Nails » The BeautyScholar

If you happen to follow @BeautyScholar on Instagram or Twitter you might have seen the pic above when I posted a sneak peek about a week ago. It’s the amazing new magnetic nail lacquer from Orly, called Magnetic FX.

Now if you haven’t heard of magnetic nail polish yet, you are in for a treat. It’s the awesome new trend sweeping the nail world! Basically magnetic nail polish is a lacquer that contains tiny magnetic ‘bits’. You paint the polish on, then place a magnet over the top and all the little bits move around in the polish to create a wicked cool design. Nail art with minimal effort really! Forget shatter polish, magnetic polish is going to be huge!

The Orly Magnetic FX polishes come in three colours, a blue, a grey and a burgundy/purple:

: Opposites Attract: A Navy Blue Shimmer

: Paint On Electron: Grey Shimmer

: Force Field: Burgundy/Purple Shimmer

I was lucky enough to have a play with the final colour mentioned above, Force Field, and I must say, I was a big fan. Not just of the colour and effect but also the wear and the quality of the polish.

If you’re curious to see how it worked, read on.

The magic tool for this polish is really the little magnet cap that comes on the bottle. This is what gives you the nail art effect. When it’s taken off the cap of the polish it looks like this:

In order to achieve the magic magnet effect you simply paint on a coat of the polish (it’s quite thick and opaque so you really only need one).

Then, while the polish is fresh and wet you hover the little magnet cap over the nail, as close as you can go.

After hovering the magnet over the nail for ten seconds, move the magnet away to reveal an awesome nail look!

Pretty wicked huh? And too easy. You might think it might be hard to hover the magnet cap over the nail but it has this groovy little ridge that you can hook under the tip of your nail to help you. Unfortunately if you’re like me and you get to0 eager to get the magnet close to the nail, you might end up with a couple of drops of polish on the magnet!

Woops!

This truly is one of the coolest nail polishes I’ve ever used though. It just seems like polishes are getting more and more unique and creative. The Force Field shade in this range is beautiful too, I think I’d love it without the cool magnet design! Its a beautiful wintery plum with silver shimmer/chrome flecks throughout.

And, amazingly enough this wore (without a top coat) for almost a week on my nails, chip free. There must be something in that magnet formula that makes it extra tough, I hardly ever get that much wear out of a polish!

What do you think beauties? Is the magnetic nail polish a trend you’re keen to try?

The Orly Magnetic FX polishes are on sale now for $24.95. They’re a little more expensive than a usual polish, but I’m pretty sure you haven’t used a nail lacquer like this one before!!

xxxBeautyScholar

CHANEL PERIDOT Image: Temptalia

MODE ECO WARRIOR

Spot the difference! It’s pretty hard huh? I stumbled across this little gem at my local pharmacy the other day, and paid only $2 for it! (They had a great deal on – two for $4 – the regular price is hardly much more at $2.45). This polish is from the Mode range and is in the shade ‘Eco Warrior’, a shimmery khaki green with a hint of gold. Reminiscent of that iconic Chanel Le Vernis nail polish in Peridot.

The polish goes on easily, dries fast and wears pretty well for a budget brand. Mode is a Heritage Brands label, the same company that brings you Australis, Innoxa and Revlon Nail products in Australia, so you know you’re getting bang for your buck! Here is what the company says about their nail varnishes:

“Mode Nail Enamels are fast-drying and simple to apply. Mode offers an extensive range of nail enamels to suit every occasion, and the nail polishes have been designed to provide even coverage that is chip-free. The flat-edge applicator brush ensures application is mess-free. Available in 66 shades”

Below are some of their newest colours from the pastel range:

So what are you waiting for beauties? Does your nail polish collection need freshening up? I can assure you that the Mode range will have something you will love. It took me soooo long to choose what shades I wanted! I’ll definately be back for more. You can pick Mode up at selected pharmacies nationally, and you can ring the consumer hotline on 1300 650 981 if you have any trouble.

What do you think of the Eco Warrior shade? Does it hold up against Chanel’s Peridot? Have I managed to save myself some $$?

xxxBeautyScholar

I went a little glitter crazy with today’s mani beauties, what do you think? It’s two coats of OPI The One that Got Away from the Katy Perry collection, followed by another Katy Perry OPI polish, Last Friday Night and then finished off with a swipe of the beautiful Essie Shine of the Times from their 2011 LuxEffects collection which was released in the States for the holidays. Looks a little chunky I know, but I couldn’t help myself, I do LOVE the glitter.

No matter how many polishes I try I still love going back to the Katy Perry OPI polishes. They really are just beautiful. My favourite is Teenage Dream, a glitter-ful silvery pink jelly. But it’s bluish counterpart, Last Friday Night is really pretty too, especially over reds and pinks as it gives the base colour a purple sheen when combined with the blue jelly base of LFN.

What do you think beauties? Do you have the Katy Perry polishes? They’re still selling them at my local David Jones. I think they ordered a pile of them a while back. I have the silvery chrome colour too, Not Like the Movies, but I’ve gone off that one a bit. Maybe I need to try layering it for a different effect.

This was initially just a Katy Perry mani, I adore the shimmery magenta red of The One that Got Away (although the song of the same name plays on repeat in my head when I use it) but my bottle of Essie’s Shine of the Times arrived in the post this morning and I just had to try it out. So far, sooo pretty! I can’t wait to try it out over a dark, even black polish. It’s basically a multi-faceted flaky in a slightly gold, almost clear jelly. The awesome nail polish guru Scrangie did a great run down of Shine of the Times and the other top coats from the Essie Luxeffects range over here.

