Happy Easter Everyone!

Greetings All!

Happy Easter! It's not really a big deal in our house - I get some chocolate, and a day off work. That's about it! I wasn't even planning on doing any Easter nails - it's basically still Winter here! Then I remembered that there is something I hate about Easter, something that I would wipe off the face of the planet if I had the opportunity. So, I, er, painted it on my nails? Yes. To advertise my hatred.

Yeah, I hate hot cross buns. If you are not aware of these (I think they're a mostly British thing), they are a disgusting spiced bun with dried fruit in and a horrible glaze on the top. They look, smell, and taste disgusting.

Is this an excessive amount of hatred? Maybe. I'll explain. I work in a bakery. In the last week I have seen thousands of packets of these awful buns. But it is Easter. That's understandable, they are an Easter food. I can't really complain about that.

What really makes me want to start breaking things are the customers who demand fresh baked hot cross buns all year round. They complain if they can't have them in August. Have you ever heard of such a thing?! Do people want Christmas cake, or an Advent calendar in May? Do people ask for Easter eggs for Christmas? No. And yet we are the unreasonable ones for wasting our time making things like bread, when apparently we should be making these disgusting buns all day every day. And they are disgusting - they smell foul, they have this glaze on them that glues itself to your hands, and the cross on them is made out of flour and water (mmm, flavourful!). My only hope is that people will choke on them.

So yeah, I really hate hot cross buns! So why not use this opportunity to advertise my hatred?

Polishes Used

Sally Hansen Salon Manicure Terracotta

Sally Hansen Salon Manicure Boca Mocha

Barry M Yellow

Barry M Chocolate Brown

OPI Swedish Nude

W7 Cosmic Black and Blue

Greetings All!

Are you having a good weekend? I went to an outdoor market, in the bitter cold and snow! It was worth it though - I did a little polish shopping. I got some glitters, including one with stars, and one with hearts and stars, for £1 each! I'll show you those next week.

Today, more W7! 2 more shades from the Cosmic range, which are all glittery bottles of goodness! Cosmic Black is silver glitter in a black base. It isn't especially unique, but it's still very nice. This is 2 coats.

I do like glitter in a black polish - sometime I want a little bit more than just black, and this saves me from using a separate glitter! It would also be an amazing base for galaxy nails. I was very happy with the application, the glitter coverage, all of it really!

Next up is Cosmic Blue. Light blue and silver glitter, in a pale blue jelly base. I used 3 coats here.

I like the coloured base, because I think it really helps to tie the polish together. As you can see, it's mostly blue glitter, with a little bit of silver to add dimension. It's not really my favourite shade of blue for a glitter, but it's nice enough and I may try layering it over a different colour.

I realised today that I haven't done any Easter themed nails! I guess they are usually quite Spring related, and it's still very much Winter here! Maybe I'll do something for tomorrow. No promises though!

Girly Girl Nail Art Challenge: Think Pink!

Greetings All!

Yes, I am taking part in another challenge! This one is hosted by Ramblings of a Closet Diva, and it's all about girly nails! These are the themes:

We'll be posting once a week, on Fridays (it'll be double challenge day for a few weeks!). I thought this would be a really fun challenge for me because I am not a girly girl. I mostly wear black, I don't wear makeup all that often, I'm not really into shopping, or hearts or flowers or any of that cliche girly stuff. Except on my nails. Anything goes on my nails! Pink, flowers, cute little designs. I don't know why that is the case. I must be a true addict!

Today's theme is think pink. I have loads of pink polish (see? Addict) but my favourite at the moment is OPI If You Moust You Moust. It's a really sugary sweet Barbie pink colour and I love it! I decided to do a bit of a pink flower design on it. That's girly, right?

I started with If You Moust You Moust, then added 2 coats of Butter London Frilly Knickers for some girly sparkle. I used a dotting tool to draw some slightly dodgy flowers with Models Own Strawberry Tart and OPI Koala Bear-y.

Be sure to check out everyone else's pink girly nails!

Relaxed 31DC Week 5: Blue

Greetings All!

Are we five weeks into this challenge already?! Goodness! I guess time flies when you're polishing. I always struggle with these colour themes a little bit, I can never think of something to do. I was the same for this one - sitting thinking "what is blue?" for ages! Eventually I settled on the ocean. That's blue!

