Monthly Haul: April

Hi ladies! Well it's that time of the month again where I reflect on my purchases for this month. I'm pretty happy with myself this month, I didn't spend anywhere near as much as I usually do, and a lot of the polishes you'll see in the post were either gifted to me or sent for review. I won't go on and make a super long intro as I'm sure you're more interested in the polishes, so let's begin with the items I purchased!

I started off the month with a purchase from Nail Polish Direct. They were having a sale on the new China Glaze Hologlam polishes with an additional 10% off and since I've regretted not picking up the whole collection at Professional Beauty (mainly because the price was extortionate) I decided to get the remaining 6 I needed. Unfortunately, when my order arrived 'When Stars Collide' wasn't in the order, instead a note said that it was oversold and out of stock *sad face*. I also decided to pick up the new W7 Suede Effect collection to try, which you can see swatches of here.

I also placed an order with Krafty Gurl on Etsy after admiring some of her polishes for a while. The second from the left is a bit one sided after being shipped over seas on one side, but it still works perfectly fine. You can find Krafty Gurl polishes here.

I also nipped into Sally's on their VAT free day earlier this month to pick up some supplies I needed for college. Of course I ended up leaving with a selection of new China Glaze polishes and OPI - My Vampire Is Buff, naughty.

When I heard Sinful Colors had made their way into Boots stores around the UK I had to go into my local store and see if we were lucky enough to get them, which as you can see, we were. I had minimal money left on me after a day trip to the beach (of course it would have been the day I left my bank card at home) so I was only able to pick up 3. At the time they were on the 3 for 2 offer, which I'm unsure is still active? But for £1.99 each you can't go wrong.

That concludes my purchases for the month, so let's take a look at the polishes I have been lucky enough to receive this month.

I was kindly sent 6 W7 polishes after being asked by Nail Polish Direct if they could use the swatches I did of the Suede Effects on their website. These will be featured in an upcoming series I have planned for the blog starting tomorrow.

Next of course are the BarryM Confetti polishes, which can be seen here. I'm lucky enough to be an official Blogger for BarryM, which means I am sent the new releases to show you guys before they're available in store! I still pinch myself sometimes because of this. I've been an avid BarryM fan for almost 8 years!

I also got a little surprise package from Purple Professional with two of their new Spring/Summer releases. 

And finally we have the BarryM Nail Art Pens, which I haven't actually gotten around to doing a review of yet. I generally try and avoid Nail Art like the plague just because I'm terrible at it, especially when it comes to thinking up original Nail Art ideas. I will have some sort of post featuring these in the future!

So there you have my Monthly Haul post for the month of April. As I said, I've done pretty well this month with my spending, I think I spent about £40/50 this month on Nail Polish, which is a MAJOR cut back from what I usually do. How did you do this month? Have you killed any lemmings this month?

Swatch Spam: Sation

Hi ladies! As always, my postings have been a little sparse over the past couple of weeks. Life has been stressful over the past month or two and because of that I've had no motivation to swatch/blog. I can't promise that I'll be on fighting form anytime soon, but I am going to try and make time for my blog and re-discover why I starting blogging in the first place; because I love Nail Polish and sharing my passion with you all.

So to say I'm sorry I have a little swatch spam post for you featuring some Sation polishes. I first heard of Sation through Let Them Have Polish and The PolishAholic but as everything seems to go, they are only available in the US. After months of asking on Twitter/Facebook if anyone has easy access to these and would be willing to mule some overseas for me, I was contacted by the lovely Ameerah from Valiantly Varnished saying she had seen them in her Beauty Supply store for reasonably cheap and offered to get as many from my wish list as possible with the budget I gave her. A couple weeks later, I had 9 gorgeous new Sation polishes in my hands. I know there's only 8 in the post, I seem to have misplaced one of the polishes whilst cleaning/organising my Helmers*sad face*. Enough of my ramblings, let's take a look at the swatches.

As usual with Swatch Spams, this post has quite a few photos, so I have added in a Jump break!

Swatch: BarryM Confetti Nail Effects

Hi ladies! Yesterday I posted the Press Release for BarryM's Summer Releases and mentioned I had 3 of the Confetti Nail Effects already. I wanted to wait until I had the whole set before posting, but you guys said you wanted to see some swatches straight away, so here they are!

I'm sure when you saw the release for these, you thought 'oh, another version of the polishes Nails Inc/Invogue have already done' although you would be semi-right, BarryM have 2 possibly 3 colour combinations I haven't seen before from either brands, I'll talk more about those shortly. All of the Confetti Nail Effects come in the classic BarryM bottle, complete with a White cap and a Silver holographic Zebra-esque pattern. 

