Essie - Bahama Mama

Whilst browsing the aisles of Boots I caught a glimpse of an Essie duo that really caught my eye! The duo included Essie's Bahama Mama and Chinchilly and is titled 'favourites to fall for' - got that right! Both shades really complement one another and definitely have autumn written all over them. They were also both shades that I'd yet to try.

Bahama Mama is described as a "warm, rich, creamy plum'. It's a pretty accurate description to be honest. After two coats of this you achieve a dark but warm plum shade which I think looks gorgeous on. I will say that after two coats the shade appears slightly darker than how it appears in the bottle, but it's not a drastic difference and not one that I feel disappointed with. 

This isn't the first time that I've rambled on about an Essie polish so I'm not going to go in to detail about my opinion on the brand/quality etc. But overall I found this polish applied like a dream, due to the nice sized brush, and the completed look gave me a glossy, opaque shade that I can see myself re-applying throughout the rest of the year. I tend to get a couple of days wear from Essie before I start noticing chips. But this always depends on whether I've applied a top coat and what I've been doing.

I'm looking forward to trying out Chinchilly next as it's a polish I've heard lots about, and it looks so nice in the bottle! Boy do I love Essie, they have so many beautiful shades. What are your go-to autumn nail polish favourites?

Revlon - Girly

This particular nail polish has been sat in my stash for a couple of months now, to the point that I actually forget I even had it. But I reached for it this morning when deciding what to put on my nails! I'm drawn to a bit of sparkle and glitter and this polish is no exception. It's a light lilac, slightly pink nail polish which has small pieces of glitter and slightly bigger hexagonal pieces of glitter, suspended within the polish. The colours of the glitter really work well with the polish shade - there's bits of purple, pink, lilac and blue glitter in there.

I applied one coat of a clear gloss to my nails before applying a single coat of Girly. I would say that the nail polish colour itself was quite sheer which was slightly dissapointing, although I think with more coats the lilac/pink shade should be a bit more prominent. I think it may also work better with a purple or pink nail varnish base. I was really impressed with the glitter pay off with just one coat. This nail polish is packed with it but at just the right amount. In some cases I had to place it a little, but I found that just brushing over the nail a couple more times evened out the glitter, and gave me the finish I was after. I found I managed to get quite an equal amount of glitter with each of my nails, without much effort at all. A couple more coats would easily pack the nails full of glitter.

I found the finish looked really glossy, although the base coat I applied definitely helped. I think its a gorgeous polish and looks really sweet and girly once on the nails. I really do love the mix of colours on the glitter pieces and how they compliment one another! 

So what do you think? Have you tried Revlon's - Girly yet?

Rimmel - Hip Hop

I couldn't resist picking up this bright Summery shade when I spotted it in my local supermarket (Asda, if you're wondering). It was slightly cheaper than usual and priced at £3 for a 12ml size bottle. However, they're normally priced at around £4.49. I have a handful of other nail polishes from Rimmel, I find that they're affordable, easy to use and can be quite long lasting. This particular shade is under the new Salon Pro range which includes a variety of different shades. The Salon Pro nail polishes claim to be up to 10 days chip resistant so I'll be putting that to the test!

Hip Hop is somewhere between a red and a coral shade. Two coats of it gave me a lovely glossy and opaque finish. I found applying this polish was quick and easy, as the brush is thick and wide, so about three strokes on each nail and you're done. It was a fairly quick process overall as this polish seems to dry quite quickly which is an added bonus. I think it's perfect for Summer and great for if you're in a bit of a rush. I love this shade, it really stands out and has a gorgeous finish. 

Have you tried any of Rimmel's Salon Pro nail polishes?

{This nail polish in actual fact lasted 3/4 days without chipping. To be honest this doesn't really surprise me. 10 days would be very impressive but I don't think it's very realistic. Nonetheless a couple of days without chips isn't bad going}

Sparkle - Glitter Nail Polishes

It goes without saying that I love a bit of glitter. So it may come as no surprise that I received a little handful of gorgeous glitter nail polishes for Christmas. Yes they're an absolute pain when it comes to removing the stuff but that doesn't put me off in the slightest!

