Nubar Knight's Armour

My red hands are due to the pressure exerted by trying to grasp 2 bottles of polish simultaneously in my teeny little paws.

Lazy woman that I am I slopped the Nubar over the 2true "Paradoxal". How much do I love that 2true! Do get it. 2 coats of Nubar btw.

Cor, I love this Nubar too. This is a great way to wear black which can otherwise be rather dull (ha!). I do feel rather bold and chivalrous wearing this! I realised it's pretty well identical in the bottle to Mavala Black Diamond. I'm developing a real "thing" for Mavala. Knight's Armour was the star of the Fortress collection which I derided at the time. I was unwise in the ways of lacquer then and thought a bunch of greys was a pointless waste of space. I know better now.

I love Nubar and I love Mavala. And on that positive note - adieu.

Jenni

To tan or not to tan?

Nubar Tan Me

 

Over Models Own Nayla Nude.

The big pustule (or rhinestone, if you prefer) on the ring finger is from a pack of 2true Crystal Couture.

The OH gets kinda fed up with endless mani changes so I have to eke out my manis by adding stuff to existing manis that are quick to do and quick to dry. Then there's the blogging time and the taking of photos. I can't devote all the quiet time I might like to doing this.

Next thing I need is nail tape. That looks to satisfy my criteria for ease and speed. But I'm on a no-buy. How to reconcile the conflict? *sighs*

So I may easily have to make an initial coat of paint last 5-6 days without getting too massively bored of the whole farrago.

What's your boredom threshold?

Jenni

Nubar Wildlife

3 coats but 2 is fine. Heck, one would do if you were careful. This is the 3rd day of wear.
I never met a Nubar I didn't love. I'd show you all my Nubar  polishes but I've sorted *snorts* by colour not brand so I can't. I got this from the guys below. Prices include P&P and this was on the Sale page. It isn't now (sorry). I'd say this deserves to be a cult classic.

http://www.nubar-nailz.co.uk/

Jenni

W7 Cosmic Mauve and Nubar Vaso

I bought my first W7 polishes and I can report they are excellent. This is the least interesting. The other 2 are truly A MAY ZZING. Ebay W7 if you too live in the regions of shopping darkness and can't find it locally. My branch of Debs is charging £7.50 for these. Do they ever sell any? I hope not because that is a quite cynical rip-off.

The Nubar is also fab. It's the least popular of the Venetian Glass collection and the only one I have.  I am now desperate for the others. Everyone says Vaso is marketed as a glass-fleck but it's just (just?) a foil and therefore a disappointment. Well, I think it's both. So there. And not disappointing at all. Get your Nubar at  http://www.nubar-nailz.co.uk/      Very good service and fair prices.

One of my next posts is going to be about the ethics of spending. Not about getting a bargain or value for money or buying on credit (although that IS an ethical issue). But addressing my personal prejudices on purchasing and why they exist. And you may share them.  Or you may not.

Most of you weren't economically active during the apartheid South Africa years but here's a question.

If South Africa were still governed by the white elite would you be happy to buy South African fruit? There are/were all sorts of views on this. What's yours?

And one more as a poser - if you were offered fantastic and cheap goods (Manolos? Cartier?) you had reason to believe were stolen during a violent raid would you go ahead or turn away?


Happy thinking
Jenni

Nubar Chocolate Coffee Bean

I got Raspberry Truffle but it didn't turn out as spectacular on me as it did on every other blog so I ebayed it.

Took a chance on this one and this is (for me) a better polish.

Application these days is not at all good. Sorry. Can't properly see what I'm doing as darkness falls. I do have electricity btw! Just in case you thought I'd been cut off or something. 3 coats. Tried 2 but just wasn't enough.

I'm no chocoholic but it is an appealing idea/theme for cosmetics. I'm a big Nubar fan. Or even just plain BIG. Too many chips, I fear!

Chocolate?

