Tag: nail varnish

Categories
Beauty

Monthly Manicure Report – July 2017

Nail polish is one of my favourite things in the world, so I keep wanting to share with you what I’ve got on my fingers and toes, but somehow am never pleased with the format. Can I blather on about a single polish for an entire post? I sure can. But Armour & Warpaint is not a nail blog, and if I had talked about all the polishes that I wear throughout the month, we’d only have nailpolish posts around here.

This wouldn’t have been a case for July, though, because in July I wore four polishes only – three on my fingers, and two on my toes. I’m going to throw a June polish into the mix just to spice things up a little bit (really, though).

On my fingers

avon rebel rose

Avon SpeedDry+ in Rebel Rose

You will have seen this polish here and here. It’s old and gloopy, but I just don’t want to let it go. Recently I dropped a bit of alcohol in it to thin it out, and yay! It’s with me again! I’ve been wearing it non-stop in July, intent on using it up and getting it over with. This is such a perfect bright cool-toned pink, though. When AVON rebranded their Speed Dry line, they added a similar colour named Strawberry. I own it as well, and the tone is ever so slightly different. A normal person wouldn’t notice, but unfortunately I do.

Rebel Rose has been discontuned for a while, and I believe its replacement within the AVON line has been discontinued as well.

AVON Mark. Gel Shine in Mint To Be

A post shared by Alexandra (@alexandrabrovco) on

In June I painted my fingers and toes with matching mint colours. AVON Mark. Gel Shine in Mint to Be is slightly easier to work with than the Oriflame Mint Zest counterpart below – but Oriflame lasts longer and has more shine. I also enjoy the Oriflame brushes more.

As much as I enjoy mint as a nail polish colour, I find it very difficult to work with. The only two shades I find harder are white and yellow. Every single white, yellow, and mint polish I have encountered in life ends up being gooey, capricious, streaky, messy and slow-drying. I love this polish, it looks amazing – but consider yourselves warned.

blue nail polish

Flormar 437 + Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear in 150 Fly By

This particular Flormar shade has been with me for quite some time. They’ve got quite a long expiration date, though, and this one has just passed it. I cannot say it has affected the formula too much, but I believe it started to chip a little faster. Anyway, it’s always been one of my favourites, and I am going to attempt to use it more until it decides to cooperate no longer. Sally Hansen is a sheer shimmer polish. It matches Flormar 437 perfectly, and I think I am going to wear the two together again. Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear in 150 Fly By takes a long while to dry, though. A long while. I want to try wearing it over a white polish to imitate my friend’s gel manicure, but the moment I imagine the dry time of white polish and this topper, I reconsider.

On My Toes

avon on point blue

AVON Speed Dry in On Point Blue

Well this has been an AVON-heavy month, hasn’t it? I have quite a few of AVON polishes, and most of them are of great quality. This is another one of the SpeedDry series. It’s a revamped version, and is therefore younger than the rebel rose above. Blue polish is perfect for summer.

AVON On Point Blue is on the thin side, so you would need two coats – maybe even three if you like working with thinner layers. It goes on well, dries quickly, but doesn’t stay put for very long. This is a problem of every single fast-drying polish I have encountered, though.

Oriflame The One Long Wear Nail Polish in Mint Zest 31458

A post shared by Alex (@readanythingonce) on

The photo was snapped with my bookstagram in mind, so the focus is obviously on the book, but you can see the polish just fine. It stayed on my toes for an embarrassingly long time. Frankly, it would’ve stayed longer, because it didn’t chip or crack anywhere, but I felt it was time for a pedicure and a fresh coat of paint. Oriflame The One Long Wear Nail Polish in Mint Zest was a limited edition shade; it is no longer available.

oriflame mint zest

Categories
Beauty

Manicure Monday: Oriflame, Golden Rose, BellaOggi, Bourjois

oriflame-the-one-nailpolish-gold-splendor

Oriflame The One Nail Polish in Gold Splendor 31195

I mentioned this on the blog before, but mistakenly named it ‘Gold Splash’ there. It was part of a limited edition winter collection of the year 2014/15. As all Oriflame The One nail polishes, it comes with a wide flat brush. Relatively easy to apply, likes to mess up the edges just a bit. Spreads evenly, is moderately shiny. Two layers are completely opaque. This is definitely a gold nail polish, but it’s not an ‘in yer face’ gaudy gold. It’s more of a non-refined metal kind of stuff.

golden-rose-rich-color-05

Golden Rose Rich Color in 05

Easily one of my favourites. I’ve extolled the virtues of Golden Rose polishes before, and this is one of the prime examples of their Rich Color line. Easy to wear shade that is suitable for any occasion. Shouldn’t be difficult to wear against any skin tone. It’s one of my go-to polishes when I can’t decide what to put on my nails.

bellaoggi-gel-effect-keratin-43-ladylike

BellaOggi Gel Effect Keratin in Ladylike 43

A relatively new introduction to my collection. I’ve seen a post about it on a Russian ‘review anything’ site, fell in love with the colour, pinned it *, and hunted it down in local shops. The photo doesn’t translate it that well, but it’s actually a very decent marsala polish. It has a very muted and, dare I say, sophisticated look. Its name, Ladylike, is very fitting. This BellaOggi nail polish also immediately evokes images of cosy sweaters and warm cuppas in my mind.

The application was good. It spreads evenly and doesn’t try too hard to run off the edges. The brush is good. It dried pretty fast. My only gripe was it started bubbling on the second coat, which was a surprise. I only had one polish do that on me before. I don’t know if it was a one time occasion (temperature in the kitchen or any other factor) or if it’s a ‘feature’ of the formula. I’ll report back when I use it again.

