Things I am loving - nails

I finally feel like I might be back into the swing of blogging!

I have bought a fair bit recently and each time thought that maybe I should blog and then either not had the time or the inclination so this is a bit of a catch up.

First up, still obsessing over my nails.  I have a vertical split in the nail on my middle finger on my right hand which I cannot grow out - all the while the nail doesn't flake it holds itself together but when the nail flakes, as it always eventually does, the split appears.  This last time I actually clipped my nail as short as possible to get below the split and it hasn't really worked.  Because I can not abide nails of differing lengths I have taken all the others back to very short too, not that they were any great talons to begin with.  I actually prefer them very short, especially if I am wearing a dark polish, which is handy given how much they flake!  So nail purchases:

Love that its now possible to buy Essie in Boots.  On a recent 3 for 2 promotion I picked up Good to Go top coat and Nourish Me base coat.  The base coat is the blue bottle, its a nice thin liquid base which works for me as I am not a fan of goopy base coats.  The top coat is thicker and dries to that touchably glossy finish that makes your nails feel really smooth - ideal for nails that have flaked.

Recent trip to a larger Boots store saw me standing pretty much open mouthed in front of a massive Revlon Colourstay stand.  So much pretty all in one place!  In the end I managed to pick up just two colours but I have my eye on, oh, about 30 more. 

I didn't read up on these until after I had purchased, apparently used with the Colourstay base and top coat they are supposed to last up to 10 days and are a diy shellac sort of thing.  I only have the polishes which I am using with the Essie top and base and wear is good - I get bored after about 2 days so longevity in my mani is not top priority. Really great colour is however and this range is falling down with stunners.  Rain Forest is a dark green jelly with lighter green glitter it is stunning on the nail, opaque in 3 coats and dark dark green, but still distincly green, not erring into that territory where it could be black.  I think it could be similar to a China Glaze polish, Emerald City, which I have always loved the look of.  Pics of it on the nail to follow.  Midnight is a beautiful teal - purchased before the whole colour exploration of this week, yet another example of having around me the colours that work without realising!  I love this because I have red hands and the teal makes them look like alabaster!  Pics of that mani to follow too.  The polishes are pretty thick and have a self levelling property that is an absolute blessing if you are cursed with peeling nails - currently my thumb nail is in tatters but you'd never know with this on.  On the downside I hate the brushes, never had a Revlon polish with a rubbish brush and now I have two! The shaft of the brush is flat and wide which made me think the brush would be a bit like the lovely Rimmel curved, wide xpress Flat Brush, sadly not. The brushes do have a longer bit but rather than it being in the middle to create a curve its on one side which makes getting neat cuticles a complete mare. But the colours and the self-levelling are so fab I will be buying more!  

Have you tried these and if so what do you think?

Mont Bleu Nail Files

When this blog started out it was mainly a nail blog. I am nail obsessed.  As a curvy girl, ahem,  I feel it is very important to take control of the things over which I can exert some control, namely hair and nails.  So yes, I am claiming that my fat ass is out of my control, what can I say?

So I was very pleased when I was offered the chance to review Mont Bleu crystal nail files.  I haven't used anything other than a glass file on my nails for years and wouldn't consider using an emery board - I am more likely to run my nails up and down a wall to be honest.  My nails flake badly and I find using a very smooth glass file really helps to seal the tips of the nail and helps to prevent flaking.

Ordinarily the glass files I have used have been very functional but perhaps just a bit, well, dull really.  Not these beauties:

 Aren't they lovely?  And what's more they aren't all style over substance they really work.  I have the smaller one in my bag for emergency nail work and keep the larger on my desk for days when work is a drag and I decide I need to do my nails! Each file comes in its own velvet pouch to keep it clean and safe and they are reasonably priced at 10 Euros each.  So if you want something a bit gorgeous for the ardous task of nail filing I can recommend these!

