Superdrug 2true Colour Quick Shade 19

Today I have to show you a new polish. It's a beauty...

This is 2true Colour Quick in Shade 19. Now, I've got to admit, when I saw the 'New Flat Brush' on the bottle, my heart sank a little. I hate those huge, wide flat brushes that are supposed to easily cover the nail in one sweep. I don't WANT to cover my nail in one brush stroke, it's messy. Besides, I have really small nails. But thankfully, this brush isn't one of those...it's really nice, just a little flatter to make the cuticle easy to get close to. Top marks.

The formula is also pretty spot on. For such budget polish, it's lovely and smooth, and this was perfect in two coats (over Models Own base coat, and under Seche Vite topcoat) It dries suprisingly fast. Overall, I'm really impressed. Obviously, the best bit is the colour. This is a beautiful pink, and I have a lot of pink polish. It's bright enough to stop it being old fashioned, and very eye catching. I'm a fan.

My only slight grumble, is the tall thin bottle. It teeters alarmingly if you're not careful when wiping the excess off on the neck of the bottle. If I wasn't being careful I would have knocked it over for sure. I prefer standard, slightly more stable bottles. But, only a small gripe, I shouldn't be so clumsy.

Available exclusively at Superdrug stores or HERE priced at a splendiferous £1.99. I'll be getting more shades.



*press sample

Long overdue catch up AKA Mega Blog Entry

Well hello. As my own version of a Constant Reader, the lovely Emma, pointed out, I haven't blogged since May. May! I hang my head in shame. Honestly though, I wasn't feeling like it, and I said all along (to myself, obviously, no one else cares) that if I didn't feel like blogging, I wouldn't. I go to work enough, I don't want blogging to turn into a chore.


Anyway, despite the fact that I've been quiet for so long, I have still been doing what I do best - my nails, and so I've got quite a few manis to share. Here's a selection of my favourite from the time that I've been gone...

  [Above] The gorgeous Nails Inc Copacabana. This one saw me through large part of our holiday in Turkey, it's a bright and beautiful coral.      

  [Above] Barry M Gelly Shine in Greenberry, with Models Own Indian Ocean on top! Proving once again that Barry M make beautiful nail polish for bargainous prices.       [Above] Nails Inc Basil Street. I wore this uncharacteristically plain colour for a fancy dress party. I was dressed as Clark Kent, and he doesn't usually wear nail polish.      

  [Above] Color Club in Pardon My French. This is BRIGHT. Retina searingly bright, though that clearly doesn't translate to the picture. I love it. Perfect formula, gorgeous colour.         [Above] Exposed in Grey with China Glaze Fairy Dust on top. Who doesn't love a good holo? Fairy Dust is one of the finest, most holo of all. It's lovely. 

[Above] Rimmel London Cocktail Colours in Baby Bellini. This is so pretty. The only downside is the one coat claim. Not true. This is three coats - one coat is very, very thin. I want this whole collection though, the colours are gorgeous. 

  [Above] And finally, of course, a bit of leopard print Konad stamping. Barry M Pink Flamingo with black Konad polish and plate m57.       I think that should just about do it! It's good to be back.

Nails Inc Knightsbridge Green

Here's another of my Lucky Dip polishes:

This is Nails Inc Knightsbridge Green, and it's lovely. However, and I want you to know this so much that I'm going to shout it. USE A BASECOAT. Use two. Seriously. I double basecoat my nails and they were unbelievably stained when I removed this polish. I looked like an extra from The Walking Dead. It is the stainiest polish I've ever used (yeah it's a word) My basecoat was Nails Inc Kensington Caviar, and topcoat was Seche Vite.

Beautiful colour though, it got a lot of compliments.


What do you think? Is it worth the zombie nails afterwards?

Alice + Eliza for Marks and Spencer

This was another polish that I received for Christmas. I'm working through all the new loveliness...

Also pictured is the snuggly blanket my mum bought me :)

It's an unnamed polish. Now...this is a lovely colour, but I really had to work for it, haha. Horribly streaky formula, spiky brush, you name it. But, still, lovely colour! I used Essie basecoat, and a generous coat of Seche Vite topcoat. So, Marks and Spencer/Alice + Eliza, please work on your brushes and polish formula, because the colours are great, and the packaging is really sweet.


What do you think? Will you put up with spiky brushes for a good colour, or just choose something else?

Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine in Blackberry

I got this polish for Christmas from a lovely friend, and I'm really impressed with it! It's a Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine polish - supposedly they're very shiny without topcoat. It's true, they are very shiny, but I can't do without topcoat...

Please excuse my glittery cuticles! I'm dangerously low on nail polish remover. Anyway, this is two coats of the Barry M polish, over Essie basecoat, with Seche Vite topcoat.

I've begun to tire of my Seche Vite thickening so ridiculously, though. I have got Seche Restore, but it's just not the same. What do you all recommend for a high shine, quick dry topcoat that doesn't go all gungy in the bottle?


Thanks for reading!

Nails Inc Buckingham Street over Exposed Grey

I did a bit of a reverse glitter mani tonight. Normally I paint the tips of my nails, this time I went from the cuticle...

