Nail Of The Day: Chanel Le Jeans Manicure

Chanel recently released a small collection of blue nail polishes to coincide with the release of the new Rouge Coco Lipsticks.

The collection is called "Le Jeans De Chanel" and was released in London last year and sold out on the first day, they have bought the collection back and this time it's available at every counter in the UK.
The best part is that two of the shades are going to be part of the permanent collection, Coco Blue is the only LE one so get it quickly if you want it.

Because I love all of the shades and couldn't decide which one to use first I decided to use all 3, I'm going to call this the: Le Jeans Manicure

The shades are:

Blue Rebel, a dark inky blue shade
Blue Boy, a medium, slightly faded out blue
Coco Blue, a pale clean pastel blue with a subtle white pearl

Nail Of The Day: OPI Nicki Minaj Pink Friday

I know you probably seen this colour a million and one times by now but I love this shade so much that I had to feature it in todays post.

It's the perfect shade of bubblegum pink and perfect for spring and summer, if you like OPI's Mod About You and Essie Fiji your going to love this one too.

Chanel Rouge Carat: Chanel Holiday 2011

You can always count on Chanel to bring out a gorgeous red during Christmas time and this year they have absolutely got it spot on with their new Rouge Carat Nail Colour.

It's a stunning cherry red with hot pink shimmer, it is simply beautiful and somehow manages to catch the light so that sometimes it looks like like a metallic red and other times it looks like a sparkly pinky red.

The consistency is flawless, it went on smooth in one quick coat but I still did two out of habit.

I believe this is limited edition (as is the rest of the collection) so if you want it get it now before it sells out.

Speaking of the rest of the collection there's a matching lipstick in Famous and a gloss in Triomphal that are equally amazing and I'm kicking myself for not buying them.

Illamasqua Theater of the Nameless Haul & Review

As soon as I saw Illamasqua's new collection I knew which Items I was going to get, these 3 jumped at me straight away!

I would have also loved to get the lipgloss in Belladonna as I adore the colour but as I've decided I no longer like lipgloss (far to sticky) I decided to give it a miss.
Here's what I got:

Powder Blusher in Ambition

This as replaced the vast majority of my blushers,with the exception of MAC Well Dressed and The Balm Frat Boy! It's the most perfect neutral peachy shade with an hint of shimmer and it perfect for pale, yellow toned skin like mine as it seems to lift the complexion.
Worth every penny and the must have item of the collection!

Pure Pigment in Berber

(Berber on the left, Ambition on the right)
I love this but haven't had a chance to wear it out yet, I find it quite hard to pull off a it can make my eyes look sore.
It's a beautiful burnt cranberry shade with loads of fine golden shimmer, it almost looks wet when it's on.
I think the best way to wear it would be with loads of black eyeliner and lashing of mascara.

Nail Varnish in Vice

A lovely rich cranberry shade with a cool satin finish, really pretty and unusual.
Goes on nice a smooth and pretty much covered fully in one coat however, because of the finish it showed up the scratches a lot faster than normal.
Not sure how I feel about these new dull finishes on nail polish, I don't dislike it but I much prefer the classic, shiny finish a top coat gives.

What did you think of the new Illamasqua Collection? What items did you get?

CHANEL Mirifique & Graphite Haul & Review

I was quite good with Chanel's latest collection and restrained myself and only bought two things (might go back for the blush), those two items were Mirifique Illusion D'Ombre Eyeshadow and Graphite Nail Polish.

The new Illusion D'Ombre Eyeshadows have a gel based formula but set to a powder, the texture is quite weird, sort of spongy but it spreads easily and once it's dry it doesn't move easily.

I find it best if you apply with a flat brush and build up slowly, it can be sheered out to give a softer look or packed on for a more intense look.

All 6 shades are beautiful but this is the one that I knew I wanted by just looking at the promo pictures, it's gorgeous a deep black with loads of sparkly shimmer, it's amazing.

Graphite nail polish is a deep metallic silver shade with gold shimmer  it sort of looks like a dirty silver/gold, I've never seen this sort of shade before.

Like all Chanel polishes it's expensive but the quality makes it worth it, it applies smoothly and looks completely opaque in two coats.

