Autumn Nail Polish Picks

 

  L-R: OPI - Bright Lights Big Color / Essie - Dressed to Kilt / Loreal - Parisian Rooftops / Essie - Madison Ave-Hue 

The weather is cooling down and with the clocks going back an hour this weekend, it finally feels like Autumn is here.  I definitely am someone who wears which ever colour I want at any given time (regardless of season) but I do find myself reaching more for darker colours as Winter approaches the same way I reach for brighter ones in Summer. I'm not quite ready to go to my super dark polishes just yet, so thought I would share with you what I have been enjoying to wear as we transition into Winter.. 

 

 

Essie - Dressed to Kilt /  This is a little deeper than your average red, so I think it works really well for this time of year. I love wearing red on my nails but like all reds, this was a little unforgiving. Any chip or scuff was very noticeable!

Essie - Madison Ave-Hue / I find the dustyness of this blue toned pink really tones the colour down, which makes me really enjoy it for this time of the year. It also has a silver shimmer which is very evident in the bottle but a little hard to spot on the nail.

Loreal - Parisian Rooftops / I have quite a few grey coloured polishes in my collection but this is definitely one of my favourties. I like how deep it is and that it is a little more blue toned than my others. It also lasted really well, didn't chip for days!

OPI - Bright Lights Big Color / This is one of my absolute favourite polishes so really I try to make it work all year round.. Something about the gorgeous shimmery orange just seems very autumnal to me though.  

What have you been wearing on your nails recently? I'd love to know!

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Festive NOTD: Essie Jag-U-Are & Maybelline's Knitted Gold

I thought, since there are now only 6 days until Christmas, that it was time to do something a little more festive. I've been really enjoying scrolling through Instagram looking at all the amazing Christmas nail art but unfortunately I don't have the patience or skill to create anything like that so I just went with the more simple option.

To me Essie's Jag-U-Are screams Christmas with its red shimmer and I decided to add some sparkle with Maybelline's Kntted Gold which is a chunky glitter. Essie polishes are always great but I do find that reds always seem to chip quicker than other colours and this is no exception. As for Knitted Gold, it took me three coats to get it as opaque as I wanted it but it's pretty vibrant gold which catches the light beautifully.

How are you showing your festive side on your nails? 

Merry Christmas! 

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Spring Time Pastels

OPI - You're Such a Budapest, OPI - Pink Friday, Essie - Pink A Boo 

The sun is shining and my favourite flowers are in bloom, so even though we have officially been in spring for a while now, it's finally starting to feel like spring too. I definitely reach for pastels and bright colours when the weather warms up but I can never go too long without reverting back to a dark purple or maroon colour on my nails, even in the middle of summer. I do enjoy digging through my collection to find the lighter or brighter shades I wouldn't normally wear during the winter though and always look forward to see which pastel shades nail polish brands bring out each year!

What are you favourite colours to wear when the sun is shining?

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Nails Of The Week #NOTW

Hey guys! I'm doing something a little different today and instead of a NOTD post showing you the single nail polish I'm wearing, I thought I would share with you the polishes that wore over the course of the week!

First is Essie's 'Miss Fancy Pants' which as you can see is a grey/taupe colour. I love the Essie polishes that come with the wider brush because they make applying the polish so much easier and neater (I find). I'm not sure how in love I am with the colour of this one though, I don't really find myself looking down at my nails an loving it whenever I have it on. 

Then was 'Lychee' from the Barry M Hi-Shine Gelly collection. I don't know about you but I find milky/pastel colours like this hard and streaky to apply and usually don't like how they look around the edges of the fingernail but overall I thought this one dried pretty smoothly. I'm not sure how shiny I would say this is though, definitely no more shiny than any of my other polishes.

Then was 'Jamaica Me Crazy' by Essie. I really like this polish (not sure I can say the picture does it much justice). It's a deep magenta/purple colour with a pretty shimmer running through it. Click here for another look at this polish.

Finally is OPI's 'Tickle My France-y' which is a new polish in my collection but one I can already tell is going to be one of my go to colours which I reach for when I want something on my nails but can't decide what. As you can tell from the picture it dries darker on the nail (I have two coats on) than it looks in the bottle, I kind of wish it didn't and stayed more true to the colour you see but I still really like it either way.

Seems like I had a thing for nudes this time around but what have you been wearing this week?

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Friday Favourites

Hey guys, welcome to my first Friday Favourites! I'm not very good at doing a monthly favourite posts, I usually just don't have enough products to talk about. As a result of that, I've decided to start doing Friday Favourites, although not every week.. just when I have a few products that I'm loving and want to tell you about!

Macadamia Deep Repair Masque - I've already reviewed this product (which you can read by clicking here) so I wont talk about it too much but I'm still really liking the masque which I usually leave on for around 10-15 minutes for silky soft hair. I have found a highstreet mask which I'm also loving also, so stay tuned for a blog post and review on that soon!

