NOTW: Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine Pomegranate

Hello my dears and welcome to all my new followers! I can't believe I've hit 82 on FB and 70 on GFC - exciting stuff!

I only have a short-ish post for you today (and over the coming weeks), since I've been ridiculously busy and haven't had the chance to do any art at all :-( What I DO have for you is some beautiful (if I do say so myself) swatches of my first every Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine polish: Pomegranate! Let's take a look:

Check out how perfectly I filed my nails! ^^

Shiny, shiny - no topcoat! :D

This polish is quite special, because I got it for free! When I rushed into Superdrug to get my Silver and Gold Foil polishes for stamping, I got to the till and was told that Barry M had an offer on and I could choose another polish for nothing ^^ I'd had my eye on this particular one for some time now - especially since I worked out how to stamp - and so I jumped at the chance to give it a whirl.

So what did I think of this polish? Firstly, I love the colour; it's definitely a berry pink, but leans incredibly red in most lights, making it a really striking colour which still retains a softness that you don't get with a stark red. I loved it against my skin tone :-) This said, I have to admit that I found application a little tricky, although this may have been my fault; I've never had a one-coater before, and I wasn't used to the formula, so I ended up doing (multiple!) coats that were a bit too thick, and then the polish chipped easier afterwards, too. Next time I'll know to apply thinner coats and trust in the formula!

In case you're wondering where you've seen this polish before on my blog, I actually used it to stamp over A England Iseult in this post, and I can report that it stamps rather beautifully! No problems at all :-)

As a parting shot, I'll show you a rather bad photo which I took in artificial light, which really brings out the pink tones in this polish:

Pink tones... (pardon my lobster fingers)

Isn't it just lovely? I can't wait to use this polish again - it's such a strong yet feminine colour <3


I'm sorry that this post is a bit boring and all, but like I said, I've been swamped - and I still am now, so you're gonna see a fair few of these posts over the next couple weeks... I can't wait to eventually have time to do some decent art again!

'Til next time and stick with me! :-)

- Skye x

WAUF... Work / Play / 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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Welcome to the latest edition of WAUF! This week, I speak to Leslie from Work Play Polish! Let’s get down to business :-)


Name:  Leslie. But I’m “workplaypolish” just about everywhere on the web.

Blog: Work / Play / Polish

Since: May 2012

GFC followers (at time of writing): 5,093

Signature bloggism: Hmmm…this is a tough one. Probably my “Mani Cave” feature showing the transformation of a room in my house to a dedicated polish room. Those posts get a lot of traffic. I feel guilty that the remodel is going slowly and I don’t have much progress to share each week…but hopefully I can ramp that up soon!

Fav Brand: Zoya (which I can afford to collect) and Dior (which I cannot afford to collect).

Fav Colour: In real life, navy blue. My daughter argues that it can’t possibly be someone’s favorite color. In polish life, berry pink.

Fav Nail Art Technique: Tape manis. It’s something that I can handle and it appeals to the OCD in me because I can get perfectly straight lines!

Fav Blog: Again, this is tough. I love to read nail blogs. I love any and every nail blog – even if the skills aren’t mature yet… I just love when other people love to paint their nails and I like watching bloggers evolve over time right with me. I don’t discriminate and I try to read as many as I can! So I have lots of favorites, but my most favorite is Manicurator. Victoria’s manis are perfect, her photos are gorgeous and she’s always on the cutting edge of what’s new.  Plus, she’s a great person and has become a dear friend. I call her my “Nail Blogging Sensei”. 

Would still like to try: My husband and daughter surprised me with a new-in-box Clarins 230 for Christmas. I’m dying to try it. But I’m nervous!

One fact we may not know about you/your blog: I transferred schools midway through college and gave up a large scholarship. In order to work my way through the next two years, I took a break to get my nail tech license. Once I got settled at a salon, I planned to pay for school by painting nails and taking out loans. I grew particularly close to one client who became almost a surrogate mother to me. One day she came in for her weekly manicure appointment and informed she was going to pay my college tuition until I graduated. And she did! So you see, nails really have impacted my life! I worked as a professional nail tech for five years total. I keep my license and continuing education current - but now I only do nails for fun!

When not painting my nails you’ll find me: Honestly? Working at my “real” job or cleaning the house. Party time, right?