I've had it on for 5 days now and I only have two tiny little chips so it lasts really well too.

The lady at the counter also gave me a bunch of samples to try, I always love the little mascaras cause they last a decent time and are great for travel.

She also gave me this dinky little bottle of the new No19 Poudre, it's so cute I can't bring myself to use it.

What did you think of the new Chanel collection and what did you get?

Essie Spring 2011 French Affair Collection - Swatch & Review

I'm very late with this collection but I love the colours so much I felt the urge to blog about them, it's took me a while to work my way trough all the shades anyways.
I have a love/hate relationship with Essie, love the shade selection but the application can be tricky, the brush isn't quite thick or flat enough to allow for a streak free finish, particularly with the more pastel or lighter shades.

French Affair
Very pretty cool toned pink, almost lavender in undertone,  this is similar to OPI's Mod About You but better as it's not so light and applies easier. I got so many compliment while wearing this shade and for me one of the must have of the collection.

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Nice Is Nice
A soft pastel lavender with a pink undertone, compared to Essie Lilacism it's a lot warmer toned and more flattering on my skin tone.
Nice but not very unique, I have quite a few similar shades.

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Coat Azure

A muted cornflour blue shade with silver microshimmer, not a colour I've seen elsewere.
I like it and I'm normally not a fan of blue nails, the consistency of this one was quite thick so I managed to make do with two coats.

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Topless and Barefoot
My favourite of the whole collection, I love it! I've searched high and low for the perfect nude polish and this is it, I still want to try Ciate Sugared Almonds though.
It's a flesh toned nude but with a peach undertone that stops it looking flat, and one of the few nudes that does not give me the "corpse hands" look.
It is a little streaky so it's best with 3 coats and a little patience.

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Sand Tropez
The other nude in the collection, a light grey toned nude almost in the taupe territory but not quite.
I can imagine this would look best on someone with a cool toned skin toned, on me it just doesn't look quite right.

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Kisses & Bisses
(not pictured)

Tried it and didn't like it so I never got it, kinda boring on it's own but I guess it would look okay layered on top of other shades.
Think slightly cloudy cream base with a duochrome pink/gold pearl finish.

Did you get anything from the Essie French Affair collection? What are you're favourite summer nail polishes?

Illamasqua Rare - Swatch & Review

The most amazing yellow polish ever!! I love the idea of yellow nails but the reality is usually it looks bad on me and makes my hands look sickly.

Rare is a neon highlighter yellow that look much more vibrant in real life than on camera, it almost hurts your eyes to look at it, I had a real hard time trying to get accurate pictures of it as the light seem to just want to bounce of it. 

Application can be tricky, it dries incredibly fast so it can apply streaky I find 3 thin coats better than 2 thicker coats as the results are more even and you need to use a top coat as it dries matte.

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Illamasqua Collide - Swatch & Review

Collide is the perfect summer color, a neon pink cream with a satin finish.

It paints like a dream, I have 3 thin coats on here (and a top coat) but I could have got away with 2 and it wears amazingly well, it lasted 5 days with minimal chipping.

The best bright pink I've ever tried.

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Essie Van D'Go - Swatch & Review

I've wanted Essie's Van D'Go for ages and for one reason or another I kept forgetting to actually buy it, now that it's finally in my possession I'm not that keen on it.

It is a gorgeous shade, a light, creamy, milky peach but it's a streaky little bugger! I ended up having to use 4 coats so in turn it took forever to dry, I woke up to bed sheet marks on some of my nails and that does not make me happy! 

I've come to realise that while Essie makes lovely colors they have consistency issues, some are great and you can get away with two coats and some are an absolute pain in the arse to paint with and require loads of effort to look right.

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OPI Tickle My Francey - Swatch & Review

I'm really loving nude nails at the moment and this one is probably my current favourite! It a creamy, taupe toned nude but it as an undertone of pink which stops it looking grey and flat.

It's a great nude for light skin tones as it's not too light so that it makes your nails disappear and your hands look dead.

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OPI Mod About You - Swatch & Review

Mod About you is a light, milky, pastel pink that reminds me of pink marshmallows and strawberry milkshake. It look great as a pedicure color but I do feel it looks best on skin with a bit of a tan, it's definitely I shade I would wear on holiday.
I do find the texture on this one quite streaky and thick, I did two coats and it was still uneven in places but once I put a top coat on it was okay.
This is similar to Essie Fiji but it's a little darker and more pink.

