

(Shame on me for princessing Jesse Bradford up. He's actually really hot. Funny thing is, while I may have added the hearts and stuff, I had nothing to do with that shirt.)

But THEN, a bunch of catty girls arrived and wanted to start a bitch fight. It was then that we discovered that we all had mutant super powers. THEN SHIT GOT REAL!

Is it just me, or would you watch The Hills if they were having epic battles to the death and they could shoot laser beams from their eyes? I would. MTV? Are you listening? (I looooove Picnik! If you have flickr, try it! As you can see, I use mine for evil and not good.)

Then I woke up with all sorts of theories on higher brain function and why we can only use such a small percentage of our brains. I'll bore you all with that when I'm bored another day.

This is CM Midnight Impostor. Imposter? Impostorrr? I can't help but hear Electric Six when someone mentions this polish. "It was... THE IMPOSTORRR!" I love NightSky polishes. There's two versions of this, I'm pretty sure. The other is more purple? I think? CM kinda messed it up. But I love CM. I'd cut a bitch for Enchanted Forest.

This is where I take my photos. I used to have the whole lightbox "outer" doobie-hickie set up too, but I got lazy and now I just use the backing. Pics still come out good. LOL You can totally see a Freddy Glove and a My Pet Monster DVD set in the background. I'm a weird girl.

Wow, these China Glaze glitters are the shizzle. If you skipped them, shame on you. I have a bunch of them I need to try. I think I'll try Atlantis next. 1. It's Glitter. 2. It's HOLO Glitter. 3. It's green. 4. I recently discovered Stargate Atlantis (late to the party AGAIN). 5. Joe Flanigan is kind of a robo-babe. He's practically babe-licious. If he were president, he'd be Babe-raham Lincoln.

I'm hungry, so I'm going to go eat my banana.

Once again. Not a euphemism.

Fruit.

Yellow. Delicious.

MALARKEY!

China Glaze Sour Apple over Chelsea Psycho Green

Folkses, lemme introduce you to my new BFF. China Glaze Sour Apple over Chelsea Psycho Green. I, in my humble opinion, am I genius* of epic proportions for coming up with this combo.

*side note. How funny that whenever I go to type the word genius, it always comes out wrong first go. Genious, geneus. I guess I am really not a gennius after all.

The new range of China Glaze glitters are off the chart cool on their own, but when layered (like this one is), it opens up a whole new level of "holy crap".

China Glaze Sour Apple over Chelsea Psycho Green

Admit it.

You're jealous.

Chelsea Time Zone, Polynesia Isle, Margarita Mix & Psycho Green

Oyyy. How in the hell is it Monday? And why do I feel more hung over today than I did on Sunday morning when I really was hung over? Lucky I did up these swatches a while ago or I would have nothing to talk about!

Mmmm. Chelsea polishes are niiiice. I first mentioned them in this post but now I have more! So it's time to write about them again! Yes! How exciting!

Chelsea Time Zone

If there's one party that Chelsea Polishes can rock like few others, it's the duochrome. Holy crapsticks this is awesome. Time Zone made its way to me recently as a part of a very generous swap and it surprised the pants off me. I'd never actually seen this one before, but if I had it would have been on my wishlist!

Chelsea Time Zone

The colour shifts from copper to red to the slightest beginnings of fucshia! How!!? That's just amazing! On top of that, it's also got the weirdest formula. It's a shimmery jelly. I've never come across a jelly shimmer before. But I think I like it! NO! I KNOW I like it! HAWT.

Chelsea Polynesia Isle

Yet another fab duochrome from Chelsea - Polynesia Isle. I've been lusting after this bebe for quite some time. It arrived with Time Zone and I was floored when I swatched it. It was everything I hoped it would be. The green gold, through to yellow, all the way to copper.

Chelsea Polynesia Isle

Will you gettaload of that? So shimmery and perfect. It's gold, but it works on me. Well at least I think it works on me. I don't really care what anyone else thinks!

Chelsea Margarita Mix

Now even with a brand of epic win like Chelsea, not everything can be a success. There's nothing at all wrong with Margarita Mix. Not that I can see at all - I would put this fail down to operator error. I'm sure someone who was better with neons or cremes would do a better job of making this polish look gorgeous, because it is - and my swatch does it absolutely no justice. The bottle itself looks so pretty! I just wish I could get that on my nails. Maybe I need more practice.

