The treasure of Silrald

Bewitching was the sight that met their seeking eyes. Uncannily bright the points of light that sparkled tantalisingly before them. Keen their desire to learn more.


Sorry, that was a Tolkien spoof-attempt but I just can't do it. Not having ever read Tolkien probably doesn't assist my endeavours.

Why????

First there was silver. And then there was emerald. Silrald. Better than emerver.
Btw the flash has washed this out but you get the approximate message.

Jessica Emerald Tint
The SH is called Dividends and it isn't as thickly glittered as Misa Dance Fever but never mind.

And this is a combination of Aqua and Emerald.
These work so well.
Great thing about this is that the glitter as a base is so hard-wearing that you can rely on this not to chip/flake etc but the addition of extra layers of tint does change it so it doesn't get too boring. Great when you're short of time/energy.

Now for shoes - bear with me...
Vix is doing 20th century fashion - I'm not going to explain - check it out

Vintage Vixen

I hate 20s fashion and said so but Vix countered with 50s shoes and how horrid they are so...

 

These are from vintage shoes 1950's shoes 1950s shoes and 1940's shoes and claim to be 50s originals. They aren't great but they aren't utterly vile. I know you can't see the heels but they are tolerable. Or are they?

Least loved fashion decade 1900 - 2000? I'd say 20s and 80s. Yes, the 90s too.

Oh, heck. I've got myself into shoes now. This isn't good.

Three pairs of 70s shoes.

I'd better go.

Jenni

Misa Disco Queen + Jessica Red Tint

Ha, ha!

It was done - though not well done (as Shakespeare didn't say)

You start with the Misa

Then 1 coat of red

2 coats

3 coats

Thus getting a graded mani.

Blurry but sparkly.

I could have done this a lot better but it was an experiment. And it works.
Yes, the base should have had more coats. This I know.
It was ever so quick to do. You don't need to wait between coats.
Because the glitter lies beneath the polish and is not incorporated into it the effect is particularly COOOOOL. It has real depth - and meaning and - gravity. No, it's nail polish and not a symphony. Maybe a sonata??? An etude?

Day 6 of hols. Only 33 to go. Hoovering needs doing again! Outrageous. Dust I don't mind but bitty carpets I do.

Woman's Hour spent yet another day on not having kids. What is this? 1965?

The hour approaches for TMS. Over to 5 Sport.
To patriotic strains of Jerusalem the England openers take the field.
I could give you a delivery-by-delivery commentary but I suspect you wouldn't stay tuned/ever speak to me again.

Fluffy bunnies and champagne cocktails to you all.
Jennifer

Silver and violet makes silvolet/vilver

Here it is...

This is like...loads better IRL.
Hence 2 more pix of it comin' up.
It's sundry silvers I've been wearing for days (aeons?) topped with (slopped with) a coat of Jessica Violet Tint. I have 6 of these and I am going to do every permutation of putting them over other stuff that I can think of. Thus giving me thousands (probably, you do the maths if you feel so inclined) of different looks.

And a shadier shot...

Layering is the way forward. Got to get my money's worth.

Aha! Listening to Radio 4.  Woman's Hour. They're doing a debate-thing that they seem to do every few months.

Don't you want kids? If not then why not?


It seems to be a question that fascinates women. Don't know quite why except that we're such a nosy bunch we have to pry into other people's lives.

So, in the spirit of poking my nose in, what's your view? To have or not to have?

Jenni

BLOG SALE

Without further ado...

This bunch - £2.50
Ablaze - swatched once RESERVED
Scoundrel - twice SOLD
Star of the Party - once
Minger - NEW

£2
GOSH Frou-frou - NEW SOLD
Aqua Baby - twice RESERVED
Cherry Crystal - twice RESERVED
Harmony - once RESERVED
Ruby & Millie 430P - NEW (£1.50)

£1.50
Beige Sophistique - once
Sienna - once SOLD
Blue Moon - once SOLD
Bee's Knees - once
Dolce Vita Fuchsia - once

£2 (the duochromes)
Versace V2033 - once
Foxy & Folksy - once RESERVED

£1.50
Berry Ice-cream - NEW
Golden Peach - NEW SOLD
Toxic Seduction - twice RESERVED
Cloud - once SOLD
Tea Rose - once (£1) SOLD

£1.50
I'm not lying to you - these are sheer - but they are pretty
Steppin Out - once
Pound Cake - once SOLD
Luscious Lips - once
T-Bills Putty - once SOLD
Body Language - once

Shipping and paying and all that jazz.......
Well, that all depends.......
For anywhere outside the UK I'll have to find out for you and let you know.
For the UK it'll vary from about just over a pound to maybe 2 quid???
In short, you let me know if you want anything and where you are. I weigh stuff and give you a price. Has to be paypal, m'dears.

