Gimikd Baby

A new year... a new blog!

I haven't been the best blogger this year, but I'm hoping to change that this year!

To help me do that, I want to expand the subject matter of my blog.

Not just polish!

Over the last month I tried to get back into the swing of blogging, I missed my little blog. I loved taking photos to share, but I wanted more from my blog. My interests have changed and I have new goals in life. So I decided to begin again.

This year is going to be a busy one!

§  We plan to renovate.

§  We need to tackle the great outdoors that is our garden.

§  I want to be more active and eat healthier.

§  I want to budget and save money.

§  I’ll most likely still buy too much make up and nail polish

So if you’re interested in home improvement, becoming more active and pursuing a healthier lifestyle, seeing pictures or pretty polish and make up…then my new blog may be the place for you!

Gimikd Baby

I've moved over to wordpress, scroll down to the bottom of the page to follow :)

SV by Sparkly Vernis: Winter 2014 Polishes

Before Christmas I received an email asking me to review a couple of polishes.
I was half asleep and thought 'oh no! they've emailed the wrong person. They'll never send polish out to NZ!'
But despite my sleepy state, I managed to reply with my address and just before Christmas this amazing parcel arrived on my door step.

These polishes were sent for review from SV by Sparkly Vernis and I have to say I'm incredibly impressed.

Sparkly Vernis has been around for awhile and I love reading her blog. If you want to check out absolutely gorgeous swatches and see the latest for the polishes definitely check out the blog Sparkly Vernis.

Anyway...on to why I'm so impressed.

The packaging.

Living in New Zealand, I've suffered nail polish causalities. They have a long way come and aren't always treated with the care they need on their journey. These babies were packed so snugly, nothing could happen to them. 

Excellent packaging

Two cute little baggies. 

More packaging protection!

Now on to what I'm sure you all want to see...the polishes!

The polishes.


I was lucky enough to be sent two polishes from the Winter 2014 collection, a sugary assortment of holos. Just look at that holo!

Cotton Candy Sugar and Periwinkle Sprinkles

Periwinkle Sprinkles is a gorgeous periwinkle blue holo. I used three coats. The formula was easy to work with and I could have used two coats happily...but three is habit! The holo is stunning and vibrant in the sun. I love these shades of blue. Blue is my go to polish and this one will be gracing my tips frequently over the summer.

Periwinkle Sprinkles

Cotton Candy Sugar is actually the one I reached for first. I've actually worn it twice since I received it. Normally I'd pick the blue any day...but there's just something about Cotton Candy Sugar that called to me. Maybe it's the lilac undertones. Cotton Candy Sugar is such a sweet pretty polish. Again I used three coats here and the holo was gorgeous in the sun.

Cotton Candy Sugar

SV by Sparkly Vernis pays high attention to detail. This is evident in everything from the website, to the packaging, to the gorgeous polishes and the swatch photos available for each product.

I'm drooling over several more polishes from SV by Sparkly Vernis. Mint Frosting and Snowflakies are calling my name!

China Glaze Happy HoliGlaze: The Foils

Soooo... I may have just realized that I had these swatches sitting in my drafts.... They're from Christmas last year!

The important thing to note though is I'm back! And I have a plan to post regularly this year. I currently have over 4000 swatch photos to go through.

I still love my nail polish, but I no longer feel the need to buy every polish of every collection. In fact I haven't bought an opi since the Brazil collection. My love of makeup has expanded and I'd love the go back to featuring makeup on here as well. I'm currently subscribed to two subscription boxes and have been loving those. Need to share!

In other words, I'm back! I have plans for my blog and want to share more than polish with everyone.

For now enjoy some swatches of last year's Christmas collection from China Glaze.

Mingle With Kringle

Elfin' Around

Santa Red My List

Just Be-Claus

Jolly Holly, Tree-mendous, Mingle with Kringle, Just Be-Claus, Color Club Perfect Mol-ten and a hex glitter from Deborah Lippmann Boom Boom Pow.

Color Club: Girl About Town

Thank goodness it's the weekend!

