NOTD: Essie Turquoise and Caicos

I first bought Essie's Turquoise & Caicos, a beautiful turquoise with a creme finish, because I thought it would be a close colour match to the Tiffany blue colour but it's definitely darker. Perfect for Spring and Summer! Unfortunately, the formula is quite thin and streaky, I applied 4 coats for opacity and topped it off with the Deborah Lippmann Addicted to Speed top coat... so it took much longer to dry (and a lot of my patience...). I highly recommend this colour if you're looking for a true to turquoise colour but bear in mind that you will need to apply several coats.

Deborah Lippmann - Addicted to Speed Top Coat

The Seche Vite top coat has been a staple for me for the last 3 years or so, I love it because it's quick drying, affordable and makes my nail colour last for several days. One thing I hate about it is that it tends to thicken about halfway through the bottle (sometimes even one-third!)... which is super annoying! I know you can thin it out but I have yet to try that method. But I thought I'd try out a new top coat and decided to go for the Deborah Lippmann Addicted To Speed top coat which I've heard good reviews about. It dries super fast (slightly quicker than the Seche Vite) and as it's infused with Cellulose and Dimethicone it leaves the nails ultra shiny. My nail colour last for ages and doesn't chip which is pretty impressive! The tip colour wears out a little after a few days but that's normal for me. When I first got the Seche Vite, I found the scent extremely strong...industrial-strength smell! I got used to it after a while though but I find that the DL Addicted To Speed is even stronger!! I'll probably get used to it eventually but dang it smells strong! As with all DL nail polishes, this is quite expensive but I managed to get it slightly cheaper, I forgot the exact HK price unfortunately...sorry! Overall, I think it's a good top coat but for the price is it really worth buying this over the Seche Vite which is much cheaper and has more or less the same result?? I'll see how this bottle lasts and whether it thickens up halfway...

NOTD: OPI Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh?

From OPI's Spring 2012 Holland Collection, Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh? (Get it?) is a light beige colour... seriously, a gorgeous neutral polish! The colour goes on perfect in two coats. I was meant to be giving my nails a little breather from polishes because they are becoming quite stained but when I bought this my nails were just itching for this colour!

Catrice Cosmetics Ultimate Nudes in 050 Moulin Rouge Light

I picked up this Catrice Cosmetics Ultimate Nudes nail polish in Moulin Rouge Light during my trip to Thailand. I first heard about Catrice Cosmetics through a friend of mine from Germany, she knows I love makeup so for my birthday sent me a bunch of limited edition Catrice goodies for me to try since I've never tried this brand before.

NOTD: Essie Master Plan

I currently have Essie Master Plan on my nails - a really lovely soft brownish grey (some may call it "greige"). I've got so many polishes like this but this is definitely my favourite, it's not too light that it's almost a nude and not too dark that it's almost a dark mushroom brown. The other great thing about this polish is that it's from the Boots diffusion line so the brush is wider than the normal Essie brushes which makes application soooo much better! I have Seche Vite top coat on and the nail colour is still going strong after 5 days!! No chips or tip wear - amazing!

Duri Rejuvacote Nail Growth System

I wear nail polish pretty much 90% of the year, constantly switching between colours and hardly ever letting my nails take a breather....and that can really takes its toll! A few month's ago I went through a stage where my nails were constantly peeling and breaking, breakage I've experienced but never peeling! I ended up having short nails for ages until I started using Duri Rejuvacote Nail Growth System from Duri Cosmetics. An ex-colleague of mine raved about it and she had lovely long strong nails so I decided to give it a go.

NOTD: Essie Shop Till I Drop, Shine of the Times + California Coral

American Apparel Nails - Neon Yellow

I've been looking for a neon yellow nail polish since seeing Alesha Dixon's nails on BGT, her neon yellow was so vibrant and looked great on her. I'm not quite sure what brand she was wearing though...my guess is between Illamasqua Rare and AA Neon Yellow. Anyway, I got the AA one but I was quite disappointed with this polish. It's soooo streaky! Takes 3 - 4 coats for opacity. Most of the AA polishes I own have been very opaque...I've never had to use more than 2 coats. Maybe if I had one coat of white polish as a base then I might not have to use that many coats of the neon yellow polish, will have to try that out. Another surprised was that the polish dried to a matte finish (turns out all AA neon polishes dry matte), so you need a top coat to give it shine. Because I had to use so many coats it took a very long time to remove the polish and my nails were slightly stained afterwards. The colour looks amazing in the bottle but I'm not too impressed with this polish otherwise, shame because I like a few of their other neon polish colours.

