How it all began..Fairy Dust (Sally Hansen Fairy Dust Pink)

I've painted my nails on and off since about 1969 but I haven't in recent times had a day of naked nails since August 2009. Had time and dollars to spare at Montreal airport in August 09 so I had a mani. Great Turkish-Canadian girl. Very friendly. The concession was OPI-fied so I had a coupla greens. That got me hooked again. (I think they may have been Electric Eel and Green-wich - something like that.)

That developed into buying more polish and reading blogs. Finally I got my own blog going.

One of the first polishes I ebay-ed in 09 or 10 was this Sally Hansen. I'd seen something similar on a blog and just took a punt on it. I checked the prices on ebay today and they are mega-silly. I'm sure I didn't spend more than a coupla quid though. So there's no point stimulating demand for these "magical" polishes. (That's what they're called by Sally Hansen btw.) Was minded to wear this because I just got £14.50 for GOSH Holographic on ebay so had holos in my head. This applies better than quite a lot of holos which I find almost invariably patchy. Pity SH don't do this range any longer. The prices demonstrate it was highly-regarded.

Ah, well. Just a pretty polish for a sunny day.

Jenni

Sally Hansen Super Frost Platinum + more lacy tips

Keep looking for a shimmery white that covers in fewer than half a dozen coats. This could be it. Platinum thingummy by SH.

Creme polishes are no ruddy use on my nails any more. Can someone PLEASE recommend a ridge-filler? I'm getting desperate now.

Now, I realise this would be better with a black base and white or silver tips and I will do that when Models Own bring out their range of crackle polishes. I wasn't going to post the MO promo pic because who needs it all over again for the umpteenth time? BUT I decided I would because I could then refer to the actual shades and say I shall definitely get the silver and white. I'm not a fan of coloured crackles though. Maybe the yellow may prove alluring but I shall wait for swatches. The OPI and China Glaze are too expensive over here so they can take a running jump.

To conclude:

• Do you know of a heavy-duty ridge-filler?
• Will you get any of the above?
• Do you too find the Models Own caps wide and unwieldy and a s0d to work with?

Jen

Silver comparisons

I surely have enough polish now to do comparisons - hundreds but not a thousand, I think. But curiously there are few outright dupes.

I do like silver. It ended up NOT a straight silver post but wanted to go glittery.

Little finger - new Topshop polish Wilderness - a poxy 6ml - it looks like a proper size polish on the website - swizz! metallic silver and a good polish
Ring - Topshop White Witch (goes pink on!) + Diamond Cosmetics Glitter Silver
Middle - Misa Dance Fever
Index - Hansen Dividends which is like the Misa only darker and leaves bald spots and never dries and wound me up no end + GOSH Silver Star (see Dividends for how it applies....boo)
Thumb - Diamond Cosmetics Silver Brocade - very like Wilderness but a hint of glitter

I conclude:

• Topshop sold me a pig in a poke with a teeny mini that didn't say it was a mini
• Don't bother with White Witch
• Misa is one of the best brands bar none - buy Misa
• Hansen Dividends not very good and neither is the GOSH - these are generally 2 brands I don't have much success with though
• Diamond Cosmetics - such a shame you can't get this in the UK any longer because it's another GREAT brand and it's crazy cheap
• My skin is unsually dry and it may be attributable to the Hansen Kwik Off polish remover that I am using but that people report to be tough on the skin

Jenni

2 questions

1. Straight silver OR silver glitter?
2. Are the LFW models too thin? When I say too thin I mean unattractively thin. Not unhealthily - that's another issue. Too thin to be attractive.

Sally Hansen Gilty Pleasures + Barry M Nail Effects

Don't blame me for 'gilty'. I am not guilty as charged. You can put that one down to the Sally Hansen marketing department.

Now then, if you have as yet expressed zero interest in the Barry M I'd have to say you are bereft of taste and judgement. Get yourself on the website (let's face it, it won't be on the shelves of Superdrug or Boots because speedier women than you got there first) and order it. And while you're at it get Dusky Mauve and 1 other. That's 3 polishes plus £1.95 P&P which maximises the cost effectiveness. And Dusky Mauve ain't too shabby either. PLUS plus plus I ordered mine Tuesday afternoon - I kid you not - and it arrived before 10 on Wednesday morning. I have duly congratulated Barry M on their excellent service.

On to business. The Nail Effects. I didn't bother about all that "oh, don't overlap your brushstrokes" ballcocks. Slap it on. It'll be fine. Who needs an instruction leaflet to apply nail polish. C'mon!

I believe Barry M is considering bringing out this finish in other colours depending on the success of the black. So expect other colours soon.

Jumpin' Jehosophat, this is just what I needed to revive my flagging interest in polish. Thought I was going to have to witter on about politics or teaching or cough medicines or summat.

