Tuesday, 9 October 2012

Hello Holo :)


What? Another nail post. Yes. I really need to mix things up a bit before this blog turns into a nail polish blog but I am trying to get back into the habit of updating my blog more frequently and nail polish is the only thing I can stick my teeth into at the moment. I hope the little beauty I have to share with you will make up for it.


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Hot from the Boots oven, this is 'Silver' 17's take on the holographic trend. About time the high street gave Gosh Holographic a little bit of competition. The Silver Holo is much more subtle that the legendary holographic from Gosh, recently renamed 'one night only'.It also doesn't quite have the 'metallic wave' effect which you find on your typical holographic craft paper, but it still just as hypnotising.

   
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Like the Gosh Holo, you just can't quite comprehend what's on your fingers, the effect is just so magical. Application was far more superior than the Gosh Holo: effortless, smooth, with the added bonus of being fast drying.
   
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You need this in your life.



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The end.


what: 'Silver' Holo Nail Polish from Boots 17 Cosmetics
where: erm, Boots.
how much: £2.99 or £3.99 (I don't remember)
bought by me


SunA big wave to my blogging friends Claire (Eyelining Obsessions) and Liz (Cappuccino Lace) for joining me tonight for a #bloggingdate.Rolling on the floor laughing
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Sunday, 5 June 2011

Shattered but happy ^_^

Earlier on this week, BeautyUK proudly celebrated the launch of their range of shatter polishes. It came out a little later than expected but boy it was worth the wait. Here they are in their full glory, from left to right: PUNK (bright neon pink shatter) GLAM ROCK (bright shimmery metallic silver shatter) and GOTH (well, the black one).


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When BeautyUK contacted me and asked me if I wanted to play with them and give my thoughts on them, it was a no brainer and I was thrilled to bits to accept the privilege. And so I played, played and played some more.

First off, we have 'Punk' a neon pink so bright you could almost incarnate the lollipop lady on the zebra crossing without having to wear the lollipop and the light reflecting jacket. The consistency feels so weird but it gives you a strong, powerful and bright shatter. I personally prefer to apply a thick coat of shatter to see a bigger shatter pattern on my nail. Let's have a look at on the nails, shall we? 


This is Beautyuk Punk Shatter applied over Beautyuk Black (I am going to have to do a separate little post for this bad boy. I bought it especially to pair it with my shatter polishes and I just couldn't be happier with it. wow, and that was only £1.99)


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This is Beautyuk Punk Shatter applied over one of my favourite polishes at the moment, Pulsating from Rimmel. You can see it on its own here. The picture on the black background was taken indoors, with flash lighting.  My flash, I think, is pretty chuffing great :) Thank you flash x


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Try to imagine the setting of this photo: It’s sunny outside, blowing gale, I am in the park and the homeless are stopping me to ask why the hell I am waving a my hand in the air and taking photos of my hand. ‘It’s for a project’ I always say. ‘Are you at Uni’. ‘Yeah, that’s right, it’s for my university project’. I would look so much better if I had a proper king kong dlslrlslrlr camera. Alas I look like a muppet with a small digital camera. Hey Ho, such is the life of a girl with blogging about beauty as a hobby.


Where was I?


And last but not least, this is Punk shatter over Beautyuk Yellow Peril (see it worn on its own here) on my wrinkly hand. I love the sunlight around 6pm. It’s gorgeous.


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Glam Rock (the silver shatter) gives you a more subtle shatter but it's beautiful nonetheless. I was a bit worried, it would take a bit longer to dry, given its thicker consistency but I was proven wrong. Like its pink brother, it dries in an instant. I did a manicure on black covering most of the nail, but I prefer to leave more of the black showing. What do you mean some of the pink from earlier manicure are showing? *cough* I can’t see anything



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I think that the best time to play with shatter/crackle polishes is when you have already an old manicure on which starts chipping. There is nothing quite like a shatter to quickly transform your manicure, when you’ve been invited on a night out last minute and your nails look a state.  If you want  your shattered manicure to last, it's best to apply to a top coat but I don't bother with that, I much prefer the rough texture and look of it.


Can you shatter a shatter polish? It would be rude not to try :) Here's my glam rock shattered manicure with some punk shattered tips on top.



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I think BeautyUK has done an amazing job with these. The packaging, the labels, the vibrancy of the silver (sorry 17 cosmetics) is superb. My only regret is that the range doesn't include a gold shatter. If you wait till the 6 July, you can purchase the shatter range (£2.99 each, can any other company beat that?) from your local Superdrug. Otherwise, you can get your paws on it from the website, in the special effects section) Thank you very much again Beautyuk for letting me play with these all week end. I am truly shattered but I am happy :)


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Wednesday, 1 June 2011

Get shattered for £2.99! The shatter shuttle has landed…

When OPI released their crackle/shatter polishes, I was thinking to myself  'yeah but why would I indulge in a OPI shatter polish when I can have the effect with Barry M for cheaper'? When Barry M released additional colours to their trend setting black crackle top coat, it was really hard not to give in and resist the temptation of buying the pink one but I had heard some news at the time that BeautyUK were going to release their own family of shatter polishes and I instinctively knew that BeautyUK would offer them a even more competitive price that Barry M.


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And they did. If you miss the wave of excitement on twitter earlier, BeautyUK released today on their website (in their special effects section) 3 shades of shatter polishes at the amazing price of £2.99 and a little matte top coat with it because it would be rude not to.



