Neutral nails for pale skinned gals!

Essie 'Sand Tropez' Nail Polish

As much as I adore the lilac-greigey tinged nudes, there's always something about them on my skintone that just looks a little off.  As in 'hands a bit dead' off.  A while back though, I picked up a bottle of Essie's 'Sand Tropez' and was obsessed.  It's the perfect sandy, taupey, milky coloured nude that doesn't look a thing like tippex nails!  It also goes with pretty much anything as it's completely neutral which is something I'd been looking for for yonks.

The formula as per the usual with Essie polishes is great - opaque in two coats (with a base coat) and pretty longlasting.  I forgot to take nail pictures until a good few days had passed, yet there were little to no chips in sight!  All in all, definitely one to try out if you're super pale skinned and on the market for a nude polish.

xxx

Nail polishes: The Uni Edit

Overpacking is one of my greatest vices.  And the upcoming semi-permanent move to uni has been no exception.  "But I might need just that particular shade of peachy-pink blush..." has happened far too many times when I've attempted packing up my makeup, and since the Michaelmas term is only eleven weeks I can't really justify packing half a tonne of nail polishes.  (But c'mon, a girls gotta have options right?!)  As a compromise I've dug out a cute little gift box that's just big enough to fit about ten/fifteen polishes, in the hope that my need to be neat and tidy and all in one place will stop me going overboard and cramming them all in (and possible having an overflow).  In my head it seems like a good idea to pack a good spectrum of colours, but in the end I've gone for the colours I am statistically more likely to use...

Row One : The Neutrals

From L-R...

• Barry M Gelly Nail Paint in 'Elderberry' : This is one that I still have yet to try out properly.  I love the formula though, and although they're a little messy to apply (polish runs all over the place!) this shade is the perfect wintry grey-blue.

• Natural Collection Nail Colour in 'Champagne' : Natural Collection is one of those lines where the price tag scares most people off.  There are a lot of misses in the line - and the lipstick packaging is beyond crummy - but this particular shade of polish is an almost dead ringer for Essie's 'Buy Me a Cameo'.  The formula is great, and the longevity decent.  Can't wait for the weather to cool down a little more so I can start wearing this again!  (The shade 'Maple' is great aswell - it's got an almost copper tone to it which is absolutely lovely.)

• Essence Colour and Go Polish in 'Love Me, Cupcake!' : I've already spoken far too much about this polish - visit here if you want a thorough review.  All I can say is that if you see it in your local Wilko, get it!

• Dior 'Nail Glow' : If you want a polish that adds a little somethin' somethin' to your nails, but doesn't show the chips this is your guy.  Even though it does actually chip fast on me, I absolutely have fallen head over heels for this along with the rest of the 'Glow' line - and this does make your nails do just that - glow!

• Dior Base Coat 'Abricot' : My last base coat - the Revlon quick dry one - was approaching the end of its life, so I decided to try out something new.  My nails were also getting pretty flaky and generally in bad condition (probably due to the acetone polish I use to get thick polishes off), so I thought a decent quality one would protect my nails and condition them a little.  So far, it's going great and one thin coat dries just as fast as its predecessor.

• Nails Inc 'Motcomb Street' :  Although when I was younger I seemed to sport black nail polish every other week, nowadays I can't quite take the plunge and this is as close as I get.  This shade, although a little tricky to find is the perfect almost-black navy that looks amazing layered with glitter polish!

• Ciaté 'My Fair Lady' : I believe this polish came free with a copy of Marie Claire a year or so ago.  It can apply quite streaky if you're not careful, but with a good base coat you get a lovely sheer wash of pink.  This particular shade doesn't seem to exist anymore, but the closest one I've found is 'Beach Melba' - although if you want a more opaque effect the shade 'Couture' seems to get better reviews.

Row Two : The Brights

From L-R...

• Essie 'Big Spender' : One of my most recent posts was about my predisposition towards Berry lip colours.  This is the nail polish equivalent to that - not too red or pink and works in any season.  Love it.

• Essie 'Hors D'oeuvres' : Glitter city, but I love it!  This is the most beautiful glitter polish I have ever owned (I think I have a weakness for gold shimmer) - one to put off removing though - think I went through about ten cotton pads and half a bottle of acetone remover to get off!  See it swatched here over the top of 'Big Spender', although it looks fabulous on its own.

• Essence Colour and Go Polish in '111 English Rose' : This is the one polish that I haven't yet tried, although it looks to be the perfect autumnal red (not too bright, with a dash of rosy pink!)

• Essie 'Dive Bar'  : A gorgeous iridescent dark green/almost black with blue and purple shimmer running throughout.  Full post with swatches here. 

• Essie 'Splash of Grenadine' : Packing this shade was my way of hanging on to summertime.  I referred to it as the sort of pink Barbie would wear when I swatched it here - it's on my toes at the moment and cheers me up every time I look at them!

• Sally Hansen 'Insta-Dry' : My favourite top coat by a long stretch.  Nails not completely dry and its time for bed?  No problem - pop a thin coat of this on before doing your nightime routine and tada, no sheet marks the next morning!

And there we go, the proof that it all fits! I'd also just about got room for a couple of toe separators and a cuticle cream (the No 7 one), now it's just a matter of resisting purchasing any more polish over the next couple of months!

xxx

'Dive Bar': The Essie obsession continues

This week when I was looking for something to paint my nails with, I began to dig through the more wintry-coloured polishes that had been sitting in a box out of the way for several months.  I'd originally been looking for a dark red, but in the end settled on this colour as I knew it would dry super fast and only need a couple of thin coats (i.e. it was Essie!)  The week before, 'Splash of Grenadine' had been on my nails, so this was really great to change up to for something a little darker and iridescent.  This polish was actually a Christmas gift from a couple of years back, so it's got the old bottle and brush style - but I although it was a little fiddlier to apply than the newer polishes I still didn't make much of a mess and it didn't go streaky.  'Dive Bar' is a very dark green, which looks shimmer-free in some lights, and in others there's some purple/blue iridescence running through it.  It's quite simply stunning, and I'm so glad I rediscovered it!

And here it is - two coats with a dash of a quick-dry topcoat over them.

You can find it here at Superdrug, priced at £7.99.

xxx

Essie's Splash of Grenadine

This is one of those polishes that makes you feel girly, no other way to describe it.  It's such a vibrant Barbie lilac-pink, and it just draws the eyes in.  As Essie polishes go, it's pretty standard - easy to apply, good longevity and decently opaque in two coats.

The colour is very distinctive - even though (as I said above)
 it is Barbie-esque, there's something slightly chic about it.
Perhaps because it's almost a muted neon?

Here's two coats of the polish, with the usual top coat (Sally Hansen Insta-Dry).
No chips after five days! 

You can find Essie polishes at most Boots stores or online, priced at £7.99

xxx