SMPolish "Fairytale Collection" Part 2 - Pastel Colours - Just Released 31 July 2015

Just as a reminder, and in case you didn't see my reviews of the first part of this collection, here is how this came about.

I was thrilled to be asked by Shakeela Meer, the maker of these unique polishes, and a really new member of the Aussie Indie Polish Maker community, to help her name this collection, and was then really honoured when she asked if I would be her official "namer" for her polishes in the future.  I couldn't believe it, but of course I said "Yes, please!", and now I am an official member of the SMPolish team.  I will be choosing a list of possible names for each polish in each collection, and in some cases the actual name of the collection, and then Shakeela will make the final decisions on the name for each polish.  So, as you can imagine, I've really had to put my thinking cap on and go back to my childhood memories with this collection (and this is really a long time ago for me, so it was a big ask).  It's just as well that I have always been a bookworm, right from early childhood, so my memory didn't take too much jogging to bring back so many wonderful memories of the fairytales I enjoyed way back when.

The Fairytale Collection is described by Shakeela thus: "Each polish in the listing is made up of either creme-jelly bases or shimmery bases with the addition of both complimenting and contrasting glitters. This collection covers any occasion from everyday simple to a night out, from party to vacation, from tea party to wedding."

As with the first part of this collection, I used OPI Natural Nail "Glitter Off" Base Coat and OPI Natural Nail Top Coat on all my nails for the swatches below.

Now it's time for me to review the second part of the SMPolish "Fairytale Collection - The Pastel Colours", and I hope you will like these as much as I do.

 

 

The first polish in the Pastel Colours part of the Fairytale Collection is "The Shadow", a charcoal grey "crelly" polish with holographic micro-glitter and tiny black and purple glitter.  This polish went on very smoothly, and I used three coats for my swatches to achieve the full "crelly" effect I wanted.  The finish was quite rough because of the glitter, but just one coat of top coat was more than enough to give a smooth, shiny finish.  This muted polish is very elegant and would be suitable for almost any occasion.

The inspiration for the name of this polish came from the pulp fiction magazine series "The Shadow Magazine", primarily written by Walter B. Gibson and first published on April 1, 1931.  Now, I know you're going to say "But this isn't a fairytale", but the hero of this series, "The Shadow",  just seemed to fit this polish so perfectly - shadowy, mysterious, with lots of hidden depth, so I suggested it as one of the options for this polish to Shakeela, and it's the one she went with. 

 

The second polish in this part of the collection is "Thumbelina", a pretty pastel, but very shimmery, blue polish with holographic micro-glitter and tiny bright blue and pink glitter.  This polish was very easy to work with, and I have used three coats in my swatches so that the full "crelly" effect of this polish would be shown.  Once again, the finish was rough, but one coat of top coat was more than enough to smooth it out and give a lovely shiny finish.

The inspiration for this nail polish came from the fairytale "Thumbelina", written in 1835 by the Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen, and published in his book Fairy Tales Told for Children. First Collection.  For some reason, when I saw this colour I immediately thought of this name, perhaps because I've always loved pastel blue dresses on little girls, especially with polka dots, and that's how I envisioned "Thumbelina" dressed this way - hence the name.

 

The third polish in this part of the Fairytale Collection from SMPolish is "Violetta", a gorgeous, pastel purple polish , with lots of holographic micro-glitter, and tiny bright pink glitter.  The polish went on very smoothly, and I used three coats so that the true "crelly" effect would show in my swatches.  The finish was a little rough because of the glitter, but just one coat of top coat solved that problem.  I really like this polish, and I think it is my favourite from this part of the collection.

I'm really not sure where the inspiration for this name came from, but many fairy tales and folk tales have heroines that aren't actually given names, and I'm sure this would be a wonderful choice for some of them, and the colour just seemed to scream out for a name like this.  I suggested it as one of my selections for this polish, and this is the one Shakeela chose - perfect, I think.