Why I follow her: Leslie is a true all-rounder; she has beautiful hands and nails, beautiful swatches of the latest collections, some really brilliant nail art and a great feel-good story to boot! I discovered her blog just a few months ago and really fell hard for her work :-) The love affair began with her series of Digit-al Dozen Does Art series (please look it up - it was in January!) and it has continued ever since. I highly recommend taking a look!

So tell me... why aren't you following Work / Play / Polish?!

How to follow Leslie:

FB: www.facebook.com/workplaypolish
Instagram: http://instagram.com/workplaypolish

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/workplaypolish

Twitter: @workplaypolish

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: Sugar Plum Faerie drip mani

Why hello, my lovelies! I've picked up a lot of new followers since I started my WAUF feature, and I'd like to thank all of you for tagging along :-) I hope you enjoy my blog! 

Today I have to show you a mani featuring one of my new KBShimmers: Sugar Plum Faerie ^^ This is of course not a new polish, but it's been sitting untried for a loooooong time and took a mammoth two months to reach me, so this is a BIG DEAL! 

Firstly, let me show you my attempted art for this week - a drip mani (oh yeaaaaah, crossed another technique off my list). Check it:

... pease pudding cold.

Pease pudding hot...

I loved this mani but found it really hard to capture on camera :/ It sorta looked like a quirky Xmas pudding to me, what with the glitter base and shimmery drips (Rimmel Black Cherries) :-) Om nom nom nom nom. 

WOOHOO! Short post today (I'm getting better - see!) ^^ Finally, I will of course show you the base colour - the gorgeous Sugar Plum Faerie:

... I know right?! (colour-accurate)

I think this may be my new favourite polish. The glitter colour combo is wicked and the polish applied like a total dream; it's the first KBShimmer I've owned with a formula that can only be described as utter perfection - and my others really have a great formula, so that's saying something! Christy got this one bang on!

*prideful parting shot* (sorry about the colour distortion!)

What do you think of this mani? I always thought that it would be difficult to do a drip mani but it was surprisingly simple - all it took was a marker pen lid (aka my dotting tool) and a steady-ish hand to join the dots up :-) I will DEFINITELY be trying this again!

What colours would you choose for a drip mani? Have you ever done an adventurous polka dot/striped drip mani? Those still look hella scary to me! 

Thanks for reading and 'til next time, curlettes ^^

- Skye x

WAUF... Valiantly Varnished?

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! Today I speak to Ameerah from Valiantly Varnished! Let’s get down to business :-)

Name: Ameerah Muhammad

Blog: Valiantly Varnished

Since: April 2012

GFC followers (at time of writing): 218

Signature bloggism: Don't know if I have one. Perhaps my post greeting or my hand pose.

Fav brand: China Glaze (w/ Butter London a close second)

Fav colour: I used to say black but now I would say a dark vampy shade with glitter.

Fav nail art technique: Freehand nail art

Fav blog: Chalkboard Nails

Would still like to try: Brand - Barry M; Technique - Typography

One fact we may not know about you/your blog: I studied acting and did theater for ten years before retiring to focus on writing.

When not painting my nails you’ll find me... : Playing games on FB and watching TV!

Why I follow her: I discovered Ameerah on FB and only realised recently that she has a blog. Now I get to see all of her latest creations! I adore all of her manis and I think she does some beautiful swatches (seriously, check them out)! I especially like that I get to see different kinds of colours to normal because she has a warmer, olive skin tone. I know a lot of gals have been looking for olive-toned swatchers lately, so Ameerah could be your girl! She comes across a little shy in this post, but she’s also a real nice, friendly person and I can’t wait to see what she’s gonna come up with next! :-)

So tell me... why aren't you following Valiantly Varnished?!

How to follow Ameerah:

Blog: http://www.valiantlyvarnished.blogspot.co.uk/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/ValiantlyVarnished?fref=ts

Instagram: http://instagram.com/ameerahvaliantlyvarnished/

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/ameerah26/

Twitter: @ValiantlyVarn

Thanks for reading this week’s WAUF! Tune in this time 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 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: A England Iseult

Hello lovelies and hello new followers! Welcome aboard :) :)

Today I get to show you a new favourite polish of mine - A England Iseult! This polish will always be very special to me, because it was sent to me along with A England Tristam (a gorgeous blue holo) completely by surprise by Anne Catherine Vold Archer! After my initial confusion at seeing an A England bubble envelope in my postbox, I realised that Anne had bought me these polishes out of the kindness of her heart because I don't own any pretty nudes that are 'interview-appropriate'. Anne told me that she wanted to prove to me that work wear doesn't have to be boring - and I now totally believe her! Thank you SO much Anne. I will never cease to be totally in awe of how much kindness is demonstrated in the polish community, and it's really very humbling. Kindness breeds kindness and I can only hope that I get the chance to pay forward all of the kindnesses I've been shown since I was welcomed into our little community :-)

Firstly, let me show you what I did to the mani after I got back from my interview - I got my stamp on again!