As with the majority of BarryM Nail Paints I've tried, the formula was perfect, not too thick but enough to hold a decent amount of glitter on the brush. I found the best way to apply the 'Confetti' was to do an initial dip into the bottle then dot and drag around the nail. I also found if there wasn't enough glitter to cover the nail, but enough not to have to dip the brush back into the bottle was to just run the brush inside the neck of the bottle and collect the glitter stuck to the side. This way there's no unwanted lumpy, thick bits on the nail! These do dry to a slightly gritty finish, so if you're not into that, I suggest adding a Top Coat for a smoother finish.

Swatches after the break!

Press Release: BarryM Summer Releases!!

Hi ladies! So I was supposed to be showing you the new BarryM Sequin Nail Effects today, but there was a slight mix-up at the BarryM offices and I was sent a sample of their Summer release polishes! After contacting the PR rep about the mix-up she sent out the Summer Press Release earlier than scheduled! Unfortunately ladies, these won't be available in Superdrug stores until June 5th and Boots stores June 12th. But here's what to be expected this Summer!

**Summer Gelly Nail Paint**

To add to our Hi Shine Gelly Nail Paint collection Barry M have 5 new exotic fruit inspired shades!  Key Lime, Mango, Blue Grape & Guava will be your go-to shades this Summer for an extra glossy mani. Key Lime (Lime Green), Guava (Teal), Passion Fruit (Pink/Red), Blue Grape (Cobalt Blue), Mango (Orange)
These will Retail for £3.99 each 

**Confetti Nail Effects Nail Paint**

New Confetti Nail Effects is the perfect party for your nails.  Filled with confetti sprinkles that brush on smoothly, make your nails pop with 5 sweet inspired shades. Dolly Mixture (Multi), Liquorice (Black/White), Marshmallow (Pink), Bubblegum (Blue), Sour Apple (Green). 

*Build the effect with more than one coat or apply as a top coat over your favourite colour

Retail Price is £3.99

How amazing do those Gellys look?! Oh my word! I do have 3 of the Confetti polishes in my possession, Liquorice, Marshmallow & Dolly Mixture, would you like me to show those to you now or would you rather wait and see the whole collection together? As I mentioned above, these won't be hitting stores until June, so I apologise for torturing you! Which colour catches your eye the most? 

Swatch: Essence - Mr & Mrs Glitter

Hi ladies! I was browsing through my swatch folder earlier and came across this unpublished swatch of Essence - Mr & Mrs Glitter which I picked up on my last Sally Magpies order. Mr & Mrs Glitter is part of the Special Effect topper collection and is a combination of large Black, Gold and Teal hexagonal glitter in a clear base. The glitter is a little sparse and does need some manipulation when placing on the nail, but that's to be expected with larger glitters. I applied Mr & Mrs Glitter over Bondi - Uptown Girl without a top coat.

As I mentioned above, Mr & Mrs Glitter, as well as lots of other Essence goodies are now available in the UK from Sally Magpies priced between £2.50 - £3.50!  It's just a quick post today ladies, I've been so busy with work lately I've had no time or energy for swatching, but I promise you, I will be back in full swing in May!

Press Release: Sequin Nail Effects

Hi ladies! Yes, you see right, Mr Mero has done it again! Just last week we saw the release of some Nail Art Pens, and now I'm being told about more Nail Paint releases! This is just a little teaser before BarryM release their Summer launches on June 5th (Superdrug) and June 12th (Boots), I'm super excited to see what they're going to bring out next! Until then, here is a sneak peek of the 3 brand new Sequin Nail Effects, launching on hot spots (this is PR slang for the top of the display shelf where the new launches are shown, did you know?! I didn't) around the UK on May 8th for just £3.99 each!

BarryM Sequin Nail Effects in Black

BarryM Sequin Nail Effects in Pink

BarryM Sequin Nail Effects in White

"Add a textured sparkle to your nails with new Sequin Nail Effects!  The rich formula packed densely with sequin specs is the perfect way to create a dramatic 3D effect on your nails"

Now I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to getting my hands on these and see how they look o the nail. In the bottle they have an indie look to them, don't you think? I do, however, think the Black looks very similar to the Black and Gold glitter they brought out not that long ago! I'll hopefully have swatches of these coming very soon!

Swatch: W7 - Suede Effects

Hi ladies! As you'll all be aware, effects/textured polishes are 'the happening' in the Nail Polish world at the moment. W7 being the latest in jumping on the bandwagon and bringing out a Suede collection, consisting of 6 vibrant shades. When I saw these on line, here, for just £1.95 I knew I wanted to try them out.

