Nails: Pale & Interesting

Even though we're now in Autumn and slicking glossy, dark shades on our digits, I still have a soft spot for lighter, cleaner fresher colours. I've championed white nails for years now. I'm usually not a fan of anything that appears harsh or stark but white nails were always my one exception and now that they're 'in' it makes me happy to see more and more people embracing snow white talons. I know everyone isn't a fan though and over the last 2 years or so my collection and love for milky, sheer or almost almost white shades has grown. I've picked out 8 that I feel would suit most skin tones.

L-R: Essie - Delicacy, Revlon - Powder Puff, Leighton Denny - It Girl, Leighton Denny - Sensual Glam, L'Oreal - Opera Ballerina, Nails Inc - Whitechapel, Essie - Neo Whimsical, Essie - Waltz

Essie - Waltz, Essie - Neo Whimsical,  Nails Inc - Whitechapel, L'Oreal - Opera Ballerina

Leighton Denny - Sensual Glam, Leighton Denny - It Girl,  Revlon - Powder Puff, Essie - Delicacy

Essie - Delicacy: My mum who hardly ever wears nail polish loves this shade. On the rare occasion she lets me loose on her nails this is the shade she always picks. Delicacy is a sheer and shimmery pale pink, one coat offers a healthy, clean, barely there mani but it can be built up to an almost opaque finish.

Revlon - Powder Puff: One of my pound shop finds and it's a goodun! The finish is matte/suede which I just don't do - go glossy or go home! But it's nothing a dollop of top coat won't fix. (swatches)

Leighton Denny - It Girl: This shade is described as pink but not too girly. To my eye it looks more peachy and just like most of the polishes in this post, it's a sheer colour but unlike the rest it can't really be built up to full opacity. It Girl contains subtle shimmer and would make a nice change from the usual pale pink french mani colours or worn alone to even out nail tone.

Leighton Denny - Sensual Glam: A pale cream with delicate shimmer particles - my Harpers Bazaar freebie back in 2011 and as you can see from this post I wasn't the biggest fan of this shade at first. I'm not sure whats changed but I quite like it now even if I don't wear it very often.

L'Oreal - Opera Ballerina: Most of you who read my blog on a regular basis will know this is my favourite nail colour of all time. I've lost count of how many bottles I've gone through now but I'll continue to buy it as long as L'Oreal sell it. One coat gives a gorgeous clean look to the nails, it's one of the few shades I actually love the look of when there's visible nail line but it can be built up (see here)

Nails Inc - Whitechapel: See here and here for swatches. Whitechapel is no longer listed on the Nails Inc site, I'm not sure if it's been discontinued or has just sold out but you can still find it on Amazon and Ebay. This is a true white shade but is softened by the pearlised finished.

Essie - Neo Whimsical: Not white or sheer but a gorgeous clean shade all the same. I haven't swatched it here on the blog yet but have uploaded swatches on my Instagram here.

Essie - Waltz: To me, Waltz is the white version of Opera Ballerina so obviously I love it and don't need to say anything else apart from look at the swatches.

All swatches on the nail wheel are 2 coats with no base or top coat. I know it's hard to see the true colours on a white nail wheel as the polishes themselves are almost white but I hope they're clearer in the linked swatches.

What's your favourite nail colour?

Do you own any of these shades?

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Nails | This Spring/Summer I'll Mostly Be Wearing

My favourite polishes have came as quite a surprise lately, a surprise to me anyway. I'm a bit of a polish snob and although there are some brilliant cheaper brands out there, I always find myself more drawn to brands like O.P.I, Nails Inc and Leighton Denny. After having a think about which colours I've been loving lately and will probably be my favourites throughout spring/summer I noticed that half are purse friendly and can be found in Boots.

The Cheap & Cheerful:

Pop Rose | Peppermint | Charming

Rimmel Peppermint: Peppermint is just a pretty spring shade. Its not new so I'm not sure if its still available but I'm sure if you looked online it would pop up somewhere. I've mentioned this polish a few times before so dont really need to say much more.. I love it.

