My Top Five: Spring Nail Polishes

I had a lot of requests for top five/ten posts and I've been meaning to do a few posts about products I'm excited to use this spring so I'm going to kick things off with my top nail polish picks. In no particular order...

OPI Red Lights Ahead

I wasn't sure I was going to like this when I bought it. I struggle to find reds I like, especially when it comes to bright reds. This, however, is a perfect bright coral-red shade. 

Essie Sand Tropez

Everyone loves a good nude polish, don't they? I have several nude/natural shades but this light beige one is my favourite for spring/summer.

American Apparel Office

This is one of my all time favourite pastel shades. It's not as harsh looking as something like Essie Mint Candy Apple which is a plus for me! 

Chanel April

If you're a fan of darker nail polishes, this shade is a great choice. I'm wearing it right now, actually! It's a dark raspberry pink shade which I can see looking really pretty with gold sandals and a tan if we ever get any sun up here in Glasgow.

China Glaze Custom Kicks

I really like the formula of China Glaze polishes. This shade is very easy to work with and wears like steel. I know a bright turquoise-green shade won't be for everyone but I love it!

I'm going to cheat a little and add a couple of honourable mentions. I didn't think I'd like the OPI Holland collection as much as I do and there are two other bright shades from the collection I can't help but mention here. OPI A Roll In The Hague is a bright orange shade which is probably not for the faint hearted but I'm going to wear it lots in the summer. OPI Kiss Me On My Tulips is a crowd-pleasing bright pink which isn't too warm or cool toned so it should be flattering on everyone. I'm fussy about pinks too so the fact I like this one must mean it's a winner!

What are your top nail polish picks for spring?

Stace xx

My Downsized Nail Polish Collection

For the past year or so I've been an absolute nail polish addict. I don't even want to think about how many I managed to collect in that time. I've been downsizing most of my make up collection recently (see my blog sale here) because some products weren't getting any love but my nail polish collection is now about a third of the size it was. I've just counted and I have thirty three polishes, ten of which are minis.

And you know what? I feel so much better! I used to feel a bit guilty when I was choosing a polish for my next manicure because I knew I'd probably only wear some of the shades a couple of times before they went all goopy.

I was pretty ruthless when deciding what to keep and what to pass on. I kept most of my neutrals unless I had two which were exactly the same, in which case I had to choose one or the other. Every polish I've kept is one I've used more than once. I kept most of my Essie minis because I might actually manage to finish one of those and I like that they don't have really fiddly brushes.

Without further ado, here's my nail polish collection:

American Apparel - Office

Butter London - Bumster

Chanel - Particuliere, Rouge Noir, Blue Satin, Lilac Sky

China Glaze - Pelican Gray, Custom Kicks, Ruby Pumps

Essie - Minis - Topless & Barefoot, Lady Like, French Affair, Very Structured, Fishnet Stockings, Size Matters, Bobbing for Baubles, Power Clutch, Cocktail Bling, Bangle Jangle, Full Sizes - Chubby Cheeks, Little Brown Dress

Models Own - Peacock Green

OPI - Tickle My France-y, Barefoot in Barcelona, You Don't Know Jacques, Lincoln Park After Dark, Baby It's Coal Outside, Ski Teal We Drop, Suzi Says Feng Shui, Jade is the New Black

Revlon - Carbonite, Perplex, Cherries in the Snow

I've linked to any NOTDs I may have done - some are pretty awful so I apologise for that!

If you read my post yesterday, you'll know that I've already added to this collection...oops!

Stace xx

Battle of the Nude Polishes!

I am a self confessed nail polish obsessive. I'm sure if you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you'd know that!

I recently arranged my polishes by colour and aside from realising that I have oodles of green nail polishes, I noticed that I have several nude shades which have been neglected in favour of my Chanel Particuliere. So, I've decided to do a little overview of my nude polish collection for you.

First up is my favourite, Chanel Particuliere. I wear this all the time. It's been my go to nude shade since I picked it up in June. I think it's one of those nude shades which will suit most skin tones. I know it's expensive and there are definitely dupes but this is one of those Chanel polishes which is worth the price tag, for me. It's not the longest wearing - I get around three days of wear with no chips. I'm not really an expert when it comes to the longevity of polish since I change mine so much.

