Popular by Revlon

Yet another Fragrance Direct £0.99 bargain.  I saw the swatch and thought it looked lovely.  It is a pale dusty pink with tons of silver glitter particles.  On the nails though I actually hated it.  The pink is too milky for my liking, the glitter looks white rather than silver.  Just no, not for me.  My five year old might like it but I do not.

I used three coats to achieve full coverage and I must say the amount of glitter that comes out is great.  I just did not like how it looked on my nails.  At least it was only £0.99 so I did not waste too much money on it.

Next up is Red Lights Ahead...Where? By OPI.
Until next time,
Lealea x

Planks A Lot by OPI

This polish is a Fragrance Direct bargain.  It is from the Pirates of the Caribbean collection that was released a couple of years ago.  It is a gorgeous dusky cream lilac.  Although I have tons of lilac shades this is actually nothing like any of them.  I really really like.  It would be a great spring shade so I'm sure I'll get lots of use out of it then.

The formula is good, I did two coats although three would probably be better for it to be truly opaque.  I would highly recommend this polish if you like lilac/purple colours.

Next up is Popular by Revlon,
Until then,
Lealea x

Pixel Pretty by Sally Hansen

I bought this polish for £0.99 from Fragrance Direct when I did a recent purchase.  It is part of their HD collection which I do not believe was released over here.  The colour is a green metallic, quite dark.  I liked the swatch colour I saw online, I like the colour in the bottle and on my nails but I don't love it.

The formula is great and it was not streaky like some metallics can be.  It was a nice polish and for the price I paid you can't beat it. They did not have any other colours from the HD collection that I really wanted (the blue looked nice but they did not have it) but I would definitely them for that price if they did.

Next up is Planks A Lot by OPI.
Until next time,
Lealea x

Pennies from Heaven by Sally Hansen

Merry Christmas everyone!  Hope you are having a fantastic time whatever you are doing.  I am cooking Christmas dinner for eight people, fingers crossed it all goes well!

Today's polish is Pennies from Heaven by Sally Hansen.  I bought this as a free item in Boots's 3 for 2 sale as a third item (I had two and needed a third).  I saw this and thought of Penny Talk by Essie which is one of my all time favourite polishes.  It is a beautiful metallic copper colour.  It's much darker, much more bronze than Penny Talk which has more of a gold tone.  I like it, but it has not swayed me away from Penny Talk.

The formula is great for a metallic, it is not streaky and does not show all your brush strokes as some metallics do.  I really like this polish and would recommend it if you can't get your hands on Penny Talk.

Next up is Pixel Pretty by Sally Hansen.

Until then,

Lealea x

Peachy Keen by China Glaze

I have heard this polish mentioned so much by nail bloggers and on YouTube but had never seen it to buy and then a couple of weeks ago I was in my local TK Maxx and I saw it by itself on the shelf and snapped it up straight away.  It is a peach colour (hence the name) which I thought would be quite similar to Peach Melba by Barry M.  However it is nothing like.  It's very orange rather than peach and just totally the wrong shade for my colouring.  Not for me at all.

The formula was not great, it was streaky and took three coats to achieve an even opaque look.  Not my favourite at all.  Wish I had left it on the shelf now!

Next up is Pennies from Heaven by Sally Hansen.
Until next time,
Lealea x

Ocean by GOSH

I bought this polish in Superdrug in their 3 for 2 sale.  I needed a third item and saw this on the shelf and could not leave it.  It's a lovely green/blue metallic colour very similar to my favourite Gorgeous by Sinful Colors.

I've never tried a GOSH polish before although have heard good things.  The formula was good and it applied easily.  I can't say it made me want to rush out and buy more GOSH polishes but if I saw a colour I wanted I would not hesitate to buy it.

Next up is Peachy Keen by China Glaze.
until then,
Lealea x

Knitted Gold by Maybelline

This is a recently released polish from the Maybelline Color Show Brocades Collection.  It is a beautiful polish, rose gold flakes of glitter in a gold base.  I was not sure how opaque I would be able to get this on its own so I layered it over one coat of Orly's Rage.  Two coats of this on top and it gave a beautiful look.  Very good for this time of year.

