Nails of the Day - Cheeky Soots You

A new beauty brand has entered the market this month - Cheeky is an offshoot of the Cowshed Spa range - bringing an affordable range of quality products, as well as a Cheeky Parlour in Shoreditch which offers Manicures which include a nail polish for only £12 and blowdries from £15 - the perfect place to pop to after work!

There are 21 nail polishes in the new range of Chat Me Up nail paints - today I'm wearing Soots You - a blacker than black, glossy polish. The brush is really thick, so that dreamy '3 stroke manicure' is very much achievable with this. I loved that my nails were black from the very first coat, and they look so damned glossy it's untrue! I am very impressed, particularly as the polish is only £7!

Cheeky nail polish launches this month at www.urcheeky.com - sign up to be informed when it all kicks off!

Nails of the Day - Leighton Denny Meet Me In Monaco

Meet Me in Monaco is part of the new spring / summer Riviera collection from Leighton Denny. The bottle of polish reminds me of liquid sand - it's totally a sandy beach kind of colour!

It's quite unlike anything else I have - on the nail it's midway between a pale orange and a nude, camel colour.  I really like it - it feels super-chic, unique, and is perfect for this time of year.

The polish was a little streaky with just one coat, but with the second coat the magic happened and my nails looked perfect. The brush is wide which makes for easy application, and as yet I've had no chips or wear!

Leighton Denny polish costs £11 from Marks & Spencer and BeautyBay

Revlon Scents of Summer Nail Polishes

I heard about Revlon's scented nail polishes via Twitter and immediately decided I neeeeeeeeeeeeded the Bubblegum one - I love the smell of bubblegum, and I, personally, can't have enough pink polishes in my collection. I kept going to Boots in the hopes of finding it but all I kept seeing were the purple (Passion Fruit) and frosty green (Beach).  I was told to try in larger stores, which I was all set to do, until the lovely Revlon sent me a package with 5 of the 8 scented polishes in it.

I love the idea of scented polish - it's something I've never seen before and it leaves me wondering what will be next in the nail polish world. You would think that the fact the polishes are fragranced highly enough for you to smell them, they would be laden with chemicals which can't be any good to sniff. Revlon have actually been free of DBP, Toulene and Formaldehyde since 1992. Sniff away.

I have tested these out over the past couple of weeks and really enjoyed them. The scents are meant to be reminiscent of summer, and while they are summery smells, I can't help think that some of them have been named wrongly! Bubblegum smells of watermelon, Passion Fruit smells of raspberries, and Peach Smoothie of refreshers! Whatever their names, they are all yummy smells.

I noticed that Mad About Mango, and Ocean Breeze seemed to be the strongest smelling - I could smell them every time my hands went near my face - including while eating which was a little weird. Peach Smoothie's smell seemed to fade the fastest.

I used two coats of each polish, without a base coat. I was advised that the smell would be more present without it. The nail polish has lasted well, with tipwear after a couple of days but no major chips. I love the formula of Revlon polishes and Passion Fruit is a prime example of how a formula should be - it glides on so effortlessly which really helps to get that perfect manicured look.

I'm really pleased I got to try these out - thank you very much Revlon!

These polishes are limited edition, after August 2011 you won't find them on your shelves. They are priced at £6.49 but are on special offer of 2 for £8 at Boots at the moment. I highly recommend them!

Nails of the Day - Essie Smokin' Hot

When I was at the wholesalers the other day I picked up one of the new Winter collection Essie polishes - Smokin' Hot which is a gorgeous dark grey colour with a tinge of lilac. It's really pretty and from the minute I saw it I knew I just had to have it, it's totally me! I can't decide whether I prefer this or Merino Cool - Smokin' Hot doesn't seem to have that perfect formlation and staying power that Merino Cool does so maybe that just tips it for me.

The whole of the Winter Collection was actually rather special and I wish I'd have bought Luxedo too, that will be next on my list.

Hmm actually, Hot Coco is gorgeous too!

While I'm on the subject of hands.... please can anyone recommend me a miracle product for my hands, they are so dry and crispy they're disgusting! I've been applying a thick coat of Flexitol Hand Balm at night with OPI Avoplex cuticle oil, and during the day using L'Occtaine and Kiehls hand creams but it doesn't seem to be enough - please help!?

Nails of the Day - MAC Formidable!

After my Venomous Villains collection arrived, I happened to be going passed a MAC store, only to see they had the full range in stock! I'd seen lots of swatch pics of the nail polishes and had thought I loved Formidable! It was out of stock when I placed the rest of my order online so forgot about it until then.

