SMPolish "Hidden Depths Collection" - 26 August 2015

Today I have three polishes to show you from the Hidden Depths Collection, by the Aussie Indie Polish brand SMpolish, that Shakeela, the maker, sent me to thank me for choosing names for both the whole collection and all the individual polishes in this collection.  All nine colours are amazing, and I'm going to buy some of the polishes that I didn't get because they are just so beautiful.  Here are photographs of the full collection, with swatches done by Shakeela on her beautiful long nails, so you can see why I love them all.

The colours, in the order shown in the photos above, are "Secret Message", "Deep Dark Secret", "Sly As A Fox", "Blessing In Disguise", "Mum's The Word", "Davy Jones' Locker", "Guarded Secret", "Mulled Wine" and "Hush-Hush". Just click on the names above to be taken to the individual listings on the SMPolish site for more information and to order.

The first one I have to show you is "Davy Jones' Locker", a lovely aqua holographic polish.  The holographic shift in this polish is not quite as strong as some of the others in the collection, but is definitely there no matter what lighting I was under.  I had problems with getting photographs inside because we have terrible lighting (I hate the new globes the government is making us use).  However, the photos I took in the sun and shade outside show just how beautiful this polish is.  Like all of the polishes from SMpolish that I have tried so far, this polish went on smoothly, and just two coats, with no top coat, gave the finish shown. 

 

   

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The second polish I have to show you from the Hidden Depths Collection is "Hush-Hush", a gorgeous violet holographic polish.  I absolutely love this polish.  It went on like a dream, and the holographic shift is just wonderful.  Just two coats of polish with no top coat gave this beautiful finish.  It is gorgeous no matter what light you are under, and I just adore it.  Please forgive the lumpy look on my index finger in the photos taken in the shade, but I am nursing some broken nails with patches at the moment, and I forgot to put a coat of strengthener under this lot of swatches.

   

  

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The last polish from the Hidden Depths Collection that I have to show you today is "Mulled Wine", a wonderful red-wine coloured holographic polish, and it is my favourite of the three polishes I have from the collection.  Application was sooooo easy, and just two coats with no top coat gave the awesome holographic shift shown in my photos.  I just couldn't stop looking at it while I had it on my nails.  I'm considering buying a full-size bottle of this polish, because the bottles shown in the photos are 5ml mini bottles, so they won't last for long.

   

 

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I applied one coat of Pretty Serious "Rock On" Nail Strengthener under each lot of swatches, except for the "Hush-Hush" ones (because I simply forgot).  I then added one coat of Grace-full Nail Polish "Base Coat" to each nail, and used no top coat on these nails at all for these swatches.

Overall, I'm extremely impressed with the Hidden Depths Collection polishes that I have, and will definitely be purchasing some of the other colours very soon.  They applied very easily, and were very easy to clean up, too.  Also, when it came to taking them off, there was no staining at all, and they came off so easily I was really surprised.  So, I'd definitely recommend this collection, and I hope you will support this wonderful new polish brand, SMpolish, by purchasing some of these, and/or others from the other collections Shakeela has available.  I'm really excited by what she is producing, and I know that she has some more amazing, and some quite unique, polishes coming up in the very near future.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog, and I hope you will come back often to see what I have to share with you.  If you would like to follow my blogs, just fill in one of the boxes at the top right-hand side of the page.  There are also links, on the right-hand side, to all my earlier posts in case you would like to check them out, too.  I'd love to hear from you with any comments you'd like to make, either good or bad, or perhaps some advice you think might help me along my nail art journey.

Have a wonderful day, and God bless you.

Hugs

Christine

(Please check out my other blog below, too.)

Words of Life and Hope

http://wordsoflifeandhope.blogspot.com.au/

 I received 5ml sample bottles of three of the polishes from this collection, to thank me for
choosing their names, and to enable me to do an honest review and to do swatches of the polishes.

Celestial Cosmetics "Pixie's Place" & LYZ Cosmetics "Hearts On Fire" Manicure - 11 August 2015

Today I have my latest manicure, featuring Celestial Cosmetics "Pixie's Place" and LYZ Cosmetics "Hearts On Fire", from the Fairybread February 2015 Sweet Surprise Box, but unfortunately neither of these polishes are available anymore.  However both sites have lots of other wonderful polishes available for you, so please check them out and find out why I love them both so much.

