Current Crochet

Although I'm not blogging I am still keeping up with the things I used to blog about, so as well as still buying polish and painting my nails regularly I have been keeping up with my crochet too, obviously James has been helping me...

 

 

This is a baby blanket I made and as you can see from the picture above I finally got around to ordering the bits and pieces required to block things properly which has made a huge difference to the finished articles.

 

I've also made another baby blanket with the multicoloured yarn I bought a while back and posted about HERE.

 

 

It was pre blocking supplies which I am a bit annoyed about as I could have made those edges perfectly straight with my new goodies, but aside from that I think it turned out pretty well.

 

Finally another baby blanket, which is what I am working on currently, for some reason the photos refuse to load / post the right way, so tip your head to the side for the full 'right way up' effect.

 

 

I have acquired quite a lot of new yarn so I have a few ideas in the pipeline and I really must make the effort to get going on them, I'm running out of room to store the yearn so it needs to turn into something fast mostly so I can go out and buy more. ;)

 

 

 

 

Finally! An almost perfect cream coloured polish.

I'm interrupting my brief hiatus (if you can interrupt an interruption) from blogging to show you this cream polish I've bought recently and love.  Regular readers may remember that I have been on a quest to find the perfect cream coloured polish for some time now and never quite managed it, but now I think I might finally have got close.

 

The polish is a Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine, one of the new releases, Coconut.

 

The formula wasn't brilliant, I found it a bit streaky and it needed 3 coats to get it looking perfect but all was forgiven one I saw the colour of the dried polish, could it finally be the holy grail cream polish I have been hunting for?!!

 

 

It's maybe more of an off white or ivory than a true cream but it's close to what I have been picturing in my head so whatever colour it is, I like it!

 

It's lovely on it's own; a really fresh, crisp neutral of a colour and it's also great as a base for nail art or stamping, you can see my very speedy stamping attempt over it below.

 

 

I don't think I'll ever give up my mission to hunt down the perfect cream shade of polish, which currently seems to exist only in my head, but in the meantime Coconut is a worthy contender for the top spot.  Well done Barry M, you've made a cream obsessed nail blogger very happy.

 

 

Blogging Break

 

 

 

 

As you may have noticed I haven't been about for the last few days, I've decided to take a bit of a break as I was finding the commitment of posting every  couple of days was getting in the way of real life and taking up a bit too much of my time.  I don't intend to give up entirely but for the moment I have too much on to commit myself to the blog in the way that's needed to post regularly.

Kiko Cupcake Nail Lacquer - 656 Pistachio

 

Pistachio is another of Kiko's textured Cupcake range, this one is a very pale, yellowy green shade with darker orange and blue sprinkles.

 

As with all the Cupcake polishes it applies really nicely and dries fast.

Models Own - Polish for Tans - Beach Bag

I'm wearing beach bag, the orange neon from the Polish for Tans collection today.  These pictures are 3 coats and a top coat for shine, without top coat the polish dries semi-matte.

 

 

I'd call this more of a bright peach rather than a neon orange, I'd love to see these in proper bright sunlight to see if they seem more neon that way, regardless it's pastel sort of finish definitely makes it more peach than orange to me, it's a pretty summer colour either way.

 

The application of this polish wasn't great, it goes on quite streaky and doesn't leave an opaque finish hence the third coat, it's worth sticking with though as the finished effect and colour are nice.

Models Own - Polish for Tans - Sun Hat

Another Polish for Tans shade today, this time the bright Barbie pink of Sun Hat on shorter nails.

 

 

These pictures are two coats which gives a nice bright opaque coverage.  The finish of the Polish for Tans is slightly rubbery and matte without a top coat but I like to add a layer of quick dry top coat to give them the super shiny look.

 

I wouldn't really class this polish as a neon, I suppose at a push you could call it a pastel neon but to me it really just looks like a bright, sugar sweet Barbie pink sort of shade.  It is lovely for summer though so although it's not a typical neon I do think it's a good pick for this time of year and will probably look great with a tan.

Models Own - Polish for Tans - Flip Flop

Flip Flop is the green from the Polish for Tans collection, it's a very yellowy green not quite as bright as some neon greens I've seen but still a bold choice for summer.

 

 

The polish can be slightly streaky to apply, these pictures are 2 coats with top coat and in some places I think a third coat might have been beneficial to fully smooth out all of the imperfections.

 

The polish dries very fast which can also make application slightly tricky, the finish is a sort of semi-matte, rubberised effect.  Although it's an interesting finish I refer to top mine with some top coat for a super shiny look.

Models Own - Polish for Tans - Shades

Shades is a gorgeous neon coral pink, really bright and zingy and perfect for summer.  Although the polishes in this range are meant to look best with a tan I think they also go rather well with my very pale skin tone and still pop beautifully.

