Hellooooo there

Well hello there, strangers :) I am back (ish) trying to be a better blogger and you know, just trying to get some structure into my days.
Things are pretty much the same as they have been for a while now, still working on regaining strength back in my left leg after all those surgeries and trying to lose the 10+ kg I stacked on as a result of sitting on my bum for 3 years. Thankfully it looks like I might not have any surgeries for a while now, so yay!
I am planning on going back to Uni next year, I'm considering studying nursing or paramedics (although paramedics might be a bit gruesome... I don't need PTSD on top of my other atuff, I have more than enough "quirks" to keep my mind fully occupied as it is haha).
I also invested in an X-Pole to try and improve my fitness and flexibility so am trying to train every day or so on that- it's a lot of fun but holy crap is it hard work! Still, I'm getting stronger by the day.
As for my nail polish buying, well, I have been too broke to buy anything recently, so it's a lot of rehashing. I just bought my first neon collection which should make it's way from the States soon, which I am super excited about (love neons so much) and I have a heap of Grace-Full polish on my "to buy" list too.
 So instead of swatching new polish I'm mainly doing lots of nail stamping and I figured I'd share some of my recent mani's with you;
First up is Sizzle by Picture Polish stamped using an Emily De Molly Plate (EDM13) and Moonshine by Aussie indie stamping polish Hit the Bottle.

This next one is Fruit of the Poisonous Tree by Glam Polish stamped with an unnamed pink, again using plate EDM 13 (my current favourite stamping plate).

 And finally we have Seeing Red by Emily De Molly stamped using Hit the Bottle white and, yet again, my EDM13 stamping plate

I love how stamping can take a lovely mani to the next level and I find that manis with no adornment feel unfinished to me now- whether it me glitter, studs or stamping, I just need something extra (I'm subtle like that haha).

I hope you enjoyed these swatches and I intend to post again soon (I have close to a thousand pics on my phone that need to be uploaded onto my computer, which is a total PITA but it's gotta get done eventually).
Also, I post swatches on my Instagram account almost daily if you would rather just look at pretty pictures than read my ramblings ;)

Until next time, as always, ~love and polish for all~

Em xox

Oh boy, I really *am* smitten with Smitten Polish

Hello all, after so long I just had to post about one of my new favourite polishes, although I have absolutely no idea if anyone is bothering to follow my blog any more because of the shockingly sporadic posting, and for that I apologise. 

I have been struggling with some significant depression- this latest episode has been going on for at least a year- I know this because I remember I didn't go outside at all summer 2013/14 and I didn't go outside this summer either. So it's been pretty damn debilitating, hence the radio silence here at Attempting Fantastic.

Mind you, I do post to my IG account on an almost daily basis, and it's 99% polish with the odd cat post and even rarer kid pic, so if you want to see lots of pretty polishes you can always follow me there (@attemptingfantastic).

O.K, lets post some goddamn polish! w00t!
Today I am going to show you a U.S based indie polish brand called Smitten Polish. And I must say, their name is very apt, as I am absolutely smitten and am on a slow, but determined mission to acquire as many of their polishes as I can without declaring bankruptcy in the process (damn you AUD to USD conversion rate ;_;).

Date Night inside under fluorescent lighting

This gorgeous baby is called Date Night and it is the most vibrant holo polish I own. Date Night is a crelly/jelly polish that is incredibly saturated- it's almost a one coater- and it looks as beautiful inside under normal lighting conditions as it does under holo friendly lighting, which isn't something I can say for most other holos.
In fact, it's that underwhelming "inside look" that most holos have that has stopped me from really getting into them, but now that I have discovered that you really can have the best of both worlds- pretty holo flame and intense pigmentation- I am starting to find myself looking at holos over almost every other finish, and Smitten Polish has played a big part in that.

Date Night inside under fluro lighting

Application-wise I used two thin coats of Date Night and one coat of Poshe top coat (which didn't appear to dull the holo) over a double layer of base coat, just to be on the safe side; I find when a polish is super pigmented you run the risk of staining, so taking the time to apply a decent base coat is always a good idea.
Mind you, I could have easily gone without top coat as Date Night is quite glossy on its own, but I'm impatient and like how fast Poshe and Seche Vite dry my polish.
The polish dries super smooth too, and I found it has amazing wear- I am very rough on my manis as I don't use rubber gloves when doing the dishes and housework (naughty naughty), so they usually require touch ups or complete removal after a couple of days, but Date Night didn't even have tip wear 3 days in.

