National Nude Day Swatches

Happy National Nude Day! I went on Instagram this morning and saw Barry M post it was National Nude Day. I'm a HUGE fan of nude nail polishes so I wanted to jump on the bandwagon and do a post about some of my favourite nudes. 

I have a very large amount of nude nail polishes, it's a bit of a problem. But in all honesty, it's my favourite colour to wear all year round. These are the four I grabbed from my collection, there are definitely all amazing, but I couldn't say which ones are my all time favourites. 

I'll start off with Toasted Almond from Let It Glitter. 

Let It Glitter! is a Dutch indie brand that I'm a little in love with. Toasted Almond is a very pale peachy pinky nude. It's the perfect shade for my skin tone. It looks really elegant and sophisticated and a great palate cleanser from all the neons I've been wearing. 

The application is super easy. I only used 2 coats for the swatch. The first coat is a little on the sheer side, but with careful application it's streak free. The second coat covers everything up. 

It dries super glossy and definitely no need for a topcoat. 

Next is a bit of a more expensive polish. This is Dior Lili. 

It's the only Dior polish I own and it's amazing. Dior retails for £18.50 which is definitely a little too pricy to own more than one! 

This is another stunning, elegant, sophisticated, chic nude. This is more beige-y than the previous one. 

Dior polishes come with a very wide brush, similar to the European Essie's, so application is incredibly easy. 

I used 2 coats for the swatch. Again it dries super glossy so no need for a topcoat. 

If you read my blog, you'll know Kester Black is a huge love of mine. Kester Black is an Australian indie brand. 

This is called Nude. And surprisingly it's a nude polish!

This is very similar to Dior Lili, but a shade lighter. 

The formula was a little sheer so I used 3 coats for the swatch. Again it dries super glossy so no need for a topcoat. 

Last up is OPI My Very First Knockwurst. 

OPI is another brand I love, and I think I own the most OPI's out of any other brand. 

Pinky nudes like this look best with my skin tone, but doesn't look as elegant as Toasted Almond or Lili. They're great if I want something that's hardly there and very subtle, but better than naked nails. 

This had a great formula. I used 2 coats for the swatch. I was quite careful as this could easily get a bit streaky. 

It dries glossy so I didn't apply a topcoat. 

These are some of my most reached for nude polishes. What are your favourite nude polishes? 

xx Elaine 

Polished By Leanne Swatch & Review

I've been following Polished By Leanne of Instagram for a while now and I decided it was time to try out some of her polishes.

When I ordered she has an offer if you spend over a certain amount you will get a freebie. I haven't swatched that one yet, so it'll show up in a later post sometime!

The three polishes I bought are Nice Ice Baby, Under The Sea and Sky High.

Polished by Leanne is a new UK Indie brand. Leanne sells a lot of gorgeous glitter combos and has just come out with a brand new holographic collection! If I hadn't just bought a whole bunch from Freckles Polish, I'd definitely buy them!

First up is Nice Ice Baby.

This is a super super super light pale blue. It's so light that it almost looks like a white! I love these types of off white shades and they're perfect for all year round.

It has a very smooth easy formula. It's not too thick or too thin. It has great coverage on the first coat, but it was a little streaky. It would be fully opaque if you used a thicker 2nd coat, but I do quite thin coats. I would recommend 2-3 coats for full opacity. It dries quick and glossy.

More swatches & review after the jump!

Mani Swap with @PolishIsTheNewBlack

About a week ago Rachel from @PolishIsTheNewBlack asked if anyone wanted to do a maniswap/bestie twin nails with her. I seriously love her account. She's a fellow UK nail girl who does incredible nail art. It was so difficult for me to choose which design to do, but I ended up choosing this floral design. It's something completely different from anything I've done before.

She decided to recreate my glittery mermaid scale mani (which I'll blog about in a later post... mu blog is a little behind!).

I love how hers turned out, and do you see those cute little seashell studs?!?

Luckily for me, Rachel had a tutorial of her mani on her page ;)

I started off with a pink base of OPI Pink Friday. I love this pink because it's a light pastel shade, but still very very bright.

I then added some green grassy bits. I found out that I don't have a proper grass green in my collection..... I guess I'll have to go shopping!

