My best ever gradient (that I am so proud of)

Hey all, how are we today? Hope everything is fine and dandy.
Today is something a little different, I'm going to share with you one of my best ever gradients.
I love gradients, they're my go-to nail art favourite. I also love dotticures, but for some reason gradients are my favourite and I can't seem to help myself from whacking on more polish if I get the chance. And this one is by far the prettiest I have ever done, it's like a tropical sunset or a deep space supernova. Something bright and gorgeous anyway ;)
So, without any further ado here it is;

The polishes I used were Mud's Pink a Lot and Dark Room, Pretty Serious Cosmetics' My Darling Clementine, Arcane Lacquer's Funhouse and The Power, The Passion and finally Miss Ashleigh's Too Hot to be Blue. All but Mud are Australian indie polishes and they're fabulous too.

I can't begin to express just how stoked I was with how this turned out, it really is my best gradient to date and I think I'll be hard pressed to top it.

What do you think? Do you like gradients? What's your favourite go-to nail polish trick (if you have any) that you use to jazz up your mani with?
I'm going to be doing another gradient today as I'm going to a family do tomorrow and want my nails to be really bright, so if it looks as good as I'm hoping it will I'll post some pics of that soon.

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

The case of the vanishing blog posts... and a few more swatches

Hello all, how are we on this (hopefully) lovely day? I seem to have a bit of a mystery on my hands, because my last post has vanished *poof* from my blog. How strange is that? I am really confuzzled and am wondering if I hallucinated writing my last entry, but I'm pretty certain I really did write it, so it's all very strange.
I guess this means I need to upload all those photos again, grrrr.

Well, there's no helping it, so here, yet again, is my review of "Wham Bam" the partner to "Thank you Mam" by Shades of Phoenix a great little Aussie indie polish maker.

Unlike "Thank You Mam", "Wham Bam" is a glitter bomb in a clear base, so it's best layered over an undie if you want to wear it as a full mani, or it can also be used in a glitter gradient or as a feature nail. Application wise this is a dabber as the glitter pay off is very heavy, but it is in no way difficult to apply, just dab instead of using strokes and you'll be fine. I would advise that you wait a couple of minutes between coats to avoid dragging or accidentally lifting polish that you have already laid down, and you'll also want a couple of coats of top coat to smooth it all out and seal the deal.

This is such a bright and gorgeous glitter bomb and the colour is to die for, a rich and vibrant turquoise that flashes with green and blue as the light hits it and the formula's great too.
To be honest there's really nothing much to add, I think it's really pretty and I love glitter gradients, so this is a definite "yes" polish for me.
Wham Bam and Thank You Mam are a limited addition pair over at Shades of Phoenix however I'm not sure if they're still available (I can't see them on their site). If they're no longer available I can tell you that Spinach/Mint Leaf is another amazing glitter bomb, this time a deep emerald green in a tinted base, and it's definitely worth acquiring if you like greens and/or glitter. Their more subtle shades, such as Earl Grey/Sardine are also very lovely, so there really is something for everyone.

I know this is a short entry, but I think the photos speak for themselves, so there's really not much for me to say except I like it and Shades of Phoenix are well worth checking out if you like indie polishes.

Until next time (which should be tomorrow as I have an obscene amount of polish to swatch and share) take care, I hope you're all well and I'll see you soon.

And as always, ~love and glitter for all~

Em xox

A quickie post- Shades of Phoenix Thank You Mam, my newest bestest red glitterbomb :D

Hi all, I know I only did a review the other day but I just had to post about this polish because... well, you'll see why in a minute.
Like most of the polishes I feature here, Shades of Phoenix is an Aussie indie polish maker who makes some great lacquers, and I have reviewed a couple of their polishes here in the past, with Poseidon being one of my all time faves (just check the tags for Shades of Phoenix if you're interested).
Well, I can say without hesitation that these new ones have also really impressed me with both their quality and beauty. I think SoP are definitely stretching their creative wings, so to speak, and it's wonderful to see such great results- I feel like they are really coming into their own, which is just awesome.
The first photo here shows my recent purchase, and they are (from left to right) Spinach, Wham Bam and Thank You Mam. They're all amazingly blingy glitter polishes, but I simply couldn't resist Thank You Mam, so that's what I'm going to showcase today...

Thank You Mam is part of a special release duo, the other one being Wham Bam, which is a aqua glitterbomb whose sparkliness is beyond my ability to describe adequately... I can't wait to swatch it for you to see!
Thank You Mam is also amazingly glittery, but it appears to be in a slightly tinted jelly base which makes it more opaque than Wham Bam, which is in a clear base. I am wearing Thank You Mam over an undie (Ulta3's Chili) in these pics, but there is no doubt that this polish would be opaque in one or two coats by itself.
I love how this has flashes of gold and hot pink amongst the red glitter, it adds a little something extra to your average red glitterbomb in my oh so humble opinion (and, while there's a lot going on, it's not in the slightest bit too much). Mind you, there's really nothing average about this polish at all... it's freaking fabulous, seriously!

I mean, this polish grabs you by the lapels and shakes you until you give in and surrender to the awesomeness that is glitter. Honestly, it's so ridiculously sparkly in any and all light... Dorothy and The Wizard of Oz could have used it as a stand in for those famous ruby slippers.

O.K, down to the nuts and bolts of the review- Thank You Mam is an easy polish to use, there were absolutely no issues with application and dry time was good too. Just make sure you have a nice top coat on hand as it is very glitter dense (obviously) so it does dry somewhat gritty, but it's easily fixed with some Poshe or Seche or similar.
Because it is soooo intensely glittery you may find that you have to dab here and there, but I found using a red undie meant that I was able to apply is just as you would a creme. It also leveled really well and coverage was spot on- as I said earlier, I don't think undies are even necessary with this one and I'll probably try it without next time I wear it.

