Pretty Serious Cosmetics - Purple Monkey Dishwasher

Hi Everyone,

Today I'd like to share the second of my little Pretty Serious collection - Purple Monkey Dishwasher.

This might sound like a very random collection of words (well, actually...) but in fact it's a little tidbit from an episode of The Simpsons - which is my husband's favourite TV show. The scene itself is here if you'd like to see it for yourself!

http://youtu.be/PP_pDXBOSBI

When I saw a swatch of this polish, I had to show my husband - I get brownie points if I recognise things from his favourite shows. Also, it's purple, and I do love me some purple polish! So of course, I was completely thrilled when this turned up! Yay!! (And yes, he gets mega brownie points for these little treats!)

If you read my last Pretty Serious post, you'll know that I have a bit of a soft spot for this packaging - it's just so pretty! But lets have a look at what's inside... after all, that's what counts!

The polish itself is a blue toned purple, with mixed micro-glitter particles. It dries to a somewhat matte and textured finish. It felt a bit like a rubbish Liquid Sand polish to be honest, but without the sparkle or coverage. In these swatches, I have done something slightly different - on my index, ring and pinkie finger I have applied top coat. On my thumb and middle finger, I've left it bare to try and show the difference in look and texture. I'm not sure if I *actually* achieved this, but lets take a look anyway!

I love these close up shots of the bottle as it shows up the tiny hints of blue and pink glitter. These really show up when you use a glossy top coat - otherwise I think that the polish looks a little bit flat in colour. The texture is quite rough, and it does have a tendency to drink top coat. I used three thin coats of polish and three coats of top coat. I could still feel the texture underneath the top coat, but by then, 6 coats felt like more than enough.

Despite my somewhat gushing praise for Liquid Leprechaun and it's beee-uuuuu-tiful formula, I was a little bit disappointed with Purple Monkey Dishwasher. First of all, I needed to do a bit of brush maintenance before I started my mani as there were a few dangly strands. Then, upon application, I found that the polish was a bit stubborn - I really had to drag it around the nail, which left coverage uneven in other places. It felt too much like hard work, and not enough like fun! A very different experience than the one I had with Liquid Leprechaun.

Top coat really makes this polish special. Without it, I didn't like the polish. (Sorry.) I kept checking my nails during the day to see if I changed my mind, but no. Thankfully, the glossy nails saved it for me. I didn't like the texture or formula, and the colour seemed flat to me. Add the gloss, and we're back to something special - it becomes glowy, with more distinction to the pink and blue particles. This is one for a thick gel top coat I think - just to remove that underlying texture and create a smooth finish.

So... would I recommend this polish? Yes and no.

If you prefer a simple, no fuss mani - don't. I like painting my nails on a daily basis and this just frustrated me. A disappointing experience for me.

If you don't mind putting in the extra effort for a beautiful result, then yes. But bring a gel top coat along for best results!

What do you think of Purple Monkey Dishwasher? Do you have any Pretty Serious recommendations for me?

Let me know,

Love Charlotte x

Pretty Serious Cosmetics - Liquid Leprechaun

Hi Everyone,

I'm sharing one of my latest polishes today, from a company I have wanted to try for a while! Pretty Serious seems to have it's head on straight - I love that it's a company with ethics, creating fantastic vegan and cruelty free products, meaning anyone can enjoy them. I'm not vegan, or vegetarian, but I appreciate how hard it must be for people to find great products and stick to their personal beliefs.
They say...

'Pretty Serious Cosmetics is an Australian based company creating cruelty free and vegan products. Our products are moulded with personality, fun and class.'

Whats not to like?

Anyway, this is one of two Pretty Serious nail polishes that were bought for me as a gift from the hubby! Call it a 'thank you and I'm sorry and thank you' gift. It's a long story, but it involves his car, being woken up at 4am whilst he's away at a meeting, and me kinda saving the day. The sorry bit is because it was 4am. As in, in the morning. Who knew it could even be that early?!?

Enough of my ramblings, lets have a look!

The first thing I love: the name. Liquid Leprechaun. Makes me think of a 'Will it Blend?' video. Poor little leprechauns, but, ya know...

The second thing: the packaging. Their avatar/logo/company goddess is gorgeous, really well designed and pretty much just fab. I love the detail they have put into it too. It makes me think that they care about their products, and to be honest, its what I would do too.

 The third thing I love: OMG the formula. LOVE. Its beautiful. Not what I would expect for a glitter - this applies like an absolute dream. This is two coats - with about two coats of top coat to smooth it out. No clean up. None required. That is not usual for me at all! So yeah, two thumbs up from me!

The blurry sparklies! <3

Oh my, it's beautiful, isn't it? I've had so many compliments wearing this. So many. For someone who doesn't often 'do' green, this is a huge win!

The fourth thing I love: their service. The order was placed at 5am, Thursday 18th of July. It arrived at my home on Wednesday 24th of July. (I got it on the 25th as there was no one home to sign for the parcel.)
Let's just take a moment to appreciate the fact that it took less than a week for these to work their way to the UK from Australia! Bloody fabulous! (Don't get me started on the UK Amazon seller who took 26 days to post a book to me... grrrr.)

So what do we think? I think Pretty Serious have just rekindled my love for glitters. I'm not even going to moan about removal. I can't wait to wear the next one... stay tuned to see for yourself!

Love Charlotte x

MAC Dazzlesphere Collection

Hi Everyone!

