Back! and Free!

Actually, it's more like Back! Knackered! and Panicking! as if I have just realised how soon it is until I am going to England and France (haircut and H1N1 vaccine have both been booked! New suitcase and an extra few tops required!)

I have several hd_hols fics to beta, so this is going to be a quiet week from me, but I also have some loot to give away. One of the fun things about magland is that there is often beauty loot going at tiny prices or for free. Alas, I sometimes have impulse control issues when it comes to things like, shall we say, nail varnish. I now have four bottles of brightly coloured varnish that need to find new homes, as they are not designed for people with pale blue-red skin with minuscule amounts of olive-gold in their complexion. If you have the same colouring as me, alas, these are not for you. Looking at them, I think you want to have a lovely rich skin colour for best results.

Ideally these would go to one or two people, but I'll take whoever gives me the best or funniest reason why one or more should go to them. Just comment, and let me know which colour/s you'd like. Bugger the postage, give a few dollars to someone who needs them with my best wishes.

1 bottle Zoya Professional Lacquer in Jo: a soft, pale blue with a metallic shimmer. It's almost lilac, and has a lovely finish to it. A little transparent, I think three or four coats would be idea with this one, but the overall finish is nice.

1 bottle Bourjois So Laque! in Bleu violet: an opaque blue-purple, mid to dark tone. Almost Cadbury's purple. It's actually the best of the lot in terms of opacity and smoothness, two coats without undercoat or topcoat look very good. Alas, no photo I could pilfer, but Google it if you're keen.

1 bottle Mavala varnish in 241 Red Crystal: a cerise-red that would be better with multiple coats (I stopped at two). This is my least favourite, but I think that could be because I was too lazy to apply it properly, and red is a bit unforgiving at the best of times. Sadly, no photo for this one, either, and it's a mini bottle, so I;d prefer to send it with one of the others if anyone would care to ignore my persuasive anti-sales pitch.

1 bottle Shu Uemura nail enamel in P220 (a Fall 2009 Limited Edition): rich old gold in mid colour value. This one is Google-able, too, but no pix I can insert. It's a nice subtle metallic and has a good coverage, with a formula that is less ghastly than most nail varnishes. Looking at the rush job I did, I think this would benefit from a good preparation as it's a bit streaky on my nails without base coat and with no pre-buffing. Basically a very nice colour and texture, just naff on me.

In an annoying side note, John Coates, the head of the Australian International Olympic Committee is on TV at the moment saying that Australia should give more money to elite Olympic athletes. He has just said with a completely straight face that his athletes deserve an extra $100 million per annum because every Australian athlete has the right to aim for international success. I have friends who have multiple post-doctoral degrees and who work in research science and who earn less than $50,000 per annum. Some of them earn far less. FUCK YOU, COATESY!

I am willing to bet that the benefit to Australia of world-class scientists is significantly greater than that of world-class athletes. Alas, there is no Nike Laboratory for Geoscience ...

Back! and Free!

Actually, it's more like Back! Knackered! and Panicking! as if I have just realised how soon it is until I am going to England and France (haircut and H1N1 vaccine have both been booked! New suitcase and an extra few tops required!)

I have several hd_hols fics to beta, so this is going to be a quiet week from me, but I also have some loot to give away. One of the fun things about magland is that there is often beauty loot going at tiny prices or for free. Alas, I sometimes have impulse control issues when it comes to things like, shall we say, nail varnish. I now have four bottles of brightly coloured varnish that need to find new homes, as they are not designed for people with pale blue-red skin with minuscule amounts of olive-gold in their complexion. If you have the same colouring as me, alas, these are not for you. Looking at them, I think you want to have a lovely rich skin colour for best results.

Ideally these would go to one or two people, but I'll take whoever gives me the best or funniest reason why one or more should go to them. Just comment, and let me know which colour/s you'd like. Bugger the postage, give a few dollars to someone who needs them with my best wishes.

1 bottle Zoya Professional Lacquer in Jo: a soft, pale blue with a metallic shimmer. It's almost lilac, and has a lovely finish to it. A little transparent, I think three or four coats would be idea with this one, but the overall finish is nice.

1 bottle Bourjois So Laque! in Bleu violet: an opaque blue-purple, mid to dark tone. Almost Cadbury's purple. It's actually the best of the lot in terms of opacity and smoothness, two coats without undercoat or topcoat look very good. Alas, no photo I could pilfer, but Google it if you're keen.

1 bottle Mavala varnish in 241 Red Crystal: a cerise-red that would be better with multiple coats (I stopped at two). This is my least favourite, but I think that could be because I was too lazy to apply it properly, and red is a bit unforgiving at the best of times. Sadly, no photo for this one, either, and it's a mini bottle, so I;d prefer to send it with one of the others if anyone would care to ignore my persuasive anti-sales pitch.

1 bottle Shu Uemura nail enamel in P220 (a Fall 2009 Limited Edition): rich old gold in mid colour value. This one is Google-able, too, but no pix I can insert. It's a nice subtle metallic and has a good coverage, with a formula that is less ghastly than most nail varnishes. Looking at the rush job I did, I think this would benefit from a good preparation as it's a bit streaky on my nails without base coat and with no pre-buffing. Basically a very nice colour and texture, just naff on me.

In an annoying side note, John Coates, the head of the Australian International Olympic Committee is on TV at the moment saying that Australia should give more money to elite Olympic athletes. He has just said with a completely straight face that his athletes deserve an extra $100 million per annum because every Australian athlete has the right to aim for international success. I have friends who have multiple post-doctoral degrees and who work in research science and who earn less than $50,000 per annum. Some of them earn far less. FUCK YOU, COATESY!

I am willing to bet that the benefit to Australia of world-class scientists is significantly greater than that of world-class athletes. Alas, there is no Nike Laboratory for Geoscience ...