No Place Like Chrome by Essie

This is another Essie polish from the Mirror Metallics range which I bought from Xtras-online for a bargain price.  This is a much brighter silver than Nightmare by George although has a similar metallic finish. In certain lights it does look a lot like you have wrapped your nails in aluminium foil. I like it, but for some reason I can't say I love it but I'm not sure why.



I wouldn't say this was a one coat polish as I found the first coat went on slightly streaky but two coats was fine. As with all metallics you can see your brush strokes so a steady hand is required for a good finish. The formula is easy to work with though.

I do like the brightness of this compared to Nightmare by George but if I were paying full price for both, I might steer towards the George polish because you get a similar effect and colour but for much cheaper.

Up next is No Shrinking Violet by Revlon.
Until then,

Lealea x

Nightshade by No. 17

First up, my apologies for my absence, I have been wearing lots of nail polish over the last month, I just have not had time to blog about it. So there will be lots of catch up posts from me over the next couple of weeks.

First up is Nightshade by No. 17. I got this polish as part of a free gift when you spent a certain amount on No. 17 products. It's not a brand I would normally buy from although I do have a few of their polishes that came as part of free gifts.

This polish a shiny black colour which looks better on short nails than long. Black is always a hard colour to pull off on your nails I think as it can make you look very pale. I'm not sure whether I like the colour on me as I am quite pale to start with.

The polish was not that great to apply, I found it very streaky and the brush is not that easy to work with. However it only took two coats to become opaque and it did dry quickly. I can't say I would recommend you rush out and buy this polish, buts is not the worst I have tried.

Next up is No Place Like Chrome by Essie.
Until then,
Lealea x

Nightmare by George

I bought this polish last Christmas along with quite a few George polishes. It is a metallic silver, very much like Silver Foil from Barry M but maybe with more of a grey tint to it, rather than bright silver. It has a lovely foil like texture and looks really good on the nails.

The only problem with foil and metallic polishes is that they show up every brush stroke and so you have to be a bit more precise with the application. I also found that this did chip easily, although given the light colour of the polish they did not show up too much. All in all for the price I think this polish is great.

Next up is Nightshade by No.17.
Until then,
Lealea x

Navy by Barry M

So after the brief excursion into previously visited letters of the alphabet I am back to the regular schedule with the N's. However I will once again be revisiting the past after the N's are finished as I have quite a few polishes that I bought/received over Christmas/in the sales.

So back to the polish. Although I have lots of dark blue polishes and navy can be a bit of a boring colour, I actually really love this polish from Barry M.  The polish has an amazing shine and depth to it and just looks lovely on the nails.

As you know I love Barry M polishes for their price, for their ease of application and for the formula and consistency of the polishes. This Navy is no exception. I also found that this did not chip at all and I  wore it for 5 days before I decided to switch it up. I think 5 days is a record for me to wear one polish so that must show how much I liked wearing it.

Next up is Nightmare from George.
Until then,
Lealea x

It's Not My Name by Miss Sporty

I bought this polish when I bought Aurora Borealis from Miss Sporty as well as another make up item at they were on 3 for 2 from Boots before Christmas. Although I have lots of pinks I liked the blue tone of this polish (plus my four year old really wanted it, loving everything pink as she does).  The colour is very bright and vibrant, not for those going for a subtle look!

I continue to be impressed with Miss Sporty polishes given how cheap they are. As expected the polish was slightly thin and needed three coats but the brush is easy to use and it applies well on the nails. It lasted a few days before chipping too.

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

Good as Gold by Essie

This polish is also part of the Mirror Metallic collection I bought from xtras-online.co.uk for £2.99. I loved the Blue Rhapsody colour I wore a couple of weeks ago so was keen to see what the gold looked like. Gold is not normally my favourite colour - I prefer silvers. I did like the metallic affect, it was very shiny (although I did use Insta-dri topcoat which does add shine), but I still don't think gold suits my colouring as well as silvers, although it did look good with my gold wedding ring.

The downside to this metallic polish is that it shows every line and brush stroke from when applied meaning that on my right hand you can see my wonky application! However the wide brush was easy to work with, the consistency of the formula is great and they last for a long time without chipping. I have been wearing the gold for four days and its chipped in one small place which is great for me as I usually have to change polishes after a couple of days due to chips.

Looking forward to wearing the other colours in this metallics range.
Next up is It's Not My Name by Miss Sporty.
Until next time,
Lealea x

2012 in Review

I set out at the beginning of 2012 to wear all my nail polish in alphabetical order and to not buy any more colours if I could resist. Well here we are at the end of 2012 and I have only just finished the M's meaning I am only half way through my collection and at last count I have purchased around 50 new polishes this year alone. So nowhere near my goal really!

I probably would have been further in to my collection if it wasn't for pregnancy and morning sickness in March/April and my twins being born in October but other than those breaks I have pretty much worn nail polish all year. Some of it I loved, some of it I will not wear again, but I have enjoyed every minute of blogging about it.

So here's to the latter half of the alphabet, the N's to Z's. lets see if I can finish my collection by the end of 2013 and we'll see how many new polishes I acquire this year!

Happy new year everyone
Lealea x