Today I have the luscious "Liquid Lawn" by Celestial Cosmetics to share with you all

Hello to anyone who might be reading this. I hope your week is progressing nicely.
For those of us living in the Southern Hemisphere it certainly looks as though we are well and truly into winter now, every day is cold and overcast, with rolling showers and strong winds that manage to find their way past any defense you might make with scarves and wooly jumpers and what not.
So it probably looks extremely strange with me crouching in the back yard in my pj's and a knitted hat, holding one hand out and contorting it whilst feverishly taking photos with my iphone in between rain showers.
But such is the price you pay when you want to blog about nail polish *sighs dramatically*

Anyway, enough about the trials and tribulations of nail polish blogging; today I have the glorious Liquid Lawn by the ever lovely Celestial Cosmetics- this is a pretty amazing looking polish and I have had a lot of positive responses to the couple of pictures I posted earlier on facebook, which is hardly surprising when you look at how well it's come up in the photo's;

Celestial Cosmetics "Liquid Lawn"

 Now, I know it's called Liquid Lawn, but this polish makes me think of slowly shifting, deep sea kelp beds, with the sunlight filtering down through the green water. I can imagine this is what a sailor would see just before a mermaid steals him down into the deep forever.
I really, really love this polish... it's truly dreamy.

 As for application, the jelly base is on the thinner side, and because the circle glitter is large I found I did have to fish for it (and as I always like to point out- this is not a flaw, this is just physics). However, I have an older bottle and Nicki has tweaked the formula to resolve those very minor points (I won't call them issues because all glitters settle and larger glitters, especially circle glitter, tend to require a little bit of fishing).

With this manicure I did use an undie, but I don't think it's necessary, so play around with what works for you. Personally, I wouldn't use this over too dark a base because I think you're likely to lose a lot of the little nuances that make this nail polish so beautiful, but again, see what you like and go with that.
That's one of the cool things about jellies- you can change the whole character of a polish simply by layering the polish over different undies or leaving it as is.... there's so much flexibility, so many ways to work with it.
For these photos I applied three thin coats of Liquid Lawn over Rimmel's 60 Seconds "Camouflage" and after that I threw on two coats of Seche Vite to seal the deal and make everything smooth and glassy and that was it. Not much work to have something that looks like it's from a Sea God's photo album sitting on the ends of my fingers...

Honestly, I don't know what else to say about this polish that isn't already obvious in the photos- it is absolutely beautiful, it is deep and dark and mysterious and I love it.
And luckily this polish is still available to buy either through Celestial Cosmetics' shop on bigcartel, or through one of the nail polish stockists for those of you living outside Australia (they are listed on her site).

I can't recommend Celestial Cosmetics enough- Nicki is a lovely woman with a fantastic eye for what looks good and I haven't encountered a polish of hers that didn't hit the mark yet, nor do I think I'm likely to. She really does work hard to provide a beautiful product, with great customer service too, so if you're in the market for a new polish and you haven't tried Celestial they are well worth a look.
 And Nicki, like many indie polish makers, is also happy to work with you if you're looking for something specific, which is just another reason to love indie nail polish. Can you imagine hitting Revlon up for a polish to match your bridesmaid's dresses?

I really don't want to take this manicure off, so I might leave it a few days before I post again, but I am also terrible at leaving well enough alone, so who knows, I could be back tonight with something new ;)

I hope you like the photos as much as I do, I'm definitely getting the hang of it all, even if my light box fails completely to do any of the things light boxes are supposed to. I guess that just means more running around out in the back yard, for now at least :)

Em xox

It's not easy being green- it's fabulous

Today I have one of my favourite green polishes of all time- Celestial Cosmetics Sons of Anarchy collection, the very lovely "Charming".
And this was snagged on sale, which makes this even better ;)
Charming is a vibrant green jelly filled with squares and circles of blue and gold glitter. It also has a foil look to it, so I wonder if there's also some sort of green shimmer as well, although that look could just be the way the glitter and jelly play off each other.

Anyway, onto the green goodness that is Charming;

Celestial Cosmetics' "Charming"

Isn't it beautiful? There is so much depth to this colour, it has these delightful flashes of blue as the glitter catches the light, it shimmers and shines and is honestly so striking.

