NOTW: Newspaper roses

Hello my dears!

Today I bring you a post I've been thinking about for a looooooooong time, but was too scared to try. Newspaper roses :D Lookie: 

Right hand

Left hand

Isn't it awesome? :-) I have a slight obsession with the idea of background colours being present, but the main focus being monochrome; sort of like an inverted Schindler's List. I love how my idea translated onto the nail :-) I've been wanting to try it for months and months, but always found rose manis extremely intimidating; they look so involved! It turns out that they're the easiest thing in the world. Do a rough blob on the nail with one colour (Rimmel Grey Matter, in this case), then draw little Vs and Cs in and around the blob to create the suggestion of a rose. Unbelievably fool-proof -- everyone should try it! Of course, the entire job was made much easier by my Barry M nail art pen, without which I would have totally failed at this mani. Funnily enough, I actually liked my right hand better; the roses look more open and alive because I couldn't be as precise :-)

I also experimented with some pinstripes (though the photo isn't so great...):

The base colour for this mani is one you've seen before here -- Barry M Pomegranate. I'm still in love with this colour, and I think it contrasts fantastically with my newspaper roses. 

All in all I think this mani was super successful, and I'll definitely be attempting another rose/flower mani sometime in the future. What sorta colours do you think I should try next? Have you ever tried a monochrome mani like this? Lemme know in the comments!

Silly attempt at 'proper blog' pose :P

'Til next time, curlettes!

- Skye x

NOTW: And then a Bluetiful mermaid appeared...

Why, helloooooo my lovelies!!!

Today I have a blueeeeeeeetiful polish to show you (pun intended! hehe). Behold the wonder that is KBShimmer Pastel Me More!!!!

Pardon my cuticles! I got overexcited and
forgot to moisturise before I snapped away!

Sooooo shiny!!! <3 Like a mermaid's tail :-) 

This is a beyond gorgeous glitter topper from my favourite ever brand, KBShimmer. Pastel rainbows just gleam from your nails when you wear this polish, and the glitter is so shiny that my fingers looked like mermaid tails/dragon scales. This has been one of my favourite manis EVER! The polish itself is extremely special to me. Some of you may know that Essie Rae, previously of iheartprettypolish, recently went on a blog hiatus. This lady is a marvellous one with a heart of gold; I was heartbroken when I missed out on Pastel Me More at Harlow & Co., and then found that this polish was being discontinued. Since I couldn't get hold of the polish anywhere, Essie sent me her very own bottle for the price of postage alone - all the way from Minnesota, USA! Now that Essie has decided to take a break from plogging, this polish will be all the more special to me, since it reminds me of a lovely plogger friend I came to like very much in the short time I knew her. Thank you so much Essie for this polish, and for all the encouragement and kind words! I hope you have fun doing whatever you do next :-)

Also in this post is a Curly Polish EXCLUSIVE: my first ever attempt at a macro shot of any polish! It's not very good, but I did try... I wish I could work out how to make it bigger without it going blurry!

My macro sucks, but you can at least see the beautiful variety of glitter colours in this gorgeous topper. The polish is, in my opinion, entirely unique, and I'm so proud and honoured to have been able to make it part of my vast KBShimmer collection.


Finally, as always, let me show you the base coat for this mani, Essence I'm Bluetiful:

First off, I'm really sorry for the quality of this pic; I had such bad shakes when I was trying to take it! This was honestly the best shot I could come up with. This was a polish I ended up keeping because a swap fell through. I wouldn't normally buy this kind of thing for myself, but I actually really liked it! As you can see, the polish has quite large specks of silver glitter, and looks much bluer in direct light. It's actually a very versatile, changeable colour, and was a real surprise to wear.

Sooooo that wraps up this week's NOTW post :D KBShimmer Pastel Me More has officially fed my appetite for glitter toppers! I need moaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar!!! What are your fav glitter toppers? PLEASE lemme know in the comments! :-)

'Til next time, curlettes,

- Skye x

NOTW: Pop! Kettle. Black?

Well, hellooooooooooo lovelies :D

I'm so excited about today's post, so I'll just get to it. I DID AN AWESOME GRADIENT!!! *unashamedly blows own trumpet* Lookie, lookie:

*yay* :D

*Pardon the clean-up: see below for why
it's not as good as usual!

