UK Floam dupe!!?? (sort of)

Most of you are probably familiar with Floam by Nail-venturous / Ninja Polish, but if you're not it is an Indie polish that resembles this stuff:

And here is the nail polish:

It has a mix of yellow, green and blue matte glitter and I would definitelly say it grows on you. The first time I saw it I thought it was ugly and strange but then I came to realise thats why it works. The trouble is, it can be a pain to get hold of, it sells out fast when it is restocked and it has a price tag of £9 ish including shipping from USA. For many people, that is a bit pricey for a bottle of nail polish. Fear not, I have found an alternative, and you can get it for as little as £1.95!!

W7  Cosmic Green.

I know, its not a perfect match, there are many differences. Cosmic Green is metallic and Floam is matte neon. That said, the similarities are there and shouldn't be overlooked, and it should keep that lemming at bay for a while. I am surprised nobody else has picked up on this yet but I suspect that is because all eyes have been on the other W7 polishes lately (namely Mosaic, Lava Flow, Salt n Pepper).

Let's take a closer look:

They are not a million miles away from each other are they? So far, we have only looked at bottle shots though. How do they compare on the nail?

I applied a coat of Rimmel Pro Matte Top Coat on top of Cosmic Green to see if that would make any difference.

Conclusion: They bear more than a passing resemblance and it is my opinion that W7 may have been inspired by Floam somewhat. It is not what I would call a dupe but if you are on a budget and can't be done with waiting for Floam to be restocked, W7 Cosmic Green is for you!

Which one would you choose?

DISCLAIMER: Both of the products in this post were paid for by me, not that it changes my opinion anyway!

Dove By You Exhibition

Recently I took part in Dove's latest campaign: the Dove by You Exhibition. It was an app on their Facebook page where anyone could upload a picture of dove artwork. They provided stencils and templates and the rest was left up to each individual. I decided to create nail art for my entry as I wanted to see if I could actually pull it off. A few weeks later I received this:

10 postcards printed with my design..

..and a hamper containing full size Dove products and beautifully packaged in shredded tissue.

I got Dove Go Fresh Body Wash in Plum & Sakura blossom (smells very fruity and yummy!), Dove Original anti-perspirant stick, Dove Beauty Cream Bar & Dove Indulgent Nourishment Body Lotion with Shea Butter (this is my favourite of the lot!)

I am amazed by how generous Dove have been and would like to say a huge thank you! It was such a lovely surprise!

It wasn't even a competition, EVERYONE  who took part got sent one of these gorgeous hampers. Entries to the exhibition are now closed but you can still check out the gallery to see everyone's lovely creations. Keep an eye on Dove's Facebook page as I'm sure they will have lots of wonderful opportunities in the future even if you missed out this time.

Share the Dove love..

DISCLAIMER: The products in this post were sent to me free of charge by Dove for taking part in the Dove By You Exhibition. I have not been compensated for writing this post.

My (rather late) Birthday post!

Hi, it was my birthday in July and I just thought I'd show you some of the gifts I received.

Emery Board, Nail Clippers, Tweezers, Barry M Lip Gloss (from Impulse gift set)

Technic Nail Art trio (purple, white, gold)

Technic Nail Art trio (silver, pink, black)

Sinful Colors: Paris 856| Cha Cha Red 32| Hot Spot 943| Daddy's Girl 841| See You Soon 931| Aqua 104

beauty uk Glitter Brown| Astor Fash'n Studio Black| Barry M Nail Paint 122 (from Impulse gift set)

Aaaand finally, Technic Carnival x2

Oi! Oi! That's yer lot!

DISCLAIMER: All products featured in today's post were gifted to me by my lovely mother for my birthday. 

Holo comparison: GOSH old vs GOSH new vs FNUG vs M&S

My FNUG holo arrived today and so did my nfu-oh Aqua Base, so I grabbed some of my other holos and let them battle it out!

For these, I just used one coat of nfu-oh Aqua Base (it takes quite a long time to dry!), and then applied one generous coat of holo.

So which one is which?
1. GOSH Holographic Hero (the new one)
2. FNUG Psychedelic
3. GOSH Holographic (original)
4. M&S Rainbow

I think the FNUG is a clear winner on this photo but in real life there is not much between that and GOSH original holographic. In certain lighting the new GOSH holo catches up with the other 2 aswell. Sadly M&S lacks in the holo department though. Don't get me wrong, it is pretty but the other 3 are just too good!

Which is your favourite?

FNUG : more holo than Chanel holo!??

