Graceful Glamour UK

With flash  I've been absolutely loving bright colours at the moment, I'm sure you've realised by now. For this weeks Pink Wednesday I decided to go for Sally Hansen's Hot Magenta . She is an absolutely stunning shiny, shimmery hot magenta. I suppose that was probably a given considering the name, but she really is true to it. Formula wise she is a smooth two coat dream, glides perfectly on to the nail and drying time is very quick between coats. I'm absolutely adoring this Xtreme Wear line of polishes and I'm absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt going to be purchasing more of them. Without Flash  I wanted to add a little something extra so applied four of my Ciate Roses, and a large pearl to the ring finger. I'll keep it quick as it's very late and I've had a tough day. Are you rocking a pink mani this Wednesday? I'd love to know what you are wearing. Take care all, byeeeeeee x :-)

With flash. I didn't really know where I was going to go with this mani, I just sort of made it up as i went along. To start with I applied a layer of Orly Top 2 Bottom as my base coat. I've been really enjoying this and would highly recommend it. Next I added three coats of Borghese Castello Blue. If you haven't seen my review of this with swatches, you can see it here .  Now for a little stamping, so I used the crazy paving style design on my Bundle Monster BM215 with Sally Hansen Raspberry Race ( swatches here ).  Without flash, natural light.  Next was to add some french tips using the rounded Wet N Wild guides and Sally Hansen White On.  I've really been getting in to flowers recently, due to Maria from Maria's Nail Art and Polish Blog  so I decided to add some lovely purple flower fimo. I added them to each nail and then finished off with LA Girl's top coat.  That's all from me for now, I hope you are well. Take care all, b...

With flash. I am in a very good mood today as I finally went to see the house I have been waiting for. Not only that, but because the house isn't finished yet, the landlord is going to decorate according to how I want it! How good is that? I get to decide on tiles in both the kitchen and bathroom and then the paint for the rest of the rooms. I am meeting with him in two weeks to finalise the decisions. Today I have another polish from Borghese, Castello Blue. This is a nice very pale dusty blue, with lots  of grey in. The colour is very creamy with zero shimmer.  Formula wise I hated her! She was streaky, terribly difficult to work with and took three very awkward coats to reach opacity.  To be honest though, she could have used a fourth, but as I decided to stamp I left it at three.There was terrible drag from the brush for the second and third coats which was also a pain. Drying time was good, but also made application more difficult when overlapping. ...

No flash.  Hi all, I hope you are are having a fab weekend. I'm really enjoying spending some time with my daughter and not having to worry about unpacking boxes as it is all done! My little girl (15 months) and niece ( 3 years old) were playing in the paddling pool yesterday when my niece suddenly got up and got out of the pool. She was standing with a strange look on her face when I looked down and realised she was having a wee! A couple of minutes later I asked her 'Who did a wee on the floor Elizabeth?' and she said 'It wasn't me, it was Gracie!' I had to laugh... Let's get on to the nail art shall we? The base colour is Essie Smooth Sailing (click here for review), I added two coats of her and then a layer of Sally Hansen Super Shine Top Coat. With flash.  Next I took the gorgeous S ally Hansen Metallic Momentum and used her with my Bundle Monster BM225 stamping plate to get his beautiful flower mani. I have to say, as with the ot...

With flash. Now, you may have realised, but I'm really getting in to my blue and purple nail polishes recently. It's really strange, as up until recently I only had a handful, can you believe it? It's funny, I feel like I'm growing as a 'polishista'. Hmmmm, is that even a word? But hopefully you'll get what I mean. You may have seen I got this little lady in a recent haul and I have to say, the bottle is teeny tiny! I am of course talking about Essie Smooth Sailing . As soon as I saw her I was really excited as the colour appeared in the bottle to be very similar to one of my favourite polishes, OPI I Don't Give A Rotterdam.  Smooth Sailing is a gorgeous periwinkle blue with silver shimmer that sometimes flashes a little pink in the bottle, but on the nail I can only see silver.  Without flash, artificial light.  Compared to the OPI she is slightly deeper blue and less dusty. The shimmer is only silver, whereas the IDGAR's...

