Update on progress of course plus Enchanted Polish Freeze Machine at its best!

Hey my lovelies!!  So I thought I would drop by and give you all an update on my nail course I am doing, the highs and lows and in between.! 

We are now over half way through the course and I have to say I am quite sad at the thought of it ending, I have made some awesome friends there which I am hoping we all stay in touch when It does come to a close.  That's been the first check that I can tick off my list, as man I need to get myself a social circle!!!   Our tutor is lovely to, very warm and welcoming and has taught me much more than I expected at this stage.

My next thing I need to check off my list, turns out to be my biggest Nemesis....even bigger than acrylic itself as it turns out....MYSELF!!! doing this course has made me realise I really am my own worst critic....man I need to man up.....I find fault in EVERYTHING I do, to the point I am pointing it out to others, convinced they can see what I see, which I am told they cant!  It is so tough to have such a negative take on what you're doing.  I want everything to be perfection...NOW, which of course isn't possible when you are learning an art, which I firmly believe this is.  Even when I have the acrylic on I am obsessing if it is going to stay put, and when I hear my client has lost a nail.....well I may as well flush my own head down the toilet and stick 'I am with stupid' notes on my own forehead! So, how do I break a habit I have gotten myself into?? right now I am unsure of that answer TBH....answers on a postcard please?!   I am working on not being so hard on myself...I WILL get there I promise!

top pictures are partial tipped clear acrylic overlay.  Bottom nails are Picture Polish Aphrodisiac and Enchanted Polish Freeze Machine

So I thought I would show you guys a set of nails I did only yesterday and for once I was relatively happy with them.  I have to say the polish combo I chose for my model was a testament to my knowledge of colours that suit tones and such, this looked STUNNING on my client in the flesh, no camera would be able to capture the beauty of this as it looks in the flesh...For the base I used Picture Polish Aphrodisiac and to top it off I used Enchanted Polish Freeze Machine....amazing combo, amazing hand model=one semi(ish) happy Mimi! 

Stay tuned because I have  some wicked stuff coming up, including a cult nails classic!  stay happy chikkas lots of love xxxxx

Picture Polish Super Styling!

I don't know if you guys know this...buuuuuut I love blue polish....I also love Picture Polish, so what happens when the 2 meet? THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Arrrrrrgh for goodness sake, how many times can I say I love PP...and blues for that matter, from Whimsy to Cosmos I have long since had a love affair with this brand....now comes Super Styling, and my heart melts all over again!

How lucky these fantastic bloggers have been to have their creations come to life by such talented people, and Sam from Fashion Polish was one of those....I am green with envy because this colour is totally something I would have opted for!

SS is a super bright bordering along dazzling blue glitterbomb!! It is set in a nicely tinted base which means it offers great coverage, although I do recommend 3 coats to erase VNL.

The formula is once again outstanding!  Once again I cant speak highly enough of Picture Polish for a job well done.  The glitters lay completely flat meaning you only need 1 cost of top coat for a total smooth finish.

I adore adore adore this polish, it is beyond awesome in the flesh!  I thought I would mix it up a little and mattify this one and add some gold studs...I must say I love this way of wearing it to!!! 

So rush forth my pretties and snap these babies up, you wont regret it!!

Picture Polish Imperial

Ahhhh Picture Polish...for goodness sake they just can do no wrong in my eyes! Another lot of collaborations brings the awesome imperial, named and created by Jeanette over at The Swatchaholic.

I am honestly in awe of the creators of these polishes, I can honestly say hand on heart, I have never had a polish from them that hasn't filled me with genuine excitement...from the sparkles, colour and the awesome formula, PP is my all time favourite brand right now....and feast your eyes on my pics and you will see why.......

More nail porn.......

Imperial is a stunning beautiful purple.  Infused with a scattered holo along with THE most pretty blue glass flecks it is just stunning....then you come to the small gold hex, well it just finishes this to perfection IMO!!

The purple base is really quite a bright purple...bordering along neonish (not in a in your face neon either) so this dries quite matte...for a lovely shine then I recommend a good quality top coat.

Formula is perfection in EVERY way.  I used 3 coats for full coverage and dry time, as always is awesome. 

Pure 18k white gold and silver top coat Mariah Carey over Chanel Azure

Hey my lovelies!  So here I am feeling a little bored so I thought I would swatch the geourgous Pure by Mariah Carey...her creation with OPI brings you a very special topcoat.....one that infuses real 18k gold and silver in a beautiful leaf effect. 

Those that remember the awesome Skyfall film last year will know OPI released a whole host of polishes relating to Bond movies, and came up with the man with a golden gun....another gold topcoat.  That release saw the polish community go mad, I am not much of  gold lover but the polish addict in me HAD to own it, just because.  This one is along the same lines....I wouldn't wear it all of the time but I am glad I own it just because, A, I LOVE Mariah and B,....its real gold baby!!!

Now the business side of things.  Man its expensive! These are selling at almost £30 (plus VAT) in Sallys....that's one pricey polish, and it tells you something about my obsession that I am willing to pay that just because I feel I need it in my collection!  I decided to layer this over Chanel Azure.  Whilst I love the combination of the 2 together...or should I say, the idea of the 2 together...I don't know if they complimented each other in the best light.

