New Years NOTD: Barry M Gelly "Blackberry" with 2True Glitterati

I asked the Other Half what colour I should go for for New Years and he replied 'indigo' thinking I didn't have anything like that; oh how wrong he was. I did the Gelly polish thinking I might just have that. But it was SO thick and stringy and the brush was awful and I made a right mess. This is however just one thick coat, so great coverage :) I then decided that it needed a bit of sparkle. So I turned to 2True Glitterati "Shade 3"! It's also hideously thick and unwieldy but it dries relatively quickly so it wasn't so much of a bother. I finished with a couple of layers of MegaShine to boost up the shine on the glitter.

"Blackberry" on it's own - this is 1 coat only and NO TOP COAT , it really is that shiny on it's own!

Messy messy... but I am sure it will be easier to clean up after my shower tomorrow...

And check out my lovely new Manicure Station! It's the Rio Nail Studio I got for Xmas and my IKEA clamp lamp :) It makes my manicures much easier to do!

Xmas NOTD: China Glaze "Ruby Pumps"

Tomorrow is Xmas Eve which is my Xmas! Woohoo! I am so excited 'cause I've managed to make a lot of traditional Swedish food for a traditional Xmas meal! I opted to wear my fave red glitter, even though I did think I might want to wear China Glaze "Emerald Sparkle" and also had thoughts of Color Club "Holiday Splendor" but ended back up with the good old red jelly glitter :D I made a matching pedicure as well!

This is 2 coats with top coat. It always photographs so awfully, so I made video to make sure you can see how amazingly sparkly it is :) And yes, that's my kitchen Xmas lights you can see reflected in the bottle!

Advent NOTD #5: OPI "Merry Midnight"

This is polish from the "Holiday Wishes" 2009 OPI collection. I love this polish but I always forget how crap the brush is in this. I have a faulty brush in this bottle so putting the polish on is an awful experience; you can tell the mess on the cuticles. I couldn't get a decent photo of it either :( This is 3 coats as it's stealthily sheer. This means it takes some time to dry properly, and I've already buggered a nail on the other hand... Anyway I still love this polish, it's really unique! It has a dark purple base with bits of blue glitter and large flakies that are opalescent but look mostly red :)

Advent NOTD #4: Color Club "Magic Elf"

I am not doing very well with churning out Xmas nails haha :D I've got so lazy! Oh well. I've been unwell since Wednesday with yet another cold but felt ok today so I did a manicure. I've decided on a green tonight - the enchanting "Magic Elf" from Color Club, from their Enchanted Holidays collection for Xmas 2010.

This is 3 coats, as it is surprisingly sheer. I slicked on some MegaShine top coat as well. I still have never re-discovered my bottle of Lumos top coat... I am sure the cat must've knocked it behind the desk but I just can't find it. It's sooooo sparkly that you can't help but be mesmerized by your own nails :)

I've been toying with the idea of doing 'gel sandwich' manicures... Since I have sooooo many polishes it would be really interesting to see how it would work. I found a tutorial on another blog, so I think I will try this for the New Year. Oh and I am doing training in OPI Gelcolor in February, which I am stoked about! :) I am going to make another Gellux manicure for my toes this week but first I will have to bake my gingerbread cookies!!

Advent NOTD #3: Mavala "Pure Diamond"

My advent nails concept is going badly wrong as I've been suffering from asthma really badly for the last week and a half an now I have a cold - again!!! You can imagine was acetone and polish fumes does to already inflamed respiratory tracts so I therefor have not been doing nails... But I spotted these 'baubles' in John Lewis and had to have one! I love the concept - it's like a Christmas decoration especially for nail nerds :) This is just 2 coats of polish, it's a very dense glitter even though the base colour is clear. No problems to apply at all, but it dries very gritty and you will need 2 coats of top coat to smooth it out and bring the glitters  true 'bling' potential out.

Advent NOTD #2: Isadora "Polar Nights"

My dear Mum got this for me from Sweden, it's part of Isadora's 'Northern Lights' Holiday makeup range for 2012. I saw this on Neglelakkmani and knew I had to have it. It is a navy jelly with silver and blue glitter and silver hexagon glitter. Amazing :) It looks more blue in real life than it does here.

Application is not so amazing though. This is after I cleaned it up :( That dastardly glitter and pigment just goes everywhere and the formula is so goopy so it's just flooding everywhere when you apply it. That thick formula makes it very opaque though, this is only 2 coats. You might want to try on some glitter placement with this polish - as you can see my pinkie has no hexagons at all on it. But it's still a lovely polish :D I am sure that a shower will cure the horrible staining!

I love the colour but the formula probably means it's going to sit in my Helmer drawers for some time before I wear it again.... And now for something completely different!

My cute little guppy community. I got them free off a lovely local lady who breeds them and has hundreds but wanted to mix the colony bloodlines up so was getting rid of some to make room for the new stock. I already have a half-grown fry as you can see :D

Advent Calendar NOTD #1: Rimmel Precious Stones "Ruby Crush"

I decided that I wanted to do an 'every-other-day' Advent Calendar this year and include festive colours and also some actual Christmas collection polishes. So I am kicking off with the incredibly sparkly full coverage glitter polish from Rimmel's Precious Stones collection - "Ruby Crush". I've already worn it's sister "Diamond Dust". It looks flat in photos but is sooo sparkly in real life. This is 2 coats with 2 coats of MegaShine top coat as it's so gritty. Wow!! Even my Mum was impressed :) I loved it so much I made a matching pedicure!