NOTD: China Glaze First Mate

What's this? A NOTD post of a polish not made by L'Oreal! I realise I've been posting about L'Oreal polishes a lot recently but I still regularly wear polishes from other brands. I picked First Mate up from a blog sale a while back; it's a mini bottle but with 9.6ml it's a really decent size. 

The colour is a dark blue. It's not quite navy which disappoints me a little because it means I'm still on the hunt for the perfect dark navy creme finish polish (suggestions in the comments, please!) I like it, though, it's a bit more Autumn appropriate than my beloved Nails Inc Baker Street. Formula-wise it applies really nicely and is opaque in one coat if you're careful. I added a second though, mostly out of habit!

I find the wear time of China Glaze polishes in general to be pretty good. I got about three days out of this manicure with minimal chipping and tip wear which is a long time for me. The top coat I used here was Sally Hansen Insta Dri. 

What do you think? 

Stace xx

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

NOTD: China Glaze - Pelican Gray

Trind base coat, three coats of Pelican Gray and Seche Vite top coat

Apologies for the dry skin around my nails - I always seem to neglect using hand cream when I'm in the library all the time. 

I've had this polish for a long time; it came out in a summer collection the year before last, I think. I've worn it on my toes a few times but I believe this is the first time I've worn it on my fingers. I like the colour, it's a nice neutral shade that's a bit different from a nude shade. The best thing about this polish is how long wearing it is - I've had this on for a week now (photos were taken after two days' wear) and it's hardly chipped at all! There's no tip wear and any chips are because of something clumsy I've done. I'm very impressed.

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

NOTD: China Glaze - Naughty & Nice

China Glaze - Naughty & Nice

(Rimmel Base Coat, Two Coats of Naughty & Nice, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Top Coat)

Okay so this looks terrible - I've been rushing through these polishes so quickly and haven't been tidying up too well! I like the colour, just not the mess these dark polishes always leave me with!

What do you think?

Stace xx

NOTD: China Glaze - Light As Air

China Glaze - Light As Air

(BarryM Base/Top Coat, Two Coats of Light As Air & Sally Hansen Mega Shine Top Coat)

This is just a 'mini' but it's a pretty decent size (9.5ml) so I've got a lot of use out of it! This and OPI Rumples Wiggin' are my two favourite lilac polishes. I find this one a little more difficult to apply but I think that's because it's a bit more gloopy. It means I only need two coats but they tend to be quite thick coats as it's difficult to get even coverage from a thin coat. Staying power with this polish is pretty good, too.

What do you think?

Stace xx

NOTD: China Glaze - Aztec Orange

China Glaze - Aztec Orange

(Barry M base/top coat, 3 coats of Aztec Orange and Sally Hansen Mega Shine top coat)

I picked this up in Sally's recently as I've been lusting after coral/bright polishes. This is brighter than what I'd typically go for but it's on the warmer side colourwise so it still suits me. My main problem with this polish is how thin the formula is. Most of my other CG polishes are pretty thick and easy to apply. This one was much more difficult to work with. I needed three thick coats and this made it a bit messy (check out the pinky!). It's not put me off completely, though. I want to put it on my toes next

What do you guys think of the shade?

Stace xx

Haul & Swatches: China Glaze, Sleek & Bourjois

I saw the MAC Semi Precious collection was online a few days ago and wanted to spend a fortune but in the end I decided to pass; I'd been reading the Temptalia posts about the collection and had thought I'd want a few items but when it came down to it, I already had similar shades in my collection. I avoided the store when I went to town today just in case I was tempted! I've been trying not to spend too much recently so this is only a little haul!


I realised that there's a Sally's right round the corner from me. I've never been there before but I knew they stocked China Glaze so decided to pop in today. Here's what I came out with:

Ruby Pumps - £6.49

Aztec Orange - £6.49

Ruby Pumps had been on my wish list for some time. I probably won't be wearing it until later in the year, though. I've swatched it and I like how even though it's glittery, it's not really gritty on the nail. I hate that feeling! I spotted Aztec Orange because I've been looking for a coral/orange/red shade for ages! I'm waiting on a swap parcel which includes Essie's Chubby Cheeks but it is much more orange. I might be putting this one on straight away! I'm a bit concerned that the formula seems a bit thin so I'll get back to you on that!

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in shade 55 - £9.99

I tried this in 56 a few months ago and it was super dark. I thought I'd need 54 but when I swatched both in store and 54 seemed a little too light. I've not tried this on my face yet so I'm not sure it will work but I think it will! I love the smell of this and the formula is lovely and lightweight. I can't wait to wear it!

Sleek Oh So Special Palette - £6.49

I managed to pick up the last one on the shelf. This was a bit of an impulse buy but I did have it on my wish list. I do prefer neutrals so I thought I was sure to like this one.

My favourites are the shimmery shades, especially Gift Basket, Organza and Glitz. I'm not a huge fan of matte eyeshadows in general and had to swatch some of these quite heavily to get them to show up. Wrapped Up was the best matte shade in terms of pigmentation but all the mattes do have a smooth texture. I'm sure I will use this but it's not as great as I was expecting it to be; I think the Storm Palette will always be my favourite!

That's all folks!

Have you picked up Oh So Special? Or do you own any of the other items I purchased? What do you think of them?

Stace xx