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

Kinetics Divine - an oustanding success!

The ebay-tailer for Kinetics is

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/KINETICS-Nail-Polish-Varnish-15ml-Professionals-/110664861844?pt=UK_Health_Beauty_Nails_Manicure_Pedicure_CA&hash=item19c423c894

Or just search for 'Kinetics nail' in ebay. £5.50 per polish including P&P. I got good comments about Coral Sea and Divine is even better. This is 2/3 coats and I made a complete mess of my index finger by splodging it against something but I just painted over and you simply cannot tell! Result.

Plus the customer service is superb. This brand is a great new find for me. I have two more to show you and I will be ordering others. 

I would say this is a glass-fleck. It is simply beautiful.

It reminds me of something - OPI/Zoya? - that is way more expensive and also less readily available. I don't need to do the research on any dupes because I have THIS!

Very happy bunny.

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

OPI Going Ape-Ricot and OPI And This Little Piggy and a confession

Multiple layers of these very sheer glass-fleck polishes. I wasn't counting. Just ladle on with a trowel.

Now, to my shame I bought 4 OPI despite having vowed not to (due to their takeover by L'Oreal the animal-experimenters). These were 4 for £12 on some obscure site I can't remember and I yielded to temptation. So I am going to have to re-commit myself to not buying OPI and actually having and sticking to some decent principles. Great polishes. Not going to recommend them. Obviously.

Confession, so 'tis said, is good for the soul. I shall see. Get back on the old 'No cruelty to animals' horse and have another try.

Jenni

Missguided Splash MissFit - free with Cosmo

Missguided 

Got this with the magazine - I am so not of the Cosmo demographic but the polish is GRRRRRRRRRRRREAT!

They only do 6 polishes but, if this is the typical standard, they promise to be fab.

This was 2 coats but 1 would be fine. I just wasn't expecting it to be so good so I wasn't careful enough first time so I had to do it properly the 2nd time. ONE COAT. I kid you not. It claims it's black with whatever bits. But it has a very brown/olive character to it. My nails look good. I am content.

This has impressed me so much I have used the COSMO20 code to buy all 6 polishes for a bit under £20 including P&P. The code gives you 20% discount. The quality of this is superb. The remaining 5 colours are not cutting edge chic (unless reds and pinks are the new mints, nudes and greiges and what do I know?) but I want to encourage this brand to stretch its wings. They do 2 themes - Love and Peace. Loving the bottle shape.

Enough with the gushing.

Blogger is playing me up something rotten today. Bullet points won't work. Cursor won't go where I want it. Enter key isn't taking me down....Or it takes me back to the start of the line. What's afoot?

So frustrating.

Jenni

 

 

 

 

 

 

OPI Bronzed to Perfection

I don't have many browns - 3?

I can't remember why I wanted a new brown. It was only a week ago but a week ago I simply HAD TO HAVE IT. How does that work? From ardent desire to forgetfulness?

Pic1 shows the colour a bit over-orange. 2 coats.

Pic 2 has too much flash and is consequently a little washed-out but shows the subtle sparkle (technically fine glass fleck).

It's really got my OPI-juices flowing again because the quality is superb. So I'm going to add to my OPIs but will I pay premium prices? I will not.

OPI? Must-haves or not-bovvereds?

Jenni

Boots No 7 Speed Dry - Cherry Tang - cherry jelly

OMG!!!
The No7 shelf in my local Boots requires me to crouch down (not easy) and angle my neck oddly and for such a "boring" brand I don't ever bother.

But today I'd run out of ideas so I deigned to give Boots the once-over and OMG (again) I am thrilled! Surprised and thrilled and...surprised...

Btw these pix have taken on too orange a tone, it is more cherry-red than it appears here in such bright sun

Jelly for a kick-off. I love a jelly finish. With glass fleck. Silver glass fleck.

3 for 2. Count me in.

Flowed on like the proverbial dairy product.

This is 3 coats but I was happy with 2. There is a wonderful glow through the tip when I hold my nails up to the fierce sunshine.

It's a new shade. If they are all like this then I'd be buying shares! Naturally I got another 2.

I just can't stop with the pix...

I have a few BB Couture. They cost $9 and the Boots are £6 odd at the normal price so I would say they are price-comparable. The quality of this polish is wonderful. I was positively drooling.

I love this effect. I know most of you appear to hate VNL though so I am guessing you'd want to build this up to complete opacity. I actually like a degree of translucence sometimes.


2 questions for you

1 Boots No 7

• No, thanks
• Yes, I have a couple

2 VNL

• Can't stand it
• Not a big issue

Sunny days

Jenni