Boots 17 new holographic nail polish

It seems I've gone holographic crazy, either that or I'm just excited to see them around on the high street more readily. The newest (and second) holo polish that I've tried is from 17 at Boots. This is not a brand that I've ever tried before but I heard about this new polish from them and decided to give it a go.

2 coats of 17 silver holographic effect polish

I do like this polish and like that I've seen it in lots of boots stores - basically if you want to get hold of this it won't be an impossible task to find it like it was with the gosh one for a while. Like 'holographic hero' this was a light silver colour with plenty of colour shift.

This polish is available at Boots for £3.99 as part of the 17 range, or online here

In the bottle this looks exactly the same as the gosh holo polish but it looks a little different on the nail. The holographic effect is less linear which makes it a little more subtle although this shows up less flat than 'holographic hero' under dull lighting. The formula was a little thin on this one which made it a 3-coater for me but it went on fairly evenly.

2 coats of 17 silver holographic effect polish

I'm really happy that we're seeing some more holo polishes on the high street, what do you think of the new, more affordable holographic offerings? I know I'd personally love to see some different coloured holo polishes creeping onto the UK high street

Deborah Lippmann 'Today was a Fairytale'

Today I wanted to talk to you all about the latest addition to my Lippmann collection, 'Today was a Fairytale'. In the bottle it looks like a dusty medium blue jelly base with silver micro-shimmer and larger hexagonal glitters. On the nail it looks nothing like it does in the bottle...thats not to say that I don't like it though.

2 coats of 'Today was a Fairytale' over 2 coats of Barry M 'Navy'

The blue base is so incredibly sheer that I think it would be impossible to get any sort of complete nail coverage using this polish, because of the sheerness I would consider it more of a glitter top coat than an actual nail polish. I was a little disappointed by this because I thought it was going to look very magical and pretty. Once that initial disappointment subsided I tried layering this polish over various other colours and found a combination that I really love, 'Today was a fairytale' over 2 coats of Barry M 'Navy' nail paint.

'Today was a Fairytale' as a glitter top coat

Once I put it over the deeper blue base colour it started to look like a pretty galaxy on my nails, it also looked quite pretty over black, although at the moment there are lots of black polishes with silver glitter in them which would probably produce a nicer result. The glitter was a little hard to place at times so I had to dab it on to some parts on my nail.

2 coats of 'Today was a Fairytale' over 2 coats of Barry M 'Navy'

Given the £16 price tag for Deborah Lippmann nail polishes in the UK i'm not sure I could recommend this as it's only suitable for use as a layering polish. However, if you're looking for a very sparkly silver glitter top coat then this might be just the thing for you, and since the blue base hardly shows up blue on the nail you could layer it over a lot of different base colours. For me, this polish wasn't worth the money that I payed for it but I can imagine some people really loving it like I thought I was going to.

Close-up of 'Today was a Fairytale' 

Have you tried 'Today was a Fairytale'? What did you think?

NOTD - Maybelline 'Green Miracle'

Today I decided to have a little bit of a change from the warm red, orange and berry tones that i've been rocking lately and try out a new polish that I picked up recently. This polish is a dusty, darkened emerald green colour that I really love and is a very on-trend jewel tone.

That polish is Maybelline 'Green Miracle', I think it might be the first Maybelline polish that i've ever tried, it's a new colour from Maybelline to the UK and a metallic finish with some microshimmer. It's part of the forever strong range which, according to the bottle, means this is a long-lasting polish that will stay on your nails for up to 7 days.

I really liked the formula of this polish, it took 2 coats to be fully opaque and I think i'll definitely be picking up some more of these polishes because it was really nice to work with. I also really like this colour with my skin tone, especially as an alternative to warmer colours but its still seasonal and pretty.

What do you think of deep green nails? Will you be wearing the jewel-toned nail trend this autumn?

