Polish round up – Brown and Gold

You may have noticed an increased effort on my part to stop spending recently. It’s going pretty well. The last cosmetics I bought were a little Sleek haul on the 27^th December. If I can get to the end of December without parting with any more pennies it’ll be a big achievement. Long story short I’m focusing on paying off some student debt. Anyhoo boring stuff over, as part of my ‘enjoy what you have’ project I wanted to go through and have a look at what nail polish I already have in an effort to dissuade myself from going out and buying any more similar colours. These are the browns and gold’s I’ve accumulated. First with flash and then without. 

From left to righ we have; Diamond Cosmetics Yukon Gold, Orly Rage, L’Oréal 395, Collection 2000 Foxy, Little Rose (got this in Thailand, no idea what it’s called), OPI Sand In My Suit, Barry M Dusky Mauve, China Glaze Ingrid, Barry M Chocolate Brown, Nails Inc Jermyn Street, Barry M Mushroom, Essie Mink Muffs. 

All of these are 2-3 coats with no top coat. The purple shimmer in Dusky Mauve isn’t as apparent here as it is in real life, trust me it is there really. Some of these colours are very similar too however none are exact dupes of each other. Oh and please excuse the cat fluff in the back ground. That rug was literally washed 24 hours before those pics were taken but madam decided it needed to be fluffy again.  I hope this is useful in comparing some of the more popular brownish shades out there. Any other colours you’d like to see a roundup of? 

*Sadly I bought all of these myself apart from Jermyn Street which was free in a magazine*

NOTD: China Glaze Vintage Vixens – Ingrid

I don’t know why but I like brown polishes. Especially dusty, dirty looking ones. You might be forgiven for looking at this and thinking Essie Mink Muffs or even Barry M Chocolate Brown and in the shade they are all very similar. Get it in direct sunlight though and that gold shimmer that you see in the bottle is gloriously visible on the nail too. This stops the colour looking flat and I think is a really nice touch. This was two coats.




The formula is slightly thick so it does have good coverage. It applied well though there is a little air bubble on the ring finger which annoyed the heck out of me. Wear was two days before it chipped. I’m curious about a few more of the Vintage Vixen collection however I’m saving my pennies for the gorgeous Halloween collections coming out way. How do you feel about brown polish? Grown up and sophisticated or poo fingers? Let me know in the comments! X

*I bought the above polish. My reviews are always my honest opinion. For more info see my disclosure policy on the left*

NOTD: China Glaze Dorothy Who?

Hmm. It’s bright, sparkly and Wizard of Oz themed. I should love this. I hate it... The bottle promises a rich true blue with silver sparkles. If there is one thing that I HATE in nail polish it is sheer polishes. This is 3 coats:



I took it off within one day. Maybe I should have kept going to a fourth (or even fifth) coat but I can’t be bothered with that. I’l stick with Absolutely Alice when I want blue sparkles thanks. I don’t really have anything else to say about this...

*Unfortunately I bought this myself*

NOTD: China Glaze C-C-Courage

Ah the bargain bin. Home of old seasons of China Glaze and OPI at my local Sallys. I was intrigued by the Wizard of Ohh Aahs when it came out however I convinced myself I didn’t need anything from it. Of course show me it long after the hype for £2odd a bottle and I’m all over it like a cheap suit. Anyway here we have thee coats of C-C-Courage (I love that name!):



The formula is typical China Glaze. Thin but not too runny and easy to apply. This lasted three days I think before it needed removing. It’s a deep purple base with pink and silver micro sparkles and it is gorgeous! As the shimmer is quite large, bordering on glittery, it was a bit of a pain in the bum to remove but not as difficult as true glitters can be.

This is still really easy to find. If sparkly purples are your thing then definitely pick this up. It’s gorgeous! Xx

*I bought this with my own money. My reviews are always my honest opinion. Check my disclosure policy on the left for further info*

Apologies for the slow down and NOTD - China Glaze Sex on the Beach

Hi all. I know in the last week my posts haven't been coming as thick and fast as usual. This is unlikely to change in the coming week. Family crises and what not mean I'm spending much of the time driving about the UK looking after various people. I won't go into detail but it's a tough time right now so please excuse my semi absence.

In the mean time here is a NOTD. I've been stocking up on work appropriate colours. I usually get away with whatever I want on my nails at work however if I have a big meeting I like to tone things down. For some reason the fact that this is a respectable, work friendly pink yet called 'sex on the beach' makes me giggle...



It's a frosty pink with a gold sheen but silver micro sparkles. It is fairly sheer so at least 3 coats are required. The formula is very thin and easy to apply and I get at least a couple of days wear out of this making it suitable for short business trips. Love it!

*I bought the above product myself with my own pennies. My disclaimer is in the menu on the left for further info*

NOTD – China Glaze Frostbite

The NOTD posts are BACK! And back in style with one of the most gorgeous blues I’ve ever owned. This is Frostbite from the Winter 2007 SKI collection by China Glaze. I picked it up at my local Sallys recently. It is a gorgeous, vibrant, pearly blue. My pics don’t even begin to show how rich and vibrant this colour is.



This was three easy coats. It lasted 2 days before tip wear set it but I am really hard on my nails. Love it!! X

*I bought the above product with my own money. I always give my honest opinion of a product. For further info see my disclaimer in the menu on the left*

NOTD – China Glaze Grape Juice

Grape Juice came out as part of the Summer Days 2009 collection and is pretty easy to find. It’s a gorgeous purple with oodles of shimmer, almost bordering on micro glitter. The shimmer is silvery but flashes rainbow in sunlight.


The formula was surprisingly thin and it took 4 coats to get it this opaque. I’d love to be able to tell you how the wear was but as you can see I have fake plastic nails and they needed replacing 1 day after applying this. There was no tip wear or chipping after 24 hours though. The pictures show the colour pretty accurately though it’s perhaps a touch deeper in real life. Love it!

NOTD - China Glaze Aqua Baby

Excuse the shoddy photos and lack of clean up. Time is a luxury I don’t have at the moment but I loved this colour so much I just had to pop it up here.

I made a discovery last week. There is a Sallys Beauty Supply 5 minutes walk from my flat! And they have a half price OPI and China Glaze bin! That was a good day my friends. Amongst the bargain beauties I found was this little bottle of summery loveliness. The colour in real life is somewhere between the flash and no flash. It’s a bright rich aqua blue that occasionally tricks you into thinking it as that soft muted quality until you stick it in the sun and it pops back to being bright again.



Application was good, 2-3 coats and it’s opaque. It isn’t hugely fast drying but once it is dry it lasted for three days before I changed it (I’m wearing fake nails by the way in that pic. My real nails have been destroyed by exam stress...) I believe this colour was from the Patent Leather collection (do correct me if I’m wrong) and it seems to be fairly widely available online. In my vast collection of corals and pastels lined up for use this summer this makes a refreshing change. Love it!

*By the way that is GOSH Rainbow in my ring finger. No I can’t resist putting it on anything... it’s sad but I do love it so. And here is a gratuitous photo of my cat. She's been very poorly but is feeling much better now. The vet nurse is just puzzled about the bald patch... it should have grown back by now! Poor naked Taz :-(