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'It's the way it shatters' BeautyUK called their ‘tease trailer’ press release. For me, it's more a case of 'It's for how much you can get the shattered nail look for that matters' :) The shatter polishes are due to hit Superdrug Stores on 6 July. I don’t know if I will be able to wait then. One thing I know is that I'm going to shamelessly talking some twitter accounts to see what it looks like before I can get my hands on it!


Will you be hopping on to the shatter shuttle?
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Monday, 30 May 2011

Your Pulsating Majesty Nails {notd}

My introduction with Rimmel Polishes didn't start very well. I couldn't handle the 'nail tip' whitener and I  didn't get on well with Beige Babe


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However when I first saw a friend of mine wearing Rimmel in Pulsating (619) I just couldn't sit still until I got my hands on it. Pulsating is the most gorgeous pink with a strong blue  iridescence. Just look at it and tell me in the eyes it's not gorgeous. You can't. It's just too beautiful for words. Yes, I am  aware that I already own 2 bright pink with also a strong flashing blue iridescence, Nails Inc Montrose Place,  and NYC Love Me Red Creme but none of the former sport the amazing wide 'Xpress Brush 1 Sec' brush.


I know for fact that this polish will become a little bit thick half way through the bottle: when I first painted  it on my nails, I borrowed my friend's nail polish, it was a little bit thicker than I would have liked. But it's  nowhere near as unusable as Gloope Vite (Seche Vite) or as Collection 2000 hot polishes who separate into oil, even if you  haven't opened the bottle!!


My photos show 2 coats of pulsating. A third coat would have made the tip a little bit more covered but with this  colour (incidentally as with the 2 other pinks I own) I didn't mind a little bit of tip showing. How many times  can you say 'a little bit' in a blog post? Because I think I have broken the record here.


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I hope you will also excuse the overdose abundance of photos. The colour is so gorgeous that it was impossible to  narrow my selection any further.


NATURAL SUNLIGHT
 
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I have a few dark metallic / gunmetal grey polishes in my collection but I have never actually purchased a real  silver polish. I am more of a golden girl really. Not that you can't both like silver and gold, but I have always  preferred gold over silver. I find gold to be warmer and more complimentary to my skin tone. Rimmel, Your Majesty  (shade 239) is exactly what you would think of if you imagined a typical silver polish. In fact, they should have  just called it 'Silver' or 'Majestic Silver' as it is so representative of the silver colour, I doubt anyone will  be remembering its fancy name shade. Boring,  moi?


PHOTOS WITH FLASH:


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Your Majesty didn't have a wide brush but its application was easy. I found the formula to be just perfect and I  was able to apply it very sloppily and still happy with the results. What I was most impressed about was its  drying time. I was scared the polish would be too brushstroky (i.e when you see all the brushstrokes, is the word for that ‘streaky’?) but ‘Her Majesty’ proved me wrong. Is the colour ‘me’ though? I sincerely don’t know. I think I like it under certain lightings. Fans of  silver would love this polish though and at only £2.99, I can't see why you should hold back: Get it!



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Overall, I am super delighted about my Rimmel Purchases and would recommend these polishes in a (pulsating) heart  beat.



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Names: Rimmel Pulsating 619 (Pink) £3.69 and Rimmel Your Makesty 239 (Silver) £2.99
Where to buy: Most Chemists, including Superdrug and Boots
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Saturday, 26 February 2011

No.7 NOTDs Silver & Beans

You'd  have to be a little dense unfortunate have to repurchase favourite no.7 product at full price. You will have heard from the grapevine (aka Fee from MakeupSavvy.com) that the legendary Boots No.7 (£5 reduction) vouchers are back. Is it  *just* a very effective ploy to get us down to Boots and buy buy buy lots of products or do no.7 products need a boost anyway and don't sell well? Disappointing sales figures or not for no.7 products, whether you’re an avid fan of the brand, Boots manages to lure us to go to their shop and spend our hard earned pennies and I am the first one to succumb to the temptation.


I cannot help but feeling annoyed at the original prices though. Whatever no.7 product we choose, there will never be one product under £5, and we'll always have to pay at least £1.50. Unless you want yet another no. 7 nail sharpener at £5.75. How many nail sharpeners does one need anyway? I wonder if the face wipes have gone up as well?
 
Oh I remember the times (before January 2010) when the nail polishes used to be £6 or £6.50. Those times are gone and you have not to fork out £2 to get a nail polish you didn't even want in the first place. If the prices have gone up on all the products, maybe the reduction voucher should have its value increased as well?


Anyway. We are where we are. This week end, I bet some of you will have ended up in a Boot shop without their will and would have inevitably left the shop with some No.7 vouchers ;) What to buy with them? Well for £2, and if you don't already own them you could always get your hands on Night Silver' or ‘Beanie’.


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I found Beanie a little bit on the thick side for the application but not too troublesome and very decent 'mushroom' brown polish.


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And now for Night Silver: very impressive coverage with just one coat. Funny enough, night silver is part of the 'stay perferct' range but I found it more quick drying than the 'speed dry' beanie. I don't usually like high metallic finishes for a polish as I find them streaky, but I didn't have this problem with night silver. You can see some brush strokes but they don’t bug me too much as they are not too overwhelming. I really like this shade actually, it goes with anything, even though it's not a very original shade.


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Do you own No.7 polishes? Have you perhaps blogged about them? Which shades should I buy?
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