Are you following?

sorry for the lack of proper posts, I'm in the midst of exams.

Pretty Digits on Instagram

Just wanted to let you guys know that I finally got myself an Instagram account in case you wanted to follow me! It won't just be nail related either!

I'm not sure how to create a fancy link but my username is pretty_digits.

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend. x

Such innocent days!

I was going through the pictures on my phone and found this pic that was taken on 22/12/2010. This was all the polish I owned back then!! Boy how things have changed.

I don't think I had even heard of China Glaze, Essie, Zoya...... back then!

International Nail Mail

Today I want to show you a lovely selection of polishes sent all the way from Brazil by the lovely Barbara. Those of you who have read my blog for a while will know that Barbara and I have swapped before and she is my Brazilian polish enabler!! She is also an avid polish collector and swatcher and thankfully since we last swapped she has come to her senses and started her own blog which you can check out here! It's still in its infancy but be prepared to see awesome swatches of Brazilian polishes as well as well known brands.

Anyway have a little looky at what she sent me because honestly I was totally gobsmacked. Thank you Barbara!

1. O Boticario - London Night Blue, 2. HITS Speciallita Mari Moon - Artsy, 3. HITS Speciallita Mari Moon - Trendy, 4. HITS Speciallita Mari Moon - Cutie Pie, 5. HITS Speciallita Phenomena - Moonbow, 6. HITS Speciallita Phenomena - Afterglow, 7. HITS Speciallita Phenomena - Borealis, 8. HITS Speciallita Phenomena - Air Glow, 9. Risque - Violeta Acinzentado, 10. Impala - Na Mira 3D, 11. MOHDA - 1o Beijo, 12. Ana Hickman - Reflex

Seriously the generosity of others never ceases to amaze me and all the polishes I have received from around the world are very much treasured but now I have so much swatching to do >_<

Nails Inc Sprinkles Matte

Hey guys I'm sure some of you are wondering so before I take it off here is what the new Nails Inc Sprinkles look like with a matte topcoat.

Shot in natural light

Those of you concerned with the longevity of a nail polish will be glad to know that for the 48 hours I have worn these polishes I've had minimal wear and no chipping. This is even after 2/3 coats of Seche Vite because we know how that just loves to make polish chip! Apparently here in London today it's going to be 26 degrees Celsius, shame I have to revise ;-(. Have a lovely day wherever you are! x

Don't forget to enter my competition for a chance to win a Nails Inc Sprinkles of your choice.

Click Here to enter

Nails Inc Sprinkles - Lazy Swatch

How about something sweet for a Monday morning?

Gorgeous pastels packed with glitter.

The postman woke me up at 7.12am this morning to bring me these beauties. Never once in my ten years of living in London has the postman come so early and had I not been expecting these I would not have bothered to look out the window let alone answer the door! I saw the early arrival as a sign to get swatching!

Left to right: Sugar House Lane, Pudding Lane, Sweets Way and Topping Lane

YUMMMMM!!!

Are they not flippin' gorgeous!!?

Nails Inc is a brand I tend to overlook. At £11 a pop they're up there with the big guys and so I want to be wowed either by the formula or finish. The ones I own are freebies from buying Diet Coca Cola (yuck) and they're just so so, which has put me off buying anything they bring out until I saw these. They're just delicious, there's no other way of putting it. Each coat dries fast and full coverage can be achieved in 2 coats and already I've been convinced to give their other polishes a try.

At first I thought the glitter would be matte but they're not which was disappointing for like a second! The combination of base colour and glitter makes up for this and if I'm completely honest these are so much nicer and not to mention longer lasting than those fish eggs whatnots!!!

Take a closer look and tell me which is your favourite. Mine's Sweets Way the only one that doesn't correlate with the cupcake sticker!

Availability: UK - Nails Inc website, US - Sephora in July

Update: Just wanted to let you guys know that this is a pretty hungry glitter and requires several layers of top coat if you want that smooth glossy finish.

Don't forget to enter my competition for a chance to win a Nails Inc Sprinkles of your choice.

Click Here to enter

Bright Gradient Nails

Hello lovely readers are you sick of gradient nails yet? No? Good, because I have another one to show you. This time round I used creme polishes Color Club 'Edie' and Barry M 'Bright Purple' and painted both hands as I want to wear this manicure over the weekend. The gradient on my right hand isn't as good as my left because I got a little bored halfway through sponging and so less bothered about how well it blended! >_<

This colour combo was inspired by Illamasqua's Aztec nails which I adore.

Tell me are you loving the gradient trend as much as I am!

Strawberry or watermelon gradient

Two posts in one day, what is going on!!? Well I decided to try a gradient manicure using two of the gorgeous essence fruity polishes I received from Mateja yesterday. Do they remind you of strawberries or even watermelons?

I know the transition from one colour to the next does not look very seamless but you have to take my word that IRL it does. Anyway I will try this manicure again!

Barry M Silvery Lilac

Many of you will know that Barry M recently released a load of new polishes, I've already shown you Denim, Black Multi Glitter and Copper which have not disappointed at all. Today I have one last polish to show you, Silvery Lilac. I have left this polish to last not because I think it's the best but because it was a bit of a nightmare to photograph. Still not 100% happy but I guess it can't be perfect all the time!