I started my manicure with one coat of Pretty Serious "Rock On" Nail Strengthener, and one coat of Grace-full Nail Polish "Base Coat", to all my nails.

Next, I applied two coats of Celestial Cosmetics "Pixie's Place" to all my nails.  This polish is just gorgeous, to say the least.  It was described on the website when I bought it as "a bronze scattered holo with flakies", but I'd describe it as a pink/beige bronze holo shimmer polish, absolutely loaded with gold and bronze micro-glitter and gold and bronze flakies.  The overall effect is dazzling, especially in the sunshine, and even in filtered sunshine as shown above.  It went on smoothly and easily and, if I hadn't planned to photograph it for my blog, one coat would have given great coverage, but I wanted to get more of a crelly effect, so I used the two coats. The finish was lovely and smooth, with no problem getting loads of glitter and flakies in each stroke.  As you can see from the bottle in the photos, when I said it was "loaded with glitter", I wasn't joking.  If you get the chance to pick up a bottle of this in a destash anywhere, buy it, because I know you wouldn't regret it, but I don't think anyone would want to sell it if they've already got it.

Then I applied two coats of LYZ Cosmetics "Hearts On Fire", a clear glitter base polish, absolutely chock-a-block with tiny bronze glitter, medium pink hexagonal glitter, and silver holo shards. As you can see from the photo above, the effect is stunning.  I didn't have to do any digging at all to get the shards because there are plenty in the bottle, the polish went on very easily, and the finish was just a little rough.  I used two coats because I wanted to get a jelly effect, and it worked beautifully.  This is another polish I would definitely recommend to everyone if you can manage to get hold of a bottle, but I'm not sure that people would want to sell this one, either, if they've got it.

I finished off with one coat of Grace-full Nail Polish "Quick Dry Top Coat", which covered even the polish on my ring fingers beautifully.  This top coat seems to give every polish, glitter or creme, a perfect cover, and is so easy to use.  I can definitely recommend this if you're looking for a good all-round top coat.

Here are some more photos taken under a variety of lighting conditions so that you can see how beautiful these polishes are.  They're even more wonderful in real life, though, so I hope you can get a bottle of each one somewhere.  If you want to see larger versions of the photos, just click on them.

   

     

 

So, that's my manicure for another week.  As you can see, these two polishes are amazing under just about any type of lighting you could think of.  Please feel free to leave comments if you so wish, and if you'd like to follow my blog, you can do so by filling in one of the boxes at the top right-hand side of the page.

Thanks for visiting, and I hope you'll come back often to see what I have to share with you.  As I told you in my last post, I have some really exciting posts coming up for you in the not-too-distant future. 

Have a great week, and may God bless you!

Hugs

Christine

(Please check out my other blog below, too.)

Words of Life and Hope

http://wordsoflifeandhope.blogspot.com.au/

I have nothing to declare for this post. All these products are part of my personal stash, paid for by me.

KBShimmer "Men Are From Mars-ala" & Powder Perfect "Horse-lords" - 7 August 2015

I am in love once again - this time with KBShimmer "Men Are From Mars-ala", which I have used for this manicure, with Powder Perfect "Horse-lords" used as my feature nail.

I know KBShimmer "Men Are From Mars-ala" has been around for quite some time now, but I was only able to buy a bottle a couple of months ago because it is from a USA Indie Polish maker, which meant it was much more expensive than Aussie Indie polishes, and I've been dying to try it out.  As I'd been so busy last week, I decided to do a simple manicure this week, and while I was looking through my polish collection, trying to work out which ones to use, my eyes lit up when they saw this polish.  Before I purchased it I'd found lots of blogs that absolutely raved about this polish, and I wondered if it would really live up to its hype - and I can assure you it did.  I then looked through my jelly glitter polishes to find one that would go perfectly with this superb marsala shade, and Powder Perfect "Horse-lords" fit the bill exactly.

