Last Halloween Nails

I changed my mind about my Halloween nails.  I loved the red flakies but I really fancied something more green.  So I did exactly the same (China Glaze - Liquid Leather) but this time I put Nfu Oh No. 52 (aka Distraction) over the top.  This created a wonderful 'sea-serpent' green.  Every so often the light caught the green flakies which looked absolutely stunning! (yes I am holding a cuddly bat!)
That's it now! No more Halloween nails until next year.  Boooooo!
And just so he doesn't feel left out..... this is Arthur the Spider.....

I hope you all had a fab Halloween.
x

Halloween Costume

Thought I should show you my Halloween Costume!  I am keeping the purple wig on forever!

I forgot to say something ....

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!

Hope you have a fang-tastic day!

x

Here are some pix of my party preparations! 

Chanel's Trapeze

OK I'm feeling better today! I think my problem is is that I'm overtired and things always seem a lot worse when one is overtired!  Right so back to what I love to do....... I went out on Thursday with my BFF and saw Chanel's Christmas release.  There were three polishes in the release including two pinky and coral-like colours and then this one called Trapeze, which I had to have! (Yes I know, I know ... No Buy Until November ...blah blah blah!)  At first glance it looks like a dirty silver colour but when it's on it's more of a silvery beige colour.  It's a very pretty colour but I can see a fabulous Konad coming on!  Watch this space!  I used 3 coats to get good coverage.

(no flash)

My Halloween Nails

I was throwing some ideas around as to what to do for my Halloween nail design.  Do I do all black?  Or should I do a vampy red?  Or what about "bloody nails" or how about white with some black bat designs.... oh the decisions to make!  So I thought about my costume.  I am going as a Morticia/ Vampy princess type lady with a dress that has fabulous long sleeves.  I also have a purple wig (which, I have to say I want to wear all the time... or at least dye my hair that colour!)  I'm going to do heavy eye make up and wear black tights with purple sparkly spider webs!  So my nails?  Well I've tried this combination of China Glaze's Liquid Leather with Nfu Oh's no. 60 on top.  The light catches the red in the flakies which  look amazing.  I apologise about the pix but I have been preparing the party all day and have had no time for my nails.  I have had to do these at night!   I might try Liquid Leather with Nfu Oh's 52 (aka Distraction) since my dress has green in it.  We'll see if I have time tomorrow before the party!

(No flash)

I don't know why but I'm feeling a little under the weather tonight.  My hubby has been working hard the past few days (obviously trying to fund my polish habit!) and he doesn't get home until 10 tonight.  He's working all day tomorrow until 7 and then all day Sunday.  I feel quite lonely at the mo.  I know that sounds really sappy... I apologise.  I don't feel under the weather because he's working but he's usually so good of making me feel better and he hasn't been here to do that.   I love that I have my blog and, although I'm new, I have felt very welcomed into this community.... so thank you all.x   Anyway sorry for waffling, I just needed to get that off my chest!  I'll feel better tomorrow xx

Halloween Party

I want you all to think of me tomorrow and pray for my safety.  I have sixteen 8 year olds coming over for a party.  Need I say anymore!
I'm going to the supermarket to finish off my food shopping and stock up on my wine supply! I won't be drinking when the children are here of course...... I mean I  have to be responsible after all, but boy will I be tucking into that wine after the party!!!!!

Oh the things we do for our children!

x

Spooky Eyes!

I used to love Scooby-Doo as a child and since Halloween is coming up I thought I would do some nail art in tribute to the spooky eyes that you see whenever the team investigate somewhere haunted!  I used 2 coats of China Glaze's Liquid Leather then, using a yellow Barry M, I dotted some eyes with a thin brush and dragged the sides out to form a cats-eye shape. Afterwards I dotted some black in the centre to make it look like cats-eyes.

Spooky!!!

