WAUF... Amber Did It?

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 :-)

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Welcome to the latest edition of WAUF! This week, I speak to Amber from Amber Did It! Let’s get down to business :-)

Name: Amber 

Blog: Amber Did It

Since: June 2011

GFC followers (at time of writing): 803

Signature bloggism: I really don't know that I have or do anything that necessarily sets me apart. 

Fav brand: OPI and China Glaze.

Fav colour: Blues and teals.

Fav nail art technique: Free hand nail art is what makes me happiest to do. I love, love, love doing gradients though. 

Fav blog: I have a ton of favs: Chalkboard Nails, SonomaNail Art, Tips and Topcoat, Dressed Up Nails, Finger Painted, Kelsie's NailFiles and tons, tons more.

Would still like to try: I am dying to try the water marble tutorial by cutepolish that looks just like OPI Spotted.

One fact we may not know about you/your blog: Anything?! I kind of wish I would have named my blog something different. 

When not painting my nails you’ll find me… : My family always comes first, so I'm usually always doing something with my kids or husband. I like watching movies and reading. I like playing on our Wii; I can kick some major butt in Mario Kart haha!

"It's a few months old, but it's definitely my favorite I've ever done."

Why I follow her: Quite simply, Amber's art is amazing. Truly. I don't even need to write an entire paragraph about her - the mani above should be all it takes to convince you! She's tried almost everything in the book, and she's good at it all. She's the blogger who'll have you crying with frustration because you can't ever hope to replicate her awesome, and then weeping with joy because she does such cool stuff! Hers was one of the first nail art blogs I discovered after Nail Art 101 and I've not missed a blog post since. Great stuff all round.

So tell me... why aren't you following Amber Did It?!

How to follow Amber:

Blog: http://www.amberdidit.com/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/AmberDidit2
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/amber_dunson/
Tumblr: http://amberdidit.tumblr.com/
Twitter: @Ambershmamber
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/ambershmamber81 

Thanks for reading this week’s WAUF! Tune in next week for more blogger introductions :-)

‘Til next time :-)

- Skye x

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***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: KBShimmer The Square

Hi my lovelies! Welcome back to where the magic happens ^^

Today I'd like to share a KBShimmer polish with you which is one of the most unique polishes in my collection. I recently acquired it from Debbie Crumpet in her blog sale, and I have to say, it's a real winner! Introducing KBShimmer The Square from the now-discontinued Clique Collection:

Direct sunlight... it glows!!!!

Indirect sunlight (ignore the splint...)

As the name suggests, this is a square glitter polish! The glitters (lavender, blue, green, gold and white) sit in a purple jelly base, and the formula is pretty good, although I did have to fish for larger squares. This could be down to the polish sitting unused for so long, or even the fact that I'm not used to glitter polish with such large glitters... or it could just be that this is one of Christy's older polishes, and so she was still tweaking her base formula so that glitters were plentiful and unsinkable :-) Either way, this didn't bother me too much; as a jelly, the polish builds really nicely, and I have a feeling that my poor technique has more than a little to do with it! Also worth mentioning - the square glitters stayed flat! Beautiful. My swatches unfortunately don't do this gorgeous polish justice, but you can find an even better swatch here at Crystal's Crazy Combos! Do check out her post because her photos really are something.

Finally, I'd like to show you the base colour for this mani, the stunning Catrice Heavy Metal-lilac:

That's right! Oooooh and ahhhhh :D

This is a really wonderful polish that was sent to me as a gift some months ago by the lovely Cristina, who has my polish tastes absolutely pegged! This is just one coat of the polish, which is a one-coater and also good for stamping :-) Heavy Metal-lilac is a really rich purple which truly glows from within. Even my guy pals like it! It actually changes in the light and is so multifaceted that I'm planning to give it a post all to itself - just as soon as I edit down the 100 or so photos I took when I wore it on its own! This is definite a favourite polish of mine and I'm thrilled to have it in my collection :-) Thank you, Cristina!


What's the most unusual polish in your collection? Let me know in the comments!

'Til next time, curlettes :-)

- Skye x

WAUF... Breezy The Nail Polish Lover?

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 :-)

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Welcome to the latest edition of WAUF! This week, I speak to Brianna from Breezy The Nail Polish Lover! Let’s get down to business :-)

Name: Brianna (Breezy) Colclasure

Blog: Breezy The Nail Polish Lover

Since: 29th Nov 2012

GFC followers (at time of writing): 97

Signature bloggism: Brianna couldn't answer this one, so I'm telling you. It's the swatches, they are all over and everywhere and in great numbers!!! This girl's blog would be half the size if all she did was nail art :-) 

Fav brand: L.A. Colors, L.A. Girl, Sinful Colors or Pure Ice (can't choose one!)