Leighton Denny - Best Seller. This is a gorgeous deep red shade which contains specks of shimmer.

Leighton Denny - Angel Dust. A clear polish packed with lots of tiny specks of silver shimmer. I love the name of this polish I think it's very sweet and fits well with this shade.

Deborah Lippmann - Ruby Red Slippers. A black base shade filled with tiny pieces of red glitter and bigger hexagonal pieces of red glitter.

I also received the Essie - Winter 2012 Collection (Minis) which includes the shades; Leading Lady, Snap Happy and Beyond Crazy. I will probably do a separate post on this lovely little Essie set. 

I'm yet to properly apply these shades to my nails but I have had a little play with them and swatched each shade on a nail for you all to see! I think these are all beautiful shades and a lovely quality. I already own two other Lippmann polishes (Stairway To Heaven and Glitter In The Air) and despite the high price tag I think there are some really gorgeous shades available that, in my opinion, are difficult to compete with. 
I don't feel that the below image captures how beautiful these shades are in real life. I found it quite tricky to get a picture that is true to how these shades look on the nails. Best Seller and Angel Dust have a lot more shimmer and the black base of the Lippmann polish looks slightly darker in real life.

{L-R- Ruby Red Slippers, Best Seller and Angel Dust}          

The Denny polishes are my first ever owned products from the brand and although I can't comment on how well these polishes last on the nails I can say that these two shades are lovely, the packaging looks sleek and professional and one coat of Best Seller gave a full opaque look. Angel Dust is very subtle and pretty on it's own adding a very light hint of glitter and a clear gloss to the nails, as the specks are so tiny it's not too heavy and catches your eye as you move your hand around. I tried a layer of one coat over a darker shade and loved the effect it added. It added a very subtle glitter topcoat which on close inspection makes me think of tiny stars sparkling. I adore this polish... it's simple yet effective. The Lippmann polish required three coats to achieve a more opaque finish. One coat left the black base looking very light so more than one coat is definitely needed in my opinion. 

Considering I already own a handful of polishes containing some sort of glitter I love how these three polishes add something different and unique to my little collection. 

Nails Inc - Jermyn Street

A few days ago I was having a little browse through all my nail polishes deciding what colour I wanted on my nails. I picked out Nails Inc's - Jermyn Street which is a shade that I seem to constantly neglect. I adore brown and taupe shades all year round, but I particularly like wearing them at this time of year. Jermyn Street is a soft brown/taupe shade which reminds me of melted chocolate. I think this polish was a freebie in a magazine some time ago now. 

I have a handful of Nail's Inc polishes and I tend to find some of them can be a bit of a hit and miss, which probably explains why I tend to neglect this polish. However, Jermyn Street is definitely not a miss in my opinion. I adore this shade, it's very versatile and flattering. After painting my nails with this shade I've received quite a few comments on the shade - even a sales assistant in a high street store commented on how nice the colour is!

The polish itself applies nicely, two coats gave a glossy and opaque finish which was very true to the shade in the bottle. I definitely won't be neglecting this little beauty again in a hurry.

Barry M - Rose Quartz Glitter

Another nail polish post today... I know, I know I'm a little obsessed but this polish has quickly become one of my all time favourite's and I'm excited to share it with you all. I couldn't resist grabbing this little Barry M polish as it's absolutely beautiful. Rose Quartz Glitter is one of Barry M's newer polishes and is filled with tiny bits of silver glitter and slightly bigger pieces of pink hexagonal glitter within a clear polish base... and oh how it catches the light! This polish seriously sparkles, it's really stunning how all the tiny pieces of glitter catch the light and kick back other colours - it's seriously gorgeous.

There is the perfect ratio of glitter to clear polish with Rose Quartz Glitter - there is a lot of glitter within this so you don't have to fight to spread glitter evenly on the nail so it's very easy to apply and create different looks. With one coat you get a nice scatter of glitter across the nail but this is easy to build and within three coats you have a fairly opaque glittery nail.

I applied this over my ring fingers on top of Essie's - Not Just A Pretty Face and I absolutely love the combination, they both work very well together. 

