OPI Sprung - #NOTD 12

Hello everyone! Today I'm back with a well overdue NOTD post! I honestly haven't painted my nails in so long as I was letting them recover a bit from having gelish on them for a long period - totally dried them out (boo!) but nail strengthener is my best friend so it's fine. Anyway, onto the review.. (and the photo spam)

This is honestly one of the most beautiful nail polishes I have ever seen - it's OPI Sprung! This was part of the Mariah Carey 2013 Spring Collection and my oh my, it is a beauty. It's also one of the most complex nail polishes I've ever seen, it has so many colours throughout it it's hard to say what colour it really is. For me, it is at it's base a copper shade, however it does have red, rose gold, gold and yellow shimmer throughout it.

When I first applied it, it was pretty much opaque with one coat which is amazing, however just to be sure, I put on two. It's super glossy on the nails and I just can't get over the colour. I just can't you guys, it's so beautiful!! (so beautiful I used two exclamation marks.. That's right.) The staying power is also amazing, it lasted 5 days with minimal chipping - not perfect but there were hardly any chips, it was more just wear at the very tip of my nails just from, you know, using my hands.

I don't actually know if this polish is available online or in store anymore.. which makes me so so sad! I can't seem to find any links for it anywhere :( I bought this in Florida this summer in the July sales in a little beauty shop and I can't remember how much it was.. Sorry I suck :( 

Overall I'm just so in love with this nail polish. I'm not going to go on, but it ticked the box on everything I want in a nail polish, from the colour, the opacity (is that even a word? You know what I mean..) and the staying power. Also, this just screams Autumn to me and it reminds me of the Autumn leaves (so cliché I know) but yes. In conclusion, I LOVE IT.

Please let me know a nail polish you are obsessed with so I don't feel so alone!

Have a lovely day, and don't stop smiling. :)

Hannah, xx

Topshop Plume - NOTD #9

Hello everyone! Sorry for being absent for the past week, Uni work has taken over my life and I have three essays due within the next few weeks. *gulps* So basically, I will be posting but not very often, I'll try to get a couple of posts up a week over the next month and a bit but no promises! However after my exams which are in December, I will be back blogging with full force! Anyway, onto the NOTD..

First of all, I want you all to just look at the beauty of this nail polish and let it sink in..

All photos taken on my iPhone 5.

Has it sunk in? Nope? SAME HERE.

I spotted this little gem online whilst I was shopping during their 20% off everything for students deal earlier this month, so I went a bit mental.. Anyway I saw this and just automatically put it in my basket and I am not disappointed in the least when I got to see it in person.

In the bottle and on the nails it is just stunning: a purple/blue base (depending on how the light hits it) with purple, blue, pink and gold shimmer and sparkle running through it. I. Can't. Get. Enough.

It applies to full opacity within 2 coats although you could easily get away with one, the staying power (as per with Topshop nail polishes) is great, lasting 5 days on my nails with little to no chips before I pick it all off and apply another one..

Honestly I can't recommend this nail polish enough, and the Topshop line in general, I love it all. There's another NOTD coming up soon with another Topshop polish which is such a gorgeous Autumn colour, so look forward to that!

Hope you guys enjoyed reading this and again sorry for the silence on my blog for a week, it sucks to have so much Uni work but hey, that's Uni for you!

Have a lovely day, and don't stop smiling. :)

Hannah, xx

OPI Unfor-great-bly Blue and L'Oreal Bling Bling Bang - NOTD #8

Hello everyone! Today I'm back with another NOTD post, again, going for a more sparkly look. I'm all about the sparkles recently!

OPI Unfor-greta-bly Blue is from The Germany Collection, which was released last year at this time. The shades released were all inspired by Berlin, and the colours on the catwalk that year, which clearly still are in fashion this year as when is navy not ever in fashion?!

Taken on iPhone 5

Taken on my camera (crappy lighting, sorry!)