Fav colour: Hot pink.

Fav nail art technique: Dry marbling.

Fav blog: Cha Cha Cakes Nails.

Would still like to try: Newspaper nails 'cos I've never done them; I never have a newspaper lol!

One fact we may not know about you/your blog: In barely over a year, I've accumulated over 600 bottles of polish (addiction!)!

When not painting my nails you’ll find me... : Playing with my furbabies or my niece!

Why I follow her: I actually only discovered Brianna's blog when she started following me, but I'm soooo glad she's finally on my radar - it's official: she is the new Polishaholic! I say this because, quite simply, Brianna's swatches are PERFECT. She has her bottle shot pose down PAT and her lighting and consistency is great. She also interacts loads with her followers (all 500 of them on FB!) and is a real fun, bubbly person :-) If I had to name one thing about her blog that I dislike, it would be that she taunts us with amazing frankens for which she never notes the recipes. I would totally buy her stuff! This girl is very new (her blog is about the same age as mine), but she's going to be HUUUUUUUGE!

So tell me... why aren't you following Breezy The Nail Polish Lover?!

How to follow Brianna:

Blog: http://breezythenailpolishlover.blogspot.com/

Bloglovin': http://www.bloglovin.com/breezythenailpolishlover

FB: https://www.facebook.com/Breezythenailpolishlover

Thanks for reading this week’s WAUF! Tune in next week for more blogger introductions :-)

‘Til next time :-)

- Skye x

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***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: Lava berries!

Hello lovelies!

Today I have something awesome to show you - lavaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa berries!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D Lookie:

*drool* So juicy!

Lavaaaaaaaa!

You're looking at Fingerpaints Asylum - YES, that huge lemming of mine! - and all thanks to Debbie Crumpet! Just like Twisted, I picked this up in Debbie's blog sale, and actually hesitated to get it initially. I love the Fingerpaints flakies, but I had serious doubts about this one; just look at my labels cloud - barely any orange to be seen! However, all this changed when I got the polish home. As soon as I put it on my nails (two coats), I was in love! I think I may actually like this MORE than Twisted! YES, I said it: this is my favourite Fingerpaints flakie polish so far. Shock horror!

The polish is mostly comprised of orange and blue/indigo flakies, with golden/lime green flashes in the right light. The colours are truely hypnotic and a perfect match for my red Kiko. I actually think the lime green flashes really make this polish, and it's a shame that they're so fleeting - it made it hard to photograph them. I keep staring at my nails because they look so damn juicy. I think they look like lava berries ^^ I guess this just goes to show that you shouldn't judge a polish by its (in-the-bottle) colour, since I would have really missed out if I hadn't taken the plunge!

Finally, as always, let me show you the base colour for this mani, the irrepressible Kiko 238:

My perfect red!

I bought this polish about a year ago when I discovered Kiko at Westfields in London, and I absolutely love it! This polish is my perfect pillar box red - not too hot, not too cold - and it suits me right the way through the year. The formula is wonderful and the polish itself dries to a surprising shine, even without top coat! The only downside is perhaps its opacity; you're looking at three coats plus top coat, and in certain lights there's still VNL! It's frustrating but I love it sooooooo *bad Jack Skellington impression* Totally worth it! :-)


So: What's your classic go-to red? Or maybe you don't like reds? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading and 'til next time, curlettes :-)

- Skye x

WAUF... Lacquered Lover?

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 :-)

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Welcome to the latest edition of WAUF! This week, I speak to Carly from Lacquered Lover! Let’s get down to business :-)


Name: Carly Herbst

Blog: Lacquered Lover

Since: May 2011

GFC followers (at time of writing): 3,208

Signature bloggism: I think the "Carly" manicure would definitely be my signature! I love doing my swap manicures with my pictures showing both hands! However that’s more what I do for my NOTD and put across my social media! On my blog itself, I don’t think I have a signature!

Fav brand: That’s such a tough question for me! Deborah Lippmann was the first “high end” nail polish I ever bought and my collection of hers is near 70! I’m a huge Chanel fan and think their formula is just perfect. I’m also a big collector of Zoya, Illamasqua and Butter London!

Fav colour: You know, I don’t have a favorite nail polish color! However my go to shade is definitely blue! I probably have more blue nail polish than any other color! But, the ONLY nail polish I have ever had to buy a second bottle of is OPI I’m Not Really a Waitress. It’s all I wore for a few years when I was in college!

