L’Oreal – Pop the Bubbles

I think most days, especially in the last few weeks, every colour that has grace my nail tips has been textured.  I think I am slightly obsessed!  And I really don’t feel this is something that I am going to get over anytime soon.  One of my favourite ranges, apart from the European based P2 sand style polishes, has been the US only release by L’Oreal of the Gold Dust range.  This is nine gorgeous shades with lots of glitter and sparkle to make your heart sing.  I’ve been stalking them just a *little* bit on eBay….

This is the last one I have to share with you, that a lovely friend picke dup for me in the state, knowing the extent of my obsession.  I give you Pop The Bubbles

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As you can see, this is just the most spring like shade of aqua.  It is just lovely.  The glitter is of several different sizes but all in the same shade.  It really lends itself to being in the sunshine because when they sun does hit, this baby shines!  Formula was excellent, a good consistency allowing placement close to the cuticle without flooding.

What you see above is two coats over a base of G&G Stuck on Blu! OOOohhhh I do love a nice bright texture.  I’ve worm this twice since I received it into my grabby hands.

What are your favourite textured brands? Let me know 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

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L’Oreal – Too Dimensional?

I just can’t help myself – I am suckered completely into this textured trend.  And texture and glitter – its a given winner!  I have a polish brought to me from a friend who was in the US, this is from the Revlon Gold dust collection, a range of 9 glitter textured polishes of which we have already seen I Like It Chunky and Hidden Gems, plus can see all shades on this post at Nouveau Cheap.

This one is Too Dimensional? A purple and silver combo.  Lets look at some pictures!

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Gosh, isn’t this pretty?  Such a great shade of purple, almost lilac, with hints of silver and a smattering of gold.  Formula was good, what you see above is two average coats.  Drying time was longer than average, you do need to leave time between coats so that you don’t ding them and take chunks out of the polish. But you only have to prep your base – here is G&G Stuck on Blu, my trusty base.  I find a textured polish is easy to touch up however, if you do crack a bit off or catch it before its perfectly dry.

At the moment, I can’t see any plans for L’Oreal to release these into the UK market – huge shame as the whole range is full of stunners!  Your best bet for these is currently eBay where you can score some or hope they pop up on blog sales.

Let me know what you think in the comments – what is YOUR favourite texture colour at the moment?

L’Oreal – I Like It Chunky

We are slowly coming to the end of all those lovelies I bought in the US, I’m not quite sure what to get onto swatch wise after that, but I am sure I will find lots of great things to share with you.  This is another of the textured L’Oreal polishes and it has the most ridiculous name!!

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This is one coat of I like it Chunky over a base of G&G Stuck on Blu! Just the one coat, its a great shade.  Orange but not neon.  Orange but not bland.  The added glitter really help make the shade pop on the nail just a little bit.  it is quite subtle.  I wore this for 5 straight days in NYC but here it started to chip after I spent all morning on my PC at work.  Thankfully, these are easy to patch up!

I think my preference is for textured polishes to have glitter in them, the cremes look a bit off to my eye.  That is probably why I love my P2 Sands and why I have my eye on the forthcoming Catrice shades (all of them, how could I pick a favourite??)

Anyway, let me know what textured polishes you love 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

Sally Hansen – Rosey Shooter

And now we have glitter top coats!  You may have noticed in my US haul post, I did pick up a few. This one is Rosey Shooter, from the Rent the Runway Xtreme wear collection by Sally Hansen (see the whole range here on Nouveau Cheap). I am also slightly obsessed with my base coat, KIKO Shade 328, a lovely light gray creme with fab coverage in two coats.  But onto Rosey Shooter

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Rosey Shooter is a mix of red and white glitter.  The red glitter is all metallic, the white appears matte.  There is also white bar glitter in it.  Application is a bit of splodge and spread approach to get good even coverage, but there is quite a lot of clear base so application needs to be careful or your glitters start sliding off as its drying.

I do love this combination, the red and white is a classic colour combination.

What do you think?  Let me know in the comments

Maybelline Color Show Brocades – Crushed Crimson

Another US edition of the Maybelline Color Show Brocades to share with you today, this one is called Crushed Crimson.

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As you can see, its a lovely jewel red shade, packed with lots and lots of glitter.  The glitter is maybe ruby red, but there is a smattering of gold.  It is darker to the UK version, Rosy Rosettes, and slightly more glittery. Formula was on the thick side but I managed to get what I think it two pretty even coats on all my nails.

Wear is atrocious.  Even with my G&G Stuck on Blu! base and a good coat of G&G HK Girl top coat, I had a chip within 6 hours.  Then whole nails started popping off.  In the middle of meetings at work.  Not good.  As soon as I got home, it came off.  Such as shame is its so very pretty.  I may try another base/top coat combination just to see, but myself and other bloggers have noted the really poor quality with this line.

Speaking of base and top coats – want to share your faves?

L’Oreal – Hidden Gems

Still with the polishes I bought in the US, bear with me and next week I’ll try and mix it up a bit.  This one is from the Gold Dust Texture Collection by L’Oreal.  I do prefer the US bottles, they are larger and their bigger square base means that they don’t fall over.  You can see the whole collection here on Nouveau Cheap.

Anyway, lets hit up the pictures.

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As you can see, in the bottle there is a duochrome which isn’t so obvious on the nail.  It dries well and quickly, like most textured polishes.  Its a lovely deep green with silver accents and does look great on the nail.  I would imagine its very similar to Rimmel Space Dust, as it also has that black/green combination.

