Say hello to Kevin! by Powder Perfect, I just know you're gonna get along

Well I'm finally home and oh my gawd did I come home to a lot of nail mail! So of course I had to share some of them with you.

Twenty eight bottles, the vast majority of which are Australian indie polishes... to be honest I have no idea where to start, it's a little overwhelming.
And then this morning my postie brought a package I have been very keen to get my grubby little hands on, my first ever Powder Perfect polishes. I now have Decorate a Palm Tree, Elation and Kevin! and immediately had to try on Kevin! because it's absolutely, jaw-droppingly stunning.

Powder Perfect's Kevin!

Kevin! is a Xmas release based on the Home Alone movies, hence the name. I also have Decorate a Palm Tree from the same collection which I will swatch over the next week, and I promise that is well worth waiting for... it was really hard to chose between the two, but at the end of the day red won out.

What a great way to beat the winter blues

Kevin! is a bright, true red jelly that is absolutely packed with red microglitter and, from what I could tell in the dim, overcast light, some holographic microglitter also.
But, as full of glitter as it is, this polish applied like a dream. All I needed to achieve full opacity was two thin coats and there were absolutely no issues with the polish at all. Again, like with all glitter dense polishes Kevin! dried a tad gritty, but I just added a couple of coats of Seche Vite and my nails were on point- beautiful, sparkly, red and glossy. Perfect really.

Unfortunately, being winter in Melbourne, it was hard to find enough light to bring out the sparkle in Kevin! And the light dimmed a little further with each moment, hence why some of my photos look as if I am standing in shadow... and I was, the vast, cold and dreary shadow of winter (dramatic, no?).
Here's some more pictures because, really, it's just so pretty I can't help myself.

And here's a couple I took trying to get that glitter to light up (not too successful, I'm sorry to say).

As with so many of the polishes I get a chance to get my hands on, this one isn't available anymore, but Powder Perfect do make custom orders if you've got a case of the lemmings ;)
They also have a range of absolutely stunning polishes that are still well worth a look regardless, with several polishes in the same style as Kevin! including Elation, a gorgeous deep teal microglitter that is to die for (I'll be swatching that any day now).

I hope everyone is doing well and I'm really excited to have so many beautiful polishes to show you over the coming weeks. I've even been asked to review a cuticle oil by the lovely Two Birds lacquer creator, Stacey Meldrum. It's my first ever review where I have been contacted by a polish maker and I'm thrilled that Stacey has asked me to do this- I am definitely hoping to acquire some of her polishes soon.
It's kinda cool that my blog is nice enough to warrant someone approaching me in this way, so I'm feeling pretty chuffed.

Anyway, time to get the kid into bed before Supernatural ;)
Em xox

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