 

These pictures are two coats with top coat, the polish dries to a sort of rubbery, semi-matte finish but I prefer how it looks with an added coat of top coat to make it super shiny.

 

The polish can be a little streaky to apply but it dries super fast and can generally be smoothed out over two or three layers and top coat.

Easter Mini Eggs

I used a mixture of Models Own and Yes Love polishes to create this Easter themed Mini Egg manicure.  I'm pleased with how it turned out but seeing the two brands side by side has made me think I might need to add more Models Own Speckled Eggs to my collection.

 

 

The hex pieces in the Yes Love polish are much more sparse and I think I like the busier look of the Models Own versions.

 

Overall I did like this manicure though and I thought it was suitable themed for the Easter weekend, which is when I wore it.

Nivea Lip Butters

 

These are my current lip obsession, creamy smooth lip butters in three lovely flavours.  I can't decide if the Raspberry Rose, a soft fruity scent, or the Caramel Cream, a warm biscuity scent, is my favourite.  The Vanilla and Macadamia is also lovely although a little plainer than the other two, in my opinion, I don't want to eat it quite as much as the other two.  ;)

 

As well as smelling utterly delicious these apply nicely and keep my lips really well moisturised, I've been keeping one on my dressing table, one in my handbag and the third on my desk so I can apply a little whenever I need it.

 

The lip butters are £2.25 or 2 for £3 in Superdrug at the moment.

Rainbow Ripple Blanket - Complete!

Finally, I have another update on my Rainbow Ripple and this time it's the final one!  It's finished!

 

Technically it's not quite finished in these pictures, the ends were still to be sew in but I wanted to get a picture while the light was good, the ends are all sewn in now.

 

I'm very proud of how it turned out, despite the battle I had trying to straighten the ripple edges, at the time I swore I was never going to do it again but seeing the finished product makes me think it was almost worth it!

 

 

It was a rather long process but I love the finished product, although I think if I was doing it again I would go back to a more random ripple colour pattern, like this one, or maybe use fewer colours.

 

Overall I am delighted with it though and looking forward to my next project.

 

Kiko Cupcake - 651 - Strawberry

 

Another Cupcake polish today, this time the pink from the collection 651, Strawberry.

 

651 reminds me of a strawberry milkshake, it's exactly the right creamy pink colour speckled through with red and blue textured pieces - hopefully you don't get them in your next milkshake!

Models Own - Polish for Tans - Swatches

I've got some quick swatches of the new Models Own Polish for Tans collection today.

 

 

They're lovely bright pastel neons, the application isn't great, these swatches are 3 coats which is what it took to get them looking opaque and fairly even but once they're on they are lovely spring / summer colours.  I'm going to try them over a white base coat and see if that makes application any smoother with less coats.

 

In natural light they definitely look quite neon but in artificial indoor light they are less neon and more just like very bright pastels, like in the picture below.

 

 

Kiko Cupcake - 654

Another of the Cupcake polishes today, this time 654, Anise.

 

 

Similar finish and application to the others I have posted about recently but this time a pale blue base with darker blue sprinkles through it.

 

I really love the colour; it's a very bright, icy blue shade. 

 

 



Models Own - Polish for Tans & Speckled Eggs

A little parcel arrived to cheer up my Thursday!  A Models Own order I placed yesterday, super fast delivery which is always pleasing, I was expecting to have to wait until after the weekend for these!

 

 

First up I ordered the Polish for Tans Collection which are apparently "the first-ever collection designed to enhance and compliment a natural tan. Five essential summer shades chosen to highlight golden skin from sunrise to sunset. These tan-enhancing neon-pastel shades are the perfect combination of muted brights - the ultimate collection for beach babes!"

 

I couldn't resist the bright neons and had to get the whole collection:

Sun Hat, Shades, Beach Bag Bikini & Flip Flop

 

Next up a couple from the Speckled Eggs Collection, I already have a few Yes Love Speckled polishes which are very similar so it seemed silly to double up, which is why I only bought two; Magpie (minty green) and Goose (yellow).

 

As you can see from the first picture I also sneaked in a bottle of Utopia from the main collection to make the order up to £30 so I got free P&P; a great way to convince myself I am saving money by buying more polish.  Stand by for swatches over the next few day.

Kiko Cupcake 647

 

647, or Jasmine as it's called on the UK Kiko site, is a white base with orange and blue speckles and strands through it's textured base.

 

These pictures are two coats and as you can see it's nicely opaque at that.  The polish dries reasonably fast but not quite as fast as the Sugar Mats, possibly due to the different textures and make up of the additional colour particles.

 

What really impressed me about this polish is how well it lasted, even without a top coat, it managed 4 days with minimal tip wear and no chips which is pretty good going for a textured polish.