November 2019 Favourites

November is always one of the quickest months of the year.  This year it was jammed packed with my gymnastics competitions (and the usual gymnastic training), catch ups with people, and my daughter's birthday and party....just to name a few things.  It basically has been non stop which is why it feels like the quickest month ever.  I imagine December will go pretty quickly - but before we start talking about December let's wrap up November first.

Nail Art
How embarrassing. I’ve had yet another month with no nail art. Did I mention that November has been crazy busy?

Mainstream Polishes
It’s definitely been a quite month with nail polish too but I did get to play with the new Jessica Cosmetics Tea Party Collection and I’m a huge fan.

Indie Polishes
The indie girls have done it again this month. I honestly don’t know how I am going to narrow down my favourites at the end of the year.

Bettie Pain Silent Night (The Indie Spectrum)
I had the pleasure of trying my very first Bettie Pain polish this month and what a polish to start with.  Silent Night is stunning (and still available if you are interested).

Emily de Molly Hidden Meaning (The Indie Spectrum)
Yet another love of mine from The Indie Spectrum box this month.

Emily de Molly November Releases
Again, Hayley has killed it again this month. Sooooo many amazing polishes (and heads up: next month is full of more amazing polishes.  I’m currently swatching them now - literally. I have one of the polishes drying on my nails as I type).

Grace-full Nail Polish Christmas At Hogwarts Collection
This was a good collection but there was only a few that really stole my heart - Christmas At Hogwarts, Yuletide Ball, Silver Sparkler and Dumbledores Present.

While it has been a very busy month for me it has also been a good month full of good polishes.  Definitely not complaints from me.  What have you been loving this month?

Before I wrap up this post I just wanted to quickly talk about December.  On Monday my daughter is scheduled for surgery.  As you can probably imagine my focus will 100% there and on her recovery so nails will be taking a bit of a back seat.  I will do my best to try and stay some what active but I may disappear for a bit.  I will be back as soon as I can.  I will have a couple of Polish Pick Up shades to share with you next week (these posts will be scheduled in advance).   See you all soon xx

Jessica Cosmetics Tea Party Collection - Swatches & Review

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Seriously where is time going?  I have been so busy of late that my days are all mashing together.  But things should kinda calm down a little for me in the next couple of weeks as my daughter needs to have some surgery next week so my focus with be on her and her recovery.  But let's talk about some nicer and more fun things - nail polish! Last week I shared with you a great collection of nude/neutral polishes from Jessica Cosmetics (you can see the Blushing Beauty Collection here if you are interested) and today I have the Tea Party Collection to share with you.  This is definitely the collection I am most excited about.  I love pastels for spring...well for any time of year really.  They are just so pretty!

Blueberry Cream is a light blue creme.  I love this one.  The colour is gorgeous and the formula is fantastic.  It applies even and is opaque in two coats.

Earl Grey is a light grey creme.  Big fan of this one too.  It's a great colour and the formula is great too.  For my swatch I used two coats.

Lavender Love is a lavender purple creme.  I love the colour of this one but the formula isn't a favourite.  It's quite sheer and applies patchy on the first coat but does build up on the second coat.  I used three coats for my swatch because it was still looking patchy.

Love You Very Matcha! is a light green creme.  Big fan of this one too.  Again, the colour is great and the formula is easy to use.  For my swatch I used two coats.

Pumpkin Spice is an orange creme.  Just to sound like a broken record here - this one is great!  I really like the colour and the formula is so good and easy to use.  I used two coats for my swatch.

Yellow Meringue is a yellow creme.  This one actually surprised me.  I was expecting the formula to be the same as Lavender Love (because yellows are normally a little more difficult to deal with) but nope.  For such a light colour the formula is fantastic!  It is a little patchy but it is really easy to work with.  Plus the colour is gorgeous!  For my swatch I used three coats but only because it looked a tiny bit patchy still on the second coat.  If you can get you coats relatively even then you could stop at two coats.

I am a huge fan of this collection.  The colours are all beautifuly (and perfect for this time of year) and the formulas (for the most part) are great.  The one complaint I have about this collection is that it's missing a pink.  Having a pink would have made this collection even better - plus there would be sooooooo many nail art options.  Speaking of which, I was hoping to get some nail art done using this collection before this post went up but time wasn't on my side.  There will be some nail art coming in the near future (I hope).

The Tea Party Collection is available now from Jessica Cosmetics.

The Indie Spectrum November 2019 Box - Swatches & Review

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Happy Tuesday everyone!  I hope your day is going well.  I'm exhausted and my brain isn't co-operating with me.  I've actually started this post about ten times already but I'm really not sure how to start this post - so rambling it is.  Anyway, today  I have the new Indie Spectrum Box to share with you.  This box has a shade from Emily de Molly, Grace-full Nail Polish, Femme Fatale Cosmetics and Bettie Pain.  Let's just jump straight into the polishes...

