Mavala Chilli and Spice Collection- Bamako, Bali and Trinidad

There's no denying that I'm a little bit of a bore when it comes to nail polishes and most often sticking to Nude and natural shades, I've promised myself to try my best to branch out in to a little more colour this coming Summer. 

Mavala have a new collection for Summer 2013 and consisting of six new shades, the Chilli and Spice Collection offers a variety of bright, standout colours to see you through the summer, be it on your hands or feet.

Bamako*, Bali* and Trinidad* are three of the six shades and although I must admit they aren't tones I would typically go for, they are lovely colour additions and are really lovely formulas to use.

My favourite of the three is probably Bali, a hot Pink shade that I imagine will be the perfect brightening colour for Summer, followed by Bamako which I think will look absolutely lovely with a tan. Trinidad is quite a creamy dark Blue shade, which is a colour I personally wouldn't normally pick out as I find really hard to wear, although I certainly will try to as it dries beautifully shiny and is a little more out of the box for me, which will probably make a nice change. 

I've always been pleased with Mavala polishes and my collection has grown somewhat over the past year or so, and these three additions follow suit with the nice, easy to apply formula. The opacity they offer is fantastic and I find one to two coats provides the perfect shiny finish. Drying time is reasonable and well within my criteria and they stay chip free for a relatively good time too- a few days without a topcoat which for my nails, is great.

  Mavala polishes are free from parabens, formaldehydes, toluene, camphor, cellophane, animal ingredients and heavy metal and homed in the tiniest, cutest of bottles and costing only £4.50 each, I think they're well worth giving a try.

The Chilli and Spice collection is available to buy now, alongside the huge range of shades that Mavala already offer in Boots, Debenhams and John Lewis.

What do you think of Mavala polishes? Have you tried any and do these shades stand out to you?

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Bourjois Rendez-vous a Paris Nail Collection

07 Coton Sur Ton

03 BCBeigé

04 Amande Défilé

01 Oh So Rose

Bourjois have been a go-to drugstore brand for me for I would the last year or so and continuously coming out with new products to fit in with the latest trends they never seem to disappoint. I absolutely love their lipsticks from the Rouge Edition Collection and when I saw a press release of their new "Rendez-vous a Paris" Collection, which holds some really beautiful shades of nail varnish in line with Spring Summer 2013 and taking inspiration from Paris, I was extremely excited and couldn't wait to try them.

The collection is made up of 8 glossy shades and an Easy Nail Art Kit. Perfect for the Easter Bank Holiday, I chose to try out four pastels of the collection; 07 Coton Sur Ton*, 03 BCBeigé*, 04 Amande Défilé* and 01 Oh So Rose*. They are absolutely stunning shades and although I have tried to, I can't pick a favourite between them. I was a little disappointed by the opacity of Oh So Rose and Coton Sur Ton, because as you may be aware, I love an opaque Nude and found them to be a little too sheer and for me, pretty hard work to build up a full on block of colour. I think they're intended to be possibly more of a natural, manicure shade which is still extremely pretty but I personally will most likely continue to build them up with a fair few coats. 

Application of these polishes is really nice, although again, I do prefer BCBeige and Amande Défilé, probably for the same reason as above. I'm always extremely impressed with Bourjois nail polishes, I always love the finish and these are no different. They're not as gel like as the previous Bourjois polishes I have tried, but they do give the lovely glossy finish that they promise to.

I'm really keen to try 08 Peach and Love which looks to be a slightly darker, creamy Peach Pink and think that like with these four shades, will look lovely when the sun eventually comes out.

The Rendez-vous a Paris Collection polishes cost £5.99 and are available to buy now in Boots and Superdrug. 

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Ted Baker Beauty Nail Duos

Although through Spring Summer I tend to stick to pretty plain neutral nails, these Ted Baker Polishes* caught my eye quite a while ago now and so when I was given the opportunity to try them at the Boots "Give It A Go!" event I absolutely jumped at the chance. The beautiful sparkly flecks of glitter had my attention from the offset and I couldn't wait to paint the glittery goodness on to my nails.

These polishes in fact make up three duo sets of colours, from the same Ted Baker collection; Blue Moon & Space Dust, Cherry Bomb & Sugar Rush and Golden Girl & Totally Twinkie, which I must say are all beautiful. 

Whether you're into Golden hues, Blue tones or pretty Pinks I'm pretty sure you will be wowed by them all, as although Blues aren't normally my go-to shades when it comes to nails, I can't help but love  how it looks and although I doubt they will be a shade I wear now, towards the end of this year, I'm sure I'll be rocking the Ted Baker Space Dust nails.

