China Glaze Glitz Bitz 'n Pieces

I have swatched these over OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls. Despite my original thoughts that I like my glitter over a dark base, the colours in these work better I think over a pale base, since there is a lot of black in them and the glitters are quite dark (apart from the pink in Razzle Me, Dazzle Me).
So here we have Razzle Me, Dazzle Me (pink), Bling it on (purple), Mosaic Madness (blue) and Graffiti Glitter (green) - aren't they pretty!!

Catrice Pool Party at Night and China Glaze Bling it on

Well, I got my hands on 4 of the China Glaze Glitz Bitz 'n Pieces, having convinced myself all 6 was excessive and 2 were quite similar to ones I already have.
It's Hazy Lazy Summer Days week in the facebook group and I had a new Catrice to try out. I thought Pool Party at Night would be quite suitable, and a good base for the blue CG (Mosaic Madness) but actually Mosaic Madness is a bright blue, slightly toward teal and Pool Party Blue leaning to indigo, so I decided to go with the purple Bling it On instead.
Here is the Catrice, it is a lovely creamy formula although I found the brush a bit tricky to start with, they have quite short fat brushes, and I did start with far too much on the brush, even after wiping one side on the bottle. I got the hang of it though and I think its a lovely wearable blue, not as vibrant as something like Baker Street but very beautiful, and does have the slightest hint of purple, which actually makes it all the more lovely.

Then I added China Glaze Bling It On, a stunning selection of black & purple hexes and fine glitter and black bar glitter. Unfortunately I think that Pool Party was just a bit too dark to do this glitter justice and I probably need to try again over something paler. I was pleased with the result but the purple glitter was a bit lost against the blue, and I struggled to capture it on camera. 

 

 

You can see the purple glitter on 3 of the above shots but not that its purple, it looks more blue I think.
I tried another couple of pics today since the sun decided finally to come out, so here they are, with a bit of tip wear. I think you can now see that the glitter is purple, and that my cuticles are very dry - my own fault for using a harsh polish remover in my impatience to get one glitter off and the next one on.

OPI Thanks a Windmillion & China Glaze Graffiti Glitter

When OPI brought out their Holland collection last year, I knew instantly which 3 I needed, I have a Herring Problem, I Don't give a Rotterdam and the one I am now wearing, Thanks a Windmillion.
For those that might ask, slightly darker and greyer than Mermaids Tears, close enough that you probably don't need both, but different enough that I had  a clear favourite.
It painted on well and although I often need 3 coats with OPI 2 was sufficient.
It is the most perfect soft green, I absolutely love it, and here it is, with green gloves!

Gorgeous, and almost a pity to cover it up but a new arrival was just crying out to be worn, and after doing a few test swatches I thought these would be perfect together.
China Glaze Graffiti Glitter is a mixture of black & green hexes and fine glitter and black bar glitter. I fell in love with this range when I first saw the swatches just before Christmas.
I generally prefer to put glitter over dark undies but as you can see at the top of the page, when I swatched the NI Graffitis they worked well over light and dark. I was surprised how  much I liked them over the lighter shade, and in fact the these CG's that have black glitter in them would lose a lot of contrast over dark undies.
So here are a few pics, couple of different pairs of gloves too.

 

 

 

 

None of these shots actually managed to pick up the green in the glitter, so here is one more.

Avon Plum Illusion Mosaic Effects

Yesterday I decided to give this one a try, I bought 3 of these a while back in the purple, pink and blue. The purple is called Plum Illusion.
I did swatch them when they arrived, satisfied myself I would like them but this is the first actual manicure.
I am not a big fan of crackle / shatter. I tried a red and a blue a while back and they just weren't me but since then I have tried the more shimmery ones and I like them a lot more.

I have used this over Leighton Denny Graycious, and for a subtle look I think the contrast is just right. The purple is a lovely shimmery shade, and the cracks are quite subtle themselves. It dried and cracked quickly and then I put a coat of Leighton Denny Crystal Finish on top. This really brought the nails to life and I am really pleased with the result.
Here it is with purple gloves I made with some leftover purple wool.

And here, matching to my purple cords and purple cardigan, since it is still Matchy Matchy week.

