Orly Rage Nail Polish - Review & Swatch

Hi Everyone!

I decided to apply a metallic shade to my nails today and went for Orly's Rage nail polish which is a beautiful rose - gold colour with a slight silver flash to it.

I began by applying a coat of Seche Base followed by 2 coats of Orly Rage. The polish is more or less opaque after the first coat but I found that it was a bit patchy when dry in places, this was, however, corrected with the second coat. I finished off with a layer of Seche Vite Top Coat.

 

 

I love this polish! It's great any time of the year and the metallic shade is bang on trend right now!

I purchased the mini size (5.4ml) bottle of this polish from Effortless Nails for £3.95

Maz x

Orly Peachy Parrot Nail Polish - Review & Swatch

Hi Everyone!

Today I applied one of the polishes from Orly's Birds of a Feather Collection for Fall 2011. I chose Peachy Parrot which is a lovely peachy, coral shade with tiny flecks of golden shimmer - the perfect colour for Spring/ Summer (despite it being from a fall collection!)

I began by applying 2 coats of OPI's Original Nail Envy as my base followed by 2 coats of Peachy Parrot. The polish was really smooth and easy to apply and dried quickly. I finished off by applying a layer of OPI Rapi Dry Top Coat.

I love this colour, the peachy colour is gorgeous and the golden shimmer made it that extra bit special.

You can purchase this polish from Look Fantastic for £9.25

Maz x

Orly Fowl Play - Review & Swatches

Hi Everyone!

Today I applied the newest addition to my nail polish collection, Orly's Fowl Play from their Birds of a Feather Collection for Fall/ Autumn 2011. Fowl Play has a dark purple, jelly base and is packed full of red and green duochrome flakes and blue and silver micro glitter.

First I applied 2 coats of OPI Matte Nail Envy as my base followed by 2 coats of Fowl Play. The lacquer consistency is quite thick and gloopy and not the easiest polish to apply. The first coat was pretty uneven and streaky. The second coat of the polish really evened things out and left a beautiful finish. I finished my applying a coat of Seche Vite Fast Drying Top Coat.

This polish is beautiful and perfect for a Christmas night out. Polishes with a jelly base and flecks of colour seem to be really popular at the moment and are a great alternative to glitter polishes.

I purchased my bottle from Beauty Bay for £6.95. If you have purchased any of the other polishes from the Birds of a Feather Collection please let me know what you think of them in the comments section below!

Maz x

Orly It's Not Rocket Science Nail Polish - Review & Swatches

Hi Everyone!

Today I applied Orly It's Not Rocket Science Nail Polish which is from the Cosmic FX Collection for fall 2010. This is quite an unusual shade, it has a green base with green and gold sparkles. It isn't my usual choice of colour, and I can't decide whether I like it or not, however, I think it is perfect for Halloween! The polishes from the Cosmic FX collection are said to combine natural rock minerals, crystals and glass to give a finish that is a cross between a foil and a duochrome.

I began by applying my OPI Base Coat followed by 2 coats of It's Not Rocket Science. The first coat was quite streaky and much more gold than green in my opinion, the polish was much more glittery than I was expecting too! The polish was more-or-less opaque after the second coat but you can still see some visible nail lines on some of my nails. I then finished off with a coat of Seche Vite Fast Drying Top Coat.

There are 5 other polishes in the Cosmic FX collection and even though they were released around a year ago you can still find them, I found mine at a local beauty supplies store for £4 (trade price) so check out the rest of the collection if you like this one!

Maz x

Top 10 Spring & Summer Nail Polishes

Hi Everyone!

I have put a list together for you of my top 10 summer nail polishes! These are the fun, bright colours that I love to wear during the summer when the weather is warm and sunny! However, as I live in the UK the weather can be pretty rubbish even in the middle of summer so these polishes really cheer me up!

10. Zoya Jo: This is the only blue on my list so you know that it must be pretty special! It is a lovely cornflower blue shade with shimmer.

9. Essie Van D'Go: This is a lovely pastel peach shade with a hint of pink.

8. OPI Purple With a Purpose: This is  beautiful amethyst colour that is perfect for any time of the year and is great if you want to wear a darker shade but still want to be summery!

7. Zoya Sweet: This is a pink bubblegum colour with a cream finish.

6. Zoya Happi: Happi is a unique peachy-pink with a hint of gold shimmer.

 5. OPI Do You Lilac It? This is a gorgeous pastel lilac colour.

4. Orly Fancy Fuchsia: This is a really eye-catching hot pink colour that always gets a lot of attention!

3. Butter London Teddy Girl: This is an opaque milky- pink shade.

2. OPI La-Pazitively Hot: As the names suggests this is a hot pink colour and is one of OPI's best selling shades.

1. Essie Pansy: Pansy is one of my favourite nails polishes and definitely my favourite summer polish. It is a gorgeous tropical hot pink shade.

Please share your favourite summer polishes below.

Enjoy the warm weather!

Maz x

Orly Frolic - Review & Swatch

Hi Guys!

