Nubar Chocolate Coffee Bean

Here you have proof that Big-3-Free (formaldehdye, toluene and DBP) and non Big-3-Free polishes do not always get along. Nubar is proud to be Big-3-Free, and also contains no Formaldehyde Resin, or Camphor. The topcoat I used, my usual Seche Vite, is not Big-3-free, and I remember reading somewhere before that using a non Big-3-Free topcoat over a Big-3-Free polish can lead to shrinking and pulling of your polish.

You may think that this is just a con to get you to buy a Big-3-Free topcoat but honestly, look at the tip shrinkage I got here from matching Chocolate Coffee Bean with Seche Vite. This photo was taken about 12 hours after putting the polish on. For someone like me, who changes their polish every day, it’s not the end of the world, but for those of you that like a manicure to last a week, it might be worth thinking about. I want to see how it works the other way, a Big-3-Free topcoat over a polish that contains the Big-3.

Anyway, aside from the shrinkage thing, Nubar do sell an excellent Big-3-Free topcoat. Costing £6.55, you can buy it here. It dries almost as fast as Seche Vite, and doesn’t contain any nasties. Could I be leaving the Seche camp? We shall see.

So, onto the polish. Chocolate Coffee Bean is a lovely, rich dark jelly polish with a glimmer of pinky-red. I think it is similar in shade and tone to Raspberry Truffle, but Chocolate Coffee Bean has a darker base and more of a shimmery effect, as opposed to the larger glass flecks of Raspberry Truffle.

I think that Chocolate Coffee Bean is darker and more mysterious somehow and I really liked wearing it. It is a great winter vamp, with perfect application. Like all of the others, it was sorted in two coats, and is removed really easily.

You can purchase Nubar’s Chocolate Truffle range here at Beauty Shed, for £8.00 per bottle.

OPI Parlez-Vous OPI

This is a repost of one I did back in April. For ages it had been nagging at me that my photos of Parlez-Vous OPI weren’t colour accurate so it was time to try it again.

This is my absolute go-to polish for when I jsut don’t know what to wear. I’ve been feeling a bit stressed recently with so many nice polishes and not really knowing which one to choose (not really an earth shattering “problem” I know, but still…) next that I wanted a day or two of wearing an old favourite that never disappoints.

This is a fantastic colour, and one I have had to order a backup bottle of as I can see myself using this one up.

A perfect consistency, this was opaque within two coats and with the all new and exciting Seche Vite, dry in ten minutes. Although I think this one would dry fairly fast anyway.

If you eagle-eyed readers spot a bit of tip wear that is because I put it on on Saturday and have been bashing away on the keyboard like a loon since then. It’s such a good consistency that you wouldn’t notice if you did a quick tip touch-up though.

This is conservative for work but with enough of a twist that you still feel a bit contraversial. I’ve had loads of positive comments on it as this is about the fourth or fifth time I’ve worn it – felt it was also appropriate enough for a business meeting. Win, win!

All in all this is another one I highly recommend. Tres bien, OPI!

Nubar Cherry Cordial

Every time I try one of these Nubar Chocolate Truffles I think  “oooh I like this more than the one before”.

Cherry Cordial is definitely my favourite out of the ones I have tried so far. The word in the blogosphere is that Nubar make some of the best duochromes out there, and if Cherry Cordial is anything to go by, I am certainly inclined to agree.

Once again, application of this was perfect. This was two coats and it just flowed on to the nail with no fuss, bubbling, and zero clean-up. Really, you can’t ask for more than that.

As for the colour – I have no idea how to describe this. It doesn’t exactly sing Cherries to me but to be honest I’m not overly bothered by this. Even if you are someone who expects the contents of a bottle to perfectly match the name of it, you won’t be disappointed by this.

The consistency is fabulous and I love the way in which it can’t make up its mind as to what colour it wants to be. One moment it is brown, definitely brown, then the next moment it is gold, with a hint of pink. Then, unbelievably, it takes on a green hue. Amazing.

