Dolphins?!

Greetings All!

So, I don't want to upset anyone, because I know they're popular, but I'm not a fan of dolphins. I think they're pretty weird-looking, and I've never really got the appeal of them. They definitely aren't something I would choose to wear on my nails.


So then why do I have dolphins on my nails? It's an excellent question. About a month ago I was stamping with the Barry M Summer Matte polishes (here), and I thought the dolphin stamp from CH38 would look cute in Malibu, over pink. Not for me, but just as a general manicure concept, or for someone who does like dolphins.

Annoyingly, every time I tried to think of ideas for my nails, this dolphin idea would pop up! So I kind of had to do it, as it seemed like the only way to get it out of my head.

I've used my very favourite pink, OPI If You Moust, You Moust as a base, stamped with CH38 and Barry M Matte in Malibu.

It's just occurred to me that it would have seemed less weird if I just pretended I like dolphins!

Happy 4th Of July!

Greetings All!

Happy Independence day to those who are celebrating it. I know a lot of you lovely readers are American, so here is something specifically aimed at you! I hope you all have a great long weekend - it's very hot and Summery here at the moment, so I hope it is there too!

I also didn't want to be the only one not taking part - I've seen so many gorgeous American-themed manicures this week!

So here is my contribution.

I did toy with putting some white stripes over Orly Star Spangled, but a) I probably would have messed it up, and b) Star Spangled is my favourite red, and fittingly named. Why cover it up?! My accent nails are Barry M Blue Grape stamped with Konad White and CH4. It's a rare outing for one of my Cheeky plates, so that was nice.

It's Meant To Be Fire!

Greetings All!

I've been trying to be a little bit more creative with my nail art, as I've been stamping a lot lately, and not doing much else! So far my efforts have been...mixed.

I wanted to do some sort of fiery nails, but to be honest I was feeling too lazy to do proper flame nails. That involves gradients, and freehand, and effort. I thought I would just do something in fiery colours, and it was bound to look a bit like fire.

Or, you know, nothing like fire!

I started with a base of Sally Hansen Insta Dri in Butter-fly Stroke, then dabbed on Sally Hansen Salon Manicure in Evening Glow, OPI The Thrill Of Brazil, and W7 Black with some cling film. I normally love cling film nails, but I wasn't overly impressed with these. In a foolhardy attempt to jazz it up a bit I then added a coat of Black Cat Lacquer Fire Woman. On the perfect background for it to camouflage itself!

I'm starting to think I should just stick with stamping!

UK Indies - TarasTalons Neons

Greetings All!

Neon alert! I always claim to not really like neon polishes, because I often found them to be too bright, but gradually through things like neon glitter I've come to accept that they have their place. I still probably wouldn't wear a plain neon polish, but I hardly ever wear plain polish anyway.

These three polishes from TarasTalons are anything but plain! This is my favourite of the bunch, Poison Apple. Three coats over white.

Super bright lime green jelly, suspending black shards brilliantly (check out the layering!), and added pink circle fun. The base colour is a bit brighter than I would normally wear, but those black shards...they make it a winner for me!

Next is Jazz. I couldn't capture just how bright this yellow is. It's literally highlighter yellow. It's the brightest thing that's ever been on my nails. Two coats over white.

What I really like about this polish (apart form the fact that I could constantly see them out of the corner of my eye!) is that the purple glitter gives it a slightly murky look, but at the same time it's insanely bright. It's an unusual combination, and this is a very unique addition to my collection!

Last up is Light Nights. Again this was highlighter bright in real life! Three coats over white.

The bright blue glitter goes really well with the pink, and I love how the lower layers are tinted purple. I'm definitely becoming a neon convert. As with most things, adding glitter was the answer!

Dance Legend Boo. And Oh Look, More Stamping!

Greetings All!

Let's talk multichromes for a moment. How amazing are they?! They haven't featured on the blog until now, because I'm not a skilled enough photographer to capture the reality-defying magic they contain. I haven't really managed that on this occasion either, but I'm getting there!

Although I've never been the biggest fan of duochromes (they're lovely in the bottle, but I get bored of them very quickly on the nail), multichromes are just that bit better. When I first saw bottle shots, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It's like some sort of sorcery, polish that transitions through so many colours. I thought staring at my thermal manicures was bad, but it doesn't really compare to me tilting my fingers through all sorts of angles to make my nails change colour, like someone who has only just discovered they have hands!

Dance Legend Boo is a particular favourite of mine, because of it's colours, how amazing it looks in the bottle, and it's general all round fantastic formula! Here I'm wearing two coats over black, stamped with Konad Black and MoYou London Pro XL 06.

This is a personal best for me, multichome-photo wise. But if anyone was going to cooperate, it was Boo. I have the bottle out as I'm writing this post, and I literally keep stopping to spin it round and stare at it. It really is a little bottle of magic!

OPI Gargantuan Green Grape Matte (Plus Stamping)

Greetings All!

Today I have a polish that is a very, very welcome addition to my little collection. I love a matte finish, that has been well established over the last 18 months, and the OPI matte and suede polishes are particular lemmings of mine. I only have one suede (Suzi Skis In The Pyrenees), and they can be quite difficult to find, especially at the bargain prices I normally prefer to pay! So imagine my delight when I was the only bidder on this polish on eBay!


Application was a little bit tricky. Matte polishes dry so quickly, you don't have much time to get a coat on before it starts to drag. It also doesn't have any time to self-level. I used three coats here - two slapped on quickly to get the nails covered, then a thicker third coat to smooth it all out. It was a little bit frustrating, but all was forgiven as soon as it dried. I can't stay angry at a polish when it looks like this.