I’m thinking I might have to pick up the rest of the LuxEffects polishes at some stage! I haven’t noticed them in stores here at all yet. I picked mine up from a reliable seller on Ebay.

Have you seen these topcoats beauties, what do you think of the glitter-bomb mani? Hot, or not?

xxxBeautyScholar

A few weekends ago, in not so sunny Sydney town (it was raining!) a virtual barrage of Aussie beauty bloggers descended to take part in the very first Australian Beauty Blogger’s Weekend.

As a lucky attendee I got to take in all the sights, sounds and swatches on offer, and over two amazing days I learnt and laughed with some amazing people. Not only did I meet a whole bunch of my truly beautiful fellow bloggers, I also got the chance to meet with various beauty brand reps, hear inspirational presentations from industry insiders, and get my hands dirty, sparkly and sweetly scented with a whole bunch of beauty toys which I can’t wait to talk to you about over the next few months. Here is a pic of the lovely Megan (right) from Beauty in the Sky and myself at the Maxted Thomas Beauty Blogger Gala which was a whirlwind of wonderful!

Image: Liz Giacco for The ABBW

Now from my twinkle toes to the tips of my fingernails, I was probably most excited to try some super new nail supplies during this weekend. I fancy myself as a little bit of an experimenter in the nail art department so I’m always keen to get new colours into my collection.Prior to ABBW I experimented with some patterns and came up with a wild and wacky animal print rainbow combination for my nails to be my signature ABBW look. My fellow bloggers seemed to like it, so I thought I’d recreate the look and do a tutorial with some of the polish brands that were featured during the love fest that was ABBW. ORLY, Australis, and Ulta3 all sit front row in this tutorial and were kind sponsors of the weekend. * * Snaps to them!! * *

Here is a list of the polish colours I used to recreate my ABBW nail look: ORLY Charged Up, ORLY Blue Collar, NYC Color Honolulu, Ulta3 Tangelo, Australis Bombshell.

For those of you who are feeling the visual vibe, here is a super fast video tutorial which will give you an idea of how to layer the colours for the rainbow base.

Read on for further instructions and pics…

(1) The first step is to shape your nails and apply a base coat. I used Sally Hansen Double Duty Base & Top Coat and filed my nails into a square shape, with slightly rounded corners.

(2) Apply your first colour. I started with purple ORLY Charged Up. Apply the polish to the base of your nail in a horizontal motion, painting from left to right. Dab carefully to avoid working the colour too far up the nail. It’s also important to use minimal amounts of polish so it dries quickly and doesn’t spread. Big globs of lacquer will not work. Don’t worry if you get your colour all around the nail as you paint, you can clean that up later!

(3) Let the first colour dry, then go back and apply a second coat if needed by repeating step 1.

(4) Continue building your rainbow by repeating steps 2 & 3 for each colour. I used Blue (ORLY Blue Collar), then Yellow (NYC Honolulu), Orange (Ulta3 Tangelo) and Pink (Australis Bombshell).

(5) Allow all colours to dry completely and then finish with a clear top coat. Let dry.

(6) Time to earn your stripes! Using a nail art pen or a cuticle stick dipped in black polish, draw lines to resemble animal print over the nail. If you’re a little nervous about this practice on some paper beforehand and figure out what looks best to you:

As Sylvia Plath would say “Perfection is terrible,” so don’t worry too much about this, just have fun with it! If you find it really difficult just draw stripes from the outside into the centre of the nail which start out thicker and get thinner towards the centre. Alternatively draw sideways V shapes – or a combination of both of these!I find it helps to have a picture with you, so copy my patterns above or Google ‘animal print’ for some ideas!

If tiger stripes aren’t your thing you can add stars, polka dots or anything else with nail art pens to add extra pizazz. Alternatively try keeping your nails just with rainbow print, or add a layer of glitter top coat!

(7) Finish your nail art with another coat of topcoat and clean around the edges of your nails with nail polish remover and cotton buds.

Congratulations, like ABBW 2011 you just ‘Nail’ed it too! Now go rock it wild thing! Don’t forget to email me pics of your efforts!!

xxxBeautyScholar

Hello lovely beauties!

How I have missed you all! Right now I’m sitting in a cafe in Harvard Square in Cambridge, MA, USA – a long way from lovely Australia land, and I figured it was time to say hi and share some exciting news with you.

Amongst all the madness and excitement that was New York, Mr. Beauty Scholar got down on one knee in Central Park to ask me the question of all questions, and of course I said yes! So here is a pic of my new sparkly accessory, my engagement ring. With a matching nail of the day of course!

I’m wearing Sally Hansen HD polish in DVD with a topcoat of Wet n Wild Shine polish in Kaleidoscope. Both polishes only cost me a total of $4, crazy huh? (the Wet n Wild silver glitter was only 99 cents!) God bless America!

I have a lot more to tell you about beauties, and now I’m settled in Beantown (that’s what they call Boston apparently!) I’ll be blogging a little more frequently about trends I’m noticing around here, and the abundance of beauty goodies I have managed to collect over the past few weeks!

Have a great weekend beauties,

until next time…

BeautyScholar xxx

Isn’t this the hottest blue nail polish you have ever seen? I saw it in the store and I just couldn’t pass it up. It’s called Blue Tiger and it is made by Aussie super brand Australis Cosmetics. I think it’s a fun way to add a pop of colour into your outfit, and I Continue reading…

New! Orly Magnetic FX Nail Polish in ‘Force Field’

Chanel Peridot Nail Polish Dupe? Mode Eco Warrior

Nail of the Day: with Essie Shine of the Times

ABBW 2011 You ‘Nail’ed It !

My first USA nail of the day – with a special addition!

NOTD Australis Blue Tiger