Isn't it amazing?! After my failed summer gradient here, I vowed to try a makeup-sponge gradient again with a white base coat. It took me many weeks to track down Sinful Colors Snow Me White, and when I finally saw it in Boots, I nabbed it immediately, came home, and set to work. I'd been obsessing over a purple/orange gradient, and I think I may have finally got that out of my system ;-)

The polishes I used for this gradient were:

• Sinful Colors Snow Me White (base)
• KIKO #315 (dark purple)
• Rimmel How Do You Lilac It? (lilac)
• Catrice Salmon and Garfunkel (peachy orange)
• Rimmel Pop! (bright orange)

I then took a kitchen sponge and dabbed more of the KIKO polish over the top of the gradient to tie the design together. This definitely made the mani! 

A work in progress...

... now with added faux-splatter!

On a brief side note, please know that makeup-sponge gradients are not for the faint-hearted! The clean-up required is pretty horrific! Look:

It's true that splatters are messier, but my cuticles looked red raw by the time I'd scrubbed that polish off with acetone! Next time I'll definitely use Vaseline, just like I recommended for my splatter mani here. 

Sooooo what do you think of this mani? I think I was definitely channeling autumn/Halloween with this one! What strange colour combinations have you tried for your own gradients? Lemme know in the comments!

'Til next time, curlettes :-)

- Skye x

NOTW: Razzle Dazzle Black Cherries

Hello dearies! I hope you're all well this week :-)

I have yet another lovely mani for you today! It had been a while since I'd done a reverse gradient, so I reached for a nice jelly glitter and set to work: 

Black cherries dazzle my digits *.* - oh the alliteration!

This was such an amazing mani in real life; the photo just doesn't do it justice! Unfortunately, I had a bad case of the shakes that day, so the pic is a bit out of focus... but isn't it pretty!? I wasn't sure if the hot pink KBShimmer It's Razz-ical would 'pop' over the dark base, but it really did; it's surprisingly pigmented for a jelly! I didn't use a sponge for this mani; I simply applied the jelly carefully with the polish bottle brush. This is a great technique for when you're pushed for time; it will look horrendous before you tc your digits because of the multiple layers of polish, but you'll end up with a lovely fade. I managed this better on some fingers than others (cf. ring finger), but I still adored this mani; I was truly sad to take it off!

What, then, is the base colour for this lovely mani? You're looking at Rimmel Black Cherries, and you've already seen it on this post here. Let's take another look: 

Expand to check out that beautiful, beautiful shimmer ;-)

First of all, let's take a moment to appreciate that GOSH haven't my photos improved over the past year?! It's hard to believe I've almost hit my one-year anniversary! This is a gorgeous, rich polish true to its name, a vampy deep purple with a hidden red/brown shimmer. I once declared Black Cherries to be my favourite polish ever. I'm not sure if this is still the case, but it remains a firm favourite which I reach for time and time again, especially when I do nail art. The formula isn't perfect but the colour just makes me smile.

What do you think of today's mani? Isn't it fun when an idea really comes together! For the past year, I've been trying to track down dupes for Black Cherries, since I love the colour but I'm not so keen on the formula. Unfortunately, I've not come up trumps. If you know of any polishes that might fit the bill, please do let me know in the comments!

Otherwise, 'til next time, curlettes ;-)

- Skye x

NOTW: Criss-crossed At Ease

Hello my lovelies! How are you today? :-)

In line with my summer catch-up posts, I'd like to share with you a new striping tape mani! This had been on my mind for a long time, so I'm glad I finally got to try it. Let's take a look:

Look, it's me! :P (indirect sunlight)

Direct sunlight :-) :-)

Soooooo... what do you think?! I just loved this mani - especially the juxtaposition of neutral and bright, creme and shimmer (Rimmel At Ease vs Catrice Heavy Metal-lilac) :-) I originally planned to do this to all of my fingers, but the striping tape was actually a little tricky to use, so I decided to just criss-cross three fingers (incl. my thumb). I think it actually worked better this way! I bet this mani would be great for work if you had time to do all your fingers :-)

Of course, no post is complete without a look at the base colour - Catrice Heavy Metal-lilac:

Shimmery, shimmery goodness *.*

Indirect light :-)

You've already seen this colour on this post, and also on this post, but I have STILL failed to do a full post on the polish. I will once again reiterate how awesome it is - it's a FAVOURITE of mine, and I promise I'll do a proper post on it one day. I love, love, love it, and you should all own it.


