Revlon Emerald City matte polish review

So, I finally got round to trying this baby, and I have to say I'm thrilled so far.

I applied the hole reinforcers for my half moons and then applied a basecoat, and then painted on two coats of the Revlon "Emerald City" polish.  It went on very smoothly and the brush is the perfect width for an easy paint. 

I used my usual Leighton Denny Miracle Drops to dry the polish but I have to say, it dried quicker than other polishes do with that so I'm fairly sure its a quick drying polish. 

The matte effect is really unusual, especially a matte with sparkle, its almost suede-like and because of that I decided not to use a top coat - it would be a shame to waste that unusual finish.

I've worn it for a day now and though there is some light fade at the tips there is no chipping so far depite two baths and some washing up. 

I've had a lot of comments on it today, so its certainly an attention grabber.  All in all, I'm very happy with this polish despite the slight sparkle which I thought I'd find off putting.

Here is a pic, pardon my bad moonicure, I did a bit of a rush job as I had a guest and two playful kittens present at the time!

Has anyone else tried this?  What did you think?  i'm definitely buying the red colour in this line next!

A very lovely giveaway

Now, I don't make a habit of publicising other peoples giveaways because I'm usually too lazy or self obsessed to be bothered, but this one got to me.  Why?  Well I've been wondering about hair adornments lately, its too cold here for my hair flowers - they look wrong on a wintry day and when worn with knitwear.  I need something more...substantial.

...and lo and behold what did I stumble upon this evening but Vintage Belles - Belle Blossoms blog giveaway.  Just look at these beautiful treasures:

Pop over there and take a peek!

I'd love to try making my own too, I'm sure I have a crochet pattern around for some cherries and I could go and gather real conkers and acorns...naaah, it'll never happen!

Oops, I did it again - more shopping!

After a fitful night's sleep following the consumption of an entire bottle of red wine and shouting from the estate opposite that went on until 6am, I really didn't fancy going to the car boot sale this morning, but thanks to a winning combination of Ibuprofen and my avaricious nature I managed to rally enough to get there for 11am.

My local car boot really is wonderful - several stalls specialise in vintage and you can find everything from 40's clothing and 30's crockery to weird and wonderful 80's eveningwear.

The first thing I spotted was a Carlton Ware biscuit barrel in the shape of a house, but sadly the seller wouldn't budge from his £10 asking price and as it had a few cracks I decided to leave it be. I don't understand why people who want that sort of price for their item and / or do not wish to lower their prices bother with car boots, the whole point is that things are cheap and you have a bit of a haggle.  Grrrr.

Things looked up as I wandered around and found a couple of vintage / inspired items that will be perfect for work.  The first is a pretty wool tweed skirt, Marks and Spencer, probably 80's, but the perfect length and with an interesting front pleat and ruching at the waist.  The second a George cardigan, I know, hardly a special item - but the colour will go with todays and yesterdays skirt purchases and I think it will look very vintage fastened with a brooch.

I also picked up this darling little deco picture frame for on top of the TV cabinet - it is walnut stained and so matches the decor perfectly (agh - look at the cat claw marks on my furniture....weep)

I'm not sure what I'll put in it, not having a loved on.  A picture of a 40's movie star perhaps, the cats...all suggestions welcome.

 I then wandered up to Mare Street to buy some curtains and popped into ShoeZone - a VERY cheap shoe shop, and what should I spot?  These lovely leopard print plimsolls for a bargainous £1.99.  Not strictly vintage looking, though plimsolls were around in the 30's and 40's, but much more in keeping than my current gold trainers (bought in my bling phase - don't ask - really...)

I also popped into a sewing shop in Stoke Newington on my travels (forgive me for the lack of link, I can't find the place online anywhere) and bought pretty vintage looking buttons for my knitting projects and, wonder of wonders, a retractable measuring tape on a lanyard.  I always carry a tape measure when vintage and thrift shopping, where you can't always try things on, and this one can be hung around the neck and so will make it all the easier.  I'm in love.

Plus, I did buy some curtains, so I'll be able to walk around the flat naked without the creepy neighbour staring in at me.  Hurrah!  A successful day all round.

New old purchases

First off, I feel crapola for not having blogged for ages - there is so much I want to write about but I've just not been in the right frame of mind over the past weeks; the combination of a sick kitten, a sick self, a Mad Men addiction and a house guest haven't helped urge me on either, so this is just a small post to ease me back in.

My guest and I went charity shopping today, taking the bus from sunny Crackney all the way to...North London.  Golly, I'd forgotten what the wilds of Seven Sisters Road were like, and it was a football match day so all the beer drinking and loudly swearing burly blokes ended up giving me quite the headache after a couple of hours.

