Manicure Monday: Sirop de Rose

One of the first things I saw this morning when checking my Twitter feed was the sad news that actress and television presenter Lynda Bellingham had lost her fight with cancer and passed away on Sunday. I've seen a lot of her on television and in magazines over the last month as she promoted her new book and spoke of her incredibly brave decision to stop chemotherapy for colon cancer and let nature take its course. She'd been battling the disease since July 2013, and she had decided to end treatment to ease her family's suffering after discovering it had spread to her lungs and liver. Bellingham had hoped to make it to Christmas, but sadly this was not to be.

Friday evening saw Channel 4 host the monumentally successful Stand Up To Cancer live televised event that to date has raised over £14.5 million.

The fight to beat cancer is well and truly underway, but how does this related to Manicure Monday? As October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, pink on my nails and a charity donation seemed only appropriate!

I wrote about Soigné nail polish last week, and today I'm trying out one of the shades I purchased in my gift box: Sirop de Rose. It's a beautiful pastel pink that I was actually saving for the spring but couldn't resist opening it today and having it on for the end of October.

(IMAGE SOURCED FROM www.soignenails.com)

Sirop de Rose took 3 coats to achieve an even finish but didn't require a top coat as the end result was so glossy and neat it really didn't merit one! The colour has so much depth, and is oddly simultaneously very bright and extremely subtle. It's not a neon pink, but instead a really feminine rose, and I have no doubts that it'll look incredible in the spring. I assume it's something to do with all the "free-from" aspects of Soigné polishes (they don't contain many well known carcinogens), but it didn't have that typical overpowering nail varnish smell that instantly gives me a headache. The smell is definitely still there, but it's not as noticeable as normal polishes which is a major plus point for me!

I utterly adore Sirop de Rose (and Soigné polishes!) and think it's perfect for Breast Cancer Awareness month. I'm incredibly lucky that I haven't been personally touched by cancer yet and no-one close to me has been affected at the moment. However I'm more than aware that given the odds this luck will eventually run out. The stories of immense bravery that have been in the headlines over the last few weeks thanks to initiatives like Stand Up To Cancer, and the recent actions of celebrities like Lynda Bellingham and Angelina Jolie, highlight only a tiny fraction of those currently suffering or those who have lost the fight, and they are beyond inspiring. Hence why I'm so keen to donate to the charities fighting to beat cancer.

While painting my nails this morning I donated to Stand Up To Cancer, and if you'd like to do the same then you can find the form here.



It's a more sombre Manicure Monday than normal, but I think it's an important month and worth acknowledging, even if my actions are tiny in the grand scheme of things.