I'm exhausted after all that! Natural entrepreneur I am not.

This is pound cake with peaches and cream.

And this is a bee with knees. I think I like the bee the best. Better even than cake.

Have you ever held a blog sale? If so, did it work well?

Jenni

Diamond Cosmetics Chainmail Charm (holo)

I'm still anti-colour so today we have one of the best polishes I have.

You can sort-of see the holo on the ring finger. This is 3 coats. No TC.
Even if it cost more than a coupla quid it would be way worth it.

Look at the bottle!
I think this is a cross between dinosaur skin and fur.
People babble on about OPI My Private Jet but they can keep it. I don't know what gets better than this.
I want to stroke it. It's like velvet dinosaur skin-fur. It's like serenity and bliss in a bottle. It makes even my pudgy paws look vaguely half-decent. It's the song of the blackbird on a cool morning in May.


Now for the mundane.
In the UK it's available from Konad Nail Stamping Nail Art - Flashy Nails.
Every Diamond I have is a great polish.
Charm is one of only 2 polishes for which I have back-up.

It appears from my survey that most of you are dancer(s). Just saying.

The love of my life resurfaces on Thursday.
Test cricket. None of this 1-day malarkey. And 20-20 is beyond evil. The work of the devil.
England v Pakistan.
My cricket memories. Those days of yore.
My dream job would be cricket-commentator for the BBC. I kid you not.

Very cross as my googled image of Sir Geoffrey keeps disappearing. Bah, humbug.


This is one of my cricket heroes - Sir Geoffrey Boycott. Don't tell me he hasn't been ennobled because in my head he IS Sir Geoffrey. Why am I not doing a cricket-blog? Expect lots of cricket to have to skip beyond until the Test series is over but am I repentant? I am not.

Dream job?
Sporting hero?

Jenni

Misa Dance Fever + a market glitter thing

I love all Misas (mostly) and I keep coming back to this one, Dance Fever.

This is after 3 days of wear and you can see it's growing out a bit. But this stuff is indestructible. You don't need Shellac, stuff the Minx. All you need is Misa Dance Fever. You can't say fairer than that.

The bottle shown isn't Misa. It's a random bottle I got from a stall and it's useful to refresh a mani. The blue tinge does enhance/refresh the silver slightly and the bar glitter adds a certain je-ne-sais-quoi even if it is rather shy most of the time.

Had a hangover yesterday so kept away from Egremont (that's my Mac) pretty much. I don't really drink any longer but came home on Friday and just sought oblivion in a bottle I'd been given. Thankful to get the last week over with. Phew.

Onwards and upwards from now on.

So - on with the philosophy. A question for you. Courtesy of Brandon Flowers.
It is this.

Are we human or are we dancer?


Jenni

Sally Hansen Crystal Dream + DotD

This is a Foot Foil.
My toes need doing but it's quite a struggle for a lardy old bird like me so....

Not feet. I wouldn't do that to you.
I assume this is an ancient polish from the vaults.
I rather like Sally Hansen.
I don't know how you'd characterise this colour so I shan't go there.
But if you pressed me I'd say pewter-ish.
2 coats + top coat. I am so anti-colour at the moment. The other hand is silver - my trusted Misa Dance Fever without which I would not be.

I haven't retouched the red eye on him because he's naturally fairly feral so I feel this is true to his temperament.
He's a feisty ginger if ever there was one!
Trod on his tail by mistake yesterday but he didn't get me. Luckily. He can be a doll so I won't diss him too much.

Pic I googled....
This represents me today.
End of year.
Loads of students leaving. Tears. Colleagues leaving. More tears. Frantic tidying. General exhaustion.
I'm not comfortable with all this angst and it's quite awkward being around it. These days people expect a lot of emoting and demonstrative display. I just want to get the hell out of there. But then I know enough to realise I've got some strongly autistic traits myself!

I can be a hermit for a few weeks now. Hurrah!
Get my polishes together.