My Play - Noises Off

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I am in a play.  I belong to my village amateur dramatics group and  we're doing Noises Off by Michael Frayn.  We've been rehearsing since the end of August and now we only have four weeks to go!!!  I've only just learnt my lines...tut tut!  I have had so much fun doing this play and have never laughed so much.  We may only be am-dram but our standards are pretty high and we do have quite the reputation!  I feel very lucky belonging to this group.  They are such a bunch of great people and they help me achieve what I love to do.
The play is about a professional theatre company who are putting on a play called "Nothing On".  The cast consists of a variety of people including a sickly-sweet woman, a veteran actor who is also keen on the old sauce!, a young man who is dating one of the cast ... who happens to be old enough to be his mother! A young airhead lady! A sappy man who keeps getting nose bleeds, a useless stage hand and a stage manager who is having an affair with the grumpy director ... who, by the way, is having an affair with the young airhead girl!  The first part of the play sees the cast rehearsing the night before they open.  It is then that the director's affairs surface!  In the second act the stage is reversed so that the audience can see everything that is happening back stage whilst the play is going on.  This is hysterical as you see people trying to keep the drunk away from the bottle of whisky that keeps appearing, the director comes on to make it up to the airhead but the stage manager keeps getting in the way! Also the sickly-sweet woman has a crush on the nosebleed man.  The older woman is also trying to get her claws into him as well as she and her young lover have had a spat.  I won't go any further as it is confusing!!!  But as you can see, it is very farcical.  Finally, in the last act, the stage is reversed again and the play goes on.  Except this time the cast have all fallen out with each other and they can't be bothered to do the play... so things go badly wrong!
I play the sickly-sweet girl called Belinda who always ends her sentences with "my sweet"  or "precious" or "darling".
Sorry if I have bored you with this.  I just enjoy doing these plays so much that I wanted to share it with you.
I've been doing Am-Dram for 5 years now and have done a variety of plays.  I shall post some other pix if you want.  I love doing plays that are set in the 20s, 30s or 40s because I love doing my hair and make up in that style.  I will try and find some photos of my hair that I did for the last play I was in.
Anyway I will stop waffling now!
x

Gold Fiction - At Long Last!

I can't believe it!  It has finally arrived!  After years of searching (OK slight exaggeration!) I finally have Gold Fiction!  Now I know this is probably old news to some since Chanel has released another gorgeous colour in the form of Jade, but I cannot tell you how long I have wished for Gold Fiction!  I could not wait to get this on to see how fabulous this colour really is.  Boy I was not disappointed! It really is as gorgeous as everyone says it is.  Actually it's better!  It was certainly worth the wait. For those who are wondering what happened to my "No Buy" until the end of this month, I ordered this before I was put on the "No Buy" scheme!  We've been having postal strikes which have delayed it.... honest! Anyway I am now going to go off and sing "Gold Finger ... mwah mwah mwah... she's the gal, the gal with the midas touch ...."!!  x

  Top: Outside no flash

Bottom: Outside with flash

I Can't Believe it's 'Butter' !

I am so sorry for not updating yesterday.  Had rehearsals again and I need to learn my lines!

So yesterday the good old faithful wonderbra worked!  I bought myself two new polishes!!  Both from Butter London.
I am a fan of Butter London but they are at the top end of the price range scale so they are a rare treat (looks like my boobs haven't lost it!!!)
I spent a while choosing my colours as I probably won't buy Butter London again now for a while...... well not until Saturday!!  The colours they have are fabulous and I want them all but I decided on 'Muggins' (left) and 'Thames' (right).  I do love the name of these polishes as they are focussed around London and being a London-gal, of course I'm a big fan!  Thames, which is the teal one, is a strange name for this beautiful colour.  Last time I checked the Thames was a murky, dirty, muddy colour and not the colour of the sea in paradise!  However, I love love love this colour.  It is a shimmery teal which goes on like a dream.  I only needed two coats for this application.

This was outside with no flash.  It looks a little creamy but it isn't.

This was outside with flash.

I apologise for the bad pix but our weather is pretty yuk at the mo.  No gorgeous autumn days for us anymore.  We are straight into winter!

Next is 'Muggins'.  I made such a good choice!  For those who don't know, when you use the word muggins you are describing yourself as being a bit silly or gullible.  For example: "He told me that I needed to spend all that money on replacing all my windows and old muggins here fell for it!"  Does that make sense?  And here ends your lesson on London Lingo!

