OPI Nail Envy review

I recently bought the OPI Nail Envy in Hawaiian Orchid after seeing a picture of it on Instagram and falling in love with the colour. At the time, the fact that it was a nail strengthener never really entered my mind. I'd tried various nail strengthening potions in the past and never found they'd made a shred of difference. It was purely all about the colour.

OPI Nail Envy Hawaiian Orchid

I applied Hawaiian Orchid practically as soon as it landed on my door step. I'd never tried OPI before, so it immediately struck me how great the formula is and how much I love the shape and size of the pot - its really easy to hold and apply. Although it seemed thinner than a regular nail varnish when on, it was opaque after two coats and the colour was as I'd hoped for; a beautiful dusty pink.

I headed back to the Internet to see what other colours they did in the range and came across Bubble Bath. The pictures I saw of it, made it look like a lovely opaque pale pink, my thinking was perfect for spring.

Top: Hawaiian Orchid, Bottom: Bubble Bath

When Bubble Bath arrived, I did think it didn't look as pink as I'd imagined it would from the pictures, it is more of a nudey pink. I was slightly disappointed when applying it to realise it was not going to be opaque after all like I'd hoped for. The photos above are with three coats of Bubble Bath and you can still see my natural nail underneath.

However, after my initial disappointment with the colour it struck me a few days later how healthy my nails were looking. Throughout my teenage years and my twenties I'd struggled with nail biting and had weak nails that peeled and would easily break probably as a result of that. I haven't been so bad the past couple of years, but my nails always still seemed weak and would break easily. But all of a sudden I have noticed that I have some length to all of my nails and no breakages. I can only attribute it to Nail Envy, a miracle worker in a small bottle.

If you have problems with weak, breakable nails I would definitely recommend you try this. I now intend to buy the original Nail Envy to use as a base coat under all of my other nail polishes.

A spot of luck

I haven't blogged for ages! I've really wanted to, but literally haven't had the time. Work has been crazy and then I went to New York for my birthday, so it's been non-stop. Anyway, I'm here now and shall vow to be more regular in my blogging.

Today I want to tell you about some luck I had recently; I won my first ever blog giveaway! Sophie from sophiejanethorne.blogspot.co.uk ran a giveaway to win a Wet n Wild nail polish in red - and lucky old me won.

Sophie is so lovely that she actually included a couple of extra items for me to apologise because she had a slight postal delay. So not only did I get the Wet n Wild polish, but also a Maybelline one and a strawberry flavoured Lypsyl.

As I got these items a month or so ago now, I have had time to fully try them out and review them.

Wet n Wild Wild Shine nail colour
Love the colour, it is a really bright red with a hint of pink in a certian light and as it's a gel polish it looks great on. It's really shiny, especially with a top coat on. It lasted well, but not quite as well as the Maybelline.

Lypsyl Strawberry Polka-dot
Tastes great and contains SPF. It claims to be tinted, but I couldn't notice much, maybe a slight pale pink, but not really. The downside to this is that it is quite a hard textured balm, you really need to rub it on. It worked best when I had it in my pocket and then used it as the heat had softened it. 

Maybelline Super Stay 7 Days gel nail colour
This is amazing! The red was probably a shade darker than I'd normally go for as I have quite fair skin, but it looked great and lasts soooo well. In fact I put this nail varnish on for my 5 day holiday to New York and it last the whole trip. So not quite 7 days, but I don't think I had time to put a top coat on.

I will definitely buy more of these Maybelline 7 day polishes.

To finish, thank you very much Sophie for the gifts, it's so generous of you to run these giveaways. Everyone else head over to Sophie's blog for beauty reviews, recipes, fashion and more.

Barry M nail polish - hands (and feet) above the rest?

Barry M nail polish range: ★★★★★

Barry M seems to be leaps and bounds above other nail polish brands in 2012. Not only do they do stunning high fashion colours, but they also have a growing range of special effect nail polishes. The first one I came across was the Instant Nail Effects Crackle. I bought this when it first came out and they only did it in black, but now they have a handful of colours which make it ridiculously easy to apply this very effective crackling style. You paint your nails as usual with a couple of coats of your chosen colour, then brush the crackle polish over the top. As it dries you see it crack before your eyes, leaving behind an impressive looking pattern.

The next nail effect I came across was the Foil Effect. I have previously used Rimmel silver nail varnish and somehow Barry M seems to have the edge here. Their colour is just on another level of shimmeryness! It looks like you are wearing nails foils, rather than nail polish.

The most recent one I have purchased is the Magnetic Effect in blue. (And also made my friend buy it on a recent shopping trip and bought it for my sister - Barry M should give me royalties!) You put a base coat of the colour on, then when you do the second coat, you hover the magnet (detachable from the lid) over the wet nail and it creates a pattern as shown on the magnet itself.

 

This currently comes in blue, black, red and purple and each colour comes with a different magnet pattern - a great incentive to buy all four!

I've only just come across the Chameleon Colour Changing polish and not yet had a chance to try it. But it seems the general idea is that it works with the Barry M clear polish whereby anywhere you apply it, the colour changes. This is definitely going to be worth a look this summer, as nail art seems to be getting bigger and bigger.

Finally I would just like to mention Barry M's non-effect colour range. They have some absolutely stunning colours and I'm particularly loving the pastel colours that are so on trend for SS12, especially mint and peach melba. Also Berry Ice Cream (lilac) and Blue Moon (baby blue) which my sister and I would have once referred to as "tipex blue" in days gone by are definitely worth a look. In fact, there's so much choice, that I'm tempted to buy five pastel colours and do a different one on each nail.

Well done Barry M for staying ahead of the "nail polish" game and keeping our nails looking fresh and extremely fashionable all year long! xx

Laser nails

Ease ★★★★★
Effectiveness ★★★★★

This is not a product review as such but more of a technique review. I saw "laser nails" described on Cute.A.S.Nails blog and thought they looked quality and it sounded like something I could do myself.

I started off painting two coats of Barry M Baby Pink polish on my nails and letting it dry thoroughly. Then I cut some thin strips of tape and stuck them at angles on my nails (2 per nail, except 1 on little finger). Then I coloured in between the tape with Barry M in Mushroom and Rimmel in Silver. I left it to dry mostly and took the tape off and there they were - pretty laser nails! I did then do a clear top coat just to protect it all and smooth it over.

This is very easy to do, no assistance needed and looks really effective. No special equipment needed either, just your favourite nail varnish colours and some scissors and tape.

Have a go and show me the pics please!