Dupe-time again....

 

 2true no. 46. 2 coats. I like it. It's better than Barry M Dusky Mauve (better as in "got more going for it complexity-wise").

And guess who didn't do a very thorough job of removing Bourjois Orange Creation? No prizes.

YET AGAIN the Bourjois So Laque chipped on me. That's 2 out of 3 of the latest range. Consider me displeased.

With dupes though - don't you have to issue them within a couple of months of the original? Is there any point otherwise? What d'you think? Is it not just a bit lame doing it half a year later?

Oo, and ta muchly for all the help with my bottle-problems.

Jenni

Men land on moon in 1969 - polish stuck in bottle 2011

Albert Bridge and Kensington topcoats.

Do you think I can get a good load of polish on a brush? Enough to coat even a single nail adequately in a single stroke? Can I hell!

And why is this? Why do I have to tilt these bottles with the mathematical precision of an Einstein to get the merest micromillitre of polish on the brush?

Why does it look as if I shall have to jettison these despite the fact that there's half to just under half left in each?

Please recommend a good topcoat that is usable for about 80% of its contents because this is a phenomenon that is right royally p!ssing me off! Is it a conspiracy by the manufacturers to make us buy more?

The usual colour polishes (I generalise) only rarely trouble our nails often enough to diminish to even 50% but topcoats one DOES rather expect to have some longevity.

GrumpyGit Jenni

Bourjois Orange Creation

 

2 coats over ridgefiller plus top-coat as it dries insufficiently glossy. Sadly I selected a topcoat that has seen better days - hence the bubbling and uneven finish. Not perceptible IRL.

Oh, BIG MOAN! Got a lot of chipping on the Bourjois Bleu Model. Hope this is better. And lots of tipwear on OPI JITNB. Not funny! Be warned. Please report back if you experience unwarranted chipping on the new Bourjois. I haven't had a polish wear so poorly in nearly 2 years.

This is an intense and slightly dirty orange. Not quite neon. I like it. These come out just as they look in the bottle. Consistent then.

Worst polishes for chipping?

Jenni

2true Glossywear No 9 - the end of the affair?

 

I thought I'd be very clever and get a linear holo with 1 coat of Mavala Pure Diamond over 2 coats of 2true Glossywear no 9. My bright ideas rarely pan out...

The nine 2true FastDry shades are excellent. This Glossywear in the chubby bottle is merely OK/average. You'd need at least 3 coats for a good finish and it did feel thin. Only £1.99 though so ....6/10. I still do love 2true though.

And I got the Paradoxal dupe which I've seen on other blogs and looks substantially better than the original from what I can divine. Will try it sometime.

Got 2 Mavala shades and an eyeshadow for £7.95. Have you seen Mavala foundation prices? VERY steep. Going to collect some more Mavala methinks...

Any Mavala recommendations?

Jenni

Fashion punditry. Is it a job for the average woman?

Due to the roaring success (judged by comment numbers) of my p!ss-taking of that ghastly curtain-thing dress by Monsoon I thought I'd try my hand at a bit more fashion advice.

So I looked at my inbox and attempted to find some risible excuse for a fashion item (clearly it's far more fun to be a hatah than a lovah!) but failed.

Accessorize had emailed me (I like their nail polish) and I trawled through their site hoping for dodgy gear but I thought it all pretty attractive. How very disappointing! I like the playsuit above. And thought the following boots might go pretty well with it.

Now, I do have criticisms of these. The toe isn't as bulky and rounded as I'd like and the heel is a little insubstantial but they're OK. I prefer these floral ones (below) but I think the colour-blocking on the others is needed to counteract the florality of the playsuit.

So I was now getting a festival vibe. So I'll conclude with a hat. This isn't 'cream' enough but it was crucial not to have more flowers, I thought.

 

I've never been to a music festival in my life. Nor shall I ever as my tastes incline more to Mozart than ....than... a modern musical group beginning with M. But this is what I envisage festival-goers might wear. Possibly festival-goers also wear undergarments but I didn't bother with those because..what if they don't! And they very well may not.

Sorry to be so relentlessly positive. How very dreary. Don't we all love a bit of poking fun and a good old moan? Not this time.

Please give me a score for this ensemble.

4 maximum for the playsuit

3 for the boots

3 for the hat

Your marks out of 10, please.

Jenni

Is this really the new black?

OPI Jade is the new Black
Yes, I know everybody else bar the Archbishop of Canterbury has been all over this already but it's still new to me.

Got it for £6.95 which I think was a fair price.