• Not bothered. More of a savoury soul.
• I would kill anyone who got in my way.
• Kinda hormonal about it. Appetite for it comes and goes.
• Other

And WHAT brands or flavours?

Jenni

Nubar Prize

This is meant to be holo. Not on my nails it isn't. But I love it regardless.

3 coats, I think. It isn't as red as I had expected either. But this went on beautifully. I do love Nubar. Even after the contretemps with Petunia Sparkle!

I don't have product loyalty to anything really. I have a million perfumes. I buy supermarket own-brand. I like experimenting. I am unerringly faithful to my OH and that's about it.

What about you? Is it Heinz for beans? Nivea for the face? M&S for knickers? What are your 'until hell freezes over' items?

Freaky friends...completely random. This really ought to be a caption competition.Please have a go because anyone can improve on my lame effort.

Fat cat: Just leave me alone! I told you before. You know I don't go out with birds that are taller than me!



Jenni

Nubar Petunia Sparkle + Accessorize Pin-Up

First the pic.

Now. Does the accent nail colour closely resemble the remaining nails? No.

You can see why I thought they might be similar? Yes?

Accessorize PU
2 coats - opaque as the depths of Hades
Dark base with very fine added glitter
Easy to apply

Nubar PS
3, 4 coats and still not right
Streaky application - you seek it here, you seek it there, it's gone bloomin' everywhere and then it's nowhere
One of the messiest, least satisfying polishes I have used in a long while
Quite matte, quite uneven finish, needs plenty topcoat

However the OH noticed (!) and likes (!!) the Petunia. And it is undoubtedly a shamelessly fun colour. And would be an outright 10/10 were it not for its beastly application.

I also love petunias. Especially the dark purple ones which are the only ones to smell good.

Favourite flower fragrance? I've just ordered some cheapo Yardley Peony as I love peonies too.

Flower fragrance? I can think of dozens.

Jenni

Nubar 2010

Layered over the Missguided freebie. The one from Cosmo - not the one in the photo. That's Misschievous. (You see what they did there?)
This really shows the orange/gold aspect of the flakies.

And then over OPI Barefoot In Barcelona.

Look at the bottle! The Nubar shows green/orange/red over paler polishes like this.

I have GOSH Rainbow too and they are analogues. Nubar is more expensive but nail-polish-ownership has as much to do with availability and supply as it does with demand. So Nubar may be ten a penny in ....Sumatra. And GOSH isn't sold in................Timbuktu.

I now have all 6 Missguided polishes. They are beautifully packaged/presented.

Oh, yes. Mischievous. That's the correct spelling btw.
There seems to have arisen a misconception that this may be pronounced mis-CHEE-VEE-us.
No, it's MIS-chiv-us. No debate. No negotiation. Wherever in the Anglophone world you may be it's....what I just said.

Jenni
HAND

Greens - Nubar Reclaim, Cutex Sweet Pea, Hot Looks Ninja, BB Couture Redwood Forest

I had some new greens and I wanted to try them/compare them.

Reclaim 2 coats - why don't I do a whole mani of this??? a lovely holo
Cutex Sweet Pea - 2 swift coats and a stray bit of sparkle - dirty creme
Collection 2000 Ninja - creme 3 coats, a bit streaky
BB Couture Redwood Forest - you have to see this IRL, jelly dark green with blue glass fleck, just get it, I am a huge fan of BB so I'll say that you should get everything they make! 2 coats - no need for more, perfect in 2

The pic washes out the Cutex a bit. I have never seen these swatched which is a very great shame. They do a dirty blue creme also (Huckleberry) which appears to be one of a range of 6 autumnal colours. They include Cider and Eggplant. I don't have those but I mean to acquire more. Cutex used to make lots of shades in days gone by. Perhaps they were merged or taken over by some other corporate giant. Who's to know?

The moral of this posting is: on the whole you get what you pay for. There are caveats to this and I'm sure we could all think of exceptions.

Happy days

Jenni

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.

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.