{Nails: Essie's Not Just A Pretty Face. Ring Finger: Barry M's Rose Quartz Glitter 2 coats}

I honestly can't say enough good things about Rose Quartz Glitter, it was super easy to apply, dried quickly, is easy to build upon and looks stunning. I always feel like my pictures don't quite give these polish swatches enough justice (I blame poor lighting and my Iphone). Barry M polishes are £2.99 a bottle and can be purchased in Boots and Superdrug stores, so if you're a glitter fan I strongly recommend this little bargain!

Essie - Not Just A Pretty Face

Essie's - Not Just A Pretty Face is a gorgeous pink nude shade. Being a little Essie obsessive, and whilst on the look out for a new nude shade, I decided to grab this one. I love my bright and dark nail polishes but due to work I'm often wearing toned down, natural - nude shades which is fine with me as I also love pretty nudes too.

I'm not going to go in to much of a review for Essie nail polishes as this isn't the first Essie polish I've done a post on (Essie-Eternal Optimist and a few others). But in a nutshell they are great quality, long wearing and are the easiest to apply due to the wide brush. Essie has become a lot more accessible due to being in more mainstream stores such as Boots and Superdrug.

Not Just A Pretty Face applied beautifully, just one coat gave my nails a subtle nude shine to my nails (a sheer my nails but better look). Two coats gave a much more opaque finish which was pretty much spot on with the way the shade looks in the bottle. This leaves a gloss on the nails and in my opinion gives a very pretty and clean look. 

I normally get a few days wear out of Essie's polishes without chips and tip wear which is great. I think this is my new favourite nude for work, I love the gloss and the pinky/nude finish! Have you tried this nail polish? What are your favourite natural/nude polishes?

Revlon - Bewitching

I wasn't looking for a nail polish whilst browsing through my local drugstore, but as soon as I set eyes upon Revlon's - Bewitching (620), I knew I had to have it. It's my idea of Autumn/Winter in a bottle and is definitely something I would have on my nails on a regular basis. I know this as I already own a fairly similar shade which I love (273 Barry M's - Raspberry). Barry M's Raspberry is very similar although it's a shade or two lighter. Bewitching is a deep berry red - (very almost) burgundy shade. 

Revlon's polishes overall I think are good quality. They're priced at around £6-£7 which is great value considering the quality and quantity. I love the packaging and the variety of shades that are available. I find their polishes are easy to apply and are just the right consistency. I found that Bewitched looked pretty much opaque with just one coat which is great if you're in a rush, nothing worse then needing to apply coat after coat after coat. Not to mention you're not using as much polish. But for a much opaque look two coats is just right. This polish leaves a lovely glossy finish which I love. 

Barry M's polishes are a lot cheaper at just under £3 - bargain! But although Raspberry is easily a favourite of mine I think I prefer the slightly darker shade offered from Bewitching. You get almost 5mls more of polish with Revlon and a much better quality product. Barry M's polishes are affordable but I find they can chip quickly. It takes more coats to build a more opaque finish with Raspberry, I've included a picture below to allow for comparison. Not quite a dupe but I think they're very similar. Although the two shades look a lot alike in the bottle, once on the nails it's easy to spot the difference - especially in the sunlight.

{Revlon's - Bewitching, two coats}

{Middle finger is Barry M's - Raspberry, two coats}

What do you think of Revlon's Bewitching? Do you have any Autumn polish favourite's?

Deborah Lippmann - Glitter In The Air

A few months ago now I posted about a Deborah Lippmann polish which I picked up as a little treat to myself (Stairway To Heavenm- HERE - to view). I mentioned in that post that I picked up a couple of Lippmann polishes, the other being Glitter In The Air! I struggled on which to pick from these two polishes so ended up with them both. They both stood out to me as they look beautiful in the bottle and both involve a bit of glitter! 

Glitter In The Air resembles a milky blue pastel shade, and like Stairway To Heaven, this polish contains bits of glitter. These pieces of glitter are in the colours pink and blue and range in sizes. The Lippmann site describes Glitter In The Air as a sheer "sky blue confetti" polish.