The polish was easy to apply and the flakes of glitter were easy to get out and well distributed on the nail.  Let me tell you, it was a pain to get off though.  I had to do the tin foil trick and even then I was scraping little pieces of glitter flakes off my nails.  It also stained my nails orange after three days of wear and that was with a base coat.  A lovely polish but it does have its drawbacks.

Next up is Nothin Mousie 'Bout It from OPI.

Until then,

Lealea x

Nothin Mousie 'Bout It by OPI

This is from the Vintage Minnie Mouse Collection from 2012, another Fragrance Direct bargain.  This is a glitter polish with pink micro glitter and pink heart shaped pieces.  This is strictly a topper polish so I layered it over Kiss Me On My Tulips.

There is an abundance of heart glitter in this polish and yet it is so hard to get out.  I spent a good 10 mins fishing around trying to get just one piece on the brush.  I eventually managed to get enough to get one on each nail but it was way harder than it should have been.  I think the effect does look cute but my husband told me it looked like I had small chips on each nail when the light hit the hearts.  The glitter is nice and would make a nice topper to any pink or purple without the hearts.

Next up is Ocean by GOSH.
Until then,
Lealea x

Kiss Me On My Tulips by OPI

Another OPI polish from the Holland collection from 2012.  This is a standard pink cream polish similar to 20 other polishes I have which are standard pink creams.  I love this colour which is why I am always attracted to it and why I have a great number of the same polish!

The formula is slightly on the thin side and two coats was not quite enough to be opaque - you can see some visible nail line still.  At £3.99 I don't mind that this is similar to other colours I have but I would not spend full price on a standard cream pink which you could get cheaper and a better formula elsewhere (Barry M Shocking Pink for example).

Next up is Knitted Gold by  Maybelline.
Until next time,
Lealea x

Just a Little Rosti at This by OPI

Another bargain polish from Fragrance Direct.  This is also from the 2010 Swiss Collection and it is dark red cream colour.  I liked the colour although it is similar to other polishes I own.  I also put it on my toes but it is a little too dark red on my toes for my liking, I much prefer bright reds and pinks on my toes.

The formula was great and it applied easily.  I would recommend it as a nice dark red cream polish to add to your collection, but I would not pay full price for it when there are other cheaper dark red creams out there.

Next up is Kiss Me On My Tulips by OPI.
Until then,
Lealea x

Gouda Gouda Two Shoes by OPI

Yet another cheap OPI polish from Fragrance Direct - sensing a theme?  I bought quite a few!  This is from the Holland collection from a few years ago.  It is a dusty pink colour with a gold/orange shimmer which runs through.  The is obvious in the bottle, less so on the nails but it does give the dusty pink a burnished colour.  So hard to explain.  It's not an obvious colour to like but as I wore it I found that I actually liked it a lot.

The formula is great, easy to apply.  I would recommend this polish, it's a weird one but a good one.

Next up is Just A Little Rosti At This by OPI.
Until then,
Lealea x

Fabfuschia by Orly

This is one of my most recent purchases.  I bought it in a pack of two Orly polishes from TK Maxx for £9.99.  The reason I bought the polishes was not for this colour but because there was a full size bottle of Rage in the pack.  As Rage is one of my favourite polishes I could not pass it up, I only have a mini bottle of Rage so the full size bottle was a must.

Fabfuschia is a mid toned satin finish pink with silver threads running through it.  Very similar to a number of other polishes I have, but a nice colour none the less.  It did chip quite quickly, after 24 hours of wear I had chips on my thumb, but I was wrapping presents and wrestling with Sellotape so that might have had something to do with it.

The formula of this polish is nice.  The brush is a little thin but nothing I could not work with.  All in all a nice polish.

Next up is Gouda Gouda Two Shoes by OPI,

until then,

Lealea x

Excuse Moi by OPI

This is another bargain OPI polish from Fragrance Direct.  I may have bought a few but I needed them, honest!  This polish is from the 2011 Muppets Collection and is a sparkly pink glitter polish with green and gold glitter particles.  In the bottle when it catches the light it is amazing, so glittery and shiny.  It does translate well on the nails too.  I used it as a topper over Diva of Geneva and the two combined were great.

I have not tried this polish on its own so I could not say what the coverage is like on its own.  However it applied really well and gave good glitter coverage.

