NOTD: Fearne Midnight Manicure Polish #1

Look at that shimmery navy goodness!

Don't you just hate it when companies don't make up names for their nail polishes?? This beauty is from the 2011 Christmas giftset from Fearne Cotton's range for Boots called "Midnight Manicure". This awesome polish should be called just that - "Midnight Manicure"! But no, it doesn't even have a number...

This is 2 coats with a slick of MegaShine. It was a bit thin in the first coat but great on the second. The set is £16 from Boots, out now, and there are six polishes in the box! :) There is also a charcoal and a red shimmer I love the look of and the super sparkly silver from last year is back!

I will have to put on my other Fearne polishes, I realise I've not actually worn any of the ones from the Xmas sets as a mani yet! I will swatch a wheel at the weekend though for you to see!

I promised I would review the new Luminous Daily Duo for Combination skin from BareMinerals, so here it is!

The face wash is very nice to use but left me a bit dry on the cheeks. The moisturiser goes on smoothly and had a very delicate scent of Lavender. It did moisturise me quite well and didn't make me shiny! The BareMinerals makeup sat very nicely on top of these products as well. I did however dry out  a bit, I guess I should've gone for the normal to dry skin set?

The sets retail for £20 and are available now! :)

NOTD: Nails Inc "Ascot"

Cheerful green! :)

My apologies for not being active in the last week - I was suffering with a really bad case of flu and was bedridden. I had no nail polish on during that time so you didn't miss anything! I'm better now so I finally put on nail polish. For some reason my cuticles and hands are really really dry at the moment and nothing is helping, the cuticles on this hand are a million times better than the other hand, I will spare you the view of those :( let's just say they are splitting and bleeding...

To cheer up I put on a green! This is one of my all-time fave greens. It is butter-smooth to apply as most Nails Inc are and it covers beautifully in 2 coats. This is 2 coats with a slick of MegaShine.

I am hoping to dare to put on Revlon "Facets of Fuschia" soon but my cuticles aren't ready for acetone just yet... :( Anyone tried it? Is it really horrible to remove? Any tips?

Also I have some new cute little friends - my hermit crabs:

Anyway I have to dash off to beautify myself for work tomorrow but I have a review of BareMinerals new skin care series for you this week, so check back soon!

NOTD: Nails Inc Magnetic Polish "House of Parliament" and Rimmel 60sec "Black Out" with Rimmel LycraPRO Matte Finish

So I was totally determined not to buy the magnetic polishes from Nails Inc but, it IS magnetic polish... So I decided on this one when me and The Evil Beech was out shopping and getting her a bareMinerals make-over and starter kit for her birthday!

However, the instructions on the bottle is in French. My French is a bit, well, non-existent. Nil points, Nails Inc... So I had to try and figure out the way to hold the magnet. It appears that you have to hold the magnet so that the free edge of your nail is held towards the raised ledge next to the magnet. But if you want to use a top coat you will need to put on the top coat THEN do the magnet or the pattern 'loosens' up... This is 2 coats with a coat of MegaShine. It's not very uniform, as I had to do the magnet twice as it diffused when I put on MegaShine. Anyway, in the end it kind of looks cool - the base colour is a darkened purple-grey shimmer with a silvery shimmer in the magnetic pulled bits.

The Evil Beech has decided on the matte look and put on 2 coats of Rimmel "Black Out" and a coat of Rimmel LycraPRO Matte Finish. She also advises that a thin layer of matte top coat is better than a thick one. The polish appears to have dried out hence the messy application and was according to The Evil Beech the application was "as difficult as wrestling a hell-swine". I didn't ask how she knows that...

Guest NOTD!

I have a visitor this week so 2-for-1 NOTDs this week! :)

Zeke the Evil Beech is wearing L'Oreals "734 Black Red", 2 coats but it's quite thick and stringy to put on!

Me, I'm wearing OPI "Purple With A Purpose" as picked out by The Evil Beech, this is 3 coats with MegaShine top coat.

We went to Deep Sea World in Edinburgh today, where we saw all manner of creatures as you can see....

NOTD: Isadora "Subway Green" over Rimmel LycraPRO "Peppermint"

This didn't turn out the way I'd hoped - I think the speed dry top coat shrunk away the layers of "Peppermint"?.. Never mind, it looks cool still from a distance :) "Peppermint" looked OK on it's own as you can see, but I kind of fancied that extra bit of 'oomph'.

This is 2 coats of "Peppermint", 1 coat of "Subway Green" and a coat of MegaShine top coat.

600th NOTD: Collection 2000 Hot Looks "All that jazz"

This is the 600th post!!

And I found a brand new nail polish to celebrate! This is 2 perfect coats of "All that jazz" - and just look at that perfection. This is with a coat of MegaShine but the polish dries to a high gloss - I just needed the speed-dry top coat to set the mani before I settled with my popcorn and a movie with my dear fiancee. This is a very dark steel grey - almost almost black with grey shimmer - I love it! I believe this is part of the new colours for autumn so it should be eady enough to get hold of!

I can't believe this is number 600! I love doing the blog and looking at other people's blogs about nails and beauty. I hope you, my dear followers and casual viewers, enjoy reading about my antics in the beauty world as much as I enjoy writing it! :)

Here's to the online beauty community living long and prospering!

NOTD: Rimmel Play Fast "Scene Stealer"

Rimmel Play Fast "Scene Stealer"

I don't believe I've worn this yet! This is one of my stashed old style American Rimmels, the stash should be behind lock and key they are now that rare and magnificent :)

This is 3 coats and there is still VNL, which is disappointing as I love all my other Rimmel Play Fasts to death. I can't think what colour this is?... Nude sheer with gold glitter?.. It'll do for the start of the week while I work out what the NOTD for my 600th post will be. That's right, my 600th post :) Time really does fly when you are having fun!

New Products

So I received two very exciting emails yesterday, one from Nails Inc telling me they are launching a line of magnetic polishes! And we all know how I love these gimmicky polishes :) Above are some shots I pulled from the email for you to see the shades and effect, but these are not my photos!

And Barry M are hitching onto the foil effect polishes and putting out a gold and a silver foil! These are available now. Again, the above picture is from my email, and are not my photos!

TMNT Nails @ Swatch & Learn

You all have to go and see the awesome Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle manicure at Swatch & Learn - it's pure genius! :D

I love how creative the nail community is and how you all see colours, details and inspiration where others just pass it by!