Diary and a Manicure

Hello!

I just thought that, along with my current manicure, I'd give a little update of where I'm at in life. Nearly 3 weeks ago I had a small biopsy operation following a cancer scare; I'm still waiting for the results but the nurses seemed confident that I don't need to worry. In some completely unrelated bad luck I've also been having stomach pains and am suspected to have gallstones. I have to wait for an ultrasound appointment so a doctor can take a look around. So a lot of waiting and baited breath at the moment!

The worst thing is that these scares have completely set off my depression. I have had to take time off work and haven't been able to do my weekly volunteering either. I'm trying to post my manicures regularly so as to do something productive, and am hoping to dip my toe back in the water with a short shift back at work soon. Wish me luck!

And, of course, I have a manicure for you. I cut my nails short yesterday and I've decided to go bright and bold with Nails Inc's Baker Street and polka dots!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Jade ~ Black Tie

Hello!

Today I am wearing the fifth of the Jade Special Glitz collection that I won from Sally Magpies! Black Tie is a black jelly packed with holo sparkle glitter, building up to an opaque finish in 2 coats.

Now, Black Tie has been so hard to photograph! The way I would describe this polish is like Barry M's Black Multiglitter, but living up to its full potential. The sparkle in the Barry M gets a bit lost, but because Black Tie is a jelly it comes through strong. Here it is:

Yes, my camera definitely had a hard time with this! But it really lives up to its name, both in terms of being glitzy and black-tie worthy!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Floral Manicure

Hello!

This is just a quick mani I did a while back that I really loved but ruined on my non-dominant hand! I used Barry M's Blueberry and my Cheeky Home Sweet Home plate (surprise surprise!).

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Lovebird Manicure

This post contains products which were sent to me for review :-)

Hello!

Today I have another manicure using my KKcenterhk stamping plates. This one uses an adorable image of two birds with little hearts, which I stamped over pastel skittles!

Plate No.: NNAIL-SPPMF09

http://www.kkcenterhk.com/p11340/N.NAIL-Wings-Flower-Bird-Eyes-Candy-Strawberry-Stamping-Plate/product_info.html

I absolutely adore this image but, as you can see, I did have some trouble getting the hearts to stamp properly. I'd definitely use this image again regardless but it's a shame!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Jammy Dodger Manicure!

This post contains products which were sent to me for review :-)

Hello!

KKcenterhk sent me 2 stamping plates to review a little while ago, and one plate has a pattern that reminded me instantly of jammy biscuits! So I painted a "buttery biscuit base" of Sally Hansen's Without A Stitch, then stamped the heart pattern over it in red.

Plate No.: NNAIL-SPPMF09

http://www.kkcenterhk.com/p11340/N.NAIL-Wings-Flower-Bird-Eyes-Candy-Strawberry-Stamping-Plate/product_info.html

Very Alice in Wonderland! ^_^

Hugs,

Lisa xx

OPI ~ Jinx

Hello!

For my birthday I received the OPI James Bond Liquid Sand mini set, and the first one I tried just had to be Jinx!

I am extremely hit-and-miss when it comes to the textured polish trend and it's rare that I see one of these polishes and truly like it. However, I am firmly adding Jinx to the "like" list! It's a sunset orange with a golden glow, very beautiful, and the textured effect really suits it. Here are 2 coats:

And in warmer light:

Perfect for the Summer!

Unfortunately, the only outing this polish had was to the walk-in centre on Sunday. I have suspected gallstones (on top of the cancer scare and everything else). It seems everything's been going wrong with me lately! All I can do is wait to be seen for an ultrasound scan and see what shows up :-(

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Hibiscus Manicure

Hello!

Today I am wearing a polish that I absolutely love but, due to my having a ridiculously huge choice of polish, has been left gathering dust on the shelf for a long time. Stand Back! by Boots No7 is the brightest, most cheerful Summer blue ever. I bought it back when Boots were doing "£5 off No7" vouchers.

For this mani I stamped on Bundle Monster hibiscus accent nails for added summeriness. Here it is with 2 coats of Stand Back!:

It's been a while since I wore a solid bright colour and it feels very refreshing!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Glasses Manicure!

Hello!

Last week I got my first pair of glasses in about 12 years! I was nervous about getting them but am so glad that I did. The glasses make it look like an artist came along, added detail to everything and enriched the colours (not to mention that they make staring at my laptop a little easier on my poor eyes!).

So, this inspired me to trying out a very smart pattern on my Cheeky Home Sweet Home stamping plate. I received my first ever China Glaze for my birthday, Groovy Green, so this provided a base for my stamping. Here is the mani, modelled with my new glasses!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Jade ~ Esplendor

Hello!

Today I have to show you the fourth polish from the Jade Special Glitz collection that I won from the lovely Sally Magpies! Esplendor is a rich blue jelly packed with holo sparkle glitter. For this mani I painted 2 coats, here it is!

I am so, so pleased with this! I've also been dying to recreate this jelly stampwich mani of fish in the sea, and I just realised that I now have a suitable blue jelly to do it! ^_^

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Sparkly Glitter Gradient

Hello!

I've been in a bit of a polishing (and blogging) rut for the past week, but today I'm back with a simple but super-effective glitter gradient!

I started off with 2 coats of a lovely sheer French shade, Graceful by MeMeMe. I then painted the sparkle-packed Noel Street by Nails Inc onto a cosmetics sponge and dabbed it onto the tips of my nails moving downwards. I topped it with a dabbing of copper and gold multiglitter from Claire's, then finished off with a coat of Seche Vite. Simples!

