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

More Random Nail Spam...

Well hello there,

How are you all? I hope you're better than I am! I seem to have done something funky to my back. (Yes, I am like a walking medical issue - there is always something lol!) Alas, it means I've had to have a few pain killers now and then - and they do a really good job of making me drowsy and sleepy - so no computer time for me!

It probably has something to do with the entire week we spent having a good spring clean! I never thought of my house as messy, just a little cluttered in places. So I roped the Mr. into helping me have a good sort out. Very therapeutic! And, dare I admit, maybe my house WAS messy. (Three car's full to the local tip/recycling centre...) There's still some stuff to do - like things to eBay, things to donate to charity, and a final run to recycle an old TV. I didn't realise we had acquired so much junk! Ooops! Also, during this epic tidy-a-thon, we discovered that we've had a leaky pipe for a while, which has caused much stress, and will probably cause more before its completely resolved! Oh well...!

As a result of our hard work, there were a few casualties in the nail department. Which sucks, but at least my house makes me happier! Whilst I'm getting back into a better shape, here are a few old pictures again - as the title suggests, some random spam!

(I know, I know, but still, who doesn't like looking at nails?!)

Model's Own Jade Stone - So pretty... so very pretty...!

A bit of nail art using Angelica polishes from Primark! And yes, terrible cuticles :(

Stripes and swirls using Sinful Colors, China Glaze and Chanel

A late photo - hence the tip wear - but this is my fishtail attempt for the few days of summer we had.

Be still my beating heart - Essie Jamaica Me Crazy. Insta-Love with this one! Oh yes!

I loved this wrapping paper - I used it for pass the parcel for my sister's hen party. It's so cute! And so, I had to do a mani inspired by it!

Finally, a terrible photo, but it shows the pink shimmer in the blue. Sinful Colors Cinderella and Pinky Glitter. <3

What do you think of the mani's and polishes? Any of your favourites in here? And where do you get inspiration from? Anything stranger than wrapping paper?

Let me know!

See you soon,

Love Charlotte x

Random Nails of The Day!

Hi Everyone,

Seeing as I am on day 2.5 of wearing gels, I thought I would share an older mani with you!

Here is a fabulous and random manicure from me. Very random, but I loved wearing it haha!

Ever been unable to decide how to paint your nails? Do you have art, or a new colour, or all out bling?

I was in a particularly blingy mood, and really wanted to play with my Sally Hansen Glitter polishes, which were an awesome gift from Beth. I couldn't decide on a colour... So...

 

My only real option was to use more than one colour... and add a bit of leopard print in the mean-time. All I needed now, was huge hair, shoulder pads and some mahoosive earrings!

How do your random manicures end up? Let me know!

Love Charlotte x

PS - The colours I used were Blingtastic (Blue) and Bejeweled (pinky-purple).

Model's Own Pink Fizz

Hi Everyone,

Mmmm Pink Fizz... Yes please, it sounds tasty and alcho-frolic so I'll totally have some!

The polish doesn't disappoint either! My glitter holographic phase seems to be moving onto a glitter phase. Which will likely cost me a small fortune in tin foil, but since when did we skimp on the basics for our nails?

I have to confess, this post is a lot later than intended. In fact, I think I picked this up when Boots were offering 3 for 2 on all cosmetics, around the beginning of March. As lots of people bought me lots of fantastic polish for my birthday, the ones I bought myself kinda got forgotten about. This is kind of embarrassing, as I also picked up some of the highly sought after Beetlejuice polishes too. I feel like I should be writing lines here - I will not neglect my purchases 100 times.

Anyway, in my ever growing collection of polish, I had felt that I needed a pink glitter, to help me feel more complete. Ta dahhh!

*Feels more complete*

This polish applied rather nicely for a glitter - it has a pleasing, thick consistency and is densely packed with glitter. The photo's above show just two coats. I think a third would have been perfect, as the photo's show some small gaps I hadn't noticed on the nail.

So, bubbly vino anyone?

Love Charlotte x

Color Club Sugar Plum Fairy over No.7 Lucky Lilac

Hi Everyone!

Here's another one from my vault of the unposted. I really ought to have shared this one sooner, it was such a pleasing manicure!

After how pleased I was with using my Color Club Candy Cane over a solid base colour, I wanted to try it with my lusted polish, Color Club's Sugar Plum Fairy . Words can not describe how much I loved this combination - the lilac base really brings out the best of Sugar Plum Fairy. I kept this on for three whole days. That is unheard of for me. Three days?!

