I've seen so many blog posts over the last 48 hours from girls in the UK who have also been taking advantage of the polishes on offer on the high street, and I just had to get in on the action. Below I've listed all of the polishes that I've acquired over the festive period, and I've made a personal promise to myself that I cannot buy any more nail related items until after my birthday (which is in February). Mr Sparkle Shine is going to have to restrain me, or buy them for me :)
Models Own Diamond Luxe Collection
This one was on offer in Superdrug, and it was a steal at only £4.99 for four polishes from the collection, all presented nicely in a 'luxury' gift box with gold striping tape and a gold cuticle pusher. I have seen quite a few reviews and swatches of these polishes, and unfortunately nothing grabbed me enough to go out looking for them on their own, however I couldn't pass up such a good deal. I don't have many MO polishes in my collection, but what I do have definitely do not disappoint - much like Barry M they have a great consistent application and strong pigmentation. I'm looking forward to trying out these polishes soon.
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| Models Own Luxe Nail Polish Collection. Available at Superdrug. |
Ted Baker Perfectly Polished Gift Set
I came across this whilst scouring Boots shelves for Soap and Glory products (I love S&G stuff!), and just thought it was soooo cute! It's an adorable house shaped presentation box with three very pretty polishes, a white nail art pen, and some cute nail stickers with little houses on them! The nail transfers remind me of where I live - Bristol - as the buildings are all painted in different colours and appear to be 'stacked' up (I've posted a picture of houses in Bristol for those who don't know what I'm going on about!) Originally, this set should have been £14, but in the sale it had been reduced to £7. Bargain! I popped back into Boots today and not surprisingly they have sold out of this little gem. The colours of the polishes are all very girly with a pretty pink, a creamy silver and a subtle coral. I've not yet tried any Ted Baker polishes, so I'm not sure what they are like, but I used the nail art pen briefly yesterday and the quality seems good. As with all Ted Baker products, the presentation is just lovely and is quite sophisticated. I think I'll keep these polishes in their little house!
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| Ted Baker Perfectly Polished gift set. Available at Boots. |
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| The beautiful city of Bristol that I now call home :) |
OPI
OPI are a brand that I am really just starting to get into. The main problem with OPI is that they are just too damn expensive, however I cannot fault the quality of them at all. I am so pleased with the polishes I have bought this season!
I got 'Destined For Grapeness' from TK Maxx for £12.99. The set includes Vant To Bite My Neck? and Miami Beet, as well as a sparkly OPI bracelet. The colours are very vampy, which I like, and they go well together although are quite dark. I probably won't use these on their own as I like my nails to be a bit brighter, but they are great accent colours.
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| OPI Destined For Grapeness gift set. Available from TK Maxx. |
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| Teal Me Something New |
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| This Blue Is So You! |
Essie
I really wanted to try out Essie polishes and had no idea that Superdrug have such a big collection! I have been wanting mint candy apple as it is a soft green that I just adore, so I bought a bottle alongside flawless and created the below mani (inspired by this manicure by The Nail Art Project). My version is nowhere near as neat and tidy, but I was pretty happy with the result!
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| Not the best artwork ever (or picture), but I love this mani! |
Ciaté
I love, love, love the bottles of this brand! The little bow makes me smile, and they look so pretty as a collection that I was super excited to find some in TK Maxx this afternoon. Mr Sparkle Shine wishes that he had spotted the wonderful 'Mini Mani Manor' before Christmas for me as it is the perfect advent calendar for any lacquer lover! The Ciate Mini Mani Manor comes in the most beautifully presented box, with 24 little windows to open, each giving a new mini bottle of polish. There are so many hidden treats in this set that I don't even know where to start! As well as some beautiful standard polishes, there are glitters, pearls, nail transfers, sequins and a 'secret' standard sized nail polish under door number 24 - a spectacularly sparkly silver glitter polish with different sized pieces of holo glitter - perfect for NYE!
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| The amazing Mini Mani Manor box :) |
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| Look at the cuteness! |
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| All of the pretty polishes included in this set. Available from TK Maxx. |
The thing I love the most about this (apart from the gorgeous box), is the fact that this is a perfect starter kit for those wanting to try a new brand. For me, Ciaté are a brand that I have never really had the opportunity to explore, and now I get to try out a variety of colours and styles of theirs that would have cost me a fortune to buy individually. This set was amazing value at £18.99, and I just love that it includes sequins, pearls and transfers too :) I'll definitely be looking out for nail-related advent calendars next Christmas!
I also couldn't resist buying a couple of full size Ciaté bottles too, so I picked up mojito which is a lovely bright (but not in-your-face) green, and sugar plum, a soft lilac.
Barry M
Anyone who knows me will be aware of my love for all things Barry M. After first discovering this brand years ago while I was at university I instantly fell in love. I can only think of one Barry M polish that has let me down (Burgundy Croc Effects just didn't cut the mustard for me), but all of the others I have tried have been amazing. As I mentioned earlier in this post, Barry M have a wonderful way of making all of their polishes the perfect consistency for easy and streak-free application. I love all of their collections - Classics, Aquarium, Silks, Hi-Shine Gellies, Matte, and my new favourite Glitterati! Out of all of my nail varnishes, Barry M is definitely the brand I own the most of (46 in total, although I'm sure I have more stashed away somewhere!!) After embracing whole-heartedly the new Glitterati collection, which is amazing (I think I'll do a blog post about those polishes soon), today I thought I would tone it down a bit and purchased the Autumn/Winter collection, which is a lovely set of muted, earthy, rich colours. I fell in love with the names of these polishes, and have seen some amazing designs on Instagram that incorporate the colours so well, so I'm excited to try them out. The collection includes Mustard which is a colour I haven't seen elsewhere, and it matches my mustard colour gilet from Next that I bought a couple of years ago - happy days! I do like to be co-ordinated!
Brit Nails blog is one of my favourites, and there is a fantastic swatch and review on there of this collection (Allie's photos are amazing - I really need a decent camera!) To check it out, go to this page.
Here are the colours in the collection - aren't they unusual?! I'm so used to grabbing bright and girly colours that these are a refreshing addition to my stash! From left to right: Chilli, Chai, Cardamom, Mustard, Paprika and Cocoa. Gorgeous! (No idea what's happened to the formatting of these pictures...)
That's it for now. Sorry for the heavy post, I was just a little too excited about my recent additions that I had to share!
