Inspired

The past month I participated in the #littlemermaidmanichallenge hosted by Amanda, the create mind behind Fairytale Finish.  The challenge contained 28 different mani styles and the last I completed was 'Inspiration'.  I am sure I took a bit of creative license with that that meant, but when I was done I realized.... this would make a great series for my blog!  So here is the first installment of 'Inspired'!

A leaf fluttered in through the window this morning, as if supported by the rays of the sun, a bird settled on the fire escape, joy in the task of coffee, joy accompanied me as I walked.

Anais Nin

Used:

• Color Club Apollo Star
• Barry M Nail Paint in Cappuccino
• Elevation Polish Rose Cardamom Chocolate Truffles (from A Box Indied)
• Mo You London Cookbook plate 03
• Straight vinyls 

Friday Favourites

I think I'm the worst blogger ever.  I have a list of posts I want to write and tutorials to create and this is only my second post this week... what am I doing with my time?!

This week only have one favourite, but I think it's a big one.

Candied Apple Polish

I placed an order for some customs as well as some polishes for my upcoming giveaway and when the box arrived, tucked inside was a special surprise!

This is Grata, the polish of #gratitude itself and a very thoughtful birthday gift!  It's so unique and I have to admit it had me crying as I opened it!  Wait till you see it on!

I've posted about CAP before, back last year on my old blog, but it's been migrated over.  You can read all about it: here.

I really love the style of CAP polishes.  They're very well thought out and full of a myriad of different glitter shapes and sizes and even the most complex colour arrangements look beautiful.  I've placed dozens of orders and have dozens of both Mystery Apples and Custom Apples and even using the same polish over you never quite get the same thing, which makes them, IMO, a good investment!  

This isn't even all of them, this rack is now full and overflowing onto a shelf.  Am I done collecting?  No.  As long as Alison makes polishes, I'll keep supporting her and creating amazing manis!

Above is my Audrey Hepburn series, Ann (from Roman Holiday), Holly (from Breakfast at Tiffany's) and the eponymous Sabrina!  I do hope to have more created but right now she's closed to taking custom orders in preparation for a move.

I had a chat with Alison the other day and I asked her a couple of questions about some specific polishes and she gave me some great insight into her process and as always, I was impressed at her integrity!

What are you grateful for this week?

Parental Advisory Warning

Let me just preface this with an admission.  I am painfully prudish.  I can't help it.  I blush and have a very hard time swearing or even reading swear words on labels.  So purchasing from Parental Advisory Polish was a BIG step for me and one I am so glad to have taken.

I set out to place a preorder for the Spring collection, and when I did there was an issue checking out.  I emailed the owner and she went above and beyond to figure things out for me and soon I was waiting in anticipation for my order to be shipped.  It arrived carefully packaged in a personalized box, colourful and secure.  

Included in the set were:

• Air Tight - A dusty sky blue LOADED with holo sparkle!
• Angry Pirate - The perfect Spring teal. Great holo shimmer and silky formula will make this one of your new favorite polishes!
• Slam Pig - An exact match to a pink Highlighter, you will not be disappointed with this one! Slam Pig dries to a "Latex" looking finish.
• I-69 - A creamy bright purple with all sorts of holo goodness!
• Fluffer - The perfect neon green. Bright, fun and opaque in only 2 coats!
• and a mini cuticle oil

Four of the shades have a hint of holo in them while the pink, Slam Pig, seems to be a straight cream and by straight I mean as straight as a bright neon can get.

The formula was easy to work with and dried matte with a bit of a texture, but it made it really easy to tell if the layers where even.  There is no need for a white base for the polishes to be vibrant, either.

I was tempted to leave it matte but sealed it with a top coat and blinded my camera trying to take pictures, it hates neons.

I feel like this is a great set of 'basics', perfect to use to accent othter polishes but strong enough to stand on their own as well as for bases for glitter bombs or stamping.

You can buy the polishes separately here for 7$ each.

Friday Favourites!

I had schedule this post to post by itself, and it did not.  So I apologize this is late!