Speaking of Particuliere dupes, I picked up Barry M Mushroom a couple of weeks ago and wore it over the weekend. The formula of this is thicker in comparison to the Chanel and the shade is a teeny bit warmer in some lights (not in the photos, though!). It's a pretty good polish and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a nice, purse-friendly nude shade.

On the paler end of the nude spectrum, I have Essie Topless & Barefoot. I don't find myself reaching for this one as much at this time of year but it is a nice spring/summer nude shade. I don't think this shade will suit everyone and the formula is a bit tricky to work with as you need three or four coats to achieve an opaque finish. If I had to give it a mark out of ten, I'd probably give it a five. As you can see in the photo, it doesn't wear too well. It tends to peel off a bit because so many coats are required.

Another lighter nude shade which I think will suit a lot more skintones is American Apparel's Mouse. I really enjoy using all my American Apparel polishes and have found the quality to be pretty consistent across the range. This is a cooler toned nude when compared with Particuliere or Mushroom. It looks pretty grey in the photo but it isn't that grey in reality.

OPI's Tickle My France-y was a polish I'd wanted for some time but when I got it, the forumla was so thin I've hardly used it. I picked this up again last week for the first time in months. I needed five coats. FIVE! I don't think any polish with a cream finish should need that many coats. There seems to be a bit of a quality control issue with this particular shade as some girls I know have had the same issues as me and others find theirs to be very thick and opaque. Anyway, it is a pretty colour. It's a pinker shade and is very subtle. I think this is one I'd wear a lot more if I had an office job.

Finally I have the famous You Don't Know Jacques by OPI. This is the darkest 'nude' shade I have. I'd describe it as a dark brown with a grey undertone. I think darker skin tones will prefer this as it might be a bit stark looking on very pale skins. The photo was taken after four days of wear so there is some obvious tip wear.

So there you go! I hope this was helpful to anyone looking for a nude polish.

Do you guys have any recommendations? Not that I need any more...

Stace xx

NOTD: American Apparel - Army Jacket

I've been on the hunt for a khaki green shade recently and I've swapped for this and Essie Sew Psyched. This one is much more green but I really like it for autumn. The application of this wasn't as great as other American Apparel shades I've tried but it did only need two coats so I guess I can't complain! 

What do you think? 

 Stace xx

NOTD: American Apparel - Mouse

American Apparel - Mouse

(Three Coats of Mouse, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Top Coat)

This applied quite nicely but I did find that I needed three coats as it was still a touch streaky after two thin coats. I like the colour - it's like a lighter, grey-er version of Chanel Particuliere (which I love but still haven't managed to feature in a NOTD post!). I think this is a great neutral shade and would suit all skintones.

What do you think?

Stace xx

NOTD: American Apparel - Office

American Apparel - Office

(Rimmel Base Coat, Three Coats American Apparel Office, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Top Coat)

I love American Apparel polishes and this has to be my favourite. I tried a bunch of other mint/light green polishes but this is the only one which looks good with my skin. I don't know why it's called "Office" though! The application of this isn't as great as some of the other shades; I needed three coats to get rid of any streaks.

Do you like American Apparel polishes?

Stace xx

NOTD: American Apparel - Mount Royal

Well, these are the nails of yesterday, actually, I'm just about to take this off and put on something else but I thought I'd share because I love the colour!

American Apparel - Mount Royal

(Barry M clear base coat, two coats of colour & Sally Hansen Mega Shine top coat)

I really like these American Apparel polishes since picking one up on a whim when buying overpriced basics in the store. They are £7 each in the UK and you can get them on the American Apparel site and in stores. I think all the shades available have cream finishes which suits me prefectly! I did two coats of this but I could have gotten away with one if I had to. I also find they dry pretty quickly on their own too. I love the colour of this, it's not a true royal blue, there's a bit of 'dusty-ness' to it which makes it look a bit purple sometimes. I used to think I'd never wear blue nail polish but I seem to own quite a few now! This is one of my favorites though as it's less garish than a lot of other blues. 

The only gripe I have with this polish is that it chipped on me within a day. I find that most of my polishes last at least three days without chipping so this is disappointing. It doesn't bother me massively though as I tend to change my polishes at least every two days anyway (what can I say? I find it relaxing! I also have far too much nail polish so need to justify my collection by using it constantly!).

Have you tried any of these polishes? What do you think of them?

Stace xx