Oh boy, I really *am* smitten with Smitten Polish

Hello all, after so long I just had to post about one of my new favourite polishes, although I have absolutely no idea if anyone is bothering to follow my blog any more because of the shockingly sporadic posting, and for that I apologise. 

I have been struggling with some significant depression- this latest episode has been going on for at least a year- I know this because I remember I didn't go outside at all summer 2013/14 and I didn't go outside this summer either. So it's been pretty damn debilitating, hence the radio silence here at Attempting Fantastic.

Mind you, I do post to my IG account on an almost daily basis, and it's 99% polish with the odd cat post and even rarer kid pic, so if you want to see lots of pretty polishes you can always follow me there (@attemptingfantastic).

O.K, lets post some goddamn polish! w00t!
Today I am going to show you a U.S based indie polish brand called Smitten Polish. And I must say, their name is very apt, as I am absolutely smitten and am on a slow, but determined mission to acquire as many of their polishes as I can without declaring bankruptcy in the process (damn you AUD to USD conversion rate ;_;).

Date Night inside under fluorescent lighting

This gorgeous baby is called Date Night and it is the most vibrant holo polish I own. Date Night is a crelly/jelly polish that is incredibly saturated- it's almost a one coater- and it looks as beautiful inside under normal lighting conditions as it does under holo friendly lighting, which isn't something I can say for most other holos.
In fact, it's that underwhelming "inside look" that most holos have that has stopped me from really getting into them, but now that I have discovered that you really can have the best of both worlds- pretty holo flame and intense pigmentation- I am starting to find myself looking at holos over almost every other finish, and Smitten Polish has played a big part in that.

Date Night inside under fluro lighting

Application-wise I used two thin coats of Date Night and one coat of Poshe top coat (which didn't appear to dull the holo) over a double layer of base coat, just to be on the safe side; I find when a polish is super pigmented you run the risk of staining, so taking the time to apply a decent base coat is always a good idea.
Mind you, I could have easily gone without top coat as Date Night is quite glossy on its own, but I'm impatient and like how fast Poshe and Seche Vite dry my polish.
The polish dries super smooth too, and I found it has amazing wear- I am very rough on my manis as I don't use rubber gloves when doing the dishes and housework (naughty naughty), so they usually require touch ups or complete removal after a couple of days, but Date Night didn't even have tip wear 3 days in.

 

Date Night in direct sunlight

Oh, and it makes a great base for nail stamping too :)

Date Night inside under fluro lighting

At the moment I also own Nose So Bright- a true red linear holo, which is a bit of a rarity in the world of holos. Like Date Night, Nose So Bright has a brilliant formula and is a real stunner... in fact, I think I might wear it tomorrow :)

And, because I'm in love, I have a couple more of their polishes coming and will absolutely share pics with you all when I swatch them.

In the meantime you can buy Smitten Polish over on their site, as well as at various stockists listed on Smitten's website. 

Oh, and I can also say that their customer service is excellent too, with the owner being really helpful and accommodating, with inquiries being answered in a super friendly and prompt manner. 

Smitten Polish are, IME, a great, customer focused small business that make amazing polish, and it's these sorts of indies that I love to support and share with other polish lovers- it's such an over saturated market that great indies can sometimes get lost in the noise, you know?  So lets support the good indies out there, share the word and look fabulous while we do it :)

Until next time, as always, ~love and polish for all~

Em xox

Introducing Grace-Full nail polish

Hi guys, how are you doing? I'm super excited today as I have been sent some nail polish to review by the lovely Theresa of It's All About the Polish- a blog I have been following for ages now as Theresa's swatches are immaculate and her nail art is accessible for even n00bs such as myself.
Anyway, when I heard that she was dabbling in the world of polish making I was super stoked as I knew she would know what makes a great polish and, hopefully, turn that knowledge into a good polish herself. Well, Theresa has done that and more, creating polishes that not only apply beautifully but are also unique amongst my ever growing collection.
So, today I would like to introduce you to the lovely Grace-Full Nail Polish. But before I do that, just a quick word on the name- Grace-Full is named after Grace, Theresa's little girl who was only with us for a few short days before passing away. I think the name is beautiful and such a wonderful way to honour Grace's memory as well as reminding us that, although our loved ones may be gone, they are far from forgotten.
And with that, on to the polish.
Grace-Full currently has three collections, a core group of glitter toppers called Nail That Accent (I have seen swatches of these and need them all), a Xmas collection and another group based on Lord of the Rings called the Fellowship Collection.
 
For today's review I have been given four lacquers from the Fellowship Collection and a lovely glitter polish from the Xmas collection.
Application wise all were good, the crellies being a special surprise for me as I usually have a really hard time with them, but these went on so easily- I might be a crelly convert yet! The glitters, while being somewhat thicker due to the amount of glitter, also went on very easily. The trick is to keep the coats thin and that was easy to do.

Grace-Full Nail Polish

So, lets start with the Fellowship Collection.
First up is You Have My Bow, inspired by Legolas Greenleaf. It is a bright, emerald green jelly filled with different sized and shaped glitter, from tiny gold microglitter to iridescent green triangles. This is three easy coats with two of Seche Vite on top;

You Have My Bow

Next up is the stunning The White Rider, a pale silver polish chock full of very fine holographic glitter, named after the transformation of Gandalf the Grey to his final incarnation as Gandalf the White. This is a real eye catching polish, the rainbows never stop flashing, so pretty. I have used this several times now as an accent nail also, it's so beautiful...

