Fancy Friday #32: Green Digits

I was in such an uninspired mood when I thought these up, but I ended up liking them a lot. Only drawback was how unreasonably difficult it was to get a proper amount of the glitter out. I had to use a replacement RBL brush I have in order to get reasonable coverage here.

The green polish is China Glaze Jolly Holly from their 2010 Christmas Collection, a marvellous polish that I find myself returning to every year at Christmas time even though I've got loads of other holiday polishes. It's  a one coater if you are careful but I've used two coats here.

The red and white glitter topper is Love Always, Candy Cain from Pretty and Polished, Holiday Collection 2012

I've had a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit this year even though I've made Christmas ornaments with the girls and for a swap, I've made some Christmas sweets and made advent calendars. I've been to a work related Christmas party and am going to the traditional family Christmas lunch tomorrow as well. Hopefully I will get there soon since I usually love Christmas.

Remember to check out what kind of Green Digits the rest of the girls are sporting.

Jeg var totalt uinspireret da jeg lavede de her, men jeg endte med at være ret glad for dem alligevel. Blev vildt irriteret på glitteren, den var nærmest umulig at få på penslen i flasken, alle de store hex glitterstykker var umulige at få ud, så jeg måtte finde en lakpensel jeg en gang har fået tilsendt - så fik jeg da også lige nok til at give den effekt som i ser på billederne.

Pretty &Polished It Gets Better: Swatches and review

Back when I purchased the Pretty&Polished Holiday Collection I also came across this beautiful polish and knew I couldn't pass on it. Chels Marie created it in honour of the It Gets Better project, a cause that is close to her heart - here in her own words is why she has made it:

This polish was made for the "It Gets Better Project".
The It Gets Better Project was created to show young LGBT people the levels of happiness, potential, and positivity their lives will reach – if they can just get through their teen years. The It Gets Better Project wants to remind teenagers in the LGBT community that they are not alone — and it WILL get better.
 
I created this polish for all of the people I have lost to bullying. I understand not everyone agrees with my views on human rights and that is ok. I made this polish so that I could donate 50% of the profits to an organization that I appreciate.
 
The It Gets Better pledge:
"Everyone deserves to be respected for who they are. I pledge to spread this message to my friends, family and neighbors. I'll speak up against hate and intolerance whenever I see it, at school and at work. I'll provide hope for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and other bullied teens by letting them know that it gets better."

This polish is a mint green crelly (crème/jelly) with holo hexes in all the colours of the rainbow. It also has this gorgeous shimmer that makes the base colour very much like Dior's Waterlily, a polish that is almost beyond beautiful. No doubt that just by looking at the bottle I knew I would REALLY like this polish :D

 Though it is a hybrid I still needed three layers for full coverage - on the upside it dries super fast, with a slightly satiny finish.

Application was slightly tricky - I had to work a little to get the glitters to stay put instead of being drawn off when applying. But with a steady hand and some patience the result is awesome!

I used Nubar Diamond top coat with this and put on a liberal layer and had no grittiness after it was dry.

I tell you, those bubbles were not there when I looked at my nails :O - that's what you get for having a great camera :D

 I really adore this polish. The colour is right up my alley and it doesn't bother me the least that it takes a little extra care when applying.

I love my Pretty&Polished. Chels keep pouring out gorgeous polishes, though not all colours are my thing. But I have yet to look at the polishes she makes and go "meh" or "boriiiiiing" - which is all kinds of awesome.

You can purchase Pretty&Polished here and here, she still does international shipping though the rates are bound to rise because of the newest rises in shipping prices in the US. You also ought to follow her on facebook, loads of stuff going on there and catch up with the blog where you'll get all the news related to P&P

Disclaimer: This polish was purchased by me for review purposes.

Pretty & Polished Holiday Collection, part one - Happy Holodays Duo

December is getting close and this of course mean Holiday Collections galore. I am proud to present my first ever review post and I am thrilled that it is for Pretty & Polished, an Indie brand I have been in love with since I saw it for the first time in the beginning of January.

My first ever polish purchase on Etsy was at Chelsea's and I've been hooked on her polishes ever since. I always look forward to see what brilliant combinations she comes up with when she releases new colours or collections.

And 'tis the season to be jolly so in this post I'll take a look at two of her christmas colours. Out of the seven she has released I have five to show you, the other three will be in a post later this week.

First up is this lovely duo called Happy Holodays consisting of Ruby, a red linear holographic polish and Glitter Topper, a gorgeous red&green glitter meant for layering.

As many of you may know, red is not a favourite colour of mine. But Ruby's jewel tone is totally gorgeous and I couldn't help looking at it all the time. The holographic particles are subtle in it and though I love myself some holo this is actually quite fitting for Ruby.

The wonderful thing about this colour is you can build it's intensity. First layer is a lovely clear read but you get this wonderful deep jewel red tone as you apply second and third layer. The formula is nice and isn't gloopy but application can be tricky, I kept dragging the polish so I let it dry for 15 minutes between second and third layer. Drying time was average.

 Happy Holodays Glitter Topper is shown here on top of Ruby and I think it looks awesome, these really suit each other and no wonder they are sold as a duo. This is two coats of the Glitter Topper.

Indirect lighting

The formula on this was very nice, with only minor gloopiness - no need for thinner. I had to use the dab method on the first layer to get this result since I thought the glitter I got on my brush was on the sparse side, but hey that is merely because I love A LOT of glitter. Dry time was average with this as well.

With flash

Red glitter, green glitter, red holo glitter, green holo glitter - it is an AWESOME topper.

With flash, without thumb

I finished it off with a thick layer of Gelous and Dior Top Coat and it was perfectly smooth.

And of course you need to see it on top of other christmassy colours:

Silver: a-england Excalibur
Gold: YSL Manicure Couture Duo Belle de Nuit
Blue: Color Club Cold Metal
Green: China Glaze Jolly Holly

You can shop Pretty & Polished HERE and she offers international shipping so head on over and buy all the pretties. You can also follow her blog or follow her on Facebook to get news and watch all the gorgeous swatches of her wonderful creations.

Be sure to check the blog later this week where I will be featuring these three shades: Everybody Loves Penguin, Love Always, Candy Cain and Xmas Wreath. Something to look forward to, eh?

Disclaimer: These polishes were purchased by me for review purposes.

Pretty & Polished Sand Art :O

I am not gonna bore you with a lot of text, just tell you that this is a MUST HAVE!!!! It is gorgeous and I already regret not buying a full size bottle!

Underwear is Orly Green Apple.

 Unfortunately my underwear caused major staining. My nails were almost bright yellow afterwards and despite all the different stain removal advice I know of have been implemented I still have yellow nails.

I used one layer of Orly Green apple and two layers of Sand Art.

Pretty & Polished can be purchased at llarowe, but unfortunately it is sold out at the moment.