My Deborah Lippmann nail polish collection

Hi Guys! I was recently re-organising my polishes into brand sections and couldn't help thinking that it was a shame that lots of them may never be seen on this blog, so I've decided that collection posts might be a fun way to show them to you guys. First off is Deborah Lippmann. I don't have too many Lippmann polishes for a few reasons. I've only recently seen them in UK stores and they come with a pretty high price tag so I have to be sure that I'm getting something pretty special that I couldn't find from another brand.

Diamonds and Pearls is a very sheer, shimmery light peachy gold colour. This was the first Lippmann polish that I got and I really do like it even though it takes quite a bit of patience (and quite a few coats!)  to get it to look how I like it.

Across The Universe is a really beautiful polish. I was so glad when I found it and love the way it looks on my nails. The base is a little thin but after a few coats you get the most stunning effect. The different coloured glitters really give this a beautiful depth.

Good Girl Gone Bad is one of my very favourite colours for autumn and winter. It's a burgundy polish with lots and lots of pinky purple glitter and shimmer in it which makes it look really glowy on the nail and just beautiful when the light hits it. My only problem with it is that it dries to a bumpy finish that needs 2 coats of top coat to even it out but once you've done that the result is really beautiful.

Today Was A Fairytale is the only Lippmann polish I own that I haven't yet used. This one is made up of smaller blue shimmer and chunky hexagonal silvery glitter. The pink that's showing up in this photo is the reflection of my camera (sorry about that!), i'm really looking foward to wearing this layered over a blue or black polish.

Ruby Red Slippers is last, but by no means least. I just recently posted an individual review of this one. It's a very sheer black base with red glitter and shimmer in various sizes. To me, this one seems like Across The Universe but in black and red rather than shades of blue. This is very dense in sparkle and very, very pretty.

So there you have it, all of my Deborah Lippmann polishes. I really love all of them, Deborah Lippmann is available in House of Fraser in the UK or in online stores.

Nail of the day - Dior 'Calypso'

Today I felt like sporting a bright red creme, this one is probably a little summery for the weather we're having but it caught my eye when I was looking through my stash and I just really wanted to use it once more before I properly retired it for autumn and winter.

2 coats of Dior 'Calypso' with a coat of Sally Hansen Mega Shine top coat

'Dior' Calypso is a very bright, ever so slightly orange based red creme polish. And I think it's gorgeous, application was lovely, almost a 1 coater. This was one of my summer go to polishes, it almost eclipsed my favourite red; OPI 'Red My Fortune Cookie'.

2 coats of Dior 'Calypso' with a coat of Sally Hansen Mega Shine top coat

Now that I've got this polish out of my system for a little while I am fully ready to embrace all that autumn has to offer nail polish-wise, I already have been but I'm ready to put away all of my brighter colours and focus on rich, vampy colours on my nails for when I go jumping in piles of crispy, autumn leaves.

2 coats of Dior 'Calypso' with a coat of Sally Hansen Mega Shine top coat

Hope you all had a great Sunday :)

My picks from the Jessica Spicy Dreams collection

This post is long overdue, but I really wasn't able to find this collection in UK stores so I ended up ordering them online from the states. There was no way I was going without getting at least a couple of the polishes from this collection, if i'd seen them in an actual store I probably would have walked out with all them so, they're all such and pretty and seasonal colours.

2 coats of 'Cinnamon Kiss' with a coat Seche Vite fast dry top coat

As soon as I saw the promo photos I knew that I would have to get Cinnamon Kiss. It's a very shimmery red colour that looks a little vampy because it has a kind of blackened base. This kind of ended up looking how I wish OPI's 'Every day is Oktoberfest' looked. What I particularly like about this polish is that although it does have a blackened base it is definitely red and couldn't be mistaken for black which I think is a trap that many darker nail polishes fall into. I really love this polish, it seems to really glow on my fingers and the formula was pretty nice too, 2 coats for an opaque finish and it doesn't have the brush stroke problems that some metallic polishes have.

