Sunday 15 December 2013

Nailgirls - Taupe #1

Metallic taupe  






So Taupe #1 - is it taupe?  It seems to be more of a beige/grey shade but I suppose the purple tones in taupe aren't always visible in lighter shades.

Nailgirls descibe it as metallic mushroom which kinda fits...

I like it despite it being a bit frosty and a bit brushstrokey

Swatch shown is 2 coats, no top coat as usual

Monday 9 December 2013

Alessandro - Turquoise Ocean

Bright blue creme  

This always happens, I manage to up my blog post rate for a challenge, in this case Nails Inc November, and then it all goes to pot once the challenge is over!

So trying to get back in the swing of things even though it's December and I've hardly done any Christmas shopping....







Turquoise Ocean is a lovely, if not super unique or very turquoise blue creme from Alessandro.

Application was great and the swatch shown is 2 coats for full opacity.

This is a mini, 5ml bottle that I picked up from the internet sale site Vente-Privee

Saturday 30 November 2013

Nails Inc November Finale - Special Effects 3D Glitter - Hammersmith

Silver turquoise teal glitter bomb  








Last Nails Inc swatch of the month and so out with a bomb, a glitter bomb!

Hammersmith is one of the Nails Inc 3D Glitters which are totally *packed* with glitter.

The glitter is silver, turquoise and teal (to my eyes) and ranges from fine to chunky hexagons.

This was 3 coats for me and is shown without topcoat - it's gonna eat topcoat....

It's a pretty rough finish too.  But look at the pretties!

Friday 29 November 2013

Nails Inc November - Gilston Road

Warm grey creme






Gilston Road is a slightly beige/purple grey creme although the greige doesn't show much in these pics.  I should do a follow-up comparison with something like Thames to show the difference.

Application was flawless, possibly a one-coat-wonder if you're careful.  Swatches shown here are 2 coats with basecoat but no topcoat.


Wednesday 27 November 2013

Nails Inc November - Lavender Close

Sheer pink with lavender glitter  






Lavender Close is a warm sheer pink flash with a good amount of different sized purple hex glitter pieces.  

This swatch is shown as 1 thick coat over Seche Take Chances a mid lilac creme.

I don't think Lavender Close would work very well on it's own but it's good layered as long as you consider the pink flash/pearliness of the suspension polish.


Tuesday 26 November 2013

Nails Inc November - Bruton Mews

Glossy deep green creme  






Bruton Mews is a fantastic deep slightly forest leaning green creme.

Swatch shown is 2 coats, no top coat and it's beautifully glossy.

For me this is a fantastic dark green, deep enough but without ever looking black.

Application was great with barely any cleanup required.

Bruton Mews is from the Autumn/Winter 2012 collection and is still available from Nails inc

Saturday 23 November 2013

Nails Inc November - Grove Cottages

Gorgeous red jelly with glitter  






Grove Cottages
is a fabulous red jelly with silver and pink glitter.

Swatch show in 2 coats with no top coat.  You are left with a slightly bumpy finish so it would probably benefit from a good self-levelling topcoat.   There is also a smidge of vnl but I don't care!

How gorgeous is this?  I'm not much of a jelly fan but I love this combination of finishes, glitter and colour - just awesome...

This polish was part of the Nails Inc Summer Collection this year, sadly it doesn't seem to available separately which is a shame because it's stunning.

Wednesday 20 November 2013

Nails Inc November - Paddington Street

Deep red creme/crelly  





Paddington Street is a dark red creme with, like a lot of these kinds of red, slight jelly tendencies.

Swatch shown is 2 coats with no top coat.  Amazing application, the kind of cremes that nails inc excel at.

It's not as dark as that Nails Inc stalwart, Victoria.

Blimey, Looks like I haven't shared Victoria with you all yet which is a mistake as it's definitely a classic.

Whilst not as dark or as brown toned as Victoria it does looks to be pretty similar to Winchester from the Mad Men collection.

So here's a comparison  between  Winchester and Paddington Street.  Paddington Street is on my index and ring fingers, Winchester on middle and pinky.




Winchester is a tiny smidge lighter but there's very little in it.  I'm calling it a near enough dupe.  Winchester is also more opaque, nearly a one-coat-wonder.

Tuesday 19 November 2013

Nails Inc November - Porchester Place

Soft orange creme  





Porchester Place is a creamy orange creme

Swatch shown is 2 coats, no top coat as usual and application was great as you'd expect from a nails inc creme.

Orange isn't usually my kinda colour but I like this one, the slight softness of the colour makes it work much better for me.

Monday 18 November 2013

Nails Inc November - Kensington Court

Sheer pink  

Time for another palate cleanser....





Kensington Court is a very sheer pink.

It's kinda like 'my nails but better', giving them a slight pinkish tinge.  There's also some very fine secret-shimmer which looks to be a goldish pink.

Swatch was 2 coats, no top coat.

As you can probably tell by the old-style bottle, this isn't a current nails inc colour... ebay is your friend if you absolutely need this polish in your life!

Sunday 17 November 2013

Nails Inc November - Chester Terrace

Teal leaning dark blue matte
  






Chester Terrace is a fairly dark blue/teal polish.

When I was swatching this I couldn't work out why the application was so tricky till I looked at my drying nails, it's matte! Well more of a satin as it's not a super flat finish.

I also applied topcoat so you could see how it looks shiny.

Swatch was 2 coats and application was tricky...

Saturday 16 November 2013

Nails Inc November - Orchard Street

Warm red shimmer  






Orchard Street is a warm darkish red shimmer

The formula on this seemed pretty thin on the first coat but it was opaque in 2 coats so nothing to complain about!

This colour is definitely not unique, I think of this as a 'traditional' nail polish colour, ie one you could've bought 30 years ago and  for some reason I associate this kind of colour with OPI, maybe because the first OPI I bought was a red shimmer?