Review: Essie Nail Polish in Secret Affair

I love a good sheer and pale pink/beige polish as I adore the clean look it gives to the nails. Initially I had been eyeing Essie's Ballet Slippers and Imported Bubbly, they are gorgeous! However it must have been a lucky day when I went Myer and they had discontinued Essie nail polishes for $8 (they retail for an absurd $17 here). Here it was when I found Secret Affair and I had to grab it, despite having so many nail polishes which I don't even wear.

Surprisingly this is the first Essie nail polish I own myself! I love its gorgeous packaging, and there is nothing more pretty than the embossed "essie" on its bottle. I would love to have a collection, but seeing as I don't paint my nails often, there really isn't a point... such a shame because they are so beautiful.

Application was easy, and drying time was average. My only qualm was that it started chipping the next day... tut tut, not happy at all. But since Secret Affair is such a pretty subdued shade (this could even be a great shade for weddings and for the office) I think I can forgive it for chipping so quickly. I've been thinking of getting the shade Sand Tropez but I'm not sure how it'll fare on my skintone, but I must refrain as money is getting tight!

Two coats of Essie Secret Affair

Have you tried Essie nail polishes? What is your favourite shade?

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Review: Butter London in Pink Ribbon Nail Lacquer

Gorgeous packaging. Cute name. Free from formaldehyde, toluene and DBP (Dibutyl phthalate for you chemistry nerds out there... okay... *sulks away*) which are chemicals that may cause cancer (called carcinogens). Enough of the chemistry talk, but what's there not to love about Butter London nail lacquers? I got this as a freebie from the October's issue of In Style magazine (I briefly mentioned this in the previous post) and was pretty excited to try it out!

Butter London Nail Lacquer in Pink Ribbon

I had trouble opening the lid, I twisted with all my might but it didn't work. But alas, I had a closer look at the lid and it says "Lift to open". Who would have thought a nail polish would have a pull up lid?

Oh dear, Mr Butter London is naked!

Little bird with a crown

On inspection the shade "Pink Ribbon" is a sheer peachy pink, quite a nice neutral colour for the nails. The formula was runny- I had to take the photo really quick before it dripped everywhere- and easy to apply. However, I was extremely disappointed with how the colour turned out. I knew it was going to be sheer, but not SO sheer that my nails appear not to be painted at all!

Do you see it? No? Neither do I! The only thing "Pink Ribbon" offers is a nice shine to the nails. Perhaps this is the only disappointing shade in the Butter London range as I have only heard of good things about these nail lacquers! The other shades they offer look quite gorgeous so I definitely won't give the Butter London a miss- I'll just blame it on Pink Ribbon.

Have you tried Butter London Nail Lacquers? Which shades do you have? What did you think of them?

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OPI Dulce De Leche nail polish

What an unexpected buy! I was out with a couple of friends to buy another friend some birthday presents when we stumbled on some OPI nail polishes. There has been so much hype over OPI, and I've always wondered, why? One of my friends said that it was one of the best nail polish brands there is, with incredible quality so I decided to try one. OPI retails for $19.95 which is a crazy amount, although it is not much more than say a Revlon nail polish which retails at $13.95 here in Australia. However we were at a My Beauty Spot and they were selling them for $10, There weren't too many colours to choose from but I decided to go for a nudish-pink colour, called Dulce de Leche.

Sorry for the picture being unfocused!

 As soon as I got home I tried it out, to see what the hype was about for OPI nail polishes. The brush was very nice, although the first time I applied it only my nails I picked up too much product. Application was smooth and easy, and it didn't turn out streaky like it would with the cheaper nail polishes. It dried very nicely as well and I love the colour!

Ahhh I love the colour! Pardon my dry cuticles and hands

Since I was too eager to try on the nail polish, I didn't bother with base and top coats. Even without them, the staying power on this nail polish was amazing! This photo was taken a few days after application and it has hardly chipped at all. This polish is definitely worth the $9 I paid for, but at $20 I'm not quite sure as it is quite an exorbitant amount for a mere nail polish. If I had put on a base and top coat, it would definitely last much longer. Comparing the OPI nail polish to the Revlon nail polish I have,  it definitely lasts much longer and the application is much nicer. 

What do you think of Dulce De Leche?

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