Urban Flower Pot

Stephanie, the amazing woman behind Urban Flowerpot is amazing.  She's not just creative but inspirational as a person.  She specializes in resin work and has a wide variety of pieces in her shop.  She's also a hoola hooper and posts daily vids of her in action over on her IG.

I've ordered from her twice now, my latest being a custom peacock which I'm so in love with.  The glow is intense and it's so wonderfully made.

Colour Pop

Right now there is a big fuss up in the makeup community, which I won't get into.  But in passing I ran across this company as a suggestion for dupes and fell in LOVE with the bright and gorgeous and amazingly affordable lipsticks!

I picked up a few of these in doubles to include in the big giveaway I have brewing.

Kittens

A week ago today our cat, Princess, had kittens.  They started out as four identical little white things but now two are definitly more grey and their ears and little feets are changing colour!

What are you grateful for this week?

Poorly Planned!

I placed my third Erin Condren order during the last week of December, having received a gift card over the Holidays.  I'm incredibly torn with EC.  I love the planner I got and I adore the aesthetic, but they have chosen a ridiculously poor shipping solution for their company, one that defies logic considering they're a company about living life... not waiting weeks for things to happen.  While I am completely aware it takes longer for personalized items to be created, that's not it.

My order arrived yesterday, March 18th and it had been shipped the middle of January.  Being in Europe does not mean extra shipping time to the tune of two months.  It means, typically with USPS, a couple of days, at most a week.  They ship via 'Smart Post' which is such an oxymoron.

I ordered things I'd seen, having followed a few planning accounts on IG.  I tend to find so many inspiring artists.

One of the reasons this has me as bothered as it does is I ordered a new planner cover and a carrier.  I am out and around all day sometimes and my planner is in and out of my bag so having the carrier for it was essential, but since it took so long to get here I had two options; allow the planner to be destroyed... or move on to a new system which is ultimately what I did... which rendered most of the order (the new cover and the carrier) useless.

The cover itself is the standard laminated cover with the coiling clipped out of it.  It's super easy to pop the old cover off and pop a new one on, making it easy to switch through the seasons, that if IF your order arrives before the holiday has passed.  

The carrier is exactly what I was hoping for. It's very sleek and sturdy, make of what I think is neoprene and the zipper is nice and strong.

Of the order, I can totally say that I love the desk pad!  It'll be a great place to jot notes down randomly.  I'm just rather sad that in an order of over 100$us that that was the highlight!

This will be my last order.  I've since found several other companies that sell similar items, but in a much more expedient manner.  I really wish I could sit here and write a more thorough review but I'm really not comfortable promoting a company I'll never use again,

With Glitter and Gratitude,

2500

This morning I hit 2500 followers on my Instagram account!

I'd mentioned not too long ago I'd been planning to have a giveaway, but I did not expect to reach this milestone so soon!  I've slowly been collection my favourites and I think that I'll continue to collect them until I reach 3000 and then host a week long series of giveaways, one a day!

Thank you for all your support and your kind words and encouragement!  I had no idea when I first started down this path that I'd be any good at it, least of all successful.  I've met so many amazing lades and made so many good friends, I'm forever thankful I tried!

With Glitter and Gratitude,

Mani of the Month: March

I look forward to my Mani of the Month box every few weeks with much anticipation. Not only do I love getting the gorgeous little package wrapped up just for me, I love to see what the creative minds have come up with for that month's theme. 

March was, predictably, St. Patrick's Day themed and while that's not so much a draw here in Italy, I was excited just the same. I am not really a fan of green. Mint? Aqua? Teal? Yes! Green green? Eh. The polish in this month's box, though, was perfect. 

The box contained:

From Dream Polish

•  A 5 ml Gem Smooth Base Coat in Lucky Charms 
• A 5ml Gem Glam Top Coat in Lucky Charms 
• A 5ml Cuticle Oil in Lucky Charms 

From Heather's Hues 

• A polish mini in I'm So Blarney Stoned 
• A full sized polish in Kiss Me, I'm Irish 

From Nails Redesigned 

• A sheet of vinyl shamrocks 
• A sheet of vinyl horse shoes 
• A sheet of vinyl charm masks 
• An assortment of gems 

The polish is very pretty. It's not green so much as it's chock full of greens and golds maybe it's a little dimensional. I like the gold flakes through it a lot. The compliment glitter is the same combination of gold and green and nicely dense, but not full on opaque. 

