Guest Post! Melissa!

Another Guest post for you lovelies!!! Today is Melissa from Melmyissta! 

My obsession with all things nail and polish started in January 2011, by discovery on YouTube of meliny using konad. So it was not a polish infatuation that started it all, but nail art stamping that I wanted to replicate.

The online shopping started:

From [www.wowsocool.com] a selection of special polishes and accessory implements.

From [www.bundlemonster.com] the first series bulk set of stamping plates.

The stamping plate set arrived quickly at my doorstep, but I waited a little longer for the polishes and stamper, to be able to begin my creative nail art.

The cheapest nail polish I could get was from the brand Ulta3 at $2 each and in a fantastic array of colours.

At the time the newest season polishes on display all had the word "Fever" in their name.

My favourites were Twilight fever and Gold rush fever.

Then of course I looked online, at vogue forums [http://forums.vogue.com.au/showthread.php?t=291498], where the reviews and opinions about all the colours in the Fever collection detailed their shimmers and prettiness in the sun.

And that Twilight fever was a dupe for an expensive ($2  vs. $30) Chanel polish. Before this, I had no idea was a dupe was. We as polish collectors use quite a bit of jargon I think..

Of course I went back to the shop to get them all.

• Blossom fever

• Gold rush fever

• Midnight fever

• Pacific fever

• Royal fever

• Twilight fever

 

The polish I have continued to pull out and wear the most would be Twilight fever. I also regularly use Midnight fever as a dark base to layer polish. And an extra bottle of Gold rush fever I have thickened up so that I have a gold stamping polish for $2.

So there you go, its not just 1 lonely polish, but an all consuming hoard of colours and nail stamping art that I wanted to take part in.

Thanks to Robyn, for letting me guest post on you blog..

My blog is at melmyissta [http://melmyissta.blogspot.com.au/]

Thank you Melissa!!! I was so excited when my first stamping set came in. Mine was the bundle monster second set. I loved it so much.

Don't forget to send in your posts to this series!!

Guest Post: Kelly's Mod About you!

Hi guys! I'm super excited to show you the first Guest post from my Polish That Started it All Series. Without further ado: Kelly!!!

Hi!  I'm Kelly from Ooh La La Polish.  I was so excited when Robyn asked for guest bloggers to show off the polish that got them hooked.  Before I got into polish and joined forums and started a blog, I would use an old eyeshadow brush and remover to clean up my manis.  I remember taking notes from nail techs when I'd go along with my mom or get a mani myself and then use those techniques at home.  Little did I know I'd start a blog and improve my skills ten fold.  Up until last spring I only had a handful of polish and would rotate between OPI Mod About You, OPI Off With Her Red, OPI Louvre Me, Louvre Me Not and a bright pink Sally Hansen.  I always gravitated toward OPI Mod About You and loved how it looked on my skintone.  It made me look tanner in the summer and always looked soft and feminine.  It was no surprise that it was the polish to really expand my horizons and cause me to look up swatches and jump into this crazy world of nail polish.  I remember needing a second bottle because I loaned mine to someone and never got it back.  Amazon told me to check out other polish that people were looking for and China Glaze For Audrey popped up.  I like to say Mod About You was my gateway polish because it opened my eyes to brands and colors I never imagined!  It's been at least a year since I used it though and I was happy to dust it off.  The formula wasn't all that great compared to other light pinks I've used.  It seemed chalky and streaky and required more clean-up.  Maybe if I added a little thinner the formula would be thinner and easier to work with.  I absolutely love the way it looks and think it's a great base for a fun indie brand glitter topper! 

Thanks to Robyn for allowing me to show off one of my oldies but goodies on her blog!  You can check out my blog at www.oohlalapolish.com. 

Thank you for joining me Kelly! I might have to track down a bottle of Mod About You! I was on a hunt for the perfect pale pink this winter (Damn you essie fiji!!!!) and this looks like it would fit the bill.

Do you guys own Mod About You?

Don't forget to submit your own gateway polish to me at roflbertz@gmail.com and like me on Facebook and Twitter because I feel dumb writing tweets to 2 people. lol. Just being honest.

Guest Post: Mommy Does Her Nails!

