NAILS | Top 5 Nail Polishes

I own a somewhat absurd amount of nail polish but it struck me recently that I stick to a few solid favourites every time I come to repaint my nails. I'm a creature of habit and we all know my colour palette preferences, lipstick aside, are limited. So I'm sure it comes as no shock that out of my large collection, only a small selection get used regularly. Now that I'm no longer a bar tender, I don't have to worry about the harsh chemicals we use to clean the bar stripping my nail polish so I've been painting them more which lead me to thinking I thought I'd show you my all-time favourites.

ORLY 'SMOLDER'

I love a metallic nail polish. Partially because with a good top coat they're super high shine, but also for the convenience factor. They dry ridiculously fast and have saved my arse many times as I've been rushing to get out the door for a night out. 'Smolder' is a beautiful dark red that I wear pretty much constantly in the winter when I favour a vampier palette.

ORLY 'RAGE'

Originally someone described this nail polish to me as a 'rose gold' shade. Since buying it, I would say it's more silver-based. Definitely no gold in this polish. It's a cool silvery pink colour with a slightly 90s vibe that I'm a big fan of. This is one I wear all year round because it goes with pretty much everything.

REVLON 'CARBONITE'

The last of the metallic finish polishes, 'Carbonite' is supposed to be exactly the same as the much coveted Chanel 'Graphite'. Not willing to shell out big bucks for something that will only chip after 24 hours, I stuck to old faithful Revlon for this shade. (Revlon are one of my favourite brands for nail polish.) Another multi-tonal shade, this looks dark grey in some lights and silver in others. 

BARRY M GELLY 'BLUE GRAPE'

This one's a bit of a wild card. An eye-poppingly bright blue. Not a typical shade for me but I absolutely love this colour nonetheless - so much so that I've mentioned it in a Recent Favourites post. It looks great against a completely black outfit, a.k.a everything I ever wear. I love the Gelly formula from Barry M. It's so shiny, even without a top coat, albeit slightly thick and a bit tricky to apply in a hurry.

BARRY M GELLY 'BLOOD ORANGE'

Another Gelly formula addition. It's probably my favourite nail range from any brand. This is a total misnomer - there's absolutely no orange in this shade. It's a true classic red. I love red nails, from any brand and have gone through countless bottles of red polish in my time. This one is my current favourite.

SALLY HANSEN INSTA-DRI TOP COAT

I don't do a heck of a lot to my nails but I never go without a top coat. Mostly because my nails are very weak and peel a lot so top coat is a must to stave off chipping. I've tried several, including blogger fave Seche Vite, but this is my favourite. It's well-priced and don't get incredibly thick and gloopy in a few months like a lot of top coats I've tried in the past.

RECENT FAVOURITES | September 2013

FJALLRAVEN KANKEN
I mentioned that I was thinking of buying a Kanken in a wishlist post a while back. I got one just before I came back to uni and it was such a good decision. Usually I bring a satchel type bag or some kind of more structured handbag, but I pack a lot of crap and it was beginning to hurt my shoulders. The Kanken is so ridiculously practical. A few people have commented that it's not necessarily my 'style', perhaps a bit outdoorsy for me? Or makes me look like a child on the way to their first day of school. I still love it though. Plus it's dead durable and comes in a million different colour ways.

L'OREAL EVERSLEEK SMOOTHING & INTENSELY NOURISHING SHAMPOO & CONDITIONER

Ever since I was 13 or so, I used Tresemmé products on my hair religiously. I never ever switched brand and it always worked for me. In the past year or so though, since I began to dye my hair and wear it naturally - not straightened every day, Tresemmé wasn't quite cutting it. I'd heard good things about the EverSleek range and I'm interested hair care with less sulphates, parabens, and siliciones and all of that at the moment. My hair is really dry so I went with the 'Intense' formula and I love it so far. I've had so many people tell me that my hair looks brighter and more red too, which can only be a good thing.

ORLY 'SMOULDER' NAIL POLISH

I picked this colour up when I was in America over the summer and it's become my favourite nail polish for autumn. It's a deep metallic burgundy and basically just gorgeous. I tend to favour black or red nails in the autumn and winter anyway, and this fits right into that colour family nicely.

NAILS | Confetti

Mavala 'Lagoon' nail polish, L'Oréal Confetti top coat

Super late to the bandwagon (what's new, etc) but I finally bought one of those confetti top coats and hey, it is kind of great after all. Nail gimmicks are one of my serious pet peeves about the beauty world (caviar nails: just say no) but this stuff looks pretty damn cute, even on my stubby little nails. Blogger perfect nail beds I do not have. I'd been trying to find somewhere that stocked this nail polish for ages but it always seemed to be sold out. My hometown had a ton of bottles of the stuff on display in Boots though, so I was in luck. It may not replace my beloved glitter top coats but I'm definitely a fan. 