Despite this mani being a summer mani, it has a very autumnal feel. I think I'm straddling both seasons right now ;-) I really do love this combination of nude (my new favourite tone!) and bright, and I definitely think I'll try it again - do you have any colour requests? Help me out by leaving a comment with your ideas! :D

'Til next time, curlettes :-)

- Skye x

NOTW: Accessorize Those Scales!

Hello my lovelies! How are you? :-)

I have something short and sweet for you today; another play around with my Barry M nail art pens! Let's take a look:

This is my dragon scales/chainmail nail art! I really just had an image in my head of this looking like an abstract pattern, but close up I guess it kinda looks like weird flowers, or like I let a child scribble on my nails! I did actually really like it though; from a distance (head to hand) it looked pretty cool, and the black over multichrome polish was a fun look I hadn't tried before! :-)

I promised you a short post, and I wasn't joking. It's already time to show you the beautiful base colour for this mani - Accessorize Bronze!

This gorgeous multichrome is an oldie but SUCH a goodie; just check out that shift! Yellow gold, bronze, copper and dusty pink-brown tones make this the perfect autumnal polish for those who want a subtle polish with a bit of punch. Oxymoronic? Perhaps. A problem? Absolutely not. This polish has so many different facets that it was really difficult to photograph, but the photo up there is a good attempt at revealing its personality. In some lights it looks a deep, dusky pink-brown and in others you get the full shift. This polish is a real stunner and I'm never disappointed when I wear it. The formula and brush are also fantastic.

I actually adore multichromes, but own very few of them. I think I can count three at the most in my collection. That said, I have already taken steps to rectify this; I pre-ordered the entire ILVP Ultra Chrome collection :D I've never pre-ordered anything before, but I'm really glad I did. Not only have I added to my multichrome stash, I also didn't have to be involved in the mad run on the store on the official release date! I wish more of my favourite brands would do this. Needless to say, I'll be swatching those AS SOON AS THEY ARRIVE. I'll then possibly not post for several weeks while I just stare at my fingers in awe ;-)


What are your favourite duochromes and multichromes? Do you have any swatches you'd like to share? Share a link in the comments so we can all check them out!

'Til next time, curlettes :-)

- Skye x

NOTW: Not-so-showy summer gradient

Hello lovelies!

So this week, I decided to get on the summer bandwagon and try out my new makeup sponges again in a bright gradient:

Indirect light... *meh*

In the sunlight... still not orange :-/

*ahem* Yeah. Not so bright. My usually-very-bright orange (Rimmel Pop!) doesn't really pop over the pink base, so it basically looks like a big red stripe, making me a sad panda :-( I'm not really sure I like it too much... I had been planning to do some silly drawings over the top of the gradient, however, the polish started chipping on the day I sat down to do it, and so I ended up taking it off and creating a whole new mani! Tune in next week to see that one ;-)

Finally, the base colour for this mani was, yet again, Rimmel Show Off:

You've heard all about this one already here, so I won't go on. All I'm-a say is that the formula and brush were, as always, impeccable. I can always rely on a tidy mani when I reach for this polish.


So: WOW well wasn't that short and sweet! I guess it just goes to show that I do eventually run out of things to say!

Are you still doing summer manis or have you moved onto Autumn styles? Link me to your pics in the comments!

'Til next time, curlettes :-)

- Skye x

NOTW: Splattered irises

Hello my lovelies! Long time, no see!

I'm so sorry that I've been AWOL lately. So much has been going on that I've barely had time to eat, sleep and breathe, let alone update my lovely followers on my latest mani experiments!

