Weekly nail review: Hello Darling’s Trumped

April 28, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Hello Darling's Trumped

Hello Darling’s Trumped

Hello Darling’s Trumped isn’t without its luster, shine and golden sparkle. Trumped is opaque after two coats, however I did notice brush strokes in the finish. With that said, this is a common occurrence in most metallic formulas. The only thing I cannot comment on is wear, because I had to remove my polish prior to Erin’s Nail Art Class. From wearing other Hello Darling shades, I can attest their formula lasts at least seven days.

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Scott and I have been a bit obsessed with the TV show Parks and Recreation, more specifically the character progression throughout its latest season. Recently we’ve seen a lot of Councilman Jamm, a dentist by trade who manages to screw things up for the main character Leslie Knope, played by Amy Poehler. Jamm is a bit of an opportunist and usurper — his hijinx entail bribing Leslie out of her office, fighting to bring Ponch Burger to Pawnee, interrupting Leslie and Ben’s wedding, suing Ron for $50 Million and even accepting bribes for votes. Truth be told, he’s a bit of a jerk who exclaims stupid things like, “you’ve been Jammed,” “Retro Jammed!,” etc. I’ve likened this character to Donald Trump (this is how I’ve landed the plane, folks!); they both have bad hair, come up with some lamebrained ideas and don’t mind touting the fact they’re moneyed up.

You can so see Trump saying, “you’ve been Trumped” now, admit it.

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Essie’s Licorice under Shine of the Times – weekly nail review

November 22, 2012 by 3 Comments

Essie’s Licorice under Shine of the Times

Sparkly/shimmery top coats are transformative. If you ever decide to give them a miss, stop yourself and look again. Do you have a plethora of colours and formulas and are just plain bored of grabbing for the same colours? Instead of buying several on trend colours each season, purchase a sparkly top coat or two.

It’s a budget-friendly solution that can take you from feeling meh to great!

Just when I thought I was getting tired of Essie’s Shine of the Times, I gave it another go last week and had Mira paint it over Licorice. Let’s just say we created quite the nail combination.

In direct sunlight and from another angle

So, what do you think of these “tortoise shell” effect nails?

In other news: have you seen Essie’s repstyle collection?  Oh man!

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Essie’s Flirty Fuchsia – weekly nail review

November 10, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Fluoro, it’s a thing or a fad, you know. And I really don’t foresee it going anywhere for the rest of this spring or summer. While I know it’s a fleeting moment, I refuse to invest in hot pink or green clothing/accessories, but that doesn’t mean my nails can’t have a little fun. Mira and Janice of French Pink sweetly obliged and treated me to an oldie (circa 2009 or so) but a goodie, Essie’s Flirty Fuchsia — highlighter magenta pink.  So shocking, it glows.

Essie’s Flirty Fuchsia

Close up with flash

This creamy pink is no longer sold via Essie, however I managed to find a few notable dupes.

  • Seed’s Candy - a perfect match
  • Chi Chi’s Bimbo - cheap, retails for $5.00 AUS
  • Illamasqua’s Collide - reminds me of Butter London’s Primrose Hill Picnic
  • Essie’s Lights - not as vibrant, but close enough

If Barbie could speak, she’d definitely give this shade her stamp of approval.

 

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Essie’s Tour de Finance – weekly nail review

November 4, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Close your eyes and think to yourself, Barbie pink with sophisticated shimmer. It’s sort of like the moment when I spotted the Barbie section inside of FAO Schwartz when I was ten-years-old; they had these illuminated translucent columns filled with water and thousands of Barbie’s pink plastic heels which slowly floated up and down with glitter and bubbles. It was probably one of the most magical experiences for a kid my age, that and crossing the gate into Disney World.

Essie’s Tour de Finance with flash

Without flash

Essie’s Tour de Finance is the type of colour you want to reach out and touch — it’s like a unicorn floating atop cotton candy and sprinkles. Next to Lovie Dovie and Flirty Fuchsia (review to follow), Tour de Finance is my third most favourite pink from Essie.

 

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Deborah Lippmann’s Hollaback Girl with glitter fade – weekly nail review

October 28, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Recently Deborah Lippmann put together a nail collection called Run the World (Girls) and wouldn’t you know, each polish is named after a hit single containing the word “girl”.  Run the World (Girls) does neon, but all grown up; thanks for this late 80′s time capsule. For my first manicure experience with Blonde Tiger, Erin (formerly of French Pink) chose to do a glitter fade atop Lippmann’s Hollaback Girl — a matte neon orange.

Hollaback Girl and gold craft glitter

Before painting my nails, Erin filed my nails and trimmed my cuticles and then she treated me to her homemade scrub. Erin’s witches brew smelled so fantastic I could’ve lapped it out of the bowl; from what I can recall, her scrub combined lemon, gritty sugar and vanilla scented oil. After rinsing my hands, the aroma and feel left behind was decadent and soft.

The conversation and environment was solid — we discussed her recent trip to the States, the upcoming election (g(O)bama!) and the salon space she shares with an eyebrow waxer and eyelash extension-air.

