Poseidon, a polish named after a god that leaves me feeling like a goddess

If I were a God I'd be pretty stoked to be the namesake of this polish, because it is freaking amazing. Shades of Phoenix is another aussie indie polish maker that I have reviewed before and I am really starting to develop a soft spot for their products.
Today I'm wearing Poseidon after asking the gals over on the Australian Indie Polish Appreciation Society what to wear, as I was unable to chose between the multitude of bottles I seem to have accumulated (I don't know how it happened, honest! They've just started appearing around my house). So a big shout out ot Relle because oh my god, what an amazing polish this is...

Poseidon is a bright green jelly packed with glitter of all sorts and sizes, from holographic hexes to bar glitter and even microglitter. Normally I'm not a fan of bar glitter but in this case it works really well and isn't hard to place on the nail at all. In fact, this polish is easy to work with full stop.

I didn't use any undies with this mani, just three thin coats of Poseidon. I could have gone with two coats, but I like to add a third with jellies because I think it adds to the depth and complexity of the polish on the nail, which is what makes jellies so wonderful in the first place.
The formula was great to use, with the viscosity being just right. Some jellies can be too thin which floods the cuticles and makes clean up a drag, while others can be too thick which makes applying a smooth, even coat really tricky, but this polish went on like a dream.
The only problem I had with this polish was capturing just how lit-from-within it looks on the nail. It is so bright and vivid, so shimmery and deep, my poor little camera phone had no chance.

OK, so what else is there to say? I'm sure you all know by now that I am a sucker for a good green, and this is such a good green, I love it. A lot. Even my daughter was impressed, which says a lot considering that her usual reaction it to try to escape my waggling fingers as quickly as possible... which is kinda understandable, considering I thrust my hands into her face on a daily basis with the demand to "look! look at the pretty, shiny sparkles!" hehe

Shades of Phoenix have a great range of polishes and their quality and customer service are just brilliant- I have absolutely no reservations in recommending them to anyone who wants to add some truly unique polishes to their collection.
They've also just come out with a great collection in collaboration with Moonstone Polish based on the Harry Potter "Bettie Bott's Every Flavor Beans"; jelly beans which could be yummy or not so nice, and the names of each polish are representative of that which I think is such a neat idea, I love it :) I think it also gives you a real insight into just how creative our indie polish makers are and just how passionate they are about what they do, which is why I love supporting indie businesses like these.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed looking at these pictures as much as I'm enjoying looking at my nails, and I'm really excited to be sharing even more indies with you over the coming days and weeks.
Until next time, love and polish for all!
Em xox

ooohhhh pretty, my first Dollish Polish

Hello constant reader, I hope you're having a great week and that your coming weekend is just as enjoyable.
As you may have noticed, I tend to focus a lot on Australian indie polishes, and that's because we have amazing polish makers that deserve a hell of a lot of praise and I'm more than happy to task myself with trying out so many lovely lacquers- all in the name of research, of course ;)
However, ever since I stumbled onto the secret world of polish-aholics I have discovered what are called "de-stash sales", which are basically sales of polishes that people don't want for whatever reason- not the right colour, not their cuppa tea or they just don't get worn enough to justify the space that could be used for hoarding different bottles of polish.
And de-stash sales have given me an opportunity to try a lot of international indie brands that just haven't been on my radar or that I haven't had the money to try. Today's polish is one of the latter ones- I've heard of Dollish Polish but I have so many on my "needs" list I simply haven't gotten around to trying any of their wares until now.
So, drum roll please... Introducing Dollish Polish "Vampire's Coven";

This is such a gorgeous, squishy, vampy jelly- I love it. It's definitely a layering polish though, as the base is too sheer to achieve opacity in only a couple of coats, but it looks ah-mazing over a nice red (in this case Essence "do you speak love" which is a dark, one-coater red). I reckon it would also look fantastic over black too.

The polish itself is a sheer black jelly filled with various red and black squares, hexes and dots. There might even be the some hot pink glitter in there, but the base makes it a bit hard to tell. Either way, it all adds up to a delightfully deep, alluring polish.
For these pictures I ended up using three good coats of Vampire's Coven over the Essence red and sealed it all in with two coats of Seche Vite, just to add to that glossy depth that makes this polish so lovely, and I am beyond happy with the results.

It's just so squishy! I love it- I really want to sink my teeth into it's deep berry goodness, so they've definitely succeeded in the vampire stakes too (lol, so many bad puns, I'm so sorry haha).

I am definitely a fan of vampy reds, and it's polishes like this that remind me why (and make me think I really should wear them more often). I don't know when I'll be in a position to acquire more Dollish Polish, but it's definitely a matter of when, not if, because I am really taken with this one and I'm keen to try more.
You can find them over at Dollish Polish on Big Cartel and they ship internationally too, which is awesome for us Aussies.

Welp, that's it from me for now anyway, I'm still recovering from a terrible migraine and should probably keep my exposure to the computer screen down to a measly couple of hours while I still feel it lurking in the background.

