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

Chanel Mimosa it isn't - Zest by Barbara Daly it is...

And jolly good it is too. I added a FlorMar coat to most fingers because it is a yellow and it's not completely streak-free and that's what I do these days. £3 for a small bottle but that's actually reasonable because it is a funky colour. I know it's not a Mimosa dupe btw. Heck, it may not even be yellow!

Compare this to Illamasqua Rare which drove me to the point of abject despair and this is a total win. It's only very slightly streaky and it's glossy. The photo is a Day 3 pic so the wear is very good. It doesn't give me lobster mitts so you can conclude I am well chuffed with this.

Anybody have much truck with Barbara Daly? It means I have to go into Tesco (hate Tesco) but that is sometimes unavoidable.

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

Barielle Aura Angora + Konad Grey Pearl

Sorry. I ain't mastered the art of Konad - just got a polish by them.

The Barielle is not flattering. One of those effin' ugly shades known as fugly. But I like it. 2 coats. Not nearly as glossy as I imagined it would be. Top coat was absolutely essential.

I much prefer the Grey Pearl but BUT BUT it is an example of Jennifer thinking she knows it all.
See the vertical line? Course you do.
That's there because this polish never dries.
Not that they didn't warn me.
"Do not use this polish for any purpose except Konad as it will not dry under normal usage."
Something like that. Words to that effect.
But I knew better.  Or thought I did.
OK, Konad-people, you were right and I was wrong. You warned me. I went ahead. I admit it. It's designed to be used as a thin layer to be superimposed over a base colour using the Konad methods and tools. Not just slathered on like I intended.

No matter. It's very pretty.
Have you ever tried to use a product in a way it wasn't quite designed for?

Jennifer

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

Misa Hot Couture

This is of the colour family known as "fugly".

I LOVE it.
This is Day 3.
3 coats as far as I remember + base + top.
A bit thicker than usual for Misa but not too bad.

I've toyed with getting this for AAAAAAAAAAAGES. And so glad I  finally did.
It was reviewed a couple of times when it came out and nobody went overboard for it. But I've plunged a thousand leagues under the sea for this one.
So I now want Mac In The Buff - despite having said on all the blogs that it was vile. Now I think I'm ready to love fugly.

Do you have any ideas for me in the fugly end of the spectrum. Not yellow. I can make my own c0ck-ups as regards yellows. But do you know of anything like this or the Mac? I must get the new Camel one from China Glaze when it eventually lands on these shores.

OK, 2 questions for you.

1 Have you ever fallen for a colour that you thought was emphatically not YOU? Something you bought because it was on-trend and you thought you should try it just to say you had...
2 Can you recommend any more fuglies to me, please?

Bon weekend
Jenni

Wet'n'Wild Craze quartet

From my swap with Karen
Frazzle & Aniploish (I love that name, I do!)

Are these not super-cute? Also my first W'n'W.
Cancun and Cozumel

Tahiti and Bora Bora

Holiday destinations for the implausibly rich and famous?

Animal Testing - Day 1 - results of research from PETA
First a copy/paste

Search for Cruelty-Free Companies and Products > Results for Product That Do Not Test on Animals // Products: Nail Polish  Company A Different Daisy Acquarella Polish Almay Anise Cosmetics Bath & Body Works Bobbi Brown Body Shop, The Clinique Laboratories Cuccio Naturale DuWop Cosmetics, LLC E.L.F. Cosmetics Essie Cosmetics Estée Lauder Garden Botanika Gosh Cosmetics Green 4 Your Soul Hard Candy Hello Kitty Jane Jesse's Girl Cosmetics 1 2 Key PETA Mall Partner (Shopping at this company from PETA Mall link will provide a percentage to supporting PETA's work.) Vegan Company OK, back to me now.  Some I've heard of (ELF) and that's quite straightforward but I now have to check out the others. I started with Anise Cosmetics as they looked promising with entries in the vegan and mall-partner columns. Emailed them and they replied very promptly indeed.  Hi Jenni, THANKS for the note…we are BIG supporters of PETA and ALL animal rights organization…the first in the nail care business many years ago. Unfortunately, we do not ship internationally, nor do we sell online…..we make every seasonal collection FRESH …no sitting in warehouses…and “sell out” completely. Wish we could assist. Best, Jeff So well done to them. They are based in Florida. They have great-looking polishes.