Anyway - I had some shopping success and managed to purchase for myself a really beautiful biscuit barrel which I shall use to keep my teabags in (I know I should use leaf tea, and I do have some, but I prefer PG Tips and from a pyramid bag by jove!).  It really is a pretty little thing, off white with a gold floral design and wicker handle, with the original lid, and only £2!  I'm very happy with it, as is Marlon:

Egad!  In that first picture you can see my chipped nail polish.  I'll have to fix that this evening!

The barrel is made by Sadler, a UK based teapot manufacturer.  The company started in 1882 and is still making its famous "Brown Betty" teapots to this day.  The mark on this piece dates it to the late 40's.  Hurrah!

There was another lovely pair of biscuit barrels which I considered buying too, but they were £17 for the pair and while lovely I resent paying that much when thrifting and left them behind.  I am slightly regretting it now though as I'd like one for sugar and one for coffee (not that I drink the muck but still, its good to have it in for guests and the like).

In another shop on our trek back eastwards I found a lovely wool tweed skirt - probably 80's I'd say but it looks incredibly 40's on.  Its a brown check with dark red, mustard and blue accents, mid calf length with large wide top-stitched pleats.  It is from Kinloch Anderson and, having looked at their website, my £3.50 was a bargain.  I'm at a bit of a loss at what I've got to pair with it - might knit something.  Any ideas welcome.

Finally, this wasn't a purchase today but I'm just thrilled with it  A knitting bag.  Its huge and so contains all three current (and neglected) projects.

I do so love shopping.

Nailed it! Vintage manicures - history and a little bit of technique

So, as some of you will have seen, I recently posted a picture of a vintage manicure as done by the wonderful Kay at The Chapel.  I decided to have my nails done as a treat and also in an attempt to spur me on into taking more care of my talons, as I do tend to neglect them and I'd like to look more polished...pardon the pun.  Anyway, I think they turned out great!

It has traditionally been pretty difficult to get a good vintage manicure at a salon, as the modern (and in my honest opinion, ugly) trend for squared off nails has meant that most manicurists look at you with bafflement when you request almond or, heaven forbid, pointy nails!  Personally I aspire to razor sharp talons a la Joan Crawford!

Thankfully though, following the popularisation of the vintage manicure (otherwise known as the moonicure, half moon manicure or reverse French manicure) by celebrities such as the impeccably groomed Dita von Teese, it is now becoming much easier to get the vintage nails you want from a salon. 

 

So, lets have a little look at this history of nail prettification.

A brief history of nail decoration:

It seems that, as with most things, those wonderful Ancient Egyptians invented nail art; using henna in various shades to denote social standing; the darker and redder your talons the higher your caste, it is surmised.  It seems nail colour was also an indicator of social standing in China (around 600BC) with silver and gold nails being used to denote Royalty.  I cannot imagine how this was done - gold leaf perhaps?

While different methods of keeping the nails tidy were used throughout history it wasn’t really until the 1900’s that we started taking our manicuring seriously – the early part of the century apparently saw both the invention of the emery board and cuticle remover, with nails being polished with either cake, paste or powder formulations and a chamois leather to add shine and a little rosy colour.

However, the real invention of nail varnish, as we would recognise it now, came with the start of the automobile age.  The product was based on car paint! It didn’t take off however, it was seen as something tacky and  there was a strong belief that people who used it were trying to hide something - for example dirty fingernails from manual work.

Following serious promotion in salons, magazines and on the cinema screen in the 30's, this look finally started to filter down from Hollywood into everyday use, and after Revlon released the first easily available nail paint into salons and department stores across America in 1932  it wasn't long until many other cosmetics companies such as Cutex had followed suit.

Magazines held wonderful ads for these innovative products showing the wide range of colours available  – there were far more options than just red, though of course that is the vintage classic.

In fact, by the end of the 30’s a landmark film for us vintage girls showed just how important the manicure and the beauty salon had become, at least to society women.  The Women (1939) centres around salon gossip – where a woman discovers her husbands infidelity whilst having a manicure with the latest colour “Jungle Red.”

By the 1940’s it became fairly commonplace to paint the nails and nail polish was used to give a bit of much longed for glamour to our wartime sisters.

So, here endeth the history lesson – now for a little on style and colour.

Styles and colours:  

most info blatantly gleaned from Return2Style (links included below) - the site is so fabulous that there is no point me reinventing the wheel, so to speak!

30’s:

Long and pointy in shape, as in the pic of Joan Crawford, above.  The moons and a sliver of the tip kept clear of polish.

Colours - red, black, silver, gold, emerald green, coral

Pictures and more info at Return2Style

40s:Nails not as long and the point slightly less vicious looking, more almond in shape.  Similar polish style with moons kept free, polish more likely to go to tips with some ladies painting the whole nail (less likely for manual workers who risked their polish chipping more easily)

Colours - every red you can imagine, navy, dark green, plum,

 Pictures and more info at Return2Style

 

50s:Nails more almond to oval in shape - the entire nail being painted.  

