Lilypad Lacquer Seascape

This isn't actually my first Lilypad as I bought one from a swap page just a couple of weeks back but this is my first Lilypad mani. Seascape is a blue, slightly turquoise holo which I received in one of my Christmas swaps, along with 3 other equally beautiful polishes. Lilypad is an Australian indie brand, and one I have heard a lot about in recent months - this one did not disappoint.
It is quite bright, a lovely azure blue, the colour of the sky on a hot summers day and I think this would be the perfect polish for summer- I love it but it doesn't seem quite right when it's so cold and grim! especially as I don't have any wintery clothes in this shade, and I ended up wearing it with a denim fisherman's sweater.
This has a beautiful shimmer even when you can't see the holo. It is a lovely vibrant polish, painted on well in two coats and during a rather long car journey I found it rather hard to take my eyes off it - good job I wasn't driving! I'll definitely be coming back to this one with the first signs of summer sun.

Lilypad Lacquer Seascape

  

sunshine shot, taken on my phone in the car

  

 

Seascape with fishermans sweater & anchor pattern

Iconic Effect Victor Von Doom

You might have noticed quite a lot of UK indie posts in the last 6 months or so, what a fantastic addition to the range of varnishes available to us nail fans! There are quite a number of UK Indie makers now, I think I have tried about 11 of them - all very good quality, beautiful colours and finishes.
And...Iconic Effect was just voted UK Indie brand of the year. They have created a stunning range of polishes in a very short time, including cremes with glitter, jellies with glitter, glitter toppers, holos and duochromes. I've tried quite a few of them and delighted to say when I just googled Iconic Effect images I recognised my nails in a fair number of the images that came up - yay!!!!
So anyway, I think it's quite fitting that Iconic Effect was the brand I chose for my Christmas Day mani. Victor Von Doom is a dark green holo, quite a sage green although with hints of teal in some lights.
This is quite a sheer polish so I used 3 coats, and it has given a lovely finish. In soft light the polish is a lovely sage green, maybe a hint of grey. In brighter lights the holo comes to life but sadly no sunshine to really capture that. None the less, it is a beautiful polish, whatever the light!
Hope you all had a lovely Christmas Day, enjoy the rest of the holidays!

Iconic Effect Victor Von Doom

Iconic Effect Victor Von Doom with flash

   

finally caught the holo

Belle Glamour Death by Grape

Just catching up on a mani I did a few days back with another new UK Indie polish for you from Belle Glamour. Death by Grape is a duochrome which changes from blue to purple and has a very pretty delicate pink shimmer to it.
I have always had problems with duochromes in the past, but I learnt that the secret is to get the coats thin enough as they seem to take so much longer to dry. I also learnt quite recently that it helps with the overall finish to use a black undie so I have used a base of Nails Inc Black Taxi. I did one coat of Black Taxi and two coats of Death by Grape and I did get a bit of dragging at the base of the nail so I may not have left it quite long enough between coats, but mostly the finish is pretty good, I'll just be more patient next time. I also tried to avoid the brush strokes that I find I get with shimmery polishes.
Death by Grape is a very pretty polish, with the colours reminding me of the blue/purple sheen you get on a black grape, but of course you then spend all day turning your hand this way and that to catch the colour changes! I hope I have managed to capture enough of the colours in my pics, I think the blown up shots at the end capture the beauty of this one quite well.

Belle Glamour Death by Grape

 

 

  

 

Dragonglass Nails Christmas Jumper

Some Christmas sparkle for you today. I was out last night to a Christmas party, and the invitation stated we were to wear a Christmas Jumper. Oh no!, no Christmas Jumper but then I remembered that lovely Georgia at Dragonglass Nails sent me this a short while ago.
This is typical of the wonderful UK Indie makers. I bought a polish from Dragonglass Nails and Georgia then discovered a problem with it and contacted me, she then sent me a free of charge replacement, and a little extra!
Christmas Jumper is a fantastic sparkly mix of red, green and gold - red squares (and I love square glitter!!), green bar glitter and tiny gold hexes.
I decided to wear this over my lovely vampy red, Damson Delight and I love the combination! This is packed with glitter - just one coat and I had super blingy Christmas nails!

 

 

 

 

Jacava Damson Delight

Today I am wearing Jacava Damson Delight, and what a deliciously fruity delight it is too! It's a deep dark vampy black red. This polish is more of a jelly, unlike most of the Jacavas I have tried which are more creamy, so I used 3 coats for complete opacity, but the finish is stunning as always, so glossy.
The colour is just beautiful: when I was young we used to pick damsons for mum to make jam and dad to make wine, and this certainly reminds me of those dark red, purple concoctions bubbling away in the kitchen.
This really is a classic and luxurious colour, perfect for the winter, loving it!! 
And don't forget use the code 201315D for an additional 15% off if you fancy trying Jacava.

Jacava Damson Delight 

 

 

 

 

And a little extra shot, my two kitties have a snuggly cuddle. They sleep almost all the time except when they are busy being mad!

Christmas Nails - Santa Hats

The latest nails challenge was Santa Hats.
I have done this over my most recent mani, which it turns out wasn't the best plan as its so dark.
I've used Nails Inc Big Apple Red, which is pretty opaque in one coat but maybe not over such a dark base. I used Barry M White for the bobble and the edging.
And yes, it is a fake tree, a lovely cheap fibre optic one I got in the John Lewis Sale about 12 years ago, but I reckon its pretty kitten proof!

Iconic Effect Puff the Magic Dragon

What a beauty I have for you today, and what a challenge to capture in just a few pics for the blog!
Puff the Magic Dragon is one of the latest polishes from Iconic Effect. It is a duo-chrome, but it's holo too!! so double the challenge to capture its beauty!
I have seen a few pictures of this capturing different colours to those I caught, presumably due to varying lighting, and quality of camera. My camera seems to struggle with anything special, leaving me intensely frustrated.
Anyway, this is beautiful! and I think my pictures hint at that but you could also go to the Etsy store and see Anna's pics too for another angle!
As per the advice from Anna and others on All Things Nails I have used a base coat of Nails Inc Black Taxi, with two coats of Puff the Magic Dragon. This is WOW on the nails! It's green, no doubt about that, but I couldn't see bronze and don't think I quite saw teal - however I saw varying shades of green shifting to a grey lilac, and of course it is also holo, so catch the light right and you'll have a beautiful rainbow on your nails.

Iconic Effect Puff the Magic Dragon

  

 

 

 

 

If you got right to the end, sorry about all the pics and if you want to see MORE..there is always the Iconic Effect album on my facebook page!

Belle Glamour Amulet

I have another new UK Indie polish for you today from Belle Glamour. This one is Amulet, a shimmery lilac toned polish with hex glitter.
I have to say this is not normally the type of polish I would go for as I am not keen on shimmery or metallic finishes, or polishes where the glitter is covered up by polish but it's such a pretty colour and sometimes you just have to move out of your comfort zone!
Because I don't like my glitter covered up, I decided I would layer this polish so that I only needed one coat. I used Leighton Denny Pleasing Purple which is not quite the same shade but Amulet is opaque enough that the colours worked well together.
Amulet is a shimmery polish so I was very careful to avoid brush lines and streakiness. I may have had more of a problem if I had done a second coat but I think I got a reasonable finish with one coat and although I think this is quite an unusual polish with the hexes in an opaque base, it did grow on me during the course of the day.

Belle Glamour Amulet