Kind of half ocean, half cloudy skies! I was going for the crashing waves look. I don't think it's bad, but it doesn't quite look like in my head.

I used loads of polishes for this. Doesn't look like it, does it? I started with Sally Hansen Salon Manicure in The Sky's The Limit (which is a lovely one coat sky blue) and then Calypso Blue (very sheer - needed undies!). The I sponged on OPI Blue My Mind and Into The Night, to try and make it look like deeper water. I added a little unnamed W7 Blue glitter (a mini) then sponged the 'surf' with OPI Alpine Snow. I like it but I don't love it - I wanted it to look a little bit more realistic.

Remember to check out everyone else's blue nails!

Models Own Iced Neon - Pukka Purple

Greetings All!

Just a quick swatch post. Last week when I got the new scented Models Own polishes, they were on 3 for 2, but there are only five in the collection! So I picked up one of the new Iced Neons. I'm a bit undecided on neon polish - I love how it pops with black, but I think it can sometimes be too bright and look a little tacky. Plus it's a pain to paint your nails white first!

The Iced Neons come in a cute frosted bottle, and apparently you are meant to keep them in the fridge. My fridge kind of freezes everything if you leave it in there, so I probably won't do that, but I may try it out to see if it makes any difference!

I was a good girl and painted my nails white first, as you know how thin neons can be. This one went on in one coat! I don't think I needed the white at all - it was extremely opaque. It'll probably stamp! It also isn't really what I would describe as neon.

Apparently my camera thinks purple is blue again. I've tweaked a later picture to show the true colour better. The polish lid promises a matt effect - I was expecting the usual neon rubbery finish. It's maybe slightly more rubbery than the average polish, but it basically has a normal glossy finish. These pictures are without topcoat, and I left it to dry for about an hour.

So is it a fail? Well, it's a gorgeous colour. This picture is more colour accurate (for the polish. My skin, not so much!)

Oh, and a little bit of stamping! It's a lovely rich, dreamy purple that's going to look amazing for summer. And it's a one coater (I love one coat polishes - I'm so lazy!). So although I don't feel it lived up to what I expected, I still really like it! If I saw it on someone's nails, I wouldn't say "cool neon purple!". I would however say "cool purple!". You got away with it this time, Models Own...

Will I buy more? Probably not. I have the OPI neon minis, and they are plenty for my needs at the moment. I'm glad I got this one though!

Tri Polish Challenge March 2013: Manicure 4

Greetings All!

Today is the last day of this months Tri Polish Challenge! Once again, the rules are HERE. Here is a reminder of the three polishes I have been using.

To be honest, I'm kind of glad this months is over - I don't plan on using this coral again! This is a really fun challenge though. Usually I either pick a colour I like, or I pick a design I like, then choose the colours, so it's quite cool to have to stick to three polishes, it forces you to be creative!

I've been a good girl this month and used all three polishes in all four of my manicures! And, with the possible exception of the ikat style one, I've liked them all! I really like today's - leopard print! (one of my favourite nail art techniques!)

Acid leopard print! I used the coral again for the base colour - it's not great for nail art, because it's quite thin. I used a dotting tool for the dots, then a small nail art brush to draw on the purple. I'm very happy wth these - I'm always happy with leopard print! It's the first nail art I learned how to do, and I love that it's so simple to do, but really eyecatching. And versatile! It works with practically any colours.

The Tri Polish Challenge will be back on April 16th, with three new colours and four new manicures! What are those colours? Ah, you'll have to wait and see! Or come and join the fun HERE!

Be sure to check out everyone else's final manicure!

Etude House - All the way from South Korea!

Greetings All!

Yesterday I showed you the perfect polish, from a Korean brand called Etude House that I accidentally found on eBay. I bought three others at the same time, that are nearly as pretty! All in all I am super impressed with this brand and I will definitely be ordering more of them! The shipping prices from the US have put me off a little bit, but these could be mistaken for indie polishes and they have free shipping!

I have been told that these do have names instead of just numbers, so I've been good and searched them out for you! Most of the listings on eBay just seem to have the numbers though

British Nail Bloggers: Models Own Scented Fruit Pastel Collection

Greetings All!

It's Wednesday, so you know what that means! Another British Nail Blogger post. If you are a British Nail Blogger and you would like to join this group, you can HERE.