If you’re looking for a day to treat yo’ self, then please leave your worries at the doorstep of the beauty compilation, if you will, over on Level 1, 270 Russell Street, Melbourne.

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Essie’s It’s Genius – weekly nail review

October 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment

“It’s genius!”

That’s what Einstein would’ve exclaimed if he was A.) into polish and B.) concocted this delicious shade himself.

Essie’s It’s genius is a shade I only just learned about two weeks ago when I set my gaze on this once-hidden gem. What’s old is new to me — It’s genius first made its debut back in 2009. This hue is comprised of cranberry shimmer goodness and a small helping of glints of golden micro glitter.

Essie’s It’s Genius

Looking for a playful colour for this holiday season?  Essie’s it’s Genius is the shade which will get your bells ringing.

 

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Butter London’s Gobsmacked – weekly nail review

October 5, 2012 by 2 Comments

Tarred, but not quite feathered.  In a nutshell, that’s the best way to describe Butter London’s Gobsmacked. Gobsmacked is a textural polish with silver micro glitter; the colour hovers somewhere between black and steel grey or as Butter London defined it, “charcoal”.

Gobsmacked is an English adjective used to describe one’s shock, surprise or astonishment.  While I loved this colour, I was gobsmacked by its performance.  Talk about chip city!  The slightly bumpy texture caught on paper and allowed air and water to creep between my nails and the polish, as a result my manicure was hijacked.

Butter London’s Gobsmacked

“Ow, Baby! Salt and Pepa’s here.”

If you don’t mind minimal wear time (four days tops), then Gobsmacked might be for you.

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Butter London’s Dodgy Barnett – weekly nail review

September 30, 2012 by Leave a Comment

In a poorly lit room Butter London’s Dodgy Barnett carries a regular, silver sheen – but, on a sunny day, go outside and let the light hit your nails.  Pure joy, bliss and a spectacle of colours radiate from your nails.  It’s similar to the moment when Wonder Woman joins her cuffs together and bam!

Dodgy Barnett pictured indoors

Dodgy Barnett up close

Holographic nail polish has a tendency of becoming almost folkloric.  Only few have claimed to have seen something so rare like a unicorn, fairies or centaurs; for those who look too hard, they actually miss it. The holographic experience is much-loved in the beauty world; the buzz generates quickly and ultimately leads to these precious lacquers selling out.

One coat gives you a peppery shimmer, while two coats provide an almost opaque finish with a multidimensional spectrum of rainbow-y goodness.

If silver holographics aren’t your thing, you can always try All Hail the Queen, a beige and silver shimmer holographic or Trustafarian, a sage green and gold holographic.

Dodgy Barnett is my 46th documented manicure since starting Bagful of Notions last October.  If you’d like to see what else I’ve sported on my nails, please take a gander at the nail library.

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Butter London’s Scouse – weekly nail review

September 22, 2012 by Leave a Comment

This one’s for my dad…

“Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes
There beneath the blue suburban skies…
Penny Lane.”

Scouse is a specific British accent/dialect and a Scouser is someone who hails from Liverpool.  Did you know that Liverpool is John, Paul, George and Ringo’s hometown?  And the song Penny Lane is an ode to Liverpool as well?

A little trivia for you.

Butter London’s Scouse is a duochrome jelly-ish blue polish with specks of purple, blue and pink. I picked Scouse primarily for its colour; sapphire is my birthstone and felt it was fitting to wear a blue hue on my digits.

One coat will give you a sheer wash — however, in order to get that really “Lucy in the sky with diamonds” shade, paint on two coats.

Butter London’s Scouse

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Weekly nail review – Dior’s Golden Jungle Crocodile Leather Effect Nails

September 1, 2012 by 6 Comments

 

Oh my, my nails are alive! I couldn’t get on the crackle effect bandwagon, because nothing really struck me as stunning.  Black crackle reminds me of biology class and learning about cell division – where’s the fun in that? Mostly Sunny convinced me to go the high-end route with Dior’s Golden Jungle Crocodile Leather Effect nail polish duo, which hit counters for Autumn 2012.

The Duo

Shimmering Gold (left) and Khaki (right)

Gold base coat

Khaki “special effects” top coat

The randomness in which the polish splits, breaks and cracks is mesmerising.  Janice applied one coat of the gold atop Essie’s Protein base coat and then swiftly went back in with one coat of the khaki. The instructions tell you to apply the khaki coat within two minutes of applying the gold; the wetness of the gold activates the chemicals within the khaki thus commencing the effect. The transformation was initially subtle, but after a few minutes had passed my right hand reached optimal cracking; revealing golden shimmery joints.  My left hand quickly followed suit.  Once we were happy with the overall look, Janice painted Seche Vite’s top coat on my nails for a “flawless” finish.

The compliments I received were endless and I genuinely lost track of what people said to me. Although, Casey, my trainer, told me it reminded her of a reversed giraffe :)

How did Dior’s polish perform?  Well, fantastic!  The price tag admittedly was shocking – I paid a steep $52.00 AUS for this nail polish set.  But here I sit one week later and my nails still look amazing. If you love something as special as this, then you need to go and treat yo self!

Hey, it’s cheaper than buying The Row’s crocodile backpack!

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