2 Coats With Flash A couple of weeks ago I did a mani based on a film for the We Love Nails group and I chose Cinderella, if you didn't see it you can click here  . At the time I promised you a review of the base colour, Jessie's Girl in Stiletto  so here you go.  This is another of the polishes from 2011 JulieG Collection . I have been so happy with the polishes from the rest of this collection, and this little lady is no exception. She is a taupe, but not like any I've ever seen. I would call her a browny, beigey, grey taupe with a fabulous silver shimmer. I like to call her my nude with attitude! I don't have anything that is even remotely similar in my collection so she's a great addition.  As above but no flash and taken in artificial light. Similar to the other polishes in this collection, the formula was beautifully smooth and very forgiving. I did use two coats for my mani, but I reckon if you are careful you could do it in just one....

No flash Well here we all are then, where on earth has this week gone? In fact, how the devil did we get to July without me realising it?! I really notice how time is flying by how grown up my daughter is getting. I know, I know, she's only just over 15 months old, but this time last year she was a little baby who didn't even sit up yet and now she's running around, talking and playing football! As you know I've been really loving the Sally Insta Dri line of polishes and today I have swatches of Metallic Momentum to show you. She is a stunningly beautiful silver foil, but with a beige olive tinge to her. It's such an interesting colour and very different to anything I have, or have seen available. With Flash Her formula is very nice and opaque and as usual for my Insta Dri swatches the index and middle fingers have 2 coats, and the ring  and pinky have just the one. As you can tell, the one coat is beautifully opaque, but two just gives it some extra...

With Flash  Hi all and welcome back to my ever more nail orientated blog. I didn't actually think about the fact I'd only been posting about nails, it just sort of happened. I suppose it's because I'm really only just getting 'polish obsessed' and the things I'm most excited about at the moment are nail polish and nail art. For the base colour I used Sally Hansen White On from their Xtreme Wear line. I didn't really think about swatching her on her own as she's just a basic shiny white. If you do want me to swatch her, just let me know. To be honest, I wouldn't wear her alone, she's just a base for nail art. I used two coats for a nice opaque finish. Without Flash  For the tiger stripes I used Sally Hansen Insta Dri in Presto Pink with my Bundle Monster BM223 plate. This is an amazing polish and if you haven't seen my review on her, you can go take a look here . This mani took me a long time to do, I'm not sure if...

With Flash  I can't help it, I keep wanting to call this polish Pepto Pink! But actually her real name is Presto Pink . Yet another polish from Sally Hansen's Insta-Dri line, but I can't help it, they are fab. You see, each one I've used work well for stamping, but they also look nice on their own making them more versatile than the Konad polishes. Presto Pink is a stunning medium creme pink with cool undertones and a dusky quality to her. She actually reminds me a bit of a polish I've worn recently, I'll have to have a dig through and do a comparison for you. When I look at her sitting here on my nails I can hear that Stevie Wonder song, isn't she lovely playing through my head. Yes I know I'm weird! No Flash The polish glides on very easily and with that special contoured brush, I managed to do each coat with one stroke apart from my thumbs. As with the other Insta-Dri's I've used two coats on the index and middle, then just the ...

Hi everyone, I hope you are all well. Finally I'm starting to get a bit more sorted with all my boxes thank God, as I was starting to think it was a never ending job. I also heard from my letting agent and I can see a brand new house that I've been waiting for, yay! It is a bit smaller than my last house, but it will be fine for me and my little girl. I already think I'm going to take it, but I know I should look before finally making up my mind. With Flash So today I have another of the Sinful Colors polishes, Let's Talk . Now I have to tell you that my pictures do this colour no justice at all, it seemed like every time I took a picture, the colour changed! I suppose it didn't help that I had to take my pictures in the evening under a fairly 'sucky' light. I would say that the picture without flash is probably closer to her real beauty. From the other bloggers swatches of her, I think they had similar problems to me as they all seem to differ quit...