Unfor-greta-bly Blue is a shimmer lacquer meaning it is enriched with a soft undertone of sparkly gold or silver, in this case silver, however I can't really noticed it, it's only when you really shine it in the light and look at it with a microscope that you can see it.

However, saying that, it's a lovely navy blue and it's opaque in one coat, however I always put two coats on with any polish, no matter what. The only thing I have to complain about is it doesn't stay perfect for that long, I don't know if it's the glitter top coat but a few of my nails chipped after 2 days which I was a bit disappointed with, however I genuinely don't know if it was this polish or the glitter top coat as I've wore this before and it's been fine.. If you don't mind just repainting the edges though, I highly recommend it.

Taken on iPhone 5

Taken on my camera

L'oreal Bling Bling Bang is part of their Color Riche Carat Collection where they released 4 nail polishes which are 3D glitter and have a matte textured effect - I didn't actually realise this was meant to be matte until I read that two seconds ago and put a glossy top coat over it.. Oops.

Anyway, I saw this in Boots and I had to have it, it looked so pretty and I knew I would pair it with a navy nail for perfect navy sparkly nails. It looks gorgeous on and depending on what light you are in (I deliberately took the above two pictures in different lighting) depends on the colour it comes across as, as in one light it's navy blue and the other it's purple - it's such a cool effect.

Overall, I am happy with this combination, however I'm not as happy as I thought I would be. The fact it chipped so soon I was quite disappointed with and it's ready to peel off now basically after 4 days. Blah. However the fact that it's really pretty is keeping me positive. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this, what's your favourite navy nail polish?

Have a lovely day, and don't stop smiling. :)

Hannah, xx

OPI Chic From Ears to Tail & Minnie Style - NOTD #7

Hello everyone! Back with my weekly nail post, no idea why I call it NOTD (Nail of the Day) as it is a weekly thing.. But lets just roll with it! Now I know what you are thinking.. It's September and you have bubblegum pink nail polish on, what?! I know.. But I wanted to bring it out one last time before Autumn truly sets in.. Anyway today we are here to look at OPI's Chic From Ears to Tail & Minnie Style.

Both of these are from the Couture de Minnie collection (surprise surprise) that was released this Summer. I actually got 3 out of the 4 limited edition shades and the new Liquid Sand shade, as it was part of a set my Dad got me at the airport as a present (he knows me well!) Last year OPI created a Vintage Minnie Mouse line, so this year OPI wanted to go for the more "fashion-forward" side of Minnie and go for brighter, more intense girly colours - so this collection was born.

“This year, OPI is exploring a different side of Minnie Mouse. The Couture de Minnie collection draws inspiration from Minnie’s iconic style and incorporates trends most recently seen on the runways, from standout shades to fun textural elements.”

Chic From Ears to Tail is the bubblegum pink shade which is a crème lacquer, meaning the formulation is to give opaque, solid colour easily. Minnie Style is the red and white podka dot glitter shade, which I personally loved the minute I saw it in the set!

As per usual I absolutely love both polishes and even though they are not season appropriate, I still love them both so much! They both applied easily, each coat dried within minutes and with 2 coats I had full opacity! Also, with Minnie Style, it acts as a really good top coat as well as it is a thick clear nail polish with glitter particles throughout it.

The only things I have to comment is with Chic From Ears to Tail, the colour looks a lot brighter on the nails than in the bottle, in the bottle it looks like a muted, dull pink but on the nails it is a bright bubblegum colour - not a bad thing, I was just surprised! Also, I had to apply 2 coats of Minnie Style which I did not expect as even though there are about 2 billion glitter particles in the bottle, about 5 are on the brush so you really need to scoop them up to get some on the brush, which isn't a bad thing really - means a better top coat!

I as per usual, love these polishes. OPI has not failed me yet with their formulation, their lasting power, their colour range.. Overall yet again, I am seriously impressed and will slowly keep expanding my collection, even though it breaks the bank. UK peeps, you can buy these here and as for anyone outside the UK, google is your friend, use it wisely!

That's about it for this post, thank you for reading. Have you tried any OPI nail polishes? Please let me know what your favourite shade is!

