Hairy Legs London - Bad Luck

 Hi guys, today I have a swatch to show you from Hairy Legs London.  I have been sitting on this swatch for a while now - at first, it was because the shop was closed for the holidays, then when it re-opened, I just didn't quite get around to it until now :)

Texture + Multichrome = ??Awesome??

Hi, me again!  Here are, as promised earlier, the results of my texture + multichrome = ??awesome?? experiment.  There are a fair few pictures for this too, so I'll put the rest after the jump like I usually do.

I Love Nail Polish - Birefringence

 Hi guys! Yesterday, I promised you something pretty, and since I don't like to disappoint, I figured it would be the perfect time to post my swatches of I Love Nail Polish -Birefringence.  No doubt most of you have already seen this polish a few times already, but hopefully you don't mind seeing it again :) If, by some chance, this polish has not yet graced your screen, I will advise you to take a seat before we jump in to the rest of the photos.  (There's a LOT of them! )

Indy's Indies - Valentines Collection Part 2

  *Some products in this post were discounted in exchange for review.

Hi guys, today I have the next 2 polishes from Indy's Indies Valentine's Day Collection.  I can also now confirm that there will be a part 3 to this review, there were 2 more I just couldn't resist getting, so hopefully I'll have that ready sometime near the end of the week.
I know I have been posting a lot of swatches recently, but that's because I'm prepping for a challenge next month, so I will be posting a solid month of nail art in February. Hope you guys aren't getting sick of them yet, but if you are then art is just around the corner :)

Indy's Indies - Valentine's Collection - Part 1

  *Some products in this post were discounted in exchange for review.

Hi guys!  I recently received 4 of the polishes from Indy's Indies Valentine's Collection for review, and I have decided to break it up into 2 parts since I couldn't resist mattifying 3 out of the 4 swatches.  I will be posting the other 2 polishes on either Tuesday or Wednesday this week.

FingerFood's Theme Buffet - Week 4 - Sparkle!

 Hi guys, I'm back today with the 4th week of FingerFood's Theme Buffet, and the prompt for today is Sparkle!  I actually didn't finish this mani until this morning, I think this is the latest I have ever left a challenge mani since I started blogging :D

Saturday Spotlight: Sinful Colors - I Miss You

 Hi guys, I'm back today for another Saturday Spotlight post, and this week we're looking at another Sinful Colors polish.  I'm afraid I only have 1 to show you today as I've been pretty busy working on some stuff that's coming next month, but it is a very gorgeous polish :)

Indy's Indies - Starry Night

 *Some products in this post were discounted in exchange for review.

Hi guys, sorry it's a bit of a late post, I've been pretty busy today.  On the plus side, the polish I have to show you is the very appropriate Starry Night from Indy's Indies Christmas collection.  I know Christmas is well and truly over, but this is one of those polishes that you can wear at any time of year, and there are still a couple of full size and mini bottles of this in the shop :)

Revlon Chroma-Chameleon - Aquamarine

Hi guys, today I have a gorgeous duochrome polish to show you by Revlon.  When I went shopping on Boxing Day, I managed to find 3 of this line in Poundland so these were a total bargain too.  Be warned, this is a very picture heavy post.

Magic Goose - Dreaming of Snow

 Hi guys, today I have another gorgeous UK Indie polish to show you.  Magic Goose recently had a sale, and I was lucky enough to pick up 2 of the glitters from her Christmas range for just £4 each.  Even better, is the fact that they are not exclusively Christmassy, so you could easily wear them at any time of year.

Indy's Indies - Gong Xi Fa Cai

 *Some products in this post were discounted in exchange for review.

 Hi guys, bonus post today - this is the 3rd of Indy's Indies Chinese New Year polishes - Gong Xi Fa Cai.  If my research holds up, this is a common CNY greeting, which means "I wish that you will be prosperous" in mandarin.  (The Cantonese being "Gong Hey Fat Choy")  It is a mix of gold and red matte hexes, red matte circles and fine red holo glitter. 

Indy's Indies - Dragon Dance

*Some products in this post were discounted in exchange for review.

Hi guys, today I have the second of 3 Chinese New Year polishes from Indy's Indies to show you.  This is dragon dance, which is a plethora of green glitters, matte and holo red dots and squares, yellow gold hexes and squares, with metallic purple squares.  This is one slightly thicker coat over Sinful Colors Black on Black.

