Wednesday 30 December 2015

Go - 91

Teal purple duochrome  





More from 2009, this is Go - 91.  A polish this lovely really deserves a name but unfortunately it is stuck with 91.

91 is a teal green/purple duochrome.

Swatches are 2 coats with no top coat which is brilliant coverage from a £2 polish.

In the bottle it's much more green than on the nail and in the sunlight it sparkles, in the shade it's almost a pearl.

I think I picked this up from an Indian fashion shop in Slough that had a small selection of cheapie cosmetics.

Tuesday 29 December 2015

GOSH - Frou Frou

Metallic silvery pink foil




More old swatches, again from 2009!  I haven't had the time or nails to do much swatching recently so I'm digging through my old, unposted pics.

This one is  quite a win, it's Frou Frou from GOSH.  Frou Frou is a silvery pale pink metallic polish that dries smooth.  Is it a metallic or a foil? Or are they the same thing?

Swatches are 3 coats with no top coat but it's easy to apply and fast to dry.

Monday 28 December 2015

Pixi - Sexsea

Bright coral creme  


Oh dear, only one picture of this, but that's probably for the best as it was a nightmare.

This was a 'new' brand compulsion (ie a brand I didn't have) -  and it cost a totally unworth-it £5 from ASOS back in 2009.

Sexsea (I should've known from that name!) is a bright coral creme

It was horrible to apply, the brush is ok, longish and neat but it kept dropping big blobs on my nail no matter how well I wiped.

And this is 3 coats and I still have VNL.

The bottle is tall and slim and at only 7ml barely bigger than a mini.

Just horrid.  Avoid in the unlikely event you come across this.  From a quick google it seems Pixi is now sold in Marks & Spencer and direct from Pixi Beauty but the polish names are different so hopefully the formula is too!


Friday 18 December 2015

Deborah Milano - Purple Batik 15

Pink glass fleck 






This is super pretty, if rather sheer - and it's definitely not purple - who comes up with these names!

Purple Batik is a raspberry glass fleck shimmer.  You can see in the bottle shot there's also some mild holo action going on but I couldn't see that on my nails at all.

Swatches shown are 3 coats with no top coat and it's still a little sheer in the blurry full sun pic.

As you'd expect from the name, Deborah Milano is an Italian brand, I picked this up from a French sale site but the brand has now launched in the UK and the Prêt-à-Porter polishes are currently on offer for just £1!

Monday 30 November 2015

Nails Inc November - Arlington Street

Purple shimmer  

For the last day of a somewhat sporadic Nails Inc November I've chosen something with a hint of glitter.



Arlington Street is a gorgeous purple shimmer with lots of blue and pink micro-glitter.  In the bottle there's a hint of duo-chrome but as you can see nothing that shows in my pics!

Application was ok, swatches are 3 coats and I do still have a couple of baldish patches.

Again I think this might've been a QVC exclusive but from a bottle comparison it looks to be very similar, if not a dupe of, Franklin's Row.


Sunday 29 November 2015

Nails Inc November - Berkeley Mews

Navy Shimmer  





Berkeley Mews is a blackened slightly blurple navy shimmer that's wonderfully opaque.

Swatches shown are two coats you could probably get away with one if you were careful.  

Pretty sure this was a QVC special which they described as Navy Metallic but I think that's pushing it a bit!

Not a current colour but it pops up on ebay pretty often.

Tuesday 24 November 2015

Nails Inc November - Pool

Bright blue creme  

Another old swatch of an even older polish...


Obviously from a short lived time when I was adding the polish name to the photo - safe to say I don't have the time to do that anymore!

Pool is a long discontinued shade, from at least 2009 and I think may have been exclusive to ASOS. It certainly doesn't fit the Nails Inc London naming convention.

It's a wonderful bright, mid-blue creme.  Swatches are 2 coats, no top coat and I think you can see from my fingers that this might be a stainer!

Nails Inc hasn't done a lot of this kind of shade, from a quick rootle in the blue/grey/glitter drawer it looks to be somewhat similar to All Saints Road although I think that's more muted and maybe more of a dupe for another vintage Nails Inc,  Royal Court.

Monday 23 November 2015

Nails Inc November - Brighton

Hot pink shimmer




Brighton is a slightly muted hot pink shimmer.  This is from the Colour & Care range which has vitamins A&E added - in case you needed that!

This one is definitely on the sheer side, swatches are 3 coats and I still have some VNL.

I think this shade is from 2009.

I have a few similar Nails Inc shades in my (extensive) collection so I did a quick comparison swatch.

Comparison l-r Brighton, Sloane Street, Montrose Place, Brighton

Sloane Street is a cooler pink, with a stronger shimmer and Montrose Place is also a cooler, deeper pink with a stronger, sparklier shimmer and only took 2 coats.


