Barry M Guava

Yes, another polish from the Barry M Gelly Hi Shine range! I'm sorry if you're getting sick of these, I do have something a bit different from Barry M coming soon.

One thing I will say about the range is that the names of the polishes are completely nothing to do with the shades. Are Guava fruits a bright blue? 

This is one of the few colours that I don't have a million dupes of so I love that it is unique in my collection. It is more blue than green and is bright without being neon. It's super pretty, love it! 

It applied really well. The first coat gave a good even coverage and was completely okay by the second (you could probably get away with one thick coat but I prefer to use thinner coats and I find it gives a better finish - less gloopy) 

I don't know if I was just being impatient that day, but this colour seemed to dry super slowly and I did knock my middle finger which caused a bit of smudging whilst waiting for the second coat to dry. 

What do you think? 

Butter London - Teddy Girl

I have a guinea pig called Teddy so I think that is part of the reason I picked up this polish. Names play a huge part in nail polish buying for me! 

Teddy Girl is a baby pink milky cream polish (more pink than Essie Fiji) and it kinda reminds me of a strawberry milkshake! 

Pastel formulas are really hard to get right and I think Butter London have done pretty well on this one. The application wasn't the best and did require a bit more concentration than some polishes. The Butter London brushes are quite small and thin unlike a wide Essie brush and as you can see in the second picture, even after 3 coats, the polish was still a bit patchy especailly around the top of the nail which is a bit disappointing considering BL is sold for around £10 a bottle. 

The wear time of Butter London polishes is amazing and you really can't fault it. They don't chip at all and would probably last a good week and a half on most people. 

So, what do you think? Is Butter London worth the hefty price tag? 

Essie Status Symbol

This polish was a birthday gift from my ah-may-zing friend Charlotte - she knows how much I love Essie! 

Status Symbol is basically just the perfect pink. It is definitely not a blue toned pink and is warm without being orange or coral-y and is bright without being a neon. 

The first coat went on quite sheer but after the second coat it was completely opaque and being an Essie polish, the wide brush made it a dream to apply. Status Symbol is also one of the glossiest Essie polishes I have. I have found that some of Essie's more pastel colours are less glossy than the darker or brighter shades. I've had it on my toes for two weeks without a top coat and it's still super shiny. I often find that some polishes are only glossy for 24 hours or they lose their shine after a shower or bath but this one doesn't and it has lasted really well. 

I think I've found a dupe...?!

I think I've found a dupe...?!

Everyone raves about Models Own Utopia but I hate the formula. It's thick, it doesn't apply well at all, it's gloopy and it just doesn't look very nice or smooth on the nails. 

But Barry M Almond (from their new Gelly Hi Shine Summer 2014 additions) is a lovely formula and is pretty much the same colour. 

P.S I think both these nail polishes are dupes of Nails Inc. Porchester Square too!  

Essie Turquoise and Caicos

Daylight 

  Artificial light

Essie is one of my favourite nail varnish brands and although I'm slightly late to the party with this shade, I absolutely love it. I usually go for brighter turquoise-y shades and this one is a bit more muted. I love the brush on the Essie diffusion line polishes so the application was amazing if a little sheer at first. This is the perfect shade if you want something a little bright and summery but still want to look grown-up and sophiscated or don't think you can pull off a neon. 

Essie A Splash Of Grenadine

I had been umm-ing and ahh-ing whether to get this polish for about two years and let me tell you, I'm so glad I did! It looks quite dark in the picture but the colour is such a unique lilacy/pink/lavender shade. It's quite blue-toned and I wasn't sure if it was going to suit me but it's GORGEOUS! 

I used two coats in the picture above and you know how I feel about Essie brushes and their formulas. Perfection. 

Birthday Nails - Rimmel SpaceDust in Moonwalking

It's kinda an odd time of year to be blogging about glitter nail varnish but last week it was my birthday and if you can't wear glitter on your birthday, when can you?

Last Autumn, Rimmel came out with a limited edition SpaceDust collection (you can probably still find them online?) and MoonWalking is one of my favourite shades. 