2 coats of 'Pumpkin Delight' with a coat Seche Vite fast dry top coat

Pumpkin Delight is a very unique looking polish for my collection. It's a highly concentrated glitter thats a mix of red and some gold. There really is a whole lot of glitter in this baby, I ended up using 2 coats of this and got full coverage. I really love this one, from far away it looks almost like a bronzey coppery colour but when you get a proper look at it you can definitely see the different colours of glitter, it's a very interesting polish. It gives almost a duochrome kind of effect, reminds me of fire or the changing colours of leaves - perfect for autumn!

Overall I am incredibly impressed with these polishes, I already know that Cinnamon Kiss will be a nail staple for me this autumn and winter! What are some of your picks from the Spicy Dreams collection?

New for autumn - Rimmel Precious Stones

Along with the Metal rush polishes that I talked about here Rimmel also released these two gems for autumn. They are basically high coverage glitter nail polishes, two coats and my nails were completely covered and sparkling. I initially thought that these were going to be more like a glitter topcoat kind of polish which I thought would be pretty but there are lots of those about, I like that these are opaque, great for the festive party season.

2 coats of 'Diamond Dust' and a coat of Seche Vite fast dry top coat

'Diamond Dust' has a dark grey base solidly packed with silver and grey shimmer and slightly larger holographic glitter. I think this is a stunning polish, I really really like it and think it will be amazing for when I want something sophisticated but still a bit sparkly and fun. I definitely think i'll be busting this one out a lot this winter, because the glitter is so dense it does your nails feeling bumpy but nothing that a layer of top coat can't sort out. I was actually shocked at how dense the glitter was, but the actual base polish wasn't too thick so it was easy to apply. I think i'm in love, the holographic glitter is just so striking.

3 coats of 'Ruby Crush' and a coat of Seche Vite fast dry top coat

'Ruby Crush' is Rimmel's other Precious Stones offering. I like it, i'm not as impressed with it as I was with 'Diamond Dust' but I do think that it's a pretty shade that will come in handy around christmas time for making your nails look a little more festive and fun. This has a red base that is packed with red and silver glitters all of the same size. For some reason this one needed 3 coats instead of the 2 that 'Diamond Dust' took which is strange because it seemed to have the same density of glitter. All the same this still is a really good glitter polish, I would recommend this one for people who prefer to have a bit of colour on their nails rather than neutrals or darks.

So there you have it, i'm really quite impressed with Rimmel's autumn releases, I think they've really stepped it up. You can find theses polishes for £3.99 anywhere where Rimmel is sold, I got them at Boots which is currently running a pretty extensive 3 for 2 offer, so i'd check that out if you were looking to get them.

Maxfactor 'Fantasy Fire'

If there's one polish that reading nail and beauty blogs has inspired me to get, this would be it, Maxfactor 'Fantasy Fire'. Its a shimmery duochrome polish, that goes from a lovely rich purple colour to striking shades of red and orange - the colours of fire. I had read so much about this polish but could never seem to find it...until I did.

2 coats of Maxfactor 'Fantasy Fire' over 2 coats of NYC 'Prince Street'

Everyone and their dog has talked about this polish, so much that for a while you really just couldn't find it anywhere because it was so hyped up. I tried to resist for a while because I don't really like purple on my nails that much but I finally caved in and have found that I have mixed feelings about this polish really. 

2 coats of Maxfactor 'Fantasy Fire' over 2 coats of NYC 'Prince Street'

On one hand this polish does have a really beautiful duochrome, I thought I might have found the one purple polish that I would like on my nails but this polish is incredibly sheer. I tried using this on it's own and I gave up after 4 coats because it still wasn't really anywhere near opaque. In the photos I have layered it on top of NYC New York Color Nail Polish in 'Prince Street', a purple in a similar shade that I was hoping would provide an opaque base so I could layer 'Fantasy Fire' over the top of. 

