NOTD - Nails Inc. Victoria

Love the vampness of this polish, makes me feel all Pulp Fiction and want to start jiving in a burger bar.

With having to shorten my nails before labour I wanted a colour that looked classic and glamourous (even though at the time I didn't feel it), as well as something I can wear with my PJ's as well as anything I decided to get dressed in.

You will need to coats to get an even layer and it lasted on me for about 5 days until the edges started to fade. As it is a cream finish the removal is easy, but you will need a base coat to stop it staining the nails.

The classic is available from Nails Inc website RRP £11.00 but is available in 3 for £22 mix and match offer currently running.

Rose Quartz Nail Varnish by Barry M

Rose Quartz with There She Rose by OPI

I had spotted this polish on different peoples blog and always though it was pretty but it wasn't until I saw it on Fee's Blog Makeup Savvy that I was convinced that I had to hunt it down. It is a mixture of small rose gold glitter with fine hologram glitter in a clear base.
Fee had put hers over a nude/white polish while I put mine over a rose tone (OPI's There She Rose), it did look beautiful but to me the glitter seemed to blend in with the polish. The is when I turned to Nail's Inc. Porchester Road

I prefer this as the finer parts of the glitter seem to show more on this slightly darker colour but still in the nude genre. Trying to take it was no longer than any other glitter polish, just a lot of patience and acetone but it well worth getting as it is just beautiful.

Available at all high street chemists/online RRP £2.99

Nails Inc Couture Varnish using Hyda Park Corner

I honestly love this prize, not only is it from one of my blogger heroes, Jane from British Beauty Blog but I also had the huge task of creating a bestoke Nails Inc varnish for myself using the current line up of colours.

Nails Inc Couture would make a great for someone who loves thrie polish. You start with choosing the lids to go on top, from diamonte to pearls, then to the polish to go inside. The polish took the longest to pick as I had to throughly research each colour to make sure that I hadn't already had it as well as something I would wear (Thank you to google and the hundreds of swatch images I spent two hours pouring over!). You then write what you like to have written on the bottom of bottle instead of the shade name, as well as what stickers you are decorating the box in.

I themed mine around a keep sake for me on the birth of Minilemming. I had the idea of something that was really 'me' but gave a huge nod towards that changes that are coming. The varnish colour is Hyde Park Corner, a lilac/heather toned grey with a dark sparkle grey cap. It is named, "Baby Gray, January 2014" and decorated in yummy mummt stickers.

It is normally £20, compared to £11 for a 'normal' Nails Inc varnish and it is purely as a one of kind gift for a beauty junkie. I had a huge amount of fun putting this together and it does really mean a lot to me already, a fushion of Mum and Bubba.

NOTD Portabello Road's Asylum

I woke up today and forgot that I painted my nails last night (yes that does happen!). I gave myself a fright with these, I'd forgotten how bright this polish is!.

This is Nails Inc Limited Edition Portabello Road with Finger Paints Asylum over the top. I'm trying to grab onto the last few days of summer with a  polish that's cheery and bright. I put top coats of each on, but I think the Nails Inc could of done with another coat.

I wish it was sunnier to show you how stunning Finger Paints Asylum is, it's a beautiful iridescent glitter that can be built up. I wrote about here.

Ebay is naughty but I couldn't resist a nail bargain!

I am now on a spending because well I have no money to actually buy anything. I have been selling some of my old varnish's off on eBay just to get some money back and clear out my collection. All was going well until I checking out the competition (it's my defence and I'm sticking with it!), there was a huge a job lot with 12 varnishes, a stamper set with spare bits (My wishlist had this on). I stuck it on my watch list to see what it would go for.

At work I got a ping to tell me not to miss out, and well I had a look it was still at good price a minutes to go. I got itchy fingers and before I knew it it was paid for, a whole £14 including P&P. Today it arrived, after the terrible day at work it defiantly something that brightened  up my day!

This is the stamper kit bits including a still boxed up set that has plate B26 (Hawaiian themed). The other plates are B56 (designs for edging) and B01 (flowers, butterflies and girlie bits). Needed a wipe with varnish remover but cleaned up well, eager to try these out!

Rimmel varnishes L-R: Funtime Fuchsia, Grey Matter, Strawberry Fizz, Instyle Coral, Camouflage Chic, and Aqua Cool

Others L-R: Sally Hansen Cafe Au Lait, Orly Lemonade, Nails Inc Tate, Nails Inc Portobello, Nails Inc Notting Hill Gate, Nails Inc Haymarket.

