Gallery

  • Emily de Molly

    No Love Lost
  • High Elbow

    Crummock Water
  • Dots!

  • Pocket Money Polishes - I Want Candy

  • Pocket Money Polishes Magic

    Gradient: Chanel Paradoxal and Dior Waterlily
  • Emily de Molly - Serenity

  • Fellrunning

    Dryburn Moor
  • Elevation Polish - Opal

  • Darling Diva Polish - Serendipity

  • Derwentwater

  • Pocket Money Polishes - Summertime

  • Nail Lacquer UK

    Eat My Cake
  • Scofflaw - Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

  • Hodge

  • Chanel - Taboo and Peridot

  • Chanel - Bel-Argus and Azure


Sunday 29 June 2014

R&R Lacquers Shiso and Forget Me Not

R&R Lacquers Shiso
R&R Lacquers Shiso


R&R Lacquers Forget Me Not
R&R Lacquers Forget Me Not

Here are a couple of lovely summery shades from R&R Lacquers 'Primavera' collection. First, this pretty aqua with white pink and gold glitter is 'Shiso'. 


R&R Lacquers Shiso

I used two coats of Shiso with Seche Vite to smooth the glitter out.
R&R Lacquers Shiso
R&R Lacquers Shiso


R&R Lacquers Shiso
R&R Lacquers Shiso


The other shade is 'Forget Me Not', a delicate light cornflower blue with pink and white glitter.

R&R Lacquers Forget Me Not
R&R Lacquers Forget Me Not


R&R Lacquers Forget Me Not
R&R Lacquers Forget Me Not

Forget Me Not is quite sheer, so I layered it over Model's Own Cornflower Gleam... which is a lovely shade of light cornflower blue from their Hypergel collection. Here are is Cornflower Gleam on its own..

Models Own Cornflower Gleam

Models Own Cornflower Gleam

All these products were provided for review. You can buy R&R Lacquers polishes from their Etsy shop and Models Own are readily available in Boots, Superdrug or from Models Own website.




Sunday 22 June 2014

Lancome Nuit D'Azur with Quirk Peace is Free

I bought this stunning blue a couple of weeks ago - it's one of those sort of irresistable colours! I'd describe the formula as crelly; a bit denser than a true jelly but not a cream. As a high-end polish, I had high expectations for the formula and it did not disappoint. The brush is quite wide, flat and with a nicely rounded end that makes painting a neat cuticle line very easy indeed.

This is two coats with Seche Vite quick drying top coat.

Lancome Nuit D'Azur

Lancome Nuit D'Azur


Lancome Nuit D'Azur

Lancome Nuit D'Azur


Then I decided to add a sprinkle of blue glitter - this is Quirk Peace is Free.

Lancome Nuit D'Azur with Pretty Quirky Peace is Free

Lancome Nuit D'Azur with Pretty Quirky Peace is Free

Lancome Nuit D'Azur with Pretty Quirky Peace is Free

Lancome Nuit D'Azur with Pretty Quirky Peace is Free

Lancome Nuit D'Azur with Pretty Quirky Peace is Free

Lancome Nuit D'Azur with Pretty Quirky Peace is Free


Lancome Nuit D'Azur with Pretty Quirky Peace is Free
Lancome Nuit D'Azur with Pretty Quirky Peace is Free
I purchased Lancome Nuit D'Azur from John Lewis and Quirk Peace is Free from the Quirk online shop. Sadly Quirk isn't making polish just now, but I'm hoping Kerrie will resume production sometime in the future.

Friday 20 June 2014

R&R Lacquers Assemble II Collection

R&R Lacquers Big PhilR&R Lacquers Odinson

I have two fabulous shades from R&R Lacquers new collection to show you! These are shimmery neutrals; much as I love my creamy pastels and brights I appreciate a change sometimes!

First, let's check out Odinson, which is fine charcoal glitter in a clear base with some larger silver and red glitters... this one is named for the gorgeous god of Thunder - Rachel and Rebecca's tribute to Thor.



R&R Lacquers Odinson
R&R Lacquers Odinson

Cazzy swatched this over a grey base, and it looks super (check out her post here) so I thought I'd try something different, and just use it on its own without undies. This is three coats, with two coats of topcoat (Seche Vite) to smooth it out. Formula on this is great - no fishing for the bigger glitters and the microglitter base spreads smoothly over the nail without any clumping. In real life, this was pretty much full coverage and I love how the bigger glitters peep out through the microglitter!

R&R Lacquers Odinson

R&R Lacquers Odinson

R&R Lacquers Odinson


R&R Lacquers Odinson

R&R Lacquers Odinson
R&R Lacquers Odinson


Then we have Big Phil, which is a soft greenish grey with a strong gold shimmer... this one is a tribute to SHIELD agent Phil Coulson; the Avenger who never was an Avenger. 