Instead I used China Grass Grass Is Lime Greener. It's hard to see in the photos since it's so light, but it was more visible in real life.

Following Rachel's tutorial I then added the flowers.

For this I used one of my top 10 nail polishes. This is Mecca Cosmetica Timandra. Mecca Cosmetica is an Australian brand that creates Artistry Nail Polishes, amongst many other beauty items. I miss that store!

Anyway, back to the design.. I drew the flowers and then I used OPI Pink Friday again to colour them in.

Next up is the blue-y bits. I first added some tiny dark blue dots using Mecca Cosmetica Cobalt, and then went over it with Kester Black Forget Me Not.

I finished it off with a red Mecca Cosmetica (I forgot the name) and added some dots in the middle of the flowers.

I'm obviously very technical with all my terms.

I gave it some time to completely dry and I added a glossy topcoat. I then added some star studs on my index and pinky fingers as I didn't have the same shape she used.

How cute are these nails though?!?

Check out @PolishIsTheNewBlack on instagram for more beautiful nail art!

Sunday Swatch Day (1)

I want to start something new on my blog and Instagram where, along with my swatches and nail art, I post weekly posts. On Sundays I want to do Sunday Swatch Day and on Friday I want to do Friday Favourites! This is inspired by someone I follow on Instagram and I completely forgot the name of! When I remember I'll post it!

Anyway so for Sunday Swatch Day I want to go through my collection and swatch nail polishes that I haven't used in a while. This way I'm making use of all my polishes and none of them are just standing there unused, and it always gives people a change to look at completely different polishes!

My very first Sunday Swatch Day and I'm already late posting... I did manage to post them on Instagram yesterday, but didn't have time to write the blog post. I decided to start off with Leighton Denny.

I love the brand Leighton Denny. It's quite an expensive brand, the nail polishes are £11 for a 12ml bottle. They are available online and in some M&S stores. The majority of mine are from TKMaxx. About 2 years ago, when I started my nail polish obsession, I always found these in TKMaxx, but I haven't seen them for a long time unfortunately.

All Leighton Denny polishes I've tried have an incredible formula. They're all very smooth, easy to apply and very minimal streaking. They dry to a super glossy finish and dry quick. I have never been disappointed with any of the colours.

First up is Shipwrecked.

This is one of my first ones and I still love it! It's such a gorgeous.. I don't really know how to describe the colour!

Online it's listed as an "acid green cream polish". It's kind of that in between a pale yellow and a pale green, yet still being very bright.

This came out a couple of years ago and it's actually on sale for only £6.60 at the moment!

I used 2 coats for the swatch. It applied incredibly smooth and easy. I didn't apply top coat. The photo doesn't even do justice as to how glossy it really is!

Next up is Blue Lagoon.

I believe this was part of the same set as Shipwrecked from TKMaxx. It was 3 polishes for £14.99.

This is the most perfect blue with a hint of turquoise. I love the description on Look Fantastic.com

"Think warm sandy beaches, crystal blue water and desert islands with this Leighton Denny Nail Colour in Blue Lagoon; this seasons must have shade, teal and turquoise are fused together to create this exotic blue shade. Yummy!" 

Isn't the perfect description?!

I used 2 easy coats for the swatch, no topcoat.

The third colour I swatched is my favourite pink of all time. This actually is my most used nail polish (other than white, top and base coat). It's down to the O in Leighton!

 This is the perfect shade of pink. It's a very sweet light pink, that's bright but not in your face.

Anyway this is called Babydoll.

Here is the description from BeautyExpert.com

"Baby Doll gives an effortless dreamy summer feel with high impact results."

Another perfect description!

Again I used 2 coats for the swatch and no topcoat. I was very careful with my application, making sure not to over work the polish. I would recommend 2-3 coats.

Next up is Viva La Diva, a super vibrant gorgeous red.

As you can tell from the bottle, this is not as creamy as the others. This has much more of a crelly formula. I still used 2 coats for the swatch but if you look closely you can see my visible nail line. It's only very subtle so you can really tell and it definitely doesn't bother me, but if you want it to be fully opaque I'd recommend 3 coats.

Again the formula was incredible. No issues and it dried super super glossy.

I think this might be the only polish I actually paid full price for!

This is Get Your Côte.