Stampy, stampy!

This is an image from GALS plate #29 and it fitted on my shorter-than-usual nails perfectly. At first I thought I'd maybe got the colour combination wrong again, but the mani eventually really grew on me and I'd definitely do it again. I think my main issue was that the silver image didn't really pop so my accent nail looked a bit much at first, but that's what I get for choosing to stamp with polishes with little or no colour contrast! This was a v. feminine mani and one I'm sure I'll reproduce in the future.


Here's the polishes I used:

• A England Iseult (pink-nude base)
• Barry M Silver Foil
• Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine Pomegranate

Finally, here's a couple swatches of the beautiful base colour, A England Iseult:

Iseult #1

Iseult #2

This is a very sheer and delicate, almost-white pink polish with a subtle silver shimmer running through it. At first I thought it wouldn't suit me, because I'm definitely a warm-toned gal, but having worn it for a week I can honestly tell you that this polish will suit anyone and everyone! I'm thrilled, because it's really pretty! This was about three coats, but I think that four would eliminate the VNL. In fact, in most lights this wasn't noticeable anyway. As is fairly typical for these sheer polishes, application was a bit tricky, but not as tricky as it could have been. I think the main challenge was being patient enough to cope with the slower-than-average drying time, but as you can see, I mostly succeeded :-)

I realise that my photos of this polish are not great (weird colours, lobster hands, no jumper etc.!), but this is because I did the mani really late the night before I went to my interview and so I didn't really get a chance to take my time and get good ones. As a result, my nail art pic is ironically the most colour-accurate for the polish! I will definitely be wearing it again, though, so I will get you better pics then! For those curious, I wasn't offered the job in the end, but I think this was a blessing in disguise because the salary turned out to be very poor; I can buy more polish and travel more often if I continue freelancing, and that suits me just fine!


All I can say to sum up is thank you once again to Anne for buying me my beautiful (and first ever) A Englands, and that I can't wait to wear them both time and time again :-) I just hope that the weather plays along soon so that I can finally appreciate Tristam in all his noble and romantic holo-glory :-)

See you later this week for the second installment of my WAUF blog series!

'Til next time, curlettes :-)

- Skye x

WAUF… The Crumpet?

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 very first edition of WAUF! I'm so excited to start this feature and hope y'all enjoy it! Let’s get down to business - today I talk to Debbie of The Crumpet! :-)

Name: Debbie Crumpet

Blog: The Crumpet

Since: Well, the blog started in February 2011, but the nail blogging didn’t start ‘til about the July of 2011.

GFC followers (at time of writing): 1,802 (called 'Crumpeteers'!!! Love it haha)

Signature bloggism: I don’t know! I don’t think I have a signature hand pose, but when I take my photos, I do cycle through about eight set “poses”. I do some swatching (mainly indies), some nail art and some stamping, and I’m a self-declared splodger. How would you recognise a Crumpet manicure? Either a stray bit of clean up I’ve missed or because it’s got purple or glitter in it!

Fav brand: This is such a hard question.  I don’t know that I have one fav. Currently I’m loving KIKO and I support Barry M dearly. Indie-wise, there’s just sooooo much to choose from.

Fav colour: Purple – duh lol. I’m also very partial to orange these days, and I can always squeeze in a good red or a calming blue.

Fav nail art technique: Splodging!!  Lol.  I like random art styles.  I love splatter manis, partly because you really have no idea what you’re going to end up with !

Fav blog: I admire lots of bloggers, and there’s lots who have inspired me. I pin all my favourite blogger manis to pinterest (link to Debbie's pinterest below). I guess Chalkboard Nails really stretched what I thought a nail blogger could do, and she is the holy grail for me – her standards are soooo high, whereas I’m more the “argh, that’ll do/no one will notice” girl!

Would still like to try: I’ve done most techniques, but there are still a few out there. I think more than anything I need to get BETTER – I’m not as precise with a brush as I would like to be, so much as I would like to be a one-stroke genius, that isn’t going to happen until I control my art brushes better.