FingerFood's Theme Buffet - Week 3 - Weather: Year of the Black Rainbow

 Hi guys, I'm back today for the 3rd week of FingerFood's Theme Buffet, and the prompt for today is weather.  I decided to stretch the prompt as far as humanly possible, and do some nail art based on one of my favourite books and albums ever - Year of the Black Rainbow - so sit back, grab a cuppa, and I will explain all :)

100 Followers #GIVEAWAY!

 Woohoo!  I reached 100 followers on Bloglovin' - Thank You all so much, I really appreciate it.  The support I've had from you guys since starting my blog has been amazing, and I really didn't know I would love it quite as much as I do.  I can't imagine not blogging now, I don't know what I'd fill the time with!  As promised, I am holding a giveaway to thank you all for your support.  I'm afraid this is open to UK Residents only - sorry all my lovely international friends, but Royal Mail's new rules have made it near impossible for me to ship polish out of the country :(

Saturday Spotlight - Rimmel:Space Dust Total Eclipse & Moonwalking

 Hi guys, in this week's Spotlight post I have 2 of the textured Space Dust line by Rimmel to show you.  I'm really pleased that quite a few of the budget brands have jumped on the textured glitter bandwagon, I have really fallen for texture recently.
*Warning, this is a very picture-heavy post :)

Indy's Indies - Red Envelope

*Some products in this post were discounted in exchange for review.

Hi guys, today I have the first of 3 new polishes from Indy's Indies celebrating Chinese New Year.  This beauty is Red Envelope, which is a mix of red and gold (some holo) hexes, gold holo circles and larger red holo circles.  This is 1 coat over Rimmel 60 Seconds - Camouflage.

2true Glitterati & NYC stamping

Hi guys, sorry about the brief hiatus, I have the flu at the moment and really didn't feel like posting anything yesterday.  I hope you didn't miss me too much, as my posting may be a little sporadic over the next week or so while I get better.  Today, I have some nail art I did a few weeks back with 2 very cheap polishes.

FingerFood's Theme Buffet - Week 2 - Shapes/Geometric & Winterberry Nail Art - Part 4

*Some products in this post were discounted in exchange for review.

 Hi guys, today I'm back with another dual-purpose post today, with a mani for the FingerFood's Theme Weeks, that uses another item from Winterberry Nail Art.  The prompt for today is Shapes/Geometric, so I have used the triangle gems to do a diamonds accent nail.  They were easy to use, and I really like how small they are, I don't think anyone will struggle to fit a few of these on their nails.  I used 1 coat of Gelous under my SV, and trust me, they weren't going anywhere!

Saturday Spotlight: Barry M Teal & Pomegranate

Hi guys, this weeks spotlight post is a Saturday Spotlight, but don't worry, I've added a 'spotlight' label to all the posts so if you'd like to see them all, regardless of what day it was posted on, you can select spotlight from the new drop-down box labels widget in the sidebar.  Under the spotlight today is Barry M, and I have 2 random polishes to show you.  I'm afraid I don't have any nail art to go with them today, but don't worry, I will be posting some art tomorrow.  Hope you forgive me :p

Winterberry Nail Art: Part 3

 *Some products in this post were discounted in exchange for review.

 Hi guys, this post was actually supposed to be up last night, but I didn't get a chance to type it up in the end, so I will be double posting today instead.  This first post is another item from Winterberry Nail Art - the 3D gunmetal skull charms. 

Post-Christmas Haul

Hi guys, today's haul post is a pretty epic one, since the last one was on 14th Nov, and I had a pretty nice Boxing Day shopping trip with my Xmas money/vouchers to boot.  Naturally, this means a picture heavy post - don't say I didn't warn you :D

Nail Lacquer UK - Ice Queen

Hi guys, today I have some nail art and another lovely UK Indie to show you.  This is Nail Lacquer UK - Ice Queen, which is a blue-green flakie top coat. This is 2 coats over an un-named Color Club blue.

Sale Alert!

Hi guys, no nails from me today, as I have decided that Tuesdays and Thursdays will be my non-posting days from now on  :D
I do have some bargains to share with you though!

Winterberry Nail Art.
I now have a discount code to share with you guys for Winterberry Nail Art.  Use the code PEPIPO15 at the checkout for 15% off all items, including sale items.  
And on that note, Rachel is having a sale on all her nail art kits, as they will be taken down on Friday when she goes back to uni - so if you want one you had better get in there sharpish :D

 

Shimmer Polish - Candace

Hi guys, today I have another stunning Shimmer Polish to show you.  This is Candace, which is a mixture of gold holo and black micro and hex glitters.  You guys may recognise this as the base for yesterday's leopard print mani.

Sunday Spotlight: W7 - Gold Mirror & Blue Mirror

Hi guys, I'm back already with this weeks Sunday Spotlight, and the brand today is W7.  I have 2 polishes from the mirror collection to show you, with some blingy nail art to boot!
This will be a picture heavy post.

Winterberry Nail Art Part 2 & FingerFoods Theme Buffet - Week 1 - Animal Print

Hi guys, today I have somewhat of a double duty post for you, hence the ridiculously long title.  I recently decided to join in FingerFood's Theme Buffet, which is a relaxed weekly challenge that takes place on Sunday's, hosted by the lovely Sam from FingerFood.  The first prompt is animal print, which seemed like a perfect time to review another item from Winterberry Nail Art.
p.s. there's a discount code at the bottom :)

Textured Gradient Tape Mani

 Hi guys today I have some nail art for you - this mani combines 3 of my favourite things at the moment, gradients, texture and tape.  And, I liberated a few things from my untried rack while I was at it. :)

2013 Review and 2014 Bucket List

Hi guys, today I will be doing a little post looking back on 2013, and setting myself and my blog a few goals for 2014.  Since my blog was only started near the end of the year, I considered not doing the 2013 review, but I have learnt so much in such a short space of time, and I figured I could just chuck it in with my Bucket List so it's not too short.

