My Perfect Manicure

MY NAIL CASE WHICH HOLD'S EVERYTHING YOU NEED FOR A FAB MANI

I love nice nails & a great manicure but besides the hand massage & my cuticles being taken care of, I'm never happy with the shape professionals file my nails & always have to come home & fix them 99% of the time. I was a chronic nail biter until I was 12 (nervous habit), then my mother got me one of those polishes you paint on & when you go to bite your nails, they taste horrid - it worked & have had nice nails ever since.

I have perfected my home manicure over the years (I flirted with acrylic nails when I was a teenager & ended up hating them, then the condition my lovely natural nails were in when I had them removed, I vowed to never go there again & I haven't.

So this is how I do my home manicures:

OFF WITH THE OLD

Firstly I always remove my old polish with an acetone free remover (cutex is an old favorite). The only time I use an acetone remover is to remover the glitter polishes that have become popular of late. For that I fill some soaking bowls with acetone remover & soak my nails for 5 - 10 minutes (if it is a VERY stubborn glitter I places cotton pads soaked in remover on each nail & wrap in foil for 10 minutes - its still not easy to remove but this does help.

FILE

I usually file my nails down every 4 weeks. I like to keep them a nice length BUT as soon as I start to have trouble on the keyboard or my phone, its time to file. My favorite file I discovered is by OPI called Edge 180/400. The grey side is strong and you can do a file down very quickly with it, most times I don't let them get to out of hand so the other side does the trick. I like what I have termed a round square. I file my nails to a square shape then round the corners and the nail just a little.

CUTICLE TIME

Next I push those cuticles back. I love OPI Avoplex exfoliating cuticle treatment with AHA. I apply a thin layer & leave about  minutes then gently push back with cuticle stick. When cuticles are tip top & no skin on nail bed I go and use any old scrub (usually a cheap one or something I want to use up) and exfoliate my hands with it, giving them a little massage & rinse in warm water & dry.

BUFF IT BABY

Again the best buffer I've ever used is the OPI Brilliance. It only has 2 sides unlike a lot of others & when you have used the second side, after a few seconds you will hear a squeaky noise and look to see your nails look like the have clear base coat on them NO lie. I have never had a buffer give me this type of shine on my own nail. If you didn't want to use polish, you could be done at this point & people would thinking you were wearing a clear one. When I remove my polish my nails are still just as shiny.

PAINT TIME

This is the fun & hard part, what colour to go with. After trying many polishes over the years I am a devoted OPI girl as they wear the best of any polish I've tried. Sometimes I even remove it cos I'm sick of the colour & want a change, not because it's chipped.

I'm lucky I have good strong nails, but from time to time for no reason they will peel. So for a base coat I always use OPI Nail envy for sensitive & peeling nails. Once I've made my colour choice I then apply 2 coats (3 sometimes if its a glitter or a very see through shade). I have found quite a bit of easy to do at home nail art & some weeks for fun play with that. If I am going to apply a nail art transfer I will do it BEFORE applying my top coat.

I then apply the only non OPI product I use & that is Revlon colour stay top coat, it dries quickly, goes on smoothly (apply quickly if you have made any little bumps or errors and it will smooth it out).

Here are some of my recent manicures:

OPI BURLESQUE MOVIE TIE IN COLLECTION TEAS-EY DOES IT

NICOLE BY OPI KARDASHIAN KOLORS IN KIM-PLETELY IN LOVE WITH A LITTLE BUTTERFLY NAIL ART FOR FUN

OPI SHREK FOREVER AFTER MOVIE TIE IN OGRE THE TOP BLUE WITH SOME NAIL ART

OPI KATY PERRY COLLECTION TEENAGE DREAM WITH HELLO KITTY NAIL ART

OPI THE MUPPET'S MOVIE TIE IN DIVINE SWINE

OPI KATY PERRY COLLECTION THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY (HOLDING KATY'S LATEST PERFUME PURR)

OPI BURLESQUE MOVIE TIE IN SPARKLEICIOUS

 HAND CREAM EVERY DAY - NO EXCEPTIONS

 Every night part of my bedtime ritual is applying hand cream. You guessed it my favorite & the one I swear by after trying many is OP Avolplex high intensity hand & nail cream. A little goes a long way and absorbs really well. No greasy hands when you're done.

