Irreplaceable Crush: NOTD

Another nail post? Yes, please bear with me as I muster the courage to take some new photos and blog about something else. At the moment, I am using the materials which survived the computer apocalypse and which were stored on my camera memory card.


There are nail polishes that you like, nail polishes that you really like  and polishes that you like so much, you just can't help but looking at your nails constantly. 'Irreplaceable' nail polish from Essence belongs to the third category and has captivated me like no other polishes,well if you don't count Holographic from Gosh, which frankly belongs to a league of its own. I first came across 'Irreplaceable' on a Slovenian Blog, Biba's Beauty Corner, a blog I have become very fond of, as the photos are incredible and it features different products from the typical British nail blogs I follow.







Back to 'irreplaceable' and my attempt at trying at to explain to you why it fascinates me so much. Imagine a sunny and golden sandy beach, and this is what the polish reminds me of. In fact, forget the 'irreplaceable' name, I would like to call this nail polish 'golden sands'.


This is how I would have liked my Boots No. 7 (Sundowner Collection) 'Sultry Sands' to have been like.  The colour is absolutely gorgeous, it applies beautifully, smoothly, so easily and to top it all off, it is dries very quickly. Drying time was a major issue with the sultry sands from No.7, so much so that I m convinced that an hour would not be enough for it to dry fully, it's that bad.


 


 


Irreplaceable could also be called 'unfindable' as sadly, if you live in the UK this is a very hard to find nail polish. Yes I might be lucky to live in a country which sells really good quality polishes at a low price (Barry M, BeautyUk and 17 Cosmetics polishes spring to mind) but I will always be jealous of my fellow European Bloggers (the swatchaholic and nihrida -  to name but a few) and their easy access to stunning and budget friendly Essence polishes.


 

I am very emotionally attached to this 5ml bottle: I acquired it in a makeup swap with Biba herself and if I break it, I know this is really going to be irreplaceable. This polish gives me gorgeous golden sandy nude nails in minutes (2 coats), goes pretty much with anything, and is for me a minimum effort maximum impact polish.


I am in love.

 


Want to see more Essence Polishes? Pop over to Biba's blog. I left my heart on there.

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Sultry Sands and Golden Palms Nails from Boots No7 Sundowner Summer Collection 2011

Ever since I saw the preview of No.7 summer collection, back in February on British Beauty Blogger and on the Beauty Swot, I have been really looking forward to the release of the no.7 “Sundowner” collection. The collection was finally released this week and I couldn't wait to get my hands on 2 items in particular: the 2 golden polishes, with a sumptuous packaging: Sultry Sands and Golden Palms.





After months of  impatient waiting, I had already visualised how I would want to be writing this post. The sun would be shining, I would be wearing these polishes under a terrific sunshine: the sun would make every sparkle in the polish shine like a diamond. I would also try to capture these polishes under sunset light and try to replicate that orange glow, part of the whole promotional picture.


Well, today, the end of the world didn't happen. It's tipping it down and the only reliable light I've got is the one from my poxy but trusty point and shoot camera. I could wait for a sunny day, but I am too excited and I want to write about them now, not when the sun wants to make an entrance. 


First off, let me present to you, SULTRY SANDS a sumptuous champagne gold sparkly polish, in the most gorgeous packaging. Let's cut a story short. Don't even waste your time applying this polish on your bare nails. I've tried and even after 4 coats, I was still seeing the white demarcation of my nail. The way to work with this bad boy is to apply a nude base (I am aware of the controversy of the term nude causes, so let's just say 'the flesh colour of Caucasian people).

So I applied one coat of my trusty Missguided Misscellaneous polish (I should have bought about 5 of that polish!!) and 2 coats of sultry sands. The colour is just absolutely gorgeous and I feel super pretty elegant when wearing this colour.





However, this polish presents a major drawback, such a drawback that I would actually like to rename the polish 'gloopy sands' instead of 'sultry sands'. As soon as you apply it, your eyes are mesmerised by the lovely golden glow but they can't help but noticing the tackyness and gloopiness also. It doesn't cause a problem as such for the application in itself, you will get an even coverage in the end but this polish takes absolutely for ever to dry.In fact, I managed to smudge it whilst taking my photos and had to redo my manicure. Boots should redo it and call it … quick sands :)








Now for GOLDEN PANTS PALMS. The colours is absolutely gorgeous and I think this would suit most skin tones. Again, as with 'gloopy sands', you will need to be extremely patient before using your hands again after you've applied your nail polish. I didn't bother to try without a nude base. One coat of missguided misscellaneous and 2 of golden palms will give you this result.









It makes me sad when I imagine how much more stunning these polishes would look under natural sunlight but never mind.





My final verdict: I feel a bit let down by the Sundowner Collection. But despite presenting 2 major drawbacks (too gloopy and too sheer for my liking) I am in love with these polishes and I want to display these bottles in my bedroom. However I will need to find a fast drying top coat which will work with shimmery/metallic polishes {that’s Seche Vite out of the window then} otherwise I will never have the patience to apply these.


Would I buy these polishes full price (£7)? No way! The colour might be gorgeous but £7 is a bit steep for gloopiness. However, £2 (with a reduction voucher) seems reasonable even the polishes are not perfect.






Will you be indulging in the Sundowner Collection? Here are some other items. Pictures are pinched from the website, lousy paint shop pro montage done by moi. There is another lipgloss to go with it, but the Boots website didn’t think it was worthy of displaying a picture?

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