"This electrifying azure blue is sublime summer skies for your nails, giving you a cutting-edge catwalk look that wont go unnoticed. This bright and breezy blue is fun, wearable and traffic stoppingly stylish."

Yes I totally agree.

This is even more gorgeous in real life than in the photo. It's a really vibrant azure blue that pops off your nails.

I used 2 coats for the swatch, although it could be fully opaque in one thicker coat.

Last is Leading Lady.

i have a couple nudes from Leighton Denny. My favourite is Honey Trap, however I've used this one fewer times than Honey Trap, so decided to add this one instead.

This is a pinky nude.

" a future classic - an elegant, sophisticated nude that combines sumptuous dusky pink with a delicately chic hint of grey."

Pinky nudes suit my skin tone so beautifully and I can't get enough of them!

Again super easy application, 2 careful coats and no topcoat.

Leighton Denny is a bit more of a higher end nail polish brand. They retail for £11 for a 12ml bottle. It's also a bit of a lesser known brand compared to OPI, Orly, Essie and China Glaze. I'm not sure why it's not talked about because the formula on each and every one of these is perfect. Leighton Denny claim to be High Performance Nail Colour and they definitely are. Swatching them makes me want to buy more! They're such a reliable brand!

Color Club Halo Hues 2013 Holographic Swatches

Recently I have been obsessed with anything holographic, so I finally bought the Color Club Halo Hues. This is the collection that came out in 2013 and it's amazing.

It consists of 6 darker darker linear holographic polishes.

This post is going to have more photos than writing because I don't want to keep repeating myself.

Each swatch has 2 coats plus topcoat. The formula on all of them was amazing. Some holos have a tricky formula where the second coat pulls the first coat creating bald spots. I had absolutely no issues. They're very opaque, smooth and easy to work with.

They dry with a dull shine, so I applied topcoat. It doesn't need topcoat.

They're all extremely holographic, it doesn't even need to be in direct sunlight to see it.

All photos are taken with a flash, apart from the close up macro shots and if stated otherwise.

All swatches & Review after the jump!

CM Handmade UK Nail Art Leopard Print

CM Handmade UK is an indie brand located in the UK. They are a fairly new nail polish brand but have some amazing polishes. Anywhere from cremes to crelly's to holos.

I received a few polishes from them to review and decided to create some nail art!

I love the way leopard print mani's look, but I feel like I can never pull them off. These, I actually really love!

Products Used:

CM Handmade UK Perble

CM Handmade UK Vanilla Bean

Essie Ignite The Night

Barry M Nail Art Pen Black

Dotting Tool

I used Perble (purple) and Vanilla Bean (nude) as the base for the leopard print. I love these two colours and they really compliment each other. 

They both have a fantastic formula and only need 2-3 coats for full opacity. 

The glitter is called Ignite the night by Essie. 

This is a dark silver glitter with some coppery bits in there too in a clear base. It's a really beautiful glitter combination and it's incredibly dense. I used 2 coats.

I used a dotting to to apply some random dots on my middle and ring finger. I then used the Barry M Nail Art Pen to draw some random lines around the dots. So simple! 

xx Elaine 

Frightfully Spectacular Swatch & Review

Lolly from Frightfully Spectacular asked me to swatch one of her nail polishes. This is a brand I hadn't heard of before. Frightfully Spectacular is a brand new UK based indie nail polish brand selling alternative and steampunk inspired collections. I love the fact that this is a bit more of an edgy brand, you definitely won't see any of these cute pastel neons. Instead Lolly has created stunning duo chrome shimmer polishes and glitter combos.

Check out her shop for all her polishes here!

All of the polishes are 5 free and cruelty free. They retails for £5 for a 10ml bottle.

Lolly asked me what my favourite polish colour is. I told her anything but I love blues and purples the most. The polish she sent me is both blue and purple! Perfection!

This is Story.

It's a dark dusty blue base with a gorgeous purple shimmer.

I wore this polish two different ways. The first few photos show 3 coats on its own, and the later pictures show it over a black base.

For these first 3 photos I used 3 coats on its own.

The first coat was very sheer. It almost made my nails look very badly stained by a blue polish. The second coat really deepened the colour but there was still a bit of my visible nail line.

The third coat again deepened the colour and made it completely opaque.

