Haute Chocolate by Sally Hansen

This is a polish which is truly gorgeous in the bottle.  It is a chocolately molten brown with stands of silver running through it.  I could look at the bottle for hours.  The colour does not quite translate to the nails though, it goes on a more reddy brown colour than in the bottle I found. 

It does have quite a metallic appearance though and would make a fantastic Autumn colour (what is is with all these polishes I try lately that would be great in Autumn - I bet I'll end up wearing summery colours in the Winter!).

I found the polish applied streaky on the first coat, but evened up on the second.  Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure polishes have a wide applicator brush and it does make them easy to apply in fewer strokes.  I did find that this colour did start to wear on the ends of my nails though after only 24 hours, but I think its because of the dark colour, the wearing tends to stand out more.  However it was for this reason I took it off after two days because once it starts to wear on the ends, it annoys me. (Hey its not like I don't have any other polishes to replace it with!!).

Next up is Heath Street by Nails Inc.
Until then,
Lealea x

Grey Matter by Rimmel

I bought this nail polish in a bid to find a light grey polish that I liked.  This is much lighter than the Grey by Barry M, similar I think to Eel Skin by Sally Hansen.  The colour is quite light, maybe not as light as I would like but its a nice colour.

This is a fast drying 60 seconds nail polish from Rimmel and I would say that it does live up to its name.  Coupled with my Insta Dri top coat from Sally Hansen and this was a finished look in about 20 mins (usually I would say leave nail polish for up to an hour before it becomes truly dry even with Insta Dri top coat).  It also has the wide applicator brush which is supposed to mean you can do your nails with one swipe of the brush.  Maybe with my little finger yes, although I do end up getting it on the side of my finger too but no way with my thumbnails which usually need at least three swipes.  It is an easy to use brush though so I don't mind.

Again not a colour I would choose to wear in summer, this again is more an Autumn colour I would say.

This is the end of the G's - next we move on to the H's.  I'm cooking on gas now with these colours, I might even get to the middle of the alphabet before the two tiny humans I am growing make their appearance and interrupt my nail polish flow!

Next up is Haute Chocolate by Sally Hansen.
Until then,
Lealea x

Grey - Magnetised by No. 17

Last time I wore magnetised nail polish, I didn't bother with the magnet effect, and just wore the colour, which I really liked.  This time around I thought I would use the magnet as I had just taken off a grey polish and so wanted to distinguish between that grey polish and this one.

Grey Magnetised nail polish from No. 17 was the first magnetised nail polish I bought, around last christmas time.  I love the effect that this magnet gives, the curved pattern gives your nails an almost 3D effect.  I get a lot of comments on my nails when I am wearing magnetised polish, a lot of people ask if they are fake or stick on as they don't quite look real.

I must confess I always find it easier to do one hand than the other, I always seem to have one hand where the effect is fab, and the other hand where the effect is not so good.  I must be more adept with the magnet with one hand more than the other.  I also find that my thumbnails are quite wide and the magnet effect does not always reach the sides.  It doesn't detract from the overall look though.

All in all, I really like this polish and the colour and effect it gives.

Next up is another grey (I'm nearly done - honest!) - Grey Matter by Rimmel.
Until then,
Lealea x

Grey by Barry M

I bought this nail polish last Autumn.  Grey is not a colour I would normally think of wearing (its a bit boring really).  However I really like this colour.  Its a dark grey/blue colour - really nice for Autumn.  In my opinion, it is the perfect colour for wearing with jeans and a flannel shirt (my staple Autumn clothing!).  Its a shame then that I got to this colour in summer, when it was actually quite warm here (doesn't happen often!).  Oh well, thats what happens when you decide to let the alphabet dictate your nail polish choices!

As with all Barry M nail polishes, the polish is easy to apply, great consistency and coverage.  I find nail polishes tend to last about three days on me before they start to wear on the ends or chip and this one was no exception.

Lovely colour, lovely polish, buy it if you can.

