Paul & Joe 15 aka La Revue?

Coral/pink jelly with super secret shimmer

After the fail of Soleil I didn't hold out much hope for this one but it was a little better.

La Revue is a jelly coral/pink with super secret shimmer

Again it was runny but not quite as bad as Soleil and look how shiny it is.

Swatch shown is 3 coats with no top coat.  It's not fully opaque at 3 coats but it does look worse in the photos.

Oddly this polish also seemed to be scented - can anyone confirm that Paul & Joe do scented polish?

Paul & Joe 30 aka Soleil

Tangerine jelly with scattered gold glitter

I'm back!  The new router is fab but unfortunately didn't work with the old network patch panel, so we have a temporary panel in place designed for a rack in a server room.  What's the problem with that? It has a built in fan that sounds like a small hovercraft!

So onto the polish....

Oh boy, this was a total fail for me.

I didn't have any Paul & Joe in my collection so picked up a threesome in the ASOS sale.  I'd read good things about the polish, the bottles are pretty and unique and it was, if not a bargain, then cheaper than usual.

Soleil is a tangerine jelly, emphasis on the jelly, with scattered gold glitter

I had a complete mare with this polish, it was very runny and very sheer.

This swatch is 4 coats and I still have VVNL!

This one has gone straight into the Blog Sale box in the unlikely event anyone else will want it!

Stay tuned this week to see if the rest of the trio were any better...

Short Absence

Apologies for the tumbleweed around here.  I've been away at a conference in Madrid for 5 days, got back this weekend and our router has died, so no broadband - eeek!

I'm in the office today and a colleague has lent me a router so fingers crossed I *may* be back online tonight.

Wish me luck!

Leighton Denny - Make Him Wait

Fuchsia pink shimmer

Another Leighton mini.

Make Him Wait is a fuchsia pink shimmer.  And fuchsia is a word I can *never* spell right first time, I always want to put the 's' in too early!

Swatch is 2 coats, but the pictures do show slight visible nail line (vnl) although this wasn't as obvious in real life.

I know there's nothing too unique about this one but it is pretty and definitely has a glow about it.

Leighton Denny - Amazing Grey

Darkish grey shimmer/pearl

Next up in my Leighton Denny week is Amazing Grey.

Amazing Grey is a mid to dark grey shimmer with distinct pearl tendencies.

It's also not entirely a pure grey, it seems to lean a little sage green to me at least in the sun picture.

Application was great, not too brushstrokey despite the pearl finish.

What do you think, can you see the green?  Or are you totally put off by the pearly finish?!

Leighton Denny Sunset Lovin'

Brick red with pink shimmer 

Another Leighton Denny mini

Sunset Lovin' is a brick red creme with masses of pink shimmer


Swatch is 2 coats with no top coat.

I really didn't expect this to work with my skintone as it's such a warm orangey red but I think the pink shimmer lifts it and it looks fine.

It's an unusual colour/finish combination and I really like it.  I seem to have been drawn to polishes with unusual shimmers recently which reminds me I must post Nails Inc Covent Garden Ballet soon!

Leighton Denny - Supermauva

Grey shimmer with purple flash

This could be seen as another polish 'inspired by' Chanel  Paradoxal in that it's a grey/taupe with masses of purple shimmer that shows as a flash

I don't have Paradoxal to compare but it seems like the base of  Supermauva is more of a pure grey rather than a brown leaning purple/greige but of course it does still have the purple flash although overall it seems less purple than the swatches I've seen of Paradoxal.

I certainly wouldn't say this was a dupe but it's in the same family...

You can also see in the bottle and second picture a hint of green duochrome in Supermauva that I don't think is in Paradoxal.  Would be great if this was a stronger colour flip.

Swatch shown is 2 coats, no top coat.

Leighton Denny - Perfect to Party

Orange jellyish creme  

Part of my LD collection are mini bottles, I'm not sure if these are sold individually, I've bought them either solo on ebay or in collections of usually 4 polishes.

The mini bottles are a very mini 4.6ml, that's even smaller than the Max Factor Fantasy Fire bottles!  But they do still have a reasonable sized handle and brush compared with some mini bottles.

Perfect to Party is a soft orange creme.  It's a little bit coral and a little bit jellyish

Application was fantastic although I was less than flawless, apologies for that ding on my index finger...
Swatch is 2 coats with no top coat.

Leighton Denny - Supermodel

Mink/Greige Creme 

I realised recently that I have neglected to so far to share any of my Leighton Denny polishes with you guys, so I'm going to rectify that with a whole week of 'em!

