Illamasqua Paranormal Collection UV Nail Polish 'Omen'

Last Sunday, I attended Illamasqua's monthly Beauty School Drop-In, at Selfridges, Birmingham. More about that soon!

And of course, I couldn't walk away from the Illamasqua counter empty-handed...

Illamasqua have just launched their new Paranormal Collection and from seeing a sneak peak of the glittery UV polishes in last month's Company Magazine, I knew I had to have some!

I used my BlanX White Shock LED light to check out the UV effect, wow!

I'm not usually a fan of green nails, but Omen, the green, glittery polish from the Paranormal Collection, really stood out to me! It's a gorgeous colour. The other colours available are Ouija (pink), Séance (purple) and Geist (a clear UV topcoat). I already have many pink and purple polishes, but I would love to try these Paranormal polishes too!

I love the display!

The Polish:

Omen is a beautiful light green, glitterful polish.

It is UV, as are all the Paranormal polishes.

The shade reminds me of Ariel, The Little Mermaid's fin. And anything mermaid is a winner with me!

I'm in love with this polish!

This is my second Illamasqua nail polish, but I definitely plan to buy more soon! You can read my review of Scarce, the speckled polish from the I'mperfection Collection, here.

Illamasqua polishes are a little more expensive than the usual high-street/drugstore brands, such as Barry M and Models Own. Retailing at £15 each, the price is high but you definitely get what you pay for, great quality! The price is the only reason that I didn't buy all 4 of the Paranormal polishes.

Here's the polish...

and here it is, after 5 days! I rarely keep polishes on for more than 2 days but I love Omen so much, I kept it on the whole week!

It only started to chip on day 5, so impressed, great wear!
Only 2 coats were required for good coverage.

What do you think of the Paranormal Collection?

Do you like green nails?

xXx

Primark Mini OPI Minnie Mouse Dupes

Remember OPI's Minnie Mouse collection? How about dupes at just £2 for 4 polishes?!

During my 18 polish spree in Newcastle last month, I was rather excited to find these super-cute nail polish minis in Primark. I had to have them. I also got another set, which I am about to try out.

The set includes 4 polishes: a bright Barbie pink, a shimmery darker pink, a reddish pink and a light pink glitter filled with hearts.

Primark's mini sets are a bargain, at only £2 for 4 polishes, you can't really go wrong. I never imagined they would be so good though, very impressed!

I decided to use all 4 polishes and created a lovely, cute look:

I will say, the hearts were a 'mare to apply! They just would not stay on the brush, so were difficult to get out. That is my only issue with the set.

Quick drying, with a great finish and just 2 coats used!

This is my second set of Primark mini polishes and both have been really really surprising in how good the polishes are, especially at such a bargain price.

£2 for 4 mini (6ml) polishes

xXx

Revlon Girly Nail Polish

Yes, I've bought another nail polish.

On Saturday, I went to Birmingham with my work friend, Erika. I'll be honest, we made the 1 hour journey to Birmingham, mainly to admire Ryan Gosling in The Place Beyond The Pines! (which was great, btw) Birmingham was the nearest showing, shocking. We'd already been sad about missing Zac Efron in The Paperboy, due to there being NO showings anywhere near Shropshire...

So, we decided to make a day of it! We had a lush lunch at Revs on Broad Street, then watched the film, before heading to the Bullring for some shop browsing. I was very good and resisted breaking in to my savings to buy anything, only purchasing Revlon's Girly nail polish, as a little treat. I'd wanted it for a while and when I saw £2 off, I couldn't resist.

Girly is a gorgeous, well, girly, pink/lilac base with different shades and sizes of glitter.

I used 2 coats.

1 was a little too sheer, the base colour didn't really show.

A second coat added that extra colour and glitter.

This would be nice layered over a lilac or pale pink polish.

Removal was awful, as expected from such a glitter-filled polish. (A lot of effort when I'd only had it on my nails for just 24 hours! - I removed it to try out another recently purchased polish.)

This is my first Revlon polish but there are more that I have lusted after for a while, I just never buy from Revlon, not sure why...

Currently on offer, £2 off at Boots, priced at £4.49

Have you tried Revlon nail polish? What is your favourite?

xXx

Models Own Mirrorball 'Boogie Nights' Polish

Yesterday I reviewed Models Own Dancing Queen, from last year's Mirrorball collection, today I bring you Boogie Nights.

This is the last of my recent nail polish purchases (until I buy more polish, which no doubt will be very soon…).

If you read yesterday’s post, you will know that the Mirrorball polishes are amazing, sparkly wonders. However, I did have a problem with Dancing Queen being gloopy. Thankfully, I did not have the same problem with Boogie Nights, I was very easy to apply.

Boogie Nights is a gorgeous mix of purpley-pinks, gold and blue glitters in various shapes and sizes.

I used Boogie Nights over my faithful Barry M Black Nail Paint, love the finished look. These photos were taken a couple of weeks back, before I filed my nails in to claws. I used 2 coats, 3 on my thumb nail, to see how it looked with an extra coat. The last photo is just 1 coat.

