Monday 8 February 2016

Favourite Beauty Products Of 2015 - Nails


Hello Lovelies

Today I have the last in my 2015 beauty favourites post and today's 2015 beauty favourites post is my favourite nail products. I'm sure you're aware I love nail polish and having my nails painted and choosing products for this post was difficult to say the least but I got there in the end, I hope you like my choices. 

Cuticle Care


I have been using the Sally Hansen Cuticle Remover Gel for around 2-3 years now and I love it, it is so easy to use, I just pop some of the gel around my cuticles and leave them for around 20 seconds and then remove the gel with some kitchen roll or tissue, it's an amazing product. I have actually had this bottle for over 2 years and myself and my girls use it and we still have around a third left so you can see a little goes a very long way. 

Top Coat


I have 2 top coats in my favourites one that I have used for years and still love which is the Orly Glosser top coat, I have used this top coat for years and years and love it. Orly is a fantastic brand and although their products are expensive I do feel you get what you pay for with them, they are a "free from" brand meaning their products don't contain any of the harmful chemicals that some brands do, I do have a post coming soon on "free from" polishes and why I choose them if I can but for now back to the Orly glosser. It is an amazing top coat it gives my nails a fabulous shine and gives any polish I am wearing a longer wear time for example if I wear a Barry M nail polish without it, I'd be lucky to get 12-24 hours wear time from it but with the glosser top coat I can get 4 days wear time, it really is brilliant, the bottle in the photograph I have had for over 12 months and it is still going, there is around a third left baring in mind myself and my 2 daughters use it, it lasts for a long time, gives an incredible shine to my nails and gives polishes better wear time, what's not to love? It isn't cheap but it is worth it and I would highly recommend it, you can find it on the nail polish direct website (which is also a website I highly recommend for buying nail polish and nail products) for £13.80 HERE

Next up is the Essie Gel Setter top coat, this top coat was launched around the beginning of last spring and when I bought it I loved it, it gives my nails the most incredible shine, my polishes last a lot longer when I use it and it does give my nails the look of a gel polish but and there is a but unfortunately, the last bottle of this I bought went thick and gloopy with around a third of the bottle left and at £9.99 a bottle I was really disappointed, I did wonder if it was just a rogue bottle I'd picked up because the first bottle I bought was fine and didn't go thick at all but I mentioned it to my friend Gemma and she said hers had done the same, I felt so awful because it was me who recommended it to her. So obviously it wasn't just my bottle that was a rogue bottle, I haven't purchased another one since because I don't want to risk it going thick and gloopy again, but it is such a shame because it is a great product and does do what it says it will it just doesn't last and I can't afford to throw away a third of a bottle every time, it's like wasting £3.33 every bottle. I would say if you go through top coat very quickly and like a high gloss finish with a gel look then give it a try but if your top coat lasts longer than say 2 or 3 months I wouldn't recommend it I'm afraid, so although the Orly is almost 4 pounds more expensive it lasts for over a year longer and doesn't ever go thick or gloopy, so if your top coat lasts a while go for the Orly. If you would like to try the Essie Gel Setter, you can find it on the Boots website HERE for £9.99. 

Glitter Top Coat


I'm really fussy when it comes to glitter nail polishes and like a glitter top coat to be quite subtle as I either like to wear a subtle glittery top coat or accent nail or I choose a full on glitter that will cover the whole nail and wear it as an accent nail but it's quite difficult to find a subtle glitter top coat but the OPI My Voice Is A Little Norse polish is a lovely gold/silver glitter with iridescent particles in it, it is a really nice glitter top coat and looks stunning over any nail polish, I have worn this and so have both my daughters and we have worn it over a range of colours and it looks lovely over them all either as an accent nail or over all the nails, it really is beautiful and I highly recommend it. It has a nice brush and applies well and with ease and is a good size bottle at 15ml so will last a long time and OPI are great polishes and don't gloop or go thick. You can find it on the nail polish direct website for a fantastic price of £5.50 HERE

Accent Nail Is OPI My Voice Is A Little Norse

Nail Polish

French Manicure


The Rimmel Brit Manicure polish in the shade 445 English Rose is a perfect nail polish for creating a french manicure, it's a lovely very pale pink which creates a lovely base colour and looks stunning, I have used it for years and although I have tried lots of other polishes, this is the best to create a french manicure, it has a nice wide brush and applies well and with ease. You can find it on the Superdrug website for £3.49 (was £4.49) HERE