I know I haven’t finished reviewing the collection yet but the other Chocolate Truffles are going to have to go some to better this one. Love it!

Cherry Cordial, and the rest of Nubar’s Chocolate Truffle collection can be purchased from Beauty Shed for £8.00

Fame At Last!

Not content with wallowing about in a swimming pool with Michael Portillo for the cameras*,  fame has found me again!

Models Own have launched a fab new blog and have featured the review I wrote of their Gold Digger polish. See it here! And give their blog some love – it’s great.

*If you’re a new reader who doesn’t know about this “experience”, click here.

 

Models Own Pearly Queen

Pearly Queen is a new polish from Models Own, and one that was sent to me for review. This reminds me of one of the first nail varnishes I ever had as a small girl as it is pretty and relatively sheer and so, rebel that I am, got away with wearing it at school.

This works best as a layering topcoat. I don’t think there is any way that you could build this up to being an opaque polish as you’d need to do so many layers that yo’d just end up with a gungy and soft tip. I layered this over Mod About You and think it looks great.

A quick coat of Pearly Queen would be enough to give any straightforward creme polish a great pearlescent finish. It is predominantly a creamy sheer but with tones of pink and green, depending on which way you hold your hand. The green was practically impossible to capture on camera so you might have to take my word for that one.

The logical thing to me was to try it over a pink, but I really want to try it over a pastel blue and/or a green to see how it looks. 

Application was fine – as I said, it is sheer, so it doesn’t have the Models Own trademark pigmentation but as long as you are expecting this, and want to use it as more of a shimmery topcoat, then you certainly won’t be disappointed. This was two coats over an existing manicure. A layer of Seche Vite and it was good to go in a few minutes.

So – my verdict is that whilst this isn’t one that I would reach for regularly myself, I think a lot of people would really like this. It is perfect for a work-appropriate sheer, or to layer over other colours to create a nice effect that is shiny, with depth, and flashes of different colours.

Pearly Queen can be purchased directly from the Models Own website, and costs £5.00.

Nubar Milk Chocolate Creme

“Ahhhh Nubar, wiz zeees Chocolate Truffles you are surely spoiling us!”

This is the second of the Nubar Chocolate Truffle polishes that I was sent to try out from Beauty Shed.

Milk Chocolate Creme. Some people, like my mum, prefer dark chocolate to milk chocolate. But most folks I know cannot resist the swirling, satiny smoothness of a piece of milk chocolate. Thankfully in the UK we have access to brands such as Dairy Milk and Galaxy. The overseas versions I’ve tried just don’t taste the same. Why is that? Preservatives?

So, back to the polish. I liked Milk Chocolate Creme on me far much more than I did in the bottle. Kind of a case of the dress not looking that special on the hanger but great on.

Once again this is perfect two-coat Nubar application. No fuss, very little clean-up. This goes on like melted chocolate, and dries like melted chocolate. Glossy, shiny and eyecatching, I like this a lot. I found myself wondering what it would look like if I added gold glitter to the tips as well  – maybe next time.

Don’t forget these polishes retail at £8.00 esch from Beauty Shed

S.O.P.H.I.E.

*****EDIT*****You can now view this film on YouTube here*****

On August 24th, 2007, Sophie Lancaster was brutally attacked as she and her boyfriend Robert Maltby walked through their local park. It is understood from witness accounts that the couple were set upon because they were goths, or “moshers”.  Both ended up in hospital in a coma. Robert recovered, but Sophie did not, and her life support machine was eventually switched off.

Illamasqua have been constant supporters of the S.O.P.H.I.E. Foundation  (Stamp Out Prejudice, Hatred & Intolerance Everywhere). They sell charity wristbands for £1, and £3.00 from the sale of every Sophie Medium Kohl Pencil goes to the foundation. Click here please.

