A England

I have been meaning to order some a-england polishes for a while now but never got round to it, so when they had some of their polishes on sale for £5 (usually £9), I knew I had to get a couple. I ordered Tristam (a dark blue) and Lady of the Lake (a purple colour), both of which have a slight holographic glitter running through them. 

                                       

They arrived only yesterday so I haven't tested their longevity yet, however, they did survive housework and typing without chipping; one nail did chip when I dropped a hot tray on it but even then the damage was surprisingly minimal.

The polishes applied really well, even just one coat it was quite opaque and even- if applied carefully you could get away with just one coat:

 With two coats the polish is just gorgeous, really thick and smooth with a glossy finish. In direct sunlight and under bright artificial lighting the holographic effect* really shows up. At full price it is good value for money (£5 was just incredible) and there is currently free first class postage (would have been great if it hadn't been delivered 9 days after it was sent, thanks Royal Mail). I will definitely be buying more of their polishes (love the "Legends" collection) in future.

A England polishes are cruelty free and do not contain DBP, Formaldehyde or Toulene.


* This is not a holographic polish, it is much more subtle than the GOSH Holographic or the Layla holographic polishes.

Review: GOSH Nail Polish in Gasoline

 GOSH Nail Lacquer in Gasoline (£4.99, currently part of a 3 for 2 offer) from Superdrug.

After the Ciaté disappointment I was a bit put off of nail polishes, however, on a quick browse in Superdrug I came across this gorgeous looking polish which I felt I had to try and I am glad I did.  It is a gorgeous purple-y colour with little bits of glitter through it although it is not an overly sparkly polish. It does require 2 coats as just one is too sheer for my taste but most polishes require 2 or 3 coats. One they have dried it retains a glossy finish and it lasts without chipping for at least 18 hours (I removed it to mess around with nail glitters but that is a different post). The price was good and this is more the effect I had expected from Ciaté, if I had been as happy with that one as I was with this I would have been quite happy even if it did cost an extra £4.

Review: Ciaté Nail Polish

Ciaté Nail Polish in Regatta (£9.00).

I had been keen to try this brand for quite some time but had never got round to ordering anything until a local department store started stocking it. The presentation of the nail polishes is fantastic with lots of bright colours, cute but stylish bottles and at £9.00 were not extortionate. As the selection was quite good I had considered buying 2 or 3 but managed to restrain myself and only buy Regatta, a navy blue with specks of silver shimmer in it. I'm glad I only bought one as I was seriously disappointed. The polish applied smoothly and even with one coat it went on opaque and did not look streaky and I was delighted. However, my delight did not last long. Once the polish had dried it looked very dull and almost powdery, I was quite disappointed but even then it wasn't too bad as once I had applied a top coat as it took away a lot of the dullness although I would have expected it to be a bit better.  The worst thing has got to be how badly and quickly it chips. I have tried everything I can think of to make it last longer but to no avail. Within two hours of application (when all I had been doing is watching tv) it was chipping, I was a bit irritated by this as no other nail polish I have used in about 10 years has chipped so quickly and under so little stress. If it had been a new company or a cheap polish I wouldn't have been so annoyed but Ciaté have been around for a few years and £9.00 isn't really that cheap (especially in comparison to the fantastic Barry M polishes which cost about £3.00). I had considered that it could just have been the Regatta colour/formula which was the problem but I spoke to one of my friends who had used them and she had the same problem with different colours and formulations. By time I had had it on for about 5 hours, I had to buy some nail polish remover as it looked really untidy, more in line with having worn it for 2 or 3 days (and having cleaned the house, typed and bathed/showered with hot water- the usual day to day stuff). The 'long lasting' comment on the bottle is a bit of a joke.

In short, I wouldn't buy this again and I was disappointed as I had expected something wonderful and got something I would have thought should cost £3 or £4. The dullness without a top coat I could deal with but the ease with which it chips is harder to overlook and it is a pity.

2 coats over an OPI base coat and under an OPI top coat.

Review: OPI 'Mad as a Hatter' nail polish

OPI Nail Polish in Mad as a Hatter £8.50,





A gorgeous multi-coloured glittery nail polish. Part of OPI's Alice in Wonderland collection, it is a very thick nail polish, you only need two coats to cover the nails without any need for a coloured coat or two underneath. Lasts reasonably well (without the base and top coats) and when it does come off it is fairly easy to peel the whole lot off without lots of patchy bits. £8.50 is quite a lot to spend if you're not really a nail fanatic but it is worth it in this instance (in my opinion). I wore it out to a friends house last week and it sparkled like crazy under the lights and when the fire light caught it. If you like subtle, then this might not be for you but otherwise definitely worth a try.