 

The fourth polish in this part of the collection is "The Sea Maiden", a beautiful aqua "crelly" polish with a smattering of holographic micro-glitter and bright blue and aqua glitter.  This polish was one of the easiest to work with, and went on very smoothly.  Two coats was all I needed to get full coverage and to give the "crelly" effect I wanted.  It was just a little rough, but one coat was all that was needed to give it this beautiful, glossy finish.  The overall effect of this polish is just gorgeous, and I'm not usually an aqua polish fan.  I think you will definitely love this polish if you buy it.

The inspiration for the name of this polish came from a Scottish fairy tale, "The Sea Maiden", part of a collection by John Francis Campbell, published in 1890 in Popular Tales of the West Highlands, and listing his informant as John Mackenzie, a fisherman, near Inverary.  I thought this name was perfect for this polish, and really portrayed the colour beautifully.

 

 

The fifth colour in this part of "The Fairytale Collection" from SMPolish is "Buttercup", a pretty, shimmery pastel yellow polish with bright aqua and pink glitter.  The polish went on very smoothly, but I really did need three coats to get full coverage and to achieve the "crelly" effect I wanted.  There was plenty of glitter, and I didn't have to fish for any at all.  Just one coat of top coat was all I needed to give the polish a lovely, shiny, smooth finish.  This is quite pretty, but doesn't do a thing for me on my nails because of the colour of my skin.

The name for this polish was inspired by the fairy tale "Buttercup", a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Peter Chr. Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe and published in 1845 in Norske Folkeeventyr, a collection of Norwegian folktales and legends.  The hero, Buttercup, is described as being so named because he is "plump and fat, and fond of good things", and I thought that description fitted this nail polish perfectly.  It just reminded me of a beautiful tub of butter with pretty glitter all through it.

 

 

 

Now we come to the last of The Fairytale Collection Pastel Shades, "The Enchanted Maiden", a gorgeous, bright pastel pink "crelly" polish, with a scattering of holographic micro-glitter and tiny bright pink and blue glitter.  The polish went on beautifully, and I used three coats to get the full "crelly" effect, and I wasn't disappointed.  There were just a few bumps in the finish because of the glitter, but one coat of top coat soon fixed that problem, and gave a beautiful, glossy finish.  This polish is a very pretty pink, but unfortunately didn't suit my finger colour.  However, on someone who can wear pastel pinks, especially bright ones, it would look great.

The name for this polish was inspired by "The Enchanted Maiden", a Portuguese fairy tale collected by Consiglieri Pedroso in Portuguese Folk-Tales in 1882.  I envisaged a gorgeous maiden, in a pastel pink dress, sprinkled with fairy dust, and thus the name of this polish was born.

So, I hope you have enjoyed seeing all these lovely polishes in this new collection from SMPolish, and that you will visit Shakeela's store to check out this beautiful collection, "The Fairytale Collection", very soon.  Shakeela also has a couple of other lovely collections available, and has great plans for more wonderful polishes in the very near future.  Please support this new kid on the block in the world of Aussie Indie Polishes and encourage her to continue in her endeavours.  I know she'd love to hear your comments, too, regarding the type of polishes you would like to see her produce, and any other nail products that you think she should add to her store.  Sign up on her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SMnailpolish?fref=ts to be kept up to date with what is happening in her store.

Thank you for visiting my blog, and I hope you will be back often to see what I have to share with you about what I've been doing with my nails, how they are going in their recovery from my chemotherapy last year (2014), and any nail art ideas I've come up with lately.

Have a wonderful day, 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/

 I received 5ml sample bottles of all these polishes to help me choose their names,
and to enable me to do an honest review and to do swatches of the polishes.

SMPolish "Fairytale Collection" Part 1 - Bright Colours - Just Released 31 July 2015

Today I have Part 1 of the latest collection of polish from SMPolish - The Fairytale Collection - The Bright Colours - to show and review for you.

I was thrilled to be asked by Shakeela Meer, the maker of these unique polishes, and a really new member of the Aussie Indie Polish Maker community, to help her name this collection, and was then really honoured when she asked if I would be her official "namer" for her polishes in the future.  I couldn't believe it, but of course I said "Yes, please!", and now I am an official member of the SMPolish team.  I will be choosing a list of possible names for each polish in each collection, and in some cases the actual name of the collection, and then Shakeela will make the final decisions on the name for each polish.  So, as you can imagine, I've really had to put my thinking cap on and go back to my childhood memories with this collection (and this is really a long time ago for me, so it was a big ask).  It's just as well that I have always been a bookworm, right from early childhood, so my memory didn't take too much jogging to bring back so many wonderful memories of the fairytales I enjoyed way back when.