RECENT FAVOURITES | Summer 2013

Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine nail paint 'Blue Grape', Revlon lipstick 'Pink in the Afternoon'

BARRY M GELLY HI-SHINE NAIL PAINT IN 'BLUE GRAPE'

The Gelly range had always had a very disappointing colour range, as far as I was concerned. Their new summer colours are much more impressive, my favourite among them being this blue. I'd been looking for a bold royal blue for a while and the formula on this is nice, very shiny, if not a bit on the 'gloopy' side. I foresee myself wearing this to death during the summer months.

REVLON LIPSTICK IN 'PINK IN THE AFTERNOON'

I hate nudes and I hate pale, cool-toned pinks but this shade has been a firm favourite of late. It leans to the coral side and is vibrant enough that I don't feel corpse-like, the way some paler colours can make me feel. I love a bold lip at heart, but when I feel like toning things down I've been reaching for this.

Forever 21 and Primark shorts

Summers home from university mean I become particularly lazy and sit around a lot reading and catching up on TV I missed during term-time. These athletic style ('style' being the operative word, since there's nothing athletic about my summer past-times) shorts have become my summer-at-home uniform. A slight step up from wearing pajamas all day, but definitely not quite going to the whole hog and getting fully dressed. They're ridiculously comfy and I've found loads of different coloured pairs, particularly in Primark.

Soap & Glory The Breakfast Scrub and Clean on Me shower gel

SOAP & GLORY THE BREAKFAST SCRUB

I've previously been a big fan of Soap & Glory's Flake Away exfoliator. I use scrubs mostly on my legs in the shower, pre-shaving, but I decided to try this one for a change. It's definitely just as good as my old favourite, Flake Away, but has an even better scent in my opinion. It smells like warm porridge with maple syrup in it. I'm a big fan of toiletries that smell like I could eat them, so this one's a winner for me.

SOAP & GLORY CLEAN ON ME SHOWER GEL

This stuff has several great points. 1) It smells good. It has the same scent as the Flake Away scrub which is pretty much identical to Miss Dior Cherie perfume. 2) It comes in a massive bottle with a pump, so it'll last you bloody ages. 3) It's pretty moisturising. I have incredibly dry skin, so I still need to apply a body butter post-shower, but if you don't suffer from dry skin, you could probably get away without that extra step if you used this stuff. 4) It's fantastic for those annoying red bumps you get on the tops of your arms (a.k.a keratosis pilaris). I don't know what it is but I've suffered from KP all my life and this is the only stuff that's ever completely cleared it up. That in itself is reason enough to buy it, in my humble opinion. 

NAILS | Fireworks

Rimmel Lasting Finish polish in 'Black Cab' & Zoya polish in 'Maisie'

Pretend I have really nice nails and don't immediately chip them as soon they're polished, can we? Because I've been waiting for the weather to get colder so I could wear this nail polish combination constantly. Like many of us, I was a fan of black nails when I was younger. I still am. There's something comforting about them. I especially like black nail polish with some kind of glitter over the top. This is something a bit different though.

Zoya 'Maisie' is one of those 'flaky' (if I'm using the nail polish blogger lingo correctly, who knows?) polishes. It's not quite glitter, more big sparkly chunks of... stuff that you layer over other colours. That sounds unappealing, I know. It looks a treat though. Like fireworks or something. All I want to do when I'm wearing it is look at my hands. It's a bit special.

NAILS | Geometric

nails: Barry M - Mint Green, American Apparel - L'Esprit

I have a lot of nail polish. Some might say too much. Is 100 bottles too much? Possibly. I do use it all though, which makes it all okay. What I do not have, however, is nice nails. They're very weak, they peel and if I try and grow them, they snap. Also, I think long nails are kind of unhygienic and creepy because all kinds of crap could be lurking under them. Gross. So I keep mine short. It may not be as aesthetically pleasing, but it's the best I can do.

Most of the time, I stick to one solid colour for my nails. Perhaps the odd coat of glitter if I'm feeling especially fancy. I don't really go in for nail art. I don't have the patience plus I am of the opinion that it tends to only look good far away. Up close it's a total Monet. (Clueless references, anyone?) This is about as close as I'll probably ever get to nail art. So I thought I'd share, before it chips and I'm back to one-colour-only.