• 2 coats but it really needs 3, applied very easily and fluently
• Really intriguing colour and changes a lot in different light conditions
• After 48 hours I have significant tipwear - displeasing in the extreme
• Absolutely love the colour

Now phrases predicated on 'is the new black' are just lazy. Taupe/beige/brown/jade/whatever. 

Black is, and will always remain, the default colour of choice for all-purpose use. Bold statement and, like any generalisation, doesn't account for specifics such as weddings or possible fashion change in the 22nd century but pretty fair nonetheless. As regards clothing.

For nails however black never was the OLD black - let alone the NEW black. For nails red or pink is the old black. This season yellow or orange are the new black (for which substitute red/pink). For winter green could easily be the new black.

So, what would you LIKE the new black to be?Not a fashion forecast but a whimsical wish.

Jenni

Don't mock the teapot!

Looks familiar???

Original BTC are a fabulous company. I'm guessing these are the lights featured on The Apprentice this week (Episode 8). Oddly I've been looking for kitchen lighting for a while and this is the company I am ultimately going to purchase from as I love their stuff. That was before being adopted by Team Tom but I haven't let that put me off despite roundly detesting that Melody creature. Ugh. I found it first, LordSirAlan. So put that in your Tottenham Hotspur and smoke it!

Is this not simple and beautiful?


They make all their stuff in England. Yes, actual England. Of course they may employ Poles to do the actual manufacturing as yer average Brit won't demean him/herself to do manual labour any more. Despite turning out thousands of kids annually who can't read or write (I blame the parents but, being a teacher, I would...) we have become a nation that believes the road to riches lies in A becoming a footballer or B marrying one. Anybody who does a steady job is like totally lame and a loser. Call me Vicky Pollard, why dontcha.

In conclusion Original BTC is utterly fabulous and those philistines on The Apprentice who did not appreciate their glorious style should be shot fired at the first opportunity. The French loved the product  and La Redoute would have bought squillions if Tomtasha hadn't been so w@nkily useless.

Jenni

It must be love da da..It must be love da da..(Thanks, Madness)

Bourjois Bleu Model

(BUT before we proceed a big THANK YOU for all the great and amusing comments I've been getting these past few days! Really bucked me up no end!)


If this is blue then I'm Pippa Middleton's body double. Cuticles still dire. Sorry.

It's green. C'est vert. End of.
Whatever you'd call it I do know one thing. It's 3 coats of creamy gorgeousness! Cannot stress sufficiently how good the formula is.Bourjois really does quality nail-polish.

Is this a joke?

I sign up to all sorts of websites in order to get discounts and codes and suchlike. This monstrosity of a dress is what Monsoon emailed me in a bid to encourage me to spend money on their stuff. I only use Monsoon for Accessorize nail polish but even if I were in the market for a dress I wouldn't pick THIS!

Is it just me or is this truly hideous?

I then consulted their site and found a whole host of gruesome outfits. Believe it I could not. Who buys their clothes? Yeuch.

Would you wear this dress?
A Are you crazy - it's to-die-for..
B Do you really need to ask? NO.
C It's OK. I'm a better stylist than Gok. There's nothing I can't work with. Actually I quite like it.
 
Oh, and what do you think of this?Also from Monsoon.

Jenni

Mavala Pure Diamond - and unapologetic feet...

 

Toes. The OH thinks polish on toes is irredeemably chavvy and I don't care enough about it to argue the point. I'm not having naked nails so it has to be subtle.

Mavala does some great shades but the teeny bottles.... They don't half put me off. I like a big, butch bottle!

I'm one of the few people who likes feet. I thought of becoming a podiatrist but teaching is more lucrative so I shan't be donning a white coat just yet.

Those ARE FitFlops. Some colleagues recommended them. I find toe-posts irritating so I was a little concerned but they are actually really comfortable. 

Feet - for or against? 

Jenni

Name that polish!

Don't cheat by looking them up. I'm guessing most of my readers don't have these yet because I haven't seen them much on the blogs I read daily. Looks like they may be fairly new in shops.

Now, my colour vision is rubbish. This I know and was proved by my pitiful score of 34 in the following test.

http://www.xrite.com/custom_page.aspx?PageID=77&Lang=en
For example, I would casually call the first 2 nail colours above 'green'. The middle one for sure and the left one blueish-green. That's how inaccurate and imprecise I am.

Bourjois gave them boring names. How would YOU describe them? OR what do you think they are dupes of?

And these? Cool colours don't suit me. Why did I buy them? Duh.

Oh, these were (maybe still are) 3 for 2 at Superdrug.

Jenni

Who's been a busy bee?