Fav nail art technique: I love doing the saran wrap manicure! I get to use multiple polishes (which helps when your collection is as big as mine) and I love how every nail looks like a work of art! It’s also really simple nail art which is great for someone like me who isn’t the most skilled at detail work!

Fav blog: I have a lot of fellow bloggers that I admire and look up to. At the moment, my biggest obsession is probably The Polishaholic! Her swatches are amazing and I love how honest she is! I sometimes even check her blog to see if my pictures look color accurate!

Would still like to try: I have never been able to successfully do a splatter manicure! I want 2013 to be the year I can finally master it! I just love how the final effect looks but for some reason can’t quite recreate it!

One fact we may not know about you/your blog: Fun fact about my blog is that I take my pictures upside down! Since I take pictures of my right hand when I swatch, I have to hold my camera upside down in order to be able to reach the shutter button! So the first thing I do when I upload my pictures to my computer is rotate them all 180 degrees!

When not painting my nails you’ll find me... : Somewhere in NYC! I love living in this city and exploring it with my friends whenever I can! Whether it’s a fun restaurant, a concert, a show at a museum, partying with Drag Queens, wandering in the park or discovering a new neighborhood, I love to be out in this wonderful city whenever I can!

Why I follow her: Carly is such a colourful character! She's a beautiful young lady who gives us all kinds of fun updates on her crazy life in NYC, including cool hair and makeup stuff, her work itself (including office shots - beach day, anyone?!) and, of course, nails! And what wonderful nails she has too. Carly always has cool nail designs on her nails like the one above, and she's somehow able to do this awesome double bottle-shot which I could never cope with myself! She also gets to go to a lot of fashion shows like New York Fashion Week (which was cool for me, since I translated materials for that - go me!) and is besties with Deborah Lippman :-) 

So tell me... why aren't you following Lacquered Lover?!

How to follow Carly:

Blog: http://www.lacqueredlover.com

FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lacquered-Lover/203865542992229
Instagram: http://instagram.com/lacqueredlover
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/lacqueredlover/

Twitter: @lacqueredlover

Thanks for reading this week’s WAUF! Tune in next week for more blogger introductions :-)

‘Til next time :-)

- Skye x

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***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: Lemming killed - Fingerpaints Twisted!!!

Hello lovelies! How are you today?

I am VERY happy, because today I get to reveal to you that I finally own one of my greatest lemmings EVER - Fingerpaints Twisted!!!

Ever since I discovered flakies two years ago, I've been obsessed with tracking down my favourite ever flakies collection - the LE Fingerpaints flakies collection. Everyone knows that these polishes are like gold dust; sold only in the US, and only for a limited time, I couldn't have picked a more elusive collection to love. I almost nabbed the entire collection just a few months ago, but the nasty, nasty RM stole my preciouses :( Fortunately, this event had a silver lining: a couple of lovely ladies in the British swap groups on FB came to my aid and declared that they had BN Fingerpaints flakies just sat unused in their collections. As a result, I now own Twisted (and Asylum - post pending) courtesy of the lovely Debbie Crumpet. Thank you SO MUCH, Debbie, for making this polishaholic's dream come true ^^

Now let's take a look at some photos:

*.* Opalescent beauty...

No words...

Swatches of this polish are dime a dozen, but generally involve Twisted layered over deep, dark colours like navy/midnight blue and black. As such, I thought I'd try something a bit new and inventive and layer the polish over a nice green. The above swatches are 2-3 coats over Catrice Sold Out Forever - and the result just blew my mind! In some lights you could barely see the flakies, and in others you got this wonderful opalescent effect which just kept growing on me as the week went on - this mani rocked and y'all know it. My epic quest for Twisted? I regret *nothing*!

Finally, as always, I'd like to show you the beaaaaaautiful colour that I paired with Twisted. Just look at it:

Beyond gorgeousness!

Catrice Sold Out Forever is a gorgeous, delicate sage green which I've been eyeing in my stash box for a wee while now; I bought it last summer in Austria for a swap which fell through, and it's been calling to me ever since! Although the formula was just that tiny bit too thick (a common Catrice trait, I've noticed), self-levelling was great and wear time was excellent. What's more, it compliments my olive skin tone perfectly; I genuinely don't think I could have selected a better muted green for myself (my photos are slightly off - the colour was slightly deeper IRL)! I actually don't own many green polishes, and have been considering branching out to find good ones, but for now, this has definitely sated my appetite for green fingers.


To wrap up this week's post, I have not one, but TWO questions for you:

1. What's your favourite green polish?
2. What do you like to layer with your flakies?

Let me know in the comments :D


'Til next time, curlettes :)

- Skye x

WAUF... i Heart Pretty Polish?

