Recent NOTDs

So I have been playing far to much Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim over the holidays to keep up with blogging but I have been painting my nails, honest! First up is the manicure I sported for Xmas Day and the Boxing Day blood donation/sales (I usually do both!). It's Maybelline ColorShow Brocades "Rosy Rosettes".

Such a shit name; should have been something like "Mrs Clause's Drawers" or something, that would at least be funny... Anyway it's amazing in real life, soooo sparkly :) This is 2 coats with MegaShine. It already chipped on Xmas Day but  wasn't so bad for Boxing Day. However whilst watching Robocop (the original!) at night, two huge chips came off. I spent the next morning trying to soak it off... You'd think something that chips so easily would be easy to remove but nooooo.

And in the sales I scored two OPIs in John Lewis - they are having a mega-sale on their OPIs just now - £5.75 for most colours!! That's on par with trade prices :) Leads me to believe they are not going to stock OPI any more though.... Anyway, I picked up two super glitters, this one and "When Monkey's Fly".

I decided to do my main mani as Bloom "Molly" cause.. I love it?.. This is 3 coats to bring out the depth of the duochrome. "I Snow You Love Me" is a painstaking polish to apply - you're better off picking out the glitters with a toothpick... Oh well, for £5.75 I ain't complaining!!

MERRY XMAS!

I decided I wanted to do an accent nail manicure this year for Xmas so here it is :) I used 1 coat of Color Club "Revvvolution" for the nails (black holographic polish) and then painted 3 coats of Color Club "Magic Elf" in a basic triangle shape. I attached a silver star on the top of the 'tree' from the Nail Rockits set and then put a few colourful crystals on for baubles. Subtle yet Xmassy! :) For a more in-your-face version use a light base colour for the nails, maybe a silver foil/glitter?

Enough indulgence into nail art, I better get cracking preparing for the Xmas dinner....

XMAS NOTD #: Sephora "Gold Fever" gradient

I decided I wanted something glittery, but nude?.. So I did 2 coats of Essie "Vanity Fairest" after trying to whiten the staining on my ring fingers but it's really deep and stubborn. I then did 3 coats of "Gold Fever" but feel I should have 'tipped' the very tip of the nail with something more opaque gold, such as OPI "Goldeneye"? But no matter. It still blings seriously so I'm happy! :) The brush on the Sephora polish overloaded few times so it was a bit messy. I put on a thick coat of MegaShine to seal the whole thing. Wonderful - reminds me of an torrentially rainy day shopping on my honeymoon in Copenhagen and how it was still such a lovely holiday despite the rain! :)

EDIT: It may not look it here but this is extreme bling! It attracted A LOT of attention from colleagues, sales assistants and random people on the bus. People do go crazy for a sharp-dressed nail...

XMAS NOTD #4: Nails Inc "Aspen"

I decided that I needed a hot red for Christmas Jumper Day (my jumper features red) so I turned to my hottest red - "Aspen" :) I keep forgetting what an excellent polish this is, and how poorly it photographs...

This is 2 perfect coat over base coat and a layer of Megashine top coat. I *loooove* this polish!!! I will show you it with my jumper tomorrow!

And an update on the Isadora Peel Off Base Coat. It totally works. Just lift the polish off from a corner and voila - it pops right off! I am sold! :D It did however stain my nails a weird greeny-yellow?.. Maybe it was just in conjunction with these polishes? But I can live with that if it means that a solid glitter comes off in 2 sec as opposed to 20 mins+ of soak/scrub...

Oh yeah and the new issue of Nail It! arrived today...

XMAS NOTD #3: OPI "Jade is the new black" with Isadora Holographic "Glowing Beetle"

So, the Topshop flaked off. I'm not joking. It did. Big, huge flakes. One is still stuck under my work keyboard...

But lucky for me, a HUGE xmas parcel arrive from my folks today with lots of cool things from Sweden :) Including two new Isadora holographic polishes with matching Peel Off Base Coat and a snazzy pair of outdoor mittens. Anyway, I chose this combo to cheer me up. And it did until I saw the photos. They are all crap?? The camera just doesn't capture the fantastic sparkle from this polish! "Glowing Beetle" is a mix of green small glitter with large square holographic glitters in a clear base. OMG. It's amazing!! I will try and maybe get a video of it in daylight instead of these crappy photos.