Have a lovely day and don't stop smiling. :)

Hannah, xx

Topshop Matte Nails in Dress Up - NOTD #5

Hello everyone! Today I'm here to talk about this little number, Dress Up by Topshop (Topshop always have such cute nails for their nail polishes!)

Topshop has recently launched a line of Matte Nails for the Autumn, with a range of different colours, mostly dark reds, blues and purples with the exception of a white, a pastel blue and a pastel pink. I had been looking for a blood red nail varnish for a while and I hadn't quite found the perfect colour, so naturally when I saw this I was like yep buying it okay! I was always intrigued with the fact it was matte, as I had never tried a matte nail polish before so I thought I'll give it a go!

Topshop claim that these matte nail polishes are "Fast drying, extra long wear with lasting smooth glossy look finish and perfect coverage." Lets see if this one lives up to this!

The packaging is quite unique and I've never seen one like it. Obviously it's in the standard bottle but it has a matte effect to the bottle, almost like a rubber cover over it and then at the front you can properly see the colour of the polish, as with the cover everything looks hazy, a kinda glazed effect - a very cool effect though! The little bottle handle thing (I can't remember what it's called, having a blonde moment, the black bit) is also matte, so overall I really 
like the packaging for £6! 

Application was.. Kinda annoying to be honest. It wasn't fast drying like Topshop claimed it to be, it actually took longer than most of my nail polishes.. Like 10+ minutes. I don't know if that's long or not but one coat dries usually before 5 minutes and this was double the time, so I was getting impatient in the end. You get full opacity with 2-3 coats so it did take a while for me to get the perfect coverage Topshop claimed.

It dries to be smooth and matte but still glossy.. It's honestly really weird. It's matte in some lights but in others, it looks glossy and like I have a top coat on. Also, due to it being matte it kinda dries into the ridges of my nails if that makes sense, so it didn't really look too appealing to me.. However I stuck with it because I thought that was the look.

Taken with flash.

Taken without flash.. The nail polish looks shiny and I have no idea why, I don't have a top coat on it!

You can see what I mean as with the flash in the picture below it looks glossy even though it's matte.  Once it had dried everything was fine, it looked nice, I love the colour as it's very Autumnal but I still wasn't sure if the matte look was for me.. I mean don't get me wrong, it looks nice but I do love my glossy finish. Obviously I didn't put a top coat on, as that would just ruin the whole "matte" factor plus Topshop did say it had extra long wear so I didn't think I needed it.. I was wrong.

On day 1 one of my thumb nails chipped, not a huge chip but it is noticeable. Note: I haven't repainted the chips because I want to see how long the original coats wear. By day 2 the majority of my nails had chipped slightly at the bottom, which isn't that noticeable but still annoying and on day 3 I got another big chip on my index finger. At this point I just thought "screw it" and put on a top coat, completely ruining the point of the matte finish but I bought this polish more for the colour than anything, and it looks just as great, maybe better glossy rather than matte.

Also, after taking this off my nails I found out that it stained my fingers! I don't know whether it was the colour or the formulation itself, but it took a lot of scrubbing to get off, which was so annoying! The regular Topshop nail polish line has never done this with me so I'm not really sure why this happened but just a heads up just in case you have it or want to buy it.

So overall I'm not the biggest fan of this nail polish, it didn't have the extra long wear, it didn't dry fast and it took a while to get perfect coverage but you do get a good solid colour in the end. I think if I use this polish again I'll just put a glossy top coat over it as I love the colour, just not the actual polish itself. Also, just remember this is my opinion, it might work great for you and you might love it, so if you like the look of it even though I don't, try it out! This is just my personal opinion, you might love it.

That being said, I'm looking forward to the Barry M Matte Nail Collection thats coming out as there is a colour very similar to this one in it and I've heard really good things about that collection, so I will be buying one to try out. I've not given up on the matte nail look just yet!

