beauty uk shatter polish night fever (THEIR lack of caps - not mine)

 

1. Top class packaging - me likey
2. Top class product - I have a few shatter polishes and this is the best by far, more predictable application than others, doesn't go gloopy or streaky, excellent
3. The gold is properly gold - not drab like the Boots 17 I have
4. It was a poor decision to layer it over Mavala Vanilla - needs a more striking base
5. 'dix points' on the Eurovision scale - might even stretch to 'onze'!

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?

Illamasqua Bacterium

 

It's kinda dirty and odd and strange. Doesn't sound like an attractive cosmetic item, does it? But I love it. 2 coats and fairly thick but manageable. Looks much darker most of the time when there's no direct light source. It looks 'goldish' in the photos (almost Urban Decay Twisted) but I don't see that IRL. Complex polish. If you like Illamasqua (what d'you mean you don't?!), you should love this. I conjecture.

I look forward to 'sellotaping' it. What would make a good contrast colour? What would complement this colour well? Any ideas?

Jen

Boots 17 Nail Xtras Crackle Top Coat

Sorry about the dry skin.
This is part of a 'challenge' I decided I was undertaking i.e. how many days can you go without removing your polish and starting again? Found this in Boots yesterday. £3.98. Put on a thick layer - too thick as I prefer more of the base polish to be visible but I know better for next time.

Day 1 CG Life Preserver
Day 2 mattify the tips
Day 3 add Nubar 2010
Day 4 add crackle top coat
Day 5 ? probably get rid...

I was very pleased with myself until I looked at the shots I took today.  Obviously blown up like this you can see that it's not so smart but normal-size it's perfectly acceptable. I don't always have the time or the inclination any longer to change my polish every day so I am doing this kind of thing more and more.

What do you think is the maximum time you can adapt a mani before having to ditch it?

Jenni

Illamasqua Victory

Another quality polish from Illamasqua. Such a shame my first experience with the brand was the ghastly "Rare". But I can't otherwise fault them.

This is 2 coats of perfection. Even copes well with my ridges.

The extra sparkle on the index finger is courtesy CND Gold Effects. Had a discount in the Illamasqua sale. Definitely worth it.

One of my top 2 golds. Misa Disco Queen is the other. Quite different.

Bit of a short post. I have one more in draft form. Unfortunately my mother (aged 83) was admitted to hospital with a brain bleed on Thursday and it's a two-hour drive so I shall probably be less than regular in my posting habits.....

Jenni

Urban Decay Twisted

This is always described as gold.

 

It is gold but also olive and duochrome and a lot of other things too. Like all Urban Decay it is beautiful and I shall add my voice to the bitter lament of the nailiverse: Why oh why did you discontinue these polishes, you fools, you simpletons!

I have a few but I mean to get them all one day. Thanks, ebay! These and the Revlon StreetWear.

What discontinued ranges do you yearn for?

Jenni

The Edge Egyptian Gold

Really bright and yellow. Love this and it's a lot brighter and a little warmer IRL.

3 easy coats. Not bad for £2.34.

Got another gold for you tomorrow but quite, quite different.

Gold or silver? Which suits you better? Both in nail and jewellery terms.

If you're talking Egyptian Gold then there's only one way to go!

Jenni

Misa Ghetto Fabulous

I always knew it wasn't going to work (ie be flattering) so it's no surprise it's so darned ugly. But you have to love its sheer ebullience.

There's a CND Effect over 2 of the fingers which softens it a bit and I'm not sure I shouldn't have left it as it was. I think I really needed out'n'out blingification. Live and learn, dontcha know.

Already thinking of the next mani. Reorganised my pots by colour. Possibly purple? Gamble on green?

Jenni

Models Own Champagne

Feeling in a 'gold' mood. Ironic as Champagne isn't exactly gold.

The ring nail has a layer of CND something for which I paid relatively dearly as I had no CND and wanted to rectify the omission.  It's quite nice under artificial light at night. That's as gushing as I'm going to get about it. The Models Own is a very good foil. 2 coats. Make sure you load the brush though or it's Streak City.

