Essence Cool and the Gang

The lovely Christine travelled to Germany a few months back and picked up a few Essence polishes for me. Even though I'm technically in Europe, Essence is not sold here in the UK so it was super exciting to finally get my hands on some of their polishes.

Cool and the Gang is a gorgeous royal blue but I'd describe the formula as inky. I used 3 coats in an attempt to cover any Visible Nail Line but there is still a little bit showing through.

Konad Plate: Born Pretty M79
Base Colour: Essence - Cool and the Gang
Konad Colour: Barry M - Gold Foil
Top Coat of NYC

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Nubar Elegant Indigo

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I have one of the newer polishes on the list of things to show you today, Nubar Elegant Indigo from their Fall 2011 Polished Chic Collection.  It's a very well pigmented deep blue with a lot of sparkly shimmer bits, and not only did nobody tell me it's this cool, it looks far less impressive in the bottle than it is on the nail.

I used two very thin coats of Elegant Indigo over a base and finished it off with a coat of Poshe.  In applying the color, I found that one not-so-thin coat would have been enough, but I did two super thin since I have a better time controlling application with very thin coats.  The polish was easy to control and apply, and this manicure has no clean-up.

Indoors, it looks like a nice deep blue shimmer, and it's one of those where in low light you can see it has great direct light potential.  After it dried I went out into the sunlight and confirmed that it is indeed spectacular in direct light.  This is Elegant Indigo in the sun.

Nubar Elegant Indigo Nail Polish, Two Coats

I have a super close-up of the shimmer on part of a nail so you can see how lively the finish is.

Nubar Elegant Indigo Nail Polish, Close Up of Shimmer

In both pictures you can see how the polish just lights up and glows when light hits it - it's brighter and more blurple in the directly lit parts and a darker deep blue in the areas not directly lit.  I particularly like the shimmer in this one - normally, dark blues that look loaded with shimmer in the bottle take direct light and a lot of squinting to see any shimmer at all once they're applied, but this one is really pronounced.

That's Nubar Elegant Indigo and my manicure for the day, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



*This product was sent for independent review by the manufacturer.

All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Himalayan Blue

Good morning, Dear Reader!

After two days of wearing Skyscraper, which is truly spectacular in sunlight, I figured I'd go for something a little more basic and upbeat and chose Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Himalayan Blue, one of the Fall 2011 Tracy Reese shades.

Himalayan Blue is a really lovely intense sky blue creme, and in applying it I was impressed with its quality.  The polish is very well pigmented, with two coats being plenty, easy to control, and dried very quickly to an unusually high shine.  I used a base coat, two coats of Himalayan Blue, and a coat of Poshe.  After it dried, I took a picture of it in sunlight, and you can see in the picture just how shiny it is, especially since Poshe doesn't add much in the way of shine.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Himalayan Blue Nail Polish, Two Coats

Although not a traditional color for fall, Himalayan Blue feels right for an autumn day like today in the Midwest - the sun is out after a couple grey days of rain, and it's a cloudless perfectly blue sky.  These are my favorite beautiful days before the cold begins to set in, so I really like a polish that feel just right for them.  Of course, the temptation was to Konad this, being a plain creme, but a plain particularly happy color is sometimes best left alone.  I might add to it after wearing it for a day, but today I'm just going to savor the pretty simplicity.

This was sent to me by Sally Hansen's PR for review, and the press materials indicated that the Tracy Reese shades would be available in fall with nothing more specific regarding a date.  Sally Hansen limited editions normally tend to show up in my area within the first week or two of release, and I can tell you that they're not here yet.  I've been to the two stores where collections usually show up first locally for other stuff in recent days and took a detour to cosmetics to see if they were around, but they weren't, so just keep an eye out for them because they should be available very soon now.

That's Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Himalayan Blue, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

China Glaze Skyscraper

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I felt like a fun polish today, so I used China Glaze Skyscraper from their Metro Collection.  I think this might be the only one I have from that collection, maybe one other.  Skyscraper is a really striking deep blue with very, very fine silver glitter.