Chelsea Psycho Green

Yeah. Okay. You can all pick yer jaws up off the floor now. Please wipe up the puddles of drool as you leave. Thanks.

Totally understandable. Psycho Green is by far my favourite Chelsea polish. It's incredible! Smooth, deep, dark emerald velvet with the teensiest bit of blue shimmer. Genius. I bow down to thee polish creator-person who works for Chelsea. You deserve a round applause, a hearty meal, my undying adoration and a Spatula.

Quality wise, Chelsea is bang for your buck. If you can find them. Generally my sources have only found these at "dusties". Old dusty nail salons with ancient, long forgotten brands. I don't know if they are still in production but what I do know is that if you look hard enough, they are still around and they are usually pretty cheap to boot!

The colours are wonderfully pigmented and the formula good, and the duochromes.... dudes prepare for your mind to be blown! I wonder what other Chelsea treasures are out there just waiting to be discovered?

I haven't done one of my long-winded boring motivational/inspirational posts in a while, and I've been thinking about something a fair bit lately, and I thought I might share with you all. Those of you that come here for the pretty nail pics, feel free to tune out now! Or better still, here's my flickr. It's full of swatches!

Sigh.

When did becoming aloof/detached/uncaring get cool? Why? Twitter, facebook, blogs... I see it all over the internet. Cold disinterest in other people and things only really serves to alienate you from the people you are trying to look cool to. People would much rather complain about something than praise it, and the human tendency to lean towards the negative seems to be spiralling out of control with the rise in popularity of all these new forms of communication.

And how's this for hypocrisy - I'm writing a blog entry complaining that others spend too much time complaining!

So I'm going to steer away from that now, and tell you about my day.

Don't worry, it's relevant.

My iPhone Sleep Cycle app woke me up at 5.36 am. I grumbled, frowned and pouted, turned it off and went back to sleep, waiting for my iPod alarm clock (backup alarm) to wake me up at the time I had INTENDED to be woken, which was 6.10am.

Now, there are numerous things wrong with my behaviour in those two sentences alone.
1. Sleep Cycle is intended to wake me when my body movements suggest that I am out of a deep sleep cycle and closest to being awake. I should have got up, but I focused on the fact that I COULD have had another half hour of sleep that I believed I was owed. I lay there, grumpy and half asleep until my second alarm went off. Not a good start to my day.
2. I normally have to get out of bed at 4.30am. 5.30 is still a huge sleep in that I should have been thankful for anyway! Granted, the circumstances that had led to my being able to sleep in were not fantastic, but the end result was. I wasn't thankful for the extra time that I could sleep. I greedily wanted more.
3. I have an iPhone AND an iPod. How lucky am I? I shouldn't take my comforts for granted.

Seriously, my life is wonderful. I'm blessed, in many ways. I have problems like everyone else and there are things about my life that I would like to change. But they can be changed, and I will change them. On a clear day I can see that every problem has a solution. It's not always simple and it's not always a one step fix, but with focus and determination anything can be changed or achieved. Dreams are not impossible. And the path to such goals is better walked with a smile on ones face than a frown.

I have been having issues with my job as of late. Although I am very lucky to have a secure job that pays me well, I work very long hours and have to travel an hour to and from work to get there and back. Coupling that with the stresses of end of year auditing and well, it hasn't exactly been a rose garden. I have been reluctant to look for work closer to home for a number of reasons - the familiarity of my job is comforting. I know exactly what I am doing. I also feel a sense of loyalty to my manager, who I know would suffer greatly if I were to leave. But at the end of the day, if I were to be hit by a bus tomorrow, I would be replaced. Eventually things would go on just as they did with me sitting at that desk. The realisation hit me this morning that I don't need to die for that to happen, it will happen regardless of the circumstance. If I leave, someone else can do this job.

A job came up within walking distance of my house. The money was right, the position right, obviously the location. Can you believe I had to contemplate whether or not I would apply? But after a morning of deliberation, I did. I faced that fear and sent off my resume. The position may already have been filled and they may not even call me, but I faced my fears and went for it. I realised how much my own happiness is worth.

