Untried Friday - #2 Essie - Recessionista

Hey all!

Now I need to ask you first of all - what colour is this? Red or purple? I think its purple - I initially placed this with my reds and pinks as it is much lighter in the bottle. However when I applied it, it went on much darker.

The application on this was wonderful. Defo a one coater for shorter nails - I did have to patch a tiny bit with a thin second coat on my middle nail though. It dries super fast and is uber glossy even though it has a creme formula - I didn't even apply topcoat for these photos - if this is purple, then I've finally found one that I like AND can pull off! (Well, at least I think so!)

What do you think? 

Rachael xxx

Swatched - Butter London Tee Total

Hey all!

Firstly, I'm so sorry for being quiet the last week or so. Work is so hectic and last weekend I had no time to prepare anything.. so unfortunately I only managed a couple of posts. I have been trying this weekend to get a little bit more ahead so there are a few more posts coming this week!

Here is one polish I've saved for awhile - I am SO glad I picked it up as I am loving neutral shades at the moment and this is definitely on my keeps list. Butter London Tee Total. Like its brand name, it applied like butter. The first coat is deceivingly patchy despite being easy to apply but the second coat just glides on leaving the beautiful glossy cappuccino coloured creme finish you can see. I am in love. 

This is 2 coats, base of matte Nail Envy and a top coat of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri. It dried really quickly and levelled beautifully. Like I already said, it needs the second coat as the first is patchy. Other than that, I can't fault it.. really love it and can see it being a staple in my winter polish collection!

I picked this up from TK Maxx when they had an influx of Butter London polishes for £5.99, so keep your eye out for some!

What do you think? Do you have it / want it / like / dislike it? 

Rachael xxx

Swatched - OPI Thanks a Wind-Million

Good morning all!

Just a swatch post here. I had to share this beauty that I picked up recently in the UK OPI sale. Someone (whoever you are, my addiction thanks you.. my bank balance does NOT!) posted in one of my nail groups that there was an OPI sale.. I picked up two beauties. This and Jade is the new Black. I went halfers on an order with Becca from Kittys Painted Claws and after swatching, she was sooooooo generous to give me OPI Animalistic as well. I have yet to swatch the other two, but anyway.. I digress.

I swatch a lot of colours, mainly to do nail art on top of and I rarely decide to share on their own. OPI is probably the main brand that I end up having to share swatches of, because they are just so lovely!

So here is Thanks a Wind-Million. For a creme polish this is SO easy to work with, I just love it. A one coater! It is very thin for a creme polish, but pigmented enough for full coverage. I did have to do 2 on my middle nail which is a fraction longer, but definitely just one coat needed if you have short nails. All photos have no topcoat on and its beautifully glossy. Definite keeper!

What do you think? Do you have this colour, would you wear it?

Rachael xxx

Nails Inc Lucky Dip - Part 1

Hi all,

Got some Nails Inc swatches for you today!

I have been quiet again, but I have still been amassing more polish. MORE POLISH!!

The ones I want to show you today are some of the ones I got in my latest lucky dip from Nails Inc. I really do love Nails Inc polishes - the formulas for their different polishes are generally really nice, but I have to say the price tag of £11 a polish is definitely out of my price range if I'm wanting more than one colour. 

So of course I love the idea of their lucky dips - only £18 (really just under £22 with postage) for 7 polishes. It is of course hit and miss, as you don't know what you will get - but so far I have been pleased with the majority of polishes I have gotten. This month was a pretty good one!

This month I got:

Dovehouse Street

Farringdon Crackle Topcoat

Porchester Place

Bruton Mews

Seymour Walk

Hammersmith

Park Lane

I have the first three to show you in this post, but just a few notes first. All polishes I used were 2 coats, apart from the crackle which was one over another colour. One coat of OPI Nail Envy Matte as base, but no topcoat on any.

The first is Dovehouse Street. I was reticent about this at first - it looks very thin and sheer, very girly, sparkly, and generally not something I would pick out for myself.

 It was pleasantly surprising on my nails - not completely clear, with enough coverage to 'dim' the nail line. VNL's are really growing on me - but it has to be the right colour to do it. This does - the pinky gold shimmer also adds to how pretty it is - really simple, but elegant on my nails. Definitely going in my keeps pile.

The second I have is the Farringdon Crackle Topcoat. I think I remember being a crackle fan around the age of 15 / 16, but I definitely think its done its course. But the formula looked quite nice in the bottle, so I thought I would give it a go over Dovehouse Street, as I'm thoroughly bored of all crackle colours with black.

 My final thoughts - definitely going in my nieces donation bag - she's 9, so she'll probably still appreciate it!

The last polish I have to show you is Porchester Place. This almost went in my sell pile without even a swatch, but I'm so glad it didn't! I absolutely LOVE IT! 

It's a beautiful creme polish, fully opaque in two coats. I would describe it as a peachy orange colour, not sure if you would agree. All I know is I will be getting full wear out of this stunning colour this summer :)

So what do you think of these? Do you own any of these, or did you get a lucky dip this time and get anything different?

Rachael xxx

Invogue Polish Tea Leaf - Swatches and GIVEAWAY!

**Polishes in this review were kindly provided for me by Oh Beauty**

Good morning all!

Today I have a very special post for you - swatches of Tea Leaf, a beautiful shade by Invogue. You may recognise the name Invogue, as they are the makers of the Nails Inc Feathers dupes that I shared with you here and here.

  

This is the first chance I have had to try some of their 'Core' polish line. I was not disappointed! Tea Leaf is a beautiful mint creme polish. All the Invogue formulations are free from Toluene, Formaldehyde, Camphor and DBP, which for me is definitely a winner! 

The formulation is fantastic - cremes can be a real pain for being streaky, being hard to level etc but this isnt, it levelled really nicely and the formula was just right - I think this could be a one coater for those a bit more careful than me! (Here I have used 2 coats with Seche base and top coat to finish out of habit). The brushes are also really nice with these polishes - no stray hairs and nice and firm which helps with application.

You can find Tea Leaf and a whole range of Invogue polishes (including the Feather effects, Concrete, Neons, Metals, Matt Suedes and Glitters) here at Oh Beauty. They retail at £4.49 each for a 10ml bottle, which works out cheaper than other retailers such as Superdrug when you factor in their free delivery (to UK).

What do you think of Invogue polishes? Do you own any? Are there any on your wishlist? I'm loving the neon range - they're definitely on my to buy list!

What do you think of this shade? Would you wear it? I'm loving it!

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Now - to the giveaway! This is open to UK readers only - sorry! Oh Beauty were kind enough to send me a second bottle of Tea Leaf to give away to my lovely readers! 

Rules:

Giveaway is open until 30th June - get your entries in! Open to over 18s only. I have added in some mandatory entries as I think we need to show Oh Beauty some love for giving us a free polish! More entries are available for sharing - you can do this each day to get another 5 entries per platform! Good luck! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway