Pick N Mix Week 8 - Book / Brown

I tried desperately to think of a not massively popular book series to do and failed miserably which is such a let down as I read loads and loads of books. So I went for brown, which is a bit of an under-represented colour in the polish world.

Pick N Mix Week 3 - 60s / Matte or Texture

I'm really cheesed off about this week - I did have an awesome monochrome 60s geometric mani done, I even wore it to work for a week.... then I forgot I hadn't photographed it and took it off to do my nails for a night out.

When I realised I'd not actually done any photos I could have actually kicked myself - it took ages to do all the taping and painting.

I then remembered that I'd just gotten the three new matte Silks from the BarryM winter release and I was busting to try out Forest. How could I resist?

Nub Club - Tree in the Snow

I'm trying to pack the nub nail art in before Christmas, and this was something I was intending to do on my larger nails before my de-clawing.

Little Christmas tree!

Swatched: Nicole by OPI My Cherry Amour

I've been waiting for this collection to cross the pond for ages - possibly since I first saw it on the Chalkboard Nails News section back in April! There was one in particular that I lusted after in this collection - My Cherry Amour. A beautiful deep magenta with not only a textured finish but a scattering of holo glitter, I knew I had to have it. Somehow.

The problem was, when the polishes actually came out... no shops over here actually sold Nicole by OPI. And then Superdrug popped up its NOPI displays and I went in to paroxysms of joy. Until they filled the display with polishes and I saw we were a few months behind our pampered sisters across the pond in the US. So I was made to wait patiently, which I can tell you is no mean feat. But I was well rewarded when this eventually turned up in my local Superdrug...

Pokemon Challenge Gen II, Round 16 - Dark Type

Dark was first introduced as a type in Gen II, and since then theres usually at least one pokemon in my party that knows a dark-type move as its so strong against psychic.

I'm quite fond of all of the dark type pokemon introduced in Gen II, but very little beats an eeveelution.

Umbreon!

Pokemon Challenge Gen II, Round 14 - Dragon

This round posed a small problem - there was only one new Dragon pokemon introduced in Gen II, which was the water/dragon type Kingdra. But its not cute or derpy looking, so it clearly wasn't going on my nails haha.

So back a generation I had to go, for Dratini!

Pokemon Challenge Gen II, Round 12 - Ice

Ice is yet another pokemon type I don't use (unlness there's a dragon pokemon trainer in the elite four). I'm such a simple soul when it comes to pokemon, haha. So this week's pokemon is another in the "aww isn't it cute" category - Swinub.

I used swinub as an excuse to try out my new BarryM Matte in Mocha, which comes out as a beautiful milk chocolate colour with a great waxy finish. Two coats were used in the nails above, however I totally could have gotten away with one as its such a pigmented polish and it dries lightning fast.

The glitter used for the snow on my other nails is OPI Pirouette my Whistle which looks awesome matted, I love it.

An InLinkz Link-up

Models Own Velvet Goth Collection - Absinthe & Valerian

Models Own released one of their new autumn collections quite recently and I managed to beat the rush and grab two of the shades from my local Boots (buy one get one half price too!).

I'm terribly predictable and despite my self-imposed ban on new polish I managed to pick myself up the blue (Valerian) and the green (Absinthe) out of the 5 colour set. The ones I'm missing, Sardonyx, Amethyst and Obsidian - Red, Purple and Black respectively - are a definite temptation after seeing how these two beauties came out.

Beware... this post is pic heavy!

ER31DC Week 17 - Glitter

I don't do glitter a lot, mainly because the cleanup is the biggest chore on the planet. I know there are solutions to this - PVA basecoats, fancy basecoats designed to make glitter removal easier, soaking in polish remover to get evrything off at once - but I'm lazy and impatient, haha. So sadly, this look didn't linger long on my nails.

Which is kinda a shame, because I quite liked it.

Swatched - W7 Golden Suede

There's been a lot of textured effect polishes out lately and I have to admit I'm not so fond of the trend. I wear tights to work and I manage to slaughter enough of them with smooth nails, never mind textured ones! I found the W7 suedes to be less on the textured side and more just delightfully matte, which is totally awesome.

Stormy Skies & Raindrops

I loved the MUA Stormy Skies polish so much I decided to use it in a mani with my new rhinestones I snagged myself from eBay.

Stormy skies aren't something we've seen a  lot of lately, thanks to an odd occurrence of actually warm weather turning up when its actually supposed to.

Swatched: Orly Viridian Vinyl

On one of my many rambles through eBay I stumbled across a couple of Orly polishes being sold off consistently cheaper than others. Whats wrong with these polishes I asked myself.

The Answer? Not a sausage. This is Viridian Vinyl, a gorgeous teal that claims to be matte but as you can see it comes out as a more rubberized finish than truly matte.

Sort of Skittles

One of my favourite colour combinations is gray and assorted brights - usually bright yellow or bright blue. Think Swedish flag and school-uniform gray and you're right there. I'm also becoming terribly fond of orange as a colour, which is something I've avoided like the plague up until now. I'm also fond of a mixture of gloss and matte finishes - this is something I've always had a weakness for. Show me a video game box that is both matte and shiny and I'll go mental for it.