And so should all of you.

If something isn't right, take steps to change it. Take charge of your life. It's yours after all! YOU make your own happiness. Do things because you want to, not because you feel obligated. Laugh. Smile. Compliment people.

Think before you complain about something. Can't you find something good about it? If not, can't you think of something better to talk about? I look back at my tweets about my job from the last month and I am appalled at myself! Such a negative nancy. Why should my twitter friends have to read about my negativity?

Who would you rather talk to at a party? The negative, cynical guy standing in the corner with a scowl on his face or the bright, happy guy in the centre of the room, talking to everyone and enjoying the party?

The answer is obvious.

Now which one would you rather be?

If any of you weren't aware already, I'm an Aussie. I was born in Australia and I have lived here all my life. I honestly couldn't imagine living anywhere else in the world. I like to complain about the heat and the humidity as much as the next person, but this is my home. I'd be lost anywhere else.

Image thanks to the most excellent Nixxy - fellow Aussie blogger and friend

My brother in law lived in England for a while a couple of years ago, he missed home a lot and used to frequent "Aussie Pubs", where they served the beer cold and played classic Aussie rock. I just know that if I did have to live abroad for any reason, I would have to avoid places like that like the plague - As soon as someone played "Great Southern Land" I'd just cry like a bitch! I'd come home with one of those horrendously bogan southern cross tattoos that all the ute driving boys out my way seem to have.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mkidP2OUCk

I didn't do an Australia Day post this year (26th January), but I can think of a bunch of songs that bring out an uncharacteristic swell of patriotism within me. Aussies are pretty laid back by nature, and our terribly British national anthem never quite strikes the same chord as these songs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML9h3I5Uktw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNT7uZf7lew

My brother and I want to start a campaign to make this song our new national anthem. Have you all seen Hot Rod? Freaking hilarious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99P7TTvpO1g

The 80's and 90's were an awesome time for Aussie Rock. I grew up hearing this music around me, and it still puts me in a happy place to this very day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4ye_Lgl3fA
Jon Stevens is a Kiwi... that ones for you Selina!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfSBCgix5O0
Aint Suze De Marchi just the prettiest thing you ever saw?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IAQPKds034
Simon Day... So hot! Want to touch the hiney!

Unfortunately though, I can't claim that everything this country produced at that time was quality. Still, these songs might be bad - but they have their own kitschy brand of nostalgic humour that I can't ignore.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUTawLBpn7s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DN21hpma0OQ

I bought two Indecent Obsession CD's from Amazon for $0.01 each. True story. Aww crap, now I just admitted to owning them. My sister met them at an instore appearance. Rock on Mel!

So there you have it, a quick lesson in Aussie music history. As it sit here swatching and writing up these blog posts, this is a small selection of what I'm usually hearing as the polish hits the nails.

Hiya homies!

I've been sick for the last few days, so profuse apologies for my lack of postingness. But today I make my triumphant return with some pretty triumphant polishes. Lets begin, shall we?

Yes. Lets.

Illamasqua Baptiste, DWS, Rampage

So I avoided the Illamasqua Hype Parade for a while. I thought I had successfully conquered its allure. Turns out I was wrong. I got these three babies over the last month. One was a gift, one a swap and the other was me folding like a cheap tent and getting a CP. Now I really want Phallic. And maybe Muse. And possibly Poke. Perhaps Milf?

GAH!

Illamasqua Baptiste

This sexy little number is Baptiste. I didn't notice the smudge on the bottle before, sorry about that. I'm pretty grabby with my hot polishes. It's a beautiful, rich velvety purple in the exact shade that is that is the bane of my existence. I see it, and I must own it. Seriously though folks. The depth of shimmer and glowiness of this polish needs to be seen in person to be understood. See my photo? Up the awesome factor by about 5000%. That's how good Baptiste is.

Illamasqua DWS

Call me ignorant, but I did not get straight off the bat that DWS stands for Dripping With Sarcasm. Now that I know that, it seems like a totally Illamasqua name. But in my research I discovered that DWS stands for many things. Some of my faves are: Driving While Stupid, Digital Warrior School, Direct Wafer Stepping and Dallas Wind Symphony (because I'm never too old for fart jokes!) But my favourite of all would have to be Diploma of Wine and Spirits. Now THERE'S a course I could get into! And pass with honours! But yes, DWS is a beautiful medium blue-grey creme, no matter what it stands for. I don't even like cremes. What is wrong with me?