I used base coat, three coats of Skyscraper, and a coat of Poshe.  After two coats, the blue base of Skyscraper had some uneven spots, so I added a third to make it even.  It dried just fine after a third coat of color, so it wasn't a problem at all.  I also noticed that despite being loaded up with glitter, the surface of the polish is quite smooth after drying.  This is Skyscraper in the sun.

China Glaze Skyscraper Nail Polish, Three Coats

This is a fun cool weather polish, so I like it, and a smooth glitter is always a plus.

That is China Glaze Skyscraper and just about all there is to tell you about this morning, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

So! FashioNAILble

Today's nail art comes straight from the catwalk at New York Fashion Week. I've decided to recreate a few of my favourite nail looks from NYFW Spring 2012 this week.

Even though I'm sure this design didn't originate at fashion week, CND's Wanda Ruiz used this checkerboard pattern to decorate the models' digits for the Nicole Miller show using a Raspberry Pink and Navy Blue.

I used No7 Lucky Lilac as a base. With a liner brush, I drew a cross on my nails and then used a small nail art brush to fill in two of the four sections with Primark's Yes Cyan!.

I don't know if you can see in the pictures but my top coat has bubbled a little. This could be because I used 3 coats of the stuff, or because I tried to thin it out with Nail Polish Thinner. The consistency definitely improved with the use of the thinner but it has now gone cloudy and apparently bubbly so I'll just move on to a new bottle. Not to self: don't use thinner in your top coat!

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Nubar Jeans

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I just got a promo image that's pretty interesting for Nubar Jeans, which they say will be online within the next two weeks.

Nubar Jeans Nail Polish Collection

Look familiar?  They look like dupes for Les Jeans de Chanel to me.  The only other info I have is that the set of three will be $19.99 and the colors are as follows:

Faded Jeans, a light blue shimmer
Boyfriend Jeans, a medium blue creme
Dark Wash Jeans, a dark blue creme

That's what I know, and now you do too.  Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!


All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Color Club Lumin-icecent

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I'm sorry I've been neglecting you, but I have something very cool to show you this morning to make up for it.  Color Club sent their Foiled collection, which is a collection of six really nice foils (or chromes), and when I finally had a chance to change my polish, I picked Lumin-icecent to wear.  That's a super Suzi name, but more like Suzi on a good day since the color of this one is a good ice blue.

I meant to take a picture of three days' wear on Facets of Fuchsia because I had no chips or tip wear at all, but it really needed to be changed because that Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle serum I'm using really seems to be working - the manicure looked a good five days grown out.  However, it was 11:30 at night when I had a chance to change color, so here wasn't adequate light to be had.

For Lumin-icecent, I used Nailtek II as a base since it's a ridge filler.  I have pretty pronounced ridges in my nails and chromes are the absolute least forgiving finish for that, so I figured ridge filler would help me out.  I then applied two coats of Lumin-icecent, which went on very easily and was no problem at all to control.  To avoid brush strokes, I just used a light hand with the brush and it worked out well.  I finished it off with a coat of Poshe, and now I have a perfect manicure for a very chilly day.  Here's Lumin-icecent totally dry on a cloudy day.

Color Club Lumin-icecent Nail Polish, Two Coats

I love this because it's foily enough to look like metal, but isn't bad on brush strokes or showing my ridges too much, and it's a perfect ice blue.  The other five shades are equally good - Color Club left out the obligatory silver and gold that have been done to death and gave us just cool colored foils.  I had a hard time choosing which to wear and just picked this one so I could put it on and get to sleep.

Lumin-icecent is just the first of the Color Club Foils I have to show you, so there will be more to come.  Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

No7, I Am Disappoint

Boots are running their £5 off No7 make-up when you spend £5 in store at the moment and since I always need hair dye or products, I  take advantage and stock up while the offer is on so I get a few vouchers. I run right over to the No7 counter and pick out a nail varnish which then costs me just £2. Bargain!

I picked up Minty Fresh which is a lovely colour but an absolute nightmare to apply! The formula is not particularly thin but it drags and streaks like a byatch and needed 4 coats for opacity.

Here's my step-by-step. You can see the extent of streakiness on the first picture. I would recommend you stay away from this polish at all costs! I'm tempted to throw it out because it's so dang frustrating! 

