BB Couture Bullfighter

Squishy, jelly red.
The ridges on the ring finger nail are just SOOOOO bad.
Sorry.

3 coats.
This is one amazing polish. It sorts of gloops on in a way one can almost feel and HEAR. It's beautifully thin and controllable but it has the consistency of double cream or something. I just painted and painted because it was so satisfying. I've since added Napa Valley Red to it and that's special too.

Loving this. (I did have a huge chip on the middle finger after 2 days though which I do not believe was my fault. Hm. No matter.)

Jenni

BB Couture Eve

Is it brown or dark olive green? Not sure. With teal sparkle.
I love it. I love all BB polishes - even the ones (usually blue like Sea of Cortez) that don't suit me. There's something special about BB. Not just the fabulous customer service you get from Kim at Overall Beauty. Not just the funky colours. Not just the small-business ethos.  Somehow I love everything about BB.

Waxing lyrical over. Photo.

The next one, heavily flash-bleached as it is, does show the different glittery sparkles. One review says this polish dries quite bumpy but I didn't find this to be the case.

Trying to get my nails square as they tend to come out rounded but my patience is quickly exhausted with this kind of intricate enterprise. Hence the odd little finger. Heck, all my digits are probably odd. I really can't be faffed with nail shape/length accuracy.

Your polishes are arbitrarily restricted to only
A blues
B browns
C greens

Which would you opt for? I think I'll have to go with B but I'm getting ever fonder of C.

Jenni

CND Effects Gold Sparkling + Barry M Hexograms

On top of the Champagne and Ghetto Fabulous. Getting in festive mood. And too idle to remove the previous manis. Mustn't forget that.

With the layering I now prefer the Misa Ghetto Fabulous to the Models Own Champagne.

Jenni

Clarks Block Party

The exercise of Platonic syllogistic reasoning.

Proposition A Many women love nail polish.
Proposition B All women wear shoes.

Therefore all women who love nail polish also love shoes.

The story begins.
Bear with.
Went to town for hair dye (cosmic blue). Looked in at Clarks. Seductive 50% sale. Had to have these. They have my favourite heel-shape ever. The Louis heel. Looked online and they are also available in aubergine, plum and some other colour suede. Sold.

Awkward angles as I twisted my foot rather than get a mirror. 

Forgive the stripy tights. I like them. What can I say.

These are the feet of Mme Pompadour. Painted in 1756 by Boucher. Do you believe these shoes? Now that is the genuine article. The Louis heel in all its original glory.

What is your shoe must-have? I also love platforms and wedges and buckles.

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

Accessorize Mermaid

Foil. How I love foils.

Got a Models Own order of foils on the way.

Way better than my pic suggests. But these huge macros never do me any favours. Dunno why I do 'em.

£4. Bargain. Steal.

Vote for a finish
A foil
B creme
C glitter
D jelly
E shimmer
F frost
G specialist flakie topcoat
H other
I gold leaf (I believe it DOES exist)
J Minx or similar
K nicotine
L I hoped to get to Z but it's not happening for me....
M a new finish as yet to be invented - feel free

Jenni

Accessorize Pink Spice

This is a great polish. Changes according to the light. I love this. Not as much as Mermaid (coming tomorrow to a blog near you). Still love it.

Aye caramba! Or however you spell it.

Now that OPI has gone over to Coty (the dark animal-testing side) I really am going to work harder to source brands that suit my ethical requirements. So I'm going to get plenty more Accessorize. Made in the UK so reducing carbon footprint. Great colours. Won't stop me buying great US brands like BB Couture (small business, women-run) but I shall make more effort to justify my purchases on more than just aesthetic grounds.

Where do you stand on animal testing? Not sorry to harp on about it btw.

Jenni

BB Couture Poison Ivy + China Glaze Party Hearty

There is about 3 or 4 days of wear evident in this pic. Hence the particularly dodgy middle finger. Didn't put enough PH over the top either. And the nail growth.

Eek! But I've been busy with my cousin and her husband from Philly. Too busy to worry about nails.

Feeling more Christmassy today as it is now December and we had our Christmas fair at school. This can go either way and make me completely 'Bah humbug!' or cautiously festive. Today I'm leaning towards 'slightly seasonal'.

Jenni

The Christmas poll

Are you
A a droopy Christmas fairy
B an industrious Christmas elf
C the Grinch's evil twin
D a shiny bauble on a magic tree?

asos

Ever heard of carbon footprint?

Saw 2 good (well, OK) bargains on OPI on asos. Free P&P so let's go. Ordered them same day. Minutes apart in 2 transactions. Because I didn't make my mind up about the 2nd one very quickly.

OK, I should/could have done this more effectively in 1 transaction. So they sent 2 boxes. BUT....

Does the effin' box in relation to the contents (1 measly polish and an invoice) make any sense? And a huge 'bubble' that would be better employed cushioning a piece of furniture.

So I had 2 polishes and 2 immense boxes. Going even further (how very dare I) than expecting them to match the size of box to size of item purchased I am now going to be so bold as to suggest they design some software that recognises that the same buyer has made 2 purchases in a day and combines the items in a single package. Not possible? Well, why not?

I hate waste and this is just wrong...

Jenni