New Year, New Start; Nail Essentials.

The Mammoth Blog Post..

Hello everyone, I cannot believe it's already 2013! 2012 flew by and I have a jam-packed year ahead of me in 2013! Now that I have finished my January exams, I'm back blogging again! 

Tonight I'm posting about probably an area of the nail industry that applies to everyone,  Nail care and essentials. Whether you have just had your acrylics soaked off or you just need a nail pick me up, this blog post should have it all covered if you need some product inspiration! 

I'm starting with Nail polish remover. Which is probably the most important! I'm not normally fussy about remover, but when it comes to my natural nails, I try and stick to an acetone free formula as it's not quite as harsh. My current remover is the Sally Hansen Strengthening Polish Remover- for soft, thin nails. If I am going to be completely honest, I didn't buy the polish for the strengthening qualities, but for the Sally Hansen formula. It's always full of vitamin E and proteins that nourish the nails, and the lack of horrible chemicals are also a benefit for all those toxic fumes that come with Nail Painting! However, if you need a remover for false nails, you will require an acetone based formula. You can get this at Boots, and most drug-stores.

This next polish remover is my favourite, I honestly could not live without this pot of magic! This certainly doesn't have the popularity it deserves! This product is the Bourjois Paris Dissolvant Miraculeux.  The pot contains a moulded sponge with a slit in the top to fit your nail into. The sponge is soaked into some sort of remover that smells SO nice and dries smelling of Vanilla and berries and leaves your skin very nourished too. All you simply do is place your nail into the sponge and twist, pull out and your nail polish has been swiftly removed! This is great for plain one colour manis, but I think it would require a lot more twisting for a glitter or nail art manicure. You can buy this at most Bourjois Counters, or here specifically at Boots.

Well you may be asking me, whatever do you use to remove the polish with ?! Minus the use of the Bourjois remover, which might I add requires no remover pads (!) I always pick up these dual faced pads from Boots. They have a soft cotton padded side which I use for make up remover or using Bioderma. The other side is lint free, and so doesn't tear away when you are wiping away polish. Overall great value for money! 

Next is a nail strengthening polish, from OPI, Nail Envy for soft and thin nails. This, again, is something I strongly recommend to anyone, this is perfect for a plain base coat or a nail polish between Mani's. It's a really thick consistency and the finish is super glossy, which make your naked nails look amazing! The formula is so great, and it truly does strengthen your nails after a few uses, I use this every time I update my mani and I just think everyone needs a bottle in their collection, it's a necessity! The only downside to this product is that it doesn't come cheap, I'm unsure of the exact RRP Pricings however I know they sell it in Beauty Bay for £18.65, which isn't ideal, but the product tends to last for a good 8 months for continual application. Worth the money if you want to give your nails a treat! 

Briefly, another nail product I loooooooooooooove to use is the Nails Inc A+E advanced treatment. This product has had a bit of a controversial opinion within the nail world, in my eyes it's great for the point of use. I always use this everyday for at least a week after having false nails on. It gives the chance for the nail to breathe and strengthen up again from the torture of a false nail!  Again, this is a bit dear in price, starting at £12 for the individual product, or up to £25 for the box set, which you can purchase from the Nails Inc Website  

Moving onto top coats, my favourite is the China Glaze No-Chip Top Coat (Right). The formula is so glossy yet the formula and consistency still stays nice and thin, which means it dries really quickly and last for such a long time if you don't use it for a while! This product is slightly cheaper than the Nails Inc and OPI polishes and comes in at an average of £8.50 from Beauty Bay.

Also I add to the list is the Essie Matte about you. Matte nail designs have been lurking in the nail art world for quite some time now, but have recently formed one of its own trends. I love the matte top coat on it's own as not only does it protect the nails, but it also creates a really flawless effect. I can apply it straight onto my nail design to give it a real edge. You can buy Essie products from Boots, Liberty London, Superdrug, Beauty Bay or here. The Matte about you top coat has a standard RRP of £8.99

Annnnd we move on towards my top cuticle products. I use a range of cuticle products depending on what state my nails are in. If my nails are suffering, I tend to grab a liquid oil product, that is normally quite rich. The product I am currently using for this is the Cuticle Oil from Sally's Beauty, and I purchased this SO long ago now so I honestly don't know Pricings etc sorry!