Swatches

Here are some swatches from the Edinburgh haul.

 These are the nail polishes from Barry M: Fuschia and Mint Green


L-R: Collection 2000 Glam Crystals Glitterliner; Funk and Hustle and Too Faced: Obsessed Fan 

Barry M Dazzledusts: 82 (Mint Green), 64 (Fuschia) and 44(Bronze). Above is applied dry in natural daylight and below is applied wet in natural daylight. 



Too Faced e/s's: Fantasy Island (Duo) and Jealous?
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Review: Combined Products

Wrights Coal Tar Soap (£0.76-Tesco):This is a product that I have used every couple of years but could not decide whether or not I liked it that much, I think it is a good dependanble soap that can be used by all of the family but the smell is like Marmite in that you'll either love it or hate it. I like it up to a point, it smells clean and you feel that you can "trust" it to do its job properly and get your skin feeling squeeky clean and that there wont be alot of germs left. It can feel a bit hospitally to be honest and its a bit old fashioned. But over all its a decent soap and it serves its function.

E45 Cream (from about £2.50 for a small tube- the co-operative): A wonderful product that does not require a lengthy explaination. It moisturises fantastically, comes in many different sizes and doesn't cost the Earth. I first discovered it after my doctor suggested it for treating eczema (I get some little patches when stressed) as it is much cheaper than the prescriptions and does the job just as well (for the type I get anyway- there are alot of different types many of which might need to be a bit stronger). It stopped the itch and cleared up the horrible dry patches in under a week. They do have a massive bottle with a pump which is good to use on a daily basis to moisturise skin and try to prevent more outbreakes.

Barry M Nail polishes (from about £2.70- Superdrug and Boots): Have a wide variety of different colours and was vote the best inexpensive nail polish of the year by Instyle. It dries to have a nice shine and look nice and thick with two coats. It tends to be quite good in the chipping department (i.e. it doesnt chip much) but since its so thick (but not uneven) it can take a while to dry properly, but if you have time and patience it is well worth the results.

Review: China Glaze Nail Polish

China Glaze Nail polishes in "In the Lime Light" and "Japanese Koi" (£8.95) from http://www.thebeautypartnership.com/ (for UK buyers) and I believe it is avaliable from Sallys beauty supplies in the USA and possibly Canada.

After reading all of the rave reviews of china glaze online I decided to try it out for myself and ordered In the Lime Light, a neon green and Japanese Koi, a neon orange colour. Like most polishes they required two coats and they tended to dry reasonanbly quickly, but had a tendency to look a little bit dull, so a good glossy top coat is necessary. I wasn't a big fan of how they looked but this could be down to the fact that when I ordered I had no idea that they were neon (I prefer creme finishes) and had hoped that In The Lime Light would be like MACs Peppermint Patti (I really wish I had bought it) and that Japanese Koi would be good with my Morange lipstick. That said they do stock a wide range of colours and textures including creme, shimmer, glitter and holographic.

(Pictured: 2 coats of "Japanese Koi")

For the price paid you do get quite a lot for your money (14 ml compared with 10ml for nails inc which costs more) and the promotional booklet that came with it states that it has a long wearing formula with hardeners, I tend to remove my nail polish the night after I apply it (or chip it of if really bored and it has chipped) so I cant really say how long wearing it is but it did last me all day without chipping so I was fairly happy (chipped nail polish is a pet hate of mine, esp when you see a little bit in the centre of bitten nails- yuck!).

I would recommend china glaze but personally I think I'd go for a different finish rather than neon. 4.5/5

Review: GOSH nail varnish

GOSH nail varnish in Holographic (approx. £5)

I bought this out of Superdrug thinking that it was just a glittery nail polish, but saw on another blog that it was meant to be holographic so tried it out. The first coat looked like just a normal glittery nail polish, very pretty but could get much the same for cheaper, the second coat started to look more holographic, the third coat was holographic but I added an extra coat and it looked spectacular. It dried really quickly and I was really impressed with it. I also read that it doesnt work as well with a base coat so I just skipped that and applied a good top coat. 5/5

Picture is of 4 coats of the polish minus the top coat.