2 coats of Maxfactor 'Fantasy Fire' over 2 coats of NYC 'Prince Street'

The result was much better with the NYC colour underneath, but I think that it may have dulled the duochrome a little which is a shame. Ideally I would wear a purple creme polish under 'Fantasy Fire' but I couldn't find one in the right shade so I went with a metallic. The duochrome was still visible under most lights and was really beautiful under bright lights, you could see the colour shift really nicely.

2 coats of Maxfactor 'Fantasy Fire' over 2 coats of NYC 'Prince Street'

I will keep it and use it as a layering colour but I can't see myself using it too much just because it is difficult to work with because of the sheerness. Do I think it's worth the hype? Probably not, but it is something fun to have in your collection to change the look of other polishes.

You really can see the best of the duochrome in the bottle, a very pretty idea

Have you tried 'Fantasy Fire'? What did you think?

GOSH 'Holographic Hero'

I was so excited when I finally managed to find Gosh's holographic polish in Superdrug recently, I may have done a little dance in the middle of the store. I have heard a lot of things about this polish and had always wanted to try it out but they just never seemed to have it in stock in any Superdrug store, that is until now.

3 coats of 'Holographic Hero' with no top coat

Under some lighting this polish can look like a flat, light silver colour, but under the right lighting it really comes to life. I used 3 coats, I could probably have gotten away with 2 but I thought that an extra coat might intensify the holographic effect....it didn't. This is the first holo that i've ever owned but i've read lots about them and seen lots of pictures and I think that this one is quite subtle compared to others that you can get, perfect for if you don't want anything too crazy but want something a little interesting.

3 coats of 'Holographic Hero' with no top coat

One problem I had with this was wear time - the bottle advertises that the polish will only last for one night, which kinda sucks, although I really like that they're being up front about it, it doesn't seem to have stopped people buying it (myself included)! Plus this would be a great polish for a night out because it looks amazing under bright lights.

3 coats of 'Holographic Hero' with no top coat

I must admit that my photos don't show this polish in all it's glory, it was quite hard to capture just how pretty it is when the light hits it. I think I will save it for nights out because of it's short wear time but I think it will definitely be used. I can see myself wearing a plain black outfit and this on my nails to add some interest.

Close up of 'Holographic Hero'

What do you think of 'Holographic Hero'? Do you think it lives up to the hype?

OPI 'Absolutely Alice'

OPI 'Absolutely Alice' is a beautiful blue glitter polish with some gold glitter in it. I think the gold is what makes this polish so pretty to me, I have quite a few blue glitter polishes but the gold really sets this one apart and gives it some depth. I'm so glad that I managed to get my hands on this polish when it first came out because it became so hard to find.

2 coats of 'Absolutely Alice' with 1 coat of Seche Vite fast dry top coat

Because the blue colour in this polish is a little deeper it suits a lot of skin tones and I wear it all year round. It's really hard to photograph it properly because it is so incredibly sparkly, under all types of lighting, but my camera just didn't want to pick that up unfortunately. You get the best idea of the amount of sparkle in the bottom photo of just the bottle, it is just so eye catching and beautiful, i'm not surprised this was a sell out polish.

'Absolutely Alice' under natural lighting

I used 2 coats of 'Absolutely Alice' in the photos above which I think is pretty good for a glitter polish. I didn't use a base colour which was a welcome change and used only one (thick) coat of top coat, although I think 2 would have achieved a smoother finish. I think this may be one of my favourite OPI polishes ever, its sparkly and very eye-catching, in a flattering colour that happens to particularly suit my skin tone and it's associated with Alice in Wonderland....what more could I ask?

You can see a bit more of the tiny sparkle in this shot

I wouldn't have thought that this would be a unique colour in my stash but it turns out it is which is always nice, but only one of many reasons that I love this polish. I like that the glitter is fairly small and not too chunky because sometimes I just feel like having the sparkle factor but without having chunky glitter flakes on my nails.

