Review - Leciel nail polish

The past couple of weeks I have seen endless amounts of blogs on the new 'Models Own' polish for tans range. I will hold my hands up right now and say that I have not been a fan of the range ever since I set my eyes upon it. Not because of the quality, but just because of the colours. I am not a fan of having brightly coloured nails that always seem to distract the human eye away from an outfit to the nails. I believe nails should just compliment an outfit.

However, during the week I was going through my nail polish collection to give it a quick tidy up. This is when I came across one nail varnish that reminded me of this new Models Own range. This specific polish that I am talking about is from the 'Leciel' brand in the colour '305 Carrot' which I bought from a pharmacy in Cyprus for €7. I was not familiar with the Leciel brand which is why I decided to give it a try. There were so many colours to choose from, so I have no idea what possessed me to get this bright orange which I have not even worn since its purchase. So, I decided to give this colour a chance to see if the brightness would grow on me. Maybe I would change my mind and end up buying the Models Own collection.

Note: This picture does not show off its brightness :/ 

After one day of wearing this carrot coloured polish, I think my hatred for brightly coloured nails has grown even more. I applied the nail varnish at night, and then the next morning I woke up to get ready for work and just could not decide on an outfit that would make my nails seem more dull. They seemed to stand out against each colour I tried on, I just hated it. I suppose I could understand people wearing this nail polish in a sunny country, but in the UK I could only see myself wearing it to a rave....which is likely to never happen.

The brand of the varnish itself is horrible. It's very thin to apply, it took about three to four layers to get a coverage yet still managed to look pretty streaky, after a few hours of wear the coating had created cracks and chips even though I had not done anything to influence this damage, and after removing the polish it ended up leaving a yellow stain on my nails....nice! So, seeing that this range seems not to be sold widely in the UK (fortunately) I would just like to say that if you do see this range of nail polishes whilst on holiday abroad, don't bother wasting your money on it, especially for €7 a bottle.

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Review - Rimmel sweetie crush nail polish

These new sugary textured nail polishes are amazing! I first saw them on Dahlia Nails blog and thought they looked ideal for Easter, so I just had to go out to Superdrug and buy a couple for £3.99 each. The pink and blue colours that I have bought are called '009 Candyfloss Cutie' and '012 Blueberry Whizz', but there are three other colours in the collection which are yellow, purple, and green which all look just as juicy as the two I bought.

Both of these colours are easy to apply which is surprising seeing that they are a textured varnish, but you do need to apply about three layers of polish to get a good and even coverage on your nails. Luckily though, the polish itself is actually pretty quick at drying so you are not waiting around for ages for your nails to dry.

So sorry for the nastiness of the skin around my nails! 

The word to describe the texture of the polishes would be grainy. Wait, is that even a word? Basically, they just feel like you have just glued some grains of sugar or sand onto your nails but in a more pleasant way. The texture is also not overpowering so that the grains are not falling off during the day, or snagging tights like some textured polishes.

Even though I do love these varnishes, I cannot help but think that they look better having a different colour on each individual nail, just how it is shown on Dahlia Nails blog. I guess this just means that I have to go out and buy the other three colours :)

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Review : Topshop Nail Polishes

As I said in my previous haul here, I am really into my blue coloured nail varnishes. So when I went into Topshop and found these two beautiful tones I just had to get them. I have always been a fan of Topshop's makeup range ever since they released it a couple of years ago. Every product that I have used of theirs is of great quality for a clothes store range, and their nail varnishes spread across a wide range of colours so I can nearly always find one that satisfies my mood.

First up is the matte double denim colour, and the best way to describe this polish is as a navy tone. I know this is more of a winter colour, but I have been after a navy coloured polish for years now. No joke! I have searched high and low in many stores and in many brands for a good navy colour but have never been able to find one that fulfils me. But now I have found this one it seems that my search is finally over. I have got to admit, at first I was disappointed that there wasn't a glossy version, but now that I have given the matte version a go, I actually think I prefer the idea of the matte effect. Overall it has an elegant and sophisticated look which I think will look good for all occasions. And if you are like me, over using your black nail varnish, I believe this will be a great alternative.

This is the Topshop's Disclosed colour which is found in its normal glossy range. I absolutely love this colour. I can mostly describe it as a blue duck egg tone which is great for spring and Easter time. So glad that I have discovered it just in time! It applies easy to nails, and even on its first layer it isn't as thin as I expected it to be. But I would still say it has to have at least two layers for the best coverage. It is a really cute and creamy colour which is most probably one of a few pigments that would suit all different types of skin tones. And I have to tell you this, on my first outing wearing this polish, I had three compliments on the colour from three different shop cashiers. Definitely going to be wearing this pot of brilliance more!

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Review : BarryM 'Gelly' nail paint

I have been a fan of BarryM nail polish from a young age due to its vast collection of colours at an affordable price. However, there was always one thing that seemed to disappoint me - not just with BarryM but also with many other brands - and that was how my nail varnish always seemed to chip after one day of wear. I have got to admit that the chipping seemed increase more after a busy day of hands-on work, but I can't just walk around avoiding chores just to make sure my nails stay in perfect condition.

During one of my holiday preparation shopping trips, I found myself wandering the aisles in Superdrug where I was delighted to find that BarryM had a newish line of nail polishes. These polishes happen to be their hi-shine gelly range, which are produced to provide an -

"Extra glossy finish in just one coat. Highly-pigmented, chip resistant formula- Gives a glossy, gel-like finish with a single coat.".

Because of this description, I was sure that this would be a cure to my past disappointment with nail varnish. But boy was I wrong.

Each one of the varnishes I brought went against their description and chipped just like the rest of my varnish collection. It was fair to say that I was gutted. And what made these nail varnishes even worse was that each colour did need more than one coating. I suppose multiple coatings are quite a normal occurrence with nail varnish, but why advertise that your nail polishes will only need to be used for a single coat when clearly they need at least two? However, after coating all nails appropriately I suppose I should say that they did seem to look pretty glossy and shiny. At least that's one thing they advertised right!

Overall, seeing that these Gelly nail varnishes are £3.99 (£1 more than the normal BarryM polishes), I would advise you save your one pound and try and find a similar colour in the normal range of BarryM, as you would only be paying that pound extra for a slightly shinier coat.

Altogether I brought four different colours:

• Prickly Pea - This varnish is simply just un-wearable with one coat. It is such a thin paint that it needs at least three coats. However, the colour is pretty for this summer weather.
• Watermelon - This varnish looks good in the bottle, but on nails it is such a dark colour. It does need more than one coat, but unfortunately after applying a second coat the colour actually looked off-black.
• Lychee - This is my favourite colour of all four selected, but I did find it to be a bit thick when applying to my nails.
• Blood Orange - This colour had the best results. I have got to admit that you could get away with just using one coat with this specific colour, but I would rather be on the safe side and use two. This also had a good consistency so I was able to apply this easily and quickly to the nail.

BarryM website - www.barrym.com

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