The Edge - a haul of 5 - you haven't seen these before, I promise!!

From a company called The Edge

Here they are again. My haul of today..

Guess how much they cost? I'll tell you later.

They are from L to R:

Coney Island

Malibu

Sunset Bay

Moscow

Barcelona

I already have London so I ordered these 5. But what would they be like? Ta da da!

Little: Coney Island

Ring: Sunset Bay

Middle: Malibu

Index: Coney Island

2 coats plus base and top

3 coats definitely not required

Thick-ish but in a good way

All creme formula

Very shiny

I made a right c0ck-up on a couple because I was in a rush and then I got a hair caught in one and so on and so forth but they managed to even themselves out

I am thrilled with these! Could you tell....

I really like these. They are from a collection called: Electric Beach

Well, 2 of them seem to be anyway.

As always this mani looks better IRL, I can assure you!

Ah! The price. Maybe you are not sensitive about these matters but I am! 

£11.69

What? You can't hear me.....?

£11.69!

For the lot. No postage. Ordered Wednesday and arrived Friday.

Thoughts?

Jenni

Have a nice weekend, peeps!

Misa - Dance Fever - silver tips on purple gradient

Yesterday's + tips

Look dark. No light here. What a grey day!
But I had to do something and had little time so this is it...

Next!

I quite like this because it shows that the Butter Scoundrel is more muted than the OPI Grape Fit (that's 3 and 4 if you work from L to R)
You can also see the shimmer on 2 - NYX Purple Dream
You can just see the funky red/magenta fleck embedded in 1 - Milani Totally Cool

Also glitter dries quickly so this is fairly low-maintenance/minimal effort.
I accidentally dragged the glitter on 4 but it looked almost chevron-esque. I tried to wipe it for a quick fix but it had dried so fast! If I could do that on all of them I'd be pleased but it was mere serendipity.

The good thing about the tips is that it also addresses some of the streakiness at the free edge.

I do this from time to time as it's a convenient way to lengthen polish life on the nail.
New mani tomorrow I hope. Probably a pink gradient. And I'll try to get the shade progression correct. I have such a poor eye.

Happy days!

Purple gradient mani - Barry M, Butter London, OPI, NYX, Milani

Pic 1
This was meant to graduate from light to dark according to the bottles. I used 3 untrieds so I didn't know what to expect. It didn't turn out as a seamless and measured transition along the spectrum as planned but I like it anyway. The pink and taupe was lovely but I needed a bit more oomph.

Little Milani Totally Cool 3 coats essential and it's still streaky now I look it over, it's inky but it is as described - totally COOL
Ring NYX Purple Dream 3 coats essential, lovely blue flash, sort-of duochrome, and still a bit streaky in some lights
Middle OPI A Grape Fit 3 coats but 2 would do
Index Butter London Scoundrel 2 coats - the pick of the bunch formula-wise, very like the OPI but more greyed-out, I do like Butter

Thumb Barry M Berry Ice-cream 3 coats but 2 might just be OK

All with base and top coats

I had to over-expose this to get anywhere near the actual colour

Sorry for my teeny child-hands. They are so small that I wear child's gloves. Pretty they are not.

This is called npUK, yes?

I do try to support local manufacturing wherever possible hence the name. Carbon footprint and work for local people. They can be Polish local people. They have kids and send their kids to school so they're local. And that keeps me in a job! Same goes for anyone else who wants to live and work here.

So..

Barry M is British - got this from the website

Butter London isn't as far as I know, I'm sure I read it somewhere - a brilliant bargain from ebay - 3 fullsize polishes for £15!!

The OPI - can't remember how I got this, I DO know I didn't close it correctly and it has begun to thicken, I love this so why did I DO that???

NYX - got this from fragrancedirect - they currently have loads of NYX £2.99

Milani - think that was cherryculture before they raised their postage costs

To readers not from the UK: An APOLOGY

It's election-time here so politics is preoccupying me. Hence my attempt to ensure I am not tarred with the filthy brush of racism etc.

To readers FROM here: No apology

You know the way it works even if you are throughly p1$$ed off with the whole thing...

I

OPI and The Edge London

OK
I loved yesterday's muted Eyeko colours but I mean to do a post per day so I have to do something - for which see below.

So I put my unnamed OPI over Tea Rose and The Edge (London shade) over the Posh

I got the OPI from ebay. It has no label but I think it might be Blushingham Palace....I was so excited to buy something in this way - could be a pig-in-a-poke but this is lovely!
The Edge is a brand you don't see much. I just opened the parcel and I have only layered it, not used it as a stand-alone but I tell you what - it has some fierce sparkle in it. So here comes a blurry pic.