I've decided I WILL do a blog sale. So watch out for that next week. Anything you guys don't want will go on ebay. It'll be paypal probably. I expect that's easiest.

Oh, not asking for sympathy because I love my job and zonking out in July is just part of the (excellent) deal.

Got a new car to look forward to. Saw a protoptype at the showroom last night and put it on order.

Hate it? It's a Nissan Juke. Like it? So-so?

Jenni

Nail art - In the Night Garden

Er, I used the gradient as a base for some nail                        (wait for it)       art.
Well, I tried.
Art insofar as an elephant or chimp produces art. Only not as effective. Or attractive.

I have a silver nail art pen. See the havoc I can wreak. This nail isn't bad. I quite liked this. The "flowers" were less successful. See below.

China Glaze Fairy Dust for the night sky.

I will get the hang of it one day if the arthritis doesn't get me first. I mustn't joke about that because I don't want arthritis in my hands. My knees are fairly dodgy and I can well do without creaky digits.

Gearing up for my last day at work until September. Then getting ready for my ebay sale. I thought of a blog sale but I feel awkward about selling to you guys. Don't know why. I like the impersonality of ebay for commercial transactions. Selling 100+ polishes will keep me busy for a couple of weeks. Walk the dogs. No cleaner in the hols so will have to do my own housework or simply let it go to hell in a handcart (preferred option). Go to see my Mum. Read even more books. Prepare for going away. Hard life.

;o)

Jenni

Jessica (again) - gradient + thimble

I can't carry on just painting them. I really do have to try to be more creative. Don't hold your breath though...

It's a mix of 3 Jessica jellies. Aqua, Emerald and Violet.
Just slopped on. I wanted a sort of drippy candle-wax effect but it is what it is. Fine. Not bad. Quite like it.
Sorry about the ring finger. Clearly if I COULD fix it then I bloomin' well would. No idea what's wrong with it. Considering wearing a plaster over it permanently. You remember Nelly and Kelly? Plasters? Oh, and even Adam Ant. Could revive a trend. Keep your Minx. Maybe I should be looking for novelty-plasters. Or glue a thimble to my finger? Better get on to it.

Forgive state of paws. They don't look nearly as good as this IRL. Honest to God I'm sloughing my skin like an adolescent lizard. Too much information?

I do love to see the sun shining through these tints.

Here's my thimble.

It's Faberge. A bit plain for my taste. Must find a better one. I want to be able to tap rhythms on my desk and bring my students to attention with a tap of my thimble. Getting excited now.

The German for thimble is Fingerhut. This means "hat for a finger".

Jen

OPI Samoan Sand + ELF Desert Haze + the history bit..

I put the OPI on yesterday and noticed a chip this morning whilst at work. Horror of horrors.

The line along the ring nail is just an ineradicable ridge rather than polish streaks.
I like this combination. I said I'd be mostly wearing mud and I meant it.
I do have a jelly gradient planned though as I've seen a rather pretty effect on another blog. That may be my sole foray into colour for some time.

Why is my skin peeling off? Am I a reptile? Or just at the end of my tether?
Teachers grow notoriously irritable at the end of the year. I've got leavers stressed about leaving, colleagues stressed about changing roles and everyone hot and bothered. It is craaaaaaazy at my place. It's a challenge to get to Friday without committing manslaughter or becoming the victim of a violent crime. Grrrrrrr!

Breathe deeply. Smile. Breathe out. Drop the shoulders. Unclench the fist. Put the knife down. Put the knife DOWN!


Fashion history now from the BBC - my beloved BBC

A gold cape. Gold. Not gold thread.
Beaten gold and found in Mold. That's North Wales. Not far from my birthplace actually. From about 1700BC. Beaten and shaped from a single gold ingot about the size of a ping-pong ball. It's incredibly thin apparently. May have been made locally or brought to Wales as part of a trade. Grave goods. What incredible talents humans possess. (Not me obviously). So this was the epitome of high-end designer catwalk red-carpet what-have-you if you go back four millennia. Wow.

Jen
If I do get brought before the beak I'll need character witnesses to explain that my actions occurred as a result of heat exhaustion and provocation by colleagues. OK? Thanks.

BB Couture Kelly's Green

I am so sick of my nails at the moment.
My skin is peeling. The nails are either too long or too short. Yesterday's debacle with shimmery peach made me almost nauseous with disgust. Oh, dear. Do you often get days when you simply can't be on easy terms with yourself?

