NOTD – L’Oreal Brit Invasion (US Release)

I’ve been having fun digging about the stash and pulling out older shades that you may (or may not) have seen on the blog before. I thought it might be nice to do some quick Nail of The Day (NOTD) posts for you.

This one I got from a friend in the US as part of a polish exchange group, way before the RM restrictions on posting polish came into force.  I googled and it looks like part of a 2012 release for Fall, a whole load of London/UK named polishes.  Its NOTHING LIKE IT IS IN THE BOTTLE.  What a bummer.  But I still love this.

I have previously blogged about this here (should have checked that first, it has the details on the collection!)

Let me know what you think in the comments!

Don’t forget that you can follow this blog via Bloglovin’, either by clicking the icon to the right or by clicking here. I can also be found on Twitter @BakingNails

Advertisement

Second Chance Saturday – Chanel Vertigo

I’ve been going through my Chanel Nail Polish collection, oohing and awwing over the lovely colours in there.  So here comes another Second Chance Saturday, with Chanel Vertigo.  This was part of Les Essentials De Chanel for Fall 2012 and had two sister polishes in Suspicious (a hot pink) and Frenzy (a nude).

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Its a lovely dark gray, with a ripple of red within it.  The ripple doesn’t come onto the nail in the way its visible in the bottle.  The formula is lovely, rich creamy and easy to work with.  Drying time is good and it looks great.  Dark, mysterious and forbidden.  In bright light the red does appear briefly.  Its very subtle.

Did you pick up Vertigo in 2012?  As far as I can tell, Vertigo is now part of the permanent collection and you should still be able to get hold of a bottle.  Retail in the UK is around the £18 mark and Chanel can be picked up from a number of larger department stores and good sized Boots stores.

Don’t forget that you can follow this blog via Bloglovin’, either by clicking the icon to the right or by clicking here. I can also be found on Twitter @BakingNails

 

 

 

 

 

KBShimmer – Quantum Leaf

Man, I got a lovely polish for you today.  You may remember my love for KBShimmer, I have a few, that I either had sent to me from US buddies or was fortunate enough to get them through a restock at Harlow&Co.

This is Quantum Leaf  is from the Fall 2012 collection, but you may have guessed this from the colours. This is a rusty orange/yellow base with glitter in red, orange, copper and gold.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

And it is delightful.  Really perfect for Autumn.  However, when my dear friend sent it to me from the US, I had to wear it straight away.  I just love it and it was on my wanted list since its release.

Three coats provided great, opaque coverage.  First coat tends to end up with all the glitter at the end of the nail unless you make an effort to address that.  The next two coats really bring the glitter colour spectrum to life.  I based with G & G Stuck on Blu! and the topped with a good layer of G & G HK Girl.  Love it.

What do you think?  Do you have any autumn or fall favourites you are looking forward to getting out?

China Glaze – It’s a Trap-eze!

Are you ready for some glitter loveliness??  Today I have China Glaze It’s a Trap-eze! to show you, this was sent to me by my lovely Canadian Polish buddy, Adina, from Blue Collar Red Lipstick.  This is from the Worlds Away Cirque Du Soleil Collection that came out in late 2012.  There were 12 polishes in this collection, including a couple of glitters.  Anyway, let’s go!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Having spent a lot of time recently removing glitter from my poor abused nails, I decided early on that a layer approach was probably best.  I went straight to the best white polish in my collection, which is Tempest from Cult Nails.  This is a great white polish, goes on smooth and levels well, making it ideal on its own or as a base colour.

I then used just one medium thickness coat of It’s a Trap-ese, yes just one coat.  Look at that glitter!!  Completely in love.  I am a little obsessed about white polishes with glitter at the moment, plus I needed something I could wear for a couple of days.  This was perfect for that.  I prepped by nails by base coating with Essence Better Than Gel Nails Base coat.  I do like this product, dries quickly and seems to provide great anchorage for polish.  In fact, I reckon its getting very popular as my recent trip to Holland turned up a massive blank when trying to buy more bottles!!

Anyway, the polish itself it white tinged, and I know from other blogs that if you layer it carefully you can get opacity within two or three coats.  I think it really shines when you layer it, such as this.  It dries quickly and its packed full of glitter in lots of different colours, orange, red, green, yellow, blue, silver and white.  It appears to be in two sizes, small and large.  I sealed the whole thing tight with a thick coat of Seche Vite, but it wasn’t too bumpy at all before the Seche.

What do you think?  Are you over or into white polish and glitter??

L’Oreal – Brit Invasion

Clearing out a bit of a backlog with something from the vault.  I have had these images for a while and thought it was about time to get them out into the public domain.

This is Brit Invasion from the Fall 2012 London Collection by L’Oreal.  I understand that these were all limited edition shades but they do pop up on blog sales now and then.  Nouveau Cheap had the scoop when they were first stopped Stateside.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Its a really unusual colour, depending on the light it looks more brown or more purple.  Its quite a complex one to describe, it is like a browned lavender.  Anyway, formula was great, three thin coats and you get great coverage.  I used Essie Millionails as a base with a good coat of Seche Vite on top.  After a day I pepped it up a bit with Kleancolor Firework, a glitter bomb of a polish with teal/blue, orangey gold and red in it.

What do you think?  I like the clashing colour combo although the Kleancolor is a bit smelly…..

Illamasqua – Creator

I have the only polish I was given for Christmas to show you today, one by Illamasqua called Creator from the Generation Q release.  Its a lovely black rammed full of silver glitter.  I know, how may black sparkly polishes does one person need?  More than one!  Including this one!!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

So, as you can see in the pictures, its simply lovely.  The formula on this is nothing short of perfect, smooth, thick and goes on like butter.  It is only a smidge away from being a one coater if you apply it thickly, but I used two average thickness coats.  It is the deepest black polish, the silver is wonderfully and evenly suspended throughout the whole polish.  And delightfully it remains so on application.  Drying time is on the fast side and two coats, with a base and top coat, took no more than 15 minutes.  Base was Seche Clear and top coat was Seche Vite.

