Commander In Chic by Sally Hansen

This nail polish is supposed to be Sally Hansen's version of the cult classic "You Don't Know Jacques".  Not a colour that I own myself so I can't say whether it actually is or which one is better.

The colour is a brown/grey/green/camouflage type colour.  I can't make up my mind about whether I like it or not.  Its definitely not a summer colour, shame then that I found myself wearing this on a rather lovely sunny week in the UK.  It just made the nail polish look a little out of place.

The Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Range is a firm favourite for a lot of people.  The wide angled brush makes it easier to apply the polish in in couple of strokes.  However I did find with this polish that it was slightly streaky to apply on the first coat and it definitely needed two coats to make it even.

All in all, a nice polish for the Autumn/Winter, not a polish I would recommend wearing in the summer.

Next up I am going backwards again!  I have a beautiful blue from Nails Inc that was just calling to me!

Next time,
Lealea x

Comedy Club by Jessica

I bought this nail polish a couple of years ago when I went to a spa and had a manicure.  I loved the vibrant pink colour.  Its a blue toned pink with hints of silver in the bottle but that doesn't really translate onto your nails.  All in all I think the pink is nice, but nothing amazing.

The polish is easy to apply although is slightly thin I found.  I applied two coats and it just about enough coverage to hide the whites of my nails.  I have found that it does chip easily though, it wasn't on 24 hours before I had chipped a piece off the end of my index finger.

The Jessica range is quite expensive for me (between £8 and £9) and I can't say I would rave about it enough to have to rush out and buy more.  Its a nice enough polish to apply though and they do have a great range of colours.

Next polish is Commander in Chic by Sally Hansen.

Until then,
Lealea x

Blue Magnestised by Barry M

This is the one Barry M magnestised polish I wanted to try more than any of the others.  I just love the design of the magnet, shaped like a Union Jack, perfect for the Queens Jubilee celebrations next week.  I was so excited when I bought it, I couldn't wait to try it.

The premise is the same as all other magnetised polishes, you hold the magnet over your nail immediately after applying the second coat, wait 10 seconds and the pattern will appear.

It was such a shame then, that I was actually disappointed with the pattern this polish made.  It was hard to get the centre of the design in the centre of my nail and so on some nails the design was clear and on others it was up in the top corner, looking like I had just applied normal nail polish but really streakily. 

I loved the effect of the diagonal stripes from the burgundy polish and this design did not live up to that at all.  I hate being disappointed by things you were so excited about.  Hopefully the other two colours and patterns (silver and purple) will make up for it!

I am trying to get back on track with the alphabet now, so my next polish is Comedy Club by Jessica.

See you then,
Lealea x

Climax by Rimmel

A naughty sounding nail polish if ever I heard one!

I have had this nail polish for probably three or four years if not more, so its gone a bit gloopy and thick.  I found it really difficult to apply in even strokes because of how gloopy it was and it took several coats so make it look even on all nails.  Its such a shame as well because this is an absolutely gorgeous colour.  The purple is so vibrant, its almost a duo chrome with subtle hints of pink and green hidden within the purple.  This is part of the 60 second range, and even though its old, it did dry pretty quick (touch dry in 60 seconds maybe, but not toally dry after that time).

I don't know whether you can actually buy this any more, a quick googling seems to tell me that you can from various ebay shops, but its not on the Rimmel website anymore.  I may have to try and rescue it by putting a few drops of nail polish remover in the bottle, that might thin it out a bit.  Otherwise I might have to repurchase this (something I must confess I have never done before as I have about 150 other polishes waiting in the wings).  I love it that much though!

It lasted about 4 days before wearing off on the ends and then eventually cracking on my thumbnail meaning I had to change it.

If you hadn't guessed I love, love, love this colour and if you can track it down, its a must for any purple lover out there!

Next polish is out of sync again I'm afraid, this time its Blue Magnetic by Barry M.

Until next time,

Lealea x

Burgundy (Magnetic) by Barry M

As you know I am a huge fan of magnetic nail polishes and when I saw that Barry M were not only bringing out their own range but with different magnetic patterns on each polish I did a little happy dance! 

Unfortunately the Superdrug where I bought my recent Barry M haul (six in total!) only had the Burgundy colour so I had to settle for just one instead of all four different colours.

The premise of having the different patterns on the lids means that you can actually use the different patterns on each colour magnetic polish meaning that there are 16 different combinations you can try.  My favourite pattern of the four has to be the one that is shaped like a Union Jack, perfect to wear during the Queen's Jubliee celebrations next month I feel.

I found this polish was ever so slightly too thick and I tend to be heavy handed with my nail polish application so I had to try and be soft and gentle and not apply too much polish at once.  That is my only critique of this polish though.  It is fully opaque after one coat, although you need to apply two if you want to use the magnet. 

The magnet itself is easy to use and not once did I catch my nails with it.  I think it would work better on people who have flatter nails though, mine are quite curved and the magnetised effect does not quite reach the edges of my nails, especially on my thumb.  No matter though, it is not really obvious to anyone other than me and does not take away from the effect.

The pattern with the Burgundy is diagonal stripes.  The effect actually reminds me somewhat of a school tie, I have no idea why!

The other colours in this magnetic range are Blue, Dark Silver and Violet.  I can't wait to purchase the others and put them in my collection to try out.  These nail polishes retail at £4.99 and Superdrug currently have a 3 for 2 offer on all makeup ranges so here's hoping I can find all three I want in my local Superdrug!

The next polish in my collection is Climax by Rimmel.

Until later,
Lealea x

Nail polishes of late

So as you will have seen in my post of yesterday, I have only worn a few nail polishes over the last couple of months so instead of doing a review I will just post pics and details of those polishes.  If you want an in depth review of any of them, just let me know.

Firstly, Chocolate Shakespeare by OPI.  My apologies for the bad lighting.

City Grey by Marks and Spencer

Black Multi Glitter by Barry M (yes I know its out of sequence.  Blame Barry M for bringing it out after I had completed the B's!).

My next review will be of Barry M's new magnetic nail polishes.  As you know I am a huge fan of magnetic and so I was excited to see them in the shops!

Until next time,
Lealea x

I'm back!!! (and where I've been)

So I'm back!  Missed me? 

Huge apologies for abandoning my blog, its been a rather hectic time over the last couple of months and I haven't really been wearing nail polish over the last couple of months let alone be able to blog about it.  You see I have been off growing two small humans, and boughts of morning sickness left me with no desire to paint my fingernails!  Now that I have gotten that pesky first trimester out of the way and am feeling better, I figure its high time I continue with my nail project before the two small humans are born and I don't have time to look at my nails, let alone paint them!

I can assure you I have been keeping up with my vow though and if I have worn polish over the last couple of months it has mostly been in alphabetical order.  I must confess though I did cave last week and buy six new nail polishes (I really needed them I swear!) and a couple of them started with B so I have worn them out of order.  But they were really beautiful and just begging to be worn!

I will post again tomorrow with photos of the nail polishes I have worn in the last couple of months and my next review will be of the new Barry M magentic nail polish in Burgundy.

Until later
Lealea x