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

My first Shades of Phoenix post and a little bit of Smudge spam

Hullo all.
Today I decided to try on a creation by aussie indie polish makers Shades of Phoenix.  I recently came into possession of several Shades of Phoenix polishes and, from what I can see so far, they produce some really solid polish.

The one I'd like to share with you today is called "Mother is God 2.0", a dusty berry creme with what looks like very fine gold and pink glitter as well as small holographic hexes and squares. It's really interesting and quite hard to capture on film as different lighting changes it quite a lot.
I found that it appears more dusty in real life compared to the pictures I took, but this should give you some idea;

Mother is God 2.0

Apparently the name is in reference to this being a revamped version of the first polish Teneil (the woman behind SoP) ever made, which she gave to her mum. Hence "Mother is God" (smart girl).
I need my own daughter to take heed of this name, because I am actually all knowing, all seeing and fairly god-like and it would behoove her to remember this as she gets older ;)

Thankfully this was an easy polish to use, unlike some creme/crelly glitter polishes I have come across. All I needed was two thin coats and there was no dabbing or fishing required.
It did dry a little bumpy, but two coats of Seche Vite smoothed everything out and allowed the polish to really shimmer and shine.

I found that the dusty aspect of this polish really comes out in the shade, whereas direct light seems to bring out the berry side of it, but in any light it is a very pretty polish. I also like that it's a colour that suits any season, and would look just as good on tanned summer hands as on winter white.

Unfortunately this particular shade is no longer available, but Shades of Phoenix have some beautiful polishes that are well worth checking out on their site.

And now, on a completely unrelated note, my little boy Smudge went in to the vet's yesterday to get the snip and he's been super clingy all day, lying all over Sophia as she plays Minecraft.

Strangely enough, he wasn't sleepy or dopey at all yesterday when he came home- quite the opposite, I was up at 1.30 this morning giving him a very mild sedative because he was bouncing off the walls and making sleep for any of us impossible.

The nurse at my local vet was very taken by him and said he was a total cuddle baby the entire time he was there and very well behaved...I actually wondered for a moment if she had Smudge confused with another cat ;)
Naw, he really is a sweetheart and he adores his family, especially Sophia and Peanut (I just feed him and clean up his revolting poos, so obviously I'm not as important haha).
But it's nice to know he won't be getting any girly cats pregnant or start spraying or straying because of all that testosterone. It will be interesting to see if he changes much, but from what I've seen today he's still the same old adorable-but-naughty Smudge we all know and love.

Anyway, that's enough from me. I hope you're all having a great weekend and I'll be back with some more polish goodness in the next day or so :)
Em x