Altogether there is at least £70 worth of items there, and I'm over the moon. Should give me more than enough to play with while on the spending ban!

Ciate's Bon Bon Vs. Nails Inc. Portchester Square

Left: Ciate in Bon Bon. Right: Nails Inc. Portchester Road

I never really been a nude nail girl, I'd rather have my nails making a bold statement, but then I may be mellowing in my old age and starting to think about getting some nudes in my collection. Marie Claire has this one in their magazine as a freebie (it will be ending this week so grab then while you can, there are two other colours to collect). I did wear it for a while (NOTD here), and while it's a reasonable varnish, the colour really didn't bowl me over.

I then did an order with LatestInBeauty (Here) where they were (and still are) selling this colour for £6.00 instead of £11 and thought why not? I received my order on Saturday and while watching the F1 (wasn't it an awesome race?!) painted my nails and wondered how the two together would compare.

Taken on daylight (when it was sunny!)

The first thing that strikes me is that the Ciate Bon Bon is acutally more of a lilac, while the Nails Inc. Porcester Square is a lot more of a nuder brown. I also found the Bon Bon against my skintone was right at all, while the Nails Inc complimented more. Painting wise, I found the Nails Inc much more easier to use and in these pictures it's only one coat while the Ciate has two.

I also put them to ultimate manicure test - I painted each hand in the colours and did two hours of housework (scrubbing, hot water, cleaning chemicals, the whole thing!). The Ciate didn't fair well and started to chip towards the end. However, the Nails Inc stood up to the test and still look reasonable glossy.

So sorry Ciate as pretty as your bottles are, when it comes down to giving it some punishment it didn't stand the test of a good house clean. Nails Inc wins!

My First Order with Latestinbeauty.com

latestinbeauty.com is another company that offers sample sizes before purchase, this one is slightly different that you can choose the three sample sachets that go into your box for the cost of £1.50 that is added to you mobile phone bill.

After adding my details into my profile they picked a selection and from that I picked: TRESemme Split Remedy Set (Shampoo, Conditioner and Leave-In Treatment), Dr. Organic Rose Otto Lotion and SUPER by Dr Nicholas Perricone Bright Eyed. They arrived 3 days after I ordered, I got two sachets each of the TRESemme and SUPER but only one of the Dr. Organic. The box was also much thicker than the products and could of easily fit into an envelope, cutting down on postage costs as I feel that £1.50 is a little high for what I actually received.

The TRESemme turned out to be a great 3 set, the scent wasn't unoffensive and smelt like any other hair care product out there, however I really liked the leave in treatment. I normally wash my hair, leave it damp over night as I don't have time in the morning to go through the whole routine. I also have really dry hair because I dye it, I woke with really soft and volumised hair even after a nights sleep on it. More impressive that trying it this way meant that I was allergic to it, as with other TRESemme products in the past.

The two skincare products that I received were nothing really to rave about. The Dr. Organic Rose Otto cream is a slightly thicker lotion than the normal, however you do need to really like the smell of rose it is heavily scented (and not best for people who have sensitive skin), I got about four good uses out of one 5ml sachet. The SUPER eye cream is a light eye cream designed for the more maturer skin, couldn't smell any scent and sunk is quickly. It stopped the area feeling dry, but other than that it didn't rock my world.

The main reason I tripped over the sight was that Never To Broke For Beauty gave a heads up to the Luxury sample side of the website that currently have a 30ml Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish for £3 for a limited time. Never trying it before (and there was a free p&p code), I grabbed myself one, then spotted the hero Nails Inc. shade Porchester Road for £6 instead of £11 and whoops that went in as well (reviews to come).

I find latestinbeauty.com a mixed bag, it's sample service is OK but the choice of luxury sampling is far better. I have just ordered their themed box by YOU magazine and The Beauty Bible, costing £11.90 (including P&P), it has their top picked of beauty products valued around £40. Interest? Buy it here

NOTD Instyle's Free Nails Inc Varnish - Bluebell

Oh my, this colour is just so pretty and it was just the one missing from my collection. I have a jumper in this colour and was dying for a varnish to match. I do have one little moan - I found it was a little watery to paint on and I didn't like the brush (OK two moans). I also want the other colours, Powder Pink and Peach Sorbet - They're perfect summer colours. Go and buy now!