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 Barry M Nail Effects over Ciaté Main Stage

Everyone and their granny has done a post on this but I thought I’d volunteer my thoughts on it anyway.  Crackle polishes seem to be all the rage at the moment but frankly why would you pay for an OPI version when Barry M do the same things for £3.99? Ciaté Main Stage is a bold, bright pink with no shimmer. It is opaque in one coat and being almost neon dried to an almost non glossy finish. The nail effects dries to a matte black finish, there is a glossy top coat over all of this. I find if you don’t use a top coat it can scratch off very easily. 

The things about the nail effects is you can control the pattern to an extent by applying it differently. I like to slap it on in a really thick layer. Here I did one layer of Ciaté, Seche Vite, left it till it was almost but not quite dry then slapped on a really thick layer of nail effects. The result is a very chunky and defined pattern. By applying a thin layer over dry polish it results in smaller fractured pieces. I really like the effect!

*I bought these myself*

NOTD L’Oreal L'Oréal Paris Resist & Shine Titanium Nail Polish Shade 395

*I have no idea what's up with the text here... when I go to edit it it looks normal!*

I photographed this months ago and never posted it even though it’s one of my most worn work polishes. I got it free with a gift with purchase a while ago. It’s a gorgeous, shimmery pale gold housed in a rather odd shaped bottle. Don’t worry about that massive cap being unwieldy, it pops off to reveal a more sensible lid. 

 

This was two coats I believe (it was a while ago...). The formula is very easy to work with though I think the bottles promise of ‘up to 7 days wear’ is more than a little optimistic. I usually get three before I take it off but the colour is very forgiving of any chips. I wish the colours had proper names though rather than numbers! Xx

NOTD: Ciaté Headliner

I’m afraid work is taking up every waking moment at the minute so the posts have been a little thin on the ground. Sorry! I’m going to get back into the habit of scheduling posts this weekend so normal service should resume as of erm... now. Here we have another gorgeous shade from Ciaté. Ooh those bottles are cute! 

Two gloriously smooth coats. Love it! The colour is stunning too. The wear was only two days on this (over OPI Nail Envy and under Seche Vite) but still it is pretty. This was my constant toe nail colour on holiday. I personally don’t subscribe to the theory that brights are for summer and darks are for winter. I like it so I’ll wear it whatever  the season! Xx

*I got this free with a magazine subscription*

NOTD: Barry M Mushroom

I searched high and low for this much coveted colour. I almost resorted to ordering it offline until one glorious day I stumbled upon a shelf in Superdrug practically full of this very colour. It’s the perfect dirty pale coffee colour. It’s gorgeous!

As is typical of Barry M polish this was 2 smooth easy coats. How do they do it for £2.95?

*I bought this*

NOTD: Orly Rage

Things are looking up for my nails. I’m emerging from my pink/ boring work appropriate rut and throwing caution to the wind. No one has complained so far about my nails so I’m branching out into more unconventional colours for the office. My latest polish purchase is this gorgeous rose gold foil effect number. I think it might be love!




This is two smooth, easy coats. The effect is gorgeous. The gold combined with the rose undertones makes this a very neutral colour with my skin and as such I find it very wearable. The wear was a bit funny though. When it started to ship after a couple of days it began to peel off in great sheets (I was wearing OPI Nail Envy as a base and Seche Vite as a top coat). Odd... I’ll forgive it this quirk though as it’s such a fab colour. Love it!

*I bought the above bottle of loveliness with my own money. My reviews are always open and honest. For more info see the disclosure policy in the menu on the left*

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: MAC Rain

This is from an old MAC collection. I have no idea what collection it was from as I found it in a blog sale but I thought it was pretty enough to post anyway! I’m sure you could find it if you really hunted. I’m very eager to get into wearing some dark, rich colours for Autumn and Winter. Summer just doesn’t do it for me! I like my thick wooley tights and rich dark colours. Metallic deep purple? Yes please!
It’s a funny colour on the nail. Depending on the lighting it can be purple or pewter. It’s is incredibly metallic so you need to be careful when applying so as not to cause too many visible brush strokes. Here we have 2 thick coats.