Next up is another grey colour - Grey Magnetised by No. 17.
Until then,
Lealea x

Green (Magnetised) by No. 17

I decided to something different with this polish so instead of wearing it with the magnetised finish I decided to just apply a couple of coats and wear the colour without.  It is actually a lovely colour and great finish without the magnetised effect.

The green is a nice creamy metallic (if that makes sense!) and goes on opaque after just one coat (although two coats make it much more even).

As much as I like the magnetised finishes, I actually enjoyed wearing this polish without and its great that with this polish you can mix it up like that and have two different ways to wear the polish.

Next up is Grey by Barry M.
Until next time,
Lealea x

Grays Anatomy by Wet n Wild

This is another polish I was sent by an American friend.  When I opened the package and found this polish inside I couldn't help say "wow".  This polish is amazing in the bottle.  It is a duochrome polish which is a mixture of grey, green and purple. 

In one light the polish is a greeny grey on your nails, in another light its light purple.  My four year old was fascinated watching it change colours depending on where I moved my hands (and I found myself staring at it at lot too!).

My only complaint is that it is very thin.  It took four coats to achieve anything like average coverage and in some lights I could still see the whites of my nails underneath the polish.  I only have a couple of Wet n Wild polishes as they are not available over here and this is the first one I have tried so I don't know whether its this polish or just typical of Wet n Wild polishes in general.

In any case, I urge you to try and find this polish if you can, it is pretty special.

Next up is Green (Magnestised) by No. 17.
Until then
Lealea x

Gorgeous by Sinful Colors

I was sent this nail polish by a lovely friend in America, so I don't think that its available over here.  I cannot tell you how much I love, love, love this polish.  It so lives up to its name.  It is absolutely gorgeous on your nails.  The polish is a beautiful teal blue/peacock green. 

I was worried it would be very thin to apply as other Sinful Colors polishes I have tried have been.  Not so this one, it went on beautifully in two coats and gave amazing coverage. 

I had so many compliments while I was wearing this polish, it is so vibrant you can't stop staring at your nails whilst wearing it.  I did not want to take it off.  I think this is one I would wear again and again and again.  Hats off to my friend, she did me proud picking this one for me!  If you are in America you must go and buy this immediately (if its still available), if you are in England look out for it on ebay, find yourself a friend in America to send it to you or plan yourself an American holiday just to buy this polish.  It is that amazing!

Next up is Grays Anatomy by Wet n Wild.
Until then,
Lealea x

Gold Effects by Barry M

This is a crackle polish which creates a shatter look on your nails.  I only have Barry M crackle polishes so I don't know what other brands are like.  I find with the Barry M polishes that they are quite thick so the crackle effect itself is raised up from the nails. 

The last time I used my Black Effects crackle polish I wore it over the last nail polish I wore which was a yellow (Big Yellow Taxi by Ciate).  This time though, the Gold Effects polish comes alphabetically after Gold by Barry M, so slightly pointless to layer the Gold Effects over the top.  So I broke protocol and layered the crackle over the Maybelline MNY polish I wore previously.  This is the effect it gave...

It is ok, not greatly dramatic I think.  It probably would look better over black more than any other colour.

I can't say that I am a huge fan of the crackle polishes (again I've only ever tried Barry M so I can't speak to the effects given by other brands).  I find the premise much nicer than the actual effect.

Next up is Gorgeous by Sinful Colors.
Until next time,
Lealea x

Gold by Barry M

This is an old Barry M polish, I've probably had it for about 5 years or so.  I think I bought it for a christmas outfit as gold is not my favourite - I much prefer silver as I think it suits my colouring better.

This gold has very fine flecks of gold glitter in it, giving it a bit of a shimmery effect.  My main complaint about this polish is that it is very thin and takes a lot of coats to achieve anything like an opaque coverage.  I put three coats on and really a fourth would have been better to give better coverage.

Like I said, I don't think that gold polish suits my colouring, but I do like the shimmery effect this polish creates.  If gold is your colour, this is a good polish.

Next up is Gold Effects by Barry M.
Until then,
Lealea x

Glitter by No. 17

This nail polish came with a free gift from Boots No.17 when you bought another product.  It is just a clear nail polish with fine glitter of red, green and silver sparkle.  The polish itself has a very strong smell, a bit like paint stripper which is a bif off putting. 

