Elegant Touch Moisture Balance Nail Polish Remover

I've always just picked up 99p polish remover from the supermarkets but I was obviously feeling a little flush on my recent trip to tesco and bought this Elegant Touch polish remover for an entire £2.10. I'm pleased to say this was a brilliant choice and money very well spent. This polish remover is a kind of ombre in the bottle but after a good shake it turns a bright green shade. It's an acetone free remover - the top is the bit that removes the polish and the bottom is full of evening primrose oil and vitamin B5. I abuse my nails a lot so I always welcome another part of armour to help nourish them and make them a little tougher. I've been using lots of things recently to strengthen them so I can't blame it all on this remover but I'm sure it's helped. It's nice to use a remover that doesn't feel stripping and harsh. I will definitely be buying this again for as long as a remover lasts I've found it well worth spending a little more to get a few extra benefits from it. 

Georgina x.

Christmas Party Nails 2014

I have a few Christmas nights out over the next few weeks that range from casual drinks to full on work parties. I also have one on a Wednesday night (:o) so I need a simple Christmas party nail that isn't garish for the office, goes with all of my outfits and has the smallest hint of Christmas fun. I've opted for my favourite nude 'nyla nude' from Models Own. This is one maybe 3 nail polishes I have ever finished a bottle of I'm on my 3rd and I couldn't love or recommend it more. It's a gorgeous warm toned nude that really suits my skin tone and is one of the only ones I've found that doesn't verge on grey and too cool it's so gorgeous and warm. I've topped my ring finger with Models Own 'catherine wheel'. I used Essie Ridge Filler as a base to hopefully make this nail last a good few parties without chipping. I need to find some nail glue though as I have lots of cute gems but nothing to stick them on with. I'm thinking full on gold bling for Christmas Day. 

Georgina x.

Essie - Colour Icons

I adore Essie as a brand they're colour selection is always so tempting and I always find it hard to make a decision on what to buy. I've wanted mint candy apple forever and I'm never really sure why it hadn't fallen into my basket before. When I saw this little set for £12.99 it was an easy decision to buy - it contains 3 shades that I've read so much about and don't own. Firstly Mademoiselle did disappoint me a little it's so sheer on my nails that it's more of a tinted top coat for me - I definitely look for something way more pigmented for a nail polish. Mint Candy Apple is gorgeous - the perfect shade of minty green that just works so well as an everyday nail colour I've been wearing it non stop since. Fifth Avenue was my favorite in the set it's a delicious punchy red with a coral tone to it that is perfect for a night out and as toe nail polish. I love this little set and I'm so glad I picked it up. The mini bottles are also great for taking on weekends away and when I'm staying at my boyfriends so I'll definitely look to pick up a set like this again.

Spring Nail Picks

The rain definitely hasn't stopped but every now and then the sun is coming up so surely spring is on it's way. Pastel colours are out - finally! My favourite nail polishes for this season are: Essie - Bikini so Teeny, Barry M Gelly - Papaya, Models Own - Utopia, L'Oreal - Wasabi Hint & Models Own - Lemon Meringue. 

Mini Models Own Haul & Hyper Gel

Utopia, Snowflakes - Wonderland, Catherine Wheel - Fireworks, Naked Glow Hypergel, Lilac Sheen Hypergel 

Models Own are my favourite nail brand - over half of my nail varnishes are by the brand so when they have a half price sale I can't resist making a little order. When they did this offer a while ago it took ages to arrive and most of the good shades were out of stock. They obviously learnt a lot from that attempt at high demand as this sale was the complete opposite. I went on the site the day after the sale started and pretty much all shades were in stock. It was a few days before payday so I only picked up 5 shades but I'm so happy with all of them. I repurchased utopia as I somehow lost my last bottle - it's my favourite polish ever I love the almost white lilac shade so I'm very happy to have this back in my life. 

Snowflake has small to very large speckles of glitter and pearlescent long pieces. It's gorgeous over utopia and other pastel shades. I also got catherine wheel from the fireworks range which is gorgeous it has red, gold and green glitter in it - I adore this glitter it's perfect to go over light and dark polish and I know it will be much used over bright corals this summer. 

Finally I picked up 2 shades from the new Models Own range - hypergel. I think all of the nail brands have a 'gel' range out at the moment. I've tried quite a few of them and the models own version has definitely impressed me the most. I picked the two lightest shades in the range and they are so opaque they could be used with just one coat easily. The swatches above are just one coat and that's probably their main selling point for me. I don't find these as overly shiny and gel like in sheen as much as perhaps the Barry M gelly formula but that's fine for me. It's a beautiful range and I'm sure I'll pick up some more brights as summer gets nearer. I love that there's a colour swatch on each lid too it makes finding them so much easier amongst all of the other white lids I own. 

Christmas Obsessions: Nails

Glitter: Models Own Pink Fizz, Models Own Silver Fox, Deborah Lippman & Gold Glitter Nail Art Pen 

 

 Nude: Base Barry M Gelly in Lychee, Nails Ink Uptown Glamour, Models Own Champagne, Stripe and dots with bronze from nail art pen kit 

 

 Red: Base - Nails Inc Victoria & Albert, all designs done with nail art pens (eBay) 

 

White: Base George for Asda Manicure in Natural White all glitters mentioned above or from nail art pen kit

Painting my nails is one of my favorite things to do - painting them at Christmas time is even better. You can adorn your nails with copious amounts of glitter and it's completely acceptable even on the mot mundane of office days when  December always seems fun because your nails are covered in sparkles. I loved playing around with polishes for this Christmas nail wheel and I'm so happy that advent has started so bright red nails covered in glitter has become completely acceptable. If you've done any Christmas nail art posts please pop the link in my comments I'd love more inspiration :) 

