Star Gazer Nail Polishes | Review

I was so happy to know that Star Gazer was at IMATS, I absolutely love love love their black glittery nail polish. I had it for about 4 or 5 years and it just went really like gummy and old. So I was hoping they would have the same (or similar) varnish I could replace my old one with. I always wear it on my toe nails, I think it looks really flattering and especially now that I have to wear black to work. It just goes. So anyway, Star Gazer had a deal 3 for £5, and I'm a sucker for deals so I obviously picked up 3. I not only found the colour I was looking for but also a quite similar one, it's a grey/silver shade with smaller bits of glitter. Kinda like the glitter I put on my nails sometimes except in fluid form. I couldn't really decide on the 3rd nail polish so I picked up a colour I don't have in my collection yet - a pinky-purple, glittery shade. I love both dark ones, however I'm not too convinced about the purple. It needs so many layers to be opaque that it put me off a little. The black polish only need about 3, same with the silver one. They also stay on for ages. I remember that shade 172 (black glitter) lasted on my toe nails for like 2 weeks without chipping or anything. So yeah, happy I picked up those. And would actually like to get a few different colours now, well payday soon so.

Have you tried Star Gazer polishes? What's your go-to shade you use on your toe nails?

Star Gazer polishes: £5 for 3 (IMATS offer)

xoxo

IMATS London 2013

So as it is 23rd of June aka the day I went to IMATS for the first time ever, and definitely not last, I decided to post straight when I got home. Well, after getting some food and checking out everything I got. Anyways, it was one of the best experiences and seeing Karin Darnell was a cherry on top, I'm now absolutely knackered and happy, and can't wait to try everything out. I went to Nars first as this (and NYX) was my main destination, but I was a little disappointed actually. They weren't selling any of the stuff I wanted to get (Orgasm and Laguna mainly), only palettes, a few eyeshadows and nail polishes.They did have a good deals on them though so not a complete waste of time. I got a duo of Albatros and Sin for £12.50, which I was eyeing up anyway. Then I went to NYX, which was timed brilliantly, by the time me and my friend Jess got to the checkout the queue was as long as in front of an Apple store on a new iPhone day. I got lots of eyeliners, the three blushes that were on my wishlist, a couple of lipsticks and three eyeshadows. I was expecting to get more bits and pieces but they didn't have the rest of the things I wanted so. Still, pretty successful little haul overall. I also got a palette from Inglot with 5 different shades of red, Stargazer nail polishes and some brushes from Crown Brush, bdllium tools and Royal & Langnickel. Absolutely loved it and will definitely be going back next year. And the year after that.

Have you ever been to IMATS? What did you think? If not, would you like to go?

xoxo

Favourite Spring and Summer Nail Polishes

I was recently browsing through my nail polishes and decided to write a post on my go-to varnishes I reach for most over spring and summer. I knew straight away which ones to pick, Barry M polishes just stand out. Especially the pastel shades and especially when it's this time of the year. The colours in the pastel collection are Peach Melba, Mint Green, Strawberry, Blue Moon, Lemon and Berry. My favourite is Peach Melba, it's just such a pretty shade and I think it brightens up my little collection along with Lemon. I usually change my nail colour every two days, but recently I haven't had much time cause I'm moving in 6 days and I have an overload of work so yeah. They don't chip at all if I put a top coat over them, well two days is not long enough for them to chip anyways but. I have tried a lot of pastel polishes and I always seem to go back to these ones, there is just something about them. I love them. And I would definitely recommend them to anyone looking for pastel varnishes. Also, Blue Moon is a lovely colour for winter and with a touch of 'frost' (a white or black and white glittery top coat) over it, it just looks amazing.

What are your go-to nail polishes over the spring/summer? Have you tried Barry M pastels?

Barry M Nail Polishes: £2.99/each

xoxo

Model's Own Scented Nail Polishes

I had these varnishes on my last wishlist actually and was really eager to try them because I was looking for good scented nail polishes that would work for me. All of the ones I tried so far were a bit of a disappointment, the smell just wasn't right or didn't last for long. About a week ago I got Model's Own varnishes in three shades: Blueberry Muffin, Apple Pie and Strawberry Tart (3 for 2 in Boots is always good). All of them are pastels, which is my favourite kind of nail polish shade range. I actually didn't have pastels this light in my collection, which makes me want to get the other two shades that came out too. They apply easily, however I needed three layers to get the opaque look (two looked good enough but not amazing). I change my nail colour every two or three days usually but during this time they didn't chip at all so I wouldn't be surprised if they lasted a whole week. The scents are all really nice and yummy (my favourite is Blueberry Muffin), and I was pleasantly surprised that they lasted until I took the polish off. On the third day the scent wasn't as strong as during the first two, but it was still there. I am so glad I got those, finally found scented nail varnishes in which the smell lasts longer than a few hours. And with only £5 a bottle (or 3 for £10 in Boots at the moment) they are definitely worth their price tag.

Model's Own Nail Polishes: £5 (each)

xoxo 

NATALIA

Model's Own Nail Polishes

I have seen blue nails all around lately and I wasn't really so fond of blue on nails before but for some reason I love this trend. And considering I'm all about the glittery topcoats lately I found one that was just perfect for this post, Model's Own nail polish in Freak Out! Boots are carrying an offer on Model's Own varnishes - 2 for £8 at the moment so obviously as I do, I couldn't walk past it. I got a nice blue shade in Feeling Blue, which I thought would look nice with Freak Out! The topcoat has 'big' blue pieces of glitter and tiny pink ones which I think makes it look even cooler. I also really like that Feeling Blue is a Smurf-blue shade for some reason. However, after having it on my nails I like Feeling Blue better, I'm so glad I got it. I think I was expecting a little more from the topcoat to be honest, but I still like the way it came out. I've done my nails on the bus back from work so they might not look perfect, but there it goes. Hope you like it.

