MNY 265

This was one of the (many) polishes I picked up in Germany earlier this year

MNY is a funky Maybelline brand that I've not seen for sale anywhere in the UK. I picked up several from this brand as they had some fun and unusual colours.

Let's kick off with one I wasn't sure about....



This is 265, a raspberry jelly with fine holographic glitter



I'm not usually a fan of jellies or the vnl that goes with it but this is really pretty and I can just about overlook the VNL.

This is 3 coats, unfortunately there wasn't a lot of sun when I took these photos so the holographic glitter doesn't really jump out, but it is pretty subtle




Close-ups to show the glitter

Overall I liked this better than I expected and it's definitely unique in my collection.

Has anyone else tried these MNY's? or spotted them in the UK?

GOSH -Metallic Green

It is still August right? The weather in the UK this month has been terrible - this week it has rained, rained and rained some more.

Where is our summer?!

So as the weather has been so terrible for swatching I'm sharing an old swatch with you.

This is GOSH, the imaginatively named Metallic Green!



Shade




Sun

This is two coats with no top coat. I'm not sure if this is a foil or a pearl, it was easy to apply and surprisingly brushstroke free - so does that mean it's a pearl?

Either way it's a nice colour & finish.

Ciaté - Sugared Almonds

Gawd, sorry gals - I've been away too long. After the fab holiday in France, the much less fab tummy bug from hell (tip - don't swallow the river water!) followed by kitchen painting, crappy internet speeds and back to work I haven't had time to swatch or post.

So here's an old swatch, another from my small but perfectly formed Ciaté Paint Pots collection. This is Sugared Almonds.



Sugared Almonds is a pinky/peachish nude. This colour reminds me of vintage silk lingerie, it has a very elegant 40's feel to it and I really like it. Which of course is only emphaised by the cute vintage-style bottles.

It's not quite manequin hands on me but a pretty, fresh nude. Love it.

Application was good and this was 3 coats.

Ciaté retail for £9

RBL - Grunge

I'm off on holiday today! A week in Chamonix, in the French Alps, with my lovely man and his three equally lovely kids, all boys, aged between 11 and 15.

We're staying in a lovely apartment with views of Mont Blanc and have lots of fun stuff planned.
Despite being a well known ski resort, Chamonix is a great summer destination if you're not looking for sizzling temperatures and sandy beaches. The ski lifts are open throughout the summer so it's easy to do stunning hikes, there's also rock climbing, ice caves, white water rafting and the much loved luge - lots of stuff to keep teenage boys occupied!

I am taking a couple of mini bottles of polish with me but with our packed, outdoorsy itinerary there won't be much time for nails so I wanted to wear something low-key, long-wearing that wouldn't show chips too much but that I'd feel comfortable in (I'm not really a sheers kinda girl) so I finally decide on Grunge from Rescue Beauty Lounge.



Grunge is another of those greige/taupe/nude colours that's tricky to describe. It's not quite mannequin hands with my skin tone. I'd say it was a light taupe with a fair amount pinky lilac tones. There's also a very fine, unobtrusive/invisible silver shimmer there.

Of course it has the renowned RBL application qualities, this is two coats over Barielle Hydrating Ridge Filler, a coat of Nails Inc Albert Bridge and topped off with Seche Vite to dry.

I picked this up with a few other RBLs in their last 50% off sale. I'd heard great things about the polish before but I really couldn't justify the high price tag and hefty international shipping charges.

But thanks to that amazing sale and my wonderful polish enabling pal Carl, who lives in the US and is willing to act as my US postbox, I managed to get my hands on some, including all the blogger special editions.

And fortunately, or unfortunately as I now want more of them! they completely lived up to expectations. All opaque in barely two coats, amazing formula and gorgeous, edgy, unique colours. Definitely in the same ballpark as Illamasqua for me. If only they weren't so expensive.

Fingers crossed my mani lasts a few days and see you all in a week!