Just look at that matte finish. No shine at all. Absolute perfection. I'm sure you could get a similar effect with the 'normal' version of GGG and matte topcoat, but where's the fun in that? Also I don't have that version, although I could topcoat this one. So it's entirely justified!

Of course, I couldn't leave them plain. I had ten perfectly prepared blank canvases. I went for some thorny roses from MoYou London Pro XL 10, stamped with Konad Black.

I love how it's a different shade of green in just about every picture! Tricky shade to photograph accurately, but surely at least on of them has to be right! 

So there you go. Hope you're all having a pleasant weekend. I just realised that it's very nearly July - how did that happen?! Where did the first half of the year go?

UK Indies - Freckles Polish Happy Hour Holos Part II

*These products were provided at a discount in exchange for review*

Greetings All!

Yesterday I showed you two of the new Holiday Destination polishes Freckles Polish are releasing this Friday (tomorrow!). Today I have two polishes from the second part of the Happy Hours Holos collection, which will also be released on Friday. The first collection were absolutely stunning, so I was very excited to learn there would be another collection, especially when I found out there was going to be a black holo. 

I think, if pressed, most people have a favourite colour base for holos. However most seem to have a colour that has a bit more variety. Purple, for example, can run from lilac to deepest, darkest violet, with countless shades in between. My favourite is black, and as you don't really get a variety of blacks, I spend my time looking for the perfect black holo. One that is stunningly holographic and linear, and yet still impossibly black. I don't think it actually exists because of the nature of holographic pigment, but that doesn't stop me trying!

Black Russian is my tenth linear black holo (plus I have countless black scattered holos), so let's see if this can do the impossible. This is two coats solo, and all pictures are taken indoors in artificial light. My camera is notoriously terrible at capturing holos, so although I'm so pleased with how it behaved here, these pictures still aren't really doing justice to these polishes. 

It's pretty close. It's about as close as I've got to the perfect black holo. That sounds kind of half-hearted, doesn't it? It's a beautiful polish, with a gorgeous linear rainbow running through. The formula is great - I can usually tell a good formula by how much cleanup I have to do afterwards, and this was bare minimum. It's a lot nicer than many of my collection, and that includes some pretty big names, so it's saying something!

Next is Bloody Mary, a juicy pink. I initially thought this was very similar to Raspberry Daiquiri from the first collection, but it's lighter, brighter, and less...raspberry. Again, two coats in artificial light.

This is like a bright Barbie pink, it's almost neon-bright, but without the garishness. It looks like it should be bubblegum scented! Very, very pretty, although my camera didn't seem to like it at all. Because of the pink base, it is a little difficult to capture the blue/green end of the holo - it sits much more comfortably in the orange region. I really like it though - it's girly, but with a little bit of edge.

The Happy Hour Holos Part II and Holiday Destination Collections are both released this Friday (27th) over on Etsy. You can also keep up to date with news and swatches via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

An InLinkz Link-up

UK Indies - Freckles Polish Holiday Destinations Swatches

*These products were provided at a discount for review*

Greetings All!

It's now officially Summer, and Freckles Polish are launching a Holiday Destinations collection this Friday (27th), filled with polishes themed on favourite...well, holiday destinations! I have two to share with you today, both beautifully Summery, and very evocative of holidays.

First is Greek Islands. I'm a sucker for blue and white as they look soo good together, and this is no exception! Greece conjures up images of white buildings and gorgeous blue sea, and this polish is a great homage to that. This is two coats, with no undies.

There are large gold circles in the mix, but unfortunately the second coat has covered them up. You can catch a glimpse of them n the second picture. Personally I'm not sure they're needed, as the blue and white are so pretty together, but I'm not about to advocate not having big gold circles in any polish! It's so clean and fresh looking. I was very impressed with the coverage - with white based polishes, I always have the question of whether I need a plain white base, but I definitely didn't need one here. Excellent coverage in just two coats.

Next is Koh Phangan. Famous for its Full and Half Moon parties, this is a neon glitter topper that echoes the bright lights, glow sticks, and general party atmosphere! Here I'm wearing two coats over black and white.

I much prefer solid neon glitter to the translucent type, because just look at that neon over black! Don't get me wrong, it's also pretty over the white, but they just seem to 'pop' so much more over black. I also really like the mix of sizes and shapes here. It's so bright and fun!


This collection is released this Friday, along with part two of The Happy Hour Holo Collection (more on that tomorrow! Squee!). You can buy them on Etsy, and keep up to date on releases, news and swatches on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

A Bit More Me

Greetings All!

After yesterday's very girly manicure, I wanted something a bit...well, less girly! I've never been a girly girl, so I had to scrub away the pastels and butterflies with some black, to feel more like myself again.

I've been wanting to use this particular stamping image for a while, in fact I think this image is why I bought this particular plate. I think I hurt it's feelings by not using it sooner though, because it would not play nice!

I've mentioned before that my MoYou London plates are a lot more deeply etched than other brands I own. Cleaning them after use usually involves cotton pads being torn to shreds! So I have a pretty thick layer of Konad Black here, which smudged a little, and even cracked in a couple of places. On more than one occasion, I couldn't even get the whole image to lift. Not a very nice stamp at all. Plus, so much cleanup. So much Konad Black on my skin. Nightmare!

Apart from that little blip, loved these! MoYou London Princess XL plate 13, over No7 So Simple, and finished with TarasTalons Gloss Off, to take a bit of the shine away. I was tempted to fill in the zips with silver, but I didn't have the patience in the end!