Illamasqua Muse Blinged Up

OK, I promise I have some more non-blue nail posts coming up, but in the mean time here's one that's not exactly blue. Illamasqua Muse is a bright teal creme that is opaque in two coats. As with all Illamasqua polishes I've tried, it goes on easily and effortlessly. I topped it with one coat of Lilacquer Selkie (you can see swatches of it over black here), a duchrome top coat with a blue/green shimmer, and finally a line of square studs down my ring finger.

Unfortunately my top coat bubbled horribly when I put it over the studs. Boo.

I only have ten days until I go to Spain! Not that I'm counting or anything... Being the insanely organised person I am, I'm already compiling a list of all the places I want to visit while I'm there. I'm going to Seville and Madrid, so if anyone has any suggestions of what I should see, please let me know! :)

From the Vault

I have bit of a different post for you today. I have a lot of photos I haven't posted of manicures I did late last/earlier this year before I became more serious with my nail blogging. I'm actually cringeing a little at the thought of posting these because they're so amateurish. I know my manicures aren't as good as many other nail bloggers', but they're a helluva lot better than they were even just six months ago. (I'm really recommending this to you, aren't I?!) But I'm going to show these anyway, because if nothing else it shows how much I've improved! There are some swatches and some attempts at nail art. I stress the word 'attempt'.

Nails Inc Black Taxi with OPI Rainbow Connection on the ring finger. A weird combination. Also, a bizarre hand position. It reminds me of that moment in Toy Story when Buzz Lightyear asks the little alien toys who's in charge: "The claaaaw."

Illamasqua Kink. It's one of those rubber-finish polishes. Terrible photo, but I really like the polish. Also, my index fingernail appears to be freakily long in comparison to the others here.

OPI Warm & Fozzie. Love this polish. Barry M Copper, a new release, is supposedly very similar to this if anyone is looking for a cheaper alternative.

Nails Inc Old Bond Street. It's a dark grey with a pink/purple shimmer. It's completely gorgeous and I should really re-swatch it so you can see it better.

Essie Lady Like. It's hard to tell from the photo, but it's a greyish pink. It's very work-appropriate. I actually wore it to the interview for my internship a few months ago.

Essie Lady Like with Essie As Gold As It Gets. A random combination I tried out. Subtle, but I like it.

OPI Alpine Snow with Nubar Opulent Pearl. I wanted to see what Opulent Pearl, a flakie top coat, looked like over a white polish. Not much, apparently. I also seem to have decided that painting half my skin would be a good look.

Nails Inc Jermyn Street. I think this was the first nude polish I ever bought, and it's still my favourite. Its formula is unbeatable.

OPI Fly with OPI Save Me. Not a very original combination, but they go well together.

China Glaze For Audrey with Nubar White Polka Dots. LOBSTER HANDS!!! I used a Big Ruby nail tattoo on the ring finger.

a-england Galahad and a-england Tristam. I remember I was so chuffed with this manicure, but my Seche Vite was getting to the gloopy stage when I put it on and the whole thing just bubbled like a witches' cauldron! I was devastated.

Nails Inc Seven Dials with Barry M Silver Foil. I quite like this manicure, but it's a terrible photo. Although the foil looks gold, I actually used a silver polish but the green underneath changed its colour!

So there you have it, my crappy swatches out there for all the world to see. Am I the only one who cringes when looking at early photos of one's manicures? Does anyone else feel they've come a long way since they started nail blogging - whether a few months or a few years ago?

Illamasqua Baptiste Covered in Diamonds

I've said it many times before, and I'll say it again: I love purple nail polishes. I bought Illamasqua Baptiste recently and it's quickly catapaulted itself onto the list of my favourite purple polishes - maybe even the list of my favourite polishes in general. It is a dark purple with a shimmer that gives it a ridiculous amount of depth - it's one of those cool polishes that looks like it's glowing from within. Baptiste is almost a one-coater, but I used two for the photos below.

SO PRETTY.

After a couple of days I decided to layer something over the top, and I reached for Color Club Covered in Diamonds. Here's the result:

Illamasqua Jo'mina + Max Factor Fantasy Fire = A Match Made in Heaven

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you will know by now how much I love purple polishes. Illamasqua Jo'mina has been on my wishlist for quite some time, and I am happy to say that it is no longer a wish but a reality!

Jo'mina is a vivid light purple. I wouldn't call it lilac because it's too bright. I've heard it's very difficult to photograph the colour accurately, and it's true! I almost wanted to cry with frustration when I was taking photos of it because it just looked too blue. Happily, when I looked at the photos on my laptop they weren't too bad, but just imagine this colour as a thousand times more bright and in-your-face in real life, okay?

Pretty gorgeous, isn't it? I wore it like this for a couple of days before realising that the only thing that could possibly top it on its own...was with Max Factor Fantasy Fire on top. I've shown you Fantasy Fire before here, and unless you've been living under a rock you've probably heard of it. It's a sheer purple polish with a red/gold/green multichrome shimmer. I like it with Barry M Indigo as a base - but I love it with Illamasqua Jo'mina. The brightness of Jo'mina still shines through but doesn't overpower the shimmery loveliness. I used two coats (eh, I have four bottles, I don't need to be stingy!) over Jo'mina. Take a look:

And a bonus photo of it blurry so you can see how sparkly it is:

What do you think of this combination? Do you have a favourite polish to layer Fantasy Fire or other dupes over?

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! I don't know about you, but my evening has been spent watching Fred Astaire films (NOT horror movies) and praying no trick-or-treaters come to the door, which fortunately they haven't. My manicure today isn't overtly Halloweeny, but I rather like it anyway.

I saw a tutorial the other day for a shredded funky French mani, and I decided to try my hand at it. I didn't have the patience to do it on every nail so it was only on my thumbs and ring fingers; my other nails had the standard French design on them.

After applying a base coat I did two coats of Nails Inc Augustus Street, which is a grey suede-effect colour that was part of their Texture Collection from earlier this year. I paired this with two coats of Illamasqua Vice, a rubber-look deep cerise. I'm not a huge matte fan as a rule, but I thought the difference in texture between the suede and the rubber would look pretty cool. The normal French was done freehand, while I cut a jagged pattern out of Scotch tape for the other nails.

It's definitely not perfect - especially as I couldn't use a top coat to seal and smooth it - but for my first attempt at a shredded mani, I don't think it's too bad. I really like the contrast in textures, it creates a bit more interest.