A-Z Challenge - G is for China Glaze Glittering Garland

Hey all!

Another day of the A-Z challenge as I attempt to catch up - this is Glittering Garland. This was one of the very first polishes I bought in my fall into addiction.. and I still love it! I havent rated much that China Glaze has released recently, but I love this - the formula is beautifully smooth and pigmented - this is just one coat. Its also beautifully glossy - this is without topcoat.

Even though many people would probably wear this during the winter months or around Xmas time, I still love it and often wear it as a day to day colour or for work.

What do you think?

Go check out all the other G manis here!

Rach xxx

Top 10 Seasonal Nail Products and Polishes

Hey all,

Long time no see! Been so run down with work, chocka with cold and whatever lurgies have been passed to me that blogging has taken a temporary back seat. I have however still been painting my nails to cheer myself up!

So here are my top 10 nail products for the season. I love this time of year - I love listening to xmas songs, I love buying presents for people and I love receiving presents too of course! But most of all I love that I get to see a bit more of my family and we get to spend some quality time together, even if it is only a few hours around the table.

Again, I haven't really put these in any order.. I would really be here until after Xmas if I had to decide!

Firstly is a basic product - cuticle balm. With the coldness setting in, my Raynauds has kicked in again - not sure if its related to my Raynauds or just the cold.. but my nails and skin have started to go downhill big style. So I've been slathering on the cuticle balm like theres no tomorrow. It has left my skin and cuticles much better, but I'm not commenting on my nails just yet. My favourites are Sunny's Miracle Balm and Cutie Balm by The Nail Junkie. I carry my Miracle Balm around for every day use, and I usually wear my Cutie Balm before bed when it has time to soak in. Sunny's Miracle Balms come in so many different scents its unreal - my favourite so far is Eucalyptus as its not an overpowering scent. The Nail Junkie's Cutie Balm is unscented and perfect for anyone with sensitive hands and skin (or a sensitive nose like myself!) I also have my own that I've made myself - they're fairly easy to make, I've played around with mine to improve the texture as my first although they did work were difficult to apply and a little on the gritty side (new on the left).

Another hand care product is my hand cream. I have millions of these and to be honest, I don't have a particular favourite. They have all worked well enough for me, but I did happen to really like the texture of one I got as a sample in a magazine - its got a nice texture - not sticky, overpowering or 'claggy'. It works in really nice and left my hands feeling lovely and I didn't need to reapply after washing my hands during the day - so it's on my list to buy. It's called Aveeno Hand Cream with colloidal oatmeal. 

Onto the polishes and other nail products. I think Xmas calls for some solid basic colours. Black, white, red, gold, silver, (blue and green) are my Xmas go-to's. I have always been a massive fan of Zoya Raven for my go to black, but as its hard to come by and also expensive, I have swapped and been using Sinful Colors Black to Black. For £1.99 I really can't fault it - it is a one coater on my short nails and has a nice and easy to level formula with a satin finish. However, my new find is the Kate Spade - New York Noir polish by Nails Inc. Its absolutely stunning. I actually only picked it up for the sake of it being free, but I am so glad I did - it really was worth the £2 price tag on the magazine! Even glossier than Zoya and a fraction of the price!

Zoya - Raven

Kate Spade - New York Noir by Nails Inc

Red is a hard choice. It is one of my most owned colours after pink (which I hardly ever wear - go figure!) and I have so many that I love. I really love jelly reds - most of which I own are very similar, if not dupes.. but seen as I love them so much I can't part with them! One is Poppy Red from the Beauty UK Gel FX collection. 

It's inexpensive and such a beautiful vibrant red - what I love the most is that it's something I can wear whenever I want - red isnt just a Xmas colour. Another very similar red that I love is Sinful Colors Gogo Girl. It has the same vibrant colour and jelly texture as Poppy Red, the only difference is that you would need more coats for the plumped Gel look that Poppy Red has and a good top coat to match the shine. The last red on my list is Crimson Rose, also by Beauty UK. I really expected to dislike this but it is so classy and demure, I just stare at my nails all the time. It is definitely an autumn winter polish, although I'm not sure it's a specific Xmas colour. Just so you're aware, I did get the two Beauty UK polishes as samples for review.

Gold and silver are no brainers - Barry M Gold and Silver Foil Effects. I don't own the latter, I usually steal it from Becca when I'm polishing at her house. I picked up the gold from a blog sale and use it for pretty much anything that requires gold. They stamp great and have fantastic coverage for general nail painting as well.

Glitters! OMG. This was the hardest part by far. I LOVE glitter. Its the biggest section in my helmers as I class glitter as my favourite colour - it has two drawers. There are so many shapes and sizes, I don't think I could ever pick just one, but I do love a good multi-coloured glitter (Ellagee Crazy He Calls Me or KBShimmer Wrapper's Delight are my Xmas faves). 

I also have a passion for circles. Circles here, circles there, big, small, holographic... I LOVE ME SOME CIRCLES! I have a few now with circles in them, and some of my favourites come from Nail Lacquer UK. I have Midnight Prince, Grape Juice, Choose the One, Heart or Love and Ariel which are all circles from Nail Lacquer UK. 

