NOTDs from Nailbarone

After a successful time shopping for all manners of lovely stuff such as Culpeper soaps, exclusive cat toys and luxurious knitting yarn from Noro in York, we arrived at walk-in nail bar Nailbarone on Swinegate. After amusing ourselves for about ten minutes watching the 'assembly line' style nail service and perving on the shelves of OPI, Essie and China Glaze polishes on sale, it was time for our shape and polish. I chose the dark dusty seafoam green beauty "Going Incognito" and my pal Rachy went for the blood-red killer creme "Up's".

After washing our hands, the hands were smothered with luxuries hand cream and any old nail polish was removed. The nails were then shaped by filing. After that a coat of Nailtiques base coat went on, then the coats of polish was meticulously applied (no clean-up required!!) and it was sealed with a generous slick of Seche Vite top coat. We love these manis! I fell for "Going Incognito" so badly, I came home with a bottle for my stash...

In a sort of assembly line up to six clients was serviced at the same time by 3 nail technicians! I was very impressed with the super-neat and speedy service, and for less than £10 per person! We have been admiring our super-shiny nails while having a home-made curry and playing "Residen Evil" on the Wii with red wine! :) And tomorrow we are off to IKEA! Woohoo! But now I have to drink my coffee and cuddle Rachy's white kitty and watch some TV before bed!

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NOTD: Nails Inc Diet Coke Exclusive "Denim"

Sorry I've not been around lately, I came down with a stomach bug last Wednesday and I am still signed off sick as it has not improved... Very run down and waiting for test results to come back. Ugh... Anyway, onto today's story - when I went to Boots to get some more rehydration salts on Tuesday I spotted this years Diet Coke limited edition Nails Inc polishes, a free bottle with purchase of 2 Diet Coke 500ml! If you're quick you there may still be some polishes left!

I chose this one, but in hindsight I should've gone for the "Heather Grey", as they will probably be sold out by the time I get back there and "Denim" may be a little bit too close to the old, now discontinued Nails Inc "Hanover Square" of which I have 2 bottles... I will do some comparisons in daylight tomorrow.

This, I kid you not, is 1 coat with NO top coat. I am not joking. The formula on this is AMAZING!!! Just what I needed right now. That, and those juicy blueberries in the background. Now if I could only get my hands on "Heather Grey". I have a feeling it will be a lighter version of Essie "Angora Cardi", one of my top ten faves of all time. For the nostalgic of us, here is my top pick from the Diet Coke exclusives last year - "London".

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NOTD: Topshop "Airplane"

I will make this brief as I am enjoying "The Towring Inferno" on the sofa. Not much to say - I love this polish. The formula is perfect, the colour is to die for and totally original and the price is right! :) This is 2 coats with China Glaze FastForward top coat. Love! The colour should been called Thundercloud as that is what it looks like :)

Also check out the knitted & felted handbag I finished today :) Awesome!!!

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NOTD: New York Color "Spring Street"

Finally managed to do my nails for the first time in over a week! Please excuse the dark streaks - Nubar Nu Nail is not a good base coat, it creates streaks in ALL polishes I've ever worn over it. However, as I am cat sitting at the moment and it's all I've got, it will have to do! :)

This is 2 coats of "Spring Street", a nice reddish orange from bargainstastic brand NYC. I slapped on some MegaShine and got some free micro-glitter particles from last time it was used... Oh well :)

I sat outside knitting for some of the afternoon enjoying a rare day of sunshine and hot weather. I also did loads of sewing today as well so I've got a sore back, so I am off to have a nice sooting bubblebath. The cat is in a huff with me however as I wouldn't let her jump up in my lap while I was sewing, so best give her some of that crunch cat food before I go off! See ya soon!

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NOTD: Nails Inc "Diet Coke: London"

What was I thinking?? Nude/greige creme, when I have such awesome choices as Topshop "Copper Coated" and "Carry on camping"?? Well, I don't know, been really suffering from my recently bruised ribs after all that gardening yesterday (I couldn't even get out of bed and couldn't sleep for my sore back and midriff)... I think I may just be ill, hehe.

It's a nice polish though! Same buttery smooth Nails Inc formula as ever, and this is 2 perfect coats and top coat. I like it. Maybe will look better if I'd not broken a nail today doing the vegetables for roast chicken... Damn you potato peeler from IKEA!!! Never mind, it's done, I just have to suffer for a while until it grows out. This is one of 4 different colours that you get free right now when you buy 2 500ml Diet Coke bottles from Boots! But this was the only unique colour so I got this one.

Anyway, I will do my first "face" with my new Topshop makeup tomorrow, so stay tuned for a FOTD tomorrow night! :)

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NOTD: Easter Eggs

HAPPY EASTER!

Hello everyone! I am just celebrating the arrival of an extra-long Easter weekend, and here is my manicure. I pulled all the pastel creme polishes I've got out and decided which ones to use and did dots. Dodgy and wonky dots. I was distracted by Pirates of the Caribbean on TV, that's my excuse! The new Boots 17 collection is great, the new Revlon "Minted" is nice but a bit runny...

From thumb to pinkie: Rimmel LycraPRO "Urban Princess", Revlon "Minted" and then Boots 17 "Parma Violet", "Orange Soda" and "Sherbet Lemon".

Dots are made with a dotting tool and NYC "Little Italy".

I finally did something I have never done; I have ordered the WHOLE COLLECTION of the Zoya Sparkle collection that is released today. I couldn't help myself. I love the pastel cremes but there is always room in my heart for more glitter :D Check out swatches for yourself at All Lacquered Up!

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NOTD: Jessica "Bazaar"

Still snowy - had to walk to work this morning in -4C so was wise and put my skiwear on! I felt needed something deep, soft, sensual and creme for my manicure tonight. I wanted to do some Konad in gold over to make it more festive.