I used 2 coats of polish here, apart from my accent nail where I used 1 coat of "Jade is the new black" and 2 coats of "Glowing Beetle". I smothered the lot in MegaShine top coat and now I'm gonna watch 'South Park' with some Swedish sweets :)

XMAS NOTD #2: Topshop "Fantastical"

Wow, been so busy lately!!I picked this up the other day while Xmas shopping, but I am not sure how I feel about it?... It's rather thick and I am not sure if it is supposed to be a textured polish or is just overly glittery-gritty?.. And it is sooooo streaky. And it balds easy. And the light pink doesn't suit my skintone. It looks thick and goopy on my nails.

Ugh. I really hate it. My verdict: - save that fiver and buy a fancy coffee instead. The only thing "Fantastical" about this polish is how disappointed it made me...

GUEST REVIEW: Bleach London 'Bruised Violet'

Lina-Elvira sez.. my fave Zombie-Bunny has a little review for you all of something exciting I wish I could try too!

So my dear and most awesome friend Lina-Elvira bought me this fabulous feast for the eyes hair colour. And as usual she asked me to write a short review of it for the trouble... Nothing is just a gift with her ;)

First off I have to say it smells quite lovely, and that is coming from someone who is allergic to most perfumes and such. The cream is easy to apply and does not drip at all. It says in the instructions to leave it in for about 15 minutes, but I would say at least double the amount of time is needed for a deeper colour. Bleaching your hair, if not blonde to begin with, is a must if you want to fully take advantage of these stand-out colours. I double-bleached mine the day before I coloured it with my 'Bruised Violet'.

It turned out a really nice and dark violet on my hair and I love it! After a couple of washes it fades pretty quickly and after four washes it has turned more teal than violet (the colours are hard to show in pictures). Since I only decided to colour parts of my hair, the bottle will last me three to four times. One bottle for semi-long hair would suffice I think, but I can't say for sure. The cream covers my hair perfectly and I have very fine Scandinavian hair which is hard to colour thoroughly with most cream colours.

I really like this stuff!

XMAS NOTD #1: OPI "Goldeneye" with "Shatter the Scales"

I picked up "Shatter the Scales" in Poundworld for £1! Absolute bargain! So then I decided I was going to bling it up with a luscious coat of "Goldeneye" underneath :) I thought this would be very Xmassy with the green over the gold, but it actually reminds me more of dragons' scales form a fantasy movie?... Anyway, love it!

This is 2 coats of "Goldeneye" and then a thick coat of "Shatter the scales" over the top. I sealed it with a thick coat of Megashine to bring out the bling! :)

I put up my first batch of Xmas decorations today - the candle bridge in the kitchen window! Can't believe it's only 24 days til Xmas!!! :) Wooot!!

XMAS GIFTS: Primark Metallic Nail Foil Kit

Was at a shopping spectacular this evening in town - many shops were offering discounts and special deals and were open late. I headed off thinking it would be packed and crazy like January sales, but appears most people didn't know there were special deals to be had so it was quite calm and empty :)

I got a couple other things but thought I would show you this Primark find. So again Primark is on the ball with trends - they not only have this awesome foil set for the sweeeeeeet price of £3, but also a chalkboard nail art set for £4! There are also various caviar manicure, full ombre kits and glitter / 3D nail sets to choose from, so if you have nail geeks for pals, or want something cheap and cheerful for yourself, head over there now!! In fact I think it's probably a good idea to get myself another one of the these kits before they sell out as a backup.

Not about to try this for myself just now at this hour, so here is just a brief low-down on what the kit looks like (full instructions printed on the back of the box):

On the outside....

..and the inside...

The foil sheets themselves - appears I've got a folded blue one.

Chalkboard nails for cheap-o! :)

Looks like it's gonna be awesome!! But that polish that comes with the kit will likely get binned - it's weird, flesh-coloured glittery yuk-ness. I'm thinkin' black nail polish with these foils :)

I'm going to be starting my Manicure Advent Calendar on Sunday so I think I will be going without polish for the next few days to boost the wee ones up a bit before the onslaught...