This week's nails of the week is Frolic by Orly which is from the new Happy go Lucky collection which is out now in the UK. Frolic is described as a purple creme. The collection contains 3 other shades -

Flirty: Pink shimmer

Fresh: Green creme

Frisky: Teal creme

All of the colours look gorgeous and are super bright! I love their fun names! There is also a mini pack available which is a great way to get all of the colours for an affordable price.
Frolic is a gorgeous bright medium purple which reminds me a little of OPI's Purple with a Purpose from their Brights Collection. It was opaque after just one coat but I always apply 2. The lacquer consistency is quite thick and runny but easy enough to work with.
Overall I think that it's a great alternative to pinks and corals as a summer polish. I am so tempted to buy Flirty too!
I purchased my polish here - Tiffany Nail Supplies UK This is a great site based in the UK with super fast shipping.
4 stars out of 5 for Frolic from me!
Maz x

May Favourites

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to my favourites post for May 2011. I am going to try and post an article at the end of each month telling you all about the products that I have used and enjoyed the most over the last month. I will list each product along with a mini review! I have also included some swatches at the end of the post for you!!

So let's begin!

Pink Nail Polishes: I have been on a real pink nail polish kick recently and I especially love Essie Pansy, Orly Fancy Fuchsia and OPI La Paz-itively Hot! Despite it being summer here in the UK the weather isn't too great so hot pink polishes really cheer me up!

Vera Wang Princess: Princess is one of my very favourite perfumes. It has the most amazing, distinctive smell and I would highly recommend having a spray of it next time you see it in stores!

Vaseline Hand and Nail Cream: I use this hand moisturiser every night and it has done an amazing job. It kept my hands soft all through a very harsh winter looking after my horse and it is super affordable!

NARS Laguna Bronzer: As summer is approaching I am increasing the old bronzer application! Laguna has always been my favourite bronzer and is the only one I ever use despite having a couple of others in my collection! It is an ideal colour for my skin (NW20) and doesn't have to much shimmer!

MAC Blush in Harmony: I use this blush as a cheekbone contouring shade. I apply it with my MAC 109 brush and it gives an amazing effect with very little effort!

Urban Decay 24/7 Eye Liner in Covet: This is a beautiful teal colour liner that just glides onto your skin. I love to use it on my lower lashline with a neutral eye lid colour to make my eyes pop.

MAC Naked Lunch Eyeshadow: I have been reaching for Naked Lunch as my brow highlight a lot recently, it gives a little bit of shimmer without it being too much and I think it looks great paired with pink and purple eye looks.

Loreal True Match Foundation: I am in love with this foundation and I have a feeling that it will appear on several favourite lists in the future! It applies and blends just as well as other, much more expensive, foundations that I have previously tried.

MAC Lipstick in Milan Mode: Milan Mode is a hot pink lipstick that I think is ideal for a night out in summer and is much more wearable that hotter pink lipsticks such as Girl About Town. I love to pair it with a smokey purple eyeshadow look.

Urban Decay 24/7 Eyeshadow Pencil in Morphine: This is the first of the 24/7 eyeshadow pencil's that I have tried and I love it! It applies and blends so smoothly and evenly and, in my opinion, has a better consistency that the NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils. Morphine is a beautiful lavender shade and looked great when I applied a layer of it under Urban Decay Hot Pants Eyeshadow.

Marks & Spencer Body Polish in Coconut: I purchased this product after seeing a great review of it in Look Magazine. I have been using it in place of my Body Shop Coconut Body Scrub and it is a much cheaper alternative! It leaves my skin silky soft and smells great.

My Blog!: I thought that I would add this one in at the end! I have been writing my blog for a little over 2 weeks now and I love it! It is keeping my mind occupied and keeping my entertained! Long may it last!

Here come the swatches!

(L to R) NARS Laguna Bronzer, MAC Harmony Blush, Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Covet, MAC Naked Lunch Eyeshadow, MAC Milan Mode Lipstick, Urban Decay 24/7 Eyeshadow Pencil in Morphine

Maz x

Orly Fancy Fuchsia - Review & Swatch

Hi Everyone
Today I applied Orly's Fancy Fuchsia to my nails for a night out on the town with my friends! I'm wearing a pretty simple black outfit tonight so I wanted statement nails and that is definitely what I got with this polish!

This is the first Orly nail polish that I have tried and I picked this out from the Precious collection.

Fancy Fuchsia is a seriously hot, almost neon, pink. It is so eye catching and perfect for summer, especially if you have a tan. I applied my usual OPI base coat and 2 coats of the polish followed by 1 coat of OPI Rapi Dry top coat. The polish was opaque after one coat but was a little patchy (probably due to my poor painting skills)! so I applied a second. The formula is quite thick but fairly easy to apply and the drying time wasn't too bad. A problem I find with thick creamy lacquer's is that it makes it very obvious if you aren't the best and neatest when it comes to applying the varnish especially around the cuticle area but I always clean up the edges by soaking q-tips in nail polish remover. Problem solved!

If I can judge Orly as a brand just from this one polish then I would say I will definitely be buying more of their products. I purchased this polish for £9.95 from http://www.tiffanynailsupply.co.uk/ which is around £1.05 cheaper than what I usually pay for my OPI polishes and the Orly bottles are slightly bigger!
You can also purchase it from Amazon here: Orly Precious Nail Lacquer, Fancy Fuschia, .6 fl oz

Overall - 4 stars out of 5 from me!

Maz x

Nail polish suggestions needed!!!

Hi everyone!

As I have mentioned several times on my blog, I love nail polish and mainly stick to OPI, Essie and Nails Inc with a few Leighton Denny thrown in here and there! I have, however, read on other blogs and magazines and seen on YouTube that Zoya, Illemasqua and Orly also produce great polishes and I would love to try them to see what they are like! I have looked all three brands up online and simply do not know where to start! I would be so grateful if any of you could comment below with some suggestions of great 'must have' polishes from any of these brands so I can give them a go!

Maz x