* By the way, follow me on Pinterest! I regularly pin my wishlist items there.

bourjois-so-laque-11-rouge-diva

Bourjois So Laque! in Rouge Diva 11

Expect a full report on this in my upcoming ‘Outgoing’ post. Spoiler alert: Not my favourite. The gloss looks good and the colour is a nice blue-toned deep red, but seriously. I can find it within a million other nail polish brands out there. I didn’t bother with clean-up for this photo, because the polish was literally applied so I could just quickly snap it to give you an idea on how it looks on the nails before I say goodbye to it. It will go to a new home, to an owner that has more patience.

Categories
Beauty

The Purge: Nail Polishes, part 2 of 235.

beauty skin glamour nail polish 04

Beauty Skin Glamour Nail Polish 04

A neon orange that is unfortunately too sheer. It went on relatively smoothly, but I find the formula in the majority of the Beauty skin polishes I tried to be on the thick side.

beauty skin glamour nail polish 68

Beauty Skin Glamour Nail Polish 68

A shimmery silver that is too sheer as well. More of a top coat, to be honest. My search for a good, solid no-sheer metallic silver continues. (Don’t even get me started on the mirror effect/ chrome polish.)

 

 

golden rose paris 87

Golden Rose Paris 87

A nice pink coral that is quite good for summer. However, it applies patchy and goes on sheer. Not sure if you’re beginning to see a pattern here… Overall I really like Golden Rose polishes, but the Paris collection was my least favourite one.

leydi nail polish 107

Leydi Nail Polish 107

Once upon a time I had an obsession with green polishes. I bought them in epic quantities. They joined me from all walks of life. With time, though, my polish tastes solidified, and this one became too shimmery.

Overall, though, I really like Leydi polishes. They’re very cheap, but also good.

pacific gabrini provitamin 129

Gabrini Cosmetics Pacific Provitamin 129

A neon jelly. I used it a few times, but — I’m getting repetitive here, bear with me for two more sentences — it was sheer. I just can’t get over the sheerness, and I’m only now realising it. Unfortunately you can’t always see it in the bottle, so with time I’ll go through another batch of too sheer polishes. Plenty left in my collection, too.

Categories
Beauty

The Purge: Nail Polishes, part 1 of 235.

I’m a nail polish hoarder. I’m not even holding my hopes high for this one — the amount of nail polishes in my house is going to return to the original number very soon after the clean-out. Out with the old, in with the new, etc.

But I gotta try.

Behold the first five candidates.

flormar berry fine glitter

Flormar Nail Enamel, deep berry with fine glitter

This is so old, I can no longer tell you the number. It’s… I think it’s from 2006, maybe earlier. Still like it, even though I’ve become a bit more particular with finishes and try to avoid everything but creme and matte these days. But it is old, and it has to go.

wetnwild megalast soulmate

Wet ‘n’ Wild MegaLast Strengthening nail polish in 214 Soul Mate

Apologies for the quality of the photograph.

We don’t have Wet’n’Wild around here, so the only place I could’ve got it from was the States… And I’ve been to the States in ’07. Lovely colour, but has to go.

orkide olivia mint green

Olivia nail enamel, mint green

A lovely mint green. Very aged. Separated up the wazoo.

orkide olivia melon yellow

Olivia nail enamel, melon yellow

A sheer melon yellow. It liquefied significantly, and no longer behaves like a polish.

catherine arley sheer silver

Catherine Arley nail lacquer in 190

A sheer silver polish, quite possibly the oldest polish in my collection. More of a topcoat/ French manicure enhancement than a stand-alone polish, if you ask me. I used it recently. My nails didn’t fall off, and it still behaved like a polish ought to, but it has to go. I still love silver nails, but this one is too sheer and glittery for me. Still in hopes of finding a good silver chrome.

Categories
Beauty

Nail File #1: AVON, Elanor.

avon rebel rose

AVON Speed Dry+ nail enamel in rebel rose

I kept raving about this nail polish on my old blog, and I’ll continue to do so here. The brush is perhaps nothing special, but it works well. It’s large, not too flat — a generic brush with improvements, I’d say. The formula is amazing – it applies like a dream, and for a quick job on short nails even one coat is sufficient. Despite its bright colour, which is great, it doesn’t stain, so if you’re in a real hurry, you can forgo the base coat. It compliments my skin tone, too. Dries in seconds — at the very least, your nails will be completely dry in under five minutes. The only problem with it, besides this particular colour being discontinued a few years ago? It chips fast. This is my second day hand, and as you can see it’s chipped on at least three fingers. Two days is actually a long time for this polish. Usually it shows serious signs of wear in under 24 hours.

elanor 572

Elanor nail enamel in 572

This brand of polishes is displayed in huge boxes at the local Grand Bazaar. It’s cheap — in currency equivalent, it’s way under £1. I’ve had it for a while now. It was one of the first grey shades to appear on the market around here. Considering its age, it performed well. The brush is generic, but works without trouble. The formula is a little on the runny side – two coats here, and it can definitely benefit from a third one. It doesn’t so much streak, as it … pools, I guess, perhaps due to its thinness. The drying time is OK — not fast, but not outrageously long either. I painted my nails about an hour or two before bed, and got minimal duvet prints. It did bunch up a bit on the edges of my thumb nails, though.

The picture shows fourth day of wear, and as you can see it lasted. This polish doesn’t so much chip as it gradually rubs off. I think if I hadn’t started rigorously cleaning the kitchen, it would’ve stayed at least one more day.