Rimmel Lycra Pro ‘Rock n Roll’

Wooo, hello my lovelies!

I’m back! Finally my nails are an appropriate nice length to begin painting again, so here we go:

First up is Rimmel Lycra Pro Rock n Roll – a classic, chic, fire-engine red. It’s just RED.  If I had to, I’d say it leans more blue-toned – well there’s certainly no orange hues in this one!

This is beautiful – I don’t know why it took me so long to ever try a real red – I always thought that bluey or pinky colours look better on me, but this is now one of my favourite colours, and it’ll without doubt be a staple go-to colour; I mean, it goes with almost anything! Plus, it’s such a classic, I feel ever so chic and ‘done’ when I wear it.

 

More of the flag nail art

Sadly my nails are still broken, weak and stubby, so there will be no new pics for a while… 😦

but here are some professional pics of me at the wedding, with my flag art. (hat tip to http://www.lenanydahl.com photography – the lady is a genius!)

The beige (Barry M, Lychee) was before the ceremony, the dark glitter (A England, Fated Prince) was for the day itself.

 

            

 

Bonus pic, this is what the rest of me looked like!

Not nail polish related, but it is a CAKE RECIPE – woooo!

I tried making this today, am just about to ice it once cooled, then slice it tonight with friends!

The only tricky part was zesting the damn grapefruit!

Grapefruit Yogurt Cake

• 190g plain flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 230g  plain whole-milk yoghurt
• 200g sugar [plus 1 tablespoon (13 grams)]
• 3 extra-large eggs
  (this was originally a US recipe, apparently their eggs are way smaller, so their “extra large” is probably what we’d consider as medium. Well, that’s what I used, and it looks to have turned out fine…)
• 1 tablespoon grated grapefruit zest (approximately one large grapefruit)
  *note that I used two normal sized grapefruit to get enough zest; plus a friend said that one fruit’s worth of zest doesn’t end up tasting much at all in the finished cake.
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 120ml vegetable oil
• 80ml freshly squeezed grapefruit juice

For the glaze:

• 120 grams icing sugar
• 2 tablespoons (30ml) freshly squeezed grapefruit juice

Preheat the oven to 180°C/160 fan. Grease & flour an 8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl.

In another bowl, whisk together the yoghurt, sugar, eggs, grapefruit zest, and vanilla. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it’s all incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the centre of the loaf comes out clean.

Meanwhile, cook the 1/3 cup grapefruit juice and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.

When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the grapefruit-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cool.

For the glaze, combine the icing sugar and grapefruit juice and pour over the cake.

 

Flag nail art

Long time, no see! Finances are desperate, which has also lead to stress and nail-biting. So I’m taking a breather whilst I get back on track – both in terms of bank account and nail re-growth!

But today I realised that I totally didn’t post pictures of my nail art that I did for my friend’s wedding! She’s Swedish, he’s French, and here is what I created. Painstakingly and frustratingly slowly, I might add – what a labour of love to get the lines straight!

French flag – Barry M White – thick line down the centre of the nail. Revlon Red and L’Oreal Color Riche Rebel Blue complete the other stripes.
Swedish flag – base of L’Oreal Color Riche Rebel Blue and the cross is done in L’Oreal Color Riche Banana Pop.
All the other nails were done as neutrally and unobtrusively as possible, so I went for Barry M Lychee.

This combo was very much admired by guests (there is a better professional photo of it somewhere), and my wedding ‘gift’ of art was only out-shone by my mum, who managed to fall and break her wrist the night before she flew out! When the Fates heard she was going on a mini-break, I think they took her literally, haha!

 

 

4th July nail art

I’m back! Finances mean I can’t really afford to keep buying new polish all the time, but here we are with a nail art post, using colours I already have in my collection.
I did a white base on all the nails apart from the ring fingers, which I did in blue.