The formula is a dream to apply- I get opacity with 2 coats, but 3 gives it even more depth and dimension. There's no fishing for glitter, nor is there too much glitter on the brush, which can cause clumping and dragging when applying multiple coats.
And one coat of Seche Vite is enough to give the polish a smooth finish, so really, what's not to love?

Yes, I like green nail polish :)

So there you have it, swatch spam of Celestial Cosmetics "Charming". And yes, I am utterly charmed by this polish. The day I eventually run out of this little guy will be a sad day indeed, but I am sure that I will find something to heal the pain on Celestial Cosmetics' site ;)

Hope you enjoyed the review and I'll be back with some more pretty polishes in a day or so.

Starry, starry night... a blingy stamped mani over Celestial Cosmetics "Birth of a Star"

Howdy,
I did a nice mani the other day using Celestial Cosmetics "Birth of a Star" but, as per usual, I simply couldn't leave it alone haha

So, I decided to have a play with some of the stamping plates I bought on the Born Pretty website.
I'll be honest, I don't think the plates are that good- the image doesn't seem to have been etched in deep enough, so the stamp doesn't have a strong image to lift.
But this particular stamp was a bit better than the rest and the star image seemed like the perfect companion to the polish, what with all the star references and holographic sparkles.

I decided to throw my Color Club flakie topcoat on over the stamped stars and also applied some tiny silver studs (and a couple of rhinestones on my little finger) to complete the look.

Celestial Cosmetics "Birth of a Star"

I am really pleased with how this mani turned out :D
I'm not too good with nail stamping as I've only played with it a few times and I really need to practice, but this worked out well, if I do say so myself.

Yes, it's blingy and busy and OTT but I don't care- I like it when my nails stand out, it's one of the few really "girly" things I do and I figure if you're gonna do it at all, you might as well do it 110%

TBH I can't wait 'til my nails are long enough to do some serious OTT manicures... the blingier the better *wheeeee!*

Today's swatches Celestial Cosmetics "Birth of a Star" and an update on the law suit

Hello all.
Well, I haven't blogged for a few days and I actually feel guilty- I guess having a routine really is helpful in terms of giving me a sense of purpose while I wait for my next surgery.

Unfortunately I've had a bit of a rough time- my lawyers don't think I have a case against the hospital for screwing up my hip and left leg, and that's quite a blow, especially when you consider how much I have lost since 2012.
But, the laws regarding medical negligence were changed years ago when Jeff Kennett was in power and, as a result, it is extremely difficult to prove negligence now, so what can you do?
I'm not gonna lie, it's really devastating news, but I don't know what I can do about it, so I guess I'll just have to accept the loss of my business and the loss of my physical health and try to make the best of a truly shitty situation.

Anyway, that's enough whinging...onto the swatches;

As you can see, Birth of a Star is a gorgeous grey leaning purple. It has a faint holo effect under normal lighting, but under downlights and with the flash the holo rainbow shines through;

Shiny holo goodness

 This was a very easy polish to apply- fully opaque after two coats, no bald spots or dragging and the formula was a good consistency, neither too thick or thin.

To be honest I wasn't sure if I would like this colour- dusty purples tend to wash me out and make my skin tone look dead, but this is surprisingly flattering on my nails. I think part of that is because it's a darker colour and the grey aspect helps to counter the washed out issue.

Birth of a Star was a freebie to celebrate Celestial Cosmetics birthday, so I'm not sure if it's available to buy in their online store.
Regardless, if this is a fair representation of their holo polishes I would not hesitate to buy another, as this really is a lovely polish that seems to be free of the issues that can make holo polishes difficult to use- I even put a coat of Seche Vite over the polish and there's been no dulling of the holographic aspect (at least, as far as I can tell).

More Celestial Cosmetics "Nomad"

Here's a bit more picture spam- the gorgeous Celestial Cosmetics Nomad polish, helped along here by the soft, fluffy goodness that is smudge;

Celestial Cosmetics "Nomad"

I must say, Nomad looks great against the grey of Smudge's fur

I can tell that I'll be really bummed out when I eventually run out of this polish...

Celestial Cosmetics "Nomad"

Just a quick blog about Celestial Cosmetics "Nomad" nail polish.
It's a very sheer red jelly with very small red glitter and larger reflective circles that seem to float on the nail.

