Guest NOTD and a find!

Since I am not wearing nail polish yet, another 5 days to go, here is Zeke presenting her NOTD - No7 "Totally Teal"! Love this colour :)

And remember I was going on about Soap & Glory's mini facial massage mitt? Well, I found it on Boots.com (large UK drugstore), and guess what? If you order for delivery to one of their shops, delivery is free! :) I tried this one too and it's also great! It has a suction cup on the back too so you can attach it to the bathroom tiles or a mirror. And it's PINK! 5 out of 5 stars for this little gadget!

My nails are looking ok with the Nubar Nu Nail treatment, will have to wait til Thursday to find out how they are looking underneath the treatment!

Nail Holiday DAY 5 - Nubar Nu Nail DAY 1

So my nail holiday is going OK, and my Nubar Nu Nails arrived today. So this will be officially DAY 1 of 7 of my Nu Nail trial. You're supposed to clean nails, then put on a coat of Nu Nail, then apply another coat (without removing the old one) for 7 days. That should show a difference in nail condition and strength. Then use Nu Nail as a base coat under coloured polish. Here's hoping! Of course I will be continuing my regime of CND Solaroil and hand cream as well.

No NOTDs but I've got some more reviews coming, so keep your eyes peeled! :)

OMG!

I was "just cruisin'" while half-snoozing on the sofa to cure my confounded cold/surgical scar infection and I went onto Soap&Glory's website and what did I find??? They're selling a Mini Massage Mitt for you face!! My mission is clear. I MUST have it.

REVIEW: L'Oreal Perfect Clean Foaming Cream Wash

You know, a shop is only as good as the person deciding on the stock... I have a favourite Superdrug in Aberdeen (well, there is only 2 of them...) and I always seem to find new brands/products there first in this City. They seem to always be ahead when it comes to the stock levels; the other shop is couple of weeks later getting everything. Anyway it was in this shop I saw the L'Oreal's new cleanser last week, this is the first time I've ever seen it, although I can find blogs online reviewing this from end of January. And on offer too - £2.99 instead of the RRP £4.99. Sweet! :)

Perfect Clean is called 360 Clean in the USA. It's probably been out for a while "over there"?.. It comes with a little rubbery pad with tiny rubbery bristles called "the Scrublet" and a handle with a suction cup on the back. I am always sceptical with new gadgety products, but this is a gem of thing!!

I have dry and sensitive skin and found the cleanser formula slightly drying, although it did take off my makeup brilliantly. The formula is a tiny bit too runny to stay on the Scrublet if you blob it on the pad as instructed; if you apply to face then buff with Scrublet to foam it works a lot better. But perhaps I was a bit over-zealous with the amount, ahem..

So in terms of cleanser formula, it's ok, 3 stars of 5. However...

I LOVE the Scrublet! This seriously has got to be the find of the year. I am going to continue using it with Soap & Glory Hot Cloth Cleanser instead. L'Oreal please please release the Scrublet by itself - it's amazing! The cleanser itself isn't anything special but this little buddy is!! Save the Scrublet from obscurity and release it independently! Scrublet - 5 of 5 stars!

My foot has officially got an infection in the surgical wound so I am on antibiotics at the moment and it hurts. Plus on top of everything I have had a bad cold since Thursday, so the antibiotics isn't doing much for my foot... My mum was obviously feeling sorry for me however - she went out and hunted down Isadora's new collection in Sweden, and a couple of nail polishes from the Depend nail polish spring release, including the green! Thanks mum!! :)

Nail Holiday - 14 days of no polish - DAY 2

So my hands and nails have finally decided that they've had enough of my negligent attitude and icy winter cold. Nails are mega-dry and peeling, cuticles are cracking and bleeding and skin on the hands is crepey and scaly. And I've got a callous in my hand from the crutches! On top of this I have got an infection in the surgical scar on my foot so I am on antibiotics which is giving me serious spots. My nails may not look so bad in the photo but that's because they are slathered in Solaroil! They're condition is depressing me, so I've come up with a plan.

