Nails and beyond

Ugh, you say, who wants matte lips? We want glossy lips. Seductive, kissable lips.

That's as maybe but...
1 What if you don't like the gloopy feel of glossy lips?
2 What if you have old lips which have lost outline and pigmentation and want your lips to look fuller and not have shine distracting the eye and minimising the area?
3 What if you have thin lips and want to enhance them (see above)?
4 What if you are after a fairly natural look that's easy to maintain?
5 And other stuff...

Anyway, I found these in TJ Hughes (closing down, get there fast) and got 2 for under £3.

I love this, I do. Can't find a number or name on it but the print is fearfully tiny so it may be there somewhere. They do a variety but they're all pretty much of a muchness. Didn't prevent me from buying 2 though. Feels so velvety. Love matte lips.





(See how good beauty uk shatter polish is? Yes?)
Oh, and the cap is itself matte. How cool is that? I do love the feel of matte rubber tops and lids to beauty products. Like Orly polishes. Fab.


My lips used to be fuller and plumper and so forth. Shine on the lips just gives the effect of lustre but doesn't really suit the *ahem* more mature woman. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it. Forgive hideous grey.

Jenni

I can't honestly say I'm over crackle. I CAN honestly say I never much liked it in the first place except when used sparingly. Maybe an accent nail here or a tape mani there.

And a tape mani is what we have here. The W7 is pretty good. I'm not connoisseur enough to be able to distinguish between an OPI, Models Own or W7 silver crackle so I'll content myself with saying this is a perfectly good one and I definitely wouldn't buy another. In some lights it looks white or grey rather than silver if I'm going to quibble. No, I'm in no mood to quibble. Quibbling begone.

So what IS the next big thing????

Jenni

Crackle polish? I'm SO over it. Ya think?

Except when it covers only a fraction of the nail. I've tried crackle tips and crackle diagonals (you try saying it) but crackle halves is definitely my favourite.

To crackle or not to crackle?

Favourite crackle colour and brand? Or are you a crackle-hatah?

Jenni

First time I've done this. I think it's uneven because the glitter is lumpy bumpy and allows leakage beneath the sticky tape. So next time I'll do it over a smooth polish. I think that should work. And I didn't realise I had slapped it so comprehensively over the cuticles but I was so exhilarated by the sheer blingitude of the whole shebang that I snapped it straight off and didn't think to check the photos too closely.

The silver is Diamond Cosmetics Silver Brocade which covers the glitter very effectively.

Oh, and the cheapo W7 polish was much admired by the Illamasqua girl in Birmingham Selfridges!

I know it's not a Mad Hatter dupe but it can still give OPI glitters a run for their money. For £3.98 or less it ain't so shabby.

Jenni

We have here a crackle polish costing £3.98 including the ol' P&P. I think this makes a pretty mani. Delicate, feminine, pretty. SOOOOOOOO not adjectives that apply to me!

http://www.xtras-online.co.uk/cosmetics/w7cra.html for the W7. I have turned up my nose at W7 for many a long year but now I've tried 'em I LOVE them. W7 do a crackle black and a silver. The silver will be making a guest appearance here tomorrow. Why was I so snooty about W7? They are cheap and they look like they are ripping-off OPI. I have now decided that's a good thing. Teaches me not to be so narrow-minded.


This shows the Nails Inc. Must be an ancient limited edition polish as I've only seen it on one website. This is seriously sweet. 'Captivating Selfridges'. What's that all about? IS Selfridges particularly captivating? If I could be bothered to troll down to the smoke I wouldn't be making Selfridges a must-see. That I DO know. Really like this polish. Shows a little warm in the picture - I'd say it's paler IRL. Beautiful consistency. I thought it would be a streaky mess but went on with ease. 3 coats for full opacity but it was so good to work with.

Jenni

I bought my first W7 polishes and I can report they are excellent. This is the least interesting. The other 2 are truly A MAY ZZING. Ebay W7 if you too live in the regions of shopping darkness and can't find it locally. My branch of Debs is charging £7.50 for these. Do they ever sell any? I hope not because that is a quite cynical rip-off.

The Nubar is also fab. It's the least popular of the Venetian Glass collection and the only one I have.  I am now desperate for the others. Everyone says Vaso is marketed as a glass-fleck but it's just (just?) a foil and therefore a disappointment. Well, I think it's both. So there. And not disappointing at all. Get your Nubar at  http://www.nubar-nailz.co.uk/      Very good service and fair prices.




One of my next posts is going to be about the ethics of spending. Not about getting a bargain or value for money or buying on credit (although that IS an ethical issue). But addressing my personal prejudices on purchasing and why they exist. And you may share them.  Or you may not.

Most of you weren't economically active during the apartheid South Africa years but here's a question.

If South Africa were still governed by the white elite would you be happy to buy South African fruit? There are/were all sorts of views on this. What's yours?

And one more as a poser - if you were offered fantastic and cheap goods (Manolos? Cartier?) you had reason to believe were stolen during a violent raid would you go ahead or turn away?


Happy thinking
Jenni