How about that? In the bottle it looks like a peachy shade with fine glitter. On the nail there is pronounced red and blue. I am going to get some more from this brand.


Putting a glitter layer over creme helps ridged nails but the Eyeko did a good job of smoothing out my canyons and gullied. The Posh is (I am guessing) some kind of YDKJ polish and really impresses me as does the muted pink.

And in the sun. My new short nails are so much more comfortable. My sense of touch is greatly improved. When nails grow much beyond the finger I think it reduces sensitivity. Certainly for me.


Do you buy polishes on the basis of nothing more than a blurry photo? Or for the sake of a name? Or do you need to hold it in your hand or have a number of testimonials?


Jenni

NEW EYEKO - POSH AND TEA ROSE

Part of a set of 5 for the price of 4.

Base coat + 2 coats + TC

Rather thick, some people may want to thin this, I like it, great pigmentation

Very pretty, quiet colours

I cut my nails - they bug the hell out of me when they get much longer, should have axed them ages ago.

More pix

Even though both polishes are a bit thick they level out by themselves if you don't mess with them.

So these cost me £2.80 each. I have now tried 4 Eyeko and I really like them. I am somewhat shocked at my willingness to wear such seemingly conservative colours but they are flattering for the older paw such as mine. I shall still sport wilder colours however just because I like them.

These are the nails I cut when I got home from work. I wanted to get a better pic of Nails Inc Portland Place. It's a lovely jelly-ish green and it came over as very dark/blackish yesterday. Well, this is with flash and shows the colour but lighter than IRL. I love this polish. Pity I applied it so shoddily. The cheapo Miss Sporty (blue) was very jolly and lasted the day but my political mani was hideous and had to go.

However I might revive the theme and show you lots of greens. Just because I want to. But I'm in a very taupe/pink place at present so who knows????

Giveaways!!! to tempt you...

Lacquerista 

http://the-lacquerista.blogspot.com/2010/04/my-first-giveaway13-pc-collistar.html 

R3 Daily

http://r3daily.blogspot.com/2010/04/rescue-beauty-lounge-nail-polish-week.html 

Great giveaways! Go there...

Jenni

May I introduce your leaders..blue, red, neutral (think David Dimbleby), green, orange

4 polishes available in the UK - I thought that was important

Blue - Miss Sporty creme
Red - Revlon Frankly Scarlet slight shimmer
David...Bourjois So Laque Beige Glamour creme
Green - Nails Inc Portland Place (old shade) creme
Orange - Barry M Tangerine shimmer/frost

For fairness they are all 2 coats over Misa Bang
Topped by Misa Breakneck with CG Fast Freeze drops


Which would you vote for? They all went on easily.
I shall be introducing their fellow candidates during the countdown to May 6th. Which party has the greatest following? What about the independents in the purple and pink parties? 


In your stash which is your FPTP (first past the post) colour?


Jen x

CAN YOU HELP ME WITH THIS OPI???

Got a lucky-dip OPI with no name. Anyone know what it is, please?

2 coats of OPI except for little which is 1 OPI over 1 CG Mum's Chiffon

So what is this? I've made a guess myself by googling.

It's a pale, greyish pink foil. Spectacular in sun or artificial light. Going to be great for layering. I love it!

Got it for about £6 which is cheap here for an OPI. I'm very happy with it.

It flatters my hands. A bit boring but the other hand is Eyeko Vintage so I don't look like something out of House of Fraser in the 80s.

Eyeko Vintage - shiny, happy person....

Yes, you've seen it before but I bought these Eyeko with not huge expectations due to their relative cheapness but the 2 I have tried go on beautifully! Tried Nude and Vintage. Also have Lilac and Purple.

3 coats but I was happy with 2. Very shiny. This has no top coat. Very easy to apply. I have small hands so small bottles work well for me.


And it's British. I really like to support UK manufacturers. Carbon footprint, local jobs etc etc


Anyway I have ordered the new set. 5 for £14. 


These greens suit everyone, I think. They don't need to stay on trend because I have plenty and I'm sure they'll stay on the market.

What a nightmare!

Illamasqua Rare
Goody! I've got an Illamasqua (does little dance). It cost £6.50 from asos. Hurrah!

Hmmm. That's where the celebrations ended.
This is described on the Illamasqua website as neon and glossy.
Yes, neon AND GLOSSY.
I thought that was unusual.
Yes, it's very unusual. So unusual that it's not even true.

Let's start with my Eyeko Nude Day 4 (middle). Other layering is Hard Candy Cosmic and Nubar Tan Me. I like this mani. But today this came off.

I wanted to try my Illamasqua. So I removed this.