I recently came across FNUG, which is a scandanavian brand, through their Facebook page.

This photo is what drew me to them:

AQUA FIX BASE COAT - 2002 /   FUTURISTICA - 39, blue /   PSYCHEDELIC - 38, silver / FANTASTICA - 40, green

 Exciting huh?  It gets better though! There is talk that these are actually MORE holo than Chanel!! Now, unfortunately I do not own Chanel so I have had to rely on images I have seen online but... it seems to be true! I do have the original GOSH holo to compare it to though. They don't exactly come at a budget price, they are £15 and they recommend you to buy the Aqua Fix Base Coat to go with it. If they are as good as they look though I think this is a fair price to pay! I have ordered Psychedelic so I should have that this week some time, and if it is that good, I will get Futuristica later on. In the UK, you can buy these at Wild Swans , where delivery costs an extra £4.50. Have you ever heard of this brand before?

Models Own Mirrorball Collection - Metallic flakies!?

Models Own is quickly becoming my favourite nail polish brand of all time. They have had some beautiful releases and now they have come up with something even better. Earlier on today they posted an exciting announcement on their Facebook page, so exciting that I had to post about it as soon as I got home and back on my laptop.
 I present to you, Models Own Mirrorball Collection:

"NEW! The MIRRORBALL Collection, a completely unique glide-on glitter that will revitalise your entire polish collection! Wear alone or over your favourite colour polish to give a frosting finish, taking nails from boring to BLING! Each polish contains five different chunky colours of hand-cut glitter that are guaranteed to get the party started: Disco Inferno, a glittery gold disco bomb; Hot Stuff, an intoxicating mix of pink and gold sparkles; Freak Out, a crystal shimmer mi
x of bold blue and purple; Dancing Queen, fabulous flecks of emerald, blue and gold; Boogie Nights, a multicoloured mix of intriguing purple, pink and blue! The Mirrorball Collection launches (with LIMITED EDITION metallic coloured caps!) exclusively at the Models Own Bottleshop on Thursday, September 6th, on the Models Own website from Monday, September 10th and in Boots stores nationwide from Wednesday, October 3rd. x Which is your favourite? Hit the comments to let us know!"

My first thought = WOW, metal flecks/flakies/shards , whatever you wanna call them!  Then I though ohh I have to wait til September, thats ages away, before realising that its only 2 weeks away or 2 & 1/2 until the website launch! Woooooooo!

P.S I saw Xmas gifts being stocked in Superdrug today. Eeeee!

Product Testers Wanted!

Hi, I have an exciting opportunity for you today, a product testing opportunity!

This is genuine requirement to be a product tester and will be based on a first come, first served basis. For the first wave of testers we only require females whom are based in the Midlands or the North West - addresses will need to be accurate as products will be sent in the post to the addresses provided (males testers and testers from other areas of the UK will be sought in the near future for further product testing requirements so if this applies to you please still complete the screener for future inclusion). Products are generally distributed on a week by week or month by month basis. There is no catch or commitment required and you can opt out at any time should you for any reason find it's not to your liking (not that we've ever had anyone opt out of free product testing). The products are not junk based and are genuine tangible items that are desirable by the vast majority of the population. The only thing our client asks for in return is that you feedback your opinions on the products that you receive (usually via a short online survey once a product as been delivered to you) and if you like them to tell your friends about them. The products are distributed to your home (or place of work should you so wish) and are generally items that are either soon to be released or have just been released to the major supermarkets or stores of which the general public would usually pay for. As an example this has included such items as Absolute Vodka, Dettol No-Touch Hand Wash, Lipton Ice Green Tea, L'Oreal Haircare products, Dove Beauty Bars, Huggies Baby Wipes, Penguin Books, Panasonic electronics and many, many more such items. Please feel free to pass this on to friends or family who might also like to take advantage of this opportunity.

Does this sound like something you would like to do? Its for a company called MRFGR who I have been a member with for a long time, they usually deal with paid focus groups but are now branching into this sort of product testing too. I signed up and got accepted on a trial straight aaway so this is a very exciting opportunity that I am delighted to be able to share with you! All I ask is that you complete the survey, it will ask who invited you, so if you could enter "Vicky Cullum (vic_c@sky.com) ", you will be good to go.

Happy testing!

Here is the link you will need: http://www.mrfgr.co.uk/product-testing.php

P.S Have any of you done product testing before? Would you be interested in more opportunities like this one? Let me know!

Barry M - Jewel Britannia &Team GB Nails!

