My Nail Polish Collection Part 2

Hey Everyone!

As promised, here is the second instalment of my nail polish collection. 

Read My Nail Polish Collection Part 1 first.

NB: Shades are written from left to right

MUA Nail Polish in shades black "2", blue "9", red "8" , green "13", pink "16", nude "19"and purple "Plum Noir"

Nail Quake Nail Varnish in "Shattered Ice", Love Hearts Nail Varnish in shades "Love U 24/7", "I WANT YOU" and "U ROK"

I absolutely love the MUA basic range because they are such good value, apply really easily and have a good selection of colours. Of course MUA have changed their basic nail polish range up and these are no longer available and I've yet to try the new, essie-esque bottles. My favourites were the red and the nude, both of these bottles are repurchases.

The shatter polish was a good way to try the trend while it was around without wasting money. I got the first two Love Hearts nail polishes free with an order I placed online with MUA but I never really wear them. The third is a lovely lilac colour that I really like.

OPI Nail Lacquer in shades "Make Love" and "?" - sorry I've lost the sticker!

I like how much product you get in these bottles but I personally don't get all the hype around OPI. I don't think nail polish is worth paying a lot for as in my opinion there aren't huge differences regarding quality. These are nice enough though and I will use them- especially the purple which is very pretty.

Avon nailwear pro in shade "viva pink", nail experts french manicure duo, nailwear in shade "cotton" and nailwear pro in shade "vintage blue"

I really like the nailwear pro from Avon as they are good value (2 for £5 I think) and have a nice consistency. I'm not so keen on the others as they apply quite streaky. 

Topshop Nails in shades "eclipse" and "ice crush"

I absolutely love Topshop nail polish. Although they're more expensive than other drugstrore brands, they are my favourite because of the packaging, consistency (so opaque after 2 coats) and they dry very quickly. I've been wearing "eclipse" non stop recently as its the only polish I don't peel off. It stays on for ages and is such a pretty olive green/ vibrant blue colour.

LA Colors in shades "treasure island", "infrared", "jewel tone" and "electric charge"

Although the LA Colors range is very affordable, I don't rate them too highly. The glitters especially are really not up to scratch- not opaque at all.

Claire's Nail Polish - sorry I peeled the sticker with shade names off- my bad!

I absolutely love the glitters from Claire's- they're by far the most opaque I've tried and I would definitely recommend them.

Finger Paints Nail Color in shades "art you kidding me?" and "drawn to this shade"

I actually won these in the lovely Melanie's giveaway this time last year and love the names, packaging and colours.

Evie Mai Nail Polish - no shades names

I really like these polishes! The mini brush makes application really easy and they build up well. I especially like the middle shade which is a just-off-white-light-pink. They're very pearly and pretty.

LA Colors Nail Art Pen, Elegant Touch Nail Art Pens

I absolutely loved this LA Colors nail art pen until I dropped it and it smashed all over my floor (what a mess!) so I'll need to buy another. The others are quite sticky and I don't like them as much.

MUA Nail Polish in shade "17"- I added my own glitter- another failed DIY! BHS Nail Polish, Sally Hansen Nail Nutrition

I like the BHS polish as it proves a really pretty, shimmery top coat. I use the Sally Hansen during my many failed attempts to grow my nails but I don't notice a whole lot of difference with it.

So, finally, there we have it. My entire nail polish collection! Do let me know if you have tried any of these and how you got on with them. I'm currently, and have been for the last few months, on a nail polish buying ban because I have so many and I just peel it off my nails when its on (except Topshop eclipse!).

My Nail Polish Collection Part 1

Hey Everyone!
Months ago now, someone commented requesting a nail polish collection post. I love getting requests from you all and this one took me ages to get around to but here I am finally doing it. I'm splitting it up into two parts so the post isn't too huge. I thought I'd just take pictures and tell you a bit about what I think of each. 
NB: Shades are written from left to right

Barry M Nail Paints in 303 "Bright Purple", 295 "Pure Turqoise", 291 "Cobalt Blue" and 272 "Shocking Pink"

I really like the colour range of the Barry M colours. They have a nice consistency and apply well. I do find though that they 'peel' off really easily especially with more than one coat.

Nails Inc Polish in "denim", "warwick avenue" and "beauchamp place"

I haven't actually paid full price for one of these (as mine have been presents/ came with magazines) but I don't think I would. They're good products and have great lasting power but for me they're not worth the £11 price tag.

H&M Nail Polish in various shades.

I think most of these are limited edition (I bought the sets in Barcelona) but for an alternative to Superdrug's selection these are great and because they're dinky you can get through them without them drying up. Only thing I would say is that application is a little tricky.