The glitter is ok, but not something I would bother about buying if it hadn't come as a free gift.  My four year old loves it though, she loves wearing sparkle over other polishes so maybe I will keep it for her use only.

I wore this over the previous MNY polish, and you can just about see it on my nails.  Brown is not the best colour to wear it over though, it probably needs something light like a light pink or pale yellow to show it off properly.

Next up is Gold from Barry M,
Until then,
Lealea x

Maybelline MNY polish

Ok so the title of this polish does not start with a G I know.  This is because I mistakenly thought that the Maybelline MNY polish that I bought was called Gemey Paris.  However having examined other MNY polishes I noticed that they were all actually called Gemey Paris and just had numbers to distinguish the colours.  Oops - my bad!

I actually bought this polish from Poundland for £1, so I can't complain too much.  In the bottle its a lovely mixture of brown polish with a very finely milled gold glitter mix.  It really shines in the bottle and I thought it was going to look beautiful on the nails.  Nope.  When will I learn that what is in the bottle does not always translate to the nails.  On me it just looks like brown polish.  Bearing in mind I wore this during the little heatwave we had here, it was just totally the wrong colour to be wearing, it would be more suited to a cold Autumn day.

Next up is Glitter by No. 17.
See you then,
Lealea x

Aqua Glitter by Barry M

I went on a bit of a mad glitter kick a couple of weeks ago as Superdrug had a deal on Barry M nail polish and I had just figured out how to take glitter polish off my nails using the tin foil trick.

I thought this polish was going to be like Red Glitter and Blue Glitter from Barry M which is a coloured polish with coloured glitter so you get block coloured polish on your nails.  Not so with this.  The polish is actually clear with aqua glitter so even after four coats, you could see all of my nails under the polish.  It really needed another colour underneath it first, but there was no way I was busting out the tin foil to take it all off to start again after using four coats in the first place. I must confess though I only wore it for a day before I had to take it all off as I couldn't stand it being so see through.

The colour is actually really pretty, but you could have to find a similar colour to go underneath it, as it might detract from the aqua colour if you got the under colour wrong.  Such a shame.

Anyway enough of jumping backwards, onto the G's now!

Until then,
Lealea x

Fuschia by L'Oreal

I bought this polish a couple of years ago as I was trying to replicate a Jessica polish that I'd had at a professional mani/pedi.  Unfortunately I never bought the Jessica polish at the time and never found out the actual colour used so could not buy that specific one.  To be honest I'm not sure what spurred me to buy this polish, the colour is really nothing like the Jessica polish I had which was much more red.

This polish is ok, the colour is a dark burgundy colour, but nothing special.  The polish goes on ok, but nothing to get too excited about.  Not a shade I would pick to wear often I don't think as I have others that are much nicer.

(Sorry about the quality of the photo, taken from my phone as I did not have access to my usual camera).

It lasted a while without chipping, so thats one good thing to report.

This is the last of the F's - next up I am jumping all the way back to the A's (naughty me!) to try Aqua Glitter by Barry M.  Then its onto the G's.

Until then,
Lealea x

Fantasy Fire by Max Factor

This nail polish has been all around You Tube and the beauty bloggers as one of the IT nail polishes of the spring/early summer.  My lovely MIL bought this for me as a Mothers Day present back in April, so I have been really excited about trying it out myself.

The polish is a duochrome of red and purple and in the bottle it is amazing.  In one light its purple, another red, so, so pretty.

On the nails though, its another story.  It took me four coats to achieve anything like a good coverage and you could clearly see all of my nails underneath.  The polish is so thin.  It really needed another colour underneath but I wanted to see the true colour of this polish so I stuck with it.  The polish itself does translate as a red/purple colour but because it was so thin, the impact was not as amazing as it could be.  It seems such a shame to have to wear it with another colour underneath as this might change the colour of the polish from that in the bottle.

So all in all its nice but not as amazing as it could be.

Next up is Fuschia from L'Oreal.
Until then,
Lealea x