I will also be doing reviews and swatches of most of her polishes, and I'm absolutely chuffed to be doing this, so here we go with just my second official review and swatch assignment ever.

The Fairytale Collection is described by Shakeela thus: "Each polish in the listing is made up of either creme-jelly bases or shimmery bases with the addition of both complimenting and contrasting glitters. This collection covers any occasion from everyday simple to a night out, from party to vacation, from tea party to wedding."

I used one coat of OPI Natural Nail "Glitter Off" Base Coat and one coat of OPI Natural Nail Top Coat on all my nails for these swatches.

   

The first polish in the Bright Colours part of the Fairytale Collection is "Puss In Boots", a black "crelly" polish, with an explosion of gold micro-glitter, tiny holographic glitter, small black, blue and purple glitter, and a slight shimmer.  This polish went on like a creme, although a little thin, was loaded with glitter, but was a little patchy with the first layer.  The second layer went on really well, and then I added a third layer so that I could get the full "crelly" effect and to make sure I had full coverage for my swatches.  Because of all the glitter, it dried to a shiny but rough finish, and just one coat of top coat was enough to smooth it out beautifully.

When I saw this colour, it immediately brought to mind the vision of "Puss In Boots" wearing a huge, shiny black pair of boots, which is the way I have always seen him portrayed in story books. This fairytale was written by a French writer, Charles Perrault, in 1697, and is part of "The Mother Goose Tales".  Unfortunately my photos don't do this polish justice, and it was very hard to show its true beauty, for which I apologise.  I will try to better for the next SMPolish collection.

   

The second "Bright Colours" polish of the collection is "Princess Rosette", a bright pink "crelly" polish, with lots of bright blue and pink glitter and a slight shimmer.  This went on smoothly from the first coat, and there was no need to go fishing for glitter at all.  I used three coats to achieve the full "crelly" effect, and it dried to a shiny but slightly rough finish, but once again, one coat of top coat covered it beautifully. The bright pink glitter is not easy to see in the photos, but I can assure you it is there.  If you look closely at the "macro" photo above you can just see it.  The glitter that appears to be purple is really the bright blue glitter with the pink polish over it.  This really is a very pretty polish, and I definitely liked this colour on my nails, even though I'm not really a fan of pink polish.

The rose pink colour is what gave me the idea for the name of this polish.  "Princess Rosette"  was written in 1698 by Baroness d'Aulnoy, a French writer known for her fairy tales. When she termed her works contes de fées (fairy tales), she originated the term that is now generally used for the genre.

   

The next polish in this collection is "The Emperor's New Clothes", a taupe nude crelly, tending a little towards mauve on my nails.  This polish is loaded with tiny bright pink, purple and blue glitter and a little shimmer.  It is very thin, but goes on very smoothly with no need to fish for glitter.  I used three coats to get full coverage and to achieve the full "crelly" effect, which is quite dramatic. The finish was just a little rough because of the glitter, but one coat of top coat was all that was needed to smooth this out.

The first time I saw this polish I knew exactly what the name had to be, because when I thought about fairytales and nude colours, "The Emperor's New Clothes" was the one that immediately came to mind.  This fairytale was written by the Danish writer, Hans Christian Andersen, and was published in 1837 as part of his book "Fairy Tales Told for Children. First Collection". 

 

 

The fourth colour in this collection is "Royal Butterfly", and is a beautiful rich purple "crelly", with a lovely shimmer, and lots of holographic micro-glitter, and tiny bright pink glitter.  I found this polish very easy to use, and didn't have to go fishing for any glitter at all.  I used three coats in my swatches to make sure I got really good coverage, and to achieve a full "crelly" effect, and I think this was my favourite polish in the collection.  It had quite a rough finish, but I only needed one coat of top coat to get a lovely glossy, smooth finish.  

The name for this polish was inspired by the fairytale "The Butterfly", written by Hans Christian Andersen and published in 1861.  I adore butterflies, and when I think of anything "royal" I think of the colour purple, and hence the name.

