Leighton Denny Embellish Me

It's starting to feel rather autumnal, any excuse to get the dark polishes out. This is another of my favourite Leighton Denny polishes, Embellish Me. It is a deep, dark purple creme, almost black in some lights. It is so rich and dark, it's one of those polishes that I just love the moment it hits my nails.
It applied well, almost opaque in one coat but I have done two coats here.
Took a few pics in the afternoon sunshine, but the camera decided that the purple in the glove shots needed to be lighter, no idea why - it is dark purple, so are the gloves!
When I wear a colour like this I wonder why I ever put lighter colours on. Over the last six months or so, my tastes have broadened but these are still my go to shades!

Leighton Denny Embellish Me

 

 

 

Pocket Money Polishes Boogie with Iconic Effect Pea Soup

Very often I plan my manicures well in advance, but today's was a real spur of the moment thing. I was just rooting through my untried box, looking to see what beauty might get used next and I picked up Pocket Money Polishes Boogie.
This is the oldest of my untried Pocket Money Polishes so its only fair it should be used next, but was just wondering what colour base to use and then I noticed that it actually looked really pretty next to what I was already wearing, Iconic Effect Pea Soup. I did a little swatch on one nail and was delighted! so that's what I am wearing.
Boogie is a mix of matte pink squares, red hex glitters, blue matte hexes and teal hex glitters and those colours tie in perfectly with the pink and teal glitters in Pea Soup and I am really pleased with the combination. The hexes and fine glitters in Pea Soup still show through, so I only did one quick coat of Boogie on top and the glitter distribution worked well.
I am really glad I tried this and I love the combination of matte and shiny glitter in Boogie.

Pocket Money Polishes Boogie

 

 

 

 

Albem Cabled Bag

Today I finished a small knitting project I have been working on for a couple of weeks. Knitting seems to take so much longer now I have kittens!
Anyway, I finally caught up with my to do list, kittens were asleep so I have finished it, catching up with a few hours of recorded TV at the same time.
I just wanted a small cabled bag (I love cables) and I spotted this pattern when I googled "cabled bags". I downloaded the pattern for "Albem" for free from berocco.com. Although I have followed the pattern I used a different wool and smaller needle size so effectively I have the same bag but scaled down.
I only had one 100g ball of Stylecraft Life Chunky in cranberry, and it was almost enough - the risk of not following the pattern means you may not have enough wool to complete the project. I did have to skip the edging that was part of the pattern but I am OK with that, I am happy with the finished bag. I can always edge it later if I feel like it!
This wool is gorgeous, 25% wool and it knits cables beautifully. I think this is a great little bag for Autumn.

Iconic Effect Pea Soup

This one has sat too long in the "waiting to be tried" box, but at long last here it is, and what a beauty! Yet another lovely polish from Iconic Effect, Pea Soup is a mint green cream with large pink hexes, smaller teal hexes, and tiny pink and teal glitters.
I love the pink and green combination in this, it is so pretty; the contrast between these colours is just perfect and the tiny sparkles just complete the look.
I used one coat of Nails Inc Haymarket as a base, to ensure no visible nail line, and then 2 coats of Pea Soup. Haymarket was not a perfect match, but I think it was close enough. The glitter distribution was good although I did use the 2nd coat to ensure I had enough of the pretty pink hexes.
I think the pictures are mostly a reasonable representation of the colour, more green than blue, but pics were taken late afternoon so the light was not brilliant and my hands looks a bit grey. Never mind, I love Pea Soup!

Iconic Effect Pea Soup

 

 

 

 

 

Nail Lacquer UK Wink at Your Pink

Here is a another beauty from Nail Lacquer UK, Wink at Your Pink. This is a one of the Hate or Love collection. I have already reviewed Choose the One  and this is another of those glitters containing large sequins that you love or hate! I thought I hated them but I was wrong! I love them!!
This is a very pretty combination of pink sequins which reflect the light like little holographic mirrors and tiny pink hexes.
I do think long and hard about what base to wear under my glitters and I tried a few combinations here but black won hands down! I tried some greens, greys and pinks and I think in the summer I would try it again over lighter shades but black is perfect for really making the glitter sparkle!
I did one coat over 2 coats of Nails Inc Black Taxi. This gave a lovely coverage of the small pink hexes, but I only caught one sequin. I didn't mind as I prefer to fish them out and place them semi randomly rather than move them on the nail. It has been cold today and the Black Taxi took ages to dry; if I'd had to move them about I think the black would have run a bit. I stirred around and caught them on a cocktail stick, this seemed a very quick and efficient way of catching them and I love the finished look.

Nail Lacquer UK Wink at Your Pink

 

 

 

 

 

Nail Lacquer UK Turquoise Is Not Dead

This is a stunning glitter from Nail Lacquer UK, possibly my favourite from her range. Turquoise Is Not Dead is mostly a mix of turquoise/teal hexes in various sizes, with tiny turquoise micro glitters. However there also black hexes, and blue, red, gold and other coloured hexes and squares, they just add to the overall beauty of this glitter. When I ordered it, obviously I was ordering a pretty turquoise glitter but it is so much more because of the added extras. All the beautiful glitters capture the light, and every now and then you catch another colour - it's just lovely.
I have chosen to wear it here over Leighton Denny Persian. I did swatch it over Black Taxi but of course you lose the black glitter so I went for a teal base instead, and I think they compliment each other well. It looks great with Black Taxi too! This is one coat of Turquoise Is Not Dead and the glitter distribution was great.
As usual, no end of pictures got deleted in my frustration to capture its glittery sparkliness! Hopefully this selection will give you an idea of how lovely this is, with anther blurry one included as it seems the only way my camera will pick up sparkle at the moment.

Nail Lacquer UK Turquoise Is Not Dead

  

 

  

 

 

Leighton Denny Persian

I love this colour! Leighton doesn't do many greens, but this one never fails to look stunning. Persian is a gorgeous deep creamy teal which I was lucky enough to pick up in a swap last year. I was delighted to get this one as I'd seen it on QVC and fallen in love. It did not disappoint, it is so rich and creamy, easy to apply and such a wonderfully intense colour. I love blues and greens, so it's right up there on my favourites list!
This is two coats without a top coat as I had chosen this colour to go under a glitter. The sun was shining so I couldn't miss the opportunity to take a few pics - there are not many swatches out there for this one and I want everyone to see how lovely this is!

Leighton Denny Persian