My nails after using the Rimmel 445 English Rose in a French Manicure

Spring /Summer Shades


The first polish in my favourite summer shades is the China Glaze polish in the shade Shell O this polish was part of the On The Shore collection in 2013 and is a stunning neon coral shade, I absolutely love the colour, it is a perfect spring/summer shade, there is a negative with this polish unfortunately and that is that I need to apply around 6 or 7 coats to get a nice even opaque finish which is a pain but the polish does dry quite quickly in between coats so it isn't as bad as it sounds, the shade is lovely though and I get so many compliments on my nails when I wear it, the fact I have to apply so many coats doesn't put me off and I would re purchase it. I really like China Glaze polishes, they have a nice wide brush making application easy and they have a huge range of shades, they're not the most long wearing but they are lovely polishes and I've never bought one I haven't liked. You can find Shell O on the nail polish direct website for £4.50 HERE

China Glaze Shell O


I love pink/coral nails in the spring and summer as I'm sure you'll be able to tell and the Barry M Gelly Hi Shine in the shade Grapefruit is a beautiful pink/coral shade and looks lovely throughout the spring and summer months, I get so many compliments when I wear this polish it really is stunning and used with the Orly glosser top coat is looks incredible and lasts well too. It applies well and I need 3 coats to get an opaque finish. You can find it on Amazon for £3.99 HERE.

Barry M Grapefruit and the Essie Gel Setter Top Coat


I love Essie's Peach Side Babe as the name suggests it's a beautiful peach shade and perfect for spring/summer, I use 3 coats to get a nice opaque finish. I love the nice wide brush on the Essie polishes, they make application really easy, the shade is gorgeous and one I wore a lot throughout the summer last year. It lasts for around 7 days as all Essie polishes do on my nails. You can pick it up from the nail polish direct website for £8.95 HERE

Essie Peach Side Babe 


In 2015 I discovered the NYC polishes thanks to my lovely friend Gemma recommending them to me, I hadn't ever tried them but Gemma told me how much she liked them so I picked a couple up and was hooked, they are amazing polishes and the shine in a minute range are just £1.79 each which is an amazing price for the quality. One of my favourite shades in the shine in a minute range is Spring Tulip, a gorgeous coral shade and one I wore a lot throughout spring and summer 2015, they apply well and have a nice wide brush and are opaque in 2-3 coats, I use 3 with Spring Tulip and get a stunning coral shade which lasts around 5 days. I highly recommend the NYC shine in a minute polishes, and I'm so pleased Gemma told me about them too, you can buy spring tulip from the Superdrug website for £1.79 HERE.

Spring Tulip

Autumn/Winter Shades


One of my all time favourite autumn/winter polishes is Essie's Chinchilly and it made my favourites again in 2015, it is a lovely grey polish with a taupe/beige undertone, it's a lovely neutral toned polish that looks really well with any outfit and lasts around 7 days on my nails. It applies well and is opaque in 3 coats, it's a stunning shade and one I'd definitely recommend if you haven't tried it already. You can find Chinchilly on the Superdrug website for £7.99 HERE.

Essie Chinchilly


Another Essie favourite for 2015 was It's Genius a beautiful plum toned polish with a gold shimmer running through it, I love this polish it is really versatile as it can be worn during the day but is lovely for evening wear also. I only bought this in the autumn of 2015 but wore it a lot throughout the autumn and winter, it's a lovely polish, and you can find it on the Fragrance Direct website for a bargain price of £2.99 HERE.

Essie It's Genius


In 2015 I first tried Essence nail polishes and one of the shades I love is True Love (number 10) which is a beautiful deep red shade, true love is a gel finish polish and is an amazing price of just £1.60 which is incredible since the polish is really good, the polish has a nice wide brush making it easy to apply and I get a nice opaque finish in 2 coats, I really recommend the Essence gel polishes they apply well and dry quite quickly although they aren't a fast drying polish, the only complaint I have is the handle is quite short and I wish it was longer but that is my only complaint. The polish is a lovely colour, applies well and lasts for around 4 or 5 days which for the price is incredible (I do always use my Orly glosser top coat with all my polishes which helps with the wear time) I highly recommend checking out Essence polishes if you haven't already done so. You can find True Love on the Wilko website for £1.60 HERE

Essence True Love, I am also wearing the Orly Glosser Top Coat


So those are all my favourite nail products from 2015, what are your favourite nail products of 2015? I love nail polish and love to get recommendations of new shades to wear. Which of my favourites were your favourite too? 

Thank you for reading, much love as always

Zoe x

















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