There are still 2 polishes from the Mirrorball collection that I do not own, Disco Inferno (gold) and Hot Stuff (pink). These don't appeal to me as much as the other three but who knows, I may end up buying these soon, to add to my crazy, ever-growing polish collection!

Models Own polishes cost £5 each and are available from Boots and Models Own.

There are often offers on, so keep a look out for these.

I got mine on buy one, get one half price from Boots a few weeks ago!

Have you tried Models Own Mirrorball polishes?

xXx

Models Own Mirrorball 'Dancing Queen' Polish

Another nail review today. I've been going a bit nail polish crazy recently!

A few weeks ago, I made a last minute lone trip to Manchester. I had considered going, then on the day, my friend from Newcastle phoned to say that he was going to watch the Man United match, so I decided to have a day out and go catch up :)

Whilst he watched the match, I went to browse the shops of Manchester. Manchester is pretty good for shops and I particularly love Affleck's (formerly Affleck's Palace). If you are ever in Manchester, definitely go check it out. The Northern Quarter is a very cool place.

Me being me, 'browsing' always ends up with a naughty treat or 2...

So, whilst in Boots, I decided to pick up a nail polish as a little treat. I did actually go in for shower gel, so I got some Soap & Glory Clean Girls too.

I chose Models Own Mirrorball polish in Boogie Nights but I've always wanted Dancing Queen too, so I stood there, deciding which to get, before putting one down, then realising that there was an offer, buy 1 get one half price, PERFECT! I picked Boogie Nights back up and headed for the tills.

I'm a massive fan of glittery nails and the Mirrorball collection is really something else!

Each polish has a variety of different shades and shapes of glitter in a clear base polish.

I already have Freak Out!, which I bought when they first came out last year.
I will review Boogie Nights soon.

Dancing Queen:

I usually layer this type of polish on top of black, as I love black nails and it seems the most obvious choice of base colour but with Dancing Queen, I decided to switch it up and try it over a nude shade, Nails Inc Kate from the LE Royal Wedding polish collection. I love the end result.

This is Nails Inc Kate alone:

I must say, I found application of Dancing Queen rather tricky! I only used 1 coat, so the coverage was great. However, the polish was very gloopy and also took a long time to try. You can see on the photos that it doesn't quite look perfect, there are bubbles and hair strand marks across the polish. I'm guessing I have polish and glitter somewhere in my hair but I can't see any...

I didn't have this issue with Freak Out and Boogie Nights. Whilst they were not overly smooth to apply, they were nowhere near as troublesome as Dancing Queen. I did wonder whether it was down to the base of Nails Inc Kate polish but I could see how gloopy/sticky Dancing Queen was when opening the bottle.

Despite the application and the little imperfections, that are not visible without close inspection, this is a lovely polish. A colleague commented on them today, saying "GOOD NAILS!" and both my mum and sister complimented them last night. I think Dancing Queen and Nails Inc Kate go great together and look good with a clawed nail.

Models Own polishes are available in Boots and online at www.modelsownit.com

Have you tried Models Own Mirrorball nail polish?

Has anyone else had the gloop issue?

xXx

Seventeen (17) Rock Hard Nail Effects Review

Last Saturday afternoon, after a morning of hill walking and running, followed by spending 50 minutes of my precious time on the phone to Orange, I became bored, in need of a plan. Time was getting on... So, I decided to drive to Westfield Merry Hill, on a lone adventure to 'browse' shops, NO SPENDING!

(As you can already tell, I failed!).

The centre was open 'til 7pm, so after just over an hours drive, I arrived with an hour and a half left to 'browse'. I went to Boots, to admire all the lovely make-up and noticed that Seventeen (formerly 17) have released their own version of textured nail polish, Rock Hard Nail Effects.

I recently reviewed one of Barry M's new textured polishes, which was great. The difference with Seventeen's offering is that they are more dark, edgy, rock chick shades, as opose to Barry M's pretty spring/summer girly shades.

I had to own one, or two...

I stood there a while, deciding between black and grey (there is also red and navy but they didn't appeal to me), before realising that there was an offer. Oh, an offer. Now I must buy both! Such has been the situation with the previous 4 nail polishes that I purchased recently. Sucker for an offer.

I had just under £10 of Advantage Points, hoorah! This made a guilt-free purchase.

£3.99 each, or buy 1 get 1 half price. So I paid £5.98 of points for both.

Here's some photos of both shades:

Seventeen Rock Hard Nail Effects - amazing!

This polish is perfect, creating eye-catching, edgy, dark, rock chick, gothic nails.

The polish feels more gritty than Barry M's Textured Nail Paint, but in a good way. You can also tell it is grittier. The end result is more matte than Barry M.

Just as the bottle says 'Matte textured nails in just 2 coats!'

Application is great, so smooth to apply, fast and only 2 coats required!!

Strangely, when I was applying the polish, it had a scent different to normal nail polish, quite a pleasant scent...

More photos:

I'm really loving the whole textured nail thing and think that it will be big news this year!

It's great that more purse-friendly brands like Seventeen and Barry M are releasing them, as a cheaper but equally as good version of more high-end brands offerings.

