To gloss or not to gloss? That is the question.

Hello there!

Tonight, I want to share one of my Poundland bargains. I have at least 15 Revlon polishes - only one of which was bought for the full price (£6-7). This one was bought for £1...

Revlon's 'Red Ribbon'. Yes, it's a matte polish and yes, it did look like suede...but when adhering the rhinestones, the polish became glossy in some areas. To fix it, I covered it with a glossy top coat.

Admittedly, I do love glossy polishes. I'd rather turn a glossy finish into a matte by using a matte top coat, because that eliminates streaks (for me, anyway).

This is what happens when you use cheap rhinestones! As soon as I embedded these rhinestones in the top coat, their backs started to wrinkle. Any integral shine they had diminished immediately. I ended up smothering them in top coat in the end. Now they don't even look like rhinestones!

So, how do YOU feel about matte polishes? Are you a sucker for gloss, like me or is matte the way forward for you? Let me know in the comments box.

Take care!
xx

Models Own Beetlejuice collection - long overdue!

Would you laugh if I told you that this post is four months overdue? Well, you'd better get your giggle on then.

I sat on these swatches for a little while because frankly, I didn't want the beauty of them to be overshadowed by 50 million other polish-aholics swatching them the same week they were released. The Models Own Beetlejuice collection actually came out in November 2011 and was highly coveted to say the least. So much so that the complete sets (comprising of 5 gorgeous duo-chrome polishes being sold for £5 each or less if bought in a set) were sold out instantaneously on the Models Own website. I had heard that ASOS were selling sets of three for less than £15, so I went over and had a look at the sets. Unfortunately, out of the 3 polishes I really wanted, the set only had one. I bought the set anyway because the other two colours still looked intriguing.

This is Golden Green.  Yes, it is golden and also green at the same time! The formula is smooth and it took three coats to get this level of coverage.

In real life, this polish is all the more striking. With a bit of sunshine this will burn your retinas!

Emerald Black.  These photographs do not do this polish justice. In one light it looks like black ink, but then in another, the emerald is clear to see. It's a very pretty polish, but I doubt that I'll get much wear out of it simply because I want the other colours. I know, I'm such a spoilt child!

Ah...Pinky Brown! Now this one is definitely a looker. The dual colours are blatant and nowhere near as subtle as the two colours before.

Here you can see the brown (which looks more like bronze to me) and also the dark pink.

Aqua Violet and Purple Blue are still on my list to buy and if you buy from the website, you can get a discount on either three or five bottles. You can't say fairer than that can you?

Have you got any of these polishes?

P.S. If you're looking for wallet-friendly options for nail polish, try these coupons for Overstock.

xx

Max Factor's Fantasy Fire - Swatch

Today, I have a swatch for you.

I was having an email conversation with RM the other day and she mentioned a Max Factor polish that seems to be a big hit at the moment. As it happens, I have been walking past this polish for a good while, simply because of the size of the bottle and how much it actually cost. Yes, I'm frugal.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I picked up a bottle just so I could see what the hype was. There have been times when a polish has been 'all the rage' and I've looked at it and thought 'why ?!' Remember Revlon's 'Perplexed'? Yeah...I didn't see what was so special about it.

 This is 'Fantasy Fire'.

Now, I have a few things to say about this one. The pro's are that it's gorgeous and has small shimmer particles in it and you could also put this in the category of a duo-chrome. It's an eye-catcher alright. I was wearing this last week and I got quite a few comments at work. The most amazing fact is that it is available at Superdrug and Boots in the UK...but not in the US apparently. It's usually us over here who miss out on the good stuff.

The con's? Oh my goodness. This is four, yes FOUR coats of polish. If you don't like the visible nail line (VNL), you might want to layer this over another colour with a better coverage. Because the polish is so thin and the bottle is so tiny, you may not get many wears out of this one I'm afraid. To top it off, this polish costs £3.99. Given the brand, you would expect to pay a little more, but they could have made the bottle just a little bigger.

As much as I don't want to like it (simply because I feel cheated by the size of the bottle), it IS a cutey. Imagine putting a matte polish on top...or even slapping a coat of glitter in between two layers of this beauty.

There are actually quite a few of these tiny polishes available in various colours, but I haven't had a good look at all of them. Maybe I will and maybe I'll come back with some swatches. Maybe.

Take care.

xx

Advertures into duochrome pt2. Accessorize - Purple Dream

Hiya!

Today I'm back with something that puts a smile on my face, despite the VAT rate rising to 20%...grrrr.

As promised, here is another gob-smacking polish from the Accessorize Illusion Collection - Purple Dream. There are quite a few more in this collection but I have yet to pick them up.

 And I like this!

Blue and purple micro glitter in a purple base. Don't let the glitter put you off though. Removing this was easy as pie. This was three coats.  If and when I do get some more Illusion polishes, you will be the first to know. Of course!

Have a great day
x

Adventures into duochrome pt 1- Accessorize Aztec

Hey, hey everybody. Today was a Bank Holiday so no work or school for us! Tomorrow, however, things should be getting back to normal.  I do hope so because I'm waiting for the Postie to bring me goodies.

No art today, just a swatch. I hope this is okay!

Before I started this blog, one of the polishes that people seemed to be talking about a lot was Orly's Space Cadet. I wanted this so badly because I love duochromes but was dubious about spending over a fiver on a bottle of polish, no matter how gorgeous it was *sniff*. I nipped that obsession in the bud and decided only to admire from afar.  Then I nearly fell over when I wandered into Accessorize one day.  They had tiny bottles of polish lined up on the cash desk (I don't know why but they,  as well as Monsoon and Claire's, always have piles of stuff all over the place and I always end up knocking it all over).  I had a quick look and low-and-behold, I found what I believe to be a good duplicate - for £4. Not bad, considering Space Cadet goes for just over £8 depending on where you buy on-line.

From swatches I've seen, I THINK that this colour is much richer than Orly's...but I haven't done a side by side comparison. You tell me. Oh and of course there are loads of pictures. I wouldn't have it any other way.

This is Aztec, from Accessorize's Illusions Collection.

Aztec not sure if it wants to be green or purple or grurple...I love it though but it does take at least three coats to cover the bald spots.

I've got another one from this range for you tomorrow and it's even better.

Ni' night all x