And apparently 'The Queen's Favourite Nail Polish Is Revealed'. It's really boring. I am not sure why I was hoping it would be some kinda glitter polish.

NOTD: Seventeen Rock Hard Couture "Charm Bracelet"

I fancied something bling but easy to achieve today! And I remembered I'd not worn "Charm Bracelet" yet so it was an easy choice :)

I have run out of my Bourjois So Perfect gel base coat so that's a definite Boots Advantage Card points job for tomorrow's lunchtime. I went back to using Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle as I still had half a bottle of that. This is 2 coats of "Charm Bracelet" without top coat. It was really hard to photograph as it's so insanely sparkly!! I love it just like I love the other Rock Hard Couture polishes :) Now, if Seventeen could just do a green and fuchsia version of these as well....

NOTD: House of Holland "Envy"

I found this whilst going through the Helmers thinking 'I have nothing to wear!.." I decided I would give it a go, although fearing it might be sheer. Not so. But the brush is shit - the polish goes everywhere. And the smell (urggghhhh....) means this is loaded with serious killer chemicals. The first thought I had was gloss paint that you use for windows? Phwoooaar... Awful. Not smelled a nail polish like it before? This is 2 decent coats (some brush-strokes) and a layer of MegaShine top coat. It's a bit warmer green than this - I am struggling to capture this polish at all in artificial light!

I somehow managed to get nail polish in my hair though while painting!! Waited for it to dry and cut it away. That is a first for me in the 22 or so years I've been doing nails.... I sooooo need a haircut!

I am having a bit of a nightmare with dry hands again now that we have had the first snow and the temperatures are right down. I have recently been trying Dove Pro.Age Nourishing Hand Cream and it's actually making a bit of a difference. Not that I have age spots yet but I thought the AHAs might exfoliate some of the flakiness... It goes on nice and light, isn't sticky/greasy-feeling and smells nice :)

And coming up to Xmas, check out this amazing idea for Xmas ornaments from The Nail Network!

NOTD: Nails Inc "Hanover Street" and "Soho Silver"

Ah the times when I have an idea that seems so good at the time, but then turns out crap. So I ended up with this after trying to take off the accent nail I'd done whilst trying not to ruin the other nails... Anyway. It's a rather boring manicure but it will do until the weekend!

I used Nails Inc "Hanover Street" for the blue and the silver is Nails Inc "Soho Silver", which is by chance free with this month's Glamour magazine (bargaintastic at £2!). This is 2 coats of each over base coat and a layer of MegaShine top coat. Both these are kinda brush stroke-y but hey :)

NOTD: Isadora China Nail Art "Shantung"

I didn't wear polish for quite a few days after scrubbing off Maybelline "Woven Skyline", I was that traumatised... :( I really need to use the PVA glue base coat for the next time I wear it! I cut down my nails again for starting my next block of snowboarding lessons on Friday (it was sooooo cold we actually had snow on our boards!). When I finally got round to thinking up a manicure this evening I decided to try a gradient with another one of the Isadora China Nail Art polishes. I used Sinful "Black on black" and then layered Essie "Carnival" over it. to give some background sparkle. I then put on a layer of "Shantung". It dries really quickly and the bar glitter is quite dense so it ended being a semi gradient... However, the end result is really bling-y :) Love it! The photo only hints of sparkle that this produces in direct light!

NOTD: Maybelline ColorShow Brocades "Woven Skyline"

After making a cracking manicure for a client on Saturday I wanted to make a killer manicure for myself but managed to have an idea that seemed so good at the time but actually turned out rather dull. No matter. I love the Brocades, sooooo sparkly! This is 2 coats of "Woven Skyline" (what the hell is the deal with that name??) and a seal of Seche Vite. The accent nail is Collection Hot Looks "All that jazz" with dots of "Woven Skyline". Seemed like a good idea at the time... I am anticipating this be absolute hell to soak off - I think I might use the foil wrap method :)

I did some special nail art on a client's nails on Saturday and it turned out really cool :) I wish that I had just done the same one for myself - I really love the dramatic black with the ultra-bling! I used Sinful Color "Black on black" (BEST black ever!), Essie "Carnival" and Claire's "Chunky Silver Glitter".

