Fluffy Prickly Pear Sandwich

Happy Friday peeps - it's the weekend whoop whoop! Hope you've got some fun plans? I'm off house-hunting - yep, fiancee and I are jamming all the possible stress inducing things we can think of into 2014; a wedding in August and now a house-move. Still, house-hunting is exciting, methinks. Although I'm worried I'll fall for lots of houses that I can't really afford and have a bit of a paddy!

To sooth my house-hunting nerves I shall be rocking my current favourite polish - it's busted its way into the top 10, dun dun dun. And it cost me £3. Bliss. The name of this new love - Fluffy, by Claire's. A white matt glitter polish in a clear base; large, meduim and small hexes with bars thrown in for good measure. 

I've used it here over Prickly Pear by Barry M - the stunning lilac with the white over the top creates a subtle yet pretty effect, well, I think so anyway.

 (ps - please excuse the dreadful pictures - I have a new camera and we're not getting on - it seems to want to take pictures that resemble those awful soft-focus 80's glamour shots, and I'm refusing to play game, but losing......:( There's no bottle shot of Fluffy as it was just too.....well, crap!)

I almost feel like there should be some naff jazz playing whilst you look at these blurred pictures....or maybe jazz flute......anyway, I'm sure you'll agree that Fluffy is awesome (and I'm so glad that Claire's have started naming their polishes properly). I loved it so much that after this I tried it with a different combo - this time in a jelly sandwich! This will make me smile all weekend, I'm never taking it off! 

Sadly, my camera decided that, no, it would NOT capture the stunning neon pink of the Barry M Summer Special Edition jelly, nor would it focus on anything I wanted. &*%$£"£U!!!

This is 2 layers of pink polish, with 1 of Fluffy, then pink again, then more Fluffy for luck:) So I shall enjoy my Fluffy sandwich this weekend, hope you have a great time too xxx

Bronze Medal by Claire's swatch

Oh Bronze Medal, how I love thee! You are all sorts of gorgeousness, contained in a tiny bottle of magic for my nails.

A quick fact check - it's by Claire's, it's a dark jelly filled with bronze glitter specs and large squares, it's 100% awesome and you need it in your life! 

Random close up lol - but just look at those glitter squares........

This is one coat over Sinful Colors, Rich in Heart, a sexy mahogany brown. I don't think you could build Bronze Medal up to total opacity, but I'm going to find out for sure and get back to you.

 One last picture for luck:)

Caio peeps, have a good Wednesday.

Ho Ho Ho* Hottie by Sinful Colors

I'm not sure if this counts as a Christmas colour, what do you guys reckon? It made me think of ice and snow, more winter than Christmas, but still, a lovely colour:)

* Btw, it's actually called Hottie, no ho ho ho-ing, I just felt that made it more Christmas. I actually think the name is a daft one, I'd have gone for something more reminiscent of a mermaid, but that's just me!

Anyway, I've had this a while and have been put off from wearing it by due to it's very sheer opacity. The swatch below is 4 (eeep!) coats and there's still a VNL. It's also nowhere near the colour of the bottle, which makes me a little sad. However, now I've got it on it has grown on me a little bit. Have a look for yourself. 

As you can see, it's a very pale blue jelly packed full of large and small iridescent glitter which builds up nicely. It's so full of glitter that it actually dries very quickly, a definite plus when you need 4 coats lol:) I'm going to try this again, but next time layered over a solid colour in attempt to get the sexy bottle colour I crave:) 

China Glaze Water You Waiting For?

The good thing about having had a little time off is that I now have a backlog of swatches to show you, including ones from most of my South American haul:) 

Today I have China Glaze Water You Waiting for for your delectation. 

It's a very pretty pale blue jelly packed full of blue, teal and purple glitter that builds up to give a lovely opaque coverage. This is 3 coats. My only problems with this is that it's a very thick polish. The glitter dries to quite a gritty coverage, so 3 coats of polish combined with 2 coats of top coat to even things out makes it a very heavy coverage. Hence it looks to thick, particularly on my forefinger:( 

But dammit, look at that! It's totally worth it:)

I'm back with a mini haul!

I'm back baby!

I really hope you're all well; apologies that my 'pause' was a bit longer than I had planned, but it's done me the world of good. Things are looking up.

And not just because I've had a mini splurge..........

Whoop whoop - the new special edition polish from Barry M - I got the one from Boots (Left) and from Superdrug (Right). Soooooooo sparkly! The red topped one is drool worthy - think it's going to be a Christmas fave:)

I also picked up the bad boy whilst in Boots; Sinful Colours, Hottie. Wowsa!

Lastly, the sexy flakie (surely an oxymoron?) from Barry M and Countess, MY FIRST TEXTURE POLISH! And boy was it worth waiting for..............

Swatch - Maybelline Color Show Wine Shimmer

Happy Monday peeps!

