Golden Rose - Rich Color - 118

Taupe with gold shimmer  

Another Golden Rose from my trip to Istanbul last year

118 is a lovely taupe creme shot through with a warm gold/copper fine shimmer.  The shimmer isn't super visible on the nail but definitely adds depth to the polish.

Application was fine despite the flaunted 'One Step Maxi Brush' which is never a positive for me!  Swatches are 2 coats, no top coat.

I've got quite a collection of taupe+shimmer polishes now - time for a comparison I think!

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.

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....

Golden Rose - Rich Color 34

Rich burgundy shimmer  

Golden Rose Rich Color in 34 is a rich, shimmering plum/burgundy.

This was almost a one-coat wonder for me and the polish is marketed as a one-coat product, but these swatches are 2 coats for full depth of colour.

And the one-step maxi brush wasn't too bad at all.  I think I'm realising that not all wide or maxi brushes are terrible for me - although there is still a special place in hell for the MeMeMe maxi wide brushes!

Golden Rose - Paris 140

Deep grey/navy crelly 

Another from my Istanbul haul...

140 is a greyed navy crelly, which applies both darker but slightly less grey than it looks in the bottle.

Application was great and these swatches are 3 coats, no top coat.

But look at that shine!  I can see the sky and the green bush outside my window reflected in the shine.

Golden Rose - Galaxy 14

Purple glitter sand finish  

Back in February the Husband and I spent a long weekend in Istanbul for my Birthday.  Despite the cold and snow I'd totally recommend it, fabulous city with so much to see.

On our last morning we did a bit of shopping and I managed to find a Golden Rose store where I picked up a few interesting polishes.

Here's the first of those....

Galaxy is a range of textured and glitter polishes

14  is a purple sand finish polish with some hexagonal and smaller glitter pieces in there, though they kinda get swallowed by the sand!

I used 2 coats and no top coat for these swatches as as you'd expect for a sand finish it dries pretty matte although there's a touch of satin gleam.

Alix Avien - 243 (Paradoxal dupe)

Purple/taupe with purple shimmer

I picked up this polish on hols in Turkey last year, from a quick google search I'm pretty sure it's a native Turkish brand which is cool.

Obviously it's not the most unique of colours, I'm sure it was created as a dupe for Chanel Paradoxal, but hey, it's a good dupe and was a lot cheaper than Chanel!

Swatch shown is 2 coats with no top coat.

Formula was gloopy and a little tricky to work with.  I wore this on holiday and it lasted well

It's pretty of course, just like the original!

I'm back!

Gah, 3 weeks away from the blog.  I have good reasons, I promise!

First week I was on holiday in Turkey with my beloved - fantastic, relaxing, blissful, just what we needed, seems like such a long time ago now.

Second week I was at a conference in Berlin for work - less blissful, not helped by catching horrible gastric flu mid week.  Being ill when you're away from home and don't speak the language is crap.  And then this week has been a continuation of the lurgy.  I think I might finally be getting over it...

Of course it being a trip to Germany (again) I managed a bit of polish shopping, and even picked up a couple in Turkey!

Essence magnet, magnetics x2 and a a glitter top coat.

 A couple of Essence top coats from a weird rotating display.  2 x Essence nudes.

 4 x Misslyn.  Haven't seen or tried this brand before, are they new?

 2 x P2 (have loved all the ones I've tried before) and a P2 crackle.  I'm not really a crackle fan but this one looked so pretty I couldn't resist.

 Turkish polish!  Alix Avien.  They were about a pound each so I'm not expecting much!

And I succumbed to Peridot in Duty Free.  I kept looking a pictures and swatches and trying to find anywhere in the UK I could buy it online for less than silly money and then there it was in Duty Free, reader, my willpower deserted me. 

Swatches and reviews to follow.