China Glaze - Pure Elegance and Happy Thanksgiving to my American Friends x

I had a mani yesterday at may favourite manicure place as a little treat to myself before I get too exhausted with this play!  So this play I am in is set in the 80s.  When my fab nail technician asked me to choose my colour, could I decide?!?  My head was saying pinks/reds but my heart was saying fab purple glitter.  So I chose Pure Elegance by china glaze thinking that it would satisfy .... something!  Although it is a yellowy pink it does have an iridescence to it.  However, after a day of wearing it I had to take it off!  This polish is like eating sweeties.  After a while you overdose on sugar and you get a stomach ache!  It's all right in small doses.  Plus I don't think it goes with my 80s outfit also.  I am now wearing a red which I will post tomorrow.  Plus do come back to see me in my costume!!

Before I go I want to say something to my friends in America:- Happy Thanksgiving to you all.  I hope you all have a wonderful holiday.  We don't celebrate it over here but if we did then I would be thankful for my blog because through it I have met some wonderful women.

x

Latest Haul!

I have been waiting ages for my haul to arrive.  We have been having postal strikes here in Ol' Blighty so everything is delayed at the mo.  I have quite a few new additions but I will start with these three.  The first two are from Paul and Joe.  Now I have to be completely honest and say that the selection of colours are not that inspiring.  They're good if you need to have a "subtle" day, you know, if you need to go to work or an interview .... that sort of thing. However I did buy them purely for the cute bottle!  I love this vintage chic style!  So I purchased a gold one (no 27) and a corally-pink one (no. 15).  Both these are very sheer and both needed 4 coats would you believe!  And even then there was slight VNL!

(Inside no flash)

(Inside with flash

The gold one has silver glitter in it.  Not quite Chanel Gold fiction but it's still quite pretty.

(inside no flash)

(Inside with flash)

I liked the coral one more than I thought I would.  This would make a good base for a Konad!  The formula is easy to work with and application is smooth but sheer.  What I also liked about these polishes are the smell.  Now I don't know if these are officially scented but when these dried they smelled like Cerruti 1881.  Gorgeous!
The next addition is Ciate Paint Pot - Shaken Not Stirred.  This is an iridescent purply pink colour which needed three coats.

Again I think this would make a good base for a Konad.  I'm still on the fence on this one! Do I like the colour or do I not like the colour?!?

(Inside with flash)

(Inside no flash)

Maybe I should add some glitter?!  The bottle's pretty cute though!

MAC - Lucky Number

I went out the other day and I picked up MAC's Christmas releases.  This one is Lucky Number.  At first glance it looks like a pink shimmer.  Now I wouldn't go out especially to buy a pink nail polish but I thought 'why not? I'll give it a go!'  And well I was completely surprised.  I put this on two days ago and I still have it on.  I loooooooooove it!  It's not a shimmer at all, instead it is a dusky pink chrome!!! It is so pretty.  However...... be warned, this is not the easiest polishes to put on.  In fact it took me a couple of attempts to suss out this little baby!  It is a thick and sticky formula and you need to use the brush lightly because it will streak.  In fact my application still looks a little streaky.  I also recommend you use a ridge filler such as Barielle Camouflage to cover any dips or bumps in your nail as this little monkey will pick up any nail flaw (my nails are full of them!)  My pictures of Lucky Number do not show how pretty this colour is but trust me it is gorgeous!  Plus my pictures highlight all my application flaws!!! Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Latest Haul

Ok I am better now!  I have signed myself up to do the other exam. To hell with it, I've come this far why give up now? I'm sorry for moaning!!  Anyway I went out and bought new polishes which I will share with you in my next post.  I want to show you my haul that I received yesterday.  I realised that I don't have nearly enough sparkles in my collection and considering that the Holiday season will soon be upon us, I thought I should supplement my collection! So from left to right in the above picture: China Glaze - Glam, OPI - Glitter Ball, China Glaze - Pom Pom, Color Club - Snow Queen.  I will swatch these. I'm very excited about Glitter Ball.  For my NOTD I used Color Club - Snow Queen.  When I first put this on I did think 'Oh no not another Chanel Rouge Noir wannabe' but I must say that it's a little more purply than winey.  Very dark and gorgeous.  I did find the formula a little tacky to work with but I got there in the end.  My mani didn't stop there though.  I was desperate to use some glitter so I put a coat of China Glaze's Pom Pom on.  It is a pink sparkle with some fine glitter and slightly bigger bits.  It looks gorgeous I have to say.  The glitter cheered me up! (Glitter usually does!)

I like a bit of sparkle every now and then!

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