 

   

The fifth polish in this collection is "The Golden Goose", a gorgeous bright yellow "crelly" with lots of shimmer, and heaps of tiny bright pink and blue glitter.  This polish went on very smoothly, and I used three coats to get the maximum "crelly" effect.  The only problem I had was a few brush marks, but I think that may have been because I put the third layer on.  The colour is stunning, and this is my second favourite of the collection, even though I don't normally like yellow polish.  

The name of this polish was inspired by the fairytale "The Golden Goose", from a collection of folk tales gathered by The Brothers Grimm. Their first collection of folk tales, "Children's and Household Tales", in which this tale was featured, was published in 1812.  This tale was the first one I thought of when I saw the colour of this polish.

 

The final polish in this part of The Fairytale Collection is "The Bluebird", a gorgeous bright blue "crelly" polish with a beautiful shimmer.  There is heaps of holographic micro-glitter, and tiny bright pink and blue glitter, with no need to go fishing for the glitter.  The polish went on really smoothly, but it is rather thin, like most of this collection, so I used three coats to achieve the fabulous "crelly" effect.  Although the finish was a little rough, one coat of top coat was all that was need to give a beautiful, shiny result.

The name of this polish was inspired by the fairytale "The Bluebird", another lovely tale from Baroness d'Aulnoy, the French writer known for her fairy tales, which was first published in 1697. As mentioned earlier, the term she used to describe her works, contes de fées (fairy tales),  was the origin of the term that is now generally used for the genre.

So, that's the end of my reviews of Part 1 of the latest collection of polish from SMPolish - The Fairytale Collection - The Bright Colours.  I hope you like these polishes as much as I do.  They are available now at SMPolish on Etsy, so I hope you will go and check them out, and hopefully purchase some of them to support this new member of the Aussie Indie Polish Maker community.  

I'll be reviewing the second half of this collection, The Fairytale Collection - Pastel Shades, next, and hope you will check that blog out, too.

If you like this collection, please spread the word among your friends who love nail polish and nail art.  New makers only become known through word-of-mouth and/or searching Facebook, Instagram and Google, etc, so Shakeela really needs your support at this early stage of her endeavour.  Signup to her Facebook page for her polish at https://www.facebook.com/SMnailpolish?fref=ts so you can keep up with the latest news from her store.

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come back often to see what I have to share with you. 

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 received 5ml sample bottles of all these polishes to help me choose their names,
and to enable me to do an honest review and to do swatches of the polishes.

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.

My Grace-full Nail Polish Ombre Manicure for 30 June 2015

I received five polishes from the Grace-full Nail Polish "Ice Princess Collection" (inspired by the movie "Frozen") early in the week, and I just had to use some of them for this week's ombre manicure.  They are simply awesome, and I can't wait to buy the others in the collection, very soon I hope.  I used three of the "Ice Princess Collection", and two other recent purchases from Grace-full Nail Polish, as well as the Grace-full Base Coat and Quick-Dry Top Coat. Here is a photo of the polishes I used:

Aren't they just wonderful.  If you haven't tried any of the Grace-full Nail Polish yet, you really should check them out.  I, personally, think Theresa Carter is the No. 1 Aussie Indie Polish maker in the country.  I just can't stop buying her polish, and just when you think she can't come up with anything more beautiful, she up and does it again.

Now, on to the manicure.

Photo taken in sunlight!

I started by painting one coat of Pretty Serious "Rock On" Nail Strengthener on all my nails, and once that had dried, I painted another coat on my two middle fingers and two thumbs, which are both still very thin  fragile.  I then painted one coat of Grace-full Nail Polish Base Coat on all my nails.

Next, I painted three coats of "My Own Personal Snow Flurry" on my thumbs to achieve the full crelly effect that I wanted from this beautiful polish, making sure that each coat was completely dry before adding the next one. "My Own Personal Snow Flurry" is an amazing off-white crelly with black, orange, silver and blue micro-glitter with silver ultra-fine holographic glitter, iridescent glitter and silver holo hexes.  The overall effect is mind-blowing.  I don't think I've seen so many different coloured glitters in one polish before.  It went on smoothly, with good cover in just one coat, but because I wanted the full crelly effect, I decided to do three thin coats.

