New Year - New Storage

Well, not NEW storage, but rearranged storage. 

I keep my polishes in some Ikea Benno CD towers. I started with one, and then expanded to two. Recently, my stash has grown (I've got about 400 bottles now) and I was starting to struggle to find things.  

This were my shelves this morning.  I tidied up a big shelf on one of my other sets of shelves (I have two other big sets of Billy shelves and one other Benno) to make space so that I could move these CDs over and free up the mini shelves here for polish. 

I moved my multicoloured glitters across and split them from one compartment to two, and then moved my golds and silvers across. 

This is now the top of my tall shelves. The very top is topcoats and bases, and a couple of Seche Vite kits. Then the blacks, which are still one compartment, the browns, which are now two, the oranges 3 (instead of 2)...

the reds are 4 (instead of 2), and the pink, purple and blue get an extra compartment each. 

The poor yellows don't even get their own compartment! I only have 4, and one of them is a mini.

I'm pretty happy with this for now. I'd love to have my polishes on a wall somewhere, so that they're all lined up and all visible, but I don't have that kind of space! So for now, this is pretty and tidy. 

Nail Art Supplies - my Stash!

Today, I thought I'd show you my box of goodies!  What used to be a couple of bits and bobs became an overspilling pile on my shelf, and then a stuffed full box! I'm sure I don't actually have that much stuff compared to most bloggers, but here we go...

What's inside?

So we have... striping tape - multiple colours, although you can't see that here, bought from Born Pretty Store. Paint brushes for clean up and in theory for painting things on my nails, although I haven't used them for that yet.

My bargain £1 stamper, my one and only stamping plate, and an OPI nail corrector pen (mostly useless):

Rhinestones! One set each of small round, large round, and teardrop shaped. These were all gifts.

Nail beads. The heart-shaped bottles are from Claire's Accessories (and came with the tiny funnels), the others are MUA. Somehow there's a tube of nail glue too, I'm not sure why.

Dotter/striper bottles:

Packets of things! There are hole reinforcers, standard rectangular labels for chopping up into various shapes, some French mani tip guides, stick on nail diamante from Tesco (bought about 4 years ago and still not used!), some cool pirate stickers that I don't want to waste, star-shaped diamante and heart-shaped stencils from Superdrug, and some spotty nail wraps that I don't like (too thick) but don't want to waste by throwing away...

Nail wheels. I don't have very many, but these are just for random trying things out, testing combinations and so on. I like these, I need to buy more.

Glitter! Lots of glitter! The 12 small pots are ones I bought from the Born Pretty Store. The others - top left is a GOSH nail dust that was a present, top right is some gorgeous pink holo glitter that was also a present, and bottom left some apple decals I bought for about 80p on a market stall.

My first studs - bought from the Born Pretty Store, these are tiny round ones, and larger square ones.

More studs! These were sent for review from BPS.

Tools! A dotting tool set (one snapped in half when I dropped it), cheapy cocktail sticks for dotting and swirling and sticking studs on, and a load of sponges (some cut up) for sponging gradients.

Fluff! This was a set of six pots that I bought in Hobbycraft. As you can see, hardly used really.

And that's it! Is there anything you'd like to see me use? If so, please shout, and I will!

Barry M Extravaganza - Part 2!

Last April, I was bored, and made a pyramid (of sorts) of all my Barry M nail varnishes, and snapped a photo.  I thought no more about it... but then recently I've discovered that it's only of my most viewed posts! I'm a bit boggled by that thought. Anyway, I figured it might be time for an update on that!

I'm not going to name them all. Almost all of them have been blogged at some point on here though. After taking this, I realised - I left out Pink Sapphire Glitter! There it was, sitting sadly on the shelf with my other purple glitters, no doubt wondering what it had done wrong! I wasn't about to start all over again though!

Here's the original post. I've just looked at that again and realised I must have missed out Red Glitter from my first post, I definitely owned it then (and you can see it's nearly half empty now!)

I'm an addict!

Oh my goodness!  A comment on an earlier blog post asked for a photo of my entire collection. I found this, which I took in July 2011. 


And then I decided to do another one. Here is my collection today. OH MY GOODNESS. I had no idea it looked so bad wonderful!


This is what 153 bottles of nail varnish looks like, plus a rather large amount of basecoats and topcoats. Yes, that is seven bottles of Seche, WHAT OF IT?

Barry M Extravaganza!

I got a bit carried away today and bought 12 bottles of nail varnish! They weren't ALL for me, but most of them were. I now have... um... lots.   It occurred to me that I have a LOT of Barry M, and I wanted to see what they'd all look like together.