Anyway I digress..... back to the polish.  This one took three coats to get good coverage.  It is a gorgeous lavender creme.  It is slightly different to OPIs Done Out In Deco as Muggins does not have any red tones in it.  It's more of a dusky purple.  Again my pix do not do it justice.

Top: Outside with flash

Bottom: Outside no flash

So those are the newest additions to my polish family!  As soon as this month is over I will be out there picking up all the ones I have had my eye on!

x

To buy or not to buy!

Hi everyone!  I'm about to pop into town in a mo to pick up some Halloween stuff (one of my fave times of year!)  The problem I have is that we have a small department store that stocks nail polishes from Nails inc to Jessica to Butter.  I will be going in there to have a look BUT my husband has put me on a strict NO BUY until the end of October.  Which sucks!  However, if I show a bit of cleavage I might be able to change his mind!  But then again we have been married for 10 years and is probably bored of my boobs!  But then he is a man!

Shall report back later!

Right where's my wonderbra!

NOTD - Barry M "Vivid Purple"

One of my favourite polish brands is Barry M.  I love the colours that they come up with.  It's a lovely polish and most of the time the formula is one that is easy to use and gives a smooth application.  What I like about this polish as well is that it lasts.  I can go quite some time without it chipping.  Plus Barry M is on the cheaper end of the polish scale which is a bonus!!  This polish is Vivid Purple (3 coats) which I have had for a while but is an old favourite.  Of course, the camera lies!  Although there are red tones in this polish it is quite deep.

Most Haunted Live - 2009: First Report

This is the first review of Most Haunted Live Halloween 2009

If you're not familiar with Most Haunted it's a show in the UK where a team investigate haunted locations ... a bit like TAPS I guess. However, all the team get involved, from the camera man to the sound man to the make up artist. It's a great show and the team start to feel like members of your own family. I've been watching it since it first started, I think it was 2000 or 2001 (Please correct me if I'm wrong ... I really can't remember!!!). Every so often the Most Haunted team do a live show. Some nights nothing happens but then other times there are incidences that occur which really have no explanation. Love it! So here's the first night review.


Morecambe Winter Gardens

After introductions, the Most Haunted team started off with a seance in front of a large audience. Yvette then walked around the theatre with a psychic. All the way through people were reporting the sound of whispers and whistling but no one could confirm who or what it was. This is difficult to draw any conclusion from as the theatre was filled with people so noise is inevitable. Yvette and the psychic reached the balcony area of the theatre. The psychic explained that there was a gentleman figure up there who used to work in the theatre but had an alcohol problem. Quite a number of people reported the smell of alcohol in a particular area. As they were talking one member of the audience reported that her throat had gone tight and her heart was beating rapidly. Yvette asked her if she wanted to go out to get some water and helped her out of her row. The audience member then passed out. Of course, it is hard to say if it was paranormal activity. The audience member could have been coming down with an illness or it could have just been all the excitement proving to be too much. Who knows!

There was an incident where Yvette opened a door and a gust of wind pushed the door which subsequently slammed shut. It had been confirmed by the crew that the weather conditions outside were pretty poor and that it was extremely windy outside. However, I can't help but wonder if wind can cause a suction and make the door slam? At the end of the show the team did a ouija board and a few of the team reported on feeling unwell. Keiran O'Keefe (the parapsychologist) confirmed that there was a infra-sound in that particular spot. Once someone came out of that area they felt better.

Anyway it was a pretty quiet evening considering the many other incidences the team have encountered in the past. I'm sure it will get even more spooky as the nights go on!

The clip below shows the end of the show where Kieran O'Keefe (the parapsychologist) and Karl (the producer) discuss what has occurred during the investigation. At the end, highlights of the investigation are shown.

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Harrrrrrr Me Hearties!!!!!!!

Whilst getting some spooky ideas, I decided to do this Konad.  It's very simple but I think it's very effective.  This is a fab Halloween Konad.