CUTICLE OIL EVERY OTHER NIGHT

I keep this handy sized OPI Avoplex cuticle oil on my bed side table and every other night will apply (brushes on) & massage some in whilst watching TV - no brain er & easy to do.

My manicure pretty much takes less than 30 minuets to do & that's not much time to invest to have fabulous nails.

Night Of My Life With Olivia Newton John, Belinda Carlisle & Dannii Minogue

What a fabulous day the 1st March 2012 was & one we will never forget.

My Christmas present from Leigh was the tickets to see Olivia Newton John in concert at the Sydney Opera House & tickets to the VIP event afterwards. The week before we left Dannii Minogue announced she was doing a book signing in Sydney the same day & the day before the show, Belinda Carlisle said she was going to the Olivia concert. I met Dannii at a signing 15 years ago & have been wanting to meet her again & get her books signed. As for Belinda saying she was going to be at Olivia & the chance I might meet 2 ladies I idolise on the same night, I was VERY excited.

Dannii's event was at 5.30pm & we were worried about having enough time to get to the concert, but we got there early & had no problems being about 12th in line. Dannii was absolutely lovely, bubbly & chatty when I approached her she said 'Wow Style Queen' (what a compliment!)  & signed her My Style book which the event was for BUT also signed a special edition I had of her My Story Book & her Project D Perfume for me. She was also kind enough to pose for photos with me on my own & with Leigh.

LEIGH & I WITH DANNII MINOGUE

MY AUTOGRAPHED BOTTLE OF PROJECT D FRAGRANCE

Off to the Opera House & Olivia's concert was wonderful, I have seen her in concert twice before but to go to the Opera house & see her with the Orchestra & be in the 5th row was incredible. This sounds very silly, but having loved Olivia ever since I can remember, every time she I see her & she comes on stage I always find I get a few tears. What amazing energy she has & her voice sounds perfect live, you can pretty much name a song of hers & she sang it. I loved every minute & sang along to every song & really didn't want the show to end BUT I knew I would be realising a childhood dream of meeting her after!!


Of course I was on look out for Belinda Carlisle & didn't spot her until we were leaving the concert hall. I went up very shyly & said hello & shook hands & was thrilled with that (she was with someone so I didn't want to bother her).

We went to the separate room for the VIP event with Olivia & Belinda arrived, we think she went & met Olivia privately & when we saw her leaving we went up & asked if not too much trouble, could we have a photo. She was lovely & said no problem. I sent her, her book to autograph to her Melbourne concert last week & asked her if she liked the gift I included, she thought for a second & said 'Oh My God your Nicole!' & gave me a huge hug. We chatted about my letter & she said she couldn't believe she was meeting me (other way around I was thinking!) she hugged me again & said some lovely things to me, to the point I got so overwhelmed I thought I might cry & she also looked like she was going to. She gave me another huge hug & as she was hugging me Leigh said to her ' You have no idea how much this means to Nic' & she said that was so sweet. We told her we would see her on 10 March at her show & thanked her for her time & making a long time dream come true.

MEETING ONE OF MY IDOLS THE BEAUTIFUL BELINDA CARLISLE

We got back in line to meet Olivia & I saw former actor Gregg Cave who now runs Olivia's Gaia Retreat, I had written hm a fan letter when I was 11 years old & he replied so I went up & told him the story & he thought it was lovely and took a pic with me. Very nice man & good fun.

FORMER ACTOR GREGG CAVE WHO NOW RUNS OLIVIA'S GAIA RETREAT

After all that and what ended up being a 2.5 hour wait we finally got to Olivia, I thanked her for doing this & she thanked us for supporting the Cancer & wellness centre as all the proceeds from the tickets to the VIP function were going to that. I had a hug & she signed her Greatest Hits Vol 2 Vinyl, A Two of a kind poster (which maybe she hadn't seen that photo for a while as she said 'wow' & my Grease Sandy Barbie. We chatted & had pictures and her & Belinda are 2 of the most beautiful women I have met.