It's purple with silver glitter and it's sparkly without looking too Christmassy. The formula is actually amazing. I only used 2 coats which is impressive for a glitter, especially one from the drugstore, it's pretty easy to remove too. 

What do you think? Glitter nails, yay or nay? 

My Week #2

Monday was not such a good day ME-wise, my pain got a lot worse every time I ate something. I felt cold then hot then cold again. I had a headache, felt sick, dizzy and just not good. Glands made an appearance too and were super sore! I managed a little bit of college work but not much. I didn't even manage a shower or bath, kinda gross but true. 

Bright pink nails from the beginning of the week. 

On Tuesday and Wednesday, I felt a lot worse and began to get bad stomach pain which meant that I didn't eat much or get much college work done. I felt really ill, which was probably the worst I've felt in nearly a year. 

Thursday I felt a little bit better but still didn't manage to sleep much and was feeling very anxious about why I was feeling so ill and why my stomach hurt so bad. 

By Friday I was pretty much okay but still wasn't eating properly and my stomach was sore. I just couldn't put my finger on why I had stomach pains when I hadn't eaten anything different, didn't have an upset stomach or had been sick. 

Saturday I painted my nails with Barry M - Greenberry and had a pretty chilled day. It was pretty hot and did a little bit of college work. Really not a very interesting day. 

I also started a new book, and read it in the garden. 

P.S it's a sad one! 

Sunday I washed my hair and had a shower. We had a BBQ for dinner and chocolate covered strawberries - yum! 

Rimmel Pop Your Pink NOTD

The Rimmel nail polish brushes are some of my faves and with the summer weather being here, I've rekindled my love for bright pinks. Pop Your Pink is a hot pink and takes 3 coats to be opaque - as with a lot of neons, it can be a little streaky. The wear time is pretty good, you could probably get 5-6 days out of it with a good top and base coat and it dries really fast. 

So, what do you think? Are you a bright pink kinda girl? 

Penny Talk

I literally can't remember the last time I painted my nails with something other than an Essie polish... Okay, slight exaggeration but I do seem to be using Essie a lot lately! 

Penny Talk is originally from the Mirror Metalics Collection 2012 but is still available on their website so I think it is now permant in the diffusion line. 

It is described as an "authentic copper metallic" on the Essie website, it is a gorgeous coppery rose gold colour and is perfect for all year round (it looks particularly pretty in the sunshine and would be great for a party or event). 

In the photo above, I used 2 coats (even though you could probably get away with just 1!). It dries super quickly, the Metalics are the fastest drying Essie formula I have come across. 

So, what do you think? It's definitely a one-off colour and I don't think I've seen any other brands do anything similar. 

Ready for Red

Avon Gel Finish in the shade Firecracker (Photographs are without a topcoat)

There are no two ways about it, red nail varnish does not suit me, it just doesn't! I've always wanted to be one of those girls who can pull off red nail polish and look sophiscated and classy but it really does not suit me.

I can wear red lipstick but why not nail polish? It's one of life's many mysteries! 

My initial reason for picking up this Avon Gel Finish Polish was to test out the formula of the range but a lot of the shades were similar to other polishes in my collection... I thought I'd be daring and go for red! 

When applying the nail polish, i wanted to test out the shine most of all. It's a 'Gel' nail polish so you supposedly don't need a topcoat to make it glossy. 

I was super impressed and loved the formula. At first it was really glossy but then after about 12 hours the shine seems to fade on me. I always use a top coat with the Barry M Gelly Hi Shine polishes and I would suggest you do with these ones too. 

Overall, I'd definitely by more from the range as I do like the formula, I'm interested in trying out the yellow as yellow nail polishes are notoriously streaky and hard to apply so maybe the gel formula will help with that. 

NOTD - Essie - Bikini so teeny

NOTD - Essie - Bikini so teeny.

This purpley-cornflower blue colour is just amazing. It's bright and pretty and I just know that I am going to be wearing it A LOT this Spring/Summer!!

 

Sorry for rubbish pics.

 

 

The polish has a very very slight shimmer in it and doesnt really show up at all. Its really gorgeous though!