Missguided Nail Polishes in "missmatch" and "misstique"

I really like these and should wear them more often. I don't wear orange polish a lot (or ever) but these are a nice consistency, last well and have great colour payoff. 

NYC Nail Varnish in "244B Downtown" and "206 East Village"

These are good value for money but are have a very liquidy consistency meanining it can be difficult to apply wthout streaking and if you're impatient (like me!) there's the risk of smudging if you apply too many coats too soon.

w7 Nail Polish in "86 Metallic Mercury", "87 Metallic Venus" and "88 Metallic Mars"

I really like these polishes, especially the glittery one on the left. w7 is a very reasonably priced brand and I think the quality is great so I want to try more from them. I never thought I'd like brown nail polish but these are amazing- they're different colours in different lights and are really nice for autumn/ winter.

Maybelline Express Finish 50 Second Nail Colour, MAX Factor Nailfinity "704 Disco Pink", Collection Lasting Colour "9 Coral Reef", 

I'm not one for top coats as I don't notice improvements in lasting power of the polish, only a nice shine over it, so these clear polishes are a bit unloved. The others are nice, bold colours but are a bit unloved compared to my other nail polishes.

Miss Cole Flawless Finish Trio

Despite the fact these look a little like kids paints, these polishes are actually really nice! I particularly like the silver on the right for a top coat over colours as it gives a shimmery, frosty look- something different!

China Glaze Nail Lacquer in "1037 Fuchsia Fanatic"

I love love love this! Although it came with a slightly higher price tag than what I usually spend on nail polish, I'd say its worth it. This gorgeous shocking pink comes in a pretty big bottle and is really pretty and lasting.

I hope you enjoyed this 'Show and Tell' style post. Some of these polishes have more in depth reviews which you can view by using the search tool in the right sidebar or by clicking the tag "nails" at the end of this post.

Part 2 will be up on Wednesday!

London Baby! What I Bought...

NOTD 6 | Solid Glitter

Hey Everyone!

As you might know from reading this post and this post, I am head over heels with glitter nail polish. When I was in Barcelona I saw that Claire's were having a big sale so I decided to pick up some of their glitter polishes. I picked up the solid gold, red with gold flecks and black with silver flecks and they were €2 each and so far the gold is my absolute favourite. I like to do two coats of gold glitter then Maybelline Express Finish as a top coat.

The thing I love most about this nail polish its opacity. Unlike the Topshop glitters (which I now think are just a top coat for a hint of glitter), two coats of this and your nail is solid glitter. I think its amazing and absolutely love when it catches my eye and I'm like ooh pretty! Its also the perfect gold colour, they've really got the metallic spot on; its not orangey or brown at all. In addition, the brush is really easy to work with. Its square which works well with my short nails and it picks up heaps of the glitter. The consistency is verging on thick but surprisingly its not gloopy and again, applies well and dries within a few minutes. The great thing about glitter nail polish is that it barely chips, and this lasts at least 3 days without peeling which I think is great. Also, unlike many glitter nail polishes, this doesn't feel rough to touch, especially with the topcoat. 

Rating: 10/10 

Yep- top marks for Claire's glitters- from the excellent payoff to the tiny price tag, I can't find any faults with this little bottle of wonder!

Have you tried any of Claire's glitter nail polishes? Which is your favourite?

DIY | Multicoloured Glitter Nail Varnish < £2

Hey Everyone!

Recently, I've been feeling pretty creative, and have so many craft projects I'm excited to try out (eg studding shorts, tie dying/ombre shorts) and one of my must DIYs was glitter nail polish. I saw a post (here) on The Beauty Department and decided that it seemed simple enough. Of course, being me, I kind of strayed from their guide and made up my own rules. 

What I used:

Large piece of paper (as a mat)

Small piece of paper (for funnel)

Sellotape

MUA Clear Nail Varnish £1

The Works 4 Assorted Glitter Tubes 99p

What I did:

Roll the small piece of paper into a funnel shape and secure with sellotape.

 Remove the cap of the nail varnish and place the funnel in the top.

  Begin pouring in the glitter. I started with a cap full of each. As you can see, the silver glitter got away from me a little.

 Screw on the top of the nail varnish bottle and shake really well.

 As you can see, the glitter wasn't very dense at this stage- so add more!

 I had a bit of a problem with the green glitter kind of taking over, even though I had used them in equal quantities. Just judge how much of each colour to put in by how the bottle looks.

 Shake, shake and shake some more.

 Use the varnish. Even though I heaped the glitter into the bottle, I had to do quite a few coats for the nail to be covered. Note: I used a black base coat.

