Nail Polish

Okay so here are my New Years nails… only about a month and a half late! I’ve been so busy, it just hasn’t happened. I’m sorry.

This is two coats of OPI Divine Swine followed by one coat of Barry M Once Upon a Time

I love this combo as it’s very much pink but the holographic bar glitter of Once Upon a Time really jumps out. The glitters both dry relatively quickly. Once Upon a Time takes longer as it’s largely clear nail polish with the bar glitter suspended in it. Also it’s worth mentioning you need to shake the bottle first in order to get the bar glitter to come out! I’m not even going to talk about removing it…!

What do you guys think?

Nearly finished my placement, I’ve handed in my case study and performed my presentation so there’s nothing to stop me blogging any more 😀

x

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.

It’s been forever and a day since I posted on here! I’m really sorry… life has been so hectic on placement, I’ve been leaving at 6.30am and getting home at 6.30pm, and with everything going on I’ve been needing more sleep than ever so that has left me with about 4hrs each night to see my man, have dinner, shower and get ready for the next day. I have about a week and a half left which will include my case study and presentation, eek! Anyways, since I’ve been on placement my nails have been totally bare. Suffice to say they are looking nice and natural again, I can almost say there isn’t a stain in sight! It’s a good feeling, although I prefer to have at least a slick of clear polish on just to make them look a little nicer. At least sheers will look nice on me again 😀 yay.

Anyways, last time I posted I think I mentioned something about a new years manicure. I’m posting the base of the mani now as a reference point. Divine Swine was the final of the 3 OPI Muppets polishes I bought from asos. The pictures show 2 coats.

Yet again, I really can’t see why everyone hated these polishes for being quite sparse with the glitter. As far as I can see, the density is just right for layering over other polishes, as well as being just right for building up to a full on glitter fest!

I loove all the Muppets glitters and I am gutted I didn’t get Gone Gonzo! while it was still being sold. Now I can’t really afford it from le eBay.

I may be very alone in my love for Divine Swine at 2 coats, as there is definitely natural nail on show. But I really like it that way. Don’t ask me why. The polish is essentially fuchsia-pink glitter and silver hexagonal glitter suspended in a clear base.

Application:

Divine Swine dries quickly and doesn’t drag, which is good. As you can see, there are still baldy bits at 2 coats so I reckon 3-4 would give you full coverage. It’s definitely a fab one for layering!

I like the fact that there’s an even spread of the silver hexagons across the nail, and that you don’t have to go fishing in the bottle to get a similar number of hexagons on each nail.

What’s your verdict guys? I am definitely a fan. Look out for my New Years combo which will hopefully be up soon.

By the way, how are you all? I’ve missed you and I’ve missed my blog. This January I’ve been practically buried in some amazing books. My crime-fiction addiction has definitely gone into overdrive this year. Placement-wise I am really enjoying the confidence I can feel emerging in myself. I used to be the shyest thing ever. It’s been a very slow progression but with the help of a very loving Andy and a degree which is doing the most wonderful things to my personality I am really starting to feel my confidence blooming. Enough waffling now. Hope you are all good! Let me know what’s going on with you 😀

x

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.

So guys, how come when the old crackle nail polish came around everyone went so crazy about it, despite it’s flaws (dried matte, too lumpy, a bit tatty etc.) and now when this lovely croc effects (i.e. improved crackle) comes out, no-ones talking about it?

I layered it over Barbara Daly Starlight.

For me, this hands-down wins over all the shatter/crackle polishes we’ve been seeing lately. As far as I can think of, you can break it down into these points:

• Glossy – doesn’t need a topcoat
• Looks amazing with a light/bright colour underneath, particularly one which sparkles
• Takes a long time to dry – about 10 mins
• If you smudge it you can go over it and it won’t make much of a difference
• The polish underneath has to be touch-dry, not totally dry or it wont work (the best thing I found for this when my polish underneath was already dry was to use a quick-drying topcoat, and applying it over that)
• The black is quite thick, hence the little mess in my cuticles
• £3.99 at Superdrug
• It’s very similar to Kelier Crackle

To me, this is a little bit of a hassle as I only ever use crackle polish to brighten up an existing manicure without spending time on it. However, this gives a rather more sophisticated, I’ve-tried-hard kind of look and will garner many compliments! The polish is much more pleasing to the eye. Bonus points for still being glossy!

My lovely Mum gave me this for Christmas. 🙂

What do you think of it? Have you bought it? Let me know in the comments!

x

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.

My new favourite brand. This polish, particularly, is one of my new favourite polishes of all time – alongside colour and quality, this is largely due to the cruelty-free nature of the product. It’s BUAV Approved so I know it’s cruelty-free. I’m sure you all know now how I feel about cosmetic animal testing, so this brand is welcomed by me with arms wide open. Add in to the mix the fact that the polish is toluene, phthalate and formaldehyde free and has a fabulous formula and you have me right there.

This polish was kindly given to me by my mum for Christmas… what can I say, she chose well! I was a little underwhelmed when I first saw the bottle, but when I applied it to my nails, well, I’ll leave you to see for yourselves!

How stunning is this polish?! I was pretty much sold on Barry M Lilac Foil Effects but Heather Mist wins hands down. In comparison, Heather Mist is a lot lighter, more pink-toned and more shimmer-pearl in finish, while Lilac Foil is darker, much more blue toned and has a much more chromey-pearl finish. Heather Mist is so much more airy, delicate and feminine, I’m thinking unicorns, while Lilac Foil by comparison is heavy and solid, and puts me in mind of heavy machinery. I find Heather Mist to be far more flattering to my skintone. (Though of course I still love Lilac Foil!)

Perfect name for it too, Heather Mist is very delightfully misty and whimsical. I love it!

Application:

Heather Mist dries super fast and is opaque in two coats. What more could be better? Due to the shimmery nature of the polish, brush-strokes are avoidable. You need to be careful to paint straight from edge to edge, and if you do end up with brush-strokes don’t be tempted to go over it again… leave it for the second or third coat when the previous coat is dry.

My only flaw with this polish is availability. I really don’t know anywhere that stocks it, other than Boswells in Oxford. However, they do sell at the online BWC Shop, which I haven’t yet used myself. You can also read a bit about the company’s history and policies on animal testing and ingredients on the website. The polishes retail at £7.99 but let me tell you, this one is SO worth it.

What do you guys think? I am so in love with this polish it’s unreal. It’s overwhelmingly pretty and dainty and goes with my chameleon skin-tone whatever the weather decides to do! Even lobster hands can get away with this one. Can it get better? 😛

x

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.

Um.. so I didn’t get round to that new year’s nail polish because, well, I didn’t have one. I wore Barry M Indigo, which I took photos of, but they just don’t come out right. Sorry 🙁 I will definitely do a new-year’s-themed nail post though… I have it on my nails right now!

Oh yeah, happy new year to you all 🙂 how did you spend new year’s eve? Tell me! Or link me to your blog posts! I had a lovely evening with my Andy – he treated me to a marvelous meal out, then we watched the countdown on TV (man I love those fireworks! Did I ever tell you that one of my many life dreams/goals is to organise firework displays?! Never going to happen but.. I can dream!) with his family & neighbours. We then watched Lee Mack (hilarious!) – all in all it was a fab night. The next day I went to visit my Granny in Wales. 🙂

Anyway, enough boring you all… I’ll do a full long synopsis of what’s happened in my life in 2011 on my (new!!!) lifestyle blog – ghostofmysoul… I’ll let you know when that’s up!

Glitter in the Air was the second Deborah Lippmann polish my Andy gave me for Christmas… I am utterly overwhelmed by Deborah Lippmann, or at least the three I’ve tried, and eternally grateful for such wonderful gifts!

As is well known in the blogosphere, Glitter in the Air is very sheer. Which personally, I love! Maybe I would love it even more if my nails weren’t so yuckily stained…! Anywho, I layered it over Barry M Blue Moon, to give the illusion of opacity, and it looked, ah-may-zing!

I layered Glitter in the Air over Blue Moon because the latter has a somewhat jellyish formula, so that the sheer-cum-jelly formula of Glitter in the Air wasn’t lost by layering it over a harsh, chalky pastel. I think it maintains the jellyish quality of Glitter in the Air quite well – and is neutral enough to allow the grey-blue tone of Glitter in the Air to dominate, rather than a blue which really isn’t present in the polish alone – see the bottle, I think my nails are similar enough! 🙂

In a nutshell (or not – I’m not very good at brief blogging!) the pictures show 2 coats of Barry M Blue Moon, followed by 3 coats of Glitter in the Air. If I had been more proficient in my application of Glitter in the Air, I wouldn’t have needed 3 coats of it – the glitter doesn’t always come off the brush and sometimes I needed to push the glitter round, or decided after it had dried that I needed more glitter (fussy, me?!) hence the 3 coats. To be honest, 2 would have been fine.

Glitter in the Air is essentially a grey-blue sheer jelly polish, with lovely pale blue and pale coppery-pink glitter floating around in it. Something I never noticed in other swatches, purely because I wasn’t looking for it, was the lovely green-turquoise-blue micro-glitter throughout the polish. It’s quite hard to see, but adds a super-cool dimension to the polish. I think you can kind of see it in the fourth photo. It’s mostly hidden by the glare of the flash, sadly. You may have to just trust me that it is, just, SO COOL.

Application:

Obviously it drops marks on account of the glitter not being evenly spread… but honestly, I can live with it. Ditto the sheer formula. Otherwise, it’s a fabulous layering polish, and dries quickly, so the extra layers don’t make too much of a difference.

This would make for a spectacular Easter manicure… it really reminds me of Mini Eggs 🙂 I foresee myself wearing Glitter in the Air this coming Easter 🙂

Worth £16? YES! Just like Across the Universe, this is DEFINITELY worth the money in my books. They are just so unique. Saying that, Revlon seems to have come up with another Deborah Lippmann dupe for Glitter in the Air, called Whimsical. As far as I know, it’s only available in the US at the moment, but who knows what might happen for us lovely UK ladies (and gents…?). Oh and the aforementioned green-turquoise microglitter is a lot more apparent in The Polish Aholic’s swatches of Whimsical – that’s pretty much how they look in Glitter in the Air, I’m just very amateurish when it comes to photography!

Tell me your thoughts on this one 🙂 and don’t forget to tell me about your new year’s antics! 😀

x

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.