A quick(ish) summary before we start, just so you know I'm not joking (polish stuff starts after the bullets end):

• Wrist is still (still?!) causing me trouble from my Scotland trip three/four months back, making me a sad, sad panda - hospital appt. for scary nerve tests now pending to see what on EARTH I did to it!
• Busiest week at work EVERRRRR - an entire month's worth of work in a week from a new client!
• Did I say new client? I've had about four of those over the past month!
• Banking issues - banks gave me free money, which I was honest about, and they took forever to sort things out (kind deeds... unpunished)
• Business accounting and tax returns - 'nuff said
• Started a legal secretaries course for work which is eating into my free time some
• Parents away on holiday so I'm house-sitting (and apparently babysitting my grown-up toddler brother; he's 20 years old, but disgusting - I found toenail clippings on kitchen worktops the other day - yuck)
• Impromptu weekend trip with Chemistry Guy to Edinburgh for the city's famous Fringe Festival - the biggest arts festival in the world :)
• Mahoosive 13k-word proofreading job that took about double the time I thought it would WHILST I WAS ON HOLIDAY :(
• I GOT A JOB IN AUSTRIA!!!! I was on the waiting list for a part-time teaching job in the best country in the world, and got notified last week that I'm being slingshotted out there in February for a few months - lots of preparations now underway to get that sorted (incl. immigration, police checks, banking and accommodation issues). Interesting side note: YAY European polish :D
• General exhaustion because all of the above was squeezed into just a couple of weeks

So you see: I'm not kidding! Crazy times, crazy times! But let me show you something else crazy... my FIRST EVER SPLATTER MANI YO!

Left hand ^^

Right hand *basks in awesomeness*

OK, I'm not gonna lie, this mani was messy as... but sooooooooo awesome. I didn't wanna take it off; it may just be one of my favourite ever manis EVER! It's so spring/summer/flowers/purple and the shimmery purple polish gave it so much depth! I was just thrilled to bits that my random colour choices (incl. an untried) and splattering turned out so lovely :) :) I can't believe it took me this long to finally try the technique out *beams with pride*

My NOTW totally looks like... IRISES! :)

I'm also kind of loving that my NOTW totally looks like irises! This was a total fluke, but after a couple of days I realised what my fingers looked like. If I'm honest, this only made me love the mani more; irises are pretty and smell lovely :) 

The polishes I used for my splattering of awesomeness were:

• Collection 2000 (Hot Looks) Lemon Soda (base)
• Barry M Prickly Pear (lilac)
• Catrice Heavy Metal-lilac (purple shimmer)

Now for a quick word on the mess: Splatter manis ARE messy, however, with the right preparation, you can avoid a lot of the headaches that come about as a result: 

Messy fun!

1. Lay down some newspaper/old sheets before you start to avoid accidentally splattering (or dripping!) polish all over your best dinner chairs/nice wooden dresser/carpet, depending on how messy you are. Prevention is WAY better than cure on this one!
2. Prep. your fingers using Vaseline; if you apply some vaseline right the way around your nail and on the pad of your finger (incl. under the nail), extending down to your first knuckle, you'll be covered for any stray splats. This will allow you to grab a Q-tip/cotton bud after you're done splatting and just swipe away the messy polish like it wasn't ever there. Let me assure you that this is easier than taping and far easier than forgetting altogether; I accidentally did the wrong finger on my right hand (lol yes, go back and check the photos) and clean-up was a real PITA!
3. Practice on the paper first to get a feel for how that specific polish is going to move inside that specific straw. You might need to experiment a little; I ended up chopping my straws much shorter to get a good splatter.

Finally, as always, I'd like to share with you the base coat for this mani: Collection 2000 (Hot Looks) Lemon Soda!

Poor wrist, still in a splinty thingy :/

This is what I'd describe as a butter yellow that looks really quite vibrant in the sunshine (as you saw in the photo of the splatter mani above). The formula was pretty good, as I recall, but not perfect - Hot Looks tend to get gloopier over time. I think this might be a bottle design flaw; perhaps they don't create enough of a seal between the bottle and the lid? Can't fault the colour though, and for the price it's worth it!

Sooooooooo :) What do you think?! I've been waiting to share this mani with you all for weeks and weeks, and I'm so glad the time finally arrived! I can't wait to try more splatter manis. What crazy colour combos would you like to see? Hit me up in the comments and let me know!

'Til next time, curlettes :-)

- Skye x

NOTW: Cows are exotic too!

Hello my lovelies!

