Clearing out the untrieds; Revlon!

Hey hey guys, hope you're all well and still enjoying a bit of time off work?

I went for my first post-Christmas run today....well, running might be stretching it, it was more like falling forward quickly! But I do feel a bit better for getting up and about, I was beginning to feel (and look) like a Christmas pudding! 

After a bit of house sorting (we hosted Christmas and the house looked like a bomb went off!) I decided to do a wee bit of swatching as my untrieds have again been piling up. I noticed I had several Revlon polishes in the untried box; I rarely buy from Revlon, but these were pressies from various people. 

So first up, Extravagant - a warm pink polish with a silver shimmer running through it. Not much else to say really; good application, nice colour.

Next, Posh - a stunning green creme - I really loved this, it's SO green and fresh. It went on easily and dried quickly and I really want to use this for some summery nail art in 2015:)

Lastly, my favourite of the bunch; Radiant, a lovely mix of fine blue glitter with silver, green and blue hexes in a clear polish (I've layered it here over In the Navy by Orly). My husband bought this for me and I was so pleased; a polish I wish I'd discovered for myself! 

I'm so pleased I've cleared a few untrieds! Only 30 more to go lol:) But for now, I have other things to do; I'm trying to sort out my NYE nails now - I have a few ideas but this may need a little bit of research..........

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas? I'm sat in a post-Boxing day slump, having spent the day eating ham and cheese, drinking gin and watching The Muppet's Christmas Carol (the BEST Christmas movie EVER!).

My Christmas nails for this year were pretty low-key, based on the fact that we here hosting and so I spent the run-up tidying the house obsessively - not great for applying polish. However, I was really please with these as they made me think of Christmas tress (the dark green pines, the sparkling baubles) and so made me feel festive every time I look at them:) 

Very simple, obvs; 3 coats of 'Mermaid' by Posh Polish and a coat of the Barry M Special Edition (circa December 2012!) I love the depth of the glitter.....

Btw, please excuse the lobster hands (claws?) - my camera HATES green, so this was the best I could get:( 

This photo sums up the next few days for me; napping until New Year! Whoop whoop for 10 days off work!

Barry M Silk Collection - Forest

I hope you're all having  lovely Christmas Eve Eve? I'm sat with my lovely hubby, drinking wine and watching Christmas movies; Miracle on  34th Street (Emma believes!), The Grinch, Jingle All the Way...........bliss:)

Of course, as I'm watching, I'm painting my nails - today with Barry M Forest from their amazing Silk collection. I've said it before, but I really wasn't convinced with this collection to begin with. Now, I own almost the entire collection!

As you can see, it dries with a lovely matte effect; but that shimmer shows through....

My silly phone made it look blue, but it really is a stunning deep green. If you don't want the matte look you can cover it with a topcoat. But today, I fancied matte:) 

Still planning my Christmas nails, but might have to wait whilst I drink more wine!

Hen do nails!

Ok, a tiny post today guys, but I really wanted to show you the photos of my hen do nails. The theme of my hen do was neon (inspired by a visit to a very club-tastic club I went to with one of my besties years ago in Prague) and so clearly, I needed neon nails:) I think I nailed it (ahem, scuse the dreadful punning).

These are all from the Models Own Neon Ice collection, painted over a white base to make them NEON! I thought they were a bit tame on their own though, so added glittery leopard print. I think they are the tackiest/most amazing nails I have ever had lol. 

Eeeeeep, only 9 weeks now til the wedding, so excited:)

Whittling down the untrieds - New Look Gold Giles Salute

It has occurred to me the other day that many of my untried have actually been tried once but didn't 'make the grade' - that is, something made me stop painting, take the polish off and use another one. This is certainly the case with today's polish, Salute by Gold Giles (sold in New Look). The application is dreadful - gloopy, sticky and smelly, with a drying time that makes it impossible to do anything for an hour. Oh, and it bubbles. Can't think why I haven't used it earlier......

It's a shame, as the colour is actually quite nice. Not great, but nice. It's a military style green, a sort of army green. But as you can see, despite waiting a while for each layer to dry, it still bubbled:(  

Given the green, I had to try this nail art out - camouflage! I added studs cos I was scared that my nails would just blend into the background otherwise lol. Thinking about it, gold studs would have been better, but still, I kind of like this manicure. I would try a darker brown if I did this again; for this I used Models Own Prey and an unnamed green also by New Look. Still, not bad.

I think I might have to try this design in neon - something is calling me to rock neon camouflage! 

Black and gold skittle

Ahhh, there are times when  you need leopard print and glitter - I needed it to get me through a tough week last week, so I created this little beauty.

I love it - the black is Betty Jackson black, lovely and glossy, like tar..........or marmite. Let's go with marmite, sounds more delicious:) The gold is Models Own Gold Rush and the glitter is Models Own Ibiza Mix - a total stunner, gold and blue and green glitter mixed together to form actual happiness in a bottle:) 

Have a good evening peeps, I'm off to eat home made chow mein in a late attempt to celebrate Chinese New Year! Nommmmmmmmmy:) 

Claire's Dollar

Ah duochrome. How sweet you are. I bit 'old' now, but who cares when you're this gorg?!