I started my manicure as usual with a coat of Pretty Serious "Rock On" Nail Strengthener, which is simply the best strengthener I've found anywhere, and I recommend it to everyone.  My nails are never intentionally without it, but after a really busy, rough week, my last mani had lost bits of polish here and there, and when I removed my polish I discovered I had three breaks that had to be patched.  I also had to file down a couple more nails on my left hand, which is usually my go-to hand for photographing, and that is why I've included a photo of my right hand because the nails are a bit longer. Once the strengthener had completely dried, I added a coat of Grace-full Base Coat, which I've found to be fantastic.  Whenever I use it, the polish stays on my fingers a lot longer than with any other base coat I've used to-date, and because I usually want my manicures to last for at least 4 or 5 days, and sometimes even longer, this is exactly what I want.

Then I added two coats of KBShimmer "Men Are From Mars-ala" to every nail except for my ring fingers, although one good coat would have been more than enough if I hadn't been going to photograph it for this blog.  This is one of the most beautiful polishes I've added to my collection since beginning my nail art journey, and since doing my manicure I haven't been able to stop looking at it- literally!  The colour looks amazing on my skin colour, its changes according to the light are wonderful, and the linear holographic shift, especially in sunlight, is unbelievable until you actually see it in person.  It went on smoothly, with no brush marks, and I think I can say, without a doubt, that this has been the easiest polish to apply that I have found since I started doing my nails last October.  The colour is simply beautiful - from a gorgeous, soft marsala shade under indoor lighting, to a simply amazing holographic, shimmery, bright marsala shade in the sun, and all the shades in between depending on what light I happen to be in.  Put quite simply, every facet of this polish blew me away, I'm now completely in love with the marsala colour itself as well, and will definitely be looking for more similar polishes to add to my collection. The only nail polish store I could find who stocked this polish, and would send it to Australia, was the Canadian online store, Harlow & Co., and you will find a link to their site if you click on both the name of the polish and the name of the company.

Next, I added two coats of Powder Perfect "Horse-lords", a rich, maroon jelly with gold & bronze glitter from this wonderful Australian Indie Polish maker.  This went on really easily, and there is heaps of glitter in the bottle, so I didn't have to go fishing for any, or even dab any extra bits of glitter on to fill in any gaps.  Two coats gave just the right amount of glitter, and I'm looking forward to actually trying this polish over a dark base polish, or even over a lighter polish that doesn't particularly please me.  The colour proved to be the perfect foil for "Men Are From Mars-ala", and the overall effect was just beautiful.

To finish off my manicure I applied one coat of Grace-full Nail Polish "Quick Dry Top Coat", which was more than enough to cover even the rough finish of the Powder Perfect "Horse-lords" glitter jelly polish beautifully, and give a smooth, glossy finish.  I love this top coat since buying it, and think it is easily the best one I have at the moment.

Here are some more photos of the finished manicure under different types of lighting so that you can see why I am so in love with this polish.  Unfortunately I was unable to get my camera to catch the full linear holographic effect that you can just see in the bottle in the photo at the top of this post, and also the photo taken in sunlight below, because it caused the camera to flare it was that bright, but I assure you, it is there, and in spades.

 

 

So, what do you think?  Do you agree that the KBShimmer "Men Are From Mars-ala" polish is as wonderful as I do?  And do you love the beautiful jelly glitter polish Powder Perfect "Horse-lords" as much as I do?  Please let me know if you have any comments, good or bad, or perhaps even some suggestions to help me improve my blogging skills, because I would love hear from you.

Well, that's me for another week.  I hope you will come back often to see what I have to share with you, and I can promise you I have some exciting posts coming in the not-to-distant future.

Have a wonderful week, and may God bless you with an abundance of His mercy and grace.

Hugs

Christine

(Please check out my other blog below, too.)

Words of Life and Hope
http://wordsoflifeandhope.blogspot.com.au/

All products used in this post were bought by me, and my opinion is given honestly and freely.

 

Purple Manicure For My Hubby's 75th Birthday Party - 19 July 2015

Hi, and welcome to my blog.  So glad to have you visit!

I wanted my nails to look extra special for my hubby, Trevor's, 75th birthday on Sunday night, so I decided to wear purple.  When my eyes lighted upon these two amazing polishes in my collection, I just knew they were the ones, and that they were crying out to be worn together for this very special occasion.

