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Category Archives: Nail Care
Elegant Touch Nail Polish Stickers: the perfect manicure, every time
As the relatively few posts about nail polish around here may suggest, I’m not good with nail polish. It’s not that I don’t like the stuff: quite the contrary – I’d love to be one of those women who always has perfectly manicured fingernails, and a different polish every day. I just can’t, though. As I’ve mentioned before, I can’t seem to keep polish on for more than a few hours without chipping it, and I’m not too hot at actually applying the stuff, either (I’ve often thought I must just be missing the “nail polish application” gene that so many women were apparently born with), which means that fancy patterns and pretty effects are totally out for me.
Or maybe not.
These Elegant Touch Nail Polish Stickers are exactly what they sound like: stickers for your nails. And before you go thinking that sounds like exactly the kind of thing that might’ve come packaged with your new Barbie when you were eight, hear me out: these basically allow you to create the look of perfect nail polish without all of the faffing around. Just peel them off, stick them on (OK, you’ll want to make sure your nails and clean and dry first) and you’re done. That sounds pretty good to me, and I also like the fact they come in some interesting patterns and colours: I’m particularly drawn to the polka dot version.
Each pack costs £5.99 and contains 60 stickers in ten different sizes. They claim to last for around five days, too, which sounds like pretty good value for money.
These are available at Superdrug, but I couldn’t see them on the website, so you may have to take a trip to your nearest store if you want to try them.
Deliberately Chipped Nail Polish: Would you?
At first I thought it was some kind of elaborate wind-up when I started reading about the new “trend” for deliberately chipped nail polish yesterday, but no, apparently it’s true, and while I somehow don’t think this has widespread appeal (yet), there are more than a few stories out there about women who are choosing the “week old polish” look on purpose: the image at the top of this page, for instance, shows the nails of Tibi designer Amy Smilovic, who says she spotted the look at New York Fashion Week and decided to give it a go.
Amy says:
“When I was in London this summer, I had drinks with an editor from Vogue. She was of course tremendously chic and amazingly put together—fabulous Chloe shoes, the amazing Celine bag, you get the picture. But her nails were red. And they were chipped. And it just made her so much more approachable somehow. And cooler.”
Now, I must admit that chipped nail polish is one of my “things”. In fact, while I always, always have my toenails painted (I feel undressed without a slick of polish on them), I only paint my fingernails occasionally, purely because I just can’t stand the look of chipped polish: and on me, polish is always chipped. (I type for hours every day, and I seem to hit the keyboard oddly, because I can guarantee that most polishes won’t last beyond the end of the day without some amount of chipping. I know a good topcoat would help avoid this, but to be completely honest, I don’t have the patience, so most of the time I just leave them bare, or stick to clear polish). The idea of doing this deliberately, then, with artfully applied splodges of polish and a clear coat over the top to preserve it that way, is totally alien to me, and while I guess it’s nice to know that when my polish DOES chip, I can try to pass it off as a fashion statement, it’s definitely not a look I’m going to go out of my way to achieve.
What do you think of the chipped nails look?
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No7 Autumn Limited Edition Matte Nail Top Coat
Remember those matte nails that were on all the catwalks last year? Well, they’re sticking around for this Autumn, too, and while I’m still not quite sure what I think of the look (I tend to associate matte nails with polish that got something stuck to it while it was drying, and I need to rid myself of that association before I can fully buy into the look), if you love it, Boots No. 7′s Matte Nail Top Coat (£7.25) will be a helluva lot cheaper than buying matte nail polishes in lots of different colours.
This is, as I’m sure you’ve already guessed, a top coat which makes the polish underneath it look matte. It works with just one coat, and it’s part of Boots limited edition Autumn range (about which I’ll have more news and reviews soon), which is available from now until October 5th.
What do you think of matte nail polish? Yay or Nay?
(Click here to visit the Boots website)
NOTD: Boots No. 7 Anniversary Nail Polish in Starlet Stockings
My regular red nail polish (Rimmel’s Double Decker Red) finally gave up the ghost this week, and when I tried to add a new bottle to my regular Boots order I discovered it was out of stock, so I had a quick root round for an alternative, and finally settled on Boots No. 7′s ‘Starlet Stockings’, which is from the Anniversary Collection I wrote about back in May.
When it arrived, I was initially a little disappointed, because the colour in the bottle looked like a much more orangey-red than I was expecting. As soon as I started to apply it, however, I was converted: this is a great polish to use – it goes on smoothly, is totally streak and drag free, and gives perfect colour in just one coat. It also dries quickly and lasts for ages without chipping. Overall, it’s great value for £6.75, and now that I’ve tried it, I’d definitely want to try some more colours from this collection.
If you want to try them too, you can buy these direct from Boots.
NOTD: Max Factor Max Effect Mini Nail Polish in Diva Pink
Look! A baby nail polish! Isn’t that cute?
It’s by Max Factor, it’s their Max Effect Mini Nail Polish in ‘Diva Pink’, and as you can see, it’s a bright, shimmery pink that comes in a handy, travel-sized package!