Tomorrow something positively ugly. Today is good. There is no bad. Unless tomorrow's effort can combine bad AND ugly. And it just may.

Awaiting 2 hauls. A BB Couture since I can never refuse a BB offer. 5 for the price of 3 to UK customers. And more Models Own. Bought a cracking (well, they look it in the photos) pair of boots on ebay.

Got to do some serious Christmas shopping in the next 2 days. Cash for the kids. They're always skint. Goodies for the OH. Fair Trade jewellery for colleagues. Warm trousers for my little grandson.

What kind of Christmas shopper/giver are you?
A smug did it in February really really cheaply
B lavish - flashy, expensive, ostentatious
C anxious - they will love this brooch, won't they - maybe they won't - but what do YOU think? - this one or maybe the other one? - oh, I'm not sure now
D make personalised crafty gifts from recycled ribbon and tin cans
E hey, that's what Christmas Eve is for - present-buying - chillax
F as E only with panic and hysteria

Jenni

BB Couture Shift Stick + CND Effects Gold Sparkling

One of my BB Couture haul from the ever-fabulous Kim at Overall Beauty.
Gorgeous mustard. I love fugly colours.

I did 2 coats. 3 would be better. But the CND is a super-subtle sparkle. Love it and it did mean I didn't need a 3rd coat but didn't change the overall effect too much. Result.

Stick Shift. Or as I know it - gear stick. Automatic cars feel like such a lazy option (I'm so old-skool) but I did love the one I drove in Canada. So simple. My new car has a 6-speed box though and very good it is too.

Oo, it's dark and there's not a breath of wind. Eerie. Will there be snow? We shall see.

Jenni

ELF Glitter Glam

This is a new(ish) polish. At these prices ELF don't have glossy marketing campaigns. You just check the website from time to time and find new stuff. They just had a good sale and I got some freakily decent bits'n'pieces.

The little finger has 3 coats. The others have a coat of Barielle Aura Angora as a base because it looked as if it'd be as thin as Oliver Twist's gruel but it really wasn't. I like this. It dries very matte so I top-coated all except the ring finger. I'm in a very gold frame of mind at present. Odd. Because we get a lot of magpies. Usually five - for silver - or seven - for a secret never to be told. But never six for gold.

If you can't rely on the magpies then on whom CAN you rely?

Oh, ELF. If you're listening - you owe me a laser sight-restoration operation. The font on the base of the bottles is about 0.07. How am I supposed to read that?

Jenni

Barielle Gelt me to the Party

I do find I get bad tipwear on Barielle (as you can see). Typically takes less than a day to develop. Not chips you understand. That's a huge no-no. But I still like their colours so I'm sticking by them.

With an accent of Accessorize Gold Dust. I thought that this would be a streaky mess but I rather like it. Not saying it suits me but I like it nonetheless.

I'm awaiting a bundle from BB Couture with no great patience. Also coming my way from the US is my cousin and her husband from Philly. Well, they fly out tomorrow/Wednesday. I warned them to expect cold weather. I think they know what that's like in PA.

I apologise for stating that Barielle was a British brand a few posts back. I should have known!

Jenni

Accessorize Bronze

14 blessed photos I took of this and not a single one that came anywhere near colour accurate.
It shows bronze/gold/brown/sulphur and emphatically NOT what I see in the photos.
So why post 'em?

You can begin to see hints of bronzitude in the next pic.

Well, I'm not sure my eyesight is entirely trustworthy. I think I'm going the way of low-level cataracts and I know that affects colour vision. So maybe I'm wrong and the camera is right.
Of course there's a whole existentialist debate revolving around how we see the world and how the world actually is. If indeed it can ever be said to have its own discrete existence except insofar as we perceive it.

I am duty-bound (true Brit) to mention the weather and the royal wedding.

• Weather - shocking. I'm not walking the dogs in this. They'll have to wait until tomorrow. Long-haired dogs get so wet and then they have to stay in the kitchen for hours on end and are miserable.
• Royal weddings. I'd be a republican (not a capital R American kind of Republican btw) if I didn't think we'd end up with an odious president such as Blair or a joke president such as Christopher Biggins. So the royal wedding leaves me cold.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

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