On Friday I was having a little look in Boots, not for anything in particular, just a browse, when I noticed the Models Own stand had new pretties. The scented fruit pastel collection, and the iced neons! They were three for two, so I ended up leaving with the whole pastel collection, as well as one neon (the purple. More on that at a later date!)

They are ever so pretty, delicate and perfect for spring! I did kind of buy them for the novelty of the scent (full disclosure - my mum kindly bought them for me), but the scent quickly became less important than the polish itself.

The usual housekeeping - all but the purple needed three coats. The first coat for all of them was incredibly streaky, but they build fairly well. Application wasn't the best - I ended up with a ball of polish at the top of my nail, then streaking all down my nail. Too much effort for my liking! It really didn't spread very well at all. They were also touch dry within 5 minutes, but still quite soft and wet underneath for a couple of hours (as I discovered when I gouged a decent chunk out of one about two hours after applying!). They all smell very nice though - the scents are quite subtle on the nail.

I HAVE FOUND THE PERFECT POLISH

Greetings All!

Sorry for shouting, but I'm excited. I accidentally found THE perfect polish. I don't know if there's someone I should contact, I don't know who's in charge of Nail Polish, but they need to know because basically there is no reason to make any more!

Am I exaggerating? No. But let me start at the beginning. I was on eBay, and they have this little thing that suggests items for you based on what is in your watch list. There are a lot of Innisfree polishes in my watch list (basically all the ones I don't have lol). I love Innisfree polishes - they are beautiful, and unusual, and I especially love their glitters and flakie jellies. I did a big old swatch post about them HERE. eBay suggested I might like another polish brand from the same seller, Etude House Dear My Party. They looked pretty, so I ordered 4 (then you get one free!). You know how it goes with these - you find three you want, and then you have to make up the numbers with a fourth. I went back and forth between a couple, but finally settled on this one as my fourth. The 'make up the numbers' polish.

When they arrived 10 days later (from Korea! I was impressed with the speed) I actually did a little dance. Four polishes so pretty I couldn't stand it! I swatched this one first, and it was so pretty I literally couldn't take it off. I had to swatch the other three on my other hand, and then paint it to match, and I didn't take it off for nearly 2 days.

I guess I should show it to you now huh? I've indulged a little with the pictures, but it had to be done!

I'm having trouble coming up with words here! The bottle is super cute - it has a little raised heart design on the bottle, and the lid is pink, which makes it look like toy nail polish! It applied beautifully - it has a nice wide brush, and the glitter all deposited evenly. No dabbing, no fishing, just perfect placement. This is 2 easy coats and the crelly formula is just perfect - 2 coats leaves no VNL, but it allows the glitter from the first coat to peek through. And the colour? Gorgeous. A fresh, cool, pale dusty blue, with gold, and dark and light blue hexes of different sizes. The colours together are just perfect, and the glitter lies flat enough to barely need topcoat. The only problem is its name - PPP503 (seriously?!)

I can't describe how much I love this. It's just pure perfection. I'm planning on ordering at least 2 more bottles. Maybe 4. Do I even need to buy any more polish? Because I'm not sure this can be topped. And who knew the perfect polish would be blue? I never would have guessed.

I bought mine HERE, but there are a couple of sellers who stock this brand. It's amazing by the way - full of glitters, flakies and all sorts (I've also got my eye on the ice cream ones!), lots of crellys with glitter like this one!

I do have three others to show you, but this one deserved to stand alone! One more picture, and then I'll stop, I promise!

Tri Polish Challenge March 2013 Manicure 3

Greetings All!

Another Tri Polish manicure! I am enjoying this challenge - it's been quite fun trying to come up with nail art that all uses the same colours. I'm already planning next months!

On to today though. First up, all the housekeeping! You can find all of the rules for The Crumpet's Tri Polish Challenge HERE. You can join Crumpet's Nail Tarts on Facebook HERE. The rules are the same as last week. Here is a reminder of the polishes I am using for all four manicures this month.

