TGWTGN Festive Edit Part 4: Mistle-Toad

Okay, it has to be said, most times I read/hear Mistle-Toad, I think of the Toad in X-Men. Please tell me someone else thinks of him too?? Lucky for us Different Dimension Mistle-Toad is way more beautiful - in fact there's no comparison in looks! I've been wanting this and a few others from the Happy Holly Days collection by Different Dimension for a little while. This fell into my basket along with Wingdust Gilt-y Pleasure when shopping at Rainbow Connection.

TGWTGN Festive Edit Part 3: Tristam, Snowflakes and a Gilt-y Pleasure

One of the things I think of when I think of Christmas is snowflakes. I can't even think of the last time it snowed on Christmas Day, yet it still comes to mind. I've been wanting to do snowflakes on a dark background for ages. Then recently I was ordering a little present from Rainbow Connection for a friend, and Different Dimension Mistle-Toad fell into my basket, along with Wingdust Gilty-Pleasure. So you see how this is mani came together :) Now how appropriate is the name Gilt-y Pleasure when you're buying even more polish?!

TGWTGN Festive Edit Part 2: Spiced Coco, Coffee and Biscuits...

In winter it's taken for granted that there will be spice. I don't mean people eat more curries, though they might, but rather that restaurants and cafes will offer something a little different to the usual fare. Mulled wine, eggnog latte, spiced cocoa etc. I've recently discovered a delightful spiced apple drink at one of the chain coffee stores - yum! There's something warming and relaxing about the spices in a hot drink. So in today's festive edit I have a warm, relaxing manicure to share.

TGWTGN Festive Edit Part 1: Green!

It's December! This year has been flying by, and although I've started December with being unwell for over a week, I am looking forward to Christmas and spending time with family and friends. A great friend of mine Lydia suggested a Christmas theme on the blog, and although it hasn't started as planned because I've been unwell, it's better late than never! If you're not a polish addict hopefully this will provide inspiration for gifts.

What better way to start than with green nails?! I met up with the lovely Esther from Fab Fingertips recently, and after a lovely lunch, we went for a bit of a wander in the West End. I have to say we were both pretty restrained with our purchases, you may have seen mine on Instagram. We strolled into Fenwick and I bought a polish from a new-to-me brand called Eve Snow London, and although the name sounded familiar, I haven't previously tried anything from them. This can be a worry because the last thing you want is to love a colour in the bottle, only to find that even with 4 coats it's sheer - this has happened to me in the past and it made me pretty sad. I took the plunge though, and picked it up.

The colour is Fenwick Bond Street, and as you may have guessed, it's a shade exclusive to Fenwick. It's a green, almost grass green, with a gold shimmer throughout.

In thinking about this colour, I thought of a Christmas tree with a gold star on top - and now I've got that great warm fuzzy feeling I've had since I was a kid about Christmas :)

This isn't cheap polish at £14 per bottle, however, it is worth it. I used two coats, although even at one I had decent coverage. The relief on discovering this was immense! The shimmer is visible on the nail, though it's not as apparent as it is in the bottle. I somehow dented the tip of my index finger :(

The verdict: Great colour and formula. If you're buying as a gift, this is a great colour, and one that would really set off a black dress. I'll be looking to get a few more colours at some point; the ones calling out to me are Midnight Hour and Wanderlust.

Eve Snow London polishes are available to buy direct from their site or from Fenwick and retail at £14. They are free from formaldehyde and DBP. They contain Ginkgo Biloba, Vitamin E and Argan Oil to nourish iInformation taken from Eve Snow London website).

Have you tried any Eve Snow London polishes? What do you think of the colour?
x

Glittering Vested Interest

So the weather is turning, or has turned depending on where you live. All I know is that's is freezing, and I'm already looking forward to next summer! Today I have the perfect colour for this kind of mood, and that is Essie Vested Interest. Actually, this mani started because I wanted to try out these funky triangle rhinestones I bought from She Sells Sea Shells, an online shop run by my friend Sarah from Swishie Nails.

