Illamasqua Element

Half way through the week and I am exhausted! The first week back is always the worst...

I have a swatch to share today of the new Limited Edition nail Varnish by Illamasqua named Element.

Well, I say new. The collection, called Earth, actually launched on the 27th of August. I ordered the polish immediately like I do. However I had a notification to say Illamasqua were moving premises and there would be a delay in delivery so I didn't actually receive it until the day before I went on holiday. 

Side note - due to the delay in delivery (which was no biggie, I probably received the parcel about two day later than I normally would) Illamasqua also sent me a lip gloss for free to apologise and thank me for my patience!! How amazing are they for doing that?! 

Thank you Illamasqua, I love the gloss (I received the intense gloss in Maiden). You guys didn't need to do that and you're so sweet to have :)

Anyway! On to the swatch. 

Element is a metallic granite shade with a slight purple shift. I am wearing two coats with top coat - 

The formula of this polsih is fabulous as it always is with Illamasqua. You do get brush strokes, but that's to be expected with a metallic polish. Perfectly opaque in two smooth and easy coats.

As the varnish is LE, you are unfortunately no longer able to purchase Element via Illamasqua.com, however at the time of posting you can still find it online at Beautybay.com, Asos.com, or Debenhams.com. And don't forget to check with your local store or counter also :)

I hope you're all having a good week, and thank you for reading!

WN x

Nails Inc - Battersea Park via Glossybox

Happy Sunday everyone, I hope yo're all having a lovely weekend so far :)

I received my Glossybox a couple of days ago and inside was this lovely Nails Inc polish that I have swatched for today's post. I try to get the Glossybox posts up ASAP as they are still available for a short time after subscribers receive them, just in case anyone is interested in purchasing the current box!

According the the info card in the box, subscribers receive a full sized polish of either a khaki green or dusty pink. I received the khaki green in mine, named Battersea Park. It's is a creme formula khaki with a grey undertone, making it a more muted shade.

In the swatches I am wearing two coats of polish with a top coat - 

I like the formula of the polish, it applied very nicely and was perfectly opaque in two coats. Although I'm a bit disappointed with it generally, as I'm almost certain that the info card that came in the Glossybox is lying to me! 

The polish received in the box is, as you can see from the bottle shot, in the old Nails Inc packaging. The card claims you are receiving a full size polish, which is 10ml and retails for £11.00. That would be fine if Nails Inc had not re-branded over a year ago to celebrate it's 15th anniversary. Their new packaging contains 14ml of polish and is also more expensive, priced now £14.00. 

The product info card claims that you can purchase Battersea Park at Nailsinc.com. And you can. But it also claims that this 'full size' product is £11.00. Which it is not.

Have Nails Inc got a massive back log of old nail polishes that they are trying to shift? Probably. I have to admit that I find it a bit poor that we have been sent cast-off's and leftovers. Who's fault is it? I don't know. But I do know it's put me off both Nails Inc and if my Glossybox subscription wasn't a gift I would be thinking about cancelling. 

Am I being dramatic? Almost certainly. If I was someone just getting into beauty, I would probably be excited at the prospect of a 'free' full size Nails Inc. But I'm not and for a service that claims "Our global experts curate the latest trends and products" on their website, I'm not happy that I've been sent a product that's in packaging that's been redundant for over a year.

All that being said, the polish is still good and it is a good addition to my collection.

Let me know what you think on the matter below!

Thank you for reading :)

WNx

Zoya Focus & Flair

Happy Friday polish people! I am on holiday at the moment and have, for the first time ever, created a scheduled post so I'm not absent for too long. I have never set a blog up to post on it's own before so fingers crossed it worked....

Today I have swatches of one of each of the Zoya Focus & Flair collections for Fall 2015. The Focus side contains 6 lovely creme polishes and the Flair six-some is all jewel toned metallics. Unsurprisingly, I purchased the blue shade from each! 

From Focus, I chose Sia a royal blue creme - 

The formula on Sia is lovely. She is super pigmented and glides on like a dream. I'm wearing two coats in the swatches. This one, as most blues do, does stain the skin slightly upon removal. Though I did only wear it to swatch so I can't really comment!

And from Flair I picked Estelle, a metallic deep blue - 

Again, the formula is great. One coats does nothing, but the second makes this polish a solid sea of multi-tonal blues tones. I really enjoyed wearing this polish :) I couldn't stop staring at that turquoise shift!