Continuing on with my series of Guest posts is Candice from Mommy Does Her Nails! 

Hey all - it's Mommy Does Her Nails with a story based on real-life events. That moment I became addicted to nail polish. Where it all began. 

The polish that started it all was actually a trio of polishes. You may or may not (depending on how new to the nail polish community you are) know about how generous Zoya's promos can be. Well they used to be even more amazing. 

I began my journey as a deal junkie. I surfed the web tirelessly for every good deal I could get my hands on. Relevant or not I bought stuff due to discounts and coupons. So when a friend saw the buy three polishes and only pay shipping she sent it my way. At the time I had my nails bitten down to bare nubbins and cuticles torns to shreds and often times bleeding. Painting nails just wasn't something I did.  Yet I went ahead and ordered three polishes that were in colors I thought I might like (I didn't even know about Googling swatches!) Trixie, Irene, and Gabrielle were on their way to me in a sea of other packages and mail containing deals. Probably to be looked at once and then lost in the cabinet of samples. 

But let me tell you. When that package from Zoya arrived and I pulled the glittering and gorgeous polishes from their box I was in total awe. It changed the way I looked at nail polish. There was also a spoon insert showing off the upcoming Spring release. I instantly painted my nails and began to prowl Zoya. You know. Just in case. Then my friend discovered Polishaholicas Anonymous. We joined and the barage of color combinations, polish brands, and upcoming release information sucked us in. Hook. Line. Sinker. We were total gonners. 

This was the beginning of 2011 and the sheer increase in creativity and tecniques has blown me away. It was a great year to begin as a blogger.

 Top to bottom: Zoya Trixie, Irene, and Gabrielle

 L-R: Gabrielle, Irene, Trixie

L-R: Trixie, Irene, Gabrielle

I seriously fan-girl squee-d at Gabrielle! I'm a sucker for an orange, and I may have to get it now. I don't think these posts are going to be good for my wallet! 

Once again, thank you to Candice and to all those who have agreed to send me posts. I'm going to make a new page up at the top for the contact info for this series because I would like to make this an on-going thing. Not every day like now, but once I get my new camera I'd like to do it at least once a week.

The polish that started it all! + invite

 Hello Everyone! Today is a polish related post! yay! I want to apologize in advance for the low quality photos. I went in my bedroom to ask my fiance if I could borrow his phone (he was sleeping) to take photos and I was met with this conversation:

Me: Hey babe, can I borrow your phone?
Him: mumble mumble pick the red one, it's better.
Me: *laughs* what?
Him: you were asking about colors, the red one is better.
Me: I asked if I could borrow your phone.
Him: Oh. yeah.
Me: Where is it?
Him: What? You asked about colors...
Me: No, I need your phone.
Him: What for?
Me: Pictures for my blog
Him: You don't need to take pictures *rolls over and stops responding to me*

Gotta love half asleep conversations. My future mother in law once said "we have a bunny problem" in her sleep.

Anyway! So I get a new camera in about 30 days, so I chose to use my camera phone instead. It's old...so sorry if the pictures suck. But I wanted to talk about the polish that started my obsession with polish.

Essie Cocktail bling. I had already had a few polishes, I think I had a few from the Muppets Collection, and China Glaze For Audrey, among other drugstore polishes. But I wasn't full on into painting my nails. Then, on break at work I saw an ad for the Cocktail Bling collection, and I went into full on hunt mode. I searched high and low for this polish, and when I found it, it was love. I bought nearly the whole collection (except Brooch the Subject and Size Matters) and I've been obsessed ever since.

I still love this color, it's not my favorite, but I love it. It goes perfectly with my skin tone, making me look less red, and less tan. I'm weird...I like looking pale. I wish my skin was paler actually. It's a perfect shade of grey-blue. Above is 2 coats plus topcoat.

Now, I invite all of you to email me YOUR "polish that started it all" and a little blurb and I would like to do a series of guest posts chronicling our decent into obsession. If you have any friends who collect polish, have them send it to me! I want hundreds of these things!!! ok...maybe not...but the more merrier!

My email is roflbertz@gmail.com 

I thank you, and have a great day.