Words might not describe my adoration well enough, but they do say that a picture says a thousand words...

I guess that's 10,000 words for you!

Happy polishing - let me know if there are any other combinations that make you go squee!

Love Charlotte x

Accessorize Molten Copper

Hi Everyone!

I have to say, I wish these Accessorize polishes were more accessible. None of my local stores sell them, so I have to pick them up when I go into a city. Which is an absolute shame as for £3 - £4 a bottle, they have some amazing shades.

I also love their cute little bottles - they are so pretty I feel as though they have been designed to be on display, which is nice for those of us who have many many polishes.

Anyway, this is Molten Copper. I took these photo's a while back, intending to wait and post when the sunshine came back. I am far too impatient to wait that long. Anyway, for me, this is a perfect Summer glitter polish, as I feel it is complimentary to my skin tone as it is now, and I expect this would improve with a tan. You hear that sunshine? Get a move on!!

 

This might be called Molten Copper, but don't expect your nails to turn out like a shiny penny. This is a soft looking glitter, which I think has a hint of rose gold to it. Just enough pink in it to make it sweet and feminine, rather than overly brassy.

The polish itself is relatively thin, but easily pliable so you can move it around on the nail if you need to. These pictures show three coats - I could have done with one more, but I think next time, I will layer it over the Primark Bronze shown here just to give it a more complete coverage look.

Looking at these pictures, I am thinking that this is not just great for Summer, as this colour will transition nicely through to Autumn too. Multi-functional? Awesome!

Next time you get a chance, check out the Accessorize polish range!

Love Charlotte x

Color Club Swatches - Part Deux!

Hi Everyone,

Here we are again with some more swatches of my Color Club Collection which I started yesterday! As I said last time, these were done with speed in mind, so please excuse the fact that they are not the best swatches you will ever see - I just wanted to avoid the glitter-removal nightmare!

First up is one of my favourites - Sexy Siren. This, I believe was from the Glitter Vixen collection of 2010.

These polishes all applied much better than I expected - especially for a glitter polish. This one was a particular delight though. This was just two coats.

I adore the switch from subtle to BAM! SPARKLE!! In the light, this is full on nail bling. The multicoloured effect is beautiful - I would say this has a silver base with a hint of lilac - perhaps more 'grilac', one might say, and a rainbow of holographic glitters.

 Yes, I am aware I love the blurred photo thing a bit too much, but ooooh, its shiny!!

This polish was an absolute pleasure - however I must admit that I did actually wear this one for a day. It was beautiful. Squeal-worthy. Utter nail porn. And a must for any self confessed glitter lover. I'm afraid that I can't remember what it was like during removal, but I know it wasn't as bad as some I have tried. And you will see that it was a few days before I got round to the rest of the swatches as my nails are different lengths! Ooops!!

Next is Candy Cane, a sweet pale pink glitter that looks good enough to eat! This had a much thicker consistency, and is still pretty sheer after two thick coats. This one will be lovely for layering.

 

Excuse my naked nails underneath - there will be swatches of this with a base soon. Promise!

This reminded me of a more luxurious version of Barry M's Pink Iridescent. A slightly darker pink too, but on the nail, that would hardly be noticeable. Here they are side by side on paper, so you can see the difference.

I love the Color Club version, but it will be difficult to source in the UK. I would be inclined to recommend getting the Barry M version if you feel the need for some pink sparkles (who doesn't?) in your life!

Last, but certainly not least, is Diamond Drops. This is a gawjus shimmery flakies polish in a clear base. I see silver and gold, blue, lilac and pink and just a hint of green. Holographic flakies then, to be precise. Say it with me now... Oooooooh!!

Here it is over a variety of polishes!

A variety of pictures - I don't have the ability to take photo where each nail looks its best, so I just added photos so each nail had a complimentary picture! That's much easier than being a skilled photographer!

On a side note, I can not wait to wear Diamond Drops over the black polish! It really makes the flakies look their best, and more noticeable. The white looked better in real life than is shown in the photos - it made me think of fairy wings, very girly and sweet!

So there we have it! The conclusion of my Color Club Collection! Alliteration - woot! I hope you liked them! Don't forget, TK Maxx is your friend, especially for finds like these!!

Happy shopping,

Love Charlotte x