                                                                                                                                     

This polish applies nicely onto the nails so it's easy to achieve a lovely finish as the consistency of the polish is just right. It isn't runny or overly thick and I found the polish also dried fairly quickly which is always a bonus. The colour itself differs slightly from what you can see in the bottle. This polish is quite sheer so you don't quite get the blue shade that you see above, which is slightly disappointing. However with two coats you get a subtle milky pastel blue finish. Some people may not like the sheerness but I actually like the overall finish. I think it gives the nails a beautiful subtle shade and really compliments the bits of glitter. It's quite a unique, whimsical finish and is right up my street. This polish would look lovely layered over other shades, so achieving a bluer finish can be easy by just grabbing a blue polish and layering this over the top.

Similar to Stairway to Heaven there are also some very small pieces of iridescent glitter floating around, which I love as you can't spot them till you move your hand around. As this polish isn't the 'packed with glitter type' I'd definitely recommend two coats as with the first coat there are times where hardly any glitter is distributed onto the nail. Once the second coat has been applied you can achieve a nicer finish and have a more even cover of glitter. If you're looking for an opaque shade this isn't the polish for you. Although the shade wasn't quite as blue as I'd hoped I still really love the finish. In terms of longevity I've found that with two coats I had no chips or wear and tear for the best part of a week - quite impressive.

{One Coat}

{Two coats}

As you can see from the above swatches the finish is quite glossy particularly when in the light. I've included a swatch below away from direct sunlight - shows a more true to life finish I think.

At £16 a bottle these polishes aren't cheap, I justified picking a few polishes up as they were a bit of a treat and a brand that I'd always wanted to try. I hate falling in love with a shade and struggling to find similar more affordable versions so sometimes picking up the pricier ones are the only way. I have heard that Revlon's Whimsical is a great dupe for this polish but this isn't readily available in the UK - well not that I know of anyway. Although I would love to try it!

Overall I'm pleased with my purchases, Lippmann's polishes are definitely great quality and it always feels a treat when using them. There are a handful of really beautiful unique shades that are just too hard to ignore! I would also love to try Lets Go Crazy, Mermaids Dream and Ray Of Light (all glitter related shades- I really am obsessed). Lippmann does glitter like I've never seen before. 

Are you a Lippmann fan? Have you tried any Lippmann polishes?

Essie Bargain

Hello Everyone.

I had to share my little Essie find with you all. While browsing through my local Tk Maxx, last week, I spotted a few packs of 3 Essie nail polishes for... £9.99! I couldn't believe my luck - what a bargain! After picking up Essie's Eternal Optimist (blog post - HERE) a few months back, I quickly fell in love with the brand. So it probably comes as no surprise that I didn't waste time in grabbing this bargain. I don't regularly go into Tk Maxx so I'm not sure how long this deal has been going on for, but I'm guessing it's a new thing as they definitely weren't there the last time I visited the store. There isn't a huge variety of packs of 3's, but there are a a few different shades to choose from. 

Individually these polishes can retail at around £7.99. So for 3 normal sized bottles for £9.99 I'd say that is pretty good going. My pack of 3 included the shades Jag-U-Are, Tea & Crumpets and Capri. I have spotted that Tx Maxx have made a little mistake with labelling these nail polishes, well one in particular anyway! When looking at the Essie website I noticed that Tea & Crumpets isn't actually the polish that was in this set (the real Tea & Crumpets polish is actually more of a shimmery gold colour) there must have been a mistake with the labelling! So unfortunately I can't tell you what the actual name of this Essie polish is - or what it should be. But for the purpose of this post I will refer to it as Tea & Crumpets - even though this is actually incorrect! Very annoying.

Moving on... I love the look of all of these Essie shades, so this was the pack of 3 I choose to go for. 

{L-R - Jag-U-Are, Capri and Tea & Crumpets (isn't correctly labelled)}

In terms of application Jag-U-Are is quite thick so just one coat gave me a lovely opaque finish. I'd describe Jag-U-Are as a cherry red (it looks slightly darker in some of the pictures) with a slight almost gold shimmer to it. I think this shade would look lovely on the toes. Capri is a gorgeous french manicure shade pink, it's very pretty and natural. It's definitely a barely there shade. Tea & Crumpets (which actually ISN'T Tea & Crumpets - confusing I know) is also quite a neutral shade it's a very pale pink/almost white shade which I love. I've compared this to Ballet Slippers and although they're fairly similar in shades Ballet Slippers is slightly paler and less pink in comparison. I have to say I think I'm becoming slightly obsessed with Essie! These polishes apply lovely, they give a nice finish and I love the quirky names. Definitely impressed with this bargain, despite the little labelling mistake. 