Illamasqua Rampage

Now for the finale, is the gal everyone is raving about. Rampage. I gotta admit, I was pretty wowed when I put it on. Jellies and me, well... we aren't really good friends. I have uneven nail beds and they end up looking terrible on me. Rampage on the other hand I reckon looks pretty damn alright. It's not streaky and hard to manage like most jellies I own and the result is a fan-bloody-tastic forest green with a squishy quality that's to die for without being translucent.

Aaaaand because I love glitter so much (especially over dark greens) here it is topped with one coat of Revlon Rio Cool. Spicy!

Illamasqua Rampage topped with Revlon Rio Cool

I gotta say first up that the Illamasqua formula is so good that I am pretty sure I could have blacked out and my nails would have painted themselves in all three of these shades. My Illamasqua ownership covers a pretty broad spectrum - one shimmer, one creme and one jelly and I was suitably impressed with all three.

I'm afraid, my darling wallet, that I forsee much pain for you in the future at the hands of ... ILLAMASQUA!

(If Illamasqua were a person, I'm pretty sure they would be Zorro).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avU5onrWfYo

This was too funny. Had to share.

YEAH TOAST!

But no need to be shy... It goes on fingers too! And rather nicely!

L to R: Jingle, Holiday Sparkle, You Sleigh Me

These three (plus Sunshine on Snowflakes) are my only Piggy Polishes. They aren't exactly that easy to come by in my neck of the woods, nor have they really come out with anything that I felt was worth tracking down in my usual rabid manner. That is, with the obvious exception of the ones that I own. Apparently they are made for toes, but since I have RBL Frugalista on my toes and no sandblaster on hand, these bad girls are going on my hands.

(Just editing to add - its just a marketing ploy! There is NO difference between toenails and fingernails and there is no specific toes only polish. It goes anywhere. Just not in your mouth. (I'm sure it would taste gross)

Piggy Polish Jingle

Jingle is a Christmas Polish (all of my Piggies are), but I have no idea what year it was from. 2007? 2006? Sorry guys, NFI. But what I CAN tell you about it, is how much I freaking LOVE IT! My swatch above is three coats, and Jingle is a little on the sheer side. But once you get toa few layers, WOW. It practically glows on the nail. Lit from within gets thrown around a lot, but Piggy Polish know how to get that shit done! It's easily one of my favourite greens. A perfect emerald shade. I wish they still made it. I need a backup.

Piggy Polish Holiday Sparkle

Holiday Sparkle was part of one of last years Christmas sets. It came in a duo pack with You Sleigh Me, which we will get to later. The polish has no name, which is a shame. I'm guessing its meant to be a gold version of Sunshine on Snowflakes, but I would have liked a name. Maybe Sleigh Bells? Something nice like that. I would assume from the formula that the polish was intended to be a top coat for You Sleigh Me. It's pretty sheer. The swatch above is four coats. I love the pale colour of the gold glitter in contrast to the larger bronze pieces. This is a very unique polish. I love it.

Piggy Polish You Sleigh Me

Finally, You Sleigh Me. This, ladies and gentlemen, is my new favourite red. The depth is nothing short of amazing. Not to mention that it also has the BEST name for a seasonal polish ever thought of. I bet Suzi got word of this polish and got super steamed that she didn't think up that awesome pun of a name herself. She would also be even more steamed because You Sleigh Me craps on all her reds from a great height. Oooh double burn, OPI. Swatch is 2 coats, went on smooth and easily. Much love.

Aaaand the moral of the story here kids, is that Kaz needs to pay more attention to Piggy Polish, most notably their seasonal offerings. You should too!

Edited to Add: Turns out the Gold is called Holiday Sparkle. Thanks Piggy Polish website!

His name is Rabbit Number #3 and he NEEDS to stop trying to out-cute Princess Boo because it is just not going to happen!

Just so you know, Rabbit #3, Boo considers this an official glove slap and now challenges you to a cute off!

You have been SERVED Rabbit #3!

via Daily Squee.