Not me, that's for sure.

I'm in a foul mood (work stress) so a wasp mani is appropriate at this time.

I thought  Mavala Black Diamond was black glitter in clear polish but it's not. Anyway I ended up with a single coat (could do with 2) over the Bourjois. NOT what I meant it to be - black glitter over yellow -  but I actually like it.

Nobody could say the Bourjois Jaune Trendy is flattering (to anyone?) but it's fun and this wasp/bee theme is even more appealing to my puerile fancy than the plain yellow.

Anybody else fed-up and grumpy?

Jenni

Bourjois Jaune Trendy

(Cuticles are rubbish. Sorry. Having real trouble.)

2 coats and a lot of Mavala ridge-filler. Well, it's a yellow creme. But 2 coats! Honestly, this is brilliant.

And now for random thoughts on a French-theme (those who are easily offended - and French - should beware) calme-toi, ma chere liloo

• All Bourjois stuff is fab and I like the packaging- those little pots they do are so cute
• The French should not be allowed to use English words like /cool, trendy, super/ because it just sounds wrong
• To call anything Jaune Trendy goes beyond wrong to preposterous
• Bourjois are amazingly brave to have put out some great shades this summer - proper funky colours
• The collection is called Paris (*stifles chortles* because .......see next point)
• No Parisienne would ever wear any of these colours, Parisiennes wear dull colours - that is a FACT
• Parisiennes have brown hair
• Parisiennes are immaculately turned out in a way no British woman could ever achieve
• Mid-price and budget French cosmetics ranges never include funky colours and the high-end companies make a bloomin' great fuss about it when THEY do a yellow or a green (ya know what I'm talkin' about?)
• I could say a lot more about Anglo-French relations but I should perhaps quit before being dragged off to a guillotine somewhere
• Why do Brits go on holiday to France but never to Germany?
• What is so great about croissants?
• Why is African French so much easier to understand than French French?
• Have you ever been up the Eiffel Tower? I only got to the first stage and there's a long story (wholly tedious) about why I never made it to the top
• My favourite Paris memory is a little crocodile of French children with their attendants trotting through Parc Monceau in the sunshine - cycling round Versailles was good too but does Versailles count as Paris? (not really)

Jennifer

Pop Beauty Violetta

This is the hardest ever polish to get a colour-accurate picture of. (Ended a sentence with a preposition - ghastly!)

I should probably iPhoto it and blue it up a bit. That's probably what it needs but I know I still wouldn't get it right. Some companies do similar shades and call them Dahlia (Barielle). I'd say fuchsia.

The central bell-section of the fuchsia. That kinda colour.

• 3 coats
• Satin finish
• Tipwear - I really detest tipwear
• Slow to dry even with topcoat

You'd conclude that I don't like this but I do. It's vibrant, edgy. It sings!

What polishes do you love despite very evident flaws?

Jenni

Pop Beauty Pinkest

I googled this and I haven't seen an accurate photo anywhere so I'm suggesting this is an awkward customer. IRL it's more...er, (the clue's in the name) pink. 2 or 3 coats. I do love it. It dries satin-y so needs a topcoat IMO. Nubar 2010 conceals/distracts from a 'dink'.

Tip wear isn't great on this. I have slight wear on one nail after a day which I do not think acceptable.

It's both neon/fluorescent and jelly-like. Quite unusual. I'm very fond of this brand and am going to attribute the tipwear to ..to .. the weather or something.

You don't see this brand much. Any other brands you reckon are 'rare' but worth more attention? This is not HTF or anything. This was from asos but you can easily get it from Pop Beauty's own site.


Jenni

Giveaway Winner is..

Well, there were 35 entries. I would say at least 15 of these were thanks to la belle liloo and her tweets (elle est vraiment la reine de tweets). Now that's a selfless act because that boosted the entry by 75%!! And consequently reduced her own chance of winning.

So a huge thank you to liloo.

http://lilooblog.blogspot.com/

On another note I have forgotten how to do links. I once knew but have now forgotten. Oh, dear...

So I assign each entrant a number in the order they commented, enter the numbers into random.org and press the button (and by crikey I thought my Mac had crashed because it wasn't an instant result today - weird) I got the winner.

So I'll be sending her an email in a minute. It's gemx. Of http://www.gemx.co.uk/sparkle/

Congrats to Gem. You know the drill. Address, please!

A demain!

W7 silver

I can't honestly say I'm over crackle. I CAN honestly say I never much liked it in the first place except when used sparingly. Maybe an accent nail here or a tape mani there.