This is called "Bring on the Silver".

And here is their contact info. I guess you'll have to go to Florida. Good luck with that. And serious best wishes to them. Long may they prosper.

So, of the fairly widely available (page 2 coming tomorrow) we have 

Clinique

ELF

Essie

GOSH

Hard Candy 

Hello Kitty

More news (and maybe even nails) tomorrow.

Jennifer

Orly Peridot Courage + Finger Paints Blissfully Blue + more Nails Etc haul

Got home. No post. Upstairs to first landing.
What's this?
Torn paper. Bubble wrap.
That'll be my nail varnish then.
Thanks, dog 3.

I only had one Orly. Now I have 3. Admittedly 2 are somewhat butchered about the rubber handle but hi de hi.

This is Peridot Courage. My b'day is in August and this is one of the "months" range.

3 coats. It's OK. It's yellow. Well, it's a rather greenish yellow and it isn't as foully streaky as most yellows so I'm not displeased.

The accent is the Finger Paints I got from Silver Diva and that went on well for a pastel creme. I think the trick with these is to use a lot of polish and let it settle onto the nail.

Can you see the green? Yes?
It's just not substantial enough so I may China Glaze Fairy Dust it or find a way to zhuzh it up.

Little devil had a good chew at this cap. It's one of the best caps out there and he desecrates it for me. Grrr.

More pix from Rebecca's giveaway as requested. My first/sole Ciate!!!
Isn't the orange MO pretty?

Atrocious shot of the NYC West Village making it look black (see yesterday).

Do they not look heart-rendingly cute?

Which polishes have the best/worst caps?
Orly = best
Nails Inc = worst (they are so big for my puddy-paws)

Hot day. Headache.
We got through to the next round of the WC. Hurrah.

Yes, but we scored an astronomical 2 goals in 3 games and have had to acknowledge that the US has a better side than we do. And (not criticising England now) I am appalled by the play-acting that's going on. It always has but it's so blatant now. All that "Ref, my face! He kicked me in the face. He has obliterated my face, ref!" rubbish. Get 'em off!

Evenin' all
J

Topshop - Bees Knees - yellow creme + the promised GIVEAWAY

3 coats but I was dreading this and it wasn't the streaky little b@stard of a yellow that I was expecting!

I did need 3 coats but I'm used to that and I do feel I got a good (for me) result.
These Topshop polishes get high marks from me. 3 out of 3 so far.

Outside pic. I've been doing this for a couple of months now and I've only just realised I get a more accurate photo in natural light! I had a love affair with a Mary Quant yellow in the Seventies or Sixties (can't properly remember) and I am trying to recapture that joy.

Bear with me before I get to my giveaway news, please.

Just another pic of Miner Denim Shorts because I remembered to get a natural light shot before I removed it and I do think it's sweet.

This is because I was attempting to show the pinky-red traits of this polish but I still failed. Both these pix are after 2 days of wear btw.

My giveaway. 

Misa Pour Me Something Tall & Strong

Runway Diva

Dirty, Sexy. Money   (er, what's with the commas, Misa???)

There'll be some nailart-y gubbins too. Or stuff I just shove in.

You can't enter yet because I haven't firmed up the entry conditions. All I know is this is UK only. BUT I am waiting for some more bits'n'bobs to arrive for the RoW (rest of the world). So I'll wait until I can open the giveaway to everyone.

I chose these because I love Misa and they're not easy to find in the UK. Not in the shops anyway.

