Essie - No Baggage Please

Mondays are so rough, aren't they? So glad it's over! Today's NOTD is Essie's No Baggage Please from the newest wedding collection. Like Meet Me at the Alter, it has shimmer in the bottle that is pretty hidden on the nail. Instead, it sort of just adds a silvery shine in the sun. This had an ok formula, but I did need three coats to get rid of any baldness on the nails. Overall, a pretty colour but not very unique.
3 coats, no top coat.

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direct sunlight

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direct sunlight

OPI - I Brake for Manicures

I'm not quite sure why, but I've been after this polish for a while now. I'm not really a dark polish wearer, but I just couldn't resist this one (or a few others which you'll see in my monthly haul!). Whilst it's still dark enough to look black to non-polish lovers (aka my family), I love that it's slightly grey and slightly purple (though it does look a little bit brown until you put it next to a true brown). It covered perfectly in 2 coats, with 1 coat Good to Go top coat over it.

direct sunlight

direct sunlight

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Chanel - Starlet

I haven't heard this collection talked about very much, but I couldn't pass this colour up. Apparently it's from Chanel's newest collection centred around film or some such, but I'm not sure what the collection is called. Starlet was amazing, and exactly what I expected from both Chanel and a high price tag. It's a muted peachy-orange with gold (and maybe some pink?) shimmer, and it applied evenly and opaquely in 2 coats. Even though the weather is cold here, I will be reaching for this one a lot! What a stunner.
2 coats, 1 coat Dior gel coat.

direct sunlight

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cloudy

Ok, I need to disclaimer these last two pictures! I know my nails are chipped! It's a big no-no in the blogging world to put our chipped nails on display, but I thought my photos weren't really accurately showing the shimmer in the polish, so this is artificial lighting after a long day of working with my hands.

artificial daylight

artificial daylight

(click photos to enlarge)

Essie - Meet Me at the Alter

Meet Me at the Alter is from the newest wedding collection from Essie, and I was surprisingly excited for them to arrive at my door. I mean, it's a pastel pinky-purple, don't I have enough of those already? When you look at this one in the bottle, it has a really pretty silvery shimmer running throughout it which reminded me of To Buy or Not to Buy from a (spring?) collection last year. Similarly, like To Buy or Not to Buy, the shimmer really doesn't show up on the nail. I don't mind though, because I really love this type of colour!
3 coats, 1 coat gel coat. All photos in cloudy daylight.

   

Dior - Diablotine

I really thought I was going to have a longer blogging streak than I did, sorry! Life just gets in the way sometimes, ya know? As you can see by the length of my nails, May has shaped up as a rather stressful month. Anyway, onto Diablotine (which took me the longest time to actually pronounce/type correctly!). This bright red shimmer was a happy colour for me to wear, and I just loved it. Reds aren't usually something I reach for often because they stain my topcoat, and then my fingers when I'm trying to remove it. I don't know if it was just this red, or the combination of this red and Dior's gel coat, but neither happened and I was ecstatic! I will definitely be reaching for this one over my other brighter red shimmers!
2 coats, 1 coat Dior gel coat. (day 2 of wear)

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direct sunlight

direct sunlight

Zoya - Ray

This is one trooper of a polish! I've had this one on since sunday night (it's now wednesday night, unheard of for me!) and I've only had minor tip wear, no chipping (also unheard of for me - even with the best of brands I usually chip heavily by the end of one day). Whilst I only thought of the colour as 'ok,' I think I may be coming back to this one on my lazy/busy weeks! Very impressed!
2 coats, 1 coat Dior Gel Coat.

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Dior - Spring Ball

I was so eager for this collection to come out, but I think I was in the wrong kind of mood when I pulled this one out. Don't get me wrong though, it's a fantastic colour with a fantastic formula and I think I'll be reaching for it often in warmer weather.
2 coats, 1 coat top coat.

direct sunlight

direct sunlight

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Essie - First Timer

This is one coat of First Timer. ONE coat! I'm sure everyone has heard/seen this colour now that it's been making it's rounds on youtube and blogs, but it was such a pretty colour that I couldn't hold off 'til warmer weather to wear it. Now, I do recommend painting two coats just to cover up any ridges you might have in your nails (if you're like me and don't buff). If you haven't picked this up and love the colour, I definitely recommend it :)
1 coat, no top coat.

Direct sunlight

Direct sunlight

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OPI - Pepe's Purple Passion

It was a gloomy day all day today, so once again you get to see me fumbling my way through artificial lighting. This is Pepe's Purple Passion from the muppets collection, a red toned purple with red-y pink flecks (I think). Whilst this definitely looks more obvious in the bottle, I actually really liked it on my nails as well. The flecks aren't super visible unless you've got your nails a cm from your face or the light hits just so, but I actually appreciated it's subtlety. This was two coats, though obviously I shouldn't do my nails in the dark because it looks a little messed up around the cuticles! 1 coat Dior gel coat on top.

artificial daylight

artificial light

artificial light

Dior - Gris Trianon

Dior has consistently impressed me in the last year or so, both in nail polish and makeup. Initially I didn't even want Gris Trianon, but it worked out cheaper for me to get the bundle than just the 2 pinks it was released with. I'm so glad I have it in my collection though because the formula is fantastic and the wear time better than most polishes I own. This polish reminds me why I'm happy to fork out the extra money on designer polishes.
2 coats, 1 coat Dior gel coat.

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direct sunlight

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I've been nominated!

One of the most exciting things I've ever encountered on my blog is being nominated for a blog award by the lovely Haylee from Dry, Dammit! I don't know too much about the world of blog nominations, but a huge thank you goes out to Haylee for recognising my little nail blog amongst the millions that are out there! Apparently questions come along with this nomination, so here are my answers to Haylee's questions :)

Essie - Go Ginza

For the past couple of months I've really been gravitating towards pastel purples, so it was no surprise (to me) that Go Ginza was quickly a favourite. It had a good formula - a little thicker than usual Essie polishes, but still easy to work with - and was opaque within 2 coats. It's definitely not a unique colour, but I love it all the same :)

artificial daylight (shaded)

artificial daylight

daylight

artificial daylight

Dior - Bikini

This was a really raved about colour last year, but it never ended up making it's way to my local counter so I never got the chance to pick it up. I saw it on ebay though from one of my favourite sellers, and picked it up on a whim. I finally get it! I didn't get the fuss until I had it in person and slicked on my nails, and now I'm so happy I finally own it! Opaque in 2 coats, this almost dusty mid-bright toned orange is perfect for both spring or autumn. 1 coat of Dior's new gel coat over top (which I'm completely obsessed with, product rant to come sometime soon!)

artificial daylight

artificial daylight

April Nail Polish Haul

April felt like the month that never ended. I was slugging my way through everyday absolutely exhausted, so I haven't even been thinking about blogging. But May is a new month, and I really miss blogging, so I'm going to try to get back into the swing of things. I did buy some new light bulbs in the hope that I could find a really cheap alternative to the sun, but alas I'm still working on it so please excuse some of these photos! I've also been working on trying to get my blog back to what I wanted it to be - a comparison blog. So once I've done all my nail stick swatching (this weekend fingers crossed!) I want to accompany every NOTD post with a comparison of similar shades :) Anyway, enough rambling, onto the haul!

L-R: Bikini / Spring Ball / Princess / Delice / Diablotine