Keep on cracking! China Glaze Cracked Medallion swatch

Hi!

So, apparently crackle/shatter polishes are now rather passée, hence being able to find OPI and China Glaze shatter polishes in pound shops and discount stores which is where I picked this up. But I still love them, and Cracked Medallion is different to any other shatter polishes in my stash so I had to have it, and for the bargain price of 99p. They're not that different to textures, really, and you get an interesting effect for minimal effort. Here I used one coat of Cracked Medallion over black, and topped with two coats of topcoat to smooth it over.

I don't care if it's soooo 2012, it's a pretty effect in a pretty colour. I think crackle's downfall is that it can look pretty yukky if it isn't applied properly, but when done nicely I think it looks great. So neener neener!

Hx

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Palate Cleanser of the Week! Estee Lauder Nouveau Riche

Hi!

I've come up with this new little mini-series in a bid to improve my swatching and photography skills. I realise that my swatches, and indeed photos, are not always up to scratch and I want to change that. Now, to me a palate cleanser may not just be a plain old polish - but a special polish (be it creme, shimmer, foil, duochrome...) on it's own, no nail art, no stamping, no accent nails. And I couldn't think of a better polish to start with.

This is the only Estee Lauder polish I own, because they are rather pricey; this one was a gift. But it is a stunner. Bronze, with a foil finish, and almost, almost duochrome in the right light. This was three coats, an there is still a little VNL, but not so much that it bothers me. Application is smooth and easy and dry time is good. I used a base of Duri Rejuvacote and a top coat of Poshe.

Pretty? Not something I reach for a lot, but I like it none the less. So, this is my starting point. I hope my swatches get better and better from here! Any tips gratefully received!

Hx

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33 Day Challenge Day 1 - Dots!

Well here we are, day 1 of the 33 day challenge! What am I getting myself in for...?

Day 1 calls for dots, so I recreated this design, but in more autumnal colours. I used 2True Crystal shade 9 as the base and then layered up my dots in China Glaze Bend Over Backwards, Models Own Nude Beige and Barry M Indigo.

Such an effective design, but so simple and virtually impossible to mess up! Perfect when you're a plonker like me!

Check out the rest of the lovelies taking part!

Hx

PS Don't forget my giveaway!

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It all started with a Big Bang!

Hi loves!

I'm a big Big Bang Theory fan, so when Dollish Polish release a BBT themed collection I oohed and ahed over them, my favourite being Penny...Penny...Penny... I'm just a sucker for a milky base! I was lucky enough to grab one in a blog sale and I was not disappointed. Penny...Penny...Penny... is a pale, milky warm nude base with copper shimmer and copper square and hex glitters. The formula was awesome, no fishing for glitters, no streaks or dragging - just two coats of amazeballs. I paired it here with Sally Hansen Shiny Penny and loved it so hard I didn't want to take it off.

Now I'm having a bad day today, so I'm going to sit in the corner and sing "Soft Kitty" to myself, and I'll leave you with this cuteness from my then 2 year old.

Hx

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Adventures In Stamping - Gold, Silver and Bronze

...on sad little nubbins :( My peels have gotten a lot worse recently, so I went for a cull. I suspect it's due to changing my polish remover, because my usual one was out of stock. I always suffer with my index fingers and thumbs peeling, and they never grow as well as my other nails. Even with them this short both of my index fingers and one thumb still have pretty bad peels, so I've decided to keep them short and try to grow them out. I actually like the shape they are now, so it's not so bad.

Anyway, this week's sunday stamping challenge was to use Gold, Silver and Bronze, and after GB's spectacular effort at the Olympics last night (apart from the football, we'll forget about that. Damn penalties...) I was inspired by the design of the medals. I painted my nails with Barry M Copper, Silver Foil and Gold Foil and stamped this liney pattern from BM316 with Konad Black Pearl. I waited until the morning to top coat it, and it still smudged. Well, actually it kinda bled...weird.

I think it kinda looks like the pattern on the medal, and the ribbon. Kinda, right?

And here are the sad little naked nubs. LeSigh. Will I ever have nice long nails? 

Hx

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31 Day Challenge - Day 15, Delicate Print

So delicate, you can barely see it...fail? I started with two coats of OPI Warm and Fozzie from the Muppets holiday collection (I bought a mini set *bad Helly*, but they're called Muppettes, how could I resist?) It's a lovely bronze foil with silver microglitter, and actually is unique in my collection, so I can justify it... Anyway, then I stamped with a sort of skeleton-leaf image from my HB21 plate that I won :) and Miss Sporty Electric Beige. First off I couldn't get this to stamp. I tried using my scraper, an old gift card, two different polishes that are usually good stampers and even my special silver stamping polish even though I really wanted more of a gold colour, then I noticed that I hadn't taken the plastic off the plate. DUH. Idiota. Anyway, this is how it turned out. It is really subtle, but pretty nonetheless. Would have looked better with gold rather than my bronzey gold stamping polish, but it's still nice.

I struggled to get good pictures so here's a pic of the plate so you can see the pattern how it's meant to be.

The pattern is quite wide and slim, but it fitted my nubs just about. I only had to double stamp a tiny bit a couple of times.

And here's Warm and Fozzie by its gorgeous, sparkly self.

What do you think? Can you even see the pattern? Ha! I can, but no-one else noticed! Warm and Fozzie is pretty enough anyway :)

Tomorrow - tribal print. Been dreading this a little but I think I've worked out how I'm gonna do it ;)

Hx

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