The White Rider

This next polish is the gorgeous Lady of the Woods, named after Galadriel, the Lady of Light. This is a soft, creamy white crelly filled with gold and platinum flakes, holographic microglitter and iridescent glitter. This is such a delicate, feminine lacquer, very understated yet still eye catching with the gold flashing out and the iridescent glitter coming alive in the sunlight.
It was very hard to capture, but hopefully you get some idea of how lovely it is.
I had to use three coats, but only because my nails are so stained that it actually shows through light colours. I sealed this one with one coat of Poshe;

Lady of the Woods

The final polish sent to me from The Fellowship Collection is also my favourite. This is The Fellowship Cloak, named after the colour shifting cloaks given to the Fellowship of the Ring by Galadriel.
This lacquer is an absolutely gorgeous sage green crelly filled with just the right amount of glitter, from copper to iridescent blue-green and delicate silver. I adore this polish, I didn't want to take it off. I don't have anything like it in my collection and I just love it. And, much to my amazement, this applied like butter. In fact, both crellies were a delight to use. I tip my hat to Theresa for managing to make a crelly I enjoyed applying ;)
I only needed two coats here and one of Poshe to seal the deal...

The Fellowship Cloak

And the last polish I was sent is from Grace-Full's Xmas collection. This is Merry, a festive polish filled with red, green and gold microglitter. This is super sparkly and easy to apply. I almost managed to get away with one coat but applied two out of habit. I then used two coats of Seche Vite to smooth it all out;

Merry

All up I have to say I am really impressed with these lacquers. Every one applied well and looked gorgeous and it's clear that a lot of thought has gone into each one- even the care taken with the glitter levels in the crellies show a great attention to detail that makes these polishes well worth a look-see.
There are currently three collections available over at Grace-Full and if you love well made aussie Indies then head on over and take a peek, there's something there for all tastes.
And congratulations to Theresa for entering the nail polish game with such beautiful products- I know I will definitely be adding more Grace-Full polishes to my collection and I look forward to seeing just what Theresa comes up with next.

Until next time, ~love and polish for all~
Em xox

Please note; these polishes were sent to me for my honest appraisal

Today's post is all about Glittering Elements' Halloween Collection plus a stunning, unreleased limited edition

Hi y'all, hope the week has treated you kindly, but thank goodness for the weekend.
I'm so excited about today's post, which is to help showcase Glittering Elements Halloween Collection, and a special sneak peak at a lovely Limited Edition polish that is to be released soon.
This is a fairly picture heavy post, so beware ;)
OK, onto the show.
Firstly, a quick rundown of the polishes in the Halloween collection. This lot consists of five polishes, three of which are in the same family of dark grey/black/slate colours but with a very individual look, the other two belonging to the lovely deep vampy burgundy colours that I adore.
Application wise every single polish was excellent, really impressive. I really could have gotten away with one generous coat but went with two out of habit. All are shown here with one coat of Seche Vite on top. They all also wore really, really well :)

Alrighty then, here we go.
First up is Machete Massacre, so named because of Jason's choice of weapon in the Friday the 13th flicks. Machete Massacre is a blackened blue base with delicate green and rose micro shimmer flecks and a very subdued, scattered holographic shimmer;

Machete Massacre

Isn't it gorgeous? I swear, with each polish I tried on I suddenly had a new "favourite" ;)
Oh, also, I guess some feedback is wanted- would you rather see the polishes as I normally do them (as above) or like this? I like collages a lot, but I worry you're not really going to see the polishes well enough to know what you're looking at. I'd love some feedback, so hit me up if you want.

Okalydokealy, as Ned would say, here's Never Sleep Again (a nod to Nightmare on Elm Street). This one is a gorgeous dark, slate grey filled with delicate rose gold flakies and shimmer, with scattered holo to add that spark in the sun;

Never Sleep Again

Next up we have Trick, Treat or Die, a homage to the classic, Halloween. This is a blackened charcoal silver base filled with a rainbow of flakies- rose, blue, green, gold- and that lovely holo sparkle;

Trick, Treat or Die

 Almost there haha ;)

Ok, next up is the stunning Raising Hell, a little homage to Hell Raiser, a glorious dark burgundy plum that veers to a beautiful deep purple. There is also a very special holo sparkle which adds such a beautiful touch;

Raising Hell

And the final place in the Halloween Collection goes to the gloriously named "Blood, Guts, Gore and Glitter".
Now, I wont lie, this is my absolute favourite. I am such a sucker for good squishy jellies- and glitter, and holo microglitter :D Oh man... *drool* And this is a two coater too, which is freaking brilliant imho

Blood, guts, gore and glitter

And last but certainly not least, is the very beautiful Unicorn in a Bottle, a limited edition to be released soon (check here to see their current range and to keep up to dates with new releases).
Unicorn in a Bottle is a delicate pink/silver (almost a pink champagne) stunner full of small iridescent hex glitter, holo microglitter, golden shimmer and an almost golden duochrome effect in certain light. Gorgeous.

Unicorn in a Bottle

Phew! That was one hell of a giant post! Lots of pics too, I honestly am so bad at culling my pics down to one or two, because polish looks so fabulous in so many lights (and I suffer from debilitating anxiety when it comes to decision making, which doesn't help).

So, what do you think? I am bowled over by how well made all of these polishes are and how, even with the first three dark polishes, each stood out on its own and was strong and beautiful in its own right.
I'd also like to say thanks to Casey, the lovely gal behind Glittering Elements, for giving me the opportunity to try her polishes and review them for all of you. And, hand on heart, these are great polishes- not a single one had anything but a great formula and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend any of them.

I hope you liked this post and head on over to Glittering Elements to see what else Casey has on offer (holos!).

Until next time, ~love and polish for all~

mwah
Em xox

Please note; these products were given to me for my honest appraisal and review- I do not recommend anything if I don't think it's a good product and I am always honest, firm but fair and upfront with my reviews.