Anyway, on to the nail art... as if this mani couldn't get any worse, the colouring on the bullion that I used came off completely and smudged all the way up my nail when I applied my top coat. I still love the little detail though!

Stamping Plate: Bundle Monster BM212
Base Colour: No7 - Minty Fresh
Stamp Colour: NYC Glossies 243B
Top Coat of NYC
Bullion from Born Pretty Store
Gems from eBay

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Chanel Blue Rebel

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today is the last installment of Les Jeans de Chanel with Blue Rebel, the darkest of the three.  I put it on last night and managed to scuff it up a little bit before I took a picture, but I can still show you the color.

Blue Rebel is really saturated with color, and one thin coat is almost enough for a manicure.  Two makes it really shiny and rich.  It's just a standard blue, but very nicely done.

Chanel Blue Rebel Nail Polish, Two Coats

This is in direct sunlight, for reference on the color.  Although it is a very nice blue, this is the one of the three with which I'm least impressed.

That's the update for today, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Chanel Coco Blue

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I have Chanel Coco Blue to show you, which is the lightest of Les Jeans de Chanel.  It has a nice mica shimmer that give the polish kind of a glow and is distinctly visible as shimmer only in direct light.

For the manicure, I used SpaRitual Laquer Lock base coat, two coats of Coco Blue, and one coat if Lippmann Addicted to Speed to finish it off.  Here's Coco Blue in natural light on a slightly cloudy day.

Chanel Coco Blue Nail Polish, Two Coats

That's all for today, Dear Reader, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Chanel Blue Boy

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I received a fabulous gift of Les Jeans de Chanel today, so it seems that my waffling over whether to purchase them resolved itself without a decision ever being made.  All three polishes are quite pretty, but I'd say Coco Blue is the standout of the collection.  It's lighter than I was in the mood to wear, so of the other two I chose Blue Boy, the middle one, to wear today.

Blue Boy is a medium kind of slate blue creme, but bluer than slate blue and I don't know the official name of the shade, but that seems like a close enough description since I'm about to show you a picture anyhow.  I used SpaRitual Lacquer Lock for a base, two coats of Blue Boy, and I topped it off with Addicted to Speed.  At one coat, Blue Boy looked like it might be a jelly, but the second coat made it a super shiny Chanel creme.  Blue Boy is to medium blue what Dragon is to red and Imperial to brown, where the color itself isn't out of the ordinary but the incredible gloss to the polish is.  Whether that's $29 special is a personal call, I think, and I'm just glad my birthday falls when it does so I can stop evaluating whether it's $29 special and just enjoy wearing it.

This is Blue Boy in sunlight after it had dried.

Chanel Blue Boy Nail Polish, Two Coats

I haven't tried a new Chanel creme in quite some time, perhaps since last September, and I'd forgotten the high shine they have.  It makes a simple color really a standout for me, so Blue Boy makes me happy.  I think my reluctance to purchase high-end polishes has made gift giving very easy for people who like me - I'm suddenly really easy to shop for!

That's what I know about Chanel Blue Boy, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Revlon Blue Mosiac

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I changed my polish to Revlon Blue Mosaic, one of Revlon's new glitter polishes, and I thought I'd give you a peek because it's a nice one.

Blue Mosaic is fine blue glitter along with blue and silver hex glitter in a clear base.  I used three coats of Blue Mosaic, and at three I figured it covered well enough to skip the fourth that would have made it better since I've always had drying troubles with Revlons.  I left a few minutes drying time between coats, then added one coat of regular clear polish to even out the surface and one of Lippmann Addicted to Speed since it's high-powered on drying and I had it out from yesterday.  That seems to have worked well, and I think it's totally dry now, but I still don't trust it enough to test by digging something into it to find out.

This is Revlon Blue Mosaic in the sunlight.

Revlon Blue Mosaic Nail Polish, Three Coats

It looks kind of mermaid-y to me, but without the touch of green most like this have.  I like it, although I'm not looking forward to removal.  It really does take pure acetone to remove glitters like this, which is kind of rough on my skin.


That's Blue Mosaic and what I know today, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Criss the Cross and Dot the Dot

I have a little confession to make today. I've been sitting on this for a long time because I wasn't really sure if it was a topic I wanted to talk about on the blog. I guess this has come up now because September has hit and everyone is back to the grind. School, work, whatever.