I love this polish, I wore it twice whilst I was away over Christmas and I’ve just applied it for the third time!  I have a couple of other Illamasqua polishes but this has swiftly become my favourite (as a side note, I also have the Magnetism lipstick from the Gen Q collection which I am also fond of)  I may even have to splash out when the re-release of Raindrops comes along.

You can purchase Illamasqua from their website (shipping is worldwide) or in certain stores that have a concession, in the UK this would be Selfridges, some Debenhams or at one of the stand alone stores.  You can find the UK ones here. Retail is £13.50 and its worth signing up to the enewsletter as sometimes you get free shipping or percentage discounts.

What other polishes from Illamasqua would you recommend?

Don’t forget that you can follow this blog via Bloglovin’, either by clicking the icon to the right or by clicking here.  I can also be found on Twitter @BakingNails

OPI – Germanicure by OPI

OPI are seriously knocking collections out of the park at the moment, not only do they have the just released Skyfall/James Bond Collection, but the Germany Collection was completely amazing too!  What I have to show you today is from the Germany Collection, well I think the clue is in the name….

Let’s get straight onto the images as this is a beauty…

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Germanicure is a deep russet red polish, with that wonderful lit from within quality that we have seen a lot in OPI polishes recently.  Its such a deep rich autumnal colour that just glows on the nail.  It is wonderful.  The images above are three thin coats over Essie all-in-one base coat and my recently ‘restored’ seche vite.  Formula was just perfect on this, thin, workable and self leveling.  Drying time between coats was excellent, I had prepped, painted and top coated within 20 minutes.

In the UK the official reseller of OPI is Lena White, its worth signing up to their newsletter as you often get sent discount codes.  There are plenty of other good outlets as well.  Pricing in the UK is £11 a bottle (thats $17.50 to US girls… I know, I know…)

What did you get from the Germany Collection?

Zoya – Natty

I have a polish to show you today that I wanted simply for its name, its a nickname that I called my son when he was a baby, so I had to have it.

Zoya is a US based polish that us nail fanatics love, they have some great colours and they are vegan friendly, plus they are Big 5 Free. However, getting them in the UK is a bit of a pain, you either have a polish pal or have to spend a bit of cash. But wow, they are worth it.  Natty is from the Fall 2012 Designer series. Here come the pictures!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Natty is a deep blue creme with a dusky hint to it.  It applied like a dream, smooth, creamy and manageable.  Drying time was average and the colour is very pigmented.  I used two coats here, you could do three thin coats too and get the nice depth of colour you see here.  I used my Essie all-in-one base coat and Seche for a topcoat.  I did experience a bit of tip shrinkage but I did expect it.

Then I decided the following day to paint over Natty with the lovely Ama Dablam from Elevation Polish, stunning combo and one I wore for a couple of days.  Below I have a bottle comparison for you, on the left is Khloe Had a Little Lam Lam, in the middle is Blue Rebel from the Chanel Les Jeans collection, with Natty on the right.  In terms of a dupe, Blue Rebel is probably the closest as there is only a shade or two in it.

Zoya can be purchased from Amazon (UK) and several other resellers, if you have a hot tip, please share it in the comments below.  I’m hoping to get some more to add to the few I have when I go to the US shortly.  Wish me luck!

 

Sinful Colors – Rich in Heart

Another Sinful Colors for you today.  This one is from their Fall releases and I think you will agree, its an awesome colour for autumn.  Rich is Heart is a rich, deep copper leaning red.  It is stunning.  Really stunning.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The formula on this was awesome, really easy to use, well pigmented and with a good drying time.  I reckon you could get away with one coat if you were a thick coater, but I think two is perfect.  I used Essie all-in-one for the base and Seche for the shiny top coat.  The Seche did give me significant tip wear, which got worse throughout the day, which is a shame because I could see myself wearing this for a few days on the trot.

I’ve noticed Sinful Colors coming up on Cherry Culture, they do ship to the UK and have a host of other brands that might catch your eye.  You can also find them on eBay and occasionally in make up resellers.  Otherwise you need to get on a plane to North America…..

Don’t forget that you can follow this blog via Bloglovin’, either by clicking the icon to the right or by clicking here.  I can also be found on Twitter @BakingNails

New Things I Have Spotted #34 – Barry M, Painted Lady & Collection2000

Three new things I have Spotted! in the past few days.  First up, as you may have already seen all over the internet, a Ltd Ed Barry M in Web Effect. Now none of the swatches I have seen online look anything like a web, but I’m a sucker for orange…

Then I noticed these Nail Talon Wraps from Umberto Gianinni in Boots.  Not cheap but some really cute designs.

Sorry this picture is super blurry, but the green ones look like gem beetles, awesome!

And finally, new polishes from Collection2000 (or their new name Collection) three Bedazzled nail effects.  Not sure if these are just top coats or full on glitter polishes.  Plus their price point is good, although there was no price on this stand. EDIT – Claire at Nuthin’ But a Nail Thing has some swatches check them out here…)

I know there are more new items on the way, I haven’t seen them yet – these include a cheap version of the fish egg manicure, Miss Sporty duochromes and those Barry M Gelly and Glitter polishes….

Have you Spotted! anything new recently?

Don’t forget that you can follow this blog via Bloglovin’, either by clicking the icon to the right or by clicking here.  I can also be found on Twitter @BakingNails