Fearne - Brown

Brown with Metallic Tips

Hi Goddesses

Sometimes a polish comes as a REAL surprise.  Step forward “Brown” by Fearne. (Those Naming Lessons from Barry M really worked, didn't they.)

For the non-UKers out there, Fearne Cotton is a love-her-or-loathe-her TV presenter and radio DJ with a unique fashion sense who launched her own clothing line and has now branched out into nail polish, just in time for Crimbo!  If you bribed me, I wouldn’t have bought this set.  Yet when I ran into it, accidentally, I was unprepared to be blown away by the colours in the box.

To lower your expectations even more, it was the teals and greens in the box that drew my eye, and I didn’t really pay this one a 2^nd glance, but when I got it out of the box tonight, a strange urge gripped me, and what do you know, on the nail this is BEAUTIFUL!

Brown is a chocolate milkshake colour, in the taupe zone. There is no grey here, no darkness, just creamy camel fudge goodness.   The first coat was a bit streaky, but after 2 coats this was smooooooth.  The bumps you can see are the silk wrap I should have taken off, and a bubble from my Poshe, which needs thinning down again.

I always find it really precious when a polish surprises me in a good way – it’s like double the pleasure:  you get the instant gratification of buying it, and then the joy of knowing you’ll be keeping it.

This is also really ladylike – and therefore very unlike me lol. It’s a colour I can imagine the wives of the VP of Operations wearing.  There’s just something so beautiful and tranquil about the tone of this polish.  Lovely, absolutely lovely.

Have I told you about my new pledge?  My new pledge is not to swatch my way through life (because I will never be the best swatcher) but to play with my polish more.  So, 3 times a week, the polish stays on for 2 days, and on the 2^nd day, it must be layered, stamped or arted.

I dabbed this with a teeny bottle of Max Factor Max Effect in silver, even though it’s not silver at all.  This is almost like a gossamer mink, and I thought it would really compliment Fearne.

And it did!  Double yay! There’s some lovely subtle mint green shimmer mixing in with the beige shimmer, giving this a slightly fairy-jungle overtone.

As for the splodging, well I didn’t sponge.  Personally I find sponging a glitter wastes too much of it, so I applied it normally to the tips, waited a few seconds, and then as the brush was drying out, started smearing it and almost stabbing at with the brush.   On some of the nails this worked really well.

On the others …. Well, I’ll let you decide J

Enjoy xx J

J

Top Tip – if you’re ever unsure what a nail colour looks like, go to Google images, which will give you plenty of contrasts and compares.

PURPLE CRUMPET FAIRY CHALLENGE – The 31 Days of Christmas - Day 1

Day 1 – What You Enjoy Most About Christmas

Hi Goddesses

Sometimes I am a very silly Crumpet indeed.  I love this challenge I really do, but when I decided what should be Day 1, I really should have picked something easy and doable!  But nooooooo I picked something tricky and advanced.  Gah, I am stoopid lol.

What do you think of when you think of Christmas, what are your favourite things ?  Well some of my favourite things are coming up in the other challenges, so I won’t mention them here, but this mani does feature some of my favourite Christmas memories.

So, we have a kaleidoscope of colours here and a veritable mixture of patterns.  Mean anything to you yet?  No, of course not lol, Crumpet nail “art” has to come with subtitles ……

Let’s start with the big yellow splodge that is my thumb, which actually, had quite a lot of effort showered upon it.  Yes it did.  One of my favourite things about Christmas is snowballs.  Not the ones you throw, but the ones you drink.  Brandy or rum, advocaat and lemonade, all whipped together.  It’s just wow, and one of those drinks I only drink at Christmas, and therefore one of my very strongest Crimbo associations.  I think I had my first very weak one when I was 6, and now I make pitchers of it that leave everyone else falling down after half a glass (Crumpet stays standing strong; Crumpet has half-Polish blood, and therefore was born with alcohol in her veins.)

Anyway, back to the nail.  This is 2 coats of SH Mellow Yellow.  I then used a teeny bit of sponge and OPI The “It” Color, and then using a toothbrush, blobbed some SH White On on the tips.  I hoped the toothbrush would give a “bubble” effect, and it sorta does – needs more practice.

The index finger.  Nothing makes me smile like fairy lights on a Christmas tree, especially when they are in random formation.  So this is 1 coat (just 1 coat!) of GG Lizard Belly as it’s the perfect pine needle green, and then some Art Deco gold glitter nail art for the lights.

Middle finger.  Another childhood memory.  Every year when I was under 10, we seemed to spend the entire month of December making paper chains to festoon around the entire school.  Miles and miles and miles of them.  Much fun.  I especially loved smearing the PVA glue over my hand and then peeling it off in a one-er (score!).  So I used Barry M Shocking Pink and Indigo to make the chains, with a thin dotting tool.  I used Essie Jazz for the boring neutral “walls”.