The varnish was SUPER runny and I stained my bed applying it- argh!

I realise I should have probably stuck to the one colour- as the four mixed in together is a bit weird looking, but hey ho there's only one way to learn these things. Also, since I made this, the red and green glitter flecks seem to have dissolved into the varnish (must be some chemical they contain) so now its pretty much a silver and gold glitter polish. But hey- not bad for £1.99! 

Have you tried making your own glitter nail varnish? Any other DIY projects on the go?

Polish Post 6 | Pink Ombre and Glitter

Hey Everyone!

I've been painting my nails a lot recently- experimenting with different techniques and colours and I've been happy to discover unlikely combinations of my collection. However, I'm terrible for biting my nails and picking my nail polish off- so much so that I can't keep a colour on my nails for more than a day. I realise that this must be doing my nails a lot of damage, so for the time being, I am going to leave them bare. While I'm doing that though, I'll post recent NOTD's. Though since I'm on this topic- does anyone have any suggestions of what to do to stop biting my nails and to strengthen them?

Anyway, onto the actual post and today's nails consist of 5 shades of pink and my topshop ice crush.

To achieve the ombre (ish) effect on my thumb, I just painted stripes of colour adjacent to each other whilst the last was still wet and they seemed to just sink into each other and dry together. My fingers then correspond in descending order to the colours on my thumb, and I put a topcoat of glitter on every nail.

I am in love with these- they're so pretty and girly! Also, pretty easy to create- no messing about with sponges or anything. 

Do you like them? Would you consider giving nail ombre a go?

Haul | What I Have Bought Recently {H&M, Internacionale, M&S, Primark & Boots}

Hey Everyone!

This weekend I went on a bit of a spendathon- getting the last bits and bobs for my holiday and some early items for school (I think its better to start school shopping early to avoid the crazy rush in late July early August). Hauls are my favourite type of post to read and write and I love watching them on YouTube too. I am still considering making videos to go alongside my blog though I am a bit apprehensive because I'm a bit self concious about my accent hehe! Let me know your thoughts :P Anyway, onto the haul, and we'll start with H&M:

I have had my eye on this for a while now and I actually thought it had sold out but I discovered a little section of them in my nearest H&M so grabbed it immediately. It was £14.99 and I think the pale pink shade and hearts are very 'me' although the colour washes me out a little. But I'm hoping that when I'm on holiday it'll be fine since I'll have fake tan on. 

I think these basic skirts are great- they're only £3.99 and are perfect for school. I had one last year and it lasted very well. 

This was one of those last minute, picked up while waiting in the que purchases. It was only 99p so I thought hey-ho why not, I don't have any yellow nail polishes and since its summer I thought I ought to try some bright nails. And also the tiny little bottle swayed me because I love minis!

I found this on the sale rail for only £3. I love that its bright and will be lovely on holiday on a shopping day or to the beach. It creases very easily though!

These were also reduced- down to £1.90. Perfect for the beach or at the pool and since they are a pinkish nude, they will go with everything.

Ah this is my favourite item from the whole haul! I absolutely love playsuits right now and I saw this on a you tube haul and thought 'I need that!' The collar tips are so cute-I love them! The playsuit reminds me of something that Caroline Flack would wear which is another reason I love it so much- she is my ultimate style crush.

I bought this blouse purely because of the collar. Its peter pan, lace and has pearls sewn on- what more could I ask? Sadly though, I had to take it back since it was damaged- if I ever see it again I might repurchase though I'm thinking £12 is a bit steep for a Primark top?

These are the shirts I have for school next year. I got an age 15 thinking they would be fine but they're really huge- watch out for M&S sizing! Though I am just going to keep them as I think they'll be ok tucked into my skirt. These were £18 for the set with 20% off.

This is what I used my £5 off no7 voucher to buy so it was only £3.75. Until now I have been using my MUA liner, thinking it was pretty good but now I see what I have been missing- this liner is amazing! So worth £3.75- I definitely recommend spending your voucher on this. Expect a review soon!

This was £10.99 which I do think is a alot but I have seen this recommended so many times and I had been using my Clinique so much that its almost done so I thought it was time for a change. This mascara truly lives up to the hype- it lengthens my lashes amazingly and defines them well too.

So that's what I've bought recently- quite alot, I know. Oh and apologies for neglecting my blog of late, I have been obsessed with Pretty Little Liars and unlike Friends or EastEnders I can't blog and watch that at the same time- it demands my full attention- which most of the time results in me pooping myself at every jumpy part and biting every single one of my nails off! Better get back to it!