Some of you may know, or be vaguely aware, that I was studying for a degree in Accounting and Finance and the academic year approaching would have been my final year. However, during my second year (the one just gone, 2010-11) I became really discouraged in school. I didn't enjoy my subject any more, I couldn't find any motivation to put effort in to my work and as a consequence, I failed the year. 

So... I won't be going back to University this year. I'll really miss the people and the place but I'm so glad I don't have the constant worry and stress hanging over my head all the time. I'm currently 'temping' in a little office where I get on with my co-worker and there's little to no stress. All the while, searching for a permanent position to take up when this is finished.

So for now, the only question playing on my mind is 'What do I want to be when I grow up?'. Lots of people say I should study hair/nails/beauty but I don't want to go back to school for a while and I also think that take all the fun out of my hobby. I would love to pursue a career in childcare but, again, that means going back to school. For now I just plan on finding a job that I enjoy (or at least don't mind waking up for every day) and saving enough money to move in to a flat or house with my friends. I'm taking things one step at a time.

Konad Plate: Bundle Monster BM203
Base Colour: Rimmel - Electric
Konad Colour: GOSH Metallic Purple
Nails Inc - Paris
Top Coat of NYC

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Blue and Green Barry

I feel like I write apologies way too much on here so I promise this will be the last one ever! From now on, I will just post when I post and not feel bad if it was 4 days since I last blogged.

I hate hate hate using artificial light to take my photos but I haven't had much choice recently as winter is creeping up on us and the days are just so dull. There is a lamp somewhere in my house that I think has a white bulb though so I'm going to find that and see how the two of us get along.

 Stamping Plate: Bundle Monster BM210
Base Colour: Barry M - Mint Green
Stamp Colour: Barry M - Cyan Blue
Top Coat of NYC

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Check out my guest post on Polish Wonderland!

Chell from Polish Wonderland asked me to write a guest post for her blog while she was away on holiday!

Click here or on the picture above to go to the post where I offer up my top 3 tips for nail art stamping.

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Les Jeans de Chanel Online

Hello, Dear Reader!

I'm doing some work way, way too late tonight, but it worked out well in the sense that I checked Chanel's site for Les Jeans de Chanel, this year's Fashion's Night Out nail polishes, at 11:01 p.m. thinking that it was the release date of Les Jeans de Chanel in the Eastern time zone, and as luck would have it they were there for the taking.  Here's their promo image for the category for all three Les Jeans de Chanel shades on their site.

Les Jeans de Chanel Nail Lacquers

Their price is $29 each, and while that's far better than the rumored $39, it's also a heck of a lot for a bottle of nail polish.  Given that my 40th birthday is next week and I was really happy with the Gift to Self of a Chanel order last year, I'm now waffling about these.  There's also a corner of my brain that's been fixated on the shimmer of one of their recent polishes, Graphite, for some time, so I'm still evaluating whether my overtired brain is simply trying to rationalize a Chanel order.

I'm guessing these will go quickly, although I'm open to being proven wrong on that.  If your heart is really set on any of these, my experience is that limited edition Chanels can rarely be found for less than retail, so I wanted to let you know that they're there for the taking at what might be the lowest price for which they can be purchased.

I'd better get back to being productive so I can get to sleep, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Orly Stone Cold

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I changed my polish today to one of the Orly Mineral FX shades, Stone Cold, the bright blue one.  I got it at Sally's, and they're definitely pricey at $9 on sale.  The quality of Stone Cold seemed worth $9 though - it's well pigmented and great in two coats, and the polish is very easy to control.  Still, it's in that giant 0.60 oz bottle, and I think I'd be happier if it were 0.30 oz for $5...

For the manicure, I used a base coat, two of color, and one of top coat.  After growing weary of my shrunken tips on the last one, I used Diamont here so it wouldn't shrink.  Here's Orly Stone Cold in sunlight after it dried.  There's no cleanup here at all - Stone Cold is that easy to control.

Orly Stone Cold Nail Polish from Mineral FX, Two Coats

I like it a lot, it's so vivid and sparkly.  Bright blues always ring some alarm bells for staining, so my hope is that I'll be able to take it off without leaving anything behind to remember it by.

