Summer Nails!

From left to right: Essence, Essie's blanc, Sephora's Formula X in Hercules, Clinique's Hi Sweetie, OPI's Drip Dry drops and Sally Hansen's 220 Cafe A Lait

Off the back of Jen's Christian Louboutin nail varnish post, I have been busting out my summer shades. I'm not one for nail art, not because I don't like it but because I do not have the patience or co-ordination to be creative. However, I love colours and bright nails make me happy! 

1. White: Classic, somewhat classy, beautiful with a tan and seems to be ever so popular with brides this summer. Move over French Manicure. However, be careful with top coats. Some can turn the white a bit beige or even a light pink. Pretty but not the white that you started with.

Essie's 'blanc'

2. Hot Pink: This will always be my favourite. Any variation from a reddy pink to a true fuchsia.

3. Nude: This is a good one for travelling when you don't mind if your nails get a little chipped from lifting cases (and carrying duty free shopping bags) because it gives nails a bit of umph without being obvious and, therefore, the chips aren't obvious either.

4. Orange: There are two times of year that I wear orange colours: Summer and Halloween. If I can resemble a Caribbean island and a pumpkin, then I'm happy.

Christian Louboutin's Escatin

5. Gloss it: Can't be bothered with the upkeep on holiday? Use a nice top coat and gloss up your nails. Bourjois 1Seconde Top Coat is my favourite.  Long lasting and gives a gel look.

A YBBF catch up and some of my spring favourites....

Never too early for a cocktail....

Last week Kay and I got together for a catch up/blog meeting, but most importantly some food and a bit of shopping. We started out with lunch at The Big Easy, a BBQ place in Covent Garden that I knew Kay would love as it has a distinctly American vibe. Personally, I love anywhere that I can get a veggie burger, fries, cupcake and a margarita for £10....

The Big Easy, Covent Garden

We then moved on to a bit of shopping and a discussion about how much we love spring, warmer weather and the generally cheerier colours that start emerging in fashion and beauty this time of year. (Kay was on the hunt for a very specific pair of hot pink heels to wear for her birthday, which sadly we couldn't find… she assures me that she has since found a beautiful alternative!) So as spring has officially arrived in London, I thought I’d share a couple of things that I have been loving this month… 

Orange nails

I don’t wear a lot of orange clothing but I do love an orange accessory; a bright handbag, coral lipstick, and in this case…. tangerine orange nails! Oh yeah. As we have been focussing on healthier choices this year, here are a few of my favourites by OPI, a brand on the 'less-chemically' end of the nail polish spectrum. You might just be able to make out my orange nails in the picture at the top although it is slightly fuzzy! We'll blame that on the dim lighting and not Kay's photography skills.....

From left to right: Juice Bar Hopping, Toucan Do It If You Try, Where Did Suzi's Man-go?

Makeup collaborations

I do love a good makeup collaboration and this spring there are several exciting ones emerging. Charlotte Tilbury’s Norman Parkinson packaging is fantastic! I am a tad bias as he is one of my favourite fashion photographers, but if you are a sucker for great packaging then you might want to check this one out. Charlotte’s eponymous collection has received glowing reviews across the board so it is most definitely not a case of style over substance. The only downside,we’ll have to wait until July for this one. Below is the best selling Filmstar Bronze & Glow Palette featuring Parkinson's iconic shot of Jerry Hall.

Yesterday saw the release of the latest in a long line of exciting MAC collaborations, this time with none other than milliner-extraordinaire Philip Treacy. He has drawn inspiration from his own work to create a collection that ‘enhance the face’s most evocative features’ – sounds good to me!

Booja Booja ice cream

Last but not least I had to include my latest food discovery. I’ve been meaning to try Booja Booja ice cream for a while and it just sort of ended up in my basket on a recent trip to Holland & Barrett. My review? Amazing! I got the Hunky Punky Chocolate flavour and it is really rich and so delicious. Best of all it only contains four ingredients; water, agave syrup, cashew nuts and cocoa powder. It might be a little on the pricey side but it is so worth it for a product that tastes better than most dairy ice creams I’ve had in the past but that is infinitely better for your health.

I think that’s all for now. Hope you are having a wonderful month so far and the sun is shining where you are!

FEBRUARY

For the month of February, we will be finding highly pigmented, long lasting makeup products that are not totally synthetic and have ingredients that are as natural as possible. 

