Leighton Denny’s Embellish Me is a dark, inky purple that’s perfect for Autumn/Winter. A smooth creme, it’s not the most exciting or original shade out there but what it may lack in imagination, it more than makes up for in opacity.
I get frustrated by these dark, vampy shades that apply all thin and streaky. This, thankfully isn’t one of those shades. Practically opaque in a single coat, it only took a light 2nd coat to top off and even out my application.
The above photo shows two coats with no top coat. Drying time was also impressive on this Leighton Denny. This is a perfect polish for people in a hurry. Two quick coats, minimal drying time. No fuss application.
Wear has been average… but remember this is without the added protection of a top coat.
I’m impressed!
Embellish Me (£11.00) is a limited shade from his Autumn/Winter Opulence nail collection and is available instore at John Lewis or online at QVC, Beauty Bay and other selected retailers.
Easily my most expensive bottle ml for ml… Le Metier de Beaute’s Magic at Dusk was released alongside their autumn/fall collection this year and I couldn’t resist picking it up.
It’s an exquisite mix of blue and purple that looks positively electric on the nails but for all that… I don’t have a huge amount of love for this polish.
It’s a 3/4 coater and for this depth of colour… we should be able to achieve opacity in 2 coats.
You also only get 4ml of product for £10, so I’m estimating that the manicure shown above has cost me at least a quid. It’s a very fast drying polish but the tiny brush is difficult to wield with any grace which resulted in drag marks across the nail bed and the need for a 4th coat.
I pretty much dislike everything about this polish except for the colour.
Ready for a Bobby Dazzler? (does anyone under the age of 75 (apart from me) ever say that?)
Check out Butter London’s Big Smoke!
*dies*
It’s almost denimy in it’s loveliness. It’s a beautiful shimmery toned-down blue that totally has that smoky twilight vibe about it.
I flippin’ adore Butter London for their shade range and since they sorted out their initial teething problems with the formula and bottles… they’re remaining my favourite brand.
Some people have issues with wear… I never have but they also do a marvellous base coat that is (apparently) an absolute MUST if you’re the type of person who gets polish chips within the day.
Big Smoke applied beautifully for me and is a must-have for blue polish lovers everywhere.
You can pick Butter London – Big Smoke up online from Powder Rooms priced at £9.75.
So, it seems that the UK is gearing up for the Spring release of Revlon‘s scented nail polishes… something that our cousins across the pond have had access to for a while now.
So, cousins… what’s the verdict?
I love me a bit of Revlon and these are indeed some v. pretty shades… but…
…the last time I dedicated any time to sniffing my fingers, I was about 6 years old and had just picked my bum.
And the thing is… If I saw someone partaking in a bit of finger-sniffing tomorrow… I wouldn’t be wondering what flavour they’d painted their nails. I’d be making sure I didn’t shake hands with them.
I just don’t see how these are workable in our society. Should we exercise our right to sniff proudly in public or will we become a nation of closet finger sniffers? It’s not like we can even be surreptitious in the workplace ‘cos you know if you get caught with your fingers hovering near your nostrils and you’re being all clandestine about it, it’s only gonna look worse for you.
The only reason I could think of to justify making scented nail polish is to stop those stinky fumes from filling the room whilst painting your tips. That would be worthwhile no? Except this stuff stinks like regular nail polish until it’s dry.
Will you be rushing to buy these when they’re released next year?
Want something a little bit sexy for the party season?
Ciate Boudoir is a fire-cracker of a red! It’s slight orange tones will make this shade positively sing on warmer skintones… and despite initial uncertainties it works it’s magic pretty effectively on mine too!
Two coats will give you an almost-opaque finish, you may be able to make out a hint of VNL (visible nail line) on my ring finger… but thanks to the shade’s vibrancy I didn’t feel that it especially needed a third coat.
Application was FAR better than I remember from Ciates of old. I’m used to them being a bit thick, gloopy and tricky to work with. Boudoir was a lot more fluid than I was expecting which resulted in a cuss-free application.