Alright, I think that's about it for this post.. If you have tried any of the new matte nail polishes from Topshop, what did you think, and do you have any other matte nail polishes you could recommend?

Have a lovely day and don't stop smiling. :)

Hannah, xx

Topshop Gypsy Night - NOTD #4

Hello everyone! Today we are here to talk about this little beauty that I picked up a month ago on a total whim, Gypsy Night by Topshop.

Picture taken on my iPhone 5.

I had never seen this nail polish before and I just spotted it at the corner of my eye, looked at it properly and went yes please *snatch*! What attracted me to this nail polish is how sparkly it is (I'm a total sucker for sparkles) and also how it was a black sparkly nail polish as I never see them! Not only is it just plain black but it has strong undertones of gold, and the sparkles are multi-coloured.. So basically I was sold just by the colour in the bottle. 

The packaging is the standard glass bottle with a cute white handle with black dots with the glass clear bottom - I personally love it!

At first when I applied this it was sheer, which I've found with a lot of Topshop's nail polishes but once you put 3 coats on you get to full opacity and let me tell you that this photo does not do this nail polish justice because it is truly beautiful on the nails. The colour is even more stunning out the bottle and I got so many compliments when wearing this! I was majorly impressed with how this nail polish looked as whenever the light hits it it sparkles like there is no tomorrow, and also how long lasting it is - 5 days without a single chip! Yes, that is with a top coat on, but for £6 that is so good! It probably could have went longer if I hadn't taken it off.

Overall I am extremely impressed with this nail polish and overall with the Topshop line, I have 5 or 6 nail polishes from Topshop and they have all pretty much impressed me so far. Gypsy Night is a definite thumbs up from me and I will be wearing this so much over winter. Also, if you are interested in buying it you can get it here.

So that's about it for this blog post, hope you have enjoyed reading. If you have any suggestions of what you want to see on my blog please let me know, and let me know if you have tried any Topshop nail polishes, and if so, what's your favourite?

Hope you have a lovely day and don't stop smiling :)

Hannah, xx

OPI Tomorrow Never Dies - NOTD #3

Hello everyone! Today I'm here to tell you about this lovely nail polish I picked up in New York which I've been wanting for a while, which is OPI Tomorrow Never Dies. Tomorrow Never Dies is from OPI's Skyfall James Bond Collection, which is a gorgeous collection with a huge variety of colours which you can see here.

Picture taken on iPhone 5

I'd seen this polish online before and I automatically fell in love, so when I got my chance to buy it I practically rugby tackled anyone in my way. I was drawn to this polish just from the colour, it's a bright intense purpley/blue depending how the light hits it. When I applied it, I was immediately impressed. I only had to apply two coats to get to full opacity and the colour is so bright, the pictures do not do this colour justice! I was also really impressed at how shiny and reflective this nail polish is without a top coat, it almost looks metallic! (however I always put a top coat on to prevent chipping.)

So far I have had this nail polish on for 3 days and I haven't had one chip, which has made me a very happy girl. Overall I'm very impressed with this colour and in general OPI nail polishes, so you'll be seeing a lot of them in my NOTD posts.

Picture taken on iPhone 5

Also, if people in the UK are looking to buy this nail polish, because I know how hard it is to find OPI in the UK (which sucks), this is actually on sale here, down from £11 (usual price for UK peeps) to £6.50 (WHAT A BARGAIN!) so if you want to get your hands on this then there is the place! I've also found the John Lewis, very.com, nailpolishdirect.co.uk and more sell it for UK peeps just from googling "opi nail polish uk" so if you are looking to buy OPI nail polish in general I'd google it and there are plenty of places online, just none in stores anywhere (at least for me..) As for the US, I think you can pretty much get them anywhere and as for anywhere else, I'm afraid I don't know but google solves everything!

Anyway that's about it for today's post. I hope you enjoyed reading this and if you can find OPI nail polishes anywhere online that ships to the UK please let me know! Also, what OPI nail polishes have you tried, and do you like them?

I hope you are having a lovely day and don't stop smiling. :)

Hannah, xx