This is 2 coats of "Bazaar" over Sally hansen Nail Quencher base coat. This is my first and only Jessica polish. It's almost a dupe for MAC "Rougemarie", but I am not sure if I maybe prefer "Rougemarie" to "Bazaar". This polish goes on very smoothly. It's not showing up as dark as it is on the nail in the photo however.

Then I put on some flowery Konad plat M2 in "True Gold" by Isadora (another antique nail polish!). I finshed off with Sally Hansen MegaShine as usual. It came out quite dark so guessing I need to buy a proper Konad gold polish...

I can't wait for xmas break! Hopefully will have more time to do some things around the house. But now I have to prepare for tomorrow and lay out my skiwear :)

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NOTD: Barielle Shades "Grape Escape"

This is a super-duper polish from the 2009 Sugar Rush collection for summer by Barielle. I got this in a swap from America! It was left as an untried for a while as I wasn't sure it would look OK with my skintone. Tomorrows outfit for work is very retro, so I finally decided to try this dusty deep grape polish and it's amazing!!

This is 2 coats over Nailtek II base coat with Sally Hansen Megashine top coat - but only because I couldn't be bothered waiting for it to dry properly; this is super-shiny on its own.

So far I am beyond pleased with Barielle Shades, I wish they would be more easily available in the UK.

Also for all you China Glaze fans out there, check out the super-exciting news from All Lacquered Up!! I have two words: Ooooo-Aaaahz... :D

Lina-Elvira Loves It Thiiiis Much:

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

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NOTD: Illamasqua "Rampage"

Sometimes a frenzy stirs in the nail polish lover's community. Such a frenzy occured for China Glaze "Emerald Sparkle", and lately, for Illamasqua nail polish, in particular for the dark green creme "Rampage".

I had to have it. I have worn it since Thursday night. That's 4 days. And very few nail polishes survive past the second day before I crave something new on my tips... And "Rampage"only showed minimal tipwear after being out recording spiders all day today!

It applies well, this is 2 coats. I was surprised when it dried matte! The pigment in it must be related to neon pigments. This is with Poshe top coat. Please excuse the rubbish lightning, I couldn't find the right light on Thursday as I was not at home this week. Also excuse the crappy cuticles, they're misbehaving badly lately :(

Lina-Elvira Loves It Thiiiis Much:

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ +

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NOTD: Misa "Dirty, Sexy, Money"

This is one of several awesome shades from Misa's Spring 2009 collection Living on the fast lane. It's a dusty creme teal shade, almost a little bit grey. A sophisticated take on green, if you like. This is 2 coats over Nailtek II Foundation with a coat of Poshe over the top. Quick drying even without the top coat. I love it so much I have 2 bottles of this shade, I can see myself wearing it all the time in the summer. What do you think about this one?

Lina-Elvira Loves It Thiiiis Much:
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

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FRANKENPOLISH: Bottle Green Creme

I name thee "Bottle Green Creme"!

This is it. I have found my favourite green creme. Ever. Tell me you don't love it?? :) I can't wait to make a full mani with this.

This is a frankenpolish, lovingly concocted from Rimmel I Love Lasting Finish "Sunshine", Nails Inc "Hanover Square", Barry M "Lime Green 137" and a dash of Viva La Diva "56". And as you can see its not nearly black as compared to Rimmel 60sec "Blackout" next to it. Peeking in in the background is the lovely Barry M "True Turquoise". And yes, my kitchen roll has butterflies on it..

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NOTD - MAC "Rougemarie"

"Rougemarie" is part of the Red She Said MAC holiday collection. I saw this polish and knew I had to have it :) Usually I admire the MAC polishes from afar, but never buy them so when the sales assistant n Harvey Nichols in Edinburgh said that it might be out of stock I was heartbroken. But after a lengthy drawer search, she found it! :) "Rougemarie" is a glossy, vampy dark red.

The formula seems a little bit thick, but it presents no application issues and you get perfect coverage in 2 coats. This is Seche Clear base coat, 2 coats of "Rougemarie" and Poshe top coat.

Also, "Rougemarie" will go great with my MAC "Russian Red" Lipglass :) So top marks for "Rougemarie"!

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NOTD - Bloom "Isla"

Wow, this bright and cheery purple creme beauty from Australian cosmetics company Bloom is a true stunner. I walked into Superdrug, saw it in the display and immidiately knew I had to have it. It retails for a whopping £8, so not your average drugstore brand price!!

This is the blurb that they give about the polishes on the Bloom website: "With pigments sourced from around the world, a professional two-coat formula and an incredible 330-strand brush, our nail polish will hold its colour and shine for days."

So, in reality, how was it for me? I love the bottle top, its rubbery and smooth, providing excellent grip. Bottle is standard ColorClub-ish looking thing but logo is funky. Application for this polish is good, not awesome, but good. With the spiel on the website of "300-strand brush" I guess I kind of expected a religious experience :) Two coats gives a nice opaque coverage. Drying time is a bit longer than I have the patience for so I slapped on a coat of Seche Vite (holy frijoles, I love that stuff). The end result is amazing. I frickin' love this polish!! I can see myself wearing it a lot, especially in the summer. The colour in the photo seems more pink than purple, but I just couldn't get it right for some reason. Stupid cameras!

There was only 8 colours in the shop (of which one was out of stock) but they appear to have a large selection on their website, including some intriguing blues and greens. "Isla" is not as dark in real life as it is on the website, in fact it looks like a little bit of a cross between OPI "Can you dig it?" and Zoya "Juicy".

Bloom also had a great looking range of eye creams and such which I am a sucker for but they were too pricey just to buy-to-try, but Bloom is a brand I will need to investigate more! :)

Bloom Cosmetics

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