Review of Tanya Burr's Nail Varnish in Little Duck

Hi everyone! By now I've have no doubt you will have all heard about the lovely Tanya Burr releasing her own line of nail varnishes and lip glosses! In the collection there are 12 lip glosses and 10 nail varnishes. This is their second appearance already on my blog (I wrote about Penguin Chic here) but to be honest with you I don't actually own this one. The same time that I ordered mine from feel unique for £5.99 my sister got this one, along with a lip gloss, but she has kindly let me borrow it. They are now on Superdrug online so I imagine they will be making there way into store soon! 'Little Duck' is a pastel mint bluey green colour which is perfect for spring and summer if the sun ever decides to come out!

I love the packaging of the nail varnishes especially with her signature on the front of the bottle. I've also just noticed there is a little heart on the top of the lid which had escaped my attention before. I didn't have this problem with my Penguin Chic nail varnish but I found with this one the brush was a little frayed. It wasn't a disaster it just made it a little harder to apply.

I used my new Sally Hansen base coat this time which I got from Fragrance Direct at a bargain price of £1.50! It's cheaper than my usual Barry M one and dried a lot quicker which is a huge bonus!

I then applied the first coat of Little Duck. The consistency again felt very similar to the Barry M Gelly Collection and although it's not advertised as a gel nail varnish I think it must be. I did feel that it went on slightly thicker than Penguin Chic did and without a doubt only really needed one coat. It's so glossy which I absolutely love but as the coats went on quite thickly I had to wait longer between coats for them to dry which was a little annoying.

I decided to apply a second coat anyway just to strengthen the polish from chipping.

I also applied my Barry M top coat which was something I didn't do last time. In terms of using a top coat to make them more shiny you don't need to; I simply put one on to prevent chipping. Something I found with Penguin Chic was even without a top coat by the end of the week they were still pretty much perfect which is great because I normally get to Friday and my nails have chips all over the place.

Although the price is a little more than I would pay for a normal nail varnish it is without a doubt worth it because the quality is amazing and they live up to their chip resistant name! I would definitely recommend you have a wander into Superdrug when they are released in store to have a proper look at all the colours! Let me know if you have or are going to try it out! What is your favourite colour from the collection? Thanks for reading!

Review of 'Barry M Silk Collection' in 'Heather'

Hi everyone! We slowly easing our way out of winter which means it's nearly spring time meaning new spring collections are being released! Barry M have released their spring collection in the form of these new 'Silk' nail varnishes in 6 different colours. I picked up the colour Heather for £3.99 as I thought out of the 6 it was the one I'd be most likely to wear. It's sort of a lilac colour infused with pink and it's definitely not as dark as the colour I'd associate heather with is.

I don't really feel that this silk trend is a new thing as I remember the kids kind of nail varnishes used to have a similar look and to be honest I never really liked it because I always felt the brush strokes were really visible. However, I did discover that this drys matte which is something I don't remember my old ones doing which is why I wanted to give it a go.

I used my Sally Hansen base coat first which dried super fast; always a plus with nail varnishes!

I then applied the first coat of colour. It wasn't too streaky like I remember my old ones being and if I was in a rush I think it looked actually okay with just one coat of colour. It drys really quickly and once it was dry it sort of reminded me slightly of my holographic one from Topshop. It also seemed to have a sweeter scent to normal nail varnishes when I was applying it but it still dried with no scent!

I applied a second coat even though one probably could've been enough but I had the time! I found it was better to kind of dab it on or just apply a thicker coat because it eliminates any sign of brush strokes.

Originally I didn't apply a top coat because I thought it would ruin the matte look but I did test a top coat out on one nail and it didn't actually look too bad. I don't think I'll put it on the rest though as the matte finish is what I think makes this nail varnish original.

Personally it's not my favourite kind of nail varnish because I'm not too keen on matte finishes and it just reminded me of something a small child would wear on their nails when they had first been allowed to paint them. But despite of that the nail varnish it's self is just like all the others from Barry M in quality so if you like that style I'd recommend you go check it out! Let me know if you've tried any others from the collection and which is your favourite, thanks for reading!

Review of Tanya Burr's Nail Varnish in Penguin Chic

Hi everyone! So I'm sure you have all heard about the lovely Tanya Burr releasing her own line of nail varnishes and lip glosses and if you haven't where have you been! In the collection there are 12 lip glosses and 10 nail varnishes. I ordered mine from feel unique but they are now on Superdrug online so I imagine they will be making there way into store soon! I chose 'Penguin Chic' because it's not a colour I have at all in my collection and I didn't want to just be buying one for the sake of it at the price of £5.99. It's not a hugely costly product but it is a little dearer than my usual choice of Barry M!

Online I have to admit it looked more of a grey but when it arrived as you can see it's sort of a browny grey kind of colour which isn't a bad thing - it's just different! I love the signed packaging as I think it really lends a personal touch to the product and looks really cute.