Sorry about the lack of focus, it was the best way to capture the individual glitter flakes for this polish

I'm really not looking foward to taking this off my nails because of the mess that is glitter polish removal so maybe i'll leave it off for a little while....or perhaps i'll just bite the bullet and remove it so I can try something new and fabulous (OPI Skyfall collection anyone???), probably the latter. *confessions of a nail polish addict*

See how sparkly it is in the bottle?.....Swoon!

Did any of you manage to get your hands on this polish when it came out way back in 2010?

Butter London 'Henley Regatta'

This post has been a very long time coming, really this is more of a summery polish but at the moment my nails are in need of some TLC as they were breaking quite a lot so I was looking through the photos on my computer and discovered that i'd forgotten to post on Butter London 'Henley Regatta'.

2 coats of 'Henley Regatta' over 2 coats of OPI 'Fly'

'Henley Regatta' is a bright teal glitter polish, Butter London describes it as a "nail lacquer glitters like the Thames on a sunny day — a fusion of green and blue glitter that varies in intensity depending on the light" and I think that is fairly accurate. It's so sparkly, I was drawn to the bottle like a magpie and I knew that I had to have it.

'Henley Regatta' under natural lighting

As far as glitter polishes go this one is actually fairly opaque, in the pictures above I have 2 coats of 'Henley Regatta' layered over 2 coats of 'OPI 'Fly' but I think that this polish would be opaque on its own in 3-4 coats. I think this a beautiful glitter for summertime, the sun shines off of it in the most delightful way, I actually took these pictures about a month ago when the weather was still nice here and I suppose that now it won't really be worn until spring/summer 2013.

I used Seche Vite fast dry top coat to give my nails a smooth finish

The formula was pretty nice, as i've already said there's a lot of glitter in this baby so it wouldn't take as many coats as some other glitter polishes to get an opaque finish. The clear base isn't too thick so the glitter doesn't all gather in one place on the nail, I like that there's a mix of blue and green glitter because it gives the polish some depth and reminds me of the ocean or something, perfect for summers by the sea.

Close up of 'Henley Regatta'

How do you feel about wearing bright and vibrant colours on your nails in the colder months? Do you love it or loathe it?

OPI 'Mrs O'Leary's BBQ'

How ironic is it that one of my favourite polishes for the autumn time happens to have quite a summery name? I really want to talk to you all about a polish that i've had for a good while now and really love. It's OPI 'Mrs O'Leary's BBQ'; a deep burgundy shade that isn't so dark that it looks black on the nail.

2 coats of OPI 'Mrs O'Leary's BBQ' with Seche Vite fast dry top coat

I'd say that the photo above is very true to how the polish actually looks on the nail, it really does look kind of like i've dipped my fingers in a rich, sticky barbeque sauce. Wow, i'm making myself long for summer, sigh. I think the thing I love most is how rich this colour is, and in sunlight you can see more of the red undertones that this polish has.

2 coats of OPI 'Mrs O'Leary's BBQ' in dim lighting

The formulation of this one is pretty nice, used 2 coats for the photo's included and both coats were necessary. The first coat applied quite unevenly and looked a little streaky but the second coat managed to magically even it all out and give a nice, even, glossy finish. I like this polish because it's vampy (which seems to be the 'in thing' this season) but can still be quite elegant.

2 coats of OPI 'Mrs O'Leary's BBQ' in natural lighting

When trying to think of a dupe, the first thing I thought of was Essie 'Bahama Mama' but when I actually held up those bottles next to each other 'Bahama Mama' had much more purple in it whereas "Mrs O'Learys BBQ' is brown based. I then thought of Revlon 'Vixen' which is similar but the red undertone is much more pronounced making it more of a true burgundy colour.

Close up of OPI 'Mrs O'Leary's BBQ'

What do you think of the vampy nail polish trend? Are you rocking vampy or nude shades this autumn?