Colours - More pinks, corals and pastels with pearl finish polishes beginning to appear.

My polish recommendations:

Barry M - a great bright red, a beautiful navy, a very rich black and a very 30's looking grey can all be found at Barry M.  In my experience (and the recommendation of my manicurist) the Barry M range is the best budget range out there.  Applied properly it really doesn't chip as quickly as many other brands.

Leighton Denny - Glamour Puss, and Pillow Talk are great 50's pinks, there is also a range of classic reds.

Revlon - Still make some classic reds, corals and pinks and a great colour - Emerald City - yes it has sparkle but I love it, so there!  ;-)

Basic vintage manicure steps.

It is possible to do this freehand but I personally can't do it that way, so this is my own method...

• File your nails into an oval or almond shape (or a vicious point if you so wish - mwahahaha).  I would strongly recommend the glass nail file from Leighton Denny for this – available on the internet
  
• Soak the nails for around 5 mins in a warm bowl of water and then remove cuticles in any way you see fit (I personally don’t do this bit as I don’t think I have cuticles really, I certainly have never noticed any difference between when they have been done and when they haven’t...)
  
• Ensure you remove any dust or traces of product on the nails by wiping with nail polish remover
  
• If you wish, cover the whole nail with with a base coat, I’d go for something matte as it helps the polish cling to your nail later.  Allow it to dry completely.
  
•  Then apply....wait or it....hole reinforcers like you used at school!  You know, the things you put over the holes in whole punched document so the pages didn't fall out of your folder.  No?  These I mean.
  I find the paper ones best.  Make sure they are stuck HARD!
  
• Apply two coats of your favourite colour, slightly overlapping the strips
  
• Peel off the strips just before the final coat is completely dry, I use tweezers for this.
  
• Once dry either remove the varnish at the tip with a cotton bud soaked in polish remover VERY carefully or say to hell with it and leave it, topping it all off with a coat of clear polish.
  
•  I then like to use Leighton Denny miracle drops to set the polish – this stuff dramatically reduces drying time!

Tada – lovely vintage nails

Useful tutorials:

Blogger is being a pain in the buttocks and won't let me imbed a video so -clicky here.

There are plenty of great tutorials out there on YouTube but I had trouble finding any I really liked as they almost all had contrasting base coats and the whole point of this look is that the tips and moons are without colour - this look was designed to make a manicure last longer as the moon and tip are prime chipping areas.  Anyway - that's my personal bugbear, so if you like that two colour look there are loads of  tutorials on there for you!

That's all folks - let me know if you have any comments or questions!

My everyday hair set - peach perm rods

Hello and a happy weekend to everyone!

I just thought I'd share my everyday set with you.  This is a really basic but versatile set and I'll show a different look with the same set in the upcoming weeks

So, last night I washed my hair and let it air dry to about 70-80%.  I then ran some settling lotion through it, any will do, following the instructions on the bottle.

I then rolled it using my peach perm rods (bought from eBay).

 (excuse the tired face, I had absolute ZERO makeup on here, how brave am I posting this!  Hah!)

I always part on the left, just at the point where my eyebrow peaks.  On the left side I placed two rollers, rolling the hair over the roller(i.e. toward the face).  These were fastened slightly off base (i.e. I didn't roll right to the root, to get a 40's look.  I did the exact same on the right.

At the top I placed three rollers, rolled over again and away from my parting.

At the back a total of 6 rollers in a brick formation, and only rolled up as far as my ears to prevent the hair on the crown area curling.

I then stuck a glamorous blue hairnet over it all and went to bed.  Believe it or not they aren't that hard to sleep in, especially after half a bottle of Rioja!

In the morning I took out all the rollers as gently as possible to keep the curl.  In the picture below you can see how much tighter the curl is than with the Caruso curlers used earlier this week (see earlier blog post).

I had partially brushed out the back here.

  Once all the curlers were out I brushed gently but thoroughly with a natural bristle brush, pinned back the left side and pushed a wave into the front  with my fingers and sprayed it all firmly into place.

Of course, I then had to take the cat to the vets, a 10 minute walk in the drizzle, so now my hair is almost poker straight again.  Annoying Autumn weather!

Vintage manicure - quick pic

Just a quick picture of my vintage manicure - I was rather pleased with it.

Note the glamorous setting, on the No. 56 bus back to Hackney.

I didn't do this myself I admit, I had a manicure to spur me on to take better care of my nails.  They really do let me down, I'm just lazy!

That being said, I do manicure myself every now and then.  I'll be posting a full how-to, some polish recommendations and some vintage nail history in the coming weeks, so keep an eye out!