What do you think?  Let me know in the comments 🙂

Things I bought in the US

As promised, here are my purchases from my recent trip to the US.  We had a wonderful time, lots of things to see and do and I got to visit my first Harmon’s – very exciting! First up, some pics of the ranges I was hoping to see.  First up, Revlon Parfumerie.  I just love these. Then, more Revlon.  With the new Matte effects and Sun Candy ranges. Followed by new Wet N Wild megarocks! And now my purchases…..I’m going to add links to other blogs, in particular Nouveau Cheap, so that you can see the full range.  These are all US polishes and for Europe/UK ladies, you either need a trip to the US, a swap buddy or a look on eBay to get your hands on these.

These are the Color Shows I picked up, from the top Beaming Blue, Crushed Crimson and Amethyst Couture from the larger US Brocades range, beneath them Styled Out from the Denim Range and Dotty from the US Polka Dots range. Here we have my first new Covergirl polish in 315 Timless Rubies, Sally Hansen Sugar Shimmer in Cinny Sweet (see the Fall 2013 range here), Wet N Wild megarocks in Slap the Bass and Milani Neon in Awesome Orange. No judging… I’m still not done…  L’Oreal in Hidden Gems and I Like it Chunky from the Gold Dust collection. More Sally Hansen goodies now, from the top right Fa-La-La-Lavender (Holiday 2013), Satin Glam in Silk Onyx and Sun Sheen (rest of the range here), Insta-Dry in Chop Chop Copper (Fall 2013).  Beneath them Twinkle Toes-ty (Holiday 2013) and Xtreme Wear in Rosey Shooter, Sea-ly String, Frazzle Dazzle and Green Rocket from the Fall 2013 range (see more info here) I’m very excited to try out these two from the new Sephora X collection.  This is Spark and Bombshell. And then, finally…. more Revlon.  Parfumerie in Autumn Spice and Winter Mint, Revlon Elusive, Revlon Sun Candy in Lava Flame and some spider nail art stencils that I think are Halloween 2012 or 2013 (sale item). So there you have it.  My addiction laid bare.  Anything catch your eye and what you would like to see first??  Hit me up in the comments!

Chanel – Rouge Moire

Whoops!  I meant to share this with you all before I went on holiday to NYC.  And there is a short haul post coming along so please bear with me.

This is one of two from the Rouge Allure Collection, the sister polish being Rose Moire (which I passed on), along with a number of new lipsticks.  Anyway, onto the pics!

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As you can see Rouge Moire is a jewel toned ruby red – and its stunning.  Its not quite a creme and has a slight ruby shimmer going on.  Formula is excellent, its almost a one coater but two provides perfect coverage and great self levelling.  Just a word, thinner coats result in less noticeable brush strokes.  I just love it – its actually not dupable in my current Chanel drawer.

I paid £18 for this in my local super large Boots, but Chanel is available from most beauty counters in the UK from Boots to Debenhams and Selfridges.  The counter staff said that this was limited edition so if it does catch you eye, go go go!

Did you pick up anything from the Rouge Allure collection?  Let me know in the comments and thanks for reading

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 – Dining Al Frisco

*Disclosure: This product was sent to me for review but this does not influence the opinions expressed in this blog which are entirely my own.

I have another of the San Francisco OPI Nail Polishes for you today.  This one is an icy cool blue, which reminds me of the cool Pacific.  Lets have a look at some pictures shall we?

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This is a cool blue, akin to a pale blue clear sky or a cold ocean.  Its lovely.  Formula was just a nice, good coverage, almost a one coater.  Its a great self leveller and dries within average time.  I used two coats of Dining Al Frisco over a base of Glisten and Glow Stuck on Blu and a good coat of Glisten and Glow HK Girl over the top.

OPI bottles come in minis or 15ml, as you can see here, so you get quite a bit of polish for your money.  The black cap unscrews and the brush is firm yet pliable.  My polish was sent to me, for my honest review, by Chemists Direct and you can purchase it from them as well as other stockists.

What do you think? A good cool blue or too icy for you? Let me know in the comments!

Chanel – Alchimie

From the Autumn 2013 Collection Superstition, I have Alchimie to share with you today.  We’ve already seen Elixir, which you can see here, and the third polish in the collection is called Mysterious – which I don’t have (yet).  I’m not sure why its taken me so long to show you this, I’ve already worn it twice… anyway, lets get onto the pictures

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Alchimie is a mid toned olive green, with a slight hint of frost to it.  It is an unusual colour in my stash and I have nothing else quite like it other than Chanel Peridot which is much more duochrome in appearance.  The slight frosting means that depending on your application you may see brush strokes.

What you see above is three thin coats, over a base of Glisten & Glow Stuck on Blu! topped with a nice coat of Glisten & Glow HK Girl. Formula is great, exactly what you would expect from a non Chanel creme.  As with all Chanel polishes, the black cap pops off so that you have much more control of the brush.

From what I can tell, out of the three shades in this range, only Alchimie is the limited edition one.  So if it catches your eye and you have yet to take the plunge, you’d best get a move on.  Chanel polishes are readily available in the UK in department stores and larger Boots stores.  If you live in the US, you can order from Chanel directly (lucky things!).  RRP in the UK is between £17 and £18.

What do you think?  Is this Chanel up your street?