OPI DS Glamour

Hi Goddesses

And so, finally, Celebration 500 ends, and this is how we bow out - with the ultimate lemming .... SCORED!

This, my lovely ladies, is OPI's famous DS Glamour, regarded  by all as the perfect blue holo, and something that I admired even before my blue love began.   This came to me via Taylor, and I swapped it for The Glittering Crowd.  I have to admit, as I was wrapping TGC for her journey, I had a pang of regret, but the minute I put the first brush stroke of this on the nail .... forgotten :)

DS Glamour is one of the older, original DS polishes.  The ones that were fabulous.  And it is. I'm only sorry the British weather was STILL being a twat the day I wore it, but even without the sun bringing the holo to life, you still see her beauty.

This goes on like liquid denim.  Soft, textured, rich - it's perfect.  The blue is rich, but faded, intense, but weary - and it's this dichotomy that I love about it.

There's a velvety plush to this polish too.  Like all the very best holos, this has eye-tricking depth, like you're wearing a shag pile on your nail.   It's a polish of pure and deep serene perfection - you don't know whether to dive into, or sleep in it.

So, to cut what could be an endless rhapsody short, I am smitten with this polish.  It IS every bit as amazing, gorgeous and truly wonderful as everyone always said, and in part, that's because the colour is so beautifully understated.  

And that, my goddesses, is the end of Celebration 500 :)  I hope you enjoyed xx :)

Summer Challenge Day 25 - Water Marble

Hi Goddesses

Relax, relax, I'm here, I'm here.  I bet you thought I accidentally "forgot" didn't you, that I was pulling a flanker so I didn't have to do the water marble lol.

Well, finally, phew, thank you God, angels, Goddesses, my water marble worked!  It's not my best, it's not even my favourite, BUT IT WORKED.  So really, no, I didn't care what it turned out like as long as it turned out lol.

Water marbles frustrate a lot of people.  There are people like Colette of My Simple Little Pleasures and Jodi of Captivating Claws who make it look as easy as stealing sweets from a baby ... and then there is everybody else :)

What was bugging me most is that I CAN water marble.  There are about 5 posts of water marbles on this blog, but for some reason, my polish would no longer spread.   I've gotten it to work today by doing the following - 

* I bought bottled water.  Yes for polish.  My water is apparently so bad that not even filtering it helps

* I stood the bottle outside in the sun to warm it up

* I used a plastic cup rather than a paper cup

* I shut the window in the nail room

It worked.  Something was making my polish dry too fast on the water, either the temp of the water itself or breezes.  Next time, I might stop the heavy breathing too, you never now, it might help.

This bullseye didn't spread perfectly, but nevertheless it did spread, and for that I am SUPER grateful.   I used 3 of the China Glaze Neons - Under The Boardwalk, Love's A Beach and Pink Plumeria. Top coated with Northern Lights by Out The Door.   The thumb is definitely the best.

It made me laugh that the camera couldn't handle all the neon in some of the photos!  I had to fiddle with all sorts of buttons in Picasa to get it to look "right".   It was super bright, and look, it matched my top too!

Right, I'm off cos I'm still behind - see you tomo!  xx Enjoy :)

The Haul of Shame ..... :) June Style

Hi Goddesses

You know how I'm naughty, especially with polish buying / swapping / gimme gimme ?  Well, this month I wasn't naughty.  Oh my god, I was criminally insane!   This haul post ... well, it doesn't give me pride to show how much money I spent on polish this month, cos actually there are things in life that are more important, BUT it does give me an insane amount of giddiness and thrills.

Fortunately for me, I have to go on a no buy now - my birthday is coming up, and I have to give the wondergirls in my birthday nail group a stab at finding polishes to buy for me lol.  It will also give me a chance to maybe get some perspective.   There is only a little more nail mail on the way - some Pahlishes I bought today, a couple of items from a blog sale and my JADE holos, which are still out there somewhere !! Come to Momma, I NEED you !!!

So, first of all, we're going to look at the swaps because, altogether now - Swaps Don't Count!

I've been lucky to do some HUGE swaps recently, as well as some more normal sized ones, and here they are.

So, first up, my package from El - look how cutely it was wrapped.

And once I ripped it all open ..... NerdLacquer lemming - KILLED!  There's also a Lynnderella, Orly's Haileys Comet, OPI Nemesis from the Spiderman Collex, and some Milani randoms.

Then my super swap with Carolina from Colores de Carole, which includes a Catherine Arley, the Nabi magnetics, some Duris mmmmmmm, and Orly Buried Alive and Mysterious Ways.

My swap with the gorgeous Missy of Gnarly Gnails - NerdLcquer !!!!  1 lemming killed :) and 2 little cwute Spiderman minis.