Today I bring you a themed, stamped mani - I matched my design with the base colour, China Glaze Exotic Encounters! I was of two minds about this mani to begin with, as you'll see below... but let me show you my initial attempt at awesome before we get onto that:

I know what you're thinking - BUSY! Somehow this design looked very different in my head to on my nails. This is GALS Fairy plates GA32 (leopard print) and GA46 (cow print accent nail - it's a cow print, right?) stamped in Barry M Silver Foil. I'd sort of expected to see more of the base colour through the leopard stamp, and was kind of going for a contrasting stamp effect, but it didn't really work out. I was umming and ahhing over the mani but eventually had to save it, since I hated what I'd ended up with so far... So I reached for my acetone and a Q-tip and very gently swiped off my stamping, just leaving the accent nail untouched. I then top-coated my mani again and this was the result:

Better :-)

COWS ARE EXOTIC TOO!!! I obsessed about having cow print nails this week and I think the print looks much better alone ^^ However, I ended up taking the mani off within about a day; I just wasn't feeling all these cool colours somehow!

Finally, as always, here's the base colour in all its glory - China Glaze Exotic Encounters:

EE is a deep, dusky teal which leans green. This is my first CG polish and I have to confess that I'm not overly impressed formula-wise; I got a bit of cuticle flooding, since the polish is quite runny, but I do love the colour. One amazingly positive point about this polish, though: I didn't get ANY staining (ZOMG)! This is probably thanks to my own foresight, however; I applied my base coat (Essie Feed Me) and then I applied one coat of Miss Sporty It's Too Latte (a nice nude) over the top as an extra barrier against the evil that is all teal polish! Evidently, this worked!


My favourite teals are green-leaning teals, but I'm not that big a fan of animal prints. Cow print may be a strange exception! I think I tend to prefer more abstract patterns, or perhaps flowers/dots/stars. What are your fav patterns for your nails? Let me know in the comments!

'Til next time, curlettes :-)

- Skye x

WAUF... Nails by Kayla Shevonne?

Why Aren't You Following... ? was conceived by Curly Polish as an attempt to help polishaholics put a face to the nails! Sometimes in our FB polish groups we don’t really connect those beautiful talons with the person behind them – often one who blogs! It is hoped that this series of posts will help polishaholics get to know new blogs and rediscover old ones by means of twelve succinct questions. Most of all, this series is designed to give a shout out to all the bloggers I admire the most – both big-time and small fry :-)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Welcome to the latest edition of WAUF! This week, after skipping last week for sheer busyness, I speak to Kayla from Nails by Kayla Shevonne! Let’s get down to business :-)


Name: Kayla Shevonne

Blog: Nails by Kayla Shevonne

Since: June 2010

GFC followers (at time of writing): 4,985

Signature bloggism: Hmm this is a tough one! I don’t think I necessarily have a signature bloggism, but I do think that anything to do with peacock feathers has become relatable to both me, and subsequently, my blog.

Fav brand: Another tough question! If I absolutely HAD to pick one brand, it would be China Glaze. But I also love OPI, Zoya, Orly and Illamasqua, just to name a few.

Fav colour: Turquoise (mine too!).

Fav nail art technique: Freehand.

Fav blog: Who do you admire? All of these questions are so hard! Hahaha. You’d probably assume that I would pick a nail art blog for this question, but I’m instead going to go with a primarily swatching blog – The Polishaholic. Honestly, I think it’s obvious that Jen works really hard at her site, she almost always has swatches out before anyone else and her photos are awesome. Plus, something that’s important to me is that I see her personality come through each of her posts. Some sites tend to have a more strict, professional vibe, but I prefer ones where I can relate to the personality of the author.

Would still like to try: In terms of a polish brand, I’m dying to try both butter LONDON and ManGlaze.

One fact we may not know about you/your blog: They haven’t found the bodies yet…

LOL I’m kidding. One thing you may not know about me (although hopefully now you do know) is that I’m a joker. I love to laugh and love to make others laugh.

When not painting my nails you’ll find me... : When not painting my nails you’ll find me: Blogging, editing pictures, trying to find better ways to organize my nail room and of course, spending time with my lovely fiancée David. I also have a list of television shows that I watch every week and I can sometimes be found playing Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 on XBOX.

Why I follow her: Kayla is AWESOME at nail art. Just look at the mani she chose for this post. It's epic. She also loves turquoise and purple, and she likes peacock feathers. I do too, so she's a natural point of convergence for all my favourite things in the nail world! I love how creative she is and think she pretty much has everything down pat. I'd be surprised if you weren't following her, she's such a nailverse celebrity but if not...

So tell me... why aren't you following Nails by Kayla Shevonne?!

