Multitude of Muppets - Return to blogging!

Hi Beauties!

I have been severely neglecting this blog recently, but I do have reasons!

1. No camera! I managed to drop my iPhone in the bath. It was not happy :(
2. College work - just given in my first batch of assignments, which all had to be in within the same week. Major panic!
3. Personal life: I got one. True to my blog name, I was well and truly lead astray by something new and shiny -  a relationship :s Sadly it turned out that this 'man' was actually a pig. Still, no harm done!

So, with the help of my early Christmas pressie (iPhone 4S - love you Daddy!), I am back, (hopefully) better than ever, but definitely better illustrated :p. Prepare yourselves for A LOT of photos, starting with...

The Long-Promised OPI Muppets Glitter Collection Photos!

Without flash

From left to right (all photos in post): Rainbow Connection, Fresh Frog of Bel Air, Gone Gonzo!, Divine Swine, Excuse Moi! and Gettin' Miss Piggy With It

With flash

I have just taken soooo many photos of this collection, managing to finish just as the light was fading (wtf? it's 2:30!), and there are examples with and without flash, giving you lucky lucky readers the chance to see exactly what they're like, and whether you think they're worth the OPI price tag. I have also used my eBay nail art wheels to show you what they look like on the nail, and I think they show the coverage really well.

Without flash                                               With flash

I used these wheels to show how the colour changes with layers, and how they work as a top coat. First up, a single coat on bare nails:

Without flash

With flash

You can see from these photos that one coat really doesn't offer much coverage, with the strongest being Gone Gonzo!.

Without flash

With flash - have no idea what these shadow lines are, sorry!

 These are two coats of glitter on a colour base coat:

 Rainbow Connection with Rimmel London French Manicure in Shade 442 - French Rose

Fresh Frog of Bel Air with Barry M Nail Paint 284

Gone Gonzo! with Barry M Nail Paint 306 - Blueberry Ice Cream

Divine Swine with Revlon Nail Enamel in Shade 792 - Plum Attraction 

Excuse Moi! with Chanel Le Vernis in Shade 217 - Splendeur

Gettin' Miss Piggy With It with Nails Inc Shade 408 - Tate

I think some colours work really well with the base coats, whereas others are strongest on their own but layered up, as in the next photos, which have three coats of colour:

Without flash

With flash

 As you may remember from my first post, I was really disappointed with Rainbow Connection when I first tried it, but now I take it all back! It's quite versatile (well, as versatile as multi-coloured glitter can be) and does work really well layered up on its own. Other than that, I can't pick a favourite! I am less fond of Gettin' Miss Piggy With It though... I think red glitter is most effective without any other colours mixed in, so it can act as a substitute for ruby slippers!

To end this massive post, here are more photos, of the colours in their bottles.

Individual shots, left side is without flash, right is with:

 Rainbow Connection

 Fresh Frog of Bel Air (shaky hand!)

 Gone Gonzo!

 Divine Swine

 Excuse Moi! I'm not sure why this looks so orange. It's really not, but came out the same when I tried to take another pic

 Gettin' Miss Piggy With It

Phew! Congrats to those of you who managed to stay with me to the end! I felt I should put up plenty of photos as these polishes are much-talked about at the moment, and quite an investment if you buy the whole set, so hopefully I've managed to inform you! Right, time for a hot chocolate :)

Lots of Love,

Krystyna x

Amazing Chocolatey Goodness

Hey Beauties!

So, this isn't beauty related (as far as I'm aware), but I thought I'd share with you this fabulous brownie recipe. I found it in a cookbook called Chocolate (Parragon, 2002) many many years ago and have been cooking them ever since! They're easy, gooey, taste divine, and are just as good fresh from the oven with some vanilla ice cream as they are after a few days.

Sticky Chocolate Brownies

Makes 12

100g butter
175g caster sugar
75g dark muscavado sugar
125g dark chocolate (really recommend Green & Black's Maya Gold)
1tbsp golden syrup
2 eggs
1tsp vanilla extract
100g plain flour
2tbsp cocoa powder
1/2tsp baking powder

1. Melt the butter, sugars, chocolate and syrup together in a saucepan over a medium heat, stirring regularly, until smooth and blended. Set aside to cool a bit.
2. While that mixture is cooling, crack the eggs into a bowl and beat well with the vanilla essence. Then stir in the chocolate goo until glossy.
3. Sieve in the rest of the ingredients and fold into the mixture (I usually do it in 3 stages to make sure everything is nicely blended)
4. Pour into a small lined cake tin, and pop in a pre-heated oven for about 25 minutes at 180oC.

I was thinking of these because my brother asked me to make him a batch, and I'm a bit hungover from last night, so chocolate was a great idea! My friend Lindsey did an Oxjam gig (turns out she's amazing), but definitely needed today to recover before college!

More on the weekend and my make-up another time, 

Lots of Love

Krystyna x