Bondi New York Nail Polish - Botanical Beauty

Press Sample

Happy Sunday~  Today I have a new nail polish brand called Bondi New York to share with you!  This brand launched only a few weeks ago and boasts 20 fashion forward colors which are 5 free (formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, camphor, DBP and toluene).  I was given the opportunity to try out one of the polishes, and I chose Botanical Beauty for spring. :)

Botanical Beauty, 2 coats:  "A luscious lilac may have them fooled into thinking you're a lady, but we know a tantalizing temptress lies beneath the soil. Plant the seed of intrigue and watch it grow - they won't be able to resist your bouquet."

First off, the packaging reminds me of Dr.'s Remedy!  I'm pretty sure it's the same bottle and cap.  I love these square bottles because they fit so nicely in Helmers.  The caps also have a nice grip to them because of the soft velvety texture.

As for the polish, Botanical Beauty was great in both pigmentation and application.  The consistency was just right - not too thick or thin.  It flowed evenly and was opaque in two coats.  I'm also pleased that Botanical Beauty was accurately pictured on their website.  It looks just as it was shown, which is important for an online-based nail brand.

Verdict: Botanical Beauty is a lovely lilac creme that's perfect for spring.  Both the formula and pigmentation were excellent.  Hopefully we'll see some more out-of-the-box colors in the future from Bondi New York once they have established the basics.  I would love to see some glitters or something crazy from them in the future that screams "New York"! :)

Availability: Available via select on line retail partners, as well as bondinewyork.com for $15.  If you live in Canada, you can also find them on Harlow & Co.  100% of the net profit (after costs) is donated to their non-profit which makes grants to organizations like Food Bank for New York City.  Don't forget to follow Bondi New York on Facebook and Twitter for more updates!

What do you think of this brand?  Have you tried them yet?
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*6/2/2014 Update: 
I believe this brand is no longer functioning, but if they are I encourage you to read this post first before purchasing. I belatedly found out about this whole debacle and can no longer recommend this brand.

Liz

Pink Wednesday! Skin Food Grape Milk and a Newspaper mani :)

This is my first On Wednesdays We Wear Pink post!  If you're a nail blogger and would like to join, just click the Pink Wednesday badge I have on the side to go register -->

Here it is: Skin Food Milk Creamy Nail in Grape Milk.  2 coats.  Smooth, creamy, and shiny deliciousness.

So okay, it's not exactly pink.  It's more of a pink-toned lilac...but still somewhat pink.  Right?  I got this one when I was in Korea.  The formula was a bit thick when I got it, which was weird because the turquoise one I got with it, Ocean milk, has an amazing formula.  I added about 4 drops of nail polish thinner and now I just adore it.

Here's a story about nail polish thinner.  Buy it!  Especially if you have a lot of polish, you're going to need it eventually as your older polishes evaporate and thicken up.  Never add nail polish remover to thin your polish.  It's bad in the long run because it'll ruin your polish!  The one I use is Beauty Secrets Nail Polish Thinner, which I bought from Sally Beauty Supply.  It costs $3.99.  $3.49 if you have a Beauty Club card.  I also suggest you use a dropper to add the thinner to your polish, since the thinner will leak onto its cap sometimes.  It doesn't cost much and will last a long time.  I've used mine quite a bit and it still looks full.

Anyway, that's my spiel on nail polish thinner.  Back to Grape Milk!

I believe I bought this for around $2, so what's not to love?  The bottle is also a cute baby bottle.  I kind of regret not having bought more.  Sigh...why wasn't I as into nail polish back then?  Which reminds me, I have a pretty Nfu Oh flakie polish coming up soon.  Expect great things. :)

After a day with this polish, I wanted to do something new with my nails but not remove the pretty color, so here's what I did.

Newspaper Mani!

Pretty cool.  This was inspired by one of the nail bloggers I follow, only I follow so many I forgot who it was.  If you know it's you (I commented on your post) or know who it is, let me know so I can give credit.  Since I couldn't link her, I did look for a site with instructions. You can look at it here or read on :)

Here's what you do.  First cut out 10 squares of newspaper.  Take your time and be creative!  Look for cute designs, large print, cartoon strips, etc to decorate your nails with.

I used mainly text, but also used an ad with cute stars, and sudoku and word cross puzzle answers (they're smaller) to make my nails more interesting.  Next, add some rubbing alcohol to a cotton pad.  Place the newspaper down onto your nails with the print against your nail and press the alcohol soaked cotton firmly on the newspaper.  Make sure you take your time and press hard so that the print comes off onto the nail.  Also make sure you don't accidentally move the newspaper, or else you might smudge the print.  Don't forget to pay attention to which part of the print is going on your nail, especially if your using something other than text.  Peel the newspaper off and you'll get this:

Yay.  Although I didn't get as many stars on my index as I wanted.  Only 1/2 a star. :P

 After you're done, seal the print in with your favorite top coat.  I used Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat.

After your top coat is thoroughly dry, use some one of your alcohol soaked cottons to clean the print off your skin (if you got any on you like I did.) 

Ta da!

Word cross puzzle answer key on my middle nail :P

Sudoku answer key on my thumb ^ ^

I think this is a cute, easy way to decorate your nails.  What do you think?  Also let me know if you do this mani by posting your link in the comment section!  I want to see them :)


Liz