What's In My Stash #3

Hi Everyone,

I'm so annoyed that this has been such a quiet week because I've got lots of post swatches prepared, but I've just been so busy! My fiance found out last minute that he was coming home on Monday night (I found out Monday morning) and this week we've just been pottering around and due to him being four hours ahead at work he's been really tired early so I've been in bed by 10 most nights - that's usually blog post time! Tonight is his birthday, so we've been out for a meal and now I have time do post!

Tonight I have another What's in My Stash post. I haven't done one for a while because I've been focused on posting swatches of my Rainbow Connection haul, so I thought it'd be nice to have a look at something I have stashed away and it's a good one!

My Private Jet by OPI is one of those iconic polishes that you never think you'll ever own. There is a long story behind it, one that is too long for me to write, but suffice to say there are a few versions of this, two of which are holographic. The version I have is the brown holo version. I bought this for an undisclosed sum on eBay back in August as a birthday present to me from me!

Here are some photos, I used two coats with topcoat....

Flash

Natural light

Sunlight

Isn't this beautiful? I feel so lucky that I've got this, even though I'm too scared to wear it all and use it up!

I'll hopefully be back tomorrow with the first of this year's Festive Fridays so see you then!

Rainbow Connection Haul

Hey Guys,

The time has finally come, I'm back to nail posts! I felt like I was in a bit of a blogging funk, and my no-buy was taking away from my love of nail polish... I'm an addict, I need more to keep me alive! Anyway, I've been home nearly a week and I've had a very productive 6 days, full of housework, cooking, crafts with my son and nails! I feel like I've made a transformation into the kind of person who gets things done! As well as this I've been starting my Christmas preparations (I know it's early but my boyfriend fiance has told me to get on with it while he's away) and working with a company on a feature which should be coming up over the next fortnight, and I've taken pictures for my new blog design that I've been rabbiting on about for months!

Like I said, I've been a busy bee!

This week I am dedicating Truly Polished to a company that I am in love with. Rainbow Connection is a newish indie stockist based in the UK - yes you really can hear the Hallelujahs - it's that amazing! I know that all this praise is probably over the top, and I'd like to make sure I state that they have had no involvement in this post, I just love them...

Anyway... Shortly after my no-buy was announced, Rainbow Connection came into my life. Obviously indies don't count on no-buys (didn't you hear? Those are definitely 100% the official rules...) so I couldn't help but pre-order some bits, and order some in-stock items over the course of about two weeks. The pre-orders took a while to come in and then I was a bit here there and everywhere with our trip to Iceland, then my fiance going away for work, then coming home from my Mum's, that I never got to do a haul post! So here it is...

Polished by KPT Plumeria - Hot Like Wasabi - Kelvin Bleu - Color Therapy

 I've wanted some Polished by KPT polishes for ages, but the shipping from America is costly so I got as many as I could in the presale. The print of the labels unfortunately came off when I grabbed the bottles with wet hands!

Wingdust Gilty Pleasures - Sleepless Summer Nights - Steel Town Girl

Note: There was a mix up with my order where I received Sleepless Summer Nights instead of Steel Town Girls. Rainbow Connection sent me a replacement Steel Town Girl the same day and let me keep Sleepless Summer Nights - great customer service!

CrowsToes Chess, you dog! - Dollish Polish Expecto Patronum - Liquid Sky Lacquer Sugared Berries

I'll be posting swatches of these this week and next, I have 4 polishes swatched already and I'm hoping to get the rest done while my son is at preschool Wednesday and Thursday this week, as well as painting my nails in the evening and taking pictures during the day - old school, how I used to do it when I posted every day!

Have you bought anything from Rainbow Connection? Make sure you check out their site here!

NOTD!!! GOSH Holographic 549 - And my first video

Hi everyone, 

I hope you're all having a lovely week! My son is on the mend, and although that means he's less sleepy and awake more, I'm not worrying about him all the time! 

Today I have an "OMG I can't believe I'm posting this" post to show you. I've been saying for ages I've needed a sunny day for something amazing and finally my prayers were answered!