When I'd seen it online it had looked to me like it had a petrol kind of effect - multi coloured, blacks, oranges, purples, aquas depending on the light and angle it was looked at from. In real life, well on me, it's nothing like that. It's a deep plum colour with glitter and an aqua pearl to it.

I'm particularly fussy about anything that isn't a totally flat colour and this has left me completely underwhelmed. It does look different in different lights and is multi-tonal but not in the way I was hoping. If anyone would like to buy this from me for £8 + £1 p+p please let me know in the comments - I don't think I'll be using it again but know that it's out of stock.

Nails of the Day - Essie Sew Psyched

When I saw the press images for the Chanel Khaki Collection of polishes, I fell in love, but if I were to buy them all at £19 each, my purse would not be impressed. I saw that as part of the Fall 2010 Collection, Essie had a khaki colour similar to Chanel's Khaki Vert for a fraction of the cost. I bought mine from an American seller on eBay and it arrived within a few days.

I am yet to see The Real Deal in real life so unsure as to how much of a dupe it is, but I'm really happy with this polish and it's satisfied my craving. Of course now I need to find an alternative to the Khaki Rose - I've seen Models Own have released the Car Key Collection (how subtle!) so I may have to check that out. The Essie brush is annoyingly thin, but I can get over it for this - I love it.

Nails of the Day - Butter London Snog

Another fab shade from Butter London - it looks, in the bottle to be fuschia, but on the nail it is more of a red toned pink. It glides on beautifully - although the brush is on the thin side it's quite easy to work with as the formulation of the polish is just spot on.

This polish was sent to me and is available to buy from the lovely PowderRooms.com

Nails of the Day - Butter London Chimney Sweep

I love this colour! Chimney Sweep by Butter London is a gorgeous gunmetal black colour - in the bottle I thought it would be black with silver shimmer, but it's so much more than that! A metallic dark dark grey, which when you look close enough is made up of tiny particles of silver. Gorgeousness.

This polish was sent to me by PowderRooms.com

Nails of the Day - Ciaté Access All Areas

This is the second Ciaté Paint Pot I've tried. The first (Cupcake queen) was really thick, so I'd assumed this would be too, but it wasn't, which was a welcome surprise.

The brush is really easy to use, with the long handle and wide brush, I think this is actually the best I have ever painted my nails myself!

Access All Areas, in the bottle, had looked like an orangey shade, but now it's on my nails I'd say it was more of a bright red with a hint of orange,

The finish is really gorgeous - great coverage, full-on colour, and super glossy. I'm becoming more and more impressed with Ciaté with each polish of theirs I try - I can't wait to try some more!

The lovely Powder Rooms sent this to me - check out the site, it's available to buy from there (and if you become a FaceBook Fan she quite often adds promo codes)

Nails of the Day - Ciaté Cupcake Queen

This polish is another sent from Powder Rooms - this time it's by Ciaté, another brand I have never tried before. The bottle is a cute horizontal rectangular shape with a long black handle, and black bow around the bottom of the handle. The label states that Ciaté Paint Pots are 'long lasting full coverage nail enamel' which so far, seems true.

The polish was extremely thick in formula, which meant that a second coat really wasn't necessary, but I went for it all the same and used Poshe topcoat on top. The colour looks really glossy and is wearing well. I'm currently on day 2 and no chips or wearing to be seen. The shade 'Cupcake Queen' is a cool toned pink - in the bottle you can see lots of blue shimmer, but this doesn't show once it's on your nails at all, and I've examined it in many different kinds of light. It looks like a completely flat pink.

As you can see from the picture, it looks quite thick - as this is the first Ciaté Paint Pot I've tried I'm unsure whether this is unique to this shade, but I have a few more colours to try so will report back. It almost looks like gel nails on my nails. A very grown up kind of polish - lovely.

Nails of the Day - Butter London Muggins

This is another polish sent from Powder Rooms and o.m.g. I love it! Its a flat colour but can be described as so many different colours - grey, heather, lilac, blue.... it looks different in different lights, but this will definitely be one I will wear again and again.

Nails of the Day - Butter London Aston

I have been sent a lovely package of polishes to swatch from Powder Rooms, an online boutique, for them to use the pics on their site. The first I decided to try from my bag of goodies was Aston by Butter London.

