Mad As A Hatter ...... Meeeeeeee ?

Hi Goddesses

Sorry, that wasn't annoying enough.  HI GODDESSES lookey what I got !!!!  Yes the infamous and legendary and ooooh very glittery OPI Mad As A Hatter, or MAAH to his friends.  I think I might call mine Madge.

Yes, now you'll have heard me whinge A LOT about the price of polish in England but holy miracle of miracles, karma did be-right itself, and this week there was a clearance sale online where MAAH was available for just £6.49 pounds of the realm, as was Absolutely Alice, and SH Hidden Treasure (the original one) was £1.49 !!!!!  Holy crapola!!!  That *almost* makes up for all the extorting that goes on for the rest of the year!   So I bought 2, yes 2 MAAHs .... ooooh wonder what will be happening to the other one ....

Anyway, yes, do you like my splatter mani ?  Honestly, I'm serious.  When I started this on Sunday night with 2 coats of CG Urban Night (dark blackcurrant jam, very licious) I was certain I was going to do a splatter mani, but then Madge winked at me from the corner of my desk, and well ... was there EVER a combo more perfect ???!!!

I tried to do a bit of a glitter gradient but without using a sponge (don't judge me, all the glitter gets eaten by the sponge), so there was 1 layer of airy fairy splodginess, with added random factor, a half layer over that, and then an extra special swipe across the tips.

I have to say, this has been a SENSATIONAL combination.  It's fascinated me for 2 days and I'm only taking it off cos so many ideas / polishes v so little time plus another 56 on the way ooooops I may have a problem lol.   

Just look at that bottle.   To be honest, I've never really wanted MAAH, it was the price that persuaded me lol, and the fact it was HTF, but do you know what, that's some pretty in that there bottle.  Lots of silver, lots of pinky purpleyness, hints of brightest blue, all ground up super super fine.  It literally is Fairy Dust on Glam Rock Day.

I'm not sure I'll ever want to wear this on its own, but I DON'T CARE, Madge LOVES purple!!  What could make a Crumpet happier !!!

Enjoy xxx :)  oh and keep thinking about that spare bottle I have.  Oh, and obsessing.  Yes, let the thought of it consume you .....  fun times :)

xxx

China Glaze Dreamsicle - Part 2

Hi Goddesses

aka, Elizabeth, look away now !!!

Lol.  I mentioned in the Blood Oranges post, that my good friend Elizabeth despised me for what I did to one of her all-time favourite polishes.  Not only did I add a red gradient to it with SH Right Said Red, but I also added purple crackle, and if there's one thing Elizabeth hates, it's purple (really, it's a miracle we get on so well!)

The purple is Barry M's Purple Rain which is possibly my favourite crackle that I own.  I love how it shatters, in nice big spaced out chunks, but what I love most is that it dries with this amazing dusty finish, as if it would all disappear if you blew on it.

Of course, you can add a top coat and shine it up a little, but unusually for me, I love this dusty, talcy quality, especially when it contrasts so well with the base polish..

So this was 2 coats of Dreamsicle, the Right Said Red sponged gradient, and then 1 thick coat of Purple Rain.  I absolutely LOVED this.  There was something obnoxious about it that just made me smile, and even though it should all clash and look terribly wrong, there's something about it that's just soooooo right :)

Elizabeth hates it, of course, but d'you know what ..... I don't care :)   I loves it  :)

Enjoy xx :)

China Glaze Dreamsicle - Blood Oranges

Hi Goddesses

So, somewhere along the way, along with my sudden adoration of things blue, I have become a bit of an orange whore too.  I don't know whether it's happened as an antidote to winter, or whether the oranges have just really upped their game, but yes, I am liking de orange.

My cocktail buddy Elizabeth is an orange afficionado, and recommended Dreamsicle to me.  To be fair, it is pretty amazing.  A lush bright orange filled with glitter and holographic particles - sensational.  It's bursting with life and happiness, makes me smile and is just scrumptious.

Now, it's also because of dear said cocktail buddy that this post is in 2 halves.  Despite being one of my besties, dear Elizabeth remains stubbornly allergic to purple, and has called me heinous names for what I did to this polish .... so for now, let's just look at my blood orange gradient :)

After 2 coats of Dreamsicle I decided I wanted red tips and used SH Right Said Red - a lovely bright red.   I sponged using a holey sponge, and it wasn't til I'd gotten to the last nails that I really got it right.   If your gradients aren't coming out right, learn from me - the less you have on your sponge, the better.

I absolutely loved how this looked at the halfway stage, and the 2 colours melded together beautifully.  I love that there's enough dazzle in the Dreamsicle that it peaks through the red too - yummylicious!

Also, how SUGARY does Dreamsicle look ?  I just love how it's overloaded with glitter, and it also reminds me a little of how an ordinary orange looks with CG Snow Globe over it.

So begrudgingly, hat doffed to the orange woman in Florida - I love her dearly, but maaaaaaan she's going to get big headed after this :)






Enjoy xx :)

Retro Nails

Hi Goddesses

I've had this sad little mani knocking round for a few weeks, too shy to bare her face to the public.  We started with such high hopes together, but got let down at the final hurdle :(

This starts with Models Own Beth's Blue, which I admit I only bought because it shares its name with my daughter, but - ooooh isn't it lovely?!   There is the softest teeniest hint of lavender going on, which just gives this a lushness which takes the breath away.  This is a pale blue unlike any others I have seen.  Gorgeous.

I had been itching to try this particular Red Angel stamp (RA105) and I decided it would look fab and groovy if I did the stamping in red.

And do you know what, it would have done, apart from 2 things.  Firstly, the red I used just wasn't intense enough.  I used CG Salsa, which stamped fine when I was making my stamping book, but which just didn't do the job here.   There's a lack of sharpness to the pattern which is really underwhelming.  The 2nd disappointment was the Out The Door Wet Look top coat I'd been lusting after, and which I used on this one - can you see how much it streaked the left hand ??

Well, actually, no, you may not be able to see that cos I did try not to photograph it lol, but it damn near broke my heart.  Then on the right hand, the Poshe streaked some of the red too, though not as bad as the OTD did.  Boooooo hoooooo.

I was gutted.  This could have looked sensational.    I'll probably try it again cos I do love its cool retro vibe, just a shame it didn't quite work :(

Enjoy !!  xx :)

Butter LONDON - Victoriana

Hi Goddesses

Siiiiigh, it would seem that my fall is complete.  My name is Crumpet, and I Like Blue !!!  I totally blame Sarah at Chalkboard Nails for this - she posted it and I was just all "oh, I like that :(".    Seems my blue hating days are over.

This came my way in a swap with my polish sister, Elizabeth Stern, and well, it's just absolutely gorgeous.  It goes on like a dream, looks like a dream and siiiiiiiiigh.  I loves it.

Victoriana is a teally kind of blue, infused with silver and gold specks, giving it a metallic / suede type of look.  It is totally the colour of far flung oceans, mesmerisingly twinkly in that way of the sea, and just utterly and inescapably beautiful.

I'm lucky in that I own a lot of polishes that I could just stare at, like artworks, and this is really in that category.  There's just a sublime perfection in the precise shade of blue this is and how perfectly the metal sits within it.

All day whilst wearing this, I've been thinking of mermaids, and how this would be a perfect base for a mermaid mani.  Sadly, before I could even get the stamping plate out this morning, the infamous left index nail split again :(   It has done well, it's not split for weeks, but it's still a pain in the ass, and when you look at the nail, you can see the fault line running half way down the nail.  So I am very sorry, no mermaid nails today, but they are in our near future :)

Enjoy xxx :)