Chelsea Flower Show Randoms!

I am back from my mini-holiday to London to see the Chelsea Flower Show and other touristy things! I thought I would share some cool photos with you before I go off to cook pizza...

In order of appearance...
1) Peonies called 'Bowl of Beauty' from one of the stands in the Great Pavilion
2) House of Parliament and the Big Ben
3) 'Beefeater' outside the Crown Jewel Hall at Tower of London
4) Astonishing table and chairs by the British Florists' Association
5) Fairytale tree by the National Association of Flower Arrangers' Societies

Please enlarge the last two photos to see the full glory of the arrangements!

Chelsea Flower Show was amazing! And the weather was amazingly bad!! We had torrential rain and frequent thunder all through the day so we were lucky the Great Pavilion (which has a roof) was taking up most of the day anyway...

My CND Shellac Chelsea Flower Show Green!

After coming home to the heartbreaking sight of my greenhouse in a million pieces and broken tomato plants, I was cheered up by Claire from Me To You Nails coming to do my Chelsea Flower Show green Shellac nails as seen on All Lacquered Up!

This is 2 coats of "Black Pool" with a coat of "Iced Coral". And it's AWESOME!! Just look at that teal glimmer! I can't wait to visit Chelsea Flower Show on Thursday, and I hope the storm winds and Grimsvotn volcano ash cloud keep themselves under control on Wednesday morning so I get to London!

NOTD update

I thought I would try and capture the grass-green side of "Outta Bounds" for you but every time I took my phone out the sun disappeared. Here it is anyway, those two streaks on my thumb are Revlon's new 'Just Bitten' lip stain + balm, the darker one is "Gothic" and the lighter one is "Flame". And the bottle is Cuticles Love Oil from Andrea Fulerton, it's very nice and smells of mint unlike most other nail oils!

NOTD: China Glaze "Outta Bounds"

Finally got a hold of this polish after years of searching :) This is 2 coats with FastForward top coat. So metallic-y and lustrous! It was a bot tricky to put on, it tended to flood the cuticles, but its so lovely all is forgiven. It looks a bit more teal green than it is in real life, so I will try to take another photo tomorrow.

I spy with my little eye....

I have CLEARLY been living in a box for a year, because I've completely missed out on the hype about Ozotic Pro polish! I just saw this at the Swatchaholic and drooled Starbucks iced latte on my dress...

I've not had a chance to explore the brand properly but apparently there is a little shop selling them from Australia called Picture Polish (they ship to the UK). Just look at those Multichromatics... 8-)

NOTD: Isadora "Lilac Bikini"

Was going to do Swedish flag nails, but they lost the World Cup trophy in an atrocious 1-6 defeat to arch-rivals Finland...

So it's consolation lilac nails instead. This is 2 costs "Lilac Bikini" (I just love the name) and Megashine top coat. Glides on like butter! :) It had a slight lilac shimmer as well which makes it shift colour in the light! Delicious! Even my Dad likes it!

NOTD: Converse Sneaker Manicure

Was bored watching the Eurovision voting so decided to do a mani matching my Converse sneakers I'm gonna wear playing indoor crazy golf tomorrow :)

Now for a quick snack so I'll last till the end of the final! :)

More soap...

I've got naked nails as I had a crisis - I just couldn't decide on a colour I wanted :( I am planning on doing them tonight while watching the 'Eurovision Song Contest' Grand Final, but that depends on if I find a colour I want to paint them in???

Anyway, I made more soap today. This time it's mostly Facial Bars, but you can check out more about this on my new blog for all things crafty (and a bit magical) - Enchantments Express...

I will try and review the soaps later this week, hopefully they will be good :) I am also working on some facial lotions and lip balms but I will keep you updated on those. Now I will have to go and make some birthday cake!

NOTD: Isadora "Ocean Drive" / "Miami Blue"

My Dad arrived today so I got my mitts on the new Isadora polishes for summer 2011! I couldnt decide between the treetop, so, ahem, I put then both on! :) 2 coats of watch then Fast Forward top coat.

I had to show you this, but now I have to play with the kitten then off to bed for tomorrows touristy tour of Royal Deeside!

NOTD: China Glaze "Grape Juice"

I once again braved the "Grape Juice" - this time over one coat of the lovely creme GOSH "Wild Lilac", and eureka, the polish finally works! This is one coat "Wild Lilac" and one coat "Grape Juice" with FastForward top coat. It's so hard to capture the insane shimmer of the glass flecks, they truly have to be seen in real life or you will never appreciate the sparkle! This captures the base colour of "Grape Juice" well, however.

Other than tending to my garden I was out collecting spiders at Foveran Links sand dunes yesterday, where I saw these Cuckoo Bumblebees (this is Bombus bohemicus) foraging on flowers. These are 'pretend' bumblebees who, like a Cuckoo bird, sneaks into the nest of 'proper' bumblebees and live off their resources. Bombus bohemicus usually parasities Bombus lucorum, commonly known as the White-tailed Bumblebee. They're still cute though :)

I am off to cuddle the kitten before he comes into the room and demands to climb on the clothes airer to get my attention...

NOTD: Nails Inc "Electric Teal"

Another year, another batch of Instyle Nails Inc exclusive polishes! The June edition of Instyle UK comes with a choice if 3 polishes, this one, an orange and a nude. Needless to say, I chose the greeny one...

This is 2 coats with Megashine top coat. Same buttery smooth, opaque formula as we have come to expect from Nails Inc! Gotta love it! This is actually not similar to any polish I own already which is a bonus :)

NOTD: China Glaze "Hot Lava Love"

Sometimes you just need a really hot nail polish you know... I applied 2 coats of "Hot Lava Love" over an ancient creme red polish from L'Oreal as it is kind of sheer. This is the result with China Glaze Fast Forward top coat on top. Hot!

I rescued some daisies off the lawn before it was mown, they are so pretty :) Anyway I am off to check mortgage papers. Boring, but necessary...

NOTD: Rimmel LycraPRO "Peppermint"

This is another one of Rimmels new polishes for s/s 2011 - "Peppermint". It is indeed a lovely light, cool tone mint green, but it has issues with the formula. Very runny and at the same time its like some sort of crafts glue to apply, so please excuse the messy application.

This is 2 coats with Sally Hansen Mega Shine top coat, its ok but I feel I should've put in 3rd coat? Never mind it will have to do for tomorrrow when I'm back after a whopping 5 days off in a row :)

Also can I review the Batiste dry shampoo in "Gold shimmer"? It smells exotic, really refreshes blonde hair and add a lovely subtle glimmer. Its a must have for those "rather have 5 more mins in bed instead off washing my hair" days! It also comes in a silver shiner and a mass of other fragrances, so everyone will find their ideal dry shampoo from Batiste :)