Revlon 211 Charming: Spotted this beauty in Boots last week and just knew I had to buy it. The formula isnt brilliant, its on the runny side so application can be a bit of a pain, especially if you rush it but the colour is worth it. Two coats is enough but I go for three just to make sure its perfect. Charming is just the perfect pale pastel lilac. Revlon polishes cost 6.49 but they're currently 2 for £10 in Boots.

Rimmel Pop Rose: Again, I've had this polish for a long time and have no idea if its still available. Its just a pretty, bright pink, not unusual in any way but it just screams summer to me. Rimmel pro brushes are brilliant, so easy to use.

The Pricey & Cheerful:

Brook Street | Whitechapel | Brompton Place
Nails Inc Brook Street: 'A soft pink coral shade. Catwalk inspired yet easy to wear - you cant go wrong with this gorgeous coral!'. When I'm pale this leans more orange but with a tan its a lot more pinky.

Nails Inc Whitechapel: 'A delicate pearlised white shade. If you like pale natural tones, choose whitechapel for an exciting twist!' This colour makes your hands look so clean. It can be built up to opaque with 3 coats or worn sheer. It goes with everything and isnt going to offend anyones eyes.

Nails Inc Brompton Place: A bright bubblegum pink and quite possibly my favourite pink of all time. Looks great with a tan but also looks good on pale skin.

It was such a hard job trying to wittle the list down to just 6 but I went for the shades I feel will suit all skin tones. Whats your Favourite S/S shade, the one you're always itching to crack open as soon as a bit of sun comes out?

Swatch It.

Nails Inc - Whitechapel

I've got swatches of 2 polishes, I've mentioned both on my blog before but I've never worn them on their own so just thought I'd upload a few photos.

Whitechapel is a delicate pearlised white shade, sometimes it looks like a glossy white (minus the chalky effect that most whites seem to have) but most of the time theres a soft baby pink sheen running through. For the above photo I've used three coats. I adore this colour, most days I'm wearing vulgar shades of glitter so this makes a nice change, it makes me feel very lady-like haha and gives a nice healthy look to the nails.  I'm not into 'sheers' at all, I prefer to have an opaque nail but for anyone who is then this would be perfect, one coat gives the effect of a really natural french mani.

Whitechapel doesnt come across well in photos but its such a lovely shade and the fact that I dont own anything similar makes it even better. Enough of the gushing.. this polish has a few problems. One coat - fine, two coats - nightmare, it just wouldnt apply evenly, it didnt level itself out and theres a few visible brush strokes. The formulation is quite gloopy, if I applied another coat theres noway it would have dried!

Models Own - Disco Mix

This polish is packed with blue and purple glitter! I found that rather than painting as you normally would, lightly dragging/dabbing works best. Using normal brush strokes spreads the glitter out way too much and achieving an opaque finish would be almost impossible. I used 2 coats for the above pic. I cant really comment on how much of a pain removal would be as I have a habit of peeling glitters off but I'd imagine its just the same as all the rest.. A Bitch with a capital B.

xo

I'm A Junkie.

I've been feeding my addiction again! Went to town yesterday with my mama to pick what I wanted for xmas, we didnt go in untill late though so the only place we got to was House Of Fraser. I was stood at the Nails Inc counter for god only knows how long, probably foaming at the mouth over all the glitters. Got a few sets, santas holding onto them untill xmas but I bought myself 3 polishes for £22, so 3 for the price of 2. I'm only going to show 2 of the colours in this post and save the other for a NOTD.

The first polish I was drawn to was...

Belgrave Square

I have loads of different pinks but nothing similar to this. Theres super fine glitter/shimmer running through it but its subtle and just really pretty.

The 2nd is a shade I wouldnt normally go for...

Whitechapel

At 1st look I thought it was just a normal white but when I lifted the bottle, it was like looking at a pearl/opal, it has a really soft baby pink sheen under lights. I tried it with 2 coats and I'm in love! Whitechapel just makes your hands look really clean and its fully opaque with 2 coats.

I'd also ordered a Models Own nail art pen and polish a few days ago, it came yesterday so ofcourse I had to try it out...



2 coats of Whitechapel, drew on the leopard print with the nail art pen then used an old kirby grip/bobby pin to apply Belgrave Square.

I love these 2 new colours, the photos dont do them justice though, I'll upload some swatches of them on their own soon.

xo