Saturday 21 November 2015

Nails Inc November - Lowndes Square

Dusky purple creme  



Some stubby swatches from a while ago.

This is Lowndes Square, a dusky purple/lilac creme with a hint of brown/mink that totally doesn't show in my swatches!

Lowndes Square is from the Autumn/Winter Collection 2010, so pretty near vintage!

Swatches shown are 2 coats, no top coat.

Friday 20 November 2015

Nails Inc November - Eaton Mews

Raspberry pink jelly with fine sparkles  



Eaton Mews is a jelly leaning raspberry with lots of fine shimmer - the shimmer is gold and pink.

Swatches are 2 coats with no top coat and it is fairly sheer/jelly so there's some VNL.  But it's also lovely and shiny.

Probably not super unique but very pretty.


Thursday 19 November 2015

Nails Inc November - The Royal Mews

Taupe shimmer/frost

A rather belated start to Nails Inc November....





The Royal Mews is a vintage Nails Inc and I think is one of the shade names that they later reused for a completely different polish (ggrrgghh)

The Royal Mews is a cool toned taupe shimmer verging on a frost - check out those brushstrokes!

Swatches shown are 2 coats, no top coat.

I do love the colour, if not the finish.

Monday 2 November 2015

Nubar - Reef Green

Bright green shimmer





Reef Green is a bright apple green pearl.

Application was good, although you have to take care with brushstrokes.  Swatches shown are 3 coats and there's still a little VNL in full sunlight.

This is certainly an unusual colour and not exactly one that suits my skintone but hey, it's fun!

Sunday 1 November 2015

Flormar - Pale Eucalypt

Grey creme

Sorry readers, October was a bit of a washout.  I was away on holiday for a week and managed to catch a horrible lurgy which lingered and lingered and I just haven't had the energy to do anything. Finally feeling myself again so back into blogging!

Here's another Flormar from Turkey, this time the intriguingly named Pale Eucalypt.

 





Pale Eucalypt is a mid grey 'jelly look' creme which seems more blue toned than the green you'd expect from the name.

This is a 'Jelly Look' polish which made me think it'd turn out crelly but actually I think 'jelly look' is more like 'Gel Look' in that it's super shiny.

Application on this was great, even with that pesky looking flat wide brush!  Swatches are 2 coats, no top coat.



Sunday 20 September 2015

Deborah Milano - 87

Bright purple shimmer  




Now you all know I'm a taupe lover but boy do I love an intense purple shimmer too, one of my all time favourite polishes is a L'Oreal Jet Set in a similar colour - 225.

So here's a similar shade from Deborah Milano, 87.

Swatches shown are two coats, no top coat, but looking at the full sun pics I probably needed a third coat, I can see a little thinness around the cuticle.

Deborah Milano is Italy's No1 Makeup brand and is now available in the UK!  The Pret à Porter polishes are available for  £3.50


Tuesday 15 September 2015

Flormar - Blue Industry 450

Dark turquoise crelly  

Another polish from my long weekend in Istanbul (wonderful place despite the snow!) back in February when  I managed to grab a quick hours shopping on our last day including the Flormar and Golden Rose stores.







Blue Industry is a slightly teal leaning turquoise blue crelly, is that petrol blue?

Application was good and swatches are 2 coats, no top coat.  As it's a crelly there's a hint of nail line amongst the squishiness.

There's something quite old-school about the Flormar bottles, a combination of the tall handle and white plastic I think....

Friday 11 September 2015

Leighton Denny - Morning Dew

Cool green creme  

Here's the second of my Harper's Bazaar covermount freebies, Morning Dew.


 




Morning Dew is a cool green creme that leans towards turquoise

Application was good, swatches are 2 coats with no top coat.

Ooops just realise you can see the break in my index finger nail, time to top up the superglue!

Thursday 10 September 2015

Leighton Denny - It's an Honour

Cool taupe shimmer/pearl  

Free with this months issue (October - Michelle Dockery cover) of Harper's Bazaar is a choice of 6 shades of Leighton Denny polish.   Now the magazine isn't something I'd normally buy and it's a rather hefty tome with a price tag to match of £4.40.

But £4.40 for a choice from six full size Leighton Denny polishes?  That's my kind of deal.  I think this is the 4th year Harper's have done a LD covermount.

I picked up two copies earlier this week with Morning Dew, a cool green creme and It's an Honour, featured today.

 




It's an Honour is a taupe (my fave) but it's unusual shade of taupe, being very cool and quite light, almost like it's been mixed with silver.  And the finish is somewhere between shimmer and pearl to me.

Application was good, I do like the narrow LD brushes and swatches shown are 2 thick coats, if you stick to thin you'll need 3.

I really like this colour, very work appropriate but still interesting.

UK readers, have you availed of the freebie polish?!