Hello, some of you might remember my Barry M purchase from last week:

It is limited edition for the jubilee / olympics  - isn't this a wonderful time to be British?

I'm seeing red, silver & blue hex glitter and silver holo micro glitter.  It applies well, it is buildable, opaque in 3 coats, dries quickly and it does need a top coat to smooth it out.

Inspired by the amazing games London is hosting right now, I did another olympic manicure. It has wibbly wobbly line work again but I'm not starting over this late at night so it will have to pass.

Polish used:
Barry M - Jewel Britannia (3 coats over naked nail!)
GOSH - Attitude (blue)
White nail art pen
Red nail art pen
Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Top Coat

Oops, I bought more nail polish!!

Well, earlier in the week, I went stalking Superdrug to find the new GOSH Holographic Hero, only to be left disappointed. I did, however, buy some other nail polishes to make up for it!

Get ready for the photo spam (captions are all Left to Right):

 Wet n Wild 406B Wild Orchid / Wet n Wild 213A Madly in Love

Rimmel - 830 Camouflage / Collection 2000 - 24 Shameless / La Femme - 124 

Classics Glamour - 180

Saffron 09 / Saffron 05

W7 - 101 Sunset Island / W7 - 100 Fluffy Duck /  W7 - 99  Moondust

W7 - 73 Cosmic Green / W7 - 96 Mosaic / W7 - 97 Lava Flow / W7 - 98 Salt n Pepper

Barry M - 228 Jewel Britannia

And now here's some close-ups of those W7's...

Orange & Yellow shimmers!

Silver & Red micro glitter - very sparkly!

Green & Blue glitter mix / Blue & Gold glitter in a blue base (dupe alert!!)

Black & Red glitter in a white base / Black glitter in a white base

So there we go, I love how W7 have now got the "indie" look and the pink Saffron looks like a dupe for Nails Inc - Pink Diamond to me.  These were all so, so cheap, I can't wait to try them, and hopefully post about them in more detail.

UK nail polish Facebook Group

Hi, I would like to introduce you to a new nail polish group I made on Facebook. It's called:

UK Nail Polish Freaks & Frankeners Unite!

Please come along and join us. You can share blog links, nail art photos or just have a general chit chat. As we get more members we will also be holding contests and giveaways. Another thing I would like to add is that there is a huge gap in the UK market as far as frankening is concerned. (we basically can't get hold of any of the supplies here!) I hope that in the future this will change and supplier details will be shared on the group. We have a few documents which can be edited to add UK friendly shops, holographics, flakies, indies with more being added  regularly. If you know others that might be interested in this group, invite them to come along too. Everyone is welcome. Hope to see you on there soon!

Wild GOSH chase!

Today was supposed to be the launch date for the re-release of GOSH 549 Holographic (Hero) nail lacquer. However, after more than 2 hours of travelling, I was still left disappointed. I have seen many Superdrug stores and to be honest, the stock in each one is so inconsistent. (Don't get me started on the website!!) I was told the deliveries today did not include 549 and they "might" get some in their next delivery, on Friday. The best store I saw had a space ready and waiting for 549 to go but even then, there is not much room for stock. I think they have really under-estimated the demand. Seriously GOSH, I think you are amazing but you can do better, I think it is time for you to move on to bigger things and open your own (fully stocked!) UK website. After all, the only people who have your brands best interests as top priority is you!! I hope to be able to shop directly with you sometime in the near future. Sorry for the rant, just had to make my opinion known.

Have you had similar problems or have you managed to grab the best one-night-only-nail-polish ever made? Leave a comment and share it with us!

Olympic Nail Art

Hi, I can't believe how long it has been since I posted again, I promise I'm still here!

With the London 2012 almost upon us, I have created some Olympic themed nail art just for you!

My natural nails are on a detox at the moment, sadly they started peeling, breaking and just looking a mess so I am trying to take better care of them. In the meantime I am practising my nail art on faux nails instead.

Not 100% perfect but I am happy enough with the result. This was my first time writing on nails, it was very difficult for my shaky hands to deal with.

These babies also feature 3 kinds of glitter polish: GOSH rainbow (flakie) on the torch flame, gold glitter on the torch body (hopefully this resembles the "cheese grater" look it has going on, and American Apparel meteor shower (gold shardie) on the medal.

As always, I love reading your lovely comments, and I would love to see your London 2012 nail art. Were you lucky enough to get tickets any of the Olympic events?

P.S If anyone knows of any nail art challenges or groups, link me up please!