Essie - School of Hard Rocks!

Essie's 'School Of Hard Rocks' drawn me in instantly - such a unique colour, i have nothing like this in my rather pink orientated nail varnish collection. Now it's winter i've been looking for some more muted, dusky shades to. I picked it up at Pro Beauty for a discounted price (win!) and kind of regret not getting more! See my haul here. 

The only way to describe this colour is a darkened, dusky, turquoise. It's so different from other colours i have seen, leaning green in the light. It looks so gorgeous on the nails, so sophisticated and adds some colour whilst still being muted.

I would genuinely urge you all to get your hands of this shade. Compared to the Essie polishes i tried from TK Maxx (here) this is so much better - it lasts 4/5 with minor chipping on the tips and is fully opaque and streak free in two coats. 

Aaah love and first sight eh. Have you tried this colour? What are you favourite nail colours this A/W?

Bargain of the Week: Technic - Carnival!

Another beauty blogger must have and another purchase/bargain of the week here!

We all love a good dupe. Who wouldn't want something that looks the same but costs less? I know i do! I've been wanting to get my hands of Technic's 'Carnival' for absolutely yonks and after seeing a full shelf (yes a full shelf!) of them i could not resist picking one up. At 99p it'd be rude not too. 

It's such a gorgeous mix of multi-coloured glitter that sparkle in the light! It looks fab on an accent nail. Sometimes we need a little bit of glitter. And it isn't gritty or lumpy atall.

So keep checking your local Bodycare for a glitzy, little bargain!

Have you tried this nail polish? What do you think?

Barry M NOTD: Sprinkles & Ice-cream!

Every so often i get hooked on one nail combination that i wear for days weeks on end! And this is my most recent favourite.. 

I remember absolutely loving Barry M's nail polish in 'Strawberry Icecream' years ago and wearing it constantly - it was my go-to baby pink. In the end the formula went all gloopy and i had to throw it away but, i never got round to buying a new one. So the other day when me and my mum saw the Barry M glitter polish 'Pink Iridescent' (and fell in love) we decided to get both as they had a deal on in Superdrug - 2 nail paints for £5. 

As you can see, it's the most beautiful combination! Perfect for you girlie-girls ;) I love wearing this combo - they look so cute, aren't too bright or in your face and brighten up those cloudy days. Definitely going to be my go-to holiday combination (planning ahead!) 

The pink polish takes two thin coats for a nice, even, opaque coverage but if you're a rush one thicker coat will do! I just used one coat of the glitter polish as a top coat, it's slightly gritty but only a tiny little bit so it's not too bad! And there's no need for topcoat, it lasts a good 4 days with only minor tip wear (pretty good for the price).

Overall, i really love this little combo - as you can already probably tell. And as always, i'm really impressed with Barry M's lasting power. Cheap is sometimes best. 

What do you think of the Barry M nail paints? And what colours do i need next? ;)

Essie NOTD: Ombre!

Hello! I decided to try something new nail wise recently. I originally wanted to do coloured tips but that proved too hard for me without proper nail art brushes. So i tried some ombre nails instead and here is how they turned out.. 

What you need is:

• Your nail polishes of choice. I used these three here. They should preferably be all be the same/similar colour just different shades.
• An old/unused makeup brush or nail art brushes. 
• Nail polish remover, cotton buds and some tissue for cleaning mess up. 
• Top coat of choice to finish

I started off my painting my whole nail one coat of the lightest colour. It's a very natural 'nail' colour.

I then put some of the darkest colour on the makeup brush and patted onto the tip of my nail and a little bit down.

Next, i cleaned the brush with some nail polish remover and wiped on a piece of tissue. 

Then, applied some of the medium colour (bright pink) just where the dark colour ends and a little bit down until you are happy with how far the colour comes down the nail. 

Last but not least, i got the lightest colour (which i painted my whole nail with) onto the clean makeup brush and patted it on where the pink ends to make sure it blends in. And set it all with a topcoat to make it all look smooth. 

This was my first attempt at ombre nails and did take me a long time but i really like how it looks. Definitely going to try it with different colours. It's also very easy to repair if the tips chip - you just apply some of the darkest colour at the top where the chips are and tahdaah, back to normal! 

Anyway, hope you like it! Let me know if you've tried it. 

What do you think? Hot or not?.. 

Bargain: Essie Trio!

Essie Nail Polishes seem to be one of the latest hypes in the blogger community. Everyone seems to be talking about them - especially the new 'Diffusion Line'. Each nail polish costs £7.99 (from Boots), which is more than i'd normally spend on a nail polish so, when i saw Tk Maxx were doing sets of 3 for £10 - of course i couldn't resist ;)

There are different sets in Tk Maxx with selected colours in, the packaging is sealed so you cannot swap or change any of the colours. I had to choose between two sets that i really liked but i settled for this one because it had a better mix of lighter and darker colours whereas the other set was just pinks (it had 'Fondola Gondola' in that i really want). The sets available differ from store to store so if you can, look in a few!

I ended up with the shades (l-r) Lovie Dovie, Tea & Crumpets and Wicked. 

Lovie Dovie* is a bright, medium pink with tiny flecks of shimmer. Well mine is anyway, and all the ones from Tk Maxx look like this however if you google search 'Essie Lovie Dovie' the swatches are far different - in fact it's a completely different colour. I don't know why (think it's been labelled wrong) and i'm quite unhappy about this to be honest as i have no idea what shade it actually is. But, despite that i do love the colour i have it's a beautiful pink and is opaque in one coat (although i do two for good measure!). 

Tea & Crumpets* is basically a nude, a french manicure shade, leaning slightly on the baby pink side - slightly. This also doesn't match swatches online /: But, it does look lovely worn alone, with glitter on top or with coloured tips! After two coats it's pretty much opaque, you can still see the nail white a tiny bit but it looks really natural like a your nails but better shade.

Wicked is a deep, deep burgundy shade. Almost black with a red tinge. I could see a resemblance to OPI's Lincoln Park After Dark and after a quick google search 'Wicked' is apparently it's redder sister so i'm really pleased as i've been lusting after Lincoln Park After Dark for a long while now. It's opaque in two coats and dries to a dark glossy finish. 

* I definitely believe both these shades has been labelled wrong. They do not match the swatches on Google images or other blogs! I unfortunately don't have any idea what shade they actually are :(

l-r   Tea & Crumpets, Love Dovie, Wicked.

So, those are my first Essie nail polishes and i'm really impressed (despite the labelling fiasco) unlike my experience with OPI which was pretty awful. All polishes dry pretty quickly, apply easily, aren't too watery or thick and look very stylish and sleek on my dressing table. They are definitely my dressing table delights ;)  Oh and chip wise all polishes are 'average' wear (3-ish days). 

So what do you think? Do you love Essie nail polishes? Will you purchase some from Tk Maxx or stick to good old Boots etc.?