Mish | Nails on Friday ~ Revlon No:731 Knockout

Revlon #731 Knockout

Let me tell you a secret. I really love a glossy black nail polish. To me it looks very classy and chic but, I am still trying to find that perfect black polish.(Anybody else?) When I picked up Revlon's Knockout I had high hopes and honestly was left a little deflated.

Knockout isn't disaster far from it; it's just not what I expected. Revlon has always been a favourite brand of mine and one of the few brands where I actually have used all of their different products; from foundations to lip liners I've had it. Also the name Knockout? I always associate the word with red not black, but hey who am I to judge, I gave every goldfish I ever had as a child a double barrelled name. (Possibly due to the fact they lived in a castle??)

First nail = One Coat
Second Nail = 2 Coats

The polish itself applies smoothly as you would expect from Revlon, it dries quickly, non streaky and if you were rushed you could get away with one coat. The brush hangs onto a lot of product so be sure to swipe the side of the bottle before application. I do love the handles of Revlon polishes they are one of the more comfortable to hold onto, but I feel the actual brush could be more tapered to make application easier.

During the first application I couldn't help but noticed a slight blue tinge to the polish. After the second coat the finish article is definitely black but I can't help think Knockout is a very very dark navy blue? Maybe this is why I am not entirely satisfied with it? Truthfully Knockout is your everyday black polish, looks lovely when applied and does its job. The polish did chip rather quickly (one day) but I'm giving it the benefit of doubt, my nails have been in a sorry state recently with peeling so I think this is the problem not the polish.

I do like Knockout as a everyday black polish however it doesn't fill my hunger for a very deep and glossy black polish. Halloween is today and if you are in need of a black nail polish then I urge you to hop on your Nimbus 2000 and purchase Knockout (your nails will thank me when you try removing the horrible cheap stuff supermarkets produce for Halloween) and it will easily see you through the winter months. 

                                                     Revlon #731 Knockout rating 7/10

A good everyday black, but nothing out of the ordinary.

So after a wee break Nails on Friday is back! 

Do you have a favourite Black nail polish? 

Can you help me find the glossy black nail polish of my dreams? 

Leave us a comment below we love hearing from you! 

Thanks for reading! xx

Happy Halloween!

Disclaimer: All views my own. I have no connection to any company mentioned in this post.

 Photos copyright of Mish at Jute, Jam and Joy 2014

Mish | Nails on Saturday

I have been missing being on holiday this week, so to cheer myself up I thought I would recreate the look I had whilst in Chicago. Just to note my main camera has broken so I was using my mobile to take these photos. They turned out not too shabby however trying to get a non-blurry photo of my actual nails was near impossible so apologies in advance for the slightly blurry look.

The colours I used where Formula X for Sephora in Massive (see my review here) and Formula X in Liberty.
I used Leighton Denny Under cover as my base coat and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri as my top coat.

Massive & Liberty by Formula X

I won't go into too much detail about Massive but just to say it's one of my favourite colours. Liberty caught my eye whilst wandering around Sephora. As it was July whilst I was in Chicago I'm guessing it tied in with the 4th July celebrations and can I just say what a party we have here. 

It's not a glittery top coat, more specks of red, white and blue particles (was going to say plastic but sounds a bit dodgy). The specks definitely have a shimmer to them which twinkles nicely when it catches the light and I have never had so many complements about my nails before in my life. I really love this top coat and decided to pop back to Sephora to purchase a spare bottle, but sadly they had sold out. I did see on Sasha Says Nails that Sally Hansen has practically the same top coat so that would be worth trying out if you couldn't get your hands on Liberty.

One final thing I will say about Formula X is I do adore their products, but the website. Sheesh you try to search something, it never comes up so I was left trailing through the photos to try and find Liberty. Once I found it my fears were confirmed. I think this is just produced for 4th of July, so people next July run down to Sephora and nab yourself a bottle. You won't be disappointed!

So just a quick nail post this week. 

Hope your all having a lovely weekend. Got any plans? 

Painting your nails, then what colour? 

Leave us a comment below, we love hearing from you all!

Disclaimer: All photos property of Mish at Jute, Jam and Joy, 2014

Nails on Friday ~ Maybelline Color Show Love Lillac

Maybelline Color Show Love Lillac

It's been a crappy week in the Mish household and I needed a little pick me up. On a trip to ASDA I saw Maybelline had a sale on and thought why not? My nail polish collection consists of dark or bright colours, very few pales. Wanting to branch out a little Maybelline Colour Show in Love Lillac caught my eye. The formula and cool colour tone reminds me of Essie's Bikini So Teeny.