I've been very good this month - I've used all three polishes for all four manicures! When I was trying to plan/brainstorm ideas for this month, I knew I wanted to do something with dots (I thought this would be an easy way to include all three polishes). Here's what I came up with:

I really like the purple and the green together! My coral has gone pretty orange over the purple though. I think it looks a little but like a bubbling Halloween cauldron? I always associate those colours with Halloween (once again, you just wait until October! It'll be like Halloween Town here!). I used a little bit of China Glaze Enchantment (we have free use of glitters) just to try and sparkle it up a bit. Overall I'm pretty happy with this! I like the colours together, and I like the effect!


Time for a little self promotion, which I hate! You can vote for my Crumpet's Amateur Nail Art entry HERE if you want (or vote for whichever one you like most. There are some seriously awesome entries!).

You can also enter my GIVEAWAY HERE, where you could win $50 to spend on nail polish!

Remember to have a look at everyone else's amazing manicures!

OPI DS Mystery

Greetings All!

Just a quick swatch post. Last year after I got my first couple of OPIs, I went on a bit of a spree and just bought all the OPIs I could find! OK, maybe not quite that bad, but almost. This is one that I snapped up. I still have about 50 that are untried! I bought too much nail polish last year.

Mystery is a deep, dark, blackcurrant sort of colour with green gold flecks, that turn a little pink under the polish. It is glorious. This is 2 coats.

It is dark and moody and gothic and wonderful and I love it! In some lights you could almost mistake it for black, but there is so much more going on in this polish. I love the little flecks that turn from green to gold, and the way the ones sitting deeper in the polish turn pink. I love the dark decadent base. I love everything about it, and I hate myself a little bit for keeping it unworn for so long!

I didn't know very much about OPI when I bought this, but I figured the silver top meant it was more special. I was right!

Models Own Black Nail Art Pen and Gold Polish

Greetings All!

Another new week begins! I swatched so much polish last week! I have lots of lovely things to show you this week. But first...

I got this set of a small gold polish (without a name) and a black nail art pen just before Christmas. If I remember correctly, it was free with the purchase of two Models Own products (which was always going to be nail polish!) or something like that.  I don't often use nail art pens, I'm always worried they won't be thin enough! This is the type with a brush, but also a little nib that you can apparently draw with if you squeeze the bottle. I'm put off by that because you need to be good at drawing, but also you have to keep a consistent pressure, and...nah. Too much effort!

I did use the brush part though. I painted my nails with the gold (which is very pretty by the way!) and an accent nail in W7 Black. Then I basically just doodled on my nails! It isn't very good, but it was fun!

I like my middle finger, and I LOVE the vines on my ring finger (look out for this again in the future lol). Seriously though, those gold vines on the black look amazing! The other nails are a bit rubbish - I'm happy to admit that! I couldn't think of anything to draw, so I literally just started drawing shapes and swirls. I found it very fun and liberating to not try and turn it into a design.

The pen is quite good. You can see a couple of streaks here and there, but it was easy to use, and it wasn't too thick to draw with.

Look out for more Models Own later in the week!

Sun-Tried-Day: W7 Gold and Silver Dazzle

Greetings All!

Another week nearly over. I have to go back to work tomorrow :( Today is, as usual, a Sunday where I swatch some untrieds!

Today I have some incredibly sparkly full coverage glitters to show you, form W7. I actually only got these recently. They cost me £1.49 each! Bargain.

Gold Dazzle is precisely that - a dazzly gold! I got both of these thinking they were probably toppers, but in fact they both gave full coverage in 2 coats.

Barry M SLE2012 A and B

Greetings All!

Another quick swatch post! These two imaginatively titled polishes were limited edition (LE) from Superdrug (S) last Christmas (2012). Polishes without names annoy me a little bit. I don't like referring to them as just letter and numbers!

SLE2012 A (sigh) is a steel blue glittery foil. It's quite an unusual colour and it has a lovely finish. This is 2 coats.

There's a lot of sparkle and shine to it, and I don't have anything like this in my collection so it was a welcome addition!

I also picked up SLE2012 B, which is a glitter topper. Blue, pink and green hexes in a clear base. This is also quite unusual - I haven't seen that colour combination before. This is 2 coats.

I'm not overly impressed with this. Maybe I chose the wrong polish to layer it over, but it seems a bit...boring. Maybe the base is too sparkly.

I like how neither of these polishes are 'Christmassy', as a lot of seasonal polish gets pushed to the side for a lot of the year. I really like the blue, the glitter is nice enough, but a little dull. Further testing is needed lol