Nail Lacquer UK - Heart or Love

Can you really pass through the season and not have some love for iridescent flakies? I certainly cant! I only own two - Finger Paints Asylum and Sinful Colors Green Ocean. Neither are easy to come by, but they are both worth it if you can get them. Completely different in their own right, but both just beautiful! (I also own a couple of iridescent glitter polishes which also create the same sort of effect and are much easier to find - my favourite is my new Nail Lacquer UK - Snow Topper which also comes with cute snowflakes as well!)

Holos! Could I not mention holos? Definitely not. There are only two holos that I swear by and they are both Zoyas. Zoya Storm - a black scattered holo, and Zoya Blaze, a deep wine red scattered holo. I own back up bottles of both and am considering backups of my backups - no holos have ever come close for me on how beautiful these are!

And last but not least - stamping plates. I have only recently gotten my Xmas MoYou London plates but I'm surprised there are any etchings on as I have used them that much! I don't want to spoil the Xmas manis I've done as I have seperate posts coming.. so here's my most popular and favourite stamp so far (also a MoYou London plate!)

What're your top 10 favourite seasonal products?

Rachael xxx

Another giveaway at The Nail Junkie!

Well, I didn't win the last one.. so here's hoping I'm feeling lucky this month! ;)

Aleta at The Nail Junkie is having another giveaway - this time for her beautiful Xmas line. A lot of places have had their Xmas lines out for ages, and I have to admit I am sick to death of seeing the same clear bases (not a clear base fan!) with masses of multi-coloured glitter in them.. there are only so many combinations before they all look the same!

So if you're like me, read on. If not, each to their own, but you still need to read on. I like that Aleta's lines are quite small - there are only a few combinations each time, but I think thats great because you know they're going to be really nice! I am particularly in love with 2 of the 4 colours, but if I get a bit of Xmas spends in my stocking this year I'll definitely be splashing on the full set (and the others I have in my favourites list!)

So anyway, here are the four polishes:





(Image Source: The Nail Junkie)

From left to right - Poinsettia, Snowflake, Gold Bell and Holly.

Can't remember if I have mentioned before, but I love that the labels have no writing on them. Also, the names are simple and honest - you get what it says on the tin (bottle).

So, my absolute favourite is Poinsettia - here's why.

This is Poinsettia with topcoat (and the others with topcoat):




(Image Source: The Nail Junkie)

Look at that shine! And look at the sparkle, you can really see the green popping out from the gorgeous almost cherry red colour, it really does make you think of Poinsettia's - the green and red are the exact shades.

But..... here's the same without topcoat:


(Image Source: The Nail Junkie)

It looks just like a strawberry! You can still see the green, but its not quite as poppy - outty as with topcoat. Now I think about it, it also reminds me of red poppies! Absolutely in love with this colour!


(Image Source: The Nail Junkie)

Look how beautiful it is!

Now.. I can't decide which I like more. If you have any polishes by Aleta, or have seen any of her polishes, you will know she has the Café trio (which I have blogged about before, and I also have Tea and Cocoa on route YAY!) and they are a beautiful blend of shimmery brown shades. So my thinking is.. how would Gold Bells look along with the 3.. I would only need one more shade for a perfect Ombre set <3

Here's Gold Bells:


(Image Source: The Nail Junkie)

Here's the Cafe colours:



(Image Source: The Nail Junkie)

I can see it, can you??

Lastly, my other choice colour is Holly - its not like anything else I've seen for Xmas this year. The main brands have their usual reds, blues and greens, and most indies have their glitter bombs and lots and lots of bar glitter (BLEH).




 (Image Source: The Nail Junkie)

So I don't know if this is me, but it looks almost grey in colour. If you look closely though, you can see the green where it catches the light. I think its absolutely stunning. This would be a favourite for me for work - classy, but with some Xmas in it. I love Xmas, it makes me happy just thinking about it - this would be my reminder in January / February and beyond that there'll be another one coming haha! I also have numerous jumpers and Xmas outfits that I am already co-ordinating this colour with!

And last but definitely not least (and still on my list) is Snowflake - this is quite similar to some other Xmas polishes I have seen, but it has a less sheer coverage, and has a beautiful almost creamy look to it. Really stunning, a definite favourite with many people I would guess! I am still sporting my Xmas pudding nail art.. I think it would look stunning in place of my regular white - for some extra added sparkle!


(Image Source: The Nail Junkie)

Hope you love them all as much as I do - if so, you can find these polishes and many others (check out Flamingo, Watermelon and Apple - my personal faves!) in her shop on Etsy.

Enjoy! :) x

Xmas Nail Art

So, although i've been opening my mini mani month, i havent found anything incredibly inspiring yet to rave about. So i decided to do some xmassy nail art.

I have no proper tools - no special brushes, no real dotting tools. I did this with 4 different polishes - Different Dimension - My Bear, China Glaze - Glittering Garland and Ring in the Red , and LA Colors - White Art Deco polish.

Being not very talented at polish pr art work, this took me awhile but i am proud of the result! Xmas puddings with brandy sauce and a sprig of holly :)