A closer shot of the blue/pink shimmer in the polish.

The lilac is a beautiful pastel which contains a blue and pink shimmer. First coat is very opaque and second coat helps a lot but I would suggest 3 thin coats to get full coverage.

The first time I applied the polish in two thin coats it took forever to dry and as a result smudged to buggery. A reason for this I believe may be due to the fact I used O.P.I Nail Envy as a base coat, creating a very shiny base, possibly not allowing the polish to grip to my nail.

Next time I tried with my Leighton Denny Undercover base coat which creates a matt base allowing your polish to grip the nail better. The two thin coats applied much better this time and no smudging but still that long lasting feeling of tackiness :( Once dried, I applied my top coat which was Sally Hansen Double Duty and waited...

Yes, spell check did not like me writing Lillac :)

Second time round the polish was much improved but the next day when I accidentally bashed my hand the nail polish started to push up on some nails. In addition, on closer inspection some nails had the dreaded bumps on them where it would just not apply smoothly.

Had to resort to indoor photography, horrible weather this week in Dundee.

In conclusion Maybelline Colour Show in Love Lillac is a wonderful pastel colour but the formula lets it down. Other colours in the Maybelline Colour Show collection have good reviews so it may just be this shade that doesn't work well. (I find pale polishes in general are the hardest to work with). I'll probably only use this polish when I have a lot of spare time to apply it, you couldn't do a rushed job with it. Another use for Love Lillac could be as a mixer with other polishes, I think mixing this with a strong white could help create a denser formula, allowing the shimmer come through even stronger.

So Love Lillac hasn't been relegated to our Beauty Fails section but it isn't what I hoped it would be. 

Does anyone else find pales colours the worst to work with? 

Leave a comment below we love to hear from you!

Disclaimer: All photos copyright Mish at Jute, Jam and Joy, 2014

Views are my own. I have no connection to any companies/products in this post.

Nails on Friday ~ Formula X for Sephora: Massive

Hello Lovelies!

This weeks polish of choice: Formula X for Sephora in the colour Massive.

 Massive sits in the green section of the Formula X stand. It looks grey but let me assure you there is a green tinge to it. I would describe the colour as grey/dark oily green, like the colour you would see on the forecourt of a garage (random I know ha). However on the website they call it more a "Charcoal Blue", green maybe but not blue in my eyes.

What I love about Formula X is that their colours don't fit into specific brackets, there was always something interesting in the colour ranges which I find really exciting about a nail brand. Formula X are not playing it safe, me likey!

The polish applies beautifully with a smooth and even glossy finish. The squarish cap removes to produce a standard round lid for easy handling whilst painting your nails, and the brush is the perfect length. Its main magic however is how long Formula X lasts on the nails. I wore this for 8 days in Chicago and only started noticing chips after day 6. I am mightily impressed with this stuff.


On a side note, take a look at what came up when I typed Massive into the search space on the Formula X website:



Click for bigger photo 

Frankly I was bemused, I understand companies play a part in protecting the vulnerable from harm on line but it's a nail polish! If a company is worried about rude words (Massive is not rude in this context) why name your product it then? I had to Google Formula X Massive in order to get to the correct page. Not a good look.

The website is actually pretty amazing once you understand it, allowing you to interact with the brand and send in your own photos which is how I stumbled upon this. Call me prudish but it won't allow you to search for Massive but #NailPorn is allowed. Hmmm?



Click for bigger photo

I hope someday Formula X comes to the UK shores (seeing as it's 'Made in UK' ), why it doesn't sell here I've no idea. In my honest opinion Formula X would knock Nails Inc. as the number one nail brand in the U.K, reason being, it won't chip on you after an hour like Nails Inc. has a habit of doing.

Apart from the website gripe Formula X nail varnishes are one of the best I have tried. Fact! They are long lasting, amazing colours and give a lovely look to the nails. As long as you don't type in naughty words on the website, you should get your mits on a bottle ASAP, as they are worth the money. Not often I say that :)

Has anyone else tried Formula X? Had a funny issue with a website? Leave us a comment we love hearing from you!