I really like the effect. It's not perfect but it looks nice in real life, stands out a lot more that in the photos. This Nails Inc glitter is really a gorgeous colour but I think it needs to be layered, it's suspended in a clear base so you wouldn't get far with it on it's own.

What I used:

• Essie Trillionails basecoat (still going strong, LOVE this stuff, it makes my nails so strong)
• Exposed - an unnamed polish in grey (2 coats)
• Nails Inc Buckingham Street glitter (sponged on)
• Seche Vite top coat

What do you think? Do you prefer cuticle glitter, or just on the tips of the nail?

Thanks for reading!

Nails Inc Aspen with Ciate Enchanted Rose

Another bright mani to show you tonight. I've gone back to brighter colours for some reason...

This is Nails Inc Aspen with an accent nail (ring finger) of Ciate Enchanted Rose, which was a limited edition colour for the Mini Mani Month calendar. I love Aspen, and it looks even nicer with a sparkly nail!

Nails Inc and Ciate are available at QVC HERE.

Two coats of Aspen, and two of Enchanted Rose, under Seche Vite topcoat. My basecoat at the moment is still Essie Trillionails, because I love it.

Do you like red polish?

Nails Inc Beaumont Street

On the back of telling you that I've been wearing lots of dark, wintery polish, I decided I needed a bit of sunshine in my life...here's one of my favourite Nails Inc polishes, Beaumont Street:

This must be one of the easiest polishes in the world to paint with - it's smooth, even and lovely - and what a colour. I used to be the sort of person that didn't like pink polish, but I've changed. Oh how I've changed...This is two coats with Seche Vite topcoat. This would probably be okay with just one coat, but as I've said before, it's a habit.


Nails Inc is available HERE at QVC. I've got my eye on the Sprinkles collection, amongst others!


What do you think?

Ciate Mini Mani Month in Power Dressing 063

Happy New Year everyone! As always, I prefer to spend my New Year's Eve at home with my husband (I'm the most boring person...) What did you do?


Today's blog is to show you Ciate's Power Dressing 063. I really like this one. It's a very dark, inky blue. At first I was worried that it would just look black but it's lovely in the light. This is two coats with Seche Vite topcoat.

I've been using a lot of dark polishes recently. I guess it's because it's winter, they just suit.


Do you prefer bright summery polish, or dark, vampy winter polish?

Ciate Mini Mani Month in Twilight 072

Tonight I've got yet another Ciate Mini Mani Month polish to show you. This is Twilight 072. It's a dark creme full of gold sparkles. I'm ignoring the obvious vampire based comparisons, because that's just not my thing, but I wonder if that was what Ciate were thinking of. Either way, very nice polish. This is two coats. It's not too bad to paint with, but as with all dark polish, you need to be really careful.

Ooh, free Kindle shot. I didn't notice that.

What do you think of Twilight?

Nails Inc Victoria and Albert Christmas Jumper nails!

So, here are my Christmas themed nails! Anyone who knows me knows I am a little bit of a Scrooge (okay, a lot) but I do like these tacky Christmas Jumper nails...

It could be that Victoria and Albert is one of my favourite red polishes, it could be that I like jumpers...who knows, but they don't bring out the Grinch in me, so it's okay.

It's two coats of Nails Inc Victoria and Albert (which by the way is SO nice to paint with!) with Konad M79 special white polish. 

The Nails Inc polish is available HERE at QVC. I could buy all of these happily!


Happy Christmas!

Ciate Mini Mani Month in

Another lovely colour from Ciate - This is Glass Slipper used as an accent nail, along with No7 Stay Perfect Sing the Blues. I couldn't face a whole 10 nails worth of glitter (it has to be very special for that!) so I went with an accent. This glitter is a bit thin for application on it's own but was fine in one coat over another polish.

Just enough sparkle :) This is two coats of Sing the Blues and Seche Vite (of which I desperately need a new bottle - mental note)

What do you think?

Ciate Mini Mani Month Vintage 018

Tonight I have another Ciate Mini Mani Month polish to show you. I really like this one! It's called Vintage.

Now, whilst I really like the colour, I didn't like the application much. Ciate is normally lovely, but this one was tricky. When Ciate call them 'Paint Pots', this is what they mean. Thick, emulsion like, gloop. Not self-levelling at all and it goes patchy straight away on the first coat. But I got there in the end!

What do you think? Is the colour worth the hassle of the horrible formula?

Mavala Rouge Rubis 385

Tonight I'd like to show you the first Mavala polish I've ever used! It came with my Latest In Beauty advent calendar, and I decided to wear it for my work Christmas party, because it's suitably festive and sparkly!

The best part about it, for me, was the fact that this is two coats, with NO layering! To be honest, one coat even looked good. This is perfect glitter. The thing I hate most in the world of nail polish is opening a gorgeous looking bottle of glitter and finding that it's basically clear, watery polish with glitter sprinkled in. Pah. Not Mavala. This is gorgeous red polish with glitter in it! Perfect. It's made me want to invest in more Mavala!


Have you tried any Mavala polish?

Ciate Mini Mani Month Cutie Pie 026

The polish that was behind the door of the Ciate Mini Mani Month calendar was one that begged to be stamped over!