Pretty bloomin' gorgeous hey? I just keep staring at my nails, it's honestly that awesome.
To be frank, I think this might be the best red glitter bomb I own thus far, and that's saying a lot, especially considering just how many full coverage red glitter polishes I own. So Teneil, I tip my hat to you, you've really done a fantastic job.

Anyway, that's it for now. I'm going to go and watch The Princess Bride with my daughter then hop into bed- it's freezing and pouring with rain, so what a great night for movies and snuggles with the kid and cats :)

Shades of Phoenix  is available through their website and is also trialing overseas shipping, so you fans from somewhere else are in luck and can get your paws on this polish and its mate, Wham Bam, right now if you're up for it... and why wouldn't you be? Look at it and try to resist, I dare ya! hehe

I'll be back with Wham Bam next, and I hope you've got your sunnies ready because goddamn is it sparkly! Woohoo!

Until then ~love and polish for all~

Em xox

Sorry I've been MIA but I'm making up for my absence with 3 AMAZING polishes by Glam Polish, so you've gotta forgive me ;)

Hey there, I'm really sorry for being so sporadic in my blog posting recently- I am struggling a bit with feeling down, which always leads to crazy levels of apathy and 16 hour sleeps.
But I'm still around, still buying, and playing with, nail polish and the odd bit of nail art. I just haven't really been taking many photos, and those that I have just haven't interested me enough to warrant uploading and colour adjusting and blah blah blah.
But I have to say that I am absolutely falling in love with two particular indie polishes at the moment- Two Birds Lacquer (which you may have surmised from the last couple of posts) and Glam Polish.
Glam Polish is another Aussie company that makes exceptionally beautiful polishes, and their formulas are consistently fantastic too. Oh man, the colours! The depth, the intensity, the sparkle and, well, glamorous-ness of their products... seriously, you need to try these babies out to experience the glory first hand.

I'm going to post a couple of different polishes of theirs, and hopefully you'll see what I'm on about.
First up is Coven, from their "Cast a Spell" collection (of which I have now ordered the rest, because reasons!), a bright red beauty with holo, glass fleck, shimmer... there's so much in there, yet it's all done so well that nothing outshines the other, and it all balances perfectly. I also say that about every polish of theirs that I currently own (and yes, I"m about to own a lot more haha).
I don't know quite how to describe their bases tbqh; they're sheer enough that you get to see the glitter and shimmer, but they're also very pigmented, so opacity is achievable in only a couple of coats and they are thin enough that they're super easy to work with. I suppose a tinted, jelly-like base is the best description, but they don't have that syrupy feel to them that a lot of jellies tend to have, which makes them super easy to apply. But that's my best description, so that's what I'm going to go with. If you have a better descriptive term please let me know ;)

I mean, this polish is simply stunning- it glows from within and is so sparkly and rich... ahh, heaven!

And that's no exaggeration either. Just look at that inner fire!

And for a little bit of fun I also did a gradient using Glam's "Maleficent", which is a rich, red leaning purple polish with glassfleck, holo and shimmer and also red glitter running throughout, which helped to tie it together with the red of "Coven".

Isn't is gorgeous?

And now onto the third Glam Polish beauty that I want to show you tonight- the amazingly vibrant "Evanora". This was soooo hard to photograph as it's so shimmery and glowy that my iphone kinda freaked out over it.

Evonara in direct sunlight- my iphone couldn't handle the amazingness

I can't fangirl enough over this polish. It was like I had some supernatural force glowing on the tips of my fingers. And there's these awesome little iridescent diamond pieces in the polish that added such an interesting twist to the depth and dimension already on show. And of course, it's green, and a fabulous green at that. It's neither too blue or too yellow, so I think it would look great on any skin tone (and hey, who cares anyway? you wear it, you rock it!).

Formula wise this was slightly thinner than Meleficent and Coven, but it was in no way difficult to apply. This was three thin coats and one coat of Poshe (I'm trying Poshe to see if I get less tip wear- I think Seche might be shrinking back from the tips a bit- alas and alack as it's a brilliant top coat).

Dry time between coats was minimal and it was really easy to achieve opacity. I did try to place the little diamond shaped glitters as I really wanted them to pop, but the rest was easy, standard application, no dabbing required.

I'm sure you can see what I mean by magical- it's so luminous, it's amazing. And I love that regardless of whether you're out in direct sunlight on indoors at night under dim lighting the polish still looks fabulous, picking up whatever light is available and twinkling away. It's definitely a "keep your eyes on the road" polish hazard!

 

Glam Polish is available through their website for Australian buyers and also sells to the States. There's also a list of other stockists on its website.
I would wholeheartedly recommend Glam Polish as I think their wares are stunning and of excellent quality.
What more can I say- I think the photos, even coming from such a humble source as my iphone, speak for themselves.

And needless to say, I will have plenty more of their polishes to review in the coming month or so... I kinda went a little overboard on their site, but it was all so sparkly and pretty! It hypnotized me, I had ~no choice~ Hmmm, would that stand up in court I wonder? JK ;)

Anyway, I promise not to take so long between posts again- I'm trying to get on top of the shitty mood I've been in for the last couple of months, but unfortunately it's not always as easy as just "snapping out of it". I'm sure any of you who have dealt with long term depression can understand that one :\

Until next time, as always, love and polish for all!
Em xox