With Flash  Well, I still haven't managed to sort out everything from the house. I don't know how long it's going to take me to get through, but it seems the more I sort, the more mess I'm in! I know that apart from Laser yesterday, I've been mostly going for some bright colours recently so I thought I'd tone it down a bit and go for something completely different. Sinful Colors Winterberry is a very different and interesting gal indeed! In some lights she looks like a deep purpley taupe with silver shimmer, and in others she looks more grey with just a slight purple undertone. Yes she's more comfortable when it's cold outside, but she's braving the heat with me today. No Flash  Formula wise, this went on like a dream much the same as the other Sinful Colors polishes I've tried. One coat would have been ok, but you know me, I HAVE to use two! Drying time was nice and quick  and the beautiful shiny finish meant that I didn't nee...

With Flash   My goodness, it never rains but it pours. I thought that once I was moved out of my house I would have much more time to do blogging and catch up on my reading lists etc, but boy was I wrong! First off, I have way too much stuff to fit in my parents house and garage so I'm having to condense by re-packing and also throwing out/donating to charity shops. But to make things worse, my poor little girl has four back teeth coming through, tummy problems and just will not sleep at night. But look how much I've rambled, so let's get on with todays nail polish. This post is all about Sally Hansen's Laser . This is one of the polishes from their HD line so I had high hopes for her. She is essentially a blue jelly base, with very dense blue glitter that can sometimes flash purple in the right light. I have to admit, this one looks much better in the bottle as the purple is kind of lost on the nail, boooooo! No flash As you can tell, I didn't get...

2 coats with flash Ok, so I have to admit that the first thing that caught my eye with this polish was the name. I'm pretty sure most of you (I know at least one, Hayley) will have heard of New Kids on The Block. I am a MASSIVE fan and am a long time Donnie girl. On their album from 2008 The Block, there is a song called Twisted, so of course I had to grab this lovely Sally Hansen Twisted Pink . Another bright pink? Yes please! Oh yes I'm absolutely loving them, can you tell? So what can I say about her? She's a bright pink creme with a subtle but very pretty gold shimmer. I'd say that from memory the base pink is similar in brightness and colour to Ciate Jelly Bean but a bit more creamy (Jelly Bean has blue shimmer & is more of a 'crelly'). No flash  I've really liked the formula on all of the Xtreme Wear polishes and this gorgeous gal is no exception. Formula wise I' say she's very similar to the other polishes I've tried fr...

Yes I know I've already bought an unusually large amount of nail polish in the last couple of months, but I just can't seem to stop. Is it an illness? Do I really need all of these different colours? Well, those questions remain to be seen, but what I can say is that I really want all of them and as I don't smoke, drink or really spend my money on anything else for me, (most of my money is spent on my daughter) I feel like this is one little vice that isn't too bad. Left to right, Castello Blue, Capriccio Blue, Incantato Purple, Romanzo Pink. I'll start with the Borghese . You may be wondering why I've bought four more polishes from this brand when I wasn't too keen on Milano Taupe, but the truth is, I'd already ordered these before I had even tried it! Hmmm, well I hope these ones have a more manageable, softer brush.  Left to right, Pink Opal, Moon Beam, silver Metal, Wild Orchid, Cherry Bomb, Red Passion.  Lets move on to the Hedy...

Je ssies Girl cupcake Frosting, 2 Coats, no top coat, with flash. Here we have another stunning nail polish from Jessie's Girl , this time it's Cupcake Frosting . Until a couple of months ago I would never have worn a bright pink like this, but as my polish obsession is just starting to take off, I'm beginning to be a little more adventurous. Actually, I've been pushing myself more and more out of my comfort zone and my collection is beginning to be much more varied and fun! Let me start with the colour, she is a stunning medium bright pink with a cream finish. There are some blue undertones in there which makes her great for pale girls like me. I think I need some more bright pinks like her, what do you think? As above without flash.  The formula was a dream the same as the other Jessie's Girl polishes I've used, goes on smoothly, very forgiving and dries quickly. To get this lovely opaque finish I used two coats but no top coat, and look at tha...