Bettie Pain Silent Night is a blackened blue jelly filled with opalescent purple, blue, pink, gold and red flakies.  This is actually the first time I have tried any Bettie Pain and what a great polish for me to start with.  The colour and flakes are gorgeous!  The formula is good and easy enough to use.  I used three coats for my swatch.

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Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in overcast lighting

Picture taken in overcast lighting

Emily de Molly Hidden Meaning is a teal green base filled with green to purple shifting chrome flakes, blue iridescent flakes and a small amount of silver holographic flakes.  Love this one!  The colours are gorgeous and the formula is great.  I'm not sure this one photographs as nice as it is in person.  I used three coats for my swatch.

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Picture taken in light box

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Picture taken outdoors in shade

Picture taken outdoors in shade

Picture taken outdoors in shade

Picture taken outdoors in shade

Picture taken in direct sunlight

Picture taken in direct sunlight

Femme Fatale Cosmetics Tinsel & Trinkets is a cherry pink sheer base, blue glow and assorted red holo and metallic glitters/shards.  It has been a loooooooong time since I have used a Femme Fatale polish and I have to say that not much has changed.  This polish is definitely on the sheer side and is patchy.  The glitters in this have a tendency to stick up and not lay flat (I actually had to take some of the flakes off because they were too chunky).  I used three coats for my swatch but please note that I did use extra polish on the tips of my nails to help build the colour up.  Also for top coat I used a really thick coat but as you can probably tell the glitter is still really lumpy.  I think I would have needed another coat or two of the top coat to smooth it out.  With all that said, I like the idea of this polish.  I just wished that it wasn't so chunky or sheer.

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Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in overcast sunlight

Picture taken in overcast lighting

Grace-full Nail Polish Candy Cane Kiss is a white crelly with red holo microglitter, cherry red matter glitter and limi holo mirco glitter.  If this polish doesn't scream Christmas than I don't know what does.  I think it would be great with some nail art over it.  The formula is good and easy to use.  It was patchy on the first coat but does even out on the second coat (which is what I used for my swatch) but I question if I should have given it a third coat.

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Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in overcast lighting

Picture taken in overcast lighting

The Indie Spectrum Box will be available for pre order from November 28th until December.

Jessica Cosmetics Blushing Beauty Collection - Swatches & Review

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Hello! Hello!  Happy Thursday everyone.  How is everyone's week going?  Mine has been unbelievably busy and really isn't going to slow down much any time soon.  Anyway, I was lucky enough to receive two new collections from Jessica Cosmetics.  I will be sharing the Tea Party Collection with you soon.  Today I have the Blushing Beauty Collection to show you.

Chocolate Bronze described as a milk chocolate creme.  I'm not convinced I like this shade on me - however the formula is fantastic and would be great in nail art.  For my swatch I used two coats.

Sweet Kiss is described as a beige pink creme.  I like this one.  I think the colour is quite pretty and again the formula is great!  I used two coats for my swatch.

You Make Me Blush is described as a caramel creme.  I think for me this polish would be better with some nail art on top as I'm not sure I am loving it on it's own.  The formula is a little bit patchy on the first coat but it does even out on the second which is what I used for my swatch.

If you are in the market for some good formula nude based cremes then this is a good collection to start with.  

I did have quick look on the Jessica Cosmetics site and it appears as though two of these shades have sold out already (You Make Me Blush is still available) - but there are some STUNNING looking Christmas shades and some other gorgeous shades in the Phenom range that are worth having a look at.

Grace-full Nail Polish Up, Up And Away (Hella Handmade Creations November 2019) - Swatches & Review

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Some how I have managed to have two Grace-full Nail Polish posts in a row.  I definitely didn't mean to do that.  I had planned on having an untrieds post in between but I haven't had time to paint me nails.  In fact, I have been wearing the same polish for a week now!  How times have changed - but that is life.  Anyway, today I have this month's Hella Handmade Creations from Grace-full Nail Polish to share with you.

Up, Up And Away is a red linear holo with ultra chrome chameleon flakies in blue/violet/teal.  This polish is inspired by Superman.  I'm not a big fan of reds so this one isn't a favourite of mine but it definitely suits the inspiration.  The formula is fantastic and applies evenly.  I used three coats for my swatch but you can stop at two coats.

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Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in direct sunlight

Picture taken in direct sunlight

Up, Up And Away will be available via Hella Handmade Creations from November 14th until November 21st.

Grace-full Nail Polish Christmas At Hogwarts Collection - Swatches & Review

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We have officially reached that time of year where the last collections for the year (aka Christmas Collections) start rolling out.  Today I have the gorgeous Christmas At Hogwarts Collection from Grace-full Nail Polish to share with you and what a great collection to end the year on from them.  There is definitely something in here for everyone.  Now before we get into the post I should warn you there are a lot of pictures!  I should know - they took me hours to edit.  LOL.  Right, enough chatting, let's just dive into the polishes.

