Last year was a great year for Barry M and his team! so many great releases and new finishes, and amongst them were the Gellys.
A collection of 9 Hi-Shime formula polishes that replicate the glossy finish of a gel manicure. All for £3.99 from the "drugstore." Sound great don't they!?
I hauled and reviewed Satsuma back in October last year, and instantly fell in LOVE with the formula and knew I wanted to try more.
This is Blackberry Plum (mine falsely says its Blackberry, impostor)! Gelly, GNP 1.
Although they claim to be one coaters, I have always done two. Thats not to say that they aren't pigmented enough! with a careful hand one coat would easily be ample.
Poundland has been a little disappointing on the nail polish front this festive season. So this haul is short but sweet.
I've seen this polish in my local store a couple of times while browsing the aisles for a cheap Sinful Colors or Sally Hansen polish, but never paid it any attention as its from a brand I have never heard of, or seen on the nail blogs I follow.
After quite a bit of googling I came across the link for the UK Trade Source LTD that supply Poundland with these products (they also sell Bourjois, Roc and St Moriz in bulk) but no real info on the company or their products.
The bottle is even more mysterious, shake before use is the only direction and Sparkling Blue Nail Polish is its name.
The polish itself is a pretty frosted light blue silver. Application was great! this is two coats I am showing you here, and is ample for opaque colour. Overall I would highly recommend this polish if you can find it in your local poundland.
What did you do in 2012 that you'd never done before?My boyfriend, C and I bought our first home together.
Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't make new years' resolutions because I never keep to them. But the diet will start again this year, and I'm going on a job hunt. I have realised that I have peaked in my current job and want to start looking for other options. Right after I finish writing this post, I am going to send an email about starting a NVQ through work, and hopefully in six months time I will have finished my Bookkeeping course.
Did anyone close to you give birth?
No 2012 babies, we're not ready for that yet
What countries did you visit?
None :( which is very unusual for me, but we had a lot of expenses in 2012. This year we are hoping to visit France and Italy again, but we shall see...
What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012?
Motivation to work out! in 2011 I dropped 2 dress sizes, went running every day and climbed to the top of an active volcano. I want to get back to that!
What date from 2012 will remain etched upon your memory?
The day that we finally signed on our home, and got the keys :)
What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Buying our first home.
What was your biggest failure?
Not quite paying off all our debt :( although a HUGE chunk has been paid off which is great!
Did you suffer illness or injury?
I was very lucky in 2012, not even a sniffle.
What was the best thing you bought?
My new iMac for our house.
Our house.
Where did most of your money go? Towards things for our home.
What did you get really, really, really excited about? Making our house a home! and by that I mean rescuing this little baby ...
her name is Luna and she is gorgeous. We adopted her from Cats Protection just before Christmas, but had to wait until the new year to take her home.
What song will always remind you of 2012?
I don't think I have one... if I think of anything I will edit it in
Compared to this time last year, are you: Happier or sadder?
A little bit of both, Happier- we have our own home
Sadder - that stresses me out.
Thinner or fatter?
Probably about the same, but I feel fatter :(
Richer or poorer?
Poorer, unfortunately both C and I were made redundant this year :( but we are still very much in love, we have our beautiful new home and a new arrival so in so many ways we are richer.
What do you wish you’d done more of?
Travel and spend more time with family. I feel like we have missed so many milestones this year because of work.
What do you wish you’d done less of?
Worry and stress over the little things that don't matter.
Oh and spending! I NEED to cut back.
Who were your best friends?
C is my best friend (awww) and the people I worked with, we had a great team!
What thing did you do that was meaningful to others?
Visiting my family more often, we are all scattered so its nice to see everyone together in one place. I know it means a lot to my mum.
What were your favorite TV programs?
As always - Gossip Girl; I can't believe it ended this year! PLL; still love it. 2 Broke Girls and The Big Bang Theory, I only recently discovered this show, and I don't know how I lived without it before!
Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I don't want to hate anyone or send out negative vibes.
What was the best book you read in 2012?
I don't read a great deal, but I did read the Hunger Games trilogy before the film was released and I loved every minute. It didn't end how I thought it would though, and I'm not sure on Miley Cyrus, bf playing Gale.
What was your greatest musical discovery?
Does Glee count? lol
What did you want and get?
I have so many wonderful things to be thankful for this year I don't know where to start.
What did you want but did NOT get?
I was very lucky this year and got everything I could have wised for
What was your favorite film of this year?
I didn't really see much this year at the cinema, I enjoyed The Expendables 2 and the Hunger Games, but again it was spoilt by Miley Cyrus' bf.
What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 24 in March, we just had a romantic, home-cooked meal.
What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
No redundancy!
What kept you sane?
My bf and my parents who have been such a help to me this year.
Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Not really anyone.
What political issue stirred you the most?
The incinerator they are trying to built in my home town, where my parents still live that could potentially be damaging to their health. Not happy at all about that.
Who did you miss?
C's brother, who moved to London this year and we have only seen him once :(
Who was the best new person you met this year?
Theres too many!
Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2012.
Don't worry, be happy!
(does that count? lol)
If you have done this tag please leave your links in the comments.
Today's manicure has a superhero theme, to be more precise, a Spider man theme! and is another Chanel dupe!
This is OPI Just Spotted the Lizard (Just look at that duo-chrome goodness).
I've been lemming for OPI Black spotted for a while now, but with it being a Sephora exclusive in France it is rather hard to get hold off. So I had to settle with a top coat of Barry M Croc effect in black...
Yesterdays manicure was still going strong, no chips! bravo Kiko. So instead of changing my colour I decided to do a little refresh, using a polish I bought before Christmas.
OPI The Living Daylights is from the 2012 Skyfall collection celebrating 50 years of James Bond films. It is a beautiful concoction of large hexagonal glitter pieces in silver, copper and teal. Completely unique and a great polish for paring with so many colours for autumn/winter.
This is Kiko nail lacquer in number 303 Beige Chrome, how boring is that name? luckily the colour is much more interesting.
Dubbed a dupe for Chanel's Quartz (swatch) this beautiful chrome finish polish is a super sparkling, champagne colour, akin to OPI's Designer... de Better! but without the beautiful copper flecks.
On first glance I was disappointed with this polish, in the bottle the two are vary similar, and so Beige Chrome was banished into my nail polish drawers, until now. On further inspection of the two colours, BC is a darker, pinker, champagne colour with silver glitter, where DdB is a lighter champagne with copper flecks. Theres room in my stash for both bottles after all!
Have you tried Kiko polishes? which is your favourite colour?