There was talk Silvery Lilac could be a dupe of Butter London's Knackered but looking at pictures I can tell it's not. It does have the same silver/lilac duochrome but it lacks the holographic glitter that seems to be in Knackered.

Direct Sunlight

Silvery lilac is quite a sheer polish which requires about 3 coats but even then you can still see the nail line.

Back-lit - Here the duochrome is more obvious and you can see the silver flecks in the polish

I added a coat of HITS Hefesto to add that missing sparkle. What do you think? Do you think it's an improvement?

Out of the new polishes I picked up this is my least favourite, it's missing that wow factor that I was really hoping for when I bought it.

International Love

A while back I made a small plea for a few ChG OMG's I needed to complete my collection. The lovely Mateja of Rainbows and Blues contacted me to say she was willing to swap her back up of QT and the rest, as they say, is history. We've swapped twice now because we have such similar tastes and today I was to show you what I have received so far. Look at all the lovely polishes!

1. Essence Fruity - Scented top coat 
2. Essence Fruity - Very Cherry
3. Essence Fruity - Peach Beauty
4. Essence Fruity - Banana Joe
5. Essence Fruity - Smashed Berries
6. Essence Fruity - One Kiwi a day...
7. China Glaze - QT 
8. Catrice - After Eight 
9. S-he stylezone 
10. Essence Nail Colour 3 - Midnight Date 
11. Essence colour & go - Choose me 
12. Essence colour & go - Blue addicted 
13. Essence Rebels Rock Coat - Punk Royal 
14. Essence Nail Art Special effect topper 

Essence is not sold in England as far as I am aware so am trilled to be able to try this brand. She even included a new topcoat from the Rebels collection which I cannot wait to show you guys because it looks so interesting! Thank you so much Mateja I love everything you have sent me and this is a real treat especially during this crazy busy month! Mwah x

OMG another OMG gradient Manicure!

Howdy all, I have totally fallen for gradient manis but I've yet to produce a good one using cream polishes so whilst I practice here's another holographic one I did earlier! It's similar to my last but with a wider range of colours!

Damn I just remembered that I actually have a orangey/coral holo in my stash that I could have used to make the transition from gold to red a bit more seamless. Next time!

I apologise for using holos that are HTF but I think you could try using plain polishes and adding a holo top coat for a similar effect.

Ciao for now!

OMG gradient nails!

After seeing the awesome holographic gradient mani by the-swatchaholic I could not help but jump on the gradated nail bandwagon! Using some polishes from ChG's OMG collection and HITS Hefesto as a top coat this is what I managed to achieve. For a first attempt I don't think it looks too shabby do you?

Under daylight bulb

In natural light

I was a little over zealous filing my ring finger so please ignore the uneven lengths of my nails.

Holographics are a lot more forgiving than creams when it comes to gradient nails. This may be a good place to start if you're new to this technique.

Have a great weekend. x

Barry M - Black Multi Glitter

It doesn't have the most imaginative name but it pretty much sums up the polish, a gorgeous black with fine holographic glitter. In the photos I applied two coats but because the formula is pretty thick and opaque you could get way with one coat.

Despite being fine the glitter was pretty hungry and I applied two coats of topcoat to get a smooth finish.

It looks like the night sky!

Not really sure what else to say about this polish apart from it's another great addition to Barry M's polish line. The only other UK brand that I can think of right now that had a black polish like this was Eyeko but they don't make polishes anymore :-(

The holo-ness is really obvious in these out-of-focus shots.

Have you picked this little beauty up yet?

Barry M - Copper

Hey guys Since I handed in my dissertation I've been uber busy revising for two final exams that are coming up at the end of the month and also preparing for job interviews. I've already had an interview which went really badly so I've been busy swotting for another one in just over a weeks time. This is one that I really want so I don't think I can afford to fu*ck up like I did for the first one! If anyone works for the NHS and has an idea of what is 'hot' at the moment feel free to tell me. I've been reading about the CQC and Information Governance as it came up in the first interview but is there more? Anyway I hope I've explained my absence!

 So today I want to show you Barry M Copper. This is one of their latest releases and I've heard it may be a dupe for OPI Warm & Fozzie. Unfortunately I don't own W&F but looking at swatches Copper looks like it contains the same gold/copper, green, pink flecks and has the same copper/pinky duochrome.

Like Denim this applies beautifully; it only required 2 coats for complete coverage. I find metallics and glitter flecked polish like this dries to a quite flat finish. I'm not sure how to explain it but the layers are thin. In my photos I added a topcoat because I find it adds more dimension and sparkle to 'flat' polishes.

I bought this on a whim because I don't think colours like this really suit my skin tone, but I have to say I am pleasantly surprised at how lovely this looks. Have you bought this? Do you own W&F and think this could be a possible dupe?

Happy Birthday

It's Mr PD's birthday today and he wanted me to make a black forest gateaux...so I did, but only half because a whole one would just be greedy between two!

Back to nail posts soon...