P.S. I managed to accidentally delete the photos of my nails with Massive painted on them, but what I will say is the colour in the bottle is true to what you get on your nails.

Photos copyright of Mish at Jute, Jam and Joy, 2014

All views my own, I have no association with Formula X or Sephora.

Mish | Nails on Friday ~ What's your favourite Nail Polish?

Hello Lovelies!

Today's post won't be a normal one today as I want to hear from you, yes you the viewing public!

What I want to ask it: What is your favourite Nail Polish of all time?

Tricky I know but someone has to ask the hard questions in life! Is there a particular brand you love, or which ones do you hate? Do we love or loath glitter?  What do you wear for a hot date? So many questions so little time!

Please leave your comments below, come on don't be shy, I can see you pondering your answer so why not write it down, we always reply! Pass on our post for others to see so we can all have a good gossip.

To start you off when I thought about my answer it took me longer than expected but O.P.I Russian Navy has to be my ultimate Nail Polish, just thinking about brings me so much joy!

Disclaimer: Photo copyright Mish at Jute, Jam and Joy, 2014

Mish | Nails on Friday

Hello lovelies! Welcome to today's Nails on Friday post.

This week has been a week of getting things done and to reflect my go forward attitude I plumped for wearing Barry M's Raspberry (no: 273)

Barry M - Raspberry

An exquisite deep raspberry shade which leaves nails with a nice glossy shine it suits any occasion. Raspberry went with everything I did this week, meetings, filing, organising work, dog walking; everything. The colour is not quite a red as it has an almost purple/pink feel to it. Hard to describe but it is one of few colours that actually match the fruit it's named after. Round of applause to Barry M!

Raspberry looks more expensive than what it actually is and Barry M has to be one of my favourite brands for nail varnish as the colours are wide ranging and pricing is spot on for a drug store brand.

A really lovely all year round colour.

For base coat I used O.P.I Nail Envy just to give my nails a strengthening boost as they were feeling a little weak. As with most Barry M nail varnishes it applies smoothly with good coverage after one coat, but I always apply two. The end result is a high shine finish. I finished with my all-time favourite top coat Leighton Denny's Crystal Finish Top Coat as I personally love a really glossy finish and boy does this provide that!

So what colours have you been wearing this week?
How do you decide what colour you're going to wear?

Let us know in the comments we love to hear from you!

Disclaimer: I have no connection to any of the brands shown in this post. All opinions are my own

All Photos copyright of Mish at Jute, Jam and Joy.

Mish | Nails on Friday - POP Beauty Nail Glam: Orange

Welcome to a new series here on Jute, Jam and Joy called Nails on Friday!

Every Friday I will review a nail varnish I have loved this week. I love having my nails done whether it be a French manicure or sparkles. Must admit thought I've never had a professional manicure! Easiest option was always doing my own nails. I am not a person who if I break a nail it's the end of the world, life goes on, but I do like them to be well presented.

For the first Nails on Friday I thought I would start with a recent purchase. You may have seen this already on our Twitter and I love it. Introducing POP Beauty Nail Glam: Orange.

This is bright. Very bright neon orange which just screams out at you; Irn-Bru Orange is what I'd call it. Very app for the Commonwealth games in Glasgow me thinks.

It applies well and evenly, giving good coverage in one coat, however my preference is always two coats. This would look amazing with a tan or on darker skin tones, whilst also complementing paler skin tones. Photos sadly aren't showing how neon the orange is but I assure you it's electric. (Note to Mish need a better camera.)

The undercoat I used was Leighton Denny Undercover Base, which gives a matt finish allowing colour to grip the nail, finishing off with Leighton Denny Crystal Finish as top coat which I bought as a pair on QVC.

POP Beauty has an amazing range of nail colours and I urge you to take a peek yourself. I purchased this in Walgreens in Chicago but you can find the polish here.

The dog even liked the colour!

(Just a note, name on the bottle says Eight Orange, I cannot find this on-line but I presume it is just called Orange or Fluro Orange, look for the most neon orange you can see and that should be it.)

Hope you like this post and stay tuned for next weeks. Any Nail varnishes' I should be checking out? Are you brave enough to wear Neon's or like sticking to simple colours? Please leave your comments below we really do love reading them all!

Disclaimer: I have no connection to Pop Beauty or QVC. I purchased all products myself.
                 Photo copyright Mish at Jute, Jam and Joy, 2014.