I needed something relatively low-key/muted/unobtrusive yet possessing some character. So I lit upon this. I do love it. I think I'm going to be drawn to taupe and grey and variants on sludge in the coming weeks. Expect mud, dust and leaf mulch.

3 coats + top coat.

As a bonus I add dogs.

Even they look fed up. It's rather warm and humid again today and it's in the nature of the spaniel to look sad in any case. They're trying to guilt me into entertaining/walking/feeding them.

Suddenly realised that the six-week holiday begins on Friday thus leaving me plenty of time to blog. Must think of something interesting. I have also been instructed/advised to sell a third of my stash as I'm always complaining about money. No bloomin' wonder. Multiply 300 by an average £3 (ahem) and you get (since September 2009) more than a few bags of chips. So I'll be ebaying a load of stuff in all likelihood.

What's on your nails today and how much pleasure is it giving you?
I'm giving Kelly's Green 7/10 but I'm in a distinctly critical mood today.

Jen

Miners Flamingo + Borghese Dolce Vita Fuchsia + PETA

Look at this hideous picture and
a) rejoice that YOUR nails don't look this bad and YOU had the sense not to buy this polish
b) pity me

Miners Flamingo

It's not bad in the bottle and that's where it's staying from now on.
What possessed me to think peach shimmer was a good idea?
Honest to God I've made some stupid decisions in my time. I thought a self-catering chalet in Dorset would make for a great holiday, I admit that. I wore red vinyl pixie boots in the 80s. I'm not ashamed. Actually I am a little ashamed about the boots.
But this!

That's it before my desperate effort to conceal it under a layer of Canmake.
I am so mortified. Spend your life trying not to succumb to your inner oldie and this is where you end. Even by my standards this is bad.

The polish dries slowly and also reacted badly to my usual top coat. Probably nothing inherently wrong with it but I hate it on me. Trouble is I haven't the time to remove it and recommence so I'm stuck with it for  day. Where are my gloves?

Moreover I now detest the Borghese by association. So that's two duff polishes at the swipe of a brush.

Next!

Now I'm sure he looks miserable enough already without having chemicals dropped into his eyes. So read on for more animal-testing info. (He was probably sulking because I was on my way out. You wouldn't think he has a personal dog-walker to keep him company when I go out to work which is only 3 days anyway!)

http://search.caringconsumer.com/search_list_icons.aspx?Donottest=-1&Product=0&Dotest=8

This (above) lists companies that DO still animal-test. It's a long list.
For our purposes the big names are L'Oreal and Maybelline.
I suggest you take a look at it yourself.
The ethical issues surrounding spending are legion. Personally I won't buy stuff made in China (human rights). Then there are environmental issues. Am I buying the right detergent? Should I be buying Turkish cherries (air miles)? It's easier just not to bother. It's also difficult to trace the origins of many products. But I do try to be as well-informed as I can and forgive myself if I make a mistake and buy something which is theoretically on my banned list.

On that jolly note
Good weekend to one and all (except the Ginger + Liz legal department)

Jenni

No nails as such - Pop Beauty LotD Bee Stung (it's a lip gloss btw)

Well, I just messed about with top coats over the CK Barefoot today and I know there is no queue to see that so this is what you get instead.

Quite a lot of mileage in doing products other than polish because (as we shall see) there are technical issues aplenty!).

It's a lip gloss in a cute pot.

Here's the sparkle pic.

And it is sparkly on the lip too. And greasy and gummy and leaves marks on cups. But plenty stays on the lips.

But what if you need to retouch?

That has to be the least practical sponge applicator ever. Because of the handle size the cap comes very close to the lips when applying and you can't even see what you're doing without a mirror because the chunky (but cute and pleasantly rubbery) cap obscures your vision.

It wasn't full price. Just an item I added to my order for the hell of it because I'm over budget this month and then one becomes gripped by WTF-itis and can't help oneself. I like it. I'm puckering up at my reflection in the window as I sit at my desk and pretending to be all sulky-moody-sex-kitten. As long as I don't focus on any other bits of me I could almost believe it!

D'you want more nails/jewellery/history of cosmetics/dog of the day (always popular) or sumting else?

Jennifer

PS The PETA animal-abusers list comes tomorrow because we need to know not only the good guys but whom to avoid (should we wish to and don't think I'm badgering you.....much).