Now I don’t know where I camera picked up those red flecks from because I can’t see them in real life! That said the pics are otherwise fairly true to life. Having heard some not so nice things about MAC polishes I was pleasantly surprised with how well this one applied and lasted. I got three days of wear out of this. Love it! X

*I bought this myself. My reviews are always me open and honest opinion. For more info the disclosure policy is on the left*

NOTD: Diamond Cosmetics Yukon Gold

I was gutted when Flashy Nails, the only retailer of Diamond Cosmetics polishes in the UK, announced they were closing recently. I’m a huge fan of the polishes and the customer service from that site was always excellent. I took advantage of their closing down sale and this was one of the (many) polishes that I bought. I think this was three coats:


Well if that isn’t just the most Autumnal polish I’ve ever seen! The gorgeous, complex bronze in the bottle translates beautifully to the nail. It’s got russet, gold and copper tones all swimming together in there. I’ve worn this three times now despite having a whole pile of unswatched polishes and I love it. I’ve received a fair few compliments on it too.

The formula was typical of Diamond Cosmetics. It was easy to apply being their too thick nor too runny and lasted a good three days. I’m really very sad that I’ts going to be so much harder to get a hold of these in the UK. One of these days I’m going to have to arrange a swap with someone in the US. You folks over there have so much great stuff that we can’t get here! I need to get my mitts on more of these, some L’Oreal HIP, Sephora OPI, Milani... etc) Anyway This is one of my favourite polishes at the moment. What colours are you wearing this season? X

*I bought this myself. My reviews are always my honest opinion. For more info see the disclosure policy in the menu on the left*

NOTD: Ciaté Talent Scout

About 6 weeks ago I got a subscription to Instyle Magazine. As part of the deal you got a set of 4 Ciaté polishes. Now the blurb at the bottom stated that it was only whilst stocks lasted and you might now get any so after a month I gave up and assumed I wasn’t getting any. It was a really pleasant surprise when the little box of loveliness turned up! Here is Talent Scout. It’s a gorgeous purple crème that was opaque in two slightly thick coats.



Mmmm grape. The wear on this was fantastic with tip wear and chipping at the end of day 3. The bottles are really cute too. I’m excited to try the rest of them now!

*I got this free with a magazine subscription*

NOTD: No7 Grey Skies

I used a Voucher of Temptation to purchase this little goodie meaning it only cost me a couple of £. It’s a lovely medium grey crème. It goes on slightly thick but not gloopy. This is two thick(ish) coats).



It shipped pretty quickly which was a shame as I was enjoying the colour. Has anyone noticed how annoying the bottles are? The neck is so long that you have to stick the brush right down to get more polish. Weird design.... Other than that I do like the No7 polishes x

*I bought this myself*

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: Barry M Ltd Edition Pink

I know, another pink. What the hell? Except it’s not really pink. I’d call it more of a pinky purple. And I wanted to get this up whilst it was still available as it is ltd edition. I got this as a gift with purchase in Boots after spending over a certain amount though I can’t for the life of me remember what that amount was. The gold lid is really cute! This was 2 smooth, easy coats.



The formula was, as is standard for Barry M Polishes, fantastic. Thick but not gloopy so it covered evenly. I got tip wear pretty quickly (second day) but no chips. I actually love the colour too. It’s bright and summery without being too in your face. I wore this to work and didn’t get any funny looks! (well, anymore than usual). Love it! X

*The above product was a free gift with purchase. My reviews are always my honest opinion. The disclosure policy can be found in the menu on the left*

NOTD: OPI Blushingham Palace

Again with the work appropriate nails... Yawn. I suppose if anything is going to be office friendly it’s going to be a polish from the ‘Classics’ range. Don’t get me wrong, this is a fab polish. It’s just that pinks aren’t really my thing.

Blushingham Palace is a rich shimmery rose shade with a gold sheen. The gold makes it a little more interesting than a straight up pink. This is three coats.



The wear on this is fab. I don’t worry about going away for a couple of days on business and looking raggedy before I get back which makes it a practical choice for a busy work week.

Before I fall totally out of love with painting my nails let me know in the comments what shades OTHER THAN PINK you think are appropriate for the office. Any suggestions for polishes or even just colour palettes would be greatly appreciated! X

*I bought this myself. The disclosure policy is in the menu on the left*

NOTD Nails Inc Pembroke Close

I’m already gravitating to dark vampy shades but this shade had to have one last hurrah before being shoved to the back of the drawer. I got this in a huge Nails Inc gift set that my Mum gave me for Christmas last year. I think she got it from TK MAXX for about £20.

The colour is a gorgeous medium purple, it’s not quite pastel but it’s not deep either. There is no shimmer which stops it being too girly. This is two coats. 

I’m not a huge fan of the Nails Inc formulas. Whilst they are ok to apply they do not wear well on my at all. They chip badly within 48 hours regardless of what top coat I wear x