 

Outside In Sunlight

These two amazing polishes are Shades of Phoenix "Dementor's Kiss" and Grace-full Nail Polish "Twinkling Violets".  "Twinkling Violets" is a Grace-full Nail Polish Fan Facebook Group exclusive polish that I was lucky enough to have the name I suggested chosen for.  If you don't already belong to this fan group, or the Phoenix Flames - Shades of Phoenix Indie Polish Facebook group, I'd really like to suggest that you join.  They are closed groups, but are easy enough to join, and we get the chance to buy exclusive Facebook Group Limited Edition polishes, the chance to choose the names of some of the polishes, chances to win prizes, and sneak previews of all the beautiful polishes these two amazing Aussie Indie Polish makers come up with for all their lucky fanatics. We have heaps of fun, especially when trying to come up with polish names, and oooohing and aaaahing over the previews of the new collections or Limited Edition polishes when they show up on the Facebook pages.  Come on over and check them out - they're awesome.

Now to my manicure.  As usual, I started with one coat of Pretty Serious "Rock On! Nail Strengthener" to all my nails.  Since using this on my nails I've only had one break, and that was my fault because I didn't remove my polish quickly enough when some of it came off, taking the strengthener with it, of course. I banged my nail whilst cooking dinner, and the only bit of the nail that didn't have polish on it broke off - Murphy's Law loves my home!!!!!  That is why you are viewing photos of my non-dominant hand, and also why the clean-up is not as good as usual.  Once again it looked great until I saw the photos -  YAAAGH!!!!  Sorry about that, but you can take it from me, next time my nail polish starts to come off, I'll be removing it and at least applying a coat of "Rock On!" straight away - once bitten, twice shy!!!!

My base coat for this manicure is Shades of Phoenix Base Coat, and I applied one coat of this to all my nails, making sure to wrap it over the ends of my nails for extra protection, as I also did with the "Rock On!".

Then I added one coat of Shades of Phoenix "Dementor's Kiss" to all my nails, and then a second coat to all but my ring fingers.  This polish was a bit patchy with the first coat, but the second coat soon fixed that.  It went on smoothly, and it is absolutely beautiful.  It is a mid-shade purple polish, with lots of holographic ultra-micro glitter throughout, and I was just able to pick that up in my photos, which I was really pleased about.  The photos really don't do it justice, though, which is a real shame.  Teneil, the owner of Shades of Phoenix, has taken maternity leave for the birth of her new baby (born 21 July), so the store is closed at present for a short while, but the Facebook group is still very active, with people sharing their manicures, etc, and now checking out the pictures of our lastest "mini" Phoenix Flames member - she's just beautiful.  It won't be too long, we hope, before Teneil will be back making more of her wonderful Aussie Indie nail polishes.

Next, I added two coats of Grace-full Nail Polish "Twinkling Violets" to my ring fingers, which gave me an amazing jelly effect.  This is a dark purple jelly polish, with blue tones, and so much tiny purple, blue and holographic glitter it really blew me away.  I haven't been able to stop looking at it since I put it on.  I just wish everyone could have bought some of this beautiful polish, but I'm afraid that's not possible.  This polish was a Facebook group only Limited Edition polish, as I said earlier, so there is no more available at all, unless you could possibly pick some up in a destash sale online somewhere.  However, I doubt that would happen, because I can't imagine anyone wanting to remove this polish from their collection.  So, don't forget to check out the Grace-full Nail Polish Fan Facebook Group so you don't miss out on any more amazing Limited Edition polishes, and also to see the photos of all the amazing polishes swatches that members have put up on the site.  I fear if you do you may well become as addicted as I am, and your bank balance will suffer the same as mine.

To finish my manicure I used Shades of Phoenix Top Coat, which went on really well over both polishes.  The Grace-full Nail Polish "Twinkling Violets" had a slightly rough finish, so I added a second coat to my ring fingers, and that smoothed it out beautifully.  I also made sure to wrap my top coat over the tips of my nails to give me even more protection for my polish.  

