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!

Starting out with my base and top coat. I must admit, they do alternate every now and then when I venture into trying a new brand, however the ones I always seem to come back to are my Eye Candy London Gel Wrap Base and Top coat*. I love everything about them - they're inexpensive, good quality, make your manicure last FOREVER (seriously, I can wear a chip free manicure for almost a week!) and even keep that 'just painted' glossy finish. Although it's called 'Gel Wrap' it doesn't need to be cured under a UV light to work. You apply it just like any other base/top coat and remove it in the same way too! Another favourite base coat of mine for those naked days when you just want a bit of shine is OPI Nail Envy - that stuff is incredible for my otherwise weak/peeling nails!

Eye Candy London Gel Wrap Base and Top coat are available at Amazon.co.uk for £5 each as well as Sainsburys and Tesco stores nationwide!

Similar to my base/top coats, my Black polish changes around also, usually it's whichever one I grab first. However, the polish I most enjoy using/get the most wear out of is W7 - Black. This polish, if applied properly, is a one coater, it applies like butter and it's super glossy even without a top coat! It's also a really good polish for stamping with if you don't already own a stamping Black. Better yet, W7 retails for less than £2! Ah-maze-zing! You can usually find W7 on market stalls/cheap make-up shops etc, or it's available on line here.

Please excuse the messy swatch photo, it's an old one!

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll know I use this polish for pretty much everything regarding nail art/base polishes.What is it? It's OPI - My Boyfriend Scales Walls! Although it's a greyed out White, it's barely noticeable and pretty much looks like your basic White polish. If you've ever tried painting your nails with a White polish, you'll know that they're SUUUPER streaky and quite frankly are a pain to work with not to mention you need about a million coats just to even things out. My Boyfriend Scales Walls isn't like that at all, it's an easy application and only requires 2/3 coats max. 

My Boyfriend Scales Walls was released as part of the limited edition Spiderman collection last year, but can still be found on eBay and various on line retailers. You can probably still find it in Beauty Supply Stores too!

For my Red, I have chosen China Glaze - City Siren from their Metro Collection. Although it's not what I would call a 'classic Red' it's still a gorgeous colour and would give that glamorous look to any outfit. As always with China Glaze, this polish applied like butter and after applying 2 coats, dried to a very glossy finish.

Like My Boyfriend Scales Walls, this polish can still be found on eBay and various on line retailers/beauty supply stores.

Lastly we have Nudes! For this I have chosen BarryM - Lychee*. Nudes are a funny one, because they will change depending on your skin tone, but for my almost vampyric coloured skin, Lychee suits me perfectly. Lychee is part of the Spring/Summer Gelly collection and can be found on line at BarryM or in Superdrug and Boots stores and on line for just £3.99 each!

I hope you've enjoyed reading this post, I haven't really done anything like this before so I thought I would give it a try! Now for the best part....A GIVEAWAY!

Eye Candy London, have kindly asked me to give away the Gel Wrap System Base/Top coat combo that I mentioned above to one lucky winner! Unfortunately, due to the new Royal Mail rules, I can only send the giveaway prize to a UK resident. If you want to enter but do not live in the UK, you can, but you must have an address in the UK that will be willing to send it to you.

The giveaway will end on April 30th and the winner will be picked and notified within 24 hours of the giveaway ending. If the winner has not responded to the e-mail after 24 hours, another winner will be chosen. All you have to do to be in with a chance to win your own set of the Eye Candy Gel Wrap System, is fill in the form below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Products in this post marked with a (*) have been sent to me by the company or their PR team for my honest review.