Look! I love how colourful they are.

Top to bottom, left to right, they are: Gold Foil, Gold, Croc Effects, Silver Foil, Block Orange, Coral, Mushroom, Spring Green, Cobalt Blue, Dusky Mauve, Once Upon a Time, Lavender Hexograms, Strawberry Ice Cream, Pink Iridescent, Bright Pink, Tangerine, Yellow, Racing Green, Blueberry Ice Cream, Navy, Vivid Purple, Bright Purple, Berry Ice Cream, Lilac Foil, Flamingo, Shocking Pink, Raspberry. (Oops! I missed out Red Glitter!) 

Edit, February 2013: I've noticed that this post is one of my most viewed for some reason! Thank you for all the views. If you liked this, then you probably need to see this update post, ten months later. I have... one or two more! Click here to see! 

Spring Cleaning!

I decided it was time for a bit of a clear out! I have far too many nail varnishes - they are taking up too much room, and a lot of them are never worn. I know a lot of other people who wear nail varnish, and who don't have anywhere near as many as me, so I thought I'd pass some on to other people who might wear them more than I will.

In making my decisions, I decided to go through each colour at a time,and chuck out any duplicates and ones I am unlikely to wear again.

Click to enlarge any of these.

Here are all my golds:


L-R: Barry M Gold Foil, Models Own Gold Digger, 25 Carat Gold, Milani Good Morning Sunshine, Max Factor unnamed, OPI Glamour Game, Barry M Gold, China Glaze 2030, Solar Flare, Blonde Bombshell, Golden Enchantment, Sephora I'm a Rich Girl, Sally Hansen Golden Ticket, Rimmel Disco Gold, Chanel Peridot, OPI Designer De Better, Models Own Gold Rush, Deborah Lippmann Diamonds and Pearls. 
 
There are all staying! They're too nice to go.

I love these 3 glitters! Golden Enchantment doesn't look nearly so orange in real life, I think this must have been the light in the photo today. But as you can see, all three have been used far more than most of my other nail varnishes.

The only gold I can do without is the Milani Good Morning Sunshine. I haven't used it in over a year - if I want a yellowy gold I go for either Models Own Gold Digger or 25 Carat Gold, and if I want a foil I go for either the Barry M foil or the CG 2030, so the Milani is really a bit redundant, even though it's nice and there's absolutely nothing wrong with it.

Here are all my oranges:

L-R: OPI Take the Stage, Barry M Coral, Block Orange, Marks & Spencer unnamed, Barry M Tangerine.

I only have these 5. The OPI is gorgeous, and I love all three of the Barry Ms. The tiny one was bought for a pastel skittle look and was worn once, but I can't imagine using it again, so it's going.

Here are all my yellows (yes, ALL!):

Barry M Yellow, Marks and Spencers unnamed.  I'm keeping both of these, as I don't think two is excessive!

Here are all my browns:

L-R: Zoya Cheryl, Models Own Pro Kiss My Brass, W7 Roast Chestnut, OPI Tickle My France-y, Barry M Mushroom.

The Zoya and the W7 are very similar, although the Zoya is FAR prettier, lasts better and doesn't have all the nasty chemicals. That's a no brainer - Zoya stays and W7 goes. The OPI and the Barry M are similar, but not quite, and both are nice, and both get used, so they're staying too. And Kiss My Brass is definitely staying, because it's downright gorgeous.

Here are all my blues:

L-R: 2True Shade 3, Rimmel Green with Envy, Bourjois Techno Bar a Tokyo, OPI Play Til Midnight, Nails Inc Connaught Square, Calvin Klein blue, M&S unnamed, Barry M Cobalt, Barry M Navy, Deborah Lippmann Across the Universe, Andrea Fulerton Rainfall, Revlon Blue Lagoon, Barry M Blueberry Ice Cream.

I'm keeping all these! They're pretty!



Pastels - I don't need three of these.The Barry M is staying, it's lovely. The other two can both go.


The tiny Bourjois one is a waste of time, I've never worn it. It's going. The other two are staying.

Here are all my greens:

L-R: China Glaze Emerald Sparkle, OPI Fresh Frog of Bel Air, Barry M Spring Green, Zoya Ivanka, Revlon Minted, Bourjois Lime Catwalk, Barry M Racing Green.


These are all staying. Seven isn't too many, and I like them all.

Here are all my blacks:

L-R: Illamasqua Scorn, No 7 Beautifully Black, Attitude Mischievous Maven, Orly Goth, Rimmel Black Cab.


