Ni Zao (good morning in Chinese)!
This morning I have a new brand of nail polish to show you. The brand is called HJ Manicure, and it was launched in 2009 by Helen J., who is a manicurist and model based in London.
HJ Manicure is comprised of both seasonal colors as well as limited edition colors and nail treatments. The polishes come in both regular sized bottles (15ml) and mini ones (5ml), for select shades.
There are about 30 colors right now available, and she just released her winter collection called the Snow Collection.
The formula on the ones I tried was pretty good. I did have some tip shrinkage with one of them, but that could be because I was in a huge rush to swatch it before the sun disappeared.
I apologize in advance for the horrific pictures. I took these inside in a tiny swatch of sun peeking through my sliding glass door. Plus I always find mini-bottles hard to hold and have your hand look decent! Peep ‘em out!
R8
R8 is a dark primer grey creme. This is much darker than RBL Concrete or Stormy, in case you wondered. This one is from her core collection, and is available as a mini. This was two coats.
Tinsel
Tinsel is a royal purple with tons of light purple and red shimmer. This picture doesn’t do the color justice, it’s gorgeous! It has a lit-from-within effect that I so adore. This was three coats.
Midnight Sky
Midnight Sky is a super dark, vampy blue with blue shimmer. Again, pictures don’t do this color justice. I did have issues with this one being slightly “watery” and you can see the tip shrinkage on my ring finger. However the color is beautiful, and I think most of the problem was me. This was three coats.
I think these are really nice colors, and the line looks very promising. My only complaint would be that they are based in London, therefore aren’t that easy to get here in the US.
As far as pricing, the 15ml bottles are £8.50 which translates to about $16-17.00 US and the 5ml bottles are £3.50 which is about $6-7.00 US. You can find them here.
Ok ladies & gents, what do you guys think? Fellow Brits (LOL!), have you tried these yet and if so, what’s the verdict?
-VV
12/11/2009
Really pretty colors, I definitely love the grey!
Solveig´s last blog ..Sephora Brownie
12/11/2009
Tinsel is beautiful!
Maestra´s last blog ..One word tag
12/10/2009
Pretty colors. You so need to do a tutorial on how to polish nails. I know it sounds lame but I can’t seem to get a clean line when I do my nails. They always look craptacular whenever I do them.
Marisol´s last blog ..Gals Guide meet up
12/10/2009
I totally agree with Jackie S. I’m a Brit and I see so many US polishes that I want but can’t get them for love nor money because no one ships to here. BOOOOOOOH!
I’m quite happy to start up an international polish-pal-club…
12/10/2009
Tinsel and Midnight Sky are both ridiculously gorgeous! I wish they weren’t so darn expensive!
Elaine´s last blog ..Naughty Nailz ‘XX’ Collection Swatches
12/10/2009
I went to the website and fell in love with Blizzard, but I hate to buy sight unseen!
FYI, on the HJ Twitter page there’s a code for a 20% discount: “Christmas discount – 20% off ALL polishes… until the 12th + free UK postage & packing!! Enter code hjtw at checkout for 20% discount…”
12/10/2009
Tinsel is great! The other two are nice, but not must-haves, especially at that price.
Not to be nitpicky, but good morning in Mandarin is actually Zao, or maybe Zao An, if the person is heavily Americanized.
12/10/2009
I like these colors, R8 esp, but i wouldnt pay those prices. Esp when we can get similar colors for $3 or $4. If im going to pay that kinda money for a np its gotta be “designer” like Chanel or Dior. Idk what makes a new upstart company think were going to buy their stuff (when no ones ever heard of them) when its sooo overpriced. I mean really, how much does it take to make 1 bottle of np, a dollar, less? Am i alone in my opinion here? Love the colors. Hate the price.
12/10/2009
I also like Tinsel, it is beautiful!
AllYouDesire´s last blog ..China Glaze 2030
12/10/2009
Wow! Love Tinsel and Midnight sky, but how can I get them in the US? We should get make a “UK to US nail polish pen-pals club”. There are several UK polishes I would love to get my hands on!
12/10/2009
Tinsel is so, SO amazing!
JP´s last blog ..Win Six Gorgeous Zoya Greens!
12/10/2009
Oh these are gorgeous! Love the purple and the grey. They’re a bit pricey tho, maybe I’m just spoiled with the regular e-tailer prices
Anna´s last blog ..TNNOTW: Zoya Envy
12/10/2009
Hope you’re feeling better Kelly!
These are pretty, although they don’t stand out as must-haves for me.
A question, why does tip shrinkage happen?