I used my new Sally Hansen base coat this time which I got from Fragrance Direct at a bargain price of £1.50! It's cheaper than my usual Barry M one and dried a lot quicker which is a huge bonus!

I then applied the first coat of Penguin Chic. The consistency feels very similar to the Barry M Gelly Collection and although it's not advertised as a gel nail varnish I think it must be. I found with the first coat it was a little patchy is some places but that just be because I put on pretty thin coats. I couldn't believe how glossy it was though! I hadn't even applied a second coat or top coat and apart from a little patchyness it looked ready to go!

I then applied a second coat of about the same thickness as before and they were done! I didn't apply a top coat because I painted them quite late at night and was worried that another coat wouldn't dry before I went to sleep and I really didn't want them to smudge.

In terms of applying a top coat for a more glossy effect you really don't need it. It's so shiny and gel like the only reason I would apply a top coat is to protect the colour from chipping. I've worn this on my nails for a few days now without a top coat and they still haven't chipped which I'm very impressed with!

Although the price is a little more than I would pay for a normal nail varnish I would definitely recommend you have a wander into Superdrug when they a released in store to have a proper look at all the colours! Let me know if you have or are going to try it out! What is your favourite colour from the collection? Thanks for reading!

Review of 'Rimmel London I Love Lasting Finish Fruities' in 'Strawberry Fizz'

Hi everyone! I was scanning through my nail varnish collection and this caught my eye as I don't think I've worn it before. It's not really a colour I wear so I was surprised I had bought it but then after reading the back I realised it was a scented one! (Which is what I imagine compelled me to buy it). You can pick them up pretty much anywhere as they've been around for a while now for £2.99.

It's a very Barbie Pink kind of colour so I'm not really sure why it is named ' Strawberry Fizz' as I don't think I've ever seen a strawberry that colour!

I used my Barry M base coat as usual, to make sure my nails were protected.

Then, I applied the first coat of colour. I have to say I didn't really notice the scent at first but after it had been drying for a little bit it was quite noticeable. However, I would not have said it smelled very life like, it was a very sweet sickly strawberry scent sort of similar to those scented fruit balls you can get. It did go on very smoothly though just like the other Rimmel nail varnishes I own which was a great plus although it was a little streaky.

After applying a second coat the smell got a little bit stronger but you did have to sniff the nails quite hard to get a whiff. 

I only applied a top coat onto one of my hands as an experiment to see if it masked the smell. By the next morning the scent had definitely faded more on the nails with a top coat which wasn't really a surprise! However, by the day after your could no longer smell anything from nails without the top coat on either! They did manage not to chip a huge amount though which I was pretty impressed by as I've been doing my DT coursework all week which has included gluing and sanding of wood and plastic and by the end of the week they still looked somewhat acceptable!

I wouldn't really recommend you buy it if it's the scent you are after because it doesn't stay around long and is very artificial - although I did read that some of the others in the range have a longer lasting scent. Personally, I don't really like this colour as Barbie pink doesn't really suit me, but the fact that they stayed on so well was a huge bonus! Let me know if you've tried scented nail varnish before and how it turned out for you! Thanks for reading!

Review & Swatches of 'Maybelline Color Show Street Artist' in '04 Alley Attitude'

Hi everyone! So I was in town just planning to pick up some paper for school but of course I had to pop into Superdrug as I was walking past. I had a quick scan of the make up sections and I came across the Maybelline counter where they were promoting a nail varnish which looked really interesting so of course I had to pick one up. There were 4 colours but I thought I would just try one so I picked up the blue one for £3.99!

So I wasn't exactly sure what colour to use as my base colour as this nail varnish is a top coat, so I had a little look on some other peoples blogs and popular opinion was to use grey. However, despite having nearly 100 nail varnishes I don't actually have a grey so I did some swatches on some different colours!

So this is what it looks like on a plain nail without a base coat. Obviously I wouldn't wear it out like this but it shows you what the nail varnish looks like.

Firstly, I tried it with a black base colour which I think makes the the blue really stand out but you loose the effect of the black parts in the polish which I guess kind of defeats the point of the nail polish being two toned.

I then gave it a go on a light blue, similar to the colour of the blue parts in the polish, but again this had the same effect as using black as my base colour.

I thought a darker blue might work, but again it didn't look great as the effect kind of blended in which in my opinion is not the point of this nail varnish.

Similarly, using a pale purple just didn't make the effect stand out and the blue and purple just didn't compliment each other well.

Finally I tried white, as this was the closest colour to grey I had, and I think it looked amazing!

From a distance it looks like you've manually splattered nail polish on your nails (which is something I have tried but the effect never seems to turn out the way I want it to!) So many people asked me at school how I did it and were shocked to find out it was quite literally a top coat!

