Morning blooms - Emily de Molly Whim of the Winds

This is a swatch for a nail polish that I always wanted, but somehow only got around to getting now!

[Emily de Molly Whim of the Winds]

This is Emily de Molly's Whim of the Winds. It's this soft but still vibrant cornflower hue, complete with linear holo and small flakies. I think this is the best shade of cornflower blue I have, and I love that it has these little touches that makes it extra pretty, with the holo and flakes. <3

All I Want - Lacquistry Rediculous, Kleancolor Nail to Toe Gold Dipped

I hope everyone is having lovely Christmas! Here's a silly themed manicure... which isn't even from this year, oops!

[Bottle to nail: Lacquistry Rediculous (2 coats); Striping: Kleancolor Gold Dipped]

The base is the always gorgeous Lacquistry Rediculous - the shimmery red version of the totes amazing Lacquistry Amazeballs. Gorgeous formula and amazing pigment, I used two coats for a deep, even shade.

[Base: Lacquistry Rediculous (2 coats); Striping: Kleancolor Gold Dipped]

I did a simple stripe lengthwise and crosswise over each nail with Kleancolor Nail to Toe in Gold Dipped, before adding a matching bow sticker over the top.

[Base: Lacquistry Rediculous (2 coats); Striping: Kleancolor Gold Dipped]

Add a generous layer of topcoat, and you're all set for the silly season! =)

Tree Decorations - Born Pretty V-shaped nail sequins, Orly Meet Me Under The Mistletoe

Hello, hello, and seasons greetings! I have a little box of shinies to try out today.

So I got my hands on what I'll call iridescent V-shaped nail sequins from Born Pretty. These are interesting and you can do all sorts of things with them. You have probably seen some pretty shiny flower patterns, made out of these sequins.

I decided to try something more Christmassy in theme.

[Base: Orly Meet Me Under The Mistletoe
Born Pretty V-shaped nail sequins]

I started with the base of course, which was Orly's Meet Me Under The Mistletoe, a dark green colour with hints of duochrome-blue at extreme angles. Then I stuck on some of the sequins so it would have a passing resemblance to a Christmas  tree.

So, does that pass as a Christmas tree, with an additional nail rhinestone at the top to symbolise a tree topper? I wasn't sure, so I thought I would keep going.

[Base: Orly Meet Me Under The Mistletoe
Born Pretty V-shaped nail sequins]

More nail rhinestones to represent baubles! :D  These are just regular nail rhinestones.

Then I decided the other nails were too bare so I thought I would add little symbolic Christmas trees.

[Base: Orly Meet Me Under The Mistletoe
Born Pretty V-shaped nail sequins]

You'll notice in the last two photos, the V-shaped nail sequins seem to have changed colour. So in the earlier photos, the sequins have a distinctive purple to gold duochrome sheen. But in the last two photos, the sequins are of a solid rose-gold shade. Apparently, the top coat to seal in the sequins eats away the layer of duochrome on the sequins to leave a rose-gold shade. If you go without a top coat, it's not likely the sequins would stay on for longer than a day, so it's not something you can skip.

What do you think about the Christmas theme? Did I pull it off?

If you're interested, you can also check out similar items at Born Pretty and use our 10% discount code for full priced items!

World Peace - OPI Congeniality Is My Middle Name

Gosh, today's polish is a mouthful!

[Bottle to nail: OPI Congeniality Is My Middle Name (2 coats)]

This is OPI Congeniality Is My Middle Name from the Miss Universe collection. It's a really interesting colour and had me questioning if it should go in with my pink polishes, or my purple ones!

[2 coats: OPI Congeniality Is My Middle Name]

As you can see, it's a berry base shade, with lots of pink and magenta shimmer which lightens up the colour a little. It's a bit of a strange one - more of a shimmer/glass fleck polish, but still with some jelly squishiness.

[2 coats: OPI Congeniality Is My Middle Name]

Application was a breeze. Nice, strong colour in 2 coats with lots of depth. This actually isn't a colour I usually wear, but I kept this on for almost two weeks! Wear was kind of amazing, which is great except when you love changing up your mani frequently!

Pink Lemonade - Born Pretty Colour Changing Thermal #025

Time for a gauge on the temperature!

[Sweet summer pink!]

This is Born Pretty's 025 from their colour changing thermal collection here. As you can see, it's a sweet peach pink when warm at normal human temperature, and a medium pink when it's cool like how it was on the tips of my nails.

[Nails to bottle: Born Pretty #025]

I was feeling a little warmer when I took the photo against the nail polish bottle here, so you can see how that affects the overall look, the tips having lightened considerably.

[Born Pretty #025]

I find polish #025 to be very sensitive to temperature which makes it an excellent mani to have when you have rather long nails. No need for cold water and warm water just to show you the colour change, which it's usually necessary what with summer being in full swing over here. Typically when it's this warm, you only see the warm colours for thermal nail polish, but #025 managed to pick up on the slight difference in temperature between the tips of my nails compared to the nail bed. When I was in the office where the air conditioning is on at full blast, the pink on the tips get even a shade darker.

All in all, I rather like this one and it makes for a very pretty work-appropriate nail polish. You can check out similar items at Born Pretty and use our 10% discount code for full priced items!

Hot Buns - Rimmel Fondant Fancy, Hit the Bottle Snowed In, Born Pretty BP-L088

I have such an adorable mani here today!

[Buns away!]

Check out them buns! Their round little heads! Tiny eyes and mouths! So adorable!!

[Bottle to nail: Rimmel Salon Pro Fondant Fancy (2 coats)]

My base from last week - Rimmel Fondant Fancy, a dusty mauve creme.

[Born Pretty BP-L088]

I was given this plate to review from Born Pretty. This is Born Pretty BP-L088 which you can find here. As usual, it comes with a pretty cardboard sleeve for storage and a blue protective film. There are so many cute animal-themed designs on here, including pandas and unicorns!

[Born Pretty BP-L088]

I almost chose the pandas, but ended up going for the bunnies instead. This is because the bunny heads are fairly large for my narrow nails and I had a bit more length going so I thought I'd take advantage of that fact.

[Base: Rimmel Fondant Fancy (2 coats);
Stamping: Hit the Bottle Snowed In, Born Pretty BP-L088]

I chose a white creme stamping polish, Hit the Bottle Snowed In, so that there would be a nice contrast with the dark base shade. Check out the fine lines, especially on the rabbit mouths!

[Base: Rimmel Fondant Fancy (2 coats);
Stamping: Hit the Bottle Snowed In, Born Pretty BP-L088]

I actually used a different stamping polish for the thumb, one of my Mundo de Unas polishes. But I was having a bit of trouble with fine detail, I think because these tend to separate quite badly when stored so I need to mix it up a bit more before use.

Anyway, I'm quite pleased with the quality of the plate and the super cuteness of the patterns! If you're interested, check out Born Pretty and feel free to use our 10% off code for full-priced items. =)