So I've been a bit naughty recently and picked up several polishes, including some of the new releases by Maybelline. They've put out a collection called Color Show which has several lovely looking colour in. I have to be honest and say that, considering how so many companies have really raised their polish game, trying new textures, finishes and colours, this is a pretty tame collection. Don't get me wrong, they have some great colours, but only a couple really interested me, and only one made me go "WOW!"

And that was this one, Wine Shimmer. It's a very sheer raspberry red jelly sprinkled with teeny, tiny specks of holographic glitter. Odd, but it works. So here it is (2 coats over Barry M Raspberry, as I can't cope with VNL).

Hmmmmmm, pretty cute. Btw, this was the polish I wore for 4 days! And I have to say the wear time is amazing - no chipping, no peeling. Epic. The glitter isn't in your face, so it's actually quite an elegant polish. Good work Maybelline:)

Swatch - NYC Smoky Top Coat

Hola peeps,

This is a very quick post as I'm off for a lovely meal soon. Behold, my newest love, NYC Smoky Top Coat, a black jelly with small and large pieces of silver glitter. 

This is one coat over Barry M Black, I'm going to investigate whether it will build up to be totally opaque but I'm not sure that it will tbh, it's incredibly sheer. 

It's a bit of a tricky one to apply, you'll need to dab the larger glitter where you'd like it, but I love this polish; in fact it's been on my nails now for 2 whole days! In my world, shocking. Anyhoo, have a good evening peeps:) x

Swatch - 2True Shade 3 - Limited Edition

Be still my beating heart!

Oh my god, I cannot explain how much I love this polish. I knew it was special when I picked it up (Superdrug, £1.99) but the second I put it on my nail I fell deeply, deeply in love with it. 

It's a royal blue jelly packed with tiny blue specks of glitter, and silver, teal and pale blue large hexes. As I hate a visible nail line (I just can't do it, sorry!) I've layered this over Hello Kitty Respect, another truly beautiful polish. 

The camera cannot do it justice. I ran round my house taking hundreds of photos in different lights to see if i could capture its true perfection, but alas, if you want to know exactly how gorgeous this is, you'll have to buy it. You won't be disappointed. 

There is one teeny, tiny problem with this polish, and that it that it's a bit gloopy. But hell, I DON'T CARE because true love does not see such imperfections! 

February haul - sparkly!

Hello peeps, hope you're enjoying your weekend?

I had a brilliant day yesterday, I spent almost all of it in Birmingham buying polishes. I literally went only to shops that stocked polishes; Topshop, Boots, Claire's, Superdrug, Accessorize....it was bliss. And, without bf with me, I was free to relax and enjoy my splurge.

My new plan has been to only buy polishes that scream at me. You know the ones, they catch your eye and you know you have to have it, it has that special something. All of these polishes had that something for me. So, behold; my February haul:)

Sally Hansen No Chip Topcoat, Claire's Cosmetic polishes (no names, argh!), Barry M Gold Glitter.

 L to R - Accessorize Magic, Topshop Plume, 2True Shade 5, 2True Shade 3. 

Nail Pop Kimono, Nail Pop Glam Rock, GOSH Galaxy.

It's so much fun when you find those polishes that make your heart beat faster - and yes, I think anyone who saw me shopping yesterday would have thought I was MAD, grinning like a cheshire cat, squealing, drooling etc etc. 

I need to draw your attention to one polish in particular - 2True Shade 3. It's a limited edition from  their glitterari collection. All I can say is I think you're going to need this polish in your life - swatches coming up tomorrow so you can decide for yourself. But the second I clutched this polish in my sweaty hands, it went into my top 10! Loooooooooooooove:)

All that glitters.....

Ahhhhh it's finally Saturday:) It's been a crazy week, a blink and miss it sort of thing! I barely had time to use my new polishes. I had to go with some fairly simple manicures, as there was no time for any art. Anyway, I was dying to use my new Barry M polish, Yellow Topaz Glitter, so I layered it over my favourite colour ever, Barry M Cobalt. 

As you can see, it's full of small gold glitter flecks, large gold hexagons and some holographic hexagons. Oddly, I wasn't massively keen on this manicure. It was a bit too reminiscent of the 90's nail art days - so it made me feel horribly old lol! I also really wished that this polish just had the gold glitter, I don't feel it needed the holographic bits. But, over a slightly different polish I'm still convinced it will show it's true awesomeness. I have to say it is amazingly glossy - very shiny shiny shiny:)

My next mini mani was my new jelly by Barry M, Watermelon. It's gorgeous, so easy to apply and so glossy. I'm not sure it's a true jelly to be honest, but I don't care, it's stunnig. The picture below is without topcoat and after 3 days wear:) Epic! On my little finger is my other new glitter by Barry M, Amethyst Glitter. It's full of pale blue, silver, red and pink glitter, really stunning. It's only problem is that it clumps like crazy, so careful application is needed.

Have a great weekend peeps!