Siren's Song

Today I have an exclusive for Rainbow Connection to share with you. Siren's Song is made by Polished by KPT. I nabbed this in the pre-order along with Nightcrawler and La Catrina. This is a real beauty I have to say, and the colours are just perfect in my opinion :)

Crushing with IsaDora

Hi all! Today I have two of the IsaDora Sugar Crush polishes for you. The beautiful Karoline helped me lay my hands on these - thanks hon! The textured trend seems to be a lot more popular than certain others that have preceded it, and one that I've fallen for. From the Zoya Pixie Dusts, to the OPI Liquid Sands, most makers have embraced the textured finish. Unfortunately, IsaDora are not available in the UK. I'm just saying that before you blame me for falling in love with them, and then not being able to find them!

Let's Rave!

'Tis better to post a-brief, then not to post at all. Or so goes this attempt to reawaken my creative spirit :p Today I have Jindie Nails Rave to share with you. I have been wanting this for so long! I first saw it somewhere sometime - yep it's been that long that I can't actually remember. Whenever I looked though it was out of stock. That is until I was browsing Rainbow Connection... Lo and behold, it was in stock waiting for me! I ordered it and with the excellent service, it was in my hands within 2 days of clicking 'buy'.

NOTD: Nightcrawler

You know, these prolonged absences are becoming the norm, which makes me sad :( I'm trying to improve though (famous last words), and am returning with new hope after finally having a holiday... Wish me luck! Oops, I had better warn you, I still have terrible lighting, I've had no time to sort out my ceiling light, and have been living by lamp light for the past couple of months *sigh*. Having now watermarked said photos, you'll be able to tell I painted them by rubbish lighting because of a couple of bald spots, so apologies in advance. If I get an opportunity I'll redo them and update this post.

Tantalizing & Enchanting Funky Nails

This post has been a long time coming! Everytime I think I'll start having more free time, I get less. I'm actually sneaking this in while at work.. Shh... ;) My friend Minnie over at Funky Nails makes lovely polish, and I've been waiting for her to start making again. I chose to order Enchanting and Tantalizing when Minnie launched the store, and tried them almost as soon as they arrived, that's how long this post has been coming lol. I layered two coats of each over Illamasqua Scorn (a matte black), using a tape design on the ring and middle fingers. Because I was eager to try them, swatches were done on both hands and I wore this mani for maybe 3-4 days, which is a long time for me. Ok, this post has been in my drafts for too long :( Life needs to be less crazy, as does work :p

Polish Days: To Boldly Go...

When I first saw the Polish Days email from Hannah with the theme, I had so many ideas! When it came to my usual last minute rush, I couldn't remember any of them :( I love Sci-Fi I have to say. I'm not a major geek, but I do love watching Star Trek (if it's the series it's got to be The Next Generation) and other programmes like Stargate. Digressing, how awesome was Star Trek Into Darkness??! I loved it! Anyway, sitting there for half an hour, totally unable to think of anything I decided to finally try galaxy nails (with a few others I'm suspecting).

NOTD: The Perfect Caramel Martini

Just a passing post today to share my NOTD. I placed an order recently with Darling Diva Polish on Etsy for a 5 for 25 mystery pack, and Flirt. I had to try Caramel Martini (which came in the mystery deal) straightaway! I'm not usually keen on brown polish, but I guess brown glitter is a different story ;)

Natural light

A Little Chilli & Spice

How's everyone doing today? Well I hope! I've been having an extremely stressful time at work recently, and it has worn me out. To top it off, a motorbike decided to get up close to the back of my car, and my back is still suffering the after effects :( On a happier note, today I have a collection for you. You read right, an entire collection! I've been a fan of Mavala since I first tried the little bottles of goodness. When the Chilli & Spice collection was announced alongside promotional photos I knew I just had to have them. Thanks to Feelunique, I caved to the peer pressure in my mind, and bought all 6.