Wear was impressive… no tip wear until the 3rd day and I think I could have lasted 5 days without being bothered by the minimal wear.
Ciate Boudoir is available to buy online from PowderRooms, priced at £9.00
Are you a fan of classic red polishes?Which are your favourites?
Marrow was the shade that I had been looking forward to… the one that caught my attention back in February when it debuted on the catwalks at Vena Cava during New York Fashion Week.
It was finally released alongside the A/W collection and was one I didn’t pick up because swatch shots from the US girls hadn’t impressed me anywhere near as much as I hoped they would.
The Butter London Marrow that had been haunting my dreams (melodramatic, moi?) was this durgy purple and swatches had proven the release version to be a truer, safer shade.
And it just goes to show the value that great swatches has on my buying choices because they were right! It’s not that Marrow is an unnattractive colour… far from it, it’s quite a striking blue hued purple… regal and perfect for winter. It’s just different to what I had wanted it to be.
Marrow has a lovely subtle silver shimmer that was far too tricky for me to pick up in the above swatch… it’s touches like this that really set the brand apart from their rivals. I am a big fan of Butter London and I get hugely excited at the rumblings of new releases to see if I can spot any emerging trends for future seasons.
Not the easiest brand to get hold of in the UK but you can pick them up online from Powder Rooms priced at £9.75 each.
It’s a sophisticated midnight blue with shimmer that looks very clean and elegant against a cool, pale skintone.
I was concerned that the inky blue might stain my nails, so I doubled up on the base coat… but I’m pleased to report that it didn’t even so much as stain my cuticles. Good job!
As with the other shimmers in the range, I wish that it had just a touch more sparkle. In the bottle, the multi-coloured shimmer is very special and that doesn’t translate to the nail. Having said that, it’s still a very beautiful midnight blue with just enough shimmer to keep it interesting.
Another three coater, it’s one of those polishes that need that last coat to really shine. Application was good and wear has been fine.
Precision is available to buy online from their website or Venus Nail & Beauty with bottles priced at an extremely affordable £5.99 (ish) each.
The new SpaRitual Winter 2010 collection is titled Imagine and features 6 on-trend shades for the season ahead.
Unconditional Love – Deep rose foil metallic Living in the moment – classy, understated mushroom crème Health, Wealth & Happiness – Luxurious dramatic two-tone blue, purple metallic
Endless Possibilities – Intense black cherry plum crème Dreams Becoming Reality – Dramatic teal blue crème A World of Compassion – Deep lilac crème
Not only big 3 free, all SpaRitual shades are also vegan. One of my favourite things about the brand is the packaging. The bulbous bottles feel luxurious and curvy, whilst the caps are simply perfectly shaped and proportioned for use. The patented design features rubber grips which are moulded for a comfortable experience.
I was sent two of the shades from the collection to swatch… I’ll start with Endless Possibilities:
Endless Possibilities is a cherry black creme, incredibly glossy with a smooth glass-like finish. THe above photo shows no top coat… nice huh?
It applied very nicely, and was opaque in two coats. Impressive. I didn’t experience any chipping but as with most very dark shades like this, tip wear was apparent by the end of the 2nd day.
Another 2-coater, Health, Wealth and Happiness is one incredibly sexy shade. A Blue/Purple duochrome… the two-tone flashes are spell-binding yet sophisticated. Application was consistent with the other polish and again, the swatch shot features no top coat.
Wear was a little better on this polish… again, no chips but tip wear wasn’t quite so apparent.
SpaRitual polishes are priced at £7.23 (exc. VAT) each and available online from SpaRitual
I was sent these a while ago now via the brilliant r8beauty, probably around the time my camera went up in a big puff of smoke and I have been absolutely DYING to play with them but holding off until I could do them justice with a photo incase they were amaze.