However, no natural ingredient beigey product that smells of lavender and old people allowed! We will be testing vibrant (nice smelling!) products from Liz Earle, Bite Beauty, OPI, Bella Pierre and ILIA. 

With it being the month of lurrrve and all that Valentine's Day jazz, all products are going to be red colours, pink colours, reddy pinks, pinky reds...you get the gist. Bring on the hot pink lipstick that we can legitimately eat off our lips! Wooooo! 

Nail Varnish and Top/Base Coats

I look for two things when it comes to nail varnish – a colour that stays put for the working week and a fun colour. To define 'fun', anything from a pearlescent pink to a vibrant aqua. It all depends on my mood. 

CIATE IN JELLY BEAN:

THOUGHTS

Jelly Bean is a bright fuchsia pink is a summer staple and I like the depth of the colour. That's probably a weird thing to say but if you use it, you'll know what I mean, especially with two coats. With a good top coat, it lasts five days. Without a top coat, chipping happened after a day. 

APPLICATION 

A good size brush, distributing the product evenly. One coat will create an opaque finish. The easiest nail colour to apply.

COST

£9.00 for 13.5ml

REPURCHASE?

I might try other colours but will buy from Ciate again. Most definitely.

www.ciate.co.uk

MAVALA IN RIGA

 

 

THOUGHTS

This was a gift and I had not heard of this Swiss brand before. You can buy it at John Lewis, Boots, Feel Unique and Beauty Bay. The consistency provides opaque cover with two coats and is the most beautiful candy pink. It lasts five days with a top coat and tends to fade at the top of the nail, rather than chip. This is brilliant for a muted nail look but has more umph than a nude or for work, where bright nails might not always be the most appropriate. 

APPLICATION

The product applies evenly and dries quickly.

COST 

The product may only be small (5ml), but for £4.75, it is worth it. I have painted my nails four times (two/three coats per time) and I have only used a quarter of the bottle.

REPURCHASE? Yes, plus other colours.

www.johnlewis.com

www.boots.com

www.feelunique.com

www.beautybay.com 

NAILS INC FLORAL IN QUEENSGATE GARDENS

One coat:

Two coats:

THOUGHTS 

This had so much potential. The advertising images showed floral designed nails. Unlike other nail fads, where any texture or pattern is applied though various intricate methods, this looked easy. All in the same bottle... time saver or what?

My boyfriend looked at my nails and said 'That's a mess'. Why thank you, sweetheart. However, I couldn't have agreed more. The glitter was overwhelming for the flowers and the flowers were either non existent or piled onto the nail in twos or threes. I don't know if the more you use this, the easier it will be become. Mainly because the flowers have sunk to the bottom half of the bottle (despite energetic shaking) and so, the more that you use, the quicker you get to the glitter and flowers in a more equal distribution.

APPLICATION 

All glitter or flower central. Glitter over flowers. Lumps and bumps. Really not good.

 

COST

£12.00 for 10ml 

REPURCHASE?

Nope. I had such high hopes. 

www.nailsinc.com 

TOP COATS

Nicole by OPI Quick Drying Top Coat

THOUGHTS 

Really speedy drying time. Two minutes for touch dry, three to five for completely dry. Very useful for painting nails in a rush but doesn't preserve the colour too well and does not prevent chipping. Every time I use it, the nail colour has chipped the next day, even when wearing long lasting nail colours. However, this is perfect if you are rushing to get ready and only want your nail colour to last for a day/evening out. 

APPLICATION

Even and smooth, no bubbling. Quite 'liquidy' in consistency. 

COST

£7.99 for 15ml 

REPURCHASE? 

No, I would rather try the Orly Flash Dry Drops. 

www.superdrug.com 

Sally Hansen Double Duty Base and Top Coat

THOUGHTS

Protects the nail from being stained by nail colour and dries fairly quickly over nail varnish (five minutes touch dry). It is moisturising and seriously good at preventing chipping when wearing the Ciate, Mavala, Tanya Burr and Essie. Doesn't prevent Barry M Jelly Nail Paint from chipping after a day. Such a shame because the Barry M colours are so vibrant and eye catching. I also found that it didn't prevent the Maybelline Super Stay 7 Day Gel Nail Colour from chipping. However, I have only tried this once and I was in a mega rush, so it's not really the best test. 

Barry M 

Maybelline 

APPLICATION

For me, this product does not cause bubbling and smooths the varnish to create a glossy finish. 

 

COST

£4.95 for 13.3ml
 

REPURCHASE? 

Yes. 

www.superdrug.com

www.boots.com