Em xox

Whee! Another Aussie indie polish review, Pretty Serious VT100

Hi guys, hope everyone is well and enjoying their respective seasons- it's definitely wintery down here in Rye with lots of rainy days and cold winds.
Normally I'm a hot weather kinda gal, but to be honest I don't mind the cold too much at the moment as I'm still recovering from all these surgeries, and who would want to be outside in this?
But I'm feeling a lot more positive that this summer I'll be back in a bikini and on the beach, and maybe my leg will be working well enough that I'll be able to play some frisbee with my daughter, Sophia. Frisbee= us failing to throw the thing with any accuracy and falling down laughing all over the place. It's the best way to play :)

Anyway, on to business (hardly, but you know what I mean). I got a couple of packages in the mail today and one of them was by a great Aussie indie company, Pretty Serious cosmetics. I've already reviewed one of their polishes here and today's polish was equally impressive.

Pretty Serious "VT100"

VT100 is a gorgeous emerald green jelly filled with gold and green microglitter that simply comes alive in the sunlight, yet manages to achieve wonderful depth in indirect light also.

 It's a very easy polish to use- the formula is just right with this, not too thick as some microglitters can be. I used two thin coats here, although I suspect you could get away with just one as the opacity is great. Being a microglitter it did dry slightly gritty, but two coats of Seche Vite and I was good to go (microglitters may dry gritty, but they also dry quick, which is a definite bonus in my book).

I really dig the addition of the gold microglitter, it adds a nice twist without overpowering the gorgeous green. And will you look at that lovely depth? Mmm, just beautiful (I am a sucker for a good green, no doubt about that).

VT100 is currently on sale for only $5.95 over at Pretty Serious, although this particular polish is available for Australian customers only at this time.
However they have plenty of products available for international buyers also (including the  gorgeous Grimm Demise, which I covet desperately), so go take a peek if you're in the mood to add some seriously pretty things to your collections (get it? boom tish! I'll be here all night... thank you, thank you).

And I'd also like to say how touched I am by the kindness of all of you who have reached out to me in regards to my discussions about depression- it is so lovely to have people I don't even know take the time to offer such encouragement, although it is saddening to see just how many of us there are out there who battle with this issue.
My heart goes out to each and every one of you who has been touched in some way by this debilitating illness and I hope I can be of support to you too- just drop me an email or leave a comment, I'm always around to lend an ear.

Much love and polish for all,
Em xox

Another super-cute polkadot manicure, and a small detour to talk about that old foe of mine, depression

I've always thought dotty (dotti?) mani's were cute, but I also felt like I was too old to really wear them as most of the ones I saw were very light and bright, and I don't really do "light".
But I decided to have a play around with my dotting tools, as I didn't want the entire $2.00 I spent on them to be a total waste, and I thought maybe I could make them work for me.
And I did- the trick was simply toning down the pastel, girly vibe and dialing up the darker, more winter based tones I tend to gravitate towards.
My last mani featured a black based version with quite bright, vibrant colours (which I think looked freaking awesome, in my oh-so humble opinion), whereas this time around I wanted to try a really muted version and I love how it's turned out;

This is just a simple combination of a medium grey base and black, white and mauve dots, but I think it's really effective and the colours balance out against each other really nicely.

 

I changed how I approached the actual dotting part this time around and only placed one colour on my "palette" (read; plastic lid) at a time so the polish didn't dry out as I moved along.
It was definitely a lot easier dotting all my nails with one colour before moving onto the next and I also got a nicer arrangement on the nail by focusing on one colour at a time.

I seriously love how this looks and can't believe I was so leery of trying polkadots on my own nails, all because I thought I would look a little too "mutton dressed up as lamb".
Which is really pretty ridiculous when you consider just how much glitter I am prepared to wear on each nail, and the fact that I still run around wearing converse hi-tops and t-shirts and that I have tattoos and wear too many earrings and basically act like I'm 16 most of the time (much to my 10 year old daughter's embarrassment... but she needs something to tell the therapist when she's older, right?).
Maybe I just thought the colours I usually see used with these type of mani's were just a little too "soft" for me, but I am definitely trying to step out of my comfort zone and try new things, and I am really glad I did.

Anyway, as always I hope you are all well (the theoretical "you" as I don't think anyone ever reads this, but hey, why not, right?) and that life is moving along nicely.
I'll be honest, I'm struggling a little bit.
I feel like the ol' Black Dog is hounding me again, and that's a little scary as I've managed to avoid a major depressive episode for a couple of years and I had hoped that maybe, just maybe, I had finally found a medication that had finally put an end to all that bullshit.
Who knows, it could just be emotional exhaustion, which is certainly understandable after all that I have been through over the last couple of years. I don't know, but I hope that this isn't the beginning of another decent down the rabbit hole of depression... I am so tired, the thought of trying to get through another episode in my current state is more than a little daunting.

Thank god for this blog, and, as silly as it sounds, for the nail polish scene. Who knew that focusing on nail polish could give me such an effective method for distracting myself and giving myself something to look forward to.
And what a wonderful way this has been to connect with so many lovely, kind-hearted people too... it's a silver lining that was quite unexpected but very much appreciated.

Em xox