Nail Polish Storage and Favourites

We made it to half term! Our itinerary for the week is already filling up quickly (why does that always happen??!) but for today, Izzy requested a “PJ day” and – especially as it is wet & windy outside – I was happy to agree. While they snuggle up watching Bee Movie, I have finally got time to sit down and write this post – its been in my mind for ages, but getting the words onto the screen takes a bit longer!!

I realised a while back that I haven’t shown you Liam’s latest DIY creation. Unless you follow me on Instagram that is, in which case you’ve seen it 3 or 4 times as its got more and more full!!

Liam used a tutorial on Flutter and Sparkle’s blog to make this, he had a bit of difficulty finding the right wood – he was wanting wood that was already white on both sides, but in the end he painted it with white primer – but once he’d got everything he needed it was pretty easy to make. Mine is smaller than the original as I have nowhere near as many polishes as her, plus this size fits perfectly over the mantelpiece in our bedroom.

I have used Liam building this as a bit of an excuse to go on a nail shopping binge!! I took that photo of my shelves yesterday, but since then Liam came home last night with a gift for me…he’d braved TKMaxx in his lunch break to buy me my first ever Nails Inc polishes!

I tried out the purple glitter, Buckingham Street, this morning and it is a gorgeous colour. I was in a bit of a rush to paint my nails though (as I got a text from my friend halfway through saying that her veg box had arrived, so I was expecting mine to turn up any moment!) so my cuticles got a bit messy…any recommendations for nail polish remover that cleans off glitter really well? I usually clean up the edges of my nails with cotton buds and remover, but that doesn’t work so well with glitter polishes.

My other recent discovery is Fragrance Direct…Essie nail polishes for only £1.99…yes please!! They don’t have the full range of colours, but they are so much cheaper than anywhere else that it is definitely worth checking out. I bought Essie Muchi Muchi and Ballet Slippers, plus a couple of Revlon nail polishes for only 99p and a few other bits…

The sponge wedges at the back are to do gradient nails, which I tried out for the first time on Wednesday night. Next time I need to use more contrasting colours as it is difficult to really see the gradient – neither colour was really pale enough to act as the base coat I think. I will also paint them in better light next time – these turned out a bit blocky (what you can see of it anyway!) as I thought the purple wasn’t showing up at all so tried to sponge extra purple on at the end. Not bad for a first attempt though, practise will hopefully eventually make perfect!

My favourite nails this week, however, are definitely these ones…

Barry M Blue Moon topped with Barry M Aqua Glitter…

This kind of reminds me of snowflakes, so I’m telling myself its ok to wear throughout Winter (and then after that it will morph into a spring-like colour…of course!! ) love it!

Ok, I think that’s probably enough nail polish rambling for now. I can already picture my Mum and Sister rolling their eyes whilst reading this, but I hope I haven’t bored the rest of you too much!! I will no doubt be back to talking about food soon, but this is another current love of mine at the moment. Well, I say current, even when I was aged 8 or 9, I used to spend the £1 a week pocket money my parents gave me on nail polishes…the first two colours I ever bought were glittery black and acid green!!

Do you like painting your nails? What are your favourite brands? I used to only really paint my toes, as my fingers always chipped too quickly, but a good quality top coat does help that a bit. For colours, I love Barry M and Rimmel from the cheaper brands - they are the best quality in the £3-4 price range I think, and Barry M especially has such a wide range of colours. Reading American blogs introduced me to Essie, and I was so happy when Boots started selling them, although I do tend to mostly buy them online (Fragrance Direct or Ebay) for cheaper prices. I love the look of a lot of Nails Inc glitters too, but as they are more pricey I have sent Liam an email with a list of favourites from Beauty Bay website (free delivery makes them seem slightly cheaper?!) and promised him that I wont buy them myself. Hopefully that will make Christmas slightly easier for him anyway – he always struggles to think of gift ideas for me!