Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Golden Toes!

It's that time again...to show you what's on my feet! (Without showing you my feet...)

They look kind of crazy on my hands (read: yellow and icky) but on my toes they are golden and glorious!

Index & middle: Orly Glitz & Glamour
Ring & pinky: SpaRitual Reflection


Gold is by far my favourite colour for my toes (closely followed by navy). In winter especially, I love removing my socks and boots to find sparkly gold tootsies! It's a little surprise for me at the end of the day.

What is your favourite colour for toes?

kittytokaren
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Monday, November 28, 2011

Orly Meet Me Under the Mistletoe



(2 coats)

I've worn this as a mani twice now. Once last year and once this year. I've been bored both times. Goodbye MMUtM.
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Saturday, November 26, 2011

Illamasqua DWS

The weather here has grim. GRIM. It took me a week to photograph this mani because it's been raining non-stop. Indeed, it is still raining, which is why there are droplets of water on my nails. That's also why there's killer tip wear. I wore this during reading week and since it's been about 2 degrees C since then I've barely been outside. I seriously need a lightbox so that I can photograph manis from the lazy comfort of indoors. Fortunately I've had a massive pile of marking to keep me entertained...sigh...




DWS is what Piff would call a 'palette cleanser' polish. It's a neutral dark ish grey that's perfect in one coat (it's a touch less blue than it appears in the pictures). I love this with a holo silver glitter top coat over, but this time, I went plain and neutral. Who needs glitter when you've got rain?

One final thing I want to mention, since this is an Illamasqua polish: Illamasqua have been enthusiastic supporters of the S.O.P.H.I.E. foundation, an organisation set up by Sylvia Lancaster after her daughter Sophie was kicked to death in Bacup, a town in the north of England. She was picked on for defending her boyfriend, who had been attacked by a gang of thugs for dressing in black (Sophie herself had black and red dreadlocks). Today would have been her 25th birthday. If you feel, as I do, that prejudice has no place in a civilized society, and that something good should come out of tragedy, please do consider donating. Thank you.
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Friday, November 25, 2011

"You Love It!" - Deborah Lippmann Across the Universe

Recently I had the pleasure of staying with the lovely Piff in NYC! It was an amazing time, and she is a kickass friend. Seriously. BUT...

...she did make me wear some polishes I would...*ahem*...not normally wear. You will see the worst of those atrocities from her soon - she really enjoyed seeing me suffer - but she made me promise to wear one polish as my NOTD. Out of the choices she went pretty easy on me, I have to say! This is Deborah Lippmann's Across the Universe...


Way less obnoxious on the nail than I thought it would be for such a chunky glitter. I was skeptical (very) but after I put it on, Piff kept informing me "You love it. I see it in your face. You love it." Maybe she got to me? I did feel a little foolish prancing around JFK and going into work the next day with my glitter mani, but I have to say - in the quiet moments when I was alone and not in public, I really liked looking at it. What I like about it is the depth of the base colour so the glitter isn't all -BAM!- at the surface. It's a little more mysterious than that....it reminds me of a mermaid.

Has anyone pushed you out of your polish comfort zone? Did you love/like/hate it?

kittytokaren
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Thursday, November 24, 2011

Lynnderella Snow Angel



(3 coats)

Unlike the others I've tried, this one does not do well at all without a base color. It just looks straight up ugly and weird. This one is also a huge top coat eater. I think this has 4 coats of TC?

Will not be wearing this one again without a base white underneath.
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