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

This years Halloween manicure became China Glaze "Ick-a-body" from their Halloween collection a few years back after I failed to make a Frankenpolish dupe for Maybelline "Dotty" yesterday... I should just have gone to Claire's and got their orange splatter Halloween one.

I haven't worn this polish before, not sure why?! It's sparkly, it's weird-looking, formula is good - what's not to love? This is 2 coats over Seche Clear base coat and a thick coat of Seche Vite over it. It's still fairly bumpy glitter but I'm so used to the textured polishes now it doesn't even bother me anymore! Love it :)

Speaking of textured polishes, I managed to score two of the new Maybelline ColorShow 'Brocades' collection polishes today - "Rosy Rosettes" and "Woven Skyline" (totally shit names, super-hot nail polishes). Can't wait to wear them at Xmas and New Year! :)

I've revived my old combo of Seche Clear/Seche Vite after running out of my Bourjois gel effect base coat. I am not convinced that Seche Clear is a good base coat; I think I might try another one for my next mani (I do have a wee stash of various treatment/base coats...). It seems to want to create bald spots if you go over the same place twice. Seche Vite is still a great top coat though but somehow not as shiny as my beloved Sally Hansen Megashine and it's also double the price!...

Halloween NOTD #1: Cute Monster Nails!

First Halloween manicure for 2013 :) The inspiration from these came from Googling Halloween manicures and seeing a few monster face ones and then thinking I wanted something sweet but still Halloween themed. I used a few random nail polishes for this and black and white specialist nail art polishes. From thumb to pinkie it's: Rimmel SalonPRO "Britpop", GOSH "Wild Lilac", Rimmel LycraPRO "Urban Princess", Barry M "137 Lime Green" and lastly Rimmel I Love.. "Sunshine". I had to do 3 coats with the green and yellow. I have underestimated the coolness of "Lime Green", I definitely need to do another mani with this. I struggled a bit with the nail art polishes as usual, they become stringy very quickly as they are a different formula from regular nail polish. You also absolutely HAVE to wait before you put on top coat to make sure it's hard and dry or you will streak the design out... PITA. But worth it. Aren't they cute?? :) They're like my mini-Frankensteins.

Anyway I am off to play a new computer game, RIFT...

NOTD: Revlon Parfumerie "Wintermint"

OMG it arrived :D I was so stoked when I saw the little red card from the post man yesterday!! I wanted to put it on immediately but stuff got in the way...

Bright light

Softer light

This is 2 coats without top coat. I might put on 3 coats next time? It dries quite quickly actually, maybe from the frosty texture? And it does already smell vaguely of mint when you apply it. But once it's dry, this smells like a freshly opened pack of After Eights (if you've not experienced this, it's a must-try!). I am LOVING this polish, I feel so lucky having been able to score this from America - absolutely gorgeous colour, completely unique in my extensive collection and the smell is such a novelty!

Of course, I had to try layering it with a glossy top coat to seal in the shimmer... And it still smells of mint even with top coat :) I love this - I really hope Revlon brings out this range in the UK, I think it would definitely sell like hot cakes!

This is a definite 'add' to the Top Ten Polishes of the Year list :)

NOTD: Barry M "Navy"

We are sadly trading in our 'vintage' red metallic Nissan Micra tomorrow for a swanky new dark blue metallic Skoda Fabia. We love the old Micra and are both really sad to see it go but the Man's new job won't pay the monthly allowance for a car older than 7yrs old so we had to trade it in. He is an essential car user in his new job and so need his car allowance. I thought I would put on a navy shimmer to match the new car and make it feel a bit less traumatic when we drive off, but not in our old lovely Micra...

This is 2 coats with a slick of Megashine. It's dark but even in low light you can totally tell it's navy, not black :) Can't believe I've never worn this before!

Our new car!