The purple shimmer is very apparent and it almost makes the polish look like it's glowing from within. A really beautiful effect.

I added a topcoat to the swatch. The polish dries with a dull shine, definitely shiny, but I love mine to be even more glossy. Adding the top coat also enhanced the purple shimmer.

Here is one coat of Story over a black base. The colour is completely transformed!

Instead of the blue dusty base with the gorgeous purple shimmer, it's now a bam in your face bright purple shimmer polish. It looks like it also has a hint of blue shimmer too.

I love the polish both ways, but I think it's more unique without the black base. It's a very soft colour whereas with the black base it's much louder.

Story has an incredible formula.

Although it is quite sheer, it's very easy to build up.

It was a dream to apply. There was no streakiness or bald spots. It dried very quickly too making it easy to apply the three coats.


To find out more about Frightfully Spectacular, check out their Facebook and Instagram pages.

Freckles Polish Neon Watermarble

 With all this hot weather in the UK, I want want to do is wear neons! One of my favourite neons recently has been Jelly Shoes by Freckles Polish.

This is such a bright pink, and nothing like any other pinks in my collection. For a full review of click here!

I have been really into watermarble recently. Something about summer and hot weather just tells me to watermarble!

Products used:

Barry M Coconut 

Kester Black Sugar Daddy

Freckles Polish Jelly Shoes

Nails Inc Optic Glow (2014)

Nail Mail Mess Free Mani (Liquid Latex)

I started off painting my pinky and index finger using Coconut by Barry M. This is a slightly creamy off white polish. I also painted Sugar Daddy by Kester Black on my ring finger and middle finger. 

I've been seeing a lot of watermarble where people have used a clear polish over glitter. I have done it before and loved the results. 

Nails Inc Optic Glow is a very very very sheer pink polish and it's fantastic for water marbling. 

I think the final result looks so cool! But I wish I was better at creating shapes and designs. 

Check out Freckles Polish on Etsy and Instagram! 

xx Elaine

CM Handmade UK Nail Art Gradient

CM Handmade UK is an indie brand located in the UK. They are a fairly new nail polish brand but have some amazing polishes. Anywhere from cremes to crelly's to holos.

I received a few polishes from them to review and decided to create some nail art!

I have been obsessed with gradients recently. They're so easy to do and look so impressive!

Products used: 

Barry M Cotton: White base

Nail Mail Mess Free Mani: Liquid Latex

Primark Cosmetic Sponge

CM Handmade UK Lucite (green)

CM Handmade UK Perble (purple)

CM Handmade UK Vanilla Bean (nude)

Leighton Denny Angel Dust (silver glitter)

Ulta3 Stop The Press

Hema Fast Drying Topcoat.

More info and swatches after the jump!

Neon Gradient with Nail Mail Stencils

I am a huge fan of creating gradients. I think it's the easiest nail art to create and it always looks so impressive!!

To make it even more impressive I used nail stencils from Nail Mail. Nail Mail is a UK nail stencils company to help you create difficult designs with an easy stencil!

For this design I used the Moroccan Vintage design.

To find out how I've created this design keep reading! 

Shop Eighty4 Pastel Neon Flowers Nail Art

My blog mainly focuses on swatches and reviews, however I also have an instagram (@elaine.nails) which also includes a lot of nail art!

I love nail art, but I go through phases where I take a brake and just paint my nails 1 colour. Right now.. I'm in a nail art phase!

I created this pastel neon gradient floral nail art design using Barry M and Shop Eighty4 nail polishes.

I started off creating an all black and white floral design.

I used Barry M Cotton as a white base.

This is my favourite white polish and even though it's still relatively new to my collection, you can already see a clear usage line.

With careful application this is opaque in just 1 coat! So it's great to use under nail art. If I wear the polish alone I'll usually use 2 coat, but under a gradient or other design I use 1 to save time and layers.

I then used the Barry M Nail Art Pen in Black to add some flowers. I just placed 5 dots in a circle to make a flower. Super easy.

I really liked the design but felt like it needed some colour.

I decided to add a gradient on my index and pinky finger used 3 pastel neons from Shop Eighty4.

I used Cotton Candy (pink), Lasha Lavender (purple) and Powder Puff (blue).