Here are some more photos of my manicure, including a macro image of Grace-full Nail Polish "Twinkling Violets" which will give you some idea of just how much glitter there is in the polish.

 

Inside Under Artificial Light

 

Outside In The Shade

 

Macro of "Twinkling Violets"

So, that's my manicure for this week.  I hope you like it as much as I do.  If you do, please check out the two amazing Aussie Indie Polish makers at the links given above.  You certainly won't regret it if you are an Indie Polish fan - these are definitely two of the best brands available online.

Thank you so much for visiting, and if you'd like to leave any comments, I would love to know what you think, whether good or bad.  I will be back in a couple of day's time, God willing (and providing Australia Post get their act into gear for a change), with a new collection from a very new Aussie Indie Nail Polish maker, and some really exciting news, but I'll have to make you wait for the information about that until then, and leave you wondering - oh, I'm so mean!! I hope you'll come back often to see what I have to share with you about my nail art journey since my dance with Breast Cancer, chemotherapy and radiotherapy last year (2014).  It's been a rough ride at times, and the last couple of months have been particularly bad health-wise (more about that later, perhaps), but I'm getting there!

God bless you, and have a wonderful week.

Hugs

Christine

(Please check out my other blog below, too.)

Words of Life and Hope
http://wordsoflifeandhope.blogspot.com.au/

Amazing Blue Grace-full Nail Polish Manicure and Nail Care Update - 10 July 2015

Firstly, I'd like to show you just how much my nails have improved since my last update regarding the damage to them experienced because of my accident with some nail glue.

 

Back on 9th May 2015

 

As they are today.

As you can see, they have grown quite a bit, and I haven't had a break at all since I started using Pretty Serious "Rock On Strengthener" on them at all times.  Even without it, after I have removed my previous manicure, they definitely feel quite a bit stronger.  As you can imagine, I am VERY happy about that.

Now, on to this week's manicure.  Please forgive the polish left on my cuticles and fingers, but I stuffed up the middle finger on my left hand when I was cleaning up and had to photograph my right hand nails, and I am right-handed, so cleaning them is a lot harder for me and I still haven't mastered it.  They actually look pretty good in real life, but my camera picks up every little error or flaw.  I'll get there eventually - as the saying goes "practice makes perfect", and because of the nine weeks that I was unable to do my nails I lost some of my newly-learned skill (SIGH)!

Today I am showing you two amazing polishes from Grace-full Nail Polish that have been crying out to me to be used together ever since I bought them.  It is a lot simpler than my past few manicures, but I really wanted these two to stand out on their own because they are so absolutely AWESOME!  I've never worn dark blue before, and now I don't know why, because it looks fantastic with my skin colour.  You can be sure that I will be buying more colours like this in the future.

 Outside in Shade

The two Grace-full polishes I used for this manicure are "Mandy" and "Eboni".  Neither of them are still available, unfortunately, but you may be able to get some from a friend or through a stash purchase if you are lucky.  Also, Theresa may even make some more like these again in the future.  I certainly hope so because I have completely fallen in love with both these polishes and this colour.

I started my manicure, as usual, with one coat of Pretty Serious "Rock On Strengthener" on all my nails.  Once that was completely dry I added one coat of Grace-full Nail Polish Base Coat to all nails.

Next I painted three thin coats of "Mandy" to all my nails except for my middle nails, on which I only applied one coat of "Mandy".  Then I painted two coats of "Eboni" on my middle nails, and added a little bit of dabbing to make sure I got some of the stars on each nail.  I didn't have to fish very hard because the polish is really loaded with all the glitter included in it.

"Mandy" is a deep blue that has purple undertones, lighter blue micro flakies and blue fantasy flakies that create the most wonderful colour effect.  I haven't been able to stop looking at it since I put it on because it is so beautiful.  It went on a little patchy at first, but I had good coverage with two coats.  I only added the extra coat so that I could get the full effect of the polish in my swatch photos.  The finish is slightly matte and a little rough, but just one coat of top coat was enough to smooth it out and really make it shine.