Christmas At Hogwarts is packed with ultra chrome chameleon flakes in green, purple, blue and gold and has holo flakes.  No surprise that I LOVE this polish.  It's so shifty and looks better in person.  I am sure you can see more colours in person than in pictures.  Anyway, the formula is a little on the thick side but not in a bad way.  It's still really easy to use.  For my swatch I used three coats.  I think this would also look great with one (or maybe two coats) over a black base.

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Picture taken outdoors in shade

Picture taken outdoors in shade

Picture taken outdoors in shade

Picture taken outdoors in shade

Dumbledores Present is a topper with red-pink aurora shimmer and holo flakes.  I have a feeling that most bloggers will swatch this baby over a dark base (which would look awesome and I definitely want to do at some point soon) so I thought I would be different and do it over a light base so that you can see just how versatile this polish is.  The formula is awesome and has a great coverage.  For my swatch I used one coat over Emily de Molly Monty Cora (a light grey creme).

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Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken outdoors in shade

Picture taken outdoors in shade

Picture taken outdoors in shade

Picture taken in direct sunlight

Picture taken in direct sunlight

Picture taken in direct sunlight

Frog Choir is a rich green with a gold flash and ultra chrome chameleon flakes in purple, pink, blue and gold.  Now I'm not much of a green fan but I don't mind this one.  It's a nice colour and I really like the added colour in it.  The formula is great and applies evenly.  I used two coats for my swatch.

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Picture taken in light box

Picture taken outdoors in shade

Picture taken outdoors in shade

Hagrid At The Tree is a white based crelly with teeny metallic flakes in red and green and a sprinkling of red aurora shimmer.  The flakes make the base look a green/grey.  I'm really on the fence with this one.  I love the glitters in it and I think it looks great in the bottle but I'm not sure once it's on my nails.  It's the base colour that is throwing me I think.  The formula is good and easy to use.  I used two coats for my swatch, however I do think I should have done a third.

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Picture taken in light box

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Picture taken in direct sunlight

I've Got Gifts? is a royal blue polish with blue aurora shimmer and ultra chameleon flakes in gold-bronze-silver and gold holo micro glitter.  This is a good colour.  I like the glitters too.  The formula is easy to use and while you can stop at two coats, I used three for my swatch.

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Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in overcast light

Love Mum is a deep red jelly base with red and gold flakes.  I'm not a fan of this one.  It's definitely too sheer for me.  Maybe I might like it better as a topper?  It is easy to use and applies evenly though, and I do like the flakes.  For my swatch I used four coats and did find it still quite see through at the tips.
  

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Picture taken in light box

Picture taken outdoors in shade

Picture taken outdoors in shade

Merry Christmas Hermione is a black base with a deep blue to purple aurora shimmer and holo micro glitter.  Now this one I am a big fan of.  Maybe not for summer but for winter it's gorgeous!  I've actually been wearing it for the last three days.  The formula is great and builds up nicely.  For my swatch I think I used two coats (but I stupidly forgot to write how many coats I used).

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Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in overcast lighting

Picture taken in overcast lighting

Mistletoe Kiss is a metallic foil in a bright peridot green with a smattering of silver flakes and a touch of holo flakes.  I can see this polish being a really big hit for some people.  Me?  I'm on the fence.  It's not one I love but I definitely don't hate it either.  I think with some nail art over the top would be awesome.  The formula is great but like with all of these types of polishes it can be a little messy so I recommend a careful application.  For my swatch I used three coats, but you can stop at two coats.

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken outdoors in overcast lighting

Picture taken outdoors in overcast lighting

Silver Sparkler is a teeny micro silver holo glitter, silver flakies, a teeny amount of rose gold flakes and holo flakies.  Now this baby sparkles!  Super pretty and perfect for the holiday season....well it's perfect for any time of the year.  It applies evenly and has a great glitter payoff.  Again, I stupidly didn't write exactly how many coats I used.  I literally wrote 2 coats maybe?.  Good work Tracy.  It will either be two or three coats.

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Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in direct sunlight

Picture taken in direct sunlight

Yuletide Ball is a blue base with ultra chrome chameleon flakes in green-purple-blue and holo flakes.  I love this one!  I think the colour is gorgeous and it has this shift that doesn't quite translate to camera.  It's definitely better in person.  The formula is great and while you can stop at two coats I used three coats.

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken outdoors in shade

Picture taken outdoors in shade

Picture taken outdoors in shade

This is such a great collection and definitely has something in here for everyone.  My personal favourites are Christmas At Hogwarts, Yuletide Ball, Silver Sparkler and Dumbledores Present.

The Christmas At Hogwarts Collection will be available on Grace-full Nail Polish's Australian site on November 8th at 8pm AEDT and at 3am CST on the international site.