Current Nails: Essie Fear & Desire

Currently I am wearing...

This bright satsuma neon orange colour by Essie called 'Fear & Desire'.

I love Essie nail polishes, as I find that a lot of their colours are unlike anything you can find elsewhere. Also although with this 'new formula' I don't notice much of a difference in appearance or general wear, the brush is so so amazing.

It's a thick wide-spanning one so literally one swipe and your whole nail is covered! Makes painting nails super quick!

To see more Essie posts:

I did a 'current nails' with 'Bikini So Teeny' a while back, a beautiful shade. The pictures on that are a lot better as I didn't have time here to get out my proper camera and I had to rush off!

I also featured 'Bikini So Teeny' in last year's spring nail polish edition 'Put a Spring in your step', a blog post of my favourite spring polishes. It's definitely worth a read!

And in my winter nails selection I featured another beautiful Essie shade, 'Velvet voyeur'. 

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Update: A couple days after, I got bored as I so often do with my nail polish.

Instead of taking it off and putting on a new colour as I so often do, instead I did something I sometimes do, which to change up the nails without the full bother of repainting, I just whacked on a matte topcoat! Done.

And hey presto your nails are like new.

The best thing about using a matte topcoat is that it dries super quickly, way quicker than any glossy topcoat I've tried, so rejuvenating your nails takes like 20 seconds and then you can get on with your life!

In my 'Ultimate Nail Polish Tips' blog post I named my favourite matte topcoats, and the one I used here is the Rimmel pro matte finish one, it's so cheap and I can't complain at all it's all you need in a matte topcoat. I also gave loads of other good nail polish tips.

I also have a nail care megapost which gives my top tips for healthy strong nails- it's definitely worth a read!

What nail polish do you currently have on? What's your favourite nail polish? Let me know in the comments below.

Current Nails: OPI Teal The Cows Come Home

Currently I am Wearing...

This metallic bright blue by OPI which I got in a minis set of 5 that didn't say the names on any of them, but I've researched the colour and I do believe it is called 'Teal The Cows Come Home'.

I couldn't find the set of minis on the internet anywhere for some reason (I bought it from TK Maxx I think for a discounted price), but if you like the colour shown here you can still buy the full size.

Aren't the OPI names just amazing? ;') And obviously the application is wonderful too, I think their formulation is my favourite by any brand.

My nails are finally longer and healthier! To see my tips and tricks, read my nail care megapost!

Two coats of the nail polish over a basecoat

What are you currently wearing on your nails? What's your favourite brand of nail polish? Let me know in the comments below.

Current Nails: Barry M Lychee and Pink Glitter Accent

Currently I am Wearing...

This beautiful nude from the Barry M Gelly range called Lychee and a glitter polish, also from Barry M, on the accent nail to spice things up a bit.

I am obsessed with my nails right now, I think this combination looks amazing. It would be great for prom (with glitter matching your dress colour) or just summer in general.

One coat of basecoat and two coats of the Gelly shade, with a layered gradient on the accent nail of glitter

To get this look I used the OPI Natural Nail Base Coat, the Barry M Gelly Nail Paint in Lychee and the Barry M nail paint in Pink Sapphire Glitter.

What is your favourite nail polish? What do you currently have on your nails? Let me know in the comments below.

Current Nails: H&M Yellow

Currently I am wearing...

This bright sour yellow colour from H&M in the shade 'yellow'.

 It came in a set of 5 (I think) minis in standard colours and can't have been that expensive. I'm pretty sure they don't sell this exact set anymore but they still have nail and cosmetic products which are worth a try.

I painted two coats over a basecoat. I don't normally use a topcoat because I only like wearing one select shade for a few days anyway- usually about 4 or 5 days.

The shade is called 'yellow'... I know- creative!

What's your favourite nail polish? What do you currently have painted on your nails? Let me know in the comments below.

Current Nails: Sephora Don't Look Back

Currently I am Wearing...

This silver-grey purple from Sephora called 'Don't Look Back'.

I got this about a year and a half ago in France in a mini trio from Sephora, if you would like to see a full post on the set please let me know! Annoyingly we obviously can't get Sephora in the UK though.

After one day of this on my nails it had already started to chip off :O I do love the colour, although perhaps it's a bit too wintery for some of you?

Two coats with a white basecoat on underneath

I used a white basecoat underneath just to make the colour a bit more opaque as it's not too crazy on its own. You could also use a black basecoat for a darker underlying finish.