Model's Own Nail Polish: £5

 

Rimmel Lycra Pro and Rock Your Colour

Since spring is just around the corner and winter is finally coming to an end I thought I'd post my favourite nail polishes I used for the past few months. And as much as I love them, I cannot wait to go into pastels again. Anyway, when I decided to write this post and chose the polishes I noticed they were all Rimmel, yes they are on top of their game lately. The ones I chose are Urban Purple and Beige Babe plus a topcoat of gold glitter called Disco Gold, which is an amazing autumn/winter top coat. I'm a little disappointed I had to cut my nails yesterday (one chipped really bad while at work) so they look a bit sad. Anyways, that's the results...

Rimmel Lycra Pro: £4.59 (each)

Rimmel Rock Your Colour: £4.59

xoxo

NATALIA

Essie and Barry M nail polishes

Since today is my day off from work I decided to look through my nail polishes and use a few I never got round to using. I chose two Essie and two Barry M polishes, and since I loved the L'Oreal confetti top coat,  both Barry M bottles I picked were glittery top coats. And now that I think about it, I can't believe I didn't use them before. Well, maybe because they are a real pain to take off but I didn't know that until now. These types of top coats unfortunately are quite hard to get off of nails, but I thought after L'Oreal's one (which came off like a usual nail polish) I shouldn't write anything off before I try it. Barry M top coats took way too much time to get off my nails, but they looked so pretty I won't complain any longer. Anyway, the first combination is Essie Vanity Fairest and Barry M Amethyst Glitter, the second is Essie No Place Like Chrome and Barry M Pink Sapphire Glitter.

Essie: £7.99 (each)

Barry M: £2.99 (each)

xoxo
NATALIA

L'Oreal Color Riche Confetti Top Coat

While I've been looking through blogs a couple of days ago I spotted L'Oreal's confetti top coat a couple of times and fell in love with it. So I went looking for it yesterday and as it usually happens, ended up getting more than just that. Since spring is now just around the corner I decided to use Boots' offer 3 for 2 once again, this time on Barry M nail polishes and got 3 pretty pastel shades. My excuse was 'it would look great with that top coat'. And so it does.  But then again, L'Oreal's confetti looks great with pretty much anything since it's black and white, but never mind. I was so happy with the results, it looks even better once on nails than it does in the pictures. I know already I will be using it quite a lot. Plus it doesn't take ages to take off as glitters usually do. It comes off just like the usual nail polish. I can tell this little bottle of black and white glitter will be a hit and we can expect more amazing top coats to come real soon.
L'Oreal Color Riche Confetti Top Coat: £4.99
Barry M nail polish: £2.99 (each)

xoxo
Natalia

Rimmel Cocktail Colour in a Flash nail polishes

^From left: 110 Baby Bellini, 140 Hawaiian Punch and 120 Shirley Temple

Looks like Rimmel are on top of their game lately, I wanted to get Cocktail Colour nail polishes for a while and finally got round to it this week. Thank you Boots for your 3 for 2 offer (£3.99 each). I am so impressed with them so far, the colours are so pretty and one coat gives just enough to cover the nails with achieving the colour you can see in the bottle. It dries really quick as well, the label says it takes 60 seconds and it is more less that. I like that they are glittery/sparkly but it doesn't take a lot of effort to get them off. Thanks to its multi-tonal shimmer Cocktail Colours have that on trend duo-chrome look (especially the baby Bellini one). My favourite is definitely Hawaiian Punch, I always wanted to add a red-ish nail polish like that one to my collection. I think 2013 might as well be Rimmel's year if they keep up their great work.

xoxo

NATALIA

Nail Polish: Maybelline Forever Strong

The Forever Strong collection from Maybelline caught my eye last Autumn when I was looking for darker A/W season nail colours. Superdrug was doing 3 for 2 on Maybelline products then so I grabbed quite a few. I wasn't sure about the metallic shades but I decided to get out of my comfort zone and got 3. I was so impressed I used them over and over again. The brush is brilliant, helps to apply the product smoothly and without smudging. What's more, one coat is enough to get the colour shown in the bottle, which came as a surprise because you usually need at least a couple with drugstore nail polishes. The bottle says that the product stays on for up to 7 days, the longest I kept mine for was 5 days with a top coat and it was still perfectly fine, so I'm sure it would stay on the nails for a week. Without a top coat it usually doesn't chip for about 3 days. For £4.09 each (£8.18 for 3 with the deal) you can't really go wrong. I have to say that's the best nail polish I tried for so little money yet. 

^From left: 778 Rosy Sand, 202 Really Rosy, 630 Dark Denim and 610 Ceramic Blue

I am absolutely in love with the Ceramic Blue shade, it looks so nice and wintery once you add some white or silver glitter on top.

^ From left: 720 Green Miracle, 835 Metal Me Teal! and 830 Put a Medal On It!

I never tried gold on my nails but oh my days, this one is just a great first time buy. I use it a lot, mostly because one coat is enough and it matches so many things, which I didn't expect it to.

I have used a few shades on my nails just to give an example, but all of them are lovely and I'm looking forward to buying more shades soon. Can't wait for pastel, summery colours especially.

^ In 202 Really Rosy

^ In 835 Metal Me Teal!

^ In 830 Put a Medal On It!

Overall, I would recommend them to anyone looking for good, affordable nail polish. They look as lovely on the nails as they do in the bottle.

xoxo

Natalia