My Favourite Nail Varnish Brands

Following on from my favourite make-up products post, I thought I would share my favourite nail varnish brands, and what it is that I like about them!

ESSIE

Essie is possibly a little bit overrated in my opinion, I'd read that you only needed one or two coats and it definitely didn't live up to that for me, it also takes a while to dry. BUT on the up side, they do come in some awesome colours, and if you have the time to sit and wait for the layers to dry, it does have a great finish.

BARRY M

Again, Barry M takes a few coats, but I do love the colours that they sell. Their gold is actually really quick to dry though, and my new favourite is a gold foil effect varnish called 'Treasure Chest' which is perfect for the Christmas season!

MAXFACTOR INFINITY

This is my go-to varnish when I don't have a lot of time. It dries SUPER quick, and you can get away with just one coat if you are really in a hurry. The only downside is that it does start to chip quite quickly, but I'm sure you could prevent this with a decent base coat and top coat.

RIMMEL LONDON

Rimmel is by far my favourite brand of nail varnish, there are loads of cute colours, it dries pretty fast, the brushes are a good shape and the finish is always great!

What's your favourite brand of nail varnish?

Laura xXx

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Nail Art - Gold, Mint and Pink

Last week my nail art took inspiration from the colour scheme of this lovely tassel garland. Pink, mint and gold! I think its a lovely combination, don't you?

Supplies Used;

• Barry M - 320 - Foli Effects
• Rimmel 60 Seconds - 262 - Ring a ring o'roses
• Essie - Mint Candy Apple
• Nail Stickers

I went on a little mini adventure in Pip this week to Dorset,  on the way home we went to see Guardians of the Galaxy, which was super mega awesome! I can't wait to do my film review on that one? What have you been up to this week?

Laura xXx

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Gradient Nail Art

I have seen lots of tutorials for gradient nail art recently, but they all seem to use a sponge and look rather messy. Also, I didn't really have a suitable sponge, so I found an alternative solution. This tutorial shows how to create a gradient by mixing clear varnish with your chosen colour on tin foil, and layering it over the top. Gradually you will add more of the colour to the mix so that it gets darker towards the top. 

It was a little annoying having to re-mix the varnishes for every coat, but all in all it was quite easy. I started off using a make up brush as the tutorial suggests, but I found that this dried out too quickly. So instead I started using the brush from one of my old clear polishes that I don't use any more. This worked much more smoothly.

Supplies:

• Rimmell- Peppermint
• Mavala - Pistachio
• An old clear polish
• Seche Vite top coat
• Tin foil - to mix together the varnishes

What do you think? Does it look as good as the ones that use the sponge technique?

Laura xXx

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