Leighton Denny Graycious

Most of the time I put  a lot of effort into deciding what colour I am going to paint my nails but on Saturday I just opened the drawer looking for something dark. I do love darks and feeling a bit sorry for myself with a stinky cold I wasn't in the mood for anything bright and cheery.
I went straight to this one, never been used, sat there waiting patiently, Leighton Denny Graycious.
I absolutely love it, it went on nicely in two coats and is a lovely dark shade of grey, very sophisticated I think.
It hasn't lasted fantastically well but I blame myself for faffing around doing a number of different things and just finishing my nails before cooking dinner, it wasn't the best plan! but on the plus side a chipped manicure is an excuse to put something on top of it - haven't quite decided what yet.
It's Matchy Matchy week on the facebook group and although I am guilty of flooding the wall with old pics of all my matchy manicures, I did think I'd better do a matchy pic for this week.
Out come the grey gloves that I actually made because I had nothing suitable to wear with A England Ascalon. The gloves are actually a bit light for a proper match but the camera decided to lie in my favour so it looks OK.

Leighton Denny Little Thief

Today I am wearing one of my favourite pinks. I am not a pinky pink person, when it comes to light colours I prefer nude shades but when I came across this one I fell in love. Little Thief is a dusky pink, and I have it stored in the nudes section of my collection. I also have Leighton Denny Whatever, which is a similar tone but a shade lighter. I love them both.
I got this in a box set with In the Buff, which I wore and blogged a couple of weeks back.
I used 2 coats and coverage was perfect.
Pictured here, with my matching Aran sweater. I think it was this sweater and polish combi that the children at school noticed in their knitting lessons, and commented on that started this idea of trying to match my nails to my knitwear.

  

I had actually been planning to do a gradient manicure over this, had it all planned out, even done a dry run but it just wasn't working for me today, and so I just did a full coat of A England She Walks in Beauty. She Walks in Beauty is an interesting combination of pink hexagons of glitter in a gold shimmery base and until I had done my dry run I wasn't sure about pink and gold, but I'm pleased with the result. Gradient manicure will have to wait.

First picture indoors with flash, second outside in daylight with snow :)

OPI You Only Live Twice

Saturday night was PTA Quiz night with a Bond theme so obviously I had to use one of my OPI Bonds! Since I had just acquired You Only Live Twice I thought it would be perfect.
Its is a beautiful pink red, with a gorgeous shimmer, I have seen it described as raspberry. It looked stunning, I am not keen on the warmer orangey reds but this was perfect.
I did 3 coats, I almost always have to with OPI to get full coverage, and considering I spent a large amount of my time washing up it lasted well.
This is it against the backdrop of my pinky red tanktop, since I don't have any gloves in the right shade :)

 

The facebook group theme this week is Romance & Roses for Valentines Day, and although there are no roses, here are a couple of pics of the above nails with the card I made for my husband.

 

Nails Inc Atomic

This is the most outside my comfort zone my nails have ever been, I think. I did this yesterday, and 24 hours later they are are still orange!
As I said, this week was Orange week and this is my contribution, delayed a little since this would not have been the right mani for an interview.
I received this last year as an extra in a swap and immediately consigned it to the Young Daughter box. She has worn it a couple of times and it always looks good on her.
It painted on well, 2 coats, lovely and shiny but very orange!

So I wore it for about an hour on its own, but really wanted to try Brick Lane on top, so here it is.

For me, I do find the Graffiti (Brick Lane) tones down the orange, making it more wearable for me. I love the mix of black and silver dots and dashes, although it is a bit rough and took 2 coats of topcoat to make it almost smooth. When I first saw the Graffiti range I was certain I'd never wear it and then I fell in love with almost all of them.
I wonder what the limit is to what I will try, as my collection of nudes and darks expands in many other directions.

Nails Inc Porchester Square

This is a varnish that I absolutely love, it goes with everything, paints on beautifully and its just perfect.
I had all sorts of things planned for this week, it being Orange week in the facebook group but a job opportunity meant that maybe orange wasn't the thing to wear.
When I used to work, I didn't paint my nails, I just kept them out of sight but once I got into nails I decided very early on Porchester Square would be the perfect interview/meeting varnish. Its a beautiful soft slightly pinky nude, which I prefer to the warmer toffee shades.
And once again, I don't have any nude/beige gloves so its modelled here with grey gloves.

I then had a little play around with A England She Walks In Beauty, and having managed to survive a ring finger manicure last week I have now done another one. I am still not sure it is my style but I felt quite comfortable with it. (But I did redo it back to normal for my meeting!)
This is a beautiful glitter, pink hexagon glitter glitter in a gold shimmery base. I am not keen on gold on nails but this is very subtle and goes well with the nude, in my opinion.