This is another Claire's beaut (in it's new improved size, yay!) and it's lovely. A blue/green duochrome, a real eye-catcher. Let's have a look in close up.....

Excuse the odd angles, but it was a tricky duochrome to capture on camera, despite being clear and stunning IRL. 

 There's even a hint of gold/bronze in there - lush. 

Anhway, I've got to go because I have the most amazing night planned; my portable heater is on in my bedroom, I have my warmest jammies on, I have a book and hot cup of tea ready and waiting - that's right, it's almost 8pm and I'm off to bed. 

SCORE! 

My Christmas mani - a sparkly skittle!

Merry Christmas Eve peeps - are you all prepared for tomorrow? I'm wrapped, packed and full of chocolate roses, so as ready as I can be:)

I've ummed and ahhhhed over my Christmas manicure for a while now. I'm off visiting family for 5 days, so it had to be something that would last and that would fit in with most of my outfits. It had to include glitter (because duh, it's Christmas!). And it has to be nail art, because I need to practice.

Tadah!

These were heavily inspired by the amazing work of the The Nailasaurus, so I can't claim originality, but I'm pleased with how my skittle turned out. I also love the Skandi colours, so very fashionable right now (because, I'm like, all about fashion lol - as I type this, I'm in my pjs with walking socks on to keep my tootsies warm and a scarf wrapped around me). 

I think my favourite is the heart; I have to confess, after messing it up several times, eventually I painted the heart of to a plastic poly-pocket and then peeled it off and stuck it on my nail.

 Legen- OMG my nails look hot - dary! 

These are the polishes that contributed to this mani; from the top, clockwise- Claire's unnamed glitter, Gold Giles Green, Models Own Nail art Pen in White, Barry M Matt White, Barry M Blood Orange, Sinful Colours Rich in Heart, Barry M Red Glitter. 

Have an amazing Christmas peeps - I hope you have a wonderful time with your friends and family and that Santa brings you all the nail polish you could ever wish for. x x x x x

Barry M Boots Special Edition polish - bar glitter

Oh wow - this polish is a party in a bottle...a stunning combination of bar glitter in what I consider to be some pretty dam Christmassy colours, red, green and purple (ok, purple isn't traditional, but for me it's the colour of Quality Street wrappers, and they ARE Christmassy:)

I layered this lovely over GOSH Deep Purple. Et volia!

My camera made the purple look a bit blue, apologies:)

Anyhoo, the best of parties are often followed by hangover. And so it is with this polish. The bar glitter is a pain in the ahem! It sticks out over the nail, sticks up in the air, I actually had to pick out pieces using tweezers. However, I got so many compliments about these, it was almost worth it (almost - I almost sliced my corneas off when doing my contact lenses!)

Would I wear it again? Er, probably. But on a day I was wearing my specs:)

Oh Christmas, oh Christmas tree.....

Let me start by saying that this manicure is in no way an original idea; it is my version of an amazing design I saw on The Crumpet and loved.

So, now that's off my chest, here is my take on Christmas trees:0

I'm dotty about Christmas trees (groan, Dad joke alert!!) partly because I still don't have one! HTB (husband to be) and I can't think of anywhere that we could put one that won't end up with it becoming a play thing for the cats. Sad face:(

These are the polishes that made this manicure possible; from top, clockwise; Models Own Green Tea, Models Own Utopia, Barry M Watermelon, Barry M Emerald Green, Barry M Silver Foil Effects, Gold Giles Green, Bourjois It's Raining Stars.

Hope you're all getting excited about the big day; I've finally wrapped all my pressies so I'm feeling pretty dam Christmassy:)

New Look Green - Giles Gold

Ahhhh, this is my Christmas green - it makes me think of Christmas trees, warm heavy blankets, holly......

It's a oldie, I think I bought this over a year ago and whilst I'm fairly sure I swatched it at the time, I'm doing it again because a) it's THE Christmas Green and b) my swatches are so much better now. Not perfect, but better:)

The problem with this polish is twofold; the smell (bleurgh) and the drying time. You can see a patched up smudge on my pinkie, I smudged it hours after I painted them; fail!  I seem to remember it was £1 from New Look, so I can't really complain. But for this colour, I don't care:)

 I see this being used in some Christmas tree nail art asap!

Halloween nails - Color Club Fly With Me with black drips

Happy Halloween peeps!

Not sure when it happened that we get so obsessed over this somewhat odd 'celebration', but hey ho, I'm not one to avoid a chance to do some themed nails, so here are my Halloween nails. I wasn't actually going to do any, but whilst going through my unused I found Color Club Fly With Me sitting there sadly, waiting to be used. Perfect. Mwaaaahahahahahaha!

I love this colour, although it's a pain in the backside to apply - this is four coats, and I still had to cover some bald spot! Gah! But it's worth it; as you can see in the close up, it's an unusual polish, more lime green than the photos show, and it almost looks like it's made up of teeny tiny pieces of glitter layered to make the ultimate shimmer! 

Anyhoo, this isn't the scariest of manicures, but I really love it - Halloweeny but not too in your face. Also, only my second time doing drips, I think I'm getting better:)