I didn't clean up very well because I was only having a play-about!  Now who wants to walk the plank!!!!

PS  I will be posting my review of the first night of Most Haunted later.  I have rehearsals today and that takes me away from my beloved blog

x

Halloween/Most Haunted Nail Art

I've been messing around with some ideas for a Halloween/Most Haunted Live design.  I came up with this mani using black, green, white and purple colours.  I call it "Witches Potion"!

Colours:
China Glaze - Liquid Leather
China Glaze - White out
Barry M - Vivid Purple
Nails Inc - Ascot

Do you like my egg timer?!?!

Funky Spider Web

Before I take a nail colour off I always like to  mess around with some nail art.  I find that I come up with some good ideas and colour schemes when I'm just messing around.  So before I took off Zoya's "Ki" I got my neon pink nail pen out and did this spiderweb.  It's not the best spiderweb I've ever done but I still think it looks pretty fab.  It's certainly a twist on this Halloween favourite!

Don't forget - Most Haunted is on right now!

Happy Pix!

I've had a pretty rubbish week this week.  I feel absolutely exhausted.  Plus the weather here has been cold and damp which doesn't help.  So I was looking through some photos of our summer holiday and found one that made me feel a little better and I wanted to share it with you.  Looking at it, I felt like I was right there in the warmth!  This was taken on a beach in Portugal and it was HOT!!!
If you're feeling a bit under the weather then I hope this makes you feel better.

And I thought I would throw this fabulous beach photo in for the hell of it!  I have this as my screensaver and it helps me to chill!  Back to normal nail swatching tomorrow ;  )

Beware of the Cats!

I have a problem!  I could be sat watching the TV, doing my nails and I will look down to see how my polish is drying when  I notice ..... cat hair in my polish!!!!  Grrrrrrrrrrr!  I love my kitties but their fluff gets everywhere!  It's not their fault.  I mean they can't help it ... they're just so bloomin' cute!!

This is Joe - He's a big cuddly boy who likes to try and climb on my lap when I am doing my nails!

And Jessie (Joe's sister) who is teeny-weeny compared her brother.
She sneezes a lot when I have the polish out!




Don't forget - only one more sleep until "Most Haunted" starts.  Keep checking back for my report on Night One!

x

NOTD - Zoya "Ki"

Is it a dusky purple shimmer?  Is it an olive green?  Is it grey?   No it's Zoya's "Ki".  This polish was in my latest haul and I couldn't wait to put it on (Yes that meant taking "Distraction" off!!) And Wow! this polish has a bad case of Jekyll and Hyde going on! A gorgeous duochrome where one minute I look at it and think it's a purple next I think it's a green then I think it's grey!  Fab!  Application was smooth and even which made it a really nice and silky formula to work with.  I did need three coats to get complete opacity which meant I had to sit still and not use my hands for a couple of hours!!  I had to get my husband to make me tea all night!  What a shame.  No wonder he hates it when I do my nails!  (Yes I have heard of quick dry top coat but he hasn't so shhhhhh!!!!!!)

Most Haunted Live

Are you a fan of Most Haunted?

Most Haunted are going live for eight days and I will be covering the shows on this very blog.  They will be running from the 24th October through to the 31st October.
For more info on the show visit:
http://www.livingtv.co.uk/shows/mosthauntedlive09/
I am very much on the fence when it comes to anything paranormal.  I tend to face anything "paranormal" with a scientific mind first.

However, I love this show and I love when the Most Haunted team do live events.  I find it all very interesting and entertaining.

What do you think about the paranormal?  Are you a believer?  Or do you think it's all a bunch of hocus pocus?

Whatever you think come and join in the fun on Phenomenail and be prepared ..... to be scared!!!!!!  MWAAA HAAA HAAA HAA (That's supposed to be a scary and menacing laugh btw!!)

