A England - Sleeping Palace

I must say I admire my own lightening-fast-speed as I hovered over the clicker at Llarowe during the one-hour-window when I knew a England's latest collection would go live. This one, apart from maybe Briarwood which was released later, was the only one I wanted, and I got it! Why is it such a rush to see a collection released and, knowing it will disappear soon (how fast, within the hour?), get what you want? Perversion! Such a pretty perversion.

This is a one-coater, easy-peasily spread. Like many holos, I thought it looked kind of dull in the shade, but when the sun came out, the rainbows were linear and of the prettiest kind!

This is my contribution to holo Friday at Skimmerskuggan's

Picture Polish - Pshiiit

This was my second try with Picture Polish, and this one had a happy ending. I've been eyeing Phiiit on and off for months and was unsure I would like it. I did! My worries that it might be too sheer for my liking came to shame and I had complete coverage in two coats! It was quite dark the way I like it, and didn't have too many flakes, just the tight enough to make it interesting. Also, the color itself was interesting as it danced from blue to green depending on light and angle. Very nice!

Lacquer Lust - Pow Chicka Wow Wow

When I first saw this, I knew I had to have it, and I actually made a single order for just this polish from Shoppe Eclecticco (Singapore-based). In the pictures I saw, it seemed as if this baby was packing a humdinger of a holo-punch. Sadly, it didn't. Also, when I showed it off in my Facebook-group of choice (Lacka-Byt), I found out that it was quite sheer, and could use up to four coats if I didn't want any VNL. This could have been where I lost the holo magic, cause I gave it undies in the form of OPI - Yoga-ta Get This Blue. On top of that, I used two coats of PCWW. So - maybe that's where I went wrong... I don't know

 I just started reading the McEwan. It's supposed to be a spy story, but it hasn't come that far along in the story yet. It has that distinct McEwan feel to it though, so if you like his novels, which I do, you'll probably like this one too. I'll get back to it, once I'm further along!

PS. This is my entry for Linda's Blue Monday!

OPI - Catherine the Grape

I am an OPI devotee. The formula, the brush - they're just plain outstanding if you ask me. So! When I saw one of my favorite bloggers, Pamsan of Clawsincolor sporting Catherine the Grape, I was aghast that I didn't even know this shade existed! I immediately made my first ever eBay-purchase and a week later, this smart-looking stunner was mine to parade around (our very medium-sized) town!

As usual with OPI, it was an easy two coats with almost no cleaning required! Nice, dusky, warm purple with a rather shy shimmer. This is from the Russian collection of fall 2007, but it has the ProWide brush, which I love and consider flawless.

The book I'm reading now is Dan Ariely's The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty, and it's just as interesting and amusing as his previous Predictably Irrational. Apparently, we are all liars to a certain degree. The trick most of use though, is that we only lie a little, because we still want to be able to think well of ourselves. Given the circumstances though, we may lie more or less and it has nothing to do with being rational.

Model's Own - Pinky Brown... and a book haul!

I must learn that I don't like pink. I should repeat it as a mantra every evening a hundred times before I go to sleep: "Don't buy pink; don't buy pink, don't buy pink". In my defense, Model's Own looked more brown in the pictures I googled, and at certain angles (like in my last two pics), this is a gorgeous shade. A lot of the time though, it's a purplish pink. There's just no way around that. Three coats. Poshé. Don't get any of that glitter where it shouldn't be. That's all I'm saying.

I also got some time off from being a family gal this morning and I chose to spend that time at my favourite book shop! I came away with five exciting reads! The End of Men by Hanna Rosin is bound to be interesting, and it's been too long since I read something feminist! Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan for when I want to feel smart AND entertained at the same time. The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty by Dan Ariely - his Predictably Irrational was one of my favourite books the year it came out so this one wasn't hard to pick! Tigers in Red Weather by Lisa Klaussman - rich people at the beach; page-turner; things coming undone - well, that sounds like a beach-read to me! We just need the beach weather here in Sweden too, and I'll be all set! Last but not least - some short stories by Junot Díaz of Oscar Wao fame (This Is How You Lose Her)

Since I'm not the freakish five-books-a-week-reader I used to be, these will last me a while. Now I just need to decide which one to start out with!

Spam post!

Since I've been too lazy to blog but not too lazy to do my nails, I have a bunch of polishes to show. These are random ones that I've worn over the last month or so.

Below, you see my first a England polish - Saint George! This was a vampish so-so experience until the sun hit it, and I stopped to stare. It wasn't a spectacular holo by any means but the holo color shifts were so beautiful that I can understand the wow factor surrounding this brand. Right now, I'm waiting for Sleeping Palace from the latest a England collection:)

Zoya's Charla was a lemming for a while before I got it (Zoya's are hard to get in Sweden at a reasonable price) and it did not disappoint! This is three coats, I think.

This was a Kiko I had standing around in my cupboard for quite a while before I used it. I did like the soft cocoa shimmery look of it, but thought it might look too tame on the nail. To the contrary. This is chocolate shimmery loveliness incarnate, and may be one of my favourite polishes. Two easy coats with Kiko's perfect brush! Nr 373.

Zoya's Ibiza. A high quality dark blue shimmer. A joy to apply. Two coats.

Pretty Serious' Blue Gums on Boxing Day. I liked this kind of. It's a forest green with a turquoise/blue shimmer. Not enough though, since I have sold it:)

Jade's Energy. Three coats of holo tealy blue perfection. The holo is a lot stronger than what you can see here. It wasn't fantastic looking in a cloudy setting, but when the sun peeked thorugh - WOW!!

I didn't even know this existed before I saw in my Facebook swap group!! Rockin Rocket by Orly. I got my claim mixed up when I saw it, but thanks to the helpful person who called it first, we made a three-way-swap and I got my hands on this beauty (I gave up Elevation Polish' Uluru). Big love on this!!

George Blue-ney by Catrice. Another swap! Steely dark blue with a hint of teal. Beautiful!

 Jade's Vermelho Surreal. I had longed for this for a long time before I bought it and unfortunately it was a diappointment:( It was a lot more rusty-looking where I had expected a bright red. I got rid of it in a swap, but have since then asked myself if I did not make a mistake there... Time will tell.

Purple Fire (franken) & Nfu Oh 51

One of my polish pals, Emma, made me a fabulous purple polish for a swap we did and I used it both on its own and as undies for Nfu Oh flakie. The first pictures are of Emma's franken on its own. It's more purple in real life and it has teeny tiny pink and blue glitters. Gorgeous color!

Putting Nfu Oh on it only hightened the purplicious experience. One coat was enough. Try to avoid getting any flakes on the skin though cause they're a real pain to gett off!

And lsat but not least! A novel! By my old time favourite John Irving. This one is about the sexual awakening of a bi-sexual young man (he likes older women with smallish boobs, and men in general). If you like Irving's usual set-ups, this one won't disappoint. I think it was a bit watered down though. I'm three quarters though and no one's peed themselves yet! I still have hopes though...