Borghese Milano Taupe with flash. Whoooopppppsss! This post was meant to go up before the swirly stamping one, but with all the confusion of moving properly from my house this week, I'm afraid this was saved as a draft instead of being scheduled. But here she is, the beautiful Milano Taupe.  As you know my polish tastes are branching out somewhat from the nudes and pastel pinks, but when I saw this little beauty on Cosmetic Kingdom, I had to pop her in my basket. It seems that 'taupe' seems to be a popular colour at the moment but there are so many different variations of what it is. There seems to be grey, purple, brown or pink ones and to be honest, I would say she sits somewhere between the purple and pink 'taupey land'.  The formula was nice, it seems a little thin on the first coat but levels up and is more opaque with the second, but I still needed a third for a better finish. What I didn't like about this was the brush, with a weir...

With flash  So here we are again with some stamping goodness. I must admit I've been really having to push myself to take the time and do stamping mani's as I've got to have all of my things cleared out of my old house and make it all shiny and lovely by Saturday (I'm writing this on Thursday). But on top of that I still have to look after a lively one year old who is in to EVERYTHING, and teething!  So to start off I applied three coats of the Borghese Milano Taupe (click here for that post) and a layer of my trusty Orly Top 2 Bottom, then waited around thirty minutes. I had a little flip through my Bundle Monster stamping plates and decided on the 'swirly whirly' design on BM222. I applied this design with the Konad White special polish then added another layer of the Orly to lock in the design.  No flash  Well there you go, what do you think? I know it didn't come out perfect, but I didn't think I did too badly. I found this d...

Hi all, I hope you are having a better day than me. I'm finding myself more and more stressed all of the time at the moment and seriously need a holiday! It's mostly due to my current housing situation and a few other things too. So if my next few posts make me sound a little tightly wound, then you'll realise why.  I recently got a few nice polishes in a haul and everyone seemed to be most interested in the Sally Hansen Insta-Dri's so I thought I would do a few swatches and review for you. These seem to be fairly popular in the blogging world as you can use them for stamping. My swatches show two coats on the index and middle, and just the one on the ring and pinkie for Pink Blink and Blue-Away but just one coat for Raspberry Race. I only used one coat for Raspberry Race as she looked opaque enough to me, but in the pictures it shows I could have used a second. Let's start with Pink Blink, she is a beautiful pale pink cream which is very girl and sweet. ...

With flash Hi all, it's me back again with another mani. What a shocker huh? It's just a fairly short post as I am unbelievably busy but I still wanted to show you my mani for Pink Wednesday.  No flash So first off I started with my usual Orly Top 2 Bottom base coat, then added two coats of Sally Hansen Wildlife (see swatches and review here ) and then another layer of the Orly Top 2 Bottom. After about ten minutes I stamped with my Bundle Monster BM207 plate using Sally Hansen Pink Blink. I have reviewed Pink Blink along with the other Insta-Dri Polishes I recently bought and that will be up tomorrow.  Well I warned you it would just be a quick visit! I hope you are well. Take care all, byeeeeeee x :-)

Orly Top 2 Bottom, 2 coats JG Mermaids Lagoon, no top coat, with flash. This is my first experience with a Jessie's Girl Polish, but I have to say I'm very pleased. The first time I heard about Jessie's Girl Cosmetics was on JulieG's Youtube channel (she's fab btw) so it's actually kind of great that my first product from them happens to be from the JulieG Nail Polish Collection! This gorgeous teal delight is called Mermaids Lagoon , and I think this is a fantastic name for her. She is a deep teal colour with some gorgeous subtle golden shimmer. I'm so out of my comfort zone with this colour, but I'm finding myself more and more happy outside of it. As above, no flash. I couldn't ask for more in the way of formula, this was opaque in just one coat, but really pops with a second coat. I think that the golden shimmer also seems to shine through more with the second coat. Drying time is kind of average but the finish is just lovely so ...