Aston after Martin, I assume, and not the little one from JLS. If I'm honest, the reason I picked it is because I thought it looked fairly similar to All Hail McQueen - the polish of the moment, but another blogger had got in there before me with that one! It is a warm toffee brown tone, but with tiny little flecks of silver glitter in it. I don't normally go for anything but flat colours for my nails, and this was a nice way to test out something that doesn't fall into that category, as it's subtle. Because of the glittery particles it does make the polish look very glossy, especially with a topcoat on top. The swatch pic is with 2 coats of polish and Poshe topcoat over them. The nail was completely covered after just one coat, but I went with 2 because I just can't not!

This is the first Butter London polish I've tried. The bottle is a really nice design, it is pleasing to the eye. You pull the large black part off and there is a small tubular lid, much like on the Chanel polishes, but a little thinner. Using that handle with the brush made it all seem a little short, but it did the job. Butter polishes are 3 free which means that they contain no Formaldehyde, Toluene or DBP. They are said to last longer when used with 3 free base and top coats, which I didn't have, so just used my usuals. I did have some tipwear after just one day of wearing and some more visible chips after 2 days - but my polish in general seems to never last that long as I use my hands so much.

The range of colours in the range is amazing - some of the ones I have in my bag seem totally unique - I look forward to sharing some more with you.

Nails of the Day - OPI Ski Teal We Drop

Ski Teal We Drop is one of the shades from the new OPI Autumn range - the Swiss Collection. I got this from an American seller on eBay (so much cheaper than buying OPI over here!) along with William Tell Me About OPI which I will swatch soon, it's too 'autumney' to wear at the moment. In fact, this is too really. It looks black in some lights, with a blue tinge. More like the bottle colour in sunlight, but it is a dark shade. Really gorgeous, but not right for the lovely weather we're having at the moment. It goes on very well, coating the nails with just one coat, but the photo is with two coats and Poshe topcoat.

Nails of the Day - Barry M Marshmallow Pink

I've had this nail polish for a few years, I'm not even sure it's still available but it might be knocking round in the back of someones cupboard, or on eBay. It still goes on perfectly, as if it were brand new, which goes to show what great formulation Barry M polish is.

When Essie's Van D'Go came onto the scene earlier this year it was like nothing I'd ever seen before, I thought. I had to have it. I got it, and wasn't that impressed. Gorgeous colour but the formulation wasn't to my liking - it had far too much white in it, chipped easily, and the Essie brush is annoying. The other day, I was looking through my polish collection and rediscovered Marshmallow Pink. The colour is identical, it's like everything the Essie should be. I will do a dupe pic soon, I'm sure I'm right, if not I apologise, but shade-wise I think they're extremely similar.

The bottle doesn't actually say the name of the polish on the bottom, as they usually do these days, just the number 278, which after a bit of Google investigation, I discovered was named Marshmallow Pink. I'm not sure I'd have named it that myself - it's more peach than pink, a really pale pastel apricot shade.

Nails of the Day - OPI Rumple's Wiggin'

This came out as part of the Shrek Collection earlier this year. It is a gorgeous light purple creme polish with a slight blue tone to it. It's very pretty and so far I've found it to be different to any other lilac shades I have such as OPI's Lucky Lucky Lavendar. It's definitely my favourite polish from the Shrek Collection.

As usual with OPI, I am in love with the pro-wide brush which makes it easy to apply the polish within 3 strokes. It looked a little streaky after just one coat - I settled on two coats but I think 3 coats would have been better as I can now see patches which seem to have a little less polish on than the rest of the nail.

2 coats + Poshe topcoat

The colour is very flattering and I'd imagine it would suit all skin tones. It's the kind of shade you'd expect to find on a Mini Egg -  yum!

Nails of the Day - Barry M Mushroom

I really like Barry M's range of polishes - they are fantastic quality, long lasting and are normally on special offer in either Superdrug or Boots for 2 for £5.

When Metro Chic et al came out last year, I wasn't really feeling the whole sludgey nail vibe so I didn't go for it - this year how ever, I'm aaaaaall about the sludge, so decided to try Mushroom by Barry M for starters.

Two coats, with Poshe topcoat over the top.

I would describe it as a grey-beige sludge. Helpful!? It it supposedly a good dupe for Chanel's Paticuliere, which I'm not going to bother trying because I'm quite satisfied with the results Barry M has delivered.

 It goes on easily, the brush isn't stupidly skinny and it looked great after just one coat. I don't know why but I am never satisfied with just one coat. It looked perfect, but still I had to go for round two - does anyone else have the same issue as me?! Its chic, sophisticated and a really nice autumney nail (gah - it's meant to be summer!)

I have been wearing it for 3 days now with Poshe topcoat and it's still in immaculate condition. Highly recommended.