The start of the week was dreary and rainy and to be honest I'm just excited I'll actually be able to get some washing done and clean my house, whilst hubby is at work. He's a good boy and washes dishes and vacuums... But that's where his expertise ends. It's just easier for me to get things done when he's out of the way!

Today I have one of my favourite collections from last year, Color Club Girl About Town. It was an odd collection for winter, colour wise, but I'm not complaining! I love the bright pops of colour in the collection.

East Austin

Pearl District

Silver Lake

The Uptown

Wicker Park

Williamsburg

Suprisingly I think my favourite was Pearl District. I wasn't expecting to love the antique goldy brassy colour... But I did!

Pahlish: Mystery Polishes

I generally hate surprises... I like to be the one planing and in control of an event.
But I love polish surprises? I frequently order from Pahlish, I neeeds all of the duo's, and ever time I order I have to chuck in a mystery polish or two.

I love the anticipation as I'm unwrapping my parcel and the excitement when I finally see what I received.

Of course being mystery polishes, these polishes are unnamed and not available for purchase. You may be lucky and get one as a mystery polish though.

So just sit back and enjoy the pics!

With top coat

I have no idea what's happening with my pinky in this pic! Just pretend it's all neat and tidy and awesome looking!

China Glaze: Sea Goddess

I still don't know quite how I feel about texture polishes. I love the sparkle, I love the wear....but I'm so unsure of the texture! Some I love the feel off...others I get that horrible chalk hands feeling over. But the sparkle wins, so I keep reaching for more!

I ended up buying two polishes from the recent China a Glaze Sea Goddess collection. I'm still tempted by the purple, but I think I can live without it.

Seahorsin' Around

  I love all things aqua. Seahorsin' Around is no exception. It is an absolutely stunning polish. Argh, I want to wear it again just seeing the pics. Such love.

Wish on a Starfish 

Unfortunately I don't feel the same love towards Wish on a Starfish. I love the idea... Just look at the pretty golden shimmer! It just doesn't look quite right on me. I'm determined to make it work though! I want to love this polish. Maybe I'll try again in the middle of winter, when my hands aren't full of sunshine.  

Nubar: Eden

Wow! I'm posting twice in the space of a few days! I really am getting back into the swing of this.

I haven't been purchasing full collections lately. I have become more discerning in my polish addiction. I did neeeeeeed to buy the full Nubar Eden collection. It came up on ebay for a very reasonable price and next thing you know it was jumping into my cart and flying it's way to live with me.

I was intrigued by the different colours and different finishes in the collection, and seeing them in person I wasbt let down.

A-peel-ing

 

  A-peel-ing is a bright orange shimmer. I found the formula to be a bit thin, but nothing major. This was three coats.

Calla Lily Caramel

  Calla Lily Caramel is a rather awkward colour to be honest. Caramel with pink shimmer. It's unique. Again the formula was a rad thin, but this time I used four coats.

Dahlia Up Later

 Dahlia Up Later is a pretty Barbie polish. Little girls everywhere would loooooove it. Shimmery pink base with holo sprinkles. Three coats.

Dare You To Dragonfly

 Dare You to Dragonfly is my favourite. I love a bright aqua creme. I keep finding myself gravitating towards it as we go in to colder weather. Three coats.

Moss Mistress

 Moss Mistress is an ugly pretty. Fab forumla. I used three coats again.

Rockin' the Garden

 Rockin' the Garden is the one I wanted to be my favourite. Stormy grey blue with bright blue shimmer...sounds amazing. It wasn't quite what I dreamed though. It was thin again, nothing major, but needed four coats. The colour just didn't suit me as much as I wanted though.

Tulips To Kiss You With

 Woooooaaahhhhh! Now thus is a hot pink! Tulips to kiss you with is amazingly bright and filled with beautiful shimmer. This was three coats of pure awesome.

Wild Blue Yonder

Wild Blue Yonder is pure mermaid nails. Blue with gold shimmer and holo sprinkles. Very pretty. This was three coats.