I'll be back soon with a stamped mani and another of the Jade Special Glitz collection, e-see you soon!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Jade ~ Realeza

Hello!

Today I have for you the third polish from my Sally Magpie's win, Jade's Realeza (see Vestido de Gala and Echarpe de Seda here). Realeza means Royalty and is a fittingly regal purple jelly packed with holographic sparkle glitter. The colour is lighter than the other two polishes and so the holo glitter really stands out! Here are 3 coats:

Soooooo sparkly!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

P.S. Health update: I went to the hospital and had a biopsy which was very traumatic, but it seemed to go very well. Cancer isn't 100% ruled out but the nurses didn't appear concerned at all following the procedure, so I feel a lot better :)

Jade ~ Echarpe de Seda

Hello!

Today I am showing you the second of the Jade Special Glitz collection I won from Sally Magpies, Echarpe de Seda (meaning Silk Scarf!). All 6 polishes in the collection consist of a colour-rich jelly packed with holographic sparkle glitter.

The best way I can think of to describe Echarpe de Seda is as entrancing pools of sparkling, blood-red jelly on your nails. It really is that beautiful. Poets could write about this polish!

It's difficult to capture the depth in a photograph but I've taken some pictures in varying lights and with flash to try and show you. I applied 3 coats for maximum richness of colour. Here it is!

Natural light:

With flash:

In low light:

I know the last pics aren't the best but I hope they give you an idea of just how deep and rich this polish is! This is looking to me like the standout polish of the Special Glitz collection but I have four more to try so I could be proven wrong!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

P.S. On a personal note I've had a cancer scare and am waiting to have some tests. I'm afraid and very upset but am trying to keep going. Life is too hard sometimes!

Jade ~ Vestido de Gala

Hello!

Today I am showing you the first of my Sally Magpies prizes, Vestido de Gala from the Jade Special Glitz collection. Vestido de Gala (I believe this means Gala Dress in English) is a juicy berry colour packed full with holographic sparkle glitter. It has a jelly finish but is still opaque in 2 coats. I took some pics in different lights, here they are!

...and a bad flash photo just to show you the rainbow sparkle that is so prominent in the flesh:

Basically, this polish is a ready-to-apply jelly sammich. It is so rich, so juicy and the glitter gives it such depth. I am in love and I'm so grateful to have won it!

I have 5 other Special Glitz shades to try so will be showing you them all in posts to come ^_^

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Look what arrived in the post...

...my prize from Sally Magpies! Eeeeee!

I'm already wearing Vestido de Gala and I'm waiting to take some photos in daylight before showing it off on the blog. I can, however, tell you now that is a rich, juicy, sparkly wonder that makes me crave Ribena!

Thank you so much to Sally for the prize - I've never won anything and I don't own any other Jade polishes so I am mega-happy!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

NailNation 300 ~ Parma Violet

Hello!

Today I have another of my birthday polishes to show you, and this is one gorgeous holo. It's Parma Violets by NailNation 3000, and it's a dusty blue-hinted purple truly reminiscent of the tasty parma violet sweets. As a side note, there should really be more floral confectionery out there - violet, rose, orange blossom, they're all yummy!

Here are two coats. I took a photo with flash to best show off the holo, which is strong and linear:

Siiiiiiiggggghhhhhhh holo beauty.

For this manicure I used OPI Matte Nail Envy as a base and Seche Vite as a top coat, and neither affected the application or finish of Parma Violet.

Hugs,

Lisa xx

The Polish Bar ~ Cloudy Skies

Hello!

As promised, here is a polish post! I thought I'd show off one of my birthday presents, Cloudy Skies by The Polish Bar (bought from the Holographic Hussy's blog sale). I'm not up-to-date on the indie polish scene at all and so normally would have missed out on this beauty. Cloudy Skies is a grey polish holding purple microglitter and a mix of larger purple, silver and holo glitters. Here are 3 coats:

I'm afraid my smartphone camera was hicupping for a few days and not taking great photos, but this polish lives up to its name beautifully. It's interesting, whimsical and romantic - a perfect indie polish and the best birthday present ever!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Happiness!

Hello!

I wasn't planning on posting tonight as I'm having a little dip with my depression and it always renders me exptremely unproductive... but something wonderful just happened and so I'm going to write a happy post, and then I'll go to sort out my latest polish photos to show you!

Happiness #1: Tonight I won a contest by Sally Magpie's to win the new Jade Special Glitz range - all 6 polishes! They look stunning and I can't wait to put them on and show them off to their best in the July sunshine. What makes it even happier is that I'd resigned myself to not buying any more polishes for a good long while in the hopes of coming near to getting out of my horrible bank overdraft.

Happiness #2: I just celebrated my 25th birthday last Wednesday. Aside from feeling extremely old I got some amazing polishes as presents - including the OPI James Bond Liquid Sand minis and 3 polishes from the Holographic Hussy's blog sale - two books, two Sims 2 expansion packs and two very pretty nighties from my parents ^_^

Happiness #3: I have started volunteering! It's for Mind, a mental health charity which has helped both myself and family with counselling. This is a teeny step in improving my life and doing more with my day.

Happiness #4: I am currently beating my friend Kellie in Running With Friends with a high score of 66,859!

I shall be back soon with a polish post,

Lisa xx