So lets start with last year:
I started my blog 'at the end of August' (which is also my fave 36 crazyfists song btw), with this post:

The nice kind of swirly!

Look at my nubbins, weren't they cute!
At first, my posting was quite sporadic, until I embarked upon the Crumpets Nail Tarts 33 Day Challenge at the end of September.

This pushed me to do at least 3 nail art mani's a week, and got me to try things I would never have normally attempted, many of which I was very pleased with. Here are some of my fave mani's from the challenge:

And here are some of my favourite mani's from outside the challenge.

Then, the 2 biggest highlights for me personally, both come in the form of guest posts. 
I was really lucky in October, and got the chance to guest post for the wonderful Kerrie, from Pish Posh and Polish. 

 Click here to see the post on Kerrie's blog.

Then, later in December, I was very lucky again, and got the chance to be a part of The Crumpet's British Blogging Christmas.

Click here to see the post.
I am so grateful to Debbie and Kerrie for this, it was wonderful of them to give me these opportunities, and I was so amazed that I got the chance so early in my 'blogging life'.  Honestly ladies, you both rock, and I owe you both a lot - Thank you!

One more highlight of this year seemed very obvious to me as I was digging through the archives for these photos.............my nails!  For the first time in my life, I have real, long nails.  I started using OPI - Nail Envy after hearing so many good reviews, and it has done wonders for the strength of my nails.  I have very recently switched to Duri Rejuvacote though, so I will be reporting back on that a few months from now to let you know how that's working for me :)

So, that was (albeit a very short one) last year summed up, what's in store for next year......

The Bucket List

I have taken a leaf from Debbie Crumpet's book, and decided to put together a little list of goals for my blog in 2014.  There's not really anything major in here, but it will be interesting to look back in a year and see if I have achieved all (or indeed any) of them.

- Keep posts to no more than 5 per week.  I like posting regularly, but recently I have lost all balance between blogging and the rest of my life, so it will be good to have a couple of nights a week where I just relax with the Mr.

- Hold a giveaway at 100 followers on Bloglovin'.  This may be happening quite soon, I am on 88 at the moment - I guess I had better start deciding what the prize will be ;)

- Improve my blog layout - I want my blog to be cleaner and simpler, and maybe a bit easier to navigate.  I have learnt a lot since I started, so am looking forward to what I can learn in the next year in regards to coding etc.

- Keep pushing myself to try new techniques, and perfect things I have only attempted once or twice before. I did a lot of this last year, so am hopeful that I will keep up well with this goal.

- Continue to explore and promote UK Indies.  The UK Indie scene has really exploded this year, and I for one am chuffed!  This goal involves buying and wearing amazing polishes - don't think this will be difficult at all :D

- Put together some tutorials for you guys.  I would love to know if there's anything in particular that you would like to see a tutorial for - I really don't know what design to do first :/

- Test all the polishes in my stash that I think may work for stamping - this should be do-able, so long as I can control my buying habits a little more!

 - Which brings me to my next goal, buy a little less polish.  I think you will agree with me when you see my next haul post :)

- Continue to bring you guys swatches of budget polishes that are hard to find in a google search, and showcase them all; the good, the bad, and the downright munters!

- Take part in Missy from Gnarly Gnails' Nail Art A-Go-Go challenge in February.  It looks kinda hard, and is 28 days straight, but I have ideas for 14 of the prompts already, so I may just dive into this, and do as much as I can.  I am a little scared, but the 33 day challenge seemed intimidating at first too so I'm trying not to worry about it :)

- Take part in the Tri-Polish Challenge that's running through The Crumpet's Nail Tarts group when I can.

- Improve my swatches and photos wherever possible.  This is an on-going goal of mine, and so far, they have got much better.  I also got my daylight bulb yesterday - hello colour accurate photo's,  nice to meet you!

What do you guys think of these goals, I would love some feedback about them.  Also, what would you guys like to see on here in 2014 - is there anything you would like to see more or less of on this blog?  After all, I create the content for you to read, so your opinions are extremely important.

Thanks for being here with me for the beginning of my journey into nail blogging, your support has been invaluable, and I have been blown away by how kind you have all been.  Your comments have cheered me up on some really horrid days, and I have enjoyed sharing with you more than I ever thought I could - I love you guys!

Kleancolor - Chunky Holo Black

Happy New Year everyone!  Hope you're all feeling OK today, and not too hungover. :)  I decided to start 2014 off with something very gorgeous that has been lurking in my untried box for way too long.  This is Kleancolor - Chunky Holo Black, which is a black jelly polish with multi-chrome colour shifting glitter.
*This will be a very picture heavy post.