Before I get into the swatches, I wanted to just comment on the wear of these polishes. I painted my nails with Mauve a couple hours before I went to bed on Thursday night, I woke up Friday morning with HUGE chunks of polish missing from a couple of my fingers. Now, I can't say this for definite, but I'm pretty sure I actually just sleep when I go to bed and not run around the country fighting crime in some dream-like state, so to wake up in the morning with multiple chips, baffles me. Of course, wearing a top coat makes the whole Suede texture void, but if you're actually wanting to wear one of these polishes for more than a couple of hours, I recommend it. Needless to say I'm a little disappointed with them especially since the OPI suedes, although not super long lasting, did manage to make it through the night unharmed. Now that you've all been warned, lets get into the swatches! Since there are a few pictures in this post, I took the liberty of adding a jump break.

Back To Basics: My 'Go To' Polishes & Giveaway!

Hi ladies! I thought I would do something a little different today and show you my go to polishes, base and top coats. There's also going to be a little giveaway at the end, so enjoy!

When I came up with the idea for this post I wasn't really sure on the direction I wanted to take, I mean I could list my picks for every colour of Nail Polish and it's brother but that would just take too long! So I've got for the basics - base coat, top coat, a Black, a White, a Red and a Nude/Pink just because the majority of people will have those in their collection, whether it's large or small. 

This is a little bit of a long post, so I have added in a jump break!

Swatch: Catrice - The Dark Knight

Hi ladies! I have another Catrice polish for you today, which I bought in my most recent Sally Magpies order after she recommended it to me! I really like the formula of Catrice, every one that I have tried apply flawlessly and dry super glossy. The only downside is that until recently, Catrice wasn't available in the UK which resulted in me stocking up on as many as possible on a trip to Bruges. Fortunately, thanks to Sally Magpies, Catrice is now available in the UK for just £4 a bottle! 

The Dark Knight is a gorgeous deep almost Black Plum with a Purpley Blue shimmer. I applied 2 coats of The Dark Knight without a base/top coat!

Catrice are available in most European countries for €2.75 a bottle, or if you're in the UK you can purchase Catrice polishes here for £4!

Swatch Spam: Sinful Colors

Hi ladies! Sorry I've been a little sparse with my postings lately, I've got a good amount of swatches stored on my computer but not enough time to write the posts! Since I have a little bit of free time tonight, I thought I'd better get a few posts done, but we'll see how well that turns out due to the fact I've re-discovered my love for The Sims 3...whoops.

Anyway, I thought I would share with you my Sinful Colors stash, I did have a lot more than this at one point, but a lot of them were sold/put into grab bags. I have since bought some more Sinful Colors polishes from BOOTS! That's right UK girls, Sinful Colors are now available in Boots stores and on line! More about that at the end of the post!

Since there's a lot of photos, I took the liberty of adding in a jump break!

Swatch: Bondi New York - Uptown Girl

Hi ladies! I have a new brand to introduce you to today, Bondi New York. As always, before we get into the swatches, let's find out a little about the brand!

Bondi New York is a collection of 20 fashion forward colours which will be launched twice a year as well as four limited edition collections! All Bondi New York nail polishes are 5-free, which means they are free from formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, camphor, DBP and toluene and are currently available via select on line retail partners, as well as bondinewyork.com. The best part? 100% of the net profit (after costs) is donated to our non-profit which makes grants to organisations like Food Bank for New York City. So not only can you buy yourself a pretty new nail polish or two...you can actually feel good about doing so because you're in turn helping out people in need!

Housed in a similar bottle to Nars, Bondi New York has a rubberised top for easy grip, that I recently found out is detachable, like those of Butter London caps if you're struggling with the size. The formula of the polish was also incredible, it applied effortlessly and is extremely pigmented, especially being such a pastel shade. The polish I am wearing is two coats of Uptown Girl - a gorgeous medium toned Lilac creme, without a top coat. As you can see, even without the application of a top coat, Bondi New York polishes dry to a high-gloss finish.

I was originally told Bondi New York polishes were only to be available in the US directly from Bondi New York, but I am pleased to announce international retailer, Harlow & Co. are now stocking all 20 shades of Bondi New York which are priced at $15 for 15ml of product, a little bit steep in price but worth it for the sheer quality of these polishes! Make sure you stay up to date with Bondi New York by following them on both Facebook and Twitter! Also, if you enter code Blog5 at the checkout on bondinewyork.com you will receive $5 off of your order!