I got GOSH HOLOGRAPHIC!!!! 

This has been my most wanted nail polish for ages, I've traipsed through so many Superdrug GOSH discontinued bins trying to find it, to no avail. There are rumours that GOSH will be re-releasing Holographic... I tweeted them to ask, and they replied with a cryptic but promising message, here it is:

Anyway, I was hoping that a new one in the pipeline would stop me from wanting this, but it turns out it did the opposite. The thought of a new one just made me need the original! So I went onto eBay and the rest is history! I got a good price, don't worry!

I was worried about the application would be a nightmare, but I used two coats of Nubar Ridge Filler as my base coat and three coats of Holographic went on quite easily. I did have to make sure I didn't go over the same spot twice, but I think that goes for any base coat.

Now onto some photos! This is three coats with no topcoat. I've included a photo in the shade so you can see, it looks a bit blah in the shade but in the sun it's amazing!

Sunlight

Shade

My favourite part of the holographic colours!

I've also included my first ever video! The backing track is Farewell to the Fairground by White Lies in case you were wondering!

Isn't Holographic amazing?!

Don't worry if you can't get hold of 549 Holographic, because I'm pretty sure they will be releasing a holo (or hopefully a few!) later on in the year!

I'm planning on stamping on top of this, not sure what to choose though! I'm reluctant to cover any of the beauty but some irrational part of my brain thinks stamping over it might make it last longer...

See you tomorrow!

Nail Mail and something VERY special!

Hi everyone!

I got home last night to find some very exciting nail mail! It was from Jessie, a polish buddy I did a swap with for a couple of bottles of Max Factor Fantasty Fire. I had the package in my hand before I'd even put my bag down because I knew what was waiting for me inside!

Today is the day I get to utter words I never thought I would! I have a Lynnderella polish to show you!!!!!!

If you don't know what this means then you must have been hiding under a rock for quite a while, and if you do know what this means then you'll understand how excited I am!

Lynnderella is probably (ok, definitely) the most sought after cult brand of nail polish at the moment. It's exclusively available through Llarowe, but the buying process is a battlefield to say the least. When Leah Ann at Llarowe is open for wish lists you submit your list and then all the lists are worked through systematically by letter until they're fulfilled, then the wish list system starts all over again. I caught this at a difficult time so I'm waiting to submit my wish list which I think will be a pretty long one!

The Lynnderella that Jessie sent me was Ruby Red Ruby and I can't believe I was fortunate enough to get this in a swap! Jessie also sent me Essie Tour de Finance which I can't wait to try out!

Ruby Red Ruby and Tour de Finance

Make sure you click "Read More" to see my review and lots of pretty pictures!

Max Factor - Fantasy Fire

Hi guys,

Here it is, the one and only Fantasy Fire. This polish has caused such a stir that it's almost impossible to get hold of! Luckily I live in a part of the country where there aren't too many nail polish fanatics, so I managed to pick it up and I'm so glad I did. It's fair to say I'm a little bit in love with it! I even got complimented on it last night at the gym which was lovely.

Here it is in all its glory!

Fantasy Fire is supposedly a near dupe for the legendary and long discontinued Clarins 230 which, sadly, I do not own. It has a multichrome shimmer that shifts from red to gold to green depending on the angle. It can be worn on its own, where you'll need about 4 coats (depending on your application) to get full opacity. Alternatively you can layer the polish over another shade, which is how I wore it. The base colour in Fantasy Fire is gorgeous, but I just can't stand having a visible nail line!

First I layered Fantasy Fire over black so the shimmer could take centre stage. Then I layered it over the most similar shade I had in my stash, which was Rimmel Lycra Pro Aqua Cool. This is a cornflower blue polish that is lighter than the base colour in Fantasy Fire. Layering the polish like this means that the royal blue jelly base isn't hidden!

Click "Read More" to see my gorgeous swatches! In all of the photos I'm wearing two coats my chosen shade with one coat of Fantasy Fire. I've topped it off (of course) with a coat of Seche Vite to give it that classic glass-like appearance.