What do you think of textured nails?

An update for anyone who read my Barry M Textured Nail Paint review - the polish was fine to remove, I was pleasantly surprised. I did worry it might be a nightmare, like glitters are but no, all good :)

Seventeen's textured polishes are also pretty easy to remove, as I took the black off last night to try the grey!

Seventeen Rock Hard Nail Effects are available now on Boots website and instore.

xXx

Barry M Gelly Nail Paint 'Greenberry'

In my last blog post, I reviewed one of my 2 new Barry M nail polishes, Atlantic Road Textured Nail Paint and now I bring you the second polish, Greenberry Gelly Nail Paint.

Greenberry is one of 4 new Gelly shades, all four of which are perfect spring/summer shades, just like the new Textured Nail Paints.

2 coats, fantastic application and a lovely smooth glossy finish.

I am IN LOVE with this shade. Seriously, it is the most beautiful green/turquoise! Bring on the summer!

I already have one polish from the first collection of Gelly Nail Paints, Pomegranate, which I got when they first came out. I'm not overly fussed on the shade and wish I'd got a different one but again, as with this one, it is a great product.

I love the 4 new shades, they are gorgeous. Dragon Fruit (Pink), Papaya (Coral), Lychee (Nude) and Greenberry (green).

I originally planned to buy Lychee but when I saw Greenberry in store, I had to have it! I will most probably buy Lychee very soon. Dragon Fruit is lovely but I have many pink polishes and rarely wear pink. Papaya is pretty but looks quite like a couple of polishes that I already have (H&M Minnie Mouse and No7 Spice look similar).

There are still a couple of shades that I would like from the old Gelly collection too.

Really, if I had the money, I would buy every Barry M nail polish (and pretty much every other Barry M product...). Oh, a girl can dream!

Boots currently have an offer of buy 2 save £1, so I got both for £6.98.

Barry M's new Gelly and Textured Nail Paints are available now in Boots, Superdrug and online at www.barrym.com

Have you tried the new Barry M Gelly polishes?

To add to these 2 new polishes and my growing collection/obsession...yesterday evening I went to Merry Hill, as I was bored so decided to browse shops...I ended up making a few purchases and 2 of those being more nail polishes. Oh dear! Keep tuned for reviews on those very soon :)

xXx

Barry M Textured Nail Paint 'Atlantic Road'

When I heard that Barry M were releasing some textured nail polishes, I was very excited! I love that Barry M are always thinking of and bringing out new products. Barry M is a brand that I have loved for so long, their products are always great and their prices remain cheap!

I almost purchased one of Nails Inc's Concrete nail polishes during my Boxing Day spree in Liverpool but did not want to part with that much money on a product that I may not like, so Barry M is a great alternative.

Barry M Textured Nail Paints were released in Superdrug last week (13th Feb) and in Boots yesterday (20th Feb) - so I made a lunch break trip to Boots, of course!

The shades are great for summer, with Atlantic Road (blue - as in this review), Ridley Road (mint green), Kingsland Road (light pink) and Station Road (yellow).
The names come from famous haunts where Mr Barry Mero began his early working days in the markets of South and East London - what a great idea.

Originally, I planned to get Ridley Road, but in store, Atlantic Road stood out more. I like Kingsland Road but I have so many pink polishes and rarely wear pink. Station Road, I tried to find cool but it just isn't working for me. It's a very umm shade. I'm not sure if I like it or not really. Yellow nail polish...

The shades remind me of Barry M's Ice Cream collection.

Application was easy. I used 3 coats. 2 coats was good, but the third coat added that extra bit of texture.

At first I was not overly blown away, I painted my nails last night and only did 2 coats to begin with...but once adding a third coat this morning and seeing the polish in the daylight, I LOVE IT!

What I did notice (which you can see in my last photo) is that the third coat that I did last night (thumb nail) doesn't look as textured as the other nails (that I painted today). I think that the start of the polish isn't great but once you have used it a little, it is more gritty/textured. Perfect!

The polish has a glossy finish, which seems weird with a textured, rather gritty polish but it works and really adds something.

When I say gritty, don't think this leaves nails rough, it doesn't. It leaves a very soft gritty texture on the nails.

You know a nail polish is good when a stranger compliments it! The salad girl in Subway today noticed them through the glass and said she loved the shade and asked what it is.

This really is a fantastic polish.

(Note - I haven't tried removing it yet...)

I may have to purchase some of the other shades...

I have bought a fair few nail polishes already this year but hey, a girl can never have TOO many nail polishes :)

Barry M Textured Nail Paints are available in Boots, Superdrug and online at www.barrym.com

I purchased mine from Boots, they have a deal on, save £1 when you buy 2 Barry M Nail Paints.

I'll be blogging about my other new Barry M polish in the next couple of days. It's one of the new Gelly shades :)

Have you tried textured nail polish?

What do you think of textured nails?

In other, non-nail related news, I have booked a night in a hotel in Edinburgh! Yay :) 4 weeks time, I'll finally be venturing in to Scotland! Exciting times. I have so many adventures planned over the next month, I can't wait.

xXx