So I have ordered myself some Nubar Nu Nails treatment for troublesome nails, broken out my new giganto-bottle of CND Solaroil and my Soap & Glory Hand Food. I am taking 2000mg Biotin daily. I have also started filing my nails down with my OPI glass file instead of cutting them (they grow very quickly).

So until my Nubar Nu Nails arrive, I will keep applying hand cream and Solaroil to keep conditioning them up. Then I will do the 7 day Nubar Nu Nails and review it for you all! And hopefully by Day 14, there will some nice new nails to look at for all of you :)

That won't stop me posting however, I've got a ton of reviews of products coming up for you so keep an eye out. And of course, I will be giving you regular updates on my nails condition!

REVIEW: Nailene Artificial Nail & Polish Remover

I decided to soak off my long artificial nails and bought this to try, as I've not got my soak off trays handy due to the flooding of the house.

This is apparently "professional strength", and it's certainly smells like it! The jar is fairly large, but it's got an insert with a hole lined with plastic bristles. It kind of reminds me of a Sarlacc hole from Star Wars...

1) To quicken the process of soaking off, clip the long tips off and scuff the surface of the nail with a coarse grit nail file to break up the protective top glazing of the fakies.

2) Then put one finger at a time into the hole. Sit and soak it for about 3 minutes, then start moving the finger up and down and the plastic and glue will rub off.

3) Check that all the plastic and glue is actually off by wiping the nail with cotton saturated with nail polish remover. Proceed with next finger.

Soaking off a whole set of artificial nails will take 30-45 mins. I don't recommend this product for acrylics, it would take hours to do.

All and all, quite pleased with this! The RRP is £5.99 but you can use it again, just top up with pure acetone or Elegant Touch Get 'em off! artificial nail remover if it starts to get low on remover fluid.

NOTD: Elegant Touch Truly Natural French Pink

I got these today to cheer myself up, they were on offer so I decided to go for it. They look pretty cool with the moon, but the fitting was a bit of a nightmare. I guess my nails are far to small for this particular style, as some were very natural looking whilst one of my index fingers have a wide gap between French tip and the actual natural nail bed tip... Shouldn't have chosen a French mani style! Never mind. I will enjoy the French look for a couple of days, then for the weekend I will crop them down a bit and do a wild manicure!

NOTD comparisons

So I said I would compare the two versions of Rimmel 60sec "Camouflage", so here it is. My middle finger is the new formula, my ring finger is the original formula. The new formula is slightly less gold-y and less deep than the original. Still very nice green, as the come! :) This is 2 coats over Nailtek II base coat and a slick of Sally Hansen MegaShine.

I am watching the Brit Awards while doing more important things, such as internet banking and soaking my slightly infected foot sutures in salt water to kill the bacteria. Back to the GP's office tomorrow, I think...

NOTD: Rimmel 60sec "Funtime Fuschia"

Everyone's got a fave nail polish that they can rely on to provide a perfect manicure every time. Rimmel's "Funtime Fuschia" is mine. You've seen this polish twice now, I think my old photo is a lot better than this one, the real life colour is more like my old photo.

This is a hot fuschia jelly polish, not too cool nor too warm, with a juicy sweet shine! This is 2 coats over Sally Hansen No More Breaks (my nails are a peeling disaster - I am desperate!) and a slick of Sally Hansen MegaShine top coat.

Also, Sweden won their first Gold medal in Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics! Go, Sweden! :)

Valentine's NOTD: L'Oreal "330"

This is one of my old time favourite nail polishes, I am wearing it to show my love for it this Valentine's Day! It's a touch warmer pink (but not as coral as the photo makes it look) and a whole lot sparklier than it's nearest cousin OPI "Arose by dawn, broke by noon". It's glitter is almost like OPI "Princesses Rule!" but I wouldn't say it's a glassfleck sparkle. Dang hard to photograph though!!! This is 2 coats with Sally Hansen MegaShine top coat. Man, I love this polish so much!!