R&R Lacquers Big Phil
R&R Lacquers Big Phil

At some angles, this has an almost duochrome touch, with a hit of soft slately blue grey around the edges. Not so visible in this front-on view, but it's still a lovely colour, very delicate and quite work appropriate.

R&R Lacquers Big Phil

R&R Lacquers Big Phil
R&R Lacquers Big Phil

The formula on this one was a little trickier than some polishes, it is quite thick, but so long as you get a good brushful it flows easily over the nail. I used three cots here - I could probably have got away with two though but three coats is a sort of habit! Big Phil dries without shine - not a problem for me since I always use Seche Vite topcoat.

R&R Lacquers Big Phil
R&R Lacquers Big Phil


Just look at that gold shimmer!

R&R Lacquers Big Phil
R&R Lacquers Big Phil


These polishes were provided for review, they are available now from R&R Lacquers Etsy shop. You can get more information on the brand and links to other reviews by following R&R Lacquers facebook page


Wednesday 18 June 2014

John Lewis British Summertime and Leighton Denny Plush Pink

John Lewis British Summertime and Leighton Denny Plush Pink
John Lewis British Summertime and Leighton Denny Plush Pink
Here's a bright summery mani I did the other day. The base is John Lewis British Summertime, a lovely pale lavendery grey with just a hint of a shimmer. I think the John Lewis range was released earlier this year; I came across them a few weeks ago and bought this one and Brick. The formula on this was great, especially for such a pale shade. This is two coats with Seche Vite quick dry topcoat. I love pale shades like this!


John Lewis British Summertime

John Lewis British Summertime

John Lewis British Summertime

John Lewis British Summertime

John Lewis British Summertime
John Lewis British Summertime
I wore British Summertime alone for a couple of days then I added the big crazy pink dots. This is Leighton Denny Plush Pink, one of the free shades with this month's Harpers Bazaar. Super hot pink shade!

John Lewis British Summertime and Leighton Denny Plush Pink
John Lewis British Summertime and Leighton Denny Plush Pink
Here are a few more pictures in different lights and from different angles.

John Lewis British Summertime and Leighton Denny Plush Pink

John Lewis British Summertime and Leighton Denny Plush Pink

John Lewis British Summertime and Leighton Denny Plush Pink

John Lewis British Summertime and Leighton Denny Plush Pink


John Lewis British Summertime and Leighton Denny Plush Pink

John Lewis British Summertime and Leighton Denny Plush Pink

Monday 9 June 2014

R&R Lacquers Assemble Collection - MkII and Romanov

R&R Lacquers Romanov
R&R Lacquers Romanov
I've a couple of lovely polishes from R&R Laquers I've been wearing this week - I saw a notification that Rachel and Rebecca are about to release an Assemble part II collection, and I realised I've not worn all the first Assemble collection. Oops. And I feel especially bad about this because when I bought Smash (which is one of my favourite polishes this year - a fabulous green with flakies and magenta glitter) the girls sent me samples of the other polishes in the collection. I wore one of the glitters, Steve, as part of the nail art design in this post.

This one is Romanov - a gorgeous black jelly with small holographic copper glitter. China Glaze Fortune Teller has always been a favourite of mine, but I'm afraid Romanov completely blows it out of the water! This is two coats of Romanov with a coat of black (American Apparel Hassid) as a base and Seche Vite to smooth the whole lot out.  I've included some fuzzy shots so you can see the colours reflecting in the glitter...

R&R Lacquers Romanov

R&R Lacquers Romanov

R&R Lacquers Romanov

R&R Lacquers Romanov

R&R Lacquers Romanov


The last polish in this collection is called MkII. It's a combination of red and yellow-gold dots and hexes in a clear base; some of the red dots are holographic.

R&R Lacquers Mk II over RBL Footpath
R&R Lacquers Mk II over RBL Footpath
I layered MkII over Rescue Beauty Lounge Footpath, which is a fab mustard shade, worth a swatch on its own. This is just one coat, no topcoat. ONE coat. For a yellow - that's awesome. And I love the colour. I know these sorts of colours aren't to everyone's taste, but I love them.

 RBL Footpath

 RBL Footpath


 RBL Footpath
 RBL Footpath

And a few more with MkII over the top... so you can see the colour shifts in the holo glitters. This is one coat of R&R Lacquers MkII, a coat of Sinful Over The Top to smooth the glitter out and Seche Vite to give a shine and dry it quickly... because a) I love the high shine finish of SV b) I'm impatient and want my nails dry NOW and c) I'm a creature of habit and I always finish every mani with Seche Vite!

R&R Lacquers Mk II over RBL Footpath

R&R Lacquers Mk II over RBL Footpath

R&R Lacquers Mk II over RBL Footpath
R&R Lacquers Mk II over RBL Footpath
The R&R polishes I used in this post were samples but you can buy them at the R&R Lacquers Etsy Shop. I bought RBL Footpath direct from Rescue Beauty Lounge earlier this year (I took advantage of their free international shipping month!)