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 :-)

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So after a month-long hiatus, WAUF is back! Please forgive my absence. Check out Monday's NOTW post for more info on that. 

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Welcome to the latest edition of WAUF! This week, I speak to Essie from i Heart Pretty Polish! Let’s get down to business :-)


Name: Essie Rae

Blog: i Heart Pretty Polish

Since: March 3, 2012

GFC followers (at time of writing): 1154

Signature bloggism: Sweater/Jumper Shot (did I get it right ????) (oooooh yes, you did!)

Fav brand: O.P.I. (Best, most consistent formula) - Butter London Close 2nd.

Fav colour: Hardest Question Ever!  1. Butter London Victoriana, 2. NARS Storm Bird... right now...this could change tomorrow.

Fav nail art technique: On me - if you call an accent nail "art" then that would be my favorite. On others - water marbling.

Fav blog: Scrangie has always been my hero because I discovered her first and she inspired me to start a nail blog. Now it would be Chalkboard Nails - WOWZERS!

Would still like to try: Water marbling, but I'm too scared!

One fact we may not know about you/your blog: I'm pretty quiet and shy in real life. My day job is Human Resources (for 14 years) and I still get freaked out when I have orientation for new staff. I am known as the "listener/counselor" among my friends. I know everything about everyone else and they know nothing about me :-\ (but we love you anyway, Essie!)

When not painting my nails you’ll find me... : Watching reality TV, going to movies (by myself), spending time with my husband and two daughters, working out and running.

Why I follow her: Essie doesn't really do nail art, although you may find the odd decal/nail wrap on her blog. What she really excels at is beautiful swatches, perfectly filed nails and amazing jumper shots (she is the Sarah Lund of the nail world!)! I love her blog for being short and sweet and yet being able to convey everything you need to know about the polishes concerned. I also find that she tends to wear quite unusual brands sometimes (at least compared with the other blogs I read), and this is always good fun. Essie also offers more than just nails and jumpers! She also decorates awesome cakes, and you can check them all out here on her blog. Finally, Essie, herself, is just a lovely lady and for that reason alone, you should check her out :-)

So tell me... why aren't you following i Heart Pretty Polish?!

How to follow Essie:

Blog: http://www.iheartprettypolish.com/

FB: http://www.facebook.com/Iheartprettypolish
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/essieraenails/

Twitter: @EssieRae1

Thanks for reading this week’s WAUF! Tune in next week for more blogger introductions :-)

‘Til next time :-)

- Skye x

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***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: Essence Stuck On You

Hello lovelies! I'm back!

Well: I have been gone for a long time. And for that I'm sorry :-( As you'll already know if you're a FB follower, I really hurt my wrist whilst I was away in Scotland, and I've been in a splint ever since and trying to catch up with my actual work (for my jobbie job!). My wrist has been very painful and I ended up having to go to hospital about it, but it's just a bad sprain and I have been resting it. I've got a few weeks' worth of posts prepared, so you'll keep seeing my splint disappear and reappear because they're all in a higgledy piggledy order. I have a few cool ideas for the blog, but it'll be a while before I'll be physically able to try them all out. I hope you'll bear with me whilst I get the blog back on track!

Finally, before I begin this post, I'd just like to say a big WELCOME to all of my new followers - especially those who clicked follow when literally nothing was happening here! Bless you, you must really like the look of my blog to follow when it's inactive *sheds tear* :-) Welcome one and all to the madness ;) 


With all that being said, let's get onto today's post :-) Today I have a particularly short post for you, since I've been SNOWED UNDER with work. As a result, this is just a simple swatch. I hope you don't mind! Let's take a look:

Look close for the silver shimmer!

This is Essence Stuck On You! This polish was originally part of the wishlist of a lovely lady who was going to swap the complete Fingerpaints flakies collection with me, but the swap fell through and so I was left with a whole bunch of random Essence polishes! SOY is a lovely navy blue polish with a very subtle silver shimmer which brightens it up a lot. The shimmer is extremely obvious in the bottle and I was concerned it would be too much, but it was just right on the nail ^^ Since I was really busy, I didn't get a chance to do any art on this mani - but actually I quite enjoyed the colour on its own, and it had a great wear time, so this was no problem. I normally go for much warmer colours (and rarely wear blues!), but I was in a cool blue mood and so the mani was sort of a novelty for me :-)


What sorts of colours do you reach for when you want something a bit different? Tell me in the comments!

'Til next time, curlettes :-)

- Skye x