 I stamped over it with a gold in an alligator pattern because I loved the texture of it.  As always the formula of Heather's Hues is amazing, opaque, pigmented, and easy to work with.

Lucky Charms is not a cereal that we get here in Italy.  Occasionally I'll run across what I assume is something similar, so I honestly can't tell you how authentic the scent it.  But to me,  the scent in this month's box is delicious.  It's definitely a sweet vanilla marshmallow scents the cats keep trying to lick off my hands.  I love the fact there is always a cuticle product included, the little sizes are perfect for pockets.  And as always, the Gem Glam topcoat is the ONLY one I use.

Once again, the vinyls are amazing.  My nails are very currved and I typically can't wear decals unless they're just perfect, and these are!

 The boxes are selling out faster than ever!  Starting in April there will be surprises from guest sponsors, as well, so as if they were not amazing as is, there is one more reason to give them a try.

With Glitter and Gratitude, 

Eyes Wide Awake!

One a whim, with one order last December, I bought the Spike Roasted Coffee Bean Oil Eye Cream from Disturbed Potions.

This was designed with Age, Sun, and Stress in mind. Couple little dabs under your eyes or on your outer eye lids let melt and then lightly rub into the skin (can be used ANYTWHERE on the body however).

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR CHILDREN OR TEENS! DOES CONTAIN CAFFEINE!

This made with 100% Raw Unrefined Shea Butter,100% Raw Unrefined Cocoa Butter, Coffee Bean oil, Lime Essential Oil, Lemon Essential Oil, Tea Tree Essential Oil, Hemp Seed Oil, Tamaru Nut Oil, Vit E, Evening Primrose Oil, Rice Bran Oil, Almond Oil and Rosemary Antioxidant Organic Oil as a preservative.

This product is NATURAL ingredients and will help the skin by adding what age and environment takes away, however there are no claims or guarantee of performance of this product. 

I love this stuff.  I was concerned when I first opened it (it has a very pronounced lime scent) that it would sting my eyes, or make them water like crazy at least.  The texture is, as described, balmy and when your rub the product between your fingers it melts into a very light oil.  I applied it sparingly at first under my eyes to test it and loved it.  No sting, no watering.  It melted on and instantly my skin was less taut and nicely moisturized.

I can't speak for how it works on bags or wrinkles, thankfully genetics has spared me, but for little lines and tired little crinkles it works miracles.  I've spent hundreds of euro on undereye products with much less relief or results.  I've been using this steady since January and haven't needed anything else.  I dab it on right out of the shower and it melts in easily enough to wear under makeup and I smooth a bit thicker of a layer on before bed and wake up looking a little less tired!  It's not overly greasy or oily and sinks in quickly.

A little does go a long way.  Even using this twice a day I have quite a bit left!

With Glitter and Gratitude,

Pond Mani

I've been participating in the Little Mermaid Mani Challenge this month and loving it!  Today was Pond Mani and since I've never done one, I had to Google.  Turns out I have done one.... way long ago.

What a Pond Mani is is a sheer polish layered over several images to build layers within the translucency.  Since I can't freehand for anything, I used a stamped image in white and then layered my sheer over it and then applied a final stamped image over top.  It's almost exactly what Shelsea an I did with our Minsky Manis!

• Apply a base coat.
• Using your mask of choice, wrap off the edges of your nails.  I'm using a sample I got from Glitter Daze.  This makes clean up so much easier.
• Using a white polish (I used White Out from Just Rica) stamp your base image.  This will be the one that will be in the background.
• Let it dry or it might smear, jellies are not like top coats and do not float.
• Once it's dry, load up your brush and apply two even coats of your jelly.  In both manis I used sheers from Doctor Lacquer.
• Once it's dry, this polish actually gets a little matte, stamp your top image.
• Apply a top coat.
• Tidy up!

You can of course use any combination of images for whatever effect you're looking for.  I stayed within the aquatic theme with mine!

With Glitter and Gratitude,