What have you currently got on your nails? Do you own any Sephora nail polish? Let me know in the comments below.

Current Nails: Essie Bikini So Teeny

Currently I am wearing:

This pastel violet-y lavender by Essie called 'Bikini So Teeny'.

This is one of the most famous Essie polishes, so you've probably heard of this before. This shade is really one of a kind, and it's hard to find anything else even remotely like it. I absolutely love it.

The Essie formulation is amazing, even a few days after application everything is looking perfect. This can't be said for the Barry M polishes I have been wearing recently.

Basecoat and two coats of the Essie polish, no topcoat

 This is one of the newer formula polishes with the bigger brushes and slightly different packaging. The brush is amazing and practically covers and completes the whole nail in one stroke. It's great.

Bikini so Teeny by Essie

What are you currently wearing on your nails? What's your favourite all time nail polish shade? Let me know in the comments below.

Current Nails: Barry M Lilac Foil

Currently I am wearing:

This silvery purple from Barry M called 'Lilac Foil'.

As you can tell I've been wearing a lot of Barry M at the moment, and this is another duo-chrome beautiful shade.

These are about £3, but this might have been slightly more because I believe it was a limited edition shade.

The formula of Barry M shades is usually on the thicker side, however this one despite feeling thinner still creates the opaque shade you see above in just one coat. The pictures show no basecoat or topcoat either.

It's a beautiful shade when it catches the light, and with the other colours in the 'foil' range from Barry M (silver and gold), the best part about this nail polish is it's literally completely dry within about 30 seconds. I'm not even joking it's so quick and easy to just chuck on.

Have you got this shade? What's your favourite nail polish brand? Let me know in the comments below.

Current Nails: Barry M Chameleon Blue

Currently I am wearing on my nails:

This glossy silvery grey-blue from Barry M.

It costs around the £3 mark from Superdrug or anywhere with a Barry M counter.

I have been wearing this on my nails for about a week now, opting for the lazy tactic of simply adding a new layer over the top as the current one starts to chip.

As you can see, this coat is also starting to chip at the tips. As a result of the build-up, what you see in the picture is the colour after three coats (over a week or possibly more), however the colour fully and opaquely coats the nails in just one coat, as I have come to expect from Barry M.

I've had this for ages and the formulation is still so smooth and not clumpy or thick at all.

My nails are finally starting to gain some length haha! I'm so happy. I really hate short nails on myself.

Three coats, with a basecoat. As you pile on the coats, the shade gets slightly darker

The reason it's called 'Chameleon Blue' and has the funky limited edition packaging is due to the special effect of this polish.

With the addition of a topcoat, this blue shade transforms to a reddy-bronze. This makes it extremely easy to do funky nail art designs. I have tried this method before and not only does it work well, but the colour is also beautiful. This time I just felt like using this as a plain blue though.

Have you tried this nail polish? What are you wearing on your nails at the moment? Let me know in the comments below.

Current Nails: Barry M Silver Foil

Currently I am wearing on my nails:

This is a metallic silver shade from Barry M labelled 'Foil Effects Silver Foil'.

As you can see, it really does look like a silver or aluminium foil.

Barry M have an amazing colour and effect selection, and they're not too expensive either. They're around the £3 mark.

Once again my nails are disgustingly short, but I'm woking on it okay!

My nails currently have a basecoat and one coat of this polish. It's fine like this, but more even with two coats.

I love this polish, it's great quality, looks amazing and most importantly, this literally dries in 20 seconds. And I mean completely dry! Same with the gold foil one that I also own.

Have you tried this nail polish? What are you wearing on your nails at the moment? Let me know in the comments below.

Current Nails: Claire's Mint Green

Currently I am wearing on my nails:

This mint green shade from Claire's accessories. It's so pretty, especially for spring.

My nails are so short right now it makes me cringe!! I'm in the process of growing them out- promise!

Sorry, it doesn't say any sort of colour name anywhere on the bottle, not even a number, but it came from a set of 5 minis. I love them all- they're beautiful pastel colours and the pigmentation is great for the price. In the set are a few dupes  for more expensive nail polishes. Also, even though this is only 5ml it's enough for so many uses.

I couldn't find the set on the website but you might be able to find this or something else similar in store. 

Two coats, with basecoat and no topcoat. It's fine with one coat but much better with two.

Have you tried this nail polish? What are you wearing on your nails at the moment? Let me know in the comments below.