Saturday, October 4, 2014

Nail Polish Collection & Review


As promised, here is my nail polish collection & a tiny review of them. Whilst I was photographing these, I noticed that it wasn't terribly large but I mean, them nail polishes ain't cheap. In case you haven't noticed, I have quite the Essie collection going. From left to right: Sand Tropez, Mademoiselle, Cute As A Button, Mint Candy Apple, Turquoise & Caicos, Lilacism & Chincilly.

Essie would most definitely have to be one of my favourite nail polish brands. They apply really smoothly but since I usually do 2 coats, the drying time takes a while. But as I mentioned in my Nail Care Routine, the Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Top Coat works miracles. Apparently it takes up to 12 hours for nail polish to dry completely. According to the person at the nail salon, if you 'click' your nails together and there's no sticky feeling, that's when you know they're completely dry. My favourites out of the Essie colours I have are Sand Tropez, Mademoiselle & Lilacism.

Sand Tropez is your typical light nude/beige colour that looks nice no matter what the occasion. With Mademoiselle, you can probably see quite a lot has been used. That's because I have to apply about 3 coats for it to give the nice, pale pink colour. This sort of gives a 'con' to this colour as applying so many coats makes my nails vulnerable to chipping quite easily & takes forever to dry. However, the colour makes it almost worth it. Although I can only keep it on for a few days so I'd recommend it before some special event, like a wedding. And finally, Lilacism is a cute, light purple colour that I noticed looked great with shorter nails. Since it's Spring here in Australia, I have a feeling I'll be using this one quite a bit.


Here are my other nail polishes. I have a range of brands including: Maybelline (Enduring Pink), Revlon (African Tea Rose), Rimmel (Salon Pro: Jazz Funk, Reggae Splash & 60 Seconds: Ring A Ring O' Roses), Estée Lauder (Fuschia Flame) & Nails Inc. (Porchester Square).

I bought the two lighter pinks (Rimmel & Maybelline) in search of a very light, muted (:D) pink but was quite disappointed by how neon-y they turned out. Don't be fooled by the colour in the bottle or even on the picture above. The good thing was they were super cheap. The cost of both of them would still not be enough to get an Essie nail polish... Hehe.

The Estée Lauder one is a gorgeous hot, hot pink that borders on red. Proof that I loved it so much is that there's barely any left that I can't apply it properly anymore. It may be sad but I just can't bring myself to throw it away. Looking at the packaging, I think you'd understand. I should also mention that this was gifted to me a long time ago & is now discontinued. However, there are a lot of similar colours that are just as gorgeous albeit pricey.

My favourites here would definitely have to be the Revlon, Rimmel Salon Pro & Nails Inc. The Revlon Parfumerie one, African Tea Rose, wait for it - smells like roses! It's crazy but amazing! Everything I tie my hair back or something, I get a waft of roses. It's a little strong but quite good nonetheless, especially with a top coat over it.

My favourite application-wise would definitely have to be the Rimmel Salon Pro. They have a wide, flat brush and such a smooth consistency that you can just do one swipe and it's basically perfect. And the colour. Oh the colour. They're both stunning. And really suitable for any occasion. Jazz Funk is a muted hot pink ('muted' word count anyone?) and Reggae Splash is such a cute, light peachy orange that would also be great in the Spring & also the Summer, probably even Autumn as well!

And finally, the Nails Inc. Gel Effects polish in Porchester Square. As the name suggests, gives a gel effect. The colour I think would also look great on various skin tones & is quite long-lasting.


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I honestly tried to make this a short post but as always, I failed again. I apologise. But thanks for reading & I hope this was useful. Since I'm a crazy nail polish addict, I'd love to hear what your favourite brands & colours are. I can't wait until Sephora opens to finally get my hands on the Formula X ones so I'm definitely open to recommendations (for you know, after my spending ban :D)

Love Always,
Anna Banana ♡

2 comments:

  1. Great review! I loved your pictures =) The only nail polish I really have right now if Wet n' Wild (sad, I know) because they are from when I was about 11 and getting into nail polish. I've been thinking about getting some Essie polish; it is so pretty! You have beautiful pink shades! <3

    Love, Jess

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    1. Aww thank you so much! We don't have Wet n' Wild here in Australia I think, but I heard they have some pretty good eyeshadows. Are their nail polishes okay? Personally I like Essie but I'd can't wait to try others like OPI & Formula X to compare them & see which I really like. I seem to gravitate towards the pinks & ended up with a lot of 'em but thank you again :-) xx

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