My Sunny Leo S3 Case

This is actually my first technology-related post. I keep meaning to post about my buys, but it just doesn't happen... until now. Now I'm always browsing Etsy, for which I blame my original swap buddies Bridget, Crystal & Marisa, and so I decided to have a look there for S3 cases, and boy was there a plethora! I wanted something a bit different from my previous cases which were two lovely duochrome affairs from Amazon. Here's a link to the version for iPhone 5 as it shows all the colours in one photo (my buys were Blue Purple and Olive Green). You ask why I didn't get another one? Pretty they may be, durable they are not. Two cases in two months? The odds were not in my favour. Speaking of which, I can't wait for Hunger Games Catching Fire to be released!

In the end I chose a design sold by a company called Create and Case. They also have their own website, which is where I purchased my case from. This design is called Sunny Leo. The facts that I'm a Leo and I love the Sun may have had something to do with my picking this case ;) The great thing is that you can also customise your case, though I decided to keep it simple and go with the 'basic' Artist Designed case. A percentage of every sale goes to the designer, and I think that's a great concept to encourage more beautiful designs :)

High 5 Polish Days!

Good morning all! I'm a little late to the Polish Days party, but better late than never! It's also the first anniversary of Polish Days, I haven't taken part in all of them, but a huge thanks to the lovely Hannah at Polly Polish for starting PD and keeping it going :) I had almost forgotten about this month's PD, until my friend Lauretta from A Lacquered Affair kindly reminded me ;)

However, me being me, forgot again until I saw Susan's post last night on The Subtle Shimmer while trying to catch up on tweets. I used to have a brilliant memory, so I'm blaming my recent forgetfulness on work stress... Anyway, for your viewing pleasure - or entertainment though if you need a giggle - I present the number 5!

Mayan Goodbyin' Shillelagh

Maybe the post title makes no sense, but it's the names of two beautiful polishes. How often do you paint your nails, and have a sort of eureka moment? The moment when you look at the finished product, and you think, "OMG, I think I'm going to faint by the amount of gorgeousness I'm looking at." I'm sure that's not just me, right?? I am so in love, I'm actually dedicating an impromptu blog post the day of wear :)

OMG A UFO!!

Today is another day, and another China Glaze Hologlam: OMG A UFO. I love the name of this because it brings back memories of watching The X-Files. Oh, and Planet 51!! I loved Planet 51; if you haven't seen it you need to! Like all my other Hologlams this was sent to me from Susan at The Subtle Shimmer :)

When Stars Collide I Faint

Hello all! Today I have for you another of the China Glaze Hologlam collection; I'm on a roll here! When Stars Collide is a beautiful purple, and I can see the holo in it, so this is in the running to be my favourite Hologlam :) Thanks again to Susan at The Subtle Shimmer for getting this for me!

Infra Red - Not Related to Remote Controls

I'm sure it can't be just me who thinks of remote controls when hearing the term infra red... or is it?! Anyway, for the purposes of this post Infra Red is part of the China Glaze Hologlam collection, from Susan at The Subtle Shimmer. Again we have another colour out of my usual comfort zone, but believe me when I say I'm not an imposter!!

Not In This Galaxy...

I have a simple mani today, and it's one of the new Hologlams by China Glaze. As soon as these were announced last year, they went on so many wish lists, including mine! I'm super lucky to have some lovely friends, and Susan over at The Subtle Shimmer kindly got a few for me :) If you want to see which I got, alongside some other holographic goodies from A Lacquered Affair, check out my Instagram feed or my Facebook page.

A Tribute

This post is a tribute for Amanda's mother. Amanda from The Nail Polish Enthusiast asked people who own Lex Tuilleries to wear it and share a blog post on February 2 in memory of her mother. I know I'm late, but better late than never, right? I don't own Tuilleries, so I decided to share a pink mani in her honour. I just want to add that I'm sure that Amanda's mum would be very proud of the lovely, caring person she is today :)

A Froggy Circuit Board

Hi all! It's been a long time. Mainly because I had a slump but that's now over hopefully :) You can read more about that at the bottom of this post if you want to! Anyway, without further ado let me present my most recent mani!