How to follow Kayla:

Blog: www.kaylashevonne.com

FB: www.facebook.com/nailsbykaylashevonne
Instagram: www.instagram.com/kaylashevonne
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/kaylashevonne

YouTube: www.youtube.com/kaylashevonnenails

Thanks for reading this week’s WAUF! This 'episode' was the last of the second series, but WAUF will be back in a month or two with more blogger introductions :-)

‘Til next time :-)

- Skye x

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

***Disclaimer*** 
These are not the only ladies I follow, or the only people whose blogs/nails I love. I don’t prefer any one of these blogs over the other because I like them all for different reasons. If you haven’t been contacted (yet), it doesn’t mean I don’t love you! Also: if you don’t have a blog but you have lovely nails, I may be in touch at some point, but I don’t know how to make an entire post about a non-blog right now :-) Finally, please remember that my preferences may be different to yours. This is meant to be a fun series! I adhere to the Thumper principle: if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all. Keep smiling guys and girls :-) 

NOTW: WORLD EXCLUSIVE Nelly Polish Review!!!

Well helloooooooooo, curlettes! :D

I have something VERY speial for you today: I bring you a WORLD EXCLUSIVE in the polish world: dried nail varnish from Nelly Polish!!!*

Nelly Polish is a BRAND NEW *shiny shiny* British indie polish brand created by Hilary Tunley, a woman on a mission not to let the British Royal Mail's postal restrictions hamper her fledgling indie polish business! Her 'dried' nail polish can be sent from anywhere, to anywhere, and in any volume, without fear of being snatched by the postman.

'How can this be?' I hear you ask. Here's Hilary to explain: 

"I provide the custom ingredients (which are all completely safe and completely legal to transport worldwide) and the bottle to make the polish (if you like). You provide the clear nail polish - any old brand - I've tested lots and they all work fine, and a bit of good old-fashioned elbow-grease (aka shaking ability). The Nelly Mixture contains the 'magic' ingredients to create a lovely jelly/glitter polish which will stay lovely and glittery (no sinking glitter) you just need to mutter 'abracadabra' and shake."

Genius, no? In one fell swoop, Hilary has changed the face of the UK polish industry forever - she, at least, will never have to worry about packages for international customers being swiped. But are the polishes any good at all? Let's take a look :D


I have two dehydrated polishes to share with you today, both of which are from Hilary's first collection, 'The Fungooms', named for the characters on her husband Ned's games website for toddlers. Each character is named after a real place in Cornwall, South-West England, a beautiful part of our country famed for its sun, sea and surf, as well as brilliant ice cream... and now the birthplace of an incredible nail polish innovation!


Let's look at the first polish I was sent for review - Looe:

Trialling my bottle shot -  isn't the bottle label cute?!
Sorry about the Lemony Flutter!

It matches my garden :) Runner beans and miniature sunflowers are the perfect complement to Looe :D

Looe is a lovely polish which Hilary describes as 'a spring green jelly with hot pink and marigold matte glitter'. If I'm honest, the hot pink glitter looks more like red glitter to me, but I think that this makes the polish truly unique; I have absolutely nothing like it in my collection - and the green is the PERFECT green! I think it would suit everyone, but especially those with an olive complexion like me! On the first coat, this polish looks like it will not be pigmented enough to wear on its own, and seems very sheer. However, by the the second coat, all my concerns evaporated; this polish builds brilliantly and you can reach full opacity in three thick coats. If I had to name one downside, I think it would be that you have to fish a little for some of the larger glitters (probably because the polish is a jelly), but a good shake solves this problem instantly - and all the glitters lie perfectly flat, which totally makes up for this. All in all, I'm thrilled to have added this one to my collection, and I actually delayed this review post by a few days, just so that I could enjoy the mani a little longer ;-)


The second polish I was sent to review was Polperro, which was actually my first choice of Hilary's six debut polishes - gotta love autumnal oranges and coppers! Let's take a look:

In direct sunlight - WOW those tiny
specks of glitter really make this polish!

