Monthly Archives: March 2011

GOSH Green Hawaii (+ Barry M Instant Nail Effects)

March 31, 2011 2 Comments

Click on the image to enlarge and appreciate the full holo-glitter goodness! 😀
This is a really pretty bright green polish, PACKED with holographic glitter. I’ve only seen one of these in store ever, so I don’t know if it’s been discontinued or something but if you see it snap it up 😀 It looks lovely, even on my pale skin tone (once again my hands look bright red in this pic, they aren’t… maybe I should adjust camera settings?) and is very bright! My only issue is finding an outfit to go with it. Perfect Halloween colour though, and seriously, the glitter is dazzling!
This is 3 coats, the third was because I had time on my hands and this polish is the only GOSH I have ever used that actually dries relatively quickly. I suppose it’s probably because it’s a glitter. Opaque in 2 coats though, and surprisingly not as garish as it looks like it could be. The only thing I should mention is that to get the full shiny dazzling effect you would be best advised to use a topcoat, I think it could really benefit from it, although it’s still really pretty and mostly smooth without it.
Also, coming from a heavy nail abuser, this polish still hasn’t chipped 2 days after application, without topcoat, where for me there is usually some form of chipping or tipwear after a day, even with the decent decent brands.
And because I couldn’t be bothered to take it off last night, I am the bearer of lizard nails:
Does anyone else find that the Barry M Instant Nail Effects leaves your base colour with a matte/velvety finish? It’s just not right with a glitter! Argh!
Thank you for reading 🙂
Emma xxx
Disclaimer: Everything mentioned in this blog post was either bought by myself with my own money, or given to me as a gift from friends/relatives. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Accessorize Illusions – Mermaid with Barry M Instant Nail Effects

March 31, 2011 Leave a comment

So it turns out I did take a photo after all!

As you can see, the Mermaid polish really ‘pops’ against the black. Love it 🙂
Emma xxx
Disclaimer: Everything mentioned in this blog post was either bought by myself with my own money, or given to me as a gift from friends/relatives. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Accessorize Illusions – Mermaid

March 30, 2011 1 Comment

In sunlight
In ‘shade’ (This is what it looks like when not under any direct light)
Mermaid is a beautiful duochrome electric turquoise (if there is such a colour) with greeny-blue, it just gleams at you, even when it’s not in direct light it is just so bright! As you can see this is a turquoise base absolutely packed with green-blue glitter, it has an almost foily finish but is so so bright. The green glitter is so reflective, I think that’s probably where the brightness comes from.
This was still the tiniest bit sheer at 2 coats, but with all that glitter no-one will notice. Dry-time was super-fast, as always with Accessorize polishes.
I’ve had so many compliments with this polish, it’s one of my favourites. I am so impressed with the Illusions range – well done Accessorize!
I have also discovered that this is the perfect base for the black crackle. Since buying black crackle I’ve not been overly impressed but this combination is just STUNNING. Sadly I didn’t get any pictures before it chipped but I’ll definitely be trying that combo again as it’s a great way of drawing out the wear of the polish and plus it just looks fab, so keep an eye out 😉
EDIT:
I’ve also heard and by the looks of the photos agree that this is a very close dupe of OPI Catch Me In Your Net, Zoya Charla and Orly Halley’s Comet, so if you want a cheaper alternative (Catch Me In Your Net is also discontinued) then go for Accessorize Mermaid!
Hope everyone’s alright, starting to get back my blogging mojo lol feeling a lot better now, blood test results tomorrow and fingers crossed for the all clear! Thanks for reading 🙂
Emma xxx
Disclaimer: Everything mentioned in this blog post was either bought by myself with my own money, or given to me as a gift from friends/relatives. All opinions expressed here are my own.

BeautyUK – Coral Surprise – No.33

March 28, 2011 Leave a comment

This is the coral I have been looking for for so long! Beautiful application, as ever, no complaints. This polish was a little bit sheer at 2 coats but a 3rd sorted that out. Any VNL you can see is actually the staining on my nails which for some reason showed up on the camera but not in real life :s

Gorgeous gorgeous colour and perfect for this lovely sunshine we’ve been having here, sorry there are no sunshine photos but often by the time I get round to taking the photos it’s after dark 🙁

Dry time was fab with this polish, really quick but not too quick (by that I mean that it didn’t dry while applying!)

Absolutely in love with this colour, a beautiful orangey red, a lovely way to brighten up a dark outfit but not so bright that it gives you lobster hands/looks tacky. Love it. Again, at £1.79 (although Superdrug charged me £1.99!) this is one where you just can’t go wrong.

Hope you’re all well, sorry I’ve been absent a lot only I’ve just been so busy, on top of being absolutely knackered just doesn’t help! I have some lovely ones coming up though, and another BeautyUK polish so watch out 😉
Emma xxx

Disclaimer: Everything mentioned in this blog post was either bought by myself with my own money, or given to me as a gift from friends/relatives. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Illamasqua Scarab

March 24, 2011 1 Comment

Here is the second of the Illamasqua duo bought here at Asos, if you didn’t read my previous post, it is a STEAL at £10.35 for both Illamasqua Viridian and Scarab, full size!

Here is what it looks like the majority of the time, quite a dark velvety brown.
In false lighting it looks like this.
And in (relative) sunshine it looks like this.
There is a bit of a yellowy-orangey shimmer to it which I couldn’t seem to capture, though not half as orangey as it appears in the bottle which is a shame. This colour really mostly reminds me of rust. I have to say I’m not so keen on this one as I am on Viridian, purely because at a glance you don’t see the shimmer and it just looks quite brown and murky.
The application on this one too is lovely, very smooth and self-levelling, and of course having discovered the hidden lid much easier than that of Viridian! This one too was very easy to remove, and opaque in two coats. Again it dried with a velvety appearance, so if you wanted a shiny polish you’d definitely need top coat. Maybe that would increase the shimmer-visibility too!
Hope you are all well, I’ve just come back from a blood test but they couldn’t draw any blood from either of my elbow veins, and so drew it from a vein in my wrist which is now very painful – I am feeling a  bit like a pincushion. Due to said wrist pain I apologise if my spelling is a bit dire in this one my brain seems to have been affected too lol.
Emma xxx
Disclaimer: Everything mentioned in this blog post was either bought by myself with my own money, or given to me as a gift from friends/relatives. All opinions expressed here are my own.