To create the gradient I used a white base of Barry M Cotton and applied a topcoat so the polish won't pull up with the gradient.

I applied the 3 colours onto a cosmetic sponge. I buy mine from Primark, the cheapest seem to work best for me! I then dabbed it onto my nails. I applied 2-3 "coats".

I also used a dotting tool to add colour to the centre of the flowers using the same colours as the gradient.

I finished it all off with a topcoat. I use a fast drying topcoat from Hema. It's amazing.

I really love this design, it's super easy to create and great for the spring.

xx Elaine

Freckles Polish Holographics Haul & Swatches

Freckles Polish is a UK indie brand who sent me a few polishes to review a couple weeks ago. I fell in love with the polishes so I bought a few more! Julieann, the creator of Freckles Polish, makes some amazing holographic polishes. I literally want them all, but unfortunately I have to pay rent :(

I bought 4 polishes. From left to right: Papa Legba, Blue Lagoon, The Seven Wonders and Birthday Suit.

Full size bottles of 10ml cost £6.50, and minis of 5ml cost £3.50.

First up is Papa Legba.

This is a stunning deep blood red linear holographic.

I didn't have any sun on the day of swatching these so this is a photo with flash. In real sunlight (macro shot coming up) it's much more holographic.

This is inspired by the TV show American Horror Story.

More info and swatches after the jump! 

Let It Glitter! Haul & Swatches

Let It Glitter is a Dutch indie brand created by Suzanne. I'm seriously in love with her polishes, but unfortunately I can't afford to buy every single one.

To check out my first haul click here!

I picked up a few random polishes. Three are from her new Anniversary collection, and I have 3 randoms.

I'll start off with my favourite.... and the most difficult polish to photograph. EVER.

This is Soulmate. This is from the Anniversary Collection.

It's a really bright neon medium warm toned pink. It's unlike any other pink I own. The picture isn't 100% colour accurate, but it's as close as I could possible get it. I actually swatched this 3 times on 3 separate days. It was frustrating.

Luckily it has an amazing formula.

I used 2 coats for the swatch. The coats are super easy, smooth and streak free. The second coat fully covers up the nail line.

It dries to a semi matte finish so I did apply topcoat to the swatch.

More info and swatches after the jump! 

Freckles Polish Swatch & Review Part 2

I received half of the Back To The 80s Collection by Freckles Polish to review a few weeks ago, and I loved them so much I decided to buy the other half of the collection! Check out the first half here!

Freckles Polish is a UK Indie brand run by Julieann. She's created some amazing holographic polishes and I literally want them all. Spoiler alert, I also bought some holos which'll be in a different post.

The Back To The 80s Collection consists of 4 neons and 4 complimenting holo polishes. This post will include the purples and the yellows.

First up is Get Off My Bum ... Bag.

This is a beautiful bright warm toned purple. I love it!

I used 2 coats for the swatch plus topcoat

The first coat was slightly streaky and there was still a clear visible nail line. It's fully opaque in 2 coats. The second coat also brightens the colour.

It dries very very quick, so you have to be careful with application. It dries to a matte finish.

I compared it to China Glaze Violet Vibes from the Electric Nights collection and Ulta3 Spring Break.

As you can see Get Off My Bum ... Bag is much brighter a pink toned.


More info and swatches after the jump!

Free Nails Inc Polish with InStyle Magazine

This month Nails Inc is giving away four free nail polishes with InStyle magazine. It's a great combination of brights and pastels so there's something to suit everyone!

There is a gorgeous minty green, a red, pink and a purpley grey. The pink and red aren't very unique, and as you'll see from my comparisons coming up, it's easy to pass those up. The other two shades are great and I'd definitely recommend them.

First up is The Tide Is High.

This is a gorgeous mint which leans slightly more blue than green. It's beautiful and my favourite of the 4.

I used 2 coats for the swatch.

It was streaky on the first coat but the second coat covered everything up.

I did do 2 very careful coats, I think this could easily be a 3 coater, especially on my other hand!!

I compared it to Optic Wave from a little over a year ago.

Optic Wave is 1 of 3 polishes that I actually have a back-up of.

The Tide Is High is a much lighter version of Optic Wave. I think both are equally beautiful.

More info and swatches after the jump!