Orchid Grass Stains and Purple Emerald

A couple months back, my friend Mel (who writes at Delicious Color) sent me a surprise package with some polishes and a very fancy card she'd made by hand. I just recently finally got a chance to try one of the shades she sent, Orchid Grass Stains. This is a deep warm toned green creme that needs only two coats for full coverage. I didn't use topcoat, and it didn't need it; you can see how shiny it is all by itself.







I liked Grass Stains on its own, yet couldn't resist the temptation to plus it by adding another polish I'd gotten from a friend, namely Purple Precious Stones Emerald, a green and holo glitter that was part of the swap I did with Under the Gravity's Nails. Not only did its colors coordinate with Grass Stains, it amused me that both brands were named for colors (and colors other than green at that: Orchid and Purple).



I was very pleasantly surprised to see how dense the glitter in Emerald was once I got it on my nail—one coat was plenty to get lots of sparkly goodness. I did add topcoat for extra shine and smoothness.





In slightly lower direct light, more colors popped from the glitter.



I liked this combination a lot and feel blessed to have friends who send me pretty things like these.

In addition to being blessed with an abundance of pretty nail polish in my life, my cup runneth over in other areas, too, so I am going to be taking another little break from posting here. I have too many other things pulling on my time right now, including a complicated office move to a new building. I have been promised that I and my computer and my furniture will be in my new office no later than the 16th, so somewhere around then I should be back here, too (unless my unpacking goes particularly badly or something). Hoping you all reading this are handling your holiday season stresses better than I am!

Swap Goodies from Portugal

I did another swap with Akuma Kanji, my friend I've never met who writes Under the Gravity's Nails. Look at all these goodies she sent:



Not in the photo above are some lovely photo cards of Portugal she sent along with a letter she wrote which included extra information about all the polishes, which is why I'll be able to tell you about them as we look at the detail photos.

The Cliché lineup, which I am told is their fall collection:



Left to right above: Nunca Se Sabe (You Never Know), Atitude (Attitude), Mostarda (Mustard—I am loving the pretty ugliness of this one), Atira Te (Go for It), Orquidea (Orchid), Silencio (Silence).

The Andreia Pocket colors—130, 127, 131, 12:



From Incocos—Beijinho (Sweet Little Kiss), Chi Coracao (Tight Hug), Ternura (Sweetness), Miminho (Little Sweet Nothing), and Meninas Purpurinas (Glitter Girls, which I can't wait to use).



Rounding out the polishes are a quartet from H&M and a new to me brand called Purple (kinda confusing but I love it). Left to right: H&M Matte Metallic Purple Metal and Blue Metal, Purple #77 Emerald, H&M Scented Rose Pink and Green Apple.



I am hoping I get a chance to try some of these very soon; it'll just be hard to decide which one to grab first! Right now I'm out of my usual environment, visiting my mom in Illinois and helping her get her house sorted out so we can put it on the market sooner rather than later. It's been more draining a process than I anticipated, so I don't think I'm going to be doing all the posts I'd planned to this week. Guess I'll have to see how the rest of the days go.