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 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.

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

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.

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 :)

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!

Polish Days: Sentimental

The theme of this month's Polish Days is sentimental. I can't even begin to say how difficult it was to chose what to do. My nail art skills are basic, so I wanted to go with a colour. But should I chose the first indie polish I owned, or the first high end? Should it be my first ever polish (no idea what that is though) or the one that started me down the slippery slope (no idea what that is either)? I've gone basic though. I've chosen my first custom polish.

Why did I have a custom polish made? Well, for my birthday I wanted to gift my sisters and nieces with something. My Mum too, but she's set in her polish ways lol! They are all amazing people, and my life without them really wouldn't be the same. I wanted to give them something individual that was a part of me, if that makes any sense. So this post may not be immediately apparent sentimental polish, but it's sentimental in that I dedicate it to my Mum, my two sisters and my two nieces. I'm pretty sure they all liked the polish, my eldest niece is already down to half-way!

This was made for me by the lovely Carrie at Darling Diva Polish. I'm slightly indecisive (no...really?!?) but I did have an idea of what I wanted. I've been taken to the dark, or rather light, side of polish: white polishes with you-name-it colour combinations of glitter.

These are the pictures I sent Carrie that were the inspiration for what I could see in my head:

One of my favourite earrings

A purple outfit

My coffee mug (of course)

One of my many scarves

Now at this point, I thought I'd made her regret agreeing to make a custom for me :p

But being wonderful, this is what she made:

Gorgeous, right?

I should have better placed that piece of glitter on my ring finger!!

 

I love the vivid colours!! It's exactly what I imagined!!

There are times when I argue with my sisters, but the truth of the matter is that I love them way more than I argue with them. This 'polish present' is something that I hope they & my nieces will look at in future, and remember with fondness. I think I will always associate it with the great party I had for my birthday, surrounded by friends and family :)

Thanks again to Carrie, and be sure to check out the Darling Diva Polish Etsy shop!!

What do you think of my custom polish? Do you think it was appropriate for Sentimental Polish Days? Have you tried any Darling Diva creations?
x

A Little L'Oreal Magic Croisette

I first saw this beauty online, and it was love at first sight. As it always is for me according to my niece :p It's from the apparently Limited Edition L'Or Electric collection. I say apparently as I have seen this everytime I go in store. If you haven't though, there's currently one up for grabs in my giveaway.

The Magic of Layering

So my title is a bit obscure, but the reason is pretty simple: I used four polishes for this mani!! If I'm honest, I have been delaying trying these, but decided to bite the bullet and just go for it. I don't mind layering polishes, but time always seems to be running away from me, and I wanted to give these beauties the attention I knew that they deserved. It's a picture heavy post this time round, you have been warned!

Polish Days: Geometry!

This is going to be the shortest post I'm afraid! I have been so short of time recently, but I knew I just had to take part in this Polish Days when I saw the theme.

Watermelon Rind

One of my more recent purchases is China Glaze's Watermelon Rind. I'm feeling green at the moment, so when I saw this on the shelf, I knew it had to be mine! After my impulse buy, I was a little worried about how it would look on the nail, and if it would just be overly glittery. I needn't have worried!

My First Mavala: Electric Green

Mavala is a brand I've heard of and seen in stores; I had just never bought from it before. On a trip to Bluewater (yes, it's those fateful words again), I accompanied my sister to John Lewis. While she was making an enquiry at one of the cosmetics counters, I innocently wandered over to the nail polish section. I saw two ladies pouring over one of the sections and lo and behold, it was Mavala.

My First Post With Green Nails

What better way to start than with a beautiful green polish? My current favourite green is Boots 17 Magnetized Nail Polish in Green. This is one of four colours offered by 17 in the Magnetized range; the others are grey, blue and purple.