The Radiant Orchid Challenge!

When challenged to find an outfit for £60 to celebrate Pantones colour of the year being ‘Radiant Orchid’ I readily agreed but wow what a challenge it turned out to be.  For those of you who are not aware what the colour Radiant Orchid looks like, here it is:

Described as follows "Radiant Orchid blooms with confidence and magical warmth that intrigues the eye and sparks the imagination. It is an expressive, creative and embracing purple—one that draws you in with its beguiling charm. A captivating harmony of fuchsia, purple and pink undertones, Radiant Orchid emanates great joy, love and health".

So off I went in search of an outfit that I could purchase to celebrate this colour, I thought it would be easy because a lot of stores now have their spring items coming into stores, but oh how wrong was I when it came to finding something that might represent that above.  For hours I wondered up and down Oxford Street, went to Westfield before finally finding this:

Yes I managed to find a dress which I think suits the Radiant Orchid theme and it was priced at £13 which was at least a start, but an outfit is more than one item. So, as I have an event coming up in a few weeks time I decided that this dress would be the outfit for said occasion but I needed things to go with it and this is what I bought for the rest of the outfit.

Shoes which cost £10, Bracelet and necklace £8 from local boutique, Bag £29.50 from Marks and Spencer and the nail polish and tights are my own and all of that came to £60.50 and I have a lovely black cardigan which works really well should I get a little chilly.

One of the reasons I decided I would quite like this challenge is because I love black clothes, my Husband will tell you all that my wardrobe and drawers contain items that are mainly black with bits of blue and purple thrown here there, so predominantly darker colours which I am more comfortable with.  So, now was a good a time as any to inject some colour into my wardrobe, even if it does have black accessories.

Have you bought anything that could be classed as Radiant Orchid?

**SP

Snails for your Nails!

I have no little people, but I am a mummy of three fur-kids whom most of you now know are my cats. Child issue aside, I was asked if I would like to try some nail polishes designed for little princesses called Snails, which stands for Safe Nails, a French-made chemical-free brand of kids nail polish.

Snails was started when Jeanette Sklivanou, a mum of two, scoured the market for safe non-toxic nail polish to add colour to the imaginative play of her little ones. She quickly found that such a product just didn't exist — so she created SNAILS**.

A brief description

"SNAILS Kids nail polish is unlike any other you will find. You’ll delight in our simple natural nail polish formula which is optimally safe and child-friendly. Our revolutionary patented formula contains just three main ingredients: water, acrylic polymer and non-toxic colorants and is paraben free. This sets us apart from other products. The toxic trio of Dibutyle Phythalate (DBP), Toluene and Formaldehyde dominate many children’s nail polishes currently on the market. Such chemicals are banned in Europe due to their links with cancer, birth defects and other illness. So you will not find a trace of these harmful substances in SNAILS. Just pure ingredients that are kind and gentle on little nails".

Some of the highlights of this brand:

• Revolutionary formula — containing just water, acrylic polymer and non-toxic colorants, SNAILS is safe in its simplicity. 
• Totally water soluble — SNAILS washes off easily with simple soap and water, making harsh solvent-based toxic remover a thing of the past.
• Environmentally friendly — from biodegradable packaging and lead-free bottles, to a strict no animal testing policy. 
• Hypoallergenic — SNAILS is chemical, Paraben and toxin free, so little nails are kept safe and sound and splendidly coloured.
• Vivacious colour choices — every SNAILS polish delivers glorious high-quality gloss and a deliciously gentle fragrance.

Here are the products:

These polishes come in a cute little bottle with a white lid and a pretty little bow to match the shade of polish, almost like a childrens version of Ciate in many ways.  The polish itself is smooth and is really easy to apply, more so than some of my adult brands, a few of whom could learn a thing or two here!

The two shades:

• Raspberry Pie - Glossy purple. Wear purple when you want to encourage fantasy, mystery and imagination
• Gingerbread - A hot, sun kissed orange shade, summer sunset in a bottle!

Raspberry pie I absolutely love, it would fit in perfectly with the whole pantone of the year "radiant orchid" theme.  Once applied it dries in just over a minute, which is perfect for little ones because I know they are not going to sit and wait much longer.  Last-ability is also quite impressive, I managed to wear mine all day without too much wear and tear but when it came to removing it properly there was no need to nail polish remover, I simply used soap and water and rubbed each nail and the polish came off and there was no staining to my fingernails and no trace of colour left on my nail.

Available from safe-nails.com polishes are €8 each, the site also shows all the countries they are for sale.

What are your thoughts on washable nail polish?