SPOTTED: MUA 1D Nail Crush

My fave Superdrug finally got some in but I wasn't sure I really wanted to pay £5 for the set? Maybe £3.50? Anyway. I still want the 'Stole My Heart' set, but will keep eyes open for a special deal on these :)

NOTD: Isadora China Nail Art "Hot Pot"

I won a Facebook giveaway by Isadora a couple of weeks ago and the parcel with 3 bottles of their new China Nail Art polish arrived today :D I am so stoked - I got this one, "Chop Sticks" and "Shantung". I will be swatching the other two next week :)

I keep finding only one black polish, an old Rimmel black polish which is absolute shit to apply so I will really need to find a new black polish... I did 2 crappy coats of black polish then added 2 coats of "Hot Pot". I sealed the lot with a coat of Megashine. Awesome!! It's a lot more colourful in real life and sparkles like crazy! Woohoo!!

I started using Isadora when I was still in my teens and I've found some of my old leaflets that Isadora used to do for their seasonal collections :) I need to find my earlier ones now!

I really wish that Isadora would enter the UK market perhaps through one of the online beauty retailers!

NOTD: Topshop "Copper Coated"

In a softer light

I felt like something autumnal again and whilst tidying up my Helmers today I found this copper flakie :) Awesome! I decided to put some bling on it as well. Please excuse the poor paint job but this polish is surprisingly runny... This is 2 coats with a bit of nail glue to secure the jewels and a thick coat of Megashine. I love how it has little copper flakies in it, makes it feel cosy and warm :) I decided to take a photo of this in the normal spotlight from the kitchen and also in the soft lighting in the bathroom - you can really see how lovely and 'flakie' the polish is under soft light!

While I was tidying up my Helmers I realised just how many Sinful Color polishes I have! I used to get them exclusively from America before Boots started selling them and I appear to have two duplicate buys - I have two of "Show Me The Way" and "Call You Later". But as this video of my Sinful stash shows, the old and the new formula of "Show Me The Way" are completely different polish colours?! I prefer the old formula (the one on the left) which is the one I got in a swap from America couple of years ago.

I am looking forward to Halloween manicures, I think I will start them next week :) I have got some ideas for 'faux nails' from my old pal Zeke the Evil Beech which we will be working on as well, and I will share our progress on here. I have also managed to score a primo indie nail polish and a very hard to find Revlon (in UK) from America which I hope will arrive in a couple of weeks!

NOTD: Collection Gothic Glam "Poison"

First I want to show off my super-cool new cover for my Samsung Galaxy S3 - it's from a seller on Etsy and is just awesome :D I saw it and needed it, 'nuff said.

I am kind of craving darker colours again as the chilly winds are creeping in again and when I saw this in Boots I decided to spend some Boots Advantage Points. I had a bit of a time applying this; it's kind of runny and overloads the brush quite easily. But 2 coats is enough for nice coverage on shorter nails. If you have a large tip best put 3 coats. Nice and glimmery though, not too dark. A bit like Seventeen "Navy Glint" maybe?

In soft daylight

Then I accidentally happened upon the new Bleach London hair colour section in Boots. It's just launched. I wish I could still do awesome hair colours!! But one has to remain blonde and boring I'm afraid... I might do some cool stuff at Xmas time though :) I fancy some temporary pastel pink 'underhair' using the 'Rose' colour!

NOTD: Pink Waterfall Manicure

I fancied something a bit celebratory as we bought a new car today! :) I have been meaning to try the gorgeous waterfall manicures that The Nailasaurus do for ages but it always seemed like too much work but I made myself do one today. My nails must me a million times smaller than hers as I couldn't get that many lines on my nails! :O Anyway here is my very first attempt, I will likely try to return to this design later and try and do much neater lines.

I used Essie "Vanity Fairest" for the base as I already had it on from yesterday. I used Essie "Angora Sweater", Barry M "Christmas Pink", Bourjois 10 Days "No 17" and Rimmel LycraPRO "Urban Princess" for the stripes. I used a 1cm nail art brush to put them on. I sealed it all with my trusty old Megashine top coat.

I kind of want to try a green version of this, that might be next :)

NOTD: Isadora Sugar Crush "Pink Crush" and MINI REVIEW

My Mum sent me 3 different sugar texture polishes from Sweden along with some Swedish sweets! This is the first one, another of the Isadora Sugar Crush polishes. I can't get enough of these, I wish so much Isadora was sold in the UK. This is 2 simple coats over my Bourjois base coat. It's sooooo glittery! And pink!! :D Woohoo!!

