L'Oreal Confetti Topcoat

L'Oreal Color Riche Top Coat in Confetti: £4.99

I actually forgot I had this top coat until it came to choosing a fresh nail colour this morning. After deciding on the top coat I then had the terrible task of choosing which colour to put under it. I chose them all! I decided to go for the same look every other blogger went for when this top coat came out. How original. But the mini egg look is just so cute!

Confetti is a clear top coat packed with white and black matte glitter in two different sizes. L'Oreal also offer this in three different colours: a gold, a silver and a white glitter, but the black and white reminded me of the Illamasque Speckled nail polishes that came out around Easter time. This one sits over any nail polish though.

I paired mine with BarryM Blue Moon, Avon Lemon Sugar, Avon Pastel Pink, Essie Mint Candy Apple and American Apparel L'Esprit. The perfect pastel combination. It won't last long on my nails though, I think it looks pretty, but all the different colours are far too fussy for my taste.

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Essie Mint Candy Apple

Essie Mint Candy Apple: £7.99

This is only the second Essie polish I've bought. The first being Turquoise and Caicos which I picked up in LA this time last year when Essie still wasn't available in the UK. If you are familiar with both of these shades you will know they are ridiculously similar. Mint Candy Apple is only a touch lighter and mintier green than Turquoise and Caicos and a much more summery shade. I've been lusting after this shade for ages and I'm so glad I've finally bought it. It's definitely ranked up there in my top 10!

I hadn't experienced the new Essie brush applicators since my last Essie purchase was before the switch up. The new brushes are much wider and fuller than the old ones making applications easier and quicker. You could get away with only one coat of this polish but old habits die hard and I swear by my two minimum. 

My next Essie purchase is going to be Fiji. What are your favourite Essie shades?

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Nails Inc. Denim & Stud

Nails Inc. Denim and Stud: £19.00*

Nails Inc. claim their Denim and Stud set 'is a beautiful textured indigo shade that applies glossy and dries down to a classic denim effect finish.' It certainly does just that. It applies like an absolute dream and dries a textured blue in one coat. I waited to blog about this because I noticed after a days wear a silver shimmer appeared which I found very pretty, and I wanted to see what else happened. The texture also wears down to a smoother finish after a few days, but I for one quite like textured nail. In terms of chipping it still looks fresh as the day I painted them. Ten points!

This set includes the denim effect polish with the denim effect cap, a number of silver and gold stud embellishments, nail glue and cuticle sticks. I personally didn't like the studs. I just couldn't get on with them and they snagged on everything and just fell off. I reapplied them twice in the time I wore the polish and after a day they were ripped off.

Overall I really liked this product. I'd definitely give the studs a miss next time though since they snagged all of my tights! I know for a fact I wouldn't have paid £19 for it, even as a set, but if you are after something a bit different or for a gift for a nail art fanatic  then this is perfect.

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BarryM Gelly Hi-Shine in Lychee

Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint in Lychee (£3.99)

The Gelly Hi-Shine range boasts of being 'a highly pigmented, chip resistant formula with a glossy gel like finish in just one coat'. I totally agree! I painted mine on Friday and moved house Saturday, but five days on they still look shiny. I did give mine two coats but I think that's just a force of habit and nothing to do with the product. 

Lychee was one of the original four shades to be released by BarryM and I was always drawn to this colour in particular. I think some nail colours can make my hands look terrible, but it's the perfect nude for my skin colour in a beige-y colour with the tiniest hint of yellow.

These come with a £3.99 price tag which is excellent for the quality and a much cheaper alternative to a gel manicure. At least this way you don't have to put up with the same colour for two weeks. They are stocked at Boots, Superdrug and I have seen them on Asos, so quick go get yourself some!

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Essie Nail Lacquer Turquoise & Caicos

 Essie Nail Lacquer Turquoise & Caicos (£7.99)

I picked this up in LA on a whim and I think this is only the second time I've wore it. I don't really know why I picked this colour, greens aren't really my favourite nail colours, and Essie do much prettier shades in their nudes and pinks.

Considering the price, which is probably the most I would pay for a nail polish, I found this shade very thin and watery and it took two coats for it to opaque, which is partly why I layered it with my American Apparel Supernova. (Partly because I can't go a week without having some form of glitter disco on my nails).

I'd definitely love to try some of their other shades just to compare. Fiji and Ballet Slippers are shades that look really pretty and elegant.

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Bourjoir So Matt Top Coat

 Bourjois So Matt Top Coat (£5.99)

This is one of my favourite purchases this month. I saw the Top Coat advertised on the Bourjois facebook page when I was in LA and it was on my to-buy list for when I got back. I'm not sure when it was released but it must be popular since every Boots I went in was out of stock until I popped into the one on Oxford Street. I can't find this on the website but in stores Bourjois nail products are 2 for £8 at the moment.

I personally think this product is amazing, I've wanted to buy Matte polishes for ages but this way it saves you buying the same colours matte and shiny. You apply your base colour, wait for it to dry and apply the top coat. I found that if I blew my nails they dried slightly streaky, so I recommend just leaving them to dry naturally.

My friend who has already used it says it doesn't chip, but as like normal top coats, it wears off, you can see the shiny polish underneath it, so reapplying is a must, but I reapply normal top coats anyway. I would so recommend this, even if it is just as an update to old nail colours.

 

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imPRESS Press-on Manicure

 imPRESS Press-on Manicure Tweetheart (£7.99) *LFW

This is the first time I've used false nails of any sort, and I always thought they'd be fiddly and hard to pick things up but I actually haven't found them that hard to get used to.

I had this pre-judged idea that with them only being press-on, they'd easily flick off and I'd have little red nails flying everywhere, but I'm impressed. They claim to last a week, and so far they've been on since Monday night and have managed two shifts at work without losing any.

The one thing about them that bugs me is that because they are press-on, the sticky bit underneath that doesn't sit on my nails gathers all sorts of dirt. My pet hate is dirty nails, but it's not as obvious because of the colour.

My pack of nails were in a gift bag so don't seem to have a name or number on them, but after looking on the Boots website, the Tweetheart colour look like the most similar, if not the same. These are definitely something I would recommend and would purchase again.

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BarryM Mint Green and Rhinestone Crosses

BarryM Mint Green (2.99) Rhinestone Acrylic Gems Gold (99p)

 My friend Alicia had just had these rhinestones delivered from eBay so when I went to hers, I was excited to try them out. Surprisingly, they weren't too fiddly (we only lost a few that flicked off the tweezers). I am so tempted to buy some of these for myself because they look great. 24 hours later and they are still going strong.

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Glitter Nails: AA L'Espirit and Supernova

American Apparel L'Esprit (£9) & American Apparel Supernova (£9)

I bought these nail lacquers when I was in LA, along with a metallic one in Lilac Panache, which the sales assistant actually picked out for me, I'll do a review of that one when I've tested it out. 

Although I have seen a lot of reviews of American Apparel's nail lacquers on various blogs, I still didn't get my hopes up with them being from a clothes store and not an actual make-up brand. The AA website boasts 'one coat, opaque colour', the L'Esprit didn't fail to deliver that. The Supernova I was slightly disappointed with, it took a lot to get a decent layer of glitter on each nail as all I was getting was the clear liquid.

For me, £9 for a bottle of nail varnish is a bit pricey, although they do seem worth it. I paid about £10 for three bottles, so if you're ever in the States, I'd stock up over there.