Azure is a polish worthy of awards on its own basis, it is stunning and one of my fave polishes this year..it is bright, beautiful and everything Mimi loves.  Check out my post on it here .  With this topcoat on I felt this dulled azure.  It wasn't the leaves...they looked so pretty and very Christmassy together....I think it was the actually base colour of the topcoat that did it no favours.

In certain lights it added a yellowish tinge to the polish....hmmmm I don't know if it is just me seeing things or the lighting, I'm not sure.  I will be defo swatching a few more colours to see if it does indeed have a yellowish base to it instead of clear, as I believed it would be.

That said, I do love it.  Can I see a clear difference in the silver and gold flakes? not really to be honest....I properly could if I looked really hard but on face value the flakes arnt distinctly different immediately. 

Dry time was excellent and dried very very smooth.  It applied beautifully and evenly..so top marks there.  So I'm guessing people will either be falling over to have this or pass because the price is so high.  I am glad I own it and I'm looking forward to using it nearer to Christmas as I think it is perfect for the holiday season.

My small but important milestone...achieved!

Hey guys!  Ok so I am going to try something a little different on the blog today..a little musing, if you will.  For a while now I have been what actually feels like fighting a few demons of mine, anxiety being the main culprit for what feels like a lifetime.  I wont bore you all with details because half the time  I cant make sense of it all myself.

One thing has always remained steadfast in my head though...other than the love of my beautiful family its my love of nails!  I have wanted to do this for a living for ages but have lacked the confidence to do it.  Acrylic nails have been my Nemesis  for many years and I gave up on even doing that side of it because I just knew I wasn't good enough.  So I have restarted college and actually have completed a full set of acrylics and fixing one pretty messed up nail!

My first full set of clear acrylic nails...finished off with some bling!

From the top, the mashed up nail....pic 2 shows the acrylic overlay I did and the rest is piccies of my hand painted design!

Now whilst I know I have a long way to go before the critic in me will be satisfied I am especially proud of the mashed up nail I managed to save (this is a natural nail btw).  I thought I would share with you guys my efforts and let you all see the sun is shining a little back in Mimi land.....

I hope its shining for you guys to  Thank you all so much for you kind words of support to me, each and everyone has really warmed my heart xxxx

Nails Inc Westminster Bridge Road Galaxy

Twice in 2 days?! wooooooop! I promised to show you Westminster Bridge Road and I shall deliver...now brace yourselves for this one is STUNNING STUNNING STUNNING!!!! Oh my days, I love this polish so bloody much I actually cant stop staring at my nails, they are blinding!!!

WBR is the blue edition of the Galaxy collection by Nails Inc and what a polish this is.  Now then yesterday I swatched Trafalgar Crescent and found the formula a little thick, so I decided to layer this over colour clubs Williamsburg.  This is a beautiful navy shimmer polish...just 1 coat.  Then I applied this bad boy over the top...WOW!!

The glitters compliment each other perfectly in this one and totally reminds me of a night sky...filled with shining sparkling stars.  There are large and small hex silver glitters in there, with the smaller glitters being blindingly holographic....perfection!

I also preferred the formula of this one, it applied nice and evenly, much easier than TC.  Now then I decided to redo my ring finger layered over 365 days of colour in waterlily.....I only used 1 coat of the TC and MAAAAAAAAN I know my combos well...these 2 were made for each other in my opinion!  Simply stunning together....with much less bulkiness than trying to build the colour from scratch.

I am totally in love with both of these polishes, I am hard pressed to pick a favourite if I'm honest.  I know I tend to gravitate towards the blue but I really love this colour combo with the crescent, I just cant pick!  My advice to glitter lovers everywhere is rush forth and buy these beauties, they are something to behold....trust me!

Nails inc Trafalgar Crecent Galaxy Polish

Hey guys!!  A way to break myself back into this blogging lark is to bring you some stunning polishes....and I bring it in the form of Nails Inc Trafalgar Crescent...love love love this polish!!

Whilst I was having a look at the nails inc polishes whilst at Bluewater recently I spotted the new galaxy collection.  Being somewhat detached from what is new and upcoming at the moment I was excited when I saw these babies as they scream PARTY!  of course I had to have at least 2 of them on the spot....I opted for this one and Westminster Bridge Road, which I will show you later. 

Now then, this is no ordinary silver bling tastic polish...nope!  It is so much more complex a polish that makes me happy I opted for this one.  It takes on white tones in certain lights, blueish in others and full on silver bling!  What makes this polish the most interesting though is the really strong iridescent shimmer...it makes the base colour of this polish appear almost ultra violet to me! 

As for the bling what is in there? well I see a whole array of coloured goodness to make your nails look like disco balls!  There is small hex and larger hex glitters in there and I see soft rainbow colours coming through to.  Formula wise, I will say this is a little thick, I would recommend layering this so you wont have to have as many layers of polish bulking up the nail.  It dried in OK time to.  1 coat of seche vite and my nails were smooth which was good.  Overall I love this polish..i think it is a very unique silver making it a welcome addition to my 700+ collection lol!