Not Your Mother's Way To Grow Shampoo - I've been really picky with shampoo lately and keep finding they leave my hair feeling knotty and hard to manage but this one not only smells amazing but didn't leave me with knotty hair and made it feel clean and soft instead. I'm almost out of this and going to be sad when it's gone because the product isn't readily available in the UK

Essie's Ladylike nail polish - Ladylike is my go to polish when I want something on my nails but not sure what or when I just can't decide on a colour to wear. It's a subtle nude with a pale purple hint to it. I think Ladylike is a perfect name for this polish as it brings in a chic almost classy look to your nails, which I love. 

Maybelline Babylips in Quenched - I love the Babylips balms but in particular I like the clear ones as you can apply them without a mirror and not worry about them getting all over your face. I think these might be the softest balms I've ever used but that means I do find myself getting through them pretty quick.

Soap and Glory Sexy MotherPucker lipgloss in Punchbowl - I was given this as as unwanted gift from my sister and at £9 I don't think it's something I would have purchased myself but I really like this gloss. It has a plumping formula so has that tingly sensation after you apply it but I love the colour and find that this actually stays put on my lips for longer than I expected. I like this so much I think I may just pick up another colour!

Well those are my favourites for this week!

What are you loving right now?

Current beauty wants!

1. Soap and Glory - Scrub your nose in it 

2. L'Oreal - Mythic oil - I'm currently sitting here with a pure argan oil in my hair before I wash it but so far I haven't really seen too much improvement with it and have heard lots of good things about the Mythic oil, so I want to try that one next!

3. Models Own - Utopia

4. Essie - Eternal Optimist - I missed out on this when it was being sold for £1.99 on CheapSmells so I'm now trying to get my hands on it!

5. Thierry Mugler - Angel perfume - I used the sample of Angel that was in this month's Glamour magazine and at first I didn't really like it but then I found myself constantly smelling my wrist and really liking the scent!

Have you tried any of these products?

NOTD: Essie - School of hard rocks

Since I now have quite a collection of nail polish, I have started to look at swatches of the colours before I decide to buy them to make sure I don't already have anything like it. When I looked online at the swatches of School of hard rocks, I took it to be a very dark teal colour. As as you can see from my picture above though, it looks like a deep forest green colour (which might just be due to the shoddy light/weather right now). 

As it stands, I'm not too sure how much I like this colour but we will see how I go.

Would you wear it?

Essie's Ridge Filler

I’ve been wanting to try OPI’s ‘Nail Envy’ for a while now but while I was recently looking at the £1.99 Essie polishes on Fragrance Direct, I came across Essie’s ‘Ridge Filler’ which was only £2.50 (RRP £10.50). I’ve always had pretty strong nails, which grow fast and that I’ve been happy with but ever since I started to wear nail polish on a regular basis, I’ve started to notice that when I take it off with nail polish remover, my nails sometimes peel a little bit and have also noticed a couple of ridges on my one finger nail, so the ridge filler sounded perfect!

Due to wearing so many different colours on my nails, they have become really stained and the first thing I love about the this product is that after the first time I used it and removed it when I was ready to repaint, I already noticed a difference in the staining of my nails. It doesn’t claim to remove stains but I definitely saw a difference. The second thing is the way it looks on the nail; I would definitely be okay with having just the ridge filler on if for some reason I didn’t get the chance to go ahead and paint them. It makes your nails look whiter and all around just healthier. It also dries incredibly quickly which I something I really like. The product itself is white and depending on how much you apply, depends on how opaque of a base you are left with, which I feel acts in the same way as if you were to paint your nails with an actual white polish to make your nail polish colour ‘pop’.

The only complaint I have with this product is that it is pretty unforgiving on the cuticle area or if you don’t happen to have the best/smoothest skin around your nails. I’m someone who can’t seem to stomach pushing my cuticles back and the thought turns my stomach upside down, so I just leave mine how they are and I’ve noticed this product emphasises any imperfections in this area. This is easily managed though by not painting it too close to the cuticle. Also, I have to mention if you were to buy this hoping for it fix any ridges you have in your nails then I think you might be disappointed since it didn't really seem to make no difference to mine.

Have you used this or OPI's nail envy?

September 2012 favourites

I'm sorry about the light/quality of this picture!

I didn't really have many favourites during the month of September but the few things that did stand out to me  I really enjoyed (and still am!)

Essie's Ride Filler base / St Ives apricot facial scrub / Balance Me's citrus and spice hand and body lotion / Barry M's raspberry nail paint / Bath and Body Works' body spray in country chic

I will be doing more in depth reviews of some of these products soon!
What were your favourite things during September?

