Sparkle Surprise!

Here’s some ultra shimmery, very unicorny nails for no reason other than it’s Thursday, the weather’s all bummy and I have an entire diningroom’s worth of painting to get done before 5 pm this evening.  No sweat, says I!  Although I have been sweating a great deal, which is what happens when you’re contorting yourself into positions never before attempted by the world’s most practiced yogis in order to just. reach. this. onnnnneeeeee. spot. in. the. corner. of. the. closet. that. no. one. but. you. will. ever. see. or. even. know. is. there.  But it will haunt your dreams if you I don’t deal with it immediately, so here we are!

I won’t tell you the base colours I used in this manicure – a chromatic, vaguely fuzzy-looking pink topped with diagonal sponging in chromatic teal and green to mimic the prism of light captured along the edge of this new cup I purchased – because the company is long out of business, and also went down in a spectacular blaze of not-so-glorious glory.  None of the polishes I own were affected by said blaze, so I’ve continued using them, although I try not to talk up the company.

But I did top the whole works off with another polish that I’d be happy to talk up, Orly’s unicorn-in-a-bottle glitter topper, Anything Goes.  This polish hits all the fun P requirements – pretty, pastel and purple!  Now back to a P word of my own, sigh – painting.

Icy and Iridescent

Kicking off another week of winter with an easy peasy manicure positively spackled with iridescent glitter.  This is four coats of Essence Polish’s Space Queen over a simple white creme.  I always think these kinds of not-too-flashy clear glitter polishes look like they belong in a little girl’s Tinkerbell makeup kit (Tinkerbell Cosmetics, for my younger readers, was the ’80s girl’s answer to the kind of makeup they sell today in inexpensive jewelry and accessory shops like Claire’s – it was *maybe* not of the greatest quality, and everything smelled like plastic strawberries.)

But the Space Queens of the world endure because these polishes are fun, for little kids and big kids alike.  It’s also the only iridescent glitter polish I own, because iridescent glitter sticks to your nails like it’s been Crazy Glue’d onto your person for LIFE.  But it doesn’t smell like phony strawberries, so there’s a big plus. 🙂

I commented in a post last month that one of Disney’s colour trends of 2018 was this sort of blue-leaning iridescent hue that looks as though everything has been iced with pastel rainbows.  Seems I really took that particular trend to heart, because a quick glance around my apartment turned up a dozen or so items in this exact finish, ranging from shimmery makeup and a glossy new day planner, to barware, candle holders and even a stack of 20-year-old dessert plates!

I adore my new planner!  Nabbed this pretty at Chapters for $5 a couple of weeks after Christmas (small tip when it comes to purchasing things like calendars or day planners: If you don’t absolutely need one for the first couple of weeks of the year, hold off until they come down in price – usually about 75% – in early to mid-January.)

Even my daily water intake has gotten into the shimmery, iridescent action, courtesy of my cool new Starbucks tumbler.  The reflections on the surface of the water remind me of the brew Dumbledore chokes back in the Inferi-beset Crystal Cave in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (you know, just ever so slightly less poisonous and insanity-making.)

And on the hot side of the beverage spectrum, we even have my new poison apple mug, positively dripping in a shimmery, iridescent glaze.  So pretty.

And one of these days I will find a bottle worthy of this iridescent stopper my mom gave me some years back, fetchingly outfitted in the finest of squirrel fashions (perched on those Pier 1 dessert plates, most of which have lost their silvery rainbow lustre over the past 20 years of hard use.  Knock on wood, but I’ve never broken a single one, and I STILL, to this day, lament not purchasing all of the dishware available in the collection when I had the chance.)

And with that, time to venture out into the true iciness of this Monday morning, some pretty, mood-boosting iridescent goodies in tow.  Happy week, friends – I hope it’s shiny rainbows every single day. 🙂

Disney Colour Trends

Last year, most likely noticing that a good deal of their Mouse merch sales were waltzing straight out the front gates and over to Etsy, Disney really began upping their merchandising game, releasing special, limited edition items in THE Disney colour of the moment.  In 2018 Disney declared there to be four must-have colours, rose gold, Millennial pink, iridescent blue and, right at the very end of the year, Potion Purple.  I’ve no idea how these colours are chosen, but I think I know why, and it has everything to do with social media.  And money!  I mean, it’s always ultimately money, right?  But increasingly – distressingly, I’d say – Disney is becoming a place built for Instagrammers, with sets and backdrops and IG-dedicated walls (“Meet me at the Purple Wall!”) dotting all four parks and resorts.  Loading up the shops with exclusive, Instagrammable merchandise in the must-have colour of the moment just makes good financial sense, as does repeating the entire process four times a year once the latest and greatest colour is no longer trendy.  Sneaky, Disney, very sneaky.

I actually didn’t buy any merchandise last year in any of the four “approved” Disney hues.  I love rose gold – it’s such a flattering shade – but while it was popular, it was nearly impossible to get your hands on anything in this rosy hue.  And I positively adore the grape-hued shade of Potion Purple – I think I would look quite lovely in a pair of sparkly, sequined Potion Purple ears – but it was only released on Christmas Day, and will most likely be tragically out of fashion by the time I’m in-park next.  By then the hot new colour will be, I don’t know, lime green.  It’d kind of be awesome if they were just like, “Yeah, this is the year we’re making rust orange happen.  Pantone ain’t got nothin’ on us.”

And Disney ain’t got nothin’ on me, because I’ve got all four of these colour trends at – and on! – my fingertips right now in one last nod to the big Disney trends of 2018, and best of all, I didn’t have to empty my wallet to get the look.

Iridescent Blue

This icy, colour-shifting blue-purple (I refuse to say “blurple” – aw, damnit!) is so pretty; it reminds me of Bachelor’s Buttons.  Here I kept things simple with three coats of Mentality’s jellychrome polish in iridescent Gala.

Rose Gold

I think the basic, be-bow’d Minnie ears were my favourite rose gold item – they were very chunky and extra super sparkly.  Here I topped KB Shimmer’s ballet pink holographic micro-glitter, Turning Pointe, with Essie’s chunky rose glitter in A Cut Above.

Millennial Pink

Also known as baby bubblegum pink.  For this manicure I used an old textured polish, Nicole by OPI’s Rock the Look, that has a lot more life to it than the actual Millennial pink items I saw – it was a curiously flat shade.

Finally, we have the new kid on the block, Potion Purple, here shown as three coats of another older polish of mine, Enchanted Polish’s chromatic Octopus’s Garden.

Tumbling Into Iridescence

Look what Santa Finger Candy left under the tree this year for a girl who is either exceptionally dehydrated, or in desperate daily need of trenta-sized black tea lemonades (if it’s the summer and it’s really hot, then quite possibly the latter; I have always found Arnold Palmers (iced tea and lemonade) muy delicioso.)

Bless you, Starbucks, and your beautiful excess!  This tumbler (with reusable straw) holds about four cups of liquid, and aside from taking it down to the gym with me, I kind of don’t have any clue what I’m going to do with it!  Sadly, both my financial and caloric budgets will not allow for daily trenta anything, but I think it’s going to make a gorgeous, holographic chalice for half of my daily intake of water.  Now, that I can afford!

And as always, I thought this one was definitely in need of a matching (Mickey) mani; all the better to hold it up in various lighting conditions and take photos. 😉