These 3 look fairly similar in the bottles. They aren't though - the Attitude one was a cheapy that I bought because it looked like a more glittery version of Orly Goth, but it really isn't! It's a clear base with black and holo glitter, and it looks horrible! Really lumpy and ugly and dirty. That's SO going. The other two are staying, because they are slightly different and do both get worn.


Both of these are essential - a matte black and a glossy black. Both staying.

Here are all my reds:

L-R:Deborah Lippmann Since I Fell for You, Zoya Blair, China Glaze Ruby Pumps, Barry M Red Glitter, Revlon All Fired Up, Chanel Rouge Noir, Vera Valente 11, Rimmel Pro Heart on Fire, China Glaze Love Marilyn, OPI DS Bold, Andrea Fulerton Ann. 

I don't need two bright reds. The Rimmel lasts better, so the Revlon is going.

These two are very similar, but they are both gorgeous, and there's no way I'm throwing out either a Zoya or a Lippmann, so they're both staying.

The glitter on the right looked so cool when I bought it for about 2 Euros on a market in France (it's red stars!) but it's totally rubbish. The base is a weird gloopy orangey colour, and the red glitter stars clump all over the place, so that's out. I might not even give it to anyone else, I think it's only worth the bin to be honest. The other three are staying.

There's no way these three are leaving me! I wear Ruby Pumps regularly, and the other two are nice.

Here are all my silvers:

L-R: Vera Valente 10, Claire's unnamed, L'Oreal Chrome Shine, OPI Crown Me Already, Andrea Fulerton Brooke, Barry M Silver Foil, Rimmel Your Majesty, China Glaze Shooting Star, Awaken, Models Own Juicy Jules.

I don't need two such similar ones. The Barry M is excellent, the L'Oreal isn't. Plus I've had the L'Oreal one about six years, and haven't worn it in the last 5.L'Oreal is out.

These are all staying. The China Glaze looks all blue at the top there - very strange, as it really isn't.

The Claire's glitter is rubbish - it smells nasty, and you need about 8 layers before you actually get any glitter onto your nails. The silver hearts was another cheapy from a French market stall, and is practically unusable. Both going, other three staying - the China Glaze is one of my favourites, as you can see from the amount of use.

Here are all my pinks:

Pinks are the biggest part of my collection.

L-R: Zoya Nova, Revlon Effervescent Opal, Deborah Lippmann Candy Shop, Barry M Bright Pink, Raspberry, Pink Iridescent, China Glaze Reggae to Riches, Material Girl, OPI The One That Got Away, I Lily Love You, Be a Dahlia Won't You, W7 Fluorescent Pink, Models Own Pink Fever, Estee Lauder Pink Clouds, Milani Disco Lights, Rimmel Starlet, Shocker, Portobello Pink, Nicole for OPI Step 2 the beat of my Heart.

Staying are:

I don't need 3 pastels. The Barry M is slightly different, so that's staying. The OPI is much better then the Revlon, so OPI stays and Revlon goes.

I don't need two very similar glitters (China Glaze and Milani), so although the Milani is nice, it's going, because the China Glaze is far nicer. There's no question about the OPI, it's stunning and I'm never letting it leave me. I love the idea of the Nicole (Justin Bieber, lol) one, but it's not good, and I've never actually used it. It's one of those where it takes an age to actually get a heart on your nail, and when you do, it falls off ten minutes later. So it's going.

The Rimmels don't get used much, but they are practical, so they're staying. The OPI is lovely. The W7 is cheap and full of chemicals, has only been worn once, and can go.

Here are all my purples (there is some overlap with the pinks and purples I think, but hey...):

L-R:Sephora Midnight Coral, Nars (ancient - my mum bought this in the early 90s! there is no name), Models Own Mystic Mauve, Max Factor Fantasy Fire, Rimmel Pompous, 2True Shade 4, Barry M Berry Ice Cream, Revlon Facets of Fuschia, Barry M Vivid Purple, Once Upon a Time, Lavender Hexograms, Sephora Amethyst Stiletto, China Glaze Marry a Millionaire, Barry M Lilac Foil.

I'm keeping:

The W7 (like my brown and pink ones) has only been worn once, and isn't that good, so it's out. Everything else is staying.

So, here are the final rejects:





I've got that lovely feeling you have once you've cleared out a load of old unwanted stuff, and made some space on your shelves for NEW things! Hehe.  

(Edit: I do actually have other polishes. I have a whole collection of topcoats and basecoats, and some nail art stuff, and a few multi-coloured glitters that don't fit into any of the colour categories above - Deborah Lippmann's Happy Birthday, China Glaze Party Hearty, that sort of thing - and which I wasn't even considering clearing out, so these photos aren't quite my entire collection!)