My NOTD: Nfu Oh - No. 52

I am in lurrrrrrrrrrrve!!!  I cannot stop looking at my nails right now!  Don't you just love finding a polish that makes you feel like this?  I long for those days when you find a polish so unique and fabulous that it changes the way you feel.  I bought Nfu Oh 52 last week and finally got round to putting it on last night.  I didn't take that much notice of it at first (shame on me) because I was running around so much trying to get ready for rehearsals (Oh did I mention I'm in a play? I'll tell you more in a mo).  Well, anyhoo when I got to rehearsals I noticed this amazing sparkle coming from my nails.  Guess what it was?!  Yes it was my Nfu Oh (My God!) no. 52.  I'm nick-naming it Distraction!!!  I could not stop looking at my nails all last night and all of today.  But do you know what sucks?  I could not, for the life of me, get a good piccie of this

fabulous polish  I went inside, no flash, inside with flash, outside no flash, outside with flash etc.

No photograph does this polish justice AT ALL!
The polish is a beautiful purple jelly base with teal flakies in it.  This application was two coats.  I have a little smudgie on my middle finger and I am about to deal with that!  I don't know what else to say about this polish. It's.....Phenomenail!
So it got me thinking ....  I want to know what polish you have worn that has totally 'distracted' you  ...

Manicure Mommas Competition

Check out the competition over at Manicure Mommas Blog.  They are giving away OPI's "Ulta Glow Get a Treat" mini polish set - which is phenomenail!  Loving those beautiful colours.  Unfortunately this competition is only open to bloggers in the USA but I thought you all would like to know.

Click on the link on the right to go straight to the blog.

Good Luck!!  If you do win let me know what they are like.

x

Nubar - Prevail

I recently received my Nubar haul and I finally got around to putting Nubar's Prevail on.  It's a beautiful plum matte.  I put two coats on a found that this was enough to achieve a really nice finish.  This is a gorgeous Autumn colour.

The next day I couldn't resist!  I Konad-ded this mani! (IP M57)

I used Konad Special Polish in Violet Pearl.  It wasn't easy to get the Konad print on the matte polish but if you do it really slowly you should get a good transfer.

x

A Quick Konad

So I was just about to take my polish off to do another mani when I decided to do a quick Konad.  This was using IP no. M9.
Pretty cute ;  )

Nihrida's Big Giveaway!

Nihrida, over at Nihrida's Blog is holding a competition where you can win a huge load of goodies!  You do not want to miss it!!  Check it out!  Just click on Nihrida's Blog over in "My Favourite Blogs" and click on the icon that says "Click to Enter My Giveaway".
I am definitely entering this comp as I want those goodies!!!!

Good luck!

Mummy/Daughter Day!

So Abi and I have returned from our mani/pedi session and I must say that I am impressed.  In all honestly I   am somewhat dubious about the nail bars that appear from overnight!  However, I have heard nothing about good things about the salon I went to today.  They were absolutely brilliant with both me and Abi.  Their hygiene standards are also up to my standards as well (which is extremely super high!!!!)  So I sat in the vibrating massage chair whilst I had my mani and pedi and Abi had nail art done on her nails.  We had a blast!  I will definitely be going back to that salon.  If you are in the Windsor (UK) area go and check out New York Nails Fashion on St. Leonards Road.  I highly recommend them.

Here's a picture of Abi's nails.

Abi has been to a Henna Party today as well!

I think her nail art looks so pretty.  I'm afraid I forgot to ask what the nail colour was.  All I know is that it's an OPI colour.

And here's mine:

I had OPI's Done Out in Deco from the South Beach range on my nails.  On my toes I had Gargantuan Green Grape.  (The above photo is without flash)

With flash

So I love the purple A LOT!  I can only describe this as a lavender creme colour.  Very pretty.   I've not had the chance to try this range out but it definitely is more of a Spring/Summer collection.  As for the Gargantuan Green Grape, I'm still not sure about it. It's very light and sheer.  My technician put two coats of the GGG on and personally I would have done another coat.  I have taken a picture of it on my toes but I don't want to freak anyone out as I know feet and toes can make people a little squeamish.  If you would like to see it then please let me know and I will post it.  Anyway GGG is a very bright, sheer lime colour.  At the moment I feel like and Easter Egg.   Think I'm going to be Konading later!!

Done Out In Deco

 Gargantuan Green Grape