Wednesday 30 December 2009

Jermyn Street Glitter

Another quick Christmas mani posting.

This is Jermyn Street Glitter from Nails Inc.

 

It's a special glitter mini version produced for a recent QVC TSV. With all the recent work madness I missed the TSV but really wanted to try the glitter version of Jermyn Street.

Thankfully my lovely BFF gifted it to me for Christmas. I didn't open her gifts until yesterday but wanted to try this straight away.

Jermyn Street is one of those mushroomy/taupey colours and the original is a defnite favourite of mine. The glitter in this version is silver and pretty fine but enough to lift the colour.

In comparison here's a very old and messy shot of the original Jermyn Street



And one of my first posts was a taupe comparison including Jermyn Street and $OPI Metro Chic

nails inc is a UK based nail bar chain who also sell their polish & treatments through stores, online and QVC. They began in London and all polishes are named after London streets. I've never had one of their mani's but I do have a *lot* of their polishes!

Jermyn Street is mostly known for it's gentleman's outfitters, a place for men to buy shirts, both made to measure and off the peg.

Monday 28 December 2009

Teal Creme Comparisons

After being inspired by the lovely Nikki's review of Totally Teal from Boots No7 I got hold of a bottle for myself.

It's a gorgeous teal creme but while swatching it I had a sense of deja vu, didn't I have another colour that was very similar?

So I dug out some bottles and did a quick comparison. First up, the bottle shot
 
l-r No7 Totally Teal, Illamasqua Muse, Nails Inc Portland Place and Ciaté Paint Pots in Superficial

They're all the same colour family, but Muse looks a bit lighter

 
 
On the nail it's the same story, Muse is significantly different and lighter. As for the other three, Totally Teal (index) and Superficial (pinkie) look very dupey. Portland Place is greener and more jellyish although this was more visible IRL. This was 2 coats of each, but Portland Place was the least opaque.

I left the skittles on overnight and the next day remembered the Nails Inc Hills collection had a similar colour, Rodeo Drive.

So I replaced Muse with Rodeo Drive (and freshened up the others)

 

So now l-r is Totally Teal, Rodeo Drive, Portland Place and Superficial

Rodeo Drive is more dupey than Muse but is slightly more navy toned. The closest dupes are still Totally Teal and Superficial although in these pics Superficial looks a tad darker - not much in it though!

So I probably don't need both. Price wise they're not worlds apart, the RRP for Ciaté Paint Pots is probably more at £9 compared with No7 at £6.25 but I got mine in a deal and didn't pay that much.

Update: Just found another comparison for Superficial on Parokeets site: Essence – Meet You In Budapest vs. Ciate Paint Pots – Superficial

Sunday 27 December 2009

Christmas NOTD

Hope you're all having a lovely Christmas?

Here's a quick Christmas NOTD to share
 
 
It's another one of those L&B glitters from the cheapo Sainsbury's set. This is two coats of the mauve glitter (they don't seem to have names or numbers) over Illamasqua Velocity.

I previously showed you the black glitter - There's also a clear holo glitter and and plain red creme that I haven't tried yet

Friday 18 December 2009

Nails Inc Winter Party Collection - Part IV

I think I saved the best till last, although this is a stunning collection that's a tough call, this is Heddon Street, rather pedestrianly described as a plum shimmer, which does not begin to describe how gorgeous this polish is. It's definitely a 'lit from within'.


Shade

 
Sun

 
I had trouble capturing the full effect in pictures, hence so many!

Click on the pics for huge versions and more wonderfullness.


Bottle shot

 
Close-up to show the utter awesomeness

In summary this is a fantastic collection, every one is pretty, Christmassy, easy to apply and unique to my collection. I love it.

Thursday 17 December 2009

Nails Inc Christmas Party Collection - Part III

Part III is Kingly Street - pale silvery grey polish with silver sparkles.

 
Shade

 
Sun

Opaque in two coats, this is a sparkle rather than a glitter, but it's lovely and very glitzy. Again two coats and good application - is anyone sensing a theme yet?!

Wednesday 16 December 2009

Nails Inc - The Winter Party Collection - part II

The second part of the Nails Inc Winter Party Collection stars The Mall, a deep metallic violet

 
Sun

 
Shade

This is another stunner, only two coats and great application.

I did have to tweak these a little to get the purple more purple but this is now pretty colour accurate.

Stay tuned for part III tomorrow

Tuesday 15 December 2009

Nails Inc - Winter Party Collection - part 1



The Nails Inc Winter Party Collection is a collection of four polishes and I've gotta say after the disappointment of the Hills Collection, these restored my, actually not that dented, faith in Nails Inc.

So on with the official descriptions from Nails Inc

Petticoat Lane - cerise glitter
The Mall – deep metallic violet
Kingly Street – silver glitter
Heddon Street - plum shimmer

Don't they even sound gorgeous?

I'm gonna tease you with these and post them individually.

First up is Petticoat Lane

 
 
Petticoat Lane is a raspberry jelly liberally sprinkled with a variety of pink glitters.

 

I would strongly suggest clicking on these for big versions and a closer look at the gorgeousness.

Tomorrow I bring you The Mall, a fabulous purple shimmer that is positively royal in it's lushness.

Monday 7 December 2009

L&B Sparkle polish

Gawd, no posts for two weeks - sorry folks. It's been a frantic time, with work and personal life.

Hopefully I'll have more time to post this week, in the meantime here are some shots of recent manicures, or to be more accurate; me slapping a coat of cheapo holo glittery goodness over existing manicures! [I've had no time for mani's either]

 
 


 


I'll post more about these polishes soon but the glitter/holo topcoat is from a 4 piece set I picked up in Sainsbury's (a UK supermarket). The set is 1 creme (red) and 3 holo glitters. All of these pics show the black glitter layered over existing dark mani's (Nails Inc Berkeley Square and a burgundy/aubergine shimmer from Black Up). The polish base is pretty thin so this is best kept as a layering polish. For me it's been a lifesaver to slap over an existing tip-worn mani for a fast freshen up.