"Eboni" is a dark purple galaxy jelly with holographic silver stars, violet hexagonal and square glitter, and rainbow iridescent glitter.  It went on really well, and two coats and a little dabbing to make sure I got some stars on each nail gave me just the amount of jelly effect I wanted.  I used a layer of "Mandy" underneath it because I wanted to give it a more blue effect, and it worked really well.  The finish was quite rough because of the larger glitter and stars, so I had to use two coats of top coat to smooth it out, but that is quite normal for larger glitter anyway, so it was not a problem.  

I finished my mani with one coat of Grace-full Nail Polish Quick Dry Top Coat on all nails, and an extra coat on my middle nails.  The finish is so smooth, and has a beautiful shine.  This really is a lovely top coat which I definitely recommend.

The overall effect of these two polishes together just blew me away.  It doesn't matter what kind of light I'm in, they shine, shimmer and sparkle like sapphires, and my middle nails look as if I've deliberately done a galaxy nail art design, and are just gorgeous.  Once again Theresa from Grace-full Nail Polish has come up with two superb polishes, and I just can't get enough of her products.  I wait with baited breath every time she is working on a new collection or special edition polish, and I know that there will always be so many of them that I want from the collection that I won't be able to afford them.  It's times like this when I wish I was still working.  So, please check out her site and you'll see why I'm addicted to this wonderful Aussie Indie polish brand.  Here are some more photos in different light situations that will show you just how gorgeous these polishes are and why I just had to use them together.  I even managed a macro of "Eboni", which really shows its beauty, but please ignore my horrible clean-up job.  I will get better, I promise!

   

   

   

On another note, I am going through some pretty tough health problems at the moment which my doctor thinks are a result of the combination of my chemotherapy last year and the massive doses of antibiotics I had going through three drips in my arm when I got double pneumonia after my second dose of chemo.  I had shocking diarrhea from the chemo, but it got a whole lot worse while I was on the antibiotics, and even after I left hospital, I was still on very strong antibiotics for over a month.  I was already suffering from lactose intolerance, and thought I had this pretty much under control, but over the last few months I've been having problems with just about every meal I ate.  It appears that I now have IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), and I've been to see a dietician, who has put me on the FODMAP Free Diet developed by Monash University in Melbourne, Australia (see http://www.med.monash.edu/cecs/gastro/fodmap/), who are doing intensive research into this particular problem.  I've only been on it for 3 weeks so far, but already I'm starting to work out that the foods that are big no-no's with this diet have been causing all my gut problems, and some of them very badly.  

This diet has very extensive food restrictions, and I'm finding it very hard to come to grips with, but if it works I don't care.  My brain is in meltdown from researching recipes and information on IBS and this diet, and from having to read all the labels on food packaging to make sure that none of the restricted foods are in the products.  One of the hardest things I've found is the fact that I can no longer eat garlic or onion, because I used to use this in just about everything I cooked.  However, I'm learning how to use herbs and spices, and other hints and tips I've found, to provide flavour to my recipes.  

If you suffer from IBS, I really recommend that you check this site out (http://www.med.monash.edu/cecs/gastro/fodmap/), and download the app as well.  I have found the app is amazing for when I'm shopping, because it enables me to check just what I have to look out for on labels, and also what I can and cannot eat if I'm not sure.  It has a shopping guide, too, and you can even make up a shopping list with it.  There is a lot of information on each of the foods you may be having problems with so that you understand why it is happening.  The diet is only meant to be short-term initially (6 weeks to 2 months), and if your stomach has settled down by then you can start trying to introduce the different foods to see just which ones are causing you trouble.  From what I've experienced so far, they all are, but I'm hoping that, once my gut has recovered, I will find that I can still eat some of them after all.

Well, that's all from me today, and thanks for visiting. I would love to hear what you think if you would like to leave your comments, and I hope you will come back often to see what I have to share with you.

Have a wonderful week, and may God bless you!

Hugs

Christine

(Please check out my other blog below, too.)

My Nail Art Journey
http://chips48nailartjourney.blogspot.com.au/

I was not paid in any way, shape or form for any of the products mentioned in my blog.
All products were bought by myself and my comments are honestly and freely given.