And a supersized box from Bee - just look at this box shot.  As someone who suffers with depression, well, this may just be the antidote - looking at that box of brightness was just pure happy :)

So what was in it - Essie - the Lights, Camera, Action Collex -

All the new CG neons hummana mummana

CG Electropop Brights

and sweeties and treaties!

Ok, now we have Cauldron Drippings from the lovely Brittany.

My swap from Victoria, who is one of my favourite swappers.  She basically goes shopping for me :)  Thanks to her I have some Pam's Whimsicals

 and all these lovelies too, plus 2 OPIs she forgot to send lol.

The the lovely Lyncia sent me some Zoyas mmmmmmm.  Zuza, Wednesday, Arizona, Carly and Kimber.

Cult Nails loveliness from Emma - Seduction, In A Trance and Let Me Fly.

Flormar loveliness from Aylin as well as a couple of holos :)

And the sensationalist swap of all DS Glamour from Taylor (although it cost me The Glittering Crowd, I think it's worth it).

OK, now, just so that we're clear, all of the above were swaps, therefore they DO NOT COUNT :)  These lovelies, however, do ......

3 lovelies from Pam's Girly Bits - Daddy's Little Girl, Star Spangled and the GAWJUS Mother May I?

Love Letters from Candy Lacquer and Kitchen Sink from Amy's Nail Boutique.  Why did I buy 2 of each ?  Cos I have a frankening idea :)

4 Enchanted Polishes - Across The Universe, Cranberry Cosmos, Magic Mirror and Dizzy Mizz Lizzy.

More Llarowe loveliness - GlitterGal Fiery Furnace Brilliant, Ozotic 506, Lynderella Sweets To The Sweet, Ozotic 515, and HITS Hera, to replace the one I accidentally smashed .....

3 Models Own polishes - Blue Mad, Soda Pink and Balearic Cool.

And 4 Nails Incs - All Saints Road, Kabaret, London Bridge and Chandos Place.

Some British bargains !!  Yes, there is such a thing.  W7 is a brand that seems to be growing in profile. Their range is expanding all the time, and I'll be featuring a lot of them on the blog soon.  These are 4 polishes from their Mirror Collection.

And some SH HDs and 2 Jesse's Girls which were ridiculo cheap.

The Color Club Take Wing collex - my lord they're gorgeous!

2 Konad plates I wanted and a whole slew of Konad polishes - yup!  I'm determined to get better lol.

And here ... oh my WOW - my honeys from Rainbow Honey.  If you haven't heard of this seller before, UGH, she's to die for.  She reminds me of NerdLacquer, THAT'S how good she is, and there's a major eulogy coming soon on the blog :)   This is Hoof Wrassle, 20% Cooler, Pinkie Promise, The Worst Possible Thing and The Element of Magic.  It's also worth mentioning that I ordered a 6th, Koi Pond, and Dee discovered a quality issue with it.  She immediately contacted every buyer and told them she would be replacing every bottle she'd sold.  Awesome service.

3 lovely polishes from Feenix - Key West Treasure, Flames and Beam Me Up, a holographic top coat.

Roxy from Amy's Nail Boutique and South St by Candeo - South St was a swap with Rachel, so doesn't count :)

Some more W7 loveliness.  First of all, this was the box of happiness that arrived -

it had these W7s in, which seems quite similar to the Color Club Take Wings ...

these super on trend polishes - each of them has tiny matte glitter in - one of them is in the Giveaway.  The blue one is STUNNING.

And then the only 2 polishes I wanted from the CG On Safari collex - Kalahari Kiss and Desert Sun.

3 polishes from Darling Diva - Dreamy (a holo top coat), Angry Beaver and Purple Dreams.

4 Lynns which arrived today.  Do you know, I unwrapped these with such sadness.  I ordered them a few days before the LynnderellaDramaRama went down and had stopped looking forward to them arriving.  But once they did?  Goddammit, look how BEAUTIFUL they are, sensational, even.  What a bloody annoying waste that the woman has soured her brand.  I am sure I will wear them eventually, but I can't, not yet, not til the stench has passed.

And my 11 Lush Lacquers - wow, I've been waiting for this package!  If you've not found their shop on Etsy yet, it is pure Glitterama- Heaven lol.  This is Snap Crackle Pop, Mr Bubble and Birthday Cake.

and Party Hearty and Pinky Swear (which I am having BIIIIIIG trouble keeping away from Beth).

and Party Rockin, Lite Brites and Dippin Dots which has now been renamed to Flippin Out.

and Neon Blast and Slime Time.

And then there's .... oh, that's it.  Awwwww.  I was having such fun :(    I really don't know which one to play with first. Someone emailed me after my Untrieds post to point out she counted over 200 polishes in it - whoops!!!

See you soon - it's Indie Week on the blog next week, so we're bound to have some drool :)  Enjoy xx :)