I'm thinking of asking entrants to be followers and to make a comment and maybe answer some questions. That's OK, isn't it?

BUT what do YOU think makes fair/unfair giveaway terms and conditions? Extra entries for blogging? I really just want to say thank-you to the peeps who bear with me and not encourage followers who just sign up for the giveaway and then bugger off. I do try to comment on lot of blogs and not just pop up for the freebies but I know there are lurkers who just .....lurk. 

Oh, and have your giveaways ever gone to people who took the goodies never to be seen again? How do you feel about that?

And, speaking of giveaways, here's my gloriously glittery gift from Simone at GiveTheJewGirlToys!

Tum te tum

Jenni

Lambs would not forgive, nor worms forget....

What a nightmare!

Illamasqua Rare
Goody! I've got an Illamasqua (does little dance). It cost £6.50 from asos. Hurrah!

Hmmm. That's where the celebrations ended.
This is described on the Illamasqua website as neon and glossy.
Yes, neon AND GLOSSY.
I thought that was unusual.
Yes, it's very unusual. So unusual that it's not even true.

Let's start with my Eyeko Nude Day 4 (middle). Other layering is Hard Candy Cosmic and Nubar Tan Me. I like this mani. But today this came off.

I wanted to try my Illamasqua. So I removed this.

This is what I got after 3 coats. 3! Streaky and thick and gloopy and MATTE! Ignore nasty filing.
Yes, I shouldn't have believed the description. Everyone knows neons are matte but I DID believe them.

So I had to top this - I do like the colour, you see - with CG Fairy Dust and my Misa Breakneck TC.

I have emailed Illamasqua and got an instant response offering to change this and to amend the website description so that's good service.

I was a fool. I may change it. What should I change it for though?

HELP!

For Leanne - Post 1

Picture Key:

1 On 2 nails but I decided it looked odd on just 2 so walked the dogs and then did the rest

2 Didn't clean up - naughty me, mustn't take pix until I clean up

3 The thumb worked quite well

4 Whole hand (well, duh)

I've been following nail blogs (mostly) for about 7 months now. Does the world need another one? Who cares! Here's yet another one.

So why this one?

• I need to stop spending time and money ebuying (ebaying) and require an outlet for all that saved time and mental energy to curb my expenditure so this is mostly for me
• There aren't as many blogs with a uniquely British perspective as I'd like to see

So the first post is a thank-you to all British bloggers (whether I have already found you or not), all inspirational bloggers out there everywhere and my second attempt at nail art. I used Leanne's tutorial.

http://www.donotrefreeze.com/2010/04/easy-peasy-nail-design-2-d.html#comments

This girl is 18! I admire creative people. Oh, especially creative people with a steady hand!

Tiger nails with:

Base coat Misa Bang

couple coats Attitude School Bus to begin

use the sponge applicator to apply a bit of Misa Ghetto Fabulous

then more sponge with Maybelline Mandarin Heat

Used a no. 1 paintbrush from a craft shop for black stripes (Miss Sporty black)

For silver stripes used Mercia nail art pen/brush in silver

Over the top is CG Fairy Dust

Lastly Misa Breakneck and CG Fast Freeze

Please note

• The Ghetto isn't obvious enough
• My cuticles etc are awful but I'm 54 and I had years of obsessive handwashing which doesn't do your hands a GREAT deal of good
• The black stripes are not fine enough but I hope to improve with that
• The Fairy Dust doesn't really work but it looks more subtle IRL

Where do I get my stuff?

I google a lot of brands and add UK to find an etailer (Venus Nail and Beauty is good)

I ebay

Sally's

Directly from websites e.g. Eyeko, Barry M, Overall Beauty (Kim is the BEST)

Boots and Superdrug

TJ Hughes has Bourjois very cheap at the moment

I've started to look at market stalls as well because I need to rein in this compulsion!

Love from Jenni