Today I would like to share a few swatches from the MAC Dazzlesphere gift set, which my lovely Brother and Sister-in-Law bought for me for my birthday, back in March.

For some reason, I totally though that it was called a Sparkleglobe. I seem to be making things up in my head. At least I was close haha!!

 Anyway, first up is my personal favourite from this collection, Dark Angel. This is two coats of a fabulous vampy grape purple cream, despite being labelled as a frost on the bottle. It's very opulent and rich, and a perfect colour for those dark Wintery days and nights! Alas, out of all of the colours in this collection, I found this the hardest to apply. It's a bit streaky, and hard to control. But still, it's a gorgeous colour!

Next is a beautiful pink toned nude, called Style Tip. I have found this polish to be very versatile, and have used it a fair few times. I'm thinking I might need a full sized bottle, when I get a bit of spare cash... Or find myself near a MAC counter... This is much easier to apply, and again, I'm showing two coats for these swatches.

Now we have MAC Much Adored. I tried applying three coats of MA on it's own on my ring finger and pinky, but it was a bit too sheer for my liking. You can see my icky nails underneath! I'm not a fan of my own bare nails... I won't be using it on it's own - rather as I've shown on my index and middle finger, where I have one coat layered over Style Tip. It's a pearlescent finish, with a nice warm shimmer to it and very nice to apply.

 

Finally, last but certainly not least, is MAC Mistletoe. This is a frosty metallic green, tinged with what I would call an antique gold. It applies nicely, but dries with visible brush strokes. The finish and colour combination reminds me a lot of Chanel Peridot, the sought after colour for 2011, however this has less of the bronzey duochrome effect. Still, you can see how the colour changes between natural light and the flash. In it's own right, this polish is still fairly unique - I haven't seen many that are like this! When you get it, the green is beautiful and vibrant.

With regards to wear, I really can't comment as I haven't used any of these for a full mani - only for these swatches. However, they have made me more curious about what else MAC has to offer in the nail polish department!

Do you have any favourites from MAC? Let me know!

Love Charlotte x

Chanel Coco Blue

Hi Everyone,

I have a big happy to share with you today. My wonderful Mr bought me a little gift a few days ago. Oddly, I walked straight past the Selfridges bag it was hidden in. Didn't even notice it. He found it rather funny, and wondered how I hadn't noticed there was a GIFT for ME in said bright yellow bag.

What can I say, I was somewhat preoccupied!! I'm a busy girl!

Anyway, under a sea of samples for Chanel and Dior (I'm still wondering how he gets so many when I get hardly any...) I found this!!!

First of all (and I don't mean to sound like I'm bragging) but how awesome is my other half? He knows that I love Chanel (but can not afford it any more) and that I love nail polish. He combined my two cosmetic loves and got me this! Happy!!

Here it is swatched:

With Flash - OMG Bluuuuuue!

Natural Light

This polish is just so pretty. I had been thinking that I needed some pale blue for my collection, as I don't really have many blues. I was thrilled when this appeared!

It has the slightest hint of grey (which seems to always be a winner for me!) and teeny tiny flecks of something shimmery. This is two coats, which still has a bit of VNL. But, who cares. It's Chanel. We love Chanel - they can do no wrong.

Next time, I will give myself time to apply a third coat. This was an omg-I'm-gonna-be-late-for-work-but-I-can't-leave-without-my-nails-being-done kinda thing. We've all been there. And it was worth it.

Thank you hubby!!

And thanks for reading,

Love Charlotte x

PS - Yes, I will so be sending him for all samples in future - I know when I'm onto a winner!!

Oh YES! Holographic Nails!!

Hi Everyone!

A few weeks ago, I celebrated my birthday. I'm in my 20's - that's as close as you will get to my real age! And like the dutiful husband he is, the Mr. purchased some wonderful nail polish for me.

So what if I picked them out and pointed at them until he ordered them...? He did it - that's the mani main thing!!

These are my objects of desire and nail lust. Layla Holographic - available from simply occasions - who are currently the only UK stockists.

This is how they arrived. Look!!

 

The first time you order the Layla polishes, you get a free nail file and buffer - to remove all the ridges from your nails.

But what I really loved is the attention to detail in the packaging.

The little bag, the teal crepe paper and the holographic flower sticker! It's just pretty - and it tells me that Simply Occasions is run by someone who takes pride in their work. I like!

Anyway, now the important stuff.

I happily introduce you to Layla Mercury Twilight. The was four quick and easy coats. On first application, I got this horrible sinking feeling - there was no holo! My inner diva started to get all worked up - and let me tell you , that is NOT pretty. But as it started to dry, you could see the holo effect creep across the nail. Happy!!!

This beauty is called Mermaid Spell - I LOVE that name. If I was going to be a mermaid for a day, I would choose a tail in this colour. It's blue, green, pink and orange all at once.
Again, this is about four coats - this time over a white base. I was hoping that the white base reduced the need for so many coats, but for me it didn't. I am not a fan of VNL, and will happily layer on polish to try and avoid it.

I have many many polishes. Many. But these have risen to the top of my favourites tree. The wear is not fantastic, I had minor wear and tear within hours - but they are beautiful. Really stunning. And who can resist nail porn like this? I can't!

So thank you to the Mr. for buying me these treasures.

And thank you to everyone else who bought me polish for my birthday! Those polishes will be getting blog space soon!!

Thanks for reading - now go get your own Holo polishes - these are MINE!!

Charlotte x