And a tape mani is what we have here. The W7 is pretty good. I'm not connoisseur enough to be able to distinguish between an OPI, Models Own or W7 silver crackle so I'll content myself with saying this is a perfectly good one and I definitely wouldn't buy another. In some lights it looks white or grey rather than silver if I'm going to quibble. No, I'm in no mood to quibble. Quibbling begone.

So what IS the next big thing????

Jenni

Leighton Denny Golden Girl

Not much to say about this. 2 coats of perfection.

Except it doesn't suit me. But that's not that fault of the polish. There's surely a 'rule' about what gold works with what skin but I don't know it.

I'd characterise this as dirty gold or even brass. I don't know anyone who likes brass. It's only ever used as a pejorative adjective but this still manages to be a fine polish.

OR IS IT?

So far so GlossyBox giveaway...

• This is what's in it so far. There will be more.
• Ends Tuesday 14th June.
• For T&Cs click on the 'My Giveaway' box on the RH side.
• There are 20 entrants thus far.
• Everything is new except I've had a couple (meaning two) squidges of the NARS.

And a picture...just because....

Vivienne Westwood wedges - not any wedges but JELLY wedges that smell of bubblegum

Only £120!

#it'llNEVERhappen

Jenni

Not very seasonal as we head towards the solstice...

China Glaze named it 'Mistletoe Kisses'
And a truly superb nail-paint this is
I got it from Raven
And made quite a good savin'
It was even approved by the Missus!

CG Mistletoe Kisses. I applied this over the LD Diamond Diva as that was still perfect after ...oh, aeons.

This is great! It was just a makeweight in my Raven Cosmetics package to make up to £15 and thus generate a 20% discount. But I am so glad I chose it. It's really theoretically too 'blue' to please me/suit me but I love it! Pure class. £3.95.

CG glass fleck at its very best.

I need back-up of this.

Jenni

A classic - (in verse)

There's a polish I saw on the net
That I never thought that I'd get
I guess it's a classic
But I was boracic
And I haven't figured out a fifth line.....yet

CG Classic Camel. 2/3 coats. Quite thick but not horrendously so. Another fugly. I must show you my beloved fuglies some day. From Raven Cosmetics on a BOGOF. I got 3 CG and an OPI for £13.48 including P&P.

Any guesses as to which OPI? Clue: it's a green.

Jenni

Ya wanna see my boudoir?

My mini Vivienne Westwood Boudoir. How much do I love this? Way more than Vince Disneur loved Jim (Apprentice reference). So that's quite a lot. I have 4!

Really, I shouldn't have posed it against a backdrop of IKEA filing-cabinet. It deserves something far more exotic but hey ho.

Mandarin, tobacco flower, vanilla are just a few of the constituents.

I succumbed to Lemony Flutter. The sales staff in LUSH are so persuasive though. I spent £20 on random stuff that I didn't intend to.

Now, who is working on smello-vision? Because beauty blogging NEEDS it. Imagine that I could transmit the odeur of Boudoir and LF to you as you read this nonsense riveting stuff. How powerful a sales weapon would that be???? Coz these two babies are strong. The fragrance force is strong within them. They shall not be denied.

Can someone explain why smello-vision does not/CANNOT be perfected?

Jenni

2true Crystal Lip Gloss 3

I don't even like lipgloss but Superdrug had 3 2true items for £4.99 plus any lipgloss FREE so I had to have one....

It's quite funky for a lipgloss (which, did I mention, is a product I've no time for).
Sticky? Yes.
Sweet, sickly smell? Yes.
But I kinda like it.

When I say I like it I don't mean on ME but I like it conceptually. As it's sparkly.

What products do absolutely nothing for you but you know everyone else raves about them/it?

Jenni

Leighton Denny Diamond Diva

Not too shabby.

Jenni

Bourjois Rose Corset

 

• It isn't rose.Well, roses can be this kinda shade but when we say 'rose' we don't think of this colour, do we?
• It has nothing whatever to do with corsets that I can think of.
• 2 or 3 coats
• Great Bourjois thick quality
• Love the Bourjois brush
• It's one of the shades du jour

Jenni
Is Bourjois too expensive? Discuss. Sorry to be so bossy.

Leighton Denny Diamond Ivory - almost same as yesterday but not...

The Sally Hansen Gel Cuticle Remover I bought really does remove cuticles but it also dries skin quite a bit. Has to be expected, I suppose, on the omelette-broken-egg principle.

The yellow nail is where I tried to introduce a little opacity with some gold polish but it didn't work. Or I just lost interest. I love this LD nevertheless and, if you have nice skin and nails, it would make you look very polished and professional. Now that's not at all how I see myself 99% of the time but you have to buck the trend (even your own trend) occasionally.

