May'd In Britain: MUA

Hi ladies! It's time for another May'd In Britain post, this time featuring Make Up Academy or MUA for short. Since it's launch in 2010 MUA has acquired a gathering of followers due to it's budget friendly make-up line, the majority of which is priced at just £1 each! I must admit I have only tried 1 or 2 polishes of theirs in the past, but I do have a variety of their make up and are overall impressed with the quality of it. So for May'd In Britain I decided to pick up a couple of their new range, which are housed in what only can be described as mini Essie bottles which work great for seeing the colour when stored, as their old Black square caps were the same size as the bottle so it was impossible to see which colour you were looking for without having to pull them out.

I didn't have too many issues with the formula or application, I did find a couple of them to be a bit streaky on the first few coats but they're otherwise really pigmented and dry to a high-shine finish. From what I can tell, the MUA range are just creme shades, but hopefully in time they will expand the line to include some shimmers/glitters. The MUA Nail Polishes shown below are also all 3-free!

As always, purchase information can be found at the bottom of the page, so let's take a look at the swatches!

Bold Blue is a bright Sky Blue creme. I love colours like this, they just look so fresh and perfect for Spring/Summer. You'll have to excuse my greasy looking fingers, I'd just applied some cuticle oil! This is 3 coats of Bold Blue without a top coat.

Moody Mink is a medium Taupe creme. Very reminiscent to China Glaze - Below Deck, a favourite of mine. This is 3 coats of Moody Mink without a top coat.

Plum Noir is a medium toned Plum with Redy Pink undertones. This was the most opaque of the bunch, only needing 2 coats.

Purchase Information

Below is a list of places you can find MUA;

• MUA Official Website - These specific polishes retail for just £1 each. UK Standard delivery is charged at £2.95 for unders under £25 and is free when you spend £25 or more.
• Superdrug - both in store and online. Priced at £1 each. UK Standard delivery is charged at £3 (currently free shipping until Midnight tonight) or free when spending £25 or more.

May'd In Britain: Invogue

Hi ladies! So May'd In Britain has been kind of a bust, I really have slacked on the swatching side of things which meant there isn't very much for me to go on. BUT there's still 8 days of May left so I still have time to get more swatches and posts done! 

Today I have 4 Invogue polishes to show you, if you've been reading my blog for the past couple months, you'd have seen the swatches of Invogue's Concrete and Feather effects as well as their Press Release with all the information on collections/where to buy (of course if you carry on reading this, all the purchase information will be listed at the bottom of the page).

We'll save the long into for another day and just jump straight into the swatches.

May'd In Britain: NYC

Hi ladies! Today on the May'd In Britain series we have New York Color, otherwise known as NYC. Now I'm not gonna lie, I can be a bit of a polish snob sometimes and overlook the 'cheap' brands you often find in Superdrug/Boots with the exception of BarryM cause let's face it, they're amazing. So you can imagine my surprise when I tried NYC for the first time and instantly fell in LOVE with the brand. Not only is their In A New York Minute range priced at just £1.79 each, they have one of the best formula's I have tried, like it's up there with BarryM/China Glaze etc. After a little bit of research, I also found that NYC polishes are 3-free and free from Formaldehyde Resin! As of right now, I can't comment on the longevity of the polishes as I haven't conducted a 'wear test' yet, but with a good base/top coat, I'm sure these will last you a long time.

As I mentioned briefly, I am completely surprised by the formula of the polishes, they apply well without any streaking/patchiness, they dry reasonably fast (maybe not quite a minute, but not much longer) and they're amazingly pigmented. To top it all off, they have a large flat brush (think OPI) for easy application.

As always, all purchase information can be found at the bottom of the post!

May'd In Britain: Models Own

Hi ladies! We're back today with another instalment of May'd In Britain, this time featuring some Models Own polishes. Now you will notice that my nails are significantly longer in this post, that's because I'd already made a start on some swatches for this month before my catastrophic nail break. That teaches me to be organised right? I used to have SO many Models Own nail polishes, but over the past year or so I've gradually gotten rid of them and haven't really purchased any more. I find most of Models Own polishes apply really well on the first few uses when they're brand new but once they've been used more than a handful of times or even just used once and left for a while they tend to go really thick gloopy, I've also found they take a while to dry when compared to other drugstore brands. So overall I'm not a big fan of Models Own, to top it all off their regular line is NOT 3-free, they contain Formaldehyde resin, Camphor and Toluene which is why they have a strong smell, however their Pro Range IS 3-free, so if you're all about 3-free I suggest purchasing from their Pro line, although they are more expensive and not as wide a colour choice.

Below are a selection of Models Own nail polishes I own, all purchase information will be listed at the bottom of the post!

Beth's Blue* is a light Cornflower Blue creme. Since this was the first time opening and using the bottle, the application wasn't so bad. It applied well with only a couple minor streaking issues and needed 2 coats for full opacity.

Lilac Dream* is a pastel Lilac creme. Like Beth's Blue, this was a newly opened bottle so the application was manageable. I applied 2 coats of Lilac Dream for full opacity.

Pink Blush* is what only can be described as a bright Barbie Pink creme. Again, this was a newly opened bottle so there were no major issues with application. I applied 2 coats of Pink Blush for the photos.

Fuzzy Peach is a bright Peach creme. I've had this bottle for quite a while and did have some trouble applying the polish for a smooth finish. The polish had turned a bit thick and did need more control than the others but after 2 thin coats and a thicker third coat, I was able to smooth the polish out.