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Essie Turquoise and Caicos- Swatch & Review

I've wanted this shade for so long, ever since I saw it on a couple of youtube gurus earlier last year. I finally got my hands on it last month and I'm so happy I did.

It's a gorgeous turquoise blue shade that very much reminds me of clear blue seas but is a bit of a pain to paint with. 

It's actually quite smooth in texture but it's also quite watery meaning you need a few coats to get decent coverage.

What you see below is 3 coats but I actually could have done with 4 as my tips were still a little transparent on some nails. Despite that I still love this color and plan on wearing it a lot the in next couple of months.

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OPI Lincoln Park At Midnight - Swatch & Review

This as been on my "to buy" list for so long I'm really glad I finally got it, even though I wont really get a lot of wear out of it until autumn and winter come round.

It the perfect dark color for the colder months, it's a deep shade of purple with a plummy shimmer that looks almost straight up black in day light, the shimmer is really only noticeable in artificial light or direct sunlight.

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Leighton Denny Supermodel - Swatch & Review

This months issue of Harpers Bazaar Magazine is giving away a free Leighton Denny nail polish worth £11, having never tried Leighton Denny I decided to pick up a copy and see what is nail polishes are like.

Wish I hadn't have bothered! This is one of the worst formulas I've ever painted with, thick, gloopy and streaked like no other, the shade is pretty but it paints like a bitch!

Is it worth £11? Honestly it's not even worth the £4.20 the magazine cost as I normally don't read Harpers Bazaar. Could I have gotten a faulty bottle? Maybe, but I won't be in a rush to try any more Leighton Denny products any time soon.

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OPI I Vant To Be A-Lone Star - Swatch & Review

OPI's Texas Collection didn't really impress me all that much, I thought that the shades were pretty safe and almost boring.

I Vant To Be A-Lone Star was the exception as I don't have any color similar in my colection, I'm actually really glad I got it as I almost didn't pick it up.

It's a very delicate powdery baby blue with an hint of gray and plenty of silver shimmer.

The formula was a little off on this one, a bit thicker than normal and it dragged a little near the cuticle but the shade alone is worth the extra effort.

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OPI Strawberry Margarita - Swatch & Review

OPI Strawberry Margarita is a bright, cool toned medium pink cream that's perfect for summer. It's the perfect pink to had a pop of color to a plain outfit and looks amazing on the toes.

As with most OPI colors this goes on smooth and is full coverage after 2 coats.

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Essie FiJi - Swatch and Review

Essie isn't a brand I really go for as I've had a couple of their products in the past and hated them, however I've seen so many people rave about them that I decided to give the brand another go.

Fiji is a lovely milky, pale pink creme that looks gorgeous on both pale and tan skins but it's streaked like mad.

I found it really hard to get a smooth, even finish, what you see is three coats and even then it still looked streaky until I put on top coat.
It dried super fast, much faster than any other brand of polish and I've tried quite a few.

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I've found with Essie polishes the texture can be it and miss, some shades paint like a dream others are a thick, streaky mess. Despite the slight application problem I think Fiji is worth it as it's a gorgeous color.

I'm off to a Trade Only show tomorrow and plan on getting a few more shades from Essie so I'm gonna ask you guys what do you recommend? Are they any must have shades I should buy?

Barry M Instant Nail Effects White Frost - Swatch & Review

Barry M has recently launched 3 brand new shades of their popular crackle polish: a pink, a blue and a white.

White Frost is a opaque white crackle polish with superb coverage, it's not watery or thin at all and shows up has a true white even over bright or dark colors.
I applied White Frost over Nails Inc Malibu Mojito which is a bright cream finish turquoise.

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I found White Frost really easy to apply, normally Barry M's crackle polishes are quite tricky to apply because they dry so fast but this one went on smoothly.

I find it's best to use quite a thick coat otherwise the crackle effect is much smaller and you don't get to see has much of the base color.

You need to use a top coat with all of the Instant Nail Effects has they dry matte, I find Seche Vite to be the best as it also helps to smooth out the bumpy texture.