This is what I got after 3 coats. 3! Streaky and thick and gloopy and MATTE! Ignore nasty filing.
Yes, I shouldn't have believed the description. Everyone knows neons are matte but I DID believe them.

So I had to top this - I do like the colour, you see - with CG Fairy Dust and my Misa Breakneck TC.

I have emailed Illamasqua and got an instant response offering to change this and to amend the website description so that's good service.

I was a fool. I may change it. What should I change it for though?

HELP!

I really haven't figured out how to do any of this properly but...

OK, this looks a lot worse than it is, especially as it's in the sun
Eyeko Nude (thumb)
Hard Candy Cosmic and then Nubar Tan Me
The Nubar is not flattering as my nails are yellow anyway and this being sheer doesn't help matters
But it's very blingy in the sun
I've used it to layer before and should have done so again - you live and learn
VNL doesn't bother me btw
The Hard Candy is gorgeous - a foil really
I love the Eyeko Nude too


The whole thing makes my ghastly hands look not so bad at a casual glance


Now for even worse however!

That wart won't go away. Full stop. Heavily ridged nails - I think this may be expected at 54. It's what I'm stuck with anyway. Odd shapes are due to my impatience. I favour square nails but they either curl inwards (middle and index) or flare outwards (ring and little) and I'm terminally in a rush and so this is what I possess.


Was going to enter a comp. inspired by a photo but no spark ignited my dull brain so I'd removed my Barry M and lazily did the above. Ah, well. Act in haste, repent at leisure.

Argh!

I didn't mean to publish this yet. But I'm going to try a competition mani tomorrow. What about you?

Eyeko Nude

RH - applied this yesterday so this is 3 coats + base + top after a day
It went on beautifully and evened itself out over my ridges
Inspired me to log on to eyeko again and they have a new selection: pink, coral, red, taupe and vampy black/red
On the basis of this one I recommend them
I have seen plenty of less favourable reviews but I'm impressed
I have ordered 5 for £14 and will be delighted if they turn out as well as the Nude

However - another day and another hankering to muck about
So

This is a bit brighter than IRL

• index and little have Nude + Nubar Tan Me (lots of glitter in a brown/orange base)
• ring has Nude + Hard Candy Cosmic - Hard Candy are old now but you can still get them, I just bought 3 and have tried 2 and love them, Erogenous and Cosmic (very fine glitter)

I like the effect. I am really warming to paler nails. You? I used to be a hard-core weird and wacky fiend but the nudes don't have to be boring.

Barry M - a British polish

Base coat Misa Bang
3 coats of the Barry M before top coat

The streaking is partly due to this being a pastel creme, partly my poor skills, thirdly the ghastly ridges I have on my nails (more like canyons)

I am liking pinks at the moment - my current fad and fancy. I have Eyeko Nude on the RH which I shall post about anon and I already like a lot.

Barry M is widely known for its complete lack of inventiveness regarding the naming of polishes. This is labelled differently on the bottle to the name on the website. Pale pink. Not light pink. No. Not subtle pink. Not unobtrusive pink. Not (Heaven forfend) camellia, rosebud or some whimsical title such as Let Me Pink or even P-Ink. No.

A BIT FAT FAIL.....

Where to begin? Nightmare!
See the gubbins that helped create this monstrosity. Of course, the principal idiot was me.

Base coat Misa Bang. Diamond Blue Diamonds for the base - but it was too dark and should maybe have chosen a creme.

Bourjois Fuchsia provoc for the pink bits. Lancome Piha Black for the stems. Some white nail art pen/brush for the dot. Misa Breakneck on top. CG Fast Freeze to hurry it up.

PROBLEMS

The polish seems to thicken very quickly on the brush and drag.

Can't achieve a thin line.

The pink didn't show up well so the base was a poor choice.

Oh, and I forgot to put my glasses on. What a dope!

I was very clumsy today. Didn't put caps back on properly. Spilled stuff. Messed up the RH. The list goes on.

But I can learn from my mistakes. I never was any good at art tbh!

Jenni (in grumpy mood)

This is more difficult than I thought! Sally Hansen Pure Putty and thingy...

OK. 
Pic for the day.

1 The tiger fingers are day 3 and these are the fingers I did first and am happiest with
2 The wart on my ring finger has been there for about 6 years. My daughter developed a crop of them and kindly passed a couple on to me!
3 I cannot believe what the camera reveals! I thought I did my nails quite nicely and try to look after my ageing hands but they say the camera never lies! Do some bloggers airbrush their photos? How do some of you have such PERFECT nails? I'm not bitter though....*grits teeth*


The Facts

• Decided mannequin fingers were the only things that went with tigers without me making yet more mess
• Base coat + 2 coats Sally Hansen Pure Putty + 2ish coats of the bottle I got for a squid off the market - looks pretty in the bottle but the brush separated itself from the cap after a couple of minutes so perhaps my parsimony is being punished - I will fix it somehow
• Plenty of VNL (I don't care that much)

The RH is still For Audrey and that's bearing up really well. It really cools my skin colour down which I like. It went on a bit gloopily but more or less self-levelled so I can't really complain.