This is part of the new Max Colour Effect collection, which contains some of Max Factor’s boldest colours ever – the proof of this is currently sitting in my ‘Dollface Drawer’, and will be revealed soon! For now, I’m really liking this polish: as it’s mini-sized, it obviously has a similarly mini-sized brush, which I love (as I’ve said before, I’m a sloppy nail polish-applier, and smaller brushes help me stay inside the “lines” as it were), but which some of you may find a little fiddly, I guess.
It took two coats for me to get the effect shown above. One coat on its own was a little on the watery side, although it does apply smoothly, and it dried quickly, making it quick and easy to use, despite not being a “one coat” polish.
These are £3.49 each, and there are 12 colours to choose from. I also like the look of ‘Red Carpet Glam’ and ‘Dazzling Blue’, so will try to check them out next time I’m find myself in the vicinity of a Max Factor stand! You, meanwhile, can buy them all at Boots.
Nails Inc Limited Edition Kings of Neon Collection
First up: I LOVE the fact that they called this collection “Kings of Neon”. Hee!
Second up: neon colours remind me a little too much of being a kid in the 80s, when neon was all the rage (as we used to say back then), and people used to think the hottest thing EVER was wearing two odd socks, one bright yellow and one bright green. Or any colour, really, as long as it was NEON. In other words: I think I’m too old to really want to go there again (not that I personally wore the odd socks, you understand. My parents wouldn’t let me. They said one day I’d thank them, and actually, they were right. Thanks, mum and dad!), but if you do, this set by Nails Inc is £22, and gives you six colours, plus a base coat and top coat. Get it at ASOS.com.
NOTD: Bourjois 1 Seconde Nail Polish in shade 7
I know I said I’d probably buy another Barry M Nail Paint as my next nail polish, but I was in Superdrug earlier this week, and found myself headed to the till with this in my hand instead. I just can’t seem to give up red polish just yet, and I liked this one because it has a nice, cherry shade to it (it’s actually a little more pink than it looks in this photo) than most of the brighter reds I’ve been wearing recently.
I’d also been meaning to try Bourjois’ 1 Seconde polish for a while. As the name suggests, this claims to allow to you to paint each nail in just one second, and it has a wide, fan-shaped brush to help you do it. It didn’t quite take one second for me, but that’s probably because I fail at life nail polish application, and need to take more time than most. I also tend to go for narrower brushes, because they make it easier for me to stay within the “lines”, so to speak, and avoid painting skin as well as nail, but I was pleasantly surprised by how easy this was to use, and I’d imagine that if you’re a nail-polish pro, you’d probably find it even easier.
As for the polish itself, I’m wearing just one coat in the picture above, and was happy with that: it goes on fairly thick, but isn’t too gloopy, and there was no streaking or dragging. It had, however, started to chip around the edges of the nails by the end of the day, so I’d probably want to use a top coat with it next time to make it last a bit longer, but if you’re looking for something quick and easy, with a nice, deep colour, I’d definitely recommend it.
NOTD – Barry M Nail Paint in #47 – Black
I don’t generally do Nail of the Day posts, because, well, most of the time it would be the SAME nails, EVERY day. I did, however, pop a sneaky little Barry M Nail Paint in with my Boots.com order this month, and I’m wearing it today, so I thought I’d show you.
This is #47, which, as you can see, is pure black. It goes on a little more watery than the other Barry M polishes I’ve used, so it’s definitely not a one-coat polish. A second coat makes it perfect, though, and there’s no dragging or streaking, so it’s easy to apply, even for nail-polish challenged people like me.
Like the other Barry M shades, this only cost me £2.95, and the polishes always seem to last well, with minimal chipping, so I’ll probably find myself tempted by another one in the not-so-distant future. Any recommendations?
Dollface Reviews: E.L.F french manicure set
This kit was sent to me to review a few weeks ago, and while my nails are currently much too short to do an effective French manicure, I’ve been using the pink and clear polishes regularly, and in fact, the pink has become my “go-to” polish for day-to-day wear.
I haven’t taken a photo of this on, because it’s much too subtle to actually show up. This is exactly why I like it, though: it’s a very natural pale pink colour with just a hint of shimmer: it basically makes my nails look glossy and healthy, and with just a hint of rosy colour, which is perfect for anyone who wants their nails to look polished, without actually looking like you’re wearing a lot of, er, polish, if that makes sense.
Both this and the clear polish are easy to apply: they go one smoothly, with no streaking, and they dry quickly and evenly, so they’re easy to use if you’re in a hurry. It also lasts for days without chipping, which is good for lazy people like me. No, it’s not the most exciting polish around, but it’s still a pretty good deal, especially given that you’re getting all three for just £4.
This kit is available from the E.L.F website, which you’ll find here.
Limited Edition crystal-capped nail polish from Nails Inc
I know I shouldn’t let myself be seduced by this kind of thing. I know this. But the fact is: I’m shallow. And a bit of a magpie. So if something is shiny, and sparkly, and contains pretty looking nail polish, well: I’M IN.
These are by Nails Inc, and the colours are, from left to right: Henrietta Street, Bow Street and Warwick Avenue. I like all three of them, but of course, the thing I REALLY like here is the bottle caps, which are covered in crystals. They’re limited edition, so would be nice to have if you’re a bit of a polish collector, but their glitzy appearance could also make them a nice gift, too. They cost £15 each, and are available at Nails Inc.