NOTD - China Glaze Stella

Quick NOTD, last night filed my nails to the minimum length possible as part of my January "assume it's broken and darn well fix it" programme of self improvement.  My nails are pretty ok at the moment, even the hideous full length flake on my right index finger is pretty much grown out (tempting fate or what?) but they are still getting lots of attention.  My regime of Nailactan nightly after an application of Mavala Cuticle oil, hand cream all day long and twice weekly applications of Scientifique is still ensuring that my nails are looking good, I might not be the biggest fan of Mavala polishes but I have yet to find nail care products that deliver other than these.  If you have flaking, peeling, weak nails you need this trinity of nail care in your life imo.

So China Glaze Stella vibrant purple with red shimmer to give a high gloss magenta finish.  Application is all you would expect, perfect formula, fantastic brush that whilst long is still easy to use even on my very small nails.  Wear is brilliant with this and whilst I was hankering after a burgundy cream polish this morning this one caught my eye instead.  I am definitely going to apply a coat of Nails Inc London Bridge before I take this off just to see how it looks!

Nails Inc Glitterati

Whilst I am sure none of you doubted it for a moment the following post is proof of my fabulty as a mother.  My sister and I swop cheques and purchase presents for our kids that we know they will love and there are occasions when that has massive benefits.  Like when you buy your daughter a collection of nail varnish you know she will adore and will also of course be obliged to SHARE!! 

Ladies I give you Nails Inc Glitterati collection: 

 

Are they not 3 of the most glorious glitters?  This post is seriously picture heavy (see previous post re new camera)

London Bridge

Chelsea Embankment

Hatton Garden

So good it gets another pic!

In spite of reservations regarding the removal of glitter polish and because I am a martry to my blog I decided I would swatch all three in a glitter ball, nail bling marathon.

First up Chelsea Embankment.  This is a gold base with a mass of tiny bits of gold glitter so much so that it looks like a metallic foil when you get to 3 coats.

1 coat

2 coats

3 coats

I love this and the whole metallic nail finish it creates.  I wore it out recently as an accent nail on both ring fingers with a deep blue polish on the rest of my nails and loved how it looked.  

Next up Hatton Garden.  

 

 Oh dear Lord. Is that not to die for?  I think this really is my absolute favourite, a real walk into walls and crash your car cos you cant stop looking at it winner.  This is a clear polish with large holographic and silver glitter, its chunky and clunky and still I refuse to hate.  I rarely would never wear a sheer polish but I actually rather like this with just one coat to give bare nails a bit of sparkle.

Every collection has its problem child.  Meet London Bridge.

Blue polish with the most gorgeous fuschia glitter, the glitter is larger and less dense than the gold and smaller than the silver.It is beautiful but it's a total mare.  I was swatching and didnt want to let the coats dry completely as was hoping to get these off with minimal nail damage so maybe if I had let each coat dry really well I might have been able to even out the glitter better on the 3rd coat.  No glitter post is complete without some layering.  I decided to layer these on top of Illamasqua Eclipse, a recent sale purchase that I will blog soon. 

Index - gold, middle - silver, ring - purple

Index - gold, middle - silver, ring - purple

I think had I been a bit more sparing with the gold this might have looked really good, as it was I was too heavy handed and the layering thing went out the window.  Of course the silver layers like a dream, a clunky chunky dream but guessing a good top coat would smooth things out - although your polish would be mm thick.  London Bridge is killing me, it could look so nice but it just refuses to play ball.

Removal of these was not the trauma I had feared.  Admittedly I didn't let them dry completely and went at them with a litre of polish remover and its possible that left to dry fully I would have needed to go down the tin foil glitter polish route, I will update this post when I next wear them properly to let you know.

I paid £25 for this collection but it is on sale for £21.25 with free delivery at www.feelunique.com or £18 from the Nails Inc website, delivery extra.  I know the season for glitter is now behind us but maybe a bit of sparkle is just what we need to get us through the dull old months of January and February, what do you think?

