Hema Brilliant with Diamond Powder - 11

Mottled gold foil  

Another un-named Hema.

Hema Brilliant with Diamond Powder - 11 is a mottled gold foil, out of the sun it looks like a dappled mix of warm, cool and rose golds.  In full sunlight it flashes back as a antique gold foil.

Application was good and swatches shown are 3 coats, no top coat.

This was a bargain €3 for a generous 11ml bottle.

Asda - 23 Aqua

Jade creme  

Aqua is shiny, almost squishy looking dusky turquoise creme from Asda.

This is one of Asda's really cheap polishes at just £1 and it shows...

The colour is pretty but the application was horrible, streaky and difficult to work with.  Swatches shown are 3 coats and could've really done with 4.

Ah well, sometimes you find a bargain, sometimes not...

Essence - Rock it Baby

Purple shimmer  

More old swatches as my nails are still growing out..  Not sure how this one sat unshown for so long...

This is Rock it Baby from Essence from back in 2009, maybe even 2008....

Rock it Baby is a gorgeous, stunning, if not totally unique purple shimmer.  The shimmer in the sunlight is pink and blue and really glows.

Application was good and swatches shown are 3 coats, no top coat.

I'm a sucker for a great purple and I love this one, time to dig it out from whichever Helmer drawer it's hiding in!

Black Up - Shade 08

Aubergine shimmer  

I picked this polish up from Debenhams (UK department store) when I was on one of my 'must check out all unknown brands' kick - thankfully I've grown out of that now - mostly!

Black Up, as you'd expect, is a range of cosmetics for women of colour and I think is only sold in Debenhams in the UK.  Their branding says Black Up Paris.

Shade 08 is a lovely, if not unique, burgundy/aubergine/eggplant shimmer

This had a great formula, easy to apply, opaque and long wearing

Swatches shown are 2 coats with no top coat.

As this is another of my swatches from 2010 they've actually changed the bottles since I bought this but there's still a colour called 08 which looks similar on the online swatch.

Hema - Glitter topper

Raspberry pink sheer glitter topper  

And here's yesterday's Catrice 'Vibrant Violet' topped with a pink toned silver glitter top coat I picked up in Hema

This unnamed, un-numbered polish is a sheer raspberry pink top coat with mixed size round and shattered silver glitter.  Some of the glitter looks pink but I think that's just the colour of the suspension polish

Hema is a variety store in The Netherlands, selling homeware, clothing and various other items including a small cheap beauty range.

Although the bottle looks fairly glitter heavy, that didn't translate so well to the nail and my swatches show 3 coats over the Catrice.

Catrice 60 Seconds - Vibrant Violet

Dark pink creme  

Total fail on the polish name, how on earth is this violet??!

This is Catrice 60 Seconds Nail Couture in 200 Vibrant Violet.  Except it's not violet at all, it's a deep pink creme, ah well.

Application was great, despite being a touted as a quick dry and it was nearly opaque in 1 coat

Swatch shown is 2 coats with no top coat.  Lovely and shiny.

Again this is one from the archives, I picked this up in 2010 and it might've been released in 2009 - oddly there are a few available on ebay uk....

Essence Colour & Go - Pool Party

Bright blue with silver glass fleck

It's the first day of June and the sun is shining here in the UK so I thought I'd show you a bright summery polish from several years ago

Essence Colour & Go - Pool Party is a bright blue with a good amount of fine silver glass fleck shimmer, this is no hidden shimmer.

This is definitely an oldie but a goodie, I think this range came out in 2009

It is a smidge on the sheer side, my swatches are 3 coats with no top coat and in the direct sunlight pic there is a hint of visible nail line but given the amount of shimmer I'm sure this would work well layered too.

Colour & Go were also a complete bargain, selling for only $1 in the US and less than 2 Euros in Europe.  They do have a slightly insane tagline of '1 second per nail' but I've ignored that for the nonsense it is!

The line still exists but they're now in stumpy, blobby bottles!  I'm not sure if this colour still exists in the current line, if it doesn't it should do!

Nails Inc - Queenstown Road

Darkish red crelly

Sorry folk, life (and work) got in the way.  I did pick up a small haul on my work trip to Germany (pics coming) but otherwise it's been a polish free time - more nail breaks, not sure what's going on there..

Queenstown Road is a darkish red creme with jelly tendancies aka a crelly.

Application was good, swatches shown are 2 coats without topcoat.  Being a crelly it's super shiny.

I like this one, it has a classic, elegant feel.

I think this one might've been a QVC exclusive from a few years and sadly doesn't seem to be easily sourced today....

Miss Sporty - Clubbing Colours 311

Sheer silver foil  

Another vintage Miss Sporty, again a Clubbing Colours Metal Shine polish.

This time it's 311 but this one wasn't such a success.

311 is a sheer silver, more of a foil finish than 208 but with one big downside.

This swatch is 4 coats and I still have VNL.  That's a big fat fail in my book.  It's pretty but not unique enough to warrant 4 coats...

Nails Inc - Percy Street

Pink toned lilac creme  

Percy Street is a pink toned lilac creme - I'd say the colour isn't far off the Pantone colour of the year, Radiant Orchid, though perhaps a little lighter/less saturated.

Application was fabulous, this is opaque in one coat.

Swatches shown are 1 coat, no top coat.

Percy Street isn't available from Nails inc any longer but if you stumble across it on ebay for a  bargain price it's worth a punt.

Miss Sporty Clubbing Colours - 208

Blue foil/chrome 

Some old swatches as I've broken my nails *again*.

This is the snappily named 208 from the Miss Sporty Clubbing Colours range.  It's from the Metal Shine range which means it's a foil/chrome finish.

208 is a light blue foil, not too brushstrokey, probably as it's a bit pearly too...

Swatch shown is 2 coats, no top coat and apologies for the dints!

Miss Sporty are a  budget range in the UK sold in Boots and Superdrug and the polishes retail for a cheap n' cheerful £1.99 and for that you get 7ml which isn't bad.

Nails Inc - Market Place

Lilac textured creme with sprinkles glitter  

Market Place is an odd one, it's from a QVC exclusive collection called Fine Sprinkles and, like the name suggests, is a finer version of the popular sprinkles range but also has a slight texture to the finish.

It ends up looking rather speckled but also feeling lightly textured, not as much as OPI's Liquid Sand for example but not entirely smooth.

This one is a pale lilac with purple and what looks like dark grey fine glitter.

Swatch shown is 2 coats, no top coat.  I imagine adding top coat would lose some of the texture.

Despite the odd combination of recent polish trends it works for me, I like the speckles more than the texture but overall it's a win.

Nails Inc - Old Compton Street

Bright mid blue creme

Old Compton Street is a bright mid blue creme, not super unique but nice all the same.

There's also another Old Compton Street from Nails Inc that's a grey leather finish polish, this isn't that!

Application was good and the swatches are 2 coats, no top coat.