 

Date Night in direct sunlight

Oh, and it makes a great base for nail stamping too :)

Date Night inside under fluro lighting

At the moment I also own Nose So Bright- a true red linear holo, which is a bit of a rarity in the world of holos. Like Date Night, Nose So Bright has a brilliant formula and is a real stunner... in fact, I think I might wear it tomorrow :)

And, because I'm in love, I have a couple more of their polishes coming and will absolutely share pics with you all when I swatch them.

In the meantime you can buy Smitten Polish over on their site, as well as at various stockists listed on Smitten's website. 

Oh, and I can also say that their customer service is excellent too, with the owner being really helpful and accommodating, with inquiries being answered in a super friendly and prompt manner. 

Smitten Polish are, IME, a great, customer focused small business that make amazing polish, and it's these sorts of indies that I love to support and share with other polish lovers- it's such an over saturated market that great indies can sometimes get lost in the noise, you know?  So lets support the good indies out there, share the word and look fabulous while we do it :)

Until next time, as always, ~love and polish for all~

Em xox

Hey all, just a quick update

Hey guys, I'm really sorry for the radio silence with regards to this blog.

Unfortunately I am one of the many people who live with mental illness and I have been pretty freaking depressed for quite a few months now.

I know I have good reasons to feel down- my mum's pointless and drawn out death, being the only one with her when she passed away (and it was not peaceful in any way, shape or form), the 3 major surgeries that have left me scarred and with pain and mobility issues, losing my little house painting business as I can no longer climb ladders etc, trying to get back into school and being unable to afford it and having my beautiful Big Cat getting hit by a car and dying shortly after my mum did... there's been a LOT of awful events since 2012 and I think it's really taken a toll.

So, unfortunately, I have been incredibly apathetic and completely unmotivated. Hence no blog entries.

But I am still around and I do care about this blog, so I am going to try really hard to start blogging again, even if I do so simply to break up the monotony of my day, which currently consists of dragging myself out of bed 10 minutes before I need to get my daughter to school, returning home and lying on the couch watching Buffy reruns and then picking up my kid from school, lying down again, maybe getting it together enough to cook dinner and off to bed at 8.30 to sleep 12 hours. 

Fun right? 

I feel like I am trying to move through some thick, viscous syrup whenever I walk, I can hardly talk let alone keep up a conversation and I only leave the house on school runs and to buy food.

NEGL, it's pretty bad. My GP is concerned, my family is concerned, hell, even I'm concerned. This is not living, it's simply existing and it's pretty damn bleak.
So yeah, maybe making myself write about polish and show off my swatches will be a way of giving my days a little more structure while I try to get better.

And I am grateful to any of you who still read this blog and I'm sorry for not taking care of it like I should.

I hope all of you are faring much better than I am and I promise to blog in the very near future... I have so many amazing polishes to share and I'm even getting into stamping and getting much better.

Anyway, until next time ~love and polish for all~ 
Em xox

Today's post; Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, by Grace-Full nail polish

Hi everyone, how's life treating you? Are you looking forward to xmas?  Personally I'm just scowling my way through the so called festive season, waiting for it all to be over for another year.
Yeah, I kinda hate Xmas.
But, I do have some goodies to share that would make for some fantabulous xmas pressies, so that's gotta be good, right?

A few posts ago I was very excited to be able to introduce you to a new polish on the Aussie indie scene, Grace-Full Nail Polish.
Theresa, the brains behind the brand, runs a well known blog called It's All About the Polish and, with her obvious love of polish combined with knowing what makes a really good polish, it came as no surprise that she eventually started dabbling with her very own creations. And so Grace-Full polish was born.

I really love the Grace-Full lacquers that I have tried so far, so imagine my excitement when I was asked to review polishes from Grace-Full's newest collection, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.

As the name implies, this is a bright and cheerful collection, full of bold cremes, mega holo glitter and gorgeous shimmers. There is something for everyone here, with colours ranging from soft purple creme to bright lime shimmer to deep magenta glitter and I have 5 to share with you today.