UPDATE: It is with great sadness that I have to report the untimely demise of hatton garden. Not 2 hrs after completing this post our smallest dog, who will be henceforth known as "that bastard dog" knocked it off my desk and broke it.  Allegedly.  There is a conspiracy theory kicking around (Emily saying it like it probably is!) that my husband, actually broke the polish and blamed "that bastard dog" (which is far more likely in my opinion) but sadly that cannot be proven.  That said "that bastard dog" has no money and OH does, so it will be OH that pays to replace hatton garden and not tbd anyway!

 

NOTD - OPI Mermaids Tears

So Sally's are in the UK too, not just the US. Who knew? Erm, everyone apart from me it seems!!  I have Miss Merx and Caroline Hirons to thank for that earth shattering bit of info, I am eternally grateful, my wallet might not be!!

So ploughed in there on Friday to buy China Glaze Papaya punch, then I put it up against my hands and had a re-think.  Not completely convinced I could get away with it, but might have a longer look next time I go back.  I did pick up a China Glaze polish in Stellar, will do a NOTD with that soon.

I had gone into Sallys knowing I would find China Glaze, I had no idea they would have a massive OPI stand though. There were not words.  The girl behind the counter was equally thrilled, she had only been working there a week and we had some serious nail varnish bonding going on, she produced a wheel of blank nails and we went into a bit of polish frenzy to help me choose my purchase - at £10 a pop I didn't want to get it wrong.  In the end I settled for Mermaids Tears from the Pirates of the Caribbean collection.

Usually when I am going on a nail varnish mission I do all my prep before I leave the house, cuticles done, nails shaped, base coat applied so that the minute I walk in the door I can try out my new polish.  That's a bit sad isn't it?  I like to think of the fact that I am so easily pleased as a strength, ok!!

So enough yadda yadda; pics!

In bright sunlight

In shade

 So there I am congratulating myself on having found something really unique - I love an usual shade of a popular colour and whilst the pale minty greens give me monster red hands, this one doesn't. I know they look red in the above pics, its cos I cant adjust the white balance on the crappy point and shoot!  And then I looked down again and thought "Models Own Grace Green" and my heart dropped, had I really just spent £10 on a dupe of a polish I already owned?  I tried to console myself by letting my polish snob take over "who cares OPI is waaay better" but wasn't totally convinced so dashed downstairs (we live in a basement, don't get me started) and rifled the polish drawer til I found Grace's Green.

Phew!

 Not a dupe - Grace's green is much greyer tinged than Mermaids Tears.

Here are some old Grace's Green pics for further comparison:

See - murky & minty - ish!

Looking at these old pics its quite clear my nails are in way better nick these days - laying responsibility for that with Mavala Scientifique and Nailactan. Will. Never. Be. Without!!

So that was going to be a flash post, turned into a load of waffle! Happy Saturday folks. 

Tiger nails

How fab are these?!

Em had them done after work yesterday.  They are about a mile long and I would be rendered useless with them attached to my hands but she still types and texts at 90 mile an hour.

Apparently she is getting the leopard print ones next.  These cost £30 at Unique Nails in Huddersfield.
Have a fab Saturday ladies.

Nail update - they're back!!!

Excuse slightly chipped Nails Inc, its been on since Sat eve with no top coat.  But look and marvel at the improvement in my nails!  I am delighted.  All I had wanted to achieve was short and without flakes as I don't do long nails and bar one patch on the tip of my left hand ring finger nail we are pretty much flake free.  This is how they looked 9th Jan, not a pretty sight. They had a month with no polish which made no difference, just to be clear the no polish wasn't really about avoiding polish, it was about avoiding nail polish remover.  So after a month with no discernible improvement I went right back to my old habits, but this time including Mavala Scientifique once a week and Nailactan every single night;  brush teeth, say prayers (Dear God, please help me find a way to afford Illamsqua Scarab AND Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua on Saturday. Thank you. Amen), apply Nailactan, schimples.  