Next up is Fabfuschia by Orly.
Until next time,
Lealea x

Dutcha Just Love OPI by OPI

Another cheap OPI polish from Fragrance Direct.  This is from the Holland collection.  In the bottle the colour is gorgeous, a dusky deep purple with an orange/coppery shimmer running through it.  However in on the nails none of the shimmer translates so it's just a deep dusky purple.  It's ok, but nothing particularly special.

The formula is good, it applies really easily.  It's a nice polish, but I'm pleased I did not pay full price for it.  For £3.99 it's a nice polish, for full price I would have been disappointed.

Next up is Excuse Moi by OPI.
Until then,
Lealea x

Diva of Geneva by OPI

This polish is another one of the bargain polishes from Fragrance Direct.  At £3.99 the polishes are significantly cheaper than the usual retrial price of around £10.  Diva of Geneva is from the 2010 Swiss Collection and is a beautiful red/purple colour.  I absolutely loved this polish so gorgeous on the nails.

The polish was easy to apply and the formula is great.  The only downside to this polish was that I was stupid enough to think that I could take off my toenail polish without smudging this polish, which believe me is not possible, and I managed to take half the polish off my fingernail.  So stupid.  I can't wait to wear this polish again. I really loved it that much.

Next up is Dutcha Just Love OPI from OPI.
Until then,
Lealea x

Decadent by Revlon

I bought this polish a couple of weeks ago when I made a big Fragrance Direct order.  It was the most bargainous price of £0.99. I mean how amazing is that?  If I had bought this polish in the shops it would have been £6.99.  This is a Top Speed nail polish, dries in 60 seconds.  The colour is a deep blue/purple colour really lovely in the bottle and translates well on the nails.

The formula was great and it did dry quickly.  For £0.99 I would definitely buy more.  Not sure I would pay full price unless it was a colour I really really wanted.

Next up is Diva of Geneva by OPI,
Until then,
Lealea x

Congeniality Is My Middle Name by OPI

This polish is another one of the cheap OPI polishes from Fragrance Direct.  I believe it's from the Miss Universe collection from 2011.  It is a berry toned polish with a jelly base with fine glitter particles throughout it.  It looks gorgeous in the bottle.  On the nails I was not so struck, it just did not translate as well as I hoped, the glitter was not obvious enough for me.

It was easy to apply, OPI polishes have great brushes.  I do not own very many jelly based polishes, I'm not sure whether I actually like this type of formula, I much prefer cream based or metallics.  I would love to experiment with this thought to try out the "jelly sandwich" which is chunky glitter polish between two layers of jelly polish giving the impression of the glitter floating on your nails.  This would be a good polish to try this out.

Next up is Decadent by Revlon.
Until next time,
Lealea x

All Sparkly and Gold by OPI

This is one of my most recent purchases, part of an OPI mini collection set, the Mariah Carey 2013 Christmas collection.  I found it in my local TK Maxx and virtually snatched it up as soon as I saw it. It was the bargain price of £9.99 for 4 mini polishes.

All Sparkly and Gold is a glitter polish in a mid toned gold colour.  I thought this would be more of a glitter topcoat and so applied it over the top of a red polish to try to create a lovely Christmas looking polish.  What I did not realise was that this polish would actually be opaque by itself I. Two coats and so one coat over the top of a red did not give the greatest look.  Less Christmassy and more just messy.

The glitter polish applies really well and evenly.  It glitters amazingly when it catches the light.  If I had applied it on its own I think I would have really liked it.  I would recommend this as a great Christmas polish.

Next up is Congeniality Is My Middle Name by OPI.

Until next time,

Lealea x

24/7 by Sinful Colors

This polish is a bright neon pink.  Extremely bright and extremely neon.  It's very much a summer colour, more appropriate for mid June rather than mid November but I decided to rock it anyway.

The formula is a bit difficult to work with, it took three coats to make it even.  As with most neons the polish dries with a Matt finish but adding my Sally Hansen Insta Dri topcoat over the top gave it a shiny finish.  My main downside to this polish was how easy it chipped.  After two days it started to peel away in great pieces and had to be swiftly removed.  Still it was great while it lasted!