Do you ever run out of steam in your chosen field (mixed metaphor but you know what I mean)? Have you considered early blogging retirement?

Jen

Sally Hansen Black Patent

It's black.
That's not why I posted it. Just to show a small haul really that I felt was a good price on ebay.

I forget how useful black nail polish is and how much I like it.


I like the Salon polishes and I got 6 for £7.45 including P&P.
Poppy Love has come out pink. It's actually a shimmery blue-red and I think I'll love it.
I've seen pix of Gilty (ha ha NOT) Pleasures on other blogs and this also is a keeper.
The black is a single-coater so that's good.

Carthane may suit me as I'm finding these warmer shades look quite good on me even though I don't adore them.
Dawn is so-so but I'll give it a go.
Moonstone? We'll see.

Oh, and don't miss the Barielle BOGOF.
This includes the autumn collection in addition to 2010 spring and summer.
I've ordered Aura Angora (or whatever), Cashmere or Loose Me (what the hell does that mean and what's wrong with plain old Cashmere?), Daring Dahlia and Blossom. Works out as just under a fiver per polish including the dreaded P&P (pup pip pop pep pap?) which is reasonably bargainous for Barielle.

Are you planning any sale purchases or waiting for reductions of a longed-for item? Or saving for something special?

Jenni

Sally Hansen Pure Putty

It's not exciting but it is the sort of polish you wear when you need a rest from the blues and greens et al.

 After about a day at work.
2 coats in the sun. I love this.
Is it pink? It is on my summer hands. Is it nude? On some people, yes.
Anyway I like it.

 Indoors. And you can see the cool label so there you go.

I have just ordered 6 polishes from the US - much funkier colours.
I just want something different. Different brands. You can't really beat OPI and China Glaze for quality but they're just so ubiquitous. There are some new BB Couture I fancy so I may get those. The nailiverse needs new blood. I've been buying polish seriously now for a year so maybe I'm just jaded. Boo. New, innovative, different. C'mon, let's have some excitement. And I DO NOT mean Zoya bloomin' spoons.

What's the next new thing? A brand, a colour? A finish?

Jen

Sally Hansen Forsythia and love to Rebekah and Aggie P and everyone...

First the fugly.

Karen of Frazzle and Aniploish sent me this in a swap and I am now an official fugly-lover. Flover? 

3 coats with base and top. It shows the glimmer in the pic but it's a flatter creme for all intents and purposes. I am now in pursuit of fuglies. I have bought a Konad Special Polish to wear as an ordinary polish (allegedly it will never bloomin' dry as it is 5 times thicker than yer average nail enamel but we'll see) and that's a fugly too. Got to get Mac Brown Bag or In the Buff to be a true flover.

I don't often squeal. I'm not girlie enough to squeal. Do I look like Kerry Katona? But I squealed yesterday. Got back from shopping. Boring stuff. Bin bags. That type of thing. The Konad polish had arrived. Much later went upstairs. Bloody dog again! Had broken into the post-cage thingy that's attached to the letter-box, grabbed parcel, taken parcel up two flights to top floor, savaged parcel. This was my RAOK from lovely, lovely Rebekah of For the love of nails.... 

You see these? Purple and silver AND a Claire's MOOD polish. Hence the squeal. Dog forgotten and forgiven. Confetti. My first Confetti. Hansel Salon. Great polishes. And (did I mention it) a MOOD polish. Rebekah, mwah mwah mwah!

More mwahs now. Got tagged by AggiePigeon of Running with Polish. Makes me think of a woman (could be horrific?) drenched in nail polish. It drips down her semi-naked form. Accident in the OPI factory? Except for the semi-naked bit. Bond villain seeks to take over the world by putting mind-altering chemicals into nail polish and making us all Stepford wives? Something like that.

The tag is:

4 things in my bag

wallet

bag of coins

small notepad

tissue

4 things in wallet

cards

couple of £20s

(not much else as it has a broken zip but I can't replace it because my elder daughter bought it for me)

4 fave things in my room

usually 2 out of 3 dogs

pillows - I like lots

cup of tea - like to have one of these at hand

books - can't be without books

4 things I've wanted to do

get and train a sheepdog

become a dog behaviourist

meet Cesar Milan

go up the Empire State Building

4 things I'm currently into

nail polish

French films

get more sleep

blogging - reading and writing

4 songs I can't get out of my head

Lighthouse Family - Postcards from Heaven

Killers - Mr Brightside

Oasis - Don't Look Back In Anger

Mozart - O Isis und Osiris (Zauberfloete)

4 things you may not know 'bout me

1. I stood at the bottom of the Empire State Building and said, "Nah, I don't think I'll bother..."
2. I am afraid of butterflies (not just moths)
3. I have a half-brother who lived in the same village as I did and everyone knew about him except me until a friend told me when I was 15!!!
4. I have a BA (Hons) in Latin   

Then I tag 4 people. They choose 4 and inform them and so on.

