NailsInc BlueBell Nails courtesy of InStyle Magazine

Bluebell or wild hyacinth is the name of a flower, belonging to the lily family and which grows shed loads in Scotland. Also the name of a gorgeous creme finish nailsinc nail polish which came free in the June 2012 edition of the InStyle Magazine (full details of the operation and other free colours here) 





I vowed myself not to buy it, as I am not really into blue polishes to be honest (don't let me enumerate my exceptions because that would defeat the point that I've just made) but it was free with the magazine and Emma wanted to see what it looks like. That's it, I am just going to blame Emma for this acquisition.


NailsInc BlueBell was lovely to play with (applied very sloppily here though!) It does present the usual nailsinc quirk, i.e goes on a bit unevenly at first to dry to a smooth finish later, but I am cool with that. The coverage is exceptional. In one thick coat, it covered the not-so white of the white of my nails but you still want to apply a second coat to cover the ridges of the nail. The colour reminded me of a cross between Models Own Beth's Blue (what I actually wore on my nails the day I avatared myself) and Gosh Lavender Love. It is a beauty.








Do you need it in your collection?
If you are into purpley blue polishes, this is definitely one gorgeous limited edition item to own, wear with proud and enjoy. I am :)

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Free NailsInc polishes in Instyle Mag. starts tomorrow

I reckon that my nail polish is so vast that I could have enough nail polish to paint the hands and toes of all the people at my workplace. But despite that, I am finding it hard to resist a free nail polish. It's not entirely free, mind you. You need to buy a magazine to get it.





Buy the June 2012 edition of InStyle magazine (£3.80) and leave with a free nails inc nail polish worth £11. There are three colours to choose from: Peach Sorbet, BlueBell and Power Pink. These colours were designed exclusively for the magazine, are limited edition, and will be available from tomorrow (Thursday, 3 May 2012) until stocks last.


I quite fancy checking out the ‘Bluebell’ in person and see what it’s like.
Will you be heading to your newsagent and check out the shades too?

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Fashion Fawn Nails and Brown/Taupe Polishes comparison

I've been wondering whether I was a bit harsh with my review of Nails Inc Instyle Orange Candy yesterday. On Emma's positive experiences on Fashion Fawn and Electric Teal, the other 2 shades of nails inc polishes, also free on purchase of In Style magazine this month, I decided to buy 'Fashion Fawn'. Everything is all right with the world again.

Application was the usual easy and I couldn't fault the formula. I was able to be more in control the application again and no hint of gloopyness in sight. I had one hair on the brush right in the middle of the brush longer than the others but it was nothing that a quick snip with a pair of scissors couldn't fix. My photos show 2 coats of polish. Fashion Fawn gets my thumbs up!












I am not very good at describing shades, and comparing it with others. For me it's brown, a nice shade of brown. I am going to leave you all nail polish aficionados and taupe experts to appreciate the nuances in my little comparison swatch below. Thank you Emma for the comparison inspiration :) xx






I really enjoyed that exercise. I have found that:
- Barry M Mushroom was the easiest to apply (They have really nailed their formula!!)
- I still want to recycle / blog sale Accessorize Truffle: not too keen on the brush, it feels so short. I am not very comfortably applying it, the size of the cap of the truffle feels disproportionately too wide too big compared to the length of the brush. I can’t believe how grey and dark it looks here!
- My favourite brown from this little swatch is Jermyn Street and it made me appreciate it even more.
 

This is one of these times when I would have loved to be a freak, to have 4 more fingers on the same hand and compare more shades at once. Now if you want to compare nails inc london, fashion fawn, eyeko posh and no.7 'the brown one' I'd love you for ever :)

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Freebie Fursday {notd}

I am not liking my nails at the moment. They are too short, the nail shape of my index is doing its own thing again but today was a special occasion. Today was Freebie (Th)Fursdaaaay :) The orange fanatic in me found it hard to resist buying a copy in Instyle Magazine this month. Instyle did again one of their popular collaboration with nails inc and promised their readers 3 shades of polishes this month. 5pm couldn't come soon enough for me to get my hands on candy orange.


At the same time, I've been reflecting on my recent purchases of nail polishes and realised that the most I'd been spending lately on nail polishes had been £2.99 (Instyle Magazine costing £3.70!) So I really wanted to have a good look at the bottle and make a final decision then. The polish was much brighter than I expected but since I only had one orange polish in my collection (Gosh Orange Drops) I decided to give it a whirl.



 


Well maybe I shouldn't have bought it after all. I have found candy orange not very easy to apply. I found the formula to be quite thick, verging on gloopy. It has a nice glossy finish but it's one of these polishes that until it's a bit dry, it looks a bit messy to be honest. But if the colour and the result is nice, it's all that matters right?




Well, I do love orange but this is bit too on the neon side for my liking. Photos show 2 coats but ideally this manicure needs 3 coats. Overall, I am not very impressed by this shade and it will no doubt come up in some sort of blog sale. What a shame, I had great hopes for this little orange number. Maybe my expectations were too high. I should have bought the brown instead *sigh*






Candy Orange? I would prefer to call this more Fanta Orange, as it also comes free with plenty of bubbles unfortunately.

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Inglot Candy Nails

I was not planning to wear nail polish for a while. I was planning even less to post any pictures of my nails!  I had to cut them right down to the base (very bad tear) and I much prefer doing nail posts when my nails are a little bit longer. I feel that they showcase a nail polish better but hey ho, short nails deserve to be loved too right?





Today, I am wearing a little freebie from a magazine. It's an oldie but a goodie: It was given away in 'In Style' Magazine and it's called 'Candy'. Candy a lovely shade of lilac pink. It's very girly, very pink but the lilac tones prevents it from being too 'barbie' girl and too cutesy. Application was easy, although I find this polish a little bit on the thick side. If you're a rush, you could get away with one coat as the coverage is pretty impressive but 2 coats will give you immaculate and even coverage. 


And now for the obligatory photo with flash (I much prefer taking my nail photos with flash!)




And now powered with natural sunlight :)





I am not into 'creme' finishes really. I find 'creme' finishes to be a little flat, unless they are nude mannequin shades or greige. But this one I like. And I like it better because it came free with a magazine!


 


In the occasions, when I miss my shimmer drama, I like to pair Instyle candy with the most gorgeous top coat ever: Inglot 017, one of my very few purchases from Imats (January 2011)


 


This very sheer polish will just 'prettify' any polish you have and will add some kind of duochrome pink/bluey glow to your nails. If you wear it on its own (about 4 coats though) it will just make your nails so pretty and elegant.





I've worn on its own a few times (very hard to photograph) and they look like very clean, fresh rosy glow nails and I always get compliments. It would be the kind of shade Men scared of nail polishes would like, something pretty safe you would want to wear when you meet his parents too ;)





Talking of freebies, and if you're in the UK, keep your eyes opened for some other magazines offers: Fee from Makeup Savvy and Grace from London Makeup Girl  have found some offers for us, starting in just a few days time. Weee! :) Ooo I like a magazine freebie! Which one is the best one you’ve collected so far?

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