Lets start with the two crelly shimmers. The shimmers do contain a lot of flakie/shimmer goodness, but even so the formula was very easy to work with, although you should wait a little between coats. I used 3 thin coats and, because of the sheer amount of flakies, the polish does dry slightly matte but a coat of Poshe gave it a great glossy finish.

First up is Hayley, a super vivid blue filled with blue flakies that gives it a fantastic reflective shimmer;

Hayley

Now, I make no secret of the fact that I just don't really like blues. I like turquoise and aqua and teal, but true blues really just leave me cold (lol get it- blue? cold? I am a comedic genius I tells ya!) but I have worn Hayley twice in the last week, so that should give you an idea of how fabulous I think it is.
This blue just grabs you by the eyeballs and demands that you show it some respect. It is so bright and shimmery and gorgeous. Really top work.

But not to be outdone, lime green queen Karen saunters onto the scene and ups the ah-mazing factor even more;

Karen

I mean, really. Such a stunner of a colour. Needless to say, I adore Karen. This baby is packed with green flakies that give it a luminous gold glow that is so beautiful- if you have a thing for vibrant greens you need this one. For real.

All up there are a total of 5 bright, bold, shimmery crelly flakie lacquers available in the collection at $9.50 each or $42.75 for all 5.

Next up we have the cremes.
Now, these aren't thick cremes like some, they're almost like a creme/crelly hybrid- when I applied my first coat I thought I might need 3 generous coats to build up opacity because of the crelly-like feel to them, but surprisingly I only needed 2 thin coats. 
I also found them to be pretty glossy as they are, but for that extra shiny look and to minimise wear and tear I still applied a coat of Poshe anyway (top coat is a must really).

Here we have Jessica, a very pretty medium purple with a slightly dusky feel;

Jessica

And Michele, a beautiful Jade green;

Michele

I must say, Theresa really does know how to make a good green- I have nothing quite like this colour and I really like how it manages to be subdued yet bold at the same time.

As with the shimmers, there are a total of 5 cremes in the collection. The cremes are priced at $8 each and are also available as a set with the addition of a complimentary topper called Maggie, full of matte orange, blue, fuchsia, white, and green glitters, in dots, triangles, diamonds and hex shapes, for $45 (Maggie is available individually for $9.50 too).

Finally we have Jayne, a holo microglitter jelly. Now, this is packed with microglitter but it never gets too thick to work with and I was able to apply 3 thin coats with no drama. Again, because of the microglitter, the polish dried to a texture finish so I just topped it with a generous coat of Poshe. 

I will add that this contains the most sparkly holographic microglitter I have ever seen. Seriously, my iphone didn't know what to do, poor thing.

Jayne

I really love the colour of this polish and the level of sparkle is just out of this world. Plus it's a surprisingly easy formula to work with when you consider just how much holo microglitter is in there. Indeed, the formulas of every Grace-Full polish I have tried have been fantastic so far. 

As with the other styles in this collection there are 5 glitter polishes, ranging from microglitters to crelly glitters, available individually for $9.50 each.

And that's it! What do you think? I love how the polishes really seem to epitomise the whole Girls Just Wanna Have Fun theme- I think Theresa has nailed it (again).

The whole range is currently available through the Grace-Full Nail Polish site, as well as some very cute Xmas mini's (ideal for stocking stuffers), and the Nail That Accent core collection, which consists of glitter polish specifically designed to be worn over a base colour as an accent polish (although they can be worn as is and are super pretty).

Oh, and I may have treated myself to some Grace-Full stocking stuffers myself (I have been eyeing the Nail That Accent range ever since I first saw it, and I needed some of the other crelly shimmers and cremes from this collection too... uh oh!) so no doubt you'll be seeing some more of Grace-Full products in the very near future.

I hope that Xmas isn't driving you all to distraction like it is me, and I look forward to posting again real soon.

So until next time, ~love and polish for all~
Em x

PS;
Please see my "product disclosure" page regarding my reviews. Needless to say, I don't back a product unless I think it deserves it, regardless of whether I paid for it myself or if it was provided to me for my honest appraisal.
Em x