Rebel Nails are a simple stick-on concept that can be customised with an almost infinite number of designs from animal print to high-shine chrome.
I found application a touch tricky, though the instructions provided were clear and easy to follow.
Firstly, I had to trim EVERY nail sticker. They were all far too wide for my narrow nails and even after trimming, I found that I had been a little too cautious and should have taken off more than I did. Something to remember for next time. It looks far better once on the nail if they’re a little too narrow for your nail bed than too wide.
I also experienced more problems with creasing on the ones that I hadn’t trimmed enough. It really is key to ensure you personalise these nails to fit your own properly.
But how does the overall effect look?
Pretty darn brilliant even if I do say so myself:
My little nail and ring finger are both perfect fits (and applications) but at the time, I thought I’d trimmed too much from the sticker. You can see though that they look far better than my index and middle fingers yes?
Stickability is impressive. I achieved 4 days before a little peeling but if I’m completely honest with you… I wanted them off my fingers after day 1. I found that the free edges (no matter how well I filed) just kept catching on things and feeling ‘scratchy’. I wouldn’t have lasted 4 days if I weren’t testing them for wear.
For me, these are great for special occasions…. nights out and the like. They feel very comfortable on the nails… the thin membrane of sticky foil is light and unobtrusive. It’s just that rough nail tip that I couldn’t put up with.
Removal was 100x easier than I had anticipated. I switched on my hairdryer, gave a nail a quick blast before peeling back the sticker which left barely any residue, gunk and absolutely no damage behind.
Rebel Nails offer around 100 desgins on their website, with prices starting at only £4.99 a set.
I’m loving the look of these Snowflake Red ones for Christmas.
I mentioned last week a nail polish that had instantly hit all the right notes and soared into my top Winter favourites list. Here it is:
Glam Metal by Precision Nails is a beautiful gunmetal polish with an array of multicoloured sparkle. The sparkle is subtle, perhaps just a touch too subtle. I would have been doing cartwheels had it been just a little more apparent. As it stands, this is a stunning shade for a Winter manicure. The finish makes the polish look almost chrome-like (in that slightly grungey way I love). I’m not sure if you can make out from the swatch above… but the gunmetal isn’t an out-and-out grey.. it has the teeniest hint of purple/taupe to it. You can see why I’m loving this can’t you?
Application was good, thinner rather than thicker and the above shows three coats. Drying time is average and wear has been good with no chips to report.
Precision is available to buy online from their website or Venus Nail & Beauty with bottles priced at around £5.99 each.
I received a couple of Models Own new nail polish shades the other week and finally got a chance to wear them last weekend. I was a bit dubious about Vintage Pink when I spied it in the bottle… it’s kinda…. fud.
It’s something my Nan would have worn… had she worn nail polish. That makes sense in my head.
What I’m trying to say is… throw in a couple of mint imperials, a plastic rain-proof headscarf, a shopping bag that doubles up as a trolley and a pint of guiness and you’ve got this nail polish. Everytime I look at my nails, I need to double check the mirror to assess the length of my crowsfeet.
I’m not feeling it.
However, application was fabulous… which is just as well really ‘cos old ladies get the shakes.
Moving on…
Models Own Prussian Blue is more my cuppa tea. It’s a bright royal blue that lends itself really well to a bit of mattification (is that a word?). It’s a nice shade for the winter and compliments my cool tones well.
Both polishes were done in two coats and I’m not sure if the formula has been re-jigged since I last tried a Models Own polish back in the Spring… but these applied really nicely and far less thickly than I expected based on previous experiences.
I didn’t keep Vintage Pink on much longer than it took to go for a ride round the block on my mobility scooter, but wear was great on the matte! It wasn’t until the 3rd day that I began to notice a bit of tip wear… I’m just not used to mattes lasting that well, are you?
The 11 new shades are shown above…
Any of them taking your fancy?
Models Own polishes can be purchased online or in Boots stores nationwide, priced at £5 each.