One fact we may not know about you/your blog: That it wasn’t supposed to be a nail blog. EVER. It started life as an outlet for my writing, and I think I thought I would do random posts – opinion pieces, best ofs – and it would feel quite magazine-y. I think that’s why some of my non-polish pieces are so popular, because for me it’s mostly about the writing, and the nails are slooooowly catching up!

When not painting my nails you’ll find me... : Hhhhhmmm. I am at heart a bookworm. If I won the lottery, I would spend my days reading (in a shady hammock), writing, buying polish and eating extremely tasty but non-calorific food. I love my food, and music, and pretty things. Oh and stationery. And nice scents. I’m a Clinique Aromatics or lavender girl.

"The mani I'm proudest of... everything about it just worked."

Why I follow her: Debbie Crumpet is the matriarch of the polish world. She provides a haven for initiates to the colourful cult of polish, she's a guide for newbie bloggers, she's real - a nail blogger who isn't afraid to show some flaws - and she's got incredible artistic flair. Not only that, but she is funny and has the sort of blog you want to read; I'm pretty sure I've never just skipped through to look at photos on a Crumpet post! Finally, she loves one of my favourite nail colours (purple!) and has a marvellous collection of Crows Toes that I love to look at :-)


So tell me... why aren't you following The Crumpet?!

How to follow Debbie:

Blog: www.the-crumpet.com

FB: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Crumpet/124523500970843
Instagram: http://inst.ag/u/thecrumpet1/
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/thecrumpet/

Tumblr: The1Crumpet

Twitter: @thecrumpet1

Debbie is also in charge of a ton of groups on FB, my fav being Crumpet's Nail Tarts.

Thanks for reading this week’s WAUF! Tune in this time 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: Kiko coffee nubs

Hello my lovelies :)

Firstly, I'd just like to say a massive WOW and thank you so much to all the new followers. I realised I was taking a risk planning a blog feature without canvassing people's opinions first, but so far I'm assuming that people really like the idea, which I'm really pleased about :-) The first WAUF post should go live this week (probably Thursday).

So onto today's business!

As some of you may know, I went on a cheeky trip to Copenhagen a couple weeks back to see a friend of mine who moved out there last summer. For the trip, I decided to nubbinise and then use Barry M Silver Foil for a full mani, but this was a horrible mistake. I don't have ANY photos (criminal, I know), but the application was a total PITA, and my mani chipped almost immediately.

Consequently, I ended up removing the polish asap when I arrived and then just went bare for the week. Unfortunately, what with the cold and dry air in Denmark, and what with running around after a hyper two-year-old whilst I was there, I managed to break EVERY SINGLE NAIL. Remember my last post, that showed how lovely and long they were? Nope, they became tiny, especially on my right hand. I managed to keep them of roughly equal length right until my flight back home, when I managed to rip two of the nails on my right hand half-way down the nail bed - I could actually feel my finger tips and exposed the hyponychium underneath :-(

This is the shortest my nails have been in a while, but though it felt strange at first, I eventually got used to the new length - I think that shorter nails are much more practical, actually; they just make my fingers look stubby! In an effort to love my new nubs, I decided to resort to using a fav polish of mine which has been neglected for some time now: Kiko 374. If you're a veteran follower (if such a word can be used for a blog which is only four months old!), you may recall seeing mention of this polish in my autumnal sponging post here, but I didn't have a good swatch for you. Now I do (sorta)!

Behold:

Colour-adjusted to bring out the copper shimmer

Deep, rich brown

As you can see, this is a deep brown, almost espresso-coloured polish with a deep copper shimmer running through it (not well photographed - sorry), which makes the polish very rich and satisfying to wear! I just adore this polish and it truly doesn't get enough wear time. It also gets bonus points for matching my glasses :-) I actually loved my nails at this precise length - they looked really cute, almost like the ones you can see at Dressed Up Nails (Whitney) and I Heart Pretty Polish (Essie). They did eventually grow out a bit, which is the length you can see in my photos, but they're still much shorter than I'm used to:

Cute little nubs in direct sunlight :-)

Indirect sunlight

Unusually, I didn't do any art for this mani because I was enjoying my perfectly polished nubs FAR too much to put anything over the top! It's just so purrrrrty :-) I promise I have some art lined up for next time, though!


So what do you think? Do you like rich, dark colours like this? I have to admit that these deep shades are probably my favs... I should wear them more often!

See you on Thursday for my inaugural WAUF post! :-)

- Skye x