{L-R - Tea & Crumpets (again this isn't the correct name of this polish), Capri and Jag-U-Are. Two coats}

I have to say the above image didn't really capture the slight shimmer that comes with Jag-U-Are. But there is a slight shimmer there. I think its a nice alternative to the  standard red. 

So if you're an Essie fan and anyway near a Tk Maxx I'd suggest popping in and having a little browse :)

Deborah Lippmann - Stairway To Heaven

Back in May, when I finally finished my University course, I decided to treat myself to a couple of Deborah Lippmann nail polishes. I often admire Lippmann's polishes when I spot them as I think there are some absolutely stunning shades. Not to mention the variety of glitter polishes that are also available (do I need to mention that I absolutely love glitter!?). 

One of the polishes that I picked up, if you hadn't already guessed from the title, was Stairway to Heaven. 

I'd describe this shade as an off white cream with various pieces of glitter in it. The Lippmann site describes this shade as "iridescent icicle glitter' which I think is quite a nice, fitting description. 

{Love the bottle shape! I think the name Stairway to Heaven really suits this shade}

The polish itself is quite thick and easy to apply giving a lovely glossy finish. Although the shade in the bottle looks like an off white cream, when on the nails this shade is a lot more subtle, almost clear looking. The colour once on the nails is a 'your nails but better' shade. It's very natural looking and I think compliments the glitter.  

The first coat gives a nice sparse layer of polish and glitter, however two coats gives a more even and fuller finish in terms of glitter distribution. There is plenty of glitter in this polish which is great, however the first coat at times doesn't always give an even glitter distribution on the nails. Although I found it easy enough to even the glitter out onto the nail without messing up the application via the brush. 

I absolutely love the pieces of glitter in this polish. There are a few hexagon shaped pieces and a few smaller square pieces. I love that the pieces are iridescent, in different lights the colour of the glitter almost changes. So when moving your fingers around you can catch bits of baby blue, light green, purple and pink coming from the glitter - huge fan of this. 

{Two coats. Ring finger is Stairway to Heaven painted over Ciate's Bon Bon}

Like many other glitter polishes Stairway to Heaven can look lovely on its own or layered over a bright or subtle shade. Unfortunately the above picture doesn't really give the finish justice, as it didn't quite capture all of the pieces of glitter that was actually on my nails - due to the iridescent pieces of glitter and me not having the best camera! However I did find some amazing swatches on Temptalia's blog, click HERE to check them out!

Overall I'm pretty impressed with this nail polish. I have tried and own a variety of different types of glitter nail polishes and don't feel that I own one that matches this - dupe/quality wise. Although the price tag seems pretty ridiculous I have to admit for a glitter junkie like me I will definitely be getting my moneys worth out of it. One of the reasons why I chose this shade was that I hadn't really spotted anything else quite like it. 

Deborah Lippmann's polishes can be purchased online or in House of Fraser. Polishes retail at around £16. Lippmann collection site; HERE

Have you tried any of Lippmann's polishes? I would love to hear what you think of them.

Essie - Eternal Optimist

I have really missed blogging over the last couple of weeks. There is something quite nice about sitting in front of my laptop and typing away about things I love and enjoy. However, I have been in the final stages of finishing off my degree (good old exams and all that - fun fun fun). So of course my studies became my priority. But I have now finished my course, so I finally have the time to do things that I want to do - such as blogging :)  I was originally going to post an April favourite's post but have decided against it. I didn't have a huge amount of April favourite's to include anyway, so instead I will do individual posts about some of my recent favourite products which I have been absolutely loving. 