Ring finger?  Hmmm.  I was running out of time.  X Factor was on and the Chinese had just arrived …. Toppling pile of presents in CG Cheers To You and Barry M Red Glitter, with a SH White On backdrop.  I soooo wish I had gone with trifle instead.

And finally, lickle finger – falling snow.  2 coats of Zoya Dove and my new bestie, Nubar White Polka Dot on top for the snow.  I love snow days.  Love love love.  I love how the snow deadens and silences the world, like you’re really in a snowglobe.  Love it.

So there you have Day 1.  Trust me, it will get better. I have some super easy ideas for later in the challenge – phew, I hear you cry, which is fine – but anyway, are you joining in ??

Click here to come and join the Purple Crumpet Fairy – we have fun J

Enjoy xx J

J

Top Tip – if you’re ever unsure what a nail colour looks like, go to Google images, which will give you plenty of contrasts and compares.

Glitter Gal - Dark Purple Sparkle Holo + Crackle

GLITTER GAL – Dark Purple Sparkle Holo

Hi Goddesses

Today I have another Glitter Gal for you.  It never ceases to amaze and amuse me how I am able to apply this perfectly – I swear it’s cos I’m too scared to waste a drop!

After my Dark Purple (slight) disappointment (it’s more fuchsia than purple) and my Red Sparkle joy, I bought the lovechild of the two, Dark Purple Holo Sparkle!  And I have to say, it IS darker – hurrah!

The sparkles use a slighter coarser holographic particle, so they don’t have the natural grace of the pure Glitter Gal holos, but they sure do pack a punch.  This dark purple is a frosty grape colour with what looks like rainbow sugar in it.

As always, this dances best in pure light, and when she dances, she dances yellow, green, blue, orange and the purity of light itself.

I think next time I’m going to put one coat of a purple crème underneath to see how much dazzle she gives when lit from below.

This was the polish with which I chose to start my new 2 Day Rule.  During the week, I have to wear the polish for 2 days, and on the 2^nd day, do something different with it (to try to ahem “enhance” my “art” skills lol).

With this is started easy and layered Barry M Purple Rain crackle on top to see just how much holo peaked through.  To be fair, there’d probably be more if it wasn’t rainy and November, but it looked pretty.

Finally I added some Northern Lights Out The Door ILM (how many names) holographic top coat to put a teensy bit of sparkle back.

I liked this – it made it slightly different, like a demented purple crocodile lol.

Enjoy xx J

J

Top Tip – if you’re ever unsure what a nail colour looks like, go to Google images, which will give you plenty of contrasts and compares.

Holy Red Magnets! All Fired Up Red Magnetism by Fashionista

Red Magnetic Polish by FASHIONISTA

Hi Goddesses

Oooooh do I have a goodie for you right now!  I have been lemming some magnetic polishes for ages but man, they’re expensive!  Also, they tend to come in blue and green and grey, and they’re not my favourite colours.  But the MINUTE I heard there was a red – BAM, I was there (or rather Claire who kindly got it for me was).

So here we have it “red”.  The brand is called Fashionista which is a new UK brand (never heard of them before) and they are advertised by The Saturdays, a UK girl band, and luckily there are 5 girls, and 5 colours!

Now being quite a cack-handed Crumpet, I wasn’t sure whether I would get magnetic to work first time (I was soooo braced for disaster), but actually – ta dah!  There are a couple of weirdnesses tho –

The Weirdness List

* You only use 1 coat of polish

* The polish is quite thick, and you do need to put it on thick, which goes against most “colour within the lines” rules

* This brand has a magnetic that sits on top of the bottle.  You whip the pseudo lid off, and then there’s a curve on the side of the lid, which you rest just under the cuticle after you’ve painted your nail.

* You will notice my magnet is pristine.  Is that a lie Crumpet?  Oh yes yes yes lol.

I sooooo love this, and the run up to Christmas is the perfect time to be wearing it.  There’s a lot of cranberry and raspberry in this, and the magnetic swathes look like the marks you get in brushed velvet.  I also love how the bits that are paler look like they are lit from within – it’s *such* a neat effect.

This particular pattern is a wavy one, and I’ll need to check the other bottles to see if they are the same.  I’m really pleased with this first effort, but there are a couple of nails where only the middle has moved, and I need to perfect my hand-eye co-ordination to get round the corners!

1 final conundrum – this had NO instructions with it.  The bottle told me to go to the website, which was next to useless, so – how long are you supposed to hover the magnet for?  A few seconds ?  longer?  Some I held for 20 seconds, and they are definitely the ones with the darkest stripes, but who knows, maybe I didn’t need to hold it that long!

So I am in total love with this.  COULD.  NOT.  LOVE.  IT. MORE.  It’s bright, vibrant and has the wow factor, making it an easy 1 coater with impact!  Oh and I make noooooo apology for all the photo spam – hopefully it made you sigh and clap your hands with glee J

Magic J  enjoy xx

J

Top Tip – if you’re ever unsure what a nail colour looks like, go to Google images, which will give you plenty of contrasts and compares.