MY RECORD I'VE HAD SINCE I WAS 5

LEIGH & I WITH OLIVIA

I still can't believe I have meet Olivia & Belinda & in the same night, thank goodness I have the pictures as proof. This would have to be one of the greatest nights I've ever had & one I'll never forget. Thank you Leigh for the best present & making dreams come true AGAIN.

When I arrived home tonight there was a parcel waiting & it was from Belinda, she had signed her book & Cd's I sent her with beautiful messages & included a little note.

I'm still pinching myself & it truly was a night I will never forget.

BELINDA'S BOOK THAT WAS WAITING FOR ME WHEN I GOT HOME

Macy's helped save me with my plus size dilemma

After 2 years of fertility treatment coupled with breaking my ankle & various other illnesses, my weight has ballooned & I HATE it. My eating habits are still quite healthy but exercise has been very hard to do regularly as I used to with all the treatments & complications I've had.

Over the years I've occasionally put on 5 kilos and lost it straight away so getting so much larger has been a very self-esteem killing experience for me coupled with everything else going on. I have lost some weight & hopefully when we have our family I'll be fighting fit & able to tackle this head on.

For the past 18 months I haven't known what to do, I didn't want to spend money on plus size clothes as what I saw in shops I didn't like. I pretty much lived in long shorts & t shirts & found 2 maxi dresses that were OK, to wear when going out. As I hated looking in the mirror I stopped wearing make up to go out as I thought I look so horrible, whats the point? Blending into the background was my ultimate goal.
Then Macy's saved me! I purchased something online from them last November seeing they have international shipping now & must have gone there mailing list. Just after Christmas I was sent a coupon code to use for further reductions off sale stock & they mentioned plus size clothes so I thought I would check it out.
Wow, they had clothes I would buy in my normal old size in plus size, then there was the crazy prices they had been marked down to in the sale plus my coupon code & I got 3 dresses for going out in the evening (including an evening dress to wear to the Opera House in March to see Olivia Newton John & meet her afterwards), 1 great everyday dress & 2 nice tops. All up with postage it came to about $170 AUD.
When the parcel arrived I was bowled over as the quality was fantastic. Below is the evening dress I bought to go to the Opera House last week & on the same night I met Dannii Minogue & Belinda Carlisle who both complimented me on my dress. This beautiful dress after markdowns & coupon code cost me (wait for it) $32 AUD

DRESS ON MODEL ONLINE

MY BIG NIGHT OUT IN SYDNEY WEARING MY MACY'S DRESS THAT GOT COMPLIMENTS FROM OLIVIA NEWTON JOHN, DANNII MINOGUE & BELINDA CARLISLE

I HAVE THIS ONE IN BLACK AND IS GREAT FOR GOING TO THE MOVIES, LUNCH ETC... STAPLE PIECE

YET TO GIVE THIS SEQUIN NUMBER A WHIRL BUT LOOKED GREAT WHEN I TRIED IT ON

THINKING OF WEARING THIS ONE TO A SHOW TOMORROW NIGHT, IF I DO WILL ADD A PIC

WORE THIS SILVER CHAIN DETAIL TOP TO DINNER ON VALENTINES NIGHT WITH BLACK PANTS

WORE THIS TOP WITH SOME NICE BLACK PANTS BUT FORGOT TO TAKE PICTURE, LOOKS EVEN BETTER ON

Having some clothes I actually liked gave me a tiny bit of confidence back & made me want to wear make up & do my hair etc... to complete the look. I felt like the 'old' me was back just in a larger version. It has made me not dread having to go out casually or for more dressed up occasions & restored my love of getting glammed up, choosing accessories etc... My t-shirts & shorts are now banished back to what they used to be for, round the house or a quick run to the supermarket etc...

 I wish more Australian stores would make plus size clothes in the same styles as 'regular' clothes. For someone who had never had to look for plus size before seeing what was available was so depressing & made me feel even worse about my situation.

Yesterday an email from Macy's popped up in my inbox with a discount off already reduced merchandise & decided to go see if I could find some more nice every day wear! Bingo! I checked out with 4 dresses again for about $170 all up.

These are on the way to me & can't wait for them to arrive. I can't believe I have found some clothes I really like, that didn't break the bank and will get me through this phase & give me a little confidence back. That being said, the deals at sale time & coupons they mail you when I return to my former size I will still be perusing their website for clothes in my old size.