It's been a while since I used any of my Konad stuff so here's what I came up with...

Cutie Pie is a very sheer cream. It's too sheer to wear on it's own, in my opinion, so I'm glad I stamped over it. This is Konad plate M71. I love the lace pattern, it's very pretty and striking.


What do you think?

Ciate Mini Mani Month Day 2 - Dangerous Affair and Day 5 - Cabaret

Just a quick one...I'm officially useless, I can't keep up with swatching every day!

So, here are days 2 and 5 of the Ciate Mini Mani Month!

The top picture is three coats of Dangerous Affair 013 - you know I love a classic red and this one is beautiful.

The second picture is three coats of Caberet 046, a fairly muted sort of purple. It's nice but not outstanding.

Both are with Seche Vite topcoat.


So I guess I need to amend my statement...I'll do my best to swatch the polishes as they come, but I'll probably end up doing the ones I like best ;)

Deborah Lippmann Razzle Dazzle over Nails Inc Queensgate Mews

Here are tonight's nails...after struggling to foil off a Mirrorball glitter polish, guess what I went and put straight on...

Beautiful though, huh? It's two coats of Nails Inc Queensgate Mews, a deep red, with one coat of Deborah Lippmann Razzle Dazzle on top. As always, basecoat is Essie Trillionails and topcoat is Seche Vite.

There are so many Deborah Lippmann polishes I would love to try. This is the only polish I have, and I really love it. It's like ruby slippers...


What do you think?

Nails Inc, Models Own - Lazy Blogger! Also, La Roche-Posay

Wow I've been rubbish at blogging recently! I'd like to say that I've been busy doing amazing things, but I can't think of any (unless you count making forts out of the incredible huge box our new bed came in, more of which later...)

Anyway, I'm back, and as usual I have a few different manis to show you!

Nails Inc Chalk Farm with Models Own Freak Out!

Nails Inc Henrietta Street

Exposed in Mystic with Nails Inc Electric Lane accent

Nails Inc Berkeley Square with Butter London The Black Knight tips

Oh...and me in the box ;)

So, there's a catchup of all the nails I've worn recently. I promise to try and be good and upload as I go. You'll be pleased to see that I've shared a picture of me in the box too. Seriously, it's better than the bed!


Also, recently I've been using La Roche-Posay skincare as my skin has a bad time every winter (I was designed for warmer climes, without doubt) and it's really very good. Just thought I'd mention in in case you happen to be reading and suffering from the same problems as me - oily forehead and dry cheeks are the issue. Also, some really painful spots. I've been using La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo as well as their toner and Micellar water, and I've just ordered Effaclar K. So far, so good. My skin is calmer and smoother, and the spots have stopped flaring up. It's a big deal for me, as I have always had very good skin in the past, but now I've reached the grand age of 28, something has changed!


The recommendation came from Ruth Crilly at A Model Recommends, so I'm very thankful to her!


The only other thing I wanted to mention was that I'm very excited to start opening my Ciate Mini Mani Month calendar soon! I'll be blogging it as I go.


That's all for now - if anyone is interested in more details on the skincare, or the polish, just leave a comment below! Thanks for reading.

Nails Inc Motcomb Street

Tonight I used Nails Inc Motcomb Street. It was another Lucky Dip polish and I really like it.

This is two coats, over Essie Trillionails basecoat, under a coat of Seche Vite topcoat. It's the darkest of midnight blues, so dark that it looks black until you see it in good light. I was intending to stamp over this, but I had one of those stamping attempts where you mess up a single nail about a million times, so I gave up and left it as it is. It's kinda nice though, so shiny...


What do you think? Are you a fan of dark polish?

Nails Inc St Pancras, Heddon Street, Prince Albert Road, plus galaxy nails!

I have many manicures to show you! I've been lazy and not blogging much recently, but the nails always get done! I'm on a bit of a Nails Inc kick at the moment, having purchased a Lucky Dip from their WEBSITE again.


Here they are:

Nails Inc Heddon Street

Above: Nails Inc Heddon Street. This is one that I've shown you before, but I love it! It's so shiny and lovely. 2 coats.

Nails Inc Prince Albert Road

Above: Nails Inc Prince Albert Road. I just got this polish as part of a Nails Inc Lucky Dip. It's very hard to photograph but really nice. I would describe it as a dark purple with very fine silver particles. This is 2 coats.

Nails Inc St Pancras

Above: Nails Inc St Pancras. Another Lucky Dip polish. One of 'those' reds. Just perfect. Smooth, shiny and classic. 2 coats here.

Above: A third take on galaxy nails. These are a bit more muted than some of the ones that I've done before. I don't like them as much, but I guess they're okay. I might try some totally different colours next time. They don't take long at all, but they're quite effective. I was thinking about doing a tutorial, actually.

As always, these manicures all use a basecoat of Essie Trillionails, and a topcoat of Seche Vite.

So that's me caught up with the last few days worth of nails. I post them as I go on my Instagram (@shepaintshernails) but I should definitely try harder to blog them!


(Oh, and finally...hi Emma! Thanks for always reading.xx)