Illamasqua has also worked with Sophie’s mum, Sylvia Lancaster to create a very special animated video that will premiere on MTV on Thursday 26th November (what would have been Sophie’s 23rd birthday) at 21:15. It documents the final moments of Sophie’s life and how brutally it was ended.

Please show your support for this very worthy cause.

OPI Mod About You

Whenever I’m slightly lost for words about a product, I have a little look at MakeUp Alley. Not because I can’t think for myself but because I like to know what a general consensus is on something.

This was a weird one though. The common thoughts about this one were that the application was dreadful but that the colour was brilliant. Well, I am the living, breathing polar opposite of the general consensus in that case. Application was great. Colour – dreadful.

This is two thick-ish coats over OPI’s Ridge Filler. It flowed on without a problem at all. Honestly, I have nothing to say here as it was absolutely fine. Sure, like any pastel, you have to be careful to get it to match up to your first coat around the cuticle area but that’s common to any pastel creme.

But the colour. Ugh. It’s described by reviewers on MakeUp Alley as being like pink Tippex, as if that could be a good thing. It’s not.

I had this on my hands for around ten minutes before feeling so uncomfortable that I had to paint over it. I must reiterate that there is nothing wrong with this polish at all, but the colour simply isn’t me. Pink lovers, or young girls perhaps, but definitely not one for me.

Nubar Raspberry Truffle

The nice people at Beauty Shed recently sent me Nubar’s new Chocolate truffle collection to try out. I have to say I am loving Nubar’s collections at the moment – smaller, affordable collections which are based on one colour theme, such as the Going Green from earlier in the year.

Raspberry Truffle is, from what I have read on other blogs, the darling of the set. I have to admit, after seeing other people’s photos of it, I really could not wait to try this out myself.

I’m pleased to say that this didn’t disappoint. It flowed on to the nail beautifully and was opaque in two coats, with no streaking, bubbling or bald patches.

It is gorgeous dark pinky-red shimmer suspended in a brown jelly. I love it as it looks like glass flecks, but there were absolutely no issues removing it at all. Very pretty.

I think this is an ideal winter polish. I love browns anyway, and what’s not to like about a brown with pink shimmer and glittery particles?

I adore all the fruit creme chocolates in the box though. Orange / strawberry / raspberry. I never understood why people don’t like them and leave them lurking at the bottom of the tin. All the more for me though!

Don’t forget Nubar products are PETA approved, vegan, and Formaldehyde Free, Toulene Free and (DBP) Phthalate Free. You can read a great interview with Nubar about their ethics on BeautyJudy’s blog here.

I have the rest of the collection on the way for you but in the meantime you can see them here, where they retail at £8.00 each.

Nubar Gilded Gold

Gilded Gold is my first ever flakey nail polish. And by that I’m not making any reference to my fellow psoriasis sufferers – no, a flakey polish is a much coveted thing indeed, unlike having psoriasis, which I would not wish on anyone.

As I’m still currently on a massive gold nail polish kick, I couldn’t wait to try this out. However, do note that it is ridiculously sheer. I have come to the conclusion that Gilded Gold is meant to be used as a layering polish only.

I’ve used it here over an opaque nude shade and it built up nicely. This is two coats. It isn’t the fastest drying polish, I have to be honest – even with Seche Vite it took about a third again on top of the drying time I am used to. But I think it is worth the wait.

Sorry about my cuticle by the way. You know when you get a tiny snag, pull it, it keeps going, and then all of a sudden – oooowwww!

Gilded Gold is an antiquey style shade – the flakey glitter particles and different shimmer sizes make it look kind of battered and cool,whilst still appearing shimmery, shiny and bang on festive trend.

It applied beautifully with no placement of particles required whatsover, and dried to a highly shiny, molten finish, with a gold shade that is subtly eyecatching without being gaudy.

I love this a lot and can’t wait to try it over other colours such as brown and green to offer a bit of a contrast. Stay tuned as I plan to do this soon!