Spring/Summer Nails

I thought I would do a post on some of my favourite Spring and Summer nails, because there are lots of lovely colours and trends out there at the moment and I thought I would share a few of my favourites. I'm really loving pastel colours for the Summer because I think they look lovely with a tan, and lean towards more dark, sultry colours in the Winter when I'm a bit paler. The first one I'm going to review is the Bourjois 10 days no chips nail polish in 25 - Macaron which is a coral kind of colour. I'm not sure I would say it went 10 days chip free as mine chipped after about 3 and then I took it off because I really don't like chipped nail varnish. However, my nails do seem to be especially prone to chipping so it might last longer on someone with stronger nails. Overall, I really love the colour and the formula of the nail varnish. I bought it for £5.99 from Boots and it was one of two new shades, 25 and 26 - Guimave, which is a lilac colour, which is also lovely but is similar too other nail varnishes I have already got. 

25 - Macaron - Bourjois 10 days no chip nail polish

The colour looks pinker than it actually is in real life but it is still a really lovely coral colour, with a really lovely thick formula. However, the brush is angled and it took me a while to get used to it because I have fairly narrow nails, but regardless of the brush it is still one of my favourite nail colours for the spring. 

My second favourite colour for the Spring is Powder Pink from the range Nails Inc made for InStyle which came free with the June issue (which cost £3.80 and a normal Nails Inc polish costs £11.00 in Debenhams so as it was full size it was definitely worth buying). It is more of a lilac/pink than a pale pink, and is a lovely pastel shade. The formula is also absolutely lovely in the Nails Inc polishes, and creates a lovely opacity after two coats and is very shiny. I love it when magazines pair up with good brands to make good freebies with issues. I own three Nails Inc polishes, all that came with magazines and I will definitely be buying some from a Nails Inc counter at some point because I really like the formula. 

Nails Inc for InStyle - Powder Pink

Another really lovely colour is one I have already reviewed ( see here for a full review) and is a MaxFactor Mini in 20 - Mellow Yellow. Although it takes about 4 coats to reach any sort of opacity, the coats dry very quickly so doesn't take too much longer to do. I wasn't overly keen on this at first, but I have had lots of compliments about it and now I have got used to it, I really like it!

20 - Mellow Yellow from MaxFactor Minis - Top - with flash, Bottom - without

Another really lovely Spring colour is 346 - Capri from Essie and it is a lovely powder blue. I have used it before on my Simple Nail Art post and it is really lovely. It is one of the first Essie nail polishes I bought and it is such a nice colour and the formula is good, although it definitely requires two coats to be opaque. 

I did not realise how many favourite Spring/Summer nail polishes I own, so I think this will have to be a two part post, so look out for part 2.

xxx

The make up of make up artists ... :)

Recently I have bought a couple of the mini nail polishes from Maxfactor. They are sold in both Boots and Superdrug, but they are currently £1 off in Superdrug at the moment  (£2.99 instead of the standard £3.99). I really like the concept for mini nail polishes because although I do generally use all of my collection a lot, I still haven't ever finished many bottles. Nail varnish lasts a really long time! Or it goes gloopy before you finish it which is even more annoying (quick tip: apparently if  you put a drop of nail varnish remover in the nail varnish it can help make it less gloopy).  Both stores I went into had a really good range of the nail varnishes, and I have collected four so far; 05 - Sunny Pink, 14 - Dazzling Blue, 20 - Mellow Yellow, 43 - Odyssey  Blue. 

L-R - Dazzling Blue, Odyssey Blue, Mellow Yellow, Sunny Pink

I  thought I would include a picture to show how small they are. To be fair, models own nail varnishes are quite large but just don't be put off if you were expecting bigger; in my opinion they are still worth buying. If you would prefer a larger bottle, Maxfactor 10ml nail varnishes costs £5.99, but they aren't the same colour range. The first colour I tried is the Mellow Yellow. It's probably my least favourite of the four colours and it takes a good 4 coats to reach the level of opacity I like, but my boyfriend said he really liked it and I think it would be really good for summer. 

, 

It was also fairly chip free for a couple of days, which on my nails is quite good because my nails seem to chip like nobody's business. 

This is one, Odyssey Blue, is probably my favourite of the 4. It is a really nice glittery blue but it does also need a fair few coats. I think in this picture I have applied three coats as well as a base and top coat. 

This one is 'Sunny Pink' and is probably the most sheer, and in this picture I have applied 4 coats, but I do really like it and definitely don't regret buying it.  Also, because the individual layers are so sheer, they dry quite quickly, so it isn't too much hassle having too apply so many coats. 

I really like this colour too (Dazzling Blue). It reminds me of the sea and mermaids :)  In general, these are all really easy to remove but Odyssey Blue is harder because of the glitter. Overall, I would definitely recommend these to anyone really; they are good for people who don't wear nail varnish that often as they are so small, but are also good for people who have loads already and want to try something new.

xxx

My first exam is tomorrow  morning! AAAAARRRGGGH! Wish me luck :) xxx