Next time I have 5 mins between polish applications I'll get a naked nails pic so you can see just how the flakes have improved.  Happy Monday all.

Post Edit: sometimes our prayers are answered!  The incredibly fantastic and wonderful Helen at Sparklz & Shine has just sent me a link to Scarab and Viridian at the stupid price of £11.50 on ASOS, with free next day delivery today into the bargain! Don't mind telling you am giddy with excitement!!

My nails, the very ugly reality

My hands and nails are incredibly dry at the moment.  Have been using Nail Envy since November on my nails but not seeing any great benefits.  Was reading Lady of the Lane last week and noticed Charlie had been getting great results with the Mavala range so I decided to give it a whirl.

In the interest of being scientific here are photos of my nails as they look today.  Brace yourselves its not pretty!

Left hand top pic and right hand bottom.  Look at that flaking, these pics are making me cringe and I apologise now if you are sat with your arms crossed and your hands trapped in each armpit to protect them from these images!

I am going to start today with the Mavala hardener, which contains formaldehyde and carries all manner of dire warnings and will continue with the Nail Envy on top of that until I get chance to pick up one or both of the cream and serum Charlie has been using to hydrate her nail bed and cuticles.  Certainly looking at her pics these products have really worked for her.  I am not wanting to get my nails longer, I really like them this sort of length but I want all 10 of them completely flake free so fingers crossed! 

Update since I wrote this: have been using the Mavala Scientifique, perhaps a tad more frequently than I should, and have decided on a total ban on nail varnish for a month - although not totally sure I can stick to that.  Have only used the hardener, hand cream and olive oil for the last few days and already my nails and hands are looking so much better.  Am thinking if I can stick to my no nail varnish rule then I might treat myself to something fab at the start of Feb to break the ban.  At the moment thinking Illamasqua Scarab..... but prepared to be inspired - please tell me, if you were about to break a self-imposed month long nail varnish ban which polish would you really really want to break it with?

Models Own - Red Red Wine

I went red cream in the end but I was under pressure, never shop with a teenage daughter who NEEDS something new for a big night out and who is only pretending that part of the shopping trip is about someone other than her, it isn't, deal with it!

Nice deep red cream. (must remember to clean shite off window ledge before next photo sesh!)


Hope it applies as nicely as this blue, which I love.

Update - it did, thought we were having issues at one coat as its quite jelly like rather than creamy, ended up with 3 and you can still see where the wrapped the tips! Love the colour its very glam. Soz photo is without clean up, top coat or hand cream, yak, but am seriously running out of time now!

Outdoors


Indoors

Amongst other things Em got a lovely necklace from Dorothy Perkins

Isn't that cute?

NOTD 8 - Jessica Venus was her name

I am in love! This is the most gorgeous nail varnish ever, ever. Dark charcoal grey in some lights, bright shimmery purple in others. Application is a dream - it's Jessica what else could you expect. This is 3 coats, did 2 last night and then wrapped my tips and a 3rd coat this morning. Am convinced tip wrapping prevents chipping but also really like how "finished" it makes the ends of your nails look. It's tricky with thick, gloopy polish but a breeze with something as good as this.

Photos. Doing. My. Head. In. I cannot get them right and it's what I do for goodness sake, people pay me to take photos for them and I can't even take pics of my own nails. Have resorted to using smaller photos so the blurry hideousness is less obvious.


Check out that purple shimmer. Outside in sun


See the finish tip wrapping gives. You can see the grey side to this in the bottle. Outside in sun


Indoors with flash, best shot of both grey and purple


One last photo attempt for the day - the old faithful wall outside the back door does it again! At least this one is in focus! Thanks for bearing with me on the photo front!

So pleased with this and am now dying to try the other two Jessicas from Rae!