In my opinion it is far too sheer to wear alone, so I layered 3 coast over Ultra3's Chilli (Ultra3 is a great low end Australian nail polish that has some fab colours).
Again, my swatches need practice and I only have my phone's camera to work with, but these should give you an idea of what Nomad looks like- I reckon it's awesome, the glitter and jelly combo makes it look as if it's lit from within when light hits it and it has that fantastic jelly depth and squishiness that I love.
Anyway, on to the swatches;

Celestial Cosmetics "Nomad"

So, what do you think? I love it, although I think this will be a bit like a good wine and get better with age as the polish thickens up a little bit.

And I think my mum would have loved it too <3

My first foray into the world of Celestial Cosmetics

Hello non readers of my obscure blog, how goes it?
Today I received a bundle of joy in the form of a post pack envelope.
And inside? Lots and lots of lovely polish :D

I like the little personal note on the back of the Celestial Cosmetics card

 Not only were my 4 ordered polishes in there, but there was an additional polish called "Birth of a Star", a beautiful grey leaning, dusty purple holo




I actually emailed Celestial Cosmetics as I thought they had accidentally added the polish to my order, but they emailed me back to let me know it's part of their birthday celebrations and that all orders receive a bottle until the 25th of April.
Awesome!

Birth of a Star

So, apart from Birth of a Star I also received Nomad, Charming, Crow Eater and Neon Nights (Nomad, Charming and Crow Eater are all from the Sons of Anarchy collection). Both Crow Eater and Neon Nights are very different polishes to what I normally buy, so it wasn't surprising that Nomad and Charming are my faves as they're very much my type of colours.

Nomad

Charming

Crow Eater

Neon Nights

Application wise they varied quite a bit, with Neon Nights being the thickest formula and Nomad being the sheerest. Both Crow Eater and Charming applied in a similar fashion and had the nicest consistency to work with, although all were good.

Now, for some reason I don't wear blue polish- the closest I'll get is turquoise, but a true blue is just something I have never been drawn to. Crow Eater has actually got me reconsidering this- it is a gorgeous polish and looks fabulous on;

Excuse the shitty swatches- I only have a camera phone right now

Next up is Nomad, which is quite sheer and thin when applying, so I used two coats of it over one of Ultra3 Chilli. That undie made all the difference and allowed Nomad to really come to life on the nail. It has a gorgeous depth to it and that great squishiness that jellies have;

Nomad over Ultra3 Chilli

Then there's Charmed, which is tied with Nomad as my favourite. This is a simply glorious green that looks great after two coats, although three would probably give it even more depth. I love this colour, it's bright, vibrant and fresh... it really has charmed me;

Charming

Next up is Neon Nights. To be honest I'm not sure how I feel about this one. I have never worn a white polish- ever. I know, right?! So it feels really odd having such a light, bright colour on my nail.
Part of it is also my age- I suspect this would suit a younger person. I also think it would look better on my during the warmer months when my hands are tanned.
Aside from my own inexperience in wearing those sorts of colours the polish itself was easy to apply and was opaque in only two coats;

Neon Nights

And finally there's Birth of a Star, the lovely surprise polish :)
This is a beautiful grey leaning, dusty purple holo with lots of colour complexity depending on the light. Again, two coats was enough to get full opacity and I even threw on a top coat with no dulling effect.
And being a holo it was, of course, bloody tricky to capture, but here's what I managed to get;

Birth of a Star

Now, I know these swatches are less than stellar and these two didn't help matters either

I'd get a great angle and suddenly a cat tail would block the light, and Peanut was determined to eat my boot for some reason.
here is Smudge enjoying the swatched fingers;

Anyway, all in all I am absolutely rapt with my first Celestial Cosmetics encounter and I look forward to adding to my collection as time goes on.

I've also decided to wear Nomad to the gallery opening that is being held in honour of my mum's passing- she will have died a year ago on the 29th of this month and my sister has organised for a showing of some of my mum's photographic work in honour of this first anniversary.
I've decided to wear Nomad because my mum always wore red nail polish, and her nails were done even during those last weeks and days of her life.
In fact, her nails were still perfect while I held her hand as she passed away, far too young and from preventable cancer (so please, don't forget to have your annual pap smears).
I think she would have loved the colour and it's just a little something my sister and I can smile about together on a night that is bound to be a tad emotional.

And now, before I get all emotional writing this, I shall sign off.

I hope you've enjoyed the review and I would definitely recommend adding some of Celestial's polishes to your collection- and I will certainly take some more pics of my fully manicured hands wearing Nomad too.

Cheers,
Em x