If you hadn't already guessed from the title I'm going to do a little post today on an Essie nail polish which I very recently purchased! Being UK based Essie can be quite difficult to get hold of, especially as I'm the type of person that likes to see the products in person. So as you can imagine when I spotted a beautiful new Essie stand in my local Boots I was very happy indeed :) I've always wanted to try this brand (I'm an Essie newbie), and have heard so many good things about it so was excited to pick out a shade! Boots are selling around about 30 different shades, which are all priced at £7.99. The shade that I chose to purchase was number 23 - 'Eternal Optimist'. Not only do I love the name of this nail polish but I love the shade too. 

I would describe this shade (Eternal Optimist) as a muted, nude pink. Essie itself describes this shade as a "spiced tea rose with a dash of cream". The shade almost reminds me of a prawn cocktail kind of shade. Overall I love the packaging of Essie's nail polishes, they're really simple but pretty and sturdy. The brush is quite thick and wide so it's easy to apply a nice, even amount of polish to the nails. The nail polish itself is a lovely consistency, it isn't too watery or too gloppy, so it's a joy to apply. It's possible to get a fairly opaque look with one coat, depending on the amount of polish you load onto the brush, but personally I think two coats looks really lovely and gives a better finished look. The final look on the nails is definitely the colour you see in the bottle, I know sometimes colours on the nails can look very different to when in the bottle. I painted my nails on Saturday afternoon and have had no problems with chipping yet, just a tiny bit of wear and tear at the very end of a few of the nails which is barely even noticeable (it is now Tuesday so that's a good 3 days). When I applied this nail polish I didn't apply a base coat or a top coat, I only applied two coats which gives a slight glossy finish. I'm pretty impressed with the longevity of this nail polish and really love the shade! Another bonus for me was that I found the polish to be quite quick drying once applied to the nails. 

I would definitely recommend this shade, and judging from my experience with this particular polish I would also recommend the brand. I think this shade is lovely for adding a bit of colour to the nails, but is subtle enough to be worn as a slightly different 'nude' shade. It's definitely not like any of my other shades. A big thumbs up from me. 

Have you tried this shade before? Are you an Essie fan or an Essie newbie? I'm looking forward to trying some other Essie shades so would love to hear what peoples favourite's are?

Pink Sparkles

I had to write a post on this gorgeous nail polish that I recently picked up in Boots last week. The nail polish is Revlon's 'Sparkling' and I absolutely love it. I'm drawn to glitter and sparkles and so this really did catch my eye. Sparkling is a clear nail varnish which contains small pieces of pink glitter. Most of the glitter are small pieces, but you also get the odd little pink hexagon pieces of glitter in there too. I just think it looks so pretty in the bottle. 

On Monday night I painted my nails with two coats of Rimmel's 'White Orchid'. This shade is somewhere between a very light pink and white. On top of this I painted one coat of Revlon's 'Sparkling' just to add a bit of colour and glitter. It is now Friday afternoon and both have stayed on my nails extremely well. Okay I have a few chips on one or two nails, but that's it. I don't think that's bad going. I love this combination. 

 I personally love having a nice neutral or bright colour on my nails with a bit of glitter on top, it makes a bit of a change every now and then. Are you a glitter fan? and do you have any favourite nail combinations?

No7 - Highland Mist

I love a new nail polish so a few weeks ago when Boots were giving £5 off No7 vouchers, polishes were the first thing I looked at! I was drawn to No7's 'Highland Mist'. No7's nail polishes are priced at around £7 and I think they're a pretty decent quality, so along with my £5 off the end price was £2 (bargain!!). 

'Highland Mist' is what I would describe as an autumn shade, it's a rustic brown colour and reminds me of crispy leaves. Although it's quite a difficult shade to describe specifically! The nail polish applies easily and is a nice thick consistency so it's fairly easy to a do a nice, neat job on your nails. I think you could get away with only one coat which is always nice if you haven't got much time. No7 nail polishes also don't take too long to dry, I also find that I can wear their polishes for a few days without having any problems with peeling or chips so even priced at £7 if there is a shade you like I'd grab it as I do think they're a great quality... even better with the £5 off.

This shade when applied to the nails is true to the shade when in the bottle. It leaves a nice glossy finish on the nails. Overall, I think this nail polish is absolutely gorgeous. No7 products are stocked in Boots stores or online.