I also wanted to do a mini review on a perfume sample I got from What's In Your Handbag - Van Cleef & Arpels 'Rêve'. As you may know I am certainly not a perfume connoisseur but I actually love this perfume :) I have been wearing Marc Jacobs 'Lola' for so long it was quite nice to have a change. 'Rêve' smells grown up (like I should be) but the fruity background makes it a little bit fairytale and playful (like I actually am). According to some perfume websites, it's a fruity floral (duh!) and apparently the notes are...

Heart notes:
Osmanthus, Lily, Peony
Top notes:
Neroli, Juicy Pear
Base notes:
Sandalwood, White Amber

I wish I was more helpful but I am sure you can find plenty dedicated perfume blogs out there to tell you more... I like it, that's all I can say, and I think it might make it onto my wish list for Xmas.

GUEST REVIEW: Seventeen Doll'd Up 3-way Liquid Eyeliner

Seventeen Doll'd Up 3-way liquid eyeliner looks intimidating at first glance. At least to me. I do not wear make up on a regular basis and eyeliner feels somewhat alien to me (I still manage to be goth sans dark and smokey eyeliner ;P).

The lovely Lina-Elvira gifted me this wonderful eyeliner a while back and I really really like it! It's easy to apply for a noob like me and it stays on and does not smear at all. Unlike regular eyeliner, this one stays pitch black all day long and does not fade one bit. But once you do want it to come off, it's not hard to wash off with a good eye make up remover.

Since this little liquid awesomeness came into my life I have put on make up more often than ever before. I'd say that is a pretty high grade for an eyeliner if you ask me...

Yours gothfully,
Zeke the Evil Beech

NOTD: OPI Matte "La Paz-itively Hot" with glitter gradient

I fancied something really bling tonight, and was inspired by a link my Mum sent me the other day with a reverse glitter gradient. Today was the first time I have had issues with applying this OPI Matte colour. It separated in some places to make it look a bit like a shatter polish? Anyone else had this issue? Or is it a reaction to my Bourjois gel effect base coat?.. I used Claires "Chunky Silver" and Isadora "Sparkling Ice" to layer up the glitter gradient. This manicure is in fact so bling it refuses to photograph so I did a little video instead to show off the glitteriness. I will try and get a daylight shot tomorrow!

As promised here is a daylight shot of this manicure taken at my desk this morning...

NOTD: Barry M Matte "Crush"

I had been cruising the shelves of Superdrug for the Barry M mattes and the crystal top glaze since yesterday with no luck but this evening one of the Superdrugs had finally plonked them on the shelves! :) I wanted this red one from swatches I'd seen but when I saw the nude one called 'Vanilla' I also now want that one! I love the dried blood look of this polish :D

I struggled a bit with the formula on this one, it's a strange combo of thickly pigmented polish and runny mess :O I also dragged a bit on my index finger and messed up the layer underneath so it's really obvious in the photo. A steady hand and just the right amount of polish on the brush is essential for a smooth application. I am also finding it dries quite slowly to a dent-proof finish so expect to sit around watching TV for a while (I was watching 'Supergiant Animals' with Steve Backshall so I was good to wait for an hour!).

I have 2 layers here over my Bourjois Gel effect base coat. I also saw that one of my Superdrugs have had a complete refit and now also stock a massive Nicole by OPI display!! WOOHOOO!! :D I am starting to save now (RRP is £7.99) for some nice stocking fillers for, ehm, my own stocking...

Speaking of Xmas, Boots are now stocking some Xmas gift sets including the new Soap & Glory massive one. Suppose it's less than 90 days til Xmas...

'The Yule Monty' is £60 but I've not seen what's supposedly in it this year.
I hope Boots do their 1/2 price on this one as usual :)

OPI "Jade Is The New Black" with Nail Art

I decided I wanted to do something green but was keen to try the RockIt's Jewels set. So I did OPI "Jade Is The New Black" and put on some MUA Nail Constellation in "Pisces" and a green jewel :) I love it, but the jewel kept falling off and I couldn't find any nail glue. So I picked the jewel off and put some Nail Constellation there instead! I did 2 coats of the OPI. I think if I am to try the nail jewel again I am going to have to find that nail glue!