Green Skittlette Manicure - 23 June 2015

Finally I've managed to get my manicure for this week done, and it is a green skittlette, featuring two of the polishes I got in the Lyme Disease Awareness Giveaway Prize and another beautiful green polish.  I can't stop looking at my manicure, even though I thought I would never wear green nail polish, because it's never been one of my favourite colours.  Needless to say, I've changed my mind.  Then again, with these three beautiful polishes to use, I think it shouldn't have come as a surprise to me.

The polishes I used are Pretty Serious "VT100", Grace-full Nail Polish "Lyme for a Cure" and Emily de Molly "You're Not That Great".  "Lyme for a Cure" is the Limited Edition polish made only for the Lyme Disease Awareness Giveaway" last month, and "You're Not That Great" was also in the prize package. If you haven't already seen my post about this prize that I won, you can check it out below.  I also used Pretty Serious "Rock On Strengthener" and Grace-full Nail Polish "Quick Dry Top Coat".

Taken in the shade in my sunroom.

I started with one coat of Pretty Serious "Rock On Strengthener" on all my nails, then another coat on a couple that are still very fragile to give them a bit of extra protection.  Then, would you believe I forgot to put on my base coat?  I couldn't believe it myself, but there you go.  It will be interesting to see how "Rock On" performs as a base coat on its own.  I'll let you know when I do my next manicure.

Next I painted my pinkie and my thumb nails with two coats of Pretty Serious "VT 100", which is a beautiful deep-green shimmer polish with micro silver and green glitter, which unfortunately is no longer available.  The polish went on really smoothly, and is almost a one-coat polish, but I used two coats for my manicure.  The colour is gorgeous, and there is an amazing amount of glitter, which unfortunately was very hard to catch in some of my photos, but here is a macro photo of it that will give you some idea of how lovely it is.

Taken in overcast conditions outside.

Then I painted my index and ring fingers with Grace-full Nail Polish "Lyme for a Cure".  This polish is just beautiful to use, and coverage was fantastic with two coats.  I'm so glad I won this prize, because this polish isn't available to others, and the colour is so gorgeous and rich, with so many colours flashing through it I couldn't name them all.  It's a beautiful green holo, but unfortunately I was unable to catch its true beauty with my camera.  Here is a macro of it, however, which does show some of the colour shift.

 

Beautiful, isn't it?  This is one of the polishes that has completely changed my opinion of using green polish on my nails.  I can assure you, I will be using lots more in the future.

The polish I used on my middle nails is Emily de Molly "You're Not That Great", which is a lime green crelly, loaded with holographic lime and turquoise glitter, and blue shimmer.  I used three coats because I wanted to get the jelly effect, and the effect is amazing.  I don't know why it is called "You're No That Great" because it certainly is great!  I found it shifted almost to turquoise on my nails, but still had enough green in it to look great with the other two polishes.  Here is a macro shot of it for you to drool over.  

This polish is still available, so pop on over to Emily de Molly for a look at some more great photos.

I finished my manicure with one coat of Grace-full Nail Polish "Quick Dry Top Coat".  This is the first time I've used this top coat, and I'm very impressed with it.  There was no bubbling on any of the polishes, unlike with the OPI "Natural Nail Top Coat" I used for my last manicure.  The finish is lovely and glossy, and it flowed on beautifully.  I can really recommend it, so pop on over to Grace-full to check it out now.

Now, here are some more photos of my complete manicure, which will show you why I'm so pleased with the result.

  
These photos were taken in the sun on my front porch.

Taken in the shade in my sunroom.

  

Taken inside under artificial light.

Taken in overcast conditions outside.

Well, that's my manicure for yesterday.  I'm really pleased with all the polishes I used, and just love the final result of the combination of these three polishes.  I hope you agree, and I would really appreciate any comments you might have.

Thanks for visiting, and I hope you'll come back often to see what I have to share with you.   You can follow me by filling in the boxes at the top right-hand side of the page if you so wish.
 

Have a wonderful day, and may God bless you!

Hugs

Christine

(Please check out my other blog below, too.)

Words of Life and Hope

http://wordsoflifeandhope.blogspot.com.au/

 

I was not paid in any way, shape or form for using any of the items mentioned in this post,
and my honest opinions are given freely and without any bias at all.