My favourite of the three duos is without a doubt the Golden Girls & Totally Twinkie set. I have such a thing for Gold Glitter anyway, and think that the shimmery base colour, Golden Girls, is so beautiful and I'll most likely wear it all year round. 

The formula of these polishes is lovely to work with and two coats of the base colours create a beautiful Opaque shade. The Glitters run throughout a clear polish, which also create a lovely shine to the nail. Drying time is pretty average and I find that within a couple of minutes I'm good to go.

I really like these polishes and love that they come in pretty boxes of two complimentary of each other shades. 

They cost £8.50 each, which I think is reasonable for a duo and are available to buy in Boots.

What do you think of these products? What's your favourite shade?

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Chanel Extreme Shine Nail Lacquer

After ordering this Chanel Extreme Shine Lacquer* on The Perfumes Club website, I must admit I did have a little bit of a "why did I order that?" moment because in all honesty, it only caught my eye because it was Chanel and quite frankly, I wasn't sure how wonderful even Chanel could make a clear top coat be, but after using this for the past six months now, I am now extremely glad I did make the order as I have just repurchased it due to it becoming an absolute luxury essential in my nail care routine.

Immediately after application, my nails have the most beautifully coated shine that dries without any visible change. It's no secret that I like quite simple and for the most part, nude nails but I do tend to like a high shine finish and this Chanel Top Coat gives just that, over any polish and I love it.

It dries really quickly, which is perfect for me as I'm super impatient and I can just about bear to wait for my nail polish to dry, let alone a top coat. The formula which includes silicone leaves the nicest finish to my nails and I am thrilled with the results.

There's no doubt about it, you don't need a Chanel Extreme Shine Top Coat in your collection, but if you are after a more high end product to finish your at home mani with a lovely shine, then I'm pretty sure this deserves to be up there with the best.

This Chanel Extreme Shine Lacquer costs £18 and is available at The Perfumes Club online and at Chanel Counters.

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Gosh Special Edition Nail Polish- High School Flirt

There's no hiding that I love a nude, muted nail colour and have done for as long as I can remember, but more recently, they have become even more of a personal favourite of mine and I love nothing more than wearing a glossy, thick coated, opaque coverage of nude day to day.

This Gosh polish in Highschool Flirt* is one of six new special edition Spring shades and offers a really beautiful Beige colour that I personally find extremely flattering and have worn pretty much every day since receiving it.

The formula is absolutely fantastic; applying and drying beautifully smooth in quick time and I find with just two quick and easy coats, I have an extremely shiny, opaque and wearable shade.

I'm not really keen on the star decorated bottle and would rather it be a little more low key and simple like the standard bottles, but with being a nail varnish and with me only ever using it at home (other than the occasional train journey), it isn't really a big deal.

Gosh polishes cost £4.99 and are available to buy in Superdrug.

What do you think of this shade? Do you love nude nails as much as I do?

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Barry M Nail Paint- Nude

When it comes to my favourite cosmetic shade, I would probably have to say I'm very much a Nude girl and can't get enough of a nude lip and a nude nail. It's what I feel most confident wearing and I really do enjoy more natural shades the majority of the time.

This Barry M Nail Paint in Nude is one of my favourite nail shades and although I have tried quite a few brands that are similar in colour, this is the one I have gone back to time and time again and in the last six months have actually gone through about four bottles, which is pretty much unheard of for me with nail varnishes. Though I say I have gone through a few bottles, don't be fooled- this is mostly down to the the amounts of coats per wear I have to apply, which is easily four or five to reach my desired opacity and shade. It's not difficult to apply, in fact it's pretty easy but one or two coats is too au naturel and pretty much barely there. 

It doesn't take too long to dry and it is pretty thin, so piling up the coats isn't too much of a chore but it's definitely one to paint on when you don't have to rush anywhere anytime soon. I really love how it eventually looks and stays on the nail, but I can't help but wish it applied to this shiny Pink toned Nude with a standard application. My dream is that they will release this shade in their new Gelly formula, which I love.

Barry M Nail Paints cost £2.99 in Boots which is super reasonable, making it okay for me to well and truly stock up.

What do you think of this shade? How many coats would you go for your dream shade?

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Nubar My Sweet Escape Collection

On The Radar

Resort Yellow

Sour Apple

Jaded

Into The Wild

Whilst the Spring sun is shining here in London, I thought what better a time to share with you five fabulous nail shades from Nubars Spring Summer 2013 Collection- My Sweet Escape*. 

On The Radar, Resort Yellow, Sour Apple, Jaded and Into The Wild are five of eight shades that have been introduced into the vibrant range and although for me, they certainly aren't necessarily all year round shades, I've been loving brights recently and I'm sure they will be on my nails throughout this Summer.

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