Hot Stuff is a predominantly Pink glitter with Pink shards and holographic Diamonds in a clear base. Now THIS is a thick polish, one of the main reasons I got rid of the other colours in this collection was due to them being SO unmanageable. But I thought I would bite the bullet and attempt to swatch my last remaining Mirrorball polish. I found the easiest and least messy way of applying this was to do a thin coat of polish then fish for the larger glitter shards. This is 1 coat of Hot Stuff over Pink Blush.

Purchase Information

Models Own nail polishes can be purchased from various retailers around the UK, here's a little selection of stores/websites you can find them on;

• Models Own website - Priced at £5.00 each or 5 for £20. UK Standard delivery is charged at £2.95 for 1-4 Nail Polishes or free for 5+ Nail Polishes. 
• Littlewoods - Priced at £6.00 each. Free UK Standard delivery with no minimum spend.
• ASOS - Priced at £5 each. Free UK Standard delivery with no minimum spend
• Nail Polish Direct - Priced at £4.75 each. Free UK Standard delivery with no minimum spend.
• Boots - Available both in store and on line priced at £5 each. UK Standard delivery is charged at £2.95 with free shipping over £45 when ordered on line.

Products in this post marked with an (*) have been sent to me by Littlewoods for my honest review. 

May'd In Britain: W7

Hi ladies! I hope you're all enjoying the beautiful sunshine on this Bank Holiday Weekend! Today I thought I would show you a brand that I hadn't really 'collected' until recently, W7. I've had the occasional W7 polishes way back when, but I never really used them and always ended up giving them to my cousin, with the exception of the Black, of course. W7 polishes are a bit of a hit and miss in my book, some of them have a really good formula and apply well where as others seem to be the complete opposite, I've noticed that the darker colours generally apply better than the lighter colours. As a 'cheap' brand on the block and not quite a drugstore brand, W7 usually gets overlooked when it comes to Nail Polish but with the exception of some polishes I've tried from them, W7 could quite easily rival some of the more 'known' drugstore brands.

After looking around the Internet, I can't seem to find any solid information about this brand, but from my knowledge W7 Nail Polishes are NOT 3-free. I could be wrong about this, but there is a strong smell that suggests otherwise. If you know for definite whether W7 are 3-free, let me know in the comments!

Below are a selection of swatches from the W7 Nail Polishes I own all purchase information will be available at the bottom of the page.

Spearmint* is a Mint Green creme. I've got an obsession with Mint Green at the moment and this colour just fits in completely with that obsession. The formulation of the polish was a little runny and I did find it to be a bit sheer on the first couple coats but they gradually evened out. I used 3 coats of Spearmint for the swatches without a top coat.

Space Dust* is a sheer but buildable Teal jelly base with Golden Green and Aqua glitter. This polish can be worn alone or layered on top of another polish, depending on your preference. For the purpose of the photos I decided to wear mine alone. This is 3 coats of Space Dust without a top coat.

Envy is a Blue base with a Green/Blue duochrome shimmer. I absolutely LOVE the look of this polish and it's another one of those polishes that you can layer or wear alone. This is 3 coats of Envy alone without a top coat.

Twilight is a deep Purple base with a Blue/Purple duochrome glass fleck. There's even a slight Green hint in there too. This is probably my favourite polish out of the lot. It's so pretty! This is 2 coats of Twilight without a top coat.

Space Debris is a Pink jelly base with Red undertones and holographic glitter. Like Space Dust, this can be layered over a similar colour or be built up to be worn alone. I chose to wear alone and needed 3 coats for opacity.

Moonlight is a mixture of Purple, Blue, Green, Pink, Gold and Silver glitter in a clear base. The glitter in this polish is pretty dense so you could probably build this up for full coverage either over a colour or alone. I chose to layer one coat of Moonlight over W7 - Black without a top coat.

Purchase Information

W7 is more widely available on line, however you can probably find them on the beauty stall at your local market as well as pound land and those beauty shops that sell cheap make-up. I've listed two websites I have personally purchased W7 polishes from, but if you type into Google you'll find a load more hits.

• Nail Polish Direct - Priced at £1.95 each. Free standard delivery with no minimum spend.
• Fragrance Direct - A small selection of colours available priced at £1.50 each. 2nd Class Delivery at £1.99 or standard delivery at £2.99

Products in this post marked with an (*) have kindly been gifted to me by Nail Polish Direct.

May'd In Britain: BarryM

Hi ladies! First up is probably the most recognisable brand in the whole world, BarryM. If you asked anyone  in the Nail Blogesphere to name a British brand, I guarantee 99, if not 100% would say this brand. BarryM was the first brand of make-up/nail polish I got into at the tender age of 13, I remember going into town and buying a selection of Nail Paints (some which I still have to this day), Blushers and Dazzle Dusts, so BarryM will always have a place in my heart. Before I get into showing you some swatches, I thought I would include a little something about the brand taken directly from the BarryM website.

"Barry M Cosmetics was created in London, Great Britain in 1982 by Barry Mero. In the early 80's Barry had a number of retail outlets around London selling beauty and cosmetic products. The fashion was for dramatic, outrageous make-up. However he found that no one was producing the exciting and vivid colours that his customers required. So in June 1982 he decided to put together the Barry M Cosmetic range.

The Barry M name soon became a cult name in the field of colour cosmetics and in those days if you were a new romantic, punk or gothic the chances are you would have been using Barry M to make your statement!"

All BarryM products never have and never will be tested on animals, making the brand 100% cruelty free and their Nail Paints are also 3 free.

All information about where to buy will be included at the bottom of the post, so until then let's have a look at some swatches!