It's tough but I think Estelle is my favourite. But they're both so gorgeous, I just know I'll be purchasing more from the collection!

Zoya Focus & Flair collection are available at Nailpolishdirect.co.uk for £8.95 each.

Have a fabulous weekend, and thank you for reading :)

WN x

Chanel Autmn / Winter 2015 - Collection Les Automnales

I am finally back and with an Autumn collection! 

Today I have swatches of all three new Le Vernis from the Chanel Collection Les Automnales to share :) So lets get started...

First up is #669 Chataigne. Chataigne (or Chestnut in English) is exactly what it's called, a rich chestnut brown! This polish has a creme finish and needs two coats - 

Second is #671 Ecorce Sanguine. This polish is a deep, blood red with a very fine gold shimmer running through. The shimmer is not visible once the polish is applied however it does give that shiny finish finish that you will find often through the Chanel collection. This is a one coater :) 

Close up with flash to show the shimmer - 

And finally, #679 Vert Obscur. Another one that is exactly what it's name is, a dark green! The formula on this polish is a strange one. The first coat is very thin and almost jelly like, but it is the most beautiful emerald green shade! (Chanel, please make a polish that colour!! Because you know they are reading this....!)

However once you add the second coat, the deepest, darkest, inkiest green shade is revealed. Gorgeous.

The formulas of this collection are fabulous, as they always are with Chanel. The collection is inspired by the warm yet muted colours of the Autumnal palette, and I think they've got it bang on with these three.

My favourite is definitely Vert Obscur, I just love the depth of the shade of green. It feels like it goes on forever.

Each Le Vernis is £18 and I purchased mine from Debenhams.com.

I hope you're all having a wonderful week so far, and thank you for reading :)

WN x

Transitional Pastel Gradient

It's Tuesday and I'm back in blogger mode! Things are getting back to normal with work (whatever normal is, maybe I mean 'usual'!) and I feel like I have some time to myself for the first time in forever!

And this is the first blog I'm writing on my new laptop, so I am extra excited about that :) I can tell you that it's a HP and it's blue, other than that I can't help you! But I love it so far....

Anyway, onto today's mani.

I have been feeling the setting in of Autumn recently. Probably because it's pissed down with rain all day today. The famous UK Summer!! However, it got me thinking that maybe it's time to try some transitional nails to take me through to Autumn, whilst still clinging on to the shreds of Summer that are slowly fading away!!

I had to feature my favourite Summer collection, the Color Club Poptastic Pastel Neons, somewhere. I finally decided to use 'Under the Blacklight', the highlighter yellow shade, in a gradient with Barry M Gelly Nail Paint in Coconut. To take it darker and more Autumn appropriate, I added some striping tape in diagonal lines and added Essie's Bobbing for Baubles to the sides.

I'm pleased with how the mani came out, and it actually looks how it was meant to, or how I saw it in my brain anyway. So that's always nice (and rare)!

I hope you're all having a fabulous week, I'm still counting down to my hols... 4 weeks today!!

Thank you for reading :)

WN x

Red and Black Houndstooth

Hello polished people! I hope you're all having a great weekend :)

Today's mani is actually a submission I created for Nail It Magazine. You can check out their Instagram post about it HERE. They are after some more red and black designs for their Nov / Dec issue (online and print) so they have extended submissions until the 4th of August. And entries are open internationally :)

So as I was due to blog and I have the mother of all creative block recently, I thought why not have a go!

I then thought I'd have a look through the awesome book 'Nail It!' by the superbly talented Sophie Harris-Greenslade of The Illustrated Nail. I've had the book for a while but have yet to attempt any of the deigns so this was the perfect opportunity to dive in :)

The design I settled on is Houndstooth, as I thought it would work well with the colour combo. 

The book is totally stunning and I will definitely be writing a review soon :)

For the mani, I used Chanel Phenix and Barry M Black with the Detail Brush from Sparkly Nails.

I am happy with how the design came out, and I am well impressed that you can tell what it's meant to be!! I think it would look loads better on longer nails though, as you would be able to see the full effect of the pattern.

I will let you know if I get featured in the magazine too :)

I hope you all enjoy today's post and thank you for reading!

WN x