I then got a bit stuck, because I don’t have any striping tape; so in desperation I grabbed some IKEA pencils I had lying around, dipping the tip in white to do “stars” dots over the blue, and to then do red lines down all the white nails.
And, predictably, the end result is shaky to say the least! but the thought is there, and next time I can think of a different approach. I’m tempted to make the whole thing out of dots, kind of like a Pointillism effect; so the red stripes would actually be a solid line created by dotting.
I’m going to be doing more flag nail art for my Swedish friend’s wedding to a Frenchman, so might try the technique for that.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure

This marks my first purchase of the Sally Hansen Complete Salon range of colours – I’d seen them abroad, but not really here, then suddenly they’re all over the place.  I was innocently buying vegetables in my large local Sainsbury’s, and what do you think I found in the beauty aisle? And one little tiny bottle slipped into my trolley – Midnight in NY. (well, I couldn’t decide which colour to go for, so I went for the darkest possible!)

Pleasingly, this has a teeny amount of shimmer in it – I think that a black could risk looking rather flat if the formula isn’t up to scratch.

And oh my gosh, how much do I love this?! Black is surprisingly chic, works with my skin tone, and of course is the darkest of the dark polishes – my new crush! ❤

 

 

 

 

 

Little Bo Peep…

…lost her sheep, so the rhyme goes.

This latest colour is from Rimmel, a gorgeous dove grey is perhaps the best way of describing it. On the shelf, I thought it was the palest of pale greys, but on closer inspection, it has a whisper of blue in it. This is a gorgeous shade which is yet another ‘suitable for work’ type; and I really rather like it.

Rimmel – Reggae Splash

Ladies, I give you Rimmel Reggae Splash. Kind of similar to the colour I last blogged about, but I’ve wanted this shade for ages, ever since the Rimmel range was revamped. The pale peachy orange stood out on the shelf, and I knew I’d get it one day. TODAY IS THAT DAY, people! 🙂

This pastel orangey peachy with the merest hint of coral is a beauty. Absolutely works  on my skin tone, and is the most amazing colour for summer – pale, yet bright and obvious. Formula and brush were great, as the Rimmel Pro range always is. The revamped larger cap is slightly unwieldy to hold when painting, although not enough to majorly bug me. This was two coats, very smooth to apply. Perhaps a third coat if you wanted to be absolutely sure of no nail line visibility, but only if you were looking closely.

Summery colours

Well isn’t this funny…I went to an in-store Boots evening event with a girly friend of mine; where we had free prosecco and pretty much the store to ourselves. And I bet you can tell what happened…yes, I fell upon the nail polishes, and came away with two Essie shades – Bahama Mama (deep purple burgundy) and Tart Deco (vivid coral/pale pink).

Now Bahama Mama I immediately didn’t get on with, as it’s another of those where the first coat is very reddy-burgundy, then the second coat just won’t line up with the edges of the first coat, and is patchy, so you get some weird line around the edge. I might swatch it one day if I’m feeling bored…Anyway, I digress.
Tart Deco I put on and really wanted to love it – took me a while to work out the best way to apply it so that it didn’t go lumpy with three coats – but the shade just made me look…dunno, it was so neon that I felt like one of those brown leathery 80 year olds on the beach in Shagaluf…you know, like I was trying too hard to wear a polish that screamed LOOK AT ME? I think it’s all in my head and my personal preference; I think it’s probably a perfectly lovely summer shade.

So, here are the pictures – I took them last night as the sun was setting, so they’re even worse than usual, without the bright daylight – that said, the colour is reasonably accurate, if a little less bright than IRL.

L’Oreal Color Riche – Banana Pop & Wasabi Hint

After wearing the A England holographic sparkly polishes for the whole weekend, I was craving something simpler and plainer.

Enter these two, part of the Color Riche bright summer collection.

I can’t say I was enamoured with the coverage, but perhaps that’s because I’ve been spoiled by the gorgeous A England formula across the range.
These L’Oreal polishes need two coats, ideally three if you have time, to even everything out – can be somewhat patchy if not.

Great vivid colours, exactly as their names might suggest. The Wasabi Hint is a bright pastel mint green, verging on neon; whilst the Banana Pop is a bright mid-toned yellow – both incredibly summery.  (weirdly, also ideal colours for Easter…)
Now all we need is some BBQ weather, and they’ll be straight on my nails! And even if it stays miserable, at least they’ll brighten up my day…