Zoya Giveaway Reminder - 45ish hours left

Hi Goddesses

Just a quick reminder about my Zoya Giveaway - there's less than 48 hours left.  Have YOU entered yet?

If not, click HERE, now !!!

xx

Zoya Noot - Swatch, Stamp & Review

Hi Goddesses

Ah Zoya Noot, how I love and despise you in equal measure. How you bewitch yet thwart me; fascinate yet repel me; how you show me your riches yet deny me .... argh!

Erm yes, so Zoya Noot, weird name, cool polish.  I love it.  It's a mesmeric green.  It's dark, it has tones of evil, it's murky.  It's a great green, and in real life I like this colour, and even have clothes this colour.

Zoya Noot however, is all s-Noot-y about me, and despises my skin tone.  Yes, I look RUBBISH in it, and that's what makes it so argh!  It's a gorgeous polish, and I can't wear it, because  .... well, this colour just looks wrong on me.  Dammit!

And look how nice it looks stamped too!  There was something so rich and classic about the green, that I thought it deserved gold script over it.

This is BM-311, and a skittle using most of the images as they're all lovely.  Gold - Barry M Gold foil of course :)

This is a really rich and Christmassy combination, full of class, quite "olde" and distinguished.


Enjoy xx :)

Barry M Pomegranate meets ..... Models Own Hot Stuff

Hi Goddesses

Now THIS is what you call a sweet combination.  Don't these 2 look effortless together ?

So, Barry first of all.  Pomegranate is one of the Gellies I am still on the fence about.  It's lovely, a 1 coater, looks super glossy, but there's something that just doesn't reach me, soulwise.

I mentioned in the preview post that this reminds me a lot of a glossy version of Barry M Raspberry, and I still hold by that.   I think my conflict comes from the fact that this is a colour I USED to wear a lot, but which I have outgrown.

Pomegranate sits on the line where crimson and fuschia fuse together.   This is a reddy dark magenta, and a pinky ruby.  It's gorgeous, don't get me wrong, but I just don't gravitate to this colour anymore.

Hot Stuff is the "pink one" from the Models Own Mirrorballs. This definitely has wow factor, and Pomegranate ended up being a great base for it too.

As with the other Mirrorballs, this is loaded with glitter shards, diamonds and squares, totally random, and I do love that about these mixes.

Colourwise, this is a nestling of pink, violet, gold and silver - sensational.

I just want to return for a second to the subject of how these polishes smell.  A couple of people have commented "yes, all Models Own polishes smell because they are not 3-free".  Believe me, I KNOW that.  What I am trying to say (though apparently not very eloquently) is that these smell a LOT worse than your average Models Own polish, like 10 times worse.  For me, and my sensitive nose, these compare to gloss paint or varnish, whereas a normal Models Own might just compare to emulsion paint.   I love Models Own as a brand, I really do, but I am constantly staggered by how many people in the nail polish community share my sinus and migraine pain - THAT'S why I am emphasising this in every post.  I am probably going to have to sell ALL my Mirrorballs, because my nose can't handle them, and that makes me sad.  If I'd never known how glorious they looked on my nails, I'd be a lot LESS sad.  And maybe, just maaaaaybe, this might help Models Own make the jump to 3-free.

Ok, ramble over - enjoy! xx :) x

31DC Day 30 - Inspired By A Tutorial

Hi Goddesses

One of the things I love about the nail community is how inspiring they are.  There are so many amazing creative ladies doing amazing creative things with their manis, that days like this aren't difficult.  It's also part of the reason Monkey See, Monkey Do Mondays started - to honour and share the genius of nail bloggers.

Today's mani comes from a tutorial my beloved Sarah of Chalkboard Nails did in the summer - starfish nails.  Her mani was very different, both in colour choice and positioning, but what I loved was how simple her tutorial made the drawing of a starfish.  Previously, I'd have tried to draw a star - unsuccessfully probably - but thanks to Sarah, this is how it's done - 

Since then, I'd seen versions of this in more traditional colours, and I loved the vibrant clash of the turquoise and coral, so that's what I aimed for.

The night I did this, it wasn't my plan to at all, but the minute KBShimmer Proud Peacock landed on my nails, my head couldn't think of anything other than a seabed.

Proud Peacock is a gorgeous aqua blue jelly, laden with multi-blue coloured glitters.  I think I used 2 coats here, and I loved how at that moment, it had blueness, but also transparency, just like exotic seas.

So, then I did my starfish, using Sarah's simplified shape-building and Barry M Coral.  There's something about coral on blue that just POPS.   The lighter dots were done with Models Own Fuzzy Peach.

Overall, I really love this mani.  No, the starfish aren't perfect, but overall the colours work and the theme works. So thanks Sarah for breaking it down to a level even a splodger like me can understand!

Enjoy xx :)

Barry M Watermelon meets ..... Daring Digits Fallen Leaves

Hi Goddesses

It's a Watermelon double bill today, as I also used it for the base for this great combination.   I'm not going to post the Watermelon photos again, but if you want to see them, click here.

A few weeks ago, Daring Digits had a ridiculous sale in her Etsy store, with most of the polishes reduced to $5 or $6.   Being me, I couldn't resist, and I'm glad I didn't, because I've ended up with some really quirky polishes I might not otherwise have bought.

Take Fallen Leaves - in the bottle this is a holographic soup.   Tiny tiny suspended particles, nestling alongside green, and a dark autumny rainbow of other colours.

On top of Watermelon, you get pure awesome.   Superb twinkling and depth from just one layer.  I think you can see in the photos how fine the particles are, making it perfect as a topper - I think it would have been overpowering with larger glitter sizes.

I think this is going to be a big Christmas winner - there's something very evergreen about it!   I can imagine this is what the fairies wear whilst they're roasting chestnuts over an open fire!

Enjoy - you can check Daring Digits out here xx :)