Indirect light - what a unique shade :-)

When I saw this polish for the first time, I was really struck by what an beautiful and unusual shade the base colour was. Hilary describes it as a 'corally-orange jelly with gold and copper glitter', and I have to agree with her description. It's not burnt orange (that's darker), but it's heading that way, with a lovely dusky hue. In the sun, it glows a really 'true' orange, and the light picks out all of the gorgeous yet tiny golden specks of glitter in the base. This is just stunning. Just like Looe, this polish applied beautifully. This polish was also packed with glitter, much more so than Looe, and I didn't have to dab at all. I did, however, need an extra coat to avoid a VNL. I could probably have got away with three. Again, I can see this suiting pretty much all skin tones, and I'll definitely be breaking it out again in the autumn for some nail art.

Some general points about both polishes:

• Excellent formulas - jellies with glitter
• Sheer but buildable
• Self-levelling and no curling glitter (glitter lies beyond flat)
• Satin finish
  (Hilary claims that all of her polishes dry satin/matte, and therefore need a top coat to bring out their true beauty. I actually found that come the third coat, the polish looked very glassy, and I only applied a layer of top coat to protect the mani. Case in point: the second pic of Looe is without a top coat ;-) )
• Only one thin coat of top coat required for a completely smooth and glossy finish
• No unsavoury smells

You can find Nelly Polish on Etsy, where you can buy a Nelly mixture for £4; a mixture plus an empty bottle for £5; or a made-up bottle for £6.50 :-) Hilary is also planning to launch a FB page for her nail polishes very soon, so keep your eyes peeled!


So: the nail polish world has been changed FOREVER! I, personally, can't wait to see Hilary's next collection!

Hilary sent me these two polishes ready-made, but was kind enough to suggest that she could send me a sachet of Nelly Mixture to mix myself, if I were curious about the process. If you'd like me to review the mixing process for you, gimme a shout in the comments and I'll let Hilary know! :D

'Til next time, curlettes! :-)

- Skye x


*Both nail polishes provided for honest review.

NOTW: Across The Universe in style

Well helloooooooooo, ladies (and gents?) *Old spice guy* ;-)

***Warning: very picture-heavy post***

Have I got a zinger for you today! If you follow me on FB, you'll have seen a few months ago that I finally used Enchanted Across The Universe (had been waiting for some sunshine) - and I was totally and utterly blown away. I genuinely couldn't get focused on work for a couple of hours after I put this polish on, because it well and truly knocked my socks off. There are A LOT of pics of this one because I just couldn't believe how awesome it was. You've been warned:

My taping... in blue

My thumb in ALL the colours *.*

...pink holo!!!!

Did I mention the polish is a holo?

 

Blue holo...

It's a multichrome too!

...golden blurple <3

Pink and purple...

Pretty, pretty polish <3 I've never really understood the hype surrounding Enchanted Polish, and I only picked this polish up on a whim from another of Debbie Crumpet's blog sales some months back... but I TOTALLY GET IT NOW!!!!!!! I turned into a total magpie for the duration of this mani and chewed the ear off anyone who would listen about it, basically going ZOMG LOOK AT MY RAINBOW MULTICHROME HOLO NAILS *ahhhhhhh!* You all need this polish. Seriously. Go buy it.

All the colours!!!! :D

Multi-coloured HOLO goooooodness!!!

Now let me 'briefly' discuss the other impressive part of this mani - it's my first EVER striping tape mani! This striping tape was sent to me as a RAOK by Anita Marie Roberts a looooooooong time ago, but this is the first chance I've had to sit down and use it properly. I googled pictures of striping tape manis for inspiration, and this is what I came up with. I just ADORE this stuff! It wasn't nearly as difficult to use as other bloggers made me think it was, and I'm thrilled to bits that I have two or three reels of the stuff to play with - thank you so much Anita :-)


Last but most certainly not least, I bring you the base colour for this most wonderful of manis - Collection 2000 Blue My Mind (#12):

Indirect light

Direct light

Now, the left-hand photo is a bit 'lobster', and the right-hand photo is deathly pale, which means that the colours in these pics aren't quite right, however, as you can see, this is a beautiful, deep, rich blue shimmer polish, which though not duochrome, looks like it's in a blackened base until you get it in the light. This polish is one of my favourite blue polishes, and was the perfect accompaniment for ATU. The only downside to it is probably the brush; it's far too wide for my nails which means getting a good, clean line is tricky. I had a lot more clean-up to do for this mani than usual! Fortunately, this polish is most definitely worth the extra effort :-)


Which Enchanted Polish do you think I should get next? Let me know in the comments!

'Til next time, lovelies :-)

- Skye x