It was so sheer that I GOSH Rainbowed it and mattified. But the polish is still swoon-worthy.

Jenni

Leighton Denny Diamond Rose

 

A tweet by Cali of Polishtopia (http://polishtopia.blogspot.com/) alerted me to the presence of LD on sale at TK Maxx. I've always wanted to try his stuff so this was my chance and I love it.

Diamond Ivory and Diamond Rose for £9.99. Above is Rose with GOSH Rainbow and mattified. OK, OK, it's sheer as a Hamburg whore's camisole (and I've BEEN to the Reeperbahn so I know this) and my dodgy, yellowed nails just can't tolerate that kind of exposure but it's just.....unutterably glorious polish. After 4 coats I had to add something to it but I love it. Everything. Finish, formula, bottle, handle, brush.

Hurrah for discount shops.

What's on your wish list for a product you may just try one day. Not something crazy like that Rodial Snake Serum at £125 but realistic.

Jenni

My Lena-style rant...

Lena is so good at this. I'll give it my best shot but I don't think I have the vitriol a teenager naturally possesses. My vitriol gave out a while ago. Sad but true.

Promo pix

• That's what gets my goat. Promo pix. How many times the last 2 days have I seen the new China Glaze crackle metals on my dashboard? Too damned many.
• Is it just me or do other people find these pix bore them rigid?
• I'd love to see some swatches. Show me some swatches. Actually I lie. China Glaze bring out some more crackles? I could get more excited about a re-run of the Royal Wedding with subtitles in Dutch. I might learn something.
• In general though I do like to see swatches of new collections. Because polish when applied to the nail looks different in different contexts - light, skin colour, number of coats etc etc. So swatches are worth a thorough examination.
• But a teeny picture of a bottle of nail polish just doesn't do it for me. And 6 teeny pictures is 6 times WORSE! Maybe this means I'm not as much of a nail fan as I thought....

Go on then. Play devil's advocate and argue in favour of promo pix. IF YOU CAN! Ha! You can't, can you. Ha!

Jenni

PS
This is how a professional teenager rants.
http://thestudentsguidetonailpolish.blogspot.com/2011/05/epic-rant-social-networking.html

TOWIE

The only way is ETHICS (not what you were thinking huh?). OK, here's my ethical dilemma.

http://www.just-nice-things.co.uk/2010/04/15/gosh-holographic/

This is a photo of it on Helen's lovely nails. If you have this polish you should read her post because I didn't find this an easy polish to work with (impossible actually) and Helen tells you how to avoid the pitfalls. Thanks, Helen, for permission to use your pic.)

Yesterday I found 2 bottles of GOSH Holographic in Superdrug. Looks like they've been storing them in the dirty laundry basket since Methuselah was a lad but unused bottles they are nonetheless. I think they may have a supply that they dripfeed slowly onto the display.

So my plan is/was this - ebay them, hope to exceed the fiver I spent on each of them, spend the resulting profit on something I want. I tweeted my delight at finding them because I know they are fetching above RRP on ebay but my pleasure was short-lived. Why?

Well,  I realised that there a lot of polish enthusiasts out there who didn't manage to get this polish when it was readily available and can't now easily afford or justify the prices these are commanding on ebay. Many (no, MOST) readers and bloggers are a lot younger than I and consequently less well-off and I began to feel rather guilty.

On the one hand I don't want to rip people off (but nobody forces you to buy polish and it's not quite like elevating grain prices in the developing world) but on the other hand there is a market for this and I'd like some more cash to splash as I'm having to be particularly careful at the moment because of my mother's nursing home fees (but is it OK for me to capitalise on my credit card to drive speculation?).

Plus I have another of these I only used once...

What do you think are the rights and wrong in this?

Jenni

2true 28

Juicy jelly finish. 2/3 coats. My first little 2true pot as opposed to slimline cylinder. Yet another great polish. Subtle glass fleck/microglitter what-have-you.

I have raved about this brand so much that eyebrows have been raised and suspicions aroused (glad it wasn't aroused eyebrows) that I am showing (perhaps) unwarranted enthusiasm for 2true. I'd like to say that I am not now nor have ever been a FIFA executive and am consequently uncorrupted.

Not that I haven't tweeted the odd hint to 2true and beautyuk and GOSH that they might just like to send me some stuff. But, not entirely unsurprisingly, no packages have winged their way to me.

I actually like buying my own stuff. Independent type, me.

How much of what you feature do you buy with your own hard-earned?

Jenni