The second polish I used is "Ice Crazy", on my index fingers, and this is the only one I wasn't overly pleased with.  I think the colour just doesn't go well with my skin colour, but it went on easily, and I only needed two thin coats for full coverage.  It is described as "a grey crelly with a hint of blue throughout, ultra-fine silver holographic glitter, iridescent tiny glitters and little flecks of mauve and blue".  However, I found it very hard to get any glitter and/or holo effect at all, except for a tiny amount in the sun and under artificial light.  I was quite disappointed with this polish, which is a real shame because I was really looking forward to using it; but even saying that, it is a lovely polish - just not my colour.

The third polish I tried is definitely my favourite of the five I used.  I painted three thin coats of "Open Door" on my middle fingers (although two would probably have been enough if I hadn't been featuring it in my blog), and it is absolutely stunning.  It is a linear mauve holo with violet flakies, and the colour shift is amazing, especially in the sun, and even better under artificial light, where I was able to get the full linear holo effect.  This is the polish that made me decide that I have to get the rest of the collection as soon as possible.

The fourth polish I used, on my ring fingers, is "Drowning In Violets", a Special Edition polish which was only available to the Grace-full Nail Polish Fan Group members, and which was named by one of our members.  This polish is amazing, with so much different coloured holographic glitter in it that it was really hard to get decent photos of it because of the flashing effect.  It just blew me away when I put it on.  It was very easy to apply, and this is just two coats, with just a little dabbing to fill in a few gaps in the glitter. The group decided they wanted two versions of this particular polish, which the members decided on by voting on the Facebook page, one with a reddish tinge and one with a bluish tinge, so Theresa then asked us for ideas for the names for the polishes.  One of the names I suggested was chosen for the bluish-tinged one, but this version is the reddish-tinged one, named by another member.  Members get sneak-peaks of new polish collections, can win prizes, see previews of all the Grace-full polishes, and as shown by this polish and the one I named, amazing Special Editions that no one except members of the group can buy.  It really does pay you to be a member of the group, so please check it out and request to join.  You won't regret it!  We have lots of fun sharing our manicures and nail-mail on the Facebook page, too, and everyone is really helpful if you have any problems you need help with.

The last polish I used, on my pinkies, is "Mount Fang", one of the four Grace-full polishes in "The Inklings Collection" collaboration with Powder Perfect, who also had four polishes as part of the collection.  This is an amazing set of polishes, and I would recommend that you check them out.  "Mount Fang" is a deep, charcoal-based, linear holo, with red and gold sparks of colour throughout.  It went on really easily, and I only needed two coats to get full coverage.  The colour shift and glitter in this is really gorgeous, especially under artificial lighting and in the sun.

I finished this weeks manicure with one coat of "Quick-Dry Top Coat" on all my nails, and a second coat on my ring fingers because of all the glitter in the polish.  The second coat was plenty to give it a lovely smooth finish.

Here are some more photos, taken inside under artificial light, in my sunroom under overcast conditions, outside in the shade on a cloudy day, in overcast conditions outside, and in a second one on a different angle in the sun.

    

     

 
The drops of water on my thumb in the sun are sprinkles of rain that fell while I was taking my photos LOL!

 As you can see, the different effects seen under different lighting conditions are amazing (this is a word my husband told me yesterday that I never used until I got hooked on Aussie Indie Nail Polish - now I say it all the time).  I just can't stop looking at this manicure, and I'm going to be very sad when I have to take it off in a few days.  I hope you'll take the time to check out all the wonderful polishes that Theresa has for sale at Grace-full Nail Polish, and that you'll check out the Grace-full Nail Polish Fan Group, too.

Thank you for visiting my blog, and I hope you enjoyed seeing what I had to share with you.  I welcome comments, good or bad, so feel free to leave one if you so wish.  You can also follow my blog by filling in one of the boxes at the top right-hand side of the page if you would like to be notified when I add another post.  My next one will be photos of my bare nails 2 months ago compared to now, and I am amazed at the difference that short time has made to them.

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/

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.