I also have China Glaze Orange Cuticle Oil, which is what I use on a weekly basis. This product smells a.m.a.z.i.n.g! It's really nourishing but not too oily. 

Finally is my OPI Avoplex Nail and Cuticle Oil pen. This is tend to keep in my makeup bag in my handheld bag, which I use to top up on nourishment when I'm out and about. I think this product may have been discontinued, as I am unable to find it anywhere which is a bit unhelpful again sorry guys! However, you can still purchase the product in just it's oil form. 

Finally, is the most basics out of the bunch- the good old Nail file and Buffer. I think one of the most underused items at home is probably the nail buffer. I admit it, I never even thought of buffing my nails, all of those shiny nail files thinking- 'ah this looks ineffective', well think again! I always use my buffer now, they smooth out your nail and leave it so shiny and also as a perfect canvas to paint on... Goodbye ridges! You can pick these up everywhere, and they are so inexpensive! 

Then last by no means least... the nail file. The trusty nail file. I have so many different types of nail file, and I recommend that if you can to have a wide range to depending on the purpose. I use a rough file for filing down false gels or acrylics, a softer thinner file for natural nails, and a soft coarse file for feet nails. Again you can pick these up at any good beauty store. 

Thanks so much for reading guys! If you have any feedback then let me know in the comments box, or feel free to Tweet me! I have plenty of posts in the draft space ready to be posted soon, so keep your eyes open! 

Emily x

WINTERWARMERS

Hello everyone! With Christmas drawing closer, I have been looking to my winter polishes, shimmery metal tones and the tradition reds and greens.  I recently have rediscovered my love for Essie nail polish, and so I saw some of the winter collection 2012 colours and I had to give them a try and safe to say I am most definitely in love! The colours I really love at the moment are Leading Lady, Snap Happy and Beyond Cosy.

 Left to Right: Leading Lady, Snap Happy and Beyond Cosy.

Leading Lady

My favourite colour of the three of this mini collection is Leading Lady.

The deep crimson red colour shines alongside the shimmery glitter tones of a lighter red. The undertone of a deep red pink colour makes the polish a lot more fun in the light. The shine of the colour is amazing and the glitter gives it a real unique edge. It’s a lot different to some of the other current winter shimmery reds; it looks professional and a bit calmer than other colours in the winter market. It makes me feel so cosy and ready for a warm mug of mulled wine!

As for wear, the colour maintains is shine and glow until you take it off, I wore the colour for 5 days before I changed, and there were no signs of chipping or wear, which is incredible considering the stress and strain I put my nails through! It can be built up to whatever strength you require, Above I used 3 coats; however I think it would look lovely and subtle with just 1 or 2 coats, it’s that versatile. I will definitely be going back to buy this in the full size bottle!

Beyond Cosy

The next colour was Beyond Cosy. This was a lovely silver shimmery glitter colour. The base grey had a soft undertone of a rusty gold, which added a metal affect the polish, making it quite unique and gave the polish its ‘coziness’. The colour is so shiny and reflective, I received so many compliments, it’s a great colour that is so strongly pigmented considering it’s both a colour and glitter polish! Usually with colours like these, they needed 3+ coats, but Beyond Cosy only needed 2, and I personally think even just the one coat would look glorious! Just like Leading Lady, I wore this for 6 days with the China Glaze non-chip top coat and there were no signs of wear- amazing! :-D

Snap Happy

Finally it’s Snap Happy, This is a lovely deep Coral red polish. The shine on even when dry is so glossy, which is why I love this colour so much. The colour is a deep red, but with orange and pink undertones, it creates a warm accompaniment to the skin tone, making my hands look a lot less ghostly like! It only needed 2 coats, yet another reason why I love Essie nail polish, you would never waste money on their polishes, as they are so richly pigmented and last for a very long time! This polish didn’t quite last a full week, as I didn’t use a top coat, however I think with the glossy texture of the finish, it would look stunning on a night out with a plain classic dress, especially around Christmas!

Hope this helped you decide on some winter polishes! I will be posting more soon, sorry about the delay; I've been so busy recently with exams + work! If you have any requests on tutorials or posts…. Fire away! I will be posting up a snowman nail art tutorial over the weekend.

Happy nail Painting!

Emily xo