Still planning to do a cherry blossom and would do it over Audrey except that my LH is incapable of doing nail art. In fact, the RH isn't as dextrous (ha!) as I should like it to be. Planning it over a mid blue (Hard Candy Hick or Maybelline Aqua Electric) glitter.

Blue skies here and no volcanic ash visible. Wonder if my colleague will be able to get back from Spain in time for term on Monday! Actually a lot of them might have jetted off. Perhaps we'll have to close the school. We had a lot of snow closures earlier in the year. This would be a great new phenomenon to add to the archives!

Jenni

Day 2 - Colour vision and For Audrey - eyesight, cataracts and Monet

Here goes.


Why did all the pix end up at the top yesterday but not today? Oh, well. I'll work it out eventually...


On my RH CG For Audrey. My RH never has the same as my LH. Toes are different too.

Bottle comparison.

I got this and thought - blue, it's not blue! Isn't it meant to be Tiffany blue? So I assembled what I have that's closest.

L to R: BB Couture Bassins Bleu II 10/10, Barry M Mint Green 9/10, Eyeko Vintage UT, CG For Audrey 9/10 

I'm still not getting blue.

I like these a lot. The Eyeko is untried.

NB I'll also maybe improve the photography one day.

What about this eyesight thing? I give you Monet.

As many people know Monet's painting was affected by his cataracts and this led to his work becoming increasingly yellow (not very technical) because cataracts affect the ability to detect blue tones. He later had surgery and was not entirely happy with the result.

Now, I'm heading for cataracts (runs in the family) and I'm hopeless at matching colours or seeing what others seem to say. I've no eye for fine gradations. I'll read other blogs that compare polishes and the blogger will state: Clearly these are not dupes. And I'm thinking: They're bloomin' identical! It's frustrating.

Anyone else have similar problems? Colour differentiation. Colour is fascinating! I mean - when I see something and label it as blue what are you seeing? Rather existentialist. And colour therapy? And seasonal shades. And red stimulating appetite. Is that in all cultures? Can anyone provide any more colour facts/theories?

Have a good day, Jenni

For Leanne - Post 1

Picture Key:

1 On 2 nails but I decided it looked odd on just 2 so walked the dogs and then did the rest

2 Didn't clean up - naughty me, mustn't take pix until I clean up

3 The thumb worked quite well

4 Whole hand (well, duh)

I've been following nail blogs (mostly) for about 7 months now. Does the world need another one? Who cares! Here's yet another one.

So why this one?

• I need to stop spending time and money ebuying (ebaying) and require an outlet for all that saved time and mental energy to curb my expenditure so this is mostly for me
• There aren't as many blogs with a uniquely British perspective as I'd like to see

So the first post is a thank-you to all British bloggers (whether I have already found you or not), all inspirational bloggers out there everywhere and my second attempt at nail art. I used Leanne's tutorial.

http://www.donotrefreeze.com/2010/04/easy-peasy-nail-design-2-d.html#comments

This girl is 18! I admire creative people. Oh, especially creative people with a steady hand!

Tiger nails with:

Base coat Misa Bang

couple coats Attitude School Bus to begin

use the sponge applicator to apply a bit of Misa Ghetto Fabulous

then more sponge with Maybelline Mandarin Heat

Used a no. 1 paintbrush from a craft shop for black stripes (Miss Sporty black)

For silver stripes used Mercia nail art pen/brush in silver

Over the top is CG Fairy Dust

Lastly Misa Breakneck and CG Fast Freeze

Please note

• The Ghetto isn't obvious enough
• My cuticles etc are awful but I'm 54 and I had years of obsessive handwashing which doesn't do your hands a GREAT deal of good
• The black stripes are not fine enough but I hope to improve with that
• The Fairy Dust doesn't really work but it looks more subtle IRL

Where do I get my stuff?

I google a lot of brands and add UK to find an etailer (Venus Nail and Beauty is good)

I ebay

Sally's

Directly from websites e.g. Eyeko, Barry M, Overall Beauty (Kim is the BEST)

Boots and Superdrug

TJ Hughes has Bourjois very cheap at the moment

I've started to look at market stalls as well because I need to rein in this compulsion!

Love from Jenni