Essie Mint Candy Apple

Essie: Cute As A Button

I am utterly obsessed with corals and pinky peachy tones at the minute; I think they just capture summer on your nails! This has lead me to own quite an excessive number of aforementioned polishes so I'm slowly trying to work my way through them and do a bit of a comparison. 

This is my first try of Essie nail varnish, and I was so excited to try it after reading so much on beauty blogs and hearing my idols such as Tanya Burr and Louise from Sprinkle of Glitter rave about them! Tanya inspired me to go for Cute As A Button as it just looks so gorgeous on her! 

As you can see from the pictures I went a little bit overboard on the coral yesterday, but Cute As A Button matched my skirt PERFECTLY so it had to be done! 

I used Sally Hansen Double Duty as my base coat and top coat (available at boots) because  I think a base coat is essential when you paint your nails regularly and with bright or dark colours...nobody wants to look like they've been smoking 40 a day! I applied two coats to my toe nails and didn't bother with a top coat (I rarely do on my toes) and the result is a gorgeous milky peach tone which I adore.  The addition of a third coat and a top coat added extra vibrancy and depth and the result is lovely.  I did wake up with sheet marks on my nails this morning though which is very irritating as I painted my nails hours before bed, but maybe I rushed into putting the top coat on?! 

I think the photos make it seem more orangey/red than it does in real life, but the photos were taken on my iPhone I'm afraid so not a lot I can do.

The consistency of this nail varnish is lovely, and I am really looking forward to trying out some other shades from Essie. 

Essie is now available from Boots and Superdrug and I would highly recommend Essie as a brand if the other shades are as luxurious as Cute As A Button.

I think that this polish is pretty comparable to Pink Flamingo (blog post about it here) from Barry M, and at £2.99 a pop it is a cheaper alternative (Essie is retailing at £7.99). 

Have you tried out any Essie polishes? Which is your favourite shade? And what is your all time favourite coral?

I hope you're all having a great day

xxx

the maxi skirt is from Fat Face, and I love it! 

NOTD: New York

This is a beautiful vibrant and opaque fuchsia/hot pink nail varnish by Nails Inc. it is the shade 150 New York and I adore it. It isn't shimmery but the high shine makes it look bright and really 'polished'.  I got this nail varnish two years ago during the time Nails Inc and Diet Coke hooked up, and despite being well loved in that time the consistency has not changed and it is still a joy to use. I find it wears well and looks so smooth and luscious on my nails, it also dries pretty quickly which I think is really important in a nail varnish because who has time to sit around for hours?! 

I get a lot of compliments on this colour, which nail varnish gets you the most attention? 

xxx

NOTD: Blue Moon & Shocker

I utterly adore this shade of blue, Barry M 317 Blue Moon, it is the perfect washed out sky blue if that makes any sense.  I think it's a really fresh colour and it's given my nails a bit of a pep even in this slightly gloomy weather. My one gripe about this shade it how long it takes to get a decent coverage. I did five, yes thats right five, coats of this and to be honest I'm still not entirely satisfied with the finish but I thought six was just absurd and I refused to do it!! The application is very watery, and although it does glide on nicely it's like you're applying a wash to your nails rather than a colour. And to be honest I don't think I'll often have the time to apply this nail varnish on a regular basis (which is probably why I hardly ever wear it!)

This picture makes it look as though it has a bit of an iridescent shimmer but this doesn't transfer to the nails so maybe that's just the result of the glass bottle.

For my base coat and my top coat I used Sally Hansen Double Duty which claims to be a strengthening Base and Top coat, I don't know if it really does strengthen but it has such a lovely brush that I don't care. 

On my toes I have used Rimmel in the colour 270 Shocker and I am going to make a bold claim and declare this as my favourite nail varnish.  I say this because I think it is the shade I have used and repurchased the most out of my entire nail varnish collection.  I usually only wear this on my toes and it just looks so gorgeous, it's such a bright shimmery fuchsia that it just makes it permanently look like summer for your toes which I love even in the depths of winter!! I went through a stage of panic buying a few bottles at a time because sometimes it wasn't in stock but I hope to god that they never discontinue this colour otherwise I might cry. It goes on so well and in two coats looks bold and even and glossy and it lasts for weeks on my toes. Can you tell I'm a bit obsessed?! 

What is your favourite ever nail varnish? 

x

NOTD: Tropical Temptation

                               Left - Without Flash. Right - With Flash                                     

Another perfect spring/summer colour that I'm embracing despite the torrential rain! This vibrant reddish-pink coral is a gorgeous bright, that really does look lovely with a tan (I'm delving into my memory here!).

With Flash on. Sally Hansen Mega Shine Top Coat.

It takes a bit of work to get a bold, streak free finish - after the first two coats it really does look like it's never going to come good, but persevere with a third and a top coat and it will!  


I'm sorry because I don't think that any of these photos do the colour justice, I think it's got a more creamy peach finish to it that is visible here (the first photo is closest to it I'd say).

What colours do you reach for when you need a bit of a pick me up? 

xxx

NOTD: I Pink I Can

Sally Hansen - Complete Salon Manicure - Shade 510 - I Pink I Can

Top left - With Flash. Top right and bottom - Without flash.

This finished product of this nail varnish looks lovely but I think you have to put a bit of effort in to get it looking like that.  The first coat goes really streaky, and then to be quite honest so does the second (there are definite dark bluish tones in steaks after two coats). So I think a third coat is a bit of a must, and after that it looks lovely with Sally Hansen Mega Shine top coat.  So it's a bit of a long process to get the finished look but I was happy to watch beauty videos on YouTube (as I do for far too long each day) so I wasn't in a hurry.


This colour is very much a Barbie pink, and a little bit too 'little girl pink' for my usual tastes but something came over me in boots and I was drawn to it! And despite me saying it's a little bit too plastic pink for my me my only other nail post has been a bit of a bright girly pink (although I think Pink Flamingo which you can see here is more of a peachy/corally pink) so maybe I'm more into them than I let myself think!


On my toes I've gone for Rimmel Pro Finish 295 Fancy Fucshia.  It really is just a gorgeous deep but vibrant fucshia.  The 'maxi brush' claims to give 'mistake free application', which it probably does on your finger nails (I can't remember) but on your tiny toe nails it just makes it a bit of an ordeal to try and get a good covering without painting half your toe as well!).  I love having bright colours on my toes, in fact I usually only go between two or three nail varnishes for them because I'm just a bit set in my ways.





























I'm not sure that either colour comes out very well in the photos. I'd say that I Pink I Can is actually less of a baby pink and more of a bright, and less of a coral/peach than the pictures show, and I'd say that Fancy Fuchsia is actually deeper than either photo portray.  I realise this isn't very helpful, but I'm afraid there aint a lot I can do about it!