That's Orly Stone Cold, so until next time, Dear Reader, love ans nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Daisy Daisy...

I always feel so guilty when I go more than one or two days without posting. It's blogging withdrawal! I can't concentrate because all I'm thinking about is when I'll have time for all the photographing and editing and writing.
Do any of you other bloggers get this way? I'm not complaining though, I love being dedicated to my blog. It's the only serious commitment I have in my life at the moment!

I've had an awesome bank holiday weekend so far. I've been on an open top bus tour, partied with my old school friends and had some alone time strolling around the shops where I found some incredible bargains. Today I'm off to my aunt's house for her birthday lunch and then heading in to the city for my friends birthday meal. I wish my life was always this exciting!

My favourite bargain from my Sunday shopping trip was some white Wet N Wild polish which has kind of solved my stamping dilemma for the time being. Wet N Wild products aren't really sold anywhere here, the only place I've ever found them is in bargain or end-of-line stores so my jaw literally hit the floor when I spotted a few dozen of these on the shelf. I still have a lemming for that Sally Hansen Whirlwind White though! Thank you for all the help you guys gave me with that, you know who you are ;)

Konad Plate: Bundle Monster BM205
Base Colour: No7 - Stand Back
Konad Colour: Wet N Wild - French Manicure White
Top Coat of NYC

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Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Deep Blue Sea

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I have another polish to show you from that display of glittery Sally Hansen Xtreme Wears,  Deep Blue Sea  It's a pretty faded denim blue with a silver super cool sparkly finish similar to that in Midnight Sky.  It only took two coats to be even and opaque, and it dried particularly fast.  Here's Deep Blue Sea in kind of cloudy sunlight.

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Deep Blue Sea Nail Polish, Two Coats

I took the picture about twelve hours after I applied the polish, so it stays really sparkly and shiny.  Both Deep Blue Sea and Midnight Sky sparkle a lot in normal indoor light, which is unusual and certainly a good thing.  You can see how well it applies, too - there was zero clean up to this manicure.  It's just really easy to make clean lines with this pairing of polish and brush.

That is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Deep Blue Sea and also just abuot all I have to tell you about today, so until next time, love and nial polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Glitter Gal Marine Blue

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I have a new-to-me brand to show you today, Glitter Gal.  It's an Australian made brand, and their new U.S. stockist got in touch to ask if I'd want to try some out, so she sent a few for review.  I have the first of them today, Marine Blue, and it's really a nice one.

It's a holo, not too surprisingly marine blue in color.  I used Nfu Oh Aqua Base, then two coats of Glitter Gal Marine Blue.  The polish is much thicker than many holos, like Nfu Oh's or China Glaze's, more like some of the Nubar ones.  That made it a lot easier to apply and control.  After the two coats of color, I added Poshe and the Sally Hansen shiny top coat.  Here's Glitter Gal Marine Blue.

Glitter Gal Marine Blue Nail Polish, Two Coats

Nice one, huh?  I have two more I'll show you this week - I'm excited to try them.  I applied this last night (I'll update that Revlon post - the polish dented badly a few hours later) and did about an hour of housework this morning with no thought of avoiding chips until I was finished, so it's clear to me that the wear on this is better than many holos, which can be a bit on the chippy side.

I tried to take a picture of Marine Blue's little bottle, but my camera lens fogged up really badly and all of my bottle pictures look like I took then through a frosted shower door (like it's an aging starlet!), so I'll just give you all the details.  The bottle is small by U.S. standards at 9 ml rather than our usual 14-15 ml and is similar to Color Club's in shape and proportion, so it's a practical shape.  I hold the bottle in the hand I'm painting when I apply polish, so bottle shape actually matters to me, especially smaller ones that can be harder to hang on to, but this one was good.  The stockist has just opened a brand spanking new site where we can buy them for $14 a pop, and it does accept Paypal.  The owner of the store was previously selling them on ebay, where she has a good deal of 100% positive feedback, so there's a history available even though the site is new.  The price is a little less on the store site than it was on ebay because the seller is able to reduce the price without the ebay fees (which are steep).

That is Glitter Gal Marine Blue and what I know about the brand, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen.