NOTD: Chanel "Particuliere"

This is only my second Chanel ever! Yep, I've just not been tempted til now - not even by "Jade". Not even by "Kaleidoscope", even though it was unique I didn't really fancy it. My other Chanel is an ancient one called, ehm, uh... *hobbles off to Helmer to check the name* .."Electric". It's a 'safe' corally-red with gold shimmer I bought in Schiphol airport some years ago.

"Particuliere" however has won my heart. And the formula - to die for! Super-opaque and super-smooth, no clean-up required as you can see! Please excuse the scaly cuticles, even a super manicure isn't doing it for my poor hands lately. I am hoping this week on the sofa will allow lots of jojoba oil and my Soap & Glory manicure mittens will nourish them back to health...

This is 2 coats over Sally Hansen Diamond Strength 2-in-1 and with a slick of Sally Hansen MegaShine top coat. I love it. So much. It's so much more than a mushroomy grey nail polish, it's the s/s 2010 fashion season in a bottle! :)

Post-Op Chanel, and Soap & Glory!

I made it through my foot surgery ok, but post-op is a painful event. Guess that's what co-codamol is for... And while getting my analgesics, I also picked up my pre-ordered Chanel "Particuliere" nail polish! :) This colour is so different, and I love it. My boyfriend describes it as "mud or some other building material that you lay bricks with". I think the word he was looking for is "grouting". I am getting totally into the new nudes for s/s 2010, the so-called "greige" trend. I think it all started with Essie "Angora Cardi".

I will do a proper manicure with this, but slightly too much in recovery at the moment to put nail polish on, so I will review some of my Soap & Glory products instead!

I blame my obsession with Soap & Glory on the work colleague who got me a manicure set from the brand for Secret Santa. A fantastic hand scrub, hand cream and a lovely nail file has been grooming my mitts since Christmas. However, my cuticles are seriously dry and cracking still - the weather is again back to snow and cold winds so guess they're just rebelling...

My absolute favourite Soap & Glory is Fab Pore Hot Cloth Cleanser. It comes in a plastic tube with it's own muslin cloth. It smells fantastic as it's loaded with essential oils. To use, rub into the skin with circular movements; keep massaging for about a minute then wet the muslin with hot water, massage it over the skin to remove the product. Amazingly soft and smooth skin is yours! However I wouldn't recommend using it to remove eye makeup - it's quite stingy if you get it in your eye... I use No7 Makeup removing wipes to remove eye makeup then I clean with the hot cloth cleanser to remove the foundation etc. This retails for £9, but it is totally worth it!

Seriously?

I came across this on the web today at lunchtime... 24k Nail Polish.

Would you pay for it?..

Recent NOTDs!

Wow I can barely keep up with my blogging, I'm changing nail polish so often :P I actually pre-ordered my Chanel "Particuliere" today. I must be crazy. But it just looks soooooo lovely - just look at Neglelakkmani's pix!

Anyway, from the top is the lovely new Nails Inc "Seven dials" (I don't get the name... If someone does, please let me know). Usual Nails Inc dream formula, smooth and opaque. And a colour not to be missed - see how it compares to some I thought might be similar but really aren't. Wow, just love this colour :) Bottles from left to right: Orly "Mint Mojito", Nails Inc "Seven dials", Misa "Dirty sexy money" and Barry M "Mint Green".

Second from the top is one of last weeks NOTD; OPI "Bright light big color", a nice and sparkly orange that got me in the mood for spring! This is 3 coats and top coat. Wore like iron, I had it on from Wednesday til Sunday, it's only marginally cracked and that was on my bad peeling nails.

Then last but not least is No7 "Twinkles", this is a nude similar to China Glaze "Innocence" but with multiglitter! Woohoo! :) I majorly smudged this mani however so I had to take it off and do another one, also note the remains of the Suede FX lacquer... Ooops. Not my best moment, so to speak...

Anyway I am off to pen my reviews for this weekend for the Soap&Glory stuff I am addicted to right now - I am having my foot operation on Thursday morning so I am getting verrrrry nervous... Anyhow, see ya'll soon!

Recent NOTDs!

Hello here are my two most recent NOTDs, been so busy I've not had time to post these!

The bottom one is OPI "Smitten with mittens". This I am not sure about - it looks so super-glittery in the bottle with lots of gold sparkle, but on the nail it becomes a muted version of China Glaze "Ruby Pumps". Very smooth and opaque to apply though, and it lasted pretty well too!

The top one is a new love for me - Famous by Sue Moxley SuedeFX nail polish in "30". This should have been called "Awesome steeley blue-grey suede matte" or something along those lines, because that's exactly what it is :) this is ONE coat with no top coat. As most mattes, it's wearing off after a day or so, but it's totally worth it! It retails for £4.50 in Superdrug and comes in 8 shades if I remember correctly! I'm going out to get the pink one tomorrow lunchtime!!

NOTD: OPI "Absolutely Alice"

We are in temporary rented accommodation now, so things should be settling down soon! My problem again is the lighting for my photos... It takes ages to find a good spot. Anyway I should have the rest of my collection with me at the weekend which comforts me :)

This is one of four polishes from their new OPI Alice in Wonderland collection, to celebrate the release of Tim Burton's movie with the same name that's coming in March. I for one can't wait to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D at my local Cineworld!

"Absolutely Alice" is a dense glitter in a translucent base consisting of blue and gold particles. It is insanely sparkly, just like the particles in the Zoya Ultra Glitters. I have to say, OPI is pumping out some great colours right now - "Merry midnight", "Shimmery chic", "Smitten with mittens" and "Absolutely Alice". I am hoping for more glitters soon! :)

This is 3 coats with Sally Hansen MegaShine top coat. 3 coats is not a problem as this polish dries very quickly - it's propbably because it is mostly glitter particles. It does eat top coat however so best put on two coats of top coat or you will have the rough, sandy feeling of glitter on your nails.

Scotland right now!

Here is a very pretty photo taken from the William Wallace Monument on top of a treacherously icy hill in Stirling, Scotland. I also scored so super-cool strawberry scented French mani polish in a shop called Bodycare here :) Anyway I just popped in to show you this to cheer myself up!

Couple of recent NOTDs!

Cover you eyes, Zeke! :)

Friday was my birthday, so I wore Zoya's (aptly named) Ultra Glitter "Astra" (top photo). It's so gorgeous, and by far my fave pink glitter ever I think! It wore like iron despite packing crates of rescued possessions all weekend. It is a sheer-ish glitter in a transparent tinted base so this is 3 coats. It needs the translucent base however to achieve the super-sparkle, and it dries quickly so no complaints from me!

Today I was going to put on a navy shimmer paired with a silver I got for my birthday but I was looking through my Helmer and saw Bloom "Josephine" (bottom photo) and I was compelled to put it on. This blueberry-purple shimmer is so deep and lovely and totally soothes my mood right now :)

Anyways, I am still waiting to get a more permanent place to stay after the flooding so I will be passing by when I can! More soon I hope! :)

A Little Update...

Sorry I've not been around lately, and it may be a week or so until I post again. Many of you may know I got my first house in August 2009 and that we have toiled doing DIY a lot. On New Years Eve, we came home to a house totally devastated by a flood through the ceiling from the flat above. The whole house was under 4inches of rushing water from a burst main pressure pipe.

It has been an very tough couple of days trying to rescue things that cannot be replaced, such as our book collections, mementos and my nail polishes. What can be saved have now been saved but we are still camping in parent-in-laws house and waiting to get temporary accomodation and storage of our belongings until the house is habitable again.

I live in hope that this event will make us stronger (as it didn't kill us...) and we hope we can move on soon!