NOTD - Illamasqua Jo'mina

I recently purchased Illamasqua's Jo'mina nail varnish, which I mentioned in my recent mini Illamasqua haul post.

Illamasqua Mini Haul

During Easter, Illamasqua had a very exciting online sale that involved an 'Easter Hunt'! The discounts were so good that I couldn't pass it up! I'm a bit late on this but I only recently got around to taking photos of these - better late than never, as I always say! Continue reading to see swatches :)

My Top Nail Polish Picks for Spring/Summer

It's Friday 13th, so in honour of today, here's 13 nail polishes I think are perfect for spring and summer. Continue reading for more information and my current NOTD :)

NOTD - Essie Mint Candy Apple + Shine of the Times

I'm in love with this nail combo! Quite lovely for the Easter festivities. Click for pictures after the jump ;)

Topshop Razzmatazz Nail Polish + NOTD

Topshop Nail Polish in Razzmatazz

Topshop recently released Razzmatazz, a sheer lilac polish with different shapes of holographic glitter particles. Continue reading for swatches and my NOTD: 

NOTD - Rimmel Lycra Pro Nail Polish in Urban Purple #402

Rimmel London Lycra Pro in Urban Purple is one of my 'oldie but goodie' nail polishes. I was rummaging through my nail polish collection and found it (I think I've had this for over 3 years now). Urban Purple is a gorgeous cream-finish raspberry red colour with a slight hint of deep plum in certain lightings. What I love about Rimmel's Lycra Pro range is the maxi brush applicator, which is the best nail polish brush tip I've ever come across. One quick swipe and you can pretty much cover your nails. This nail polish was opaque with one thick coat and with a second coat the colour really pops! Glad I rediscovered this colour!


What's currently on your nails?

Topshop Nails - Delusion

Topshop Nails in Delusion

I had been looking for a greyish purple colour for ages and then I came across Topshop's Delusion a couple of months ago on their website during their sale. I fell in love! It's THE colour I've been looking for. It's also my first Topshop nail polish - I always check out the nail polishes at Topshop because they do have some lovely colours and the packaging is very cute (I love the polka dots!) but I was never tempted to buy them. Unfortunately, I believe this colour is discontinued because I don't see it online or in the store at all but they do have similar one called Rainy Day which has more grey in it. 

The polish is a glossy cream finish and fast-drying. I had on 2 coats plus a top coat and the polish lasted at least 4 days without chipping, albeit there was some tip-wear.

I'm definitely a fan of Topshop nail polish...Good coverage, affordable and nice range of colours. I will most definitely be buying more in the near future.

Have you tried Topshop nail polish? What's your favourite?

Glitter Galore!

My latest additions to my American Apparel nail polish collection.
Glitter, glitter, and more glitter!

American Apparel Glitter Nail Polish:- (Left to right) Galaxy and Supernova

Continue reading for reviews, swatches and NOTD! :)

New additions to my Essie collection!

I bought my first Essie nail polish last summer. It's now my favourite nail polish brand and my collection is growing fast! Here's my new additions and continue reading for swatches and reviews:

Left to right: Shine of the Times, Going Incognito, School of Hard Rocks, Bobbing for Baubles.

NOTD - GOSH Purple Heart

Saw this in Superdrug today and was immediately drawn to the colours. 

It was also the last one on the stand so I thought might as well try it. 

This is my first GOSH nail polish.

I loved the consistency of the polish, one thick coat was enough but I usually put two coats anyway, just in case. 

The polish also dried pretty fast too.

I do like the colour once painted on the nails. In certain lighting it's sort of a glossy black but for the most part it's mostly of a dark purple colour with the occasional murky green colour (which might not sound appealing to some but doesn't bother me). 

Unfortunately, in my experience, the full duo-chrome effect that you see in the bottle doesn't transfer onto the nails so that was a bit disappointing.

All in all, I do like this polish and I think it's quite a good dark polish for the winter.

It's also very affordable at £5.00.

Natural lighting

With flash