They are:

Simone Give The ✡ Girl Toys

Lena The Student's Guide To Nail...


Beth bethaniee's nails


Gem Sparkle Blog

Sorry if you've done this before, peeps!

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

Sally Hansen HD Spectrum + Milani Hot Metal + PETA news

My first HD from my swap with Karen

Decided I hadn't done a blue in ever so long
Now there's a tale to tell with this one. Make yourself comfy.
2/3 coats and there's VNL about which I don't stress.
The polish does migrate rather on the nail as if seeking asylum in the UK so one does rather have to chase it around to pin it down and even then some bald patches persist.
Consequently the middle finger had a 3rd application and I might add more coats to the others.
HOWEVER it is a delightful polish. I thought it would be a foil judging by the contents but it's a very delicate glitter, rather hard to categorise.
On to the index. That was 2/3 coats of HD DVD and that really was almost as thin as Kate Moss after a detox so I added a coat of Milani Hot Metal.

PETA results page 2
Search for Cruelty-Free Companies and Products > 

Results for Product That Do Not Test on Animals // Products: Nail Polish 

Company
Kiss Products
L.A. Girl Cosmetics
M.A.C. Cosmetics
Manic Panic
Markwins International
Merle Norman
Nubar
Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics, Inc.
OPI Products
Orly International
Paula’s Choice
Pure Anada Natural Cosmetics
Revlon
Soulstice Spa
SpaRitual
Sunrider International
Tammy Taylor Nails
Tropez
V = vegan Some big names here. With OPI you've got most colours and finishes covered. So you can build a big collection of polish comprised solely of animal-friendly polishes. I decided there was so much information out there, some of it conflicting, that I'd have to put my faith in a single authoritative source for my own sanity. PETA should be a pretty discriminating organisation so I'll trust their findings. If PETA sanction a company's output then I'm convinced. It remains now for me to discover more about these lesser-known manufacturers because I do seek out the more obscure brands anyway. What else should I be doing in the cause of animal-welfare? Jenni

Sally Hansen - Fairy Dust Pink - The magical range - a holo

I do love a good holo. And a good cup of tea. But that's another story.

2 coats.

Halogen lighting. I have found that my bathroom is an excellent venue for photography.

Began with the hair-tearingout-inducing drag and bald spots associated with every holo in existence.

This happens with most holos and I have to re-remember every time how to apply the stuff.

Lots of polish on the nail is the solution. Lots. It's all plain sailing from that point.

What a pretty bottle. Such cute packaging.
BUT - and you know the problem - what the blue blazes does the polish look like inside?
I HATE it when the companies do this.
But no matter. It was cheap. Ebay. Discontinued. The holo effect is strong so I don't much care about the colour. Luckily I like it but the opaque bottle is a daft idea.
This is more lavender than pink but WTF. It has aspects of blue and is different in varying conditions. It's also quite reflective and has a slight mirror-finish.

Notice anything?
Yes, I've been de-digitated.
Voluntarily.
Removed the old stuff and there was a split. A SPLIT. Right down the middle.
That nail has gone on holiday for a week to recover. Crete, I think it said. I've never been.

I think my next post is going to encompass either footwear for summer OR eyeliner.

Please vote for your preference now.
Eyeliner
Shoes

Happy dreary day
Jenni

Star Nails Attitudes - duochromes - impossible to photograph!

Start with a pic

Dare to Bare, Oyster Pearl, Tropical Waters and SH Pure Putty used as a base (above a proper base)

This is my haul over the last 24 hours!
Barbara Daly from Tesco at either end. There were very few left so they are popular. 2 for £4.
6 Mavala glitters.
3 The Edge.
6 Attitudes.
Some stones as well which means I will have to do nail art flowers. I shall force myself to do it because I must spend more time doing and less time buying...

Click on this. Go on!

I finally got an accurate pic by selecting "Short burst" or somesuch on my Lumix. About bloomin' time that I learned how to use it! Now this does scream ice-cream sorbet in a way the creme formulae do not.

These babies in the bottle are so beautiful! But I knew they'd be sheer(ish) so I put the Hansen Pure Putty on first.
These are all 3 coats. I didn't care. I could have done many more as they are SO easy and so pretty and just flow on.
Dare to Bare (little and ring) looks silvery-pearl in the bottle but is iridescent pinkish on.
Oyster Pearl (middle) is golden pink in bottle but more golden on.
Tropical Waters is pale aqua in bottle and more greenish on.
But a photograph can't contain the fascination that these polishes exert over me!

You know what I mean. You twist your head, you break your wrist trying to find yet another angle..blah de blah
6 Attitudes polishes plus another of my beloved Misa Breakneck topcoat cost me less than £16!

Any ideas how I can bite the bullet and embark on a no-buy??? I am so WEAK.
Jenni

What about you?

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