So I finally got a bottle of the new formula of Rimmel "Camouflage". I was hoping that the two would be identical - this is NOT the case! Not even that close actually. Still a lovely colour, but I prefer the old formula; it's much more golden, sparkly and warmer. I will do a proper comparison this week so you can see the difference on nails next to each other. I will need to buy myself another old style "Camouflage" I think while there is still time... Also another weird thing - UK bottles of 60 sec Rimmels are only 8ml, the US releases are 12ml, but the brush is the same. As far as I am aware, "Camouflage" was never released in the UK.

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you, dear readers!

NOTD: Collection 2000 Hot Looks "Wham"

I continue my foray into the my rediscovered stash of Collection 2000 Hot Looks nail polishes. I love these little guys!

"Wham" is a jelly, light concrete grey that's not chalky-looking. Being a jelly it will need more coats than a creme; this is 3 thin coats with Sally Hansen MegaShine top coat. I love this polish, it's so light but still grey! :) Not bad for £1.79!

New NOTD: Collection 2000 Hot Looks "Vixen"

Wow, I just love Collection 2000 :) My fave ever lipgloss is by them, Love your Lips in "Honeybunch". I think its RRP is £2.70 or something, and it's a gorgeous gold-shot coral that loves your lips while you love them, or something!

I've got loads of their Hot Looks nail polishes, including the red lovely "Big Hair", cool green "Ninja" and the minty "Button Moon".

Anyway this is the luscious "Vixen", a hot fuschia shot with pink glitter :) This is two fast drying coats with Sally Hansen MegaShine top coat. Ohhh I love these polishes! And super price too - at £1.80 odd you can treat yourself tomorrow lunchtime!

NOTD: OPI "Jade is the new black"

I re-did this mani twice with different base coats, both times with disastrous balding patches (see the top left of the pinkie...) where it has dragged off the previous coat of colour. I am not happy. This is the first time in a long time I actually feel that I loathe a particular nail polish due to application issues alone. The colour is very unusual blue-based green, and I own nothing like it. But I can't stand the application :( This love thing is so hard. OPI, I know we haven't always got along great, and although you really wowed me with "Absolutely Alice", I don't think I love you anymore. In fact, I am not taking you out for Valentine's Day.

Creme de la creme of nail polish

From top left: MAC "Rougemarie", Illamasqua "Rampage", No 7 "Totally teal", OPI "Jade is the new black" and Misa "Dirty sexy money".

Bottom from left: OPI "Can you dig it?, NYC "Downtown", Essie "Angora Cardi", 17 "Smoke signal", Barry M "Grey", Chanel "Particuliere", Barbara Daly "Whimsey" and China Glaze "Innocence".

Hello all! I got the lovely OPI "Jade is the new black" from the new Hong Kong collection on Friday, and I started thinking about all the other muted cremes I am loving right now and that are lurking in my Helmer. So here it is, the collection that should totally be made - "Creme de la creme"! Excuse the over-exposure, the light in Aberdeen is very dim in winter and makes photgraphy of nail polish less than easy.

NOTD: Famoous by Sue Moxley SuedeFX "27"

I love the suede mattes, this is my other Famous by Sue Moxley SuedeFX. This is 2 coats with no top coat. Love it! :)

Minx toes!

Day 6 of foot op recovery. Still really sore, and still keeping me awake at night but if you take the socks off and look at these "Gold cheetah" Minx beauties, you feel instantly better :) They were put on by Emma at Preen Beauty in Aberdeen. I love Minx - it's instant gratification, and it lasts for weeks! Perfect for going on holiday - no chips here! :) You can see my summer shot of Minx here.

Anyway, I am thinking about doing my nails; I've still got another Famous by Sue Moxley SuedeFX to try out, so check back later to see it!

Barry M Lip Lacquer Crayon

While waiting for my foot op painkillers prescription to be filled I strolled past the Barry M stand and there was some lovely new Lip Lacquer Crayons. I bought two, No 2 "Cherry red" and No 4 "Party pink". This is No 2; it's lustrously glossy and nearly as opaque as a proper lipstick! :) This lasted through a Starbucks session, so pretty good going. I'm rubbish at photographing lips, so please excuse the photo!

I also got my Minx toes done today! It's cheered me up loads! :) However, light is too poor in the evenings still so I will photograph it tomorrow.