Next up I am going back to the beginning starting at the A's to review those polishes I have bought in the last few months.  First off is All Sparkly and Gold from OPI.
Until then,
Lealea x

You Don't Know Jacques by OPI

This is a very recent purchase.  I was making an order on Fragrance Direct and noticed they had OPI full size bottles for £3.99.  As they are around the £10 mark usually, I could not help adding them to my order.  Well at that price it would have been rude not to!  You Don't Know Jacques is one of their classic colours, a brown/grey/nude colour.  It's is very similar to Commander in Chic from Sally Hansen and Cappuccino from Barry M.  It's a great autumnal colour.

The formula of OPI polishes is great, the brush is easy to use and they last well on the nails.  I can feel a slight OPI obsessions coming on and I can't wait to try more.

Next up is the last of the A to Z polishes in my collection although I have several more from A to Z I have bought over the last couple of months.  The next one is 24/7 from Sinful Colors.
Until then,
Lealea x

Yellow Kitty by Sally Hansen

I first saw this polish in the nails of a beauty blogger on YouTube and it looked amazing on her.  She said it was the first yellow she had found that suited her skin tone and I thought I finally might have found a yellow that suited me too.  I tracked it down on eBay and was excited for it to come.  Boy was I wrong about this polish.  The colour is awful on me, it does not suit me at all.

I found the formula to be awful, it was streaky and hard to apply.  It took several coats to get an even colour and even then you could see my nail beds.  I disliked this polish so much I took it off within 24 hours of applying it.  I would not recommend this at all.

Next up is You Don't Know Jacques by OPI.
Until then,
Lealea x

Why Not by Sinful Colors

This polish is an amazing blue colour, so vibrant and bright.  I love it in the bottle and I also loved it on the nails, the vibrancy translated well.

The formula of this was great, it applied really well.  Three coats and it was opaque.  A lovely polish.

Next up is Yellow Kitty by Sally Hansen.
Until then,
Lealea x

Winterberry by Sinful Colors

I bought this polish about six months ago in Boots in their 3 for 2 sale.  The colour is a dusky purple/grey colour, quite interesting in the bottle.  On the nail it's a bit darker than I expected and a bit more dull and boring than I thought it would be.

The formula of the polish is a bit thin, three coats were needed to make it opaque but it's easy to apply.  The colour is nice for autumn I think and although I found the colour a bit dull, I thought it suited my colouring well.

Next up is Why Not but Sinful Colors.
Until then,
Lealea x

Wait Until Dark by Ciate

I got this polish free with Marie Claire magazine a couple of years ago.  It's a lovely deep purple colour with just a little bronze hint about it.  Very vampy and lovely on the nails.

The formula of this is good and it applies well.  I don't know whether this is readily available or was limited edition to go with the magazine but I would suggest tracking this down if you like purple polishes.

Next up is Winterberry by Sinful Colors.
Until then,
Lealea x

Watermelon Fizz by Revlon

This polish came with the set of 10 for £10 I bought from Costco last January.  It is a thin topcoat Ina pink colour rather than a full coverage polish so I layered it over Victoria by Nails Inc.  I was not too keen on Victoria on its own but layering on Watermelon Fizz over the top suddenly brought it to life. Paired together the two gave an amazing look which I loved.

I used two coats of polish to give it some depth but probably could have got away with one.  I can't wait to try layering this over other polishes to see what effect it gives.

Next up is Wait Until Dark by Ciate.
Until then,
Lealea x

Vivid Violet by No. 7

In the bottle this polish is a gorgeous colour, exactly as the title says "Vivid Violet".  However on the nails the colour just seems to lack some substance, it loses some of its vibrancy.  Such a shame too.

No. 7 polishes are great, I find the brushes really good to work with as they are wide meaning it's easy to coat all your nail.  I just wish this colour delivered more than it does.

That's the end of the V's - next up is the start of the W's with Watermelon Fizz by Revlon.
Until next time,
Lealea x

Victoria by Nails Inc

I got this polish free with Glamour magazine a few years ago.  It is not a colour I would have picked myself, a very deep rich maroon red colour.  It's not my favourite on my skin tone, makes me look paler (if possible!).  I find the colour quite dull and boring actually.

The polish is easy to apply and the formula is good.  If you like this colour this would be a good polish.

Next up is Vivid Violet by No. 7.
Until then,
Lealea x