Coloristiq Manicure Box Review*

The company Coloristiq is an online nail polish rental service, however they've recently ventured out into producing a monthly manicure box (with polishes you get to keep), which includes a specific theme every month. Monthly beauty boxes are very popular these days, with companies such as Glossybox and Birchbox being popular amongst beauty bloggers. 

I received September's box called "Nails and the City", which includes four vibrant colours relating to "bright lights, shopping opportunities and stunning buildings" that can be found in the cities London, New York, Venice and Budapest. By having a specific theme, you can be sure of receiving a variety of polishes that complement each other.

There is no need to subscribe to this service, you can just buy one box if you like the theme/colours included. Buying this box allows you to try the newest polishes from a range of popular collections (and some up and coming British indie polishes). It works out a lot cheaper! This box is only £15.00, even though it's worth more than twice as much.

♥ Bluedapest by Danglefoot

"Handmade and mixed at home in Norfolk, these polishes use the best 5-free non-toxic ingredients to create amazing shades, shimmers and holographic effects." 

Danglefoot is the featured indie brand for the September box, and this gorgeous baby blue colour is a limited edition polish, just for this box! Although you need two coats to make it a solid colour, the gold shimmer makes it stand out and glides on the nail smoothly and consistently.

Inspired by Budapest's "thermal springs located in the city park" and "represents the beauty of Hungary's capital city. This indie polish has gold flakes and a scattered holographic finish". Check out their other nail polishes, there are plenty of other shimmery colours to choose from.

♥ My Gondola or Yours? by OPI

Everyone needs a black nail polish! You definitely need two coats AT LEAST with this polish, otherwise it remains a grey, transparent colour. If I'm honest, I've had better black nail polishes that more vibrant - this one is more charcoal, so if that's the type of colour you're looking for, this is perfect.

This polish is one of four mini polishes from OPI's latest collection. Inspired by Venice, the set includes "shimmery copper shades to pastel melon tones, each bottle exuberates elegance." 

♥ Fifth Avenue by Essie

This nail polish out of all of them is the most bold (and probably my favourite!) You only need one coat to get the most out of the colour, which is a gorgeous coral red. The wide brush helps the polish glide on easily, making sure to paste the colour onto every part of your nail.

Inspired by New York, this Essie polish stands out with its feminine, elegant shade.

♥ The Mall by Nails Inc London

I love the metallic finish of this polish. The colour is very solid, meaning you could get away with just applying one coat (which saves time!) However, I found that it does chip within a couple of days, but the colour is beautiful so definitely worth a buy.

This Nails Inc polish is inspired by London: "Inspired by the Royals, this midnight blue shimmer captures the rich culture that this capital city has to offer."

Overall, I found that every polish has a great application; the formula glides on easily without becoming sticky and dries fairly quickly.

You can buy the September Manicure Box here.

You can also browse the other boxes available here.

Thanks for reading!

Rimmel Nail Polish: Never Again!

Okay so I'm going to be writing my first negative review, which is worrying as you can receive mixed views about a bad review - especially if you're slagging off someone else's favourite product, but everybody has their own opinion (which is what makes beauty blogging interesting!) 

I recently bought the Rimmel 60 Seconds nail polish as I wanted a dark red colour for my nails as I think it looks nice with my pale skin. I decided on the shade 'Rapid Ruby' and the colour is absolutely gorgeous. I also liked the flat brush, as it makes it easy to paint your nails in three sweeps without getting any on your skin. However, there is a downside to it - quite a few actually!

It claims to take '60 Seconds' to dry, but it seemed to take a good few hours until I could go about my day without smudging or leaving prints on my nails. However, it still stayed quite tacky even though I'd only applied two thin coats (it was also a bit tacky the next day!) As a consequence, it started to chip and eventually peeled off all in one go, which is a sign of a bad nail polish. When I was in the shower, it started to come away from my nail (which annoyed me as I'd only painted them the day before - I was going out that night!)

So not only did it last a day or two (at the most) on my nails, it took forever to dry and still remained tacky. I'm usually a fan of Rimmel products, but I think I'll give this one a miss in the future.

What's your favourite brand of nail polish?

Thanks for reading!

Top 5 Spring/Summer Nail Polishes

Spring is approaching and I have to admit, it's getting me a bit excited, as sad as I am! I love Spring mornings, the lighter nights and the fact that it's not too cold or too hot. Fewer layers are needed, I can lose the scarf and my denim jacket can make its annual appearance from the back of my wardrobe! I know that Spring weather shouldn't start to appear until another month or so, but SO WHAT I can't wait, okay?! ;-)

I thought I would do my first Spring post about my top five Spring/Summer nail varnishes. I recently picked up the latest issue of Cosmopolitan and pastels are definitely in this season, so I've mainly included pastel-coloured nail varnishes in my top five.

My first pick is a popular brand of nail polish; Barry M Nail Paint. The collection of colours to choose from and nicely packaged bottles really stand out in Boots and I've chosen "Strawberry Ice-Cream" as one of my favourite shades for Spring (plus ice cream is a lovely Summer treat!)  It's a pastel, baby pink colour and looks very elegant and pretty. 

Next up is a polish by Maybelline in the colour 'Ceramic Blue'. I love this shade as it resembles the sky on a clear, sunny day. It's very pretty and it's supposed to last up to seven days! It's a perfect colour for Spring and it will definitely brighten up your outfit.

I've also picked 'Mint Green' by Barry M, which again is a lovely pastel, light green. I love the way in which these colours stand out and they would really compliment a gorgeous Spring outfit.

Adding to the selection of pastels is 'Charming' by Revlon, which is a beautiful, lilac colour (some unnecessary information, but I used to have my room painted this colour! Does anyone remember Groovy Chick?! Haha!) I like the quality of Revlon nail polishes, so I might purchase a few more colours from this brand.

The final colour I've chosen is an old favourite, 'Fuchsia' by Barry M. This colour is different compared to the others as it's more of a bold, 'Barbie' pink rather than a pastel colour, but who doesn't love wearing bold colours in the Summer months?! (Not me!)

What's your favourite nail polish brand and shade for Spring/Summer?

Thanks for reading!