Barry M - Autumn Nail Varnish Picks

Left to right: Gelly - Lychee, Matte Crush, Matte Caramel, Red Black, Black

£2.99 - £3.99 Barry M Boots

Autumn Break Holiday Nail Polish

Barry M Nail Varnish - £2.99, £3.99 Boots

I'm currently in Turkey enjoying hopefully a bit of sun before winter sets in and these are my four nail varnishes I'm packing. I've tried not to buy any new clothes for this trip as I always regret my odd holiday purchases so these colours go with what I normally wear - nudes, browns, reds and blacks. I've packed both my recent Barry M matte polishes review and also lychee and pomegranate from the Barry M Gelly collection. I think pomegranate is a great holiday colour as it's so bright but still has red tones and is also the perfect toe polish. I have a bit of a problem when it comes to nail varnishes and I normally pack way more than I ever use so this year I've tried to keep it simple with two nudes and two colours I know I'll wear. 

Models Own - Autumn Nail Polish Picks

Left to right: Gold Digger, Vintage Pink, Slate Grey, Red Red Wine, Nyla Nude

Boots £5 Models Own £5

Barry M - Matte Nail Varnish Autumn 2013

Barry M Matte Nail Varnish - £3.99 Boots

Barry M have bought out so many new releases to their nail varnish range this year but the autumn winter matte collection has easily been the one that has got me most excited. The range has come out in 5 shades - espresso (black), crush (burgundy), caramel, vanilla (light nude) and mocha (mid brown). I could have easily picked up all five shades but decided to stick to crush and caramel as I do own a matte top coat so it definitely wasn't necessary for me to own these but I wanted them so much. I love matte nail varnish and these shades are perfect for autumn. Above is the polish using two coats and like all Barry M polish they cover well and have good lasting power. I'm going to resist buying the other three as I really don't need them but I love this entire collection it was hard to choose just two shades as they are all perfect for this season.

Models Own - Neon Ice - Pink Punch

Models Own Neon Ice Nail Varnish £5 Boots Models Own

I love Models Own Nail Varnish and it makes up pretty much all of my nail varnish collection. I bought this a few months ago as I was looking for a hot summer time neon. I love the packaging on this range the matte finish makes it look lovely and a little different to all the others in my collection. I was a little disappointed in the coverage of this polish above is 3 coats and for me it needed a forth for a completely opaque and punchy finish. It's fine if you have the time to sit there and let your nails dry. I do love the colour though it's a really bright pink with orange tones making it super neon. Once dried properly it does have decent wear like all models own varnishes. I haven't really worn this as much as I thought I would this summer as it literally takes so long to apply and dry 4 coats for a decent finish I do still love it though and it will definitely be coming to Turkey with me next month when I have a little more time to let my nails fully dry before dinner. 

L'Oreal Color Riche Neon Pop Collection

L'Oreal Neon Pop! Color Riche Nail Varnish* -  £4.99 Boots

I missed a parcel on Saturday morning and with no idea what it was begrudgingly left the house early on a Monday morning to see what it was. Happily the gorgeous bubblegum balloon filled with neon confetti popped out. Underneath was the newest edition to L'Oreal's nail varnish collection 4 neon pop shades. Overall there are 8 shades in the collection and I was sent Banana Pop - a bright yellow, wasabi hint - a pastel green with punch of bright, acid watermelon - a soft neon pink and finally flashing lilac which is gorgeous bright purple shade. L'Oreal advises using a white shade as a base coat to make them pop even more - in all my pictures I haven't used anything except the polish and they are already pretty bright but I can't wait to try this out and see how bright you can really take them. 

These are really different to shades I currently own despite my love for neon and pastel shades as they are a cross between the two summer trends. They're not in your face like standard neon varnishes such as the Models Own Neon Ice range  but then again they're not soft and pure pastel either. They glide on well and I especially like the thin bottles which will make storing them so much easier. It's also cool that the bottles are so sleek and different to any other brand (take note MUA) which means hunting out your favourites will be so much easier. I'm often torn between pastel and neon shades so this range is perfect for me it's a perfect in between colour selection. I'm pretty sure as this ranges launches during the month I'll be picking up Dating Coral and Lush Tangerine - because of course I don't have enough coral and orange shades. I'm also keen to see what the coverage of Snow in Megeve is like. 

Coral Peach Orange - Nail Obsessions

Left to Right: Models Own Hed Kandi Hedonist (review) Barry M Gelly Satsuma (review) Essie Orange It's Obvious (review) Barry M Gelly Papaya (review) Models Own Peaches and Cream

Models Own Scented - Strawberry Tart

Another talked about product that I probably didn't need but obviously wanted. Models Own scented range is a gorgeous set of pastels that I mostly already own in unscented versions but thought what the hell who doesn't need another pale pink in their collection. I don't find nail varnish odour particularly offensive but then again it's nothing you'd want to tie up in a bottle so was intrigued to try the new offering from models own - scented nail polish. I found the coverage of this particular shade pretty poor above is three layers of the stuff and it still didn't cover as well as I really wanted. When applied there is a hint of nail polish but amongst a kind of fake strawberry odour. When dry this isn't as overpowering as I thought it might be and can only really be smelt if you go to purposefully smell it. 

It's fun but I don't think I'm really the target market. I can imagine my 13 year old self loving this stuff and having every shade to mix and match my spring nails with. However now at 23 the gimmick didn't really do anything for me and after wearing it for a while maybe made me realise I don't need smelly nail varnish. I like the concept and I love models own but I won't be buying any more scented polished any time soon.