Leighton Denny - Almost Apricot

Peach shimmer   

Almost Apricot is a cool toned rose/peach with fine cool gold shimmer 

The colour/shimmer combination in this makes it almost look freckled in the sun....

Swatch shown is 2 coats with no top coat.

The colour is really pretty but unfortunately it really doesn't work with my skintone.... curses.  Maybe a bit of a tan, which is all the tan I can get, would improve things!

Look - 154

Pearly periwinkle blue shimmer  

Look (at least I think that's what it says, it's difficult to tell with the logo) is a new polish brand I spotted on holiday last year in Majorca, Spain.  The bottle says they're made by Impacto Cosmetics in Spain which I haven't heard of either.  Can't remember the exact price but they weren't expensive.

154 (grrgghh to no names) is a beautiful periwinkle blue shimmer.  It definitely has a pearly finish but the brushstrokes weren't too bad despite this.

Swatch shown is 2 coats with no top coat as usual.

The brush, formula and application were all good so for a cheapish polish bought on a whim in a tourist location I'm pretty pleased with this one!

Anyone else come across this brand on their Spanish hols?

Alessandro - Stone Washed topped with Maybelline Polka Dots in Chalk Dust

Dusty blue creme and a black/white glitter topcoat.  


First up an Alessandro polish in Stone Washed

Stone Washed is a fantastic mildy dusty blue creme.

It's super shiny and a one-coat-wonder!

This is a 10ml Alessandro.  Stoned Washed is from the Denim Diva collection and has a matte silver lid rather than the usual glossy black.

To me this isn't the colour of stone-washed denim at all, but it is gorgeous!

So I decided to try out one of the Maybelline Polka Dots topcoats which are somewhat similar to the nails inc sprinkles and much more similar to the L'Oreal confetti top coats.

Stone Washed topped with 1 coat Maybelline Color Show Polka Dots in Chalk Dust

Chalk Dust has a clear base with black & white matte different sized glitter.  Coverage is very good and with just a little work you can get a great effect from just one coat.

I wouldn't say the effect is much like Polka Dots but I do like it a lot!

The other colours in the Polka Dots collection have coloured jelly bases which probably makes Chalk Dust the most versatile.

Nails Inc - New Compton Street

Dusky pink creme   

New Compton Street is a slightly dusky warm pink creme.

This is a classic perfect nails inc creme, highly pigmented, this was almost a one-coat-wonder, and a joy to apply, no flooding, no pulling back from the tip, just smooth buttery application.

Swatch shown is 2 coats but I only just needed the second.

Alessandro - 356

Soft Coral with subtle shimmer  

356 is a soft, almost peachy, coral creme with fine orange/gold shimmer, it's totally summery and would look great as a pedicure I'm sure.

Unfortunately the forumla is a bit odd on this one, it's very opaque but seems to pull away from itself and leave small baldish patches.

For this reason it look 3 coats to get to total opaqueness

This is the larger Alessandro bottle at 10ml but has the same lid shape and grip shape as yesterdays mini

Alessandro - Belle Mademoiselle

Brown creme with gold micro-flakes

Belle Mademoiselle is a luscious chocolate brown creme with fine gold microflakes which can look greenish in some lights.  Click the pics to expand them and see the flakies

Swatch show is 2 coats with no top coat.

Formula and application were great despite this being  a mini (5ml) bottle and brush.

This one is pretty similar to Revlon French Roast - although that is a smidge lighter brown and the shimmer is multicoloured.

Surprised how much I like this, it's very rich with lots of depth....

Alessandro is a German brand.  I've bought two hauls over the last 6 months from the private sale site Vente-Privee and this polish cost me the grand sum of £1.20, well worth it!

But I do believe that Alessandro have recently launched in the UK although I'm not sure if the products are available retail.

MUA - Mystical Glitter in Seahorse

Fir green glass fleck  

The oddly named Mystical Glitter Nails, there's no glitter, rather a very pretty glass fleck finish.

Seahorse is a fir green polish with a gold speckled glass flecked finish.

Now onto the bad news, boy is it sheer.  My swatches are 4 coats and I still have vnl.  So next time I will find some suitable undies, this polish is not pretty enough to do 4 coats again!

MUA is a cheapo brand sold in Superdrug.

Filthy Gorgeous - Slush

Dark green creme  

Slush is a deep, dark green creme that never looks black, although it does apply much darker than the bottle colour.  In fact my bottle looks lighter at the bottom than the top!  Which also probably means that the Filthy Gorgeous bottles don't have ballz or not very effective ones!

Application was good, this could be a one-coat-wonder if you're careful, it's super pigmented.

Filthy Gorgeous polishes used to be sold in Debenhams (UK dept store) but I'm not sure if they still stock them.  I picked this one up in TK Maxx for a bargain price.  The bottles are 10ml and I think retail for £9 still steep to me.... but then I would rarely pay full price for an expensive polish!  There's nothing wrong with the Filthy Gorgeous

MUA - Stormy Skies

Blackened green shimmer  

Stormy Skies is a blackened sludgy green shimmer with fine green and copper shimmer.  Click the sunlight picture to enlarge the photo and see the shimmer.  The polish is dark but doesn't look black and it's definitely 'lit from within'....

Application was ok and the swatch shows 2 coats with no top coat.

Leighton Denny - Between Blue

Greyed blue creme   

I absolutely *love* this polish, beautifully opaque, a dream to apply and a fabulously greyed out blue colour. I know it's just a simple creme but to me, perfection.

Between Blue is a gorgeous greyed blue creme

Application was great.

Swatch shown is 2 coats with no top coat.

Nails Inc - Phoenix Place

Pink neon creme  

Phoenix Place is a bright pink neon creme.


Swatches shown are with 3 coats, you could probably get away with two on shorter nails where vnl is less of an issue.

As a neon, it doens't dry shiny although it dries satin rather than true matte

The first two swatch pictures are no top coat, the bottom two are with top coat.

Application was good, no issues.  And it's a lovely bright pink!