NOTD Essie - Jamaica me crazy

I don't know about anyone else but I find that when I'm trying to choose a nail polish to buy and there are whole lines of the same colour in various shades (and I'm talking about when there are 10+ bottles of pink polish all varying ever so slightly from each other), I just find myself overwhelmed and I find it very difficult to pick out the one I like the most. This is exactly how I felt while I was standing in front of the Essie stand in Boots. So I tend to gravitate towards the colours that stand out most to me because they aren't grouped with other shades that are basically exactly the same colour.

This is how I came across and decided to buy 'Jamaica me crazy'. It's a beautiful purple colour which has a very deep pink tint to it and has silver micro-shimmer . I like that the shimmer transfers well enough on to the nails that it can be noticed and because it's just a shimmer, it isn't a pain to get off.

What are your favourite Essie polishes that are perfect for Autumn?

Colour Crush: Maroon / Burgundy

Burgundy and Maroon are going two colours that are going to be popular for this Autumn/Winter season and when you look around the High Street you can see the colour popping up just about everywhere. While looking around at the trend on line I decided to pull together some of the pieces and give you a look at what is being offered in this wine coloured shade.

1. Topshop cropped tee - £8.00

2. New Look strapped wedge - £24.99

3. NL Peplum skirt - £16.99

4. New Look skinny jeans - £19.99

5. New Look ankle strap pumps - £17.99

6. New Look tights - £2.99

7. Dorothy Perkins biker jacket - £55.00

8. New Look twist knit heart jumper - £17.99

9. New Look skater dress - £12.99

10. New Look striped jumper - £19.99

11. New Look feather ear rings - £2.99

12. New Look knitted snood - £7.99

13. Rocket Dog wedges - £54.99

14. Accessorize butterfly purse - £16.00

15. New Look open front cardigan - £14.99

16. Essie - Angora Cardi nail polish £7.99

As you can see, most of these items are from New Look, so if you are wanting to add some of this colour into your wardrobe, that's one place you should definitely head too! 

Do you like this colour trend? How will you be adding it to your wardrobe?

Polish, polish, polish.

Source

I was flicking through someone's photos on Facebook recently, when I came across this picture and knew straight away I wanted to use it on my blog somehow. So it inspired to me to write this post..

Over the last couple of years I have fallen in love with nail polish and have managed to acquire myself quite a hefty collection. To be fair to myself though, I don't want every colour; I'm not the biggest fan of blues or greens and when I have two (or three) in almost the exact same shade, I feel slightly guilty. However, my collection keeps growing and although I have recently been on a polish ban to try and use some of the ones I already own up, there are still lots more that I really want!

Anyway, while we're talking about all things nail polish, I am curious about a couple of things:

1. What is your favourite nail polish/colour?

2. Do you have back ups of your favourite ones? If so, what are they and how many of each do you have?

3. How many bottles of polish do you think you currently have in your collection?

4. Which ones do you want to get next?

Colour Crush: Mint

1. Mint cropped top from New Look £4.99

2. Parisian lace cross back skater dress from New Look £22.99

3. Metallic crochet shorts from Topshop £15.00

4. 'Gone fishing' nail polish from Topshop £5.00

5. Skinny jeans from New Look £16.99

6. Canvas strap block heels from New Look £24.99

7. Beaded braceles from New Look £5.99

8. Patent formal clutch from New Look £7.99

9. Sandals from ASOS £15.00

10. Beaded knot tie bracelet from New Look £4.99

11. 'Mint candy apple' nail polish by Essie from Boots £7.99

12. Shorts from New Look £14.99

13. Jersey blazer from Dorothy Perkins £30.00

14. T-bar block heels from New Look £39.99

You may have noticed that the colour mint has been popping up all over the place this spring and summer in the forms of nail polish and bags to dresses and shoes. It wasn't a colour I was too keen on until I bought Essie's 'Mint candy apple' polish, wore it on my nails and fell in love with it!

How will you be sporting mint this summer?

NOTD: Essie 'Flawless'

Essie's Flawless is a pretty blue toned pastel pink colour. I was expecting it to be streaky and difficult to apply but it surprised me and in two coats I was able to get the opaque colour that I wanted. I wore a topcoat over it and it lasted pretty well.

You can buy Essie at Superdrug and also here at Boots.com

What is your favourite colour polish by essie?

NOTD: Essie 'Mint candy apple'

Essie's 'Mint candy apple' is a pastel green colour which is perfect for summer and would look perfect with tanned skin. This polish isn't streaky which I thought it could be since it's a pastel colour and I was impressed with the longevity of it. In the picture I'm wearing two coats with Barry M's clear polish over the top.
If you would like to buy Essie online, you can do so here at Boots.com.

Do you own Mint candy apple?

NOTD: Essie 'Cute as a button'

'Cute as a button' is a solid red/pink colour which dries with a super glossy finish . It goes on pretty opaque but after applying two coats you could just faintly see the white tips of my nails which I don't like but I think you would have to look pretty close to notice it and could always add another coat. I didn't wear a top coat over this and noticed it started chipping pretty quickly which was disappointing. 

What are you favourite Essie polishes?