Long time readers of my blog will know that I had felt a bit meh about the brand, mostly due to the price.  Despite the RRP being around the same as nails inc, with nails inc it's pretty easy to never pay the RRP.  They're widely available on ebay, nails inc do regular deals and offers and frequent giveaways with magazines and other products.  
Whereas Leighton Denny seem to go for more of a premium on ebay and there's less available and until recently they didn't seem to do many magazine or other offers.  And even the deals on QVC weren't super discounted.  Slowly, though, they have become more available.....

So, somehow, from not having any Leighton Denny's 18 months ago, I now have quite an extensive collection, courtesy of ebay, TK Maxx and even the private sale site BrandAlley.

During my buying spree I've somehow amassed over 70 Leighton's (how did that happen?!)  but like my Nails Inc, so far I haven't paid full price for a single bottle!  Which suits me fine, I really like Leighton Denny, the polish, the classy bottle, the great brush, but I'd still rather not pay £11 for them!


I'm kicking off my Leighton Denny week with, to me, the signature polish, Supermodel.

Supermodel is described by Leighton as a 'Fabulous Mink Shade' and it used to be limited edition but proved so popular it's now part of the core line.

I'd describe it as a a warm greige, it's definitely more brown than grey and there isn't as much purple as some of these colours.

This swatch is 2 coats, no top coat.  I'm afraid the pictures aren't the best, I had a big repair on my ring finger which is more visible than I'd like.

This is a big favourite with both of my nail polish wearing besties but still it took a TK Maxx bargain boxset for me to try this!

I really shouldn't have waited as I love these kind of colours and the formula, application and shine are all amazing. It's definitely a polish I reach for when I want something fairly neutral, easy to wear and easy to apply.

And it strikes me that this is a creme version of one of my favourite shades, Zoya Pasha



For readers outside the UK, Leighton Denny  is one of the few 'celebrity' manicurists in the UK.  He regularly appears on QVC to promote his products and is quite a prolific tweeter, sharing updates from shoots, his celebrity clients, travel woes and gym workouts!

I first saw his products at the spa in Centerparcs.  I've also spotted them in the department store, John Lewis and you can buy them from his website.

What I also like is the polish is made in the UK, in Gwent to be precise.

What do you think about Leighton Denny polishes, a convert like me?

Essence Natventurista - Chirp Chirp

Grey toned cream with pink flash

Another one from the strangely named Natventurista collection.

Chirp Chirp is a slightly greyed cream colour with strong pink flash

Swatch is 3 coats with no top coat.

This one was slightly tricky to work with, it was more sheer than expected but overall I like it, it's unusual.

Essence Natventurista - Mother Earth is Watching You

Cool brown with silver shimmer

More random Essences from one of my many trips to Germany last year.  I don't know much about this collection other than there's obviously some kind of nature/eco theme to it.

Mother Earth is Watching You is a cool brown with lots of silvery shimmer

Swatch show is 2 coats with no top coat


Initially I thought might be similar to one of my faves Zoya Pasha but as you can see from the comparison shot Pasha is darker, browner a little warmer and more of a pearl than Mother Earth is Watching You

Comparison L-R MEIWY, MEIWY, Pasha, MEIWY.

A nice polish, neutral with a bit of extra interest although slightly brushstrokey as you can see.  I like the overprinting on the bottle cap.

Models Own Beetlejuice S/S 2012 - Tropical Sun

Peach shimmer with gold shimmer and silver glitter

The last of the Spring/Summer 2012 Beetlejuice colours is Tropical Sun

Tropical Sun is a peach with masses of gold micro shimmer and some slightly unexpected fine silver glitter, best seen in the 4th swatch pic.

Again the swatch is 3 coats with no top coat.

I think this one will look gorgeous on toes or with a bit of a tan (fake or otherwise!)

This one is definitely the least duochrome

Overall I'm very happy with these new colours.  They're suitably summery colours to reflect that it's a Spring/Summer collection.  They're still not massively opaque but they're pretty fast drying and for me all the colours are worth the time to do 3 coats.  I haven't done a wear test yet, will report back if the wear is extreme, bad or good!

What do you think of the collection, will you be making a home for them?

Models Own Beetlejuice 2012 - Copper Pot

Bronze shimmer with gold/green duochrome shimmer

The second of the three new colours in the Beetlejuice collection is Copper Pot

Copper Pot is a warm bronze with gold/green duochrome shimmer.  The duochrome is supplied by masses of sparkly shimmer and is reasonably strong. Again it looks wonderful in and out of sunlight.

Swatch show is 3 coats with no top coat.