In the collection there is also a red, green and a sort of whitey purpley coloured one in addition to the blue one I bought. I would definitely recommend you get one and try it out for yourself! They look so fun and require minimal effort which is always a plus when you don't have a great deal of time to spare!

Although it in principal is the same as any confetti or glitter top coat I think it looks so much better and I really like that there are a variety of sized pieces making it look like more realistic paint splatters!

Let me know if what you think of this new look and if you have tried it out! Thanks for reading!

Review of 'Rimmel London - I Love Lasting Finish' in '700 Block Your Green'

Hi everyone! I've been looking for a nice green nail polish for absolutely ages now! I thought I hit the jackpot last summer when I bought 2 lovely shades of green, but both ended up staining my nails and they are still recovering!! So as I was in Superdrug I saw that this brand of Rimmel was on offer at £1.99 instead of £2.99 (which still is nice and cheap!) and I just had to get it! The picture doesn't really show its true colour. It is a richer green in real life!

This green in the bottle looks a really lovely and has a slight shimmer to it which at first I didn't notice but it really is very pretty. However, I do have to say it isn't particularly a summery colour, in my opinion it is more of a Christmasy colour so if you are looking for a summery green: this probably isn't the one for you!

So, first things first - my Collection 2000 base coat.

Then I applied the first coat of colour. It was pretty highly pigmented and had a lovely shimmer to it when it caught the light. In comparison to the NYC nail varnishes I definitely think you could get away with just applying one coat of this. I did find that although it went on very smoothly, on some nails it was a little thicker in places than others - but that's probably more down to me than the polish (a bad workman always blames her tools!)

I applied a second coat and it looks exactly like it does in the bottle!

Finally a top coat to give it a nice glossy finish. As per usual I'm just using a clear nail varnish from Boots Natural Collection (trust me it really isn't pink!)

And all done! I really liked this nail varnish as you can get such a strong colour with just one coat which is ideal if you are in a bit of a rush. But this really isn't a summer colour - it's a quite rich shade of green which to me strikes me as a Christmas colour. But overall I did really love this and will be going out to buy some different colours! Thanks for reading (:

Review of 'NYC Quick Dry Nail Polish' in 'Lincoln Square Lavender'

Hi everyone! So again another of my current favourite nail varnishes at the moment: NYC Quick Dry! If you haven't read my previous blog post you will not understand my obsession with this brand! They have recently been on offer in Superdrug: 2 for £3 which is an absolute bargain! And they are only £1.79 by themselves anyway!

So I chose this one as another summery pastel like colour. Although the name suggests lavender it is in no real way any sort of shade of purple - which is my understanding of the colour lavender! But the colour is such a nice dusty sort of pale pink colour and is something that you could easily wear without attracting too much attention  if that is what you are after.

So of course I applied my base coat first. I can't stress how important it is to wear a base coat. Not so much with this sort of shade of pink but last summer I made the fatal mistake of painting my nails a lovely grass green colour without a base coat!!! My nails were stained so bad and I had to keep painting them just to hide the fact that I was stupid enough not to use a base coat! Sorry, I went off on a bit of a tangent there! So yes, this is the base coat I always use from Collection for I believe £2.99.

I then applied the first coat of colour and as I've noticed with this range one coat just doesn't give me an opaque enough colour but it wasn't awful and I always apply a very thin coat as for some reason regardless of the varnish being quick dry or not it still takes a while to dry! (Personally I blame my poor circulation!) Again please ignore the mess of my painting - I will sort it out at the end!!!!

Still a little bit see through 

I then applied the second coat and immediately looked so much better and more like the colour in the bottle.

Much better!

Recently, I've been pretty obsessed with the fashion of having an accent nail. For anyone who doesn't know (sorry, but where have you been?!) it's where you paint one nail slightly different to the rest whether that be a contrasting colour, glitter or beaded!

I decided to use another one from the NYC collection! I was debating whether to do this as a separate review like last time but as I only did only 2 nails I thought I'd just make 1 extra long review.

So this is the 'NYC Expert Last Nail Polish' in 'Gramercy Glitz' and it's a gorgeous really pale pink in the bottle but could easily go on any nail varnish colour as it isn't hugely pink on the nail. Again I got it in a 2 for £3 deal and on it's own it's £2.49.

I went on really easily and smoothly and there was a fair amount of glitter on the first coat but as I was using it on only one nail I really wanted it to stand out so I ended up putting on a further coat to make it really noticeable.

One coat of glitter on my ring finger

Two coats of glitter - much more sparkly! 

I then finished it all off with my make shift top coat - a clear nail varnish from 'The Natural Collection' at Boots.

It's not actually pink! 

Et Voila! All cleaned up and looking lovely! I think it looks so cute and girly as it's not in you face like brighter shades are but that's the joy of pastel colours!

I would really recommend both the base colour and the glitter nail varnish as they are just so pretty and you really can't go wrong for £3! Thank you for reading (: